Sudokuaholics Anonymous 11

''They who dream by day are cognizant of many things which escape those who dream only by night.''

Edgar Allan Poe

I took my friend Debbie to a dental appointment this afternoon. She was worried about driving because she was having a couple of teeth pulled. Tomorrow afternoon I take Robert to a doctor's appointment. This is to a foot and ankle specialist. I don't know what this problem of his is. This is a new doctor for him.

I'm glad the calves are doing well, Heidi! Hoping there will be a break in the rain, some of the mud will dry up,
and the calves will thrive.

It's time to head to bed. Sending healing energy, prayers, positive thoughts, {{{{{HUGS}}}}}, and for Everyone!

Last night my farrier friend Anita (who now has my Sun Conure BooBoo ) called to ask if she could come at 8:00AM to trim my horses. So I got up early, and all the horses have been caught and are in their stalls waiting for her. It's 8:00 right now.
Back later.

Got the horses feet trimmed.... but Buddy is sick. He has a lot of snot coming from his nose, a slight cough, and funny sounding breathing. I've notified Mike the Vet. Today is small animal surgery day, so I think he'll get here as soon as he can.... which might not be until this evening. Meanwhile, I've got him in a stall with fresh water.

Buddy is feeling better. Mike couldn't find anything wrong with him, so we suspect it could have been a reaction to a change in feed. I started him on a new feed a couple of days ago. If he has a reaction to it tomorrow, I'll take him off t. Meanwhile, he was given some penicillin and anti-inflammatories in case he caught something from the funky weather changes..

Hope Buddy is ok. - after the lousy weather you have been having it may not be surprising to have respiratory ailments. Our summer has come and gone - coldest summer in 5 years - lucky son moving to Darwin in May where the weather will be dry and 25-35C each day. Wet season is now so not too pleasant.
Have not been able to catch the cockatoo as yet - it is not coming around very often. We now have 2 kookaburras joining the free feeds each day with the cockatoos, currawongs, magpies and pesky Indian miners. I wonder how many birds I will have to annoy hubby with before we get another dog ....... so miss old Truman, Natalie and Dunlop.

Just dropping by to say Good Night and Take Care!

It was the new feed that made Buddy sick. He's an incredibly smart horse, and he realized that it was the feed, so he refused it today. I gave him some generic sweet feed instead and he's scarfing that down happily. I'll pick up a different senior feed tomorrow.

Heidi, I'm glad Buddy is better and that it was just the feed.
Midge, I didn't realise how cool the summer was for Melbourne. I wish we had had a cool one. Ours has been awfully hot and humid for weeks and weeks until Tuesday night when we had a big storm and since then it has been overcast with showers but the temps are down into the 20C's. But still a bit muggy. I doubt it will last. We traditionally have hot humid weather until the end of April. Good time to move to Darwin in May. One year when my kids were toddlers my ex husband was transferred to Townsville for a 6 month stint with the ABC. We were there from May to October - great time to be there!

I was just naughty. I went to the feed store for a different senior feed for Buddy... got some... and saw that they had chicks for sale. I ended up coming home with 8 feather footed Bantam chicks of unknown breed. It'll be interesting to see what breed they grow into. They're going to have free run of the barnyard for insect control and as decorations.

From what I can tell, all, or at least the majority of the new chicks are Bantam Cochins.

Got the biggest egg collection so far, today. 26 eggs! Only 2 of the Ameraucanas didn't produce.

Ya just need to inform them, that, 'non-producers' might just end up in the pot.

I'm running late tonight and need to get to bed. Hopefully I'll have time to read and respond tomorow. Sending positive thoughts, healing energy, prayers, {{{{{HUGS}}}}}, and for Everyone! Good Night!

An average hen lays 200 eggs a year. A top producer lays as many as 280-300 eggs a year. These girls are just starting production. They're doing amazingly well.... far better than expected.

Hi, Everyone!

Heidi, I'm so sorry Buddy was sick, but what a smart fellow to figure out that the different food was the problem and decide not to eat any more. I'm so glad the newest food isn't a problem and he's doing much better!

Anita, the farrier, must like to get her day started early! If she is spending the entire day trimming and hooves and attaching new shoes, she must be exhausted at the end of the day! I imagine she enjoys the company of your/her Sun Conure BooBoo.

Midge, I'm hoping you'll keep seeing the cockatoo come around for food and you'll be able to nurse it back to relatively better health! Do you think you'll be able to convince your husband to get another dog? Do you have a breed preference if you do?

I have consulted 'Mr. Google' about Feather Footed Bantams. It says they are miniature chickens, the flower garden of the poultry world and are usually one-fourth to one-fifth the size of standard varieties. There are many different types and assortments of color patterns. There are pictures of some of the varieties at this web site: https://www.mcmurrayhatchery.com/feather_footed_bantams.html

Wow, I'm just imagining what it will be like when you start getting 3 dozen or more eggs a day, Heidi! Did you anticipate that your hens would be such productive layers?

I just realized that I haven't done much updating about what's been going on in our lives. Hubby and I were both able to get the first and second Covid vaccines, which is a relief. We have had so many doctor & dentist appointments and PT for hubby, that I have had very little time to practice my cello. Because of increasing pain in my hip, I had an appointment with an orthopedist. He said I'm bone on bone AND have bursitis. He wants me to start physical therapy. About a week ago hubby and I were in a car accident. There wasn't a lot of damage, but the air bags deployed and the smell of the propellant was very annoying and caused me to cough for several hours. (I was the passenger.) My right foot was broken (5th metatarsal). So far, I'm just wearing a boot and didn't need a screw or cast. I'm supposed to stay off my foot, as if that's very possible. I have to return to the doctor next Tuesday to see how it's doing. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

I need to go put my foot up, so I'll say Good Night for now. I'm thinking of all of our fellow Sudokuaholics and sending positive thoughts, healing energy, prayers, , and {{{{{HUGS}}}}} for All! Take care and stay safe and healthy!

Julie ... bone on bone with bursitis sounds painful enough, but a broken foot, too??? Are you on crutches to keep the weight off the foot? I'm glad yoo've had your Covid shots since you spend so much time at doctor's offices, where sick people are encountered.

The chicks are doing well. They're so adorable! I'm hoping that most are Cochins since they are a very broody breed. I have some Golden Sebright Bantams coming from Murray McMurray Hatchery (see Julie's link) in July, and they are not broody AT ALL. They don't reproduce well because of that. I can use the Cochins to brood Sebright eggs. Sebright Bantams are unique among chickens in that the roosters are hen-feathered. No long tails or hackle feathers. Just very active, perky little birds.

'Give me the wild children with their bare feet and sparkling eyes. The restless, churning climbers. The wild ones using their outside voices, singing all the way home. Give me the wonder-filled, glorious mess-makers dreaming of mountains and mud, aching to run through a field of stars.'

Nicolette Sowder

Tomorrow I'm taking that steer and heifer to the sale barn. They have been more troublesome than any calves I've had. It's time I made them someone else's problem.

I'm Not sure If
I washed the
spider down the
drain in my
shower or if he
took one look at
me naked and
then leaped
willingly to his
death.

Hi, Everyone! As luck would have it, my bad hip is the left, and the broken foot is the right. It has been suggested that I keep both feet up. I don't have crutches; doctor didn't even mention the possibility. Because of my weight, I probably wouldn't be very successful with them. We have a walker, and I have a couple of canes. I'm not having much luck keeping my feet elevated - seems like I spend a lot of time traveling between the bedroom, family room/den or kitchen and the bathroom. I haven't found a way to elevate my feet at the computer, so I'm trying to limit my computer time.

Heidi, I like the quote from Nicolette Sowder! Have a safe trip to the sale barn with the steer and the heifer!

DOrA, that got a chuckle! Thanks for sharing!

Thinking of Everyone and sending , healing energy, {{{{{HUGS}}}}}, prayers, and positive thoughts

''Whenever someone calls me ugly I get super sad and hug them, because I know how tough life is for the visually impaired.''

Will Ferrell

I'm not a fan of Will Ferrell, but I think this is one of the cleverest quips ever.

My ear is driving me crazy. I haven't slept well the past 2 nights from the earaches. I'm taking meds for earache, and if they're working, it must be a real humdinger, because it's bad enough with the meds. There is some bloody pus leaking out, but I kind of wish it was more, to ease the pain. I know this is nothing like what Julie is going through right now, but I still feel crummy. It won't prevent me from going to the stockyard, tho. At least the roads are dry and the weight load will be light. The heifer in particular is light weight. She's so freaky and nervous that she doesn't gain weight well. The steer is 3 weeks younger than her, but weighs about 75-100 lbs more. I don't need an animal like her in my breeding program.

The 2 calves are now at the stockyard. They loaded easily because they thought they were hiding from me in the trailer. I'd left the gates open from the feeding area back though the barn and into the trailer and walked away. Cattle psychology.

Off in a little while. I'm dropping off 9 dozen egga for the local food pantry, then heading to the stockyard to watch my 2 sell. I drop them off the day before to 1) let them settle down there so they're calmer in the ring, and 2) it's a graded sale with a catalog so by dropping them off early they make it into the catalog. The buyers then can see in advance how they grade and what they weigh, and it increases the number of bidders. I'm curious to see how they sell compared to other people's cattle.

Back from the stockyard. Each of the calves was in a group of over 20 of the same size and grade, and thanks to the big groups, they behaved well. The crazy heifer was funny. I took Dawn with me, and we sat at ringside. Dawn had been that heifer's nemesis, rounding her up and penning her whenever she escaped. When that heifer's group entered the ring, she saw Dawn, her eyes bulged out for a couple seconds, then she pushed her way into the middle of the group and tried hard to be unnoticable. Best outcome possible. They both sold for more than I expected.

Heidi, thanks for sharing Will Farrell's clever comment about when someone calls him ugly.

Heidi, I can't imagine dealing with the pain of your earaches. The pain must be excruciating, and really impact your ability to sleep! At least I'm able to sleep some during the night. I've been sleeping sitting on the couch. We're having trouble with the reclining mechanism, and I can't wake up hubby every time I get up to go to the bathroom. Some nights I can actually sleep almost 3 hours before waking up the first time, which is better than in bed, and I'm able to go back to sleep for at least a couple more hours. My hip bothers me more when I'm lying in bed than sitting on the couch.

I'm so glad you were able to get the calves to the sale barn. I love your cattle psychology. My guess is they will be as glad to be somewhere else as you are glad to have them gone! It sure makes sense to get them there one day early. It's great that both calves sold for more than you expected. Thank goodness the heifer didn't totally freak out and cause problems!

I imagine the food pantry was thrilled to get 9 dozen eggs! And whoever gets them will have a real treat! Too bad we don't live closer. I save our egg cartons. One of our neighbors buys eggs from a local farm fairly frequently. If we need eggs when he goes there, we might have him get a dozen for us and take our empty egg cartons to the lady who sells the eggs.

Thinking of Everyone and sending {{{{{HUGS}}}}}, healing energy, , prayers, and positive thoughts for All! Take care and stay healthy!

I was told that the eggs I donated the previous week were very popular. Other people donate eggs from their chickens, too. They need all the eggs they can get, since this pantry feeds over 150 needy families every week. A few years ago I donated the meat (all burger) from an entire cow to the pantry.

I've had that kind of 'burger'. It is great! Good onya...

I just helped Robert and his wheelchair bound neighbor sign up for weekly food boxes from the food pantry. Today i hauled the boxes for them. Eventually we hope to have the boxes delivered to their apartments.

Mike the Vet cracked up when I told him about loading those 2 calves into the trailer. He said that they were the 2 dumbest calves he'd ever seen.
He dropped off a bull of his today, and we put him in with a couple of open heifers. One was in season. We watched the bull trying to breed that one, and we think the bull has a physical problem with his equipment. We'll give him 3 weeks, and if that heifer comes back in season, he's going to the stockyard. Mile does have another bull.

Just a quick Hello and Good Night! It's been a long day! Hubby had 2 doctor appointments and I had one. We had a meeting tonight.

Sending healing energy, prayers, positive thoughts, and {{{{{HUGS}}}}} for Everyone!

Today's high is supposed to hit 71˚F / 21.6˚C today! Amazing! It's still officially winter for another 11 days.

Heidi, you sure do seem to have some serious temperature swings...

The hatchery called me about the 2 four week old Cuckoo Marans pullets that were due to be shipped on the 15th. Their supplier had a problem, and my 2 won't be shipped until the 29th instead. That actually works out better for me because they'll be the same age as the chicks I recently bought, and they can be put in the same growing pen together.

It's raining. It was supposed to be mostly sunny today with a zero chance of rain. At least it's warm.... 58˚F / 14.4˚C at 10:30 am.
Off to do my morning egg collection. We're averaging 22 eggs a day.

Off in a little while to take Robert to an eye doctor appointment. It's a rainy day, which will help the grass grow. It's only a light rain, so it should sink in nicely.

Your ground must perk pretty well, Heidi. This time of year my ground never dries out.

I'm on high ground..... the highest spot between Louisville and Nashville. That helps.