Sudokuaholics Anonymous 11

The greatest glory in living lies not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.

Off in 20 minutes for my MUCH needed epidural.

Very different epidural than I'm used to. This new doctor doubled the amount of medication she injected into my back, since I was in so much pain. BUT, the injection didn't hurt. She said that she got it in the right place, and I could feel pressure in the lumbar area and down both legs where I normally experience pain during the injection, but I felt NO pain. I expressed concern to them about it, since I'm used to the more pain I feel during the injection, the better and longer it works. But after about 10 minutes, I could feel the back pain easing up tremendously. When I arrived there this morning, I estimated that the pain level was about an 8 out of 10 (10 is where I black out from the pain), and I was down to a 3 by the time I left. Also, the appointment went very quickly. Usually, I'm there for about 3 hours. Today I was there for exactly 1 hour. They were extremely efficient.

Shortly after I got home, there was a horrific car accident in Magnolia near my friend Debbie's house. She saw it happen. A young man in his early 20's was speeding down the road (going over 60 MPH ) and ran into the back of a stopped garbage truck. He never hit his brakes. The car was partially in pieces (scattered over a large area) and partially wedged under the full garbage truck. Debbie said she knew it was REALLY bad when the coroner was there before an ambulance. It took almost 3 hours to get the body out of the wreckage. The young man had a girlfriend in my neighborhood.

When I hear about things like this, it makes my problems seem minor. I can't imagine what his family and girlfriend are going through.

Glad the epidural went so well, Heidi!
What an awful accident. And what a horrible way to die. As you say, so sad and distressing for the family. Now that my grandies are driving I worry about them, but they are level-headed young people. However none of us is safe with reckless drivers sharing our roads.

Hi, Everyone!

I sent a private message to DOrA that we miss him and got a response! Here is part of his message:

'Life is getting in the way. I sold one of my properties and am in the process of getting rid of 30 years worth of 'stuff'. 200 mile daily commute and 6 - 8 hours of work kind of tuckers me out.'

'The hound, and I are both doing well. I'll get back to Sudokuholics when things slow down..............'

Heidi, kudos to the mechanics who fixed Thunder, your truck! They must really know what they're doing! It's great that Thunder will be able to take you for your epidural.

Heidi, you have sent me to the internet searching for information about Sapphire Olive Egger pullets. Apparently, the olive eggs can range from lighter to quite dark. It must be fun to collect eggs of so many different colors! It must also be fun for those who receive the colored eggs at the food pantry!

Great TOPP, CynB!

Wow, Heidi, that's wonderful news about your epidural! It's so amazing that the injection didn't hurt! It would certainly seem that this new doctor is a keeper! It would be wonderful to know that your epidural doesn't have to be a doozie in order to work. I know we all hope that the effects of this epidural will last until the next one is scheduled!

How awful for the family and girlfriend of the young man whose car hit the garbage truck! I can't imagine what it would be like to deal with such an accident. Perhaps he had a medical episode prior to the accident, since there was no evidence of the car braking.

CynB, you're so right that we must be aware of all the people ('crazies') on the road, not just for our families, but also for ourselves. Not only are many drivers careless, but road rage has become an ever-present danger on our roads, as well.

Thinking of all fellow Sudokuaholics and sending healing energy, {{{{{HUGS}}}}}, positive thoughts, , and prayers for all! Stay safe and healthy!

The suspicion here is that he was talking on his cell phone or texting. Once the police check with his cell phone provider, they can find out if the phone was in active use at the time. There is no other reasonable explanation for the accident. It was clear weather, no rain, and slightly overcast so no glaring sun. It was mid morning and the road runs due north and south at that point, so he could have not been driving into the sun. And it was a straight stretch of road.

I'll be picking up the new Alpacas around 1 PM on Saturday!!! I'm SO thrilled! Their pens are all ready except for filling the inside 25 gallon water bucket. They have water in the outside paddock already,

Had the first 2 Bantam eggs laid last night. They're SO small compared with standard sized eggs! But perfect for tiny appetites like mine.

Just picked up the first of my 2 new kittens. The garage where I get Thunder worked on had 2 litters and they asked me if I wanted some kittens. Since Raleigh is 14 or 15 years old, and has never been a good mouser, I happily said yes. These kittens have not been socialized so they're hard to catch. This one is from the younger litter, about 8 weeks old, and is jet black with a tiny white dot on it's chest. Don't know if it's make or female yet, so I'm calling it ''Imp'' I've got it on a secure 8 foot by 12 foot by 7 foot pen covered complerely in 1 inch chicken wire to get it used to me, Raleigh, and my barn. Once Mike has given it all it's shots, and it's settled in well, I'll turn it loose in the barn.

I've got fresh bedding in the trailer, and the trailer is hooked up to my truck and parked in front all ready to go in the morning. The new alpaca pen is bedded, and has water and feed in it, waiting for the new arrivals tomorrow. The truck's tank is full. I've copied out the address to put into my GPS, and copied phone numbers in case. I hope I haven't forgotten anything.
I took Robert to his Eye appointment this afternoon, and afterwards he helped me move a bunch of busted gates out of the back of the barn in preparation for the new corral panels and corral gates next week. Mike offered to let me use his 16 foot trailer, so we're not rushed to unload the scrap metal off my trailer. We still have a bunch more to pile on.
The Eye Doctor told him that he can get his exam and prescription for glasses in 4 weeks, then he can legally drive again. He is ecstatic!!!

Just a quick Hello and Good Night! I'm exhausted &I falling asleep in the chair. (Just a long day.)

Healing energy and positive thoughts to all!

Very stressful drive through thunderstorms, and with my bowel acting up. Humter and Noel were easy to load, once they were caught, but London was a nightmare. As soon as a rope or halter touched her, she laid down and refused to move. We had to pick up and carry a 150 lb alpaca about 100 feet to my trailer!!! My back is done. The bonus is that Hunter has a wonderful libido! He bred her in the trailer!!! Noel is already 2 months pregnant by a different male. The new ones unloaded easily into my barn and walked into their new pen easy peasy. My other 5 girls are fascinated by the new ones and are visiting over the fence. They even are crazy about Hunter! They couldn't stand the other 2 males I had.

*** TOO MUCH INFORMATION WARNING ***

read with caution


I seriously overdid it yesterday. I am exhausted. My back hurts from too much lifting of alpaca too soon after the epidural. My belly is distended with gas (constipation alternating with explosions of ''the other extreme''). My eye is watering so badly I can't even see my reflection in a mirror through it. Bad headache. And the ear infection is oozing huge amounts of pus. I'm heading back to bed in a few.

I've already put out more feed for the alpacas (the three new ones ate a lot last night, so they must like my feed), Mike's old cow and the cats (I'm splitting a can of cat food between Raleigh and Imp). I still need to feed Buddy, but that will wait until later. The chickens don't get their scratch grains and grubs until dusk, when I lock them back in for the night. They have free choice layer crunbles in the feeder in their barn at all times. They have 2 waterers inside (one 5 gallon and one 3 gallon) and two tubs of water to drink from outside. We had a LOT more rain last night, so Mother Nature filled those for me.

Just got ANOTHER opossum in the barn!! I wish they'd stay in,the woods where they belong.

The chickens just proved.... again.... that they're descended from dinosaurs. The opossum I shot was a female and her pouch was full of babies. After I dispatched her, the chickens ran up, attacked and ate all the babies!!! I had selected chickens that were known to be good mousers, and they just showed that they're good ones.

No time to read or type. Good Night, Everyone!

One week from today, the hatchery will be shipping 20 baby Golden Sebright Bantam chicks. They're interesting in that they're tiny little birds and the males are hen feathered. Super active little bug killers. One week later they'll be shopping 16 turkey poults. There will be 8 Bourbon Reds , 4 Blue Slates and 4 Black Spanish I'm so excited! This will be it for poultry purchases for a LONG time. I'll be full .

New alpaca boy, Hunter, is really good at his job! I decided to open up the gate between the alpaca pens this morning and run the 2 groups together. I had been unable to get any of my previous girls bred. They'd take one look at the male, scream in terror, and run. Not so with Hunter. They like him. I just saw him breed Skipper (the chocolate brown one)!!! I will have a bunch of Alpaca crias next year!!! I am THRILLED!!!

It is a rainy day today. Intermittant downpours, thunder and lightning. Good excuse to stay inside with a book.

Good news for Robert that he will soon be able to get glasses and be able to drive again! I'm glad he was able to help you move the busted gates.

Heidi, I hope your new kitten is getting on well with Raleigh. Although London made the move extremely difficult for you, it seems like your new alpacas are making a good adjustment to their new home, and Hunter is wasting no time making sure you'll have some alpaca crias in the foreseeable future. If only London had been more cooperative with her move, your back wouldn't be such a mess so soon after your epidural. I hope your ear, eye, back, etc. are all feeling better soon. I hope some rest will help. If not, I expect you may be making an appointment to see a doctor. Please take care of yourself!

Heidi, that's quite a large order of poultry that will be arriving in the next few weeks!

Thinking of everyone and sending healing energy, positive thoughts, prayers, , and {{{{{HUGS}}}}}!. Take care, Everyone!

I just saw Hunter breed Barbie, my older fawn alpaca female. I'm going to have a pile of alpaca crias around July 1st next year!!! I am SO thrilled by this!! Hunter is quite the Lady's Man. Since he doesn't chase the girls like the previous males did, I think he'll be happier if he just gets to stay with the herd full time.

Just got back from the garage. They caught 2 more cats for me. One is a black kitten, about 3 months old and very feral. (( I'm calling this one Gremlin. )) The other MIGHT be the young mother of one of the kittens. They THINK she's under a year old, but are not sure. She's REALLY feral (( I'm calling her Inky. )). I've got all 3 together in the large pen in the barn. Inky's climbed all the sides and tested every bit of the wiring on top and can't get out of the pen. I'll keep them in there for 3 weeks before letting them out so they learn that this is home and this is where the food is. I know unless I catch Inky in a trap, I'll never get my hands on her again. But I hope to get Imp and Gremlin tamed enough to be able to eventually pet them. Or at least Imp. I plan on having the kittens neutered when they're older. Inky may end up populating my barn with feral kittens, which might not be a bad thing for controlling rodents.

Just popping in, but can't stay awake long enough to read an entire comment =,

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

Gosh, I haven't been here in a while. Been a bit busy doing little things, not exciting things.
I love reading about your animals, Heidi. So happy that Hunter is turning out to be so popular with the girls. Exciting to know that next year you will have baby alpacas (crias).
I hope Inky learns to adapt to life there. Best possible life for her and the other kittens,

Meant to say Hi to Julie! Sorry, nice to see you around, even if you don't have much time.

I went shopping this morning. I don't have far to drive and I didn't even notice the weather as I left. 15 minutes later I was walking around the supermarket and I heard a constant loud noise that sounded like rain on the roof. I thought I was mistaken until I went down to the checkouts and it was an absolute downpour and so windy it was like a cyclone. I could not get to my car it was so bad. Lucky the coffee shop was open - I nipped in there and had a coffee and cake while I waited. I can hear it's raining again now. Our weather is now so weird. (Climate change? What Climate Change?)

Another quick Hello and Good Night after a long & busy day! {{{{{HUGS}}}}}

Greetings to All!

Life seems to be interfering with my ability to drop by for a visit here. I know we just always seem to be busy or have something pressing to do around here. I suspect this may be true for others, as well.

It doesn't help that so many places we need to go are a distance away. Traveling time to my cello lessons and orchestra is usually 50-60 minutes each way. Hubby's physical therapy is usually an hour each way. Of course, there are multiple places that provide physical therapy within 15 or 20 minutes of our home. The problem is that they don't have the specialized equipment or therapists trained to use it that we are hoping will improve his non-diabetic neuropathy. Most of our medical personnel/specialists are an hour or more drive time each way. At least we don't have much time on our hands, and I guess that keeps us out of trouble.

CynB, I can certainly understand your being busy with lots of little things. The storm that popped up while you were shopping sounds like it was rather severe. How fortunate that there was a coffee shop in the store.

Heidi, I hope your health is improving! Needing to lift London, the alpaca, in order to transport her home certainly didn't help your back. Having additional problems with your eye, headache and ear certainly add to your discomfort! I hope you're able to get some major sleep/rest and feel better soon!

I'm thinking of Everyone - those who might just read & leave, and those who post when they can. We miss so many people, particularly our more recent visitors - Midge, saltie, and DOrA. We hope Everyone is well, and all are welcome back, even if it has been months since you posted!

Sending powerful thoughts, healing energy, {{{{{HUGS}}}}}, prayers, and to all! Please take care; stay healthy, and pop in to say hello when you can!

I'm trying SO hard not to overpower SA with my comments. I really wish more people would join in and let us know what's happening, or even not happening, in their lives. Even if they say that they're bored silly. Or spend their time doing as little as possible (one of my dreams). Or they can fill us in on the weather in their part of the world. This stuff is INTERESTING! I'd love to hear about it, folks!

One of my Faverolle hens has gone completely btoody and has stopped laying, besides having commandeered one of the 10 nest boxes. So since my little bantams have started laying, I put a half dozen Bantam eggs under her to see of she can hatch them and raise the babies.

BROODY is the word, not btoody. That means she's settled down into overly maternal sitting and hatching mode, and won't leave the nest except for a quick eat and drink. Which are both within 3 feet of her nest box.

I totally agree Heidi! I miss all the people who used to come here and share their news and stories. I know MizT is at a disadvantage these days, I think she only has her phone and it's difficult to see this format on a small screen.
I do miss Suzy, Rolanda, Bean, Nola to name a few.......Come back please!

'Broody' - I know that. When I was in my early teens I used to spend some of my school holiday time up at my uncle's egg farm. He had 4 daughters and we had such great fun, but they had chores to do and one was to collect the eggs. This was around 1960 so no horrible cage farms, this was free range with boxes everywhere for the hens to lay in. If they got a broody hen, they had to pull it out to get the eggs. The girls made me take my turn. City kid that I was, I was scared stiff about grabbing this bird and evicting it. After a few tries I got the knack and became as quick as the others. Then we took the eggs to my aunt who then washed them in a machine and passed them on to the packers. What I loved was the big double-yokers and the really small eggs were taken out and the families got to have them. I loved getting a fried double-yolker on my toast in the morning. Ahh, memories!

Oh, I remembered more. In the afternoon we'd go down to the shed and watch my uncle hook up the cows for milking. Then for dessert we would have home grown, freshly picked strawberries with cream, fresh off the top of the milk. Bliss!

City folk never get to expreience those joys, CynB. Fresh eggs, fresh picked strawberries, fresh cream, fresh air. I think I'll have some strawberries before bed tonight. My plants are producing nicely right now. About a dozen or more fat strwberries every day is perfect. It's just a small strawberry bed. And the plants slow down production once it's above 90˚F / 32.2˚C every day. When it's cooler, I get a half gallon / 1.9 liters a day.

Heidi and CynB, I also miss so many of the former Sudokuaholics. Many (maybe even most) of them are on the other site. They wouldn't need to make a big time commitment, just a few minutes a couple of times a week for a quick update would be appreciated!

Heidi, I hope the broody hen will be able to hatch the eggs you have given her. Will that help get her past her broodiness?

CynB, I enjoyed reading your memories of helping your cousins at your uncle's egg farm when you were a teen! What a wonderful experience!

Those strawberries sound yummy! My Mom used to make strawberry shortcake from scratch. Our kiddoes really liked it when they could have it when we visited Grandma & Grandpa. For that reason, I didn't make it at home - so it would be something special associated with visiting grandparents. D#2 texted us a photo of her D looking very excited to be able to eat the strawberry shortcake she and D#2 made today. I wonder if D#2 told her D about eating it at Grandma's house. (D#1 has recently shared that strawberries are her favorite fruit. I guess Grandma's strawberry shortcake was indeed something very special.)

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

If she hatches the eggs I gave her, she'll have chicks to take care of, the natural next step after brooding eggs. That will end this broody spisode nicely.

Tomorrow is the day the hatchery is supposed to ship the 20 Sebright Bantam chicks. Depending on if they hatch on time or not, it could be the next day. Or the day after that. I've got everything ready for them. I'll be putting the turkey poults (due to ship next week) in with them. This way, the Bantam chicks, which are smaller, will get a 1 week head start on growing before the poults join them, so there shouldn't be a problem with bullying.

I did my good deed for the day. On Friday I stopped at Lowe's for some big plastic bins to store the alpaca fleeces in to keep them clean and dry until I can sell them in November. I was in the area after taking Robert to see his GP for his heart. (Robert was also able to pick up a birthday present at Lowe's for his father, whose birthday was yesterday.) I got home and discovered that even though both the lady at the check-out and I had both counted the bins, I ended up with one more than I paid for. So today I went back and paid for the extra bin. The lady at the service desk was delighted. They're doing store-wide inventory next week, and this will make it just the tiniest bit easier to get numbers to add up. And she appreciated my honesty.