Sudokuaholics Anonymous 11

There are hundreds of languages around the world but a smile speaks them all.

Hello all, we are back from our Road Trip. 2400kms through northern NSW. We saw lots of Silo Art, waterfalls, caves, mountains and streams. It was fun but exhausting. We have to stop and smell the flowers, but we get bored and look for things to see and do. Highlights were Dubbo Zoo, a 1.7km circuit walk to see magnificent sandstone caves which I actually managed with my walking stick (a few scary moments) and the one spare day we had relaxing at a beach, not swimming but paddling, collecting rocks ansd chatting to passing people.
Col goes back to work tomorrow and is not coping well. His mental health is bad but I can't persuade him to talk to the doctor about it. 'Real men don't have mental health problems, they just deal with it!' (Not very well, I say.)

Heidi, I hope there cria news soon!

STILL NO CRIAS!!!
We had a cool front move in last night, and the heat wave is over. Maybe that will help London, Barbie and Skipper have their crias. Barbie gave birth to Angel last Sept. 18th. London and Skipper both lost their male crias last year.
Carmela and Julie are both due in November. Carmela is Benny's mother. He was born November 11th.

Hope some good news soon about the crias. Also glad the heat wave is over and the mums to be are more comfortable, as well as the rest of your tribe Heidi.
CynB - you certainly fitted a lot in during your road trip. Hope Col realises that mental health is just another hiccup that 99% of people have to cope with and is comforatable enough to seek help.
DorA - how are you? Haven't heard from you for a while. Also Julie - hope your health is stable and you are feeling better.
I have just completed 7 rounds of plasma exchange and start on monthly intragam infusion next week - so looking forward to canulas (not). Unfortunately they can't use the permacath in place in my chest.
We are going on a short 3 day road trip tomorrow and will call and see my brother on our way to the Murray river. Just to get out of home will be a lovely change.
We have beautiful weather this week - mid 20s each day with no rain (although we really need the rain).
Cheers everyone

Still no cria. The breeding I saw must not have taken, and she was bred on a later date. London is extremely pregnant, and bagged up, but still hasn't gone into labor.

I have an alpaca gestation calculator, and it says that we have until Septenber 22 yet, from the breeding I recorded.

That's only a few days away.
Hopefully they don't go overdue like human babies do. I had very accurate dates when I was having my daughter. My calculations and those of 3 different doctors all agreed on 21st September. I had to be induced on 28th Sep. I always tell her she'd still be lounging around there if she hadn't been evicted. With my son I had been given 16 Jan and 21 Jan by 2 different doctors. He arrived without help on 18 Jan.

Over the weekend, one of my dogs (Molly, a 4 1/2 year old Catahoula) started acting depressed and weak. But she was in no pain whatsoever. I kept a close eye on her, but this morning, it was obvious that she was dying. I took her straight in to the Vet Clinic when it opened, and Mike verified that she was dying. It was her heart. So we put her to sleep gently and with love. Her brother Zorro is very upset. They were inseperable.

My friend Ellen, whose Keeshonds I have here, passed away today. She sounded very weak when I talked to her yesterday, and I knew it wasn't going to be long. Her dogs have a home here for life, and that brought her comfort.

Heidi, I'm sorry to hear about the passing of your friend, however it would have been such a comfort for her to know that her dogs are with you.
No crias yet?

No crias yet. At least one overdue. Maybe I need to squeeze London to get it to pop out.

Still no crias! Don't they know the world is waiting for them?
I've been dealing with a hacked credit card account. Lost about $200, which could have been a lot worse. The claim is that they supposedly sent me a 6 digit code which I supposedly accepted. It didn't happen. I was on the road trip on the date it happened, I was out of mobile phone range, nowhere near a tower. And I haven't bought anything online for months. The bank has cancelled my credit card and is issuing another ny snail mail - 5-7 days. So inconvenient, I have had to alter all my auto debits to Col's credit card so that my bills get paid. My only hope of retrieval of the money is to get a letter from my mobile provider proving that my phone did not get the 6 digit code and I didn't accept it. Isn't it strange that when you need help from phone providers they have websites that need a degree in IT to understand, and that it's impossible to speak to a real person. AARRGGHHH!

That's awful CynB - the phone company should have to prove they actually sent it to your mobile with time and date and your acceptance. My daughter had her credit card stolen from her purse at work and was used in the local area for a lot of purchases under $200. She eventually was repaid after months of haggling but only after the bottle shop had video evidence she was not there. Turned out to be a girl who worked for her.
I have been hacked too - was informed by VicRoads with my licence renewal. Apparently a financial loan company was hacked and they got my details. Strange because I have never ever had that type of loan or bought anything on tme payment. I was brought up if you didn't have the cash for it, you had to wait and save. The only thing we ever had on time purchase was our house. (through a govt. loan) Now I have to go through a 2 step id every time I show my drivers' licence.
Time to feed the 'mamas' some rogan josh Heidi - heard that helps to hurry things along. Looking forward to seeing the little crias.
Bit confused about my treatment at the moment. Nurse today told me my permacath would be removed next week but last week Dr told me it would stay until the end of Intragam infusion (which has now been extended to March).Will try and talk to nephrologist today to sort it out.
Beautiful day again - sunny and pleasantly warm with cool breeze.
Cheers to all (Having a good day - accidentally posted this on the wrong page)

This is why I refuse to have a credit or debit card. There are too many theives out there.

No news from London, yet, but Barbie had a big, medium brown female cria today. I thought Barbie was going to be the second one to give birth. I'll post a picture.

Beautfiul cria Heidi - have you named her?

Her name is ''Cocoa'', a name suggested by my late friend Ellen for another of my alpacas of the same color (who came with the name ''Skipper'').
btw.... Skipper is Cocoa's half sister.

I just heard from Ellen's stepdaughter. She's on her way to pick up Ellen's ashes. She'll be shipping them, along with those of her late Keeshond champions and some of her late husband Joe's ashes, to me to scatter on my farm where I buried her dog Plum. That's what Ellen wanted.

Greetings to all! I apologize for my absence and lack of time to read all of the posts I've missed. I hope everyone is staying healthy and well rested!

Life has been crazy here. I don't remember the last time i posted. I'm feeling well, but struggling since I was in the hospital last month to make sense of combining a diabetic diet with an extremely low fiber diet, even though I have chronic constipation. I spoke with a dietician today and still have quite a lot of competing advice. Seems like this is going to take a lot of time and effort to work out.

I'll try to get here more regularly. All the best to Everyone! Sending lots of {{HUGS}} to all of you!

Heidi, Cocoa ia gorgeous, I love her colour!
Julie, lovely to see you posting again. Glad to hear you are well enough despite your troubles. Isn't getting older awful? If it's not one thing, it's another..
I hope everyone is well and happy!

I have some good news for a change!
Colin has resigned from his job and will finish up and RETIRE at the end of the month.
I can't tell you how happy and relieved we are. For the first time in years, we feel positive.
Our plans are to downsize - give away to family, sell, dispose of everything we don't need. We are going to put the house on the market and expect to get a good price - house prices have hit all time highs.
We then will find an over 50's retirement living option that suits us which will cost much less than what we expect to get from the house, giving us a nice nest egg of funds.
This will take place over the next few months. Ideally we will sort out and downsize our furniture and possessions while we investigate living options in November, and by mid to late Nov, we will put the house on the market and have reserved a new living option, but I want to have one more Christmas here. It has been our home for 20 years and the home our now-grown grandchildren will remember it fondly (I hope) after we.ve gone.
I never thought I'd be so happy to be facing retirement!! (Not putting this on FB yet!)

One thing that doesn't make me happy is poor old dog, Jewel. She won't be able to come with us and she won't cope without us elsewhere so the best option will be to put her to sleep. I get teary thinking of this but it's been inevitable for a while, her health is not good. This is the kindest option. Also I thought that when we put her to sleep we will bury her in our garden here, in the only home she's known.

Great news CynB - that is a big decision Colin has made. Awful about Jewel, most places here in Vic will take existing pets in retirement villages - hope you can find a suitable on of those.
Do not envy you the culling of furniture and keepsakes . I try to do this occasionally and find it very difficult. I am sure your grandies will help - a big start to the new year in a new home.
Good to see you Julie - hope you are able to manage a diet that is suitable for you. We are juggling here with lactose free, gluten free, diabetic all together. It is actually a very good diet but a bit boring. (Especially when it comes to desserts and cake with substitute flour just isn't the same)
Heidi - any more crias yet?

London had her cria at 1:00 pm today. It's a huge male white faced medium rose gray male. He was so big that London pushed hard enough to completely prolapse! That means she pushed her enture uterus out after him. I had to call the Vet out (on a Sunday!... and he was out of town) and he rushed back as fast as he could to put it back in (it required an epidural) and then stitch it in place again. She's full of antibiotics and painkillers and a bit out of it right now. I did make sure that the cria got some colostrum in him.
Picture on my page.

London is up, walking, eating and bonding with her cria. She will be OK. I decided to name the cria ''Dusty''.

Beautiful photo Heidi - glad to see London is starting to recover.

I also added a photo of my late friend Ellen, her husband Joe and the 3 Keeshonds. Only 2 Keeshonds are still with us, the 2 on laps.They're very much enjoying farm life.
The National Keeshond club just contacted Ellen's stepdaughter. They'd just heard of Ellen's passing, and were wondering what became of the dogs. They told her that they had a bunch of people who wanted them. Lynn reassured them that Ellen had arranged for a happy home for them before she passed.

All quiet here. London and Dusty are doinf great, and Skipper hasn't started to bag up yet. London gets her stitches our next Monday, and then the pair get to re-join the herd.

A cold front has moved in here, and it is now Fall. I'm enjoying the weather change. So are all the animals here, especially the alpacas.
London will probably get her stitches out in a day and a half.

London got her stitches out, and got a clean bill of health. As soon as we were done, she and Dusty took off for the pasture at a run. London did NOT want us to change our minds.

I just added a picture taken today of both crias!

Skipper is getting close, finally. I'm starting to see udder development, and the cria has dropped into position. I'll watch her closely, since her last cria was huge and had to be pulled by the Vet. We didn't save it, sadly.

Definitely getting coolor outside. We actually have out first frost warning for tonight! I think Dusty and Cocoa are big enough to not need to wear coats to keep them warm, even though the general rule of thumb is that they need extra protection if they're under 40 lbs and it's below 40F. They're both been nursing really well and look like they've gotten a fat layer. And they have the barn to warm up in if needed.

Skipper still keeping her cria from meeting you Heidi?
CynB - must be an exciting time fo you and Colin with his retirement approaching. Busy times ahead with Christmas and home hunting.
Not much happening here - my rejection episode is over and now on new meds. Hubby back from Sydney and 2nd son stil in Thailand with gf. Big decision time for him coming up.
Hope everyone is keeping well, cheers for now.

THE OLD PHONE ON THE WALL.... HELLO
When I was a young boy, my father had one of the first telephones in our
neighborhood.... I remember the polished, old case fastened to the wall. The
shiny receiver hung on the side of the box. I was too little to reach the
telephone, but used to listen with fascination when my mother talked to it.

Then I discovered that somewhere inside the wonderful device lived an
amazing person. Her name was 'Information Please' and there was nothing she
did not know. Information Please could supply anyone 's number and the
correct time.

My personal experience with the genie-in-a-bottle came one day while my
mother was visiting a neighbor. Amusing myself at the tool bench in the
basement, I whacked my finger with a hammer, the pain was terrible, but
there seemed no point in crying because there was no one home to give
sympathy.

I walked around the house sucking my throbbing finger, finally arriving at
the stairway. The telephone! Quickly, I ran for the footstool in the parlor
and dragged it to the landing. Climbing up, I unhooked the receiver in the
parlor and held it to my ear.

'Information, please' I said into the mouth piece just above my head.

A click or two and a small clear voice spoke into my ear.

'Information.'

'I hurt my finger...' I wailed into the phone, the tears came readily enough
now that I had an audience.

'Isn 't your mother home?' came the question.

'Nobody 's home but me,' I blubbered.

'Are you bleeding?' the voice asked.

'No,' I replied. 'I hit my finger with the hammer and it hurts.'

'Can you open the icebox?' she asked.

I said I could.

'Then chip off a little bit of ice and hold it to your finger,' said the voice...

After that, I called 'Information Please' for everything.. I asked her for
help with my geography, and she told me where Philadelphia was. She helped
me with my math.

She told me my pet chipmunk that I had caught in the park just the day before,
would eat fruit and nuts..

Then, there was the time Petey, our pet canary, died.. I called,
Information Please,' and told her the sad story. She listened, and then said
things grown-ups say to soothe a child. But I was not consoled. I asked her,
'Why is it that birds should sing so beautifully and bring joy to all
families, only to end up as a heap of feathers on the bottom of a cage?'

She must have sensed my deep concern, for she said quietly, ' Wayne , always
remember that there are other worlds to sing in.'

Somehow I felt better.

Another day I was on the telephone, 'Information Please.'

'Information,' said in the now familiar voice. 'How do I spell fix?' I asked.

All this took place in a small town in the Pacific Northwest . When I was
nine years old, we moved across the country to Boston . I missed my friend
very much.

'Information Please' belonged in that old wooden box back home and I
somehow never thought

Continued...

'Information Please' belonged in that old wooden box back home and I
somehow never thought of trying the shiny new phone that sat on the table in
the hall. As I grew into my teens, the memories of those childhood
conversations never really left me.

Often, in moments of doubt and perplexity I would recall the serene sense of
security I had then. I appreciated now how patient, understanding, and kind
she was to have spent her time on a little boy.

A few years later, on my way west to college, my plane put down in Seattle
.. I had about a half-hour or so between planes. I spent 15 minutes or so on
the phone with my sister, who lived there now. Then without thinking what I
was doing, I dialed my hometown operator and said, 'Information Please.'

Miraculously, I heard the small, clear voice I knew so well.

'Information.'

I hadn 't planned this, but I heard myself saying,
'Could you please tell me how to spell fix?'

There was a long pause. Then came the soft spoken answer, 'I guess your
finger must have healed by now.'

I laughed, 'So it 's really you,' I said. 'I wonder if you have any
idea how much you meant to me during that time?'

I wonder,' she said, 'if you know how much your calls meant to me.

I never had any children and I used to look forward to your calls.'

I told her how often I had thought of her over the years and I asked if I
could call her again when I came back to visit my sister.

Please do', she said. 'Just ask for Sally.'

Three months later I was back in Seattle .. A different voice answered,

'Information.'

I asked for Sally.

'Are you a friend?' she said.

'Yes, a very old friend,' I answered.

'I 'm sorry to have to tell you this, 'She said. 'Sally had been working part
time the last few years because she was sick. She died five weeks ago.'

Before I could hang up, she said, '

Wait a minute, did you say your name was Wayne ?' '

Yes.' I answered.

'Well, Sally left a message for you.
She wrote it down in case you called.
Let me read it to you.'

The note said, 'Tell him there are other worlds to sing in.
He 'll know what I mean.'

I thanked her and hung up. I knew what Sally meant.

Never underestimate the impression you may make on others..

Whose life have you touched today?

Why not pass this on? I just did.....

Lifting you on eagle 's wings.


May you find the joy and peace you long for.

Life is a journey... NOT a guided tour.

I loved this story and just had to pass it on.

I hope you enjoy it too.

Thank you, DOrA. It brought tears to my eyes.

Day 2 of slow, steady rain. We really needed it. I think we still need a lot more since my creek has completely dried up.
Tonight we're due to get our first hard freeze of the season.

I hope everyone has a fun Hallowe'en. I just wish I could get Trick-Or-Treaters this far out in the middle of nowhere.

When I'm an old lady I'm
going to leave snacks in
little bags on the floor
all over the house
in case I fall down.