JANUARY 2023

ELLEN:
I think the hens are going on 3 years old. I started out with 8, three got killed by (probably) foxes in broad daylight, and two died of some kind of wasting away illness about a month apart. The hens were so prolific with their eggs, I sort of think they laid themselves into an early death. Up until this last fall, they laid every day, all year long. I got them from Tractor Supply, a red sex-linked breed. I wonder if they have been bred to lay more than is healthy for them. The remaining three stopped laying this fall while molting, which is good for them. They have restarted laying, but not every day. I think that when they go to chicken heaven, we may take a break in raising chickens. We've had chickens and peacocks for over 35 years. With the peacocks gone, the urge to have chickens isn't as great.


I am using my new laptop! Wow, it is so nice. It has a touch screen that will take some getting used to for me. The screen is so clear and detailed compared to my limping laptop. Nice!

Hi Gang,

We've had two days of rain and more tonight predicted. It looks like Indy and Ellen have had weather of some sort.
My friends in CA are under water.............at least they are safe but the entire mess is just plain sad.

My neighbor brought over some cheese cake this afternoon..............YUM.

I have to make a dental appt. I will do it soon............just can't force myself to do it.


Talk to you soon............

We had some rain yesterday, but nothing out of the ordinary. We actually haven't had much rain or snow for a while, so it was a good thing.
The lake has frozen and thawed three times so far. At the moment, it's open water. The colder weather this weekend should see it freeze up again.

My embroidery sewing machine is 10 years old and it needed some repair. Friend Sherry and I had taken both our machines to a place in Indianapolis that is well known for being good with repairs on these hi-tech machines. Yesterday, we went back to pick up mine. Hers was repaired while we were there the first time. They are good, but I would not apply the word "fast" to it. We stopped at a Cracker Barrel on the way home and had lunch. It rained now and then on the way home, but nothing bothersome.
So today, I will set up the machine and get started on some dishtowel birthday presents.

I feel bad for California. I have a 90 year old Aunt who lives within walking distance but just outside a little village not far from Santa Cruz. There is what is normally a little creek that runs through the village. The village had to be evacuated because the little creek turned into a raging river. Fortunately my Aunt lives just far enough away and up a slight hill that her house is safe.

Nothing exciting is happening around here. I had a tooth that had a crown worked on last week so I feel for you GRAYMARE. They had to remove the crown, and fix a cavity that had started right at the point where the crown and the tooth met. I'm now waiting on my new crown. I am such a white knuckle dental patient. I also have a high tolerance for the numbing agents. It takes a lot to numb me and a long time for it to totally numb a tooth. I kept flinching pretty much the whole time. They kept stopping and after a while I just told them to keep going to get it over with. The day before I got my second shingles shot so by the third day I had a sore arm and a sore jaw.

Indy, I hope your arm and your jaw feel better this evening.

ELLEN  Thanks for that reminder about Carol. I had forgotten that, and now that I have the same need, I find that image encouraging.
 
 Some of my problem with the O2 bottle, I can see, comes from not having worked out all the tricks to make it easier.   Do not keep it hanging around your neck while trying to use the john in the supermarket,  for example! Not at least when wearing a long winter coat and sweater and long johns! Funny in retrospect but not so much then. I had so much trouble grappling with the weight of the bottle and all the tubing coiling around me that for a time I expected to end up head first and upside down in the toilet, arms and legs flailing.
 
ARK and others - I got some hearing amplifiers (not aids) on line a couple of years ago, and they do help. I think I paid about $150 each for them, and got them separately, ordering the second only after I'd tried out the first. Maker was Banglijian, and it looks like they've now upgraded at about the same price. But I also see other companies' models that look just like mine -- -- behind-the-ear and rechargeable, with a plug that goes in the ear -- for prices way, way lower.   Where mine have been helpful is at home with the TV, and in quiet situations with one, or only a few, others present. I liked that company.
 
First day in a long time without rain or snow or sleet, so I made the40-mile round trip to the bank and a Dollar Tree.  Stopped on the way home at my friend's to buy some of her eggs but she wasn't home. Will go back there tomorrow after picking up a supermarket grocery order in the other direction. They have a "To-Go" program that I've come to love. Pick out all your groceries and pay for them on line, then just appear at a prearranged hour in the parking lot, and they'll trundle everything right out to your car. Big market, big inventory, everything there on screen, clear and detailed, at a very user-friendly site. I figure the $5 fee saves me oodles in impulse-buying. Not to mention groaning and wheezing around with that heavy O2 bottle.
 
All this in advance of the storm due to deliver 5 to 8 inches of snow tomorrow night -- the same nest of storms that's swept across the country this week. Though temps today were in the 40s!

INDYAPP:
 Owww.  I am so sorry about the tooth and bruising problems.  I am a dental chicken.   My pinfeathers start sprouting the instant I walk into their office.  My greatest pains have not come from broken bones or deathly illness.  It came from a dentist trying to numb my mouth to extract an abcessed tooth.   Why don't they knock us out or give us laughing gas for these wicked painful procedures?  I hope you become painfree quickly.  

BEECH:
 Wow, eggs have become a luxury item.  Hard to believe.  I may have to think kinder thoughts about my hens.... and maybe squeeze them
a little for encouragement....
 I am sorry,  but I did laugh at the mental picture you painted about using the restroom .  I know it wasn't funny at the time.    And I bet you didn't want anything to touch the floor during all your acrobatics either!   Public bathrooms are like airplane seating, they get smaller all the time.   Having all those clothes and things to wrangle and then having to open the door inwards to get out of the place is just unreasonable!

 And now ear technology to learn about.... sigh.... I have been getting ads for hearing devices that start at about $89.  At least they aren't the $5000 my friend paid a few years ago.

 Stay warm, BEECH!!

ELLEN:
I guess Travis isn't getting much time on the frozen lake this year. The coming snow may make him happier! (It wouldn't make me happy, but I am glad someone likes it.)

GRAYMARE:
  Stay safe in that rain.  I hope no flooding happens in your area.  I always thought California would drop off into the Pacific after The Big One.  I never thought about it washing away.


We've been having a lot of rain, although not like the West Coast.  We've been staying muddy with no breaks of dryness for some time.  It's been fun.   No trail rides.   I did finally get an arena ride on Ivan yesterday, the first this year.   Today he was getting trims, it was an actual sunny 60 degree day,  so I spent an hour with Areion.  She kept nibbling me while I was watching Ivan get his trims, so I gave her the attention, if not the treats, she was wanting.  I brushed her within an inch of her life, then spent the rest of the hour tacking her up for the first time in a long time.  She is bigger than Ivan by quite a bit, but I think the saddle fits her okay.  Getting her bridle adjusted was harder.  She didn't like the metal bit, it may not feel good on her teeth.  So I changed it to the old plastic one we used years ago.  That seemed to suit her better.  I think she is going to have to wear it awhile and get used to something in her mouth again.   Anyway,  I finally got it somewhat adjusted and then spent the remaining time having her line up with the mounting block and getting half way into the saddle with my weight in it completely.  She didn't object.  She was actually quite good the entire time, even when I was fiddling with the hated bit.   Next session I will get on her.

Beech, I've been using the grocery pick up for about 3 years now. With Meijer and Walmart, if you order at least $35 of stuff there is no extra charge for it.
Those stores will also deliver. Early in my hip recovery, I did do that once. There is a charge for that, but it was worth it.
I really don't like to shop, and never have. So being able to drive up and have somebody load the stuff in my car is a real bonus. I can drive into town, pick up the groceries and be home in about 45 minutes.
People with little kids love it. They don't have to get the kids out of their car seats, into the grocery cart, keep track of them while they are in the store, and then back into the car seats. My younger cousins with little kids absolutely love it.

Lovely picture ARK. You have spent so much time handling Areion that she will probably just consider you getting on as one more strange thing that Mom does with no other reaction. That is what is so great about horses that have been worked with since day one. Your biggest difficulty will be getting use to her size. She's taller, and her stride is probably bigger. I have just the opposite problem. I have always had big horses so when I ride Lily who is about 15 hands it feels like my feet are dragging the ground and her feet are sore because it feels like she is tippy toing. She's not, she just has a shorter stride. Good luck and enjoy the ride.

Hello everyone...things have been so busy here in PA/  The contractors moved up the date to replace the sun room roof, we had to hustle to get things moved and ready.  They showed up on Monday and were finished by Weds afternoon.  They replace the inside paneling where the water had ruined it.  Since the room is empty, George has decided that we should paint the ceiling before the floor guys show up to put down a tile floor over the concrete.  Always something to repair in a old farm house.  Oh well, it keeps us up and moving and very busy.

I can certainly sympathize with everyone and the dentist issues.  I am the biggest wimp ever at the dentist.  Next Weds I get my new crown and get this temporary out.  Hooray...praying that is the last of my dentist visits for a long time but I doubt it.  My teeth are a mess...

Our weather has been so crazy.  Below zero and then in the 50's.  Knowing how to dress when leaving the house is tricky.The price of eggs is insane here.  Over $5 a dozen for brown eggs at the Amish Market & local grocery store.  Crazy...thank God for friends who raise chickens and local farmers who sell eggs for $3.50 a dozen.

My favorite cashier told me that the grocery store is going to stop using plastic bags to pack groceries in and we are going to have to start bringing our own bags.  I thought she was kidding...NOPE....good thing I have all those totes people were handing out when Covid hit...first it was use your own bags...NO.... don't use those bags they are bacteria filled, now it's going back to use your own bags.  I give up trying to figure out what is going on this country.  WHATEVER is my new battle cry...

Stay safe and healthy as possible everyone...

So far, our grocery stores are still using plastic bags to carry groceries. I save mine and give them to the local food pantry. They always need bags for people to take things home.

Our weather has been fairly mild but will likely get colder for the next several days. I am getting really tired of the perma-gloom.

Speaking of the price of eggs.....

Ark, that is FUNNY!

Now that's an UPTOWN chicken..............Hysterical.

It makes me wonder who has the time and talent to hold a chicken to get that done..............Or is the chicken dead
or tranquilized to get that done?

ADDENDUM: Maybe it's computer wisdom and no chicken at all involved...............?????

GRAYMARE:
There is a chicken culture out there. Chicken clothing, hats, diapers so they can live in your house, chicken leashes so you can walk your chicken, you name it. So I have no doubt someone painted that chicken's nails!


Cold and windy with rain off and on. Time to change the weather, please!

Oh, it's gonna change alright. We're supposed to get a pretty good snow storm starting early Wednesday morning and lasting all day. 5 inches.
I went to the grocery store today and have everything I need to stay holed up for a while. Of course, I know that Travis or his dad would use the snowmobiles to bring me anything I wanted.
They won't be able to play on the lake since there is no ice at all - yet.

Well I canceled my hair appointment and my dentist appointment today because of the HUGE storm that is NOT happening.  Here's the worst news about it.  I had to admit that George was right about the storm.  LOL LOL  He kept telling me wait and see but I had to listen to the crazy weatherman....I'll never live that one down.

Our friends Rick & Bev came over and helped us get the ceiling of the sun room painted.  Thank God for younger friends who pitch in and help with big jobs.  We are going to take them out for a nice dinner for helping.

ARK:  Loved the chicken photo.  It's crazy..the price of everything especially eggs...

Have a great non snow storm day everyone....

Just wait a bit, Trudy. It's coming. It started snowing here about 3 AM and is supposed to continue most of the day. So far, it isn't heavy snow.
However, they did change the warning to an advisory.

I must be the only one that finds the chicken picture kind of creepy. I don't know why.

It's snowing now. A very pretty snow. It's just kind of drifting down and it's not frigidly cold. Maybe we'll continue to be lucky and not have the amount of snow forecasted. So far this winter all the big storms have missed us.

I took my brother out to dinner last night to get him out of the house for a bit. Who knew that Tuesday night was such a big night to go out for dinner? The parking lot was packed. We were able to get right in and seated, but service was slow. That was OK because the whole purpose was to get him out of the house and we weren't in a hurry, but I was surprised. Maybe everyone thought they needed to go out to dinner to beat the snow because they thought they were going to have to eat in for the next few days. LOL.

The farrier is scheduled to come tomorrow. He usually gets a lot more lake effect snow than I do so I'll just have to wait and see if the weather forces him to reschedule. My farrier appointments are always subject to rescheduling due to the weather in the winter. Not that it makes any difference because I'm never there when he comes. Jerry has been my farrier since his kids were little. Now they're grown, married and have kids of their own. I leave the horses in their stalls for him, he trims them and lets them out into the field when he's done. I don't know what I'll do when he retires. He's great.

The snow has arrived. Our road is covered. I'm glad I stayed home...I can do the "I told you so dance" now.

Yep. Trudy, we got several inches this morning, but the temperature is just barely above freezing so a lot of it is compressing. I thought it was heading your way.
Enjoy your "I told you so" dance.

No snow here, just rain.  And mud.  And more rain.  It was so slick and muddy today, we kept the horses in the barn area.  They had hay in front of their noses and were happy as clams all day.    No more rain until Sunday.... hopefully.

INDYAPP:
 Yep.  You are apparently the only one who is anti-chicken nail painting!   I do wonder about people who think things like that up.  Chicken clothing seems to be a hit.    


I rode Areion for about 10 minutes yesterday.  We got her a new bit in the hopes she would like it better.  She has always been a problem with bits.  I think this is her fourth one.   I have great hopes for this one,  it's smooth plastic and shouldn't bother her teeth


 She was so busy mouthing the bit, I don't think she thought about me being on top of her.  We sort of wandered around in the arena.   Neither of us died.   She did do one little spook in place (I have no idea why), but didn't go any further with it than one step.  Good horsey.

Keep up the good work ARK..........Aerion is lovely...........

We are about to get a taste of real winter for the next couple of weeks. At the moment, the temperature is high 20s, but the wind makes it feel a lot colder. The middle of next week will be in the teens and below.
Going to Florida in three weeks is becoming more and more appealing.
The lake froze over AGAIN last night. I may stay frozen a little longer this time.

You may remember me talking about a neighbor from Finland. In the last 5 years, she's had a stroke, her husband died 3 years ago, her house was sold, and she is living with her daughter and son-in-law in Estes Park, CO. We got a picture of her a few days ago. She looks great at 89. Apparently, her speech and memory are starting to wane, but we are so happy that she looks good and well-cared for.
She has talked about getting languages confused. She was born in Finland, spent some time during WW2 in Sweden, and then came to the USA as a teenager. Right after her stroke, she was mixing up all three languages, so nobody could understand her. She realized she needed to concentrate on English.

My nephew posted this six years ago (he's now about 60), and I thought the dentistry phobes here might appreciate it!

I keep trying to post the attached without luck. One more try here! By my nephew, who's now 60-ish.