2024, animals, Family, Farming Update, Nature, pets, Seasons, Weather

Almost There

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The weekend Farm Report comes to us from Ben.

The chickens and us survived January’s cold spell and the only casualties were my truck batteries and the electric bill. The truck, being a diesel, takes two batteries. I’ll replace them next week when it’s in positive temperature digits. Last Friday, as the storm was winding down, Kelly and I took the truck up the road just to see how bad it was. (It was only bad in spots) Then Tuesday when I needed the truck, it cranked pretty slow, but I ran it for a few hours and figured it would be fine on Wednesday. Nope. Just the dreaded click. Changed my plans and took the dog to the vet in the back of the car. (Humphrey tore a toenail and needed that trimmed off).

The chickens did fine hanging out inside and waiting for me to bring them more food and water. They didn’t seem to mind either way. Egg production went down a bit; 18 eggs per day rather than 24.

From this photo, you’ll see many of them seem to prefer this one nest box. They still like their groups of 3 and I often find nest boxes with three eggs in them. And nine is a variant of three, so it still works I guess. Production will recover as it warms up. I was taking corn to them by their pen as they didn’t venture outside very far. Above zero and a nice calm, sunny day and they do pretty good. Below zero and they just stand peeking out the door.

Kelly saw five male pheasants down by the barn and it’s always so fun to see them. There should be about 10 or 11 or, at least, there was last year. I assume the rest will find the corn eventually as word spreads in the pheasant community.

The deer community has come together in this cold weather. Here’s a picture of a herd spotted in our fields this week.

And a little further down the road, another group this large. I’m telling you, we have too many deer. Stupid deer.

This fall I put a smaller tank heater in the water tank down by the barn. It works fine when it’s above about 10 degree’s. It isn’t worth diddly in temps below that. When I put a frozen water bucket in the tank, I have to chip it out of the ice again in the morning, but the bottom will be thawed and I can knock the ice out and refill for the chickens.

I think by Monday I’ll be able to turn off the wellhouse heater. (see electric meter) I put 25 bales of straw around it last Thursday before it snowed.

Doesn’t seem to help hold the temp above freezing when it’s less than about 10 degree’s outside. Which makes me wonder: I’d think with the cement floor, the ground inside should be warmer, so am I losing that much heat out the roof? Should I put bales on the roof too? I rebuilt three of the four walls in 2013. The fourth wall is against a tree so it was too much trouble to rebuild.

I am lucky I didn’t need any tractors this week, but I kept the one plugged in just in case. (again, see electric meter). Kudo’s to all the people working in this weather and doing what needs to be done.

Next week I’m going to wash the car!

WHAT WILL YOU DO NEXT WEEK?

72 thoughts on “Almost There”

        1. I don’t, but according to Snopes the quote appears in several publications much earlier than Lennon’s use of it.

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    2. Most of the time she does pretty well. Sometimes she still starts — or encourages— a Fight.
      She’s so young. Bouncing off the walls, run everywhere young. 😉

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  4. The carpet installers finished yesterday, and we will move what furniture we can back to its proper place and put books away. The flood mitigation guys will come sometime next week to move the heavier furniture. Then all that will be left is for the fireplace guys to reinstall the gas stove in the family room.

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    2. It may take them a little longer to get here. They had 150 calls about burst water pipes last week from the cold, so we are not as much of a priority. The cat is really happy, as the new carpet is very soft and cushy to walk on, and it matches her grey fur.

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  5. Hopefully next week I will be driving once again. I have been using a walker inside my unit for the past three days and have experienced no pain. It sure feels good to be walking on two legs again. I still need to wear the boot while doing any weight bearing. At Tuesday’s appointment, I am hoping to start the transition to an ankle brace. Keeping fingers crossed!

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  6. My calendar is relatively light next week. Pippin has a grooming appointment. I have one other appointment. Otherwise, Pippin and I are going to catch up on our walking routine. I will read more, knit more, and continue planning our trip to Ireland.

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    1. ireland is a wonderful destination
      somewhere i read that ireland does not do cities well and i agree
      people are wonderful
      music is wonderful every night in most every bar
      i loved driving the back roads and winging it with b&b options

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      1. Thanks, tim. We’re going to get a B&B in Galway for a crash pad. My friend wants to rent a car so we’ll go straight to Galway from the airport. I’m intimidated by driving on the wrong side the way they do but Colleen said she isn’t afraid. Her ancestors owned a castle there. It was called Farney Castle but was sold and the name was changed. We’re going to go find it and find a bunch of pubs and music on the way. Apparently there are bus tours that take you pub to pub and if you want to, you can play with the band. Sounds great to me! So we’re going to stay in Galway several days, then go south and find a place to stay, then to Kilkenny, then back to Dublin, turn in the rental car, and take the train to Belfast. We’re talking about staying a few days longer now. I also want to see the Book of Kells at Trinity College and other touristy places in Dublin. We were going to stay at Temple Inn but we’re going to cancel that -heard it’s very touristy. Four women, one of whom isn’t very healthy.

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        2. The driving isn’t too bad – you just have to be careful at intersections, especially if you have to make a left-hand turn. Just take those intersections slowly!

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        3. If Ireland is anything like Wales and Scotland, no cars with automatic transmission will be available. So it’s driving on the “wrong” side while sitting on the “wrong” side while manually shifting with the left hand. The roundabouts go clockwise. It’s a lot to keep track of. Fortunately many of the rental cars have built-in gps so you can keep your eyes on the road.

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        4. I don’t know yet whether it’s an automatic or manual transmission. I do know how to drive a manual, but I’m not confident with things switched around. I think Colleen knows how to drive a manual too but she might be less willing if that’s all we can get. I’ve been saying we should be able to get around by bus or train and then just rent a car when we want to explore the countryside. Colleen is worried about the amount of room for luggage in the vehicles available. We agreed on a mid-size SUV. I’m going to pack lightly but check one bag so that I can buy stuff!

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  7. Rise and Shine, Baboons,

    Blevins is tomorrow 2pm at my house.

    During the next week I am just enjoying retirement, because I am finally getting to do the things that are good for me, like water aerobics, exercise, polymer clay. FINALLY!!!! This transition took so long from work and being with my mother to retirement. It is all very not exciting,but satisfying.

    Anonymiss. Let us all see who I am today after I post this.

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  8. I also have a light week, just one thing most days – couple of UU meetings, choir, t’ai chi, meal deliveries, maybe folkdance…
    And my favorite – wine with three other favorite women; we’re forming a sort of support group. One of them has just received an Alzheimers diagnosis. : |

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    3. These days they are not suppose to make that diagnosis because they have learned how often they have been wrong. Proper diagnosis can only be done post mortem. They usually tell patients dementia, as they did Sandra. Her chart says Alzheimer’s like dementia. Neither I nor her gp think she has Alzheimer’s but they have so often been proven wrong both ways. It is unfortunate the term was used.
      Clyde

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      1. I’m curious, Clyde, as to why you think a diagnosis of dementia is any less disturbing than Alzheimer’s? I recognize that Alzheimer’s is a more specific diagnosis, and possibly erroneous in some cases. I also realize that some forms of dementia are more devastating than Alzheimer’s, some possibly less so, but either way it’s a deterioration of the brain. I’m not saying you’re wrong, just wondering.

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        1. Because Alzheimer’s is a loaded word. Most people don’t know anything about other types of dementia. But Alzheimer’s is the word that panics. Neurologists are not supposed to use the word because autopsies have shown they are wrong about 60% of the time. Sandra’s bristles at Alzheimer’s like dementia.

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        2. We had a friend who had frontal lobe dementia which is supposed to be an easy diagnosis in a living person. Autopsy showed he had Alzheimer’s. I spend 5-6 hours a day with a dozen people with dementia. All the old rules about what behavior matches what dementia go out the window when you watch these people for hours and not minutes.

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        3. Renee, let me explain something about my friend with the misdiagnosis, which shows how tricky diagnosis is. He was diagnosed wi the frontal lobe dementia on the basisi of language issues of course. But he always had a silent stutter and always sort of struggled for words and started sentences over, which the doctor probably did not know. Then right after that he got esphogeal cancer, a really ugly way to die. They continued to pursue the dementia issue despite terrible cancer. This was in Rochester. One of the ways that place can be nasty, they were doing rsearch you see. But he quickly died of the cancer, not the dementia. It is easy to see how that error occured.

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      2. I test many with dementia. There are many types of dementia, or Major Neurocognitive Disorder. Some types of dementia are reversible, some less or more severe than Alzheimer’s. I always defer to the neurologist to make the final diagnosis. Lupus, MS, Parkinson’s, urinary infections, all can result in memory issues.

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        1. Sy Safransky, the founder and long-time editor of The Sun magazine, recently stepped down due to dementia. I was fascinated to read his letter to his readers announcing it:

          “But then something unexpected happened. On October 23, 2022, I went to a doctor and found out that my brain is unraveling. An MRI showed that I have severe cerebral atrophy leading to impaired language, executive function, and memory. And I probably have Alzheimer’s.

          I used to have a brain. Now I’m not so sure. In fact, I’m uncertain about so many things.

          Rather than writing about The Sun, I’ve been reading about dementia. Until a year ago I’d never paid any attention to the subject. Now it’s dementia, dementia, dementia all the time. Sometimes I want to say, Fuck dementia!

          When I sit down to write, it’s hard for me to understand what I’ve written. My brain is confused. And so is my heart. Sometimes a friend will read my pages out loud, and I’m amazed: Is that really what I wrote? After editing a magazine for most of my life, I’m a man who no longer knows how to spell a word correctly. All those words lost in the cloud, no way to get them back. I don’t know how long I’ll be able to remember the names of the people I’ve worked with for decades. Or the names of my daughters, or my grandchildren, or my wife, or myself. It’s difficult to follow instructions or to read a clock. I can’t do any math. I’m sometimes confused about what day, month, season, or year it is.

          I don’t know how much more writing I can do. Nonetheless I am writing, and I’m thinking, and I’m grateful to be alive. I’m thankful for the good hearts and strong minds of the people who have worked with me these many years at The Sun.

          Dementia is a horrible disease. Right now I’m in the mild stage. You don’t want to know what the later stages bring. This disease starts in a small region of the brain, then keeps spreading throughout. As the days go by, I know, writing will become more difficult. Sooner or later I won’t be able to find a single word, never mind the perfect word — just as a friend with Alzheimer’s (whose name I can’t remember) couldn’t find the right words, or any words at all.

          For now I want to stop worrying about dementia and sit at my desk and keep writing as best as I can. As my friend Robert Bly — one of American’s most celebrated poets, who also had Alzheimer’s — wrote, “Longing / To find you in a phrase, and be close / There . . . Happy in the change of a single word.”

          And when the time comes, and I hopefully find myself in heaven, perhaps there will be a desk I can sit behind. How wonderful that would be: a man like me with a desk in heaven.”

          I admire his courage, and can only imagine his grief at this heartbreaking diagnosis.

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        2. I always have this awful sinking feeling when I have to go over people’s test results and they are pointing toward a progressive dementia. The worst, though, is when I have had to tell people at risk for Huntington ‘s Disease that they have memory issues and it is time to do the genetic testing, as they probably inherited it from their afflicted parent with Huntington’s.

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  10. OT I bought some matches at Cub last night and was carded. I told my two kids about it last night in one of our online chats. My daughter immediately demanded to know why I was buying matches. Maybe I will plan to just give up this week.
    Clyde

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    1. What!!!??? Why on earth would you be carded for buying matches? I have never of such a thing. Can’t anyone buy matches? That’s bizarre.

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        1. New MN law. Check clerk was astounded too. Popped up on her window. Have to be 18 to buy anything that can be used to start a fire. That’ll stop all those prepubescent arsonists.

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  12. My mom was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s by a Mayo neurologist. The diagnosis was done within a 30-minute appointment after a few of those “mini-mental” memory tests. She totally failed all of them. I always wondered how accurate the diagnosis was. I found the conversation above interesting because it reinforced my belief that the diagnosis was incorrect. She did have some kind of dementia. I just don’t think it was Alzheimer’s.

    She couldn’t figure anything out. She couldn’t read or balance her checkbook anymore. She couldn’t follow a recipe or use a calculator. She didn’t take her meds correctly. She often forgot where she was going or what she was doing. She no longer dressed appropriately, after spending her entire life as a fashion plate. She refused to bathe, and was frequently bizarrely irritable and unreasonable. Once she drove to Austin and checked in at the Mayo Clinic there but there was no appointment and no notes to explain why she went there. She had no memory of it.

    To us, she had become a different person. She never forgot who we were but she did mix the grandkids up. She was always proud. I think when the diagnosis was given, she simply disregarded it as meaningless nonsense. It didn’t help that the neurologist delivered the diagnosis very quickly in a soft voice and I don’t think Mom even understood what she’d said. I sat there feeling like I’d been clobbered, but it barely registered with Mom. As we were leaving, she asked me if I’d take her out for lunch, then go get some ice cream. I asked her if she wanted to talk about what had just happened but she didn’t seem to know what I was talking about. It was a hard day for me but I don’t think it bothered Mom at all.

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    1. We know my mom has some form of dementia, but no one has called it Alzheimer’s. We’re lucky (my family) that one sister was a nurse practitioner working with geriatrics, so she’s our ‘go-to’ and she keeps an eye on meds and all that stuff.

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  13. Most of next week I’ll be taking care of the house and the dog and the cat on my own. YA has gone to Albuquerque for work. I might go to Costco. It’s better to go without YA – as she likes to look around at Costco. I like to go in, get what I want, pay and leave. Pretty sad state of affairs that Costco is the big ticket item on my agenda this coming week…..

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  14. i get so frustrated when i don’t hit send

    i spend 15 minutes typing an epistal and it disappears

    happens too often
    i’m gonna have to start hitting send and come back for the last 4 sentences

    i know ill get back to it but by the time i do it’s gone

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  15. this week i’ll be returning home from florida
    debs birthday is tuesday and my moms friday

    i will celebrate debs birthday with her folks and the come home on thursday in time to do a group birthday on friday
    multiple doctors appts friday
    crash and burn saturday sunday
    i was wondering after i broke my leg if id be able to make the trip to florida as bedridden as i was initially but the healing worked out perfectly
    i’m getting around well and able to use a cane for most things and able to get down on the floor to do my excersise to rehab in sunshine and 60’s as florida i go . florida thinks its cold. i think its fine .
    i’m visiting my card playing buddy who bought a hurricane damaged triple wide that he’s fixing up by himself. he feels bad putting a hobbling old fart to work on but it makes me feel like im doing something to help and we’ve actually gotten a lot done and have a nice list of tasks to finish off before i leave him tomorrow afternoon to go do birthday with deb
    i am looking at ways to crank up my return to fully functional but am aware it’s a process. i still can’t lift my heel to get from gas pedal to brake pedal but it’s comin
    i’m thinking april not march for rejoining the masses but we’ll see
    i’m planning on revamping the big picture so im not just waking up and driving til it’s time for bed
    the alzheimer’s discussion is appropriate because my dads side of the genetics is historically 82 and out. hopefully my different lifestyle will be discovered to be the secret to longevity and my path to quality living beyond but id probably better figure on being ready for multiple outcomes. on my moms side her grandfather the native american lived to 100 and played golf til the end. he said the hard part of getting old was burying all your golf partners. new foursomes are a fragile relationship and then they fall away too
    life … cant live with it cant live without

    so it goes

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  16. This week, haircut Monday, work Tuesday through Friday, Fix-It Clinic Saturday. Then I have a day off next Sunday. Happy that it’s warmer, but I probably won’t wash the car. The doors might freeze shut.

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  17. Well, I currently am running a low grade fever, with congestion and fatigue and aches, and I may be at home on sick leave tomorrow. We shall see how I am in the morning.

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  19. Clyde. I am ok. Long story. Sort of collapsed at Sandy’s assisted living. An aide drove me over. Very bad air gave me extreme migraine and rough night. Exhaustion. Had not eaten I just realized.

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