The Old Folks Home

[Cynthia12]

Happy Labor Day to all!

The annual tradition here is to put labor back into Labor Day and roast up the harvestable peppers from the garden. This year I put in a large tract of corn which displaced my peppers, so only a pithy harvest of large-enough ones to roast (about 4 lbs. which yielded 3 lbs of chopped roasted chile peppers...or six 1/2 cup baggies.) So with that done in record time, off to other things.... Like maybe a movie this afternoon.

deb --
The shrimp in a styrofoam cup sounds suspiciously like ceviche. Was the shrimp cooked via lime juice immersion? Delicious either way.

microchick --
There was a neat compilation on FB of people that disguised surgical scars with tattoos. I particularly liked the fish head with skeleton ones.

Birds are molting here. Stew the Roo has but one tailfeather. The flock looks like they're halfway to Tyson. It's still somewhat warm out, so I don't worry too much about their nakedness and catching a chill. Fall is on the horizon, though, as it's not scorchingly hot in the mornings...meaning I can sometimes delay getting out to the veggie compound for watering until late morning.

I had a friend -- I enabled her chicken habit -- who's a photographer come over for a visit. I've been after her to eat more veggies for health concerns. I sent her home with some goodies from the garden, and she posted them. I think she did them justice!
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Beautiful!

 

[Cynthia12]

Thank goodness for that, Cap.

We have just a generic gas generator. Works great except it's a bit of a gas hog. But then I think they all are. Folks get into this false sense of security with them until they realize in a disaster that they have one and BTW where can I buy gas?

That happened to us once. All the gas stations in the town were closed down due to a bad winter storm. That taught us a lesson about keeping ample gas on hand.

The neighbors with solar have a back up generator to use to charge their batteries in cloudy weather where the solar energy isn't enough to do to job. If we hear it DH usually asks where that motor is that he's hearing run continuously and I just tell him it's the neighbors who are saving money running solar except they are losing money siphoning gas into the generator to charge their batteries.

We have a gas generator. Was great while camping..hey, you can always get gas from your car/truck. Great to have on hand. We have a neighborhood watch for Emergencies. Checked out a list of things we could share in case of an emergency.

 

[Cynthia12]

Hi. Finally got byc on my iPad!

Hi Maddy..

 

[Cynthia12]

Caught up. Haven't checked yet to see what the hurricane is doing. Was moving slow last I heard.

 

[getaclue]

Hi maddysmamaw. How's your foot doing?

 

[ronott1]

Sorry for the rant, but this Old Folk has something to say!

Do you ever go outside? Are there grass, bushes, trees?

Don't do what I did and get complacent about ticks. We haven't seen one here since early July, and I didn't see the one that got me. Did you read about my migraine? That was no migraine. I contracted anaplasmosis, one of the less well-known tick-borne diseases, and after 4 days of that headache was in the hospital with sepsis, on IV antibiotics and fluids, with a white blood cell count less than half of normal, platelet count of 33,000 (normal = 140,000), low potassium and magnesium (I take magnesium daily), elevated liver function tests, and blood and sugar in my urine.

Pain that felt like railroad spikes being driven repeatedly into my head appeared intermittently, and a delay at the hospital pharmacy meant almost 2 hours of whimpering and writhing in pain before adequate doses of morphine and two doses of Vicodin stopped it.

Please, please, take all the tick precautions. I own (and will go right back to using) Lyme-Eez gaiters, pyrethrin-infused clothes, and DEET spray for my boots, and I will stop just ducking out unprepared to catch the chickens or pick tomatoes. I will check my body as soon as I come in, because a tick that will give you anaplasmosis only needs to be attached for 4-6 hours, not 12 or 24 or 48. I won't imagine that I should restart precautions after ticks resurge in the fall. I will remember that if I see any tick, there's a 50% chance that it will be infected with Lyme or another dangerous virus in Vermont.

Don't become complacent! It's so easy, and the price is so high. I was so sick that my thinking was impaired and into the equation about whether or not to seek medical help went the hour-long drive to my PCP, the lack of nearby urgent care centers, and other factors that are interesting logistical problems but not reasons to neglect essential medical care.

Don't do what I did. The risk is too high.

Wow!

I will definitely watch out for ticks. It is good that you are recovering

 

[maddysmamaw]

Maddy is good. Their landlord sold the home they were staying in with little warning so they are staying with me for a bit. It’s crowded, but you know I love it

 

[maddysmamaw]

It’s not as swollen today, thanx!

Hi maddysmamaw. How's your foot doing?

 

[getaclue]

I told you the ice would work....hahaha

 

[pertnear09]

Caught up. Haven't checked yet to see what the hurricane is doing. Was moving slow last I heard.

1 mph.