Consolidated Kansas

[tntblake]

All my plans for the day were turned upside down. I had to make a run into town for a meeting with a social worker. They have determined my Mom can't function at home any longer and my Dad can't continue to care for her because it is wearing him down and he isn't at all healthy either. It was a very tearful afternoon. My Mom and Dad's 65th anniversary is Thursday. My dad doesn't qualify for the rest home to be able to get medicaid to help pay for it. And my Mom isn't well enough to be admitted into an assisted living facility. And they can't afford either one. My parents don't want to be apart and the both feel like they spent their whole lives to be faced with a 24 hour decision that will ultimately separate them. They both just want to live their lives at home. It is impossible to get 24 hour care and if they could, it would eat every cent of their income.
I cried all afternoon because I feel their pain just as much as they feel their own. I ended up calling the preacher and he came by and talked to Mom and myself after everyone else left. I wish I could just go and stay there with them but it's not really possible. I have to take care of things at home. Now I'm feeling guilty for having all these animals to care for. The doctor is wanting to release her tomorrow if her lungs are clearer, and that means they need to make some decisions by then. It's a sad thing. I so hope I die quickly when I do, and don't linger on when I can no longer function by myself.
I told them they could come live with me but they don't want to be around my cats and stuff. So I feel bad, but I can't just turn out the cats who have been here with me for 15 years. It would be like getting rid of my kids. Not that I choose my animals over my parents, but I just couldn't do that. I'm not sure I could handle doing 24 hour care either. I'm afraid it would tax my relationships and make me feel too tied down. If only they had lots of money they might be able to work something out. I would be in the same spot they are or worse if I am faced with that sort of thing. Life certainly isn't fair.
Thanks for letting me vent. Nope it's not chicken stuff, but I feel at least some of you care.

Oh Verna, My heart is breaking for you and your parents. 65 years is a very long time to be together. I couldn't imagine having to live with out my spouse after 13 years let alone 65. Can your sister and you spend half a day every other day and hire a companion to come in for the other half a day? A companion is cheaper than a home health nurse and will be able to help with meds, household help and other day to day activities. Can they afford/have room for someone to move in to help them? If so, maybe you could find a health aide that can live in. Living in makes it so they have to pay less since the room and board is included in the wages. Then Maybe you and your siblings can help out when the aide has a day off. That's about all I can come up with right now. I hope you are able to come up with a satisfactory solution. I will continue to keep you and your parents in my thoughts and prayers.

 

[Trish44]

Ok, I'm going to bore you with my baby bunny pics, but I can't help it, they're just so darned adorable. They're just 2 weeks old at this point & not out of the nest box yet.





The broken chocolate one is my favorite so far, I think it's a she but they're really too young to be sure yet. At any rate she or he is the biggest one too.


This is Mara, the momma, she's a good momma too.


This is Baby Doll, a black otter. Keep in mind they already had these names, they're pedigreed.


This one is Mira, she's a blue otter. You can't see her coloring very well, but she has a creamy color under her chin & on her belly. She's only 2 months old, so she's still a baby yet. They're adjusting well to their new home so far.

Danz, I'm so sorry to hear about your folks, that's just so hard, sending more hugs your way! I don't blame them for not wanting to be separated after all of these years. It seems like there should be some kind of solution for them. I know what you mean exactly about hoping you die fast, I feel the same way, I don't ever want to have to live in a nursing home, I would rather die first.

Hawkeye, your coop is looking good, you be careful with those tools!

Whew, I'm done in tonight! I went out this afternoon & started on the cleaning out of my coop. I got the riding mower out & hooked on the garden cart onto the back & then got this big tub thing with handles & started carrying out the shavings one container at a time & dumping it into the cart until I had a load. I was making a place to dump it out in the wooded area. I started out with the broken cinder blocks I had & then made the rest of the frame with pieces of limbs laying around & stacking them up. I got two cart loads taken out there before it was time for the chickens to come in to roost & I was getting tired so I quit for the night so I could get all the animals taken care of & things put away before dark. I probably got about a third of the shavings out of the coop so far. It's going to take awhile to get them all out of there so I can clean & then put new shavings in. It has just started to smell in there in the last two weeks, it hadn't really been a problem until then, but it has been since August that the shavings have been building up. I've just been adding more & stirring them up to this point, but it's time to clean it out for the summer. I'm just glad it's going to be warm this week so I can get it done.

I let my little hen out today with the rest of my flock & she did really well. She just went about picking around outside like she's been here forever. Oh, I got 3 more Ameraucana eggs today too, yay! I'm going to put a few EE eggs in with them to help fill in if I don't have enough for the incubator. I keep having people ask me for chicks, but I have waited forever for these two hens to start laying again. One of them lays a really pretty sky blue egg & the other lays one that is kind of blue/green. They insist on laying the eggs clear back in the back of the darned dog house so I have to crawl in there to reach them, uck, I hate having to get down in the chicken poop to collect eggs! So Taz, we may have some little chickies hopefully from your Blackie boy, he's been a busy guy, I hope we get some anyway, we'll see.

 

[cherwill]

Quote:

Oh Verna, My heart is breaking for you and your parents. 65 years is a very long time to be together. I couldn't imagine having to live with out my spouse after 13 years let alone 65. Can your sister and you spend half a day every other day and hire a companion to come in for the other half a day? A companion is cheaper than a home health nurse and will be able to help with meds, household help and other day to day activities. Can they afford/have room for someone to move in to help them? If so, maybe you could find a health aide that can live in. Living in makes it so they have to pay less since the room and board is included in the wages. Then Maybe you and your siblings can help out when the aide has a day off. That's about all I can come up with right now. I hope you are able to come up with a satisfactory solution. I will continue to keep you and your parents in my thoughts and prayers.

I was going to suggest looking for a companion, as well. I know some people have done it and it's not necessarily more expensive than a nursing home or other care facility. What a nightmare. I can't imagine having to live without my husband. It seems inhumane to force that on people at their most vulnerable times rather than just work out a shared room or something for them.

Beautiful rabbits, Trish.

 

[sapphireblu76]

Welcome, Mandilynn, I'm in Hutchinson, too

 

[tweetysvoice]

Wasn't online at all today - was in the hospital with my daughter! We have a baby girl! I'm a grandma!! Kaylea Lorraine - Born 10:42pm (3.12.12) 7lbs 4 oz 20inches long
I'm exhausted. She went into labor 4am so it was a long day. Had to share a pic

 

[sapphireblu76]

Congratulations, Tweety!!!!!!!! She's beautiful!

 

[HEChicken]

Tweety - congratulations to you and your daughter. She sounds like a healthy weight and that is a beautiful name. When do you think you'll be bringing her home?

 

[Hawkeye95]

Danz, I'm so sorry about this. I can't imagine being split up and the money is always an issue, isn't it. Perhaps there is some happy compromise in there. Maybe your dad could spend his days with your mom at the facility. It still doesn't sound ideal either way, and what a BIG change to be deciding on. I prayed last night for you and your parents and will continue to do so. This is all just moving so fast.

 

[Hawkeye95]

Trish, gorgeous bunnies!!! I love that black one! WOW! I'll be careful with the grinder from now on-- I was choking up on it too high and got my finger caught in it. SCARY!! It bit thru my gloves fast and only got a little scrape on my flesh. I was lucky. I actually dropped the grinder to the ground and even after releasing the button, it took a while to wind down, so it ground down into the ground a bit. I have a lot more respect for that tool.

Tweety--- BIG HUGE BABY CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!!!!!

What a beautiful baby!! You are going to have so much spoiling that child. Oh and all the diapers!! Well if you ever convince your DD to go cloth, talk to me!

Who was it talking about the Maran's eggs? I got side tracked and forgot. I've read here on BYC that they are thicker shelled and not very porous. Got me to wondering if that was true and then found this on a website about the eggs: ANyway-- I also read on BYC that they are supposed to be incubated at a higher humidity to offset the lack of gas exchange, but I don't remember where I saw that-- I'll have to hunt that down.

http://www.marans.eu/loeufang.htm#loeufang
The shell represents approximately 10% of the weight of the egg. In the Marans, when these optimum conditions are met, one notes that the solidity of the shell is greater than that of eggs of other breeds. According to measurements and calculations carried out, we could highlight which Marans hen’s eggs had a more solid shell than that of traditional eggs. The thickness and the solidity of the eggshell of the Marans is now scientifically shown. It is precisely the thickness of this less porous shell with a fine and tight grain which, but decreasing the gaseous exchange, avoids the oxidation of its contents: the air penetrates with difficulty into the egg and its conservation is somewhat prolonged. This lower permeability often causes decreased hatchability of approximately 5 to 10% compared to majority of other breeds.

 

[Hawkeye95]

OKay, this is the last I look up on the maran's, since I know next to nothing about them. LOL

But I thought this was interesting--- (some of this was mentioned on that first website anyway if you read it)
"Dark shelled Marans eggs are not the easiest to hatch as the shell is so thick and waterproof, probably from their originally having been bred in a marshy area and needing to have extra strong waterproof eggs. Apparently the eggshell when formed is white, but as it passes through the oviduct the brown pigment is applied layer by layer, with the darkest eggs having the most coats of pigment. That is why the first egg of a 3 day laying cycle is always darker - it has spent longer being coloured. Each coat of colour increases the thickness of the shell making it that much more difficult for oxygen to reach the developing embryo, and for sufficient room to build up to in the "airsac" to allow the chick to move around when it is due to pip, and also making it more difficult for the chick to escape the shell. "

Also those hens which lay the very darkest of the eggs can retain their egg so long in the oviduct that the first cell can develop past its critical stage, so that when the egg is finally laid the cell has developed too far to stand the temperature shock, and will show as an infertile egg. Another problem can be that at the first stage of development temperature is critical, and the temperature within the oviduct is higher than a brooding tmeprature. This cuases problems which dont show until the final stages when the egg will show as a "late death"