Coronavirus, Covid 19 Discussion and How It Has Affected Your Daily Life Chat Thread

[Molpet]

Well, some of us started with horses and cattle, and then got into chickens! Maybe backwards, but it's worked for us. And for the folks who think that chickens are difficult and expensive, so not true! Horses, even when at home on pasture, are more challenging.
If a boat is a hole in the water into which you pour money, horses are that hole in the pasture...
Mary

Yes we had horses when I was growing up until they were 30 something and I had to put them down. Back then they were free ranging on 10 acres with no barn. Only fed them in the winter. Not legal around here to not have a barn anymore. My cousin still has horses and can't understand why I don't have them anymore. She has a barn and an arena... hasn't rode in yrs because of a bad back

 

[Folly's place]

I haven't ridden in years either, since my 'steady eddie' mare died. We are down to only four 'pasture ornaments' now, and won't be getting any more. Two mares are very ridable and should be out there gainfully employed, and two are on disability.
Mary

 

[SnapdragonQ]

I haven't ridden in years either, since my 'steady eddie' mare died. We are down to only four 'pasture ornaments' now, and won't be getting any more. Two mares are very ridable and should be out there gainfully employed, and two are on disability.
Mary

When people get after me for not riding more, I tell them that when I asked my horse he said that he's perfectly happy to just eat and sleep all day. The BLM burro raised his eyebrows and asked the horse...You mean you actually let the humans make you work??

 

[TropicalBabies]

@IamRainey , I hope you get great new neighbors (who think your chickens and roos are awesome) it does seem a scary thing getting new neighbors because so many times it is trading down and their is not much you can do about it. Keep us posted lol neighbor watching and judging is the new favorite covid past time. What a time to be moving right? Is everyone bugging out of the cities? Over here they are buying up properties on the Big Island. We even got solicited via mail...

So true with that instant gratification of a "like" or "thumbs up" on SM. It is good to have someone approve or validate thoughts and/or existence. It is a heavy lift for chickens to accomplish on their own.

Super fabulous my girls are starting to get into their winter lay pattern. My best time of year- and NYE seems to not have altered their algorithms- or eggorithms- maybe. Found Brahma in the nest box @ 5am after hearing the flock alarm. I may even get to make another quiche!

Fabulous subject turn and quasi on topic being horses can be a covid safe activity for the most part. I am ASHAMED to say that I have not played with my boy much after DH took over the feeding responsibilities. I just let chickens and home chores consume all of my extra time, being my chickens are so much easier, fun and much more appreciative for sure. My boy is sour and disrespectful but snaps out of it with work- I have not worked him in too long and he and I both miss it, I am really feeling the pangs of guilt. I am (much lol) better than DH at the all around horse care of groundwork, grooming and organization of pasture. Hopefully when DH and I finish decks and solar we will get back into our swing b4 it gets too hot here. Guess I just need to expand my rut.

K. off to make my man some pancakes. Looking forward to checking in to BYC later all- maybe get some of those validating "likes" !

 

[IamRainey]

I left my phone # and e-mail addie with the orchids and got a call from my new neighbor yesterday. He seems like a nice enough person -- cheerful, friendly. Every reason to expect a pleasant relationship.

Seems they'll do a bit of work on the property before they move in. Can't imagine what! Our previous neighbors upgraded everything and turned their little half acre into a paradise with an outdoor kitchen, fully finished and soundproofed pool house (he was a hobbyist drummer), sports court and even a tiny orchard with 8 or more citrus trees.

Anyway, I'm sure they'll be cordial neighbors and we'll try to do the same. Truth is, we've always had nice neighbors. I had more personal relationships with some than others but can't say I've ever had a problem that didn't get resolved.

Live and let live! I'm a HUGE fan and it always works out well for me. Maybe in an urban environment our proximity ups the ante on finding ways to co-exist. At least it seems to me the more metropolitan and multicultural the environment, the more messy things may get but the more tolerant we find ourselves settling out to be. I like it that way. I may enjoy getting away from Los Angeles but I'm always happy to be back in our gritty but real live-and-let-live corner of the world.

 

[MROO]

Oh they have different numbers, claim close to same number of people die every year, just different causes.
https://pjmedia.com/news-and-politi...ves-lets-take-a-look-at-federal-data-n1212997

Waymanint! These hoaxers and naysayers are missing the WHOLE POINT of lockdowns. We KNOW how deadly this virus can be to a large proportion of of population. We KNOW how sick people can get without dying. We even KNOW some of the longer term effects those who recover can suffer .. probably for the rest of their lives - which is why they're called "long-haulers!" Best yet, we KNOW how to prevent the spread and many are following the protocols.
Ergo ...
If we're following recommendations and using the lockdowns and quarantines and the "total deaths from any causes" numbers don't skyrocket ... it means ... DUH! ... that THE PROTOCOLS ARE WORKING!
Correlation ... If it's below freezing outside and I add a coat and mittens to my coat ... I won't get frostbite. I may still have a heart-attack ... but I most likely WON'T die from hypothermia. Would I have died from hypothermia if I hadn't worn my hat mittens, maybe not ... but why chance it? The preventions are easy. The repercussions of foregoing them? Not so much!

 

[MROO]

FB is like any other tool. It's all how it's used.
The local groups of history, nature and farm are great.
I ignore a lot of the stuff.

I use it to share general info with distant family, get word on school reunions, and some marketplace stuff. Oh - and to keep track of my local animal rescue contacts now that we're not meeting regularly anymore. So yep, I use it, but I don't rely on it ... it's just a reference and jumping-off point.

 

[MROO]

If a boat is a hole in the water into which you pour money, horses are that hole in the pasture...
Mary

The hole in the pasture that leads to the hole in the fence that leads to the BIG hole in your wallet. Been there, done that, too! I wish I had a dime for every time I chased horses in my bathrobe as a kid. Dad's idea of a "good fence" was a "pretty fence." It was years before he admitted that we were right ... the boards need to be on the INSIDE of the posts and latches needed super-engineering to be Billy-proof!

 

[MROO]

I haven't ridden in years either, since my 'steady eddie' mare died. We are down to only four 'pasture ornaments' now, and won't be getting any more. Two mares are very ridable and should be out there gainfully employed, and two are on disability.
Mary

We have five semi-retirees in the barn/pasture, only one of which is under 30 (just barely!) Two belong to my crew, but we have total access to the other three, and all but one get taken out periodically. Not as often as we'd like, but it's hard since they are no longer in my back yard. It's an adventure to get out to the satellite farm, but DD manages to ride once or twice a week, usually with a friend or two or the owner of the other three horses. I generally do "barn-duty" and babysit the pasture ornament, who goes absolutely panic-stricken ballistic when left behind. We have long grooming sessions and go for lead-rope walks while The Boys are out and about. When the weather is nice, we go play in the stream/pond. She chases frogs!

 

[IamRainey]

MROO. Admire that you put it so well!

I also wonder if people could benefit from the lessons of my 50s generation. Today we have a chicken pox vaccine and one day the very painful disease of shingles may be a historic oddity. However, before the vaccine when I was a kid, when word of a kid with chicken pox at some opportune time like the summer made the street, parents were lined up outside the doors to make play dates and get their kids infected at convenient times. The theory went that childhood diseases were inevitable so they might was well get it over with before the kids missed school.

I don't know if anyone knew -- they certainly weren't throwing it into the mix -- that the reasonably benign chicken pox virus would take up residence in our bodies and mutate so that it could eventually resurface as the very painful variant shingles. I've known people who suffered with it for months at a time! I was lucky enough to have a very mild case of chicken pox when I was little and, blessedly, when I got shingles it sucked but an antibiotic knocked it out pretty fast.

Likewise, the Ebola virus takes up residence in surviving victims' eyeballs and can re-emerge. Frankly, it would be awful enough for me just to know I had a virus living and mutating in my eyeballs!!!

So there are Covid long-haulers, as you say, MROO, but we don't yet know if there will be people who find that it has a future expression worse than the current one. Playing Russian Roulette with viruses Just. Isn't. Smart.

OTOH, there's a theory of epidemiology that proposes that the people getting the first vaccinations probably should be the deniers who are running around most likely to infect others and act as super spreaders. IF they can identify them and talk them into getting vaccinated mabbe they could talk them into sterilization as well as they really don't belong in the civilized gene pool. (OK. See how I'm starting out the New Year by being a MUCH finer person???? You're welcome!)