Michigan Thread - all are welcome!

[Lisa and girls]

And acv is a godsend. I will never not put that in their water.

 

[Candy442]

Does anyone know what happened to summer? Yesterday I drove to a town about 50 miles from here to pick up a friend from the hospital and was amazed by the number of trees that are already starting to turn color. It's as if fall is starting without summer not really happening. While some of the plants in my garden are doing extremely well,others, heat loving crops have yet to reach their potential. I guess it's just a reminder of how fleeting life really is. Maybe it's nature's way of reminding us that we need to appreciate each day as it occurs and not hurry towards the future. We should take the time to enjoy life's flowers as they come remembering that smelling them from the root side probably won't be as wondrous.

The old friend I picked up will soon be 90 years old and is basically in very good health. He had awoke in the middle of the night in extreme pain with what turned out to be a kidney stone. His only living relative is a nephew who has been pushing him to declare him his uncle's guardian and he's convinced that it's not to take care of him but to gain immediate access to his money. Sadly I think that is the nephew's motivation since he placed his own mother in a nursing home where she lasted less than a year. The greed of some people doesn't surprise me since I have a brother who went through all of my mother's money and was trying to set her up for that scenario, yet it still saddens me.

My old friend still adds to my life with his stories and experiences and I wouldn't want one day less that the number that God sees fit to allot him. Why do it seem that so many consider the elderly disposable? Shouldn't we honor their years of contribution by spending time with them?

Opa, I worked with the vulnerable elderly population. If your friend feels he needs someone to assist him with decisions and appoint a Power of Attorney, your dear friend can consider ANYONE to give the honor to. It does not have to be a relative. For that matter, I always recommended that couples designate their DNR orders (no not resuscitate) and also complete a Durable Power of Attorney while they are able to make the decision before emergencies.

The only way any person needs a court appointed guardian is because they are not able to make informed decisions on their own (mentally incapacitated, dementia, for example). Then, there is the court appointed Guardian, who is responsible for living and health decisions and a Conservator who is appointed for the financial part of the decision making. One person can be appointed for both, however in the case of a very large estate it may be wise to have two different people act for the adult.

A guardian is usually accepted at Social Security to be designated the PAYEE of that income, most Banks will allow a court appointed guardian to be a secondary on the bank accounts. It is disturbing to have witnessed the last 10 years working in the field how family members usually are the biggest financial exploiters of their elderly relatives. It happens far more than any other "scam" and is far less reported mostly due to "embarrassment".
We need to respect and honor the elderly. We need to have programs and financial support for their comfort and care. We need to teach our children the respect that they deserve.

Old age is not for "wimps"...that is for sure. I feel for your dear friend and hope he continues to not be bullied into giving his relative that control.

 

[Trefoil]

Can anyone recommend somebody to build a chicken run? I live in Haslett close to the Lansing area. I am thinking it would be about 20 by 40 in size.
Thanks!

I hired a guy from craigslist, he gave me a set price and brought 2 friends to do the job. Unfortunately I didn't kept track of who it was or I would have given him a lot more work. As long as you know what needs to be done and are there to supervise, work wanted from craigslist works well.

The birds are too old to vaccinate fuzzy. So far, it is still just the two sisters...

How old is " to old to vaccinate"? I didn't realize there was an age limit.

We still primarily live in Allendale on 1/4 of an acre in a subdivision where it is legal, and not in violation of ordinance to own chickens on 1/4 acre. We purchased our home in Baldwin in May, and moved our chickens there as soon as the coup was built. We are not in the city of Baldwin, we are out in the middle of nowhere near the PM river. We purchased this property to get back to nature: hunt, fish, raise chickens, garden, and spend family time by the fire.
I work in GR so we can't sell our home in Allendale. Our 59 acres has 2 houses on it. My husband's best friend is living in 2nd house and cares for chickens while we are down in Allendale. He lives there full time.
We will be doing a record search to see about prior zoning on this property. Right now its zoned res but we want agricultural. I think that's what got this mess started. Asked twp if we could change zoning... Then got a visit from a neighbor who complained (neighbor also is commissioner) so since the can of worms has been opened, we are preparing for a long fight in court...

Did you check to see if there was actually an ordinance against having chickens? As per your experience in Allendale, being zoned residential in itself doesn't necessarily preclude having chickens. Can the neighbor who complained even see the chickens from his property? If not, his complaining could be considered harassment or maybe invasion of privacy.

 

[RTFchickens]

There is an ordinance against farm animals and we were just given a violation notice of this. Our property is 6/10th of a mile off the road, and no, he cannot see, hear or smell the chickens from his property. He trespassed onto our property and saw them invited himself over introducing himself as our "friendly neighbor who loves chickens"
Since he works for the township he knows we were asking them about getting zoning changed to agricultural so we can have them AND comply with their ordinance.
We don't bother anyone at all back there, but this guy has caused much trouble for many neighbors, even getting into a physical altercation from what we have heard.

 

[mg15]

uggghhhh neighbors.
We are in the city. The one neighbor called the Humane Society on us. He told them we had roosters.
We do not.
The Humane Society came out like a swat team. This huge guy and the biggest Humane Society truck I have ever seen.
The truck looked like the kind they use on pet hoarders to take all of the animals out of a house. No kidding.
At first I thought the police were here to tell me someone died.
But after the shock I started to look at his badge and then this truck and I calmed down.
Darn scary what a "neighbor" can do to you.

 

[Lisa and girls]

uggghhhh neighbors.
We are in the city. The one  neighbor  called the Humane Society on us. He told them we had roosters.
We do not.
The Humane Society came out like a swat team. This huge guy and the biggest Humane Society truck I have ever seen.
The truck looked like the kind they use on pet hoarders to take all of the animals out of a house. No kidding.
At first I thought the police were here to tell me someone died.
But after the shock I started to look at his badge and then this truck and I calmed down.
Darn scary what a "neighbor" can do to you.

I am horrified at all these "friendly" neighbor stories! What is wrong with people? I am so lucky that my neighbor has chickens and ducks and my other neighbor has no chickens but is obsessed with mine. Sad that people have so little to do they feel compelled to meddle in others lives. Poo on them! That's as nice as I can be about that.

 

[Stacykins]

Good fences make good neighbors! Or a lot of acres between neighbors.

I spent my Saturday catching up on rest. And stealing honey from my honeybees! Three medium frames full of capped honey. They're strong, and this wet summer has made the flowers very prolific. So I didn't feel bad taking from them.





I don't have an extractor, so I'll have to mash it all up and strain through cheesecloth.

 

[snowflake]

good for you Opa, I have a friend that is 95, she is in Kent Comunity now, I go visit for a few hrs once a week, always bring her a boque of flowers from my garden, most of what I have came from her garden she loves to tell storys about many of the plants being from her mothers gardenand how they put the kids through college by selling at the farmers market. , She has tought a lot of people about gardening, out of the goodness of her heart and many of those people still come to visit her. may we all be lucky enough to plant seeds of love in those around us.

School will be started and it will be halloween before we know it, Hope my tomatoes and peppers rippen up before the snow flies.

Vaccine for Mareks should be administered to day old chicks, before they have been exposed to the ground and/or flock, according to the MSU vet it is every were and not vaccinating is playing with fire. That said when I called the co. that sells the med they said it can be administered at any age, (of course they want to sell mor meds) I did vaccinate all my birds old and young and many oif them got no symptems at all, but that could have happened with or with out.

 

[snowflake]

Good fences make good neighbors! Or a lot of acres between neighbors.

I spent my Saturday catching up on rest. And stealing honey from my honeybees! Three medium frames full of capped honey. They're strong, and this wet summer has made the flowers very prolific. So I didn't feel bad taking from them.





I don't have an extractor, so I'll have to mash it all up and strain through cheesecloth.

That looks soooo good

 

[ladyrsanti]

Awesome honeycombs. I'm jealous! All I have are these dried beans and not enough of them. Four pounds is nothing for this family of five. I need a bigger garden.