Michigan Thread - all are welcome!

[Opa]

Winter sure can get frustrating. I got the snow blower out yesterday and got everything cleared and now I awake to more snow. Six inches was enough to satisfy our desire for a white Christmas.

David gathered the eggs yesterday about 9am and I considered gathering them at 1pm, but since the incision in my arm is still open I promised Hope I would stay out of the chicken coop. So when she collected the eggs at 5pm we had a couple of frozen eggs. Since they had expanded just enough to break the shell and not the membrane I won't toss them.

With no wind and the sun shining brightly, I was a little surprised that the eggs had froze until I realized that the temperature never reached 20 degrees. Today's forecast should be slightly warm but strictly from a beauty standpoint yesterday was had to fault.

I sure am getting tired of dealing with the aftermath of my "minor" surgery. The incision hasn't healed yet and the elbow is extremely tender. Six weeks sure seems like a long time to be still healing. The last blood test indicated that the infection is gone so that no longer is an issue. Tomorrow I have an appointment with the orthopedic surgeon so hopefully he can give me a better idea of how much longer this is going to be a problem. On Friday I have another appointment with the infectious disease specialist and I have many questions for him with regard to the adverse side effects of the antibiotics.

A couple of the drugs caused intense stomach pain but they weren't half as bad as the one the caused a severe rash with an incredible itch. While I am no longer on that one, and I don't appear to have any obvious reaction to the drug I am currently on, the fact that my skin is peeling is something I want answers about. It's almost like the peeling that results from a sunburn and even the palms of my hands are affected.

Trying to buy my granddaughter a gift became impossible. She actually doesn't want much. I had tried gift cards for department stores thinking that she could buy clothing that she would want. The card went unused foralmost a year until I called her mother and reminded them that might expire. So the last several gifts have been Visa cards that she can use as cash. I think the last one she used to fill her gas tank. I don't really care what she uses them for since their purpose is to reassure her that I'm thinking of her.

One of the nice things I discovered is that the cards can be personalized with a picture of my choosing rather than a generic format. For this Christmas I thought I'd use a picture of her and her dad from a Xmas parade 10 years ago.

 

[Our Roost]

Dont be too alarmed by the peeling. Usually hapens as a result of expansion and contraction. In other words, the swelling of your arm has went down and the stretched skin is flaking off to grow new. Hang in there!

 

[Opa]

If the peeling skin was confined to the affected arm I wouldn't be quite so concerned, but it affects my entire body. Just don't seem right.

 

[uchytil]

Sorry to hear your'e feeling under the weather Sam. Speaking of weather it's snowing pretty hard here. Yesterday was nice enough so I cleaned the coops and moved my roo Hobo to his new digs. Hung some more nest boxes and roosts. everybody's snug as bugs in a bed (I guess that's how it goes). Did I mention it's snowing pretty hard...I have some left over corn on the cob I'm throwing in with the ducks. The corn I put up lasts two years so I'm still working of 2012's. It's as near perfect as fresh picked. I'm glad we figured out how to freeze it years ago. Quite the treat during winter.

Cable. Yeah, everyone that has it - $! Every year I call Comcast and lower my bill a little to keep it manageable. Between cable and cell phone the cost of technology is out of control. The only viable way to get costs down, and still have any semblance of connectivity (for me) would be dump the iphone for a basic cell and then stream TV via internet. I can't remember what I did when all I had was one phone with a extra long, usually twisted, cable form handset to phone and a typewriter?

 

[SillyChicken]

Sam, more than likely a side effect from the massive amount of antibiotics you've had. Unfortunately, they also target the good bacteria we have so I will be a while before your natural cultures recover. Try a good moisturizer like Aveno.. may help with your skin.

 

[Our Roost]

Welp! I'm 66 and the winters play heck on my skin. Itchy, flaky, dry skin and the wrinkles dont help much either! Changed my bath soap to a winter moisturizer and slathered on some skin cream moisturizer as well. You are very right about side effects from medication. I generally call my pharmicist explaining my symptoms and give him a list of the meds I am taking so he can track down the culprit causing it. Good luck with that.

 

[RaZ]

Winter sure can get frustrating. I got the snow blower out yesterday and got everything cleared and now I awake to more snow. Six inches was enough to satisfy our desire for a white Christmas

We received about 6 inches of snow here, maybe a bit more. Certainly nothing major. Of course the little snow blower was contrary and wouldn't start so I went to the big 2-stage thrower. That thing can throw snow clear across the street. Helpful for clearing the pile that the city plow leaves at the foot of the driveway.


Majick, the wonder dog seems to like the snow.


We had snow overnight so I'll go see if I can get the little snow thrower to start.

 

[naglady]

We dropped our charter cable, they wanted to charge $250. for phone,internet and cable. lowest they would go is $204. we dropped cable. use a roku and stream everything through our internet, we pay $74. /month for interet and phone.. thats it.. we do have amazon prime, and netflix.. loving them both.. never go back to cable again. and now everything we watch there is no comercials and no wasted time.. most shows that usually take 30 minutes are done in 21 minutes..

we to get the call every month, told them take off list, stop calling, not interested, why you calling now when your wouldnt budge lower then $204. hung up on them, and we know we will be harassed once we recieve that monthly charter flyer for deals.. last month they called and you know its them because its on caller id. I answer they dont ask for me, they ask for my husband, i say he is not home which he was sitting next to me. after that and after 8pm, i get two other calls, they are hangups with charter on caller id.. i called the number back and asked why they are hanging up. she says its automated, i say bs there is someone that talks all the time except these two times. havent had them call this month but we just got the flyer a day or two ago so i am guessing i will hear from them..

the thing that makes me the most mad is that two different people i know only pay between $108. and $125. for all 3 services, and they didnt want to budge from $204. that right there gets me mad..

Sam sorry your having complications, and that is so sad about grannies friend.. you should see if she wants to write her a card, and maybe they can hang it on the wall..

 

[1muttsfan]

Allergic reactions can vary depending on the type of reaction. Some allergens form complexes with your body's cells and deposit in the skin, leading to long-term hives and itching, and can also cause sloughing of the affected skin. I had an allergic reaction to an antibiotic one time that lead to similar itching, and had to stay on antihistamines for 2 months until the allergens had completely shed out of the skin layers. Of course without the antibiotics I would have been in much worse shape, since the infection was serious and the allergic reaction, while memorable and uncomfortable, was not life-threatening.

 

[ladyrsanti]

We have hughesnet satellite internet here because it was all we could find when we moved - not knowing the area and all the available options. There's no cable out here in the sticks. Our 2 yr. subscription ends this Feb. and we're hoping to find something better. Hughesnet SUCKS. I would not recommend it to anyone unless they have no other choice.

Snowing again. Pretty hard. Still beautiful though. Getting my house chicken ready to go back to the coop. I'll put her in the mudroom to get used to a slightly lower temperature. She's getting much more antsy now, wanting out of her cage and spending time in the room. She won't walk with a chicken diaper on so I'm just gonna call her ready to go back out. Her feathers are breaking out of the pins and she should be toasty warm within a week.

I'm spending the day working on the traditional stollen bread. It's probably the hardest recipe I've ever made but the the taste and texture is so worth it, I make it every year despite my cursing and swearing at it. It's meant for an industrial bakery mixer and I don't have one, nor do I ever plan on getting one. So I have to mix it/pound it by hand and it takes a lot of arm strength. Still not as hard as wrestling sheep but perhaps the equivalent in the baking world.