Official Squatch Watchers

[apryl29]

I just found out it will be nearly impossible (prohibitively expensive) to get farm gas to my house. I was considering propane. Sounds like a royal pain. Maybe I'll just get canisters we can refill ourselves for cooking (I HATE HATE HATE electric stoves) and for heating emergencies.

That's what my parents do. They have a fuel oil tank in the basement (was inside the house for a long time, odd, but keeps lines from freezing). They had an electric stove top w/ a separate TINY oven you couldn't even put a reg size cookie sheet in. It was fine for my gma who was only one person, but after complaining for a while they replaced it w/ a propane stove. They usually get the 20lb tanks you use on a grill, but also have a 100lb tank. The smaller tanks are nice b/c you can just run it up the road and exchange it instead of hauling the big tank to get it filled. But you'll have lots of options in case of an emergency.

OK ladies here’s the dilemma for you. My daughter is 21. She works between 30 and 40 hours a week and goes to school part time. One of her female bosses is a woman she really likes. This boss just had a baby about five weeks ago.

All through her pregnancy she told my daughter that she would love to have her babysit for her so she could ease back into work one (maybe two) half day (ish) a week (starting soon)
so that she isn’t swamped when she comes back full time.

Late last night while she was nursing, 11:30, she started texting my daughter who’d gone to school in the morning, then worked a 9 hr shift at her job.

She said her inlaws have their hearts set on taking care of the baby.
(TOTALLY UNDERSTAND!!)
But the father in law (age 75) isn’t mobile, and isn’t capable to feed or change diapers.
The grandma is 70 and has her hands full taking care of the husband.

Boss lady asked if my daughter would be willing to do this babysitting at the grandparents house “to help safely facilitate the baby’s interaction with its grandfather” and lend a hand to the grandmother, “with light household chores and possibly making them lunch”.

I said
“WAIT! Let me get this straight. So she wants you to drive 35 minutes each way to a house that isn’t set up for a baby, to babysit a brand newborn AND two senior citizens PLUS be the cook and housekeeper.........
For $10/hr.

Uh, that’s a hell no from me.

What do you gals think about this?

You've gotten lots of advice on this, but here's my 2 cents.
It sounds like the lady is being pressured into letting the gparents watch the baby, but doesn't really like the idea. Your daughter has a lot going on as it is & it sounds like she was more helping the lady out by watching her kid, than going all in for a nanny gig. If that's the case, and this whole thing was just to be a temporary situation until she felt comfortable putting her newborn in daycare, then I'd just tell the boss lady that she's got a lot going on w/ school and her current job that she thinks all that would be too much and while she'd be ok watching the baby at her house, she feels like going to the gparent's house would be a too many cooks in the kitchen situation. If the boss wants her parents to be able to spend time w/ the baby, go there on her day off and spend the day. It's not unreasonable, as a parent, to tell your parent that they can't watch the baby alone.. I didn't let my ex's parents watch my kids when they were babies b/c the one time I let them the first words out of my former FIL's mouth as he picked up my newborn was "Get me a beer, I need to catch up". She probably doesn't want to tell her mom that she doesn't want her watching the baby, so having your daughter there is her solution.
If this was supposed to be some kind of permanent situation where eventually she became a full time nanny then it's weird to expect her to travel to the gparent's house every day so they can visit. The whole thing seems like a 'I don't expect you to say yes b/c I know this is weird, but I have to ask b/c if I don't then my mom will be give me grief about it.'
All she has to say is I don't really feel comfortable doing that, but I'd be happy to watch the baby in your home, like we had discussed before. Then if she knows that there are limitations, like on Tuesdays and Thursdays when I don't have school or work, or Mondays and Thursdays from 8-2 until you're back to working full time. And consider getting everything in writing since she is her boss, that way if something does happen.. everyone knows what they're agreeing to.

Very welcome, folks like that irk me to no end...kindness vampires!

About to go lock up, got another comb bite out there.

Would putting bag balm or something funky tasting on their combs stop them?

Not womabts.
https://www.google.com/amp/s/relay....8/11/wombat-poop-cube-why-is-it-square-shaped

That's a Pat Crow NO! $10 isn't enough for the multiple jobs she listed if they were individual jobs! A home health nurse, which it sounds like they need, is easily $25 an hour and doesn't take care of anything but the patient. New born baby is $20 an hours roughly and cleaning is at least $15! So if they lady would like to pay $70 an hour, I added for gas and travel time, then maybe...but still probably Pat Crow NO!

I knew there was something w square poop! Wombats are so weird. It's like goats and their rectangle pupils.

No I haven't posted any but I will.......Introducing Leo (gray and white) and Lola (black and white) They are brother and sister 8 week old Dutch Bunnies. View attachment 1639956 View attachment 1639959 View attachment 1639960 View attachment 1639961 View attachment 1639962 View attachment 1639963

Beautiful bunnies! In case you haven't considered it yet.. you'll need to get one of them fixed asap unless you want baby buns. @CapricornFarm could probably give you an idea of when you're at risk for babies. Even if you separate them they have to be several feet apart b/c the boy parts are... long.

I have Valbazen if you want. We could even meet up tomorrow.

Sorry! Just saw this. I actually ended up looking online and chewy.com had them WAYYYYY cheaper so I could get what I need for 1/2 the cost of what the store had them. I'd been hoping I could find something super cheap on amazon, but I kept seeing stuff from china and I'm not putting that in my chickens.

Yes, yes,and no. There is a butter famine apparently!
Of course! They were BOGO so we got all the flavors.

I thought I was the only one in the world who liked newtons! My gma always had those old tupperware cookie jars on her kitchen table. Oreos/Hydrox, Fig newtons, and chips ahoy.. My kids always look at me weird when I buy newtons. Fine... more for me!

What about the toilet paper??!!!!
Being from Maryland originally,
The snow emergency grocery list is:
Milk
Bread
Toilet paper.

Good morning squatchers
@apryl29
Are you just treating for tapes?
You can also use equimax horse paste
It has two ingredients -ivermectin and praziquantel. About $9 for a tube last time I bought it.

Edited to add: Ivermectin would get rid of any lice or mites if you have any.
Edited again because apparently I’m not fully awake...
Not implying that YOU have lice or mites!

LOL Actually I checked one of the white ones yesterday for mites and she looked clean, but you never know. They did have the horse paste, but how much would I give them?
I found the pills on chewy for 1/2 what it would cost for the ones at TSC.

We usually buy TP in industrial sized quantities, so that generally isn't an issue for us.


Morning. Doesn't feel good over here. I was up for a good while last night with stuffed up sinuses which made breathing difficult. I probably caught the cold my SIL had recently. Thankfully, saline spray really helped. I'm also sore today. I don't know if that is from the little work I did do yesterday while helping SIL move, or from the illness. So we decided to stay home. We got about 2 inches of snow last night, which turned to rain, but the roads look messy. We aren't sure how the 7 miles of road to get the the highway look, plus with not feeling well, it wasn't worth it to try going to church

Hope you're feeling better this morning.

It's always a battle for me. I have always struggled trying to go back to sleep no matter what time I get woke up.


All the dogs are back asleep.........

I could sleep forever. I slept til 2 on Saturday and noon on Sunday.. I could have slept longer, but I had to get up and adult.

When it’s cold outside I actually just feed my girls their regular feed, soaked with lots of hot water and allowed to sit for a few minutes. Sometimes I too it off with a good size blob of no fat plain yogurt.

Here’s why I don’t actually feed oatmeal anymore.

https://the-chicken-chick.com/the-shocking-effect-of-oatmeal/

Good to know. I feel a lot better about not taking my girls warm foods. I have been tossing down handfuls of scratch in the evening to give them something to keep them warm (if it's going to be really cold).

I buy the huge packs of TP as well, I may go hungry but I won't run out of tp. Of course if I had nothing to eat I won't need the TP. But, the packs make nice end tables or coffee tables so who cares.

Dry cereal & spoonfuls of peanut butter & jelly for everyone!
It'd be difficult, but I think we'd have enough stuff to keep from starving for a little while.

So... I'm enjoying wonderful one on one-ish time with DD#3 while we sit in the observation floor of the hospital waiting till morning for her to get re-evaluated for appendicitis. It's 10 pm and we started at the emergency room at around 3 am this morning. Pain is getting worse, but surgeon didn't want to operate earlier today because it was possible early appendicitis, and DD#3 has health issues that make healing more challenging, so surgery is only if she really needs it. I'll keep y'all updated.

In the meantime, the challenges of crocheting with Bailey
View attachment 1641850 View attachment 1641851 View attachment 1641852

I hope she's feeling better or they've figured out what to do from here.

 

[apryl29]

I found out who lays the green egg yesterday! It's Clover, the supposed Lavender orpington. So either their male lav orp isn't as pure as they think, or they have some kind of americauna roo running around the barnyard. Either way, I don't mind the green eggs, they're beautiful! That means the TINY buff colored eggs are coming from the Cemani/lav pullet. I really hope they do get bigger. They're still pretty small.


I have a question... yesterday when I was at the coop I noticed a bunch of black bugs in the snow around the coop. I looked around and it was in the snow all over the yard, but when it was near a structure there was more. Like near cars in the drive way, more than 150 ft from the coop, near the woods behind the coop, near some wooden boxes 20+ feet from the coop..

They weren't dead, at least not all of them. Some were moving around a bit.. this photo might be more clear.

I checked one of the white ones and I didn't see anything on her. I can't tell if they're fleas or some other kind of bug. I've never seen anything like this. IDK if they were trying to get away from the cold or what. Anyone else ever see this?

ETA: Apparently they're called snow fleas.. I think. Never heard of them or seen them before. Have any of you?
https://www.esa.org/esablog/research/snow-fleas-helpful-winter-critters-2/

 

[drumstick diva]

hoping and praying for best outcome for DD.

 

[21hens-incharge]

I found out who lays the green egg yesterday! It's Clover, the supposed Lavender orpington. So either their male lav orp isn't as pure as they think, or they have some kind of americauna roo running around the barnyard. Either way, I don't mind the green eggs, they're beautiful! That means the TINY buff colored eggs are coming from the Cemani/lav pullet. I really hope they do get bigger. They're still pretty small.


I have a question... yesterday when I was at the coop I noticed a bunch of black bugs in the snow around the coop. I looked around and it was in the snow all over the yard, but when it was near a structure there was more. Like near cars in the drive way, more than 150 ft from the coop, near the woods behind the coop, near some wooden boxes 20+ feet from the coop..
View attachment 1642027
They weren't dead, at least not all of them. Some were moving around a bit.. this photo might be more clear.
View attachment 1642028
I checked one of the white ones and I didn't see anything on her. I can't tell if they're fleas or some other kind of bug. I've never seen anything like this. IDK if they were trying to get away from the cold or what. Anyone else ever see this?

ETA: Apparently they're called snow fleas.. I think. Never heard of them or seen them before. Have any of you?
https://www.esa.org/esablog/research/snow-fleas-helpful-winter-critters-2/

Ok well those are freaky! Interesting but freaky.

 

[apryl29]

Ok well those are freaky! Interesting but freaky.

Right? I saw them and my first thought was mites. Like the coop was infested & the cold on Sunday killed a bunch and they just died there and the coop was going to be crawling w/ them.. but nope. All I could think was I do not have time for mites.

 

[21hens-incharge]

Right? I saw them and my first thought was mites. Like the coop was infested & the cold on Sunday killed a bunch and they just died there and the coop was going to be crawling w/ them.. but nope. All I could think was I do not have time for mites.

My first thought was fleas. I couldn't imagine what could have that many fleas jumping off them on their way through your yard.

 

[Redhead Rae]

There is a cold virus out this year that is very nasty!

I hope you are better soon

Lots and lots of fluids would help thin those secretions and promote drainage. -but I know you know that.
Pregnancy colds are miserable.
Gosh I hope T-1 doesn’t get it too.

I'm feeling better today. Was able to walk the property line with my dad this morning and measure it so we can figure out where the corner of our property is. But I'm worn out now.

I think Thing 1 has something or another. This might be a little TMI, but he hasn't pooped in his sleep since he was 3-4 months old. Last night he woke up at 11:30 and had a really nasty, stinky, almost blow out for me to change. Fortunately he went right back to sleep despite the light being turned on.

I have a question... yesterday when I was at the coop I noticed a bunch of black bugs in the snow around the coop. I looked around and it was in the snow all over the yard, but when it was near a structure there was more. Like near cars in the drive way, more than 150 ft from the coop, near the woods behind the coop, near some wooden boxes 20+ feet from the coop..
View attachment 1642027
They weren't dead, at least not all of them. Some were moving around a bit.. this photo might be more clear.
View attachment 1642028
I checked one of the white ones and I didn't see anything on her. I can't tell if they're fleas or some other kind of bug. I've never seen anything like this. IDK if they were trying to get away from the cold or what. Anyone else ever see this?

ETA: Apparently they're called snow fleas.. I think. Never heard of them or seen them before. Have any of you?
https://www.esa.org/esablog/research/snow-fleas-helpful-winter-critters-2/

I've never heard of snow-fleas before, but I have heard of spring-tails. A reptile education channel I watch on YouTube has recommended spring-tails as a way to keep fungus and mold from growing in damp bedding for tropical species of snakes.

 

[ronott1]

I found out who lays the green egg yesterday! It's Clover, the supposed Lavender orpington. So either their male lav orp isn't as pure as they think, or they have some kind of americauna roo running around the barnyard. Either way, I don't mind the green eggs, they're beautiful! That means the TINY buff colored eggs are coming from the Cemani/lav pullet. I really hope they do get bigger. They're still pretty small.


I have a question... yesterday when I was at the coop I noticed a bunch of black bugs in the snow around the coop. I looked around and it was in the snow all over the yard, but when it was near a structure there was more. Like near cars in the drive way, more than 150 ft from the coop, near the woods behind the coop, near some wooden boxes 20+ feet from the coop..
View attachment 1642027
They weren't dead, at least not all of them. Some were moving around a bit.. this photo might be more clear.
View attachment 1642028
I checked one of the white ones and I didn't see anything on her. I can't tell if they're fleas or some other kind of bug. I've never seen anything like this. IDK if they were trying to get away from the cold or what. Anyone else ever see this?

ETA: Apparently they're called snow fleas.. I think. Never heard of them or seen them before. Have any of you?
https://www.esa.org/esablog/research/snow-fleas-helpful-winter-critters-2/

I have heard of snow fleas but have not seen them. It does not snow here. I have to go to the mountains to see snow

 

[drumstick diva]

I've seen snow throughout my life, never saw any fleas or little black spots in it. Just a lot of yellow snow thanks to everyone turning their dogs loose, after I shovel.

 

[staceyj]

@apryl29
Thanks for your thoughtful insight on dd’s Babysitting situation.

Equimax paste is generally considered the pea size amount, but peas come in different sizes so I actually looked it up and found that it was more like half the size of a largish frozen pea.
Let me try to find the dosage chart for you. I’ll be back.