~ Retired and Starting My Future In The Foothills ~

[gryeyes]

Great seeing your updates. Love the red nightshirt. It is so you.

Well, the red one is my favorite for most of the year; I do have an alternate, lighter colored one decorated with little kitties playing with yarn. Both hang down to mid-thigh, good for making an egg-gather basket by holding up the hem when I forget to carry the Official Egg Basket to the coop.. Each has a pocket on the chest, perfect to hold just one or two eggs, too. My "cold weather" nightshirts are mid-calf with a pocket about hip level, and much easier to hold more eggs in the "hem basket." And, well, less chance of displaying too much skin when using the Hem Basket Method.

Oh, I must share a great story from the other day:

John has been painting in the coolest part of the days, just for a few hours a day. (The paint dries on his brush too quickly, otherwise.) As usual, I'm outside alternately talking to John as he works and idly observing poultry behavior. (He says if he looks EVERY time I say, "Look! Look at that!" he will NEVER get the house painting finished.) So I often space out in my observations, just half-way paying attention to John's work. (It's always perfect, so why spend my time watching HIM, right?)

He was up on a ladder, scraping old caulk from a window before laying down new caulk and painting the window trim. Suddenly, he said, "Bring me a chicken!"

This does not compute, so I was slow to respond. I understood the words, just not why he he was demanding a chicken. Really.

"Linda, go get a chicken! Bring one here!"

Huh? What is he going on about?? "Will Gloria The Boy do?"

"Anybody! Just bring me a chicken!"

I picked up Gloria, who - of course - is just hanging around hoping he can sneak into the house the next time one of us goes inside. John takes Gloria from me, carefully and calmly, then holds him up to the spider in the middle of a beautiful web built above the A/C unit in the window.

Gloria snatches that spider and it's GONE just like that. John hands Gloria back to me, not wanting to drop him too far from the ground.

Gloria The Boy now looks for me and follows me everywhere. He also checks out what John is doing......

"
.

 

[ChicknThief]

Bring me a chicken!!!

 

[Glasshen]

Sounds like John is a chicken convert. He'll be building his own coop soon.

 

[BusyBlonde]

 

[HHandbasket]

Sounds like John is a chicken convert. He'll be building his own coop soon.

I believe that if he could have chickens where he lives, John would definitely be building himself a coop by now.

 

[gryeyes]

I believe that if he could have chickens where he lives, John would definitely be building himself a coop by now.

Well, "his chicken" is Beatrice, the dark Brahma hen I let him name. He also really likes Jack, the WCB Polish rooster, which allows John to gently mess with him on every visit. (The two of them play that famous shoulder touch game, in which John touches Jack's left side to make him turn in that direction, after which he touches Jack's right side, causing Jack to whirl around to face the other direction. This goes on for a few, silly minutes. John claims Jack likes it, otherwise he would simply walk away from the harassment any time he chooses.) So why would my contractor need chickens at home - even if he didn't live in a No Chicken Zone neighborhood - when he's got all of my flock to appreciate?

Y'see, the Olmstead Homestead is sort of like a half-time Winchester Mystery House, in that there will ALWAYS be another project On The List. (Half-time because I don't require work to be done 24 hours a day.

) Alterations and/or additions here will NEVER be "done" - although each task or project may be completed, there's always gonna be yet another something I would like to have changed or introduced to the house or property.

Plus, there are Seasonal tasks such as pruning fruit trees or arranging for a good "Tree Man" to handle taking down the tree on the north side of the house, someday; hopefully before it comes down by itself to smash into my house during some horrific storm. Don't need weed-whacking services ever again, or insect pest control services, as I have my own, on-site staff members to handle such things. Quite a large crew of them.

But stuff breaks and will require repair, and will do so even after every improvement I have - or could have - imagined has been accomplished.

Today I started thinking about mortality and to whom I should leave "all this" when I die. My sister used to be my beneficiary for paltry things like my last pay check (if I died while still working), or for my minuscule retirement pension money. But she died first and I was her beneficiary. Else-wise, I could never have purchased this house and property and I certainly could never have survived on my own retirement without working another 13 years. Which means I wouldn't have been able to survive on it, 'cause I couldn't have kept working full time much longer.

I woke up suffering from a really nasty migraine headache. The full spectrum of symptoms rode me today: excruciating pain, sensitivity to touch, light, movement, and sound. Oh, and nausea. Nothing I ingested stayed down. I first thought it was a particularly awful sinus headache, because the worst pain was smashing bowling balls behind my eyes, eyebrows, and above my cheeks. Changes in the barometric pressure, I thought. Kinda cloggy nose, seemed like "sinus" trouble. But then the other symptoms made themselves known to me.

During one lucid moment late in the afternoon, I idly wondered about my blood pressure. Changing my address from Yolo County (where I had kept my mail box ever since I left Monterey County) to El Dorado County caused a mandatory change in health benefits carrier (for the retiree OR active employee, which is why I continued to use the mail box Down The Hill until I actually stopped driving there every work day). No HMO in this County. Because I didn't specify a new provider at the time of my last day of work when I officially changed my employment status and address, I "missed" the "qualifying reason: change of address" opportunity and had to wait until September to select a new medical insurance plan.

Oh, fine. Now I have to find a provider on that plan, too - out in this area. Local is good, don't misunderstand me. Meanwhile, my maintenance prescription refills ran out. Dental and vision care plans remain the same, so all is good there. Not gonna enjoy the bills for the replacement permanent bridge or the new crown I now need, but at least I don't have to work up new dental and optical professionals. Oh, and the State changed its mail-order prescription provider way back in January, so I couldn't even "roll over" current prescription information to the new carrier; I must start all over with NEW prescriptions. I haven't even found a doctor yet!

Sometimes procrastination can really tank one's experiences. But I've been thinking: I bet my dentist can check my BP tomorrow during my appointment. Maybe this rural and bucolic lifestyle I've established has worked to lower it even more than it dropped once I started keeping chickens. Perhaps y'all can see why I thought about my BP during the migraine session..... or maybe y'all could if you, too, watch "Dr. G., Medical Examiner" on TV. (Aficionados of Dr. Jan Garavaglia will know exactly why I reference the program at this particular time.)

On the other hand, I have been informed that Praying Mantises (mantisi?) are good luck. There are at least two of them living in my house right now. One in a set of living room windows and the other in the set of windows in my master bedroom. (A third drowned in the dog's water dish - I really hope that won't be held against me, with two others living quite happily. At least until Lizbeth finds them....)

 

[dsqard]

Linda, quick suggestion for you. Usually at places like Walgreens or even Walmart near the pharmacy section, they have blood pressure machines. Something like that might be a better prospect than your dentist.

 

[1muttsfan]

Linda, if you are on BP medication, please do not stop taking it!! You need to take some time out to settle your healthcare issues. We can't have anything happen to you, you have too many dependants now.

 

[EweSheep]

And talk to the doctor about quitting BP meds, I've been thru it and it was NOT pleasant to get the withdrawals.....nasty! Feeling horrible on top of the fibro pain and the fog it associated with.

The sooner you can find a provider, the better you can be rest assured that you will get maintained and checked over annually and get prescripitions at a good time.

 

[gryeyes]

And talk to the doctor about quitting BP meds, I've been thru it and it was NOT pleasant to get the withdrawals.....nasty! Feeling horrible on top of the fibro pain and the fog it associated with.

The sooner you can find a provider, the better you can be rest assured that you will get maintained and checked over annually and get prescripitions at a good time.

I believe I have experienced this already. And yah, I'll get going on that "select a provider" thing....

Linda, quick suggestion for you. Usually at places like Walgreens or even Walmart near the pharmacy section, they have blood pressure machines. Something like that might be a better prospect than your dentist.

My dentist's office was quite capable of handling this task and one of the techs actually enjoyed testing two new, electronicSphygmomanometer. One was WAY off (the dentist said, "Well, THAT'S not accurate at all, or you wouldn't have walked yourself into here." I did sort of panic at seeing the display until he spoke. It didn't look good at all, and after the Killer Migraine the day before, I almost believed it.

He told the tech to get the second unit. Really slick device - attaches to the wrist, then the patient holds that arm across the chest, against the heart. It operates off a remote, too. I really liked it, as it didn't compress the upper arm so freakin' much to "read" the brachial artery - it read from the wrist. Oh: 122 / 84. Just a tad over the former normal of 120/80 (which is now considered indicative of "pre-hypertension"). I was prescribed mild anti-hypertension medication in 2005 by my oncologist (in Monterey) when my BP was 140/90. My Sacramento general physician changed the prescription and lowered the dosage in 2010 after I'd been keeping chickens for a year.... and I'd started experiencing some wooziness upon rising, standing, or turning suddenly. All was good afterwards.

Linda, if you are on BP medication, please do not stop taking it!! You need to take some time out to settle your healthcare issues. We can't have anything happen to you, you have too many dependants now.

Oops. Uh, well, I'll be getting a whole new medical work-up pretty soon.

Now, on to poultry tales:

Last Friday, after HH and I got back from swimming in the river, we managed to catch Edna the turkey turn into Edgar the Tom Turkey right in front of our eyes. WOW! I've been stalking the pair of them since to take a picture of his full-blown display, but he hasn't repeated it for my view. His voice has changed, too - not quite gobbling, but there's a difference in the way he vocalizes every once in a while (and when he was inflating.) Still young, though - hatched around May 10th or so. For "half-grown" turkeys, those birds are quite large and when Edgar fluffed up all his breast feathers and fanned his tail, he was HUGE. And gorgeous. Simply an amazing sight. He and Edith are Broad-Breasted Bronze turkeys. Lemme tell ya, the bronze bars in his tail-feather spread were absolutely fantastic!

It's interesting that Edna/Edgar never performed this action before, while Mitch the Midget White tom turkey poult has been showing off since he was just a couple of weeks old! (I think Mitch's displays may have triggered Edgar's decision to start Being A Tom.) John, who had turkeys in the past, thinks Edith may be a tom, too, as there just isn't hardly any difference between the way Edgar and Edith look. Edith kinda half-fanned her tail feathers the other day.... So, we'll see.

Beatrice and Bernadette hatched 11 chicks in their shared nest box, and now are squiring a few of their chicks around. NOT ALL, yet. The chicks which followed their Moms out of the nest cannot get back up onto the bench where the nest box sits, so at night, Beatrice nestles down into the coop bedding on the floor under that shelf with the "out" chicks while Bernadette gets back into the nest box with the rest of the chicks. Sister 1 also hatched a chick around the same time, and is raising it "on the floor," now. All three hens with babies hatched within the same few days attend to any of the baby chicks of similar ages.... Bernadette continues to try to urge the "nest chicks" out. I've put a waterer and periodically pour feed into the nest box so the wee ones don't starve or get dehydrated. I have also put boards and (sealed) cans of old paint at the edge of the kitty litter box nest and under the shelf, so chicks COULD follow Bernadette back into the nest if they would only hop OUT of it.

Angel, a white and gold bantam EE, hatched a single black chick a couple of weeks earlier. Lola and Monica's shared two chicks are even older, now getting farther and farther away from Lola as each day passes. Monica gave up most of her maternal duties to forage amongst the rest of the flock. She navigates near the chicks sometimes when they are "too" far from Lola, though.

Because I'm listening for Edgar to vocalize his special call, I became aware of the sound of a single chick peeping "I can't find my mother" this afternoon. John and I discovered an itsy-bitsy "cotton ball with legs and a beak" on a mission to find Mom. It came out of the Chicken Tunnel behind my garden and strode along the back of the house at a pretty good clip. Not meandering, just a pretty darned straight line from one side of the house to the other along the narrow "back yard." Determined, and unafraid of either of us.

I snatched it up when it got halfway across the patio. It calmed in my hands right away. Then I transported it back across the front of the house and into the coop to release it near Bernadette and another chick in tight orbit. Sister 1 was nearby with her chicklet. Imagine the reunion - any Mama hen in a pinch! So cute.

I'm thinking that one made it out of the nest box unattended by Bernadette or Beatrice. I'm keeping a close watch on those chicks. Bernadette does continue to try to get the rest of them out of the nest; her special clucking "baby" calls melt my heart. Oh, heck, any time I hear a Mama Hen call chicks, my heart melts.

Today, John finished painting the front of the Main Coop, covering the high section of asbestos tiles with the same green paint as my house. I'll take some pictures tomorrow to share.

He also planted my cherry tree and Dynamite Red Crape Myrtle (after lecturing me about "torturing" them in their nursery buckets for so long). He cut down a Live Oak sapling and two small cedar shoots, pulling a third out by the roots to stick into a bucket of water for transplanting somewhere more appropriate. There are quite a few baby cedars growing in my side yard (the side of the house without the garden and coops). Great forage space for the flock. You should see the size of the dust bathing holes created by the turkeys!

The jury is still out on determining whether Gloria The Boy is indeed a cockerel or the pullet I first thought (when she originally named herself). Gloria is a bantam Buff Orpington, and one of the Easter Hatch. No comb at all, but it looked like saddle feathers were developing... plus the hackle or neck feathers LOOKED pointed, not rounded. Whatever. As long as s/he doesn't crow, it really doesn't matter to me.