The Evolution of Atlas: A Breeding (and Chat) Thread

[seminolewind]

My doc office has set up virtual appointments. You are allotted a time to call the doc and have your appt on the smart phone!
Other than that, things are boring/okay. I'm not bored with all the animal care I provide. I ordered some Wonder Dust for my bumble patient. One area where the scab was is not healing fast enough I think. So with wonder dust maybe it will dry out faster. I'm also trying to put together a medical tool box to put all my supplies in.

 

[speckledhen]

My husband has a follow up appt with the cardiologist in April and he asked them if he should cancel. They said they wanted to keep that one, that they were going to separate the sick from the well, but that makes no sense at all. It's not an emergency, just a follow-up, and they cannot tell who is incubating this virus. So, Tom and I feel that he should cancel his appointments until further notice unless something becomes dire.

 

[MistyMountain]

I've cancelled our appointments, and we're all staying in. Baby girl goes for her 4 month appt the end of next month, which I will probably cancel as well. We'll catch up on vaccinations later. Being home bound, I feel our risk is low for anything those vaccines cover anyhow. I'm thankful that having chickens has given me an understanding of how biosecurity works, and we are able use that to keep ourselves healthy as well. It does help that we have 11 acres to roam every day, so cabin fever will be a nonissue.

The boys have packets downloaded and printed from the school and I have created a schedule to keep them busy (and quiet during baby's nap time). There were many sample schedules floating around online, many with activities planned down to the very minute to fill the day completely. I've edited them to work for us, including 3 plus hours of outside time. We don't do electronics like most, but the boys are allowed some time on the weekends. During the week, they do have some time for educational games recommended by the school as well as virtual museum tours and zoo tours. The boys also help make/prep something for dinner at lunch time and each boy is in charge of dinner one night a week. My 9 year old is making Chili tonight.

Virginia has closed schools for 2 weeks, but I fully expect it will be more, up to the end of the school year. The governor has also asked that there be no more than 10 people in a group or location, and that restaurants close their doors to people "eating in." Most have set up curb side pick up or delivery.
Worst case, we've got beef on the hoof out back. We'll survive this, but it will absolutely leave a mark.

 

[1muttsfan]

Is that a new Avatar? Nice looking cow

 

[speckledhen]

Hi, Michelle! Love the avatar. It's the end of the world as we know it, it's the end of the world as we know it... (sing with me!)

Put in a garden, folks who have never done it or who have only dabbled previously. Soon, you will need one. This year we are planting more than ever before:

Tomatoes: big sandwich types, cherry types, paste types
Squash: Zucchini, yellow crookneck, Butternut
Crowder Peas, Purple Hull Peas
Onions, garlic
Basil, Sage, Oregano (Mexican & Cuban)
Bell Peppers
Sweet Potatoes
Russian Kale
Rhubarb patch, ongoing
Blueberries, ongoing
Blackberries, grow wild all around us
Moonglow pears and Haven Peaches (if the trees aren't zapped by frost this year)
Wild Lettuce, aka Opium Lettuce for pain
Cantaloupe
Starting a stand of elderberries this year......

There are other seeds we have here, but we may have no room for more in our two garden spaces this year. Next year, we may expand into a larger area, health willing.
What happens if life never goes back to what society has become used to? What if we are going back to an agrarian lifestyle in order to survive? It is within the realm of possibility. The ones who already know how to grow gardens and preserve their own food are ahead of the curve.

 

[1muttsfan]

Unfortunately I've never had much luck with squash here, they get some moldy thing and don't produce fruit. Potatoes, onions, garlic, peas, and lettuce do great. Tomatoes fair.

And the next line of that song is "Yes and I feel fine (time I had some time alone)"

 

[speckledhen]

Unfortunately I've never had much luck with squash here, they get some moldy thing and don't produce fruit. Potatoes, onions, garlic, peas, and lettuce do great. Tomatoes fair.

And the next line of that song is "Yes and I feel fine (time I had some time alone)"

Yes, and we do! We do because we are prepared and know how to grow stuff! And we can make our own hand sanitizer as well as vanilla with grain alcohol, yippee! LOL.

 

[1muttsfan]

We made some with alcohol, Aloe and Peppermint oil. Much nicer than the store-bought stuff.

Just placed orders for seeds and Onion sets from Renee's Garden and Park Seed. I was going to reduce my garden space this year, but now will be converting some of the flower beds to veggies. Since I have no way of starting tomatoes indoors and our season is so short, I hope we will be able to get some plants this spring. Likely I'll dig out the Walls of Water and try to get an early start.

 

[seminolewind]

Is that a new Avatar? Nice looking cow

You're kidding, right? about the # of chickens?
Seriously tho, I have 24 and will if necessary replace.

 

[seminolewind]

So much is out of stock on Amazon that I looked at. No Publix within an hour of here, but they are super pricey, the ones I've visited in the closest areas to us. Tom is off to the bank, Walmart (his first stop because it's so early), the P.O. and the feed store for shavings. We have enough feed, but shavings are low since it's been so rainy that they've been inside a lot and the dampness in the air makes the shavings soak up moisture.
A YouTube creator I listen to on occasion said he spoke to an Amazon driver and told him that he must be really swamped now with more ordering supplies online. The driver said deliveries had tanked, that so much product from China was not coming in, that they had less than half the usual deliveries. I guess that makes sense.

I just put an order in at Corydon Walmart. I spent $299, and pick up tomorrow. Mostly cans but some things surprised me , and an only 2 limit.

This is just an FYI. Judging by what my daughter is telling me (near panic) with public stations, I do listen to Fox. I feel their info is unadulterated. No panic, no lax, just laying it out by the top disease people in the country standing behind Tr-mp and speaking daily.

I think the bottom line is they have no idea where this will go, and also several hypotheses . It's mostly tracking other countries and where their crises lie. According to an Italian , his advice is that we need to see the peak going down. The biggest problem right now is avoiding everyone getting sick at the same time-we can't really handle that medically.
I think this thing may get worse before it's better. And it may affect us for quite a while.
I personally think some thing are easier for us on this thread because we know how to use flour and grow veggies. Just follow instructions by all those CDC etc. people , best is to wash hands, don't touch your face, and maintain your best 6 foot radius.

In the interum, my DD called to tell me that I should lock up my chickens at niight so I got a lock and a monitor. She's right. There may be hungry people wandering around at some point.

It's a great time to watch "Roger & Me" documentary by Michael Moore and how Flint Michigan suffered after GM pulled out of town.

Does anyone know how to keep eggs? Like freeze them in some form?