The Old Folks Home

[chickadoodles]

Scg so sorry about your hen.
What a wonderful surprise from someone who knows you well. I suspect Bruce's guesses are right on target.

Thanks for the info on beets Scg.

Al have a wonderful time.

I have a cousin that has lived in Germany for close to 30 years.
She loves to go to flea markets and estate sales and find vintage items and puts them on ebay. I have bought a couple things from her. She finds a lot of hand made craft items and Christmas ornaments that are pretty stunning. They take pride in their crafting that's for sure.

 

[superchemicalgirl]

It was Wisher.



Really can't tell you how amazing it feels to be the recipient of random love.

It also feels amazing to be the giver of random love, as well. I have a package going out tomorrow (not nearly as booby trapped as the one I just received) with some flannel pillowcases for a friend who needs some pick me up.

To quote TC from Bangor Police Department: Be kind to one another.

 

[Latestarter]

Thanks everyone for the beets ideas. Basically any way with butter.

My X wife used beets to make Borscht. She was from Russia, so did it the way they do it over there. I really liked it. Just a stray thought.

 

[chickadoodles]

Thanks Ls. I will look up a recipe for it.

 

[pennyJo1960]

It was Wisher.



Really can't tell you how amazing it feels to be the recipient of random love.

It also feels amazing to be the giver of random love, as well. I have a package going out tomorrow (not nearly as booby trapped as the one I just received) with some flannel pillowcases for a friend who needs some pick me up.

To quote TC from Bangor Police Department: Be kind to one another.

I treasure the Christmas hanger you sent the snowman thank you many times over

 

[CapricornFarm]

Beets - had them once. BF cut the skins off, cut into chunks, stuck in an iron skillet. Drizzled with olive oil (or butter), and some salt and pepper and probably some kind of herbal something or other and roasted in oven it until soft. They were delicious.


Had a sad day today, another favorite hen died. My original flock, that will be 8 in April, are really dropping like flies. Tonya Harding died in October, and FatOne died tonight. Both were my only "lap chickens" that loved to jump in my lap and be petted.

But, I do firmly believe in the power of friendship and doing nice things for people, randomly. Today I was the recipient of one of those nice things. I got an anonymous package today in the mailbox. I opened it up to find a black box that was covered in tape and had "do you like surprises?" written on it.

Not sure any of you remember, but dad used to send me the craziest packages with multiple layers of challenge to reach the gooey center. He'd gorilla glue things shut, use a ton of tape... once even used metal flashing to "protect" the package. Once he blow dried a drug vial opening and put a coin in the freezer to get the coin into the the vial so I couldn't get it out (he actually measured the vial top and called a collectible coin seller to have him measure his coins and purchased the one that was a few millimeters bigger than the opening for his trick to work).

Anyway, this package rivaled my fathers. There was layer upon layer of intrigue and booby traps. He would have be so proud.

There was one point I almost gave up. I thought for sure the surprise had to be comb honey that had exploded...

View attachment 1238258

I set it aside for 30 minutes. Once I realized that sending me comb honey didnt make sense, I inspected closer and I noticed that the honey only appeared to be in the outside bag, not in the inner sanctum.

Strong work, anonymous friend. Strong work, indeed.

After battling the sticky goodness, I had a few more tape and plastic layers to beat before revealing my surprise.

View attachment 1238260

A very sweet, thoughtful (and sticky!) gift, from a very sweet friend.

Thank you, friend. Your rock is so much more comforting than you could have known.

Sorry you are losing your hens! But at least they have lived good lives.
Mine have mostly been dying already, lost 7 out of 12 Speckled Sussex. Got another one not looking good. 2 have started laying. Mid August birds. So 5 months old.

 

[drumstick diva]

My grandma loved her Borscht and so did my mom. I wouldn't come near it but, vegetables scared me as a child and even as a senior.

 

[microchick]

Had a busy few days here. I won't even try to catch up ten pages worth. DH had skin cancer surgery again. Another 'little' procedure that turned into a 3.5 hour ordeal. What they thought was a small surface Basal cell growth on his scalp turned out to be an iceberg. The cancer had grown under the skin, into his scalp and down to his skull. They finally had to remove the last layer between the scalp and the skull. He was left with a 3X1.5" opening in his scalp and 12 sutures. Needless to say we are glad that they got it all but very stressed that he had to undergo such a lengthy procedure again. We were kind of bracing ourselves for it as the eldest doctor had looked at the spot earlier and said he didn't like the looks of it and it might be 'bad'. Before it was all over he was in watching his surgeon son and the resident working with the doctor/surgeon finish up. DH is sitting with a bag of frozen Lima beans (always keep one in the freezer in case we need an emergency ice pack) on his head and not a real happy camper but I can't blame him. I got to watch about half of the surgery and it made my head hurt just watching.

Never let anyone tell you that Basal cell cancers can't be nasty. My best advice to everyone is to be aggressive with skin problems. DH goes every three months to the dermatologist and he has had 6 surgeries in the past 9 months.

Other than that, it's still cold enough to freeze a rooster into a capon. My chickens don't even want to get down off the roosts unless they have to and lay eggs? They laugh and point at me when I check the nesting boxes. My first time layers have even stopped laying.

I think it's going to be up near 50 this weekend. Which means the three inches of snow we got three days ago will turn into delightful muck.

Hope everybody is doing well and staying warm.

SGC sorry to hear you lost one of your hens. It's never easy, even when you expect it.

 

[ronott1]

Had a busy few days here. I won't even try to catch up ten pages worth. DH had skin cancer surgery again. Another 'little' procedure that turned into a 3.5 hour ordeal. What they thought was a small surface Basal cell growth on his scalp turned out to be an iceberg. The cancer had grown under the skin, into his scalp and down to his skull. They finally had to remove the last layer between the scalp and the skull. He was left with a 3X1.5" opening in his scalp and 12 sutures. Needless to say we are glad that they got it all but very stressed that he had to undergo such a lengthy procedure again. We were kind of bracing ourselves for it as the eldest doctor had looked at the spot earlier and said he didn't like the looks of it and it might be 'bad'. Before it was all over he was in watching his surgeon son and the resident working with the doctor/surgeon finish up. DH is sitting with a bag of frozen Lima beans (always keep one in the freezer in case we need an emergency ice pack) on his head and not a real happy camper but I can't blame him. I got to watch about half of the surgery and it made my head hurt just watching.

Never let anyone tell you that Basal cell cancers can't be nasty. My best advice to everyone is to be aggressive with skin problems. DH goes every three months to the dermatologist and he has had 6 surgeries in the past 9 months.

Other than that, it's still cold enough to freeze a rooster into a capon. My chickens don't even want to get down off the roosts unless they have to and lay eggs? They laugh and point at me when I check the nesting boxes. My first time layers have even stopped laying.

I think it's going to be up near 50 this weekend. Which means the three inches of snow we got three days ago.

Hope everybody is doing well and staying warm.

SGC sorry to hear you lost one of your hens. It's never easy, even when you expect it.

I am so sorry!

I hope he recovers well from it. Will he have to have reconstruction surgery later?

 

[CapricornFarm]

Had a busy few days here. I won't even try to catch up ten pages worth. DH had skin cancer surgery again. Another 'little' procedure that turned into a 3.5 hour ordeal. What they thought was a small surface Basal cell growth on his scalp turned out to be an iceberg. The cancer had grown under the skin, into his scalp and down to his skull. They finally had to remove the last layer between the scalp and the skull. He was left with a 3X1.5" opening in his scalp and 12 sutures. Needless to say we are glad that they got it all but very stressed that he had to undergo such a lengthy procedure again. We were kind of bracing ourselves for it as the eldest doctor had looked at the spot earlier and said he didn't like the looks of it and it might be 'bad'. Before it was all over he was in watching his surgeon son and the resident working with the doctor/surgeon finish up. DH is sitting with a bag of frozen Lima beans (always keep one in the freezer in case we need an emergency ice pack) on his head and not a real happy camper but I can't blame him. I got to watch about half of the surgery and it made my head hurt just watching.

Never let anyone tell you that Basal cell cancers can't be nasty. My best advice to everyone is to be aggressive with skin problems. DH goes every three months to the dermatologist and he has had 6 surgeries in the past 9 months.

Other than that, it's still cold enough to freeze a rooster into a capon. My chickens don't even want to get down off the roosts unless they have to and lay eggs? They laugh and point at me when I check the nesting boxes. My first time layers have even stopped laying.

I think it's going to be up near 50 this weekend. Which means the three inches of snow we got three days ago.

Hope everybody is doing well and staying warm.

SGC sorry to hear you lost one of your hens. It's never easy, even when you expect it.

I asked to be referred to a dermatologist at the drs office but i have not heard back yet. Maybe i will have to nag them. Not my first visit, and probably not my last but no cancers yet.