Washingtonians

[hallerlake]

I had a ham bone in the freezer so I made black eyed pea soup, too. I threw in some mustard greens as well as other stuff. my family doesn't have new year tradition, so i thought I'd borrow one.

Happy new year to all my new BYC friends.

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Well, I have a ham bone from Christmas. Maybe I'll make Black Eye Pea soup!

 

[Ogress]

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One of my cats thinks it is year of that cat every year.

heck yes.. simple humans are here only to serve.... duh!

we have THREE royalty living here. It is exhausting.

We also have 3 cats, but 2 know their place.... to serve The Queen! The Queen (Flumpers because she flumps down for a belly rub in front of eryone's feet) has long white fur and blue eyes. If she comes to you demanding a door be opened, you must do it, or she'll jump on your lap and pee! (did that for the first year after we adopted her). She is also mute, so she goes through all the motions of meowing, but no sound comes out.

We have an indoor only tabby, Fern. The poor thing has stomatitis, and I think I may have to put her down at some point. She still is very friendly, and eats both canned and dry food, but her mouth is an awful mess. I have taken her to several vets, and they say because of her age, surgery is not an option .... on cats over 3, it comes back within a few months. She is 8. When she seems in pain, she gets a steroid shot, and then she is fine for the next 3 months.

The third cat is an outdoor only tabby, It looks exactly like Fern. We don't know the gender.. It is a ferral that we adopted as part of a colony for the garden shed, but this one decided to split from the pack to serve The Queen. It has been hanging out in a little 12' X 12' courtyard, surrounded on 3 sides by glass doors. It would just watch The Queen strut through the house, and run along the outside of the glass. For a year, The Queen paid It no attention. I've left doors open for It, but It won't come in the house, and won't let anyone touch It, but It loves The Queen. When the Queen is outside, she walks right by It as if It is a rock or something unimportant. I bought It a heated cat house that It loves. It never ventures from the courtyard, unless the winds are very high, and then IT hangs out in the heated garden shed. The Queen and It are funny! They now eat from bowls on opposite sides of a window, and neither cat will eat unless the other is there! It is also a lousy mouser, but the Queen can catch anything, and enjoys hunting for It. The Queen won't eat any mice or other little critters, but It devours whatever The Queen brings. The only thing I've seen It catch are Banana Slugs. The Queen still is aloof to It. I suspect The Queen brings It gifts as charity, as tThe Queen still totally ignores It if they are both in the courtyard, and she must have that pane of glass between them if she is going to be near IT.

 

[justbugged]

Well At my house we are having a full turkey dinner tonight. I have the pies done and need to make bread next. We got the kitchen and family room painted, and I think I like it. The aqua color is very different from the gold, and pumpkin colors that I had before. My FiL is here helping DH install some cabinet doors in the bathroom. The main bath is getting closer to finished all the time. I must say that I love the walking shower. Washing the little dog is so much easier now.

The little dog aka Puppy

 

[LaSombra]

Good morning and Happy New Year, everyone!!! Did anyone watch the space needle fireworks last night? Really nice

was on channel 5. It's too cold out there... still. Getting tired of frozen water containers. My chooks love when I bring them warm water in the morning, though... guess it's like having a hot cup of java, eh

hope all are staying WARM!!

 

[Rare Feathers Farm]

Hey everyone! Happy New Year!

We're making jambalaya for dinner with sweet corn bread.

The thought of it makes me want to puke though. LOL

These past two days have been the WORST with the morning sickness...the kind that lasts ALL day LONG!

 

[Rare Feathers Farm]

Oh and it was -7 when I woke up at 5:30am and it got down to 51 in our bedroom last night! BRRRRR!!!

 

[LaSombra]

I think I'm going to make some chili for dinner tonight. It's good chili weather...

 

[Ogress]

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Hopefully it will pass soon, but if it lasts all day long, you may have hyperemisis .... All Day nausea with puking that lasts more than the first trimester.

I had it with my son the entire pregnancy, lost 30 lbs, but the boy was fine and good sized. I worried so much that there was something wrong with him since I was puking so much, and now I think it was all my worrying that caused much of the nausea in the first place! Saltines first thing in the morning, whenever I woke at night and just before bed, B vitamins, ginger or peppermint tea, and Unisom all helped a little. I also tried injectable Tigan and some other meds, but that made me worse with other symptoms. I munched on Triple Ginger Ginger Snaps from Trader Joes after each time I puked. It seemed to help.

Good thing is each pregnancy is different. I rarely felt sick with DD (other problems there, but at least I always felt fine).

I predict you are having a boy. (I've only once guessed correctly! - not a good track record.)

 

[Greg Richardson]

Ogress. If the repair estimate doesn't work out for you make sure you do your home work on what they want to give you for $$$
Or is that the final acceptance payment?
If so that is why I advise people never to accept a check until the work to be done is in writing.
COMPLETE costs, or if costs can't be determined until later a letter stating they will cover up to a certain point.
They are now in damage control mode.
Being a contractor plus having insurance situations myself unfortunately I have ran into some situations if I hadn't said no and did my homework they'd had made out much better then being fair.
An insurance adjusters job from what I have seen with many claims is to get the person to settle as soon as possible for the least amount of money.
I realize your car is a bit different with less to compare to due to type of engine but make sure the bluebook quotes they give you on value is based on where you could replace your car.
Bluebook values are vastly different between private and dealer and car values also are different depending on location.
I think one needs to look on craigslist all over the US also to compare with all the value places like Kelly's and all the other vehicle books.

BTW. If this is final check and it is determined that part is bad you don't know about yet tell them you will provide the part. Start to look for it now just in case.
I have saved hundreds of $$$ buying parts off the net.
These are new parts shipped straight from parts manufacture thus the price difference.

 

[Illia]

Well it looks like my Tolbunt Polish brothers are officially "over" with each other now. . . They grew up and got along great, and just weeks ago I decided to pull them from the "Tolbunt Pen" and introduce them to the pasture filled with all the rest of the hens for the winter break, then I put Spike, our frizzled cockerel, back in with the polish. After just a few days of asserting his dominance and manhood over his new area, all to himself, I introduced Bowie, the smooth, for just a moment and all chaos broke out. As I went in to brake up the first fight, my arm got the full front of the battle. And boy, does it hurt to get flogged by two cockerels at once - Even without spurs!

So, Bowie will be alone for a while until I get a second coop and run built. I'll be splitting my Tolbunt project between the boys - One, the frizzle, will be the main father to any eggs that leave this place, and the other, the smooth, will be the father to most of my personal project eggs - The eggs that will be hatched and raised here.

So, here's Spike, enjoying the very little sun for the day he gets. Yes, his tail is ratty looking. . . I don't think he ever preens it.

Our newest addition, "Spangles." Her crest has been clipped back by her previous owner.

Seriously, I don't know about the rest of you, but the ONLY place in our property that gets sun throughout the day is the pasture way in the back, which no one goes out to except a handful of adventurous hens. Otherwise, small bits, like the bachelor pad and tip of the Tolbunt pen get about 10 minutes of sun per day. Everywhere else, this is what the place looks like. The frost builds up more and more each night: