Washingtonians

[lovinchickypoos]

I finally got a diagnosis for why I am having much pain and stiffness in my hips. It may explain most of the pain issues besides. I seem to have a form of arthritis called Ankylosing Spondylitis. So far what I have learned is that I am not going to have any fun with it, and I will not get any better over time. Still it is a relief to know that it is real, and not just in my head. I have spent way too many years being told, and thinking that I am somehow making up the pain. At least now I can know that there is a real reason for the pain.

My MIL has been diagnosed with this!!!!!!!!! We think my hubby has it also as he has chronic back pain not helped much with chiropractic and x-ray shows nothing. None of the doctors we've seen here will do anything but tell him to stretch!!!!!! I completely understand the relief to have a diagnosis but I also understand not having many options on how to relieve what you have. Hope you find a good doctor who is involved in auto-immune disorders. I'll ask my MIL again what she is currently doing for her AS.

 

[itsren]

That picture needs to be entered into some sort of photo contest! So, so cute!!!

 

[Chicken Rustler]

Well my Yoda made by itsren's eldest DS took a little trip. We had intended to take a few more pics like Yoda in the rail, Yoda on my Banshee etc but things kind of went a little bad. Including shredding a trailer tire just before Portland. Yoda really wanted to get out and help change the tire but I wasn't taking any more chances with others out along the freeway. So here are the adventures of Yoda that I was able to capture. Sorry some of the pics aren't very good.Yoda is pretty camera shy which makes it hard to get good pics.
Chicken Rustling Yoda!




Traveling Yoda




Yoda hanging out by the fire in "Dune Camp"




Yoda Preparing for Dance lessons!!!

 

[itsren]

Well my Yoda made by itsren's eldest DS took a little trip.

Those are just awesome! Thanks for doing that CR.

 

[Chicken Rustler]

Quote: Like I said I wanted to get more but by the time my assistant / photographer got there I was so sick I wasn't into any of it. I got out of bed long enough to cook breakfast and lunch for the group and help with dinner.

 

[JennS]

I had a terrible scare with the incubator tonight! I took the turner out of the incubator, added a saucer of water with a sponge, and opened the top vents per the manufacturer's instructions. Since this changed the air flow, I had to tweak the heat setting. I fiddled with it over almost an hour, and thought it had stabilized, so I didn't check it at all during my son's nap, when I was painting the pen. I came back inside, and the thermometer said 105!!! Holy crud! I ripped the lid off, turned it down, and watched it like a hawk for the next hour. When I put the lid back on it said 94, and it slowly went back up to 100.3 and then I got it back down to 99.3. I candled a few eggs and I see movement in all the embryos.

How bad is a temp spike at 19 days? If they're still alive now, are they going to be okay?

I can't wait to be done with this! It's way too stressful. If we ever incubate again, I'm going to buy a good chicken incubator.

Jennifer

 

[itsren]

FlyRobinFly... I'm so glad I got to meet you today! Thank you for the egg cartons. They are cute. Sorry my kid was so quiet - he'll warm up and talk, especially if he's doing something he enjoys. Being in or around stores has never been a comfort zone for him, so he pretty much shut down.

Jessica - I wish I could've gone to coffee with you. I'm glad we got the boat moved back into a garage for the winter though. That needed to be a high priority. When my husband called and said he wanted to take it to my SILs, I knew I needed to go. We store it for the winter in the garage of her 2nd home, and we have to take it over while she's there. We used to store it year-round under our canopy, but after we started to store it in her garage, we started having fewer problems and a lot less mold to clean out each year.

 

[Chicken Rustler]

I had a terrible scare with the incubator tonight! I took the turner out of the incubator, added a saucer of water with a sponge, and opened the top vents per the manufacturer's instructions. Since this changed the air flow, I had to tweak the heat setting. I fiddled with it over almost an hour, and thought it had stabilized, so I didn't check it at all during my son's nap, when I was painting the pen. I came back inside, and the thermometer said 105!!! Holy crud! I ripped the lid off, turned it down, and watched it like a hawk for the next hour. When I put the lid back on it said 94, and it slowly went back up to 100.3 and then I got it back down to 99.3. I candled a few eggs and I see movement in all the embryos.

How bad is a temp spike at 19 days? If they're still alive now, are they going to be okay?

I can't wait to be done with this! It's way too stressful. If we ever incubate again, I'm going to buy a good chicken incubator.

Jennifer

Silkiebator!!!! Set it and forget it!!!!

 

[JennS]

Silkiebator!!!! Set it and forget it!!!!

I'm hoping to hatch at least one out of this batch!

Jennifer

 

[itsren]

I can't wait to be done with this! It's way too stressful. If we ever incubate again, I'm going to buy a good chicken incubator.

This is my first time incubating, so I have no idea how to answer your question. But, I do agree, there's a bit of stress involved in incubating. I was totally cool with it... until I saw a wiggling little embryo in the white egg. Wasn't expecting my stress level to go up - but it did. Suddenly I feel responsible for a little living creature, and I'm not so sure I know how to do everything right.

The last two nights I've had strange dreams about them. One dream - little baby "squinky" chicks hatched - and I asked them why they looked like tiny rubber chickens, and they said because I messed up the humidity and they dried into rubber chickens. Tiny talking rubber chickens... good grief!

They were also wearing little rubber Hawaiian shirts. Maybe I need a vacation.