Summer Returns

The cooler weather didn’t last long, the heat has returned today with a vengeance. I remember a few years ago when I first got my first swimming pool that the water was cold all summer. I had to get a solar blanket for it, I didn’t think that having a pool was worth the cost of the chemicals because it wasn’t used that much. Some friends that I know got rid of their pools after that season because it was never warm enough to swim comfortably.

I got the pool for my Grandkids because I wanted them to learn to swim. It worked well, my oldest Grandson can swim well and my two oldest Granddaughters are floating, dog paddling, and swimming expertly underwater.

This year has been the best year ever for owning a swimming pool in southern Indiana. The girls have lived in the water this Summer. They are dark brown from the sun and their hair is a couple of shades lighter. But today the water was cold after a couple of cool nights. They were shocked in more ways than one when they jumped in because they are used to nice warm water. They keep getting out to warm up in the sun.

It’s hard to believe that it is almost September, this Summer has been just one long, super hot, steamy blur. It started out stormy with lots of rain and is ending up dry and dusty. We have gone from grass that wouldn’t quit growing to grass that is drying up and not growing at all. I wonder what this Winter will be like.

48 Degrees

Cool enough for a sweatshirt this morning while I milk. Now if I can just find those sweatshirts.

Calico has fallen into a great milking routine. She is giving more milk now than she has in past years. She has fully recovered after having mastitis in late June. It was my first experience with mastitis. It was my first experience with a single kid, she had always had twins before. He was getting enough milk from just one side and was not nursing the other side. I was milking her once per day but I guess I should have been milking her twice per day. 

Collette is due to kid on September 8th, so we are getting close. I don’t think that I have to worry about a single with her unless something goes wrong. She is surely carrying multiples, not sure how many. She had Triplets her first kidding but I didn’t see her before she kidded so I don’t know how big she got. I need to get some pictures of her now for future reference.

Windows Live Writer

Finally got a new computer and am in the process of setting it up. It had this blogging program on it, so I thought that I would give it a try. Since I am still on a dial-up out here in the wilderness of southern Indiana, I thought it would be a great idea to be able to blog when I am offline. It seems to have lots of bells and whistles, so far I am impressed.

The unrelenting Summer heat has relented today and it was just in time for us to get our first load of hay in the loft. I didn’t think that we would be putting any square bales in the loft this year because reasonably priced, good quality square baled hay is a thing of the past. I thought that we were going to try to get by with just big round bales but we fell for it again and this hay is another disappointment. These bales are half the size of the hay that we got a few years ago for half the price. It is so light and loose that it won’t stay on the elevator.

In this tough economy everyone is trying to get rich by ripping off their neighbor. Small farmers or hobby farmers have to have their own hay equipment and their own hayfield in order to survive anymore. We can sit and reminisce with the Grandkids this winter about how you used to be able to buy good clean hay without weeds in heavy, long, tight bales for $2.00 per bale.

Now let’s see how Windows Live Writer publishes to blogger.

How Do Eggs Get Contaminated?

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention say:

The bacterium salmonella enteritidis silently infects the ovaries of healthy appearing hens and contaminates the eggs before the shells are formed.

The hen encounters the the bacteria in its environment. The bacteria invades the hen's reproductive and digestive systems.

Most types of salmonella live in the intestinal tracts of animals and birds and are transmitted to humans by contaminated foods of animal origin.

Stringent procedures for cleaning and inspecting eggs were implemented in the 1970s and have made salmonellosis caused by external fecal contamination of egg shells extremely rare.

The current epidemic is due to intact and disinfected grade A eggs.

Although most infected hens have been found in the northeastern United States, the infection also occurs in hens in other areas of the country. In the Northeast, approximately one in 10,000 eggs may be internally contaminated.

In other parts of the United States, contaminated eggs appear less common. A small number of hens seem to be infected at any given time, and an infected hen can lay many normal eggs while only occasionally laying an egg contaminated with the salmonella bacterium.

My questions are: If a small number of infected hens (at any given time) only lay a contaminated egg occasionally, then why are so many people getting sick? Could it be that they have $$ in their eyes?

500th Post

So what can I write about for post number 500? Probably the thing that is most on my mind right now is the heat. Our neighbors just got home from California where is was over 100 degrees. They said that it is nothing to compare to a hot day in Indiana.

Those people who live in dry, hot climates who argue with you about hot being hot where ever you are, either have never experienced high humidity or have forgotten what it feels like.

We went out west a few years ago and it was around 110 degrees one day in Arizona. People were amazed that my son and my friend's son were outside playing basketball. The kids were amazed that people there thought that it was hot.

Hot is when you walk out the door and your glasses steam up so bad that you can't see. Hot is when you can't breathe because the air is so thick. Hot is when your clothes are soaked with perspiration after sitting outside in a lawn chair for less than 5 minutes. Hot is when your air-conditioner never shuts off unless you shut it off. Hot is when thunderstorms appear out of nowhere to surprise and delight you.

There is a breeze today and they have canceled our heat advisory. This is a nice change from the high temperatures and humidity that we have been suffering this Summer. But we are expecting some severe thunderstorms this evening and tonight with high winds and heavy rainfall.

I Love Dip!

A Kid Is Born

Calico was due on Saturday the 15th. So, she kidded on Saturday the 15th. Goats are very reliable like that, if you see them bred and write down the breeding date.

After waiting for 5 months for the blessed event, I missed it. I never go anywhere but did go to a graduation ceremony on Saturday evening. When I got home and walked into the barn, I heard a little "maa".

My DH was standing there and I started asking questions; Yes, it is a buckling, No, she didn't have any problems but he did assist her, No, he hadn't stood up yet and he hadn't nursed yet.

We then waited for her to lay back down and have the second kid. She never did! This is a first for me, all of my goats have always had twins. I have never had a single before. I am not complaining, this means that I will have milk much sooner than I expected. There is no way that he will be able to drink all of that milk.

I had to milk her Saturday night and then again last night. Today she has really come into her milk and she will probably have to be milked twice today. The bad thing is that my Husband just bought a gallon of milk. Her milk won't be good to drink just yet but it should be good in a few days. The dogs and chickens will be happy until then.

His Mother lost him and started yelling for him, he wouldn't answer. I finally went out to see what all of the noise was about and I couldn't find him either. He had safely hidden himself inside the hay feeder and his Mother and Aunt Collette had eaten over the top of him and covered him up with hay. I moved the hay back and found him. Now he keeps getting in there and his Mother can't figure out where he is and starts yelling again. Who said Goats are smart?

A Leopard With No Name

When last we spoke, I was sitting up all night with Jetta, waiting for her to foal. That was on May 6th, she finally foaled that next morning at 9:30, after keeping me up all night.

We turned her out of the foaling stall that morning, so I had to go outside and around the barn to see her. I had just checked her at 9:00 and nothing seemed to be happening, so I went back into the house. For some reason I felt that I should check her again five minutes later.

When I went out she was down, her water had broken and she was in hard labor. I came back in the house, called my DH at work and told him how worried I was that she might have twins and if she didn't have twins, it was going to be a really big foal. He said that he would come home. So, I hung up and grabbed my foaling kit.

I had been watching her the whole time that I was on the phone and she didn't seem to be making any progress. There was no white sack visible and that made me more nervous. When I got into the pen with her, I looked inside and saw the white sack, so I was somewhat relieved.

Finally a leg appeared but just one, not just a foot but a leg. I was relieved once more because it was a huge leg and I knew that it wasn't going to be twins. Jetta kept getting up and trying to reposition things but it wasn't working.

I tried pushing the leg back in but couldn't get it done, so I went in and found the other foot. I pulled on it and it pull back, I pulled again and it resisted, just like a horse! Finally, I just kept pressure on it without pulling hard and with Jetta's next contraction, it popped out.

At this point, I had both legs and the nose had presented itself, so I started pulling. This was a big foal and Jetta was going to have to have help. She did great! She didn't quit pushing and I didn't quit pulling. Finally, his shoulders slid out and his hips followed. If you have never delivered a foal or seen one born, then you might think that is a funny statement. Normally the hips do follow the shoulders but sometimes a foal will get stuck at the hips and that is no fun.

I pulled open the sack and removed it from his head, then towel dried his face and went to find a place to sit down to wait for my Husband to get home to finish the job. I was exhausted but not as exhausted as Jetta, she didn't even look at the baby or talk to him. She just lay there and rested, totally dazed.

When my DH got home, he got the big boy up and rubbed him all over with towels and put iodine on his navel. Jetta came out of her stupor and
started talking to the boy. I knew he was a colt without looking. Fillies just have a more delicate look about them and they aren't as obnoxious.

I still have not named him, he was born on one of my Granddaughter's sixth birthday, so he will be named for her on his registration papers but I don't know what to call him yet.

Here are pictures of Sissy and Jetta before they foaled, this is why I feared Jetta would have twins.

 

Here is Jetta's Leopard Colt. Name suggestions would be appreciated!

Foal Watch

I'm sitting up watching Jetta, our ApHC Black Broodmare. Her milk has turned white and tasted sweet this evening. She should foal tonight, she is pacing in her stall. I'm hoping that she goes early so that I can go to bed at a decent hour.

Our Oops Foal Is Born

Derby was born on Derby Day. She arrived at 10:30 Saturday evening. I was online when I heard her mother lie down. I woke up my DH and went out to see how things were progressing.

One leg was not in the right position, she had an elbow hung up. My DH helped reposition her and then assisted with the next contraction and she popped right out. Mom did everything right after years of experience. She let my husband dry Derby off and she just remained lying down and resting.

My DH was sure that she was a colt but I said that she was a filly. He finally ripped the sack off of her hind quarters and looked, I was right.

These first two pictures were taken right after Derby was born, when she first found her feet.

These next pictures were taken today at one and a half days old. Excuse the muddy stall and foal. We had so much rain over the weekend that the barn and stall are flooded.

This was an unauthorized breeding and normally an "oops" baby is stunningly colored but poor Derby is just Bay with a large star and white on all four feet. It has been suggested that perhaps Jazz, our Appaloosa Stallion, was trying to disguise the fact that he is the father.

Sissy, the mother, is an AQHA or Quarter Horse mare. I did wonder if maybe she had gotten with Badger (our AQHA Grullo Stallion) instead since this mare has always produced loudly blanketed foals from Jazz.

Then my Husband discovered white hair on Derby's rump. Nice try, Jazz!

Derby won't stay this color. Jazz is a 100% color producer, so if his babies are born solid or nearly solid like Derby is, then they roan and always end up being roan with spots.

  

The Answer Has Come...

For those who read my blog regularly, you know that Collette has been driving me crazy. I have posted about her several times. I finally asked for opinions on March 18th. You can see the pictures of her in that post: Doe Opinions Please.

The answer came last night. She hadn't been eating well for the last couple of days. When I started to bring her to the barn for the night, I noticed that she looked like someone had deflated her somewhat. I thought at first maybe she had just dropped but on closer inspection, she just looked a little thinner.

I tied Calico at her feeding station and put Collette in the stall with her grain and she wouldn't touch it. She just stood there and cried. I waited for awhile and kept an eye on her. She doesn't like to be separated from Calico but she is used to it at feeding time.

I commented to my DH that she just might be in heat. I finally went out and put a lead rope on her and opened the gate to see where she wanted to go. She drug me towards Rancid instead of going the opposite direction towards Calico. When we arrived at Rancid's pen, he didn't act that interested at first because she has put him in his place too many times. I decided after watching and waiting for awhile that she would stand for him.

I took her back to her stall and asked my Husband to bring Rancid to the barn. We put them together in the stall and we discovered that she will kid on September 9th, 2010.

Babysittin'

This week was Spring Break for my oldest Grandson. His Mother had to travel to another state, so he has been here for four days, he is going home tonight.

My other Son and his Wife traveled to another state today to attend a gun shoot. So I am watching their two youngest children for the day, ages 17 months and 3 years. They arrived at 5:30 this morning and will be picked up late tonight or during the early morning hours.

I woke up this morning early to receive the kids and had a terrible headache. Thankfully both went back to sleep after their parents left. My head hurt so bad that it made me sick to my stomach. I didn't have anything but Aspirin to take and I couldn't hold them down long enough to help. I finally went back to sleep but my headache has continued all day.

This is my 17 month old Grandson's first full day without his Mother. He is still nursing and has never had a bottle in his life. He has only recently, like in the last two weeks, learned to drink from a sippy cup.

Since his Mom knew that she was leaving him she tried him on Cow's milk yesterday and he wouldn't drink it. He did drink it for me this morning but very slowly and with disgust. His Mom pumped and left about 5 ounces of her milk for him. When I offered it to him he chugged it and cried for more even though it was ice cold. Nothing like Mother's milk! More later...(kids to take care of)

...It is now 11:00 pm and his sister is fast asleep after a busy day with no naps, he on the other hand had an early evening nap and isn't ready for bed. He keeps going to the door and looking up at it, waiting. At one point he laid down in front of the door and I thought that he might go to sleep but I think that he is just watching and waiting for the return of his Mother, he has surely missed her today, poor thing.

The Horse - Unwanted Horses

The Horse | Unwanted Horses an Urgent Issue, Survey Says

Zircon Memories

It was a lovely day today, warm, sunny, a nice breeze. The horses and goats are all shedding, so there was hair in the air. I let my two does out in the yard for some green, tender munching and some exercise this evening. They kept their noses to the ground, so I worried that they would get too much of a good thing.

When my DH got home from his job, he worked with a new 2 year old filly that we just got in, she really needs some work! The only lesson she has been getting so far is how to be caught without tearing down fences.

Then he brought Zircon to the barn to trim his feet. With 30-something horses, hoof trimming is going to go on and on for awhile. He managed to get Zircon, a 2 year old and Sky, our only yearling done this evening.

I took some new pictures of Zircon, he is such a good boy. I remembered back two years ago this June when I helped bring him into the world. You can read that story here.

Zircon has gone from being an ugly duckling to a beautiful swan. I knew he would!

When the horses were trimmed, I casually said something about trimming Rancid's feet. My wonderful husband whose back and legs were already hurting from the work involved in trimming two horses, one of which was an inexperienced yearling, told me to go get him. Well, I jumped at the chance to get my doe's hooves trimmed and brought out Collette instead. When he finished with Collette, I put her up and brought out Calico. He is an absolute perfect Husband. Rancid will have to wait, I didn't want to push my luck too far.

The last few days have been such perfect weather that I hate for it to end but from the look of the weather map and the forecasts, we are in for some stormy weather. There may be some severe storms tomorrow. I haven't had to shut my computer down because of lightening for months, unfortunately with the Spring weather comes the Spring thunderstorms.

More Eggs, No Milk

It is Spring Break for some of our Grand-kids, so they have been taking turns staying overnight at Papaw and Mamaw's house. I have walked several miles with them around the farm and Papaw has walked several miles with them on Mr. Shorty. Poor Mr. Shorty has earned his keep this week.

Our hens are finally laying a decent amount of eggs. We are getting anywhere from 4 to 9 eggs a day. Then occasionally my DH goes into the loft and finds a nest, that makes our egg production number jump.

We haven't milked Calico for a week or so and she is about all dried up. Collette is still being Collette and I am still unsure of what is going on with her. Our neighbor and fellow goat herder said that she had a goat deliver a kid the other day without any signs at all. She thought that she was a long way from kidding. She had no udder, no puffiness or swelling. Goats are all different and they are always planning new ways of fooling you.

I was planning on selling my Buck as soon as both does kidded this Spring but now I will probably have to keep him until fall. Once I get both does in milk, I am going to keep milking them as long as they will produce milk or until I get tired of milking. No more breeding and kidding unless I get lonely for some new kids.

Write Your Representative

My German neighbor said that they went through what they did simply because they wouldn't stand up and say, "NO!".
Write Your Representative and always be sure to vote!

Doe Opinions Please

The picture below was taken September 24, 2009, nearly 6 months ago.


These two pictures were taken a couple of weeks ago.



This picture was taken a couple of days ago.


Is she bred or just fat? I thought she was bred 6 months ago and stopped milking her, so I have lost confidence in myself. I thought I felt movement months ago, her ligs feel loose but she has no udder or changes in her udder, no swelling or puffiness on her tail end. If she is bred, it was an oops breeding because the Buck got in with her. I know he was with her in December but I thought she was already bred at that time.

A Family Evening

We were so blessed to have all of our family with us on a sunny and warm evening recently. My oldest Grandson and I went for a walk before everyone else came. We went right down into the creek onto a new sandbar that has formed this winter on our stretch of Indian Creek. We have a rather large island with big trees on it, where the creek splits, but now a new island is forming beside the first one. This is good for us because Indian Creek was eating away at our pasture, now it is going the other direction.

I took a few pictures of the creek and the islands. My Grandson did what most boys do he skipped rocks and got his feet wet.

Later our youngest Grandson got to chase a few chickens and meet Angus.

One Tough Cookie

It ain't braggin' if it's true, is it? Well, my 5 year old, middle Granddaughter is just plain tough in more ways than one. First, she was born with a holey heart, an atrial septal defect. She didn't feel good and was a very grumpy baby. When she was 15 months old she had to have a device implanted in her heart to fill in the largest hole. It is called an AMPLATZER® Septal Occluder, a wire disc shaped device made from an alloy of nickel and titanium. She came through the procedure like the trooper she is.

Next came the dog attack at two and a half years old. She had several puncture wounds on cheek, jaw and around her left eye. Her bottom eye lid had a chunk missing and was split open. She was cool, calm and sang Christmas songs on the long trip to the Hospital. She remained composed for all of the stitches, she was sedated but didn't like being held down. She was very brave for the removal of the stitches as well.

Then there are the splinters that you naturally get on a farm. I have removed two splinters from her fingers so far. She doesn't squirm, whine or cry when I poke, prod and squeeze, she even watches.

So that brings me up to Saturday. Somehow she managed to cut the tip of her little toe nearly off on Thursday. The entire top skin of the tip of her toe was cut loose and was only being held on by a small piece that was still intact. It looked bad and painful.

She had complained about it only after she noticed the blood, her Mom asked what happened and she said that she couldn't remember. I guess it didn't make much of an impression on her. Sometime later the toe started throbbing and she did do some crying.

Friday night the girls spent the night with us and we soaked her foot in Epsom Salts a couple of time. I was afraid that it might get infected because she was running around my house barefooted and we couldn't get a band-aid on it. After one soak on Saturday afternoon my DH looked closely at it and declared that the excess skin needed to be removed. Her Mother had talked about doing this herself. So I called her Mom for approval after our Granddaughter gave her approval.

I stuck a Banana Popsicle in her mouth, read her a funny story holding the book so that it blocked her view of what Papaw was doing and he did surgery. She never flinched, jerked or made a sound accept for laughing at the story.

My DH held out his open palm with the thick cap of skin in it and she said: "I didn't even feel it!". She did have a hard time putting it back in the Epsom Salt water because it burned but after about five attempts she finally got the nerve and stuck it in without pulling it back out.

Now bandaging it was another story, she griped, moaned and argued about having to wear a stupid band-aid on it. My DH applied ointment and wrapped it with gauze and tape, she was not happy about this but her arguments and non-stop griping was so funny that we just kept chuckling. She can be quite dramatic. She didn't want a big old ugly bandage on it and thought she could talk her way out of it.

She is tough in other ways too, like arguing. It is hard to win an argument with her and she can be pretty tough in protecting her sisters and brother. She is also quite the scrapper, her Dad has taught her to fight and she plays a little too rough sometimes.

She is the comedian of the family, is outgoing, friendly and never shuts up. Even when she is trying to be tough and serious she cracks us all up. She can also make you very nervous because you never know what she might say to strangers or even to friends and family.

Do Not Be Afraid Of Fear

What is fear? It is a natural defense mechanism. It is an emotional response to danger. It was given to man and animals to preserve life.

Multitudes live in overinflated fear. What used to be called Nervous Breakdowns are now called Panic Attacks or Anxiety. These disorders are uncontrolled fear, fear on steroids, I am not advocating this type of fear. But maybe if people understood fear a little more they could learn to control their fears instead of being ruled by their fears.

Fear itself is a good thing, it is a necessary evil. Why do we want to pretend that we don't need it anymore? Humans have become so arrogant that they don't want to deal with anything that makes them uncomfortable and fear is uncomfortable.

Fear can most certainly save your life. It can save you torment and trouble too. It can keep you from making bad decisions and bad choices. What some people call intuition or premonition may in fact be a type of fear, a warning signal.

We can try to rid ourselves of our fears by desensitization. Dwelling on things that cause you fear or imagining how things could possibly go wrong in your life will not desensitize you. You will only imagine things much worse than they might actually be and you will end up having a severe case of anxiety.

So what is the best way to overcome your fears? Don't. Learn to deal with your fears and find answers for your fears instead of trying to overcome them. There are reasons why you are fearful, figure out what those reasons are and deal with them.

If you fear losing your job then come up with a Plan B, start working on a resume. If you fear spending the rest of your life alone, start looking for someone to share your life. If you can't make relationships work then start looking at yourself and asking the hard questions. Make the needed adjustments and try again.

If you fear death then you need to look at your spiritual life. Study, don't take a person's opinion or teachings. Learn for yourself, until you are fully persuaded that you are ready for your journey. Don't be lazy in this aspect of your life.

The worst thing that you can do is to deny your fear, to push your fears away and stop listening to them. Fear is a human emotion and very necessary. If you stop fearing then you place yourself at great risk.

A Girl and Her Rooster

All of my Granddaughters were packing around chickens the other day when I got this picture. My youngest Granddaughter chose a banty rooster instead of a hen. She has always hated chickens and has been afraid of them so we were all surprised when she felt the need to keep up with her sisters.

Twitter

Since I joined Facebook, I thought that I might as well take the next step and join Twitter too. While I mostly understand the purpose of Facebook, Twitter has me scratching my head. If someone would like to explain it to me, feel free.

Facebook and CRS Gold DFM

To all of my Blogger friends and followers, I have taken the plunge.

Alright, I wanted to promote CRS Gold DFM Equine Probiotics on Facebook, so I signed up for a Facebook page. There isn't a way to promote a product page without having a personal account with friends and all of that stuff. So I have given in to temptation and started a personal Facebook page as well.

The good thing is that I can continue to blog here at Spinning Yarns from the Farm and it automatically posts onto my Facebook page. Thanks, Tonya, over at The Simple Life, for that tip.

This means that I won't have to spend all of my time posting on both sites. I also removed email addresses from my blog so you won't be getting my blog emailed to you anymore.

I may eventually add a Rope Halter page but not right now because I have all of the orders that I want to deal with.

Here is the CRS Gold DFM page.

Does Anyone Blog Anymore?

I guess that I am not the only one who quit blogging. I had some time to go and check out some of the blogs that I use to keep up with and they haven't been updated in months. I think that I can guess what happened. It's called Facebook.

It seems that Facebook and Twitter have taken over the internet. That is where everyone hangs out now. I haven't given in to that temptation yet. I know that I should put my little businesses on there but I just hate starting another new venture that will take up more of my time.

Another thing that I have noticed since I have been back on Blogger is that my comments always have spam in them. It is so annoying to see that you have comments and when you go to approve them you have to reject them instead. Just more wasted time.

Running Low On Milk

Calico's milk production has fallen 50% in the last six or seven days. She is just drying up on her own like she did last year. My plan was to dry her off in a couple of weeks but she got the jump on me.

I thought that I would look back through my blog to find out when she started weaning me last year because I remembered blogging about it. The date of that blog was March 2nd. She is very consistent, isn't she?

She was due on May 10th last year and she kidded on May 11th. She is due on May 15th this year, so she is on schedule. I am just not ready to give up the milk right now. This is going to mean having to drink store bought, watered down cow's milk.

I was hoping that Collette would have already kidded by now and I would be getting close to being able to steal a little milk from her babies but I am about to give up on her.

I have no idea when she is due and the experts who have looked at her have been wrong too. Maybe she is just really fat. She keeps getting bigger and is starting to lay around more. I need to turn both of them outside for some sun and exercise as soon as possible. Saturday is suppose to be sunny and 52 degrees.

Chickens Love Octopus or Squid?

My neighbors decided that they didn't like Octopus or Squid, not sure which it was. They gave it to me and I didn't have the desire to try it, it just didn't look appetizing to me and I will eat just about anything.

I thawed it and put it out for the chickens, they were delighted. Garfield, our finicky cat liked it too and he doesn't even like tuna.

Looks wonderful doesn't it?



This hen wanted hers breaded, so she rolled it in some sand.

Most of them just grabbed some and ran.





The good news is that after their feast they laid 6 eggs. We haven't gotten that many eggs in a long time.

Adopting Dogs, Cancer Research, Global Warming

In continuation of yesterday's post, my mind seems to be stuck in reverse. I was thinking back to a time when I actually OWNED a dog. Now I am just a dog care giver, parent, foster parent, adoptive parent, servant and manager. It is now impossible to buy the pet of your choice. You must ADOPT a pet. Animals rights organizations and the government have put a stop to most dog breeding.

You can't adopt a dog from a rescue because their standards are higher than they are for adopting a child. Plus every animal you already care for must be spayed or neutered. You must live in an impenetrable fort and sign away your life and privacy. The rescue adoption fees are higher than you would pay to a good breeder for an excellent bred pup.

So here is what I see happening in the pet world. It is already happening with designer pets. They are mixed breeds without registration. Goodbye AKC! Goodbye purebred dogs! So what is the long term effect. No more breeders, no more rescues, no more humane society and no more animal control officers, this is great news. No more surplus animals.

Dogs will sell at a premium on the black market because they have become an endangered species. In the mean time look at all the lost jobs and incomes. What will all of the rescue, humane society, animal rights and dog registry people do with their time? Why do these people want to put themselves out of a job?

Talking about putting yourself out of a job. A friend of ours has cancer and as she struggles through her treatments, she has raised some good points. Why would cancer researchers want to cure cancer? Look at all of the people that it would destroy as opposed to all of the people it would save. Look at all of the Hospitals that it would put out of business. These researchers have put tons of money and effort into their educations to do what? Put themselves out of a job. Even if someone would make a huge breakthrough, I am afraid that they would be quieted. I hope this isn't true but when you think about it, it is disturbing.

This also brings to mind Global Warming and Climate Change, the very people who are suppose to be working for solutions to the situation are the ones who are making big money because of it. Why would they want to be upfront about the true situation? We should be jumping for joy that this has all been a scam but they are trying hard to say that it isn't a scam. Look at all of the people who will lose their fame and fortune.

Before Seat Belts and Car Seats

You know that you are getting old when you wake up one day and you are living in a very foreign country. Things are just not like they used to be. This has the potential to be an extremely long post. I will try to keep it short.

Are the changes that have taken place in the last 50 some years for the better or the worse? Some are definitely better but most, in my opinion, are for the worse. For instance, Banquet Pot Pies used to be full of tender white chicken or turkey breast meat and large chunks of good quality vegetables. They were delicious.

The last time that I had a Banquet Pot Pie it was full of some type of dark meat that was hard to identify with microscopic vegetables that looked like they were the castaways from someone's poorly performing garden. But most importantly the taste was terrible.

Many foods have changed for the worse. Potato chips bags used to be full of potato chips instead of air. T.V. Dinners tasted good and were cheap too. Pepsi doesn't taste the same now at all. My Son recently bought some cans of Pepsi that were made with real sugar in "re-makes" of the original cans and it tasted so good.

I told my oldest Son the other night that he didn't have a car seat or even a seat belt when he was young. When he was a newborn until he was 2 or 3 years old, he sat on my lap in the car. If he and I went somewhere alone he was on his own because we didn't have seat belts in all cars and trucks and even if they did have belts, you didn't strap your little kids in them, they weren't made for kids.

With our second Son, we did have a car seat of sorts. But it was probably more dangerous than no car seat at all. It was a hard plastic booster type seat with a hard plastic shield that came down in front of him. It didn't work with seat belts, so if we had ever been in an accident he would probably have broken his nose hitting that shield.

Station wagons used to be popular for families with children because the kids could entertain themselves by crawling over the seat into the back to play games or take naps on long trips.

When I was young and you went anywhere in a truck, it was a given that the kids had to ride in the back if it was warm weather. That's just where the kids all rode. We were still riding in the backs of pickup trucks when my kids were young.

I have blogged before about how we hauled horses when I was young and even when we were first married. Our horses just jumped into the back of the pickup with a wobbly, wooden rack with their heads over the roof of the cab facing the wind.

We weren't the only ones who hauled their horses like this, that's the way everyone did it. Now you have to have padded trailers, bumper pads, blankets and leg wraps. You also have to go to seminars, read books and work with your horse for hours or hire a trainer to teach it how to step up 4 inches to get into that trailer.

I honestly do not remember having problems loading horses into the back of pickups. I don't remember spending hours training them and we certainly didn't have to read a book or go to some big name expert's training clinic to figure out how to load a horse.

Our horses just jumped in when asked because they were livestock and not pets. They respected us and trusted us. If we asked them to do something they did it because we were confident that they could and would do it. We have dumbed down our horses today, we no longer give them credit for intelligence and ability. Our horses of yesterday didn't get a lot of mixed signals from their owners like horses do now.

I recently read in our local paper that they are thinking about making cold medicine by prescription only because of the Meth problem that is getting so out of control. That is such a shame for the people who are stricken with a nasty cold on a weekend or during the night and who can't afford to run to the Doctor every time they get a sniffle.

This all makes me wonder when we will have to start signing a paper or getting a prescription to buy drain cleaner. It has already caused farmers grief and heartache by having to account for their chemicals and the worry of keeping everything locked up tight.

We can no longer give privileges to the majority of the people, we have to punish the majority for the abuses of the minority.

eBay, Roosters and ACV

It is nearly time to retire for the night and I thought that I should post something. But what? Three things came to mind, none that are related or mildly interesting.

I listed three Spyderco Knives on eBay this evening for my Son. They didn't look like much to me but one got a bid as soon as I hit the submit button. That is unusual for me. Normally the things that I list on there don't get a bid until 3 minutes before the auction ends. I hate listing things on eBay, it takes so much time and thought. But once the listings are done, they are fun to watch.

Since we have so many roosters, five at the moment. Only the alpha rooster sleeps in the goat/chicken shed with most of the hens. That means that the rest of the boys sleep in the barn with us.

Most of the time they don't bother me at 2:00 in the morning when one of them gets the idea that it is wake-up time and starts crowing. This wakes the other three who follow the leader. They do it all over again at 3:00, and so on and so forth. If my DH doesn't have to get up early he takes the time to carry them all one by one out to the goat/chicken shed after they go to roost, so that he can rest in peace. He doesn't seem to be bothered by the 2 and 3 o'clockers. It is the 4 and 5 o'clockers that upset him.

One of my Granddaughters spent the night with me the other night. She is 5 years old. The next morning she informed me that that rooster just kept roosting and roosting all night and she couldn't sleep.

I have taken on another supplement today. You cannot believe all of the herbs, teas and seeds that I am taking since I had to stop seeing my Doctor. None of them are doing any good but I just keep trying.

My blood pressure is one of my main problems right now. I am taking every herb known to man that is suppose to lower BP but nothing is working. So I started taking a little Apple Cider Vinegar today. I give it to my goats and chickens but hadn't considered taking it myself until I read online that it will lower blood pressure. We shall see. I know one thing, it tastes nasty. I don't understand why my goats and chickens act like it is so delicious.

The Horses Ate My Computer

Our beautiful white farm is quickly turning to mud. This is not good, I know that we must have mud before we can have Spring and grass, but mud is so muddy.

We are trying to figure out where we can come up with the money for gravel to cover the muddy mud that was once our driveway. We still have a hay bill that is not paid and continue to need more hay.

I gathered a little money at the end of 2009 and at the beginning of 2010. We both decided that money would be used to purchase a new computer that we desperately need, as ours is now operating solely on prayer.

I shopped a little for a new computer but by the time that I put together the system that I wanted, an iMac, I didn't have enough money and would have to wait to gather some more money. Low and behold, instead of gathering more money, that which I had started to dwindle.

The horses haven't completely eaten my entire computer yet. But they have a good start on it. Even if that money isn't used to pay for hay, it will be used to pay for things that hay money should have paid for. So, in the end, the horses will have eaten my computer or perhaps my new computer will be used to cover the mud in the driveway.

It would be nice if the horses could pay for their own feed like they used to, but those days are gone. We do have someone coming to look at some horses today and hopefully they will purchase one or two and my computer will be saved.

Dashing Through The Snow

We ended up getting around 8 to 10 inches of snow. It is hard to tell how much we actually have because it tends to move around so much. In some places it is up to my knees. It is still snowing today but we aren't suppose to get anymore accumulation.

We were under some type of snow emergency yesterday. No one was suppose to be out on the roads unless they were coming home or going to work or had some type of emergency, like needing medicine. But we had to go feed a sick friend's horses. I am not one to like to get out on the roads when they are slick but for some reason I wanted to go yesterday. I took my camera and had fun getting out. There wasn't much traffic and it was a beautiful drive.

These are some pictures of our friend's place and her horses.