Angie: August 2007 Archives

I do not know anyone who has gone through menopause naturally. My mother, MIL, aunts and older friends have all had hysterectomies. Some in their early 20's and some later near 50. Do not tell me about hot flashes. I have seen and experienced them. I do want you to tell me about other symptoms and experiences with early menopause. Please and thank you.

You might remember back when I was pregnant (almost 2 yrs ago!) I got busy and painted the upstairs bathroom so that it would be nice when my mother came for a visit. All these months later I had been biding my time, absolutely sure the furnishings I really wanted would fall into my hands. A couple of months ago we went to an estate auction. An older gentleman was selling off everything in his outbuildings. Some of it had been around since his grandfather was a boy. Some of it had been collected over the years and then cast aside. Up for auction came this old beat up bureau that had been in an open barn for over 20 years. I was once deep dark almost black in its finish but now was so weather worn that it was greyish white. I knew that piece of furniture. It most definitely was not a bureau. I was a buffet to a long forgotten dining set otherwise called a sideboard. I knew this because I have one almost exactly like it, twice as big, inherited from my stepfathers estate. The large buffet is in my bathroom used as a dressing table and linen storage. I knew that removing the top piece with the small mirror it would fit perfectly in the upstairs bathroom. I really wanted it. Someone else bid on it but at $50 they quit and I won. It has been sitting upstairs for about two months aclimating itself to the temperature and humidity of our house. Look at the grain of that wood!Wednesday night I set about cleaning and began oiling it. Colby was mad to the point of tears that I was putting that "nasty old thing" in their bathroom. I told her to get over it. When she paid the mortgage she could decorate the house. She got madder. Stomped and huffed. Told me how it was too big to fit in the door. It was too big for the room. It was disgusting and ugly. I ignored her. Put it in place. Rearranged the linen storage and all of the upstairs toiletries. It is not too big!I think it looks pefect in there. It is the look I wanted to achieve. It certainly sets off the clawfoot tub. The only thing left that I would like to do in this room is to have hardwood floors put in - but they have to match my existing pine floors and to have crown molding put up. I have some glass shelves I am going to have Steve put up tonight tomorrow night. Matching pink soap!Heaven help me. He will certainly gripe about it. The flower arrangement is there to help take the eye away from the pipes that come up from the floor. The type of tubs I have the pipes are exposed and do not run inside the walls. Colby now loves the look. I knew she would.

I grew melons this year. With the drought the wild animals (rats, racoons, roaming deer, groundhogs, etc.) have eaten all of them. Almost. We have managed to hide these in the tall grass. What the girls don't eat the goats get to feast on. !After I chop it up in bite size pieces to keep the hoggy goats from trying to eat a piece the size of their head in one bite! These are yellow fleshed melons. When we cut one tomorrow I'll try to get a photo so you can see how wonderful they are. I like charleston greys the best. A wonderful sweet red fleshed melon. Mmmmm. These yelow ones were something different and I said 'what the heck' and planted two plants. I am glad I did. These are great. I just wish we had 4 or 5 more. The vines are still blooming so I hope we will get a second batch of melons since we are geting some rain. As I type this I have just finished making mozzarella cheese from my fresh goats milk and a thunder storm is rummbling in the distance. I hope we get some rain. I pray for rain daily. This is no exception. Send the rain, Lord. Send the rain. Thank you. Amen.

Since you all have no real interest in my goats how about this - There are all sorts of nests left over from years past in our barns. They are high up in the rafters where we can't easily get to them - which I guess is the whole point of the birds building their nests up there - so nothing can get to the babies. Sometimes the barn swallows come back and use them again. Tuesday as the girls got a pedicure my camera lens found this is the roof. It is a little late in the season but these guys are looking ready to test their wings.

Not for me. Although I could use one. My feet are no good in the summer. Where I go around the house and yards mostly barefoot my heels crack and look aweful. I have to sand them down with a pumice stone almost daily. I really should treat myself but someone was in greater need than I today. Lilah's feet where in bad shape. When she came here one of her hooves had a broken place on the outer wall that I believe she sustained in route on her 5 hour van ride to our house. She has one hoof that has a case of hoof rot. Not good. It is/was smelly. Taking care of the hooves of my goats is a responsibility that I do not take lightly. I have read extensively and looked at photos on the internet almost daily. I need/want to learn how to do this properly. To properly stand on the legs without stress the hooves much be trimmed and sanded to a specific shape. Practice makes perfect in this case. A lovely young woman from our church came by tuesday afternoon to show me how to trim. Not only did she trim and treat Lilah's hooves for hoof rot but she trimmed all six of the goats. 24 hooves. That is a lot of hooves. It is also a heck of a lot work in the blazing sun. Every girl got a pedicure and a good painting of hoof conditioner and hoof rot treatment. They don't even know how very pampered they are. Lilah ate so much watermelon her lips were pink.

Past experience with an old hovabator over 15 years ago left me not wanting to try and hatch eggs myself. The thermostat was wonky and unreliable. Even replacing it with a new wafer it was a pain to get the temp set and maintained. With things changing and solid state thermostats available I thought I would give the idea another go. I cringed every time I looked at the price of incubators with all the bells and whistles. Over $200 in some cases for all the extras. I could not and cannot see that expense for a styrofoam box! I started collecting pieces and parts and figured this girl could make one. And so I did. This is my effort at putting together a reliable incubator. So far it is working fine. I have it running now so I can work out the adjustment on the thermostat for consistant temperature. Supplies: 1 styrofoam ice chest or a chest that is used to ship frozen foods. I had both but chose the ice chest because it is larger. 1 hot water heater thermostat ($8, temp ranges from 90 - 150 F) 25w light bulb 1lamp kit (bottle version) 4 old wine corks 1surge protector 1water wiggler Not pictured: hardware cloth water dish old pc fan adaptor/transformer I cut and bent the hardware cloth to make a rack that fit into the ice chest. I placed an old dish in the bottom to provide more surface area for the water to help with humidity and also to rest the hardware cloth rack on. Be careful because the cloth will scratch you as you work with it. I worked with it removing pieces here and there until I got a good custom fit. I also cut out the area where the light bulb would be installed to keep the light low in the box because heat rises. I am not an electrician and have very little expeience with wiring. I followed a diagram and wired my light and the thermostat. I did wire them wrong the first time but when the breaker tripped I knew then the right way to wire them. LOL The thermostat is the least expensive, single pole version I could find(under $10) from Lowes. The temperature range on this model is 90 - 150 F. The screw at the top is numbered #1 and the lower is #2. I used a bottle lamp kit because it has an opening on the side so that the kit can be wired straight from the bottom or from the side. This was perfect for this project because it allowed me to run the wires, connect them, then seal the base closed. I am terrified of exposed wires and prefer to have everything contained neatly and hidden away. On the kit the ribbed wire was to be connected to the silver screw. So I cut off a piece of the cord about 4 inches long to have wire to work with to connect the thermostat. With the ribbed wire connected to the silver screw I then used a piece of the wire I cut to wire from the brass screw to the thermostat #2 screw, then used the non ribbed wire of the cord to wire it to the #1 thermostat screw. The wire is run through the base screw and then over through the side opening to that everything is sealed shut when the lamp assembly is closed. I then carefully wittled out around the inside hole I made to insert the lamp assembly so that everything was snug and tight. The walls of the ice chest I used are rather thick -just a bit thicker than the screw/bolt that came with the light kit. I was very careful to cut away around my bolt opening to that the light assembly would screw together snug and tight so the bulb did not wiggle around and pose a fire threat by melting the styrofoam. Also I cut away a little bit to accomdate the wiring running over to the thermostat. Assembly on the outside. And from the inside. I put electrical tape over the little screws on the thermostat that the wires are attatched to because I worried if a child reached in and accidentally touched the screws they might get shocked. Make sure you thread your wires through your tiny holes before assebling them. I used an ice pick to make tiny openings to thread the wires through. Next I used an old adaptor, 120v input 12v DC output, from which I snipped off the end and wire it to an old pc fan. I wired the black to the black and the red to the other mixed color wire. I secured the wiring with electrical tape and wire nuts. I used a stick coated wire to secure the fan in place. Using a pumpkin carving tool, I cut out 4 air vent holes and used old wine corks to plug them up with. I cut out a large rectangle in the lid and placed over it an old window glass pane. I used duct tape to secure the glass and cover the edges of the glass. I used pink duct tape because it is a Chick 'Bator! Woot! My helper - I recieved a box of welsummer eggs yesterday. They are now set. Welsummer ChickensToday is Day #1 of Welsummer Hatch Watch 2007. Badger! Do you see how very dark these eggs are?!?! You just wait. If I hatch any and get these dark eggs I can send you some. Farm fresh eggs, never washed or refrigerated will keep on a counter top for 3 weeks. Just think if I collected eggs and mailed them same day you could be eating them in 2 days time! Farm fresh! This part is always exciting and makes me a little nervous. This is an inexpensive project if you go around and collect things that you may already have or someone you know might be willing to give you. For example - check your local Walmart in the sporting goods section where they sell live fish bait. The worms come in large styrofoam boxes. If you ask nicely they will usually save one for you. I am waiting for the next shipment now and the guy has promised to save me the box. Free! It is an excellent project to do with your kids. Even if you live in the city (Yes, you can have chickens in most towns and cities. Some places limit to 3 hens and 0 roosters in the city limits. You can check most ordinances online at Municiple Codes.) but if you can't you can still hatch eggs and give the chicks to someone. It is not like being stuck with a litter of puppies or kittens. If you hatch some rare breed chicks you will be able to find someone through free cycle or Craig's List who will take them off your hands in a matter of minutes. For all of you teachers out there (Yes, you! And you! And you, too!) This is an excellent classroom project for elementary kids EXPECIALLY those in the city who may never in their life get to see where a chicken comes from and how life begins. I recommend this as a great learning experience for your classroom. Chicken eggs take 21 days to hatch. I will be blogging the daily log of temperature, relative humidity, turning of the eggs, etc. You can follow me and use my success and failures to learn from. Rare Breed Chickens: Blue Laced Red Wyandotte Cuckoo Maran Dominiques Sumatras Golden Penciled Hamburgs Silver Gray Dorkings Silver Leghorns Red Caps Egyptian Fayoumis Silver Penciled Rocks Rare Breed Special Lakenvelders Phoenix Blue Andalusians White Laced Red Cornish Golden Laced Wyandottes Golden Campines White Faced Black Spanish Buttercups Modern Bb Red Games Silver Penciled Wyandottes Have I shown you my silkies? How's this for a different kind of chicken? Check out ebay or eggbid.com or someone local if you want to try to hatch some chicks with your kids. Remember it makes a great 4-H or boyscout/girlscout project, too.

The guineas are really starting to grow and get some size to them now. They are slow eaters at times. They love ticks and other insects. They are very good at policing the area for parasites and other bugs. They are finally big enough that we feel comfortable letting them free range. They don't look like it int he photos but they are all bigger than a shoes box. A full grown size 10 shoe box. The barn door to their stall is opened every morning. They are free to come and go as they please. They know where home is and come back to it each evening. They are an excellent alarm system. The least little thing startles them (talk about being chicken) and they begin to scream and caw and shrill to beat the band. You always have a fair idea of where they are. They like high places and can be found more often than not on the roof of the poultry barn. Just before dark they begin making their trek back to the barn door and to their roost. We go out later and shut the doors. Not to keep them in but to keep night scavaging beasts out. Possum, raccoon, weasles and the like will feast on them. The turkey roost is right next door and I plan to have turkey at Thanksgiving. I do not plan to let some other varmit feast before hand. Which isnot really a feast because those animals would only eat the head off of them and leave the carcass for us to find the next morning. Last night we went out just at night fall to shut the doors. Our soft speech and foot steps did not go unnoticed. Over in the first section of the barn both windows are filled to the brim with nosey neighbors. I looked up and had to take a picture of these two silly goats. This is Cindy. She does not liked to be milked. We talk about the situation but she isn't sure about it. So we have to do things the hard way. I feed and protect her so I am the boss. This she must learn. I never milk her dry. Usually she gives me a quart and a half and I leave the rest for the two babies she really needs to wean. This is Lilah. She is my favorite. She just stands there util you are finished with her at milking time. She gives a whopping half gallon of milk every single morning. I don't milk her out completely because she has a baby who doesn't want to be weaned yet. So a little milk for the baby is spared. Silly goats faces. They make me happy.

"When you cross two goats* how does that work? Do you put them in a machine?" -Gracie, age 9, backseat of Ford Excursion after leave the farm supply store where we made purchase of feeding pails and electric fencing for our 6 new milk goats. *The birds and bees.

I know that title will get me in trouble with someone. But for the moment I am letting the chips fall where they may. The amount of v1@gr@ spam I get here you would think that is all I talk about anyway. So - anywho - This cockeral is only 10 weeks old. Isn't he cool? He is one of the extra red sex link roosters the hatchery sent as a packing peanut for extra warmth. We have far too many roosters. I am not looking forward to the day we have to get rid of them.* I am not sure what I am doing to cause them to be so healthy and growing so big so fast but I am enjoying every single moment with this menagerie I have begun. A lovely woman is sending me eggs from her welsummer hens for us to hatch. I built an incubator a while back just for that purpose. I didn't tell you that did I? I'll have to get my photos together and show you how I made my own top of the line incubator. The welsummer eggs are incredibly dark brown, almost chocolatey brown. I can't wait to show you. We are now about 10 weeks give or take from our own fresh eggs from my hens. Life on the farm is busy busy and full of new things every day. And I have a backlog of things to share! Yes, we do have to get rid of them. When cocks decide to fight they will often fight until one needs to be put down or dies. I know the animal kingdom isn't socially correct. That is why we humans are charged with keeping good animal husbandry skills.

It took the goats about 2.1 days to eat everything they could reach on all the trees where they are pastured. It is rather funny to watch them attack a branch of leaves. They wrap their tongues around a bunch of leaves and strip the limb clean in a matter of second. It is almost like watching something being sucked into a vaccuum cleaner. Sluuurp. And it is gone. So the kids go out in the evenings and hold down the higher limbs and let the goats munch and crunch for as long as their arms will hold out. You should hear the giggles. Steven isn't the least bit afraid. He seems to think the goats are purely for his own entertainment. This is one of my favorite photos of Gracie. School starts back on the 22nd. When I look at her I already miss her. I feel a little pang in my chest. 4th grade already. She is funny and smart and quick witted with a come back. She also has a very caring heart. She volunteers her time at the food bank once or twice a week helping to stock shelves and carry out bags for the elderly. She and J. have decided that it makes them feel really good to know they are helping someone who hasn't got the advantages they have. Back to the goats. I milk twice a day. Morning and Evening. 12 hour intervals. I get just a little over a gallon of milk per day. What do we do with it? We drink it. Cook with it. Make yogurt. Make ice cream. Make cheese. I plan to show you how to, too. But right now, I have to go milk. They are calling me. Yes, they are. They call me "Maaahhh".

Steven is becoming more and more vocal each day. We are moving into less screaming and more trying to talk in words. The girls don't make him talk enough. He grunts, reaches or schreeks and they give in. He is not talking as early as Gracie and Colby did. I think it is because (1) he is a boy and (2) the girls let him be lazy. I am not worried about his verbal progress at all. He is far too smart for his own good. Many people think he is much older than he is. At 18 months (next week) he says: Mama - me Dada and daddy - Steve Mah - Colby Ace - Grace Jay - J. Ice - loves to crunch on ice Light - points at all the lights Up - when he wants to be held Out - when he wants to go out Mine - it belongs to him Bye Bye - waving as he goes Nigh Nigh - Night Night Nassy - Nasty (when changing diaper) Nanana - Banana Nana - my momma Pop Pop - my mothers new husband He does the brrrrrrr noise for his tractors and trucks Baaaa for his sheep Maaaahhh - his goats Bok Bok - for his chickens When we tell him to get his shoes so we can go out be gets his shoes. If we say boots he get his boots. He knows the difference in many similar things. He also can obey very well when the mood strikes. He isn't always in an obeying mood.