Wednesday, February 03, 2010

Creeping, clumping, Craig's List... And creatures.

Well, I have had a downer week, physically, which makes me down, mentally.  I have not been 'good' about watching what I eat, and I have barely exercised at all, as my arthritis was killing me these last few days.  I finally solved a problem to relieve the arthritis pain.  It worked TOO well, yesterday, I felt AWSOME.  I had taken some OTC pain meds that worked, and finally gotten some sleep.  So I went out and did some yard cleaning, which lead to cleaning the chicken house, which lead to going up the hill and digging up some plants, and hey, as long as I was up there, let's clean up the bricks scattered around by the last owners, and ya know, I should move those rocks to my rock garden...

You get the idea

I am not doing as good as I should be today. 

Ouch

I am wondering if I will ever learn to pace myself...   Something tells me the answer is no.  (sigh)  I am going to bring this up with my shiny new doctor when I go see him next week (the poor man is probably going to thing he's go a crazy woman/hypcondriac/nutcase on his hands, I have lots of notes.  Most of them are related to my history, but I have several questions that I figure, I am with a doc, gonna get my questions answered, I hope.) 

Soooo, it's not great, but it could have been considerably worse.
Gained .8 lb.

So, I need to work on the creep, before I start making too many gains to screw up the losses.  Besides, the Alaska Daily News website is sending me pictures of the Iditorad.  A visual to remind me of one of my future goals!  Mush, Lardbutt, MUSH!!!  Heh. 


We have been watching Craig's List for various and sundry deals, and both Husband and I love bamboo.  Husband clicked on an ad for timber bamboo, and we bought a bunch.  We let our neighbor know, she wanted some, as well, and was tickled that we would get it for her.  Our two properties are going to look like a Panda preserve if we keep it up...  The ones we bought this round are Vivax, a timber bamboo, to do two things, a visual barrier, and for soil erosion.  We have a LOT of water coming off our hill, and this makes a swamp of the area around our house in the spring.  (We jokingly say that we have half a moat...  If it weren't for the diligent efforts of Husband and the backhoe, we'd have a swamp all the way around the house!  As it is, we have to dig a ditch around the garage, or water runs INSIDE, across the floor.  This is not good when you have machines stored therein...)  So here is our future bamboo forest.


Husband has much more patience with Craig's List than I do.  I found an ad.  "Wanted, Chickens and Roosters".  I found that they were collecting for a petting zoo of sorts, and wanted 'purebreds', it sounded like they wanted a few birds, so I replied.  5  Rhode Island Red roosters, if you would like them. A day or two later, a response. Only want two, roosters fight too much.  I responded, these guys aren't big fighters, they are lovers, and the hens are suffering, so I am looking for a new home for them.

I haven't heard from her in a week. (Dork. Dorkdorkdorkdork dork...) So, I will look to see if there are some other people wanting 5 hand raised, afraid of nothing much roosters...

I am not a vegetarian, and will use the birds for food eventually, IF no good home can be found. (I would prefer not needing to butcher, if I don't have to.)  But it always amazes me the... ding-a-lings that I get on Craig's List.  One last year said she wanted birds for food.  I had some that I offered. Free, come pick them up.  She said, okay, and can you have them butchered in such and such a way?

Huh?  Nooo, if you want them for free, YOU can do the butchering.  I am not liscensed to do that for other people.  No further response.

I begin to wonder if my emails have bad breath, or something...  Eh.

Oh, this week has been interesting for critters great and small on my place. 

I have found out: 

The llamas do NOT like thawed blackberries. 

The chickens, however, think they have gone to Chicken Nirvana, having not one, but two pints of blackberries for 'lunch'.

Rudee dog doesn't like blackberries in any form, and it is amazing to see him try to spit, with no lips.  (I tried to warn him off, but he just HAD to see what was in the bucket, poor guy...)

The cats have figured out, if they stick a paw in juuuust right, they can snag one dog kibble to eat, out of Rudee's bowl in his kennel.  Rudee has discovered this as well, and now eats his dog food as quickly as he can get it down, so they can't do this.  He, in turn, has figured out Tuxedo is a sloppy eater, and stands close by to see if any cat kibble drops.  I have solved this problem, mostly, but putting a few dog kibbles for the cats, and a few cat kibbles for the dog.  (Yes, they have me well trained.  Hush.)

The llamas are very unflappable animals, but they looked very confused when I started setting rocks and shrubbery on my ATV to take down the hill.  (Husband said it looked like I had made a Gilley suit for my ATV.  With the ferns and rocks, I believe I agree with him!)

Taurus and Scorpio are two roosters in the group without the slightest clue.  I was cleaning the chicken house, they would fly up on my shoulder, or walk in front of the scoop to see what I was doing.  One made the mistake of doing this right when I was tossing the manury chips.  Taurus got a face full, and let me know full well of his displeasure.  I ended up chasing them out of the hen house twice.  That lasted long enough for me to walk back in.  Whereupon they followed me.  (I just will not learn...)  I almost scooped up Scorpio the next time.  I ended up bellowing and making like I was going to swat them with the scoop, then closing the door so I could finish without "help".  Friendly birds are one thing, but this was just getting silly.

So, I will work on better choices, see if I can do some more walking, if nothing else, and try not to over do again.  It sort of defeats the purpose if you go like thunder one day, and have to recover the next two... 

 So, as the llamas say, Pbbt!




 

8 comments:

AJ-OAKS said...

Hi Cat! Saw your post of John's blog ( Going Gently) and clicked on your blog ( because I do the same thing as you when I know a film is being made in Oregon). I love your sense of humor. Had no idea bamboo was good for soil erosion. Thanks for the tip. I am also in Oregon. Southern Oregon actually. Going to read through your earlier posts.

Cat said...

Welcome! What we've read about it, it is fairly good for erosion, but it can tolerate wet soils like we have. Enjoy your read, fellow Oregonian!

Cat

Chicken Boys said...

I have a suggestion. Clean the crap off your shoes, take the egg out of your pocket, and put down the yarn and needles. That will take off a good two pounds! :) Sometimes I put eggs in my pocket if I only have two or three. I'm trying to lose a few pounds myself, but have absolutely zero motivation. I need to do more running, but who wants to do that crap alone?! Have a great day!
~Randy

Friend of the Bear said...

Hi Cat. Sorry you've been having a difficult time with the arthritis. Hope you're feeling better by now. I think 0.8lbs is really a maintain rather than an actual gain. It can certainly be gone in a few days!

Sounds like you need a permanent drainage solution with underground pipes and so on.

Bearfriend xx

Cat said...

Randy:

If I do all that, what would the blog title be??? :D

The eggs are kinda slow right now, I might have to get a basket, if all the girls kick in this spring...

And as far as the running, any of your friends have a larger dog to be 'walked'? It's my biggest motivation, having Rudee along, if I just go for a walk, eh. It don't happen.

Cat

Cat said...

Bearfriend:

Yes, I am hoping that I have the nasties under control again. I dread the thought of this when I get older! BUT, it is another topic for the nice, shiny new doctor I am going to see, right?

And yes, we were going to put in something called a French drain, but Husband found that some of the work we did was able to make the water drain out and away without causing too much problem. Then we found pipes that we hadn't found earlier, from the first owners. We just dug trenches to said pipes, and it has been working thus far. During the winter it's a good drainage system, during the summer, it's an extra long cat bed. (BED, not box...) They seem to like the shade, or the moisture. Or something in it, anyway...

Cat

Dawn said...

I've been wanting chickens!:) Hope you get to feeling better!

Cat said...

They ARE fun, read up on them, like dogs, there are different types, so you can find some that "fit" your personality, and where you live. I sure enjoy mine!

And thanks! I believe I am, indeed, feeling somewhat human again!!! Yay!

Cat