Good Morning - 2023

[labradors]

WWWolf. Sounds as if you've been through a lot, and not the best time to get sick with the dreaded Covid making it so difficult to see a doctor.

Glad to hear that you are on the mend. Hope you will soon conquer the burnout. With any luck just spending lots of time outside in the good weather, rest, and good food will help a lot.

Hugs,
Linda

[WLLady]

@windwalkingwolf it can come back! it takes time, but it can come back! (check your PM....) Take care of yourself, and be nice to yourself-like really seriously nice to yourself. And about the missing reading-READ! even if it is just a couple of sentences at a time. You might fall asleep when you start getting back into it, no harm, no foul! but be gentle on yourself.

Another load of muscovies to the incubator, and i think i'm just going to leave the eggs with the one duck that is broody and squeaking at me every time i get without 50 meters of the nesting box. at least she's brooding IN a nesting box and not in the hay somewhere, or the field, or the middle of the driveway.

I managed to get whatever nasty cold thing (not covid) is going around...taking it slow and have already called in sick for the rest of the week-poultry_admin had this last week (thanks for sharing LOL) so i know how this one goes.....first day you think it's not so bad....and just go steadily downhill for the day, and then a long slow climb back out for 5 days. This too shall pass I did test for covid, negative, and then decided while i had the test kit still out to see if the rumour that orange juice tests positive is real. Alas, myth busted...my orange juice does NOT have covid ;-P it did turn the chromatography paper yellow though....so....guess that's something HAHA

The weather is so warm! Daffodils are suffering in the heat LOL. how many aprils can we say that about! Huge hatch of flies has the ducks stuff to the brim and hanging out in the sun. Need to get the bees unwrapped, and checked this weekend-6 full hives is a totally impressive number of bees. Like, do NOT enter the flight paths!!!! The trees are exploding in bloom the last 2 days as well. and all of a sudden the grass is needing to be cut. I gotta get in the greenhouse and get the seeds started (it's been too busy)! Finished teaching my class at the local college last night, and not teaching this summer, so a little more relaxed evenings coming up.

Found some homes for the fuzzy dinosaurs...once they're sexable. That's one thing about the welbars, they're not like welsummers where the eyeliner and head triangle give the girls away! Some of those welbar boys sport wonderful mascara LOL. So they'll go out in a couple of weeks when i can definitely tell them apart. They're loving the weather, they've now figured out how to jump up on top of the brooder plates and stay toasty from underneath LOL.

Hope you folks out east are all doing okay!

[Killerbunny]

@windwalkingwolf what she said about the reading. It probably took me 2 -3 years to be able to concentrate after Chemo. Frustrating!

[lolotsung]

@windwalkingwolf I've burnt out twice but never as bad as you until about 5 years ago. I passed out and was taken to the hospital. They said my blood pressure dropped. I was too busy to eat and recovering from the flu. I have a wonderful engineer in training now and she is always watching me. If she sees that I'm exhausted she tells me to stop working. It's been great having her remind me to take care of my health and relax and enjoy life. I hope you feel better soon. My suggestion is you read poetry which packs a punch in even 1 sentence until you get better. Well talking about relaxing...here are some photos I took of today's sunset.

And on the topic of poems. Once in a blue moon..I write them...I have a strange way of writing...usually one vertical sentence...

This one is about people growing old and becoming weaker and the ash trees dying. We cut 8 gigantic trees down because of the emerald ash borer...

the
majestic arms
that invited us
to climb
and swing
are weakening
soon
we will only have
images and
memories
of the glorious days
we spent
in the arms
of a giant


This one is about the relationship between two friends and one was having mental health problems.

confusion reigns
up crests
down troughs
hiding from tempests
calm seas
will we drown
will we continue on
whether with the wind
or against
we can cross all oceans

I fell asleep I'm up and Otis is waiting for his walk.

This I wrote one Spring day about 30 years ago

the robin has landed
the trees are budding
many years have passed
many years to come
each and every one beautiful
like the world has just begun

I was walking in the woods trying to find a Baltimore Oriole and was shocked to hear my phone beep. This was about 30 years ago before I started texting. It was my niece and I texted her back and thought that texting in the middle of a forest is odd. It's silent and doesn't disturb the peace. I found that Oriole at the top of a tall tree singing away.

i
hear
a
new old
voice
in the forest
a
fiery soft
voice
in the forest
with each day 
passing
listening to songs
enchanting
we
create
memories
everlasting

This I wrote for a friend that sings like a bird but rarely even though she's comfortable around me because she is very shy. I tried to encourage her to sing more so other not so familiar people can hear her sing but she wouldn't. She reminded me of the 24 hour period in France where everyone is encouraged to create music outside where everyone can hear it

i could spend every day
with you
and never tire
of
your smile
and eyes
and laughter
i could listen every day
to
your voice
so sweet
so soothing
there could be silence
but not uncomfortable
just peaceful

This I wrote when her mom passed away from cancer. No one could visit because of Covid which was very difficult for her family and friends...

you watched us grow
taught us to be tough
and gentle
work hard
and enjoy Life
we watched the children grow
taught them to love learning
and snow
the sunrises
and sunsets
are still beautiful
but not the same
without you

This poem is about a childhood friend who was mentally ill and jumped off a bridge to his death and a student I had working for me who was hit by a car. It's a poem about losing someone you love...

brew coffee
walk outside
the birds are singing
my head is ringing
i say good morning
tell you how much i miss you
Silence
i'm still angry
walk inside
everyone will be awake soon
it's been so many years
all i hear
is
Silence

This poem is about returning from the Northwestern Region bridge inspections travelling in remote areas of Ontario with 4 underwater divers and an engineer in training and adjusting to life in the City again.

stuck in traffic
and dreaming of
endless forests
red rock walls
and
sitting by the river

checking emails
and dreaming of
husky the muskie
the sleeping giant
and
watching the sun set

back in traffic
wondering where you are
remembering when we were
free spirits
looking for moose
finding friendship
and
enjoying
the
great
Canadian Summer

Link to the song Canadian Summer by Dean Brody below.

https://youtu.be/vfL_0Egangk

[Killerbunny]

@lolotsung those are lovely as is the poetry. Thanks

[TomK]

love poetry...especially any type that is NOT prose just broken up...what is that anyway?
...anyway, I belong to several poultry groups on FB...yes! don't hate me...and today there was a post of some idiot that lost their entire chicken flock to a predator in one day...free rangers..gah!...suggested it was a fox...so I said in reply "musta been a lotta foxes"...well I got crapped on like fast by several folks...so I basically said...if you free range yoir birds and then leave knowing there are predators and you are NOT around to protect them then you are an idiot and i feel terrible for your flock. And I would not sell birds to free rangers. It is not rocket science. If you leave them unattended, lock them up. Simple. God I hate people!...Also, I am waiting for responses....the world ia full of idiots and I am ready... borh barrels loaded.

[labradors]

Ha ha Tom! You are going to get SLAUGHTERED!!! AND you'll probably get your wrists slapped by the mods or (gasp) disbarred, for not being friendly enough. Hunker down :).

Linda

[WLLady]

LOL @TomK I left most of the FB poultry groups for precisely that same thing. Like come on people! No fence, no protection, free ranging, late winter, nowhere for the birds to get into that the predator can't follow.....puhleeeeese! There was one that said "but why couldn't they go into the coop and onto the roost where the fox couldn't reach them", um.....you do realize foxes JUMP right? And actually, when i had fox issues i would lose 2 birds a night....only 2....dinner and breakfast i believe, and then they returned the next night for the next 2 birds. I caught it in a trap eventually, with cat food, then discovered it had taught all its little foxes how to snatch birds from my coop! gah! sharing the knowledge. I actually did get barred from one site for telling someone that had a chicken dropping weight with worms in the droppings that if you are going to free range your birds, you WILL someday have to treat for worms and mites etc....because wild birds carry all those things, and the wild birds are going to rob your chicken's outdoor food dish and leave wherever they want and apple cider vinegar does NOT treat for worms, neither does DE.....but noooooo only dirty places have worms and if you look at the photos, the run is clean and there's no way there's worms there (even with a picture of WITH a roundworm in it....right there, on the post...) HAHAHAHAHA I'm okay with that-sorry for being "real" and "accurate" and "factual" hahahaha Enjoy the ride TomK, and you are always welcome here when FB fails

The other one i love is that coons and foxes won't dare enter a barn or a coop because it smells like people. If there's food to be had they'll clean the place out, human stink or no!

I'm now on day 5 on this stupid cold. And today is the first day i can actually breath without feeling like i'm drowning which is a definite improvement. Still can't stomach the thought of 8 hours at work yet, but at least I can breath, and the sneezing is down to about 3 sneezes an hour. Need some cheese to go with my whine. Although, think i'll settle for some honey-lemon tea.

Need to get into the greenhouse soon....Looks like a drop below 0 tonight, but then after that maybe it will be okay with the heaters....sure is cooler today than last week!

[lolotsung]

@TomK you are going to get banned if you are't already I've had chickens on and off for many years...they stay outside unattended most of the day... I always have at least 1 rooster (they have saved many hens...and it's a better place than freezer camp) and a dog...no electric fence cause 1) I get zapped..ouch...2) it collapses when there's freezing rain. No losses while free ranging and we have roaming neighbors dogs and cats which i guess would on rare occasions kill chickens, weasels, fox, coyote, hawks, raccoons in the daytime!? Has something changed because I think I am seeing more coyotes and raccoons in the suburbs in the daytime...maybe in the last 5 years? I think the trick is to have some predator savvy and flying chickens... we had one silkie once and he was a sweetheart but I didn't think this was the type of chicken for us.... we're gonna lose the entire flock right after this post also our neighbor who is a farmer insists that turkey vultures only eat dead meat and they will never kill a chick...or maybe only her vultures do not and there are different subspecies that do or do not like chicks? Also should mention that in the winter they stay in the coop even if the door is open...maybe they don't like snow?

[thegawd]

I got banned from a fb group for pointing out that a seller was using another persons pics and for asking for pics of the parents. But I also caught some other going on and took some screenshots, which I shared of really bad reviews of one of the mods because she deleted the post. LOL they reported me to fb for using a false name. Screw fb. Lol

Man my birds are inside a 3500 square foot run with a 6foot fence that can't be dug under. Occasionally we will have a bald eagle take something, but thankfully that hasn't happened in quite a few years. They are around though. Still can't afford to cover it but knock on wood, we haven't had any predator losses in a few years.

Hey did anyone see this in the sky last night? I heard it was seen for at least 100 km from the source.... nova chemicals corunna. Its a light pillar, its an optical phenomenon caused by ice crystals in the atmosphere and a very bright light source such as the sun, moon, spotlight, volcano or as in this case, a stack with a 300' flame on top. Lol

I have never seen anything like this before and iv lived around here forever. It was so strange but I finally got an explanation.

Pics I took...

These pics are not mine and I think from fb. I'm not on fb.