Thoughts and Visits.

 Thoughts and Visits.

 

Vickie called me today to let me know that she and her husband have both got Covid. Kinda glad she did not make it over here to get her eggs. Ken had to go into the hospital and seems to be doing well, but they want to put him into a full-time VA care hospital. Vickie says they don’t take good care of their patients, so she is not too happy about that situation. However, Ken fell before she called for the ambulance, so maybe it would give her some time to rest. He does not sleep on a regular schedule, so she gets awakened in the night much like she would if he were a baby. That old saw of “sleeping like a baby” is so much silliness. Babies wake up every two hours unless they already are getting something solid other than just milk.

 

Michelle came by this morning and picked up her twenty pounds of hamburger. She said she needed to go back to bed. She is not resting well at all. Every time the weather changes, she hurts all over more than any other place. Kinda like the old bones of our grandparents when they knew the weather was about to change because of whichever body part that started aching. It really was not a joke.

 

Sure ‘nuff supposed to get cold for a while. Not looking forward to all this freezing weather. Went and got scratch this afternoon and thought I would try to get Lance to pick some things up at Walmart tomorrow if he comes. He said he would try to take the hose off the front faucet for me as yours truly can’t get it to budge. At least the laundry is all done and nothing is too much to anticipate until Tuesday of this next week when they do the stress test and then the other test (echo-cardiogram) on Thursday. Such fun.

 

Talked to BillyeRuth and got to hear about her new baby chick coop that her friend is making for her. Also got to hear about her naked neck rooster who has gotten old enough to start chasing the hens around. She said he is the funniest looking thing. However, was disappointed to hear that she has let one of her cockerels become a full-fledged rooster that just happens to be mean as all get out. She said his eyes don’t even look like something living, but something kinda weird. And when she has used her stick on him a few times, he has wobbled over and sat down so that she thought she had killed him for sure. BR does not need any weapons to protect herself outside with that darned rooster out there! Just go near a hen and see what happens!

 

Just looked outside to check on my hens to find all fourteen of them right out in the corner of the side lot where the sunflowers grew up last year. They were happily scratching around in the grass and dirt. Doubt seriously if anything edible is out there, but they seem happy enough to scratch around there anyway. Since their coop got raked out again today, they should be doing ok for a while until they get it full of stuff again. Moved the grain barrel over a bit so that they would be less likely to hit the target of the top of the barrel. Messy! Anyway, should probably find something to put on the top that can be moved off every morning, but not sure what that would be. They have fresh water in the heated bowl to keep them semi-happy with that situation. Have a bucket here in the house so they can have a refill in the other pans near the house, too.

 

The weather here is not anything like as bad as north or east of us. It is supposed to get down to 29 tonight and then up to 46 tomorrow. Back down to 20 and up to 58 the following morning. We have a roller coaster for weather. Some people would call that stupid cold, but at least maybe we can live with it. The hens have a treat ball and another head of cabbage to keep them happy. Would like to see them play with the ball, but probably won’t stay out there with them. The wind is going to be a problem. But then, it IS Texas.

 

My brother Sterling just called a bit ago and told me he has the crouping crud. He and Jacqui have had that stuff a couple of times in this past year. But he says it makes his hernia hurt, so he guesses he will wait until the crud is over and then get it fixed. Meanwhile, they have had a nice day today and are expecting about two inches of snow tomorrow. His youngest son Terry has been down at his brother’s farm blowing out the chicken houses with his rig—a large tractor with a huge fan on it to blow out the dust, feathers, and whatever needs to be removed from the floors. Can’t imagine having something that big blowing out all the crud! But then, they don’t keep chickens as long in their houses as they used to. But think the size and age of broilers has already been a topic here. Just know that a chicken on my granddad’s farm left his place at 8 weeks and might weight a little over two pounds. Danny’s chickens go out around 7 to 8 weeks and can weigh anything from 6 to 8 pounds! Now, dear hearts, that is a BIG difference. That is why a couple of 6.6-pound chickens cooked up for the dogs makes a LOT of dog food. Of course, the price for these chickens is crazy compared to the twenty-nine cents a pound we used to pay.

 

Have some Korean beef something or other in the microwave. Not sure just exactly what it is called, but it is fairly tasty but VERY spicy! Five minutes is pretty quick for making a meal. Thinking back to when my family liked tacos and stuff like that. We sometimes had tacos twice a week. And Lewis liked them as much as any of the kids. As long as he had a great big glass of tea with lots of ice, he was pretty happy to put his feet under the table in the evenings.

 

Remember that big jar of animal cookies? Well, it has turtles, kangaroos, buffalo, horses, pigs, lions, rhinos, hippos, elephants, rabbits, and teddy bears! And they are not fattening ‘cause it takes each one a minute to tell me its name or species! Right!

 

Number one oldest child just called to say that he would not be coming this weekend because they are expecting horrible winds down his way. The wind does not blow around here, so have NO idea what he is on about.

 

Think a book is calling my name. Meanwhile Thompson wanted a pig and Sylvia got a buffalo! We are not the least bit spoiled around this house!

 

Will leave you with the information that the Jarlsbergs are not doing too well. Kathy had a hole drilled into her skull so that they could put chemo directly into her brain. They are giving her some kind of drugs that are making her laugh and be silly, so it is probably not going to be long unless God intervenes to heal her in this lifetime. Please remember them.

 

Rest and find reasons to appreciate the life we have been given. May God watch over you and yours. You are loved.