Coffee and...part 8 :-D

Here's what happened to Bobby: he got quite overweight and developed diabetes. So he finally decided to have that stomach surgery and have most of his stomach closed off. He did well, losing weight nicely. But when I saw him, he kept saying he couldn't get his energy back. The last time I saw him, he was down about 85 lbs., still no energy. It ended up he had multiple myelolma, a blood and bone marrow cancer something like leukemia. He had some vision problems, but of course, it was mistaken for a symptom of diabetes and the lack of energy was attributed to the surgery.
Apparently he had the cancer for some time, perhaps as long as 2 years.
He wrote a lovely letter to the community when he was diagnosed and thought he would benefit from treatment. He said, "I am the most blessed Sheriff in North Carolina, for you are the greatest people and I serve with the best staff. I write to you to thank you....your support means so much to me and my family and have helped me enormously." The letter was much longer but just like him in every way.

We had suffolks , it was just as cold as it is right now when one of the mothers decided she only wanted one baby not twins and kept pushing the little one away finally she just picked it up and threw it against the barn wall stunning it. My husband called the vet he suggested all sorts of things but nothing worked , finally Richard brought the lamb into the house and I was desiganated to feed it every three hours, night and day I put it into a large box for a few days but as it grew it ran all over the house . Our jungest son was 8 months old and in his play yard , sometimes the lamb joined the boy what fun to have a real life lamb to play with.! Finally it got warm enough to be in the pasture, he grew not as much as the others and was always alone, the others paid no attention to him
We called him Shadow
Maria

That was nice, that he knew the community cared for him.
I hope folks continue to stop by his family as time goes on, it's so easy to forget in the rush of our own lives.

Maria, that's a sad baby lamb story. but then he didn't end up lamb chops. never heard of an ewe so determined to be rid of an extra mouth. wow.

WS - your post made me catch my breath - multiple myeloma took my dad last Nov. You're right, It is a cancer of the bone marrow and very closely related to leukemia because that's where the blood is made. My aunt died of leukemia 2 yrs. ago. My Opa also died of multiple myeloma - and doctors believe it is not a hereditary cancer. Oops! maybe they're wrong? Dad was one of the lucky few, he had it at least 10 yrs. It is usually fatal in 6-18 months. And the younger you are when you get it, the less chance you have, because just as your metabolism is much faster at 40 than 70, so is the cancer at that age. Opa lived to 91 with it, Dad was 76. I feel so sad for the family, hope the huge crowds will be a little comfort for them.

Walked around the house today. Sedum is popping up, one allium is up and coreopsis. I hope they don't get all frozen off - it's really too early for them. I think I'll dump a few more bags of mulch on the lily beds tomorrow and hope they stay sleeping for another month.

Did some closet sorting this afternoon and have a bag ful to go to the goodwill. DH buys too much at Goodwill and Saver's and Sally Ann so a bunch has to go back. :)

Hitting the hay early tonight. Night all!

Hello everyone. I'm just stopping by quickly to give you a picture of a newborn that just stood up. Often a ewe that is close to delivery will follow a ewe with lambs when we bring them to the barn so that is why you see two ewes in the picture. The ewe came into the barn with one lamb and then soon had this second one. The granny ewes usually help the mom clean off the lamb but sometimes try to steal it and become a real pain.

So far we have about 8 ewes in the barn with twins! We are off to a good start. The sheep all belong to my neighbor, I sold my flock many years ago but got several years of experience which has come in handy. I finally got the tires on the trailer this morning, this afternoon I went riding for about 2 1/2 hours, got home just before dark and then fried chicken for dinner, still have to clean the kitchen then I'm going to bed early. Sorry if I sound a little scrambled, it will get worse as the lambing season goes on, and I will be posting at 3 or 4 in the morning when I am trying to get warm and sleepy. Goodnight.

The question, why do all the mothers do their thing in the middle of the night ?
I read somewhere that it goes back to the wild, where the newborn are more subject to attack by enemies in daylight hours. I guess that makes some sense.
When I was in high school we had pigs at our farm. I spent many a night keeping an eye on things. This was in northern MN in early April, the piglets were always born on the coldest night!
Keep up your good work, Mary.
Bernie

scrambled or not, I am enjoying the babies coming into the world.

How precious!! Jo

another day, a beautiful morning, all the snow is still here temp is 19' cold
but come in made the gitter kuchen , I sent half of it to my daughter who lives just a up the street, her land borderes mine we can walk through the woods without being on the street.
Not much else is new except I have a problem with the sciatica nerve all the way down to my heel but it is bearable, don't know what to do about it without running to the dr. always try to avoid that if i can help it. took that 'how old you are ' nothing but flattery , don't belive it
Maria

Awww..... What a cute wittle wamb.

It's Friday and nothing much is new here either- went to the huff and puff - that's 18 weeks straight! I'm pretty proud of myself!!

Stopped at the store and picked up a few groceries - my second visit this week!! Sister and BIL are coming for the weekend. BIL can't eat anything canned or salty. Hard to cook for him - no soups, no canned veggies - NO PIZZA!!! I always throw a beef roast in the crock pot with a bunch of onions - let it cook all day. We called it 'shredded meat' - served on buns with mustard. He always has seconds, so it must be OK. Got a load of fresh veggies and fresh fruit for him too. Sometimes I just wish he would stay home!! He is such a nice guy, but has the wiggles and cannot sit (DH LOVES to sit!!) I am always a bit uncomfortable...thinking he is bored here.

I really need to get off my duff and clean this place. They were here for a weekend a month ago and I never changed the sheets after they left- too bad!! They are sleeping on the same ones!!! Think they will be able to tell???

Still cold and gloomy here- more snow coming for the weekend and all next week. BUT, they assure us that by St. Patricks day, it will warm up. Oh weather is on and now they are saying 'freezing rain on Sunday' = oh drat... I will never complain of being hot again!!

Serv, I complain a lot more being hot rather than cold in the winter, I feel always can wear more clothes but in the heat what does one do? Run around nacket? But I must admit this winter here in NE has been a bit too much
If no one else slept in the bed the last time any one was here but the same people I do not change the bed either unless it has been a long,long time
before. When my husband was so very ill, his brother came about once a month to vosit, never changed till he used for about 5 times. LOL.

Being caretaker of DH was so much work what with changing his bed some times twice a day I just did not wqnt to change the other bed on top of it.
I think you are Ok

Sarv, ya'll make me laugh. -"never complain of being hot again!!" - of course you will. Altho, Michigan may not get as hot as here.

Out weeding yesterday and the clouds and wind had me wearing a headband. Then sun broke thru and in moments my headband was off and within minutes my head was yelling hot, hot, where is straw hat?. The sun is really hot when it strikes the skin even when the temps are only at 55* - what's up with that??

Maria, I'd love some gitter kuchen, thanks very much. Not headed for the bakery today after all. Just back out to cut back more stuff. In fact today I may tackle trimming the apricot tree - better late than never??? ~Blooms

I concur. If they think it smells, you can tell them they're smelling themselves! LOL

I'm a don't change sheets every time gal myself.
5 nights sounds right to me Maria, I washed and reapplied the sheets midway the ten day stay of 'Spin and SIL, just being nice to my girl when I can.

Don't we just talk about the funniest things???

It's so long between guests here that I frequently wash perfectly clean sheets and air the blankets when i know someone's coming - get rid of the stale smell.

Drop the curtains all thru the house once or twice a year... fun to see them change from the pinky beige of our windblown sand to the white they started out at. Martha would have a conniption fit, I'm def not the Betty Crocker Homemaker, that would be my sister. She even got the award in high school. LOL ~Blooms

Just a cuppa, our dinner guest the other evening brought chocolate cake for dessert, so I'm now in penalty mode! Here's an encouraging episode for those of you who have had difficulties with customer service in various venues.

I think I mentioned before that I had complained to Maytag about my Jennaire range that is only four years old, installed when we built this house. Well, within the second year, the computerized module that governs the oven temp/clock/ timer etc. blew up. Had it fixed. In November, the oven temp plummeted to about 50 degrees below where it was set. Called for maintenance. (Fortunately I broke one of my own cardinal rules and had purchased the service contract in an apparent fit of building detail overload) so I'm not paying for service. )

Jennaire has a downdraft exhaust system, which vents outdoors but there is also vent at the top of the range where the fan takes in cool air from the room.. Evidently, the automatic oven cleaning heat caused the blistering. )photo) SO, I wrote to the company and got the most condescending letter back from some idiot in Customer Service, telling me that I should never use pans more than 2" wider than the burner. I had sent photos of the damage on the GAS range top, which clearly shows the burners are less than 3" in diameter....Good suggestion, use pans not bigger than five inches. He apparently never even looked at the photos, just used a canned letter for response.

That got my dander up. Went on the internet and linked to a consumer site indicating this is a LARGE problem with the Jennaire, and they are not responsive to complaints. So then I dug a little further and found out they had appointed a new CEO at Maytag (which has become the parent co. of Jennaire) and wrote a somewhat impolite ( Oh, that's not true...I was extremely sarcastic) letter to him, reiterating my complaints, and suggesting that they could save substantial sums by eliminating their Customer Service entirely since they don't provide any.

Lo, and behold, within two weeks I got a call from an assistant to the CEO. When she got the complaint, they had photocopied the pictures I sent ( with the usual results, she got black photocopies with no detail ) so I emailed photos to her. She followed up with a couple of phone calls afterwards, telling me that she was sending the real photos to their engineers. Then she called again. She said they would send out a serviceman to look at the damage, at no cost to me. He showed up yesterday. He didn't look at the damage. HE REPLACED THE ENTIRE TOP!! Now I have to write them a nice thank you. Pays to go to the top, eh?

With that minor success under my belt, I'm going to tackle SBC and find out why the heck we can't get DSL....wish me luck!! LOL

Have a good weekend everyone, NO SNOW please!!

My Momma always said 'keep going higher till you get the response you want'. LOL have used the advice many times. The 9-5er really doesnt give a hoot about your problems if they don't fit his automatic response settup.

blooms, I love ya, you always can make me laugh!
Maria

Ya gotta keep hammering at them 'til they scream for mercy!!

M5 ya got me, there's coffee splats on the screen.

Hi guys!!! (ahem...girls ~grin~) I feel like it's been ages since I've been able to sit down and enjoy a cuppa here with my friends. And I guess, in a way, it really has been that long.

I don't have a lot of time right now either, but I *had* to sit down for a couple of minutes.

Just wanted to answer the question on the heat mats. You betcha! They're worth every penny you pay for them. If you can get a good deal, all the better. In the past three days I've planted LOTS of stuff and most of it has already sprouted! Most of the packages say 8-10 (or longer) days for germination and I'm getting sprouts in 3-4 days! Even Wave Petunias that I saved seeds from last years plants are UP and raring to go! (3 days on those!)

At this point, spring just *can't* come soon enough for my liking. I'm definitely going to be running short of space to pot up these seedlings...but even if it means turning one of my bathrooms into a solarium for a month and a half, I *refuse* to lose these plants! :-D

M5...the headstrong DIL *is* leaving...but she says she'll stick around for 30 days (get that! Thirty days! sounds like some kind of used car deal to me!) And, yes, she'll be taking my youngest GD (Named Angel...and really IS the closest thing to one I've ever seen.) It's terribly sad what self-centered people can do to their children...it's Angel that bothers me more than anything else in this situation. Especially when DIL lived through the divorced parents and hated her Mom for taking her Dad away from her. I wonder if she thinks it will be any different for Angel. I think not! That little one is definitely a "Daddy's Girl". That ticks me off! SOrry about that...guess I'd better get going or I'm liable to get REALLY mad! ;-)

I think I'll start a new thread tomorrow...this one is reaching it's limits again.

((( ~ HUGS to ALL ~ )))

~julie~

Blooms- Mich seldom gets truly hot hot - only a few days in the low 90's and I can handle that!!

Meez - you go girl!!! I have some complaints here - you need to come for a visit. I am a wimp at such things!! I never can find a receipt or a box etc. One of my major faults!!

Decided I would remake the bed so it looks nice and did wash the pillow cases - figured they would smell nicer! Got the house all cleaned up, now just need to cook. Made a banana bread receipe that was on the receipe form - from Terry I think - it is really yummy - DH said it was much moister than mine. Gonna try the other one, but it calls for lemon rine and I didn't have any. I'll try it next week.

I already worked on the crossword and the jumble, so think I will get my jammies on - it is only 6:30pm - do I have a NOT life or what???

Would you believe it is snowing AGAIN>>>>makes me want to use words I know I shouldn't use....grrrr

Going to my aunt/uncles 70th wedding anniversary party tomorrow - can't imagine being married that long. They are in their 90's and still live by themselves. What in the world do you get for a gift??? (giving money here...)

banana bread? coupon for house-cleaning? poem or story written by you? a coupon book including various family members for small excursions, meals, cleaning, restaurant trips, etc.

so sorry about the DIL - no they don't think at all about what they're doing to the children. My DD is back (not living with, just seeing) the guy that hit her last summer. Why? Why? Why? Just drives me nuts. If she gets hit again and goes back again, I may file for custody of DGD - I figure she's not safe if DD keeps going back to him. Even if it was dismissed, which I think it would be, maybe other people will be involved who she will listen to, and not just mom who doesn't know a thing!!

I think someone asked days ago where we were going in WI. I just remembered that I didn't answer - or maybe I did - the GOB syndrome is settling in -LOL- We're going to Oostburg or Easttown if you folks wanted to translate it into English. Ha Ha! Just will be there overnight and then head into the city at 5 am. Hope to be heading home by noon. We're going out in 2 vehicles - a guy in IN is inheriting a pickup from his dad, who lived here, so we are deliving it to the Flying J truckstop on I-80.

Speaking of DGD, we had fun playing games this afternoon and she's staying overnight. That is the biggest thrill to her - she talks about it for days and then after she stays a night, she starts working on the next sleepover already! Makes Grandma feel special, that for sure!!

Night all!

Hello. There is lots of activity in the flock. Lots of sets of twins. Here is a cute little face for you, the face and legs are as soft as they look, and the body feels a bit like a brillo pad for a few days until the remains of the lamb goo go away. Any body spots and coloring usually fade to creamy white in about 2 months time. We have one sheep in the flock who started out black and gets lighter every year. More tomorrow, so stay tuned.

Sooooo cute!! Coffee time .... who's got goodies, I'm out!

Julie, I think we need a new thread. Coffee'll be cold by the time this thing loads! lol

Kooger has grandbaby for company,, Mary has a little lamb to keep her awake and it IS taking a long time to load this thread.

Sun's shining here again this morning and I haven't seen snow since I got back home. Nor rain, and my soil is powder dry.

Still got dead stuff to take care of. Didnt finish the apricot tree yesterday either, if one left all the branches the treee would break from the weight. My coffee needs reheating. BRB

and I still have tons of snow to keep me company LOL

Pretty cold company, Maria. lol You need a puppy or kitty, I think.

Laura, would you belief I am thinkng of getting a dog after I come back from my travels?

Cub Foods had oreo's on sale. I bought 4 packs, so somebody bring the coffee. ( I like my oreos with milk!).
Bernie

Ok peoples...:-D
Here's your new thread. I knew when it took me a while longer to DL this one, it was time for fresh digs.
http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/489225/

Mary...that's a gorgeous little lamb. I remember the *good* times when my dairy goats were kidding. I loved being out in the barn during the night...just watching or being there in case one of my does needed a little help. The babies are such a delight!

Kooger, it was me who asked where you'd be. You had me confused there for a minute...we have a Flying J a few miles from here...then I realized ours is on HWY 14. :-D

Be back in a while...
~julie~