Has anybody seen Claire???

I'm on it!!

Peppermint snops here or maybe a Margareta hold the salt.

Martell's VSOP brandy, in hot cocoa...

If I may join y'all in the wake. Very sad, lost young lives must be properly toasted and sent on. Condolences, C, and long live the chickens!

Jay

I am a red wine girl myself (Banty red...Bully hill) ahhhhh yes

Well now, my rock is not quite a bar...if you have a special tipple to condole with and don't trust yourself to my good graces...bring it along. We will all pile under and turn on Claire's favorite tunes and get to e-tippling. And take good care of our Moxy.

Oh yes, absolutely, I will BMOB and share. =0)

What sort of noshes? Hmmm..... Uh.... bacon wrapped water chestnuts, anyone?

Nope but i've heard of it! And i will take some grog and some water chestnuts as well

Oh yes an old fashion wake. I'm in be right there.

Is that like the old timers talked about sittin up with the dead. I did that a few times when i was a kid and it's creepy being alone in a room with the deceased.

I will bring 'blueberry tea' and chocolate.

I have been to one in west Florida and it was during the daytime. My Great Aunt. Was not bad but a wonderful remembering of her life.

Blueberry Tea Yummy and Chocolate Wow!

Well, I'm thinking of an Irish wake, which usually gets pretty rowdy, as well as maudlin (all those Irish ballads can really tear me up) as we remember the recently deceased peepers... er, cacklers. Ah, feathered friends. +Sniff+

We'll have to have Claire lead the toasts... one for each bird?

Here, have a cream cheese/green chili roll....

mmm yummy. I'll just pass you a Siscilian stuffed mushroom right back Jay ^_^

Yes and how about old fashion Pound cake, Pecan pie, Peach pie and Double chocolate cake with old fashion chocolate icing.


One more day and I am out of here! Will be back home on my own laptop sitting in my own chair, Monday evening. Darn DM is already planning to do this again next year.

o definitely pe-cahns are in order as they are Clarie's fav. Brilliant idea Wren!

}}}}}Burp{{{{{{ Oh my, excuse me. That just slipped out. [giggle]

When does the toasting begin? I'm getting thirsty! Did we run Grownut off?

Yoooo-hoooo... Groooo-oooww?! Come have some hor's devours...

I was off buying extra insurance just in case...Actually a family dinner thing -DB goes back to Germany tomorrow which is DD's birthday...took 'em out to the local eatery...

Guess the deep-fried cream cheese and crab puffs are in order as well...hope we don't finish all this up before Claire gets back though. I guess at least with an e-wake and all of these e-nibbles and e-tipples we'll all get safely home though, no matter how rowdy we become. Hope I won't have to come up with a name and get a business license for the ol' rock--{{{The Grotto}}} somehow it's a bit much...

I am so sorry about your chickens Claire! I wish I could say something better....

wren The aquarium is awesome! I hope you petted the sharks! I want to go back just to do it again! The Beluga's bothered me for some reason.. I just wanted to sneak them out of there and let them go. My company had it's Christmas party there after hours so it was not crowded. I have a crowd phobia. I don't go near malls.

I don't do malls either specially around the holidays!!!!!

Hi All,
We are home safe and sound. Got in around 12:30 am last night. We drove for 18.5 hours yesterday so it was a long one. I am glad I am not back at work until tomorrow.

I haven't been out to check the girls yet as it is still dark. I know the bodies of the ones we lost are in the barn too so I have to go see who died. I am dreading it. On the other hand, I can't wait to cuddle the ones who are fine. There are some chicks in my basement too, and they are fine. They are some ameraucanas and the Dutch Bantams. I lost all Silkies, mottled javas, nankins, welsummers, marans, penedesencas, frizzles, australorps, etc, etc. The list goes on for too long. I cringe to think of the cost of all those eggs, but even more the little lives lost. It cuts me to the core to think of that and wonder if there was anything I could have done.

I will start again. I think it is too cold to get shipped eggs. I will begin with some eggs from my own flock. Those who made it are hardy and must have good immune systems. I figure they are the place to start.

Grownut - how did you know that I am a HUGE Medieval Babes fan? I once saw them perform in Ontario, they were fab!

Sorry to have missed the wake. Glad to be home safe though.
Claire

Claire glad you are back and we can restart the wake.

I will be on the road in a hour. Home sweet home!!!!

Safe driving Wren!

Claire, I am so glad you are home safe and sound. I am sorry you have such a mess to return to. I cant imagine it. We are all thinking of you today as you assess the problem. Be blessed.
jeanmarie

Oh my word, it is now completely soul crushing. I have been out and assessed everything. I have about 30 hens left. When we departed, I had about 80 or so. I have 3 roosters out of 8. I have a few young chicks left in the brooder, most with gummed shut eyes and looking unwell. Rosie is dead. I am devastated. She was my dearest girl and I loved her so much. She was a sweet natured and wonderful bird and I let her down. I feel like I should not have left, but I was trying to give my parents a wonderful Christmas surprise (which I did) but I lost so much for having done so. On top of this, our mini-goat Muffin who was supposed to have been due November 27 must have actually been due December 27. There were two perfectly formed baby goats in the barn, frozen solid. One light brown male and a pale grey female. Beautiful tiny things, so new to the world. I am utterly bereft. We had told the farm help there was a small chance she could be pregnant and to please check the barn every day when they came (twice a day) but I guess that didn't happen. I don't know when they were born, but it can't have been that long ago because they are not totally crushed and covered in barn mess. In a word, I feel empty. Empty, guilty, and heart achingly sad. It is not a good way to come home, and not a good way to remember this holiday.

Do you mean Claire from Rutledge, Tennessee???

Oh Claire, bless your heart. i am so very sorry to hear this sad news. i do know how you feel. My heart goes out to you and your animals. I know your mom had a great time with you and enjoyed your surprise.

OOPS, guess not!

Claire,
I'm sorry for the chickens you lost, but at least you still have some. Glad to see you are home safe and sound.

Hugs,
Cecile

Claire that is utterly devastating. There are no words.

Thanks Luvs & Cecile. It will be a sad time to rebuild my flock but hopefully 2009 will hold a better future.

Cecile - glad to see you became a subscriber. I would have missed you otherwise.

Oh Claire! I just have no words to convey how sorry I am for you. I am chocked up, I can not imagine how you feel. {{{HUGS}}} I will be thinking of you often.

Well Claire, I will help you in the spring with some hatching eggs if you want. My girls are still on the egg laying strike right now. I keep telling them if they would just lay some eggs I would fix them up some and share with them.

I say in the spring because I wont have the breeder pens built until then to keep them separate.

thanks Dahlia, Sewincircle & Luvs. I know that I have to bring myself to chalk it up to "learning experience" but that will take time. In the meantime, I am going to start incubating any eggs I get (not much laying right now I don't think) and also am looking at the Sandhill Preservation catalogue later today to see what I can find. They are in Iowa and short shipping is good for day old chicks, so I hope to begin rebuilding in spring with that also.

The goats...I just can't deal with that in my mind yet....the guilt is horrible. The guy who sold her to us said November 27 but I am sure it was closer to Dec. 27 and I don't know how to forgive myself on this. We are new to goats but we are trying so hard to do everything right. What if I had separated her and put her in a different place...what if...what if...what if.

Dont do that to yourself Claire. You are a good person and want only the best for all your animals. We cant anticipate everything and anything that can go wrong. I know it will take time to move beyond all this. I would love to send you hatching eggs. I know they are muts but Barnyard specials are fun. You never know what you'll get. Like a surprise. I am still thinking of you. Dominique sends her love as well. She asks about you often. {Hug}

Hi Claire,
I love my friends here. Did you have anyone to take care of your precious ones? It's one reason why I won't go on any vacation. My birds mean a lot to me. When I lived in Hudson, I wasn't allowed to have chickens. So when DH decided to have some, it made my day. Right now mine are on a laying strike too.

Claire, forgot to mention on the goats. when I had goats all of mine wanted to deliver late December or early January. OMG it was so cold. I had an experienced mom deliver trips and lost 2 of them to the cold. I also had a brand new mom deliver twins and I had to become a goat whisperer to save one of them. Just sometimes there is nothing that can be done to help. Maybe something someone said to me a couple weeks ago might help when I was going thru almost the same thing, Nature has a way of keeping things in check. And the strong will survive. Just remember the home you gave them and the love.

Claire, what you do is learn and with a vengeance. For very similar reason to yours I know this. We reined ourselves in on the wake (with very uncharacteristic restraint) so that we could have you here, and have your permission. Cry and scream as much as you need. And when you figure out what you want to do to prevent stuff like that happening that way again, c'mon back and we'll turn your favorite music up loud and have a rip-roaring wake.

OH! My Dear Claire if you could only see the tears streaming down my face :(........
I wish i was there to comfort you and i'm so sorry for the pain you feel and if i could i would take it myself. So someone with as big a heart and tender soul as you have for animals wouldn't have to feel this way.
I have no words that will ease your pain except know i'm thinking of you and would give anything if i could be there!!!

{{{{{{{♥HUGS OF LOVE ♥}}}}}}}} Janet your friend always♥

Claire-

I am sending the biggest hugs I can your way. Never question your choices to go see your Mom and Dad. I know what it is to question what if, but put all that energy into loving the ones you have left and rebuilding. You are a wonderful Chicken/Goat Mama and we all know how well those animals are cared for.

Keep your chin up and vent all you want. We are all here to listen day or night.

Love Ya-

Sheila