Just need to talk to my friends (140)

Mint

Good morning,

18 this morning.  No snow fell during the night.  They are giving snow today but nothing excessive.  

JoC hope your daughter was able to make it safely somewhere.  Feel very sorry for the people in Texas.  I have relatives in the Fort Worth area.  About all of them work in the medical field.  Seems like some very poor decisions have been made.  

Laurel is really a sick lady.  Continue to keep her in my prayers.

Totally agree with your ick assessment.  Dr Daniel Griffin MD, Infectious Disease, who has been on the ground, working with covid patients in NYC since last March says if you still have symptons on the third day post vaccination you need to be tested for covid.  He is working clinics giving vaccinations.   Other words as he sees it two days is as long as reactions occur.  That is how it has been with those I know who have had the vaccine, most of them has just been one day.  My aunt had no reactions.  They are seeing that quite bit, because weary people are letting down their guard.  He said they are seeing it a lot in health care workers who should know better.  The two shots we have now only gives your body the message with which to make the antibody,  it takes time for your body to do the job.  Time means weeks, six to seven to get full immunity.  Seems to be true for  J&J too.  Now some people are having what he calls the seven day itch.  Have heard some people mention this. No one I know has had that.   Day seven some peoples injection site is becoming red, swelling a little and itching.  He says it is ok to take Benadryl if that happens.  The virologist explained why this happens at day seven but I forget what they said.  I saw a picture of it, was probably like a three or four inch square.

Be careful everyone

Lorita

Morning,

 Sara, it's 10 degrees here and the sun is shining.  And, Tom and Jerry were both in the carport when I went out to feed them.  Only took a small can of catfood and their dry food but when both of them were out there I came back in and got more canned food.

 Now, the bad part - seems like it can't get bad enough that it can't get worse.  I slept in the LR again last night - woke up about 4:30 and noticed neither the faucet in the kitchen or the one in the bathroom were running.  So, thought they had frozen up completely.  As soon as it was daylight, got my clothes on and went out to check the frostfree hydrants - no water!   That's how I've been watering the girls - not sure I can cut the ice on the ponds if it comes to that.  They have about half a tank in each one so maybe by then it will be fixed.   Called the water guy (neighbor) and he had a message on his phone that said the pump that supplies our water is having problems and they're aware of it and are working on it.  Left a message for him to call me to let me know when they think it'll be fixed.   Same thing has happened to one of the water pumps in Tulsa and lots of people are out of water there - just said a third of the people in Tulsa are having either low or no water pressure.  Guess this will make the pipes really freeze now.

 Sara - that's very interesting about the reactions and the time line.  I saw on TV they're going to start giving the vaccinations again in Tulsa - things have been shut down because of the weather the last few days.  Carol and her husband were scheduled last week and their appointments have been rescheduled to this Saturday.    Have you heard if one or the other of the vaccines is causing more reactions?

 Ron, it looks like you may be having freezing rain or snow today - all the way from southern Texas up across your area and on NE.  This is the 10th straight day we've had snow or flurries each day - don't know if that's ever happened before.  Be sure to stay in - you surely don't want to fall again.

 Jo - I'm saying prayers for Laurel and also for your daughter so that she'll make it to her destination safe and sound.  What part of Louisiana are they in - hope it's not a part where they're having ice today.

 Took some pictures yesterday of the snow - will try to post them today or tomorrow.  Rescue Mom, I talked with our friend Sandy (Sasue) last evening.  She was sorry to hear about your problems with either your liver or pancreas.  She had liver disease and had a transplant almost 26 years ago.  She said she'd be happy to talk with you about it and maybe give you some reassurance, if you like. 

 Saw Dr. Fauci and President Biden yesterday - looks like they're thinking it may be December or the first of next year before things get back to somewhat normal.  Sounds like Dr. Fauci is really concerned about the variants.  Seems they transmit more easily and are more deadly.  Can you all imagine - this has been going on for a year and still not anywhere near being under control, at least in the USA. 

 I'll stop for now - worried about the water.  If it's not on by noon I'll have to go down and see about cutting ice on the pond.  I couldn't cut the ice in the water tank in the lot yesterday because it was too thick.  Mike says it's about 5" thick on ponds where it hasn't been cut. 

 The news just reported that along with Tulsa, McAlester and several other areas are having trouble with their water plants.  Good thing this didn't happen at the beginning of the bad weather - at least we're beginning to warm up a bit - supposed to be in the mid 20s today.

BethL

Sara, I had heard 2-3 weeks to achieve full immunity after both vaccines. I'd never heard longer although we know so little about this at this point, don't even know how long that immunity will last. I did google the question and found this information. There is actually a lot of information out there. https://www.webmd.com/vaccines/covid-19-vaccine/news/20210203/covid-faq-i-got-the-vaccine-is-life-normal-again

If you don't wish to read the linked article, they interviewed experts who said that 2 weeks after your 2nd Pfizer or Moderna dose you are "essentially immune to Covid." Furthermore, “But we haven't yet proven that vaccinated people can't carry and transmit the virus to other people. And until we have that information and have achieved herd immunity, whereby the virus can’t infect most of the population, we need to adhere to the standard risk mitigation protocols: masking, hand-washing, distancing, and avoiding poorly ventilated, crowded indoor spaces.”

BethL

 Dr. Ashish Jha on Twitter: "Seeing stories of vaccinated folks getting COVID? Yup. Not news. How common is this? Quick math says pretty common. Probably 60-100 fully vaccinated folks getting infected daily. So infections no surprise. We should instead focus on hospitalizations & deaths. I expect most infections in vaccinated folks to be mild. So far, hundreds of fully vaccinated folks have likely been infected. We haven’t heard about many hospitalizations or deaths in this group, suggesting these vaccines are working superbly preventing severe disease. Bottom line: Expect some vaccinated folks to get infected. Let's track how many end up hospitalized or even dead. Wouldn't be surprised if some do because nothing in life is 100%.

But so far, for preventing severe disease, these vaccines are pretty darn close." 

Jha is MD, MPH and Dean of Brown University School of Public Health - Harvard med school grad and previously professor at Harvard School of Public Health. If you are on Twitter, follow him. He's very, very good.

ronald71111

Finally got on! Louisiana weather, never know what to expect!

At my house 5 to 6 inches, yesterday was mostly freezing rain and sleet. Cars that tried to get out ended up stuck; one hit my mailbox, another across the street got out but couldn't get back in their driveway and even a sheriff's car stuck down the street and had to call a wrecker. Before yesterday traffic was moving some but after the freezing rain with sleet it's pretty much a standstill with freezing temperatures. 

Precipitation is over and should be warmer by weekend. I'm not going anywhere, dont believe my body can stand another fall. We have water and electricity. 

My rash keeps showing up on different parts of my body and no one seems to know what it is. No itching, no raised areas just red spots. Hard to get in to see dermatologist now but have PCP visit next Tuesday. 

Ron

Lorita

Had a call from Mark, the water guy.  The problem us the cold weather pipes frozen.  No idea when they'll get them thawed.  Bad news.

BethL

"Vaccination drives hold out the promise of curbing Covid-19, but governments and businesses are increasingly accepting what epidemiologists have long warned: The pathogen will circulate for years, or even decades, leaving society to coexist with Covid-19 much as it does with other endemic diseases like flu, measles, and HIV.

The ease with which the coronavirus spreads, the emergence of new strains and poor access to vaccines in large parts of the world mean Covid-19 could shift from a pandemic disease to an endemic one, implying lasting modifications to personal and societal behavior, epidemiologists say."  from the Wall Street Journal   I can't read the whole article without paying.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/as-vaccines-raise-hope-cold-reality-dawns-covid-19-is-likely-here-to-stay-11612693803?mod=e2fb&fbclid=IwAR0Bn_e9juuOtjQjzfxs9qH17ZePUGk5ZLA2-TPrVMbQ1PHl5nbj31IX-zI

I promise I will not post anything more about the virus today. 

BethL

Jo, I hope your daughter made it to safety. My daughter and her husband and kids live in a Houston suburb and they are fortunate to have not lost power. They are on a boil order for water. Tell me, if you have lost power, how do you boil water?* It is a good practice to have supplies of non- perishable foods and a supply of water in storage for events such as this. Maybe also heavy duty sleeping bags to stay warm in. A generator (but it takes a pretty big powerful generator to keep the furnace on). If you have a fireplace, wood. Keep the car gassed up. Try to prepare for possible emergencies. Your life could depend upon it.

*butane or propane camping stove

Mint

Ron glad you are making it through ok so far.

Beth I apologize.  Didn’t say it clearly.  It is 2-3 weeks after second shot.  Should have said from the first vaccination.  What I have heard from several different sources is that even with J&J  the one dose @ 49 days no serious disease, that is 7 weeks.  Think if I remember right the 62% they refer to was at 28 days or 4 weeks.  

I have heard Dr Jha quite a few times, and have liked listening to him.  

How long immunity will last is a work in progress.  Shane Crotty PhD, a leading immunologist in our country with no political yoke around his neck feels it will be fairly good.  What have heard them say is it lasts at least 8 months.  As each month rolls by they will know more.  The transmission thing is still a work in progress too.  They are leaning toward though from what I’ve heard several times, that most likely even if doesn’t stop transmission completely,  will decrease it a lot.   Kind of looking for Israel to maybe have some official information before too long maybe.  More than likely we may need a regular booster shot ever so often, very important that our government has sequencing going on, as it should be, so we will know if vaccine needs tweaked a bit.  That is also a work in progress, have heard that present administration is having this done.  Hopefully they are doing enough.  Medical statement, not political statement, the last administration was not.  Heard a vaccinologist  say that this vaccine went through every step that is normal for approval except knowing how long the immunity will last and we didn’t have time to figure that out with a pandemic.  Will figure that out as we go.

Agree with you about hospitalizations and death.  This is the first week in months that no new cases reported in any of the nursing home patients in our county and only one staff member.  Those that would take it have been vaccinated.  There is still one elephant in the room that I have not heard anybody have an opinion about, long covid.  In the unvaccinated group some people with very mild disease have ended up with long covid.  Is this going to still occur with mild disease in those  who got vaccinated and become mildly ill?  No one knows that yet. Hopefully it will help with that too.   My friends niece, who is a RN has not been able to work for 5 months due to long covid.  

I’m very happy with and thankful for these vaccines too.  Thankful for all those who have shared their knowledge and spent long days obtaining that knowledge.  Many of them provided information to the pharmaceutical companies that helped them make a safer more effective vaccine.  What can be done when people work together for the good of all.  

Heard a lady out of Israel talking about a Phase one trial they are doing for a nasal spray to help with the immune response, not to go crazy.  Continue to hope and pray that we can find effective therapeutics for the treatment of covid also.  Very important as we go forward.

Like Jo, will be so thankful when I have full immunity so I can put on my mask, wash my hands and go thrifting, go talk to somebody when I want to.  Might get wet eyes of thankfulness when can do that again.  

Lorita the people I know who have gotten the vaccine, and knew which one they got, have all gotten Moderna.

Lorita be careful.  Know it is scary losing your water.  That happened to me this summer.  Think the cattle would get water from the snow if they had too?

Lorita

Back again,

Talked with a couple of neighbors - one who lives at the SW corner of the farm and Darwin's wife.  Denny's out of water, too.  He said his SIL said Checotah was out of water and we get our water from there.  He says the lines are underground so we couldn't figure out how it froze or how they'd thaw it.  He called me back in a few minutes and said he'd gotten a text from his SIL saying the Mayor of Checotah said the water would be back on by 11 a.m. (it was 11:14) and she was just getting a trickle of water.  She lives about three miles south of us.  He's at the end of the line so it may be a little while.

 Called Donna to see if they had water.  They're in a different county and get their water from the other direction.  They do but pressure isn't good.  She said Darwin had been out feeding and was cutting ice and got in the pond.  He was able to get out all right.  Came home and changed socks and went back.  He needs to tie a rope on his tractor and then around his waist so if he did fall in he could pull himself out.  Dangerous to be doing things like that by yourself - or with someone either.

 Sara - I don't think they could get enough water from the snow.  I've taken loads of ice out of the tanks so may go out and try to put them back in the tanks to thaw.  Doubt I could though because they're probably frozen together.  They've had some water - both tanks were about half full.  Not sure how many gallons each one holds, probably 50-75 or maybe 100.  Takes about 25 minutes to fill them.  So, I'm praying our water will be on before too long.  The wind's blowing and the wind chill is bad even if the sun is shining.  Denny said it would probably take a chain saw to get through the ice if it hadn't been cut before.  We have one but I can't use it.  The one I use is electric and my cord isn't that long.

 Keep your fingers crossed.

jfkoc

My second covid shot laid me low but I knew it would not last and that it nothing to worry about.

"“It’s like your immune system has a two-step approach,” Kennedy says. “The first one is all the side effects you’re getting from a vaccine, and the second one is making T cells and B cells and actually protecting you from the virus.”

I have never read or been told anything about immunity. It is a do not die vaccine. I can still get sick and the jury is still out on whether or not I can carry and shed the virus. It simply helps ameliorate the virus just like mask wearing and social distancing do. All we can do is continue the best preventative measures as they are revealed. 

I have no frozen water, the pressure is OK and I have heat again. The OGE rolling blackout caused  a surge that cut off electricity to the upstairs unit. When I realized that I unplugged and plugged in the source. Worked liked a charm. When the HVAC company called I told them I had fixed the problem by disconnecting and reconnecting the unit. He laughed and told me I was hired.,,lol

What a lot of happenings going on to us to worry about. Let's hope that by the weekend will have turned the corner in the tunnel and can see a faint light.

Who is making the hot chocolate for the porch and which one of   you gourmet cooks is making the marshmellows????

Lorita

Good for you, Judith.  Glad you got it working.

 I called Mark, our neighbor/water guy just now and asked how it was going.  He was at home and said he had a trickle, pressure nothing to write home about but it's water.  I didn't have any when he answered so went into the kitchen and I had a trickle.  I told him I was happier to see water than ever before - that I really was dreading going out to cut ice.  He was he was tired of doing it, too.  Everyone out in this area has cattle so they've all been cutting ice.  I'm lucky that I can use water tanks.

 Hurried and got  my boots on.  Felt better this time.  When I put them on this morning it was pretty dark and were kind of hard to get on.  When I came back in I realized I had them on the wrong feet!  nothing wrong with me!

 The girls had drunk all the water in the tanks and were standing around.  When they heard the door close they started bawling.  Two were by one water tank while I was trying to get it hooked up.  At first there was no water - then a trickle - not much more than than that still but it's water.  Two of the girls were by one tank and even tried to drink out of the hose.  It'll take a good hour to fill each tank or more because as it fills they'll drink.  So glad to see that water running.

 I think all of them are out of the barn except probably Rose Bud - didn't see her but there's a few around the hayrings but I doubt she's one of them.  I'll wait until later and take a bucket of feed out to the barn to her.  Right now they're all thinking it's time for feed.  I told them it wouldn't be today but they persist.

 We can make snow ice cream - there's plenty of snow around.  Hot chocolate sounds good right now.  Have you all ever made marshmallows?   I haven't but it looks easy except you have to use gelatin - maybe you could use pectin or the vegetarian kind of gelatin.  The porch is on the east side of the house so the north or south wind blows through it - kind of chilly out there now.

 The sun is beautiful and it looks like it may be slightly melting a little snow but it'll take a long time to get rid of it.  The girl at the feed store told me it's only 34 days until Spring.  I was a bit surprised that they were open but she said the streets and highways are clear and mostly dry.  Maybe we are coming out of that dark tunnel.  We had more snow in 2011 but I don't think the weather was this bad.

 I was surprised that the faucets weren't frozen but maybe as the water went off all of it drained out of the pipes.  Hopefully, pressure will pick up soon. 

ladyzetta

Hello,

It is snowing at my house right now I won't complain I don't have it as bad as you all do. 

Lorita,  Breaking thru the ice does not sound like its a easy or safe thing to do. I know it must be done but can you find someone to help you do it?    I think we will be warm on your front porch I will bring lots of blankets and some oatmeal cookies. 

Judith,  I get my second shot Wednesday please share with me how you felt so I can be prepared. I don't plan on going anyplace for at least 3 weeks after I get that 2nd shot. 

Jo,    Sorry to hear that Laurel is still in the woods, there are a lot of prayers for her. Please let her know we all care. Has your daughter made it to a safe and warm place yet?  I have friends who live in Houston during the winter. She told me this morning that their electricity has come back on so hopefully that is a good sign for the Texas people.   

I am praying for all of you to be warm and safe. Hugs Zetta 

jfkoc

Zeeta...I just felt ill...no nausea...no fever...no headache....sort of off balance. My torso ached rdally bad. Isn't that weird. I did not want to eat or drink. Anyway just be prepared to knock off two days knowing that the vaccine is working. Watch a movie and/or sleep.7

Lorita....you not be too careful! The cowboy said they used fire around the spigot and put the coals around the tanks.

ladyzetta

Thanks Judith, I will do just that. I am looking forward to getting my second shot. I have never looked forward to getting a shot before!!!

Jo C.

Took me forever to be able to log onto this Thread last Post and this one, must be gremlins at play again.

Well; after a five hour drive in bad weather and not so good roads, daughter made it to Louisiana.   So glad to be with a flushing toilet and having warm toes.  She said that the power came back on for about 45 minutes in her area of Houston, and then out again.  She called her neighbor, and people were gathering snow to melt for the ability to be able to flush toilets, and some had run out of water they had and were melting snow and boiling it on bbq to drink.  Some people were burning their furniture or fencing to get heat sufficient to boil snow or whatever trickles of water they had.  For most, there is no way to boil any trickle of water they can get because there is no heat.  Guess who went to Cancun but had to come back when he was found out and people began shouting blue murder about it.  Tone deaf and self-indulgent, "let them eat cake!"

People in astoundingly huge numbers who are out of work and have been using food banks for feeding their families now have no food access; it is a nightmare of epic proportions.

 Over 400 instances of CO2 poisoning as of last night; hospitals are overwhelmed with the numbers of that not to mention COVID issues.  Feds are sending truck generators to keep hospitals up and running as some of them were also having outage problems.   So many sad deaths including children - people trying to stay warm and not understanding the risks of how they were doing it.  Some warming shelters were set up, but some of them also lost power and had to close. Unbelievable.  Watch 'em trying to blame everything else but their own laxity.

As for Laurel; the sad news is that the MRI showed she had sustained several strokes with the dissections; what a shock that was - young, fit, healthy, no issues and all of that.  Still on tube feed, still unable to sit up and cognition still compromised.  Do not know where this is going, but hold onto hope on her behalf and saying prayers for her.  Drs. still looking for best time to repair the three dissections and will continue to stimulate her by getting her sitting up on bed edge to stimulate brain.  Thank you all for your concern and for prayers being said for Laurel.

  Perserverance Rover has landed on Mars!   What an amazing achievment.  It will give much new and interesting information.   A little bright light in the midst of so much not going well.

Please take good care and be well,

 J.

Mint

Judith good to hear from you, had been wondering.  That was a good, simple explanation Judith.  Doesn’t it feel good when you are able to fix something yourself?  I’m all for hot chocolate on the porch.

JoC glad your daughter made it to NewOrleans ok.  My family in Ft. Worth area, one has electricity so they are all staying at that house.  

Watch a cooking YT channel out of Houston.  Said he will not be on for a week as he is going to try and help his neighbors.  He just got over Covid.  He could barely keep from crying.

Lorita hope you have water soon.   Probably  should boil it if using it for personal consumption.

We probably got a couple more inches of snow today.  Pushed it off this afternoon.  The lady is going to plow mom’s tomorrow in case we get a little more tonight.  Thankful we found that lady.

BethL

Good morning. We are easing out of the deep freeze - in other words, we're above 0! It has been cold & snowy here in the midwest, more so than usual. But unlike TX, we have infrastructure set to deal with cold & snow. 

Sara, you are so smart and creative. I love that you listen to and interpret the virologist on YT. I watch YT, but almost never any video over 30." I just don't have the patience. Thanks for sharing your knowledge.

Jo, glad your daughter made it to Louisiana. So sorry about Laurel and I am praying for healing. 

Hope everyone who wants the Covid vaccine is able to get it, and that it proves safe, effective and long-lasting. My friend is an RN and works prn (as needed) for one of the hospitals. She has been giving the vaccines. The clinic she worked at yesterday - they gave over 300. Still people are having a hard time getting booked for appointments. I have my 2nd next week (Moderna). I am grateful.

Lorita, hope you got the water going again. Hope you have no broken pipes. Seems like when you own a home (or a ranch), there is always SOMETHING to deal with, something not working, etc.

Have a good day, everyone. 

Mint

Good morning,

Glad you are out of the deep freeze Beth.  Looks like here we have a couple more days of cold and then going to get some days in high 30s mid 40s.  Should start melting then, hopefully won’t get any heavy rains with it or we will have flooding.  

Texas is definitely not prepared in any way for this.  Those poor people were talking about how cold they were.  Looking at their jackets and thinking they don’t even have clothes for this kind of weather. Remember at my grandmas funeral it was so cold and my aunt from Texas had on a coat but she didn’t have a coat.  Felt so bad for her, she was freezing.

Glad you are able to get your vaccine Beth.  You and Zetta both getting second next week.  Thankful for each and every person that is getting it.  Kroger sent me an email a couple of days ago stating they are starting to get a small supply.  Still do not meet the age requirement here in Ohio.  Today got another email from the health system and they said they have been told that by July if you want one you can get one.  The other day I heard someone say April.  Guess we will find out.

I don’t watch too many YT videos over 30 minutes, except some medical ones.  Prefer the other ones to be fifteen minutes or less.

Hope you are ok Lorita.

Lorita

Morning,

 Thought I'd better post or you all would think I'd fallen in the pond.  I'm kind of rum-dum this morning - guess there was too much stress yesterday.  Went out to feed the boys - both were there.  Went prepared to run water in the tanks but they had plenty (at that time) but there was a thin film of ice on one - the other had to be chopped with the ax.  It's sunny this morning but cold.  Got the other sack of feed broken into three sacks and have all I need to feed in the Gator later today if I can get through the snowdrifts.

 Had to be careful going out to the area where the water hydrant is.  I made so many drifts out there yesterday it had slightly melted the snow so it refroze and is slick. 

 Our water is still on and the pressure is better.  Judith, we have frostproof water hydrants so they don't freeze.  When it's going to be icy or snowy I do put a bucket over the top to keep the handle from freezing - then sometimes have to pour some water over it anyway.  I can remember before we had these hydrants put in we had to try to wrap the hydrants the best we could to keep them from freezing.  I was thinking yesterday that years ago we bought a thing to keep water from freezing in water tanks.  It was electric and you put it in the water tank and it kept the water heated enough to keep it from freezing.  I have no idea where it is.  Last year they had some of them in our feed store but I didn't think I'd need them.  Probably won't again this year but I'll have at least one new one for next season.

 Jo - so glad your daughter made it to Louisiana safely.  I bet she was worn out from all that driving on icy roads but so happy to be there and be warm.    I saw the people melting snow to have water to drink - how awful that must be.  Texas isn't used to that much ice and snow.  One of our social workers had transferred to Dallas back in the 80s and they had an ice storm then - first time I'd heard of it that far south.  But, with the global warming we're going to get more of these terrible weather happenings.

 This morning on our local news they reported a 4.5 earthquake in Oklahoma near the Kansas State Line - so we've had the pandemic, snow, ice, cold, power outages, water outages and now earthquakes.  I think it's time for warmer weather.

 So sorry to hear about the MRI results for Laurel.  Who in the world would have thought something that awful could happen to a young, healthy person.  Life and health is fragile and we take it for granted until something happens.

 The Texans should tar and feather you know who.  Got back and then told lies about what happened - I guess - like Pres.,  like Sen.  He should be voted out for sure.

 Had a visit, by phone, with Darwin last night.  He wasn't waist deep or anything like that in the pond.  He has several ponds to break ice on and he said each time it took about 15 minutes to get through the 7" ice so thought he'd use his tractor to see if he could break it.  It's a huge, 4x4 (I can hardly climb up in it) - so he drove out on the ice with the front tires and I guess it broke through, then he couldn't get the back wheels to climb back up on the ice.  He got out so was in the water then shoveled the ice and mud and water for about 20 minutes.  I don't know when he called our neighbor south of me - anyway, he came over and they were able to get the tractor out.  Darwin's about 84 and last night he told me he was getting too old for this - I'm beginning to agree with him about myself.  Sad story:  he said he had done pretty well -  hadn't lost but two calves during the icy weather; he thinks a bull killed one.  Probably the calf's mom was in esterus and with several others around her the bull somehow knocked the calf over.  The other one is so sad - he was setting out a bale of hay - he has three sharp spikes on his front end loader and somehow when he started to either pick up the bale or put it down a calf ran in front of the spikes and he impaled it.  Darwin's a very tender-hearted man and it just about killed him.  He said he felt like falling off the tractor.

 These ranchers care so much for their cattle.  Mike was telling me he had four bottle babies at the clinic to feed and told me how each one came to be there.  Then told me he'd lost four - again, how each was lost and blaming himself for it.  You're with them every day from the day they're born, feeding and watering and you develop a real feeling for them (you might say affection) so it's so hard when you lose one.  Example:  Rose Bud, 22+ years old (I have a couple of other that age who are doing better than her).  We've sort of developed a non-speaking language.  I can look at her and she at me, then she comes because she knows I'm going to feed her.  I saw her last evening at the corner of the yard fence so took out a bucket of feed, looked at her and here she came.  She went right into the stall where I'd put the feed, then I gave her some hay.  That's why I can't sell cows. Calves don't bother me as much.  I'm sorry to go on like this  - just wanted you all to know kind of how ranchers feel about their cattle.  You could talk to any one of them and they'd have stories to tell and themselves to blame for things that happen.  I've heard it so many times from so many.

 I'm going to sleep in the bed tonight!  I haven't been getting good sleep and the last two weeks have been so hard and stressful - it's beginning to get to me.  Had a little crying jag this morning.  I was watching QVC and they had a sweat-shirt style top on it and it reminded me of one I had many years ago, then that reminded me of wearing it to Tulsa and Charles and I eating at a certain restaurant when I had it on - that led to other memories and tears.  Strange how one thing you see, hear or even smell can bring back so many memories that are hidden.

 I took a few pictures a couple of days ago so I'll post them.  One is of the Southern Magnolia tree in our front yard.  It's huge and has never bloomed - no idea why not; another is kind of a long-range picture of some of the girls around the bales of hay with the liquid feeders in the foreground; will post one of Sheena (standing) and Stormy - they were watching the girls.  Ron, the last one is for one - it's of Little Bit and his mother.  Not a very good picture because I was leaning over the yard fence - of course, Little Bit is the smaller of the two - but not by too much - probably weighs close to 1,000 lbs. 

 I'm tired, tired, tired of snow, ice and cold weather.  It just makes everything so much harder to do.  But, it's warming up and will be in the 40s,50s and even 60s next week.  Just heard one of the girls bawling - they know it's feed day and I haven't walked out and closed the gate to that pasture yet.  So better go and see what's going on. 

  

ladyzetta

Good Morning All,

I hope your all warm and safe. We got a few ins of snow last night but I feel bad talking about it because its no where as bad as some of you are getting. 

Lorita,  Sheena and Stormy are beautiful. A person like me that's not use to being around cows I often wonder about their personalities. But I guess and you have confirmed that they feel love just like anyone else does. It warms my heart when you talk about them. 

You do need to start getting some good sleep especially with the weather like it is right now. Just make sure you stay warm.  Darwin is way too old to be doing the things he does. Can you all find a handy man who works for all of you guys year around to take care of things?

When you talked about Kansas, it reminded me of one time when we were visiting my grandparents who lived in  Cherokee. When we were driving home we were driving along the Kansas, Okla state line and Kansas was having a thunder storm and Okla was not it was surprising to see the storm just in Kansas as we were driving.

I am so lucky I have a neighbor next door he is probably 89 he has a tractor with a big shovel on it and he is shoveling my drive way right now he loves to be needed. Him and Dan were good friends and Dan would have done the same for him.

I hope your all staying warm. Hugs Zetta 

ronald71111

Lou and I have been lucky, have water and electricity.  I've been shovelling snow and ice (about 4 inches) off of the wheelchair ramp all day, being careful not to fall again.

I'm about to break down and just want to leave everything behind. I had about 800 dollars put back for emergencies that has been stolen. No one has been here except for the two boys and their family and the neighbor who sits with Lou. I cant believe any of them would steal from me but someone did. What's so bad if any one of them needed money I would have given it to them. I've about had it!!!

Ron

ladyzetta

(((Dear Ron)))

I am so sorry to hear this and I know how sad you must be. I have a stupid question and please forgive me if it is. Do you think if Lou knew when it was she may have moved it? 

Lorita

Hi,

 I have hot water in the kitchen!!   Took almost two weeks but it's back with good pressure.  Good pressure from the hydrant in the yard - really makes things better.  I had some dishes in the sink so hurriedly washed them and a couple of bunches of LocknLock.  Then got both water tanks filled again.   I was sitting/laying in the recliner and Sammy came up to lay on the arm by me.  All at once his head jerked toward the kitchen - he heard the water break loose before I did.  Good watch cats.

 Zetta - when do you get your second vaccination?

 Ron - so sorry to hear what has happened.  The same thing happened to Sarah - they had someone staying with her a few hours a day, several weeks ago, and things began to come up missing.  Sad that you can't trust people.  Not saying you did this and you most likely didn't - if I have something in a certain place, then decide to move it to a "better" place, I have one heck of a time finding it again.  Maybe it'll turn up - I hope so. 

 It's been a much nicer day - able to fill water tanks and I was able to feed the girls, too.  I was afraid the snow drifts would be too deep but they were okay.  Put the Gator in 4WD and it worked fine - probably would have been all right without it. Drove up to check on the hay - they have enough for a while.  I think the girls either stayed around where the feeders were or drifted down into the pasture for a while.  I put some fortified grain in a bucket for Rose Bud and left it sitting while I did something else.  Turned around and there were birds all over it.  So, scattered some of it in the snow for them - not sure it's good for them because it does have some molasses on it.  I'm about out of bird feed so will have to order more of that.

I can finally see the ground in a few places and a lot of the snow has melted off the roof so we're doing better.  It's going to be 17 again tonight but compared to what we've had, that's really good.

 Jack called - said his neighbor dropped by to check on them because she could tell them hadn't been out of the driveway.  She brought him some water and chowder.  He said she hadn't heard that Patsy had passed away.  I saw the obituary online - can't remember where but guess she missed it.  Don't know if it was in the paper - one paper per week in our town.

 Going to stop and rest a while.  Zetta - glad you liked the picture of Stormy and Sheena.  They're wonderful - such gentle big animals.  Stormy's sound asleep on the divan and Sheena's asleep on her rug. 

 Rest well tonight and stay safe.

ladyzetta

Lorita,   I get my 2nd vaccine (moderna)  next Wed the 24th.   I will let you know how it goes. Stay Warm.

ronald71111

I will get my 2nd moderna shot March 12th, the first just a little soreness. 

On the money that was borrowed (I'm hopping using the word borrowed instead of stolen makes me feel better), I had it in a envelope inside a old makeup purse Lou had. Lou didn't even remember we had it and she had no idea where I had put it and I found the purse without the envelope. The neighbor came over a little while ago and I mentioned it to her. I'm almost positive she didn't take it from her body language which I have been taught to observe in some of my past. That leaves my boys and family, which makes it even harder for me.

Ron

Lorita

Ron, sorry that happened.  When relatives are involved in something like that it does make it a lot harder. 

Has your weather moderated some?   It was warmer here today and some snow melted in places but it'll take several days of warm weather to get rid of it.  We're supposed to be in the low 60s Tuesday and then another cold front with a chance of mixed precipitation.  But, she did say the week after was supposed to be warmer. 

 I know you're so upset about all of this, Ron, but all it does is make you feel worse and that doesn't help.  Maybe things will turn out all right - I hope so.

 Stormy and Sheena are outside and may stay out tonight - they can go into the storage building and be all right.  I'm about ready for bed.  Zetta - I'm watching Gunsmoke - can't seem to get away from that show.  When I was growing up we used to watch it religiously at 9 p.m. on Saturday night.  Those were the good old days but we didn't seem to know it then.

 Hope your second injection goes well.  I guess when the weather improves some I'll check into getting mine.  I feel safe out here but occasionally I need to have something done and that worries me.  You asked about finding someone to work for both Darwin and I doing feeding and things like that.  The news calls this area "remote" - you can't find anyone to do anything - everyone works in town.  Everyone that lives around has their own cattle and farms or ranches to take care of.  We go through hard times because of weather but it finally clears up and things seem better.

 For some reason today has been an emotional day for me - guess it's the letdown from all the bad weather and worry about getting water for the girls.  But, when I feel like that it always makes me feel much better to get outside among the girls and do some work.  You mentioned personalities in the cattle - they do have personalities.  You'd think they'll all be alike but they're not.  Sometimes it amazes me what wonderful mothers they are and that caring doesn't end when the baby grows up.  For instance, Sweet Pea still looking after her two or three year old baby, Billy the Bull.

 Better go - I'm about ready for bed - (in the bed tonight).  Hope you sleep well tonight.

Mint

Good morning,

Good to hear from you Lorita.  Will admit, the Hope she didn’t fall in the pond thought did cross my mind.   Guessing all the stress of the past week did not help your emotional state yesterday.  Does that to me once in awhile.

Wasn’t you that mentioned would like to be able to cut your home made bread more easily?  Got a gadget off of Amazon to help with this.  Used it for the first time yesterday.  Was very happy with it.

Ron hope your borrowed money turns up somewhere.  Know that can’t be a good feeling to deal with, that someone you thought you could trust may have done that.

12 degrees this morning but they had predicted single digit.  Don’t see any grass here.  We probably have around 2ft on the ground where I’m at.  We have dealt with this many times though so are prepared and life goes on pretty much as normal.  We did not have any ice, that is what can give us a lot of trouble.  Giving sunshine today but only in low 20s.  Maybe it will melt a little, that would be good, a little at a time.

Stuck a roast in crockpot this morning.  It will be smelling good before too long.

Take care everyone

BethL

Good morning everyone. Sara, your roast sounds good. I plan to make "Poor Man's Burnt Ends." The recipe says to cook it on the smoker, which I don't have, and I do have a gas grill but the deck has a foot of snow on it. I will make them in the crockpot. Basically what you do is take a chuck roast, rub it with mustard and various seasonings and cook to internal temp of 165. Then cut it up into small chunks (maybe 1" x 1.5"), season again and cover with BBQ sauce and cook another couple of hours. I have made them twice before, always in the crockpot, and they are so very good!

Speaking of food the Catholic Churches locally are doing fish fries on Friday nights for 6 weeks, for Lent. We went last night; it was drive-through and we got fried fish, baked potatoes, green beans, and mac and cheese. It was delicious. Other Catholic Churches in the area have a different menu and we will try a different one next time. We are not Catholic, we are Christian Protestant and anyone is welcome.

The Atlantic magazine online makes its Covid coverage available without a pay wall. They have an article that was published yesterday that talks about "A Quite Possibly Wonderful Summer"   check it out!  https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2021/02/summer-2021-pandemic/618088/

If you google The Atlantic Covid several other articles of interest come up. I won't link them but google it if you would like to read them. Titles include The Second Covid 19 shot's side effects are worth it; The Good News of Covid 19 is sticking, for now; and Covid 19 Cases are dropping fast. Why?

The one about summer and it being more like summer 2019, than summer 2020 is very encouraging. 

Enjoy your day!

harshedbuzz

I'm sorry your heart is heavy Ron.

My bet would still be on Lou having found and done something with the cash. Hopefully it'll turn up tucked away somewhere she deemed safer in the moment and has long forgotten rather than finding its way into the trash. 

My dad went through a phase where he hunted and gathered. We'd put away his drivers license so we'd have it as ID for doctor appointments and he found it and hid it in a drawer in the guest room upstairs a full year after we last saw him able to negotiate stairs. He also went into the attic once and rifled through some files of old financial documents around this time. I still can't wrap my mind around the logistics of how and when he did this as he wasn't left alone except for mom to shower, nap or putter in her garden while he napped.