Farmerjan's journal - Weather

[Ridgetop]

If this is what people with asthma feel like, I have the deepest sympathy for them.... not being able to get your breath is horrible....

I had an asthma inhaler for a while until lung doctor did a whole panapoly of tests and finally decided it was an allergy. Put me on Certrizine (?) which is over the counter and I am fine now. Until I got on the alergy meds I could ahardly take 20 steps without using the inhaler and the coughing practically tore out my lungs! Not being able to breathe is horrible and the lack of oygen is exhausting.

it is still draining and that is good... better than closing up and not draining.

Gla t is responding to treatment. My mare had a severe puncture wound once (she fell down the hill reaching for grass on the other side of the fence). It turned into cellulitis. My old vet (old in age and in techniques) had me use an old water pic (got one at the thrift store) to flush up into the puncture (started at 6" deep) . I also had to scrape the draining pus away - nasty. Took four months of 3x daily treatment but she healed. I loved that mare and she got so I could just sit on the ground under her to do the treatment. When I first started it I had to be careful and my son had to twitch her.

Those punctures are nasty. If they heal over the abscess grows underthe skin until it bursts out or the animal dies.

 

[farmerjan]

@Ridgetop ; the dr put me on the certrizine for 60 days at the end of Sept, dr appt...... and it basically did nothing...I took that otc, for the summer allergies to orchard grass and it never worked very good for that. It may have masked some of the symptoms of this so when I went off it, it actually made me feel sicker and my immune system to go haywire... I kept pushing when I was not feeling great but not totally exhausted, and then it finally hit me worse instead of my slowing down sooner because I was feeling worse. I think that is when I finally got the breathing issues and the bronchial pneumonia symptoms... the dr never called me and telling me she ordered allergy tests, or telling me that I had a positive response to the alpha gal, so then I refused allergy tests, because I just got a phone call from an allergy testing company that I knew nothing about... I was not sure were even dr ordered, because no one actually called me, from the dr office.... and said we want to do xyz..... just all came together to make it worse too.

 

[drstratton]

@Ridgetop ; the dr put me on the certrizine for 60 days at the end of Sept, dr appt...... and it basically did nothing...I took that otc, for the summer allergies to orchard grass and it never worked very good for that. It may have masked some of the symptoms of this so when I went off it, it actually made me feel sicker and my immune system to go haywire... I kept pushing when I was not feeling great but not totally exhausted, and then it finally hit me worse instead of my slowing down sooner because I was feeling worse. I think that is when I finally got the breathing issues and the bronchial pneumonia symptoms... the dr never called me and telling me she ordered allergy tests, or telling me that I had a positive response to the alpha gal, so then I refused allergy tests, because I just got a phone call from an allergy testing company that I knew nothing about... I was not sure were even dr ordered, because no one actually called me, from the dr office.... and said we want to do xyz..... just all came together to make it worse too.

That's malpractice. They should have called you.

 

[Ridgetop]

They should have kept on top of it.
This is why I love going to doctors at teaching universities. They send you on tests for everything (can be annoying and time wasting) until they know what the problem is. Leaving UCLA medical is the saddest thing for me and why we have not changed yet.

 

[farmerjan]

It's Sat night... started at 7degrees this morning... never got over 22 all day... Bright cloudy, you could sorta see the sun through the grey cloudiness... I managed to get to the chickens with water... filled the feeder for the NH pen, will fill the feeder for the leghorns tomorrow..
The frozen crust on the snow is harder than concrete . I am thankful that we are not getting the snow as it would make it near impossible to get into and out of the chicken pens.
I am sooooo GLAD I got the vinyl on the leghorn pen.... except for the crack/broken place in the roof that the branch went through, bought that way and I forgot about it... the vinyl has done a very good job of keeping the snow out and the chickens protected...Their water does not seem to freeze as bad because there is no draft on that side. I need to fix that spot on the roof... There is a small piece missing... thinking some type of waterproof tape... Have to wait until it is warm enough to do the repair so it sticks... I'll see... might reinforce it from the bottom side and waterproof the top side... I need to get more on the big NH pen... extend it out further on both sides towards the door on the front... keep more of the snow out.. But they have done good overall... That vinyl was the very best thing I have found and bought to use... It is easy to put the grommets in it.... at least the thickness is thin enough to do the ones I have done... with minimal effort... I imagine that the thicker vinyl I will have to prepunch the holes then use the grommet thing to squeeze them on. Doing them every 6 inches for the first one was probably overkill. The ones for the leghorn pen are every 12 inches or so... it was plenty close enough to keep the vinyl pretty straight and flat against the sides. I did not get the longer zip ties attached to the tops, but they are within 2 inches of the roof line so not like there is much extra wind coming through and it is up top so not down where the chickens get a draft along the bottom. That is where the closure should be... NO wind/draft along the ground/floor... that is what chills them. air flow should be up top. At least in the winter...
Got the nurse cow and them done.. put out a new sq bale in the bunk feeder, as she had cleaned up most of the big pile he put over the fence to her. She finished her silage so I stuck the 3 blue tubs in the silage wagon for him to take back to the barn to fill. I guess he will do silage tomorrow as it is empty also. They have some hay he rolled out and some in the hay ring down over the hill and they have a pretty good path down there from when he cleared it out with the tractor the other day...they are staying in the cleared out paths because to walk in the rest is near impossible... If they manage to break through it can tear up their legs... mostly they aren't breaking through so it can be impossible for them to walk... do not want them to slip and break legs or hips or anything...
DS did have to break nearly 2 inches of new ice on the water trough at snyder's... doesn't take long to freeze over at 7 degrees; especially when it was only 20 most of the day...
The jersey and black steer drank some... only gave them 12 gallons yesterday and there was about 1-2 inches frozen solid in the tub... Took all hot water. as the cold water in my bath tub is not running... it was fine until this afternoon. Got the faucet open and the toilet is still working and the bathroom sink. The tub is against the outside wall. Think the lines need some of the foam things put on it... The little heater does good to take the chill off the crawl space area. Just need to "fix" the cold area along the wall there... maybe just change the direction of the heater a little... at least DS got that heater in there before the storm a week ago... no new plug ...it is plugged into the heavy duty outside extension cord... but at least it is in there and working.. I need to find out how big those pipes are and get the foam thingy's to put on those cold water pipes especially probably should put them on both cold and hot pipes........ and then get a couple plugs wired in down there...so I can have the heater down there all the time... DS said it should be easy to go up through to the electric box in the utility room directly above.

Then went to the barn to help DS with the cow.. lifted her and she tried to stand a little more than last night... made sure the calf got on her good... cow has a good appetite, drinking water good, and peed a whole bunch and did a pile of manure while up... so good. DS brought another huge pile of hay off the round bale for her, and gave her some grain first, then silage too. As long as she keeps trying, acting good,,,there is also the other big red cow in there, with the broken pelvis. We had calves out of the barn group, in there because they were smaller calves they had sorted out of the bigger group... so they would not get shoved out of the feed bunk... "red's calf" was still on her, plus 6 others... well one other started stealing milk off Red... we were going to wean her calf off after this cold spell... BUT... had to move all the calves out yesterday so they would not try to steal off the new momma if/when she gets up.... take milk away from the new baby... so they all got taken out.... stopped the stealing... red needs to dry up anyway, since she is 7 months.. Well, DS said new baby was nursing on red this morning... and of course she was letting it.... she cannot move fast enough to stop it and probably not upset... I told DS that it would not hurt for her to feed it for a week... until it warms up and icy stuff melts off... red can go up in the field with the other cows that have the newer calves from Dec......all those calves are young and established on their own momma's.... nothing should bother red to try to steal... so she will dry off and leave "M" ( fresh down cow) with her own calf if we can get her to getting up... close for her to walk to water and hay right there near each other... just hoping she will be able to get up and down on her own in a few days...warmer weather and no snow/ice would be a big help...
Calf ate off "M" while she was up, and then we let her back down and packed some hay around her, silage pile in front of her... DS fed Red a bucket of her own silage down near the hay ring, where she was standing, near the water trough, so she would not come and eat what he put in front of M, right away... calf nosed around her mother and then laid down next to her....

I have the faucets open to trickle little water dripping, hoping the cold water will break loose like it did last week when it froze for awhile...... kitchen sink and bathroom sink are okay so little drip.... cabinet doors open... toilet still flushing okay but not on an outside wall.... put the 5 gal bucket under faucet drip in the tub... to at least catch some water for the cows, and not all go down the drain... been catching the kitchen drip water in the 1/2 gal jugs I use to take out to the chickens...once they are all filled, then it will go down the drain...

Tomorrow is supposed to have dangerous wind chills, minus numbers most everywhere... winds in the sustained 30+ mph range.. 20's actual temps... THEN... 30's on Monday...

Many churches are not holding services tomorrow again due to the dangerous wind chills and all the ice on parkikng lots and such... God will understand that people do not need a building to go to if they might break a leg... many do online or virtual services and stuff I understand also.

Been feeling a whole lot less congested, not near as much runny nose allergy type stuff.. not alot of coughing unless I exert myself.. still not alot of "wind/breathable/lung capacity air" out doing the chores... but MUCH less intense allergic reaction symptoms... Not alot of energy to do things... but I have been able to sleep in bed laying down without feeling like I can't breathe.... Not sleeping great but better...
I can eat salsa and corn chips... nothing on the label and no coughing after... sweet potato fries in the oven... imitation crab meat made into crab meat salad... frozen marinated mushroom package I got at Sharp Shopper awhile back... bread doesn't seem to be a big problem in a peanut butter and jelly sandwich...... but have eaten the crab meat "salad" (like chicken or tuna salad) on just a bed of lettuce... will have to go to making more things from scratch again... so no preservatives and stuff like in prepackaged food... sure do want some yogurt, and milk..... trying really hard to not eat much with milk products and the allergy reactions have slowed way down.... to think that all the times I felt crummy and drank a glass of chocolate milk or ate some yogurt when I didn't feel good... to just be making it worse and didn't realize it...

Well going to bed.. no shower tonight since no cold water in the shower to counter the hot.... but I got a good shower last night and did not do alot today...

Here's hoping that @fuzzi can find her way out of the house tomorrow...and @Mini Horses and @canesisters.

 

[drstratton]

It's Sat night... started at 7degrees this morning... never got over 22 all day... Bright cloudy, you could sorta see the sun through the grey cloudiness... I managed to get to the chickens with water... filled the feeder for the NH pen, will fill the feeder for the leghorns tomorrow..
The frozen crust on the snow is harder than concrete . I am thankful that we are not getting the snow as it would make it near impossible to get into and out of the chicken pens.
I am sooooo GLAD I got the vinyl on the leghorn pen.... except for the crack/broken place in the roof that the branch went through, bought that way and I forgot about it... the vinyl has done a very good job of keeping the snow out and the chickens protected...Their water does not seem to freeze as bad because there is no draft on that side. I need to fix that spot on the roof... There is a small piece missing... thinking some type of waterproof tape... Have to wait until it is warm enough to do the repair so it sticks... I'll see... might reinforce it from the bottom side and waterproof the top side... I need to get more on the big NH pen... extend it out further on both sides towards the door on the front... keep more of the snow out.. But they have done good overall... That vinyl was the very best thing I have found and bought to use... It is easy to put the grommets in it.... at least the thickness is thin enough to do the ones I have done... with minimal effort... I imagine that the thicker vinyl I will have to prepunch the holes then use the grommet thing to squeeze them on. Doing them every 6 inches for the first one was probably overkill. The ones for the leghorn pen are every 12 inches or so... it was plenty close enough to keep the vinyl pretty straight and flat against the sides. I did not get the longer zip ties attached to the tops, but they are within 2 inches of the roof line so not like there is much extra wind coming through and it is up top so not down where the chickens get a draft along the bottom. That is where the closure should be... NO wind/draft along the ground/floor... that is what chills them. air flow should be up top. At least in the winter...
Got the nurse cow and them done.. put out a new sq bale in the bunk feeder, as she had cleaned up most of the big pile he put over the fence to her. She finished her silage so I stuck the 3 blue tubs in the silage wagon for him to take back to the barn to fill. I guess he will do silage tomorrow as it is empty also. They have some hay he rolled out and some in the hay ring down over the hill and they have a pretty good path down there from when he cleared it out with the tractor the other day...they are staying in the cleared out paths because to walk in the rest is near impossible... If they manage to break through it can tear up their legs... mostly they aren't breaking through so it can be impossible for them to walk... do not want them to slip and break legs or hips or anything...
DS did have to break nearly 2 inches of new ice on the water trough at snyder's... doesn't take long to freeze over at 7 degrees; especially when it was only 20 most of the day...
The jersey and black steer drank some... only gave them 12 gallons yesterday and there was about 1-2 inches frozen solid in the tub... Took all hot water. as the cold water in my bath tub is not running... it was fine until this afternoon. Got the faucet open and the toilet is still working and the bathroom sink. The tub is against the outside wall. Think the lines need some of the foam things put on it... The little heater does good to take the chill off the crawl space area. Just need to "fix" the cold area along the wall there... maybe just change the direction of the heater a little... at least DS got that heater in there before the storm a week ago... no new plug ...it is plugged into the heavy duty outside extension cord... but at least it is in there and working.. I need to find out how big those pipes are and get the foam thingy's to put on those cold water pipes especially probably should put them on both cold and hot pipes........ and then get a couple plugs wired in down there...so I can have the heater down there all the time... DS said it should be easy to go up through to the electric box in the utility room directly above.

Then went to the barn to help DS with the cow.. lifted her and she tried to stand a little more than last night... made sure the calf got on her good... cow has a good appetite, drinking water good, and peed a whole bunch and did a pile of manure while up... so good. DS brought another huge pile of hay off the round bale for her, and gave her some grain first, then silage too. As long as she keeps trying, acting good,,,there is also the other big red cow in there, with the broken pelvis. We had calves out of the barn group, in there because they were smaller calves they had sorted out of the bigger group... so they would not get shoved out of the feed bunk... "red's calf" was still on her, plus 6 others... well one other started stealing milk off Red... we were going to wean her calf off after this cold spell... BUT... had to move all the calves out yesterday so they would not try to steal off the new momma if/when she gets up.... take milk away from the new baby... so they all got taken out.... stopped the stealing... red needs to dry up anyway, since she is 7 months.. Well, DS said new baby was nursing on red this morning... and of course she was letting it.... she cannot move fast enough to stop it and probably not upset... I told DS that it would not hurt for her to feed it for a week... until it warms up and icy stuff melts off... red can go up in the field with the other cows that have the newer calves from Dec......all those calves are young and established on their own momma's.... nothing should bother red to try to steal... so she will dry off and leave "M" ( fresh down cow) with her own calf if we can get her to getting up... close for her to walk to water and hay right there near each other... just hoping she will be able to get up and down on her own in a few days...warmer weather and no snow/ice would be a big help...
Calf ate off "M" while she was up, and then we let her back down and packed some hay around her, silage pile in front of her... DS fed Red a bucket of her own silage down near the hay ring, where she was standing, near the water trough, so she would not come and eat what he put in front of M, right away... calf nosed around her mother and then laid down next to her....

I have the faucets open to trickle little water dripping, hoping the cold water will break loose like it did last week when it froze for awhile...... kitchen sink and bathroom sink are okay so little drip.... cabinet doors open... toilet still flushing okay but not on an outside wall.... put the 5 gal bucket under faucet drip in the tub... to at least catch some water for the cows, and not all go down the drain... been catching the kitchen drip water in the 1/2 gal jugs I use to take out to the chickens...once they are all filled, then it will go down the drain...

Tomorrow is supposed to have dangerous wind chills, minus numbers most everywhere... winds in the sustained 30+ mph range.. 20's actual temps... THEN... 30's on Monday...

Many churches are not holding services tomorrow again due to the dangerous wind chills and all the ice on parkikng lots and such... God will understand that people do not need a building to go to if they might break a leg... many do online or virtual services and stuff I understand also.

Been feeling a whole lot less congested, not near as much runny nose allergy type stuff.. not alot of coughing unless I exert myself.. still not alot of "wind" out doing the chores... but MUCH less intense allergic reaction symptoms... Not alot of energy to do things... but I have been able to sleep in bed laying down without feeling like I can't breathe.... Not sleeping great but better...
I can eat salsa and corn chips... nothing on the label and no coughing after... sweet potato fries in the oven... imitation crab meat made into crab meat salad... frozen marinated mushroom package I got at Sharp Shopper awhile back... bread doesn't seem to be a big problem in a peanut butter and jelly sandwich...... but have eaten the crab meat "salad" (like chicken or tuna salad) on just a bed of lettuce... will have to go to making more things from scratch again... so no preservatives and stuff like in prepackaged food... sure do want some yogurt, and milk..... trying really hard to not eat much with milk products and the allergy reactions have slowed way down.... to think that all the times I felt crummy and drank a glass of chocolate milk or ate some yogurt when I didn't feel good... to just be making it worse and didn't realize it...

Well going to bed.. no shower tonight since no cold water in the shower to counter the hot.... but I got a good shower last night and did not do alot today...

Here's hoping that @fuzzi can find her way out of the house tomorrow...and @Mini Horses and @canesisters.

I'm glad you're starting to feel better from your diet changes.

Sure will be glad when the weather breaks for you and everyone else that have been dealing with it, for way too long.

Hope you get some good rest.

 

[Baymule]

Down cow, broke pelvis cow, calves........ in spite of the awful cold, snow and ice, you and your son are seeing to it that the cows have the best of care. The temperatures are so low, it sure makes one grateful for electricity. All these people who live off grid, their "dream" that would be my nightmare. The heater under the house seems to be helping a lot. In addition to wrapping those pipes against the outside wall, is it possible to put insulation on that wall, at least on the crawl space wall?

When is it going to warm up for you? It can't come soon enough.

 

[farmerjan]

GOOD MORNING.... well, it is morning, the sun is coming over the trees, and it is 7 degrees again.... NOT much wind out there right now... Sun on recording thermometer shows it is 25 right now... If we get lucky and don't get much wind then it will feel downright warm.
Sad thing is, if it starts to melt a little on top, it will be like 100x slicker.... because of the ice covered "SNOWCRETE" ; being soooo hard... think water on top of an ice skating rink... at a 30 degree angle...

Heard there have been several serious sledding accidents with kids... here local.... ice covered snow, extreme speeds... one child in the hospital with broken pelvis and leg and arm... You cannot stop once you get going and the speeds have been previously unheard of... rumor that one child hit a tree and broke his neck and died...I cannot imagine a parent letting their child to go to "sledding hill" knowing how hard it is to just walk in this stuff...
Also read a couple stories about other teens dying in other states, after being in sledding/snow related accidents...

Not sure if I can get over the "snowcrete" to the bird feeders.... will throw bird seed out on the ground if not..when the cats are not out there... the cats don't stay out long because they cannot dig anywhere to do their business... and it is cold...see the birds flying around the feeders some now...

@Baymule , surprisingly there is are a couple sheets of foam barrier on the one wall there... but it is not "sealed" real good to keep out all the little drafts.... DS said that they put the insulation sheets along the dirt foundation there on that side... but I don't think they extended them up all the way to the floor of the house... so not really sealing out some of the tiny cracks in the block foundation where the floor joists sit... Still, this part of Va NORMALLY does not get this kind of cold for days/weeks at a time... and the wind has been much more prevalent the last couple years... I have lived here in VA since 1981.... and although we had some real serious snow falls several times, never had the relentless winds for days on end in the winter like the past few years. Plus, this house was not built the best... and the "cellar" was dug out after the fact... enlarging the crawl space under the house... It's much better for getting under and working on stuff... but, it needs some serious "fixing" it better... Maybe this year I can get someone to do more "finishing off" the wall there and patching more of the tiny hidden cracks where the air blows in... AND insulating the pipes with the foam pipe sleeve covers... Much as I love and appreciate DS, he does not get things done that he says... and he drops so much when she wants to go somewhere or do something... he takes shortcuts/leaves things for "another day"... and then they never get done, or it is months later....... and I am on the bottom of the list after the animals and her wants and desires... like last night... after we did the cow, he was rushing home as she wanted to go to the hockey game in Roanoke, an hour+ south of us....they have been going nearly every Sat night.... she never wants to just stay home... and it costs constantly ... she has been helping at the farm alot... so I will give her that... especially when I was so run down and sick... but it's like she needs a "reward" all the time for doing stuff.. that means constantly "going places"...
I used to go places too, when I was younger... but they weren't things that "cost" all the time... or not alot of money.... we danced with our 2 step club and it might cost $10 out for the night because no one drank alcohol while dancing with the club group...we brought snacks and chipped in on things to eat... granted things cost less 20 years ago... but we did things in groups with friends... she hates to dance... she says she hates being around alot of people, but then they go to the civic center to watch a hockey game with ???? numbers of people all around...????? Or truck pulls with all the noise and screaming people in the summer that costs alot more money to get in to, to watch..... Things like that used to be a "treat" when I was younger... it is standard accepted weekly practice for her/them...
I am much more of a simple things person... she cannot sit still at home...

Oh well, not my life....

Ate some scrambled eggs for breakfast.. bread slathered with apple butter... no coughing or anything... the little bit of milk products in the bread do not seem to be triggering any major reaction....pbj sandwich did not cause any real coughing reaction the other day.... so guess it will be hit and miss for a bit....
Still no cold water at the tub... but works at all the other faucets... it'll break loose again... faucet is full open while I am in here... will close it partway if I go up to the cow in awhile... will see if I can get feed from the feed bin for the chickens today... If not, they will just get the straight "new feed" that is in the can for a couple days... I like to mix it to use the "old feed" ... want to get that bin emptied this year so it can get cleaned out real good... then get a ton or two put in it for the winter next year.... but I am not going to risk slipping and breaking something to get into it... It can wait for this stuff to melt ... hopefully in the next week it will mostly melt down as the days are supposed to be above freezing starting Monday... at least the daytime temps... and if the sun is out it will really help...

Sun is bright, reflecting on the snow...

That D&%$#@ groundhog had better NOT see his shadow tomorrow.... I am more philosophical about winter than many on here, coming from New England states even though I have been here 40+ years... but I do NOT need some stupid rodent that we actively HUNT around here for their destructive ways.... telling me we are going to have 6 more weeks winter...

 

[drstratton]

That D&%$#@ groundhog had better NOT see his shadow tomorrow.... I am more philosophical about winter than many on here, coming from New England states even though I have been here 40+ years... but I do NOT need some stupid rodent that we actively HUNT around here for their destructive ways.... telling me we are going to have 6 more weeks winter...

Tomorrow is our anniversary, didn't think of or plan it to be on groundhog's day, it just happened.

Hope things don't get much icier there. You definitely don't need to break anything. Spring is coming!

 

[SageHill]

Wow -- the diet change sure seems to have helped quite a bit. YAY and it's about time.