magnusfide
On the Road Again and Again and Again...
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Joined: 10/30/2009
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Definitely eat your meals even if you don't feel like it. The worst mistake I've made is to skip meals in hot weather. Even a light meal is better than none. Glad you're getting 'er done.
"The only time you should fear cast iron is if your wife is fixin' to hit you with it."-Kent Rollins
First law of science: don't spit into the wind.
Magnus
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Wanderlost
Texas Hill Country
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Joined: 10/29/2004
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Taking today off, after moving the last of the breakables yesterday. Turned on the seat heater while driving home and that did wonders to make my back muscles happy. A good half hour in the swimming pool helped even more. And then we slept like stones -- until Czarny decided it was time for us to get up. So he got his morning stroll outside, and is sleeping on a tower. He might get to go outside for a little bit if he wakes up before 1300. After that, he's inside until the "feels like" temps drop below 100. We were swimming at 2000 last night and the temps were still in the 90s; today's supposed to be even worse before the "not as hot" front arrives tomorrow. Can't call it a cool front with highs in the 90s...
Tomorrow, we'll move the remaining wall pictures, cleaning stuff, bits and pieces laying around, and finish packing the pots and pans for the movers to haul.
Meanwhile, Sister still has to get all her own moving boxes out of the way, so Mom's furniture and boxes can be placed. Then she and Mom have to figure out how to blend their household items, decide which of the four George Foreman grills will stay, which of the three blenders, three crockpots, waffle irons, toaster ovens, etc. Sister's kitchen is very small, and she'd like to not have her garage as adjunct kitchen storage. I saw a couple of items I could use, if Sister's kitchen won't handle it. I suggested they decide what they want to keep, then offer the rest to the three in the next generation. If they don't want it, then donate. Have to be careful with Sister's oldest -- he's as big an emotional hoarder as his grandma. He's take it just because family had it -- never mind he won't have a use for it. Sigh.
Does passing by the house, grazing on the coastal Bermuda. Barn swallow baby flew into the glass door and sat stunned on the doormat a good five minutes, cheeping in distress while a parent flew worriedly overhead, and Czarny batting at the door, trying to get to the bird. Obviously he does not connect bird on ground with bird swooping him. Baby finally sorted itself out and few away. Deer moved on, never bothered by the porch drama.
Sister had a glass door incident, too. She'd thoroughly cleaned the sliding glass door between kitchen and sunroom, forgot it was closed, and barreled right into it, bounced off, fell on floor and cracked her wrist bone. I ordered some colorful clings of hummingbirds and butterflies to put on her door and our doors and windows, in hopes the birds will stop flying into them (us) or humans walking into them (her). The clings are very large, at least 6" in size, so our native hummers should not think of them as challengers. Still, I'm putting up butterflies first on all the doors/windows that have sustained bird hits, and saving the remaining hummingbird clings for the less attacked windows. Maybe we can save the life of another mourning dove, at the least.
Time to get moving and do something around the house -- just not real strenuous. Later, y'all.
"The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated." -- Mahatma Gandhi
Czarny, black cat
Rainbow Bridge: Spotacus, Alexander the Grrreat, and so very many more
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magnusfide
On the Road Again and Again and Again...
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Joined: 10/30/2009
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Moving is rough stuff. I wish I had pool to soothe my back. I have a heating pad. LOL. Downsizing duplicate kitchen items makes for a good yard sale. Never had a Foreman grill. Furniture and kitchen items seem to sell fastest in our neck of the woods.
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Wanderlost
Texas Hill Country
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Moving day today. WLToo is waiting at Mom's apartment for the movers. In a bit, I'll drive Mom directly to Sister's house, where she can supervise the movers as they place her furniture. She'll overnight here once more, have her teledoc appointment in the morning, and then we'll finish moving all her stuff from here.
Not done then, though. We'll still help Sister and Mom unpack, so they can decide what to keep of whose stuff, what to donate or sell, what to give to family, etc. Since it's the first time in decades Sister has everything she owns in one location, it's a lot of stuff to go through, and it all needs unpacking so they can see it -- but that will be their issue. We have our own stuff to go through and discard...
I see a big winter project, since it's certainly too bloody hot to do it in the summer/fall around here.
Still, today is a beautiful day so far. Won't be triple digits until about 1600. The swimming pool will feel absolutely perfect about 1900.
Czarny's enjoying being outside without us coming to get him. Has another hour before he has to come inside, when Mom and I head out. The birds are concentrating on fattening up for the migration, so they're leaving Czarny alone now.
I saw one of the foxes stroll through the bushes below the deck this morning -- well, I saw its tail disappearing into the bushes.
My CPAP usage started Monday night. Got credit for over 7 hours usage that night and over 8 last night, so I guess all is well there. Couple of issues: the mask has its vents on top, where the air blows directly into my eyes -- a sleep mask stops the air from actually reaching my eyes, but it's not an ideal situation. Other issue is the mask pushes my cheeks into my teeth and I bit the inside of my mouth the first night. I will give the mask a full week before I call them and ask for a different kind of mask, just to be sure I made all the right adjustments and the cheek issue is/was a one-time thing (didn't notice an issue there this morning when I woke up). Won't be joining the CPAP hours competition, though. They have different mask styles, which seem to be an issue for their total hours credits. My prescription is for a full face mask; theirs are nasal pillow thingies, less than a full face mask.
One thing I have noticed is I'm not waking up with a back ache the last few days. Don't know if the CPAP is contributing to deeper sleep and better muscle rest, or if it's just happening because we're so tired after packing/moving Mom's stuff. Or both. We'll find out soon enough.
I see a cat face in the window... Later, y'all.
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magnusfide
On the Road Again and Again and Again...
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Joined: 10/30/2009
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My money's on the extra exercise. I don't use a CPAP so I can't give any advice. I know I wouldn't be happy having to wear one all night fo sho.
Glad the move is on the move. Best wishes to your family in this effort.
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Wanderlost
Texas Hill Country
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Finished. Mom's at Sister's house. They call every now and then to ask which box we packed something in, even though I gave them the packing list. Oh, well. We'll help next week, but we packed it all, and need a break. Still have to go back to her apartment to pick up the leftover packing materials, then turn in the key, and we'll finally be shut of that.
We got over an inch of rain this morning, and it's been absolutely lovely all day. Czarny got to go outside as much as he wanted; right now he's zooming around the deck, while I sit at the table out here, enjoying the shade, the breeze, and the boats on the lake. Could do without the noisy little airplane flying over us, though.
Only downside to this day was a lightning strike next ridge over destroyed a lady's house. She'd been here since before the dam was built in 1964, and was about to close on her house sale. All that's left are a couple of brick walls and a bit of concrete -- the rest is ash. It was quite the fire; we could see it clearly from here. At least she got out safely. I just hope the sale wasn't her living funds.
Not sure now if Marco is going to share any rain with us next week. Hope the folks in Louisiana are ready for Marco and Laura hitting back to back.
The hummingbirds are really aggressive now. It's probably about time to put out all the feeders, in case the migration starts a little early. I'm doing some research into hummingbird plants that the deer won't eat, so we can have something for them next year besides just the nectar.
The herd came up yesterday, but all we had was a bit of Mom's leftover applesauce. Still, they liked it. We really need to get off our tired backsides and go buy some deer or goat kibble. This little bit of rain helped, but it won't be enough to get enough feed growing for them to graze on, and they are looking a bit skinny.
Czarny's laying on the table beside my laptop. The birdies won't swoop him when he's beside me. Guess we'll stay out here until my battery gets low.
Y'all have a wonderful weekend. Later, y'all.
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magnusfide
On the Road Again and Again and Again...
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Joined: 10/30/2009
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Did you get that kibble? Hoping the twin storms don't do much damage either.
Glad the move is done in essence. Breathing room for sure. Our animals are all getting their winter fur in early. May be a cold one this year.
Time to go chop some wood for the wood stove.
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Wanderlost
Texas Hill Country
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Not gonna get the kibble. Texas A&M strongly recommends we all stop feeding grains to whitetail deer. Seems it's not their normal forage, and it so messes up their digestive microbes that it can literally kill the deer.
Instead, we're going to do some meadow management, and see if we can encourage more whitetail friendly plants.
Some of what we learned:
White-tailed deer are ruminants like cows, but their diet selection is very different. Whereas cattle are grass-roughage eaters, white-tailed deer are concentrate selectors8. Their rumen is small relative to body size and they are less suited than sheep, cattle, and bison to degrading long fibrous forages. Deer and other browsers are best suited to digesting the leaves and stems of trees and shrubs (woody browse) and broad leaf herbaceous plants (forbs) that form small particles in the rumen. Therefore, the diet of a deer consists primarily of forbs and browse (80 percent or more), and to a limited extent, grasses (5 percent or less). The only grasses deer use to any extent are ones that are rapidly degraded in the rumen, such as the small grains, ryegrass, and some native species. Other native plants used by white-tailed deer include fruits and acorns (soft and hard mast) and mushrooms (about 15 percent).
Feed rations are also typically alien to the microorganisms in the rumen of white-tailed deer. These microorganisms aid digestion and are specialized to the types of food these animals consume. When a new feed is introduced, the rumen microbial population must change. When deer are unable to rapidly adapt their gut fauna, they experience digestive stress, degraded body condition, or even death. Common diseases associated with these digestive disruptions are acidosis and enterotoxemia. In the latter case, overeating grains and grain-based feeds is a pathway for a pathogenic bacteria to infect and kill the deer.
We'll continue to provide water, but we'll stop feeding, as even the occasional "treat" can thoroughly upset their rumen. It's hard to let nature take its course, especially when one knows the wild animal from birth, but it's better overall.
I'm sure this decision won't go over real well with the other wildlife, who take advantage of the leftovers or who get into whatever we'd put down before the deer arrive. Again, it's better to just let nature take its course.
That does mean we're going to take a closer look at the meadow and see if there are plants we could add to help the whitetail survive this harsh climate.
Meanwhile, the domestic "wild" life is napping on top of a cat tower. We make Czarny come inside during the high 90s and 100s temps, being his black coat is a heat sink.
Tall Friend got into our swimming pool last Wednesday and Sunday and did some therapy. Considering he doesn't swim, this was a big deal. We helped him walk around the pool (deepest part comes to his chest), then he did some exercises. He thinks it's helped. Hopefully, we'll get him in the pool a few more times before it cools off.
The hurricanes gave us nothing, not even a breeze. Sigh.
WLToo mentioned us starting to wander around Texas, visiting historic sites we've not yet visited. I hope Czarny is as good a traveler as Alexander the Grrreat was. I highly doubt he'll rise up to Spotacus enthusiasm. But if we're going to travel in the RV, Czarny's coming with us. I just don't sleep well without a cat in bed with me.
WLToo said a couple mornings ago, he woke up and saw Czarny sleeping on my pillow, wrapped around my head. Usually that will wake me up, as Czarny licks and tugs on my hair. But I slept right through it. The new issue is he wants to chew the CPAP hose, which is really bad. So I started putting the hose under the covers, where he can't get to it. So far...
It's time to get into the pool and get my daily workout in. Later, y'all.
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Finally Time
Western Washington
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Joined: 05/17/2005
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You might try strawberry plants, rose bushes, and apple trees (leaves, branches, apples and all); those were real favorites for the wild deer around my Dad's place. And no, he didn't feed them, they helped themselves no matter how hard he tried to stop them.
'17 Tiffin Breeze 31BR, '13 Honda CR-V
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magnusfide
On the Road Again and Again and Again...
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Joined: 10/30/2009
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Sounds like a plan for the deer. Natural is always better. Don't know much about deer forage so what you've shared is new to me. Do they like clover in addition to rye grass?
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