- Places I have lived part 10
- Places I have lived part 9
- Places I have lived part 8
- Places I have lived part 7
- Places I have lived part 6
- The black dog is back 6-11-2015
- Places I have lived part 5
- Places I have lived part 4
- Places I have lived part 3
- Places I have lived part 2
- Places I have lived part 1
- Tribute to my Wife
- Family History of a .22 rifle
- Tribute to my Dad
Monday 9 November 2015
Links to New blog
Saturday 31 October 2015
Chronic back pain computer use
I use a lazyboy type chair and have the computer in front of me on a small table, I have used one for years now, because I can't sit straight more than 5 minutes before I'm in pain...
I move the reclining to different positions, as I get sorer.... I wouldn't like this one in picture, because I need to have a very padded chair, I use the arm of the chair for my mouse, and sit the keyboard on the other arm, or on a pillow on my knees...
I saw this concept on facebook, and wanted to share it with you non-facebook uses. I'll get a friend to take a photo of my setup one day, and add it to this post.
I move the reclining to different positions, as I get sorer.... I wouldn't like this one in picture, because I need to have a very padded chair, I use the arm of the chair for my mouse, and sit the keyboard on the other arm, or on a pillow on my knees...
I saw this concept on facebook, and wanted to share it with you non-facebook uses. I'll get a friend to take a photo of my setup one day, and add it to this post.
- Places I have lived part 10
- Places I have lived part 9
- Places I have lived part 8
- Places I have lived part 7
- Places I have lived part 6
- The black dog is back 6-11-2015
- Places I have lived part 5
- Places I have lived part 4
- Places I have lived part 3
- Places I have lived part 2
- Places I have lived part 1
- Tribute to my Wife
- Family History of a .22 rifle
- Tribute to my Dad
Friday 30 October 2015
Bikes, chooks and good deals.
've had a good morning, I didn't get to bed until 4.30, I considered staying awake since it was so close to day break, but then thought I could get 4 hours, so went to bed, telling myself, I had to be awake at nine, to show a friend where another friend lives.
I woke at 8.30 on the dot, first thing I did was look at the clock I brought yesterday, and it was actually telling the right time.... a vast improvement on the clock that has been in that space for the 8 months I have been here, it only showed the right time twice a day.
Anyway, I got up, put the jug on, took a bowl of cooked maize down to the chooks, heck, they just went ape over it, this is recipe for the maize brew.... I'll go add a couple tablespoons of molasses while you read and imagine it smile emoticon
I used the water and bones left over from the boil-up earlier in the week, and added a couple of bowls of maize, a big cup of wheat, some barley, and simmer that for a few hours, when the maize had softened, I added a whole bunch of cabbage and silver beet leaves and some leaves off the old broccoli plants.... and simmered them until they were cooked, along with some potatoe and kumara peels, again from the boil-up.
When it was all cooked, there was a lot of fluid, so I added some rolled oats and brown rice I have never got around to cooking since I have been here.... and let the brew cool down, while the rice and rolled oats adsorbed some of the boil-up water.
Once almost cooled, I used some of the water and milk kefir I have been neglecting while i was sick, to start the chook brew to fermenting, its been fermenting now overnight, Ok, I'm back, did you finish reading the recipe wink emoticon Well its bubbling away beautifully, and now with some blackstrap molasses I just added, a good teaspoon of Epsom salts and one of Himalayan salt, that chooks will be the healthiest around.... I tipped the whole brew into a plastic bucket, and got my young neighbour, Titans dad, to carry it out into the garage, to keep brewing until its all feed to the girls....
The girls are back to laying 3 eggs a day since I starting feeding them these maize boilup, and their little crops always look full.
I just counted and I have over 20 eggs there now, so if anyone wants some eggs from very happy chooks, I'll sell you some for $5 a dozen. And you can meet the chooks that laid them smile emoticon
Anyway, back to my good morning, a friend came around and picked me up, and we went to Waikino to pick up 3 adult bikes, that another friend wanted to get rid off.... she asked me if I knew of anyone that wanted them, and even though I don't know that many people in Waihi, one of the first people I met, is a lovely guy, if you follow my stories, he's the guy that has the still, and left the whiskey here yesterday, well that guy, just happened to ask me when I visited him a couple of weeks ago, if I knew of a mountain bike tyre rim... then about two weeks after that, the Waikino friend asked me if I knew anyone... So they are both pleased as Punch, my whiskey making mate fixes bicycles, and builds mopeds so is always looking for bike parts. Its the best feeling when you can help other people out huh.
when I got home, I feed the girls some fresh silverbeet, I was given while out this morning, then I noticed the rabbits over the gully were out playing, so sat with a cuppa, watched them with the binoculars, another friend gave me....
so by lunchtime, I have happily sunning themselves chooks,
I have a clock that actually works, the old clock I gave to a neighbour that's into making steampunk stuff, so she's a happy camper, By the way, if you are reading this, that big boilup pot will be washed and ready to come back to you soon smile emoticon
Also my bike giver and receivers friends are happy, the chook brew is fermenting happily, I'm relaxed and happy after watching the daily adventures of the almost suburban wild rabbits, and now the sun is shining, so the birds have come down, to catch worms for their babies.... and last but not least, my dishes are
all washed dried and put away....
- Places I have lived part 10
- Places I have lived part 9
- Places I have lived part 8
- Places I have lived part 7
- Places I have lived part 6
- The black dog is back 6-11-2015
- Places I have lived part 5
- Places I have lived part 4
- Places I have lived part 3
- Places I have lived part 2
- Places I have lived part 1
- Tribute to my Wife
- Family History of a .22 rifle
- Tribute to my Dad
Mother Theresa and Me.
To start with,
I had to drive past a roadside fruit and vege stall to get home from work, and Mother Theresa and her litter mates were born in the paddock next door to it, so I saw the old mother pig (sow) getting bigger and bigger as she got close to fallowing (giving birth).
She had 14 piglets for a start, and the sow on the right
has 16 piglets all as cute as cute as this little guy to the left below.
The breed of pig is a Kuni Kuni, a native pig to New Zealand.
The come in ever colour combination you can think of, from Tan, to ginger, to various shades of brown, black and white, and generally a combination of at least 2 colours.
They are a short pig lengthwise in compassion to commercial pigs, and tend to carry a lot of fat, over the back and down their sides, especially when they are kept as pets, so they don't have to forage for their food.
they have a shorter snout than commercial pigs, and when fully grown, have squashed in faces.
Back to the story, I watched the piglets growing day by day, and yearned to have one as a house pet. They were just so darn cute.
As the weeks went on, the odd one died, and the piglets themselves weren't thriving and were developing a pot gut, a sure sign they had intestinal worms. They started looking very unhealthy, and very lean.... more died.
One day I couldn't stand it anymore, there were six little guys let, so I went into ask if the were going to sell any, they were, but they were waiting for then to get bigger.... I knew they were old enough to be weaned, so asked if I could take one today, telling them I would bottle feed her. And explaining to them they if the old mother had less piglets she would have more milk for the others and the would grow much faster... that wasn't strictly true, what they needed was a good worming, but I had already told them that, and they didn't want to spend the money on worming them....
So they agreed that I could take one, so my young teenage son and his mate, went into the paddock and caught one, after a lot of chasing, laughing and squealing.
So we had our baby, the first thing I did was go back into town, and get some kitten and puppy worming tablets, and give it to her right there in the car, outside "The Warehouse" where we brought the pills.... I won't go into the size and number of worms that poor thing passed over the next few days, but I was amazed she could have that much inside her the poor thing, but once they were gone, her appetite double instantly, and hell she grew amazingly fast. I was working during the day, so took her to my dad's place, and he used to care for her in his pensioner flat. during the week, and I would take her back on the weekend.
I took her back to the place, a few weeks later, that still weren't selling her litter mates, I showed them what a difference the cheap worming tablets had on her, but they still wouldn't entertain the idea....
Dad named Mother Theresa, and he absolutely loved her, it was him that house-trained her, and taught her various tricks, which was pretty amazing for an old farmer, used of having pigs for one reason, and one reason only, to fatten up and kill for pork....
He also taught her to lead like a dog, and I believe took her down to the pub a couple of times, to sit at the bar while he was having a beer or 3 each day. He was also teaching her to respond to whistle commands, like a dog.
He used to talk to her allot, and told her the only way for her to stay out of the pot, was for her to grow big and strong, because she had enough teats, so she could become a breeding sow. Dad would buy, chook up and feed her the very best food, better than he feed himself.... that much be where I got that from, with me and my chooks... She was a much-loved pet.
One or more of the old folks at the pensioner flat where Dad lived, complained about him having a pig as a pet. Dad was an old rebel, a scoundrel and would often do things to upset the old busybodies that lived in the flats, so when the council got the complaint, they acted pretty quickly.
The housing inspector came out, expecting that dad had a full grown pig there.... but Mother Theresa was just a bit bigger than this sweetheart to the right, anyway, the inspector laughed when he saw her, glad she wasn't a big old bore, (male pig) like the one below. with the tusks.
Anyway, he said Mother Theresa had to go, so she came back to live with me and the two kids again.
I had had another fall, and re-injured my back, by that time, so was laying on a bed in the lounge most of the time, and Mother Theresa soon worked out how to get up on the bed, to lay with me to watch the afternoon talk shows. She has very similar taste in TV shows to me, so she just Oprah Winfrey, would never miss it, couldn't stand Ricki Lake, and quite liked Sally Jesse Raphael, but it didn't bother her if she missed it.
She seemed to know when Oprah was about to start, and generally would be up on the bed beside me, either sitting up, or laying between my legs down by my feet.One time she went outside to her toilet area, and the wind slammed the door shut, locking her out. Just before Oprah started, she started making noises at the door... I couldn't get up to let her in, and by the time the music started, she was beside herself, and she started squealing, what a hell of a noise that was. Every time you would think, well she can't get any louder than that, she would turn it up another octave. A couple of neighbours started yelling at her to shut up, and she took no notice. After about 10 minutes, my closest neighbour to the door Mother Theresa was standing at, walked over, yelling at her to shit up, and just wait they would let her in... still she didn't listen, and by the time the neighbour got to the door, she was most worried that maybe I had died, since Mother Theresa was so upset.
But once the door was opened she stopped squealing, she scuttled inside, up on the two steps, onto my bed, and settled down to watch the show.... the neighbour seeing I was alive, but in bad pain, helped me to the toilet, made a drink for me, and got my pills, plumped my pillows, and got me all settled for another few hours.
Mother Theresa was a clever little pig, the kids taught her to find and bring the remote to me. so I could change channels.... picking it up in her mouth, 99% of the time, one of her teeth would catch on a button and change the channel, We used to pretend she actually knew how to changed channels, which of course provided a lot of amusement and stories especially the times she happened to change it to the right channel. We only had 3 TV channels in those days, and I had turned the stations into each line of the remote, since she always picked it up in the middle, she had a 33% change of getting the right channel.
She used to lay on a blanket on the floor beside my bed at night to sleep, oh could she snore, a real house rattle some nights.
One night, after we were all asleep, she went from a sound sleep to jumping you, grunting an urgent but quite grunt, and running on the board floor, her wee legs going in all directions, as she slipped slid her way at top speed to the kitchen lounge area. When she was almost to the door, she left out an unholy squeal and kept squealing and the grunting, that sort of sounds like a dog back, sort of but not really.
I hear a voice yell, "What the Fuck, leave it and get the hell out of here" and then another person started to scream in pain and fear.
I then heard a person running, another person running with a bad leg, and Mother Theresa running on the wood floor, then down the steps at the front, and off into the night.
Mother Theresa's squealing was fading out as she got future from the house.
I got up, to see what was going on, yet know we must have had guys break in. I was too scared to turn the light on, but I could smell that coppery smell of blood in the house.
A few minutes later she was snuffling at the door, I let her in, and she and I sat together, calming each other down. A couple of neighbours arrived,
All was quite outside, while that was happening, so one of the neighbours, turned the lights on, There was a spray of blood along the floor, outside and down the steps. Mother Theresa was licking her lips and started to lick the blood up, I told her to stop doing that, but she seemed to want to clean up the mess she had helped make.
We could only guess, that she bit one of the intruders, and must have nicked an artery... She was my little Hero, and the story of her exploits got around the neighbourhood pretty fast, and suddenly she was the star of the show... and she loved every moment of the attention, and so she should. :)
Trip to Hamilton
Last night, a friend asked me if I wanted to go to Hamilton for a drive today, I said, I'm broke again, but would love to go. she is a most interesting person to talk with and we have a good time together.
I had to drop off another pot of pain relief cream to Leo at the Dutch cheese shop in Waihi, and something told me, take a second pot with you...
My friend was about 15 minutes late to pick me up, and I just sat in her car, when a car stopped on the other side of the road and waved at me... it was a woman from up the road, they has brought cream off me for her partners back-back pain, I got out of the car, and went to say hi, she called out, that she just wanted to let me know, she will come down and grab another pot.... she just so happened to have the money with her, so I sold her a pot right there and then....
Then when I went to the Dutch Cheese Shop, they had just sold a pot as well.... so suddenly, instead of being broke, I had some spending money... yahhh...
So we set off to Hamilton, talking about so many subjects from conspiracy theory's, which ones had validity and why, to idea's for writing blog posts, what we saw happening at the side of the road, and eft (tapping) and different things tapping could be used for, to heal yourself of various issues and illnesses one has in their life.
When we got to Hamilton Hospital, while she was away picking up her partner from their, I stayed in the car, and did tapping on several of the subjects we had discussed.
We went to a lovely place to have lunch, nice food and delicious smoothie, but gosh isn't eating out an expensive exercise....
We went and had a look around Davids Emporium, that place was around before I had my son, about 35 years ago, its still selling pretty much the same stuff, and the prices are still pretty good.... I bought a wall clock...
By the time we finished there, I was wiped out, so we came home, again talking all the way.
Yesterday when I went out to Thames, my back was giving me a hard time by the time I got home, and I was in pain, walking inside from the car parked right outside my door... but today, while waiting at the hospital, one of the things I did the tapping about, my back pain, and while I was very tired when I got home, I walked quite normally from the gate back to my little hobbit house, and instead of coming straight inside and having to sit down and lay in my recliner chair to recover, I popped in, turned the jug on for a cuppa, changed my shoes, then went straight out to the chooks, and cleaned out their nesting box.
The big red hen, was bossing the others around as usual, and the two lite brown hens I can't tell apart, told me, some had been to my place while I was away, and put 2 brown bottles just inside the door for me.... when I got back to the door, I had a look and sure enough, there is 2 x 40 oz bottles of homemade whiskey... I took of the lid of one, had a sniff, I love the smell of homemade moonshine and tasted a bit on the tip of my finger, (I can't stand the taste of strong alcohol) but from that taste, and remembering the days when I had my own stills... 7 different stills over the years.... I decided what strength it was.... that stuff is very strong lol... about 41% or 82% proof ...
I only wanted one bottle for a project I want to do... and no, I wouldn't bother drinking it myself, not as is anyway. So I have a spare bottle, but thats ok, its not like it goes off or anything, one day someone will want it, and I'll sell them some a handful of dry maize for $22.50 and they can have the bottle of whisky for free....
back when I had the various stills, I'd sell a carrot for $20 and give away a free bottle of whatever the person fancied, but inflation and all, carrots or maize prices are now that that bit more... wink wink smile emoticon
Anyway... Also, I now am the proud owner, of a very nice trendy looking, totally out of place, clock in the kitchen that actually WORKS?
The one that was hanging up out there has been there for about 8 months, not working, but every morning, and several times during the day, I look at the time on it lol... 5.04 so its right twice a day, so it wasn't totally useless. smile emoticon
reply to post...
Jackie B : You should make a tincture with it! smile emoticon I have heard of people making plantain tictures for pain. Do you all have plantain there?
Lynny Bishop I dunno about using whisky for a tincture, I suppose there is no reason my not, I generally do my herbal extractions with oil, since making into a cream or ointment it it has to mix with wax, I don't have a electric beater to use to incorporate liquids in oil and wax.... oh hang on I do, a friend gave me one of those stick blenders thingies the other day. If someone buys the... I mean acquires the bottle of whiskey, I will get a bottle of 190% proof of this guy, that would work better as a base for a tincture, thank you for the idea Jackie
Yes we have plantain here... I find bending down to pick it very difficult at the moment, But perhaps I could take my wee plastic chair with me, and sit on that and pick from that.... :)
I had to drop off another pot of pain relief cream to Leo at the Dutch cheese shop in Waihi, and something told me, take a second pot with you...
My friend was about 15 minutes late to pick me up, and I just sat in her car, when a car stopped on the other side of the road and waved at me... it was a woman from up the road, they has brought cream off me for her partners back-back pain, I got out of the car, and went to say hi, she called out, that she just wanted to let me know, she will come down and grab another pot.... she just so happened to have the money with her, so I sold her a pot right there and then....
Then when I went to the Dutch Cheese Shop, they had just sold a pot as well.... so suddenly, instead of being broke, I had some spending money... yahhh...
So we set off to Hamilton, talking about so many subjects from conspiracy theory's, which ones had validity and why, to idea's for writing blog posts, what we saw happening at the side of the road, and eft (tapping) and different things tapping could be used for, to heal yourself of various issues and illnesses one has in their life.
When we got to Hamilton Hospital, while she was away picking up her partner from their, I stayed in the car, and did tapping on several of the subjects we had discussed.
We went to a lovely place to have lunch, nice food and delicious smoothie, but gosh isn't eating out an expensive exercise....
We went and had a look around Davids Emporium, that place was around before I had my son, about 35 years ago, its still selling pretty much the same stuff, and the prices are still pretty good.... I bought a wall clock...
By the time we finished there, I was wiped out, so we came home, again talking all the way.
Yesterday when I went out to Thames, my back was giving me a hard time by the time I got home, and I was in pain, walking inside from the car parked right outside my door... but today, while waiting at the hospital, one of the things I did the tapping about, my back pain, and while I was very tired when I got home, I walked quite normally from the gate back to my little hobbit house, and instead of coming straight inside and having to sit down and lay in my recliner chair to recover, I popped in, turned the jug on for a cuppa, changed my shoes, then went straight out to the chooks, and cleaned out their nesting box.
The big red hen, was bossing the others around as usual, and the two lite brown hens I can't tell apart, told me, some had been to my place while I was away, and put 2 brown bottles just inside the door for me.... when I got back to the door, I had a look and sure enough, there is 2 x 40 oz bottles of homemade whiskey... I took of the lid of one, had a sniff, I love the smell of homemade moonshine and tasted a bit on the tip of my finger, (I can't stand the taste of strong alcohol) but from that taste, and remembering the days when I had my own stills... 7 different stills over the years.... I decided what strength it was.... that stuff is very strong lol... about 41% or 82% proof ...
I only wanted one bottle for a project I want to do... and no, I wouldn't bother drinking it myself, not as is anyway. So I have a spare bottle, but thats ok, its not like it goes off or anything, one day someone will want it, and I'll sell them some a handful of dry maize for $22.50 and they can have the bottle of whisky for free....
back when I had the various stills, I'd sell a carrot for $20 and give away a free bottle of whatever the person fancied, but inflation and all, carrots or maize prices are now that that bit more... wink wink smile emoticon
Anyway... Also, I now am the proud owner, of a very nice trendy looking, totally out of place, clock in the kitchen that actually WORKS?
The one that was hanging up out there has been there for about 8 months, not working, but every morning, and several times during the day, I look at the time on it lol... 5.04 so its right twice a day, so it wasn't totally useless. smile emoticon
reply to post...
Jackie B : You should make a tincture with it! smile emoticon I have heard of people making plantain tictures for pain. Do you all have plantain there?
Lynny Bishop I dunno about using whisky for a tincture, I suppose there is no reason my not, I generally do my herbal extractions with oil, since making into a cream or ointment it it has to mix with wax, I don't have a electric beater to use to incorporate liquids in oil and wax.... oh hang on I do, a friend gave me one of those stick blenders thingies the other day. If someone buys the... I mean acquires the bottle of whiskey, I will get a bottle of 190% proof of this guy, that would work better as a base for a tincture, thank you for the idea Jackie
Yes we have plantain here... I find bending down to pick it very difficult at the moment, But perhaps I could take my wee plastic chair with me, and sit on that and pick from that.... :)
Sheep pigs or wooly pigs
I have a special affinity with pigs, and saw this picture on my facebook wall today, I had to share it on this blog.
The sheep-pig used to be a common sight in Lincolnshire and was shorn once a year to make sweaters, but it became extinct in Britain in 1972.
In the early 1900s, many Lincolnshire curly coats were sold to Austria and Hungary where they were crossed with the Mangalitza, creating the Lincolista.
Read More about Mangalitza wooly sheep
The sheep-pig used to be a common sight in Lincolnshire and was shorn once a year to make sweaters, but it became extinct in Britain in 1972.
In the early 1900s, many Lincolnshire curly coats were sold to Austria and Hungary where they were crossed with the Mangalitza, creating the Lincolista.
Read More about Mangalitza wooly sheep
My Stroke facebook games
How playing Facebook games helped me heal my brain from the effects of a stroke, I would recommend playing games as a valuable tool, to get your brain back on track. or if you know someone that has had a stroke, feel free to share this post, or the idea's I've written about with them....
You know how you see a meme about how you shouldn't judge other people, you haven't walked in their shoes.... this is an example of that, concerning facebook games and recovering from a stroke.
You know if you don't play games on facebook, getting requests from your friends to play can be annoying.
Back in 2011 I had a stoke, and while I could walk and talk ok'ish straight away, I had damage in my brain, before the stroke, I had a very good memory, and was quick and alert, and used a computer with confidence,
then overnight I was suddenly very forgetful, I had trouble remembering how to point the mouse and click quickly and often so confused, following instructions, and doing things like counting objects, I would lose count just so easy, forgetting peoples names, and what we had talked about 10 minutes before, I couldn't even remember logical orders, so had to stop my favourite thing in the world to do writing and heck was I very angry that my life had changed yet again, that no-one could really see from the outside.
A doctor I saw, suggested I play computer games, to rebuild the connections in my brain that were damaged.
With games, there is always a lot of mouse use and you get tasks to do things like, Plant 10 flowers, water ten flowers, sell ten flowers, or Find 20 red stones, just very simple instructions.
Well for a start, I had the hardest time, even remember what they task was, I would read the instructions, close the window, and instantly I couldn't see the words, i would forget, so I would need to open that task window again. Hell it was so frustrating. I started writing down the instructions on a paper beside me so I could look at it, to remember what the hell I was supposed to be doing....
As time when on, I would remember the instruction, until I was distracted, like if i turned away from the screen to pick up my coffee mug to take a sip, and I would then have to go back and check what it was again.
Then with those instructions, you generally have to go through some process, maybe you have to make more coins to be able to get enough money to buy the flowers you are planting, for that you may have to grow strawberries, water them, harvest them, sell them, and do that over and over to get the money.... then often you can get fertilizer by feeding pigs, the fertilizer when spread of plants makes them grow faster.
While all these tasks may seem inane to most people that don't like games, for me, at the start it was while frustrating, it was a a way I could constantly be doing something to build up those broken connections in my brain. The little achievements I made, of remember what the task was and doing it, was monumental to me when I finally did it.
Then with many of facebook games, you can join a group, where you help each other out, become neighbors within the game, either sending them gifts or with some of the more complex tasks. Within those groups, for many many months, I would forget who people were, people I had had many interactions with, would change their profile picture, and I would forget who they were....
But also that old saying, that the best way to learn something well, is to teach it, I would help and encourage other people, that were just starting the game.
In real life, I couldn't be around people, because they frustrated me so much, and one side effect of my stroke what I started to swear and curse something terrible, I went from a mild mannered, well spoken woman, to a loud, foul mouthed bitch from hell. But with the group, and writing my responses to peoples I could control those outbursts.
Now about the requests from people that play games, many of those games, are down right sleazy, the way they send out those requests, you may not get something you need, if you don't send them out, or you can't even pass a stage until you do... or even worse they say they are just asking your neighbors within the game, you say ok, and then realize it went out to everyone on your friends list.
Now over 4 years later, I have fixed all those connections in my brain, since I live alone, and don't haven't interacted with many real people in those years, and I can tell you I could never have done that, without facebook games.
Now I am back to normal.... well normal is stretching it huh.... as normal as I can be ;) and I play games just as a pastime, where I don't have to think too much, a far cry from why I started playing them...
Anyway, the moral of the story is, to just be aware, generally other people don't set out to annoy you, and there maybe a very good reason, that they are playing games, even though you may think they are just wasting all your seconds, having to scroll past their request. There is a way you can turn those requests off, or turn off anything you find annoying on your wall. :)
Replies to post....
Christine LL: Perhaps at the beginning you could add:- Playing Facebook games helped me heal my brain from the effects of a stroke. I recommend it to all who are trying to get their brain on track. - Cause we want to help people who are at their wit's end trying to figure out how to recover from where you were - what do you think? Lynny Bishop:
Lynny Bishop: Good point.... Done
Christine LL: And you said writing was your favourite thing?? What did you use to write then?
Lynny Bishop: i used to write about pretty much anything I knew about. I have an uncanny ability to learn new computer programs, without using helpfiles... I never found help files very helpful. So I'd learn a program, and write the easy way to learn to use them, The first program I learn to use was an easier version of Photoshop, you used to get it with your scanner as a free program, I used to own a website called Photo Impact for Dimmies, and wrote hundreds of easy to understand tutorials and articles.
I also used to read or learn complicated idea's or concepts, medical or technical stuff generally, I'd find out what all the big words meant, and them rewrite the article in my easy writing style so anyone could understand it.
I have written a couple of fiction books, over the years, and have done loads of shorts stories, and a few more non fictions almost finished, lost them all with fried hard drives and computer crashes... There was a time I had 30 blogs at once, on different subjects, to do with websites, what you should include on a website, what you shouldn't. how to get them ranking highly in search engines, the importance of pictures, easy instructions, and how to get your website ranking highly in google.
Christine LL: Oh how sad you never printed any out?
Lynny Bishop: Yeah, I was always too broke to afford the ink, and most I was never completely finished rewrites.
I did print and sell my very first cookbook out lol.... I wrote a cookbook for people living on low food budgets, Just a few months ago, I get that cookbook digitalised again, and transferred all the recipes to a facebook page... But like I said today, I'm lousy at selling what I do.
Dona F... Oh I remember my brain being just like yours post stroke. Unless one has been there it is difficult for them to understand how it is.
Lynny Bishop: Dona The only bonus I see looking back at having that stroke, is the experiences of having it, and that long journey recovering from it. Of course you were part of that journey Dona, those books you sent me, on the sort of hidden effects of a stroke, stuff that like you said, unless you have had one, you wouldn't have any concept about.
I still think I would be a wonderful support worker for the Stroke society, especially for people who like me, didn't show on the outside that I had had a stoke, or any brain injury for that matter.
Dona F... Yes you would be fabulous
Malaika W... This is so good Lynny! I do remember how hard it was for you, but you did all those guides and that group, helped so much people that actually helped you too to recover! Amazing
You know how you see a meme about how you shouldn't judge other people, you haven't walked in their shoes.... this is an example of that, concerning facebook games and recovering from a stroke.
You know if you don't play games on facebook, getting requests from your friends to play can be annoying.
Back in 2011 I had a stoke, and while I could walk and talk ok'ish straight away, I had damage in my brain, before the stroke, I had a very good memory, and was quick and alert, and used a computer with confidence,
then overnight I was suddenly very forgetful, I had trouble remembering how to point the mouse and click quickly and often so confused, following instructions, and doing things like counting objects, I would lose count just so easy, forgetting peoples names, and what we had talked about 10 minutes before, I couldn't even remember logical orders, so had to stop my favourite thing in the world to do writing and heck was I very angry that my life had changed yet again, that no-one could really see from the outside.
A doctor I saw, suggested I play computer games, to rebuild the connections in my brain that were damaged.
With games, there is always a lot of mouse use and you get tasks to do things like, Plant 10 flowers, water ten flowers, sell ten flowers, or Find 20 red stones, just very simple instructions.
Well for a start, I had the hardest time, even remember what they task was, I would read the instructions, close the window, and instantly I couldn't see the words, i would forget, so I would need to open that task window again. Hell it was so frustrating. I started writing down the instructions on a paper beside me so I could look at it, to remember what the hell I was supposed to be doing....
As time when on, I would remember the instruction, until I was distracted, like if i turned away from the screen to pick up my coffee mug to take a sip, and I would then have to go back and check what it was again.
Then with those instructions, you generally have to go through some process, maybe you have to make more coins to be able to get enough money to buy the flowers you are planting, for that you may have to grow strawberries, water them, harvest them, sell them, and do that over and over to get the money.... then often you can get fertilizer by feeding pigs, the fertilizer when spread of plants makes them grow faster.
While all these tasks may seem inane to most people that don't like games, for me, at the start it was while frustrating, it was a a way I could constantly be doing something to build up those broken connections in my brain. The little achievements I made, of remember what the task was and doing it, was monumental to me when I finally did it.
Then with many of facebook games, you can join a group, where you help each other out, become neighbors within the game, either sending them gifts or with some of the more complex tasks. Within those groups, for many many months, I would forget who people were, people I had had many interactions with, would change their profile picture, and I would forget who they were....
But also that old saying, that the best way to learn something well, is to teach it, I would help and encourage other people, that were just starting the game.
In real life, I couldn't be around people, because they frustrated me so much, and one side effect of my stroke what I started to swear and curse something terrible, I went from a mild mannered, well spoken woman, to a loud, foul mouthed bitch from hell. But with the group, and writing my responses to peoples I could control those outbursts.
Now about the requests from people that play games, many of those games, are down right sleazy, the way they send out those requests, you may not get something you need, if you don't send them out, or you can't even pass a stage until you do... or even worse they say they are just asking your neighbors within the game, you say ok, and then realize it went out to everyone on your friends list.
Now over 4 years later, I have fixed all those connections in my brain, since I live alone, and don't haven't interacted with many real people in those years, and I can tell you I could never have done that, without facebook games.
Now I am back to normal.... well normal is stretching it huh.... as normal as I can be ;) and I play games just as a pastime, where I don't have to think too much, a far cry from why I started playing them...
Anyway, the moral of the story is, to just be aware, generally other people don't set out to annoy you, and there maybe a very good reason, that they are playing games, even though you may think they are just wasting all your seconds, having to scroll past their request. There is a way you can turn those requests off, or turn off anything you find annoying on your wall. :)
Replies to post....
Christine LL: Perhaps at the beginning you could add:- Playing Facebook games helped me heal my brain from the effects of a stroke. I recommend it to all who are trying to get their brain on track. - Cause we want to help people who are at their wit's end trying to figure out how to recover from where you were - what do you think? Lynny Bishop:
Lynny Bishop: Good point.... Done
Christine LL: And you said writing was your favourite thing?? What did you use to write then?
Lynny Bishop: i used to write about pretty much anything I knew about. I have an uncanny ability to learn new computer programs, without using helpfiles... I never found help files very helpful. So I'd learn a program, and write the easy way to learn to use them, The first program I learn to use was an easier version of Photoshop, you used to get it with your scanner as a free program, I used to own a website called Photo Impact for Dimmies, and wrote hundreds of easy to understand tutorials and articles.
I also used to read or learn complicated idea's or concepts, medical or technical stuff generally, I'd find out what all the big words meant, and them rewrite the article in my easy writing style so anyone could understand it.
I have written a couple of fiction books, over the years, and have done loads of shorts stories, and a few more non fictions almost finished, lost them all with fried hard drives and computer crashes... There was a time I had 30 blogs at once, on different subjects, to do with websites, what you should include on a website, what you shouldn't. how to get them ranking highly in search engines, the importance of pictures, easy instructions, and how to get your website ranking highly in google.
Christine LL: Oh how sad you never printed any out?
Lynny Bishop: Yeah, I was always too broke to afford the ink, and most I was never completely finished rewrites.
I did print and sell my very first cookbook out lol.... I wrote a cookbook for people living on low food budgets, Just a few months ago, I get that cookbook digitalised again, and transferred all the recipes to a facebook page... But like I said today, I'm lousy at selling what I do.
Dona F... Oh I remember my brain being just like yours post stroke. Unless one has been there it is difficult for them to understand how it is.
Lynny Bishop: Dona The only bonus I see looking back at having that stroke, is the experiences of having it, and that long journey recovering from it. Of course you were part of that journey Dona, those books you sent me, on the sort of hidden effects of a stroke, stuff that like you said, unless you have had one, you wouldn't have any concept about.
I still think I would be a wonderful support worker for the Stroke society, especially for people who like me, didn't show on the outside that I had had a stoke, or any brain injury for that matter.
Dona F... Yes you would be fabulous
Malaika W... This is so good Lynny! I do remember how hard it was for you, but you did all those guides and that group, helped so much people that actually helped you too to recover! Amazing
Thursday 29 October 2015
As a new day starts
I've been going to bed about 10.30 the last couple of nights, so early for me, and waking up early too, 6.30 yesterday morning, not long after 5 this morning.... it was dark when I got up, so I say here, drinking a cuppa tea, watching the start of the day, not the sunrise, I'm not even sure which way the sun comes up, , I guess over Annies house I suppose. So no sunrise, just the sky getting lighter, listening to the birds singing their hearts out, they really are noisy buggers, they start singing while its still dark, but when you hear them, you know that the sky will be brightening up for the day with 10 or 15 minutes.
I didn't realise until listening this morning that there are actually 2 tui's here. I know about the one in a the cherry tree, down the back, but there's another one in the trees towards the gully.
The birdsong has quieten down now, but there is a blackbird sitting on the clothes like, tutting away, showing me his fanned our tail, and jumping from one line to the other, telling me how beautiful it is.... reminds me of a young guy, strutting its stuff, after he's had a few beers.
I actually don't know much about birds. just their names, I learned as a kid. But not what sound they make, I have never been that interested until now.
That black bird is now down on the lawn, along with a thrush, pulling worms out, , its been raining off and on during the night, so their must be loads of worms on the surface.
the thrush just spent quite a time pulling a worm out, and getting it in its beak, now its just flown away, I guess to feed its young.
They blackbird is up on the clothes line again, strutting his stuff again... he seems to think I'm most interesting in looking at his bum while it twerks, I must say I like it doing that, better than a human. Oh it has a worm, and its just taken off... I never thought about it until now, but its spring, of course there will be baby birds needing to be feed all over the show.
I just saw a rabbit over the gully, only one this morning, and its jumped out of sight now.
its pretty amazing how its so quite outside now, just a few birds, and a couple of magpies over the back.
The thrush is back, pulling a worm out of grass again.... but since I have been writing for 30 minutes, I need another cuppa, and the chooks will need a feed soon.... I brought them some special food yesterday. so will see what they think of some chook-chow along with some chooks maize.
I didn't realise until listening this morning that there are actually 2 tui's here. I know about the one in a the cherry tree, down the back, but there's another one in the trees towards the gully.
The birdsong has quieten down now, but there is a blackbird sitting on the clothes like, tutting away, showing me his fanned our tail, and jumping from one line to the other, telling me how beautiful it is.... reminds me of a young guy, strutting its stuff, after he's had a few beers.
I actually don't know much about birds. just their names, I learned as a kid. But not what sound they make, I have never been that interested until now.
That black bird is now down on the lawn, along with a thrush, pulling worms out, , its been raining off and on during the night, so their must be loads of worms on the surface.
the thrush just spent quite a time pulling a worm out, and getting it in its beak, now its just flown away, I guess to feed its young.
They blackbird is up on the clothes line again, strutting his stuff again... he seems to think I'm most interesting in looking at his bum while it twerks, I must say I like it doing that, better than a human. Oh it has a worm, and its just taken off... I never thought about it until now, but its spring, of course there will be baby birds needing to be feed all over the show.
I just saw a rabbit over the gully, only one this morning, and its jumped out of sight now.
its pretty amazing how its so quite outside now, just a few birds, and a couple of magpies over the back.
The thrush is back, pulling a worm out of grass again.... but since I have been writing for 30 minutes, I need another cuppa, and the chooks will need a feed soon.... I brought them some special food yesterday. so will see what they think of some chook-chow along with some chooks maize.
Tuesday 27 October 2015
Chooks and food.
A couple of people have asked to see my chooks, so here is a photo, along with a better photo of their special food I cooked then last night, I was a little concerned the cooked maize was I bit big for them to swallow, but no problems with that when I feed them this morning. First the girls, that white chair, I put in there, so they had something to play on, and there egg laying hutch, and where they go at night, is the square thing at the top of the top.
They are such polite girls, all saying thank you for there new food. I just went back to see them again now, with more food, they asked very nicely if I could add some molasses to the cook- up, I'm so pleased they mentioned that, cause I hadn't thought of molasses but that has a lot of minerals in it.
I'll add something to thicken it up too, that pot has enough for about a weeks morning feeds, I just remembered I was going to ferment some of it for them, so I will start the ferment with this lot I think, and cook another brew for tomorrow. I was just thinking how I could freeze feed of each brew, and feed it to them as a snack still frozen during the hot days of summer. Something that will take them awhile to eat, and cool them down.
I remember they used to give some animals at the San Diego zoo frozen treats like that.
So I can tell the girls they are getting a famous zoo treat, which of course will mean I have to explain what a zoo is.
I like telling them new things, and sometimes its difficult to think of what subject, they often get bored with my stories, if it doesn't relate directly to them in some way. Like yesterday I was telling them about the rabbits I watch, and one of them reminded me, how they had no idea what a rabbit was, so I had to come inside and get my phone, find a picture to show them, they had a good laugh about what it looked like.
In this brew I have cooked up, their is maize, I just brought a big sack of it yesterday, some dog bones, barley, Himalayan salt, lentils and some herbs I convinced the chooks was good for making them think clearer... it was a lie of course, but they swear its working for them, chooks are funny that way, the seem to believe most of what I tell them.
Once that had simmered for several hours, on a very low heat, I added just some kitchen scraps, some slices of cheese that had gone moldy, some butter that was past its best, apple cores, tea bags, an over ripe kiwifruit, a few bread crusts, and other bits and pieces.
Can you tell I love my chooks.
I'll add something to thicken it up too, that pot has enough for about a weeks morning feeds, I just remembered I was going to ferment some of it for them, so I will start the ferment with this lot I think, and cook another brew for tomorrow. I was just thinking how I could freeze feed of each brew, and feed it to them as a snack still frozen during the hot days of summer. Something that will take them awhile to eat, and cool them down.
I remember they used to give some animals at the San Diego zoo frozen treats like that.
I like telling them new things, and sometimes its difficult to think of what subject, they often get bored with my stories, if it doesn't relate directly to them in some way. Like yesterday I was telling them about the rabbits I watch, and one of them reminded me, how they had no idea what a rabbit was, so I had to come inside and get my phone, find a picture to show them, they had a good laugh about what it looked like.
In this brew I have cooked up, their is maize, I just brought a big sack of it yesterday, some dog bones, barley, Himalayan salt, lentils and some herbs I convinced the chooks was good for making them think clearer... it was a lie of course, but they swear its working for them, chooks are funny that way, the seem to believe most of what I tell them.
Once that had simmered for several hours, on a very low heat, I added just some kitchen scraps, some slices of cheese that had gone moldy, some butter that was past its best, apple cores, tea bags, an over ripe kiwifruit, a few bread crusts, and other bits and pieces.
Can you tell I love my chooks.
Monday 26 October 2015
27th Oct. Daily Update
I got some unexpected money for my paincream today, so I went back down to the old folks that grow the seedlings today, and brought some beans, lettuces and a celery plant. Gosh they are a lovely couple. I always learn something about gardening I didn't know before.
I also dropped in and got a sack of maize, and and making up a special brew of food for the chooks, maize, dog bones, barley, pink salt, and simmer that for a few hours until the maize is cooked, and add some pasta and thicken it all up... I learnt yesterday that chooks actually need protein to lay eggs, it makes sense, but I had never thought about it before, although I do feed them meat and fish scraps occasionally...
I also learned today, that maggots are good source of protein for chooks, I called at the butcher on the way home, but the boss was busy, but I will see him another day, and ask him about scraps, from when they do a homekill.
The chooks live at the back of the section, so I should be able to grow them some maggots down there, as a special treat. I used to grow mealy grubs in Christchurch, they would also be a less smelly treat I could grow them.
I went to the doctor again today, came away from their pretty annoyed. Don't think I'll bother with the doctors again for a year or so.
I also had a nice visit with my friend from Waikino, and another friend came around this morning, and tidied the floor and vaccumed, so the house it looking ok'ish at the moment, its amazing how an untidy house can drag you down huh....
And lastly so far today, I got the ok from ACC, to start going to see a specialist in Tauranga.
I'm going over to Thames on Thursday, I haven't been there in... in... gosh, I guess its since I was a teenager, about 200 years ago. So looking forward to see how its changed.
The car I have had the use of for a few weeks is leaving tomorrow, I never had the money to put petrol in to go for a longer trip, just that once out to Waikino a few weeks back. But that car was lovely to have around just to nip into town to post cream away, go to the doctors, or to go do my groceries, hell I'm going to miss it, but owning an old car, is a pretty expensive business, with warrants, registration, insurance, let along the petrol. I once worked out, that it costs $100 a month, to just keep it in the garage, forget the petrol. to actually use it.
I also found a pot of cream I made about 6 months ago, it had a different way of thickening the oil instead of using wax, I was shocked to see it was still spreadable, it hadn't changed colour, grown anything it shouldn't, or anything and whats more it spread really nicely, and adsorbed much better that the wax mix.... I might be onto a new recipe here smile emoticon
I'm not going to say I'll have an early night tonight, it seems to hex me, but I'll stop writing for now
I also dropped in and got a sack of maize, and and making up a special brew of food for the chooks, maize, dog bones, barley, pink salt, and simmer that for a few hours until the maize is cooked, and add some pasta and thicken it all up... I learnt yesterday that chooks actually need protein to lay eggs, it makes sense, but I had never thought about it before, although I do feed them meat and fish scraps occasionally...
I also learned today, that maggots are good source of protein for chooks, I called at the butcher on the way home, but the boss was busy, but I will see him another day, and ask him about scraps, from when they do a homekill.
The chooks live at the back of the section, so I should be able to grow them some maggots down there, as a special treat. I used to grow mealy grubs in Christchurch, they would also be a less smelly treat I could grow them.
I went to the doctor again today, came away from their pretty annoyed. Don't think I'll bother with the doctors again for a year or so.
I also had a nice visit with my friend from Waikino, and another friend came around this morning, and tidied the floor and vaccumed, so the house it looking ok'ish at the moment, its amazing how an untidy house can drag you down huh....
And lastly so far today, I got the ok from ACC, to start going to see a specialist in Tauranga.
I'm going over to Thames on Thursday, I haven't been there in... in... gosh, I guess its since I was a teenager, about 200 years ago. So looking forward to see how its changed.
The car I have had the use of for a few weeks is leaving tomorrow, I never had the money to put petrol in to go for a longer trip, just that once out to Waikino a few weeks back. But that car was lovely to have around just to nip into town to post cream away, go to the doctors, or to go do my groceries, hell I'm going to miss it, but owning an old car, is a pretty expensive business, with warrants, registration, insurance, let along the petrol. I once worked out, that it costs $100 a month, to just keep it in the garage, forget the petrol. to actually use it.
I also found a pot of cream I made about 6 months ago, it had a different way of thickening the oil instead of using wax, I was shocked to see it was still spreadable, it hadn't changed colour, grown anything it shouldn't, or anything and whats more it spread really nicely, and adsorbed much better that the wax mix.... I might be onto a new recipe here smile emoticon
I'm not going to say I'll have an early night tonight, it seems to hex me, but I'll stop writing for now
Cheap way to farm garden worms.
I prefer the big fat garden words, rather than the usual worm farm tiger worms. And several times over the years, I have farmed garden worms, its an interesting hobby, good fun for the kids, and you can simply let them go, if the novelty wears off.
Before I say anything else.... cutting worms in half, will kill them, sure they wriggle around, and look alive, but both halves die...
Ok, that said, now to how to farm them.
For a start, get an old plastic ice cream container, I used a 2 ltr size. poke a couple of very small holes in the bottle, just in case you water them too much, you don't want to be drowning them. Put about 2 or 3 cups of soil or potting mix in the container, give it a good water, and let it drain out, and move he soil around so there a hole in on corner of the container, where you put the food later.
Then while you are weeding or digging your garden, or if its just been raining, collect say 20 or more worms and just drop them in the container, replacing the lid so they don't crawl out, they will wiggle away under the dirt to hide.
The first time I did this, we lived near a paddock of cows, so my son jumped across the fence with a gardening folk, and dug under the older dried up cow poo, and got about 50 worms in a few minutes. I also saw an interesting video on youtube, that is worth watching.
When you have collected a few worms to start, leave them alone for a while, and let them wriggle away, and make their first lot of food. They don't need much for a start, so don't go crazy.
They like pretty much any leftover vegetables, except onions, garlic, celery or fruits, except citrus fruit. you can also use leftover vegetables off your plate at the end of a meal. Cut up the food very finely, for 20 worms you probably only need a teaspoon of food, so when its finely chopped or mashed, gently put it in the whole you left, and cover the food up. Then lay a few sheets of newspaper over the top, you could use a kitchen towel or thin cardboard.
Put the lid on, and just let it site in a warm place, but out of direct sun. The last thing you want to do is cook them.
I checked my ones a couple of times I day, and for a start, they all climbed up the sides of the container, trying to get out, but they soon settle down.
When you notice the soil is drying out, add a little water, on the paper, no need to soak the whole thing. I put about an egg cupful in, and with replacing the lid, the condensation means it will dampen the other dirt.
Now about the life cycle of garden worms.
That raised part circled in green, is actually an egg cocoon, generally your new caught worms will have one. These move off and fall into dirt, until they hatch.
Earthworms are hermaphrodites, that is, they have both male and female sexual organs.
So first, mating, this is how worms do it... They lay side by side, heading in opposite directions, and since they have both sex organs, they give sperm to each other. (No they can't fertilize themselves) So here they are doing what I call, the worm mating wiggle.
The sexual organs are located in segments 9 to 15.
Mating occurs on the surface of dirt, generally at night. For the full story of how they reproduce read here https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earthworm#Reproduction
look very much like a grain of wheat. I used to collect them, and put them in another container, but you can also just leave them in the dirt with the parents.
Depending on the conditions, its been a while now, but I seem to remember they would take 2 to 4 weeks to hatch, each egg has about 10-15 very small, but fully formed baby worms.
So for each set of mating worms, you get 20 to 30 baby worms. but of course by now those adults have mated again, and maybe a third time, so its easy to see how worms reproduce very quickly.
For a start, the baby's are white, and look like pieces of cotton, or maggots if you haven't seen them before. but in a month or so, you can see they are young worms....
Baby worms don't require much or any food, they will quite happily just munch of the dirt, its important not to have loads of moldy food around.
Once you see the worm eggs, or baby's around, you have two options, depending on what you want to do. you can tip the container upside down on a flat surface, and pick out the adult worms, and put them back into your small container, with new dirt, feed them, and let the cycle happen again. Then if you are interested enough, you can search through the dirt, and find the eggs, and set them on a damp paper towel in a small container, and watch them hatch, and with the baby worms and dirt left, spread it on your garden, in the evening, right before dart. they will wriggle away to safety. Or you could have another container with baby worms is you would like...
Or you can do what I did, and fill up a bucket, about 2/3s full, again with only area to add food, and tip the first container on top. Adult worms, baby worms and eggs, will be happy with more dirt and more food.... After a couple of months, you can upsize their living space again.
The year I started with about 50 worms, I ended up with three 200 litre plastic drums, cut in half lengthwise.
with lovely healthy worms, it wasn't necessary to cover them by them, they knew where the food was.
I did have a secret food though, that had those worms breeding like crazy.....
I met a couple of woman, that ran a pet rabbit rescue, they has an abundance of rabbit poo with straw or sawdust.
They delivered a trailer load of rabbit poo, and I emptied some of it half rotted poo, sawdust and straw into the bottom of the drums, just a bit higher then a white lids, I added some lawn clippings, mixed it all up, then covered with dirt, and upended a couple of buckets of half grown, and adult worms into it.... gosh did those worms go insane breeding. By then, I was selling the half grown worms to farmers and gardeners by the kg, it was a neat little cottage industry, at $20kg... that was about 20 years ago now.
Another time I did this, more recently, I collected them in early Autumn, so by the time it was starting to get cold for winter, I transferred them into a polystyrene fish bin. I kept it inside, in the conservatory over winter, and because they were warm they kept breeding fast, in early spring, I put some more potting mix on top of the fish bin, I planted some Italian lettuce mix on that, all the worms were still underneath....
Gosh did those lettuces grow, In the picture, on the left bottom, I picked that many leaves every other day for weeks and weeks and weeks. That was a cucumber at the top of the bin, that grew everywhere and became a nuisance, so I don't recommend that :)
When those lettuce leaves weren't so sweet anymore, I cut the plants off at ground level, and pulled them out, the number of worms under there was amazing. Do I just added more seeds, and in a few weeks, I was picking more lettuce for the rest of the summer, autumn and winter.
Once winter started and I started making soups again, I found out that adding a few lettuce leaves to a soup, a couple of minutes before you dish up, added a delicious almost sweet green to the soup... I have cooked lettuce ever since... is good in a stirfry. try it sometime.
Before I say anything else.... cutting worms in half, will kill them, sure they wriggle around, and look alive, but both halves die...
Ok, that said, now to how to farm them.
For a start, get an old plastic ice cream container, I used a 2 ltr size. poke a couple of very small holes in the bottle, just in case you water them too much, you don't want to be drowning them. Put about 2 or 3 cups of soil or potting mix in the container, give it a good water, and let it drain out, and move he soil around so there a hole in on corner of the container, where you put the food later.
Then while you are weeding or digging your garden, or if its just been raining, collect say 20 or more worms and just drop them in the container, replacing the lid so they don't crawl out, they will wiggle away under the dirt to hide.
The first time I did this, we lived near a paddock of cows, so my son jumped across the fence with a gardening folk, and dug under the older dried up cow poo, and got about 50 worms in a few minutes. I also saw an interesting video on youtube, that is worth watching.
When you have collected a few worms to start, leave them alone for a while, and let them wriggle away, and make their first lot of food. They don't need much for a start, so don't go crazy.
They like pretty much any leftover vegetables, except onions, garlic, celery or fruits, except citrus fruit. you can also use leftover vegetables off your plate at the end of a meal. Cut up the food very finely, for 20 worms you probably only need a teaspoon of food, so when its finely chopped or mashed, gently put it in the whole you left, and cover the food up. Then lay a few sheets of newspaper over the top, you could use a kitchen towel or thin cardboard.
Put the lid on, and just let it site in a warm place, but out of direct sun. The last thing you want to do is cook them.
I checked my ones a couple of times I day, and for a start, they all climbed up the sides of the container, trying to get out, but they soon settle down.
When you notice the soil is drying out, add a little water, on the paper, no need to soak the whole thing. I put about an egg cupful in, and with replacing the lid, the condensation means it will dampen the other dirt.
Now about the life cycle of garden worms.
That raised part circled in green, is actually an egg cocoon, generally your new caught worms will have one. These move off and fall into dirt, until they hatch. Earthworms are hermaphrodites, that is, they have both male and female sexual organs.
So first, mating, this is how worms do it... They lay side by side, heading in opposite directions, and since they have both sex organs, they give sperm to each other. (No they can't fertilize themselves) So here they are doing what I call, the worm mating wiggle.
The sexual organs are located in segments 9 to 15.
Mating occurs on the surface of dirt, generally at night. For the full story of how they reproduce read here https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earthworm#Reproduction
Ok, so they have mated, and the eggs are fertilized, over the next week or so, that egg sack moves down the body, and eventually falls off and closes, and the adult worm goes off and mates again.
The eggs, once they fall off,
The eggs, once they fall off,
look very much like a grain of wheat. I used to collect them, and put them in another container, but you can also just leave them in the dirt with the parents.Depending on the conditions, its been a while now, but I seem to remember they would take 2 to 4 weeks to hatch, each egg has about 10-15 very small, but fully formed baby worms.
So for each set of mating worms, you get 20 to 30 baby worms. but of course by now those adults have mated again, and maybe a third time, so its easy to see how worms reproduce very quickly.
For a start, the baby's are white, and look like pieces of cotton, or maggots if you haven't seen them before. but in a month or so, you can see they are young worms....
Baby worms don't require much or any food, they will quite happily just munch of the dirt, its important not to have loads of moldy food around.
Once you see the worm eggs, or baby's around, you have two options, depending on what you want to do. you can tip the container upside down on a flat surface, and pick out the adult worms, and put them back into your small container, with new dirt, feed them, and let the cycle happen again. Then if you are interested enough, you can search through the dirt, and find the eggs, and set them on a damp paper towel in a small container, and watch them hatch, and with the baby worms and dirt left, spread it on your garden, in the evening, right before dart. they will wriggle away to safety. Or you could have another container with baby worms is you would like...
Or you can do what I did, and fill up a bucket, about 2/3s full, again with only area to add food, and tip the first container on top. Adult worms, baby worms and eggs, will be happy with more dirt and more food.... After a couple of months, you can upsize their living space again.
The year I started with about 50 worms, I ended up with three 200 litre plastic drums, cut in half lengthwise.
I did have a secret food though, that had those worms breeding like crazy.....
I met a couple of woman, that ran a pet rabbit rescue, they has an abundance of rabbit poo with straw or sawdust.
They delivered a trailer load of rabbit poo, and I emptied some of it half rotted poo, sawdust and straw into the bottom of the drums, just a bit higher then a white lids, I added some lawn clippings, mixed it all up, then covered with dirt, and upended a couple of buckets of half grown, and adult worms into it.... gosh did those worms go insane breeding. By then, I was selling the half grown worms to farmers and gardeners by the kg, it was a neat little cottage industry, at $20kg... that was about 20 years ago now.
Another time I did this, more recently, I collected them in early Autumn, so by the time it was starting to get cold for winter, I transferred them into a polystyrene fish bin. I kept it inside, in the conservatory over winter, and because they were warm they kept breeding fast, in early spring, I put some more potting mix on top of the fish bin, I planted some Italian lettuce mix on that, all the worms were still underneath....
Gosh did those lettuces grow, In the picture, on the left bottom, I picked that many leaves every other day for weeks and weeks and weeks. That was a cucumber at the top of the bin, that grew everywhere and became a nuisance, so I don't recommend that :)
When those lettuce leaves weren't so sweet anymore, I cut the plants off at ground level, and pulled them out, the number of worms under there was amazing. Do I just added more seeds, and in a few weeks, I was picking more lettuce for the rest of the summer, autumn and winter.
Once winter started and I started making soups again, I found out that adding a few lettuce leaves to a soup, a couple of minutes before you dish up, added a delicious almost sweet green to the soup... I have cooked lettuce ever since... is good in a stirfry. try it sometime.
Lovely 1st visit with Christine
Another good day today, I didn't get to bed until about 4am, then since I was going to be picked up to visit a friend, after breakfast, I had the alarm on for 8.30. My friend postphone until after lunch, so I potted in the garden, giving it a water, and pulling up some beetroot I grew over winter, just for its leaves to eat, but surprisingly they had nice beetroot as well, so popped them onto cook.
I was just saying a couple of days ago, there weren't many worms in the garden here.... there were about 10 under the beetroot... big fat worms too. Unfortunately, I was using a spade to did that dirt after I pulled them out, so I cut most of the.... ohhhh I hate doing that, so I picked up the worm parts, and gave them to the chooks.... those buggers made short work of those lovely but suffering worms.
Anyway, I broke the leaves off the beetroot, and put the tops under the dirt where they had grown, now I know there are worms there. I'm going to have to acquire some horse poo, to get those darlings growing, and breeding for the summer.
I did some washing and put it on the line, had a rest, and went to my friends how. Wow, she has a lovely home, and section, two large garages workshops. Anyone got 500 k they could give me to buy that house. smile emoticon You can come and stay for a week every year for the rest of your life.
Anyway, we talked on many subjects, turns out last week I was reading an article she wrote about Waihi... she has 4 chooks as well, and makes a very nice apple cake using coconut and rice flours. It didn't make me feel blotted which as a nice change.
Anyway, she has encouraged me to start writing again, and get going with my blog, so I wrote a post about my chooks, and feeding them... writing about things that are happening that day, is much easier than crap that happened 50 odd years ago.
Since I have been home, I have been through my fb wall, and taken the brief nightly updates like this one, I have made in the past week or so, and added them to the blog, I will go through, and write longer more detailed versions. Plus do at least one post a day, as she suggest a few days ago, of at least 100 words.
it will be nice to write about all the things I know about, maybe I could write about farming garden worms, or just what I learn day to day, to add to the filing cabinet in my mind. smile emoticon
Anyway, I got home from there, and feed the chooks with my wee mate Titan, he really is a cracker of a kid. He made my day with a comment he made today.
I sliced up the cooled down beetroot, and made a vinaigrette for them, and they are soaking away happily now.
I'm about to hit the hay, all this social butterflying around the place, has be totally worn out...
Sunday 25 October 2015
Feeding the Chooks, Labour Weekend Monday 2015
I have four laying hens, they are Red Shavers, so they lay the brown eggs, that seem to be so sort after in the supermarket. Its funny how people believe they are healthier eggs, when in fact, its just the breed of hen that lays them.
Anyway, my four girls, are a real joy, often they give 4 eggs a day, although today it was only one. They don't have names, there is just the little light colored brown one, she is always into mischief, if one escapes it will always be her, or she will show the other where to get out. She is also the one that is hardest to caught, she must have the biggest drumsticks, because boy can she run, and change directions so quickly.
Then there's the big red bossy one, she is the darkest one, and always bossing the others around, she will bulldoze the others out of her way, to ensure she gets the very best of the kitchen scrap or fermented food I give them. Although she is the largest and most bossy, she is by far the dumbest one, when it comes to being caught, because she escaped, she will usually head for a corner to hide, she will squat down, and just wait for you to pick her up.
Then there are the two in the middle, I can't tell them apart, they are quite light colored, about the same sized, and don't have a distinct personalty's like the other two.
I have had them about 5 months now, right over winter, and they have laid right through, the coldest, wettest, rainiest days. It always makes me day to go out, give them their evening feed of always laying pellets, and check their wee shelter, which used to be a rabbit hutch, but I always try to guess how many eggs will be there, before I look.
I have a neighbour in the front flat, and their grandson Titian, loves to check for eggs, and gets quite grumpy if I don't go out and call him before the night feed.
I have been very sick now for a few months, with infection after infection, and if not for those chooks, I would have just given up and just stayed in bed. But the hens had to be feed, twice a day, weather I felt like feeding them or not.
I would wake up at daybreak, needing to pee, as you do at my age. I would quietly look out the window, over at their pen, and they would always always be running up and down the grass inside the netting. I've never understood how they knew I was even awake, I mean, I had just woken up, and walked on carpet over a concrete floor to the window....
I would walk off to the lou, and get their pellets on the way back, sleep on an old pair of crocks, and walk over the always wet grass, and feed them. They would always say "Thank you" is their own way, tell me any news they had from overnight, and say sorry, my socks were now wet.
I'd come back inside, and by that time I would be awake, so I'd make a cuppa (with me, a cuppa is always a cup of tea) and check facebook.
I wasn't cooking for myself while I was sick, but I always made an effort to cook the chooks something warm during those cold winter days... Usually wheat, rolled oats, or rice, maybe some sort of pasta, I got in a food parcel, and whatever kitchen scraps I had, a couple of apple cores, crusts off the bread, a couple of soup bones or a few leaves whatever was green in the wee garden I have beside the front door. Those chooks ate way better than I did.
I have a stove, that has elements that have a very low setting, so I would have a big old pot simmering away, cooking up with ever, it was particularly good, because even if I fell asleep while it was cooking, it didn't burn. I would sometimes take out a couple of scoops when it was half cooked, let that cool down, and feed them, while the rest kept on cooking.
I would cook enough for about a week, and with about half of it, I would ferment for them.... generally just add some kombucha or milk kefir when it was luke warm, and let it sit on the bench and ferment away until I had used it up. I would always just warm it through before I feed them, just so they had something warm in their belly. I had a go at making sourdough bread a few times, by the time it was cooked, I might have one slice, and the girls would get the rest.
The second time I would wake up, while I was so ill, I would make myself go out and feed them some of this warm food... and if it wasn't raining, I'd drag a plastic picnic chair out to the pen, so I could sit talking with them, while I would feed them. Chooks are very polite and have a quite good sense of humour, and they would talk away to me, while they were eating.... I have tried to teach them not to talk while they have food in their mouth, but they don't seem to hear, because they keep doing it. :)
I would then come back inside, and sleep again for a few hours. Then when wee Titan was staying, there would be a knock on the door, for a (I'm nearly five soon) little man, gosh he can knock loudly, and insistently. I'd get out of bed, go to the door, and he would tell me its time to check the eggs, always about an hour before dark, I don't know how he knew what time it was, but he was usually right.
I'd go get 4 handfuls of chook pellets, and he would walk the 30 or so yards with me down to the edge of the pen, and feed the girls, before we'f go on around to check the eggs.
When I first got the hens, young Titan could only count out loud, he didn't understand about matching the number he was saying up to the actual number of eggs.... Now, he has this sussed out, when we open the lid, he will see how many eggs there are, and count them one by one as he picks them up so he has come a long way.
For quite a while, when I first got the hens, he was only here a couple of times a week, so I used to say he could have the eggs we collected, his Dad told me, he would always want to eat them that night for dinner.
The past 8 weeks or so, while I have been sick, his Dad has been on home detention, staying here with his parents, so Titan has been here most afternoons after daycare. Its been good because he would always make sure the chooks were feed, but he also wanted the eggs every day... that was ok, I didn't feel like cooking them anyway... Now though, we have come up with a deal, that he can have half of the eggs we collect.... and he gets the odd one if there are 3.
Titan is a delightful little boy, always into mischief, but cute as, at the same time, gee I like children that age, they are so honest and call a spade a spade.
He must have spent a lot of time around me, because for a start, he would just grunt when I thanked him, but I have noticed the past couple of months on the way back from feeding the girls, I would thank him for waking me up, to make sure the chooks were feed. He started to reply, "You're more than welcome Lynny"
sometimes he'd add, "just because you are sick, it doesn't mean the chooks don't get feed ah...."
I have started to feel better the past week, and today on the walk back from collecting the eggs, after I thanked him for helping me to feed the girls, and he told me I was more than welcome, he said, "Lynny, I'm very happy you are feeling better" to which I replied "Thank you Titan" and he answered, "You are more than welcome, Even though you're really old I like you."
Now what better compliment could I ever wish for!
Saturday 24 October 2015
Labour weekend Sunday 2015
I had another lovely day today, I did a wee bit of gardening 3 times during the day, I went to look for some comfrey, but the there is too much blackberry to get into the plants... :(
But on the way home, I saw a house selling plants, and although I had no money, I called in to see what they had, and had a lovely surprise, the people selling the plants, were the people that used to have plants down the end of Rosemount Road, they sold that house, and are now much closer to town.
They are a lovely old couple, and are selling not only herbs, but also ornamental plants, and vegetable plants.
They have a good variety of plants, and unlike the big mitre 10 type places, all the plants are carefully looked after, still a perfect size for transplanting, and they all seem to have a story behind them, about the seeds the mouse got, or the seedlings that had a big snail heading towards them one night. Or the cuttings that took much longer to take root than they usually do.
I came home, and someone offered to help me move the chook pen, so my girls have new grass to eat, they haven't been laying well recently, but tonight, there were 4 eggs again... so I put the tomahawk away again,
And finally, I actually went for a wee walk today, not far, but since I have only walked to the letter book for months now, down the road and around the corner and back was a big deal.
Friday 23 October 2015
Taking painkillers again
Just something to think about.
All my friends know that I live with chronic pain, and have done since breaking my back 20 odd years ago. Last year in April, I decided to stop taking painkillers, which I was had been taking at least 2 x 2 a day and sometimes 2 x 3 times a day, so between 240 and 360 painkillers a month, plus all the muscle relaxants and gaberpentin etc etc, for 19 years. I talked often then about after the initial withdrawing from them that lasted about a week, that the pain I had left was only about 30-50% of the pain I suffered from all those years previously.
Since April last year, I would take a painkiller every now and then, and used about 40 in a year, instead of 240 and 360 a month....
Recently I have been very sick, and the doctor prescribed some painkillers, and over the past couple of weeks, I started taking painkillers pretty regularly, 1 or 2 a day. I took the last one last night, and wholly hell, now I'm in agony, I haven't felt this bad since I went though the withdrawals April 2014.
I know bloody well the pain isn't really this bad, I'm withdrawing again, honestly if I could, I would kick myself around the block a few times, how stupid could I be, to think a couple weeks taking them again wouldn't hurt....
I have some magnesium oil brewing on the stove, so in 20 minutes or so I'll use that, and it should calm my muscles down again so no worries about me.
I also have my pain relief cream that I sell through this page on facebook.. https://www.facebook.com/LynnysHerbalPotions/
And last year when I stopped them all it only took about 3 days to start feeling ok, and a week to get them out of my system, and start to feel much much better So I'll be ok by Monday or so.
However if you are living on painkillers, and have been for a long time, have a serious think about how the painkillers themselves, and not the original pain you are taking them for, just could be drastically increasing your pain levels...
Update: I found out after making this post, that a dear friend of mine, has stopped taking her painkillers too, although she went through hell, she's now back at work as a truckdriver... I couldn't be happier for her.
All my friends know that I live with chronic pain, and have done since breaking my back 20 odd years ago. Last year in April, I decided to stop taking painkillers, which I was had been taking at least 2 x 2 a day and sometimes 2 x 3 times a day, so between 240 and 360 painkillers a month, plus all the muscle relaxants and gaberpentin etc etc, for 19 years. I talked often then about after the initial withdrawing from them that lasted about a week, that the pain I had left was only about 30-50% of the pain I suffered from all those years previously.
Since April last year, I would take a painkiller every now and then, and used about 40 in a year, instead of 240 and 360 a month....
Recently I have been very sick, and the doctor prescribed some painkillers, and over the past couple of weeks, I started taking painkillers pretty regularly, 1 or 2 a day. I took the last one last night, and wholly hell, now I'm in agony, I haven't felt this bad since I went though the withdrawals April 2014.
I know bloody well the pain isn't really this bad, I'm withdrawing again, honestly if I could, I would kick myself around the block a few times, how stupid could I be, to think a couple weeks taking them again wouldn't hurt....
I have some magnesium oil brewing on the stove, so in 20 minutes or so I'll use that, and it should calm my muscles down again so no worries about me.
I also have my pain relief cream that I sell through this page on facebook.. https://www.facebook.com/LynnysHerbalPotions/
And last year when I stopped them all it only took about 3 days to start feeling ok, and a week to get them out of my system, and start to feel much much better So I'll be ok by Monday or so.
However if you are living on painkillers, and have been for a long time, have a serious think about how the painkillers themselves, and not the original pain you are taking them for, just could be drastically increasing your pain levels...
Update: I found out after making this post, that a dear friend of mine, has stopped taking her painkillers too, although she went through hell, she's now back at work as a truckdriver... I couldn't be happier for her.
Friday Before Labour weekend.
I had a lovely day today, I did some bits and pieces outside, then I went to the community lunch, gosh there was a good crowd, with a lot of new faces, then this afternoon I went to a friends place and had a couple of coffees, came home and did some more work around the gardens, potted some plants etc....
I finished off making the yummiest pork hock soup, actually it is the best soup I have made since I left Christchurch. darn I'm a great cook....
I got my government benefit tonight, because there a holiday on Monday, so the cupboards have food, and I can have some money for the weekend lol, it'll be a longtime until the next pay, but I won't think about that now...
And just before, a dear friend who is just back Vanuatu, called and invited me to go out to the local arts festival with her tomorrow, well the Waikino bit anyway.
I know this is all simple stuff, but when you have been so ill for a couple of months, you can barely make it out of bed, and not terrible well for several months before then, the simple stuff is the best stuff.
Since I never ended up sleeping last night, I'm going to have an early night.... after one more cuppa...
I finished off making the yummiest pork hock soup, actually it is the best soup I have made since I left Christchurch. darn I'm a great cook....
I got my government benefit tonight, because there a holiday on Monday, so the cupboards have food, and I can have some money for the weekend lol, it'll be a longtime until the next pay, but I won't think about that now...
And just before, a dear friend who is just back Vanuatu, called and invited me to go out to the local arts festival with her tomorrow, well the Waikino bit anyway.
I know this is all simple stuff, but when you have been so ill for a couple of months, you can barely make it out of bed, and not terrible well for several months before then, the simple stuff is the best stuff.
Since I never ended up sleeping last night, I'm going to have an early night.... after one more cuppa...
Wednesday 21 October 2015
Future Day for the movie Back to the Future
Well today is the "Future Day", that the movie Back to the Future, went to, Tim Roxborogh had a question on overnight talkback, what advice would you give yourself if you could go back to 1985.
I rang in and said, I would tell myself not to answer the phone, on Christmas Eve 1994, the day that I ran to answer the phone, and fell down the stairs and broke my back.... I have always been annoyed, that that phone call, was a wrong number.... but thinking about it since I rang Tim,
If that call had of been a Friend calling, that would have been worse,
1. What if you were that friend, and know how drastically it changed my life...
2. I believe I would have found it very hard to totally forgive you.
I actually do have two facebook friends I knew back then, one in particular, it would have been horrible if she rang me....
So what advice would you have given yourself, if you could go back to 1985?
I rang in and said, I would tell myself not to answer the phone, on Christmas Eve 1994, the day that I ran to answer the phone, and fell down the stairs and broke my back.... I have always been annoyed, that that phone call, was a wrong number.... but thinking about it since I rang Tim,
If that call had of been a Friend calling, that would have been worse,
1. What if you were that friend, and know how drastically it changed my life...
2. I believe I would have found it very hard to totally forgive you.
I actually do have two facebook friends I knew back then, one in particular, it would have been horrible if she rang me....
So what advice would you have given yourself, if you could go back to 1985?
Tuesday 20 October 2015
Birds I can see just out the door today
Birds I can see out my door this morning.... I didn't take these pictures, but thank you google images.
EFT First Day
I had an awesome day today, woke up feeling bloody awful (So tired and barely able to or wanting to breath) as is usual lately, I thought I would have a cuppa tea, and go back to bed....
I opened facebook, and the first post, someone was suggestion I try EFT so I spent about an hour reading about it, and then watched and did 2 treatments, starting with this one below, the the breathing one after it.... and even though it seemed dumb, I started to feel a bit better....
I watched a few of the other EFT in that lot, then a lovely friend from Waikino came into town, picked me up and took me to her place for the afternoon, Oh, it was lovely, the longer I was there, the more I was energised, I got home with some lovely gifts, and a big bunch of fresh lavender flowers... and felt back to my old bubbly self.
I went to visit my never neighbour, the ones that's interested in all the things I am. Had a cuppa and chat with her, shes good value that woman.
Then the same Waikino friend dropped off a lovely set of drawers that I will add my special touch too...
Then I went to visit the new butcher that has opened in Waihi, and come home with a lovely big pork hock, I will roast in the crockpot next week... The folks that own Waihi Meats are lovely, make sure you go see them if you are local.
Then when I got home, another friend popped around to say hi, and dropped off some chook food....
Christine, Lomah Annie and my new neighbour, Thank you all for your parts of my day, I'm now have a lovely white sage scented soy candle burning, oh it smells like heaven to me. I'll have a coffee, and get to bed.... I'm happily knackered.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2WsWWVhAM4I&list=PLgVIwKg5ugsmO5ypgH2hgM5w74MUgm7l6&index=7
I opened facebook, and the first post, someone was suggestion I try EFT so I spent about an hour reading about it, and then watched and did 2 treatments, starting with this one below, the the breathing one after it.... and even though it seemed dumb, I started to feel a bit better....
I watched a few of the other EFT in that lot, then a lovely friend from Waikino came into town, picked me up and took me to her place for the afternoon, Oh, it was lovely, the longer I was there, the more I was energised, I got home with some lovely gifts, and a big bunch of fresh lavender flowers... and felt back to my old bubbly self.
I went to visit my never neighbour, the ones that's interested in all the things I am. Had a cuppa and chat with her, shes good value that woman.
Then the same Waikino friend dropped off a lovely set of drawers that I will add my special touch too...
Then I went to visit the new butcher that has opened in Waihi, and come home with a lovely big pork hock, I will roast in the crockpot next week... The folks that own Waihi Meats are lovely, make sure you go see them if you are local.
Then when I got home, another friend popped around to say hi, and dropped off some chook food....
Christine, Lomah Annie and my new neighbour, Thank you all for your parts of my day, I'm now have a lovely white sage scented soy candle burning, oh it smells like heaven to me. I'll have a coffee, and get to bed.... I'm happily knackered.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2WsWWVhAM4I&list=PLgVIwKg5ugsmO5ypgH2hgM5w74MUgm7l6&index=7
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