Topics

1

Chit Chat / One Semester of Spanish Love Song

« on: August 13, 2008, 12:36:00 PM »

I saw this on YouTube.  I think it is just hilarious!!!   

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ngRq82c8Baw

I love his expressions.   

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Pond Chat / OMG, talk about an algae bloom...look at this

« on: July 02, 2008, 10:20:01 PM »

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/25498805/

I can't imagine trying to clean up tons of that stuff.   

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Chit Chat / Welcome Back, Kaz!

« on: June 08, 2008, 11:27:02 PM »

I noticed you've posted a couple of times lately.  Welcome back from your world cruise (which I followed every day...fascinating!    )

I take it you're all settled in for now and back to ponding? 

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Chit Chat / LeeAnne, About Fresh Produce

« on: May 18, 2008, 09:23:20 PM »

LeeAnne, I noticed on Joyce's thread that you said, "I compost a lot of fresh produce because we buy too much at once and don't get it all eaten before it goes bad."

That used to happen to me a lot, too, because I buy a lot of fresh produce for DH's "heart healthy" diet.  (I eat it, too.  )  I tried the "Green Bags" advertised on TV, although I bought mine over the internet.  They really work!!!    Although if you watch the infomercial or read the info on the internet, you might have a tendency to say, "Yeah, right!", they really do work, and I can keep salad fixings at least twice as long...sometimes three times as long.   I know that because I wrote down when I bought the produce (lettuce, roma tomatoes, cucumbers, green peppers, carrots, etc.) and then noted the date when I used the last of it.  We don't get to the store often because of DH's dementia, so I really needed a way to cut down on the amount of veggies and fresh fruit that I was throwing away.

The Green Bags are now available at Wal-Mart (cheaper than I got them over the internet because of the $7.00 shipping), and I will buy another set one of these days.  You can use them 10 times before they start to become ineffective, so I mark mine with a permanent marker each time I use them.  I can now buy more fresh produce at a time and I don't have to waste much of it...unless I overestimate how long I have had it.  Just be very sure that the produce is DRY when you put it in the bags, as it will spoil much quicker if it is wet.  Don't wash any of the produce before you store it...wait until you use it to wash it.

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Chit Chat / Staying on top of it...

« on: March 12, 2008, 11:00:27 PM »

Jerry, I'm glad they are doing more tests and are putting you on blood thinners.  My hubby takes that and he just has to go in and get it tested once a month...no big deal.  I'm sure the Dr.'s will get you all fixed up.   

You just be a good boy and take all your medications and do as the Dr.'s tell you.     Hugs! 

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Chit Chat / I found FOUR sets...WOW, I am thrilled!!!!

« on: September 18, 2007, 01:37:12 PM »

Four sets of what, you ask?  Well, I started checking our five kittens last night and found four sets of testes!         

That means we only have to have one more female spayed in order to keep from being overrun with cats (Miss Kitty has already been taken care of).  I was really worried that I would have to pay almost $200 each to get all the kittens fixed.  I know the four little toms are more likely to roam if they're not neutered, but I'm just going to hope they find their way back home.

In case you're wondering why we still have five kittens, Gizmo (the little kitty that hitchhiked to Olathe) came back.  Although the lady who had her really liked her, she didn't want the expense of having her fixed and declawed in order to keep her in an apartment.

Good luck has come my way, at last!   

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Chit Chat / I watched my Bad Dog get hit by a car today!

« on: September 16, 2007, 10:21:59 PM »

All the while she was running toward the highway in front of our house, I was running after her, yelling at the top of my lungs, and pushing the button on the shock collar.  I'll swear, I think that dog would run right through an electric fence and drag it after her if she was determined to go somewhere.   

The first car that went by missed her, and then I watched (and prayed furiously) as another car slowed and eventually slammed on his brakes just as she was almost across the road.  However, I did hear it hit her.  I was almost afraid to look after I heard the sound, but she turned around and ran back across the road to me...and almost got hit by another car.  I couldn't believe it, but she wasn't even limping.  I tried to inspect her right hip, because that's where it had to hit her. 

I brought her in the house and poked and prodded. I didn't get a flinch or a yelp out of her at all.  She's very stoic, tho, because it takes a lot to get a yelp out of her.  Since I definitely DID hear a "thump," I'm guessing that she just has a bruise on her hip from the accident.  She almost gave me a heart attack, tho...I was in worse shape than she was after it happened.   

I turned the shock collar up as high as it will go and I am going to trim some of the hair under her neck.  I WILL find some way to keep that dog out of the highway.   

Oh, I almost forgot...the driver of the car stopped several yards down the highway and, I believe, was intending to come back.  He went on after he saw Niña run back across the road to me.  He did everything he could to keep from hitting her, and I'm grateful for that.   

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Chit Chat / Gizmo Hitched a Ride to Olathe...

« on: August 12, 2007, 07:08:27 PM »

(which is about 150 miles from here) underneath my son-in-law's truck.      

Gizmo is one of our kittens that Miss Kitty presented to us in May.  She is the blotchy black one, and is colored so funny that she's ugly.  Because I thought she was so unattractive that no one would want her, I had planned to keep her and the cream colored one.   (That was back when I actually thought I could give away kittens   .)

My daughter and family were down from Olathe last weekend for a birthday party and left to go home Sunday afternoon.  I noticed that I didn't see Gizmo Sunday night or all day Monday and thought that the coyotes had gotten one of my kittens already.  Tuesday morning, DD called and asked me if I was missing a cat.  She had her hubby's truck in the warehouse by his office and could hear a cat meowing, but couldn't find it. Finally the neighbor came over to help her and pulled Miss Gizmo out of the spare tire well under the truck.  The little darling was so terrified after her 150 mile ride that she stayed in the tire well for two days.   

DD fed her and gave her some water and a makeshift litterbox in the bathroom of Tony's office.  Fortunately Tony's secretary fell in love with Gizmo and said she would take her.     My daughter kept Gizmo for a couple of days.   Apparently, the kitten was so relieved to be rescued after two days without food and water that she was lying on everyone's lap and purring.  When she was here, she wasn't that tame.   

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Chit Chat / Just testing my new camera

« on: July 03, 2007, 11:48:55 PM »

This (I hope) is a picture of my DH's dog, Chacho.  It was taken from about 12 feet away with my new Canon Powershot S3 IS, with 12x zoom.  I had to do some editing with the software because the original picture was 1.4 MB, and it couldn't be used on the forum.   He is lying on his lambskin type bed with an old bathrobe covering him (because his usual blankie was in the wash somewhere  ). 

Like I said, I'm just testing to see how the pic comes out.   

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Chit Chat / OK...I didn't want to talk about this when it happened...

« on: June 21, 2007, 10:19:05 PM »

but about a week (week and 1/2?) after my RES escaped, we had another overnight downpour of about 4"-5" inches and the other one left, too.  I had just fed him the day before and checked the water level and I'll swear it was at least 4 or 5 inches below the top of the tub.  The next morning, the tub was overflowing and my second RES was nowhere in sight.   I think someone up there decided it was time for me to release them...both.   

I feel a little strange because I am no longer a turtle owner after all this time.  Oh, well, maybe I'll find another one to raise someday.   

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Chit Chat / An unwanted visitor at 5:00 in the morning!

« on: June 19, 2007, 10:08:57 PM »

I was sleeping soundly this morning when I heard something that sounded like a cat growling and hissing.   My first thought was "Oh, no, something's after the kittens."  Our sweet little outdoor cat, Miss Kitty, had presented us with five kittens about six weeks ago.  Since they are bigger now, they have gravitated from their safe little shelter on the side of the house to the back porch.   As I was trying to force myself to wake up and get my b*tt out of bed, I heard "Yike, Yike, Yike."   Apparently whatever was after the kittens was a stray (or wandering) dog.  Miss Kitty is a small cat, but apparently she was determined enough to chase a dog away! 

I finally got out of bed and went to the kitchen to turn the back light on and try to see if everyone was OK.  La Niña had heard the commotion, also, so I called her to come outside with me.  After all, a 108 lb. Great Pyrenees should be able to track down and chase off any intruding dogs...right?     I turned the light on, saw 5 kittens sleeping together in a circle on the deck, and the momma cat was coming back to the deck.  I let Niña out and she sniffed around a bit, did her thing on the grass, and looked at me like, "What are we doing out here at 5:00 in the morning, Mom?  So much for my big, bad watch dog.   

I guess it's up to Momma Cat to protect the kittens unless I buy some kind of cage to put them in at night. 

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Chit Chat / One of my Red-Eared Sliders escaped!

« on: June 03, 2007, 09:28:58 PM »

I'm kinda down in the dumps, because I'll miss him.   :'(  I've had him and his brother for six years now...since my DH found them on the day they hatched.     I originally planned to raise them for a couple of years (to give them a chance to survive in the wild), but then a couple of years ago I realized that if I released them in the farm pond, I'd never see them again.  Therefore, I've put them outside in the summer and brought them in for the winter for six years.

We've had a LOT of rain recently, and I let their little "mini pond" get too full of water.  Usually I get out there and empty some of the water so they can't climb out...but I didn't this time.   

Logically, I shouldn't feel too sad.  I've felt a bit guilty about not releasing them to have a normal life and have a chance to sire more little RES's.  Little Guy was full grown for a RES, and so should be able to take care of himself if he finds a pond.   

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Chit Chat / Bob, the Tadpole is no more...

« on: May 18, 2007, 12:42:19 PM »

but he IS a froggy!!     I released him Weds. because he had finished absorbing his tail and therefore had nothing to eat.  I thought his little tummy looked pretty flat, so I put him out in the pond to see if he could catch his own food from now on.  There are lots of lily pads for him to rest on and (I hope) lots of little flys/bugs buzzing around.  I haven't seen him the last two days...sniff, sniff    :'( ...but I think he will be all right because he is too big for the fish to eat.  I just have goldfish and most of them are small to middle-sized because I didn't get around to put the bubbler in the pond last fall (taking care of DH after he had a quadruple bypass), and all of my largest goldfish died.  He shouldn't be in danger from any predators unless I have a snake out there that I don't know about.

Please cross your fingers for my little guy.     I put in a lot of care and dedication to raising him from a tiny tadpole the last couple of months (with help and advice from Teresa).   

My daughter took some pics of Bob before I released him, but I think she's forgotten to send them back to me.  She's a busy young Mom and involved in the MOPS organization and her church.  If I ever get them, I'll post them.   

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Chit Chat / My tadpole is growing sooooo fast....

« on: April 17, 2007, 01:42:43 PM »

it's almost unbelievable!     I don't think I've ever had a critter of any kind that grew as fast as this little guy is.

When four of my grandsons were here March 24, they went down to the farm pond, armed with buckets and old spoons to see what they could find or dig up.  MDBB brought me a little tadpole in some pond water.  It was a normal sized little tadpole, maybe an eighth of an inch across.   He is now 2-2½ inches long and his body is at least 3/4" long and 1/2" wide...he's a little hard to measure since he doesn't hold still.  Since he's obviously a bullfrog tadpole, I'm not sure how big he's going to get before he gets his legs.   

I'm feeding him boiled lettuce, and he puts out so much waste that I have to change his water every two or three days.