I guess I should use the term "recovery" very loosely when applied to my shoulder. The doctor tightened that loose shoulder so tight that 7 weeks into my physical therapy I still can't touch my stomach, or raise my arm above my head. About 2 weeks ago I went through a steroid treatment to remove the inflammation building in the shoulder from excessive stretching (trying to get that range of motion back.) My physical therapist made mention, if the steroid treatment doesn't work then I'll likely have a "manipulation." Which means what it sounds like = forcing the shoulder to move. Luckly I'll be under and have nerve block so I won't feel it. But the kicker is, I'll have to go to physical therapy the day of surgery and every day for two weeks after. That will ensure I keep the motion that I get from the manipulation. Joy. The sad part about the whole thing.... pardon the brief anatomy lesson here: The bicep attaches to the labrum, the labrum was torn in my shoulder hence the surgery to fix it. Now with my bicep being so overly tightened when they do the manipulation it will likely re-tear the labrum. Which will mean I get my range of motion back but the added benefits of a re-torn shoulder. Which if you put it all together means I'd have saved myself about $3,000 if I'd never had shoulder surgery.
This Sucks.
20 January 2011
16 January 2011
Log Cabin Knitting
I started this project back in December right when I got out of my sling. I added knitting as a form of therapy to get my shoulder working again. It helped a little, and knitting doesn't hurt like it did before I had surgery, which is a awesome. This style of knitting I found in a book called Mason-Dixon Knitting which a friend loaned to me over the winter. For a beginning knitter it's really easy but it doesn't look it. I did have to watch a youtube video that showed how to pickup stitches because I didn't "get" that when I read the book. All in all I'd say it turned out pretty well.
The above picture was taken just before I finished the last row. It's hard to see the different layers in the white and solid green parts but in the middle with the varying colored thread you can get how it spirals out from the center. The whole thing covers my lap from side to side and from my waist past my knees, so its roughly 3 x 3.5'. I've placed it by the back door which we were previously using a towel to dry our feet. The rug is made from cotton thread so it's super absorbent.
The above picture was taken just before I finished the last row. It's hard to see the different layers in the white and solid green parts but in the middle with the varying colored thread you can get how it spirals out from the center. The whole thing covers my lap from side to side and from my waist past my knees, so its roughly 3 x 3.5'. I've placed it by the back door which we were previously using a towel to dry our feet. The rug is made from cotton thread so it's super absorbent.
13 January 2011
New Additions
Oh crap here we go... I know your thinking goats or something! HA HA!!
Jacob and I have wanted to rid ourselves of the Red Star chickens since they started laying. They've taken to noise making, not "singing," that I am fine with, but yelling and general noise making. Not in an unhappy chicken way either. I know that might not make sense but when chickens are unhappy they have a way of yelling that lets you know. This is different from the unhappy sound, its more like a conversation a REALLY LOUD ONE!! The "twins" the two red's I can't tell apart are the guilty ones. They talk and yell all day long, which is a noise I can sometimes tune out, but Jacob can not. One has this guttural growl that is particularly annoying. It's more apparent in the summer when the windows are open all the time. So long story short, we're not sure if they are stew pot material or if we should sell them. They are a year and half old and still laying strong through the winter. Regardless they need to be removed from this farm, one way or another.
So I was looking on cragslist last week to see what kinda chicks were out there. We also checked out different hatcheries, but I didn't want to order 25+ birds and deal with selling the chicks we didn't want. I found a lady selling 12 week old Light Sussex pullets for $10 each. If I ordered and brooded birds I'd probably be into each bird $7 to get them to 12 weeks old. So I figured paying someone else to raise them to that age was worth $10 each. I contacted her and a deal was made for 5 girls.
Here they are.
The Light Sussex won't lay as many eggs as the Red Star's but that's why we got a few more of them. I think I'd rather have a heritage breed than a production one. So the "babies" are in quarantine right now in my garage! LOL!! They have been in there for one week now, all seem fine. I am going to start this week on introducing them to the other girls. Since I don't want to be out of eggs, we'll keep our Red Stars until the Sussex start laying. Curious hasn't started laying since she molted, I have a feeling her being 3.5 years old is playing a part in jump starting that egg laying. Regardless she has a freezer pass because she is an awesome bird and she likes hugs. :o)
In the pictures the girls have blue zip ties around their feet, that was from being sexed, blue zip tie = girl. Shouldn't it be pink? Anyway, after all is said and done with the Red's we'll have 6 girls on site. Which will be more than enough for us, my parents, and our neighbor.
Jacob and I have wanted to rid ourselves of the Red Star chickens since they started laying. They've taken to noise making, not "singing," that I am fine with, but yelling and general noise making. Not in an unhappy chicken way either. I know that might not make sense but when chickens are unhappy they have a way of yelling that lets you know. This is different from the unhappy sound, its more like a conversation a REALLY LOUD ONE!! The "twins" the two red's I can't tell apart are the guilty ones. They talk and yell all day long, which is a noise I can sometimes tune out, but Jacob can not. One has this guttural growl that is particularly annoying. It's more apparent in the summer when the windows are open all the time. So long story short, we're not sure if they are stew pot material or if we should sell them. They are a year and half old and still laying strong through the winter. Regardless they need to be removed from this farm, one way or another.
So I was looking on cragslist last week to see what kinda chicks were out there. We also checked out different hatcheries, but I didn't want to order 25+ birds and deal with selling the chicks we didn't want. I found a lady selling 12 week old Light Sussex pullets for $10 each. If I ordered and brooded birds I'd probably be into each bird $7 to get them to 12 weeks old. So I figured paying someone else to raise them to that age was worth $10 each. I contacted her and a deal was made for 5 girls.
Here they are.
The Light Sussex won't lay as many eggs as the Red Star's but that's why we got a few more of them. I think I'd rather have a heritage breed than a production one. So the "babies" are in quarantine right now in my garage! LOL!! They have been in there for one week now, all seem fine. I am going to start this week on introducing them to the other girls. Since I don't want to be out of eggs, we'll keep our Red Stars until the Sussex start laying. Curious hasn't started laying since she molted, I have a feeling her being 3.5 years old is playing a part in jump starting that egg laying. Regardless she has a freezer pass because she is an awesome bird and she likes hugs. :o)
In the pictures the girls have blue zip ties around their feet, that was from being sexed, blue zip tie = girl. Shouldn't it be pink? Anyway, after all is said and done with the Red's we'll have 6 girls on site. Which will be more than enough for us, my parents, and our neighbor.
12 January 2011
Lessons Learned
Sunday set a tone for this year, we became meat farmers officially. The two baby boy rabbits had reached the 5 pound harvest weight, it was time to move them from camp living into camp freezer.
We opted for the pellet method which seemed to us the least traumatic for the bunz and for us. The death was quick and precise. I did the gutting part since I have more "inside" animal knowledge. I don't have the strength in my shoulder to aim and fire even a pellet gun, so Jacob took that part. The whole process from set up to clean up for both bunz took about 1 hour. We'll be faster at it next time since I should be fully recovered by the time the next harvest comes around.
I said thank you to each bun when I took them out of the cage. The whole process was pretty surreal, we former vegetarian, against animal cruelty types became meat farmers. Who knew?
We opted for the pellet method which seemed to us the least traumatic for the bunz and for us. The death was quick and precise. I did the gutting part since I have more "inside" animal knowledge. I don't have the strength in my shoulder to aim and fire even a pellet gun, so Jacob took that part. The whole process from set up to clean up for both bunz took about 1 hour. We'll be faster at it next time since I should be fully recovered by the time the next harvest comes around.
I said thank you to each bun when I took them out of the cage. The whole process was pretty surreal, we former vegetarian, against animal cruelty types became meat farmers. Who knew?
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