Good and Bad News

The good news: I got a vacuum.

The bad news: All the turkey poults died.

I don't really know why they died, t was after a slightly chilled night but I didn't think that it would be too chilly. The next morning one did not look so good and I thought it might have been on the bottom of the pile and got a bit squished; sometimes they survive that, sometimes they don't. The day rapidly was warming so I knew they were not at all chilled by then. All others were chipper. I go back an hour later to check on the one and it was dead as well as four others with the last one not looking good at all. I am not terribly upset, I didn't want to have to take care of them anyway. But I am sad over it as well as a bit confused.

The vacuum is not the one I wanted but it wasn't the cheapest one either, in the range of second cheapest as there were two or three that were within a few dollars of each other. Got it today and it is not put together yet since very shortly after returning home from town some neighbors came over. When they left I tried calling my dad, it is his birthday, no one answered, and then I had to water a section of garden and another neighbor came by as soon as I started that. It is getting dark and I do not like vacuuming after dark (it can make winter vacuuming a little difficult) so it sits in its box in the living room.

I wasn't sure I would get a vacuum this month, not even a cheap one, because the mortgage inadvertently got paid twice. We were a tad scared there for a few days because we really cannot afford a double payment and would have suffered toward the end of the moth, but it did get refunded pretty quickly.

I hve a toothache. Arg!

It has been hot but not as bad as some parts of the country. We are a little low in rain now.

I was feeling a bit poorly the last few days but better now. I have been feeling much more myself recently, the last few days were nothing compared to the last few years. I have discovered hunger pains again; it is an interesting sensation that I almost failed to recognize. The first one was like, "What the hell is that? Oh, great, a new pain. Why does it feel vaguely familiar? Oh! I know what that is!" I can eat more than one meal the size of a snack a day now. The portions are close to normal and I put something in my stomach at least twice a day. I have more stamina and can actually do things. Not bad.

Fourth of July, the Fifth, and So On

For the 4th we set off our own fireworks in the driveway. It used to be that town set them off on the 4th but when they switched from the golf course/industrial park location to the fairgrounds a few years ago, they set them off on the Friday closest to the 4th. And last year they didn't set them off at all because of the bad dryness; that is understandable but they could have cancelled them earlier in the day instead of waiting until dusk to cancel. Anyway… we had a a nice show for ourselves. Some years a lot of people come over, some years a few, this year was just us; it hasn't been that way in years.

So we went to town for their fireworks the next day. The show was alright, as good or even better than most small towns around here put on, but it was not as good as it usually is. So it was a bit of a disappointment--especially since they should have had last years and some new this year to shoot off. Oh well, still better than a lot of the local shows. Usually my town of address, which is not a town at all, does fireworks during the community picnic but we heard today they are not going to do it this year. We don't know why yet.

 Oh yeah, my Tinker threw up on the way home from town Friday night. We don't know why on that either. She was feeling a bit down Saturday, a little less on Sunday but by today seems back to normal. The reason I bring this up is because she threw up in a cup instead of all over the backseat or her sister or me--which is how I used to find out she was nauseated, she would throw up in my face the first time. And while I am speaking of her, I have absolute proof she is grasping the concept of "tomorrow" and there is a good chance she is understanding the days of the week. Which is not an easy task at this house even for those of us that are not autistic. If she wants to go to town and is told tomorrow, she might still be "irritable" about not going on that day, it is the next morning when she gets up she gets dressed herself. And she is always the first up so we wake with her dressed (and irritated we are not ready to leave yet). If she doesn't know it is a  town day, she does not get herself dressed without being told.

Sunday we had a hatch of turkey poults. I hate doing that to a hen but Ron set the eggs under a gal when he was still taking care of the birds. Turkey babies act different than chicken babies and they talk a foreign language. Nine poults hatched.

At 10:30 this morning all 9 were in the nest with mom still. At ten 'till 1:00 this afternoon mom was dead and there were only 3 poults in the nest. I found 2 more poults running around and knew there was one I couldn't seem to catch. There were 2 other active setting nests that all of the proper eggs were in but the moms-to-be were running around scared. I could figure out what happened. About 20 after 1:00, Ron went out back with me to try to catch that last one out running around. While I was trying to catch one that had already been caught and escaped again, Ron noticed a huge blacksnake in one of the nests that had had 5 eggs in it 15 minutes before but there was only one left now. The way the mom-hen looked makes sense now, she was protecting the babies and he got her head and neck in as far as he could and then disgorged it. We killed the snake; nothing else to do once they find a coop. And this explains the uneven egg days--snake got 'em. I did manage to catch that loose poult a couple hours later. That plus a few other more mundane irritants, like the vacuum biting the dust, was making this out to be a not so great day. And I still had a town trip to do. For some reason, I forgot to take my pain pill before leaving. I usually take it right before changing clothes so  it has time to start working before we hit the road. I carry a few emergency ones in my purse but there was nothing to drink in the car and I can't take pills without fluid, it is hard enough with something to drink. I never could make it as a pill popper--"Hey baby, want some reds?" "Do they come in gummy bear form?" Ha ha ha. So I could get something to drink as soon as we get to town, or sooner if the flag is up at the country store, but I decided not to unless I HAD to. While I did have some pain, if was laughable compared to what that ride felt like before my last surgery. I made the whole trip without my usual mental litany of "take me back home, no never mind just let me out and I'll walk oh no I can't walk that far and it's getting farther just take me home no just let me out…"  About halfway to town I pointed at a spot on my belly and said, "It hurts right there." and I really did start laughing. Ron couldn't figure out what he was supposed to do. So while the day was not going great I did find out I do not have to fear a car ride. And I had feared them, for a few years it was torture.

I need to get a new vacuum. Our fireworks would have been less if it would have busted a few days ago but I don't think we can get one until next month now. I suppose it depends on the one I choose. The one I want I have to wait, one that will do we might be able to skinny through the month. I hated this last one we got when the one I wanted was $20 more than it is now plus shipping cost and the wait time of getting it. Now it is cheaper and at the store. I don't know what to do. I guess the hair build up will make the decision for me.