Good morning All. Coffees on.

[Ivy]

2 hours ago, Willow said:

 Since the VA is right there I may take my DD219 and see what I can accomplish.  Who knows.

If you have a minimum of active duty time, you can qualify if your income is under a certain limit.  That started when Obamacare passed.  There can be copays depending on your level.

[KymmieL]

Well back home with no problems other than, Heels hurt the feet. LOL. With my feet in pain I decided to just come home after the VA appointment. As I went up to get dressed this morning I told my youngest that I will be going as a girl, to possibly not stress him out. Came down in my dress and heels. No problems.

 

When I first started at the VA I had a co-pay but that disappeared as my disability rating went up. in the past 15 yrs I haven't paid dime one for my VA care.

 

Hope they find you, @Willow

 

Kymmie

[Elizabeth Star]

I had a traumatic morning. I wen out to check on our chickens after the storm last night. Something got to them. I don't have kids , I get extremely attached to our pets. I had a bit of a meltdown. I thought I had everything covered, even zombies couldn't get in. Although their run was open on the top I thought they would be OK locked in the hen house. I was wrong. I felt like I had completely failed them as their mother. I was a mess and crying. My wife was so worried about hard hard I was taking it she called our Dr. he prescribed anti-anxiety meds. While the script was being filled I mustered up the courage to further examine the carnage and try to determine what went wrong. It was a miracle, I heard litlle cluck, clucks from the hen house. One of our girls had survived with nothing more than a scratch on her nose. With tears of joy I hurried her inside. She's now taking up temporary residence in a dog crate until I can get a top on the run.

 

Shortly after my wife took it upon herself to start calling around to see when we could more since the poor girl would get so lonely by herself. Turned out a friend of a woman who worked in the warehouse of our local co-op had some she really wanted unload. Within a couple hours we had 4 juvenile silkies. They're cute little mop-tops. Oh, and I'm now on more meds.

 

I really hated to admit that I needed help. Maybe the meds are a good thing. I worry about and blame myself for so many things. Even worried about missing work today. Everyone's always telling me I did everything right but all I see is what I didn't do or how I could've improved on what I did. So I don't know, or really care, If the meds are working already or if it's wishful thinking but I'm feeling a lot more stable than I was this morning. Maybe a good night's sleep will help.

 

 

[Elizabeth Star]

Here's a picture of our heroine, Goldy.

And one of the new kids.

 

[KymmieL]

Well, It seems I don't have to worry about my youngest accepting me. When he got home, we wound up discussing the problems I had with my heels. Nothing bad was said, we laughed about it.

 

Kymmie

[Ivy]

Sorry about your chickens Elizabeth.

I used to keep them some years ago, and sometimes I do miss them.  I have dealt with a few predators and never felt guilty about it.  But you do need a tight chicken house.

We had ducks and geese at times too.  One rooster was very mean.  It was the kids chore to get the eggs, and he would give them a fit.  They always had to carry a big stick for defense.  But he was usless at night.

[Willow]

Would you believe the VA clinic has moved three times in just a few years after occupying the old Myrtle Beach AFB infirmary for years?  The only way you know where there are now is to go th the last published location and read the sign on the door.  They are still on the old base property but no where near where the infirmary was located.

 

I wasted time first trying to find the place then trying to figure out my eligibility.  I put in the factors in their yes and no came to the income and the result was ineligible because I make too much money on Social Security and didn’t get blown up in Vietnam.  When I enlisted, everyone was supposed to receive benefits when you retired whether you stayed in for two, four, six or twenty.  So much for Uncle Sam’s promise.  
 

Willow

[Beatriz]

Sorry about your chicken, Liz. Big hug

[Willow]

Good morning 

 

guess I reset the alarm the wrong way.  She came in at 4am today.  We’re up and she’s asleep.  Something wrong with this picture.

 

Sorry about your chickens Liz.  And sorry that got you so worked up you needed medication.  
 

Rainy day here.  But not stormy like it was as it went through Chicago.  I used to work with people that lived in the Naperville area.  Well time for morning devotions.  They definitely help us with our differences.

 

Hugs

 

Willow

[Heather Shay]

@Elizabeth Star I am so sorry to hear about your kids and I'm glad you got medical aid to help you through and it is so encouraging to see one still with you and your new babies. I know you did everything you could to protect them but you can't protect against everything. I'm glad you have your wife one of your original group and the new young ones who need your help and want to share their love with you.

Hugs,

Heather

[Heather Shay]

@Willow so sad about VA. I have friends in same situation. My wife was military and gets practically nothing from VA because she wasn't in war zone. At least she gets Lowe's discount and primo parking place.hang in there and devotionals do help.

Hugs

Heather

[Jackie C.]

Sorry about the chickens @Elizabeth Star. I know when something happens to one of my babies, I'm pretty wrecked. I mean I cried for two days because I was getting rid of my CAR. I'm useless if I lose a cat and it would be even worse if I felt that I'd failed them somehow. My deepest condolences. I know exactly how hard that is and how much harder it is on E.

 

Hugs!

[KymmieL]

I am going to a pride event tonight, a story telling called tales from the taphouse. Being open with the wife I told her last night that I was going to this event. Just now my wife says, thank you for not hiding it but I still don't understand. It gave me strange dreams last night.

I guess that she is living with blinders on as well. While I haven't came out an told her I am on HRT I am not hiding it either. There are three packages of the patches in the cabinet I have my medication in. right there in plain sight. I think she is just in denial.

 

Hugs to all,

Kymmie

[Jackie C.]

1 hour ago, KymmieL said:

I guess that she is living with blinders on as well. While I haven't came out an told her I am on HRT I am not hiding it either. There are three packages of the patches in the cabinet I have my medication in. right there in plain sight. I think she is just in denial.

 

Well to be fair, if I didn't already KNOW what those patches were for, I'd be confused too. Kudos on finding a fun pride event! It looks like I'm going to be sitting it out again, nothing pride-based around here to DO this year. Le sigh.

 

Hugs!

[Bri2020]

Liz I'm sorry about the chickens. Predators are highly motivated and can be pretty impressive in their efforts.  You might need a corgi lol   They are poultry herding dogs so get along with chickens just fine.

 

Kimmy, people can def be pretty good at denial. You may have to choose whether to confront the issue head on or let her live in that denial state. I'm all for just being upfront and clear but you know your situation better so.....  good luck either way.

 

Not much to report in my life other that a great shopping trip at the thrift stores. Pics will be posted in "What are you wearing" thread.  I was specifically looking for summer evening dresses and found three.

 

[Heather Shay]

@KymmieL thank you for that. I just failed in being open with my wife and couldn't get away from a life of hiding/lying and she called me on it. Your wife is right and I'm glad you were up to the challenge. I hope I am able to overcome my weakness before losing someone extremely important to me.

[Guest]

12 hours ago, Elizabeth Star said:

I had a traumatic morning. I wen out to check on our chickens after the storm last night. Something got to them. I don't have kids , I get extremely attached to our pets. I had a bit of a meltdown. I thought I had everything covered, even zombies couldn't get in. Although their run was open on the top I thought they would be OK locked in the hen house. I was wrong. I felt like I had completely failed them as their mother. I was a mess and crying. My wife was so worried about hard hard I was taking it she called our Dr. he prescribed anti-anxiety meds. While the script was being filled I mustered up the courage to further examine the carnage and try to determine what went wrong. It was a miracle, I heard litlle cluck, clucks from the hen house. One of our girls had survived with nothing more than a scratch on her nose. With tears of joy I hurried her inside. She's now taking up temporary residence in a dog crate until I can get a top on the run.

 

Shortly after my wife took it upon herself to start calling around to see when we could more since the poor girl would get so lonely by herself. Turned out a friend of a woman who worked in the warehouse of our local co-op had some she really wanted unload. Within a couple hours we had 4 juvenile silkies. They're cute little mop-tops. Oh, and I'm now on more meds.

 

I really hated to admit that I needed help. Maybe the meds are a good thing. I worry about and blame myself for so many things. Even worried about missing work today. Everyone's always telling me I did everything right but all I see is what I didn't do or how I could've improved on what I did. So I don't know, or really care, If the meds are working already or if it's wishful thinking but I'm feeling a lot more stable than I was this morning. Maybe a good night's sleep will help.

 

 

I understand how you feel. We had good luck with our hens but our ducks and turkeys didn’t make it through the summer. This was when we live in the country a few years back. Those little dinosaurs were fun.

[Jamie68]

12 hours ago, Elizabeth Star said:

I had a traumatic morning. I wen out to check on our chickens after the storm last night. Something got to them. I don't have kids , I get extremely attached to our pets. I had a bit of a meltdown. I thought I had everything covered, even zombies couldn't get in. Although their run was open on the top I thought they would be OK locked in the hen house. I was wrong. I felt like I had completely failed them as their mother. I was a mess and crying. My wife was so worried about hard hard I was taking it she called our Dr. he prescribed anti-anxiety meds. While the script was being filled I mustered up the courage to further examine the carnage and try to determine what went wrong. It was a miracle, I heard litlle cluck, clucks from the hen house. One of our girls had survived with nothing more than a scratch on her nose. With tears of joy I hurried her inside. She's now taking up temporary residence in a dog crate until I can get a top on the run.

 

Shortly after my wife took it upon herself to start calling around to see when we could more since the poor girl would get so lonely by herself. Turned out a friend of a woman who worked in the warehouse of our local co-op had some she really wanted unload. Within a couple hours we had 4 juvenile silkies. They're cute little mop-tops. Oh, and I'm now on more meds.

 

I really hated to admit that I needed help. Maybe the meds are a good thing. I worry about and blame myself for so many things. Even worried about missing work today. Everyone's always telling me I did everything right but all I see is what I didn't do or how I could've improved on what I did. So I don't know, or really care, If the meds are working already or if it's wishful thinking but I'm feeling a lot more stable than I was this morning. Maybe a good night's sleep will help.

 

 

Sorry about your chickens. I don't know what got to them, but I know from personal experience that a raccoon can climb and squeeze through a tiny opening. I've been trying to get a mother and babies out of my basement for weeks now without hurting them. Finally yesterday the mother abandoned them and I was able to get the little ones to a shelter. The lady from Raccoon Ridge was thrilled to get them.

5 wk old baby raccoons.bmp

[Jamie68]

1 hour ago, Jamie68 said:

Sorry about your chickens. I don't know what got to them, but I know from personal experience that a raccoon can climb and squeeze through a tiny opening. I've been trying to get a mother and babies out of my basement for weeks now without hurting them. Finally yesterday the mother abandoned them and I was able to get the little ones to a shelter. The lady from Raccoon Ridge was thrilled to get them.

5 wk old baby raccoons.bmp 1.67 MB · 0 downloads

I forgot, I can't upload a bmp file.

[Ivy]

1 hour ago, Jamie68 said:

I've been trying to get a mother and babies out of my basement for weeks now without hurting them.

I've got one here that comes by to help out with the cat food.  Sometimes shows up in the middle of the day.  It gets up in the attic also.  If I'm out on the porch at night it come anyway, and just looks at me from time to time while eating.   I just gave up and named him/her Rorrie.

 

12 hours ago, Willow said:

the result was ineligible because I make too much money on Social Security and didn’t get blown up in Vietnam.

I was exposed to depleted uranium, which may have helped.  But I'm right on the edge income wise.   I would hate to loose it.  They've been good to me.

[Jamie68]

1 hour ago, Jandi said:

1 hour ago, Jandi said:

I've got one here that comes by to help out with the cat food.  Sometimes shows up in the middle of the day.  It gets up in the attic also.  If I'm out on the porch at night it come anyway, and just looks at me from time to time while eating.   I just gave up and named him/her Rorrie.

I love animals. These babies were so cute and gentle, I just wanted to hug them. They were driving my dog and family nuts though. At least they are safe and well cared for now.

 

[Confused1]

Sorry about your chickens Liz. My wife has over 2 dozen chickens and they all have a name. We were constantly losing chickens until I built what we call our Chicken Palace. The fences were already there and I put in a carport and covered the rest with fencing. We had more than one type of predator killing them including owls. Here is the end result:

 

[Willow]

@Jandi closest I came to radiation was changing collection containers from filtering it out of the air.  That or checking the cesium beam frequency divider.  No exposure to agent orange.  Nothing considered worthy of combat pay, except maybe dodging Thai taxis.  Closest I ever came to being shot was Chinese New Year.  Our alert level elevated to orange. As senior NCO on shift I had to do security checks .  About 3am I was greeted by a Thai Air Police fully armed.  After I climbed down out of the tree I talked to him briefly and went back inside where I got my heart to slow down.  Not nice looking at the business end of an m16.  
 

Willow

 

[Elizabeth Star]

13 hours ago, Jamie68 said:

I forgot, I can't upload a bmp file.

 

Aww. They're so cute.

[Elizabeth Star]

Thanks everyone for your condolences. Being on E does make it harder to manage my emotion but I wouldn't trade it for anything.  I could probably turn them off if needed  but I won't, I need to feel everything, I need to experience what it's like to live. Even during the cleanup I just let the tears run.

 

I took our little survivor out in the back yard for some free-rang fun after work. She was really sticking by my side. I really needed it too. She's such a sweetie she let my take pictures with her perched on my arm like a falcon.

 

Going forward, I'm building an 8 foot predator-proof cube for the new run. The coop, with it's own little run will be inside it.