Devonviolet Acres

[Baymule]

@Devonviolet @Bruce Mamma Wall's Egg Nog recipe is making the rounds! We made some New Year's Eve as well and enjoyed it.

We're getting 20+ eggs a day......make more eggnog!!! But I have 50 chickens. Some haven't started laying yet, some have and some are 2nd and 3rd year layers. Do I hear stew pot?

 

[Mini Horses]

I have a lot of young hens (6-8 mos) that are just laying in past month or so, small eggs at first. Some of my older hens have begun laying sporadically -- like Bay, I have a few in 3rd yr and they will be kept thru summer, then stew. Been good hens! I'm hoping to have 6-8 go broody this Spring again & plan to set all the eggs I can....for next yrs flock & freezer roos.

Been getting about 15 a day lately. Today with 10" snow...got 8. I had to laugh as two of them laid in "their nest" which was covered with some snow. Those eggs were laying in snow when I collected! Just shook my head and told them "thank you!"

So on your dad's ancestry -- do you know from which facility he was adopted? You may be able to get more direct information from them. Sometimes. Maybe any siblings out there from adopted family? Any birth certificate? Adoption paperwork on record? I wish you luck with your search as it can be a challenge.

 

[Bruce]

@Mini Horses - your chickens started those eggs the day before, they failed to check the weather. Once in the pipe, no stopping it!

 

[Devonviolet]

So on your dad's ancestry -- do you know from which facility he was adopted? You may be able to get more direct information from them. Sometimes. Maybe any siblings out there from adopted family? Any birth certificate? Adoption paperwork on record? I wish you luck with your search as it can be a challenge.

I have absolutely no information, about my father, before he was adopted. The earliest documentation is a 1930 census, with him (age 9) listed as an adopted son. I don't even know at what age he was adopted.

He died when I was six, and my mother was not a consistent source of accurate information. It seems she told my sisters and I different things, about our father.

He had a brother, who was adopted by a different family, and who was not interested in having anything do do with our family. When my father was adopted he became an "only child". So there were no "siblings".

He listed his birthplace as Jacksonville, FL, on my parents marriage certificate (which I do have a copy of), but there is no birth certificate. I always thought he was adopted from FL, but my sister tells me she was told he was either living in Alaska or California, when he was adopted.

When I can find the time, my next move is to fill out a request form, to request adoption information, from the county where his adopted parents lived in California. But there is no guarantee that CA will release that info to me, even though he is dead, and I am one of his 4 living children.

 

[Devonviolet]

There has been some discussion, here on BYH, about how bad the flu had been, across the world and even around the world. In our area, we have schools close because so many students, teachers and support staff being out due to the flu.

I have talked, previously, about making Elderberry syrup, to prevent/cure cold and flu viruses. In the past month, DH and I have picked up colds. We immediately started taking an ounce of syrup four times daily, of our homemade Elderberry Honey syrup, and in two daÿs were back to feeling fine.

I've been told doctors are expecting things to get worse. It has been many years since we have had a major flu epidemic. So, they are expecting this flu could turn into a world wide pandemic.

Many people opt to get the flu shot. My question is . . . since we are having a major push to get the flu shot (from the doctor's office to pharmacies to the grocery store), and so many people are getting flu shots (DH and I NOT included), why are they expecting a world wide epidemic???? I have seen TV commercials that say, even if you get the flu shot, you could get the flu, "but just not as bad as if you didn't get the flu shot". I have heard of people who got the flu shot ending up in the hospital, because they got so sick from the flu. HUH????? No thank you! I'm not getting the flu shot!

I have a theory: I heard recently (on the news), that the current flu shot is not even the active current flu virus strain, and is only considered 10% effective. The reason the current flu shot is not the current flu strain is because the flu virus is capable of quickly mutating. So, even if the flu shot was the right strain when it was developed last year, the virus can mutate to the point that the vaccine is not effective, against the mutated virus, by the time you get the shot.

Think about it. We now have antibiotic resistant "super" bacteria, because bacteria can mutate, to protect themselves from the antibiotics, and way too many antibiotics have been given (not only to humans, but to the animals, whose meat we eat).

I'm not an expert in viral medicine, but I can't help but wonder, if bacteria can mutate and create "super bugs", why can't viruses create vaccine resistant "super viruses"???

Something else to consider, when getting a flu shot at a pharmacy or grocery store. Last year, a friend got his flu shot at a pharmacy. They gave him the wrong shot, and he had an anaphylactic reaction, that almost killed him. He ended up in the hospital for a week!

 

[Baymule]

I never get a flu shot, never have and not going to start now. What good is last year's strain? Your best defense is to #1 be as healthy as you possible can. Eat right, get enough sleep, exercise-as in get off the sofa and go DO something.

I like my own brand of doctoring. In the last 4 years I've been to a doctor once. Cost-$240 at a local clinic. I know the difference between something I can kick on my own and something that needs antibiotics.

 

[Mini Horses]

I agree with BOTH of you. My last trip to a doctor was about 19 yrs ago. Got a pap smear & mammogram. Never a flu shot. Have been very healthy all my life. Still eat well/healthy, less sugar than in years past, casual breads, some fermented each week, drink wine, use real butter, etc. Eat what I want, when I want it....mostly home cooked with fresh produce/meats, milk, cheese, yogurt, from my farm. 95% non-processed & non fast food consumption, rarely a soda. Buy grass-fed beef, etc. My food demo job is where majority of processed tasting happens, although I do a LOT of organic health/food items.

Now I have no issues with meds or foods but, it's just how I live. (I'm not a purist, just shake my head at things I see in people that could be so easily corrected by lifestyle choices.) My farm work gives me plenty of outside exercise & I work a job that requires physical action -- a lot of merchandise resets at stores.

Good genetics (grandparents lived into 90's as did mom) and good learning from those grandparents who lived a self-sufficient lifestyle because that was ALL they knew! Anyone who says such things as food type & exercise are not important are just wrong. NO chemicals rocks.

I'm 72 this month, fully active and healthy. Take no drugs as I have no reason for them OK, I need glasses & probably cataract surgery will be something in future....most oldsters have them. Mine are still tiny.

 

[Latestarter]

I dodged the flu shot while on active duty when the place I was stationed at would allow me to. Sometimes they wouldn't... "Command Readiness" was the rationale... Couldn't afford to have 1/2 the command down sick all at once or over a prolonged period. Seemed to me the only time I ever GOT the flu, was when I'd had the shot. Obviously I got more successful at dodging it as I got older/smarter/senior in rank. The worst case was as a raw recruit in "A" school training in Millington, TN. This was late '76 and the swine flu was a huge scare going on. I was FORCED to take the swine flu shot and I have to say, that had to be the worst shot reaction I've ever had. I was sick for days after that. For many years I've wondered if that wasn't a case of using the military as a "captive test audience" or human guinea pigs. Still pissed off about it even now.

I haven't accepted the shots for years now. When offered, I'd run. I have absolutely no intention of changing that stance/process now, even after just having the flu. I'm hoping it gave me the immunity boosts needed for my body to know what to do next time. It's been so long since I've had it, I'm sure my immune system was in need of that boost.

 

[Bruce]

Eat right, get enough sleep, exercise-as in get off the sofa and go DO something.

Or stay home on the sofa AWAY from all people. Won't get the flu if you aren't near an infected person, right??

 

[Mini Horses]

Or stay home on the sofa AWAY from all people

Sounds like a plan. BUT I still work!! I'm in retail stores between 4 & 7 days a week. I depend on my immune system.