SSDreamin Blessings and curses

[SSDreamin]

That sound hopeful!

As for the colic, has she been drinking enough water? Stormy doesn't always drink enough when the weather is crazy, then he ends up colicking.

The vet said it appeared to be sand colic, but I really don't think it was. There was a little sand, but she was gobbling cube pieces, and not drinking at all - so I believe that was the problem. She dropped again today too - The vet told us to give her sand clear and, after giving her the first 'dose' yesterday, she was rolling, kicking and twitching today! I gave her some banamine and walked her. Once she "went" she seemed much better She's been drinking quite a bit more today, after this latest bout. DH picked up some electrolytes to have on hand too. We both were just so scared - DH said he just saw Mikey all over again.

 

[Denim Deb]

Did the vet test for sand colic? It's actually pretty easy to do. If you already know, then this is a FYI for others. Take a clear plastic bag and turn it inside out. Then stick your hand in it (unless you don't mind picking up "horse apples" w/your bare hand. Pick up a couple of apples w/it, and turn it right side out w/the apples inside! Add water and let them break up, then settle. If you get more than a tbs or 2, you should treat for sand.

 

[SSDreamin]

Deb; We tested & the vet tested - ours came up with nothing, the vet's had very little. She's doing great now though (knock on wood). I have switched her to calf manna as a treat/reward. 5-6 pellets each time. I keep telling people she'll almost stand on her head for some of those!
In sad news, my friend with horses lost two babies this birthing season. The first was breech, with the cord wrapped around its neck. Caused the Momma to prolapse. The 2nd was born fine, but had no antibodies, so the vet had to put it down. They tried everything first, but the poor little guy was suffering so badly.
I found a place sort of close by to take Jim for training. They will work with him to help with his spookiness and get him trail ready. Yesterday, as I brushed him, he turned his head around and touched his forehead to mine! I thought that was neat, but looked it up online to make sure it wasn't actually a 'bad' thing - nope, just means he trusts me! Yay!
Flank is getting big! He eats very well, is adapting to my requests (lifting his feet, leading, standing, turning) well, and is my little sweetheart. Yup, big problem - since he is freezer camp bound! Even DH said that it's going to be tough, especially when he looks at ya with those big eyes and long lashes!
Got all my new asparagus roots planted in their new spot, and all the old roots moved. Hubs bought me 2 Montmorency cherry trees, and I got them in the ground yesterday. Strawberries have bounced back well and are blooming all over. One apple tree is loaded with blooms, others are leafed out well, but no blooms. We are going to pull saplings and pine trees this weekend, run them through the chipper and spread that on the garden. Our soil is way too sweet for what we want to plant - even with all the wood mulch from last year! It will have to be tilled in and sit for a week which, around these parts, is NOT a bad thing. The weather has warmed up, but we still have frost warnings. My seedling starts are out in the greenhouse and doing good, except for the habenaro's. They need more heat to take off, and we just aren't getting it right now! I've looked for some starts to buy, but haven't found any.
Tried canning milk again. Adjusted things, applied some tricks I read about, and it turned out great! As for the first batch, the chickens love it!
Time to get out there and get some stuff done - DH bought a miniature poop spreader the other day, that mounts to our lawn tractor. I drive it out into the pastures, shovel it right into it, take it out back to the pasture area we're trying to improve, and spread it around! Works great AND, because it's still a novelty, DS#2 is willing to help out!
Hope everybody has a nice weekend. Please remember what it's for, and take a moment to think of all the sacrifice given so we can go camping, Bar-b-q, go boating, garden, or just hang out and enjoy ourselves!

 

[Britesea]

Could you give us the process you used for canning the milk?

 

[frustratedearthmother]

You are so right - this holiday has lots of meaning!

Congrats on making such good progress with Mr. Flank(steak). Sounds like spring is springing finally in your area!

 

[SSDreamin]

Could you give us the process you used for canning the milk?

I'm not sure it will be totally helpful, but here goes: Use milk fresh from the cow, as in still warm and not separated yet. Strain (our system is sealed, so no need to strain), pour into pint or quart (I use qt - made more sense for what I use it for) sanitized jars. Apply lid (that has been simmering in water) and ring. Place in pressure canner that has 2 inches of water (That I turn the heat on - to bring to a simmer at the same time I turn on the water for the lids). Once you have all the jars you're doing in, close up the canner. Let vent for ten minutes (I don't know about you, but I had to sit right there and watch mine close - it's pretty quiet went it starts to vent, so I sit next to the stove and read a book while I wait). Place the weight on (10#) and process to 10# - the minute it reaches 10#, shut it off. Once it's down to zero, remove. That's it! Supposed to be good for 12 months, and the main lady I watched on utube said you can use it on cereal and everything - it tastes like and looks just like fresh milk, not evaporated. My first batch (I heated cold, three day old milk and just listened for the canner to vent, which equaled way too much time in the canner!) looked just awful - it separated and looked light brown colored. When I opened it up, it smelled just like evaporated milk, but didn't try it. We've tried one jar of the new, and DS#2 likes it better than fresh - weird kid! I just want some set aside for when we dry Ice Cream off, and I had run out of space in the frig for more milk!
ETA: I put a splash of vinegar in the canner, to keep the film from building on the jars, but we have hard water, so I don't know if it's completely necessary or not

 

[frustratedearthmother]

Thanks for posting that! Sounds good - wonder if it'll work for goat milk? Might have to give it a try.

 

[SSDreamin]

Didn't even accomplish 1/4 of our list this weekend, but I think I'll need at least a week or two to let this old body recover from all the work!
I have been searching high and low for weeks, for morel mushrooms. This year has been a bumper crop year in MI, I love mushrooms and I've never seen a morel 'in the wild' so I went hunting every sunny day. Nothing. Not a single one. MIL & FIL had them popping up under their clothesline, and I can't find any. So, I am helping DH plant trees (we live on a surprisingly busy road, considering the area, and traffic noise is a bit loud) up front as a sound barrier. He glances down and says "Is that thing right there one of those mushrooms you've been looking for? I'm only asking because I have no idea what they look like." Uh, yeah!! A HUGE, WHITE (less common than the black variety) morel!! WOOHOO!! I did a little happy dance and then picked it! Unfortunately, I ate the three (yup, 3!) spears of asparagus that grew in my garden with the morels my MIL gave me, so now I think I might dehydrate it, to save it's deliciousness for mid winter My brother kindly pointed out that morels are going for about $36-40/lb, so I *could* sell it for 10 cents!
I visited my friend with horses on Saturday, and picked her brain about Jim. We had decided to save up some money and send him to be trained for trail riding/make him less spooky. She said we should save our money - Jim seems to have vision problems and that's why he gets so spooky. The only safe place to ride him would be an arena, so I told DH an arena/round pen is now on the short list. I am disappointed. The people that sold him to us had to know, but said nothing, so we were basically burned again. On the other hand, he was purchased as a pasture pal for Mikey, not as a riding horse. He has developed a good trust bond with me now - the lawn mower can go right in to his pen without any issues, as long as I'm there with him. He's pretty well behaved, and although I admit I'm bummed about not getting to ride the miles and miles of trails that are practically right out my front door, I guess I don't mind riding him in an arena. I mean, it's better than not getting to ride at all, right? DH went on a rant about a horse not able to ride trails needs to go because he'll just take up space and feed. Then, we took the horses out to the open areas of our yard to graze for a bit (separate grass pasture for each of them was on the list, but didn't get done). I took Jim. He shied away from an old tub that was sitting in the yard - he basically leaned against me as we passed it. I told him it was OK and he walked on. I know I missed a golden opportunity to have him touch it and relieve his fear, but it didn't dawn on me until later. The whole time they were out, April kept nickering. once I led Jim over by her, she quit. DH realized that Jim was April's pasture pal, so he quit griping.
Flank cut one of Ice Cream's teats, so we had to toss the milk and need to get him a weaning ring. She's healed up already, and has been pushing him off pretty hard, so it's time. I went out into their pasture and worked with him for 1/2 an hour yesterday. Once he realized I wasn't going to quit just because he had an attitude, he did quite well. Today, I opened his pen to let him out and he stood there waiting for his lead to be attached! Stood just inside the wide open gate, with a clear view of his Momma and an open gate to the nice green pasture! By George, I think he's almost got it!
The ducks are catching on to what's expected of them, so it's almost time to let them free range.
One large item on our list did NOT get done - the garden. DH got the rest of the compost on the areas we missed, but we didn't get any sawdust put down to lower the PH and I just wasn't motivated to plant, so we didn't even re-till it. We'll do all that next weekend. Today there are chances of severe thunderstorms with hail, so I guess it's best that I waited. Hail would've beat my little seedlings to nothing!
I hope everybody had an enjoyable weekend. I saw lots of people when I went to visit DS#1 - lots of beautiful flowers, American flags and potted plants. I don't put live plants on DS#1's grave, as we live too far away to tend to them properly. He has a statue and a container of fake flowers, plus we put out solar lights - if you drive by at night, his headstone is softly lit. It looks quite beautiful, in my opinion.

 

[frustratedearthmother]

This might sound silly, and it might be a long-shot, but have you considered blinders for Jim? An old trainer (now deceased) would occasionally use them on a spooky horse and had good luck with 'em. I've NO experience personally. Just a thought...

 

[Britesea]

Good point frustrated. I believe that's why they used them on the hansom cabs in London- to help the horses deal with all the diversions and sudden movement and such.