Why?? again, again!! Why??

I know, I know, it’s been a few weeks or so (again). So one reason I’ve been slacking on my post are because we’ve been working on our chicken pen, so we can finally transition them from the garage to outside!! They’re fully feathered and have grown so much! Our weather is starting to warm up at night as well, they’re 10 weeks old now.

Another reason I’ve been slack on my post is because I’ve basically been Spring cleaning my house!! For two weeks actually, lol. I’ve went through every room of my house and I’ve went through clothes and toys, and papers, old mail, kitchen items, things we don’t use or touch hardly ever! And boxed everything up and put them in our shed, I am planning a yard sale soon. What I do not sell I am going to give away or donate. I’ve been busy, busy, busy!

Thirdly, we decided to get a puppy. A family dog, a dog that will grow up with our toddler daughter. We decided on a German Shepherd, I’ve for most of my life have been scared of German Shepherds, and I’m not 100% sure why. One of our pets growing up was a GSD, his name was Takita, he was actually an ex-cop dog, I wasn’t scared of him though and he was a full grown adult dog when we got him. He was as tall as me (I was a very short child, lol).

Also, we raised a few Chows as well. I was never scared of them either. I didn’t know they were a dangerous breed until I was in my late 20’s though. So anyway, I am going to give this little cutie puppy a chance, I’m already in love with him! We’ve had him a week as of Sunday, March 6th. I feel like if we raise him and train him correctly from a puppy, that I will have no need to fear him when he’s grown! 😊

Speaking of March 6th, 2022.

And, now here’s for the “Why?? again, again!! “Why??” part. So, my daughter was restless last night and I was up until almost 3am. So, I got on Facebook for a little while, I was actually only getting on to look up something but before I ever made it to my destination…. I saw a post from my oldest 3 childrens Aunt, she had posted about her mother passing away earlier that morning (Sunday morning, I’ve calculated it would have possibly been between 1-3am). This woman who passed away suddenly is my oldest 3 sons Grandmother, she was only at the young age of 55 and I’m not sure what happened yet. She has always seemed very healthy, taken care of herself, she and her last living brother were the only 2 of 7 children still alive. Now, it’s just her brother. She was an amazing person! She loved her kids, grandkids, and husband with her whole heart ❤️.. she will be forever missed and loved!! Rest Easy, beautiful.

My heart breaks for the whole family, especially my boys. It was so unexpected. I’m not sure really what else to say about it though, I’m at a loss for words, in shock!! Hopefully, we will get closure soon. Her favorite Holidays to spend with her kids and grands were Christmas and Easter, those two holidays will never be the same again without her, 😭😭.

That’s all for now. Hope whoever reads this enjoys our real life story.

I now have an update on her death. As they did not get an autopsy, they do believe she had a heart attack in her sleep. I was told she was having some tingling in her arm a few times that night. She decided not to go to the ER as she assumed it was heart burn as she did have acid reflux, and they had been out all day that day at the Irish Fest here in our local county. So, they went to bed and a few hours later it was said her husband heard a loud grunting coming from her and when he woke up to check on her she was already siting up and leaned over on the bed, he could not get a response from her. He called 911 and they instructed him to lay her on the floor and begin CPR, he had no successful, EMS took over when they got there and they also had no success. That was it, that was the end of her life, and although it’s been over a month, it is still a shock! RIH Pretty beautiful sole, everyone loves and misses you so much! Easter was not the same, and felt empty without you. We carried on for the kids though, and I did take 2 of the boys to see Aunt that day. I hope Christmas will be in honor of you as well. Love you so much!

After the Fact

Hello, I know it’s been awhile, again. The days seem to just be going by so so fast!! However, here is the update on my family.

My family had the viewing of my Uncles body, Wednesday February 16th, 2022. He looked so peaceful and no longer in pain. My Aunt is taking it better than she thought she would as the rest of us are as well. She is finding the positive of a negative situation, as she was told he would be coming home after quarantine (he developed Covid in the nursing home) he survived the Covid and seemed to be doing better, then a turn in events happened… A nurse attempted to wake him for his breakfast and morning routine on Friday February 11th, 2022, he would not come to, his pulse was very slow and his blood pressure was very high.

The nurse then called 911 and had him rushed to the Heart Heath Hospital we have here. After testing and evaluation, it was found that he had also somehow gotten Septic while in the nursing home this was not good for his already deteriorating body of about a year. His heart was weak and he was basically in a coma.

On the morning of February 13th, 2022 the nurse from the hospital called and informed my Aunt that her husband was not doing so well and that she should probably come as soon as possible. After this phone call, my Aunt and her sister rode to the hospital. He hung on for awhile and gave signs he knew she was there.

Then, my Aunt explained how his monitor went off and it flat lined. She yelled out for help, the nurses and Doctor rushed in and they started chest compressions (as he had went into cardiac arrest). After 5 minutes of the chest compressions and no signs of a change the Doctor came out and asked my Aunt what she wanted them to do, keep going or stop, my Aunt told them to just stop that’s what he would have wanted anyway. So that was what happened on the day he passed away.

They were married for 46 years.

She finds comfort in his death, one, because she knows he’s with their Grandson and two, because she had no idea how she was going to take care of him when he came home as he would have needed around the clock care. He was a large man and she’s a tiny woman she had no idea how she would roll him or help him to the bathroom etc.. she believes that God did what he did for him and her, that God worked it out to where he was no longer struggling and in pain (as her and their adopted daughter believe he had sclerosis of the liver and never told them) and for her as she didn’t know how she was going to take care of him. Either way, she would have done what it took to take care of him though. She feels quilt in the relief she has of knowing she will now be able to take care of him.

Our family is strong, supportive and will do anything for each other. We all have told her to not feel the least bit guilty, that it was ok for her to feel relief. He is no longer in pain, he’s with his Grandson and he’s healthy now.

I know these blogs have nothing to with what my site is supposed to be about but I’ll get there too. But, this is part of my life. That’s all for now, hope you all enjoy the read.

Why, again. 😭

Hello, I apologize for the delay in my post as my family is going through a lot right now.

Back on December 1st, 2021, my cousin found her 8 year old son passed away in his sleep she found him around 2:50am that morning after going to check on him as she said she had a feeling of a need to check on him. He was a victim of a near drowning back 5 years ago, and has been paraplegic ever since. He was having Neuro Storm Seizures the day before his death, 😔. I have found comfort in knowing he is in Heaven, running and jumping and playing as he did before his accident and that he is no longer suffering. Although, the pain of losing him is forever going to be with me. I also have him with me, in my keepsakes necklace, ❤️. Fly so High Baby Boy (Lil Man) I will forever love and miss you so much.

So, here we are.. not even 3 months later and my Uncle passed away Sunday, February 13th, 2022. This Uncle is my cousin whose son passed away December 1st, it’s also her Uncle (however he was more like her Dad as him and my Aunt raised her from a baby). He was a retired veteran of many years and served our country for many years, years ago. He was 73 years old, he was a funny man but stern and set in his ways. I will miss you Uncle, please look after Lil Man in Heaven!

That’s all I have to say about that. So please be patient with me on my lack of post. I will provide more updates as I get them in.

I have an update on the cause of death of both my baby cousin and my Uncle. My 8 year old cousin, passed away from Covid-19, he Asymptomatic. He was had absolutely no signs of having Covid-19 prior to his death. The Coroner explained to my cousin (his mother) that from the near drowning incident and his lung capacity that even if she had known he had Covid-19, he more than likely still would not have survived it. That even if she taken him to a hospital, all they would have been able to do is give him antibiotics and make him as comfortable as possible until he passed away. Fly high sweet Boy, we miss you SO MUCH down here! ❤️

Now, my Uncle. His final cause of death was considered cardiac arrest the day he passed away. The nurses and doctor did all they could to bring him back, after 10-15 minutes (he did have a no resuscitation record but they still tried but after that time frame they asked my Aunt what they should do, and she asked them to just stop that he would have wanted them to let him as it was his fait. RIP, Uncle.. I hope you and Lil Man are up there together having the best time together. We love you and miss you down here!

FIRST TIME CHICK RAISERS

I would like to start out by saying that I am a very impulsive person when it comes to getting ideas in my head. Haha.

So, first I want to start off by saying that I was around chickens growing up they were not ours but family or friends had them. I was mostly around this one rooster, he was not the nicest, he loved chasing us and pecking our ankles, etc.

Anyways. Moving on, I at the beginning of December decided that I wanted to raise chicks from hatch-until… so a good friend of mine threw some Easter Egger eggs and few others in the incubator, 16 in total. We only had 15 survivors, so the two days they hatched I was given them immediately after they fluffed. I already had everything they would need and had everything set up for their arrival. I did the whole plastic tote, Pine shavings, small feeder and waterer (I went outside and found gravel for the waterer and washed them and put them in), also had the heat lamp, feed, etc.

Fast forward to the two weeks mark. They were so easy to handle until then, lol. At two weeks they had grown SO much I ended up buying a nice sized Guinea Pig cage off Facebook Market, because they started fighting in general because they were crowded, I guess, and also started fighting over the feeder and waterer so I pre-ordered one new one of each from Tractor Supply (my favorite place) so that helped, well then they started acting bored so I bought them a wooden perch from Amazon (also a favorite place to order from) and a treat that was age appropriate it took them a few days to catch on to how to get it, but they figured it out, eventually. The transfer to a different “brooder” was easy and better for them (at the time). They seemed happier and stopped fighting, lol.

Now, fast forwarding to four weeks old. Ok, so when we transferred them to the bigger setting we had to move it out of our bathroom because it was much bigger than the tote. So, we moved them into the part of our kitchen that goes into the living room, this was not near anywhere that we prepared or ate food at (so hold on the unsanitary comments, I’m aware) well actually when we moved them there we were not actually aware that you can get Salmonella from live chickens as well as not so live chicken, 🤷🏼‍♀️🤦🏼‍♀️. So, I immediately wanted them moved again, also because they had started kicking up so must Dust. Mind you, they’re bigger now than they were at two weeks old. They already outgrew the cage and were starting to fight again as well. Oh, and I took the heat lamp down because they were producing so much dust they almost caught it on fire, 😱. So, they without a doubt needed to be moved back in the bathroom. I’ll explain why in the next paragraph.

So, we transfer them back into the bathroom at this point. We took two nice sized dog cages and lined them with old rubber welcome mats we had laying around, boxes along the sides, and bedding, etc.. and we separated the ones who had been fighting and or picking at one another and separated them. I know what people are going to say about this part, but my chicks are doing great. So after the heat lamp scare, I was afraid to use it inside the house any longer. So, they were actually without the lamp for a few days before we transferred them back to the bathroom but I did other things to make sure they had a heat source but they were fine either way. The bathroom is the warmest/ heated place in our house so it was perfect for them, temperature wise.

Back to the bathroom set up, it didn’t last long, we ended up moving them from the bathroom that same week to outside in our one car garage /building. We made them a nice big area to run around in, I bought them and also from Tractor Supply, a gallon sized waterer and a feeder that holds up to 7 lbs, we cleaned up the dog crates, took the doors off, set them up with a feeding area, a water area, and a sleeping area. We did connect the heat lamp back up (I am also aware of the risks of this too) we secured the heat lamp up above their sleeping area. I was worried about this set up but they are growing faster than they’re actually supposed to be, so they needed more space, they are 6 weeks old now and have been in the building for two weeks and they’re still completely fine, ☺️. They seem very happy with the room they have now and the set up they have now, also they’re already fully featured, 😱. We have a chicken area/run etc that we are in the works of fixing up for them, however, we are waiting until the weather starts getting a little warmer in our area at night before we transition them to outside full time.

I’ve been told by some they need the lamp for up to 8 weeks, some say 6, some say they don’t need it. Well, we are just doing what we feel is best,🤷🏼‍♀️. I’ve done so much research and watched so many videos though, that have been helpful and some that I believe were a little dramatic , 🤣.. So, anyway this concludes our start of raising chicks from day one and is just some of what we’ve done, learned, etc.