Monthly Archives: April 2010

New Cat in the Neighborhood

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We have another cat in the neighborhood. Our Greeley backyard is kind of like Puerto Rico -like the Kruses :-)- with all the stray cats that come around. This one has come by more than a few times so he gets a name. In true unoriginal fashion we called him as we saw him (or is it her??): Patch. But that sounded too common so I used the Igpay Atinlay form of the name: Atchpay. We think it’s a “he” because we have had the occasional unfortunate fragrance that only comes from male cats. And Kitty does not seem to want to share his territory.


Atchpay at our back porch.

I have pet him and briefly picked him up but not held him. He is really cute with little white sock feet. We could have called him “Socks” -or rather, Ocksay.

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I Can See Clearly Now

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This past week I had Lasik surgery done on my eyes. Sorry for the lack of posts, but I couldn’t see very well and having Britton write a blog post is a rare treat. Anyway, the surgery went fine. It was pretty scary actually during the procedure itself, but that is because I think way too much into things. I was envisioning what they were doing to my eyes, thinking that this must be what it’s like to be abducted by aliens and when I heard the saw that would cut my cornea, I really freaked out. But everything was numbed and I couldn’t feel anything, which is another reason why it felt like an out-of-body experience.

They lifted the cornea flap, lasered under it and put it back down and I immediately could see better. Then everything went really blurry again as the swelling occurred. I slept the rest of the day and most of the following. My eyelids are still puffy even today because of the tool they use to keep your eyes pried open.


My new eyes sans eye makeup

But I can see clearly now! I am very excited to have my eyesight without contacts or glasses. I’ve had one or the other since I was about 7 years old. And I am a bookworm and info-phile so I am sure all that close-work didn’t help my myopia. I still have to wear these funky spiderman-looking eye protection deals when I sleep that leave a weird sticky residue on my face and I have to be careful in the shower not to let water hit my eyes directly. At my one day follow-up appt I was 20/25 in one eye and 20/20 in the other. Not bad for being -10 before (those are some thick glasses let me tell you!).

Now if only I could clearly see into my crystal ball for the future…hmm. Where’s that third eye, anyway?

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Puerto Rico Dreaming and Plans

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Before we left for Puerto Rico almost a month ago already, Britton and I thought for sure we would come back with answers and a definite path. Unfortunately, we just have more questions than answers. No one at work knows what will happen after August. I’ve put my resume out there to a few places both here in Colorado and Puerto Rico but haven’t really heard back. Britton hasn’t heard too much about working remote in Puerto Rico even though I know he’d do great at that.

We are just kind of stuck. I am beginning to think maybe the larger place in Puerto Rico could work as a business/home, but we would still like a backup plan for income. If I didn’t lose my job in August and we worked for another 6-8 months we would be in better shape for that. We really just don’t know. And it’s frustrating. Because I like to move forward. I like to be busy and dream and make plans. And it is difficult when it could go any way, really. We could stay or go. We could go somewhere else. We made this video before we left, but it could just as easily be made today for all it’s helped us in our decision making process.

But I have to remember that I’ve been in this place before. It is not unusual. I didn’t know what to do after college, or after grad school, or after getting married. I worried about where my life was going. Sometimes I think you just got to keep trying but not worry so much. Things tend to work out as they should. My life has been great so far and with Britton in it, it has become even better. We balance each other. He pulls me down to earth when my head gets too lost in the clouds, and I pull him up when he is weighed down by the pressures of the “real world”. I think, and he helps to do. I think every team needs a little of both. A thinker and a doer. And a doer who occasionally does the thinking and a thinker who occasionally does the doing. A dreamer and a practical realist We are a team and I think in that way we don’t really have to worry too much. We will be just fine. Wherever this journey called life takes us.

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How to stop a chicken from pecking her own eggs

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We have a chicken, we think it’s Football, who has been pecking her eggs (and sometimes some of the other hens’ eggs) lately. Sometimes they are poked all the way through, other times, it’s just pecked enough to crack it slightly. We thought they would get over it, and we can still eat them (as long as we eat them quickly) but then we saw some completely smashed and cracked open eggs recently so we thought we better try to do something about it. We had no idea how to stop a chicken from pecking her own eggs, so I researched it.

I read an article online about this that said it is a very difficult habit to break (no pun intended) once they’ve started to peck them. If they find the contents of their own eggs, they will no doubt find them tasty. (This is a strange thing to me, that they would eat their possible future progeny, I don’t get that from an evolutionary perspective, but anyhow…)

So, one person advised to cover an egg in vaseline. They would not like it because of the taste and consistency. Another article, and my parents, suggested to add calcium supplements to make the egg shells stronger and harder, and more difficult to crack. Another article said to add really hot and spicy hot sauce to the inside of the egg and put it back outside. If they decided to eat it, they would be in for a hot shock.

So we decided to do all of these! Britton stopped by the feed store for some crushed oyster shells (about $6). They seemed to really like it! Then I set about making an ugly HOT egg.

First, I took a pecked egg and made the hole a little bigger to get rid of the white and yolk and to add the new hot contents:


Pecked egg hole

Then I chopped up some habaneros, added some olive oil, tasbasco-style sauce and water.


Habanero Peppers. We just touched our tongue to a cut up piece and it burned for about 20 minutes!

Then I put all the contents into the egg and sealed it with scotch tape. Finally, I covered it with vaseline to make this lovely thing:


Egg pecking deterrent

We put it out yesterday and so far, I’ve collected 3 unpecked eggs today. The deterrent egg is still out there untouched! We’ll see if it’s a fluke or if it continues to work, but so far, so good! And the egg shells do feel thicker and stronger now with the calcium oyster shells…

 

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