This and that about life. I like color and variety so I may change my theme regularly. My hobbies include, poultry of many kinds, chickens, ducks, geese and turkeys. Hatching my own critters has been fun and rewarding. I love gardening, painting, poetry, belly dancing and writing. I just wish I had more time to do them.
Life is never dull, it can be fun and crazy so that's where the title comes from, plus I have lots of different interests.
Maggie's Mayheim
I was so excited when the geese eggs that I had put in my little Brinsea incubator started showing signs that they were fertilized and growing. It’s been fun to see the growth and exciting that my geese are being active. Before the eggs were infertile and now they all have something going on.
I was even more excited that the first goose hatched was an embden. These geese are very docile and it’s rare that you see them having any activity with each other but when I have seen it, it is very interesting. My goose hen, encourages the gander and then he proceeds to gently accommodate, her request. So my first little gosling is Alpha, she is now a week old and getting fluffier by the moment. Since geese imprint on the first thing they see, she/he thinks it should be with me all the time. Luckily, I have had an African goose hatch last night but left it in the incubator for a bit longer until I think it’s strong enough to be in with Alpha.
There is another gosling talking to us through the egg although it hasn’t pipped yet. I have two more due to hatch and it’s exciting to see what’s in the egg because they pretty much all look the same except the embden eggs are larger. I have Chinese geese, that are loving on my African geese so I’m getting a mixture of African/Chinese goslings. It’s easy to tell them apart because the African have dark bills and feet and the Chinese have orange feet and bills and the goslings all look different according to their breeds. 
this is Alpha at about a day old and a little African hatching that unfortunately didn’t make it. It’s amazing how different Alpha looks in just a week.
(Source: facebook.com)
This is the official ‘i care’ symbol. This is how it works:
Basically you reblog this, and your followers know that you care and that they can message you about anything anon or not and you will reply back or at least look at their message.
(via carrymewithlove)
“The eyes are the window to the soul”
One of the first things I notice about another person is their eyes. Women especially love having beautiful eyes. It’s always fun working with a lady that has beautiful eyes already. You can enhance the color of your eyes just by the color of eye shadow you wear. But it is equally has fun to show a woman that doesn’t use much on her eyes, to enhance the beauty that is already there.
One of the easiest and most economic ways to enhance your eyes is with an eye liner. I’m not good with pencil eye liners. Something a lot of people don’t realize about Mary Kay eye colors is that you can use your Mary Kay eye colors wet. This is something I’ve always loved about Mary Kay eye shadows. For every color I have in my palette, I have an eye liner. I always use the darkest shade I’m contouring with as my liner. You can use sponge tip applicator and apply this color along the lash line dry or use a fine thin liner brush and a little water with the eye color and line your eyes wet. The less water you use, the darker the shade but you want enough water with the eye color to be able to apply it smoothly along the top lashes and bottom lashes. It makes your eye lashes look fuller and defines the eye better. The benefit of using it wet, is more control of where the color goes and when it dries, it stays put. You don’t have to worry about running or smudging.
Stay tuned for more tips and tricks that will save you money and keep you looking gorgeous. With Mary Kay cosmetics, you can’t go wrong. I’ve used them since I was a teenager and they are wonderful products. Consultants still offer free skin care facials and glamour techniques.
(Source: marykay.com)
While I was in NY visiting my family, I used a Bissell Perfect Sweep Turbo Cordless Sweeper. I loved it on my mom’s floors and short little rugs. I decided to do a comparison between that product and the one I got for Christmas which was the Crofton cordless sweeper. I really loved the Bissell and still do. It is twice the price and only has a 1 year warranty. The dirt holding container is a little smaller and not as easy to maneuver but, it does a much better job of cleaning than the Crofton sweeper.
The Crofton sweeper has a side compartment for the dirt and is easier to remove. It costs half the price and has a 2 yr warranty. I think the wheels are higher from the floor and it doesn’t grab the dirt quite as well as the Bissell.
So my thoughts are, these are both great little cordless sweepers. One definitely does a better job, but both are effective on low shag rugs. The Bissell does better on floors for grabbing dog hair and dirt but the dirt catcher seems to fill faster than the Crofton. Both are good but one is half the price of the other and has a better warranty, so you have to decide which is better for your money. Do you want one that cleans a little better or do you want to save a little money. I personally like the one that cleans better but like I said before, I think it’s lower to the floor and the other thing is it’s quieter. The Crofton is a bit louder. They both have to be plugged in for a considerable amount of time to recharge but that isn’t much of a draw back for either item.
This seems like a simple question, but so many people commit suicide at this time of the year because they don’t feel like they have anything to live for. Recently, I was in a room when this question was asked of my very close family member. After being extremely ill and in tremendous pain, this person had an answer to that question. What brought on this question, you might wonder?
Well, being faced with the prospect of having be kept alive via a machine. Unfortunately, I didn’t and still don’t have any answer for that question. Maybe it’s because I feel like I live for every one else every day. I feel like I give all my love to my family to the best of my ability all the time. I really don’t feel like there is anything in the world that would make me want to stay here. I would like to know what keeps people going when they have to spend 3-4 hours 3 or 4 days a week strapped to a machine. In addition to that, you have to have this tube stuck in your arm and what about the pain and discomfort the kidneys cause. The disease is Polycystic Kidney Disease. I would rather die of a heart attack. Kidney failure has to be one of the worst ways for a person to pass away besides cancer.
Don’t get me wrong, I like the things I do and hobbies I have. I have a fulfilling life, but being strapped to a machine to prolong the inevitable doesn’t sound good to me. I don’t want to have my family suffer while I do. I don’t want to become a burden to them as over time, my body kills itself. I don’t want them to watch me suffer and I don’t want to suffer. This life hasn’t been easy for me by any stretch of the imagination. One of the most wonderful things that has ever been a part of my life is my children. I have been very blessed with a wonderful family, children and a loving husband, but I know if I required a lot of care from being ill, it would be difficult for them and some people are not cut out to care for other people.
So if you were asked the question, “What do you have to live for?” what’s your answer? I know Jesus as my Lord and savior and I would rather meet my maker than try to keep going dependent on a machine.
Life Lessons from Observations
Have you ever heard the saying, “look at the dog, look at the owner”? The reason people say that, is the person usually resembles the dog in looks or behavior. Picture an afghan hound with its long flowing coat, slender but graceful body and sleek head, as it glides around the room in a dog show. Its owner is a woman with long, flowing hair, slender figure, lovely features and just as graceful as the dog she is handling. Dogs are faithful, loyal companions, always wanting to be with you, always wanting to please you, always happy to greet you when you come home and always loving you no matter what. Dogs are a lot like God in this way, there isn’t much you can do that will make them not love you. This might be a strange comparison, but let’s compare dogs with chickens a little.
It’s been my observation since I have raised several batches of chicks, that with chickens, you can raise them from an egg, hold them, feed them, nurture them and then have them run the other way when they grow up. Kids can be that way too sometimes depending on if they have been smothered or neglected. Now if you raise a dog from a puppy, hold them, feed them and nurture them; all they want to do is be with you and have your attention. You can’t touch or pet them enough most of the time. Some chickens are affectionate. They love to be around you and have you touch them or sit on your shoulder but the majority is not like this. Most are interested in you when you have the food bucket or something to give them but otherwise they don’t want to have anything to do with you or have you touch them. They want to do their own thing and be left alone.
Where am I going with this? As I was observing the behaviors of my chickens, it occurred to me when it comes to God, dogs are like God. When it comes to people, people are like chickens. Crazy thought? Maybe. In the Bible Psalms 139:13-16, it says God knew us while we were in our mother’s womb. It says that He knew us before any of our days had begun. . Even though some people are raised in church and good families, they grow up and make different choices. Church and God is the farthest thing from their minds. Other people depend on God for everything. It reminds me of the day the young chickens can be let loose in the yard, they have a choice. They can come back to you, let you touch them, care for them and they depend on you, or they go do their own thing and only come around when the food bucket comes out and don’t depend on you so much anymore.
We provide for our animals and some people believe God provides for us. We have food, shelter and more than we need most of the time. In the same way we provide bedding, food and affection for our animals. Dogs are always happy to see you and have your attention. I think God is always happy when we are grateful for what He has given us and He loves spending time with us. Some chickens are happy to see us and have us show them affection while others peck your hands even though you are trying to take care of them. People tend to be this way with God. They disregard that God does anything for them at all and basically bite the hand that feeds them. They fail to realize God’s provision for them or that He is there to help and care for them. Like the dog, God is always faithful, loyal, true and loves us unconditionally. He just wants to spend time with us, talk with us and enjoy our company.
People are like chickens in regards being busy. People are always running to and fro, too busy to slow down and enjoy the world around them. People are busy being busy. Chickens are busy running around, chasing bugs, squawking about nothing and relying on the goodness of the earth. I have sweet silkies and banty hens that are usually happy to see me, let me hold them and are quite friendly and personable, not all chickens are unsociable. Sometimes it does depend on the breed of the bird. God gave us life so we could enjoy it and enjoy it more abundantly. Dogs know how to enjoy life. We have a dog named Bowza; he is a chocolate lab, pit-bull mix that we rescued from a potentially bad life. I think God gave him to us to remind us how to enjoy “just being.” He is one of those dogs that is happy and excited all the time. He just wants to be with me and have my attention. He learned how to jump a fence just so he could get back into the house where I am. He isn’t very tall so this is quite a feat for him. I found this kind of amazing for his size so he’s on you tube now. He creates amusement for himself by chasing a plastic bottle or a tin can across the floor or chewing up a box and throwing it up in the air. He is happy with the world around him. He plays hard, he loves you with everything and he sleeps hard. I have one new rooster named Stretch, a Dominique Cuckoo Moran mix that acts a lot like Bowza. The big difference with them is that Stretch was raised from an egg that I incubated and handled by me from the very beginning and Bowza was not. The similarities with him and Bowza is that he amuses himself, loves life, acts like a goofball and is curious about me but he won’t let me touch him unless he’s sleeping.
One thing people, dogs and chickens have in common is they all need rest. God never sleeps. He’s always watching over us. Even at rest our dogs protect us because they are always attentive, on the watch and bark when they hear the slightest noise in the night to signal an alert. They have saved people from fires because of their keen attention to their surroundings. The best time to pick up a chicken is at night when they have settled in their nesting positions, when they are sleeping. You can pet them and pick them up without startling them at all. Roosters don’t crow or sound alerts at night either which leaves the whole henhouse vulnerable. Predators usually attack at night. A fox can come right in and grab a chicken without any fight at all. Owls are very quiet and can swoop in and carry a chicken off before the chicken even knows what happen. People are more like chickens at night because they are most vulnerable when they sleep hard and dream. Unfortunately, children have been stolen out of their own beds at night because they can be picked up with no noise while their parents are sound asleep in the room next door. I saw a TV program where people had a dog that had never been taught to bark. The mother said if the dog could have barked it would have saved their little girl from being taken from the house. Dogs have been considered man’s best friend. I wonder if it’s because dog is God spelled backwards. Dogs watch over us, crave our attention and love us unconditionally and so does God.
People were given free choice. When you let chickens go free in the yard after raising them, nurturing them and protecting them, they have a free choice. They can let you touch them, hold them close, get to know them or run wild and never let you get close. People can choose to have a close relationship with God and some do. Even though some people have been raised in the church their whole lives and have seen the blessings of God, they choose to walk away, run wild and never let God get close. Some drift away and stay at a safe distance knowing that this is where their provision comes from and it’s a safe place. Their attitude is, “He’s there if I decide I really need Him,” or “not right now, I’m too busy having a good time.” Still others go free for a little while, but know down deep inside that God is their refuge, their strength, a present help in time of trouble and He loves them no matter what. He is always there to listen and provides for their every need. Those people come back to have a closer relationship with Him, never to stray again.
The Bible refers to chickens in a good context as mothers. The Bible says, Hosea 11:4, “I led them with cords of human kindness, with ties of love; I lifted the yoke from their neck and bent down to feed them.” He is just waiting for them to let Him touch them, to care for them and to love them. The Bible refers to God as protective and loving as a mother hen in Luke 13:34, “How often have I desired to gather your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing!” This analogy is used because a mother hen cradles her body around the eggs with her wings covering them for 21 days constantly without much food or drink until they hatch. She continues to position her body in this manner to cover them with her warmth and protection as they mature. Some chicks aren’t smart enough to stay within this protection and die. Hens will peck your hands violently, while they are setting on their eggs and don’t even think about touching those babies when they hatch. A hen will sacrifice its life to save its chicks. I heard a story once about a fire that devastated everything. While walking through the burnt remains, a man came across what appeared to be a hen, just a charred puff. When he tapped the bird with his foot, the charred remains fell away from the lifeless body in a pile of dust revealing a dozen chicks protected by her. The sacrifice of the one for the good of the many.
Whether dog or chicken, God gave us these creatures for a reason. I take life lessons from every day activities with both of these animals. They make me laugh when they do something goofy. They make me cry when they pass on. Dogs definitely have an amazingly positive impact on people. It’s too bad people don’t always have the same impact on dogs. I think God gave us dogs to show us His kind of love. Even after a dog is beaten by its owner, it will still lick his hand and give him affection. The dog will still be loyal to its master. Chickens are like people. They squawk about nothing, run about acting crazy and are fragile. People tend to complain about everything even though they have what they need. Our fast paced society leaves little room for contentment and relaxation, which we could learn from a dog chewing on a bone. Our lives and emotions are fragile and fickle, blown off course by the wind. Even chickens are smart enough to run for cover during a storm. I think people could learn a lot more about God if they pay closer attention to their dogs and raise some chickens. This would, of course, mean that you may have to sit on a yard swing with your dog and relax while watching your chickens run about in the yard. You may have to let the sun shine down while the breeze caresses your face with the aroma of fresh flowers as it wafts through the yard. You may have to slow down and enjoy this life that God has blessed you with.
