Sunday Afternoon Thoughts

Just got home from eating way too much at our favorite restaurant. (Don't ask me what this graphic has to do with it but I liked it.) Funsize and I always have the baked stuff shrimp with the seafood stuffing and it is to die for. Today we even had the baked brie with grilled pears and raspberry sauce as an appetizer, another fav. We invited our pastor to go with us as his wife is out of town helping with a new grandchild, their first. Roger, our pastor, is getting ready to leave with three others from our church to go on a short term missions trip to Africa on Thursday so we gave them all a big send off this morning. It's only for 11 days but the days are jam packed so they will hopefully have a lot of information for us when they get home.

Friday was vet day at the barn. Everyone except Buddy got their strangles shot, well it's not a shot it's kind of blown up in their nose which they hate. Buddy can't have it due to his age and the fact that he had strangles so badly two winters ago the vet feels that his immune system is probably compromised and it would do him more harm then good. They also got their rabies, East/West virus and something else, I can't think what it is. Duh!

Everyone got a good report and acted like gentlemen except poor little Skippy (my rescue pony) and he was scared to death when Stu tried to put that thing up his nose. He was good for his shots but that hose thing up the nose he wasn't hearing! We finally got the job done by doing it really quickly when he wasn't thinking about it.

Nick was a tiny bit colicky that morning so couldn't have any of his shots so I will have to take him in next week or Stu will stop by if he is going by the farm. He gave him a shot of banemine to settle his stomach and he was fine that night and ate his grain and was drinking his water. So $435.00 later we were all done for shots for the year. Yikes! They have gone up just like everything else.

Our vet is so overworked as there aren't that many large animal vets in our area. He's got a new one coming in July so hopefully she will work out and give him some relief. He has another part time vet that works in the practise but it's only two days a week and some weekend call.

He was telling us that he got kicked a few weeks ago which isn't totally uncommon but this time it was right above his knee and was really wide and deep. He finished pulling the foal out and then went back to his office and cleaned the cut out and stitched himself up!!!! He said he could have gone to the ER and waited for 4 or 5 hours or do it himself so he chose the later. We asked him if he gave himself a shot of pain killer before he did the stitching and he didn't! OUCH!

Poor Kipper has to go on a diet AGAIN. He and I are going to be on SlimFast for the summer. lol! I think once he is home I will take him when Dad and I go on our walks each day. We have started using the carriage trails out back as the snow is all gone so I won't have to carry a po*oper scooper with me like I do in the neighborhood. I do have my po*op problems don't I?????

I collect hair receivers and have for about 20 years. I have about 250 but most of them are packed away in boxes as I don't have room for them. When I had my beauty salon years ago I had several huge wall units with shelves and sliding glass doors that I displayed them in but now I just keep out a few of my favorites.

For you young chickies that don't know what they are here is the short version. Years ago ladies always brushed their hair 100 strokes a night before they went to bed. They kept the hair that came out in their brush and put it in one of these containers. I know it sounds gross but this is what they did. When they got enough saved them made it into what they called 'rats' and they used them to make their hair very bouffant. You've all seen the hair dos of the 1800's that were sky high. Well not everyone had nice thick hair so this was sort of like a hair piece or a wiglet only they made it out of their own hair.

Now the more well to do the lady was the better hair receiver set she would have. They often came with a tray, trinket jar, hat pin holder or powder jar along with the hair receiver itself. I like the sets but they are harder to find intact.

They are made out of different things. I like the porcelain the best but I also have clear glass, silver, celluloid and even a couple wooden ones. I really should weed out the ones that I have packed away and sell them but my aunt that was the antique dealer and helped me with them has long passed away so I wouldn't know the correct value. The best ones I have are Royal Bayreuth, rose tapestry and I have some Limoges. I rarely buy any now for several reasons, one is that I just don't have room and the other is that you can't find them much any more also what used to go for $40-50 now could be several hundred.

The two best in my collection are the two on the left hand side and they are the rose tapestry. I bet some of you out there have your grandmother's sitting somewhere. I have my maternal grandmother's, it is cracked and glued but it was hers so it is special! So that is Hair Receivers 101. How many of you have ever heard of them?

I hope you all are having a good weekend. We're expecting a lot of rain Monday and Tuesday so the grass should really get growing. I love seeing things nice and green after such a long winter. I see from the weather channel that some of you are still getting snow and you have my sympathy especially during calving season.

PS If you look closely at the picture of the man riding the horse near the beginning of this post it looks like Patrick Dempsey. Really it does. Well maybe. He IS from Maine you know. It could be. :o)