Alpha Gal and info

 So when I deep dive into the study of any topic I go to real studies and papers that are supported by research. One great read is this one.

Needle in the Haystack is a good read about all the studies done about this problem for humans and animals. This is not "bullshido" but references data collected.

Alpha-Gal November

 

This is from an article about Alpha Gal

My husband was diagnosed with Alpha-Gal. I took him off red meat, animals meats but he still drinks milk. And he has gotten stronger and feeling better, except for his face. He has a beard and it hides the painful sores, hives and pain he feels on his face. We do not know what is causing these sores, painful weepy wounds. We got off any and all medications as they were not helping and were causing more pain and more sores.

A chart about what things can trigger an allergic reaction found here: 

Still getting random meds from various doctors are all misses. They just do not know how to treat this disease. He also got it from chiggers not a tick, which is also possible, same family of bugs.

Here is what he has tried or was given and it made things worse.

So I am still reading and trying to figure out what will make his life more normal and pain and med free. I think the culprit is hidden ingredients in the foods he eats. Whether at home or out to eat your food is at risk to a reaction you might not see nor be aware of. He is not on anything as it was not working and the side effects of many drugs is quite bad.

In the meantime farm life is going well. We found a new hay source and wow I am happy. Huge bales of fat cow quality hay for my horses. Huge as in 7ft x 6 ft bales! Full string wrapped seed heads . I have a hay maker who also sells beef cattle. His huge fat cattle are proof he knows what his is doing.

I am busy sewing all new liturgical decorations for our church. I also love my walking foot for this. Janome walking feet are $$ but worth it.

When you get tested

So on this hot and humid morning I was doing chores looking forward to getting indoors. I settled in front of my computer then my phone rang. It was our priest in one town over. He had Covid and needed help.

He gave me a list of things he needed, I changed my farm togs and got in the truck. I was able to get all his request done and get him meds and food. I was not feeling 100% but I soon forgot that. I walked his dog so he could rest and stay out of the heat. I stayed to review any things he might have forgotten. See we both had the Covid so we are immune. The rest of our church is not. 

I was just thinking how could I help someone in need when I felt this bad. I got my answer, you just do it. You get dressed and get going. You will find the strength to get it done. Chicken soup, juices, vicks vapor and kleenex go a long way. I was able to park get in and out because I was on a mission.

Sometimes you get tested when you least expect it.

 

Skull renew

I picked this resin skull with glass eyes. It is a bit bland.

After some brown paint wash and purple LED tealight a whole new look.

 

Peaches and Pears

See all that dry pasture? But look at the peach tree it is loaded with a ton of peaches. These survived a late frost, drought and heavy rains. Now it needs to make it past the wildlife. Might have enough to can this year.

More peaches

And this is the first time my Asian pears are making it! 

 

Upgrade Recycle Purse

I bought this while thrift shopping. I love the colors and the embroidery but it is a very flimsy purse with a silk strap. The good news is that the liner was easy to take apart. I added craft foam using contact cement under the removed liner on all sides and bottom of the purse.

Next the magnetic clasp was useless so I turned the strap into a snap closure.

Next I used old belts and copper rivets to hold the belt strap to the bag.

This old belt is now a cool strap for a purse upgrade. The liner I resewed and set back into the purse.

 

Three of a kind

I need a tuna purse. Can't find it so going to make it.

 By special request going to make a Fizzgig purse

And this will be something a bit better and made by me. It needs to be brown and with a studded collar to make it that much better.

 

Modern Farm

Our young guest getting told what is expected every morning by the herd. It was 103 outside and 103 in my brain but the farm does not get sick days. She was a big help with chores.

Here we show her the  glow forge and using Gimp to set up the art. She needed no lessons in this simple program. It was a whirlwind visit but we enjoyed her company.

It was nice to have company and we are looking forward to more visits hopefully in the cooler time of the year.

 

Covid Comes to our farm

Well, in a flurry to clean our house up for a guest bam, we got the Covid. It had been at our church but we could have gotten it from anywhere. We had to pick up our young guest from the airport and we both felt off. Luckily our guest had it already. A week into it and 103 body temps and cough, shivers, fatigue and tiredness. We did the hikes, rivers and kayaking as per normal and took turns with our guest on the farm. It was a super human test to stay upright and active. After 8 days she flew home with a good visit under her belt of farm life. We drove home and slept for 2 days. We have not gone out except to get farm feed and that was no contact. I lost my voice and have fluid in my lungs. My husband is doing better.

I still get up and do normal things but sleep a lot. 

One sad thing is that I have had no response from family. Complete strangers have offered food and farm help but not family, not a peep. When they got the Covid we sent flowers, meds, called to check in and snacks. I am old enough not to care but it still sucks. I have too high expectations from people.

At least I have many friends who have come to our aid and call to check in on us. And for that I am blessed to have.

On farm news, chicks hatched and ducklings are on the way. All this heat has made very broody hens and ducks. The drought here in the Ozarks took away most good pastures. We will have to feed winter hay soon. My garden is not faring very well, but maybe this fall I can still get something from the garden.

Projects in the works, 3D purses, TBA.

Restorations of the old and new life for used things.

Life goes on not matter what. And I am glad to be a part of it.

 

Trauma Mama

I finished the true story of what a Narcissistic mother is capable of. If You Tell by Gregg Olsen is the true story about a truly evil mother- Shelly Knotek who is about to be released from prison in 2022. This is a hard book to read and not for children.

The thing is I went through some of the same type of childhood trauma. Possessions taken away when I cam home from school, furniture removed forever, clothing taken away, moving often, locked outside for hours, controlled every minute of the day. I thought it was something I had done wrong, but this book sheds light on the madness of some mothers. Worth a read if you want to understand why some adult children are estranged from their parents. The part about the mother being very good at finding things and being a different person at work was very close home.

One time we moved to another state and when the movers unloaded everything, I had nothing. No furniture, no clothes, no toys, everything was missing from my new room, no a single box of my possessions. My mother said she gave it all away to a poor family right before the move. Really? I thought we were poor. I had to start a new school soon and had no clothes. My younger brother had all his stuff. I ended up wearing his clothes and dumpster diving for the rest. And even though I was 5 years older than he was I could fit his clothes. I was very undernourished as a child, though I was called fat by my parents. And my father was too busy to care. I wondered why so many people tried to give me food when I was growing up. I guess they saw what I did not. I discovered how undernourished I was when a dentist studied my teeth. He showed me the signs in my teeth and x-rays. The body does not lie while my folks did.

This is a very disturbing true book and shows the horrors some children go through. Growing up with lies, threats, mind games, constant stress and fear.

 

They grow up fast

51 & 52 are growing up fast. They have their second round of shots this week. I had one person back out of taking them and another had questionable intentions so we still have them. I was all packed up with kitten chow, toys and bedding when the last person backed out. I guess this economy is pretty bad for pet owners right now. It has been hit or miss getting pet foods. Luckily I keep some on hand for fostering animals. And I have a great male cat to take care of the kittens mentally. He cleans them and plays with them. Male cats are just better at getting along. Our female cats will have nothing to do with these two. But both of my adult male cats sleep with these two. Either way life is good for these two orphans.

 

Church Banner for ordinary time

I got this done before diving into another project. Lots of embroidery work then a rush to finish. And sewing with two foster kittens all over me, very challenging. Then had just enough fabric for the backing. I did this and the baptism font with four drapes with gold crosses. Did not have time to take a photo. Just too many people to talk to. 

 

Health Mystery solved

And the winner is Alpha Gal! After three + years of dealing with my husbands nauseas, lethargy, toilet issues, rash breakouts all over his body, many doctors and procedures we have the answer. I suspected it was this at the time but no doctor would listen and no lab would do this test. I was told that lab does not perform this test. We were left with no answers and he is under 50 and in good health otherwise. I dove down the rabbit hole and was starting to read about other men with the same symptoms.

Fast forward to this year and our family doctor returned from service and he listened. And his office allowed the test to be run and his lab actually did the test. Positive for Alpha Gal. Nothing was given to us just that answer, positive. So now we move forward to avoiding meat and animal products. He loves steak and pork so this will be a change. We will see how it goes as he ages. The thing is that is was chigger bites and not a tick bite that set this all off. My husband is highly sensitive to chiggers. So now we take steps for him to avoid getting bit.
 

Orange you gonna introduce me?

My foster kitten behind my monitor.

He likes to sleep on the LED's.

 

Kitten kapitulation

Yes, I still have my foster kittens up for rehoming, the ones we rescued from the road. No one wants kittens, puppies nor other pets thanks to gas prices, pet food shortages and vet cost. So we are moving forward with getting them to the vet, shots and then neutering. They are almost 3 pounds now and still tiny. They are more active and have the run of the house. They just might become ours, only time will tell. For now they are still 51 & 52 and they come running when I call kitty kitty. 

 

Mobility and Robots

 Today, I met a woman with ALS and severe arthritis. She told me about the surgery to her feet where rods were inserted and 6 weeks later, rods removed without anesthesia. But her doctors had no information to help her with her mobility needs. As her ALS progresses she will be in a wheelchair. So I sent her a list of mobility robots now for sale. I am sharing this list. This is where I think robots serve a great need and purpose. For our loved ones, friends, co-workers, veterans and more. Feel free to share.

If you are in the VA, I know for a fact that Myomo is covered by the VA.

https://myomo.com/who-qualifies/process-for-getting-a-myopro/

https://www.germanbionic.com/en/

Ottobock : https://bit.ly/3HzEwob

https://rewalk.com/rewalk-personal-3/

https://upwalker.com/pages/shop

https://bit.ly/3MZdyY4

https://eksobionics.com/eksohealth/

https://eksobionics.com/eksonr/

https://www.shelteringarms.com/rehablog/wearable-robot-helps-people-walk-again/

 Matia Robotics Tek RMD     https://bit.ly/3Op6yVp

https://paexo.com/exoskeleton-in-logistics/?lang=en

https://b-temia.com/

Duck Boots

This is not my duck but it's boots are. Something happened in the pond and my large male Muscovy leg was bleeding and he was limping badly the other day. I am not sure what caused this probably a large turtle. So I chased him into the corner of the kennel and grabbed all 25 pounds of him so we could clean his leg and put the boot on him. He was not happy and flapped his huge wings taking flight a few times and he has claws. But they make these neoprene duck shoes that are perfect for ducks. His claws stick out of the corners and he is very happy and healing up. I will have to remove the boot in a few days. But my big male is happy to be going after the females again. It has not slowed him down in the least. I have a couple pairs of these on hand. They float so if I miss one it eventually washes down stream into our pasture for me to find.

 

Wormulon

This big 14 lb cat of mine threw up today. It was part of a mouse and a pile of worms. Yay. Luckily. I had on hand single dose feline de-wormer from the vet. Fostering kittens I always have supplies on hand. I had the de-wormer for our barn cat who passed away. One of the joys of having indoor/outdoor cats they bring home all kinds of things. 

Now is the time for fawns in the Ozarks. We had our first fawn brought by its mom to our farm. And more are on the way. We have seen several pregnant does on our property. It is going to be a good year.

This is the first time we have seen the fawns. It is nice to see.

 

Breaking Bad

Just a few days of good food, safe housing and care and these two are acting like normal kittens. They are still underweight but are thriving.

Very frisky and full of energy

Even the tabby is opening up and getting around instead of hissing all the time. Lots of soft touches, petting, talking are working to bring him out of his hissy mood.

 

The kitten Boxtrolls

These two are on their last day of medicine to clear out the Coccidia they developed from the stress of abandonment, new home then a vet trip. They are each a month old and underweight for their age.

But with kitten food, Forti Flora and quiet time they are slowly acting normal. They still hiss at me but less often. They were found in a box and a box is with them in their tent. They are truly Boxtrolls. They hiss, love music and eat a lot. 

Male black and brown with stripes

Brown spotted tabby male.

Both the vet and everyone else asked if I would be keeping them. That is always hard as I love black cats and have never had one I kept. I want them to both go to the same home together as they are longhaired littermates. No, these two just stumbled into my life. I never name them and always try to rehome them. With the exception of the two we did keep, fifty have gone to new homes. So these are 51 & 52 and that is what I call them.
 

Kittens in a box

So yesterday evening after a long day of house restoration and old door donation delivery we were driving home on the back roads and I saw two kittens dart across the dirt road and run into this heavy wood box on the corner of a property. We pulled over and I stayed with the heavy wood box box and my husband went to pick up a cat carrier at our house about 3-4 miles away. I looked around for any other kittens and a mama cat, nothing. This corner is a forest and cattle pasture, no houses. The property owner came to see me as she was putting out hay for her cattle and I showed her the box with the kittens. She had just moved hay from that lot and that box was not there an hour ago. We had also been by that same part of the road and that box was not there. She did not want the kittens so I offered to take them to foster and apologized for being on her property. We got them home, flea removal, washed, fed and in a kitten tent for the night with a heating pad. They have teeth so about 3-4 weeks of age longish hair, one is black and one is a brown tabby. They are not photo ready as they are as tired as I am. I do not know who left this very heavy wood 15lb wooden cage/box but there was no food and no water just this box the kittens ran to.  I got two very tiny very thin weak kittens. Today, they will go to the vet an hour away to get evaluated and wormed. From there we have to decide on keeping or putting up for adoption. These will be the first kittens I have fostered in three years. I still had all my kitten supplies saved just in case. I shall have to call them 51 & 52 after having fostered 50 thus far.

This is the 30 inch long wood box with a heavy mesh flap that the kittens ran into when I walked up on them. I could not ret my arm down to reach them, so I brought the box and the kittens home in it.

UPDATE: this is called a rabbit trap by the old-timer trappers. I was told this box was missing some parts but I was shown how to use it. It was overkill for kittens but was probably used to catch them.

I was electric long staple gun assembled out of old barn wood. It is about 8 inches tall and 30 inches long. The wood is very old dry barn wood about 2 inches thick! The whole thing is about 15-20lbs of weight.

I have always wanted a black cat. I have fostered 4 and never kept them as they were adopted quickly. These two are a bit feral but use the litter pan. It will take some time to figure out their personality. I will post photos after they see the vet. Just too busy this time of the year on the farm.

 

 

Bustin my Deer

This is what a deer can do to a t-post. They bent two of these running into my garden fences. 

Our herd is quite used to me doing my farm chores around them

waiting for me to go back into the house

 

Greenith Goeth Gailey

My tiny 6 for greenhouse is full again with seedlings I got going in April

Roma tomatoes

Kale makes me happy

Oh so many basils