sheepdog

Thanks. The only problem with getting another complete editing program is that I would have to figure out how to use it! I have been using the long outdated Microsoft Photo Draw. Until this little delema it did everything I needed to ever do. And honestly, it took me forever to figure it out, and I am just too lazy or stupid to have any desire to try to learn a new program. I am a little leary of used software, I bought Corral program once and I couldn't install it on my computer with out some kind of code I didn't get with it. Big waste of money, which is something I just can't stand to do.

I have already started thinking about what I want to plant next year. I always like to try to grow different things, and stuff I haven't had before, and while on our little road trip the other day, I grabbed an opportunity to try something different next spring. We ended up driving way down to the south eastern part of Missouri, down in the flat lands, and I found out that they actually grow a lot of cotton down there. I have never had the chance to see cotton growing up close and personal, so after we deliverd the pup I got the hubby to stop along the road next to a big field of cotton that had not yet been harvested. I was surprised to see what a hard, woody plant it is, short, but just hard as a tree woody stem. I picked up a big hand full of the fluff that was blowing around in the edge of the road and caught in the grass, and felt that it had some seed in it so I gathered up a bunch. Hubby thinks it might be some type of hybred and probably won't grow, or it wouldn't have a long enough growing season here where we are now, but I wanted to give it a try anyway. I'll have to pick threw all the fluff and get the seeds out. I talked to a friend of mine today, oddly, she did the smae thing some years ago, and said it grew well for her, so I am hopefull. Anybody ever grow any cotton plants that can give me some advice?

Oh dear, I'm definatly outclassed here. Mrdee's swans are adorable! I was just going to sugest doing something lame, only cake I ever make is with a cake mix!Great job Mrdee!And I knew exactly what he meant by real butter. Nothing in the world beats real butter. Forget that fake margarine that just tastes like grease.

Well, I'm sorry she is acting that way, but at least you didn't waste a whole lot of time and effort on the relationship. Good it didn't drag on for months and then she showed her true colors. I think your right, the best thing for you now is to just move on. As the old saying goes, plenty of fish in the sea! Or maybe, better luck next time? Either one should work for you.

Well I really screwed thing up! Had somebody wanting a video of a puppy, picture wouldnt do, just had to have a video. I really don't know anything about makeing them, have tried a couple times with poor results, but I know my camera does take them. Anyway I took some today, and they turned out completely black, and I was trying to figure out how to delete them with the camera settings and some how I've changed the settingS and now the view screen on the back of my camera won't come on, and I can't see if I'm taking a picture or what is going on. It's a Sony Cybershot model no. DSC P72 I've punched little buttons till I'm blue in the face and can't get it to work. I really need some help here.

I wonder if these are simular to what they use in drive in banks when you pull up in one of the outer lanes away from the teller at the main window? I wouldn't think it would be too terribly expensive, since it is basicly plastic tubing, though it would have to be well sealed to make the air flow move the containers threw the tubes easily. It would certainly be a handy system for many aplications, especially in multi story office buildings where mail and other paperwork needed a lot of shuffleing around from office to office.

That's pretty weird for her to just drop off like that. I can see why you would be upset, you do at least deserve some sort of explaination. I'm betting it's something like k_nitin_r said, some busy body told her a wild tail about you and it (true or not) upset her completely. You have been able to check by the way, and make sure she actually is ok, and not in the hopsital or something???? The problem with computer contacts like facebook, and such, you couldn't communicate if you were in a coma.

That 3rd plant is still bugging me. I know I've seen it and it is a fairly common plant, but I just can't put a name to it. I tried googling a few names I thought might be it, but came up empty. I know this spring I'll see it in a nursery somewhere and will go Oh, crud, why didn't I remember that name! For no more plants than you have, hand picking the bugs would probably be the best bet, if you want to avoid pesticides. There is some that say to spray with a bit of garlic, hot peppers, and water, and a tiny squirt of dish soap. I haven't ever tried it so don't know if it works or not. The only bugs we have a serious problem with are those huge fat tomato horn worms, the big green nasty ones. They can decimiate a tomato plant in a matter of what seems like just a few hours. They are big and usually it's easy to find all but one of them. And of course, the one you leave is the hungry one.

CONGRADULATIONS! I'm really glad everything went so well for you. I popped in yesterday morning and saw your post, I was glad things worked out, but didn't have time to post, I got an unexpected call and had to make a quick unplanned trip 200 miles to deliver a puppy. Not complaining, it was an older puppy I was begining to wonder if I would ever find a home for him, so I was glad to make the trip. It's really amazing that you got so much color in this litter. I would of lost the bet had I made it that they would all be black. Oh how many times have I nearly had a heart attack over that one! I've seen them sling them and bang their heads on the walls, even put their foot down and hold the pup down and pull like crazy. Amazingly enough, they never seem to actually hurt one, though I do think that is is what causes some unbilical hernias. I think all that extra slinging around actually clears the pups lungs better, or maybe it's the screaming the puppy does when they bang around on it that clears the lungs, but either way, they seem to do just fine. At least with labs you don't have tails to dock or anything like that. When it comes time for wormings and vaccinations let me know if you have any questions. I don't really know what you have available where you are at so I don't know exactly what to tell you in that department. Don't know if you have Neopar in your neck of the woods or not. It is a straight Parvo vaccine, and is the best there is. You should always use at least one high titer straight parvo shot, since it is the most deadly disease to pups. If you give parvo only in a combination shot, they won't get the resistance to parvo that they need because you are introducing too many things at once to the immune system.

I have always wished they would do something like that! I hate the way the packages are set up. The way it is set up now, we have to pay a lot more than we should because of one lousy station. I love the Sci Fi channel, and it comes with the cheapest package, but Hubby loves Fox News, and it's on the next more expensive program up. I really hate that. When times get lean, I really wish we had it down to $30 a month, cause one of these days, we will probably have to have it shut off. We actually watch very few channels. Neither of us give a hoot about sports. Shopping? You gotta be kidding! Since they don't sell dog food, who cares about shopping networks. It would be great if they would just let you pick your own package content, say they took the most popular channels and said you can pick so many from this group, and then so many from this group of the less popular ones, and we will give you all of these free (they are about going to have to give away those shopping programs or nobody would buy them and then they would loose advertising money) Every family is different and it would be a lot easier to budget for entertainment and keep everybody happy if you just had more choise of your channels.

Oh boy do I know that feeling! You wouldn't believe the number of shots I have to take to get even a couple decent puppy pictures. And many sites want you to put up 3 pictures, both sides and a frontal shot, so I can really go threw the pictures in a hurry. Digital cameras are nice, but they all have that delay, from the time you push the button to the time the picture actually takes, and believe me a puppy can move a whole lot in that amount of time! It can be very frustrating. Then you have those little terrier pups that won't hold still for 1 second, let alone 3 or 4 to take a picture. That's really strange, when I click on your picture links I get an error message that says I don't have permission to view them. And I couldn't see them at all, only the link in your original message, but since I've hit reply I can see the small views of them. But even then when I click on them I get the same error message. Weird.

You know, that's just about the best reason for sending your kids to public school as I've ever heard! You are absolutly right. The only down side is that there are far too many parents that are morally bankrupt and not capable of giving their children the proper support and background to make it threw the trials and tribulations of the public school system. Parents run the gamut from those who think their children can do no wroung and are perfect little angels and it has to be the fault of other children, to those parents who really don't give a hoot what their kids do and give them no supervision at all.

First plant is Dianthus, or commonly called sweet william. Watering twice a day sound pretty extreme to me. If they are planted in the ground, just water before the ground drys completely out. I believe these are perinial (grows back each year in the spring), I had some for several years at the base of an oak try, but they did actually finally die out just this year. These are actually one of my favorite flowers. Not 100% sure on the second plant, but pretty sure they are some type of Zinnas. Full sun, an annual plant, (dies out in the winter and has to be reseeded.) When the flowers start to fade, clip off the flower heads and dry them, then you can harvest the seed to replant. Make sure you don't let these get too wet, they can suffer from a rot or mildew fungus. That third one really looks familiar, but at the moment, I can't put a name to it. I never was very good at plant names.

Well go figure, first two out and already not black! If you have some available, a drink of milk might help her. The body needs calcium to make muscle contractions to expell the pups. There is also oxytocin, but since it's a prescription drug, you would have to get that from a vet. But going a couple hours between pups is not all that unusual, I would panic just yet. As I said, large breed dogs seem to just take a lot longer.

Yes, we definatly have a farm!I think the clothes on chickens thing is pretty silly myself, but hey, whatever floats your boat! I suppose you can train a chicken to do a few tricks, nothing like a dog of course, but I did have a banty hen years ago that I could hold up one arm and snap my fingers and she would fly all the way across the barn yard and land on my arm, so I suppose if you had the time to fool with one you could teach it a few things. Unfortunatly, house breaking is probably not on that list of things you can teach a chicken. *BLEEP* fighting is illegal nearly every where in the USA. I'm not sure if there are any states at all left where it is legal. Of course, that's not to say it doesn't continue to go on.Oh Good grief. The censor got me on that one, BLEEP fighting????? C o c k

Yup, that's about your only option at this point. Most of my dogs like to play sneaky on me. When I make my last check of the evening of the kennel, everybody that is pregnaunt is up bouncing around and acting perfectly fine and unconcerned, "no, no, I'm not going to have puppies, you can go to the house and not worry," but when I get there first thing in the morning, there they are with a new litter, all clean and dry and in find shape.

Ahhh, I can't get my vote in for Aquarius! That's me, and I actually pretty much fit the description profile for my sign. Gee, ya think???? LOL That sure fits, and I don't mind expressing my opinion to who ever may happen to ask. And yea, I go for the shock thing too sometimes. For the most part, I have found that nearly everyone does fit their sign, but I have run across a few that I think must of had their birth cetificates forged and don't have the right date, so are cheating on their sun sign.

I REALLLY REALLY wish you were wrong on this point, but your probably not. So....how do we go about changeing the opinions of society? I know it can be done. Take the unwed mother situations. Years ago it was a serious disgrace to be born out of wedlock. I have an elderly friend who was, and she has suffered from that her entire life. when she was working at the nursing home not too many years ago, she overheard two old men saying, about her, "that's old so and so's "woods colt." ( the more polite way to say ba$tard.) Now a days it seems to be no big deal at all. Nobody gives a hoot. There is virtually no social stigma attatched to it at all. My own occupation has been greatly demonized by the animal rights groups. They pound into the publics perception that if you breed a dog you are a murderer as you are taking homes from shelter animals, or you are enslaving dogs and forcing them to breed to make money, which makes you (according to them) more evil than the devil himself. It's pretty hard to get the word out that what I do brings joy and happyness to so many people. It inriches their lives, and in the case of service dogs, it enables many handicapped people to enjoy a fuller and richer life, more independance and freedom than they would have without their service animal.

Thanks. It's not the job for the faint of heart for sure. If it was just about raising pups it wouldn't be so bad. I can deal with the dogs, the cleaning, birthing, life and death, grooming, and to a point, the endless paperwork.(the paperwork might be another of my weaker points) It's the people end of the business that drives me crazy. Dealing with customers is the least of it though, for the most part that isn't too bad. I don't mind answering questions, but once in awhile I'll get some sap that will ask me a questions and I'll answer it, and then they ask me the same questions 3 or 4 more times, it's like they never even bother to read the emails I spend all my time writing to them. But the big fly in the ointment is the Animal rights wacko's and egotistical inspectors and those types that make me want to commit bodily harm to my fellow humans. Of course, engineering could certainly have it's pit falls too. I'd hate to design a bridge and then have it fall on somebody!

Those are certainly signs of impending whelping. I'm home now, and will keep an eye on the board if you have any questions.Labor can last a huge variation in time. In my observations, little dogs seem to do it and get it over with in a short time, I've seen some get it over and done with in less than 2 hours. And large breed dogs, like a lab, are just the opposite, it can take all day and all night, I have seen a very few go 36 hours. It is also rather difficult to palpate a dog to feel if any are left, but they usually don't retain pups so that isn't a problem under normal circumstances.

Oh yes, all your non profit animal shelters and rescues sell dogs. None give them for free. In many cases, rescues charge MORE for a dog than a breeder would. Unfortunatly they have that politically correct thing going for them as they have for years pounded into our heads that if you buy a dog from a breeder you are killing a dog in a shelter. They could care less if you live in a tiny apartment and are handicapped and need a small dog and all the shelter dogs are pit bull/ lab crosses. You should adopt this totally unsuitable dog for your lifestyle so it can be "saved." It's really quite the con job anymore. Sad thing is these rescues are not regulated in any way. I've seen them drive all the way from California to dog auctions in Missouri and buy over 50 dogs and stuff them in crates in the back of a van, floor to ceiling, with no way to access the dogs in the middle of the load should a problem occur, and then drive all the way back to Ca. They would hang a breeder if they caught them doing that. Not to mention, crossing state lines without a health certificate is also illegal. So after 3 days of riding in their own wastes while they are filty and stinky, then they take pictures and claim the poor dogs were "saved" from the puppy millers. These rescue folks are some slick operators. They know how to play on the sympathy of the public for sure. I certainly do agree with you that being a vet is a dangerous occupation. They are constantly getting bitten, kicked, stomped, stampeded and trompled by the very critters they are trying to help. An angry old cow can break your leg if she kicks and catches you just right. Of course for dental work on big cats, or really, any other animal with sharp teeth, they knock them out first. They have speciality tools to put in the mouth to hold it open while they work.

I polished off the last 3 of my first round of roosters today, they are now resting in peace in my refrigerator. Hoping I can get the old man to run them threw the smoker instead of me just making fried chicken for dinner. So now while my big pen is empty, I need to give it a good cleaning, and it looks like it is going to need another coat of paint. Sure don't need it rotting away the price of lumber these days. We just built it last year, it's a really nice chicken pen. As soon as I get it cleaned and repainted, I will have another batch of younger birds to go into it, that I now have in 2 smaller pens in the barn. I'll be glad to have my daily chore routine reduced from 3 pens to feed and water down to just one big one. I'm sure the Chickens will be happy too, they will be on the ground and have a lot more room. I think I will call in the local radio station on monday morning and see if anyone wants to buy some of the younger pullets I have. I saved back 20 from the first hatching, and that's more than enough to keep at one time. Chickens are recieving a big "come back" these days, if you want to call it that. Many urban areas and in larger cities and towns are changing their zoning laws to now allow people to keep at least a few chickens. Some of the towns only allow you to have hens, they are afraid that the roosters crowing will disturb the peace, but it's the hens that lay eggs, so that's no big deal. This is great news for those folks, they can now have a way to produce at least a little of their own food, and chickens also great for pest control, eating bugs and stuff that othewise would have to be treated with toxic chemicals. A person can keep a small flock for very little cash outlay, they can mostly eat scraps and scrounge for their own food, you just need to furnish them a little grain on the side. Chickens are just kind of fun to have. It's rather relaxing to just sit and watch them peck around. They are usually peaceful birds (there are of course some that are meaner than the devil himself, but for the most part they are pretty agreeable.) A lot of people are treating them just like they would any other pet animal. I'm on a chicken list at Yahoo, there are even people who put clothes on their birds and take them to town with them. Yea, I know, that's pretty silly, to me anyway, but hey, to each his own. At any rate they probably would make a fairly good pet, and really, when you can have a pet that gives something back, like eggs, what a deal!

Well thanks anyway, it's not a big deal, I'm sure the keepers of this board have bigger problems on their plates right now anyway, no use in troubling them over piddly stuff. I see one of your interests is the piano, do you play? I used to work for a guy that refinished piano's. I kept one here at the house for him for quite awhile until he could sell it. It was a real old one, with very ornate wood carvings. Beautiful piano. I always sorta wanted to learn to play. Well, actually I wasn't so much interested in playing as I was learning to play one single song on the piano. Ever hear the song Music Box Dancer? I just love that, it's a piano instrumental, very upbeat and cheerful. I did get to where I could pick out the first few notes of it, but when it got down into all the chords I was pretty much lost. Was fun to try though.

I occasionally try to post a comment in the colum on the right side of the forum on the main page, Recent Status Updates, and every time I try I get an error message that says action failed. Not sure what I am doing wroung. I just click on add comment and it brings up a little box to type in, but when I try to add it I get that error message. Any tips for this problem?

Your quite welcome, and I hope things work out for you. Your young yet, and believe me, figureing out our fellow humans is a long and complicated process. People are very strange. I've studied them for years and honestly I still don't understand what makes so many people tick.