Greetings and apologies to our reading audience. I have allowed the mundane to dictate my writing and magic. It has been a May filled with joy, fear, realizations, and responsibilities. A 13 month old granddaughter makes sitting at the computer during the day extremely hard. Especially when she’s in the process of learning not to unplug grandma’s computer while she is typing.
Pandemic is NOT Over
May 2021 has been a month of upsets. I come from a large extended family. We had been lucky over the past year that the pandemic hit only a few households, and no one was hospitalized. Then May happen and my nephew’s family was hit. No one was hospitalized, however, it has been a couple of weeks and they are still feeling the effects. Then it hit my sister’s house. She was life flighted from their small town in eastern Oregon to a Boise (Idaho) hospital where she still remains. She is out of ICU and out to the Covid ward, but time will tell what the lasting effects of having her lungs filled to the brim with Covid.
Health
The month of May has brought to light long undiagnosed ailments in both Obsidia and myself. Both our lives require major lifestyle changes that will be hard. Mine is vascular in nature meaning a change of diet, cessation of my 47-year cigarette habit, exercise, and loss of weight (I am 75 pounds from goal). Because of support and understanding of family and friends, I will be able to get it all done. I live in my 84-year old mothers house and she too is overweight, so the diet thing is something we both need. We have decided to go on a 3:2:2 “non-diet” developed by a fellow TOPS (Taking Off Pounds Sensibly) member from Oregon. It is considered “intermittent fasting” of carbs. Basically:
- Day 1: light carbs
- Day 2: no carbs
- Day 3: eat normally
- Day 4: no carbs
- Day 5: eat normally
- Day 6: light carbs
- Day 7: eat normally
I can do that. A typical no carb meal would consist of a lean meat and fresh veggies and or a salad. It also means on “eat normally” days, I don’t binge on salty or sugary snacks. My health care provider wants me to start walking 5 minutes a day and work up to 20 minutes. I have yet to start. Before my appointment in early June I am supposed to cut down to eight cigarettes’ a day, down from 20. I’m under the 20, but hardly to eight.
Friends and Inspiration
I did get a small break from it all by attending the TOPS Nevada State Recognition Day (SRD) in Las Vegas. Three members and I travelled to Las Vegas on Thursday, Friday was the SRD, and travelled back home on Saturday. I had a great time, got to know my fellow chapter members better, and soaked in the inspiration of seeing those who have worked hard at losing weight receive statewide recognition. One chapter member was runner up to the State Queen and we did cheer her on.
First time outside. Little darlins’ were only about 3 days old
Ducks
Then there are my ducks. On March 4, I bought five little ducklings from our local ranch store hoping for two or three hens for eggs. May brought molting (losing feathers and gaining new ones) and man oh mighty do they molt. They sleep in the house as no duck house has been completed and we have had a cold spring. Every morning our brooder (i.e. dining room with two large construction tubs) is filled with pine shavings and feathers. They spend about 12 hours outside mowing and fertilizing our yard. One of the tubs is used for them to swim and be messy in outside.
For the past three weeks my son has tried to get the duck pen and house done. He works 12 hours a day, Monday through Friday, making weekday construction pretty much a no go. Every weekend in the month of May has brought rain. Last two weekends included thunderstorms. The silly boy has a thing against standing on a metal ladder in the pouring rain with a power tool in hand.
My daughter took matters into her own hands and has been working the past couple days getting the hardware cloth on the pen. We woke up to a couple inches of snow Friday so not only has work stopped, ducks had to stay indoors. They were not happy. Today we again woke up to snow, but melted quickly. No storms (so far) so the smelly birds got to go outside. Little Ductor Mallard (Mallard Hen) was so excited when the pool was filled I swear she did a cannon ball dive. Gotta love them ducks.
Update
I originally drafted this last week. My daughter has finished enough of the duck pen that they started sleeping in their temporary duck house the night before last. Being my little darlings, I wanted to go out every hour to check on them, but, I stayed strong. They were happy to see me at 6:30 am Tuesday morning, and really happy to get to the temp pen in the yard where they could jump in to the pool, eat fresh grass, and ducky kibbles.
Latest picture of my little darlins. Left to Right: Beesby Whacker, PeeQueen, Ductor Mallard, Duck Norris, and Chicken
One unexpected turn of events: two of the drakes (male ducks) are becoming adults much sooner than I anticipated. And one of the ducks I thought was a hen Khaki Campbell is actually a horny drake Khaki Campbell. He, Duck Norris, and Beesby Whacker, an Ancona duck, both tried to mount poor PeeQueen, a Pekin duck. I had originally thought Chicken was a dark Khaki Campbell drake, but now not sure. Doing some research, it appears that the Dark Khaki Campbell’s may be females (?). I’m so CONFUSED. If a female, I will only have to get rid of one drake. My other duck, Ductor Mallard, is definitely a Mallard female. She is half the size of the other ducks, flies (I have clipped her wings twice, after last night, I may have to again). She has a definite attitude and the drakes have not tried to mount her.
If Chicken is a drake, I will have to “get rid of” two of my little darlings. Male ducks are very rough and have an appetite that is unhealthy for so few females. They can injure and impair the females with their mating ritual. Growing up as a teenager on a small subsistence type farm, well, I need not discuss the drakes fate if I can not find someone to take them.
Life
In a nutshell, this is how the mundane overwhelms writing, magic, and this old crone. Any of you who were thinking our lives as witches are filled with birds landing on the shoulder, or witches cheerfully throwing plasma balls at demons, I hate to disappoint ya all. A witches life is filled with bills, making enough money to make ends meet, dieting, health problems, and the everyday mundane.
Now, off to put a cranky 13 month old human cutie pie down for a nap.