Sunday Stroke Survival: Lending a Hand

Just because you've had a stroke, it doesn't mean you can't participate and help others. I offer a hand in doing everything. I can only offer A hand because my right hand is paralyzed and spastic. But still, that doesn't stop me.

We recently moved all the angoras out of the present day rabbitry. No, I didn't actually totally move the rabbits by myself because I need my one functioning hand to support me going down the step. That didn't stop me though. Mel got them out of their cages and handed them down to me. I held them like you would cuddle a baby against your chest. They love to be cuddled and felt secure even with my lopsided gait. I had opened the hutch doors before we got started so it was a quick trip around the corner, popping them into their new cage, and fastening the spring lock before getting the next one. Think through the process twice and then do. It saves time and frustration.

Then came the hard part that Mel thought I couldn't do at first. Removal of the cages and litter trays. shredded insulation, rat nests, rabbit poo that had gotten as hard as a ball bearing. I'm still doing the supporting, carrying, and setting down the cages and litter trays to manage the step.

It's one thing moving these into the rabbitry but a whole 'nother thing moving them out. In moving them in, I just had to support them, walk to the door, set it down, climb the step and hold them while Mel attached the chain. In taking them down, the cages had almost a year's worth of rabbits living in them. Poo was stuck to the bottom where I couldn't reach to clean them. Rats had built nests under the litter trays and in the insulation in the walls.
 Now, I'm slipping and sliding on rabbit poo ball bearings, baby rats, and dodging grown rats scampering to get away while removing these things and so is Mel. I'm high-stepping trying to keep my footing. The last thing I want to do is fall into this mess. Flashes of scenes from Willard danced in my head. Do y'all remember that movie from 1971 or the remake in 2003 or Ben in 1972? Now, I'm not terribly afraid of mice and rats, but still, those movies still give me the willies. You get the idea.

We decided to pull all the wall boards down too after we removed the cages. What a mess the rats made. There was no way I'd be using it for food storage in this condition. I hit upon a brilliant solution to drive them all out and possibly kill them. If not kill them, at least neurologically impair them. Bug bombs. We set off two in the 8x12 storage shed. The results were as I expected. The ones left in the building 100% of the babies were dead, about 75% left of the adults were dying or had some nervous disorders (easy to catch and kill). The other 25% scampered out when I opened the door. Hopefully, they'll die later. We scoured the building with bleach, soap and hot water. Toilet brushes work great for this purpose. I ended up wearing a mask because of the fumes.

I'll admit Mel, with two hands and an able body, did more than I did, but with a job this big, even my one-handed-self was helping. So now all the insulation is stripped, beams and siding are cleaned and sanitized. I'm just waiting for the rain to stop to the call the electrician to rewire it with proper lighting and a separate, a dedicated circuit for the building. It will enable us to run the air conditioning, lights, and plug in the new freezer without tripping circuit breakers in the house. Then we'll put in the new foam insulation and paneling up. We'll add rat traps just in case too.

It will be ready for food then. I've been canning quite a bit, mostly dry beans so they'll have a proper home. With just two of us in a household, cooking kidney beans, limas, or any dried beans is almost ridiculous to do for one meal for us. A pound of dried beans makes four meals unless it bean soup. It also takes hours. This way, it's simply open, heat and eat it. It only takes about an hour and half total to do fourteen jars in a canner. A little time now and a little time later. No, I don't lift the canner with hot stuff in it. That would be nuts with one hand. The best part is, it's about 35 cents a jar. Of course, if you bought the jars for this it would be more.

My point is. Don't be afraid to lend a hand if you've only got one functioning hand. It can be invaluable. An extra hand is better than none. So what if you only have one like me. We get the job done. That's what is really important.You never know until you try. Remember, not all first attempts are successful. Keep trying and figure out how to make it work. It has taken me dozens of failed attempts before I succeed at something to make it look easy. Don't give up.

Nothing is impossible.

On the Road Again

Well Friday afternoon will be my first long road trip since my stroke. I'm a little bit nervous. My daughter asked if she could drive the first part. My driving one handed makes her nervous. I'll gladly let her drive as far as Dublin. I'll drive the rest of the way through Atlanta and to our destination of Cornelia, GA. All told, it's about 5 and 3/4 of a hours worth one way to the north Georgia mountains.


Weekend before last, I picked up two French angora rabbits from a lady that was getting out of the rabbit business. She just groomed and bred them. She gave away their wool. They were a gray and a brown angoras who I named "Colm" and "Kieran." "Colm" is Gaelic for dove for the gray one. "Kieran" means brown warrior in Gaelic. They are eight weeks old.

Catching the theme for my rabbitry yet? Since the acreage is called Murphey Meadows or Murphey Madness. It's definitely a southern Irish thing or Gaelic. Even though I'm Japanese and only Irish in my widowhood. Sure and Begorrah! Ye'll be seeing leprechauns and fairies next  in the green fields.

I had not planned all these colorful angoras when I first planned my rabbitry, but I figured why not. Blue eyed white French angoras are few and far between. I've seen two advertised for sale in California, and two on the east coast in Pennsylvania over the past few months. Those would be v-e-r-y long road trips and I'm not up to that yet. Not that I doubt my driving skills, but have you noticed how many idiots are driving these days?!

Back to this weekend...we'll be driving up to Cornelia to meet face-to-face with an YouTube homesteader I subscribe to. I'm going to show her how to butcher chickens. She hatched out a bunch of roosters and they've been pecking her ankles. My rule is they get one warning. After that it's the next stage of life for them. If they draw blood with the first peck it's an automatic death sentence. I don't know if you've ever been pecked by a chicken before, but take my word for it...it hurts!

the one on the left

While I'm in that neck of the woods, I'm going to pick up the mate for Clover. He's a self  Black German/French mixed angora. His name will be Dubu, Gaelic for black or dark one. He's the one on the left sticking out his tongue while the photo was being taken. The other one is more cantankerous. The breeder said his father does the same thing when his picture is being taken. To me, his funny personality quirk will fit right in with me. He'll be almost four months old when I get to pick him up. He and Clover should make some pretty babies next year. Canton is only about a hour away so I'll hit it on the way home.

We originally planned this trip for the weekend of the 19th, but my grandson's homecoming game and dance are on that Saturday. So we bumped up the trip by a week. So if you're in north Georgia and see a silver Toyota van headed towards you...Quick! Get off the side walk! No, only kidding. I drive way better than that.