Trip to the Hospital

As you all know I have been having some health problems for the last couple of months. I got a really bad lung infection during the winter past and have been having a really hard time getting rid of it. As I have been moving around so much this last year, I haven't had a family Dr. and either end up going to a walk in clinic or the emergency room. Every time I have gone in, I have been told the same thing (asthma/bronchitis/lung infection)  and have been given the same thing (Prednisone). Nobody did any Xrays, blood work or anything, they just patted me on the head, gave me meds and sent me home.

I spent about 30 hours at hospital this week. It sucks hugely, but thankfully they took me seriously this time.

For the first time ever I called an ambulance. When the ambulance got here my oxygen intake was about 66/100. By the time we got to the hospital (about a 20 minute drive), my oxygen intake was about 82/100. Oxygen intake is suppose to be 95% and over. So, I got a crap load of oxygen/medicine masks, got some meds, had an IV thing put in etc etc.

For the first time ever they took blood, tested my heart and did Xrays.

Blood work came back excellent- even my B12 was great (I have pernicious anemia so often have low B12)

My blood pressure was horribly high and my heart rate was crazy high too, but that's more due to the breathing issues and my anxiety.

The heart test was all good.

The night time Doctor said that he thought the xrays were all good, but as he was new he wanted a more experienced Dr to look at them. So, I got to spend the night on oxygen with an iV :( It sucked. I never actually slept (I can not sleep in emerg, too noisy and upsetting), so come morning, hadn't slept or eaten in almost 30 hours.

The day time Doctor got there around noon and said there were "black flecks and what looked like scarring or lesions on my left lung". My right lung is all good. She wanted to set up an immediate CTscan. I got another IV put in, this one larger and much more painful; it's to inject dye into you for the scan (What fun).

About three hours later, Doctor came back and told  me they couldn't fit me in till Monday. The Doctor suggested I stay in the hospital till Monday.

Ummmm, I gotta move on Sunday!

The seemed to think it was be quite easy for me to change my moving plans ...  the driver I have booked could only do it on the weekend; the uhaul is booked; the internet company will be there Monday morning; the people moving in here in New Brunswick are planning on moving in Sunday after we leave ...it cannot be cancelled ...

So, I got all my meds and signed myself out. They got me a CTscan set up in Nova Scotia for sometime next week

I have to say Fredericton New Brunswick hospital has the NICEST and most CARING! Two thumbs up from me!

So, we are moving tomorrow, my son is pretty well doing everything. Once we get to Thorburn we will get this lung problem fixed up. 

Money is going to be really tight for moving if anyone could spare a little, I would be hugely appreciated. I will pay you back asap (Or if you'd prefer dances/photos/videos etc). My interac bank transfer email is: roguewolf-imphavok@hotmail.com

Next time I talk to you all, I'll be in Nova Scotia! How exciting! My internet is suppose to be hooked up Monday so I should be online Monday night.

Hugs and love!

The Happy Hippie Haven

Five more sleeps and I'm off to my forever home, The Happy Hippie Haven :) So excited, so happy, and a little nervous that all goes right this week!

I am definitely a crazy tree huggin' hippie and I love it.I have some crazy old hippie friends buying trailers and coming to stay with me in five to ten years.  It's our retirement home :)

So, off we go, to get things started. The place will need major cleaning, the house needs painting, lawn mowing etc.

Here's a short video two sweet friends took of my ridiculously long driveway! The pond is awesome!

and here's a few photos they took:

New Shirt Design

Hi! Hope you are all doing fantastic! I thought I'd share my newest TShirt design :)

It's a nude Faerie sitting on a psychedelic fish fishing :)

Faerie Fishing on a Fish Tshirt by imphavok
Make cheap custom t-shirts at zazzle.ca

How to Make Mead

Mead is one of the first alcohols made by man. It is an alcoholic beverage created by fermenting honey with water, sometimes with various fruits, spices, grains, or hops. The alcoholic content ranges from about 8% ABV to more than 20%; ours usually comes out at 12-16%

Naked Mead Recipe:

- 12-15 pounds of honey (Not grocery store honey! Honey straight from an apiary)

- One package of wine yeast (We usually use EC11-18)

- Distilled water (You can buy distilled water or simply leave your water out overnight)

Other Needs:

- One carboy with lid/airlock

- Large pot

- Large spoon

- bowl

                                                                  How to make mead:

1. 24 hours before making mead, make sure your carboy is clean and sterilized, and then fill about 75-80%

 with tap water, cover carboy and let sit.

2. We musk our honey (some mead makers prefer not to). Musking the honey helps to remove any impurities and any other things that may be in it (Like dead bee parts). When you buy straight from the apiary, the honey is unprocessed, and in our opinion best musked.

To musk honey, simply put it in a large pot, add about four cups of water, and simmer. NEVER let it boil! You will ruin the honey if it boils. It should be allowed to heat up to the point that it is bubbling, not boiling. Once it starts to bubble, a "scum" will appear on the top; it should be carefully removed (the scum is the wax, bee parts etc)

Put the removed "scum" in a bowl (We are going to use a bit of it later)

Generally musking takes about 30-45 minutes.

The above pic shows the honey with 4 cups of water on the stove

In these two pics we are removing the "scum"

3. Once the musking is done, the pot of musked honey can be poured into the carboy with the distilled water.

4. It is now time to activate the yeast; in a small bowl add one cup of tepid water, the yeast and a teaspoon of the liquid from the honey scum you set aside. 

5. Once the water/honey in the carboy cools to room temperature the bowl of activated yeast can be added to it.

6. Securely put the lid and airlock on the carboy. Put the carboy in a warm (but not hot!) location.

7. The carboy should be turned slightly once a week. Wait about a year and then bottle. Wait several more years before drinking for best mead :)

A Few Points:

- The better the honey the better the mead. Cheap crap honey makes cheap crappy mead.

- Make sure everything is crazy clean! If things are not clean/sterilized it can ruin an entire batch of mead! Moldy mead sucks

- You don't need all the chemicals/yeast nutrients etc. 

- If you want to make a flavoured mead you can add spices/fruit etc. Fresh fruit has "wild yeast", which can totally mess up your mead. We have found using an organic juice works better and is safer (We usually use 2-3 containers of organic juice- simply replace some of the water with juice). You are looking at spending $50-$75 on the honey, so you don't want to mess it up!

- The more honey you use the higher the alcohol content

- The yeast is "dead" when the air locks in no longer "bubbling". If mead is bottled too early it can blow its cork, which sucks! Active yeast could even make a bottle explode! If in doubt, you can use a yeast neutralizer

- A full sized carboy makes 26-30 bottles of mead

Packing and My Old House

Hi! I hope everyone is doing fantastic! I have been busy, busy, busy, packing and cleaning and getting ready to move. I cannot wait to get this done! I want so badly to get moved and have a "home" again.

To me a home is somewhere where I feel safe being myself. Somewhere where I feel comfortable. Somewhere where I don't live in fear of some crazy asshat screaming at me. It's been almost a year since I left my wonderful Wyoming home and it's been a year without a home, a year not feeling safe, a year not feeling comfortable. Finally, it's about to end.

When I lived in Coe Hill, I LOVED the area, loved all the beautiful trees and wildlife, loved the privacy, but my "landlord' was nasty, always bitching at me, belittling me and treated me like shit. I still flinch everytime I see I have a private message on Facebook, thinking its going to be her bitching at me again. I know it can't be her as she is blocked on my Facebook, but yet I still get a moment of panic when I see I have a private message :(  My "landlord' made my Coe Hill experience a nightmare ... and yes, she was suppose to be a "friend"

I got here to New Brunswick and the neighbours have been so nasty, I don't even want to go outside. Every time I go out in my own yard I am in fear of being screamed at yet again. I hate it.

I'm a wimp, absolutely. I HATE conflict. I don't do well with it at all. It makes me feel sick and makes me want to hide.

Just two more weeks!

I had a friend send me a couple of pics from my old home in Wyoming (and that's Wyoming, Ontario ... not the USA! It's a small town outside of Sarnia). The house has been knocked down. Even if I hadn't moved to Coe Hill, I would of had to move anyways as the house needed a new furnace and a new septic system, which the landlord did not want to replace (The landlord there was awesome, best landlord ever, but the house was 130 years old, and it would of cost him over $50,000 just to replace the furnace and put in all new venting. It just wasn't worth it). It was a fantastic place to live. I loved it there very much!

It's sort of sad to see such an awesome house knocked down, but in the end it will save the landlord money. He can turn it into farm fields and make more money than he did in rent.

June 5

Photos from walking the dog today with my son :) Lovely day

Nature is beautiful and creepy 

Taco and Buddha

Skully

My son Travis and the boys :)

My poor ladies :( Only three more weeks till FREEDOM!)

Missing Eggs

Eggs have been going missing from inside the hen pen ... Hmmmmm, I wonder where they are disappearing to?

Yesterday afternoon I saw one in the pen, figured I'd grab it when I put the hens to bed, but when I went out at 8pm to put them in my coop it was gone!

Where'd it go?!

There is no egg shells or yolk or anything in the pen, so I don't think the hens ate it ...

There is a raven that hangs out near the cage and is always going over to it ... can a raven pick up an egg and pull it out of a cage? Maybe a skunk, raccoon or something?

Maybe a neighbour?

 ... I was writing this post and got a dance, so "pushed save", and got ready for said dance. I had my son check the hen pen before he left and there was TWO eggs in it. I did the dances (all the curtain drawn of course), finished the dances and now there is just ONE egg!

Where the hell is the other egg? Again, no egg shells or anything in the pen!

This is quite the mystery!

Yesterday, I thought for sure it must be an animal, but now I'm seriously wondering if it's a neighbour!

Next dance, my son is going to not go to Fredericton, he's gonna go sit somewhere where he can watch the hen pen unseen. If neighbours are stealing my eggs there is going to be hell to pay!

Three more weeks to go and I'm off to my wonderful 50 acre forever home! Can't wait!

Bruised Ribs

Well, I bruised my ribs ...

I had a bad coughing fit a couple of days ago and have since been in pain. It was really bothering me today and after my late afternoon dances, I was in a considerable amount of pain, so I decided to go to the hospital and get it checked. Yep, my ribs on my left side are bruised :( At least it's nothing serious!

So just when I started to get mobile again, I'm back to "taking it easy" ...sigh

Doctor said they should be better in a week or two.

Well, that sort of sucks. I'm moving in four weeks! Got no time for silly bruised ribs!

I'll try to go slow, but I got things to do so my ribs will just have to deal with it.

Thank the Gods I have the world's best son! He's such a help!

On a good night, my lung infection seems to be clearing up well! Hopefully it will be gone for good this time!

Only four weeks left and I'm off to Nova Scotia! Can't wait!

Hugs and Love!