Tuesday, March 13, 2012

Hens and caffeine

Today on Twitter, I noticed that BBC Leicester broadcaster Damien St John was asking people to tweet a photo of their mug of tea. I decided to participate, but thought I'd get all fancy and take a photo of it with my chickens...


I used my Savannah Wildlife Refuge mug, which is covered in bats. My neighbours brought it home from me after a recent trip down south. The hens were very suspicious at first.



Then of course Anastasia had to go stick her beak in. Then Henrietta. Then Charlotte. Then tea was flying everywhere, and let's just say I didn't drink any more of my Yorkshire Gold! Hens love caffeine. Like they're not jittery enough already.


I have plenty more Mexico pics coming, but I'm a bit off my game. I went to Mexico with a cold, got better, then got another cold just before flying home. 18 days later I'm still sick and finally saw my doctor today. He thinks I have walking pneumonia (so called because it's a mild form and the patient presents well, i.e. walks into the doctor's office looking not too bad.) So I had a chest x-ray and got some good drugs! The worst part has been a very irritating cough that has kept me up until 2 am for five nights in a row. 

I'm hoping I'll be able to knock it back now. I had tried everything under the sun: vaporizer in our bedroom, steaming my face over a bowl of hot water and eucalyptus, spoonfuls of honey, cough syrup without codeine, cough syrup with a minute amount of codeine (available over the counter), bags of Ricola cough candies, herbal tea, many oranges, Hydrasense nasal wash, you name it. Now I'm sipping on three spoons of apple cider vinegar in water. But I also have some stronger cough syrup with codeine for bedtime, yay. And antibiotics. Those Mexican colds are TOUGH! I hadn't had a cold in about three years, so I guess I'm making up for it now. Thank goodness for laptop computers!

Not to mention Scrabble on Facebook. What did I do in the old days when I was sick? Well, watched The Flintstones on TV, I guess...

The apple cider vinegar/water combo is not particularly tasty but you know, it's soothing for a cough. The things you can learn on the internet.

Happy Spring! It has come very early here and the temp was something like 15 or 16C today, i.e. really warm for this time of year The snow is almost all melted, the grackles and red-winged blackbirds are back from down south, and the chipmunks have emerged from the ground.

More soon... 





28 comments:

  1. You've taken enough stuff to kill a horse! The least it could have done would be to kill those little bugs! Hope you get well soon.

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    1. I seem to have tough little bugs! :) Anyway, hopefully the prescription drugs will knock this thing out. Thanks Red.

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  2. Get well soon, Missus!

    I've known plenty of dogs who loved a good cup (or saucer) of tea! One dog I knew for many years liked a beer at the pub but would only drink it from the bottle! She would then claim a bag of crisps from the bar and lead the way home.

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    1. That is so cute, crisps and all! My first dog Chelsea loved tea, and I had a friend who always asked if she could make CHelsea a cuppa tea (with milk and sugar) when she came over. :)

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  3. Chickens with a cuppa -great pic. Hope you get better soon. Nothing more frustrating than being sick just as the weather turns nice and warm, and you want to spend lots of time outside.

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    1. Thanks Jenny! i have seeds to get started indoors!

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  4. I hope you feel better soon, it sounds rotten. Hot toddys work very well....they do nothing for coughs but they make you feel a heck of a lot cheerier!!
    Jane x

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    1. I think it's time for a hot toddy. Or I could just drink the mezcal Gordon brought home from Mexico...

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  5. I too have had walking pneumonia. Not pleasant. I had night sweats for several months. Here's hoping you improve rapidly. I'd love to see what would happen if you taught your chickens to smoke.

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    1. That night-sweat thing just started last night and were it not for your comment, i wouldn't have known it was a symptom! yeesh!

      If I taught the chickens to smoke, I'm thinking they'd set the barn on fire. Those girls would go bad, fast!

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  6. Hope you feel better soon. A good remedy is also hot rum with some water!!!!!!!!!!! I am not kidding!

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    1. Preceeded by homemade ice cream!

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  7. Follow up to my suggestion:

    drink it and up under a layers of bedding.

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    1. My doctor is Russian and a big fan of the benefits of judicial alcohol consumption! :)

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  8. pneumonia is no fun, even the walking kind, had the other kind when I was a kid. Spring isn't just early its very early this is almost mid april weather, can you imagine if this holds what kind of bee season we will have? :)

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    1. I'm hoping it's going to be a great bee season. :) I wonder when the first dandelions will bloom?

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  9. I hope you feel better soon. This pneumonia sounds like a real ordeal.

    I had no idea that chickens liked tea. Is the caffeine good for them?

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    1. Ahab, I am not a very good patient!!! I'm definitely not a PATIENT patient.

      I had no idea chickens liked tea either, until they started dunking their beaks in. I'm pretty sure caffeine does them no good, so i won't encourage this habit. :)

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  10. Anonymous10:37 am

    Glad you went to the doctor and got the big guns before it got any worse. My bro didn't do that and was hospitalized a couple of years ago for about a month. He was one sick guy, lost over 40 pounds! Get well soon!

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    1. 40 lbs, holy crap. I wouldn't mind losing 5 or 10, but through illness! Gordon is being a good nursemaid. :)

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  11. Great pix of the chicken drinking the tea!
    I sure your photo will be posted for originality!
    Sorry to hear about the pneumonia. Here's (another) recipie: It's called a Vermont tea: Steep on bag of tea in 8oz boiling water. Add 2 TBSP of apple cider vinegar (which contains the mother), and add 1-2 Tbsp of raw honey (which you have).
    I drink this at the first sign of a tickle. Works like a charm.
    This recipie was taken from a vintage Vermont publication.

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    1. I will try that! I have organic apple cider vinegar with the mother! Thanks Elisabath.

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  12. Sounds like you've had a rare old time of it. I hope you're back to normal soon.

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    1. Just had a three-hour nap with three of the kitties. They love it when I'm sick!

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  13. I´m purryng to you stay better soon!

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  14. Caffeinated eggs! What a great idea! One less step for a good breakfast will make us all more efficient. Get well first and then go with this key to your future!

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    1. Maybe I should be pumping them full of COFFEE!!

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Thank you for all your comments, which I love to read!