Silk's Guide to Mundania

or anyone who hasn't read the series, Mundania is what the people of Xanth call our world, since we have no magic or special creatures.

Not much to announce here, I've been working hard and staying up late to finish dolls and time's about up.
Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, I will be attending AnimeNext.
I've never been to a convention before, so this should be interesting.

Oh, and my blue silkie hen, who I so imaginatively named Blue, has hatched a chick out!
There are four more eggs, so I'm expecting a few more



Add on:
Well I just checked, and there are now two chicks! The newest is absolutely gorgeous. A blue silkie/cochin/aracauna mix with pink toes!

Sorry for being quiet, AnimeNext really drained me!
I overslept this morning, then tried to take it easy all day. I'm feeling a little ill at the moment, but I'm okay.
I think that I overdid it at the convention. I tend to lose focus and not notice when I'm tired or thirsty if I'm working on something.

It comes from my job, I enter data into a computer all day so I'm just used to working hard! XD
I think I'll try to do it again next year though. But I'll be better prepared, of course!

I had a really amazing lightning storm last night!
It never came over the property, but the sky was flickering, and the power was knocked out for the entire night.
It was pretty awesome, all in all! obviously the power came back, thank goodness XD

There must be something in the water, because I have four hens all broody at once!!
For those unfamiliar with chickens, broody means the time when a hen is trying to hatch eggs out.

I had one hen locked in my old rabbit hutch because she keeps panicking over nothing and upsetting the others, and she's broody so she was sitting on eggs that I was trying to collect to sell.
I had no choice but to take the eggs that she had heated up and move them.
I thought that she had scrambled the eggs with her running in and out of the nest, but this morning she ran in and knocked an egg, and I heard a protest peep.
So I shooed the hen out and checked the surviving eggs, and sure enough one is hatching!

I can't trust that nervous wreck of a hen though, so I've given the hatching egg to one of my silkies who had been chased from her own nest and is now sitting on a smaller one.
So hopefully, Fluffy will hatch this chick out and adopt it.

But if Puffy2, Bomamba, and my white rock hen all hatch their eggs out, I am going to have a lot of chicks!
I don't know, maybe it's time that I just hang a "Chicks for Sale" sign by my mailbox?

Not much going on here, my younger brother's girlfriend flew back to Florida yesterday. She gave me a big hug before going though! I love hugs XD
I'm regretting my brilliant idea to take my dog with me on my walk yesterday. She was panting so badly that I had to stop several times to rest her, and I'm afraid that the walking irritated her leg, since she has some mild arthritis starting. I'll leave her home when I go walking from now on!

Tonight I'm meeting my mom and sister in law to be, to pick out some shoes to match my bridesmaid dress.
You can't try a dress on without footwear, because it affects your height, so they need it all in order to know where the trim should be.

Two new chicks hatched today, and another egg has pipped!
I've moved Bomamba the hen, and her remaining eggs to a hutch to protect them from curious coop mates.

Fluffy has adopted one of the hatched chicks, to give Bomamba more room to incubate the rest of her clutch, which is too spread out in the hutch for a bantam like her to keep evenly warm otherwise.

I found a beautiful solid black chick under my hen this morning, which is unusual!
Usually, black chicks have yellow bellies. This baby will probably grow up to be a solid black chicken. It hatched from a very white egg, so the contrast was suprising.
Bomamba has more eggs under her, but I'm not sure if they're the same age or not since she won't let me get a good look.

That's a total of 4 chicks so far, though!

Today I'm in the office, taking a little break to type this.
The fire alarm system is being worked on, so every so often I get startled by the alarm going off then stopping.
Annoying!

More to come, provided I have anything worth sharing...

I really need to update this more often!
Well, I have three chicks at the moment, a silkie, and two welsummer mixes. They're cute little things but the silkie is so afraid of every little thing. Yesterday, it was peeping in distress because it stepped in poo XD


Speaking of bad steps, I damaged my foot today while ushering the chickens into their coop. I came down on a rock, but it felt fine so I didn't think anything of it.
But a few hours later, I was having trouble stepping on that foot. I think I'm going to try to keep my weight off it for a little bit and hope it heals up. What a silly injury though!
I've been hiking in the woods, shoveling manure, easing through tight spaces, and carrying heavy loads, and what kind of injury do I get? A sprained foot! The indignity of it all...


I'm seriously considering buying a robot kit and trying to figure out how to construct an animatronic head for my next youtube idea... when I have the funds anyway.
I need to work on my gardens too.

I went out to open the coops this morning, then sidetracked to check on the root garden that I started. Barney the cat was sitting there, looking intent on something. So I went to investigate and sure enough, he has a small frog.
So my first adventure of the day was a frog rescue. It was fine though, and jumped right back into the pond when I carried it over and put it down.

My foot's still a little sore, but it's okay to walk on. I'm still planning to go easy on it though, just in case.

Wow, i haven't used this journal in forever!

I'll be using it to log my adventures in puppy rearing for now.

So the new puppy, Becky went to the high end pet store yesterday. I allowed her to choose her own toys, and she selected a puppy kong (pink of course), and a tiny yellow loofadog.

While she was happily gnawing on the long's cardboard backing, I selected a collar for her. Pink, with a purple stripe down the center, and daisies.
She tried to eat it when I was putting it on her, but hasn't had a complaint since.

The manager happened to be in, and showed me the best food and shampoo to start her on. And he couldn't resist giving her a couple of freeze dried treats, lucky pup!
He also gave us a new puppy pamphlet, with a coupon. 20% off the most expensive item we bought!

An employee asked to hold her, but when I tried to oblige, Becky clung to me. I finally convinced her to let the nice girl hold her, though. She'll have to get used to it, she's just that cute

So she got her toys, food, shampoo, and flea and tick repellent, as well as a stainless steel dish.
She shoved her nose into the dish as soon as she saw it, too bad it was empty!

At the checkout, the employee gave her one last treat, and another customer couldn't help but admire her.
Becky accepted the attention, but only really wanted me to hold her.



Last night, she settled into my built in bathroom. I fixed up a baby gate and my bed is directly in front, so we could see each other easily.
She curled up early despite my attempts to keep her moving a little longer, and she slept until around 4AM, when she woke up and cried until I sang to her and told her about what the next day would bring.
7AM: Becky woke again and cried for me. I let her cry a while, until she became more and more shrill and upset. I got the message and brought her outside, where she did her #1 and #2 just perfectly, and received much praise for it.
Good thing too, she has a vet appointment later today, and they'll want a sample!

I came back in and played with Becky a little, before returning her to her pen. She cried and fussed, but I left her since I don't want her thinking that she can control people by being noisy.
She went into a full blown puppy tantrum, scratching and banging at the gate, and scrabbling at the edges. I let her get it out of her system, and curled up to try to get a little more sleep while I could.

8AMish: I woke to a snuffling sound and rolled over to find Becky peering up at me from the floor.
She had figured out how to push her gate until the bottom came loose, then squeeze under!
Clever dogs are always the most naughty, but it's impossible to get mad at a puppy XD

So we were awake, and I took her upstairs for a bit where she had a drink of water.
Then we went out again. Becky discovered a vicious bush, and growled and bit and tugged until she was satisfied that she had won that fight.
She followed me to the coops and hooked her paws over the plank of wood over the gate, watching me let the chickens loose.
Two hens flew over the plank and Becky flinched, but stayed where she was. Just right!
We went back to the house where Becky trotted right past her nemesis the sundial pillar. She growled at it as she passed, though. That'll show it!


She came back in and had a long play session, teaching herself how to fetch her kong and chew on feet.
She finally wore herself out and has been sound asleep since.

I'll update later to share how she likes the vet

Making a new post since the last was so long...

Becky was a perfect darling at the vet. She settled next to me in the waiting room and took a nap, she only stirred long enough to check out any sounds.
The vet declared her in good shape, except for having coccidia, which is an intestinal parasite, nothing too serious. He also gave her a few treats - she will take any treat from anyone who offers, the greedy little thing!
She's on pills now to cut down on the numbers, and her immune system should fix her up when she comes of age.

The vet thinks she's around 9 or 10 weeks old, she still has all of her milk teeth. But he told me that their canines always come out at 6 months old, so we'll know when she hits that mark.


After the appointment, we went to Rosedale Mills and bought her a new puppy coat for the cold weather. It's a nice hunter green color.

We also tried on a blue coat with faux fur around the neck, but poor Becky was so sleepy that she toppled right over when I put it on her XD
I looked for a bed for her, but there wasn't anything quite right. Not that she wouldn't grow out of in a month, anyway.
I'm going to try HomeGoods next, they always have nice pet beds for good prices.

Becky fell asleep in the car and when we got home, I took her on the grass. She did #1, then moved off and fell into a sitting position.
I took her in and put her in her pen, but after a mouthful of food, she asked to come out again. So I played with her a little before trying again. She threw a little tantrum, but she's quieted now.

Yesterday I had a doctor appointment, so I left Becky home with my stepdad. I walked and played with her, and made sure that she took her pill, so she was ready for a nap by the time that I needed to leave.
I received a text, stating that she was very happy and racing around the house while I was out XD

After getting home, my mom and I gathered Becky and headed out to another pet store to buy her new crate. It's always a good idea to carry a young puppy to new locations to socialize them. Becky is more than happy to give kisses in exchange for a little attention. We met a woman who runs a doggy daycare, she took an immediate liking to the pup.
I'm not going to need any daycare for Becky, but it's good to know that such a nice woman is offering the service. Maybe I should consider starting something like that, once the fencing is repaired. I have two very nice fields that dogs just love.

I got Becky a medium sized crate, and a very soft "rosebud" bed, as well as an all natural dog toy. Then we stood outside and waited for my mom to pull the car up to load the purchases. Becky explored a bit, then sat down very nicely.
She doesn't actively seek out strangers when she's with me, but she seems to appreciate any attention that she attracts.


Getting home was a surprise, since Becky taught herself to go upstairs without any prompting! She still hasn't learned to go downstairs, but that's much harder for a dog, since they can't see the way as well from that angle.
She's also started running a lot more, and climbing.

Today, I set up the crate. Becky was partially crate trained by her foster mom, and recognized it at once. As soon as I pulled it out of the box, Becky let out an excited growl and started running laps from one end of the room to the other!
She got so excited that by the time I'd finished, I had to hold an arm out and snag her as she came for another pass XD

We went outside to let the chickens out, and Becky surprised me once again, by climbing an old chicken ramp that was leaning vertically against an unused rabbit hutch.
I was a little concerned when she right away turned to climb down, and asked her to stay while I came for her. Apparently, border collies have been known to climb structures! More evidence of her breeding.

we came back inside and settled down. I fed Becky, making sure to run my fingers over the food as she ate, to prevent any food aggressive tendencies. She has none, but my stepdad's lab developed them because he failed to touch the food when the dog ate.
I'm very pleased with Becky's attitude so far. My only complaint is her tendency to find items on the floor and attempt to run off with them. I've had to remove several wooden pieces from her mouth!

I've been reading other records of rearing border collies, and some pups have already learned Sit and Lay Down at this age.
Becky knows the gist of what "Down" means, and I'm working on "Leave it" or "Drop it."
I don't want to overburden her, but it seems that training shouldn't be too hard, as long as she isn't distracted.


It's cold and raining today, so I'm keeping her inside except for her necessary outings. I'm trying to be patient, but I'm looking forward to when she's older and I can take her on more adventurous outings. I can't wait to show her the farm park!
Maybe I'll carry her on my walk when she's a few weeks older... it'd be good exposure for her, and exercise for my arms

I had a little scare today.

I am allergic to pork (it came on suddenly about 8 years ago when I had some pulled pork - one of my favorites)
I usually manage to avoid it, but it gets slipped into everything. Meatballs, lasagna, paninis...
And I always loved spare ribs and pulled pork, which are no longer allowed.
Beef short ribs are good, but just not the same thing.

I was happily munching what I thought was a beef based sausage, went to chat online, and my throat nearly closed off.
I wasn't desperately gasping or anything, but i was becoming extremely concerned. Had it gotten any worse, I would have grabbed the phone to call for an ambulance.


Now in the past, my symptoms have just been a fever, dizziness, and being sick.
I really, really hope that it hasn't gotten even worse. Pork is so difficult to avoid, I would have to give up so many food options to be on the safe side.





In a related health problem, I'm going to have to make an eye appointment soon. Years of entering data into computers is catching up with me.