When I went to lunch last week, I sat with a friend I had not seen in years. She is also a friend of the 93 yo friend. She went to her brother's house to see his baby sheep. A rooster followed her to the sheep like he usually did. She turned to go back to the house and the rooster followed along as usual. All of a sudden the rooster ran in front of her and flew up to spur her just above her temple.
He caused her to fall. Her brother came home to find her bleeding from her head and called an ambulance. She lives far out in the country. She was taken to the hospital and treated. Then, she was flown by helicopter to UAB Hospital because she had a brain bleed. She spent several days in ICU and finally in a room.
This is just one more reason that I am terrified of roosters. My pet rooster attacked me when I was four. We ate him for Sunday dinner.
While at this lunch, there is always stringed instruments. Singing is optional. As part of the table decor, there were little plastic instruments. I got the kazoo and was trying to play it. I kept blowing into the small end, to no avail. Finally, after I complained, Tommy blew into the large end. Still, that did not work. So, he showed me how to make a noise as I blew. It was not a pretty sound that came out of it when I blew. I suppose that was the first time I ever used a kazoo, maybe the first time I ever saw one in person. Of course, after blowing into the little red kazoo, I brought it home. Practicing has not helped my performance!
I think the kazoo is a regional instrument, so I have no experience with it.
Last year, I wanted a headset to listen to videos so Tommy would not be disturbed while he was watching TV. So, I got myself on Amazon and bought a Logi or Logitech set for about $20. It hurt my head so that I quit wearing it, and it's been a year since I touched the headset. I wanted to listen to Jeanne Robertson, so I tried them once again. They hurt. But, I used them and hated every minute and into the following day. The next time I put them on, they did not hurt at all. A miracle? Or, ignorance? It appears there is a backward and forward to a headset that is almost identical.
After I first bought them, I asked a friend in office supply store what kind would not hurt. He said that Bose would not hurt, but were so expensive and broke down because they were soft and kind to head. So, I decided to not use the pair I had. Since I could not afford Bose, I put them out of my mind. I am so glad I decided to try the Logitech I had. Not hurting is wonderful.
I also saw there is a microphone, and I am not sure how to use it. Plus, there is some sort of button on the wire from the headset. Maybe I should have read the directions. I will do that right now.
Wednesday has been a better day. I only slept a few hours but set my goals low. I looked for flowers in the store I could not shop in because of no carts. A blouse came home with me and a little sample pot of a face cream I like. The huge pots are a pain, so I can refill the small pot.
Wednesday, we should see bad weather. At least there is a chance. So, it will be a stay at home kind of day. One thing I never have to worry about is hot water. Tommy has a gas water heater> of course, all I can do is wash my hair. At my house, the first thing I did when I lost electricity was to wash my hair and get into the tub. I had an electric water heater, so time was of the essence. Even at midnight and in the dark, I managed to get clean.
At the grocery store I bought a few items: Diet Coke Caffeine Free b2g1, 5 lbs Vidalia Onions, Jimmy Dean cooked sausage patties bogo. Tommy has now completely abandoned the morning sausage and biscuit at Hardees. So, occasionally when these are bogo, I buy these for the freezer. Publix never advertises when they have Vidalia Onions. So, this find and purchase was an accident. Last year, I bought them from other stores for about three weeks until I spotted them at Publix.
Diet Coke Caffeine Free 12-packs were $6.20 even with b2g1 price and 52 cents per can. Exorbitant! Vidalia's were 5 lbs for $5.99, not too bad. The Jimmy Dean Sausages came in 8-pack for $6. This was a two-for deal, so I had to buy 2 to get cheaper price. JD sausages were 75 cents apiece. Yes, I figure cost per each item in a package. I never monitor what he eats with the idea of curtailing his consumption except for "leave me two of those sausages." So, if he eats all the sausage patties, I don't buy more for many months.
I still have not looked at all of any of our three ads. We go over the ads and make a list but have not yet.
Did anyone have a bad rooster experience?
Can you play a kazoo, unlike me?
Does using a headset hurt your head and ears? Do all headsets have a back and front side?
Were there good prices in your local grocery ads?
I have a bit of a rooster fear as well, stemming back as a child spending part of summers on my grandparents ranch. One year grandma had a mean ol' rooster. We grandkids did not help the situation one bit, LOL. If we tried to play outside the fenced yard, we'd be chased by the free ranging rooster. After we all left that rooster kept terrorizing my grandma and spurred her. Needless to say that was the end of that rooster.
ReplyDeleteOne,
DeleteSo, they sent him to freezer camp! Those spurs are like knives!
I remember her telling me he spurred her so hard he lost the spur. They sure can be ornery.
DeleteOne,
DeleteI had a ten by ten dog pen with ten teenaged birds. There was always drama in there. When I gave away six birds, I chose the rowdy ones. I think they were all roosters. When I had four calm hens, life was easier in the pen. Of course, fewer chickens helped the place be less rowdy. But, I do believe they were all roosters given away. One chicken, probably a rooster pecked my little toe so hard that I lost a chunk of toe.
Roosters do grow their spurs back, but they are smaller than before.
Yes, I have had a rooster peck at me while I tried to collect eggs. I would have to kick at him to keep him away. I hated him. Annoying male dinosaur bird!
ReplyDeleteYou don't blow into a kazoo; you purse your lips, put them against the short end, and hum into it. There are YouTube videos that explain/demonstrate it.
I have not gone grocery shopping lately, but I did get a dandy deal on two hanging plantars of pink and burgundy calibracoa (Million Bells). They are both huge (more than 3 feet wide). They are now looking quite lovely, spilling over the sides of my front porch urns. I have two shorter urns in front of them that are filled with pink verbena.
Sue,
DeleteLOL--"Annoying male dinosaur bird."
Oh, I thought Tommy was blowing and humming at the same time. Okay, I tried it and still doing something wrong. I will get brunch and try it later.
I am still on the lookout for calibrachoa. Lowe's seems to be allowing their flowers to all die! I will keep searching. If we had the right setup, I would have urns by the front step. Yours sound pretty.
Frankly, I appreciate roosters, and miss mine. They behave the way they do to protect the flock. While our chickens are in a nice coop, with attached, fenced run, shaded by trees, we are on the lookout for a rescue rooster to protect the girls from aerial predators while they are in the run.
ReplyDeleteMeg,
ReplyDeleteJust put chicken wire over their area. One place where I bought chicks had a bunch of chickens in a house while other chickens free-ranged. I asked about the house of noisy birds, about two dozen. They were roosters who were so aggressive with hens. So, chicken lovers do send roosters off the freezer camp, the destination of these roosters.
Our run/coop doesn't lend itself to the chicken wire solution. It is under tree cover, so eagles can't really get in. I worry about raccoons, but the area is close enough to the house that I think the activity helps keep them at bay. Technically the run area within the coop is large enough for up to 6 chickens to be free range, but I like my girls to have more room. That said, I do miss having a rooster...we loved our boys, and they weren't a problem.
DeleteWe had a baby chick that grew into a rooster as a child. He did not like me and chased me all over the place. I think they sense fear. He disappeared one day - I assume now on the dinner table.
ReplyDeleteWe played kazoos in grade school - always fun. Mom & dad hated it!!! Can't imagine why - LOL!
Cheryl,
DeleteI was four, had my back to him, and raised him from a chick. He fought his way over my father's foot as he was kicking him to get him off me as Mama pulled me up the steps to pull me inside. So, my parents showed no fear.
Later, after I quit bleeding and crying, Mama told me he would do it again. And, would it bother me if we ate him. I ate him with relish, loving his pully bone.
ReplyDeleteWe had a very large chicken yard next to the hen house and our Auraconda rooster protected the hens from hawks and other flying predators. He was very large and aggressive towards my husband and me. We kept the chicken feed in a metal garbage can. One day my husband had just lifted the lid when the rooster came for him. My husband backhanded him with the lid and the rooster went flying head over teakettle halfway across the yard. Stupid bird got up and fell down and walked in circles. He was never quite right after that. He never went after my husband again, but had no problem chasing me. He spurred my leg and I would up in the ER. Hated that bird! Had to use a metal leaf rake when I went into the yard to smack him away.. His name was Clyde. One morning we found him below the roosts dead. I was soooo happy. He was a great guardian for the hens, though. Our town only has one grocery store. The other one is over 20 miles away. Kazoos used to drive my mother crazy. You don't blow, just hum into them.
Tweshooz,
DeleteA person has to defend himself from the aggressive roosters! Ending up in the ER is terrible. That is the kind of animal that one does not mourn.
I need to try to play the kazoo again with this new information. I can imagine it would drive a mother to distraction.