Mr. Turkey Died...

I came home from work early today to drop Caitlyn off to go to the falls for the afternoon.  When I got home, Mr. Turkey was collapsed in the water pan.  Our heat index was around 100 if not above and his wading pan was empty.  He had an automatic waterer in the pen to have water to drink, but evidentally, his being able to stand in the water in this heat was more important.  I don't know what happened, Caitlyn and Kyle were both home and neither of them managed to make it out to refill water while I was at work.  Kyle does it nearly everyday and I'm not sure what happened today for him to not do it.  I grabbed the water hose and started running water over Mr. Turkey to cool him off and gave him a drink.  His skin was almost too hot to touch.  All I could do was cry and tell him I was sorry.  I know, he's a turkey, but he was my pet and I had him for 4 years and I know laying in the sun cooking to death was a horrible way to die.  I managed to get him carried under a shade tree.  He weighed well over 50 lbs and was nearly more than I could manage.  There was no way he was cooling off fast enough.  I filled the 15 gallon rubber tub with water and got him lifted sat him in it.  He only lasted a few minutes before I could see the color start to drain from his head.  He was dying and I couldn't do anything about it.  When I could feel his heart stop, I lifted him out and laid him in the grass by the porch.  I covered him with a towel until Troy was home from work.  It took 2 hours to get a hole big enough to bury him. We put him under the mimosa trees in the yard. We saved him from being a butterball turkey only to have him bake in the sun...I just won't get over it...my heart aches. 

More New Babies!

It was a terrible night.  Troy is on days.  We were up most of the night with the dogs barking.  Sometime around 3:30am, Sammie went crazy.  Troy went out to check what was going on and found a raccoon in the chicken pen.  He had the BB gun in hand, but it didn't do much but scare the critter back over the fence.  Thank goodness we had the barn closed well.  He came back to bed at almost 4 and just waited for his alarm to go off for work.  Not long after he left, I hear Kyle standing by my bed telling me he had a bad dream.  He crawled in bed with me.  Within a few minutes I heard chirping from the bathroom...the black copper marans eggs in the incubator were hatching.  It was a rough night, but when I finally dragged myself out of bed for work, I had 3 of the 17 chicks hatched, fluffy and dry.

Live Performance!

I see on facebook...day after day...people advertising their bands or groups.  They ask people to come see them, come join them, or come have a good time.  They offer their services for parties and events.  They give their location and time and cost to attend.  I often read them and wish that I could see things from their perspective. So, today, I'm putting myself in their shoes...One night only!  Sometime between 6pm and 7pm, tomorrow night, you will hear 1 song.  I'm not offering an opportunity to see fancy costumes or intricate light shows.  No souvenirs will be thrown into the audience and the only beverages offered come from the water fountain in the hallway.  I don't have a band, or backup singers...except those included on the accompaniment cd, and I have no fan club.   I can promise a song straight from the heart and possibly a few tears shed on stage  from a 39 year old wife and mother who is nothing fancy.  A song from someone who would find it easier to fade into a crowd than to take center stage.  A song sung for my Lord and Savior meant to tug at the heartstrings.  Hmmm...wonder who would show?