Chazd's (Charles Dowdell's) News Burps

eBay item 2589232711 (Ends Jan-22-04 18:32:26 PST) - ACCU-SPREAD 3PT SALT SPREADER (HYD DRIVE) I think this spreader listed on ebay may be just the ticket for lime spreading (and who knows what else, maybe wild bird food). Fawna is doing better. She still has not stood up, but she is definitely better. It is extra warm in the llamahouse...Probably 55 degrees. It is only fuel! We have to weigh concerns of carbon monoxide and warmth for the animals. The last thing I want to do is go down to the llamahouse some morning and see all my buddies taking "the big dirt nap" because I got carried away with heaters. I am learning a lot about animals and people and why we get along sometimes. We got about three quarts .. no 2 quarts of warm water into her gut (1 quart spilled). We put a pinch of sugar and a pinch of salt in the water to help her recharge her battery. She is actually showing signs of being a nice llama. Here is a picture of Fawna (not today). She has chosen n...

Mars Exploration Rover Mission: Home Fawn is still not walking. She is in about the same shape she was in when I went to bed. The llama house is warm and she has a blanket on her. I will take her some more food in a bit.

Llama Things Fawn is doing better, but it is clear she is not recovered. She is still not walking around. The boys run around in their yard just before bedtime to get their bodies ready for the cold night. Fawna has never done that. I heated up some Gatorade in the microwave and put it in a thermos. We used a turkey baster to squirt some of the solution into her mouth. For a while she really liked it. Now she does not want water or anything. She did eat a few handfuls of grain though. The warmer weather 10 degrees above tonight helps a lot. We have both the heaters going and I think I could sleep ok out in the llama house if it wasn't for the boys stepping on me. They are clumsy. When I was out there a few minutes ago.. there was some good forceful steam coming from her nostrils. There is no doubt that she would have croaked if we didn't intervene last night. I hope she can still recover. She may not. This bitter cold made me think about all the farm animals that die w...

La Mara Springs We have a sick llama on our hands. Fawna had trouble getting up yesterday morning. She was having problems using her legs. It appears she was hypothermic. She is so skittery that she has slept outside for a couple of nights. Man o man is it cold out there. It was 20 below last weekend and again this morning it is below zero with a blowing-driving snow. It is like another planet out there. We took the kerosene heater out there to work with the propane one, put down animal matts under their straw, put a heavy welder's curtain across the front of their house and we literally had to drag fawna inside. She is heavy. She now has a blanket on too. We then rolled her over so she wouldn't get stepped on so much. When I checked on them early this morning the propane heater had run out of fuel, so it wasn't toasty out in their house. Both are running right now. It should be getting toasty out there right now... perhaps in the 40s or 50s.

Logarithmic Maps of the Universe Here is a neat map of the universe. It is a new rendition from princeton. It makes you think.

The Weird Site -A classy selection of weird, strange and bizarre web sites and news facts. Today was a strange day. Not that every day is strange, but today I decided to recognize today as strange. I woke up 5:00 am and got the fire going again, surfed the web, drank coffee, made the usual to-do list. Started on the mead process, burned garbage, fed llamas, fed chickens. Started on ebay process, sold three items on ebay, and listed the llama beans. Thought about work and scenarios Got fire going again... needed serious reconfig in firebox. Some of the fingers used to hold fire became disjointed. CAUGHT CAT ON FIRE!... The orange cat (Tioga) came up to me on my computer stinking, looking for affection. He was rubbing on me and me and the monitor, and the desk, meowing... I thought it was outside rolling in the garbage or something, but no he had somehow caught himself on fire... what a dip sh#t. Anyway, he is no worse for the wear. I found the large bit o...

Cranberry Mead I am making mead today. It has a little cranberry in it, not much. I suspect it will be quite subtle in the finished product. The coffee can contraption holds the honey pot (jug) so the honey can all run out in just a matter of mere hours without having to baby sit. The recipe is as follows: Water Yeast, Lalvin EC-1118 Saccharomyces bayanus (Champagne) 15 grams (rehydrated) 2 quarts Cranberry juice from concentrate 10 pounds of Raspberry Honey from Howland Honey The starting gravity turned out to be 1073. The liquid that mead is made from is called "must". The temperature is above zero out there for the first time in a couple of days. I think it is 3 above right now. The llamas seem happy, the chickens are happy anytime I give them sheep food. We got 4 eggs this morning so everyone is still producing. I re-read the coal stove manual and discovered I was not using it as efficiently as I could have been. I had it in "weak...