Apocalyptic Homesteading (Day 1073)
Hello Everyone!
A pleasant fall morning, The vermin strike again, Mulling another parasite cleanse & My old dog is feeling better!
Alright, it is a little while after sunset and I am finally sitting down to write after making a late day supply run. It is always a bit of a scramble trying to get the groceries put away when it is that late in the day... but I have to take the rides to the store when I can... and do not my best not to make a fuss over the timing.
The weather was once again very nice and although the wind picked back up it did not have the biting chill that it did a few days ago. Heck, even the chilly morning temperatures did not last all that long and I was able to get outdoors and start piddling around with stuff rather early.
Since the outdoor tub was still full of water I decided to pump it out (instead of bailing it out like I usually do) and had to fetch an extension cord and the submersible pump to do it. During the process I found that the rats in the shop tent had chewed through one of my extension cords... and they had also chewed completely through the cord for the pump's float switch where it was located in the solar shack.
The scary part of that scenario is that the extension cord in the shop tent was plugged in when it got chewed through... and the frayed end was laying in a pile of very dry leaves that were under the edge of the tent. Talk about a frigging fire hazard! I dunno how that rat did not get electrocuted but I did not see a carcass anywhere in the vicinity.
As many folks know I have been complaining about the vermin for quite some time now and at this point I am assuredly fed up... and that was before finding the newly ruined items that I found today. Although I failed to do it today (because I was focused on other stuff) I am going to dig out all my rat traps and start setting them each night with some peanut butter as the bait.
Eventually... I did wind up getting the tub pumped out so that I could get a bath and do more laundry. Fortunately, I did not get shocked in the process because I failed to notice where the rats had also chewed on the pump's main power cord... until after it was plugged in and pumping water. By the end of it all I was like: Damn it do I really want to know the true extent of how much gear has been ruined by these damned vermin... or just throw everything away and spare myself the hard feelings!
Anyways, the day was not super productive (aside from washing a bunch of laundry) but overall I am still feeling much better and I have continued to notice an increase in my energy level. It is hard to describe how my thinking has also changed other than to say that I am 'thinking more clear headed' but even that does not seem to describe it all that well.
Perhaps saying 'a fog has lifted' would be a more apt way of putting it... and given how 'thick' the fog seems to have been... I might start myself on another parasite cleanse over the coming weeks. The more that I have read about people using the black walnut husk extract for parasite removal... the more I am inclined to think that two weeks is a better time span than the handful of days that I did the treatment for.
Honestly, the juglone just had me feeling really 'weird' and like I mentioned a few days ago my body could not take much more of the side effects... both the intended ones and the unintended ones! During my next round of experimentation I am also going to drink a lot more fluids... because I think that some of the adverse effects (mostly nausea or wooziness) that I experienced last time were from insufficient hydration.
On a different note. My aging dog has been improving the last few days and she can once again get to her feet on her own so that is a massive move in the right direction. I still have to carry her in and out of the cabin but when she is on the deck (inside that wooden border that I built for her) she will get up on her own and walk around until she wears herself out.
Okay, I think that I am going to keep this entry short and sweet and get on with the editing and posting phase of things. I hope that everyone is doing well and has a nice time.
https://peakd.com/c/hive-114308/created
Rats are smart, when they see they are being killed in the traps they seem to avoid them or they find a way to lick the peanut butter or whatever you use off without setting off the trap.
I am so glad to hear your oldest dog is feeling better, I worry about you having to deal with losing her.
Did you have parasites in your body?
Yep I know that about the rats which is why I generally run the dogs on them instead of bothering with traps. That said though I gotta wait until the snakes go to sleep in order to do that safely... hence the traps.
Oh yeah I had (and probably still do have) plenty of parasites. It is neither surprising nor all that odd considering the 'lifestyle' I have lived.