waiting for the benadryl

I have to write fast tonight before the benadryl kicks in and I konk out. More on that in a minute.

Yesterday was very productive. I decided it's finally time to separate the young roosters into conditioning pens. They were starting to squabble and harass the girls. So I sorted through all the cockerels yesterday and put the best 20 (convenient, as there were only 20 I liked) into the tall coop. They're penned in pairs (2 males per pen). That'll work til they get shown, and over the next few months I expect I'll change my mind about some of them anyway and can separate some into single pens. But for now it works. I should have birds to sell in early spring, though it's a little early to get into detail on that. There are a couple of cockerels that have some real potential. I also have quite a few to sell now as "pet quality" birds. They're stunning, just not top notch breeders or show birds (but probably better than what some people might sell!). ;-)

After that, Mom wanted me to help trim the blackberries along the back fence by the creek and that went fine and dandy until something stung my arm. I'm not even sure what, I didn't really get a good look, I just felt the sting and in the split second where I yanked my arm up and smacked my glove across it, I just caught sight of what looked to be a darn big bug (wasp? yellowjacket?). Oh great. I'm not the sort of allergic that makes it life-threatening, but instantly there was a rapidly-spreading red spot and I knew this would be a bad one. I went in the house and treated it ASAP. Yeah, it's a bad one. By tonight my arm is swollen from past my elbow up into my hand. My arm has gained an extra 1.25 inches in circumference. And the pain, it's pretty astounding.... Don't tell me to go see a doctor, I'm not going. I'll live. Damn those stinging things. I like bees but the rest of them ought to just drop dead. The reaction gets worse every time I get stung. I hope it's better tomorrow. Come on benadryl, knock me out...

It rained all day today, almost 3/4 of an inch. I'm working on a scrim I can't show you right now.

Oh! I kinda forgot to mention the Sandhill Crane Festival. Oopsies. It was this weekend down in Lodi. I had three pieces in the art show (two photos and the scrim of the swan on Mother of Pearl called "Tundra Elegance.") Well, my little scrimshaw won 2nd Place People's Choice! Woo hoo! That's pretty cool. The ladies who run the show are so sweet, they put my piece right up front and even brought a magnifying glass so that people could take a better look at it.

Uhhhhh, I've been staring blankly at the screen for a few minutes. I'll take that as a sign that I should head down the hall and climb into those wonderful flannel sheets.