TALK TO THE COW

What started out as an entirely different subject has ended up at the barn apparently.   If you bear with me I might be able to get out of the muck and the mire and get on with how I got here in the first place.  Patience is of the essence here....

I phoned my upstairs neighbor and friend who is not well this week either and we got to talking about physical limits and when to know the right time to push those limits in order to make progress.  From there we talked about other people's expectations of us particularily when they think--- (yes I'm a mind reader as well as being a master blogger)--- or they at least intimate that we are not making the kind progress we should be achieving. 

You all are doing SO well just hanging in there with me and being patient and just sitting there quietly........ and I haven't heard nary a one say "Are we there yet??" 
Your reward is near.

 :>>enter the cow here<<: ----My attempt at a little http:// humor here but I have no idea what it would do.
Did you know that the cow can be led up the stairs but cannot be led down the stairs?.....and while that's no bull although it could be it is not gender restrictive, it's a fact.   
My point here is that other than the person himself or herself, no one has all the facts.  There are always varying degrees of limits that one exists under at varying points in that recovery and many of those are absolutely impossible to do no matter how much we wish or push or prod or pray for it to be otherwise.  I'm sure that the cow would really like to go down those stairs too if she could. 
The progresses made are within your own 4 walls all by yourself on a daily if not hourly basis as you try to achieve a dignified quality of life and get done the things that absolutely have to get done. 
 In other words it's nobody else's business but yours and your doctor's with the exception of some government or insurance agency that sends you a check every month.

I love the Herefords.   Almost every farm here had them, we owned one and they are tied to many childhood memories including falling off one but that's another story. 
When I went looking for the lovely mother above ( the cow, the cow,)  I came across some information that only I or my family  could appreciate but aren't you blessed you're going to get it anyway.  The first exports from the UK in 1817 of this breed was to..................ta daaaaaaa...... Kentucky, US of A. perhaps the home of the NOT so free back then otherwise my maternal grandmother's family would not have trekked by covered wagon all the way to Canada and thus the reason for my being.  You must be overcome.


Hereford cattle are a beef cattle breed, widely used both in intemperate areas and temperate areas, mainly for meat production.
Originally from Herefordshire, England, United Kingdom,^[1][2] more than five million pedigree Hereford Cattle now exist in over 50 countries. The Hereford cattle export trade began from United Kingdom in 1817, starting in Kentucky, United States,^[3] spreading across the United States and Canada through Mexico to the great beef-raising countries of South America. Today, Hereford cattle dominate the world scene from Australasia to the Russian steppes. Hereford Cattle can be found in Israel, Japan and throughout Continental Europe and Scandinavia.^[4]

This Will Grow On You

I came across a new word in the newspaper the other day and had to look it up.  So now that I'm enlightened I've been wondering how am I going to use it.  Let's see now.. according to the first definition:

ac·cre·tion

[uh-kree-shuhn]

–noun

1.

an increase by natural growth or by gradual external addition; growth in size or extent.

Being shut in for 4 weeks without of exercise or any physical exertion beyond lifting eating utensils for the most part.  I understand accreeetion very well as I believe that a certain amount of 'natural growth' and most certainly 'gradual external addition' is happening to me as we speak. 

2.

the growing together of separate parts into a single whole. 

Yep I think this is an inevitable natural progression of acreeeetion There will be  reruns and remakes of old movies like 'The Thing' and 'The Blob eventually morphing into 'THE THINGAMABLOB'. 

I am seriously thinking about Wii-ing.  I heard that you can get rid of 'gradual external additions' by ............Wii, Wii, Wii-ing yourself all the way at home.

YOUR "YUCK" MOMENT OF THE DAY

The Last-Ditch Method To Fight Intestinal Superbug?

Now a small but growing number of doctors are trying a last-ditch treatment: Using good bacteria to fight off the bad by transplanting stool from a healthy person into the sick person's colon.
Yes, there's a yuck factor. But reports of several dozen cases in a medical journal and at a meeting of the nation's gastroenterologists this fall suggest that with no more inconvenience than a colonoscopy, people who have suffered C-diff for months, or longer, can rapidly improve.
"This is the ultimate probiotic," says Dr. Lawrence Brandt of New York's Montefiore Medical Center, who has performed 17 of the procedures.
Yet it's much more complex: An entire bacterial neighborhood is transplanted.

 "C-diff, formally named Clostridium difficile, has become a menace in the nation's hospitals, and can spread outside of them, too. Some patients suffer just mild diarrhea, but others, especially older adults weakened by previous illness, can develop a more severe condition called colitis. There aren't precise counts but some government estimates suggest C-diff may be responsible for as many as 15,000 deaths yearly."
Up to a third of patients experience a second infection, and some go on to suffer recurrent bouts. Those worst-case patients are put on increasingly strong doses of the powerful antibiotic vancomycin for weeks, even months, at a time, treatments that Brandt says can cost $2,500 or more with each try.


http://health.yahoo.net/news/s/ap/us_med_healthbeat_stool_transplants

Submerging Your Feet In Alcohol Will Not Get You Drunk--Danish Study

Research in the Christmas issue published on bmj.com today explodes the Danish myth that it is possible to get drunk by submerging your feet in alcohol. The authors, led by Dr Peter Lommer Kristensen from the Hillerød Hospital in Denmark, say it was important that the myth underwent scientific scrutiny to prevent students wasting their time experimenting with this activity. Three adult volunteers took part in the study. None of them suffered from any chronic skin or liver disease and they were not addicted to alcohol or psychoactive drugs..."

Now why in the world would the medical community discourage a harmless myth that only allows students or other young people to waste their time and alcohol on their feet?  To me it makes perfect sense!~!  After all dont' they waste their time drinking anyway and with worse consequences than sitting around pickling their feet?

Castle Acre, Norfolk, England

This is the area where my paternal ancestors lived in the 1600's.  By 1806 some  immigrated to Hamilton, Wentworth, Ontario, then to Dunnville, Lambton, Ontario by 1863, Petrolia Ontario by 1870 and westward ho to the prairies by 1891. 

Castle Acre

Castle Acre
The Priory, Castle Acre
Castle Acre is a village and civil parish in the English county of Norfolk. The village is situated on the River Nar some 4 miles (6.4 km) north of the town of Swaffham. It is 15 miles (24 km) east of the town of King's Lynn, 33 miles (53 km) west of the city of Norwich, and 103 miles (166 km) from London.[1][2] The village is best known today for the twin ruins of Castle Acre Castle and Castle Acre Priory, which lie immediately to the east and west of the village respectively. Both were founded soon after the Norman Conquest by William de Warenne, the first Earl of Surrey. At its heyday, Castle Acre played an important role in the affairs of the State, with many visits from royalty. Castle Acre itself was once a fortified town and still possesses one of its gates, the Bailey Gate. When first established, Castle Acre was one of the finest examples of Norman town planning in the country, and much of this can still be seen.[3] The civil parish has an area of 13.18 km2 (5.09 sq mi) and in the 2001 census had a population of 799 in 370 households. The parish shares boundaries with the adjacent parishes of Rougham, Great Massingham, West Acre, South Acre, Newton by Castle Acre and Lexham. The parish falls within the district of King's Lynn and West Norfolk. Local government responsibilities are shared between the parish, district and county councils.[4][5] The village lies some 0.5 miles (0.80 km) west of the A1065 Mildenhall to Fakenham road, but is clearly visible from the road. The hamlet of Fiddler's Green lies to the northeast of the village.  Castle Acre shown within Norfolk
Area	13.18 km2 (5.09 sq mi)
Population	800
- Density	61 /km2 (160 /sq mi)
OS grid reference	TF816151
- London	103 miles (166 km)
District	King's Lynn and West Norfolk
Shire county	Norfolk
Region	East
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	KING'S LYNN
Postcode district	PE32 2
Police	Norfolk
Fire	Norfolk
Ambulance	East of England
EU Parliament	East of England
List of places: UK • England • Norfolk

Castle Acre

Who Lies More about Attending Church Canadians or Americans?

And the answer IS: 

Canadians are second only to Americans in the unexpected research results found in a study done over a 30 year span by the University of Michigan. It included more than 400 different surveys and 750,000 people in 14 countries done by Philip Brenner a research fellow at the Institute for Social Research.  I say unexpected only from my point of view in that we are talking about people that regardless of where they live, say they follow the truthful Jesus Christ as their model.

Although my first reaction was "liar liar pants on fire",  to be fair the study reveals that the misrepresentation is not wholly intentional but due to the way the study or any study is framed, that is by the way the questions are asked.  This became evident when time-use diaries ask people to record everything they did on a given day versus being asked a direct question. 

When asked directly people are more likely to give what they see as a desirable answer but when simply recording their daily activities the results are a more accurate representation because nothing is singled out.  Thus people have no idea what answers the researchers are really interested in and their guards are down in connection to any sensitive areas they may have in religion, politics, buying habits or sexual orientation.

Stats in the U.S. reveals that 35 to 45 per cent of people said they attended religious services regularly, but time-use information says 25 per cent is more accurate.

In Canada, the percentage of people who said they worshipped regularly fell from 41 per cent in 1974 to 25 per cent by 2005 but actually over that time period it shows up as 22 to 10 per cent.
In Europe the biggest gaps between people's reported and actual religious attendance are found in predominantly Catholic countries.  But even in Ireland--where reported church attendance tumbled from 90 per cent in the 1970's and '80's to about 46 per cent in 2006--the gap was about four to eight percentage points.

Reginald Bibby, a sociologist at the University of Lethbridge in Alberta, Canada, says once people develop a "churched" identity, it tends to stick and they answer questions about their religious behaviour based not just on what they actually do but on what they try to do and think they ought to do.

Well... so what does that mean?  Does it mean that they can feel better about themselves because they meant well?  And does that mean that Canadians really aren't liars?  Or perhaps is it because "they are open to the possibility of greater involvement in religious groups," as he further went on to say?

Since when do 'good intentions' trump the truth?

I'm sorry but I just can see Jesus Christ saying to his disciples that he went to the synagogue 7 times when in fact he only went 5 times no matter how badly he wanted to attend those other two times.

   Beyond the Gods & Back, Bibby's book on the decline of religion in Canada, will be published in January.

Thirst Drives Person to Seek Relief

On my way to the city of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan in July 2009, I stopped for a break and had a small lunch and a drink of water.  What I saw while I was there was absolutely mind boggling.

 If you look through the fence on the right you will see a red object which is a car that was about to be backed into the alley, out onto the street,  will turn right and park beside the silver car on the corner of the next block at the gas station. She drove to a building across the street!!!

About 5 minutes later the car comes back around the corner and into the spot where it is now in the picture.  I happened to be standing outside my vehicle and able to see the occupant emerge from the car, a young lady with a very large beverage in hand reminiscent of a slurpy. 

She walked up to the door on the slanted roof addition and found the door to be locked.  She then had to walk around to the FRONT of her building and presumably went in through the front door!~! 

Now don't that beat all? She could have saved a lot of time and fuel emissions if she would have only walked out the front door in the first place.  I guess thirst makes people do funny things.