Midtown Ranch

Kate has a conformation show this weekend.
Her coat is in good condition, her weight is right, and we’ve been practicing our stands and gaiting.
Cross your fingers for her.

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/republican-scott-brown-defeats-democrat-martha-coakley-massachusetts/story?id=9602776

Now watch the Democrat leaders in the House change direction and state with great sincerity that what was completely unacceptable last week in the Senate health bill is all of a sudden EXACTLY what this nation needs. Right now. Before Brown can be confirmed and sworn in. 

What slime…

SA

Went to Captain Chuck’s for dinner tonight.

Sherri had rack of lamb on the special board.

Wow.

Tender, flavorful, lightly seasoned. All the lamb-y goodness melting in my mouth.  I shared. Grudgingly.

Pick the plate up and lick it good.

Bing and Kate the corgi would like to know why, if there are 42 eggs, mayn’t they have any?

They are forgetting the eggs that didn’t make it as far as the fridge that they have been snacking on.

Did I mention how nice Kate’s coat looks?

That’s the number of home laid eggs currently in the fridge.
Most if not all of the hens are laying.
The pullet eggs are starting to get a little bigger now. 75% size of normal eggs and completely developed (remember the initial eggs were sans yolk).

So I’ve been coaching people to train their dogs for 3 or 4 years now.  I’ve accumulated over 225 instruction hours as head instructor, and over 75 hours assisting with classes.

I continue to really enjoying teaching group classes.

I have applied to take the Certified Professional Dog Trainer exam which is offered by the Certification Council for Professional Dog Trainers (or CCPDT…).

It’s kind of a big deal.  The application requires a questionnaire/reference from a client, colleague (another CPDT), and a vet that are familiar with your work. You must be able to document 300 hours instructing (min 225 as head instructor, 75 hours may be as assistant). Plus the application fee.  The test is offered in the spring and again in the fall.  They have to accept your application before you may take the test.

I believe this is the next logical step for my hobby. It demonstrates to my students a level of commitment on my part to modern, humane, effective training techniques and continuing education. Credibility, too.

If my application is accepted, I will take the 4 hour, 250 question test in late March.

When (grin) I pass the exam I’ll be the 4th CPDT-KA (certified professional dog trainer, knowledge assessed) in Alaska, and the first in Anchorage.

My Del-Ton 16″ CL M4gery kit came in after Thanksgiving. I had ordered a Lightweight barrel back in Nov 2008, and emailed in that winter that I would take a M4 profile barrel if that came in first. 

I changed what I was going to do with the kit and decided I would give it to my wife, so emailed this summer that I would wait for the Lightweight barrel. 

Del-Ton sent out the M4 barrel, and didn’t seem too upset that I had wanted the Lightweight. I asked my wife, who said she probably wouldn’t have noticed the weight or profile difference, so kept it. 

It came with the F-marked FSB (which I had requested on the original order), M4 feed ramps (optional, and ordered) that were anodized (not cut after finishing), the barrel was chrome lined, with well matched ramps and a chamber with no flaws whatsoever. The handguards (CAR, as ordered) fit tight, with essentially no wiggle unless you are Grape Ape. The gas key is tight, but (eventually) needs better staking. Semi-auto carrier, non-MPI bolt. 

The lower I used was a S&W M&P15. Everything went together slick except the trigger guard roll pin (too big). I was going to use a MagPul anyway, and did (Thanks, Alaska Tactical). Commercial extension/stock. Has about the same amount of upper/lower play as most Colt’s I’ve seen. 

We went out after sunset on Sunday, and she shot about 60 rounds (Black Hills reloads on Lake City brass) by headlight. I didn’t have a chance to lube it properly; only about 4 drops of MPro7 CLP on the bolt. No failures. 

She is very happy, and so am I. I would order from them again if I was looking for inexpensive kit that seems at least as good as DPMS, Bushmaster, CMMG (except for the 4140 barrel steel; not an issue for me). It isn’t Colt or BCM, but this sample of one is good. See Jenny smiling below.

We had a quiet and relaxing sunday morning. French toast made from the leftover homemade challah for a late breakfast, then we lazed around the house until Scott reminded me that we wanted to go to the range.

Scott surprised me with a late Christmas present. My very own AR-15, made by Scott from a Del-ton kit with a Smith & Wesson M&P15 lower receiver. It was dark (4 PM) by the time we got to the range. The range next to us was illuminated, and with the help of the car headlights we were able to enjoy a few minutes of shooting.

I really liked the adjustable stock, and how easy it was to keep it on target between shots. I did not notice the recoil.  We are going to have a lot of fun with this. Look at that grin!

We finished off the evening with dinner at Guido’s with friends, then a little dog training (Bing is really making progress with his formal dumbbell retrieve, and Kate is gaining fluency with sit and down sans barking).

Dog toenails then bed.

Cookies were well received by recipients today. Scott did a fine job with decorating – we’ll try to post a photo later.

Tucked the hens in early tonight.  Noticed one of the hens, Wyan the Wyandotte, was standing stiffly – not a normal posture. Entered coop to check on her and collect eggs. Wyan has been on the hit list for a while due to her behavior. She will frequently travel several feet out of her way to peck other hens, and contributes to disharmony in the yard. She’s just not very nice.

I captured Wyan and checked out her rear end. As I suspected from her stiff posture she has a prolapsed oviduct.  We have treated a prolapsed oviduct on a hen in the past, but once it happens there is a tendency for it to recur. Treatment consists of immobilizing the hen in a quart yogurt container (with a hole for the head), warm saline rinse of the nether regions, clean up of any poop, and tucking everything back inside with a liberal dose of neosporin. The hen is then isolated and kept quiet in a bedding free cage for several days to recuperate and minimize damage if the prolapse recurs.

Anecdotal evidence suggests that feeding black sunflower seeds (high oil content) helps prevent.

Unfortunately prolapsed oviducts tend to recur, and I’m not wild about declimatizing the hen (their coop is kept near freezing – warm enough to make them comfortable but not so warm that they prefer staying in to going out) by keeping her indoors for observation.

I’ve got her quiet in a box in the garage for a few minutes, while we consider the most humane options (for her, the humans, and the other hens).

On a more pleasant note, one of the eggs tonight was a pullet egg. One of our youngest hens (6 or 8 months) has begun laying. It’s a lovely warm brown color, and about half the size of the other eggs.  We haven’t named the two babies that hatched this spring. Suppose we’d better do that now that they are contributing members of society.

Matanuska Creamery was at Northway Mall wednesday, with eggnog.

Swung by to get some – too late. The nice lady said they sold out in the first 15 minutes despite having prepared a double batch.

We were going to have an eggnog tasting at Christmas (we’ve got some Mat-Maid we froze before they closed).

Good for them for selling out – very nifty.

Scott said something like ‘wouldn’t it be nice to give some cookies to…’. Suddenly there was cookie dough everywhere. Used the ‘America Test Kitchen’ cookbook Scott found a couple of years ago, made chocolate chip cookies, shortbread, and brownies.  We visited some friends this evening and they sent us home with surplus gingerbread cookies (in various cool shapes) we could decorate and pass on.

Oh yeah, made challah too, for the stuffing.

Tired. And a little over-sugared.

Looking forward to Christmas.