Skunk'd!

Yesterday morning I was out in the garden checking on things and decided to weed with my new weeding tool.  It is a great invention yet still left my shoulders and neck and arms aching and spasming.  Those who know me know I've had two major interbody spinal surgeries one of which was cervical.  The fact that I am even out here trying to garden is a miracle in itself.  Anyway, after weeding for about 30 minutes I came into the camphouse to rest before my next project.  We have a magnetic closing (As Seen On TV) screen door on the camphouse for cooling so the metal door was open and I was resting.  I heard a horrible commotion involving the dogs barking and raising a ruckus and thumping up against the camphouse so thinking it was a cat they had cornered I went to the screen door to look out and immediately saw that it was a skunk!  At that exact time it sprayed and I reactively pulled the metal door shut as the dogs continued to terrorize their prey right on the front stoop!  But it was too late.  The entire camphouse (all 120 sq. ft) filled with the horrible odor.  My nose began to burn and I felt I couldn't breathe!  I couldn't open the door and leave because of the battle ensuing on my stoop!!!  I looked around in the camphouse to find my phone and I notice a furry black creature laying on the floor!!!  Panic really set in with me thinking it was a second skunk inside with me!  I freaked!  It was our black cat.  The cats ARE NOT ALLOWED in the camphouse.  During what seemed to be a long while, but I'm sure it was a few minutes, I realized I couldn't stay in the camphouse 'cause I couldn't breathe, but I couldn't go out because of the ferocious fight of the two dogs with the skunk!  I felt trapped!  When I saw through the window that the skunk was dead and being flapped around in the mouths of the dogs I made a run for it to the main house.  Oh my!  The odor was unbearable.  I called Ricky at work and was yelling unintelligible things and he came home to discard the skunk.  But the damage had been done.  The cabin would remain uninhabitable the rest of the day/evening.  Maybe even a couple of days - I haven't checked yet.  Yep.  My one place of "comfort" and respite on our homestead was no longer that.  Later in the evening Ricky took a recliner out of storage and set it up in our finished kitchen and that's where I slept (or not really) last night.  Ricky shared Fred's room.  The dogs slept outside since they were a stinking mess!  There seems to never be a dull or dare I say comfortable moment out here.  Do I even remember what a comfort zone is?  The dogs have come around smelling like a skunk before but this was too up close and personal for me - that was the closest I have ever been to a skunk and I never want to be that close again.  But, I'm living in the country so what are my chances?  I am thankful that my dogs are taking care of business but couldn't they take care of it somewhere else?  Like maybe "herd" the skunk out into the pasture for the kill?  "Green acres is the place for me."  Really?  Yes.

Photos of our Place

                                                  Here are some random photos of our "place".

                                    Do you see the brave "baby" chicks in with the "toddler" chicks?

                                       A recent morning sunrise view out my camphouse window.

    Sun setting behind beautiful oak - but wait, can you find Fred in the tree?  He's there - way up high!

                                      The finished chicken enclosure!  Gate done this weekend!

                                                    Early morning mist rising before the sun.

Marmaduke, McGillicuddy, and the Musings of a Neighbor

For a while now our dogs,  Marmaduke and McGillicuddy, go to our neighbors across our pasture and cause a ruckus that we hear from here.  Since the neighbors have mules, cows and bulls, and cats, we assume they are harassing them.  We call and call and of course they won't come.  I have always been concerned because I know and have heard that country neighbors don't take kindly to other people's dogs on their property especially if they are causing problems for their animals.  So I worry and worry and call and call and finally send Fred over to retrieve them in his truck.  Fred's even been looking into shock collars.  And of course I am concerned about being good neighbors also and not alienating them before we've had a chance to get to know them.  Yesterday, while the menfolk were at their day jobs M&M went over to the neighbors and I saw them actually chasing a mule back and forth along the fence line and raising a huge ruckus!  Well, my phone rang and it was my brother, who lives down the road, and he asked if I knew where my dogs were.  He said there were some dogs over at the neighbors bothering their animals and thought they may be ours.  I told him I knew they were M&M, but I didn't know how to get them home. I'd tried calling and had no success.  He, being a rancher and dog raiser/trainer, said that I should get them and secure them 'cause they could get shot by the neighbor or kicked by the mule or bulls and killed.  Feeling like a failure at controlling our dogs and being a good neighbor, I called my menfolk at work and told them what was happening and since it was quitting time they headed home to handle the situation.  When he arrived home Fred went over in the truck to retrieve our dogs.  He was gone quite a while and when he came home M&M were not with him.  Turns out Fred had an enjoyable conversation with the neighbor and the part regarding M&M went something like this:  Neighbor: "Your dogs are my guests.  I love those dogs.  When I whistle for my bulls to come for feeding your dogs come and I love petting them and watching them.  They are characters.  The mule is crippled so he won't hurt them - they chase him 'cause he runs from them.  The dogs don't bother the bulls.  They like to chase my 27 cats that live out in my pasture and barn.  So don't you worry about your dogs.  They're welcome over here anytime."  Problem solved.  Grace.

God's Grace "Rains"

Knowing we were receiving around fifteen more chickens next weekend we focused all hands and attention to the building of an enclosure or fence around the chicken house.  Ricky and Fred began on it Saturday morning while Little Ricky and I went to his 4H Shooting Club's archery lesson.  When we returned we joined in the project.  By the late afternoon we discovered we needed more supplies and one negative about living out in the country is there is no hardware or building supply store open after noon on Saturdays or at all on Sundays.  Yeah, I know - how many times does a man run to the hardware store during a project?  At least 4 or 5 times was my experience in the city.  But I digress.   So we said we'd finish Monday.  We'd mow the yard on Sunday because the grass was getting high and out here that's not a good thing since critters like to hide/live in tall grass.  On Sunday afternoon Ricky went to mow and the tire/wheel on the mower was not able to cooperate, so we had to put that off 'til Monday also.  Then Monday morning we awoke to a ominous forecast of severe storms with 100% chance of rain ALL day.  And to continue for the next two days.  Oh, no.  No chicken enclosure or lawn mowing!  But God's grace "rained" down on us!  It was sunny most of the day!  So when Ricky and Fred got home from work Monday afternoon they completed the chicken enclosure and mowed the yard!  The rainy stormy weather waited until dark to begin and it has been raining through the night and continues as I write.  God is awesome!  Now we're ready for the chickens this weekend!

                Marmaduke & McGillicuddy checking out the chicks.  This is the first round of fencing - on Monday they got the second round up.  I was too tired to get photo - and today it rains. 

                                                       A sampling of the chicks.

                                                       Little Ricky and "Hannah"

Wild Onions and Roasted Junebugs

A few months ago I began researching edible wild plants upon observing so many interesting plants growing in our pastures and yard.  I remember as a young girl going out into the pasture behind by grandmother's country home and picking wild greens and blackberries.  I now know this is called foraging.  My grandmother would make poke salad or what we called "hay" out of the greens and fresh blackberry cobbler with the berries.  My memory doesn't serve me well enough to recall what the greens looked like so I began google searches.  Although I am still not comfortable picking the plants that appear to be greens - not wanting to poison my family - I have so far stuck with the plants that I can know without a doubt are edible which up to this point are our wild chives and wild green onions.  The chives we've dried and we had the wild green onions on a salad this weekend.  But, as we sat outside enjoying the nice evening this weekend we became overrun with what I do recall to be junebugs (a type of beetle).  They are attracted to light and although we had subdued outdoor lighting they came a'callin'.  Well I decided to go and google them to see if they happen to be edible.  Why not?  Cheap protein and certainly a topic of conversation for later in life.  Apparently eating edible insects is called entomophagy.  Upon learning that junebugs are  edible Fred applied an open flame to them and roasted them.  Then as instructed by the "web" he plucked off the wings and legs and then passed them out for all to share.  Fred, Ricky, and even Little Ricky partook - but I couldn't bring myself to do it!  Yeah, I know, I was the instigator.  They said they were good and tasted like popcorn!  So we had quite a culinary experience this weekend - just another "perk" of country living!

Blooming Blessings

With the warm weather here for a while now daily I am surprised with new blooms around our home in the yard and pasture.  The yard around the house hasn't been tended in years and the result is an array of many blooming flowers and wildflowers.  Yes!   We have our own lovely meadows full of wildflowers!  Other areas remind me of an English garden (although I've never been to England, so what do I know?).  I don't know the identity of  many of these blooming plants but it doesn't matter - I don't have to know what they are to enjoy their beauty.  If you see a bloom here that you recognize let me know - I'm all about learning.  We also have several flowering trees around our home.  I'm thinking they may be plum trees which will be wonderful for making plum jam - which is another thing I will learn - along with fig preserves from our recently planted fig tree.  Since the move here our family has seen God's hand and blessing constantly in our life and the blooms seem to remind us that he loves us and wants to give us all good things.  We reap what we sow, I know, but God's grace has surrounded us in loveliness freely without the toil of sewing.  It was here waiting for us to enjoy!  Now, since I haven't seen any veggies popping up anywhere (although we do have wild onions and chives which I have foraged - but that's another post) today we plan to plant a variety of peppers, brussel sprouts, and lettuces in our vegetable garden if it is dry enough from the weekend rains.  And today we'll plant the replacement for the blueberry bush the dogs dug up!

Charge them that are rich in this world, that they be not highminded, nor trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God, who giveth us richly all things to enjoy;  1Timothy 6:17 KJV

Tomatoes, Bananas, and Brahmas

I tried my hand at canning for the first time this week.  We were blessed with several pounds of tomatoes of which about half were good so I canned them thinking I wouldn't be out much if I didn't do well and I need the practice since I'm planning a large harvest from my first ever garden this year.  After I was finished I realized some steps that I probably didn't do correctly.  Like using my fingers (clean) to push the tomatoes in the jar and to pick up the seals/lids and there seemed to be a lot of airy space in the jars at the end.  When Ricky came home he examined the jars and said they were sealed although I never heard the famous audible sealing of each jar.  Anyway, I think we'll use them soon, just in case.  We also received a large bunch of bananas so I made a couple of loaves of gluten-free chocolate chip banana nut bread.   It is baking in a toaster oven since our regular oven got damaged in the move and is not working - so we'll see how it turns out.  Oh, and as I write about tomatoes and bananas four very large grey Brahma bulls catch my eye through the window running along the fence in the pasture on the other side our pasture - or over yonder.  Quite a site these lumbering large animals.  Gotta love this country living!  Oh, and there they go the other way!  Wow, something has these bulls all stirred up!  Just hope they stay on their side of the fence - not quite prepared for a stampede.  Maybe it's the sweet aroma of chocolate chip banana nut bread baking in the toaster oven.

12 Chicks and Counting and Chickenvision

                                                       Chickenvision - Little Ricky and McGillicuddy

We have chicks!!!  Twelve.  And more "cooking".  Our new dear friends delivered us twelve 3-week old chicks on Friday and set up our chicken house with a heat lamp and cedar shavings.  The chicken house he had delivered here a few weeks ago!  God is Good.  We have been so blessed!  And he will have about 15 more hatching for us in a few days!  We have Americanas, Rhode Island Reds, and others.  Our friends said we have some chicks that will eventually lay blue and green eggs!  The chicks are quite a hit here on our newly forming homestead!  Little Ricky  didn't want to go to 4H this Saturday for shooting practice because he wanted to stay home with the chicks!  He now spends a lot of his down time now in front of the chicken house watching "chickenvision" with McGillicuddy!  And we caught Fred INSIDE the chicken house sitting in a chair, reading a book while watching the chicks!  Whose kids are these?  Who knew the chicks would be such a hit?!  We are supposed to keep the chicks inside the chicken house for about a week so that they know that's their home then we can release them into the yard and they are supposed to go back in the chickenhouse on their own at night.   This method is working out well because the dogs and the cats are able to sniff them and get "acquainted" with them prior to letting them free-range.  We are trying to decide whether to "free-range" them or put up a "pen" for them to roam in.  We are hearing different thoughts on that so we'll see.  There is also different thoughts on whether to clip a wing so they can't fly away or not to clip a wing so they can fly into a tree for protection.  We understand that once they have established this as their home they will return if they do fly away.  We are learning and I'm sure we will learn as we go.  That's the country life.  Learn as you do.  Just do. 

                                                        Do you see Fred and his book?