A Tarantula....In My Kitchen?

No, not a pet, or a homeschool science project.  I just looked down and there was a tarantula in my kitchen!  And no I did not take time to snap a photo!  Just when I thought I had seen everything out here in the country and conquered so many fears this happens!  How will I sleep at night now?  So let's see - we have coyotes, skunks, snakes - venomous and non, opossum, huge wolf spiders, fleas, ticks, chiggers, black flies, fruit gnats, other gnats, hordes of grasshoppers, fire ants, mice, dirt daubers, wasps, praying mantis', stink bugs, wild hogs, hawks, black bears, vultures, giant mosquitoes, brown recluse spiders, snapping turtles, armadillos that carry leprosy, black widow spiders, and so many other creepy and down right dangerous creatures to "watch out" for I can't name them all, nor do I even know of them all! Or want to!
So Ricky happened to be home and I, of course, let him have the honor of dealing with the tarantula.  Then he tells me he saw a huge one out in the garden one day all covered in white - and thought "what an odd looking white tarantula".  Then he poked it with a stick and millions of the tiny white "babies" scurried off of the "mother tarantula"!   OooUuuuuggghh.....  And you know what they say - if you see one there are MaNy that you don't see.   Think we'll be doing "take-out" meals for the next, say..forever - oh, but wait, we're out in the boonies and there is no where to get "take-out"!  Gotta love the country life.(?)

Must Sharpen Those Tools!

Today while on the phone with my sister I heard the dogs causing a commotion.  This happens often but I have learned to recognize when they have something they deem threatening cornered.  So I head outside in my sandals having been sitting at the computer doing routine paperwork.  Hoping it wasn't another skunk incident about to unfold I find them out from the camphouse on the edge of our thankfully, newly mowed property surrounding a SNAKE!  Yes, it was coiled up with its head striking at them but they were not going to let up.  They had once again did there job in finding trouble!  I ran into the main house and yelled at Little Ricky to come as I put some more sensible shoes on and at the same time talking to my sister telling her what was happening.  I hung up on her and ran out to the shed to grab a hoe.  Little Ricky came out with the .22 rifle just in case, but we knew we couldn't fire because of the dogs.  I handed him the hoe and off we go.  I was so proud of him - he began whacking away at the head of the snake as Marmaduke and McGillicuddy backed up a little to give him room, although they continued their ferocious barking.  Whack, whack, whack, the hoe wasn't penetrating!  And the snake was moving, and the dogs were wildly barking and guarding.  And our hearts were pumping!  Whack, whack, whack, the snake was stunned, but no breakthrough.  Whack, whack, whack, still no breakthrough, but it seemed to be under control.  Please know that I am terrified of snakes!  And spiders, but that's for a later post.  I run back to the shed and grab a shrub shear.  I hold the hoe and remain at the ready and Little Ricky starts trying to cut off the head with the shears as the snake was wiggling and moving.  By the way, the snake appears to be about 5 feet long!  Black with a white underbelly.  The shears were dull!  I run back to the shed and find a tree limb lopper.  I hand Little Ricky the tree lopper and hold the hoe at the ready as the dogs fight to get in there and get their kill and guard us at the same time.  I try to hold the dogs back so Little Ricky can lop off the head.  After a few lops, Success!  Then we have to fight the dogs for the snake - not knowing what kind it is we don't want them to take off with it but they really do want to play with it.  What a commotion!  They would grab it and flip and flop it and we would yell NO! and back them off and this went on for what seemed to be hours, although just a few minutes, I'm sure.  Our hearts are racing and we call my brother for advice, but he's not available.  My sister in law says we need to hang it in a tree.  So we hang the snake in a tree using the hoe.  We then get the dogs under control and then lay the snake out on the ground to get a good look and hopefully determine the type of snake - and snap a photo.  We call Ricky, but to no avail.  We call Papa who says the dogs won't eat the snake and even if it were venomous it has to bite them to harm them and he says just throw it over the fence and leave it.  So Little Ricky does so.  You  must realize this is a first for Little Ricky - killing a snake!  And a first for me as an assistant to killing a snake!  Whew!  Glad it's over, but I must say I was proud of my dogs, and very proud of my 10 yr old son!  He had no fear - just started taking care of business.  Lesson learned - sharpen those tools!

Armadillo By Morning

You know you're in Texas when you see armadillo roadkill.  You know you're living out in Texas country when you find a newly dead armadillo in your front yard with your dogs sitting proudly beside it.  Yes, I heard a now familiar commotion involving Marmaduke and McGillicuddy this morning.  I thought they must have more hawks up the tree in the front.  So I step out on the porch to investigate and there right off the porch were the dogs checking out their prize - Texas roadkill - or a large nine band armadillo.  Little Ricky got a stick and checked it out - he has never seen an armadillo up close (only live road crossings or dead as roadkill).  Score for today's homeschool lesson!  They are very interesting looking creatures.  Of course, this dead critter brings about more unwanted creatures flying circles around the house - yes, the vultures.  Although I probably should remove it for that reason alone, I think I'll wait for Ricky to come home and let him remove the critter from the yard - I'm just not THAT country yet - but, stay tuned.
     WARNING:  The photos below are not for the squeamish or faint of heart.

Man's Best Friend

Ricky sits down and then so does McGillicuddy.  McGillicuddy is actually a big cuddly bear, who we also call "Tractor".  He walks around the yard with 30-40lb logs or pipes in his mouth.  He can get through many a man-made barrier, we know.  He has a fearce deep bark and has been party to running many a'varmint away from the place.  We've seen Marmaduke and McGillicuddy deal with vultures, hawks, skunks - stinky business,  and sometimes we never figure out what they're up to.  As a matter of fact they just had two vultures up a large dead oak tree a few minutes ago.  Second time this week.   They're very loyal and have become part of the family.  Funny how Ricky and I weren't so keen on dogs in the city.  Everything is a'changin'.   For the good.  If you see McGillicuddy running at you - hold on to something or best, get out of the way - he won't mean to hurt you, he's just a tank!*

*Hello to our dear friends in the city - you know who you are!

Fruit, Flowers, and Nuts

Here are some photos of the fruit and flowers and nuts (not us!) that have shown themselves on our new country place in the last few weeks.  What a blessing that we are reaping what others before us have sewn!

                                                                 Pink roses.

                                                                    Red roses.

                                                          Peach tree.

                                                                   Plum tree.

                                                        Large pecan tree behind the peach tree.

And since we've planted strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, and a fig tree I had better figure out how to make jams, jellies, and preserves! 

Kittens, Garlic, Vultures, and Salsa

What a busy life this simple life can be!  Just today we have witnessed our dogs protecting the chickens and us all from vultures perched up high in a large oak tree - yes, two very large vultures.  A few days ago it was a couple of large hawks.  When our dogs go into protect mode it is really a sight to see!  Also, today we discovered one of our farm cats had it's kittens in a box in the shed, so Little Ricky has volunteered to sit and protect the kittens from the dogs.  Yesterday we were blessed with a lot of tomatoes and onions and today I am making salsa.  And Little Ricky took time out from his kitten protection post to harvest our Fall garlic, some of which I will incorporate into the salsa.  Oh, and I am answering questions and monitoring my Ebay sales which I began last week of some of my more collectible collectibles that I've decided there is no space for here in our old farm house.  So why I am taking the time to blog?  Who knows.  It's my entertainment and therapy!  Back to my simple life - fixin' (that's a verb in Texan) to google "how to harvest garlic".  And for honorable mention - the dogs got "skunked" again yesterday, but thankfully the skunk didn't come near the camphouse.  We just have to endure the odor on the dogs for a few days.  Gotta love the country life!

Butterflies Are Free

In the city there was an attraction called The Butterfly Pavillion where you could go and see all kinds of butterflies and insects.  For around twelve dollars a person you could enjoy the wonder and beauty of God's creation for a couple of hours.  They have recreated the natural habitats for these little creatures for people to wander around in and wonder.  But are they free?   Out here at our country place right now you can see a large variety of free butterflies and insects for FREE!  Everywhere I look during this season there are lovely butterflies fluttering around!  And I mean everywhere I look!  And we see dragonflies, grasshoppers, ladybugs, doodle bugs (roly poly bugs), praying mantis(s), flies, fleas, ants, spiders, wasps, (the junebugs are gone) and so much more that I cannot identify or can't think of right now.  Insects are everywhere out here!  And some really do "bug" me!  But they are FREE!  They are free to be and free for us to see!  Have you been set free? 

 "So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed"!(John 8:36)