Out with the Old

2009 was a frustrating and sad year for so many people, I know many of us are happy to see it in the rear view mirror, a disappearing speck on the horizon. Authorities have it that we should all study history, lest we become doomed to repeat it, so before ushering in the New, I am taking a parting glimpse at the Old.

Spring was lost to illness from taking rabies shots. Nearly a year later, and after a recent subrogation interview assuring Blue Cross I did not ask the fox for his insurance card, they have decided to cover little more than half of the exorbitant cost of the vaccines for something known to be 100% fatal. We send them hundreds of dollars each month for "health insurance".  A perfect example of a failed health care system.

Lesson learned: Always carry gloves. Note to self: Contact the Texas Board of Insurance.

Summer broke all records for drought and heat and saw both the river and our well run dry. This took its toll on us psychologically--the lack of something so precious we had not even realized we'd taken for granted--and physically--from hauling tons of water, 5 gallon 40 lb buckets at a time.

Lesson learned: Never take any of life's conveniences for granted and be prepared to live without them. Ditch your old toilet--a low flush toilet not only helps save the planet, a 10 lb flush vs a 40 lb flush will also save your back. Note to self: Start planning a rainwater harvesting system.

Fall and winter brought the general downfall of the plumbing infrastructure of our 80 year old house and loss of many beloved pets. Nothing like living in a paradox where you have very little water, but what there is seems to be leaking all over the place. We said farewell to Hawk Girl, Rooster-O, Phoebe, Avo from a tragedy that could have been averted had I only listened to that little voice, Zoe, and even the tenacious Captain Ahab our special needs RIR rooster 'added for warmth' with a broken leg from the hatchery, who mysteriously passed this New Year's Eve.

Lesson learned: Always, always listen to your intuition. Note to self: House wiring is just as old. Best time to replace is before the fire.

Hoping everyone had a safe and fun New Year's Eve. Wishing everyone a fabulous 2010!

All Our Ducks in a Row

Today, when we woke up all our ducks were in a row!

Farmer Rick and I have much to be thankful for--we've made it through another year together including our better foibles in chicken husbandry and accidental gardening, and our worse drought in history. His love did not waver even when I persisted on having curved walls in the new coop, and admits his carpentry skills improved with my nagging encouragement.

Nor did he admonish me for the outrageous debt we incurred from me having to take rabies shots after being bitten by the fox. Yea, he understands and supports my need to rescue critters, stick fingers into their wild mouths and to nurse them back to health. He loves my cooking--even when I forget that I am cooking and serve dinner a la charra y el carbon.

I have come to enjoy being awakened at 4 a.m. when he begins playing Chopin etudes and Joplin rags, mistaking my back for the piano in his deep slumber, and have begun to see it as a new way to get a jump on my busy day. I look the other way when he consumes all the household pickles, and gleefully cap the toothpaste and shampoo after him, because secretly I think I got the better end of this deal. He assures me we are equally fortunate!

People tell us we were made for each other. Indeed, we are cut from the same recycled cloth, quilted together by the poets, nobility, explorers, and farmers of our ancestry, having since discovered an 8th great-grandmother and 21st great-grandfather in common. When we cross the creek, neither of us can remember what we went there for.

Honey?

Uh hum?

Look, all our ducks are in a row! How cute!

But...we don't have any ducks!

Oh...You're right!



Y'all better go home!

A Photo About Loss

Had a good cry this morning seeing Teddy's empty apartment while feeding the sheep. I'm in a funk. I know she was frustrated by her physical limitations and now she is free.

A tiny kitten appeared in the carport when I got back from the vet's as if there was a vacancy sign. Maybe I can train it to eat the field mice in the pumpkin patch so I don't attract any more foxes.

This is a photo I took of Crow Poison, Nothoscordum bivalve, and altered through digital manipulation. I turned the white flowers black to show how I will miss Teddy Bird's presence.

Speaking of crows, I read an interesting article yesterday about how a UK study proved crows rival chimpanzees in their intelligence. Although these birds in the wild don't make tools, the captive crows were taught to use them in order to get their food, and when the tools were taken away, developed their own tools to do the same tasks.

Not only do animals have the capacity for love and life enjoyment, they are also a lot smarter than given credit.

She's Gone

It's hard to come to terms with a missing pet, even the chicken kind. I had a good cry last night.

Possums, raccoons, and skunks eat only their favorite parts and leave behind the rest of the evidence. But when the body is missing it is likely the work of a coyote, predator bird, bobcat...or fox.

We have all of the latter. I even suspect the neighbor's black cat whom I've caught stalking the chickens before from the outside of the fence. But, pardon the pun, wouldn't it just bite if it were a fox, after my recent ordeal?

I've set out a Have-a-Heart trap in hopes of relocating the culprit, far, far, away.

I'm thinking on the Polish peeps I'm getting next month I'll be giving them stylish cuts when they grow up so they can see better. I read about a woman who did this to hers in a poultry magazine.

Meanwhile, there ain't no sunshine when she's gone.

What is it and how can I stop whoever you are from eating it?

Wish I could tell you this was my latest fiber art project as the textures and colors are fascinating. It's certainly inspirational. Can you guess what it is?


Instead of being creative I've been trying to deter varmints from the cucurbit patch we planted across the creek in May. As soon as the vines began to sprawl we noticed a few nibbled off and instantly suspected the resident cottontail. My husband valiantly erected a knee-high bunny fence around the area in a day. The vines blossomed, and hordes of bumble bees arrived.

Each morning we would survey the patch with our coffee cups in hand, smiling over the beautiful melons, winter squash, and pumpkins that were forming.


Did you guess pumpkin? They are a French heirloom with a hard to pronounce name. Here's the whole fruit from which the detail was taken. These babies are really tactile and fun to explore with hand and camera! I just hope they taste good, too.

Back at the patch, we noticed something was now eating Hokkaido squash and Tigger Melons. We didn't think it could be the bunny, so we placed the half eaten orbs into a large Have-a-Heart trap expecting a raccoon. But the culprit(s) continued to feast in the trap without springing it.

The thief was obviously smaller. We pushed a Ketch-all into the mouth of the other trap, and the next morning we had the cutest, plump field mouse in possession. He/she was relocated across the river. We proceeded to catch two more, but unfortunately the fire ants found them before we did. If you have ever experienced fire ant bites, you will know this is not a preferable way to go.

The damage was continuing to increase, and we were running out of patience, ideas, and time. I remembered WalMart sells fox urine in its hunting department to mask the scent of sportsmen (or, at least that's what they claim). Wouldn't that smell deter a bunch of pesky field mice?

As we sprayed the patch I tried not think about caged foxes being fed diuretics whose urine was probably being collected in third world countries by children, now being sold by uninsured low wage American or illegal workers putting mom-and-pop fox urine stores out of business. When your pumpkins are being devoured, you might have to briefly turn a blind eye to political correctness.

My husband said he could smell it, but I couldn't. Apparently the mice couldn't either because they continued their nightly gorging. Somehow they knew it smelled of trickery. Too bad Bunny Foo Foo was not bopping them on their heads!

Then, something altogether unexpected happened....a grey fox showed up inside the fenced patch to eat the mice! We had all been tricked!

From the looks of the half eaten things, our cucurbits were ripe. This is what was harvested yesterday. Not bad for our first attempt at pumpkins even if we lost half to the wild residents. We just hope the fox does not discover our chickens.