Blue Jeans and Cotton Tees

Spring! It looks like you are finally here!

The temperatures are warming up, there’s rain – not snow in the forecast, and the 4 legged varmints are back.

You know the ones – raccoons, ‘possums, skunks and the like.

Although none of these animals actually hibernates during the winter months, they sleep longer and don’t do as much stuff. Some call it a state of “tupor” – waking from time to time to search for food.

That sounds very familiar – much like my own winter pattern!

As the days get longer and the warmer, they venture out and become nuisances.

We counted 3 dead skunks on the way to church yesterday. (Bet those cars will remember that stretch of highway for a long time!)

One friend reported that a critter had gotten into their chicken coop and killed every chicken. The intruder didn’t eat them – just killed them.

Another friend had a similar occurrence – but they only lost half of their flock.

At lunch today – I  saw a big fat ‘possum walking across the farm yard as if he owned the place.  I was concerned that he might be diseased so I checked online.

The site I found was full of interesting information. I discovered that although opossums are nocturnal, to have them wandering around in daylight isn’t too unusual – just like cats.

They are also very immune to rabies, but you should still avoid getting a bite. (Now that’s good advise!)

I also found that possum tastes like chicken, but if you wish to eat them, you should first catch it and feed it table scraps and other good food for a while to work all the carrion out of its system.

Right… like I really want to look the critter in the face and ask when it ate it’s last meal of carrion?! I wonder how long it would take to remove the effects of a carrion diet anyway?

But this particular sight didn’t recommend the practice of eating opossums at all. It sited that “a small cadre of renegade opossums has been known to have sought out people who have eaten their compatriots and lay siege to their dwelling. Armed with crude but efficient crossbows, they may shoot arrows into the car tires or capture and hold hostage the pets of the offending citizens.“

Wow! And since it’s online – you know it has to be true! I guess we’ll cross ‘possum off the menu this week.

I sent the boys out to take care of the offending critter.

Let’s just say it won’t be eating any of our chickens or eggs; nor will we be eating it.

Things will settle down here in a few weeks when the rest of our corner of the world wakes up and shakes off the winter doldrums.

But in the meantime we’ll keep the critter gun ready – and a close eye on the flock!

I love my chest freezers.

I hate my chest freezers.

I know – this love/hate relationship thing can be confusing – but seriously!

I love the space they offer which allows me to stock up on things when they are on sale.  They also give me ample room to store our home grown chickens, pigs and cows, and all of our home baked goodies.

But then again – I hate how much space there is!

I’m always losing things in them. You may remember that just a few weeks ago I cleaned both of them out and discovered all the frozen bananas.

After that incident, I thought I had the freezers all sorted and organized.

But this morning I went down to find a pork roast that I had just put in a few days ago -  and I couldn’t find it.

I had to dig down deep, moving large chunks of meat and a variety of home baked goodies, and even a few bags of frozen bananas.

I felt like I needed to call one of the kids to hold my feet – or tie a rope to them so I didn’t fall in and get lost forever among the frozen rhubarb and blueberries.

It’s so bad that my kids act as if they are being banished to Siberia when I send them down to the freezer to find something.

But – no matter how frustrating they are to sort and keep organized – I won’t trade them for anything!

I’ll just make sure to wear climbing gear before I enter their deep dark recesses!

This winter has been a dozy already!

We really had a lovely fall temperature wise- and a nice long one.

But once winter finally decided to make an appearance the first of December – it came with a vengeance.

We had our first major storm the second week of December with about a foot of snow dumped and strong winds to blow it around.

That was followed by the infamous (and deadly) Christmas Blizzard of 09. We had just barely gotten that one cleaned up when the next one hit this week.

From what I can figure – we get a new storm about every 2 weeks. At this rate – we should have snow up to the second story windows by March.

The snow itself isn’t so bad – I guess – but the arctic cold that comes with it is! With air temperatures below zero day after day – things start to break down. Important things – like vehicles and well pumps.

The combined effect of continual snow, wind, and frigidly cold air is numbing to the mind. It makes everyday things – like simply feeding the chickens – a nightmare.

We have a 4 feet high by 21 feet long by 10 feet wide drift that starts at the back door and covers the driveway and the house that is so packed in our tractor can’t budge it. The boys dug it out after the first snow – but gave up after Christmas since it keeps blowing shut.

Now we drive around it – over the lawn.

Just getting to the car means walking all the way around the drift – or through it. Try unloading a van full of groceries like that!

But my minor concerns are nothing compared to the large livestock producers in the area. Keeping the critters fed and water in this weather is both time consuming and dangerous.

Area schools have already missed several days of classes – and the winter is just beginning.

But it’s not all bad.

We’re safe and warm.

We have a wonderful furnace and nice thick insulation.

Our pantry and freezers are well-stocked.

We have electricity, running water and internet access.

But mostly we have rest.

My calendar for January is almost empty because no one has ventured to plan anything. Just imagine – an empty calendar.

I’m sure that once the weather warms up and the snow stops blowing – my schedule will start filling up. But for now – I will relish the quiet days with the wind blowing, the snow falling and my family around me.

Rest.

They’re here.

Despite the early freeze – they’ve come.

Just as soon as the sun came out and the temperatures rose – they came crawling out of the soybean fields where they spent the summer, shaken loose from their homes as the combines sweep through the fields.

What are these dreaded creatures? Some call them the Mexican bean beetles, others say they are Asian bean beetles.

I call them pests.

They swarm in the air so thick you could hear the buzzing.

They congregate on the walls of the houses looking for the tiniest holes to walk through.

They surround the windows and doors making you walk through a gauntlet to go outside.

They land in your hair, on your clothes, even on your face.

Not the nicest part of fall in the Midwest – but definitely a reality of rural living.

Rumor has it that some intellectual dude decided it would be a good idea to introduce these little buggers into soybean fields to eat the soybean aphids.

Nice idea. I’m all for using a natural method instead of spraying a chemical.

But nobody checked to see if they have any natural predators.

They don’t.

Even my chickens won’t touch them.

So now they multiply, swarming through the country side every fall when the fields are harvested, and invading our homes.

Maybe that dude should come and run the vacuum at my house for a few days – sucking up those smelly little varmints.

He might just think twice about his next big idea.

Look! It’s Bambi.

Isn’t he cute?

He was cute out in the pasture. Every day we watched him venture out into the newly mowed hay field.

Every day he got a little braver and would come out a little farther and stay a little longer.

It was so cute!

Until the other night.

The kids were in the living room when one of them saw Bambi – right outside the window – enjoying a late supper of my climbing rose bush!

Thankfully he was easily scared off with some hand claps.

Bambi in the pasture is cute. Bambi in my yard eating my flowers isn’t.

Well, okay – maybe a little cute.