Late June

It's hot out there, folks. So today, I've been piddling. This morning, I actually paid a little attention to my garden.  The grass around it was getting high, so I got the push mower out and mowed it down. I also mowed around some of the tractor equipment that sits out next to the shop to clear the path to the compost bin. Then I decided to take the protective wire from around the nearby tulip poplar, and mow the jungle growing beneath that. By that point, I was a little winded and sweating, and although I could have push mowed one hundred random spots around the farm that needed it, I went inside and got myself of iced tea and cooled off for a minute.

Next, I went to the garden and pulled the weeds around my green beans. (Which reminds me, I need to pick some.) And, although we got a smattering of rain last night, the soil was dry and dusty, so I watered them. The rest of the garden is in desperate need of weeding as well, but by this point, I was hot, so I went inside and got a glass of iced tea and cooled off.

After picking Finley up from her friend's sleepover, I decided it was high time somebody did some weed-eating along the fence line that borders the driveway. A half an hour later, dripping with sweat, red with the heat, and aching in my arms, I went inside to cool off. This time, a cool, damp wash cloth was used to wipe the sweat off before I sat down with another glass of iced tea.

I didn't want to weed-eat or anything, but I sure didn't want to do laundry, so I thought it would be a good time to do some surgery on the bush hogs. We have one solid bush hog with a broken gear box, and another with a beat-up body and a good gear box, so the plan is to put the good gear box on the good body. I got the tractor out and flipped one over to get at the nut holding the blades on. (I tell you what, I love the power tools and big equipment that lets me do things I wouldn't be able to do with out them - like flipping a 300 pound piece of machinery over.) Once I got it flipped over, I discovered I probably wouldn't be able to get that nut off without the right sized socket, so I went inside to have another glass of iced tea and cool off.

I think I'll stay inside for a while. Z need some help building a cell phone out of Legos.

Headlines

Foxes Still On the Loose! Favorites Hens Gone Missing.
After trapping another fox a few weeks ago, The Funny Farm and neighboring farms are still losing chickens. At least two foxes have been seen in recent days: another small gray fox and a bigger red one. Big Red is thought to be the leader of this bad band of killers. He'd better watch his tail.

Lizzy Found After Night Spent Lost In Woods
Chris noticed Lizzy, his favorite black and tan polish chicken had gone missing one evening last week. A search party was dispatched, but to no avail. Lizzy was presumed dead. The family spent the night in grief. The next morning, as Chris was checking the fox trap, more determined than ever to catch the villainous foxes, he noticed something on the hill next to the woods in the neighbor's pasture. To his great surprise, he discovered it was Lizzy. He called her name, but as her head feathers greatly inhibit her vision, she could not find her way to him. Joe was sent over the fence to retrieve the lost bird and Lizzy was brought back home to safety. Lizzy is now confined to a chicken tractor where she will be prevented from running off and getting lost again.


Grampa Gets New Pal For Father's Day
Every since moving down to Tennessee, Grampa has missed having a little friend to play with and keep his lap warm. Yesterday, his grandkids brought him a seven week old gray tabby to keep him company.

Chicken Coop Bursts Into Bloom

Finley Can't Take the Heat, Begs For Hair Cut
In spite of protests and advice from her mother, Finley insisted on a hair cut last week. As she refused to wear pony tails or allow her hair to be brushed, her mother caved and cut her hair. General opinion is that she still looks cute.

Back Deck

Every once in a while, we run into some one we haven't talked to for a while. Inevitably we are asked, "Have you finished your house?" At which point I am tempted to fall to the floor in maniacal laughter.

Aside from laundry and housecleaning and food and trying to keep the kids busy enough so that they aren't sitting in front of the T.V. for the majority of their summer break, I've been trying to do what I can on the house. I did plant a garden, and the grass is growing nicely alongside the tomatoes and patchy row of green beans. But at this point, I would rather be living in the new house than have a pristine vegetable garden. And since I don't really want to get all wrapped up mentally in Chris's electrical plans, I figured I could start working on the necessary back deck.

We had the basic plan figured out last year, so we reviewed our plans, then one day last week while Chris was at work, I had Joe help me measure out locations, and I started digging holes for the footings. Each footing needs to be at least 12x12x8, and a foot below grade. My brother, Mike, wondered why I didn't use the post hole digger on the tractor. For one, I probably would have needed help. Two, this way, I was able to shovel the dirt into a wheelbarrow and have clean working space when I was done. And three, it didn't occur to me.

After I finished, I was pretty anxious for Chris to buy the lumber for the framing of the deck. But first we need to replace the board under the sliding glass door with siding. (When you haven't done something before, you usually do some things wrong). Then I realized if we just put up the framing and not the railing, the 4x4 posts will probably twist. If we put it up, it all needs to go up at once. A complete list of materials needs to be figured up. And we need to pour the footings. I wonder if I could do that myself...

Don't Mess With a Man's Birds

The war is on.

We lost four of our ten ducks over the past two months, and recently lost two of Chris's favorite chickens: a white silkie and little Polish rooster. He said if Lizzy, the one black and tan Polish hen we have, goes missing, well... Lets just say I can imagine him sitting on top of the stable in the early morning, just waiting for the fox to show his tail.

But those little buggers sure are sneaky. Last week, I walked up to the mail box, and as I turned to walk back down the drive, I just caught sight of the fox disappearing into the woods. As I walked  down to investigate, I heard a noise in the dry leaves just to my right, but couldn't see anything. When I got to the spot where I saw the fox enter the trees, I turned around, and there he was, standing about 50 yards up the drive, watching me.

We've had the big live trap set up with hot dogs for a few days, and for two days in a row, the trap was sprung with no animal inside, and we could see where an animal had been digging around the outside trying to get to the hot dogs.

Chris always takes a little walk in the morning before he heads to work, and this morning, looking out a window of the new house, he saw the fox out by my berry patch. He stepped onto the front porch and managed to snap a picture before the fox ran off.

We did catch one fox earlier this year. We had hoped that after catching her, her mate would have left the area in search of company, but I guess he didn't. Well, Mr. Fox, you have been put on notice. This is what will happen if you don't leave our birds alone.

I suggest you eat from the plentiful rabbits we have in the area. Do so and we could be friends instead of enemies.