Thinking of Selling the Sheep.......

.....and starting a frog farm instead...

Look who came back to the Toad Spa! Mr/Mrs/Ms Toad!

Looks like one of those cases where the whole extended family moved in....(there are six in case you tried to count them--one is sorta hidden under the rock.

Oh my...getting a little crowded in there? Need a bigger spa? How about a job?

Oh and just kidding on the selling the sheep thing.......

Busy Bees

Crime scene photos--the bees were still pretty mad at this point

Here is the parts of the fleece I had to separate from the rest to isolate the little brown nest thingie.

This is the brown thing the bees were defending so heavily. It isn't very large yet

This is the dead bee I found embedded in the wool. Bumblebee?

Six pounds of fleece ready to ship!

As the humidity and heat squish out most of my ambition, I've been looking for quieter projects to tackle in the evenings after work. Sorting fleeces had gone by the wayside, with other pressing tasks taking up most of my time.

I had worked up several batches to send to the processors a month or so ago--some nice dark moorit shetland for roving and some of the white dorset/merino for pillow stuffing. The upshot is that I still have about 15 or so fleeces out in the garage, still in black garbage bags, waiting their turn on the skirting table. I leave the bags open so the fleeces can breathe, but I cover the bags over with a lightweight sheet to keep dirt and other vile things out of the wool.

There are also quite a few bags of last years fleeces and this years fleeces in the breezeway, which have been skirted but not sold. Since I was getting low on Dorset roving, I pulled out Gracie's fleece from last year which was in the breezeway, to sort through it and get it ready to send off. Gracie is my only Dorset that I have left, so I always save her fleece to have processed. As I looked through the fleece, it was clear that it wasn't as nice as her fleece from this year. Since I like to use some of the best fleeces for roving, I decided to relegate last years fleece to the pile I'm going to send off for quilt batting. So off to the garage I went to pull the sack with her fleece from this year.

Boone has been having a hard time lately, getting in trouble more often than not, so I tucked a treat in my pocket and off we went to the garage. I had him sit, and 'wait' while I squeezed past my truck into the front of the garage where the fleeces were. All the time, I was sweet talking Boone, telling him he was a good boy! and 'wait'. I pulled the sheet off the fleeces, poked around a couple of the bags, looking for Gracie's. Nope that's not it, not that one either. Crawling over bags, I got right in the middle of the pile, and found her bag. Good deal. Boone was still patiently waiting. I backed out of the pile, squeezed back around the truck, swinging the bag as I went. Boone, such a good boy, I cried, making a big deal of his doing something right. Wait...wait... Lay down....good boy! Okay! Then it was time for the well earned treat, but wait, what is that noise? What the dickens? Bzzzzzzzzzz. The sack is buzzing! The sack I had right against me is buzzing up a storm. The sack went sailing and I went running. Yikes. Boone just chomped his treat. Of course Boone also eats bumblebees for breakfast.

I was not willing to relinquish Gracie's fleece to these, these....bees, or whatever was buzzing in the bag! But I'm also a big chicken when it comes to flying stinging things. (Childhood trauma involving cows, cousins, and an underground yellow jacket nest.) So I went and got my pitchfork, and shut Boone in the yard. Thus armed, I advanced on the buzzing sack, speared it with the pitchfork and attempted to dump the wool out on the ground. It wasn't very smooth and I did abandon ship twice, screaming run! run! at the top of my lungs as I did indeed run--even though I was the only one in the vicinity. I can run like the wind when I think bees are thinking about swarming me.

Finally I got the fleece out, and was able to poke it a bit with the pitchfork, until I could see a brown mass, with bees hanging on it. I'm not really up on my bees, but I'm guessing this was their nest (hive?) and they were just starting to build it. They really look like bumble bees, but they are pretty small, I think. In the end, I got the brown mass separated from the wool, speared the wool and threw it up on the bed of the pickup and left it overnight. The next morning, I pulled the wool off the truck (still with the pitchfork) onto a sheet and let it set out in the sun until this evening. I skirted it very thoroughly and found one dead bee in the wool, but no other 'things'. So Gracie's fleece was saved with about six pounds of it use able.

The bees, they weren't so lucky. Their little brown thing is still laying out by the garage, abandoned by the bees. I will be carefully pulling out one sack of wool at a time (with my pitchfork) over this next week, to see if there are more bee sack nests. I sure hope not. Always something to keep a person on their toes! Or at least a person should be on their toes..not poking around paying the least bit of attention to what she is doing. At least I haven't gotten stung....yet....

Reptilian Visitor

A week or so ago, I was busily mowing with the rider mower outside the yard fence. The sheep had heavily grazed the patch and I wanted to trim it up so undesirable weeds wouldn't go to seed. As I mowed along the outer perimeter fence that borders the neighbors pasture, I noticed something black sticking up out of the grass. I slowed the mower, knowing that wasn't quite what a stick looked like, but what was it? About five seconds before the snake would have been mowed over history, I realized it was a snake, and braked hard.


That darn thing never even budged, but looked at me and the now stopped, but still running mower, then proceeded to slither across in front of us. As I finished the patch, I had to take care on each pass to avoid the snake. Finally I decided to run in and get my camera to take it's picture. When I got back out it was gone! I had left Boone in the yard so he wouldn't bother it. As I looked high and low for the snake, with Boone following along inside the fence, I finally decided the snake had turned and went back into the pasture. That's what any snake with a lick of sense would do. Just then, I glanced down, and about four inches in front of Boone's feet was the snake! Yeesh! Boone was oblivious, and I easily called him around to the back gate. He never did seem to know there was a snake anywhere about.

The snake was clearly on a mission. I mean it had come out of deep grasses of the pasture, onto slick mowed ground, with the mower loud and active nearby. Then it slid practically right under the paws of a huge dog, not to mention the pesky human that kept following it.

Once inside the yard, it went right up the redbud tree, obviously a path it had taken before. I was pretty sure it was probably after baby birds, but I never heard any commotion and once the snake went into the upper reaches of the branches, I didn't see it again.
I didn't really want to see it have a baby bird snack, but I'm a little ticked at the grackles that have invaded here lately. These are big black shiny birds, with loud grackly voices, and rude manners. I'm not sure they are grackles, but they look like and act like what I think anything named 'grackle' should. They continually foul the sheep water troughs as well as the birdbath. They can't just drink out of it, nope they have drop their huge droppings right in there too. They also steal all the dry cat food, so I have to put it up during the day and they are so noisy. Grack, grack, grack... Deep breath.

Back to the snake. When I moved in here years and years and years ago, there were two huge black snakes that also called the place home. We lived in peaceful coexistence for several years. These were monster snakes---six to seven foot long and almost as think as my lower arm. Since the place had been unoccupied for many years, I was happy to let them putt around. Afterall the old saying is that if you have black (or King snakes) around they will keep the copperheads run off. I have no idea if this is true, or just some positive PR the black snakes made up and promoted so they'd live long and happy lives. By and by though the snakes lives got complicated around here. First there was the dog, then the cats, then shortly after that a whole slew of kittens, and even worse, the chickens.
Since they moved to the further reaches of the little farm, I've only occasionally saw a large snake skin or a small black snake here and there and once in the chicken nests. So I was pleased to see that there were still large black snakes making their home nearby. They can come by anytime, but only if they keep those old copperheads away.

Mock Hummingbirds...

I really don't know what these large moths are--I've always thought of them as mock hummingbirds. They look very much like a hummingbird, in the way they flit around, and the way they are made.They usually come out around dusk, and are quite frenetic in their activity. The Four O'clocks seem to especially draw them.If anyone knows what these insects are, I'd be interested in hearing their proper name and history.

Dark Lady of the Shadows

Getting ready to wean the lambs takes some prep work. Fences have to be checked, hay feeder filled and the water tub turned over, ready to fill. Imagine my surprise when I flipped the black rubber tub over and found this large lady. She was pretty surprised too. Sorry the pictures are so fuzzy--I really did try. For about three seconds. She had quite a little secluded home until I came along and disrupted it all. Black Widow spiders are not that common but I have seen a few around here over the years. This has to be the biggest one though. I did a little reading on them after finding her, and found out that their bite is not the death sentence I had always heard. People can and do die from them, but mostly if you have a compromised health system to start with. They will make you ill and they can cause severe muscle cramps and other unlovely things. However they are extremely shy and non aggressive, so will seldom attack or go on the defensive. The exceptions are if you accidentally grab one, or threaten their egg sac.

They tend to make their homes low to the ground and in dark, concealed places---so be careful where you stick your hand when you are out and about on the farm!

I don't know where this lady will take up her new residency, but I do know every time I walk in that paddock I step high and feel uneasy!

Survivor Squirrel

Here is one of the frequent visitors to the bird feeder. 'He' is one of the bravest and waits until the last minute to dash away. If you look close you will see he has scars--one on his side and another near the neck area. I can only speculate, but I think he narrowly missed being a hawks dinner. There are two or three Redtail hawks that patrol the field next to the house which the squirrels frequently dash across.

Red Birds

This post is especially for Michelle because she doesn't have Cardinals where she lives. She does have flowers though.. in January.. not that that bothers me or anything...

Click to biggify the photos if you want to see the pretty birdies up close and personal.What is this? Some kind of guys day out or something? Ladies all gone shopping?

Fast Food Drive-thru--beep, beep--move up already!
Hey! No cutting in line! HEY BUDDY!

Who needs T.V.? Seriously these birds are a hoot. They will line up on the fence, then drop to the feeder, gobble some seed, fly off and then get at the end of the line on the fence again. As each bird moves up to the feeder, the entire line uses their little birdie feet to move down the fence.

Feeding the Birds

Feeding the birds has been an off and on again undertaking over the years. I like to feed the birds. I enjoy seeing them at the feeder, and the inside kitties have gotten years of free entertainment 'hunting' them. Then along came Echo. Echo kills birds for a living, or so you would think. She is a fat, sassy little gray cat, one of the few that was actually born here. The first winter of her kittenhood, when the bird feeder went up, she found it within days. After that it was all downhill. Not even one bird a day. Multiples. All day. It didn't take me long to take the feeder down. Running to the windows and screaming everytime I saw her wasn't helping. I ended up feeding the birds on a large flat area of ground and just scattering the seed. Then the next few years I just fed them when the weather was extreme. This year I set the feeder back up, but in a slightly different location. Echo parks her butt firmly under it when she can. However when Boone is in the yard loose, she has to head for higher ground, so the birds have some peace then. So far I haven't seen the dead bodies and piles of feathers as in the early years.

Sage watches for hours from the window, crouching down, chattering at the birds. Keeps him out of trouble.

Over the years I've just had birds come to the feeder. For the most part there are lots of Redbirds (Cardinals), Juncos, a few Sparrows, some Titmice(mouses?), and Purple Finches. Occasionally there are Red Headed Woodpeckers, Gold Finches, a few Blue Jays, and unfortunately rowdy Cowbirds. The large and fearsome looking Crows will peck around on the ground.

The other day I looked out and saw a squirrel! Now I know to most people it is not exciting to see a squirrel in their bird feeder. I've never had squirrels around here. Most of the mature squirrel attractive trees are way across the road. Having dogs in the yard has also discouraged them over the years. What few that managed to poke around up here became cat food, when the bloodthirsty Lucy-kittens ruled the land. A couple of years ago a very fat squirrel showed up at the feeder and I enjoyed watching him. Then he disappeared. So looking out and seeing the squirrel was an event. I think that those who have squirrel problems probably see where this is heading. Several days later I looked out and there was the squirrel, wait, no two of them... no, three! Obviously Squirrel has an extended family. It' s still fun to see them, but the birdseed gets consumed at an alarming rate. I have to ration it out, since I'm not made of birdseed, but I sure enjoy seeing the 'birds'--two & four legged--stopping in for a bite to eat.

What Ants Can Do When You're Not Looking

For those who know me, they've also heard me gripe on and on about my 'ant problem'. A problem that has grown progressively worse over the last 4 or 5 years, as we continue in dry conditions. My theory is that without rain to drown out their colonies they just keep multiplying and multiplying...a theory not based on any real knowledge of ants!

Anyhoo.... outside, inside, everywhere the ants have taken over. You put something down outside and come back a few days later, and its covered with an ant colony.

Inside it has been a long hard battle. The war wages on everyday. I don't have one or two ants here and there. No, what I have are long, streams of ants making their way inside to any tiny morsel of something they can find. If they smell food, they come. I worry sometime that they will swarm ME some night....

I've tried everything. One year I used two full bottles of Terro liquid bait. Every time I would pour it out, it was like calling in the cows, the ants would form a circle around it and dig in. I never saw any decrease in the numbers. The only thing that finally stopped them was winter. I've tried sprays, bombs (something very wrong about ants traipsing over the puddles left by a bug bomb, and not even the slightest bit affected by it), a million home remedies (baking soda, cinnamon and others I've tried and forgotten). I've rotated bug sprays, I've plugged up every hole I can find. (I live in an old cement block/brick schoolhouse, so there are still plenty of holes!). I've put stuff around the foundations--fancy expensive ant stuff and plain old sevin dust. Nothing has made a difference. Nothing.

So as if that wasn't bad enough, suddenly, in the midst of the terrible heat and drought, my well stops working one morning. I was filling water troughs and hadn't even taken a shower yet. I was very upset, as visions of the well going dry or the pump burning out filled my mind. So the pump man was called, but in the meantime my Mom stopped by my house and the water was working again... huh....

The pump men spent about 30 minutes installing a switch box, sure that was what the problem was. It was an expensive 30 minutes for me---$80.00 plus the parts (total $147.00). Okay, so it could have been worse, I think.

A day or two later, the same thing happens! The water goes off. My Dad went up to the well house and tapped on the pressure switch box, and the water comes on. This went on a time or two, water went off, water back on, until finally the pump men were called again.

In the meantime before the pump men came my Dad took out a bunch of insulation that was in the well house---covered with millions of ants (and I do not exaggerate!)--ants of all colors, sizes and types. I also will mention that this isn't your typical well house---its a very large building that I also use as a semi-storage place.

The pump men came. One of them has a terrible phobia of spiders. The well house was also full of spiders.... I provided a can of spray. One spider elicited about 30 to 60 seconds of spraying. I'm not sure what would have happened if a spider had gotten ON him. I can't laugh too hard, because I myself have an unreasonable fear of spiders. So they took the pressure switch off this time and ..... you guessed it--it was full of ANTS. Yep, chock full of them. They will cause the switch to short on and off. Once they get in there you can't clean them out good enough, so they put a new one on. They also covered the outside entry point with Vaseline to keep the ants from crawling in there again. I'm going to bug bomb the place and quit storing stuff in there and find some different kind of insulation to cover things up, that won't be so messy.

If you look at the above photos (this by the way, ladies, is a pressure switch, in case you ever need to know! ;-) you can see gobs of little orangey things--that's some of the remaining ants. Many of them were knocked out before I took the picture. All said and done, the ants cost me over $200 and lots of worry. I am thankful though that my well and pump seem to be fine.

I guess this falls under the 'who would have thought' catagory!