Farm News 06-19-05
Sunday morning, after chores
Coyote Steals Christmas
Thursday morning I went out to do morning chores and found no sign of Christmas. Alas, there was evidence that a coyote had come in the driveway, snatched up the world's best looking turkey, and carried him away.
Coyotes tend to grab a bird and carry it 20 to 50 feet, then stop, kill the bird, and then continue on their way. I found the first pile of feathers by the barn and the second at the edge of the road. It must have been a sturdy coyote to carry off that turkey.
We all miss Christmas. He was a fine, funny friend.
Calvin
Have I mentioned that Calvin is back? He is somewhat unreliable, a condition I attribute directly to the possession of a driving license. Before a teenager has a driving license you generally know where they are: in the back seat, pointedly ignoring the driver, while they are being chauffeured to the fifth place in three days. Once a teen has a license he pretty much disappears except for feeding and laundry.
Thanksgiving: Seven and Holding
Seven little turkey poults hatched under Thanksgiving and Nyn produced a litter of bunnies. Shotgun and Marmalade, 8 week old kittens, came to live in the barn. Ayte's dozen bunnies are weaned, now, and Ayte has been bred again.
Calvin and I removed the seven poults from under Thanksgiving, a process she did not care for, and put them in a warm box for a few days. They began drinking and then eating after a day or so and I moved them to a small house with an enclosed run. After they are a week old I might let Thanksgiving take over their care, again.
Shotgun and Marmalade came from a reader. It is unlikely that Martha, our old barn cat, will produce any more kittens. After a surge in mating activity this spring she has settled down in post-menopausal comfort. She hasn't raised any sort of fuss with the new kittens, a change from her normal behavior.
Landscaping
A reader writes:
Jeannette, a neighbor, once assured me that while in elementary school she really, honestly, truly was warned of the dangers of shiny shoes. She is German Catholic, not Italian Catholic, but so is the Pope. So, I took this problem to Jeannette.
Jeannette has a thing for restoration. She says that a first class paint job makes statuary a lot more pleasant to the eye. She went on for about twenty minutes about the art of painting religious statues, achieving the proper tinting in faces and such. Finally, I got her back to the question of how to get rid of it. I thought her solution was quite ingenious.
Make up a flier offering the statue for sale at auction or for a set price, the entire proceeds of which will go to the local parish church. Flier in hand, go to the neighbors on both sides of you and across the street, show them the flier, and ask their opinions. Distribute the flier through the neighborhood and drop off some at the Parish Office.
If you decide to have an auction then ask one of the neighbor kids to act as auctioneer. Serve tea and cookies at the auction, introduce yourselves to everybody, and join the neighborhood. Don't discuss Roe v. Wade.
Beets and Peas
Paula is thinning the beets, bringing in nice baskets full of small beets. She plants both red and gold beets. She recently made a potato salad with about equal parts potatoes and gold beets. It was quite tasty.
The peas are growing on trellises made of cow panel this year. Each panel is 16 feet long and stands on three steel posts.
E-mail Subscribers: To subscribe, unsubscribe, contribute stories, complain or send a gift subscription, send an email to FarmNews@GeezerNet.com . The editor reserves the right to steal ideas submitted, rewrite submissions, and sign false names to them whenever it strikes his fancy to do so.
Coyote Steals Christmas
Thursday morning I went out to do morning chores and found no sign of Christmas. Alas, there was evidence that a coyote had come in the driveway, snatched up the world's best looking turkey, and carried him away.
Coyotes tend to grab a bird and carry it 20 to 50 feet, then stop, kill the bird, and then continue on their way. I found the first pile of feathers by the barn and the second at the edge of the road. It must have been a sturdy coyote to carry off that turkey.
We all miss Christmas. He was a fine, funny friend.
Calvin
Have I mentioned that Calvin is back? He is somewhat unreliable, a condition I attribute directly to the possession of a driving license. Before a teenager has a driving license you generally know where they are: in the back seat, pointedly ignoring the driver, while they are being chauffeured to the fifth place in three days. Once a teen has a license he pretty much disappears except for feeding and laundry.
Thanksgiving: Seven and Holding
Seven little turkey poults hatched under Thanksgiving and Nyn produced a litter of bunnies. Shotgun and Marmalade, 8 week old kittens, came to live in the barn. Ayte's dozen bunnies are weaned, now, and Ayte has been bred again.
Calvin and I removed the seven poults from under Thanksgiving, a process she did not care for, and put them in a warm box for a few days. They began drinking and then eating after a day or so and I moved them to a small house with an enclosed run. After they are a week old I might let Thanksgiving take over their care, again.
Shotgun and Marmalade came from a reader. It is unlikely that Martha, our old barn cat, will produce any more kittens. After a surge in mating activity this spring she has settled down in post-menopausal comfort. She hasn't raised any sort of fuss with the new kittens, a change from her normal behavior.
Landscaping
A reader writes:
What's the etiquette for removal of religious statuary? In my newly purchased home there is a Mary on the half-shell in the back yard, complete with waterfall, which must go. But I don't know if there are rules about the disposal of that kind of thing (like with an old flag.) I don't want to inadvertently commit sacrilege and piss off all the Italian neighbors, you know?
Jeannette, a neighbor, once assured me that while in elementary school she really, honestly, truly was warned of the dangers of shiny shoes. She is German Catholic, not Italian Catholic, but so is the Pope. So, I took this problem to Jeannette.
Jeannette has a thing for restoration. She says that a first class paint job makes statuary a lot more pleasant to the eye. She went on for about twenty minutes about the art of painting religious statues, achieving the proper tinting in faces and such. Finally, I got her back to the question of how to get rid of it. I thought her solution was quite ingenious.
Make up a flier offering the statue for sale at auction or for a set price, the entire proceeds of which will go to the local parish church. Flier in hand, go to the neighbors on both sides of you and across the street, show them the flier, and ask their opinions. Distribute the flier through the neighborhood and drop off some at the Parish Office.
If you decide to have an auction then ask one of the neighbor kids to act as auctioneer. Serve tea and cookies at the auction, introduce yourselves to everybody, and join the neighborhood. Don't discuss Roe v. Wade.
Beets and Peas
Paula is thinning the beets, bringing in nice baskets full of small beets. She plants both red and gold beets. She recently made a potato salad with about equal parts potatoes and gold beets. It was quite tasty.
The peas are growing on trellises made of cow panel this year. Each panel is 16 feet long and stands on three steel posts.
E-mail Subscribers: To subscribe, unsubscribe, contribute stories, complain or send a gift subscription, send an email to FarmNews@GeezerNet.com . The editor reserves the right to steal ideas submitted, rewrite submissions, and sign false names to them whenever it strikes his fancy to do so.
posted by The Geezer at 7:55 AM
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