Dem Dang Deer
Dem dang deer ate sum blueberries, sum leaves off uh new apple tree, and (the wurst part) d’even ate most leaves off dat dare elm tree we planted for Elowyn (whose name means Elm tree in Cornish).
Never had problems with deer eating things until now. I surrounded the five-foot tall elm tree with a five-foot tall metal fence that I picked up at a garage sale.
Dem Coons
Raccoons were nesting in the loft of our shed. Drove Milosz nuts. The interwebs said that raccoons don’t like Epsom salt. So, I tossed a lump of it into the loft. Seconds later a tiny raccoon cub fell from the loft onto the shed floor. When I checked later that night, two baby raccoons were on the shed floor. The next day, there were no raccoons in the shed. Milosz is back to his cool, calm self.
Dem snakes
Got a little family of snakes in one of our flower beds. They seem nice.
Crop dustin'
Memorial Day morning, while cooking breakfast, I suddenly heard a loud engine noise coming from the yard. Seconds later, out the window, I saw a huge bird-like shadow, then a small bright colored airplane swoop down into our backyard and the adjacent farm field. At its lowest point it must have been only 20 feet off the ground – at least, that’s how it looked – which means it may have flown directly over our roof by the same distance. When over the field, it sprayed something. Over the next 15 minutes it continued looping over the farm field that surrounds our house.
First time this has happened. Don’t know if the fields are too muddy for the heavy equipment? We kept Milosz and Elowyn inside for the rest of the morning to avoid the potential of chemical drift.
Night walkers (dem darn cows)
A few weeks ago, our neighbor walked over to our yard and asked if I noticed any hoof prints. I hadn’t. He said that his whole yard was full of cow hoof prints: huge, sinking six to eight inches in the muddy soil. He turned his head toward a corner of our yard and spotted some tracks. We walked over and sure enough, it looked like two cows wandered into a section of our yard. They were probably the cows from the dairy across the street. Must of got through a break in the fence. I wish I could have seen those cows wandering around Leedy Rd. in the dark, walking back and forth between our yards, chillin’ out, snackin’ on grass.
Battery-powered.... Socks
At a garage sale I noticed a bin of wool socks. I tend to buy these (even though they are used), since brand new wool socks are often super thick, expensive, and not always as warm as the older kinds of wool socks, which are often thinner, warmer, and less than $1.00 per pair. There was a pair with little pouches on either side of the upper sections. The guy at the table explained, “Those were my dad’s. They’re battery powered. You put a 9 volt in each pouch, snap it shut, and it’ll warm the foot, especially around the toes.” I wouldn’t have bought it except that he offered me the whole box of 14 pairs for about $4. Can’t beat that with a stick.