Catching Up

seems to be something I'm not doing very well lately.  I did, finally in the month of June, change the top bed cover to something lighter.

I've almost finished with painting the outside of the house.  The paper wasps have delayed me.  I painted one as it emerged from a crack between wood and rock at the top of the chimney.  It fell but another followed it. I decided to stop painting until I get wasp spray. I'm allergic or I would just try and work around them.  

Between the rains and up and down the ladder, I've weeded and picked up limbs and moved rocks from the water garden so I could fit the ladder next to the house.  I've become braver and more trusting of my ladder placement judgement.  I have very few spots left to paint, just the trim.  Almost done!!!  The high spots will be done from the tractor bucket.  All with a two inch brush, too.  I'm kinda proud of my work.

It is hot and dry now.  A couple of afternoons were triple digits. Some that weren't felt that way with the humidity.  My painting follows the shade and in between I've picked cucumbers and onions, sprayed the hungry bugs with hot pepper/mint/Dawn tea, and moved things from my sister's house she sold.  Along with my regular "chores" I've stayed busy.

The old doe with a fawn thinks the garden is hers.  She likes the bean tops and the lettuce best.  The dogs were keeping her out but she convinced them to stay away the day they sniffed out her fawn.  The deer gave them a good stomping.  No one was harmed but the dogs let her graze in the garden now.

I've mentioned Pit Vipers or poisonous snakes have a smell.  Well, let me tell you something (the way Mom always started a wild story) I've been smelling something strange in our tool closet.  Told Hubby we either had a Copperhead or a skunk under the floor.  He said, Naw, the dogs would have gotten either.  They did one day...tore up jack shit as some would say.  I couldn't tell what was going on.  Had to take a piece of siding off to see under the floor.  There it was...a monster of a Cottonmouth snake.  The dogs did good.  Sad part is I think it got one of my Koi....and to think I've been moving those rocks, digging around, standing barefooted, never having my mind on a poisonous WATER snake.  Well, I'm thinking and watching now!

At night when I sit with ice packs on aching muscles and joints I try to read.  My latest book was A Parchment of Leaves by Silas House. I would like to share a line that struck a chord with me "That's all anybody can ask for, if you think about it-to have somebody love you and depend on you and take care of you when you're sick, and mourn over your casket when you die."

So, just like a letter from home, I've caught up through the times I've failed to post.

Happy Father's Day and may the rest of June be wonderful to you.

Alert! Snake!

This was one...there are more.

Ki is smelling under water trying to find one.

No dog saw the baby snake (left).

The Farm Team went into action.

The photographer was too slow to catch the action.

Four did their job.

Good dogs!!!

Evidence of Snake Occupancy

source

That's right...snake poop!!!!  Marcy spotted it under the edge of the old house.  I took no picture.  I was somewhat disbelieving and had to dig in it with a stick.  It looked like the above picture.

The snake I almost mowed that got away is still feeding in the area.  I notice my frog population is decreasing so I suppose he will stay until the population is decimated.

I have my snake eyes on as I carefully trim around the old house.  I always call the dogs to ask them "What is it?"  This is their clue to look for snakes.  Lil lays quietly at the entrance of the lean to kitchen.  I feel safe as I trim and cut.  I am not stupid though and take no chances.  We are on Copperhead alert.

The snake saga continues.  I truly think I will triumph.  I am known to be very determined.

A Snake Story with No Pictures!

I have been busting my b, uh, buns in this hundred degree heat because I thought I had to complete a project (pictures at a later date).

I asked Hubby how long the section I was working on was.  He said, Fifty feet.  I said, Don't tell me I have almost killed myself for only fifty feet of progress!  He grinned, Closer to fifty yards so that was better...150 feet sounds like I did something.

I did it with a reciprocating saw, clippers, pruners, wire cutters, and a hammer.  And believe me when I say, It was HARD work.

Today Hubby got the push mower started again and I was thrilled.  I don't think anyone grinned while mowing as much as I did today.  When you been folded up with clippers for a week, that lawn mower looked good, no, GREAT.

So I'm push mowing all the parts Hubby can't reach on the riding mower.  Since the weed eater is still at the mechanical hospital, the push mower beat clippers hands down.

I pushing and grinning.  I am delighted how much faster this is than clippers so I leave my area I have been working on and expand my power range.  Around the propane tank, under the swing set, around the plum trees.  I am on fire!  Working and sweating but loving it.  Sooo, then I decide to mow around the old house.

I'm screaming snake (less than a foot from me) which no one can hear over the lawn mower. My frantic jumping and waving my arms got Hubby's attention.  Six dogs and not one of them saw this snake.  Copperhead!!  Then they were all there, Hubby with gun, dogs ready to kill a snake.  Every one was too slow.  Now we know there's a Copperhead under the old house.

Wonderful.

So all I see around the entirety of our yard and Marcy's are snake arbors!  I push and mow places that had not been trimmed.  Hubby tried to stop me but I was on a mission.  Snake arbors, be gone!

Hubby brought me a drink, which I guzzled, and continued to mow.  I said, I'm not stopping til I run outta gas.  And I didn't.  Emptied that tank.

The benefits are my Tylenol and ibuprofen had kicked in, less grass to mow, sinuses wide open and I got a sauna/sweat lodge work out.

The question will be, will I be able move tomorrow?  And where will that snake be?  Lil was still laying under the edge of the house waiting so hopefully she will eliminate my problem tonight.

I think of all the evenings I go out barefooted to feed the dogs and I shiver a little. Was he laying in wait for me?  I think all the food bowls will be on the porch tonight!

And that was my afternoon.  How was yours?

I've Learned My Lesson

NEVER buy a water hose like this

when you've been discovering these in the yard

It's just not healthy for me to jump so much

when I see a water hose!

It Was A Three Frog Day

Yep, that's a frog...a bull frog hiding from the heat of the day.

 Bothered Hubby while he was playing mechanic.

to hold my other Bull frog for a better picture.

This is the largest Leopard Frog I've ever seen.

Then

in 

the 

pile 

of 

posts 

I 

was 

moving

I 

met

a 

frog

eater

It was an exciting day in my yard.

Picture This...

Beneath the tranquil waters
Within the reflections
Life
Sometimes hides
A snake or two

Fireblossom Friday

A Conversation Among Dogs

Whatcha got?

Snake!

Let me see!

I don't see it!

You callin' me a liar, old dog?

Who you callin' old, you one-eyed jack?

I'm the snake killer.

I think all were on the job.

The only piece of snake I could find.

The Snake Bridgade

Warm weather brings the snakes out to eat bugs and more.

The Farm Pack found a snake.  

Perfect timing for a little training for Bonnie.

Bonnie has never met a snake but 

she had a good time anyway.

Now that she has smelled snake parts

she has delivered two turtles and one lizard

to my back door.

Gonna have to fine tune that training.

A Job On Every Front...

I've had a favorite snake for years.  A plaster snake who has seen better days.  I could not part with him even if he was broken.  Hand painted by me, he has aged far quicker than I have.

So last night I thought of a solution.  Cobra was broken at the base but still had a solid rod through the center of his body.

The idea hit!  Gorilla Glue and DryDex Spackling might just work.

In the center of my room, I began.  Gorilla Glue was the first ingredient.  Gotta make those edges stick.

We don't live in the land of cobras but people still step back just a little when they run into one.
Knowing me, you can guess I move it around a lot...or I did before he was broken.

I've missed my little buddy. Hiding in some flowers or just sitting at the end of a sofa, he rarely goes unnoticed.

So repairs progressed.  Spackling and glue drying on my hands.  A little sanding, some carving of snake scales, and a new creative coat of paint and Cobra will rejoin my collection of fun.

Please note the ingenious use of scissors to prop him in place while it dries in the perfect snake position.

This gentleman is probably twenty years old a simple plaster cast on wire but he is dear to me. 

Next time you see him, beware, he will blend in very well and my fun will continue.

Why Maria Hates Snakes...

The wonderful comments and questions I received on yesterday's post got me to thinking.  As a child I had snakes for pets but had to keep them in the barn.  Mom wouldn't allow them in the house, don't know why.  Snakes have never been a problem for me and have always had dogs that were trained to eliminate them.  I, too, have no problem eliminating a poison one.  I try to move the others to a place further into the woods.

Well, as my mind was traveling through all the snake tales, I thought of how terrified my youngest daughter is of snakes.  The evil me laughed out loud because I remembered why!

I had a pair of Thrushes building a nest by the chicken house when Maria was about twelve, I'm guessing.  I call them Thacker birds because this is the sound their song makes.  My Thacker birds were throwing a fit, Maria and I went to look. 

Sure enough, there was a huge black snake trying to eat my baby birds.  The parents were bomb diving it and trying to get the snake to leave. I sent Maria after the gun, while I kept an eye on the snake.  He is about midway in a thick cedar tree about twenty-five feet off the ground, I did not want to lose him, especially this close to my egg laying hens. He is wrapped around a limb, striking at the birds as they attack him.

Maria arrives with the gun and the dog.  I think I may have had to shoot a couple of times.  The snake was hard to see in the branches and I was using a twenty-two.  I hit it, it fell.

Zara, the dog, jumped on it and started shaking it like a dirty rug.  Zara let go, the snake was not completely dead and it wrapped around Maria's bare leg.  I'm really sorry but it was a funny sight!!!  Maria is hopping one legged, screaming, Mom, get it off me!!!  I am laughing so hard at the sight I can't function.  From ankle to knee, Maria is wearing a live snake and it's not happy.  Neither is Maria!

Come oonnnnnnnnnnn, guys, it was a black snake, perfectly harmless except to my Thacker birds.  I finally grabbed the snake and with Zara's help, we unwrapped it from Maria's leg.  She ran screaming to the house and left me and Zara alone for the kill.  Zara did the job.

Maria, I apologize for such a tramatic...but funny...event.  And that is why Maria HATES snakes.

Check out more Farm Friend Friday Posts at Verde Farm.

Snake Hunt On Sunday Walk

My early morning walk began almost too late because the temperatures were already rising.  Maggie took advantage by cooling off in one of the spring branches we were exploring.

I was looking for flowers and just good  shots.  I love the spring branches that run into the creek because there is always something interesting, reflections, objects, anything makes for a good photo if you get it right.

Imagine my surprise when trying to capture the small water skaters on camera....

Snakeville under water!

The dogs went into action!

They searched high and low.

No luck, the snake was smarter than us.

I imagined he slithered under one of these rock ledges.

Hubby said he would wait til things settled

and solve our little snake problem.

The Borders did not want to give up,

but I finally convinced them to continue our walk.

We cooled again

and continued our walk.

We still saw beauty even with our snake eyes on.