Sunday, January 20, 2013

Another Picture Heavy Post

I need to explain about something.  I always go to church on Sunday... but we are allowed to go on Saturday afternoon, to satisfy our Sunday obligation.  My sister and I used to laugh about this, because the majority of those in church on Saturdays were the "old folks"... you know, the ones who had gotten up on Sunday morning for 60 years and now wanted to sleep in.  

Well... I'm one of them now!  

For the last four weeks, I've gone to church on Saturday afternoon with the other old folks so I could stay in a little later on Sunday, do the chores, get the ever-shrinking Kansas City Star, and sit and read it at the kitchen table.  I'm getting the hang of it! 

We ate a brunch this morning at 11, with Nathan and his mom, Sherie, as our guests.  It was so good, and when we came home, Keith and I spent a lazy afternoon together.  He sat at the computer and researched greenhouses... and the result of that search is that we are going to build our own. 

I'm glad. 

We'll tell you more about that later, as plans progress. 

Tomorrow I'm going to call the people who put up the chainlink for me for the henspa, and have them come and bid on fencing the corral with no-climb horse fence, and replace one section of the old big henhouse fence, the north side.  That was the very first thing Keith built here, and it is leaning at this point, and the gate won't open more than halfway.  The fencing crew is reasonable, and does great work, so I'm having them bid both.  

Now, to the pictures.  As we came home from eating brunch, we saw this: 


I was driving, and I hit the brakes and backed up.  Keith pronounced it "Probably a poach" because that is a totally dark, connecting country road with  no homes along it.  I thought it was a buck.  

I went back an hour or so later, to look at it again. 


Not a buck at all.  A doe.  Field-dressed, and the edible parts taken.  It was a branch that had either blown up against it, or someone had placed against the head, because, you see... 


When I walked back over the car.... you can see the actual scene, beer cans all around. 

Poach. 
That road is very beautiful, and has one of the best building sites in Leavenworth County... the pasture behind this deer.  The turnpike is way back there, but you can't hear it. 


Son Jim lives about 14 miles away from us, in Wyandotte County.  He has a large uninhabited area at the corner of his street that was a failed or undeveloped housing tract.  This guy was sitting on the wire there yesterday... is he beautiful or what?  I'm going to have to look him up. 


Nathan and I went shopping yesterday and Grandma bought herself a new shirt, too. 



This, incredibly, was the temperature on January 19, 2013.  Do you see it there on my console? 


No, not the cute little squirrel... the SIGN!  These folks live right across from the food pantry in Tongie, and they have a chicken tractor in their yard with six beautiful Buff Orpington girls in it.  This sign made me laugh out loud! 

And last... a FACEOFF! 



Now, it's time to tell you all what you can already see with your own eyes.  Yes, we do put garbage out (plus some very cheap dog food) for the predators, to get them on camera.  No, we will not do this indefinitely.  We plan to stop at the end of February,  or early March.  We have enjoyed seeing all the predators in our pasture, but enough will soon be enough. 

We still hope, depending on the fencing quotes, to get a pony for the grands to ride, and perhaps, a mini donkey for our own enjoyment.  We also have always wanted a couple of small goats, such as Nigerian dwarf wethers.  We would keep these locked in the corral at night, knowing what we know now... and it will be a predator-proof corral. 

We don't know if they were coming when the llamas were here... we always felt that Tony was a very good watchdog for us.  But just because we couldn't see them doesn't mean they weren't always there. Something got several hens, and the two turkeys were also killed... so we know they were there, just outside the ring of light cast by our farm light. 

Now it's time to get this posted and go watch tonight's episode of Downton Abbey! 


14 comments:

  1. Fox wins!

    Oh, how I would love to upgrade fences and buildings around here. I fear they are gonna to fall down before we get them enforced.

    I like the window idea for a green house. Dad had a cold frame in the ground and always started his early plants there. Windows covered it.

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  2. I hate poachers, you would think they would not leave the hide on the fence like that .... hide the evidence ..... and take their beer cans with them .............. hope they were really in need of the meat for food.

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  3. I enjoy seeing what all you catch on your camera. And that bird sitting up on the wire is beautiful! I hope you find out what kind it is, and let us know.

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  4. I would suggest feeding through March, at least, and taper off gradually after that. It may be different in your neck of the woods, but around here, most of the animals that starve, do so in March. The reason is that last year's food is all gone and this year's hasn't come on yet.

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  5. Sorry to hear about the Kansas City Star shrinking. We supplied newsprint to it for many years from Kenora and the Iroquois Falls. The shrinkage seems to be the thing of all large newspapers now. It is a shame because all the paper manufacturers became very environmentally friendly. I am also worried about the state of the book industry. I was involved in converting many newsprint mills to book grade. With the upsurge of electronic books, I fear for that industry also. Such is progress, I guess.

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  6. Busy, busy, busy.

    Come by tomorrow for my post. Put on your
    creativity hat.

    M :)

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  7. Bad enough to pouch,but to be so rude about it. I know your grands will love a pony and I want a miniature donkey, but that's not going to happen. Nigerian Dwarf goats are wonderful. I really love my more that dogs. And I've always had a dog. Great video. What kind of camera are you using?

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  8. That picture of the deer really ticked me off. Why can't people just obey the rules? Oh, and your shirt is hilarious! :-)

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  9. Sickened seeing the deer like that, how sad, I HATE poachers so, would like to do that to them........Beautiful picture of the bird....Love the night time video, enjoy your night time visiters and you do get many.......Blessings Francine.

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  10. So neat to capture the videos of the predators. Seems kind of like a two edged sword - attracting them. But it's not like they weren't always there - food or no food. Good luck with the greenhouse.

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  11. Makes me worry about what kind of influence the people whose warped sense of humor led them to hang the deer hide on the fence like they did are to their children at home.

    Your t-shirt is darling!
    Dewena

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  12. How interesting - the night cam!! I was wondering how you got so many different animals to come through there!! Guess there is no telling how many different night animals roam though! Sorry to hear aobut your chickens and turkeys being killed!

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  13. Love the t-shirt, one of my favs :) Poachers are everywhere and so arrogant. I can't stand it. Even with two Great Pyrenees dogs all my goats and sheep go in the barn before dark every day. Seems like a nice day and I hope you have a nice evening, really neat video!

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  14. I like your shirt.

    I think they are always around too. Hate it about the poachers. Some folks just can't follow the rules.

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