Sometimes you need to look ahead!

I’m a firm believer in multitasking. Whenever I can make or do something that accomplishes more than one thing at a time, I’m all for it. I’ve been trying to get more exercise, so about a week ago I figured once I’m already bundled up to go outside and do critter chores, that would be a good time to go for a walk and get more fresh air and some of the aforementioned exercise.

My favorite place to walk is in the woods. I always take my camera along, hoping for not only fresh air and exercise, but a chance for a good picture. (More multitasking!)

The woods are carpeted in dead leaves right now, so there is no way to move quietly. I’ve been looking for signs of spring, like new plant growth peeking up through the leaves, so most of the time my head is down and I’m looking at the ground.

That proved to be a mistake this morning. Not only were there no new signs of greenery, I missed a chance at a couple of great shots.

Mind you, I haven’t seen a single critter in the woods these past few days. It’s usually getting towards mid-morning by the time I make it back there, so I wasn’t expecting anything more than maybe a few squirrels. I’d seen signs of deer on previous walks. I also had suspicions there was an owl in there from the scat I saw every day at the bottom of a tree back near the creek.

In the space of a couple of minutes this morning, my observations were verified.

As I was walking along the creek, I heard a faint rustle above me, and looked up in time to see not one, but two owls take flight from a tree not 10 feet ahead of me. Oh to have been looking up in time to take a picture!

No sooner had I watched them fly off, then off to my right I heard leaves rustling, and saw a buck take off through the woods. Once again, it was too late for any clear shot to get a picture. He was too far away with too many trees between us for a clear photo anyway.

I didn’t expect to see any of those critters that time of day, especially the owls. I hear them at night, and sometimes have seen them at dusk, but mid-morning?

You can bet from now on I’ll be sure to look ahead and LOOK UP every once in a while!

Signs of Spring

When I went outside to do chores this morning I was pleased to see signs of spring. Yes, I know it’s still February, and we have more winter weather to come. Today, however, with 70+ F. temperatures and blossoms starting to appear, it reminds me of spring.

The first bright spot of color I noticed was a dandelion. Come summer, they’ll pollute the place, but for now, it’s nice to see that splash of sunny color in an otherwise cheerless landscape.

The landscape is also pretty in pink as down by the pond, as there is a quince bush starting to bloom. It’s the first bush I notice blooming here in the spring, and is extra special because it came from my dad’s farm in West Virginia. Some of the buds got frost bitten, but others bravely hung on and are opening up.

In the woods I noticed the patches of moss are starting to take on a vibrant green hue in sharp contrast to the drab brown leaves.

But splashes of color aren’t the only signs of spring. There’s also the sounds.. First thing I noticed when I went outside this morning was the spring peepers song. It’s the first day I’ve heard them, and they will get progressively louder. Some nights they make it hard to sleep!

It’s not the picture here that matters – it’s just the boggy area of our bottom pasture, where a spring in the hillside seeps out and the water collects in this low lying area. Nothing much to see, but you can HEAR the spring peepers doing their thing. (Ignore the ever present noise of guineas in the background now and then.)

I know we’ll have more wintry weather, but today is an encouragement I can hold onto. Cause peepers and posies, they’re both a promise of the spring to come.

Wild and Weird Worms

Okay farm fans, here’s the trough full of water after it rains…

And here’s the question:

 How does the earthworm get in there?
Seriously, every time it rains, I find earthworms in the feed troughs. I understand they’re coming up out of the soggy ground to get some air, but how in the world do they manage to crawl up the slick sloped plastic sides of the water trough and end up in the water there?

However they manage it, they can’t seem to get back out of the trough and it’s full of water. I reckon it correlates to “Out of the frying pan and into the fire,” only it’s “Out of the mud and into the water.”

All of which equals one dead worm.

Spot’s Adventures

We have a cat named Spot. The Farmer named him Spot because… well, he has big spots. I think the name gave the cat some sort of identity crisis. He thinks he’s a dog. Why do I say that?
* He comes when I whistle for him.
* He’s been known to play fetch.
* He follows me around everywhere like a dog.

Further, he is positively fearless. Once we had a huge snake eating guinea eggs. We’re talking 5′ long or more, with room enough to hold at least 5 guinea eggs in its’ belly.

Just look at him checking out a snake in this video…

And after he looked at this BIG snake a while he decided to whack it one. The following is a VERY short video of him doing just that… you can actually hear him swat the snake.

I’m afraid sometime recently this bravado got him in trouble. He tangled with something that fought back and ended up with a huge abscess above his left front leg, which has an obvious puncture wound in the middle of it.

Since we weren’t sure what he tangled with, we took him to the vet. He cried pitifully all the way there. VERY vocal, which is highly unusual. He usually has a very short, quiet “mew”. These were loud and oh so mournful. The kind that makes you feel like a heel, even though you know taking the cat to the vet is doing what’s best for him.

He’s scheduled for some minor surgery to lance the wound and drain it. If all goes well, we should be able to pick him up tomorrow.

If he keeps this up, one of these days this look…

… is going to be permanent.

But I hope not. Spot the cat is one of the best dogs we’ve ever had.

This Polar Bear Club is for the BIRDS!!!

I spoke too soon yesterday about being glad I didn’t have to chop ice. Figures. I went out this morning and there were empty heated water bowls in the peafowl pen and poultry pens. That meant I either had to carry water out from the house, which is a fair distance, or chop the ice off the top of the unheated water buckets so I could pour water out of them into the heated buckets. Follow that?

I chose the latter, and whew! That’s tiring work. The good news is I had enough water to fill the bowls back up. The bad news is, if it’s still this cold tomorrow, I’ll have no choice but to carry water from the house to the distant water bowls.

While I’m chopping through ice to fill water bowls for the domestic fowl, some of their wild cousins are trying out for the Polar Bear Club, and splashing around in the birdbath.

Even though this birdbath has a heater to keep the water from freezing, it’s not THAT warm, and the air is FRIGID. Personally, I think they’re birdbrains to be playing in the water when it’s this cold.

I figured I was providing drinking water during the cold weather months for the birds, but never imagined I’d be providing a heated spa!