Friday, October 15, 2010

Coyote Attack

This was the first time that I've ever been scared for my safety because of a wild animal. When I ran out the door to see why my chickens were going crazy I saw a flash of red and thought it was a fox. Jumpers, being true to her name, tried to fly/jump to the roof right at our front door. When she fell back to the ground what I thought was a huge fox--now I know it was a coyote, grabbed her in its mouth and went running. I ran out the door and almost grabbed the thing with my bare hands I was so close.

When I used to live in Colorado I read often that when you came across a Bob Cat you were supposed to yell and be all crazy. This is something I'm very good at. I figured that's what you do with any animal and it worked. I chased the coyote with my dear Jumpers in its mouth and Jumpers was dropped as they crossed the road. This was all good until I saw this magnificent reddish brown coyote turn around and stare at me. I had only seen the fluffy dark tail with the black tip until this time...when it was heading in the opposite direction of me. Now this picture postcard looking animal was in full pose looking at me eye to eye. My God this was a beautiful animal. I do have to say though that next time we meet I do plan on having a gun.




My sons and I looked it up and saw cases where coyotes have taken off kids. One article spoke of a two year old taken from the sand box. Well, I have a two year old...and a one year old and I do let them sit in the sand box while I garden a few feet away. Another article spoke of a coyote killing a Maltese dog and my little Coton - Tzu runs around the yard all the time. So, needless to say, this animal has spooked me. It would be one thing if it was a night time attack, but it was just before 5 P.M.. Time for a bee-bee gun. My sons are thrilled to end about that.

Thursday, October 7, 2010

Soggy Chickens

They took Guiding Light off the TV so I had to find some drama in my life. I find myself wondering around waiting for 3:00 to come so I can see what in the world in going on with Reva. I'm lost.....what do you do when your friends of 25 years just up and leave you? How could they do that? I gave them the best years of my life!

In 6th grade my Amish friends and I would run across the street to the Hardware / Everything store in our little Ohio town. They had the TV's all set to CBS and were waiting for us. They welcomed us because, I believe, we gave them such a wonderful excuse to follow the stories along with us. You have to imagine a small Amish town with a diner, a small grocery, a bank, a number of churches, and, well, that's about all. My middle school friends and I loved these old guys. Sometimes they would act like they were surprised to see us. Really? 5 days a week as soon as the bell rang we would be standing in the aisle of the store. They would be standing behind us making cute little comments about the show. I was convinced that Stan, the owner, had a wicked crush on Reva....they all did didn't they?

My husband never gave me a hard time about watching my stories. He's a therapist...he KNOWS stuff:) There was some report that indicated that people that watched these stories and had that drama and connection to these soap opera people were actually more likely to be well-adjusted. Really, he read that. That's all I needed. Actually I didn't need anything...like I said, this was a 25 year relationship I just lost.

The good news - I have chickens in my backyard. After a year and a half of free entertainment and healthy organic free range eggs I am convinced that anyone with a square of a yard should have chickens. Aside from really wanting to eat local organic foods they are just fun. Ok, they do poop a lot. I don't love it when they poop on the patio. It seems like they want to come into the house. I'm sure it has nothing to do with the fact I bring treats:)

The group dynamics of the clutch bring me angst as well as enjoyment. If you have never had chickens, you may not realize how different their personalities can be. Lacy is my Reva. Yes, she can be a bit rough around the edges. The other girls don't always love her, but I do. There's no rooster in my coop, so that keeps out some of the drama. There are however predators. Meat eating, viscous, hungry, animals rooming around the neighborhood waiting for a chance to catch one of my lovely ladies. They are after all - meat.

work in progress.......

Friday, October 1, 2010

overhaul...


time to clean out the cob webs of this old blog....more updates to come:)



I have four wonderful crazy kids and a husband that I'm madly in love with. So life is good.