Greetings!
Remember my last update when I mentioned how wacky the weather had been? That hasn’t changed! Tuesday was humid and stayed above eighty degrees, then in the evening it switched to stormy and cool. I feel asleep to the sound of rain and woke up to the sound of… more rain. Needless to say, we spent most of the day indoors doing knitting, reading, and whatever it is Papa does when he’s not “complaining” about how we constantly knit and read.
Princess is still occupying Papa’s chair, much to his chagrin and my amusement. It is also quite amazing, because Prin does not usually stay out in the open for so long. I guess the aloof feline has begun to mellow with age. Or maybe she is just growing accustomed to having me around? Either way means more cat-petting for me! Yay!
Next, we come to Thursday – Valentine’s Day! I was overjoyed to receive mail from family and friends back home!
After doing the morning rounds, we check the incubator in the Hatchery before heading back to the house. Thursday morning Papa unlatched the door and what did we see? There before us, trembling, cheeping, chipping away at the shell, was a newly- hatched duckling! So delicate and fragile, not to mention cute! I think we should call him/her Val.
(I am sorry if this paragraph makes someone queasy. Please feel free to skip.) Something had been living under the Lost Arts House. This was made evident by the hole it dug to get there. Two non-lethal traps are sitting outside the hole, hoping to catch the culprit, but so far, they have only caught unfortunate squirrels. On our way out of the Hatchery, Papa walked over to check his traps. Unbeknownst to me, he also had a bear trap inside where the hole is. He pulled off the siding to look at it. It was more successful than the other traps. An opossum. Poor thing wasn’t dead yet. To make things worse, it had gotten tangled up among pipes and stuff. I left when Papa brought out a blade.
I spent the rest of the day in the Lost Arts House for two main reasons; First: temperatures barely rose above forty-five; Second: I started putting my plans to make a book into action.
I learned another way to dye paper! Staining it with black tea gives it an aged look, one that is quite aesthetically pleasing for handmade books. I do not know exactly what to put in my book yet, so I am just making a blank one for now.
Reporting on the Sadie situation: Everyone has been getting along fabulously! Sadie hardly ever cries anymore; she is content to lay in the sun alongside Peggy, munch hay with Cow, and… lay in the middle of the hay while Peggy and Cow eat it…? Oh well, at least she seems to be adjusting more!
Yesterday we had a pretty big scare. It was early afternoon, and we were all working over at Blue Hen; Mema and I in the Lost Arts House, Papa in the Workshop. Suddenly, Mema raised her head in alert and listened. There’s a dog barking. Now, normally I wouldn’t pay attention to that; dogs barking is an everyday sound, nothing special. However, Mama said it was much louder than normal. It sounded too close. She looked out the front window towards Bent Pine, then gasped, “There’s a dog in the yard!”
Sure enough, through the brush I could see a large black and brown dog barking at the rabbits in the tractor. I scrambled for my shoes, Mema rushed to the radio to warn Papa, then we both headed for the yard. I kept my eye out for any hefty sticks that I could grab, but all I found on such short notice were a couple stubs. Nevertheless, I snagged them up on my way; I could at least throw them, if needed. As we approached, I saw that it was a German shepherd terrorizing the rabbits. Did I say he was large? I meant massive. Biggest shepherd I have ever seen. By this time Papa had caught up to us. The dog had moved away from the tractor when we entered the yard. It began moving back towards the gate as we cautiously advanced, yelling at it the entire time. Finally, and with no more mishaps, the dog exited our farm and crossed the road back to its own. Whew!
So much for the “watch-geese”! Every animal that could have alerted to the dog’s presence was asleep!
This has been a particularly lengthy post, so I think it is time to bring it to a close. Just a few more tidbits to tell you: 1) Three more ducklings hatched Friday! 2) Three (or four?) kits were just born! So tiny and adorable! 3) Chickens are extremely frustrating. And stupid. 4) I found a more suitably-sized stick, just in case.
Thank you for your comments – they make me smile! Until next time, folks!
Sofi Grace