Patron Saint of Lost Dogs, Arrant Deer and Errant Mishaps

Hi everyone,

Guess what? Yesterday, two dogs showed up in our yard. One of course, the beagle, wasted no time in making himself at home. The other was a little skittish and I had to coax him out of the woods to feed him. Now they are both sleeping like babies on my porch. Only one dog, the boxer, had tags for his microchip. I called the number and the company traced the dog's ID back to his owner. They hadn't updated their information and they couldn't be reached. They did let me know the dog's name was Jake and he was from Ft. Myer's, Florida. Jake's in rough shape. He's hobbling on his back legs like he's sore and shaking pretty badly and is way too skinny. So we're nursing him back to health. The other dog, temporary name of Buddy, has bad doggy manners and jumps on me when I go outside. I spent the day yesterday training him not to do it--with little effect. However, our dog Boomer, growled and menaced him every time he jumped on me, so today--no jumping. There's something to be said for peer pressure. I had to go into town to buy another giant sized box of dog bones, so now everyone is happy. I don't believe these two will leave any time soon--they're way too comfortable.

We're having a problem with the deer in the orchard. Recently we went up there to switch our water tank over to the full one. (BTW, we have a rain-fed water collection system). We noticed teeth marks on our water valve box, but didn't think too much of it. So yesterday, we pumped water up to the orchard to fill up the empty tank from the one that gathers water from our roof. Since we'd done it thousands of times and had no suspicion the water wouldn't go into the intended tank we took a short cat-nap. When we awoke, turned the water pump off, walked up to the orchard, we found that we'd lost 900 gallons of water. A deer had chewed a hole in our black plastic water pipe. Before anyone gets too excited about our great loss, we have three 1100-gallon water tanks in the orchard and our collection tank holds 1500 gallons. We still had 600 gallons left to pump, so everything's just peachy in the water department. It's been raining quite a bit lately anyway. However, we have no idea what to do about the deer. So if anyone has any suggestions, let me know.

Guess that's all I can tell you for now. Everyone take care and have a safe and Merry Christmas.

Busy in Tennessee

Hi all, 

A special thanks to all those who sent me kind messages about my book "Unplugged."  I appreciate the support.  You're the best.  

Now that I've settled back in to life after being in Alaska for two months, I've decided on a few things.  First, I need to get my garden cleaned up for next planting season.  If you've been keeping up with my blogs, you'll know that I've mostly lost my battle with weeds, but with each spring brings new determination to win.  Perseverance--that's what it takes.  The snakes have all gone to bed so this is a good time of year to clean.  After that, I'm planning to rebuild all the beds and soil.  Years ago, I built deep beds for my herb garden and filled three-foot boxes, in equal amounts, with clay (which I have quite a lot of), sand (I had to buy) and black dirt (found deep in the woods underneath the layers of leaves).  It was a lot of work, but I had the most fabulous herb garden for years.  It was the perfect combination of soils--in fact it was the only thing I grew well.  So this year, I'm planning to do the same for my vegetable garden. The second thing I plan to do with the long winter months is to declutter my house.  My grandmother always said one fire equals three moves.  I don't plan on either, so I'm going to have to be brutal.  I might even take in some episodes of Hoarders to motivate me.  In any case, I have quite a lot to do.   

Take care,
Hillary B.

hsbergeron@yahoo.com

A Day in the Life of a Homesteader

I've been home a little over a week now, but it feels like a lifetime.  My old projects are staring me in the face and begging for attention.   One of those is to help Mt BOB with building the storage building.  Apparently our life has come to a stand-still of sorts until this is finished.  If I want anything, it's always, "first I need a workshop," or "if I had a workshop, I could do that."  What happened to the good old days of doing projects at the kitchen table?  I have the scarred and stained furniture to prove that projects were completed before there was a glint of a workshop in my husband's eye.   Anyway, while I was in Alaska, he finished the foundation, which included building up the back side of the workshop with a rock wall since our property is on a slope.  It took several weeks, but I have to say it looks pretty good.  Mt. BOB also decided that the rock floor should be finished before he puts up the walls.  I think this is a good idea.  It's easier to bring in rock when there aren't walls in the way.  He can fill up the tractor with large flat rocks and just dump them into the middle of the room.  The trick is to get the rocks as large as possible, which will in turn, require less cement and less amount of rock.  It's a good plan and we're sticking by it.   All is going well with this project and the floor should be finished in about a week from now.

The hurricane that just hit the east coast brought in frigidly cold weather here.  We've had the wood stoves cranked up for the last week.   While I've had to readjust back to my homestead lifestyle and remember to use less energy, I decided to use the wood stove for cooking.  After discovering a bucket of winter squash from the garden, I added a couple of them to my smallest dutch oven and set it inside the wood stove.  I pushed some embers underneath it and added some embers to the top.  In an hour, I had steaming, fully-cooked squash.  Mmmmm.  Sometimes I'm surprised when things work out.

It's nice to see my pets again.  I don't think they remember me though.  The dogs were happy to see me, but then again, I could've been the dog-catcher and they would've still been all over me.  I think it took a few times of bringing out food that they finally remembered, "oh, yeah, it's the female one that brings us treats."  My cats remain angry and aloof.  My friend gave me a sack of wet canned food and they're starting to warm up over that.  It doesn't pay to stay mad at someone who brings the goodies.

Take care, All.

I'M BACK

Hi everyone,

I'm back from Alaska.  The pros of the trip included seeing the Northern Lights and visiting with friends and family--the worst part of the trip was the actual travel to and from Alaska to Tennessee.  Airlines are never fun to deal with and I ALWAYS forget something in my pockets when going through security.  No matter how much I try to remember all the rules--lap tops out of packs and in a separate bin, shoes off, all items in bins, liquids in baggies, I always do something wrong, which brings on the pat-down.  By the time I'm through security, I'm not only feeling violated, but cheated that no one bought me dinner first.  Once through that nightmare, the next obstacle is the actual plane flight.  On the way there, the airlines were actually congenial and accommodating, on the trip home, the passengers were treated like herds of cattle and the airline personnel weren't far from being prison wardens-personality-wise. 

So back to the positives, because remembering the positives of life is better for my disposition and health--the Northern Lights were amazing.  I happened to step outside around midnight one night and there they were, a dazzling display of streaks of light, dancing in the sky with tinges of blue and green.  I fought the urge to just stand there and not share, but then I remembered the Alaskan Golden Rule that when you see something cool you must tell everyone.  I woke up my brother and his wife and sent for my sister, nieces and everyone else I could think of.  We were outside for nearly an hour.  The last three trips to Alaska, I've wanted so badly to see this but was not graced with this sight, now I feel whole again, at least for a few more years.

It's good to be back.  Fall in Tennessee is my favorite time of year and at least I didn't miss it.  Although Frankenstorm Sandy has brought winter our way, at least I got to enjoy the yellow, red and orange leaves of the hardwoods for the last week.

Take care all and I appreciate all your support.

UNBELIEVABLE!!!

UNBELIEVABLE!!!

Okay, I've had it!  After getting rid of two copperheads in the garden this spring and feeling reasonably safe that nothing else that could hurt me lurked there, I walked by the garden gate today and saw a 3-foot long Copperhead skin.  Dab-burn-it!!!  I can't tell you how frustrated I am.  There's no way I'll be able to get past my extreme paranoia long enough to fetch the rest of my produce.  I ended up picking squash at the edge of the rock wall where I could see directly in front of me.  Boomer snarled at the skin--he's a bit slow when it comes to guarding the homestead.  My cat has better hunting skills than he does.  This morning, I saw Tom-Tom, my ancient kitty snacking on a mouse.  His motivation couldn't possibly be hunger.  I give him 3 snacks a day and yesterday I poured salmon juice over his regular food.  I'm chocking his prowess up to being a great hunter. 

It's that time of year again when the ginseng hunters are out.  These guys don't really care if they're on private property--they park their truck where it can't be seen and hike all over this mountain hunting ginseng.  They've pretty much hunted it to extinction.  According to law, they're only supposed to gather at a specific time and then replant any seeds they find.  They don't.  That's why the plant is almost extinct here.  Whenever I find a ginseng plant on the property, I break off the above ground leaves so they won't find it.  Once I found a hole where someone had dug right below my house.  To add insult to injury, the guy tossed his candy bar wrapper on the ground next to it.    

Well friends, guess I'd better start packing.  I'm heading to Alaska in a few days to visit family. I'll write more about my adventures there.

Take care, All.

Yes, I'm THAT person.

Yes, I'm THAT person.

 

Someone in a discussion with my sister, wondered who those people were that were upset when their pets ran away from home, because if they had run away it must've been because they were bad owners.  . . . she thought for a moment, and then answered, "my sister."

It's true.  I'm THAT person.  Here's the story.  I had my cat for over 12 years.  She was the first cat we had while here in Tennessee--the alpha and omega of kitties.  We found her in the woods and raised her from a kitten.  The thing about Toby is she is the ultimate loner and admirably ferocious.  I once saw her bring a rabbit out of the woods that was as big as she was, which was quite extraordinary.  I, as a cat owner, am very "needy."  I need lots of attention from my animals.  So when my cat disappears for months at a time, I assume she just wants her space, and I’m okay with that, as long as she shows up and lets me know she's okay and happy.  But when she moves in with my neighbor, (let's call him Jeff), that's when I get upset.  What does he have that I don't????  Better food?  I give out kitty treats several times a day and sometimes even break out the canned salmon.  Better home?  I have a courtyard dedicated to kitties only.  Love?  Come on, do I really need to go on about my attributes here???? 

With this loss, I found myself going through the seven stages of grief.  First Shock and Denial--how could Toby move in with Jeff?  Then Pain and Guilt--did I do something wrong?  Does Toby hate me now?  Then Anger and Bargaining--I find myself driving by Jeff's house thinking, "what a @@@itch, when I see Toby lazing in his yard and then quickly finding myself wanting to stop to say hello."  Next, I experienced depression--weeks of just trying to get on with my life, perking up at any stray meow I heard.  Followed by some normalcy returning to my life--my other dogs and cats still need attention, walks, hugs, treats as I'm working through my loss.  Then finally acceptance--"Okay, so Toby isn't coming back.  I still have two other cats that love my attention and two dogs that watch my every movement, basking in each dog biscuit…..

I guess I'm writing this post to admit that when it comes to my pets, I "MIGHT" be needier than the most obnoxious dog.  I have high expectations--as long as they stick around they pretty much own me.  I wonder if there's a 12-step program for pet owners to work through the co-dependency issues.

The Pain in My Butt

We have bees.  Not by choice.  My sister bought them before she left for Alaska and just kind of ditched them.  So for the past year, we've left them alone and they've left us alone.  A few months ago, some guys from the local bee association came by to check on them and saw that they were in good shape.  Honestly, I'd pretty much forgotten about them.  After deciding that we shouldn't let free bees go to waste, we decided to get involved.  Since we don't know the first thing about beekeeping, we bought a book on the subject and contacted a friend who's an expert.  He showed us how to extract honey.  A few weeks later, we pulled about a gallon of liquid gold from the hive.  We could've taken out more gallons, but then nothing would have been left for the bees sustenance through the winter.  It's not a good idea to completely rob them or else you'll have to provide them sugar water as food, which can't be as good as their own honey.  I would say our first venture in beekeeping was a success.   We even attended our first bee meeting ever.  Not only was it interesting, they had a potluck buffet to boot--and who never says "no" to good food--this gal, (2 thumbs pointed at myself). 

So, back to the pain in the butt thing.  One night, I came into my dark living room and decided to sit in my favorite chair.  I accidentally sat on a giant wasp.  He stung the fire out of my butt, then when I tried to swipe him off, stung my hand.  He was huge.  Of course I crushed him afterward, even though he was going to die anyway, but I had to exact revenge.  I spent most of the night with an icepack alternating between my butt and my hand.  When the Benadryl kicked in, I finally had relief.  But for the next few weeks, I couldn't sit without feeling the welt on my hiney and then as the pain went away, the itching started and it lasted for more than a week.  I think the offender in question was a Japanese Wasp.  They're known to hang outside beehives and literally eat little honey bees.  From what I've heard, they can destroy an entire hive.  Honestly, I can't think of a more useless creature and I have a keen remembrance of the pain in my butt to prove it.  Life's always exciting around here . . . I just wish it weren't so painful. 

Take care, All.