Justice and knitting hats!

Well Christmas is over and I'm still knitting hats. People are still coming to visit and I want to have a little gift for them.  I think a hat to keep them warm is a good gift.  I can't think of anything better actually than to knit a hat for a person.  I've got a busy week starting on the 8th with house guests, dental appointment, preparation for a hearing on Friday the 13th because we are being sued by an evil woman and then a baby shower on the 14th for my daughter.

I'm hoping if Friday the 13th brings bad luck that it will not be for me but instead for the plaintiff.  I have eluded to a law suit against us in this blog previously.  The so called "developer" of the ranch subdivision where we purchased our property is suing us because we have refused to sign her illegal documents.  I don't know how she can be called a developer because she has developed nothing.  She just divided her land and did not even provide a decent road to access it. We signed everything we needed to sign when we bought our property from her.  We owe her nothing but she made some bad clerical errors, one being that she did not file for a subdivision with the county and secondly she has all the documents mixed up with easement documents and deed restrictions all mixed together.  Her intent now is to cover her ass so to speak and has threatened to sue anyone who purchased property from her if they do not sign her mixed up documents.  Well I'm an American and I live in America and I cannot be forced to sign my name to any document.  Now then, I can be sued.  A person can sue anyone just for looking at them cross eyed, therefore we must defend ourselves.  Let's suppose a person purchased a vehicle or any item and the seller comes back 6 or 7 years later and demands that you sign something after you have paid in full for the item you purchased.  Doesn't seem right, does it?  This person realizes she has screwed up and needs to protect herself from all the people she sold land to.  She's got money, big money, so to speak and she knows people who know people and she can pull strings in lots of places to get favors.  So she tells all these people she sold land to, that if they don't sign her illegal documents she will sue them.  They all know she can and many still owe her money, therefore they make a financial decision to sign her papers so they don't have to put out money for an attorney to defend themselves.  Sorry, not me.  If I wanted to live in a country where I could be strong armed, that's where I would live.  I live in the USA and I won't sign anything I don't want to sign...even if it takes my last dime to defend myself.

It goes deep in my roots.  The story goes that my grandfather was told many years ago during a presidential election, I don't remember which one, that if he did not vote for who he was told to vote for that he would lose his job.  He was working for Union Carbide at the time.  He could have kept his mouth shut and voted for whoever he wanted but my grandfather knew his rights........he told them so too and he lost his job!  I can't betray my grandfather's legacy.  I will not sign.  The court may be bought, the judge may rule against me just because he may need to repay a favor or maybe he just doesn't want to deal with the situation and he may tell me that the court will sign for me.  Fine with me but I'm not signing anything.  This is Texas and I understand that big land owners always win.  Well I'm not a big landowner and the cards may be stacked against me and I know that the law does not always prevail but I know my rights. They may be no consolation to me in hell but you can't take away my pride.  It may be all I've got left but it's mine.  And I believe that evil doers will rot in hell.  I'm sticking to my guns!

I will just keep knitting and baking bread.  I will enjoy my little chunk of paradise in these hills and look forward to the birth of my first grandchild.  And I will hope that someday justice will prevail and bullies will lose.  I may not live to see it but perhaps my granddaughter will.

I should be knitting!

It's holiday baking time and I should be knitting instead of writing.  I just put my bread to rise and I have a fruit cake in the oven which my husband won't leave alone.  He decided he needed to heat the oven to 400 degrees for the bread without first checking to see if there was anything in the oven and of course my fruit cake was merrily baking away at 325F.  Thank goodness I heard the timer beep.  I asked him what he had done and he told me he had heated the oven to 400 for the bread.  I nearly fainted as I ran to turn it down.  I'm wondering now what's going to happen to that fruit cake full of candy and nuts?  He gets bored and wants to help.  I sent him back to his office to do what he was suppose to be doing.

I've got a hat half knitted and 1/2 a pair of mittens that I need to finish before Friday!  My house still needs cleaning and I have committed to going into town tomorrow!  Help!

Here is the recipe for the bread.  It can either be put into 2 loaf pans or rolled into two flat breads........

2 cups whole wheat flour
1/2 cup bran
1/2 ground flax seed
1 teaspoon salt
1 Tablespoon soft butter
2 teaspoons yeast dissolved in 1 cup luke warm water and 2 Tablespoons honey

Combine dry ingredients then add butter and yeast/water mixture.
Blend with an electric mixer until dough is elastic, adding a little extra flour if needed.

Turn out on lightly floured surface and roll into a ball
Oil a large bowl with olive oil and roll dough ball in it till all surfaces are covered with oil
Cover with a plastic bag and set in a warm place to rise till double in size
When double in size turn out on lightly flour surface, punch down and roll into ball
Cut ball in half and place dough in lightly oiled bread pans or roll out flat to fit cookie sheets
Cover again with plastic bags and leave to rise until double in height.

Bake in preheated over 400F until it begins to brown.
This is a very light crusty bread!

If I am making flat bread I make a mixture of 1/4 cup warm water with a tablespoon of flour, mix well and brush over the flat bread then sprinkle with sesame or poppy seeds, before I set it to rise the second time.

The fruit cake turn out delicious.  It was so good that I made a second one.  I'm thinking of selling this fruit cake, maybe will start a mail order business.  It is the best I've ever eaten.

Happy Holidays, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all of my blog followers!  I wish safety, peace, health and a full belly for all of earth's inhabitants and those beyond if there are any!

Happy Birthday Jesus

It's Christmas time and I should be full of the Christmas spirit, whatever that is.  I have a hard time every year trying to convince myself to enjoy the spirit of buying.  To me it is a frenzy of total  insanity trying to please people with junk they don't need or even thought they wanted.  It's also a guilt trip for many as they spend money they don't have and run up their credit card balances.

How did the three Wise Men travelling far to present gifts to the baby Jesus ever come to people going in debt to purchase gifts for children, teachers, parents, cousins, aunts and uncles.  I admit that when my children were young I was part of this frenzy.  I couldn't stand the thought of my children comparing what they got from Santa with their friends loot found under the Christmas tree....so I competed.  I'm grateful that we could compete however, my thoughts always went to children who got nothing for Christmas.   Some of us tell our children that if they aren't good then Santa will bring them sticks and ashes.  Or, if you are good Santa will bring that special toy to you.  What must the children who get nothing think?  Are they wondering how good they have to be?  Are they wondering what they did was so bad that Santa didn't leave them a gift?  All of these things are going through my mind as I prepare for Christmas.

My children are grown now and even though I miss those years of their youth and seeing their delighted little faces on Christmas morning as they opened their gifts, I'm glad I don't have to participate in the charade any longer.  I still buy gifts for all but mostly I give gifts that are useful such as grocery store gift cards or pajamas knowing they will be appreciated.  I don't buy the gimmicks that are hawked each year to the public.  Most of them are just junk and either break or get tossed aside once the novelty wears off.

I learned to knit and crochet about a year ago.  Last Christmas I gave all my children and their significant others knitted items.  They were thrilled with their gifts.  This year I am doing the same.  My craft has improved and I'm thrilled to be able to do this.  Each item has been knit or crochet with love.  Much time has gone into choosing just the perfect pattern and yarn for each individual.  I have accomplished two things by hand crafting these items.  One is having a nice gift to present to someone I care for and the other satisfies my desire to create and design.

When our offspring arrives on Christmas Eve, we will go out and cut a cedar tree from our property.  It's not the best kind of Christmas tree but it smells good.  It's hard to find one that is shaped properly or that can be trimmed up but we always manage to make it look pretty with decorations that have been in the family for years, as it graces the usual corner in our family room.

We will have our Christmas Eve dinner of fondue and other artery clogging food.  Then Christmas morning we will begin again to gorge ourselves on food that is not good for us and we will feel overstuffed by evening as we sit by the warm fire in a comfy house feeling satisfied and safe.  I will miss my oldest son being here this year and him creating his traditional Christmas morning breakfast of Eggs Benedict....one less heart stopping meal!

I am so grateful to the powers that be that have allowed us the freedom of education, religion, thought, dress and speech.  I am grateful to have been born and raised in a country that values all these things.  I am grateful for our mental and physical health and all the opportunity we have been fortunate enough to enjoy. I will reflect on this throughout this holiday season and every day as I go about my daily activities realizing how wonderful life is for me and never forgetting how trying it is for others.

 I will continue to question why?  Why is the world so unbalanced?  I will listen to the news and learn of all the atrocities in the world and wonder why?  I will ask myself over and over again, "Is this just an illusion?"  How can this be true?  Is there a God and if so how much does this God participate in all that happens in this world?  I ask myself how can we be so selfish to ask for anything when there are humans suffering all over the world?  I wonder how humans can be so evil to do the things they do to each other.  I will hope for peace and compassion from all humans toward each other.  I will hope that no person will go to bed hungry and fearful for their safety,

On Christmas morning, as I always have, I will whisper to myself the true meaning of Christmas before I plunge into the day's festivities....."Happy Birthday Jesus".

Trip to the city

What a day we had in the city yesterday.  We haven't been since before Thanksgiving.  We went to so many stores and still never made it to the local regular grocery store for some items we use that Costco and the natural foods market do not carry.

I made my usual yarn purchase at Michael's.  I was very pleased to see they have restocked the yarn section.  I think they let it dwindle during warmer months probably thinking people don't knit much when it's hot!  Wrong!  They just don't know knitters.  We knit year round!  We have to in order to prepare for the next Christmas!  I think I'm set for gifts for this year.  Now I just have to knit my poor fingers to a nub within the next 3 weeks!  Help!

Upon entering Sprouts Farmers Market we were so sad to see it was closing but our long faces and frowns soon changed to smiles when we learned they were just moving locations!  Our smiles got even wider when we realized everything was 50% off, we were elated.  We purchased things we would normally not have purchased due to the prices.  We are set now for a long cold winter!  We bought enough cheese to clog our arteries and may not live long enough to go back!  But hey, maybe the nuts and grain we purchased will offset the cheese consumption?

From Sprouts we ventured to TGF for much needed haircuts and then on to Costco where we loaded up on more Christmas goodies for the kids and stockings.  It was so nice to arrive back at home much after dark to two very happy hungry dogs.  They always make me feel so loved and missed with their jumping and licking and turning in circles when we return.  I wonder if dogs have any sense of time?

Two baby showers are coming up for my daughter.  I've volunteered to make favors for both showers.  The first one is Saturday and I'm still knitting and crocheting little owls and hostess gifts and of course finishing up my gift for my first grandchild.

I took a break for a few days from the blog to prepare for my venture into the city to the baby shower.  What a lovely shower it was too.  The food was catered and so delicious, German potato salad, pulled pork, baked beans and coleslaw.  And the desserts were so beautiful.

Meringue lolly pops and pink gumballs!

Little owl cupcakes and meringue cookies.

A diaper cake!

These are little boxes of cookies as party favors.

This is a delicious little cake with raspberry inside.

It was a beautiful baby shower.  How times have changed!

And now this is another dreary day, 40F outside, no sun so I will stay inside and crochet/knit to prepare for the next baby shower.

It's bread making day again.  This is last week's batch

Little Owl magnets I crocheted as party favors.

A Good Day To Stay In Bed

The temps dipped to almost 20F last night.  That's too cold for a warm weather Texan.  I think I will stay in bed which is where I am writing this blog from, listening to the wind whipping through the oaks.  My dogs are outdoor dogs but when we built the house we added a stone enclosure on the back covered patio for them.  It's cool in the summer and the dogs' own body heat keeps it warm in the winter.  It's like two little caves back to back so they have their own space and can move in and out freely.

I made a new coat for Shadow and finished it within an hour of starting.  I got it on him right before the lights went out wagering with myself if he would digest it by morning.  At 7:30am I awoke to see him frolicking with Mickey and the coat hanging lopsided with a small tear in the top.  If I had slept in, I'm certain he would have devoured it!  He has managed to eat two previous coats I've made for him and I patched them until there wasn't enough left to patch.  Honestly I don't think it's because he doesn't like them.  He loves blankets and pulls them from the kennel daily to drag to a sunny spot where he lays on them.  And sometimes he is like "Tigger" with the table cloth in Winnie the Pooh's house, he fights with them.  I think he is about 4 or 5 years old so I'm wondering when he will outgrow the puppy stage.Dogs are so much like human children.  Their personalities change daily and they are sometimes a joy to observe.

From his posture I believe he is thinking, just wait till morning!

Today is bread making day again.  We have managed to eat our way through the last batch.   And we are working our way through the second batch of hummus now.  I was lazy yesterday and didn't feel like cooking a meal.  As I was digging through the freezer I came upon a container of something that looked like soup.  We defrosted it to discover a lovely dish of chicken gumbo that my daughter and her husband had prepared a while back...ah ha, supper it was....and still delicious!

I think we are off to Costco this week to stock up for Christmas week.  With the money some of us spend on food it makes me wonder how some people even survive.  We could do with so much less than we actually consume.  I personally was raised on beans and rice.  There was no daily salad, fruit or veggies and we were extremely healthy. I never even heard of a food pyramid till I was an adult.

We never had immunizations of any kind until the polio vaccine arrived on the scene which was almost my undoing.  After receiving the junk by mouth I suppose it affected my nervous system, not sure but I awoke in the middle of the night at the age of about 4 or 5 to go to the bathroom.  As I rolled off the bed to land on my feet, my legs collapsed.  I could not walk!  My father took me to the doctor the next day and it was decided I should go on a bland diet with no salt, of mashed potatoes and coke, not the kind you snort but the kind you drink, cola, soda pop, whatever you want to call it. Apparently I was having an adverse reaction to the polio immunization.  After a week on this diet and my father carrying me every where we went, which by the way I totally enjoyed, I regained the use of my legs with no lingering effects.  I know I was one of the lucky ones.

Speaking of immunizations, our kids today are pin cushions which I believe leads to big revenue for drug companies.  Kids of my generation lived through measles, mumps and chickenpox.  I believe I had measles more than once so apparently I had more than one kind.  I stepped on a rusty nail that went right through my foot.  My dad washed it with soap and water and I went about my adventurous way stepping on bees and whatever came under foot.  We rarely wore shoes except to go to school or church.  I even remember going to the grocery store barefoot.  I suppose there would be a name for someone like that today.   On another occasion I jumped off a porch to land on a broken bottle which required several stitches and 60 years later I still sport the scar on my foot.  I did not have a tetanus shot for either of these accidents.  Actually I have had one tetanus shot in my life and that was for travelling overseas.  I had a series of shots before that trip and it made me sick as a dog.  Since that time I have refused any and all immunizations.  I don't even get a flu shot, never have, never intend to.  I will take my chances with the flu.  It is a series of symptoms that if treated individually will subside within a few days.  But it sure is a good reason to invent a vaccine for drug company profit.  I wonder what kind of houses these drug company executives live in?

I have 4 children who were pin cushions to help support the drug industry.  The 4th child was born late Aug 1992 about 2 weeks before the hepatitis B vaccine was given to newborn babies within hours of their births.  I feel I was lucky again because I don't believe a newborn baby needs a hepatitis vaccine unless it comes from a high risk mother.  This is total insanity and greed for those who profit from these vaccines.  Don't think I don't understand vaccines.  I'm an RN and a retired school nurse.  The most important part of my job was monitoring immunizations and insuring that all the students were up to date and on schedule.  My child never received that series of vaccines....instead I signed a waver every year for him to be able to attend school without it.  Many parents don't realize they can go to the immunization website and request a waiver that will allow their children to go right through school with no immunizations.  And a parent can also refuse that Hep B immunization for their baby at birth.

It's not that I believe immunizations should be eliminated entirely.  I just think they are way overdone and too many people profit from them.  Every year there is a new one that parents are encouraged to get for their child to prevent this or that.  Now it's sexually transmitted diseases.  After all we do want to be good parents and prevent our children from STD's before they reach adulthood!   $$$ It's all about money for the big guys. This is just one mother's opinion.  However if one were to read about all these immunizations I would refer them to the Center for Disease Control.  Our own government website.  A few years back I read about the Hep B vaccine on the CDC website and the increased occurrence of Autism.  It's just too ironic for me that the incidence of Autism increased greatly after the September '92 calling for all newborns to be given the Hep B injection.  I'm not sure it's still on the CDC website, it may have been altered or deleted by now as a "favor" to some drug company.  But I saw it and read it and listened and learned.

Well, off my soap box for now.  I'm in my 60's, healthy, survived all those illness's and may I mention never even saw a dentist till I was about 12 years old.  I do believe there is something to be said for beans and rice!
One last word, let the kids have their pizza!  I bet children in Italy are doing fine with it!

Rainy, Cold Day

What to do on a rainy cold day?  I decided crocheting and baking bread is in order for the day.  My bread is rising in the oven and will hopefully make a beautiful whole wheat flat bread which is our favorite.  We make a large batch of it a couple of times a week and toast it for meals.

The bread as it is rising.

....and when it came out of the oven we chowed down.

MMM, the house smells so good when bread is baking.  I feel so fortunate and give many thanks to the universe and powers that be!

We also make our own yogurt, large stock pots full of it.  We purchase a natural greek yogurt to use as a starter and also use a cup from our previous batch as a starter sometimes.  It is the best yogurt one could eat.  We strain it slowly in the refrigerator so it will thicken.  We drink the strained whey.  It's very sweet with a little tang to it and supposedly very healthy containing protein, vitamins and minerals.  It is also known to control insulin levels in the blood.

Homemade yogurt below:

And there is nothing like a dish of fresh pomegranate seeds to indulge oneself.

Thanks to the Persians for this delightful fruit!  It looks like a bowl of rubies.  When I was a child my father would peel one pomegranate and share it with me and my brothers.  When I was older and travelled to Iran I was thrilled to have an entire bowl of these juicy little seeds set before me.  I couldn't believe my eyes or ears as I was offered a dish of them to eat with a spoon.  I was in heaven.  Besides being delicious the pomegranate seeds are also medicinal being good for digestion, the heart and skin.  It has been reported to lower cholesterol and blood pressure.  I just eat it because I love the way those little jewels "pop" in my mouth when bitten down on, excreting their tangy sweet berry juice!

Two Legged Prowler

We are pretty remote where we live in these hills.  Each house is on no less than 25 acres so it's not likely for the doorbell to ring, ever.  If it should, I would think it was my husband playing tricks on me.  Our house is enclosed by a fence and the three gates are locked at night.  We live far within the main ranch about 3 miles off the main highway.  Therefore we never hear vehicles or have unexpected visitors.  In order to get into the main ranch one must have the gate code and then travel several miles to come to a house.  I guess what I'm trying to say is that I feel pretty safe, even though I am prepared just in case I need to defend myself.

I'm still trying to convince my husband that I was awakened by the sound of an Iphone ring a few nights back.  He is pretty certain I was dreaming.  I don't have an Iphone but the ring is very distinct.  I was deep in sleep when I heard the tinkling sound, twice, at which time one of my dogs tore out of his "cave" next to my bedroom patio door growling and barking with an intent to kill.  Whatever he was after, ran off into the dark.  I did not get up to investigate as I usually do but instead lay in bed listening.  Eventually I fell back into sleep.   I know I was not dreaming, however I cannot figure out how or why a person would be in my yard, close enough to the house for  me to distinctly hear that phone ring.  One would think that a prowler would have enough sense to turn his cell phone off before trespassing on private property in the middle of the night.   Obviously they did not expect a dog to appear out of  the stone work.

I can visualize a surprised burglar as his cell phone rang thinking, "oh shit" and then hearing a large dog charging after him.  It's kind of comical actually.  It;s bugging me though wondering how this person arrived at my house, why they were here in the middle of nowhere and why they hurdled over a gate into my yard. Did they walk across several other ranches and acres to arrive at our house?  I wouldn't think so considering it is rattlesnake, cactus infested, very uneven terrain with hills and valleys.  They certainly were not out for an evening stroll and became disoriented.  My mind can conjure up all kinds of scenarios/reasons.  We do have a lawsuit against us and the plaintiff absolutely hates us.  But could she be evil enough to hire someone to harm us?  It wouldn't be the first time such a thing has happened.  Do I watch too much tv? Probably.  But I can hear my father talking to me from the great beyond and he is telling me to be very careful.

Was I dreaming?  I'm 95% certain I was not.  My gut tells me I was not.  My husband prefers to believe I was dreaming but I'm playing it safe with a loaded shotgun next to my bed.  At any rate, it makes for a good blog!

Dead Chickens, Chupacabra, Film Festivals and Art Strolls

My it's been a long time since I've posted a new blog.  I've taken up a new hobby, knitting and crocheting.  Most of my days and evenings are spent doing just that.  Life is slow here in the hills for two retirees but we do occasionally have guests or venture into a local town or city.

Our son and his girl friend have recently submitted a film in the Austin Film Festival.  It was a short documentary called TwiLife.  I wrote about it in my previous blog.  It has great potential and I do hope someone recognizes how good it is and gives these kids a break.

Back to the "ranch", I wrote in an earlier post that something had broken the neck of our rooster.  About a week later we awoke to find two of our now five chickens dead and partially eaten.  One's head was actually missing.  I don't know what those chickens were doing out of their roost in the middle of the night.  Maybe it was early morning just as the sun was rising.  Whatever they came down for led to their demise.  I keep saying I'm going to install wild life cameras around the property.  I think we would find it very interesting to see what the cameras capture.  I just can't figure out what could have reached through the little holes in the fence and eaten our chickens.  Could have been a raccoon but then I began researching "Chupacabra", which is Spanish for "goat sucker".  Apparently it doesn't just kill goats but also chickens and turkeys.  There have been reported sightings of this legendary animal in Puerto Rico, Mexico and the US according to Wikipedia, my favorite source of quick information.  This creature has also been spotted in the Philippians and Russia.  There are varying accounts of what it actually looks like but what I gather it is a four legged creature looking much like a  dog/coyote,fox.  Some say that perhaps it has some kind of disease that has caused it's hair to thin.   It's interesting to know that it has been sighted in Blanco county and other areas of Texas near us..  The body of one was actually retrieved and Texas A&M University scientists conducted test on it deciding it was some sort of dog coyote hybrid.  Again information taken from Wiki.  I suppose this is possible.  There are packs of wild dogs and coyotes roaming these hills and whose to say they don't breed with each other?  If I ever find out what is killing my chickens I will surely get a picture of it and post it on my blog.

This was Shadow's recent snake kill.  He hates them so much.  He lunges at them, picks them up in his mouth and shakes them till they fall apart.  I watched him kill two snakes this way in the fall.  Due to the drought we didn't get many snakes in the yard this summer.

Hardly anything bloomed this summer due to the drought.  We are having a bit of rain now and things are coming to life.  The loquat bloomed for the first time since I brought it from the city and sent it into shock  by planting it into limestone.  Below is a picture of all it's glorious blooms.  It is teaming with insects, some of which I haven't seen in a long time.

I saw very few monarchs this spring but I do believe this is one at the top of a Spanish Oak that has lost it's leaves already.

I recently participated in an Art Stroll in San Antonio where I displayed and sold many of my knitted and crocheted items.  It was a real learning experience for me.

This is the first year I think that we had only our youngest child who is in college, home for Thanksgiving.  What can I say, the kids grow up and move away and start their own families.  This is something I never thought of as I was chasing  my ruffled pantie daughter down the side walk and running between tball and baseball games trying not to miss my boys as they batted.  Life goes on and on and we have to move along with it.  It is what it is and like it or not we must accept it and find new interests.  At each stage in life I look back and have a sudden realization of how my own parents must have felt as I left home and started a life of my own.  I must have been feeling pretty defeated and remorseful as I cooked Thanksgiving dinner this year because I really bombed out in the kitchen.  The food was horrible.  My dinner rolls looked like I picked up rocks in the driveway and put them in a basket.  The turkey was dry, the green bean casserole was tasteless, the mashed potatoes were lumpy and like paste.  The apple pie saved my reputation as a cook.  I have never turned out such an awful meal, however I did give thanks for the food we partook of and the one child who came home.

So Thanksgiving behind us I am looking forward to Christmas and the coming year.  All but one offspring will be home for Christmas and I'm looking forward to the birth of my first grandchild in February.  Life moves on.

TwiLife

The Austin Film Festival was a new experience for us.  The talent was just amazing.  Call me partial but TwiLife was my favorite short film.  Young people don't realize that they will not be forever young even though I recall thinking that I would be.  Well I'm "over the hill" now which I guess is over the age of 50...or at least that's what I always thought that meant.  Actually I'm well past that age...so TwiLife was particularly interesting to me.  If you didn't make it to the film festival then look for TwiLife to appear again in the future.  It will be totally insane if someone doesn't pick up this film and make a biggy of it!  Baby boomers should unite in asking for a tv documentary or series of this film short.  It was 23 minutes of total insight depicting what we as humans will all experience if we live long enough.  The views on love, life, relationships, and sex were expressed in this 23 minutes of captivating footage talking about life and what comes after the firm bodies begin to be not so firm any longer.  These retirees show us that life is not over just because you have a few wrinkles or your hair is gray.  Sex, yes sex is still on the menu.  My mother use to say, "Youth is wasted on the young"....but the interviewees in this film show us otherwise.  The desire for life is still very much alive in them....and of course the memories of a wonderful life keep the dreams of the future alive.

Cock of the Walk is Gone

Just an update on the rooster.  He continued to linger on with very labored breathing still managing to rise to his feet in an effort to do his duty.  It was just too much to watch him die so slowly.  He was a very strong rooster and didn't give up easily.  My neighbor who once worked on a  chicken ranch came over early this morning looking for her dog who managed to escape under the fence and take himself on a walk about.  He had been gone for a full day and night and still not returned home.  She took a look at my rooster and determined that his neck had been broken either by a possum or raccoon reaching through the fence as he sat guard on his perch at night.  She suggested we put him out of his misery.  She just happened to have a 22 pistol in her truck which she carries for protection....remember this is Texas.  So instead of going back into the house to get my rifle she offered to do the chore for me.  It was a very sad morning.  After he quit flopping about as chickens do when they die, I pulled some of his wing feathers and tail feathers to keep.  At some point I will incorporate them into some sort of craft.  He was a beautiful rooster and I want to remember him.  It's quiet around here today without his crowing.  We shall miss him.

My neighbor found her big dog a few hours later.  Apparently he couldn't find the route he had taken away from home and was trying to figure out how to cross a cattle guard to come back on the road.

All is quiet and I shall go back to my knitting!

Cock of the Walk

As he lays dying I feel myself compelled to write about him.  Rooster - male domestic chicken.  I will miss him.  He was a flying Ninja, capable of inflicting a 2 inch hole into whatever he hit with his talons.  I don't know yet what could have brought him down so quickly.  About 3 mornings back we found him not crowing,,,  his head down and his proud beautiful tail sagging.  He had blood coming from both sides of his head but was not missing any feathers.  Nothing can get into the chicken pen except a snake and I can't imagine him sticking his neck out for a predator on the outside.  Even if he did that, he would be missing feathers at the least.  I'm certain if he was dumb enough to stick his head out at something it would have taken his head off.  And that's not his "MO"....  he charges with his talons in mid flight. Once he has taken his last breath I will examine him and I feel certain I will find fang marks.  I hope he delivered a few wounds to whatever it was.

He was so strong and proud as he strutted through the pen calling out  his cockle doodle doo at daylight and actually any time he felt like it!  I never could figure out his schedule.  He protected his harem from anything that came near and they all loved him dearly.   He never slept in the roost but instead stood guard all night perched just outside the opening.   He was a true gentleman, always allowing the girls to eat first whenever compost was tossed into the pen.  However he was very amorous and sometimes the girls resisted his amorous advances but he got his way.

I've always had a fondness for roosters, actually I have many ceramic and wooden ones in my kitchen.  There is just something so regal about them as they "strut their stuff".  We raised this guy from a chick and I had dreams of him becoming a pet.  The first time he charged me I was shocked.  He got me on the thumb with his talon and I dropped the eggs I had just gathered....fleeing for my life.

I have to admit that there were times when I wanted to kill him myself when I went to gather eggs and he would attack me.  I had to take a long handled rake covered in a bright cloth into the pen for protection.  He was terribly afraid of that...but I never hit him with it.  He learned respect for my husband as all the animals around here seem to have done.  Is it the sound of the man voice or the toe of a boot?  Whatever it is, I don't have it.  Not a creature on this ranch respects me!  I believe they all say to themselves, "Oh, here comes the soft spoken one with food and pats.  We can get away with anything with her."  The rooster was no different!

As he lays dying his flock is gathered around him.  Occasionally one hen will give him a little peck and it will rouse him for a second and then he goes back into the business of dying.  I will miss my King of the Roost.

I Don't Kill Them Any More!

My first winter of retirement in the hills was a learning experience.  I was open to almost anything.  One of the first neighbors I met was a huntress.  She was a true "Great White Hunter".  You name it, she hunted it.  Her goal each year was to top the buck she shot the year before.  The number of points on the antlers determines the hunters desire to kill a buck and mount the "rack" on the wall.  She would patiently wait in one of her many deer blinds for the perfect buck to come to the feeder where the corn was flowing freely just before dark.  The feeders are equipped with timers programmed to release the corn about 30 minutes before dark.  During this time before dark or just before daylight  the hunter is tucked away secretly in a hunting blind some of which are very sophisticated.  Hers were pretty nice, at least they impressed me.  It was a box painted camo green sitting on four legs about 8 feet tall with a ladder for the hunter to ascend and descend.  Inside was carpeted all around, including the walls to absorb any sound the hunter might make while sitting and waiting for the unsuspecting deer to approach the feeder about 50 yards away.

My huntress neighbor wanted to teach me to hunt.  I have shot a gun before, just target practice but never killed anything.  I wasn't even sure I could do it.  It was Christmas time and my older children were visiting.  The boys had gone on a "hunt" several mornings in a row and come back with nothing.  I was giving them tips from my neighbor.  We didn't have a fancy blind or a feeder.  We were believers in real hunting where you hide behind a tree, spot a deer and whack it with your thirty-ought-six rifle.  My boys laughed at me, telling me I didn't know what I was talking about when I told them to put some corn in a coffee can and rattle it a bit before sprinkling it on the ground in the area they thought the deer might feed.  I tried to explain to them that the noise from the rattling corn in the can would attract the deer because the deer had become accustomed to the noise of the electric feeders.  They made fun of me and told me I was full of baloney and didn't know anything about hunting.  My neighbor being a woman  was not to be believed either because women didn't know anything about hunting.

Being ridiculed by anyone only serves as a challenge to me.  I told my new huntress friend that I needed to shoot a deer to prove that I could...poor deer.  She took up the challenge and decided we needed to have a mom's hunt every Christmas season.  Totally forgetting how much I love animals I got into the spirit!  I had "kill" on my brain.  I was ready for the challenge!  It was agreed that we would meet at her house an hour before dark.  I was there on time dressed for warmth.  It was cold and windy.  We hopped into one of her little "mules" which is a fancy golf cart that any rancher worthy of being called a rancher has these days.  We drove to one of her many hunting blinds and ascended the stairs with our coffee and guns for my first hunting lesson.  I was using one of her guns. My oldest son has since presented us with a beautiful hunting gun for Christmas.   As we sat and waited for a deer to appear she gave me lessons on how to shoot that big gun.  It was loaded already so she told me how to work the safety and use the sight finder.  I practiced for a while but didn't actually pull the trigger.  She was very matter of fact and I was a good student.  I had it down perfectly in my mind what I was to do.  Raise the gun, rest the butt firmly against my shoulder, do not put my face on it as I was looking through the "sight"....  one could get a black eye or a gash in the head doing that because when the gun actually shoots it has a "kick" to it....release the safety, put my finger on the trigger, deep breath and hold, slowly pull the trigger, do not jerk it, just slowly pull it.  I was ready.  I knew I could do this!

Nothing came to the feeder that evening and my friend was very disappointed.  I was relieved...I wasn't going to have to kill "bambi" tonight after all.  I was so full of mixed emotions, to kill or not to kill.  My huntress friend was not to be deterred, I was going to kill a deer that evening, she was going to see to it.  It was so cold and windy but we plopped ourselves back into the "mule" and headed out looking for that deer.  I didn't have on gloves and the cold wind was tearing at my knuckles and biting my face.  I was thinking to myself, "I hope she gives this up and heads for home."  I was done with this for the day.  I was her captive as she drove through the hills, over rocks and ledges like we were being chased by an amazon deer out to take revenge. I was holding on to my rifle trying to keep it pointed away from her or myself as we bounced over the limestone.   She informed me that she knew of a place where she could roust some deer out of hiding which she did before the words were barely out of her mouth!  All of a sudden a big doe appeared right in front of us.  My teacher slammed on the brakes and yelled "shoot it".  I did just as I was told without even thinking.  I raised that rifle, pressed it firmly into my shoulder, released the safety, aimed it, slowly and methodically I pulled the trigger.  The doe rose up into the air and dropped right where she had stood a minute before.  I was in shock, what had I just done?  Where was I?  Who was in this body of mine?  The huntress jumped from our vehicle, whipped out her field knife telling me it was time for a lesson in field dressing a deer.  She cut that does belly open, reached in and ripped out it's innards, spat on the ground and told me to grab it's hind legs as she grabbed the front ones and we lifted that animal into the back of the vehicle.  At some point during that time in order to feel like I was participating in the "lab"  I reached down and pulled something from inside the deer and tossed it onto the ground.  Believe it or not, the gourmet in me was thinking the heart, kidneys and liver should be taken along to cook and eat also.  But my huntress didn't do these kinds of things.  She always left the guts for the coyotes to finish off.  After all, one has to share!  It just seems fitting to pay back to nature in some way after taking one of it's children!

Off we went, back to her barn where she called my boys and husband and told them to come on up and see what the woman of their family had done.  They arrived and I was toasted with beers all around as I was patted on the back and they remarked about how big the doe was and my friend related to them how I shot that deer without having any support for my rifle, just raised my gun in midair and aimed.  She couldn't believe it, right through the heart, first shot!  She was so proud of me and of course her own teaching skills.  I was her best student! I hung the now very dead doe in her cooler till I could get it to a processor the next day to be ground into sausage and cut up for steaks.  My boys were very proud of their new "huntress mama".

Even though they were proud of me, my boys couldn't resist teasing me about "beginners luck".  Oh my gosh, couldn't they see that only served as another challenge for me.  I now had to prove to them that I could hunt, I could shoot, and I could kill.  I had to kill another of nature's own!  Like it or not, it had to be done.

As I proof read this blog my actions during my "hunting season" make me seriously wonder about human behavior.  There might be some insight here into how gang initiations and peer pressure work.  It's a very frightening thought!  I don't want to put myself in that category!

A few days later I went out with my husband who thought he now needed to prove himself.  We sat in a grove of trees waiting for a deer that was "big" enough to shoot.  Every one that came along was too small for him and he was getting tired, he was going back to the house.  Truth is, he doesn't like killing unless he has to.  Oh, he does like eating the meat,  he just doesn't like being the one to kill it!  I wasn't leaving, I was going to prove myself again and I did.  Before my husband could leave me alone in the grove of oaks, a doe appeared.  I hoisted my rifle and balanced it on a tree limb just the right height and slowly went through the motions.  Aim, release the safety, take a deep breath, pull slowly on the trigger and boom, the deer rose up into the air and fell to the ground, another shot right through the heart...damned I was good.  This was not beginners luck.  We loaded the deer into the back of my son's truck and took it home where with the glow from a drop light we gutted it and hung it from a tree to bleed out for the night.  It was my second kill and reality was beginning to set in.  I was feeling guilt...extreme guilt!

My huntress friend told me I needed to kill another deer before the end of the season.  I listened to her and went out on another evening with the intent of killing.  I took my youngest son with me because he informed me he was going to kill a deer also.  I knew he didn't have it in him to do this.  Although he is a pretty tough kid, he loves animals....more so than his mama I think.  He doesn't shy from controversy and can defend himself well in a fight... but killing a deer doesn't come easy for him.  He had a deer in his sight and was aiming when he conveniently dropped his hat, making enough noise to scare away anything within hearing distance.  He and I both knew what he had done but we didn't speak about it.  We just quietly packed up our gear and headed home, each in our own thoughts.

My huntress friend continued to check on me asking if I was doing my duty in taking my allowed number of deer for the season. I told her I was beginning to feel a little ashamed of myself.  She scoffed at me telling me that they were just little "whores" looking for bucks.  They were overpopulated and needed killing.  It was all about the food chain and how we were at the top!

I listened to my friend and made another hunting trip on my own one evening...my heart not being in it.  I waited patiently in a grove of oaks when I heard a noise behind me.  I turned and saw a couple of deer staring at me.  It was as if they were sneaking up on me.  An eerie feeling came over me.  As they stared at me I could see something in their eyes I didn't like, it was accusation.  They were talking to me and I was listening.  They quietly moved on.  I remained in the oaks wrestling with my conscience as a young deer and it's mother appeared in the clearing.  I lifted my rifle to rest on a limb, pulled the butt firmly into my shoulder, got the deer in my sight, released the safety, took a deep breath, hold and rested my finger on the trigger.  I could not pull the trigger.  I was frozen.  I had had enough.  I was a proven huntress and that was my goal.  I didn't care if they called me a "namby pamby" any more.  I wasn't going to kill any more deer.  I packed up my rifle and headed home.

I figure it this way,,,,,I have proven myself and if I ever need to kill again to feed my family, I can do it.  But I don't like the "sport".  I understand overpopulation and the need to cull the herd...but someone else can do that.   I don't want to be a part of it.

We now have a deer feeder that we have put close to our house where we can feed the deer and watch them come with their babies. We also have an extra well with a stock tank where they can drink water.  The drought this year has been very hard on wild animals.  I feed the deer and the birds.  I have several bird feeders and bird baths in my yard, including one for the hummingbirds.  It's a full time job keeping them filled with seed and syrup.  My husband keeps the deer feeder full of corn and insures the timer is working.  Every morning and evening the deer appear for their meal of corn.  I'm sure it also feeds raccoon and other animals.
When I watch the deer as I water the few plants remaining that have not burned up from the current drought, I hope I am making amends for my killing spree.  They are not afraid of me, they look up at me from the feeding and don't run.  They trust me and I wonder why?

I now shoot the deer with my camera!

Below is one of our swallow families.   My daughter got this shot of the mama feeding her babies!

Birds at a feeder.

Below I think is a Scarlet Tanager

Feeding the animals is much more rewarding than killing them!

Chapter 16 Creepy Crawlers

When you build a house on land previously uninhabited by humans you are invading creepy crawler habitat and you must be prepared to share.  After the house was completed and I was cleaning it to move in I found many scorpions and quickly sent them on to the great beyond.  One of my first nights in the house as I was retiring to my bed I felt something crawling on my shoulder.  I laid very still for a second trying to decide the best move to make, smash it, grab it or turn on the light to see what it was.  My reflexes went with "grab it and fling it".  I did just that but not before it could sting me.  It hurt like a son of a gun.  I screamed, jumped up and turned on the light to look for it, scaring the whits out of my husband with my shrill scream. Our carpet in the bedroom is patterned and dark making it difficult to see anything that might be lurking about, therefore I found nothing.  My arm was hurting from the shoulder all the way down to my finger tips.  I could only pray it was not a poisonous spider.  I thought my arm was going to fall off for about 3 minutes and then the pain began to ebb and it was gone.  I never found that creepy crawler but it has worried me since.

I can vacuum one day and the next day there are spider webs in every nook and cranny.  These little tiny harmless spiders are very happy in my house.  If I don't vacuum for several days I can always locate their lairs by looking for little piles of pill bugs and other dead insects.  Every once in a while I have to turn my sofas upside down and vacuum under the skirts and the bottoms.  I once found a young black widow spider preparing her nest beneath the skirt of a sofa. We have many exterior doors and it is impossible to make them tight enough that these creepy crawlers can't get in.

Last night I scooped up a caterpillar the size of my pinky finger making it's way across my kitchen floor.  I just can't figure out how it got in.  A few nights ago I took a picture of the tiniest scorpion I have ever seen.  The picture is below.  I can handle little tiny spiders and even scorpions but the amazon centipedes send chills up my spine.  One night we had just turned the tv off preparing to turn in for the night.  I was in the kitchen cleaning up when my husband yelled, "Oh my God".  I already knew what it was without even asking.  Only an amazon centipede could elicit such a sound from him.  He grabbed a pillow and covered the bugger until I could arrive with a fly swatter.  His picture is below also.  I just cannot imagine  stepping on one of these.  They are fighters when they sense danger.  My neighbor saw one on her bedroom wall shortly after she moved in and was preparing to go to bed.  After killing it, she slept with her lights on and one eye open the entire night!  I have read that they can do real harm when they sting you, giving you flu like symptoms.

One has to be very careful opening doors at night.  Many times a scorpion has been lurking around the top of the door jam and fallen into the house.  I stepped on one recently in my pantry.  At first I thought it was a sticker or burr that had been brought in from the grass but looking closer I saw it was a scorpion and it was squashed from my weight.  At least I didn't have to bother trying to kill him but he did get a whack on the bottom of my foot which hurt for about 5 minutes.  I soaked my foot in cold water and sprayed it with lavender water!  It really works.  Two days ago I found an ant bite on my elbow and one on my torso.  I don't know how they got there and I never felt the bite but I had a little pustule in each place which is my reaction to ant bites!

I know we have invaded their land but I really wish they would just stay outside.  I woke up yesterday morning to find ants all over my clothes in my cedar closet!  I had to put everything out into the sunshine and put boric acid in all the crevices of the cedar boards and base boards to deter them.  I make sure I don't hang anything that I have spilled food on so I'm pretty certain they like the fabric softener in my clothes.  I remember once when I lived in the city in an established neighborhood finding ants all over my toddler's bed.  He had been wearing a sweater that I removed when I put him down for a nap, which I laid on the foot of his bed.  Apparently he had spilled something sweet on his sweater and it attracted the ants  His bedroom was on the second floor.  The leader of the platoon of ants must have sent them on a march from the flower bed, up the side of the house and through a crevice in the window.  Had I not gone to check on him he would have been covered in fire ants!

Last spring my husband came to me with a little pustule on his elbow that looked like an ant bite.  I just opened the top of it so it would drain and told him not to worry about it.  I few days later his arm was really hurting and it was red and infected with a red line going up the inside of his arm.  I was very alarmed and told him we had to go to the emergency room because it looked like a spider bite.  You would think living in the country that the local hospitals would recognize a spider bite and know how to deal with it.  Think again.  These docs were baffled.  They had no idea what it was or how to treat it.  The first ER one hour west of us gave him IV antibiotics and sent him home.  The next day the wound was much worse, the pain going up and down his arm with his entire arm red and swollen.  Even the lymph glands under his arm and in his neck were swelling.  We decided to try another hospital one hour east of us.  These docs decided to try to open it and dig inside, looking for what I don't know.  Then they hooked him up to another IV and administered more antibiotics.  After a couple of hours we headed home, he was nauseous and had chills.  He spent the next couple of days, very sick and in pain but it appeared to be getting better.  Lab tests from both hospitals revealed nothing.  Looking back we decided that a brown recluse spider must have bitten him when he was bringing wood in for the fire place.  Over a year later a scar still remains.  I still can't figure out why  they didn't give him cortisone.  Seems to me it would have speeded the healing and lessened the inflammation.

I purchased some copper scrubbing pads and cut them in little pieces which I placed inside all the weep holes on the outside of the house.  That is to discourage larger insects from crawling through and getting inside the walls or attic and making their way into the house.  I try to keep all my drains closed to keep scorpions from coming up through the drains which they certainly do.  It takes real effort to remember to do that though.  Clothes are never nonchalantly tossed on the floor for fear of a spider or scorpion crawling inside for a snuggle.  We hang everything.  I have come very close to placing my hand on a black widow spider on several occasions when reaching to turn on an outdoor faucet.  I check all the ceiling corners of the patio on a regular basis for black widow spider webs.

Not long ago I was cleaning around one of the carports where we had stored some bags of soil.  I had lifted a couple of bags and was about to lift another one when one of my dogs walked over to the bag and stood over it.  I could not figure out what he was doing but later realized he was protecting me.  Somehow he knew there was a huge black widow spider under that bag.  I asked my dog why was he doing that, of course he didn't answer but I had a premonition of danger.  I inspected the bag more closely and camouflaged with the print on the bag was a very large black widow mama.  Her body was as big around as a nickle.  I grabbed the shovel and smacked her a good one, then turned and thanked my dog! I wish I had thought to take a picture of her before I smashed her but then again I didn't want to chance her running and hiding while I was fetching my camera.

Below is the tiniest scorpion I've ever seen.  We found it in our bathroom and I sure hope it's mama is not lurking nearby.

This is the guy I stepped on in my pantry.

Chapter 15 Ricochet!

I've been hearing on the news lately about animals having rabies brought on by the current heat and drought.  People should be particularly careful of fox and skunks.  Now I can say I've had a run in with both.

I was in such a wonderful first sleep, the best kind, when Shadow began his "I've got something cornered" bark about 12:30am.  I listened for a while, reluctant to bring myself to total consciousness.  He persisted and I knew I had to investigate.  My husband was in his usual "deep sleep when needed mode" so I left him there as I ventured into the night air.  Air?  Smelly air!  Well I had been smelling skunk on the air for a few days now, particularly on the north side of the property when I took my evening walks.  Having heard the warning on television about rabid skunks in the area I couldn't help but wonder as I was trekking along with my dogs if a rabid skunk would suddenly appear, what would I do?  Rabid animals lose their shy nature when they are sick with the deadly virus.  Would one suddenly come rushing from the bushes and bite us?

Back to the present, I grab my father's old metal flashlight and the dog leash, turning on a few outdoor lights as I went.  The sound was coming from the front of the house but I thought better of exiting through the front door.  As I rounded the corner I saw Shadow rolling in the gravel drive, rubbing his nose and eyes.  I knew it was that elusive skunk I had been smelling on the wind.  The light of my flashlight revealed this to be so.  It was little and scrawny just like the rabid fox had been and it was wedged up between a cowboy boot planter and the corner of the alcove.  My first thought was to get this crazy black dog on the leash which he gladly helped me do.  He must have been thinking I could somehow end his misery having been sprayed in the face with skunk oil.  I got him tethered to the bench in the porte cochere and went to wake my sleeping mate. 

I call his name several times, no response.  Is he even alive?  I touch his knee, nothing.  Then I become a bit more aggressive shaking his leg with my hand.  I'm telling myself this is not the time for him to die on me, he can do that later, I need him now.  At last he opens his eyes and stares at me,,,eerie!  I ask him if he wants to shoot a skunk.  He mumbles a few expletives as he rolls out of bed and heads for his gun, complaining as he goes about the awful smell. 

The skunk is still there and Mickey is dancing around on all fours with excitement till he sees the gun.  He has learned that this item in my husband's hand is not a good thing.  He retreats far away.  The skunk is still wedged in his corner so we are thinking the best way to flush him out is with the garden hose.  I hold the weapon while my husband retrieves the hose and begins spraying the cute little creature.  Skunks are cute from a distance.  If you have ever watched one amble along looking for food with their beautiful tails in the air you can appreciate how cute they are. 

This reminds me of a day when I was walking the dogs on the ranch road and I spotted one.  He was ambling along parallel to us about 10 feet away, happily going about his business with his head down.  I naturally sped up my pace and so he seemed to do the same.   I  was wondering if he was chasing me, as he appeared to be doing just that.  I broke into a trot laughing as I went at the thought of running from a skunk.  The scene calls to mind a cartoon from the recesses of my mind.  The dogs and I ran as I looked back telling myself  "feet don't fail me now".  I continued my pace looking back as I went until the skunk was out of site.  I couldn't wait to get into the house and tell my husband that a skunk was chasing me, which he was not, but it was a good story! 

The spraying of water did not flush the skunk from the safety of the corner behind the planter.  I went for a stronger nozzle, one that would deliver a straight stinging stream of water.  It did not work either, he continued to cower in the corner.  I imagine this little guy was thirsty and the shower felt good.  We had to do something because chances were he was probably sick and his name was at the top of the executioners list. 

My husband told me to keep spraying the water as he backed off, squatted and took aim like a soldier in the field aiming at the advancing enemy.  At first I did as I was told but then in a flash it occurred to me that I might be in danger.  He was 15 feet away from the stone wall about to shoot a very powerful pirate's gun and I was spraying from an angle but only about 6 feet away.  In a millisecond I responded to my thinking as it was entering my brain, drop the hose and run.  I did just that, turning as I went when I heard the boom and felt the sting almost simultaneously.  I let out a little yelp and grabbed my shoulder, what the hell was that?  I knew instantly that I had been very lucky because the position I had been in a few seconds earlier put my face in the direct path of that ricochet. 

I could't believe it, I had been wounded in the line of duty.  We left the deceased skunk where he died, tucked into the "safety" of his corner.  My husband put away his weapon, climbed back into bed and resumed his earlier pose.  I of course lay there in shock.  Off to the guest room I went to sit in the rocker and knit, trying to process all that had happened as I sang Cher's song "Bang Bang My Baby Shot Me Down".

I took a picture of my injury, my husband refused to help me incriminate himself.  He obviously felt really badly as we joked about him having shot me and that I needed to be good in the future because now I know what he is capable of!  The man is a damned good shot.  His aim was perfect.  He killed that skunk with one shot, hitting it in the head.  If his aim had been off a hair, he would have exploded the planter or hit the house dead on which would have caused an even bigger ricochet.

My shoulder is fine, it's just a graze as you can see in the picture.  It only burned for a few minutes but the reality of what it could have been is what I couldn't let go of.  I don't believe I will put myself in harms way like that again.  Another lesson learned from country living.  And it made for a damned good blog!

The wound I live to tell about!

The dejected smelly dog.

You can see how the shot hit the stone and sprayed mortar on the planter.

Chapter 14 Ethan

We were  shoveling river rocks into the front flower beds to cut down on the task of weeding when a large bird flew over our heads and landed on the roof.  I thought it was a large dove but knew there was something different about it.  I continued to go about my task of shoveling when it registered in my brain that this was a pigeon.  We don't usually see pigeons out here but we do have quite a few doves.  It kept circling the house coming in closer each time so that I could see that it had a band on it's leg.  Now my brain had kicked into gear, this was someone's racing pigeon, I had to save it.  The pigeon decided to land in the back yard where there was water and bird seed.  Oh no!  The jaws of death would soon be upon him.  I put a leash on the black dog and tethered him in the carport.

What should I do?  This pigeon was headed for the back porch and then looking in my windows.  I believe he thought he was home.  I went to my computer and googled racing pigeons in Texas.  I found a number of someone in a town nearby who was a member of a homing pigeon group.  I called him and he told me to try to get the numbers on the bird's leg.  I took a picture of him through the glass door and was able to get the numbers.  I called the fellow back to give him the information.  He tried locating the bird's owner through a racing pigeon website but couldn't seem to find it.  He then gave me the phone number of the president of the local chapter of racing pigeons.  He told me to try to get it into a cage by putting food and water into the cage.  It was so easy, it worked!  I put the dog kennel on the back porch with food and water in it and propped the door open.  Mickey Blue, the Pyrenees was very curious but I knew he would not hurt the bird.  I told him to go away, which he did. Within a matter of minutes the bird was approaching the kennel as I stood ready nearby to close the door of the kennel once he entered.

The pigeon walked straight into the kennel the way I hoped he would.  I quickly closed the door, success!  I phoned the number of the local president without luck.  His voice mail told me he was out of town.  I put the kennel in the garage for the night to insure a hungry snake would not slither into the kennel and make a tasty dinner of the wayward bird.

The next morning I was able to make contact with the head of the local chapter.  He said to give him a little time and he would locate the owner from the numbers I had given him.  Within an hour he called me back with a name and number.  I called the number and spoke to a very nice man who loved to talk. Yes, this was his bird, named Ethan.  Ethan was named after his grandson and actually belonged to his granddaughter in south Texas.  Apparently Ethan had been in a race about 150 miles away and must have gotten tired and decided to take a rest where he sensed there was food and water.

Ethan's home was about 50 miles south of my home.  It was agreed that I should take Ethan to the nearest intersection and point him south as I released him.  I loaded up the kennel into the back of my car and headed down to the north/south highway intersection.  I pointed him south and tossed him into the air.  Ethan flew high into the sky and began to circle.  He circled for quite some time trying to get his bearings and then he took off but not south.  I was very concerned but figured he would eventually realize he was headed the wrong direction.

I phoned Ethan's owner to tell him to keep a lookout for Ethan.  A day later Ethan still had not returned home.  His owner suggested that sometimes pigeons philander a bit before returning home.  He assured me that once Ethan sewed his wild seed that he would make his way back home.

Ethan's owner said most people would not have realized  that he was not just another bird.  He was very grateful that I cared enough to help him find his way home.

I never heard if Ethan made it home or if he is still out philandering.  I prefer to think he went home and assume that he did or the owner would have called me thinking Ethan had returned to my yard.  Soar high Ethan, soar high into the sky.

Ethan

Chapter 13 Crazy like a Fox

When I power up the lap top the first thing I see on Yahoo is 8 simple ways to loose weight and none of them include eating peanut butter and crackers at 5:30 am.  Are these people that write this stuff even real?  Surely they must just sit around and make it up.   "The Weight Loss Tips I'm Not Trying".  How about trying wrestling with a fox and 2 big dogs?  That's gotta count for something!   And what about Katie Holmes and her fashion face-off.  I bet she isn't in the dirt and gravel in the wee morning hours in her pj's with her hair flying and no makeup.  And on top of that, she is skinny.  Where is the justice?  Surely my morning workout must have consumed some calories...enough to justify a little peanut butter snack to sustain till morning coffee time?  What is wrong with these people?  Have they nothing else to do with their lives, get real!

It's now 5:30 am and I'm sitting in my favorite rocker eating peanut butter and crackers as if I were skinny.  I'm hungry,,,,I have just wrestled two 85 pound dogs, saving them from the jaws of a tiny little fox that insisted on entering our yard at 4:30 am.  Ever try putting peanut butter between two crackers and popping the entire thing into your mouth so you don't get crumbs in the key board?  Quite a feat, you will chew forever because the mass in your mouth will get bigger before it gets smaller.  I finally quit shaking but can't sleep...I like to go to bed late at night and sleep late in the morning....but not this morning.

I was laying in bed awake at 4:30 when I heard Shadow rip from his own slumber and tear away from the patio door outside my bedroom.  And then the strangest sounds floating to my ears from a corner of the yard.  It was a combination of howl, cry and bark.  Oh my gosh this was going to be a good one.  Something new and different was out there.  Up to the door I flew in a flash, grabbed my flashlight and the leash and was out of the house into the dark night wondering what I would encounter this time.  Am I insane?  Yes, probably. Why didn't I awaken the man lying beside me?  He was snoozing so peacefully, I just couldn't bring myself to be so cruel.

Out the door, around to the front of the house, where the hell are those dogs?  I shine the flashlight around the yard and see them at the back gate.  What a sight.  Shadow is on his belly pawing to get under the gate and Mickey is on his back, humping him in pure excitement.  I'm running toward them yelling, "hey, hey".  Now I'm laughing as I write this. Why I ever even speak to those dumb dogs just amazes me.  I get to the gate and see a tiny little feisty fox on the other side.  What the hell is wrong with this wild animal?  Does he think he is in a cage or does he think the dogs are in a cage?  He has the entire country side to roam in.  Why is he at my gate at 4:30 in the morning snarling and biting at my dogs.  This little fox I'm thinking must have rabies and this is not a good scenario.

Shadow is totally lost in his futile effort to get to this fox.  As hard as I try I cannot turn his collar to get the leash on it.  He and Mickey are jumping around like a couple of banshees and I'm swinging and yelling at both of them thinking if this little fox has rabies, even a scratch could be a bad thing and he is nipping at them through the gate.  Damned I wish I could get into a dogs brain at this moment.  What drives them to stick their noses through to danger?  Finally my swearing and hitting at Mickey with the flashlight gets his attention and he retreats.  But not Shadow.  My strength is ebbing, my heart is racing, my mouth is dry and I'm shaking.  I've got this damned dog between my legs and his collar in my hand but can't turn it to put the leash on it.  The fox is within 12 inches of my hand snarling and nipping....why don't I have my camera and what would I have done with it if I did.  I've already dropped the flashlight and where the hell is my husband, can't he hear all this commotion outside his bedroom?  I take a break as I look around me and up at the sky with this dog between my legs.  I'm thinking, "is this going to be the big one for me?  Is my heart going to give out any moment and I'm going to drop in the damned gravel driveway?"  Get my breath back, slow down heart, don't give out on me now knee....I can't put my full weight on my knee now, what the hell is going on with that?  "Come on" I tell myself, "find your reserve, you can do this."  One more try and the leash is hooked to the collar but the dog won't budge.  I try with all my strength to pull him toward the house and he is focused on the fox, "please let me get to that fox".  I slowly manage to move him inch by inch away from the gate.  I know if I can get him far enough away and can turn him toward the house my task will be easier.  Slowly, slowly, he reluctantly gives in and we are headed toward the carport.  If I can just make it to the bench in the carport and plop my rear end down I might not die tonight.  Ah, at last reprieve.  I am breathing hard trying to take in oxygen as I stare at this insane black dog who now wants to lick my face.  Mickey has retreated to the back porch, done with it all, sighing as he relaxes.  I hook the leash under the leg of the bench, give the insane one a bucket of water and go into the house.

I think I'm going to sleep.  Ha!  I've got to write, this is too good, but oh I wish I had gotten a video of this excitement.  I wanted so badly to go back out with my  camera to see if the fox was still at the gate but I knew crazy dog would drag the bench with him to follow me and probably entangle the vehicle with it, dragging it all down the driveway.

I can't sleep, the soreness is setting in to all my muscles.  The skin on my palms and fingers has friction burn from holding on to the collar and leash, my hip feels out of place, I am too old for this shit.  I get my lap top from the kitchen, some crackers, peanut butter and a knife and retreat to a guest room to write.  It's now 6:30 am and I feel like I've been in a car wreck.

It's daylight and I'm going to use my time wisely since I'm awake at this ungodly hour.  I'm taking my dogs and camera and heading out to find something good to write about.

Wow, just walked around to the front porch and found the little fox....dead.  I don't know how he died but he must have just dropped over between 5 and daylight.  The crazy black dog didn't get him cause he was on a leash.  Did Mickey sneak around there and snap his neck without me knowing?  Couldn't have cause I didn't hear a thing and the fox would have put up a fight.  He must have been on his last leg at the gate at 4:30...he was giving it his all before he passed on to the great beyond and then walked through the iron slats of the gate to his final resting place.  He was very thin and one eye was bulging.  What happened to him?