To say my life here on my little acre is boring would be an understatement. It seems like there is always something going on...well, not during Jeopardy! Everyone knows what happens to me when I set back in my recliner with the cat on my lap and pull an afghan up over me so I do not get cold. I watch Jeopardy! at 3:00 and again at 6:30. Sadly, I have yet to see a full half hour. If I manage to stay awake it is imperative that someone call to ask just one quick question.
Now yesterday, I stopped at Big R to buy goose food since there is a storm coming and I do not want the geese to miss out on a meal and I hate unloading 150 pounds of feed in a blizzard. So, I pulled into the back acre and started in with the first bag. You should know, the neighbors have a Billy Goat Gruff with big long, curled horns. He does not know where he actually lives so he spends a lot of time ripping things out of the ground on my side of the driveway. As I started into the shed, I had to bump him with the feed bag to get inside. I emptied that one, chased him off and grabbed another only to repeat the same scenario. I do not even like goats and that is why I do not have one. Third bag was tossed on top of the barrel and the goat chased off again. I drove out and closed the gate behind me with him glaring at me from his yard.
To make a long story short, I got busy doing something and it was almost dark when I went to put the geese up for the night. I let them in the outside wire enclosure and they were acting funny. Since they usually do, I did not give it a second thought. Then I remembered I needed to open that third bag and dump it so I opened the big door and took 2 steps inside and stopped. Holy mother of God! Inside the shed was dark and I caught a glimpse so something out of the corner of my eye. It was big! It was not a goose! It was that damned goat curled up in the corner of the shed. He was settling in for the night. In order to get inside the shed he had to squeeze himself through the little door I have in the side of the shed designed for a much smaller animal. Even the geese have to duck their heads to get inside. Dammit!
Luckily I have a very good flashlight, so I went over to Mr. Goat and nudged him while shining the light on his path to freedom. He could have cared less. So I got him by one of his horns. It became increasingly clear that he did not want to go home. I finally got him out the door and that was as far as he wanted to go. So I went next door to the house he actually lived at. Cory came with me and between the 2 of us with a hand on each horn, we got him into their yard. It was clear also that in the leap over the fence into my yard, he had hurt his back leg. So I missed Jeopardy! at 6:30. Dammit!
So, Michael brought up the subject of gardening a few days ago and I explained that I would not be doing that this year. Why? It seems that the last few years I have had a snake infestation. I do not know how many times there was a snake in the goose house. I reached my limit when I was harvesting my zucchini and as I reached to move a leaf, I saw a snake curled up under it. Centipedes love my basement. Wasps build their little nests in the corners of my deck. Spiders watch me from the shadows. Farm living is just no longer conducive to my lifestyle! I want to be where the lights are shining in my window and the jukebox is blaring from down below. Well, not really.
I do love my solitude out here, but there is a lot to be said for the wild life that makes itself at home here on my acre. I realize goats, spiders, snakes and centipedes are not exactly wildlife, but you do remember how the foxes devastated my duck farm. But yesterday at the Big R, I saw my first signs of Spring. They have three tanks full of baby chickens and they are so damn cute. Maybe if I had chickens they would keep the snakes away. I know they eat grasshoppers.
Something to think about.
Now yesterday, I stopped at Big R to buy goose food since there is a storm coming and I do not want the geese to miss out on a meal and I hate unloading 150 pounds of feed in a blizzard. So, I pulled into the back acre and started in with the first bag. You should know, the neighbors have a Billy Goat Gruff with big long, curled horns. He does not know where he actually lives so he spends a lot of time ripping things out of the ground on my side of the driveway. As I started into the shed, I had to bump him with the feed bag to get inside. I emptied that one, chased him off and grabbed another only to repeat the same scenario. I do not even like goats and that is why I do not have one. Third bag was tossed on top of the barrel and the goat chased off again. I drove out and closed the gate behind me with him glaring at me from his yard.
To make a long story short, I got busy doing something and it was almost dark when I went to put the geese up for the night. I let them in the outside wire enclosure and they were acting funny. Since they usually do, I did not give it a second thought. Then I remembered I needed to open that third bag and dump it so I opened the big door and took 2 steps inside and stopped. Holy mother of God! Inside the shed was dark and I caught a glimpse so something out of the corner of my eye. It was big! It was not a goose! It was that damned goat curled up in the corner of the shed. He was settling in for the night. In order to get inside the shed he had to squeeze himself through the little door I have in the side of the shed designed for a much smaller animal. Even the geese have to duck their heads to get inside. Dammit!
Luckily I have a very good flashlight, so I went over to Mr. Goat and nudged him while shining the light on his path to freedom. He could have cared less. So I got him by one of his horns. It became increasingly clear that he did not want to go home. I finally got him out the door and that was as far as he wanted to go. So I went next door to the house he actually lived at. Cory came with me and between the 2 of us with a hand on each horn, we got him into their yard. It was clear also that in the leap over the fence into my yard, he had hurt his back leg. So I missed Jeopardy! at 6:30. Dammit!
So, Michael brought up the subject of gardening a few days ago and I explained that I would not be doing that this year. Why? It seems that the last few years I have had a snake infestation. I do not know how many times there was a snake in the goose house. I reached my limit when I was harvesting my zucchini and as I reached to move a leaf, I saw a snake curled up under it. Centipedes love my basement. Wasps build their little nests in the corners of my deck. Spiders watch me from the shadows. Farm living is just no longer conducive to my lifestyle! I want to be where the lights are shining in my window and the jukebox is blaring from down below. Well, not really.
I do love my solitude out here, but there is a lot to be said for the wild life that makes itself at home here on my acre. I realize goats, spiders, snakes and centipedes are not exactly wildlife, but you do remember how the foxes devastated my duck farm. But yesterday at the Big R, I saw my first signs of Spring. They have three tanks full of baby chickens and they are so damn cute. Maybe if I had chickens they would keep the snakes away. I know they eat grasshoppers.
Something to think about.
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