Posted on 01/31/2014 12:38:35 PM PST by greeneyes
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Sweet nostalgia. I miss my chickens. Rat Bastid raccoons tore a hole in the poultry netting on their coop, and killed them. The raccoons also wiped out my goldfish pond. Some of my fish were eight years old. I hate raccoons and possums.
I feel your pain .... and dittoes on the ‘coons, possums. We have skunks, too and have had them kill chickens in the past. Had a black snake get in the coop this summer .... ate an egg and then because of the “lump”, could not fit back through the chicken wire! Kind of funny to see ..... “the girls” were all ok, just a little flustered.
It was 50 at 9:30 am and now it is 46.2 at 11:00 am. I’m on a downhill slide.
The deck is wet so at some time last night, water came down. rightly, did you know it rained - maybe it was just a sprinkle.
I'm staying inside. I may nap most of the day.
/johnny
Johnny, You talked about catz on another thread and one year we had feral cats on our back fences and they were coming into our gardens. I don't want fleas from cats getting in my garden to get on my Yorkie and don't want their droppings, either. We got a notice on our doors to keep our cats in (I don't have one), because animal control was coming the next day to round up the feral cats. Any cat without a collar was going to be gone. After collection day, the cats were gone.
There is one black cat now that gets on my back wall but Prissy sees that cat and I let her out so the cat won't jump in the garden. I don't think that cat has a collar and yes, I would shoot it with the pellet gun if it got in my garden. I will not have a freaking cat bringing in whatever it has on it. I keep my Yorkie clean, she goes to groomer once a month, and she has never had fleas once I got her cleaned of them one day after I bought her. She had what is called “microscopic” fleas when I bought her. I took her to the vet the day after I bought her to determine what shots she needed and they found that type flea.
I would imagine our gardeners here have personal rules about domestic type animals getting in their garden areas. I'm protective of my area and it's a death sentence if people don't keep their animals out of my garden. A dog can't get in due to the high brick side walls and the back wooden wall. That leaves cats, birds, squirrels. Prissy is big enough now to let her in the garden and the squirrels get out. I'm still not happy with squirrels as they do get in the garden before she gets them out. I don't know what squirrels might have on their bodies and whatever it is, I don't want it.
I don't have problems with squirrels, since they are a menu item. ;)
Dogs aren't a problem, because of the leash laws, and a responsive animal control.
Cats don't last because the neighbors trap them.
All in all, I'm pretty fortunate that I don't have warm-blooded pests bothering my garden.
/johnny
I said it was 46.2 at 11:00 am. Now, it is 11:45 am and temp is 45.1. It is dropping rapidly.
We have property owners rules in this townhouse group and no dog is allowed outside without the dog on a leash and owner with it. The owner must pick up dog droppings. So, no dogs are causing a problem in here and stray dogs can’t get in due to our tall fence around this entire place.
Within the past month, there is now a camera up high on a townhouse directly in front of our gate. We are all on candid camera now and now there is a sign on our gate that states we have a closed circuit camera. It would take a well aimed rifle shot to kill that camera.
“I’m pretty accommodating to the song-birds and the mockingbirds, since they eat their weight in bugs every day.”
And, they will eat their weight in my strawberries and blackberries (if those sticks grow), and tomatoes and any other food fruit they can get to.
I said it was 46.2 at 11:00 am. Now, it is 11:45 am and temp is 45.1. It is dropping rapidly.
12:20 pm, 44.2
And studies have shown that the bug-eaters don't eat much in the way of fruit. The energy content of protein rich bugs is what they are after.
Doves, on the other hand.... I have recipes for dove.
/johnny
/johnny
There are a bunch of cardinals every year and they most definitely destroy tomatoes and strawberries. Husband grew some tomatoes and had several strawberry plants and the birds were terrible.
He put up a fake owl that would turn in the wind. The birds used it for a free carousel ride.
I'll keep my song-birds, since I don't have any problem with them eating m tomatoes.
Maybe I should post a song-bird recipe from Escoffier out near the garden, just in case. ;)
/johnny
It’s now 43.5. Don’t have any kind of moisture falling. Prissy still curled up on recliner. Maybe she, by instinct somehow, knows it’s getting worse out there and she isn’t moving from this chair.
I had groceries in the trunk of my car that I didn’t bring in when went to store a few days ago. Just went out and got them and it’s cold but when the wind blew, it was much colder.
No groceries out there won’t be hurt by the cold but there was a jar of cheese dip I wanted in here to have with chips later - that, and some fresh avocado dip, plus some fresh veggies dipped in ranch dressing is my response to the super bowl that I won’t watch.
When I went to Kroger, I went to paper goods to get some paper bowls, and there was not one paper bowl there. The super bowl people had bought every single bowl. I bought some Styrofoam ones to have some throw away bowls.
Glad you have enough ice pellets falling that you know they are falling.
They stopped. It was too good to last.
I'll bet I've had less than 1/10th inch of moisture since New Year.
/johnny
Well, at 1:30 pm, it's 33, kind of barely there mist, with a few ice pellets earlier. I was in my greenhouse container planting some carrot tape, and could hear them falling on the plastic greenhouse cover.
My Roma seedlings, and Tycoon Seedlings are all up now, and one streamliner cuke, but everything else under the grow lamp is asleep.
I would so like to just curl up with a good book, but I have to go to my Mom's. blccchhh. I think I'd like to just curl up with a bunch of books until St Patrick's Day.
What does the charcoal do for the ground?
It rained a number of times till about 9am, or so. I haven’t been out to read the gauge, and probably won’t. I spent some time cleaning up the shop, but that’s close as I got to outdoors. Grey winter days cause me to have cabin fever bad. I don’t even go out with the puppies to water them, I open the door for the to go out, and again to come back inside. They don’t like it out there any more than I do.
My wife is making chili and cornbread; good stuff for these days.
What is this souper bowl you speak of?
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