Well, the rest of the family, I think. We saw four young wolves on the beaver pond the morning before last. (You can tell they aren’t adults as their tails haven’t “fluffed” out yet.) They were sniffing around in the grass, looking for mice, voles, or rabbits. They traveled the width of the pond before I could grab my camera. And two escaped into the woods before I could get a shot. We thought it was pretty cool!
I went to our friend, Ervin Dahlen’s, funeral yesterday. It was -21 degrees F when I left so Will had to stay home and mind the fire. When it’s warmer, we can let it go down to coals. But when it’s that cold, you need to keep it cranking. It’s just a wood stove in the living room and the wood kitchen range, not a furnace or outdoor boiler. Of course it was sad, but I got to see a lot of old neighbors and friends I hadn’t seen for a long time, and that was special.
I spent the day today packing seeds. As our new catalogs just went out, we’re expecting a flood of seed orders soon. (And we need that as “someone” went out and got a loan for a $60,000 tractor! Not to mention any names… It’s so cool to look at one tiny tomato seed, realizing it can produce forty pounds of food. Astounding!
I’m amazed at how well Sarge has learned to work cattle. Who would have thought it was possible? One of our bulls got out today and came up to eat feed in the goat barn. He took him right down to Will, who opened the gate. And in they went, as smooth as can be. I’d love a Belgian Malinois as I love training animals, and they are so very trainable. But, for now, Sarge is my sweetheart! — Jackie
Hi Jackie, Sarge and his furry buddy are so sweet to look at. glad your wolves are leaven the livestock alone. Yea Sarge!! i sent a 2025 new catalog request so lookin forward to! everything i bought last year out produced every seed company I ve ever bought!! you and Will are the best kept “secret” seed catalog company ever!! thank you for sharing so much of your daily lives. i learn form every post! backwoods Home was my first introduction. stay WARM and Healthy
Mary
We have seen a limited number of wolves here in Alaska but there is a lot of trapping and wolf control pressure so I think that makes them pretty shy. I’ll watch for your catalogue. We are having weird weather! Saturday it was -37 and Tuesday it topped out at +37. Been mid twenties since yesterday evening.
Wow, that is weird! So far, we’ve been -21 but no warming lately. The catalogs are on the way. Think spring!!
Here in conservative, far north, rural shasta county, California, our temps today are 19F lower than yesterday! P. S. Glad I don’t live in L.A.! Our area, however, is normally just as flammable. But, while they’ve gotten no winter rain, it is now spring here in the far north, and we have gotten 160% of our rain. Not any more in the forecast, though.
Good evening, Jackie.
It’s great you got to see the wolves.
I’ve only seen coyotes mostly here so far.
With the snow and cold the animals are looking to for food I’m
sure.
Sarge sounds to be the best with the cows, a sweetheart and has his kitty playmate when he’s off duty lol
I’m looking forward to finally being able to order seeds from you in the near future.
Finances have been rough and just relied on seeds I’ve saved but ready to add some of what you have very soon.
I haven’t got a catalog for awhile. Perhaps because I haven’t been able to order but it’s alright. I will soon as I can. Paying off vet bills after losing my two older doggies.
Glad your getting seeds all packaged up.
Glad Will got a new tractor and hopefully not too long it will be all paid off.
Have the best night, stay warm and cozy by the fire.
If you’ll email me your address, I’ll be happy to send you a new catalog. That’s jackieclay2007@yahoo.com. I totally understand about tight money!! I hope things improve for you soon.
It’s such a blessing to be able to save your own seeds, isn’t it?
Thanks Jackie.
I’ll email you here in a little while for a new catalog.
I’m definitely hoping finances improve soon.
It’s definitely a blessing to save seeds and makes a huge difference.
I’ll be saving seeds from what I order and grow from you too.
I’m glad your angiogram went well. My knee is better but still can’t kneel on it. The pain is much less. Funny-after PT I fell a couple of times in the garden and got more range of motion after the falls. I still sleep with a pillow between the knees. At least the pain doesn’t keep me awake like before. Age may give some wisdom but it’s accompanied by “some” pains. Good luck on your future procedure.
Yup, I’m still doing the pillow between the legs thing and, yes, they both are still sore and swelling. Kneeling? Oh heck no!! My pain doesn’t keep me awake but some nights, my thoughts just don’t turn off. Too busy, I guess.
Jackie-must say I love that you appreciate wolves. We lived 30 years with them, very very rarely ever saw them. Never understood why many peoples first thought are kill them. Learned alot from youz thru the years-thank you. Take care and hope you all have a happy, healthy 2025.
I really love wolves and hate that so many people fear them and blame them for everything from missing calves to lack of deer. We used to have two wolf hybrids that we raised from pups. My biggest fear was having them get out of their dog yard and get shot because they were “wolves chasing people/deer”.
Native Americans said the reason White people fear and hate wolves is that a wolf can look straight into your eyes, where dogs usually can’t, and see into your soul.
They take out a lot of cattle in Idaho, I have read. Don’t know ’bout other states. It’s a whole ball of wax.
Did not know that about the tails – same thing for coyotes (no wolves in my area)?
Not only 40 lbs of food but you have the labor to pick and process (canning). My fear is crops will rot in the field due to lack of labor. I was heartened when I read/saw some of those piles of potatoes were able to be distributed during the pandemic, instead of rotting or otherwise being destroyed.
Yep, it’s a lot of labor, growing and processing foods. But, it’s a labor I love, especially when I see my shelves full of all sorts of food.
I love it when growers give food to those who need it instead of just letting it rot. We used to glean crops like cabbage, rutabagas, carrots and potatoes, with the owner’s permission, of course. Then I used to hand pick run-over field corn back in the day when they used corn pickers instead of combines. At the ends of the rows and corners, the corn pickers knocked down the corn and I would come and pick it, feeding my chickens and cow all winter long.
Oh, yes, young coyotes have a slenderer tail than adults.
In our conservative, far north, rural California during covid, the farmers of Oregon and north California had huge giveaways of fresh fruit/vegetables to keep it from rotting in the field. One location was at our church.
Who could that “someone” be? I’ll have to think about this for awhile. I’m assuming Sarge thinks he better learn a trade if he’s going to stay.
Ha ha! Maybe that’s it. What a cow dog from such a strange breeding.
Gee, “someone”….. now who?????