Well, maybe they’re not singing, but they sure are hitting the feeder tray under the back porch window. I’ll bet they’re glad the temperatures are warming up after several days of below zero for a high. I know we are! The deer and turkeys are sure hitting the feed I put out in the driveway. We’re now up to six deer and several flocks of wild turkeys. The deer now come when I call them. This morning, they were even waiting for me! They came running for their feed like a herd of goats, not even waiting until I was back in the goat barn with the bucket.
Will has finished up the big shelving unit in the basement and has it moved to the center of the basement and even put most of the boxes of canned foods up on it. Now I have to go down and organize it and get it out of the boxes. Yep, when it’s in the boxes, it’s all nice and neat. But I can’t find anything with the cardboard in the way. When it’s out of the boxes, I can see, at a glance, just what’s available for a quick grab. During the renovation, he also brought up many boxes of assorted “junk” from the shelves “not for food,” for me to go through. Slowly, I’m sorting. A lot of boxes haven’t been opened since we moved from the mobile home to the house. We found five boxes of David’s kid books, which he’ll come get for the granddaughters to enjoy, some of his toys and other memorabilia. Some of the boxes were only partially full of, well, pretty much junk. Will’s keeping the wood boiler going with burnables today.
In all the chaos, I managed to get the Christmas tree decorated and lit up. It does look so pretty. Will even found our two old Nativity scenes, which I’ve put up. I had to laugh, putting baby Jesus in the stable. That’s the same baby Jesus that our husky, Icy Bay, discovered under our tree, years ago. Daughter, Tricia, came running into the kitchen, horrified. “Mom! Icy Bay just peed on baby Jesus!” Yes, I did wash the Holy Infant well and let Icy know you don’t pee on the Son of God. I’m sure he was just thinking that tree needed marking.
Our temperatures are supposed to (I’ll believe it when I see it!) reach the high thirties tomorrow. Some forecasts even said 42. Ha ha! I guess everyone needs a good laugh.
Remember, canning supplies, garden equipment, and seeds make excellent Christmas presents! Each step toward self-reliance is a true gift from the heart. — Jackie
We had a buck “dine” at our place Saturday. Today the majestic buck and a buck we hadn’t seen were at the one feeder. The majestic buck must have been hungry as usually only the current year’s fawns eat from the front of the feeder. I’ll put out additional oats the next few days and maybe shuck an additional ear of corn.
The weather peeps are calling for high 30s/40 over the next few days – rain later this week (ick). If need be, I’ll leave extra early for an appointment Friday am as the temps are supposed to drop after the rain. We’ve “warmed” up too but better half brought up more rounds of wood to be split into smaller pieces before splitting into firewood.
He did some plowing in the woods today. Our elderly neighbor likes to walk. Come to find out our other neighbor has been plowing a bit on elderly neighbor’s property. We all enjoy seeing the deer and I have no problem with other neighbor hunting on his property.
Finding boxes of yore is like opening a time capsule. Thankfully we never had any issue with pets and the Xmas tree (a clearance 5 ft artificial tree which the kids could assemble once old enough and then decorate). I do remember my mom ensuring only plastic ornaments where the cat(s) of my youth could reach. And tinsel high enough to *not* be consumed!
We don’t put up a tree these days but mostly I remember the cats of my youth and adulthood being content to just sit on the tree skirt. The dogs of yore never bothered the tree. We have numerous pine/cedar/fir trees on our homestead proper and the other land we own. Most provide shelter for the wildlife, which is fine by me.