Saturday, August 2, 2014

Smelly lifestyle, Squirrel King, Trying to keep up.

I'm a terrible blogger!  I just realized how long it has been since I last blogged.  But, please don't feel bad. I have been  so busy I haven't socialized  more than minimally all summer.   We've been crazy busy.  When Jimmy and I aren't working real jobs we are trying to keep up around here.  All this beautiful warm weather has turned our garden into a paradise ...a paradise  with weeds and slugs .  Daily watering has been imperative to the survival of our squash.  I changed out the herb garden this spring  to see if I could get some high sun veggies to grow and it worked. We are getting huge winter and summer squash plants.  I like yellow crookneck squash and have never had much success with it until this year.  Because of the sun and  high temps our tomatoes  are  5 feet high and the vines are so laden with fruit they are in danger of breaking.    Our cool weather  crops like snow peas and broccoli have not done well this year.  They are doing ok but not the bumper crops we have had in the past.
The berries this year have been glorious.  My freezer is full of raspberries waiting for Little Sister's canning visit in a couple of weeks.  My beets were a fail again this year so I will be buying beets  next month to pickle..
Jimmy and I have been trying to outsmart the squirrel population this summer.  In the past the squirrels have decimated the plum trees before   the plums were fully ripe.  This year Jimmy and I  have been outside, in the dark, with a flashlight,  picking the green plums and putting them in dark boxes to ripen.     We are doing it in the dark because we have limited daylight hours to garden with.  In fact we have done much gardening by flashlight this year.  Everything is ripening early this year.  Also,  the  Squirrel King is asleep at night so he isn't pelting us with plums!  Yes, the Squirrel King is a warrior squirrel  that will fight for his lands and clan.  aerial bombings are his specialty  whether its Jimmy and I picking plums or the cat climbing the hazelnut tree.  I've  even seen him pelting pine cones at the dog just for fun.  I have a plan.  This year I'm asking santa for the biggest supersoaker on the market.  Next year I'm going to engage him in open combat!  No more guerilla fighting for me. Because we are losing!   The chicken population has outgrown  the coop we so lovingly made 6 years ago so  DD and her  squeeze are coming in august to  help turn half of the barn into the new chicken house.  DD gave me an update on Gannicus who went to live  with her squeeze.  We had to let him go.  Liberace, the  flamboyant  rooster was beating the crap out of him every day...all day.  Gannicus held his own pretty well but he  was starting to show serious signs of wear.  He is now in a place where he is the only rooster with his own flock of girls that  he lovingly cares for and DD reports that he recently became a father. 
The worlds tiniest rooster Arnie is  still on my dumpling list but, Jimmy is standing firmly between  the tiny little  thug and the chopping block.
And then there's Marlowe.  Our itsty bitsy rescue puppy has grown  in stature and confidence.  His coat is full and luxurious and he now regards   all of us as his property.  He has lost all vestiges of  'baby doll' and has turned into a real dog.  All 5  pounds of him  is noble, aware and  alert.  He still has some separation  anxiety issues   but, even those are going away.  He tries to get in the car with us when we need to leave.  So, we recently took him on two trips with us  where he had to be in the crate most of the day and be on a leash.  Both times he was supremely glad to get home again.   Now he's not so quick to want to go with us when we leave.  And he is almost completely housebroken.  I might  even be able to have company before the end of the summer without the house smelling like dog accident.
Jimmy and I have been very self conscious about visitors this summer.  The house has been scruffy.  We try not to have visitors with environmental sensitivities because our house is an allergy attack  waiting to happen.  16 chickens, two cats, a dog,a turtle,  drying herbs hanging in the kitchen, various houseplants and lots of  smelly cleaning  chemicals,  Linseed oil and other art accoutrements that stink.  I have an attachment to  incense and  scented  candles to cover up the less pleasant odors that go with our  lifestyle..  So, we are not shunning our sensitive friends ... We are trying to save their lives.
Jimmy and I have accepted that our lifestyle is smelly.   

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