Grounded Redbird

The  BOY is home .. well, it's home for him now.  When he enlisted into the Reserves, our home was in Hawaii.  When he left for basic training, we moved away from the islands, leaving only our relatives behind ... all our other belongings were shipped to New York.

    His first assignment a few months after returning to the islands from basic was to Iraq.  Funny, we couldn't wait for all the kids to leave home, yet it was with great anticipation we greeted him at the airport!   

   He has already shocked the  shoes off of us ... got out in the garden and weeded for me ... and NO MONEY INVOLVED!!!  He mowed the back path to the tree line for me so I could get back to my "observation rock" ... I highly suspect is was more PLAY for him than work, all in my favour! 

   See my guys here .. like father like son ... this was the best shot I could get of them ... see ... two pairs of legs ... two pairs of tennierunners ... like father like son!
  I will cherish all these times, and try not to think too much on when he has to return to the sandbox. 

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This farm  life is  proving to  be more  eventful  than I ever  bargained  for.  One evening as we were bringing our dinner to the den to eat, I heard an odd sound in the  darkened  hallway.  I looked down and  only saw the  shadow of  something laying across the heater vent on the floor.  I kept asking ... WHAT IS IT ..WHAT IS IT???  We turned on a light and heard a "rattle"  OMG .. I just KNEW it was a baby rattlesnake in my hallway!!!   Well, after careful research, we discovered it was none other than an eastern milksnake, complete with rattle imposter. 

And then a day or so later, the farmer ran

across a garter snake in the outer pasture.  Of course, we, being city folk, had to research to be SURE.  And, me being a snap baby snap kinda gal, I had to snap baby snap!  These are about as good as it gets for now.  I am sure, as we are in the BOONIES ... REALLY in the BOONIES, that we will encounter countless opportunities to assert my photographic passions!

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First let me clarify the meaning of "backyard" in this entry.  Backyard: n.  all inclusive area beginning precisely at the entry of front gate.  I have 50 acres of back yard.  Just a few weeks ago, I was informed by the County office, that indeed I did NOT own the "60 acre" parcel I was being taxed, but merely "50 acres" as somewhere there was a HIDDEN clause that the "10 acre" lot separated by the ROAD was NOT in my parcel as originally assumed.  SO, therefore, the 10 acres across the street is FRONT, and all the rest isBACK.         

I was out "exploring" the backyard a few days ago, and when I FINALLY decided to pack up all my equipment and trek back the  lesser fresh air area of my property (house), I noticed this little guy below the rocky ledge I had stood on for the past half hour.      Of course, being the CITY FOLK that I am, I did not recognize what it was until, with the help of my binoculars, I could see that it was clearly a porcupine.  OKAY OKAY, so I still couldn't tell it was a porcupine until it moved it's front paw up to scratch an itch ... HA!  I wonder if I can claim it as a backyard pet, I mean, it "IS" in my backyard *wink* 

Look who we found on our front porch ... an American goldfinch and a black capped chickadee!                       

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WHY is it the GOATS always predetermine how I will use my day?  I got up this morning extra early, not willfully ... I was dragging like Garfield. I snuck (yes, this is in the dictionary) into the computer room, unbeknownst to the kittens ... I updated various VT travelogues (pat me on the back for that!  much over due) Still in my jammies, I headed to the kitchen for my first drink of the day, and, opting out of my usual breakfast COKE ... another pat on the back please!!!  Of late, it has become a habit to check the pastures from my dining window to make sure all goats and larger beasts are accounted for. 

This morning, no exception.   RATS !  No, not rats, but two escaped goats AGAIN!  One in my yard and one in the outside back of the main pasture.  I quickly sized up the situation, and after noting NO broken fences, I headed upstairs to put on official FARMER WIFE clothes ... don't ask what these are .. they are whatever is clean and quick to slip on .. today it could be jeans .. yesterday it may have been hubbies workout pants ... like I said ... easy come easy on!  Out the door I went and MS GOAT in my yard skips to me like .. GOOD MORNING .. WHATCHA GOT FOR ME?  I have a bucket of alfalfa, and you aint getting any!  hmmmmph ... Still wondering HOW she got from the back pasture into my yard, I saw the other goat SNEAKING BACK "INTO" her designated grazing area.  Hmmmmm ... okay ... so I need to tighten the high tinsile fencing again.  No problem, I've seen FARMER do it a number of times.  "Here BABIES!"  I call everyone / thing Babies ... doesnt matter .. I call, they respond (RIGHT KIDS??????)  So all the animals in pasture race towards the barn and Ms Goat skips along thinking she gets FIRST in line.  HMMMMPH ... NOT.  I finally roust her into the barn and into the winter pasture. 

Now is the tricky part.  Scheming exactly how I should approach this ... finally my plan of attack is inorder and I begin the countdown ... probably would take "FIVE" minutes for then to devour the bucket of alfalfa ... that gives me 4. 5 minutes to re-attach springs for electric fencing ... run to barn, plug in, run back out ... dash to check water level .. quick analysis of exposed farm equipment (ah! no clouds in sight, so not gonna mess with it) and dash to the far side and enter HUMAN entry ... side kicking any goats that challenge me in this timed obstacle course.  MISSION ACCOMPLISHED ... and do you know what?  I HOPE and PRAY (sorry GOD) that it's MS GOAT that is the first to get her nose ZAPPED as a warning that I AM BOSS WOMAN!

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