Dining Room Disturbance!

Teenage Tiger loves to run, play, and bounce off the walls, so no matter where you are, you will always hear him talking, or moving toys, or you will hear many dull thuds resulting from him jumping down from a chair or the stairs...he prefers to skip stairs and jump down from the landing. Just as you would children, when you hear nothing and it is not cat nap time, then you better investigate! So I did! Being a very bad disobedient 'always testing his mother' teenager, he was perched on top of my breakfront within inches of very valuable antiques peering intently out the dining room window. This is not unusual as I have caught him up there before and I punish him by putting him in the huge dog pen. I even positioned a chair in front of the window to alleviate this problem but no, he wants the height of the furniture and insists upon disobeying the rules.

After shooing him off gently so no scarring would occur on the cherry wood, I looked out to see what had caught his interest. A squirrel. So? There are always a few squirrels in the front yard. Coty tries to catch them and eat them. But this squirrel was different. It was licking the calcium deposits from the red brick....the brick must not have been cleaned off on the side of the front porch and it appeared to have been dusted with a white sand. Very faint but still noticeable although the rhododendron hides it from view. The squirrel would position itself in all sorts of silly ways to clean these bricks. Other smaller squirrels were busy carrying large walnuts across the lawn, but not this one! He/she was licking away! He noticed me, looked up, went back down to lick. He didn't care about the big human form or about the predator staring at him through the glass. He knew he was safe.

So that is my Sunday story. A squirrel licking the brick. Life is quiet around here and I am most thankful. I can get enough heart wrenching drama on the news.

Uh oh... I don't hear Tiger!!!!

Little Lily

Jessie had a small friend visit her on the farm today! Little Lily wanted to take a ride on Jess and the weather was perfect! Jessie is so gentle and patient with little children. She seems to know that they are fragile and need to be dealt with in a different manner. Nugget, Coty and Little Bear gave ample warning of the unfamiliar vehicle approaching from way down the lane before it became visible. Amazing dog ears!

Blue didn't mind one bit when Jessie left the field and probably was glad he could gobble more grass without any competition. Lily learned two of the most important rules at the barn...listen and heed Mrs. 'Kritter Keeper', and never stand behind a horse. She was eager to brush Jessie's broad shoulders 'helping' to rid the dust from her coat. The darling little child's saddle was placed gently on a fluffy fleece pad and Jessie's girth was slowly tightened. After Lily's helmet was secured by her mother it was time to get on! I easily lifted Lily onto the saddle and a huge smile brightly lit her face as her tiny feet were properly positioned in the safety stirrups. Ungloved little fingers obediently grabbed the pommel and in that moment, a child's dream of riding a horse became reality. I was leading Jessie and all of us listened to Lily's request to walk slowly while heading towards the front lawn (on the good husband's perfect grass...uh, oh!). I wanted Lily's mom to experience this idyllic scene while relaxing on the white rocking chair, but the poor woman was inundated by three 'attention deficit' dogs that demanded petting. They finally settled down with Little Bear lying right in our path so we had to go around her sleek black body to avoid the obvious.

Happiness irradiated during the long walk. A small child was living her dream of being with horses, a mother was enjoying the deep satisfaction of watching her blissful daughter, and all of us inhabitants at Woodfield were glad that we could be a part of these magical moments. None of this would have happened if it weren't for Floyd Fuller's passionate love for horses. It was he who offered the same memorable moments to his granddaughters and other little children in town. Many thanks to you Grampie and to you, good husband, who so generously in their own individual ways contributed to this happy day.

Deerless and Down

I am not seeing my deer herd much as the tasty spring chutes lure them away from my reliable shell corn. I know... each season demands a change in their eating patterns and they are supposedly like cows, with several stomach chambers. Previously I would get upwards of 25 or so feeding each evening like clockwork. I miss standing quietly in the midst of these beautiful creatures while they jockey for position around the 20 plus corn piles. I could then easily check to make sure they remained healthy.

It continues to be a challenge to memorize their unique physical qualities especially as the seasons change. Dusk really poses a problem. Many times it will be their specific movements that tell me who is who. Deer are not like horses, cats and dogs. Deer coats change color twice a year. They are golden brown like peanut butter in early summer and turn tree bark brown come late fall. The fawns' faces grow older as they become teenagers. The young ones are going through a growth spurt. They look awful with shaggy coats and bony bodies. The yearling bucks are getting leggy and thin too. Bossy's Boy is my largest and will be two years old in late May. Little Nub, Cocoa, BB, Brown Tail, Runt's twins, and all the other fawns will have lived a year come late May or early June. My beautiful 3-year old Longhorn was killed on the highway at the end of November so I heard in February from a friend who is an avid hunter. Evidently word spread that this was quite a deer. Someone picked him up right away since he was such a awesome buck which is why I never knew what happened or saw his body. One of the Long Tails has a button buck that looks just like him so I hope that baby will grow up and live a long life.

I still see my Brownie and her brood, thank heavens. Bandit stomped poor Big Girl's back this evening causing me to yell out at him. I cannot stand that. He is so aggressive. One of her twins from last year still lives and hangs out with the boys, so I guess that is why she puts up with this. I haven't seen her button buck. Sometimes the mothers push the young fawn boys away to teach them to hang out with other 'guys' so to speak but it is too early for that. Bossy was awful to Bossy's Boy last summer...she would chase him away from corn as though he were an enemy! Poor babies! Now he tolerates nobody except Bandit and pushes his mother out of the way of the corn! What goes around come around!

I still get to see Runt as she is learning to trust me more each month. Her tail was bit off when she was a baby and I used to hear her screaming for her mother late at night three years ago. It was excruciating. 'Fawn screams' sound like injured sheep. When I first heard that noise I thought someone (an animal) was being attacked. The mothers leave the babies hidden and graze nearby teaching them independence. The foxes scare the babies and it never fails to see a fox during these episodes. I rarely hear this in the winter, only summer and fall. The dogs go crazy which in turn gets me out of the bed with my huge 3 million candle spot light. I can see everything with that thing and I can always spot the predator. I read in a story written by a master of a foxhound hunt about a fox trying to kill a newborn fawn. Thankfully it turned out ok but the story was amazing and taught me a lot.

One summer while we had visitors, I heard that dreadful noise in the middle of the day which is unusual. Big Black Jack was a teenager then and was hunting with Devil Dog. I ran down to the backyard towards the distress call in the woods but before I got near the edge, Pokey (Devil Dog) popped out with Jack following and both ran past me looking quite alarmed. Seconds later, a doe passed me too, headed straight for the dogs who were close to the porch. She immediately made a sharp right and went up the hill and I am sure she circled back to her baby. Our visitors asked me if I was afraid she would have attacked me and I said no, it wasn't I she was after... I was no threat and she knew who I was and has watched me with the horses...I believe that was either Runt's great grandmother or Bossy's great grandmother or grandmother (still can't determine if Brownie and Bossy are sisters or mother and daughter).

I spotted a stray black lab and a beagle chasing deer the other day. I pray these dogs find good homes before the fawns arrive. They don't get near the house so I can't do anything for them. Maybe one brave deer will turn around, stop, and stomp them...they do that you know...they did that to Coty one morning...but that is another story!

Grass and Gardens

Busy days lately! Finally got the Pasture Pro on the paddocks and the good husband fertilized his beloved lawn. Why are men so particular about how perfect a lawn must look? Now the air smells of chemicals even though it rained through the night. I brought the horses in early despite assurances that Pasture Pro does not harm non lactating livestock. I didn't feed the deer nor did I see them that evening. They must have known. I have not used this Pasture Pro before. It is supposed to kill everything but the grass. Have a lot of moss. Need to lime again and then fertilize.

The farm looks so fresh today thickly carpeted with Spring's bright green blanket dotted with sunny daffodil blooms. Hazel, the lady that used to own the farm, lovingly tended the large garden in front of the house full of daffodils and iris's. I am sure these bulbs could be over 50 years old if that is possible. The unfortunate thing is that many do not bloom, so I am thinking I need to dig and divide. Not something I look forward to so that is probably why it hasn't been done yet.

We have some new visitors! Wood ducks! I spotted them eating some leftover corn yesterday and didn't know quite what they were but luckily had the camera for a quick shot. They flew to a corner in the pond and when I tried to find them, they left the farm. They don't have a loud quacking noise; instead they emit a little animal noise. Today they bravely pecked at some kernels scattered between the rocks in the barn driveway. I was surprised considering the resident serial murderer is always lurking nearby, ready for his next kill.

I contacted my excavator this morning to once again remind him that my outdoor riding arena needs to be completed. It has been a year since we removed the topsoil and put down the crush-n-run. He needs to work on an area that puddles before I add my limestone layer and then the river rock sand. I was trying to find some railroad ties but have failed so I am thinking of laying posts around the edges, that way if I am ever blessed with a roof overhead, then I can use the posts elsewhere and build another paddock. Supposedly he will be here next week sometime. Wow, will I finally be able to ride Blue on some good footing? We shall see! I renewed my membership with USEA just in case. I would love for both us to get back into showing. It has been over a year since Blue and I jumped and competed. August 2007. Such a long time ago...