life in a nutshell...or acorn? part 2 November

I'm back. Did you miss me?

When we last left this story I left you hanging onto the edge of your seat just waiting to see what the month of November brought us.

Ahhh. November. The glorious month that brings on the transition from Fall to Winter, Thanksgiving feasts, the smell of fireplaces, icy ponds, hot chocolate, pumpkin pies and rifle smoke.
Yep.
November around here means DEER HUNTING SEASON. yeah baby!
City Boy and I had been preparing for months for this upcoming deer season. We bought a tree stand and had been cleaning up some of the damage from the ice storm in the back woods so we would be able to see any of the deer back there to hunt them. Just before season opened we had a nice cold snap. The wild turkey were out and about, and with our property opened up in the back now, the turkey really enjoy scratching around out there and I enjoy watching them. We had picked up a pair of binoculars and it's sure nice to see the turkeys close up ...and from the warmth of the house. But back to what I was saying....I was watching the turkeys one morning, to my surprise out walks a nice, I mean nice 8 point buck. I'm thinkin' yeah, this is going to be a great hunting season this year.
Another day as I was wandering through the kitchen I heard the ducks quacking at the back of the house...kind like the quacking noise they made on that dreadful night...so I walk outside to see what was up. The ducks were quacking, but the chicken were wandering around like no big deal, clucking merrily, the dog was running around on the deck, so, I look in the direction the ducks are looking and I happen to gaze upon one of the largest bucks I have ever seen eating happily away at the base of some tiny oak trees. It had no care that I was outside talking to the critters or that anything else was going on. I thinkin' deer season is gonna be easy pickins this year. Heck, I can hunt from the back deck. Or maybe take the ducks hunting with me, they sure know how to spot 'em.
The afternoon before season opened, City Boy and I hopped on the 4-wheeler so he could show me exactly where he placed the tree stand. As we started to take off, out jumps a doe in front of us.
Now, I'm just jumpy with anticipation.
But, that night.... it didn't get cold, a warm front came in. Deer don't move around much when it's warm and for those 2 weeks of season, it got down right hot. I never saw another deer all during season.
City Boy did eventually bag a deer, a doe, a female deer...ray, a drop of golden sunnnn....ooops sorry I broke out in song there, and our new neighbor Mr L bagged 2 the same day and gave us one. So I put on my butcher hat...not the cool white paper one Harold wears but my pretend one as I change jobs...and I proceeded to assist Mr L with disemboweling and hauling the two deer out of his back woods, then carrying his donation back to our place to be skinned and butchered. In the mean time City Boy had come back home to drop off his kill to be skinned and butchered. Remember me mentioning how hot it was? Well during a normal season with cooler temps the proper procedure is to skin and hang the deer for 3-4 days before butchering it. With these hot temps you can't, the meat will spoil. So from bullet to steaks wrapped and in the freezer, I, single handily, processed 2, count them 2 deer in one day. * slapping myself on the back* Now if I can just muster up the energy to grind some of it into burger.....
Oh and P.S. the day after the last day of season... it turned cold again!*sigh*

In the mean time........... Barbie Girl got sick again. This time with Strep. and she got it BAD. She was sick all through Thanksgiving running 104 temps. It was getting kinda scary. Thankfully, and thank God, She's back in school now and seems to be feeling fine. I on the other hand am down in my back again, but life around here won't let me slow down. I've taken on watching "The L's" 2 boys, 7 and 9 years old, after school for some extra cash and my crochet hook is flying to try and finish up some Christmas gifts and the oven is always hot from baking goodies.

So until next time...that's life here.... in an acorn.

promised photos

So I promised you some before and after photos. These are not the greatest, but I will get some more later....BEFORE

After.
Notice the lack of cedar trees? Woo Hooo! I feel less clostrophobic already.
This is just for your enjoyment...or it would be if it were a better photo. This is the sky/treeline I can see from my back deck....it was all lit up in red and gold as the sun was coming up.
And these are pics of a storm that was just to the south of us and caused a tornado in a town less than 7 miles away. In the second pic you can see the start of the tornado between the trees.


And moving on to my creative-ness:
This is a floor rug made entirely of plastic Wal-Mart bags..the yellow strip is a Dollar General bag and the brown is a Bass Pro Shop bag.


Here is a Dragon I crocheted for my nephew for Christmas.

A Pig for Barbie Girl and a Horse for another nephew

A shrug for Barbie Girl and the lacy pattern of a scarf I sent to my sis. Barbie Girl ended up with one just like it.

Life in a nutshell....or acorn?

OMG!

I can't hardly believe it's been 2 months since I blogged last...and leaving you all hanging with the promise of more photos.
Bad me! *spanking myself* Bad...bad...bad me.

So what been happening out here in the boondocks? Let me dig deep into my memory bank and see what I can recall.....
(everything goes all swirly and I see a younger better looking self and things come into focus)

WAIT!!! This is supposed to be a flashback, not a dream sequence! Wake up girl!

OK. so why don't I just skip the drama and jump right into the happenings.

October came and went with good and bad days just like any other month, but it left us with a bad taste in our mouths.

On the good side we got 2 sets of new neighbors....on the bad side we got more neighbors.

City boy and I, being the wonderful people that we are had a neighborhood get together at out home so everyone could meet. Well, OK. we did it because we're just plain nosey and wanted to check everyone out.

The neighbors closest to us, "The L's" invited us to a Halloween party at their place. So City Boy, Barbie Girl and I dressed up and introduced our new neighbors to the wonderful world of Beerguritas ( thanks UpChuck). We drank and par-tay-d and we were worshiped for this newfound liquid gold. so we are now excepted into the many social circles of our small and very cliquish community.

BUT, the aftermath of the party and the consequential hangovers were not what left us with a bad taste in our mouths....well, it did, but not the one I'm referring to.

Tragedy struck the chicken house. Actually the duck house, but the ducks weren't in it. Don't you just wish I'd just say what I mean?

I had managed to hatch out 10 chicks in the incubator. They were now old enough to go outside, but not big enough to be in the big chicken coop, so I kicked the ducks out of their house and put the little babies in it. understand now? good.

But then.................

We were visited by a midnight snacker. And we lost all the chicks.

The remaining evidence wasn't 100 percent clear on what did the snacking, but I had a couple of ideas. In the mean time, City Boy and I patched up the duck house. Snacker-proof. or so we thought.

With the chickies gone there was no need for the ducks to remain in the "bighouse" so I put them back in the duck house. They were a bit hesitant to return there, I think they could still smell the carnage. But in they went and they were locked up for the night.

I save you all the details...but The midnight Snacker came back for another meal. This time he found the ducks. Persistent quacking at 3 AM allowed me to interrupt The Snacker's attempt at a meal.

I found The Snacker trying to get away with this one. The Snacker turned out to be a huge-ass 40 someodd pound raccoon. Man, do they grow 'em big here! At 3 Am it's hard to assess the damage very well, but all ducks were accounted for and I shoo'd them into the "big house", locked them up tight and went back inside to put on some better pants and some boots and set up my stake-out. I didn't have to wait too long before The Snacker returned for his missed meal. At this point I'd LOVE to be able to say that The Snacker had had his last meal and that I cured him of his lead deficiency, but alas holding a spotlight while trying to shoot is an acquired skill I don't posess yet. The Snacker got away, but at least he was empty handed. The Snacker did eventually meet his demise, but from the loaded end of my new neighbor. Thanks Mr L. I knew I liked you for some reason.

As daylight came, I went out to inspect the damage done. All but 3 ducks were badly hurt. I brought each one into the house examined their wounds, applied "Blu-Kote" and put each one back with a prayer. It was pretty worrysome for the two males for a couple of days. But for God's grace they all have survived and are now doing well..... and still living in the "bighouse".

Barbie Girl was sent home sick from school the day before Halloween. She missed school and all the parties they were having and ended up having to stay home Halloween night. We went ahead and let her dress up and then City Boy hid behind every door in the house with the candy bowl and let Barbie Girl knock on each one and say trick or treat. City Boy played up his part and Barbie Girl had a good time despite having to stay home.

I'm going to take a break right here, cause I have to pee and I need more coffee. But I'll be back with more photos ( I Promise) and what happened in November.

stay tuned.