You might first notice some grayish, brown needles on the tree or maybe one or two branches where all the needles have turned brown.  Next thing you know, every needle on the tree is brown.  At its very worst we’re talking a couple of weeks here.  Folks, it’s done.  The tree is dead. 

What happened?  Nematodes (pinewood nematode) have attacked the tissue in the tree, causing decreased water flow and … eventually death.  The nematodes are carried tree to tree by pine sawyer beetles.   Immature pine sawyer beetles tunnel in the wood of dying pines and when the mature beetles emerge, they may carry thousands of nematodes on their bodies. 

Burn that dead tree as soon as you can.  Clean up all the needles and small branches for burning also.  The idea is to burn the tree before the mature pine sawyer beetles emerge from the wood since they carry the nematodes from tree to tree.  If the tree dies after October 1st, you need to burn it before May 1st.  If the tree dies between May 1st and September 30th, it should be removed and burned immediately.  (Don’t forget a burn permit!)   

We’ve watched our neighbors fight pine wilt for years and it hit us just a couple of years ago.  Four of our tree’s were killed by it last year, and two or three the year before.  If you have Scotch (aka Scots) pines, start your tree replacement research now.  Ponderosa pines, white pines, spruces, firs, junipers and red cedar should be considered since they don’t normally die of this disease.

I’m overwhelmed.  Not all the time, but this month I am.  Too much not done. 

The pool isn’t down yet.   Some leave it up all year but our family chooses to take it down annually.   It’s just got a tad bit of water left in it but it’s gross.  Algae city.  I have no idea how to clean it now.

Did I mention the cold weather?  It hit early and I wasn’t prepared for it.  No firewood cut.  I really would like to heat the home with the wood burning stove but a lot of wood is needed to do that.  My husband and I cut a little today and added it to some we had from a small tree we’d cut down earlier this year.  One small pickup load

and that’s all there is.

I wanted to downsize the chicken herd this fall.  I think it is still fall though it doesn’t feel like it.  Who wants chickens now that their laying has slowed down so much?!

“Someone” forgot to take the garbage to the end of the driveway last weekend so every can we own is loaded.  And so is the house.  And since it got cold, the flies found their way inside again.  They like the garbage.   Now I could bag it up & put it in the garage, but there is a litter of kittens in there and the mama’s would certainly dig in and create another job for me.

And here I am writing instead of paying my bills which are strewn in front of me.  I somehow also found time to take a nap today.  And yesterday.  I do thrive on stress, but have froze up a little with it lately.   Yes, I realize I’m whining.  I’ve got a great life.  I love it here.  It all gets done in time.  ♥

Oliver

    I fell victim to this temptation and missed out on what could have been.  Many years ago, I lost my first ever dog.  He was a great animal.  Smart, loyal, friendly, an easy keeper, on and on….  I lost him to pancreatitis.  Knowing how great a dog he was, I wanted another just like him —- and in my mind, it only made sense to get the same kind.  Well, I recently lost my replacement dog (Oliver) as well, and while I did enjoy him very much, I always compared him back to my first dog, Hymie.  I didn’t realize this until now.  I also now realize that I don’t do this for my other dogs.  They are much different than Oliver and Hymie and I expect them to be different.  I seem to accept their shortcomings better than I did for Oliver.  While I miss Hymie, I missed out on Oliver.♥ 

Ollie, after being outside in a big snow

 

 

Skip forward 5 minutes . . .

Kink in the day arrived (get used to at least one kink each day).  Husband came to ask for my help with Eddie our great dane.  He just got kicked in the face by one of the horses.  Bleeding but no apparent tooth loss.  Not swelling much so hopefully nothing broken. 

Signing off now –better get ready for the day at the office so I have time to come home at lunch to make sure Eddie is still OK.  ♥

Something an acreage owner feels odd saying to their guest: “Please excuse the dead chick on the driveway.”

Something a mom should never have to say to their child: “I’m sorry I killed the kitten.”

Something a child should never have to watch:  Her mom killing a kitten.  ♥

Pastures must be managed if you want them to provide good grass year after year.  We started with 1 horse several years ago on a 3-acre pasture and he had so much grass it was causing him problems.  So we added two bucket calves and a 2^nd horse (sort-of an impulse buy).  Oops, that was too much for 3 acres.  The calves ate everything they could get – including the pine needles as high as they could reach.   The horses ate the grass to the ground.  Result?  An overgrazed pasture. 

The next year, the weeds came up and it has been a battle ever since.  This year is the third season since the calves fulfilled their destiny and the pasture is on its way back to its past glory. Here is a laundry list of what was needed to get to this point.

• Build an emergency pasture, to get the livestock off the overgrazed pasture
• Mow the pasture every 3 to four weeks to control weed seed-heads
• Spray to control the noxious weeds
• Expansion of the emergency pasture to a permanent pasture. 
• Install gates and extra fencing to allow for rotational grazing
• Perform spot weed control to stop the advance of the aggressive weeds (like mares tail)   

There is a lot to know about weed control.  Simply going to the farm store and buying a bottle of “stuff” to spray can do more harm than good.  Your local extension agency can be a good source of help.  I found our local expert and took him freshly dug specimens, including the root, and he helped identify the weeds and gave solutions to control them.  It’s simply no fun to learn the hard way about overgrazed pastures! ♥

Like Suzi, I was definitely a city girl all my life.  Moving to the country in my early 40’s changed all that.  I have some memorable experiences with critters that did not belong in the house.  I am not a snake person… not at all.  If I would see one taking a snooze by the pond or under a rock I happened to lift up, that space was theirs.  I was not going to intrude …. not within 50 feet.  One evening I happened to be alone in the house and was peacefully baking a cake.  Doing some work in the back of the house, I remembered I had better check on it.  As I turned the corner into the kitchen, there it was.  I could not believe my eyes.  A creepy little snake was slithering around on my kitchen floor.  But what to do?  I really wanted to turn around and ignore it, but my mind quickly said “nope… you’ve got to face it or you may never find where it will go and then what will you do?”   So I looked around and the first thing I see is a flashlight on the counter.  That became my weapon, my snake-slaying weapon.  I slowly crept up and started bashing it.  But snakes don’t just give up or at least they don’t look like they do.  So I bashed it until there was no movement at all.  Then, I found a pair of tongs to pick it up with.  I carefully put into a plastic bag so I had proof to show that I did have a snake in my kitchen when my husband came home.  I couldn’t believe it and I didn’t think anyone else would.  He was not nearly impressed as myself; questioning why I would kill a little garden snake.  I said I happened to think it was a pretty good size garden snake, especially for one being in the house. 

Of course, I do know in my logical mind, I should have just picked it up (with the tongs) and thrown it outside.  But my emotional self just wasn’t thinking like that and I wanted that snake gone, out of the house forever, never to return.  I truly didn’t think I had it in me to kill it like that so you never know what you can do.  I do feel bad about it now because I know snakes do serve a valuable purpose….. but please…. just not in my kitchen!

Every day I have to go up to do chores at around 5:00.  First I have to catch my horse, Ace, to groom him while my sister picks his stall (cleans up poop). Then, we flip-flop, so when my sister, Elli, gets Tico out and CJ out for grooming, I pick their stalls. This takes almost an hour to do every day!  But I get horse incentive time. This is basically a 4-H thing where you earn certain prizes for the time you spend doing horse things. More time = bigger, better prizes.

Next I feed the cats. That’s easy; I just scoop up food in a cup and pour it in the bowl. It takes about 30 seconds to do.

Then I have to give water to the chickens and turkeys.  I dump out their gross looking algae water and then fill it back up.  I also have to un-kink the hose.  And coil it back up by the pump when I’m done.

By this time I have been up with my animals doing chores for an hour or so.  Next, I go down to feed and water my rabbits.  This sometimes takes longer than other times. I feed them hay, fur food, pellets, water, and occasionally a treat.

Then I can sit down, watch some American Idol until mom says, “GO DO THE DISHES!” and I stomp my way in the kitchen! And by the way…

KRIS ALLEN IS OUR NEW IDOL!

By Guest Author, Ivy

One fine spring day, while working on the chicken coop, my husband grabbed me to show me the mouse nest he’d found.  Several little naked babies, snuggled down in a nest made of bits of straw and chicken feathers.  The mama had ran out as soon as hubby discovered the nest. 

As you might guess, mice are not considered friends around here.  But what do you do with a nest of babies?!  I’d read before that chickens eat mice and; gulp, decided that was how I’d handle the situation.  Though hard to stomach, it seemed a better solution than killing them myself. 

Alas, the children were close by and we try not to shy away from life and death education.  With barn cats and chickens, they’ve experienced it a few times already.  I don’t really know what got into me by deciding to show them this particular situation.   Maybe I thought it would be just another experience to add to their repertoire but what I didn’t expect was for the middle child to jump in and grab all the little mice she could find.  And she wouldn’t let me have them back.  Refused.  Completely.

Think, mom, think.  So as not to further traumatize her, I reluctantly helped her haul the little baby mice to the house. And I ended up helping my daughter feed every little mouse.  They need to be fed every couple of hours and need their tiny tummies rubbed with a warm wet cotton ball so they can go to the bathroom.  Yikes.  I knew the time schedule wasn’t going to happen, but I figured we’d just do our best. 

The mice did live for several days but eventually met their demise.  I don’t know what went wrong, but know that we’ll never take on this experiment again!

♥