I Love To Go A Gardening
Growing Our Life in Northern Michigan
Meet The Beetles
I hope everyone in the USA has a wonderful Independence Day tomorrow!
The employees at EJ’s company voted to work on the 4th so they could stay up late with family to watch fireworks, etc. It would be a short night indeed for them to stay up late and get to work at 6 a.m. the next morning. EJ usually works ten hour shifts Friday through Monday so he will have a break this week: work one day, get a day off, then work two days, then back to his normal schedule. It makes a nice short week. Saturday is supposed to be very hot so it will be nice for him to be able to not have to go in to the factory.
In my last post I described our battle with a toxic invasive plant called “leafy spurge.” (Read it here: Plants vs Beetles.) In my research into the best methods of getting rid of the evil plant, I found a company in Montana called Weedbusters Biocontrol that sells flea beetles which eats only leafy spurge. (They sell other noxious plant bugs but I’m only concerned with leafy spurge.) Even with the cost of sending the beetles by two-day air, they were the least expensive, least harmful to the environment, least effort, and best option for us so I ordered one release of a 1,000 beetles. It was a pleasure doing business with the company. Bob patiently answered my ignorant questions and our beetles arrived today in very good condition.
Our property was originally 10-acres but was split into two five-acre properties at some point in the past. We share our driveway with our other neighbor and often our packages get misdirected to him. Also, delivery people understandably refuse to try to make it up our long, winding, steep driveway in the winter because of deep snow and often icy conditions. (We get stuck in the driveway at least once a winter and have to dig out.) Because of this, we have a large box at the bottom of the driveway to put packages in. We ride or pull a sled down to retrieve packages in the winter if they are bulky. The box is supposed to be used only in the winter, but delivery people often leave packages in (and a few times ON) the box even in the summer. Bob from Weedbusters nicely sent me a tracking number so I would be notified when our beetles arrived. It was good that he did because although the deliveryman didn’t deliver the package to our neighbors, he did put it in the box on this hot day. However, I watched the delivery progress very carefully so we knew when the delivery was made and we were able to walk down to get the package minutes after it arrived.
As most of my readers know, throughout the shipping season our son JJ works one month as a deckhand on a Great Lakes bulk carrier and then gets two weeks off before going back on the ship. He never knows exactly where he will dis/embark: Detroit, Buffalo, Duluth, Chicago…it’s wherever the ship happens to be at the time he’s scheduled to get on/off. This time he was scheduled to get off in Gary, IN, but because of delays they let him off yesterday morning at the Soo Locks, which is much closer to home. Since he was driving close to our house, he stopped in for a visit and a nap before heading to his home, which is about 45-60 minutes away.
We are able to message/phone JJ while he’s on his ship and I told him about our leafy spurge problem and our solution. When JJ learned that we were getting 1,000 beetles to eat the plants, he fluctuated between exclaiming that it was “insane” and “cool.” He really wanted to be here to see the release, but after being away for a month, he was tired and just wanted to stay home. So instead I videoed the release for him. He thought it was awesome. Here’s the video we made for him:
Our local Conservation District offices didn’t know about beetles that eat toxic plants so after I learned about them, I contacted them to share the information and Weedbuster website with them. I was told leafy spurge is a problem in our area and I think the flea beetles are an awesome option.
Plants Vs Beetles
Every Enchanted Forest has it’s villain, whether it’s a witch, sorcerer, giant spiders, dragon. Ours is a plant. A very evil plant.
The first couple of years after we moved to our Enchanted Forest, we were busy fixing serious erosion along and across the driveway. It was so bad that I used to joke that we’d need a donkey to make it up the driveway. We had several dump truck loans of gravel, stones, and dirt brought in, which we spread out with shovels and rakes. We planted plants and built a series of small rock dams along the sides of the driveway to slow the rush of rainwater that washed away soil. It was difficult work.
[FYI: Although we were eventually successful in controlling the erosion at the sides of the driveway, we often get some erosion ON the driveway after a heavy rain. This morning we got a deluge of rain so I’ll be out filling in the eroded gullies soon. If I can, I’ll wait until the weather isn’t so very hot and humid.]
After a couple of years, we were glad to spot a couple plants with greenish-yellow flowers growing along the driveway. It meant that our erosion control efforts were working! But a couple years later I was happily trying to identify the wildflowers growing on our property. It was then that I learned that the greenish-yellow plants were an invasive species called “leafy spurge.” It spreads quickly, is difficult to eradicate, kills native plants, and is toxic. I was trying to figure out how to get rid of it when I was distracted by the 2020 lockdowns, EJ’s stroke, and other life experiences.
A couple of days ago, I happened to notice that leafy spurge was growing along both sides of our long driveway and spreading. Oh, bummer! I began trying to pull it up–although there’s a lot of it–and then went back to research. I had forgotten just how evil this plant is. I hardly slept Thursday night because I was anxious about how much effort and or expensive it would be to eradicate leafy spurge. I imagined “Cha-ching!”
I emailed our country Conservation District office Thursday night and then called them Friday afternoon. The woman I talked to said they had researched leafy spurge ever since they read my email. They gave me tips and also referred me to the nearby county’s Conservation District office because they have an invasive species specialist. They also suggested that I report our invasion to a Michigan invasive species site, which I did. Basically the advice I received from everyone was:
Mow the leafy spurge, which won’t affect the deep, deep roots, but will prevent the plant from developing seeds. Problem: The rock dams and steep hills on our property make mowing mostly impossible. We can’t mow over rocks. In addition, mowing can spread leafy spurge so we’d have to make sure we thoroughly cleaned up the site afterwards. The plant also gets on the mower, which also spreads it.
Dig or pull up leafy spurge. However, if we didn’t dig up ALL the root–which goes 10-15 (some say 30) feet deep–it will spread. In fact, if we pull up leafy spurge and drop it on the ground, it can replant itself. When leafy spurge is dug/pulled up, we’d have to take it to a waste removal place or put it in a plastic bag until it’s completely dead or it will replant itself.
Use herbicides. We have tried never to use herbicides because it is toxic. It adversely affects the wildlife and can contaminate ground water. Also, herbicides kill ALL vegetation, which means we’d be back to square one with our battle with erosion.
Also, a person has to be careful to protect himself when using chemicals. We could hire a professional, but that would be expensive. Plus, I’ve read that often leafy spurge has to be sprayed several times a season and/or over several years. Cha-Ching!
Rent a goat or horse. Yes, you heard me correctly. Goats and horses eat leafy spurge with no adverse effects. There’s actually an organization called “Goats on the Go” which rents out goats to eat noxious weeds. They bring fences and everything. It would be fun to have goats visit, but unfortunately, there are no rentable goats in our area. I know because I checked the website. It’s just as well. I’m sure that renting goats would be more expensive than we can afford.
Ok, so we were running out of options. It looked as if we’d have to use herbicides. Then I remembered that there are some insects that eat leafy spurge. In fact, I’ve spotted spurge hawk moth caterpillars on our spurge plants in the past, but I haven’t seen many/any in recent years. What if I could order more of the caterpillars? They eat the leaves of the plants. I researched online and didn’t find any places to buy the caterpillars, but I did learn that flea beetles eat the ROOTS of leafy spurge, which seemed much better than eating just the leaves. I wanted to make sure I wasn’t trading one invasive species (plant) for another (beetles) so I asked my Conservation District people about it. None of them were aware of insects being used. Neither were experts at MSU, which I also contacted. So I went online and after some searching, I found a place in Montana that provides leafy surge flea beetles. This is what they say:
“All the leafy spurge insects we handle are approved for release in the United States by the US Department of Agriculture. They are also host specific, meaning they only feed on spurge, nothing else. There is no danger of them feeding on native plants or crops. Once established on a site, the insects reproduce rapidly and spread to other weed infested areas (Aphthona lacertosa females lay 28 to 130 eggs). One release of insects can grow to over a million in just a few years. They are adapted to cold climates and do not die off in the winter. There is no need to purchase additional insects in following years. Because the insects’s only source of food is spurge, as the density of the weed decreases the insect’s population also decreases, a classic predator-prey relationship. Eventually the weed and the biocontrol come into equilibrium with each other at a low population in the environment. Since the insects spread to many acres and achieve permanent control of spurge, the cost of control is very low, possibly less than a dollar per acre for a large area. This makes biocontrol a very attractive option compared to the high and recurring cost of chemical control. All of these factors make biocontrol “The Smart Choice” for control of leafy spurge.”
They sounded perfect: We wouldn’t have to handle toxic plants, we wouldn’t have to use toxic chemicals that kill EVERYTHING, we wouldn’t have to hire professionals, and we wouldn’t have try to find goats. Late yesterday I called Weedbusters Biocontrol in Montana. Many states (including Michigan) require federal paperwork be filed for permission to ship insects across state lines. I will place my order for 1,000 flea beetles for $135. That is much cheaper and safer than any other method.
After all my research, I now feel like the leafy spurge expert in Michigan.
Merry Month of May?
The month of May has ended up being a bit more busy and stressful than I expected.
A friend from Iowa had planned to visit during May. She’s been wanting to visit for a very long time. However, that plan fell through and I’m not sure if a visit will happen this year. We shall see. At the moment, I think we are over-stressed by visitors.
Whenever our close friend (a different friend) has medical appointments in our area, he often stays overnight with us. He lives about two hours away with his very large dog, which he adopted several months ago. The dog is easy going but changes the dynamics in our household in major ways. I’ll get to that in a moment. Our friend had major surgery in early May. The original plan was that he stay with us a couple days after his surgery and then his daughter, who lives downstate, would drive up to take him home. However, just before the surgery the doctor told him that he wanted him to stay in the area for two weeks afterwards—until his follow up appointment—to make sure he was recovering well. So our friend’s stay was extended. With his pre-surgery appointments and then the two weeks after his surgery, he ended up staying about 3 weeks total.
We were very glad to help our friend. He is more “family” than our biological families. However, we did have a struggle with some boundaries, the most major of which involved the animals. Although his dog Cletus is easy going, our Hannah was starved by her previous owners so she’s very obsessed and protective of her food. We understand her abuse issues, we give her love as well as structure/correction so she’s a loving dog. However, whenever our friend fed Cletus, Hannah fought to get to it because [obviously] it belonged to her. We didn’t let her have it, knowing she’d get protective if she thought it was hers. When our friend accidently left Cletus bowl in the car and—gasp—poured Cletus’ food in her bowl Hannah went ballistic. She ended up attacking our cat, Timmy, who she felt was too close to her bowl at feeding time. This had never happened before. Timmy seems to be ok, but we isolated him and Clara in an unheated hallway/storage room that connects the main part of the house with the garage. There is a pet door between the areas so usually the cats can access both areas, but we shut the door to keep the cats safe until the friend went home and we could work with Hannah—without distraction or chaos—to make sure she re-accepted the cats. (We are still working on it.)
Meanwhile, we asked our friend to please make sure the dogs are fed separately so Hannah doesn’t get aggressive about food. He listened for a few days, but then didn’t, and didn’t listen to our other instructions regarding Hannah and Cletus, which caused Hannah to misbehave, which caused us to correct her, which caused our friend to say, “She’s ok,” except that if her behavior was “ok” we wouldn’t have been correcting her. I think our friend started thinking he needed to train Hannah (because obviously we weren’t doing a good enough job), not realizing that his ignoring our instructions and challenging our correction were what was causing the behavioral problems. We don’t want/need our friend to train our dog; we just need him to follow our instructions. It’s been frustrating and stressful.
Our friend will return for another overnight stay for his second follow-up appointment next week. We are struggling with how to be compassionate and also firmly set necessary boundaries that we absolutely need respected. I’m not looking forward to it. Sigh.
In addition, this year we are watching our son’s cat while he’s off working on his Great Lakes bulk carrier. His normal schedule is to work a month and get 2 weeks off throughout the shipping season. We had Astrid for a month and then JJ retrieved her for his two weeks home. He returns to the ship next week and we will get her back again. Astrid is an “only cat” and she never got used to having other cats around her, especially Clara who kept trying (unsuccessfully) to make friends with her. Astrid hid herself behind a picnic basket on the top shelf in the storage room in what we began calling her “fortress of solitude.” She came out purring whenever we entered the room so we could pet her, but she always hissed at the cats. I was hoping to integrate her into the main part of the house, but we don’t want to risk that with Hannah having behavioral problems. Sigh.
Last week the 8 chicks we ordered arrived at the farm store. We set them up in a cage in the storage room that the cats were in. We had a heat light for them but I think they were still too cold and two of them died—the first chicks we have ever lost. 😥 So we ended up moving the cage into a bathroom where we usually put new chicks. Besides being in the heated part of the house, we have a space heater in there for more warmth. The surviving 6 are doing well.
May had it’s happy moments too. All winter/spring we’ve enjoyed watching a doe and her last year’s triplets on our property. I think our property is their home area because they visit several times every day. This morning the doe gave birth to her new fawn. All morning I’ve watched her defend her fawn, patrolling the area and driving the triplets away from the area–as well as Theo, our outside cat. I think that the doe was waiting for her fawn’s legs to strengthen because after several hours she walked away with her little one following behind.
The doe was out of range of my wildlife camera and I was tempted to reposition it, but I didn’t want to risk her driving me away also so I waited until she and her fawn had gone away before I went out to move the camera. I was able to video them with my phone before they left. I had to set my phone camera to its highest magnification so it’s a little blurry and jiggly, but you can still see them.
Doe with newborn fawn
Fawn following after Mama
We also have a Mama opossum visiting our orchard at night. Her belly appears extremely “swollen,” no doubt because her pouch is filled with young ones. Opossums are very interesting. They are the only marsupials in North America. They give birth to a litter of 1-13 undeveloped young (known as “joeys”) after a gestation period of about 12.5 days. They are blind, hairless, and about the size of a honeybee but they must crawl into the mother’s pouch and attach to a nipple to survive. The joeys remain in the pouch, nursing and growing, for about two months. After two months, they begin to emerge from the pouch and will eventually ride on their mother’s back. They become independent in four months.
There is also a female turkey with a nest nearby. She often wanders browses through our yard. She comes so frequently that I decided to name her: Esmeralda.
I love watching the wildlife. Some people find delight and reduce stress by traveling, doing art or crafts, playing music, dancing, baking…We find delight and reduce stress by enjoying the beauty around us and observing wildlife. Which is why…
…Our friend lets Cletus roam freely and chuckles that his dog loves to chase wildlife off “his property.” Only our property isn’t his dog’s property. We didn’t make a big issue of it while our friend was recovering from surgery. We just asked him to not let his dog outside if he saw wildlife. However, when he returns next week, I will insist that Cletus not be allowed to roam as freely as before. I don’t want him to chase or threaten the wildlife at any time because we have specifically made our property “wildlife friendly.” I especially don’t want the wildlife threatened at this time of year when they are giving birth and raising their young.
Sigh.
“Don’t Worry. He’s Friendly.”
Our son, JJ, is a deckhand on a Great Lakes bulk carrier. Last Spring he slipped on deck and badly broke his leg. That ended the shipping season for him. He had to have surgery to insert a plate in his leg and recovery took months.
JJ returned to his ship last Wednesday. The day before he had to leave, he brought his cat, Astrid, over for us to take care of while he was gone. This was the first time we’ve watched Astrid. Usually JJ’s roommate takes care of her, but JJ felt we’d do better at providing her with emotional care in addition to physical care. I knew that it’s stressful for an animal to go to an unfamiliar place, JJ said Astrid has never been around dogs, and Hannah isn’t overly fond of strangers, whether human or animal, so that would be an additional stress. But I had a plan to slowly, carefully, and calmly introduce Astrid and Hannah.
It didn’t go as planned.
It was unfortunate that the day JJ brought Astrid here, our friend TH arrived with his dog, Cletus. They stay with us whenever TH has medical appointments in our area. He warned us ahead of time that he was coming, but his message wasn’t clear and his arrival that day was unexpected. Despite Cletus’ huge size, he is a gentle and easy going dog. However, his presence could bring additional drama to a cat who is already stressed and scared and to our Hannah who views strangers as a security threat. I explained to TH the need for us to introduce Astrid and Hannah carefully–without Cletus there. When JJ arrived, EJ and I met him in our short hallway, which is a contained space that we can close off from the rest of the house. I had Hannah on her leash and JJ held Astrid in his arms. The plan was for Hannah to see us give lovings to the cat so she’d understand that the cat wasn’t an intruder. This plan has worked before. Then TH opened the door and let HUGE Cletus in to the already crowded hallway. I knew that if Astrid freaked out and leaped out of JJ’s arms, Hannah would go after her, and we could have a bad situation. So I ordered, “Get Cletus out of here!” TH said, “It’s ok. Cletus likes cats.” I exclaimed, “This isn’t about Cletus! GET. HIM. OUT. OF. HERE!” and I herded Cletus out the door.
I felt frustrated because I had JUST explained the plan to TH. Don’t get me wrong. TH is a very nice guy and he loves Hannah and she adores him. I just don’t think TH fully understands Hannah’s issues. This nonunderstanding leads into a pet peeve of mine: That people often don’t seem to understand that interactions between animals can be unpredictable. I sometimes want to tell people, “Not every animal is like YOUR dog. Just because YOUR dog is friendly, don’t assume the other person’s dog is friendly. Also, just because YOUR dog likes cats, doesn’t mean the cat is ok with the dog. Always, ALWAYS, ask the owner for permission to approach their pet and respect their wishes.”
Before Hannah, we had Danny. Danny was gentle and easy-going. He LOVED people, especially children. When we lived in a small village downstate, I would often walk Danny through the village and he’d drag me over to be petted by everyone he met. However, he didn’t like every dog. If we encounter others walking their dog, I’d give them a wide berth to avoid any possible problems. At one place dogs would rush across the street and start circling us until the owners called them back which was a bit scary. A few times, we’d meet someone who’d walk straight for us, calling out, “Don’t worry! My dog is friendly.” Once when this happened, Danny and their “friendly dog that I shouldn’t worry about” got into a huge fight and it was tricky getting their leashes untangled and them separated.
Our Hannah was abused. She’s very lovable, but she has issues. We know her issues and are very patient with her. We set boundaries for her because if we let her get away with a little thing, she tends to push the boundaries. For example, when we ate popcorn in the living room, EJ used to throw her a few pieces. He had to stop it because she felt that she had a right to popcorn and a few times she plunged her head into my bowl and started gobbling it down.
We are careful about introducing Hannah to strangers. The first time TH brought Cletus over after he adopted him, I was careful to introduce the two dogs. TH had said Cletus would be fine, but we had to help Hannah. Their first encounter was rather noisy, but it went well (better than I expected) and Hannah has grown calmer with each visit. Now Cletus and Hannah are fine with each other.
We are careful when, where, and how we feed Hannah because she quickly develops bad habits that are hard to break. During Cletus’ first visit, Hannah tried to steal his food and I stopped her. TH said, “Don’t worry. Cletus doesn’t mind if she eats his food.” But it matters that Hannah doesn’t do it. She was starved by her previous owners and is very obsessed and protective of food. If we let Hannah steal Cletus’ food, she’d become very difficult to deal with. In fact, this last visit, TH forgot to bring Cletus’ dish in from the car so he just poured his dog’s food into Hannah’s dish. Hannah went ballistic and frantically tried to eat the food before Cletus did. Hannah’s bowl is her bowl. As I said. we have to be careful with our Hannah.
I repeat: Don’t assume other dogs are like yours. Always ask the owner’s permission before you approach or do anything with their dog. Respect the owner’s wishes. Always. They know their dog better than you do.
It can take time for a cat to get used to new surroundings. Right now Astrid is staying in the large storage room/pantry off the hallway that we can keep shut off from the rest of the house. We go in often to give her lovings. The other cats have access to that area. Timmy ignores Astrid while Clara is trying very hard to make friends with her. Astrid is an “only cat” and isn’t ready for friendship, but she’s hissing less at Clara so I’m sure they will work it out. Once Astrid feels more safe and starts exploring, we will work again to introduce her to Hannah.
I take videos and photos of Astrid each day to send to JJ while he’s on the boat. He enjoys seeing how his kitty is doing.
Michigan’s Storms
EJ’s shift changed a couple weeks ago from 2nd shift to 1st. We are adjusting well enough. First shift isn’t as physically difficult for EJ as working nights was. The hardest change has not been the change in hours but the change in days. Previously, he worked 10 hour shifts Monday through Thursday with Friday through Sunday off. Now he works Friday through Monday with Tuesday through Thursday off. That means that Friday is his Monday, Monday is his Friday, and our weekend is now mid-week. It’s very difficult to remember what day it actually is.
EJ now wakes up at 4 a.m. and leaves at 5 a.m. I had not intended to get up with him, but his alarm wakes me as well as him so I spend the early mornings with him and then go back to bed for more sleep. I like EJ being home at night.
Meal preparation is easy for me. EJ fixes himself a big breakfast; he can cook well and he really doesn’t want me to fix it for him when I’m only half awake. He wants only a light supper so I just make oatmeal, pancakes, etc. With EJ at work until late afternoon, I can get all my household chores done without interruption and without worrying about waking him with noisy tasks. So that’s good. So is being able to spend mornings with him on his mid-weekends.
Last week our weather was rather wonky, with sunshine, heavy rain, sleet, snow, and high wind–once all within 24 hours. However, we are thankful that we didn’t get the huge ice storm that hit northern Michigan. It barely skipped us and devastated areas to the east. I’ve heard that it’s being called one of the most severe weather events in the region in more than a century. There are many downed trees and thousands of people are still without power. We drove to town yesterday to run some errands and saw more than 30 utility trucks headed into the devastated areas. Many people shared photos and videos of the storm damage on X. Click on the link below to see a video of the ice snapping trees.
Michigan’s Ice Storm: Snapping Trees
While northern Michigan was getting ice storms, apparently southern Michigan was getting severe thunderstorms with (I think) a few tornadoes.
I’ve praying for the victims of these storms.
Early Adjustments
March’s weather has been bi-polar with huge differences in temperatures. Last week the temperatures reached up to 70 and all our snow melted. The next day we had several inches of new snow. Up and down. Up and down. Yesterday we woke up to a couple of inches of snow. Today the temperatures are in the upper 40s and the snow is melting. Tonight it’s supposed to get cold again with rain and snow.
I didn’t take Hannah Joy for many walks over the winter because either it was too cold or too icy. However, once we started getting warmer weather, she began demanding we resume our walks. She gripes at me until I take her out and then she starts walking toward the driveway. If I try to reel her back in, she digs in her feet and refuses to budge. If the driveway is clear of ice and snow, I let her have her way most of the time. Early this afternoon I took her for a walk and I saw a robin! Robins fly south for the winter and in Michigan their return is an early indication that Spring is on the way! Yay!
Today is our son’s birthday. Next week is EJ’s birthday. We celebrated both last weekend. JJ plans to go back to working on the Great Lakes bulk carrier and he isn’t sure exactly when he will get called up for his stint. He was off work just about the whole shipping season last year because he broke his foot when he slipped on deck and needed surgery. Thankfully, he has good insurance so he did ok.
The last couple of weeks has been a bit tough because EJ’s back pain has intensified. He injured his back years ago–before we met–and has suffered chronic back pain ever since. It appears that now arthritis is settling in his back, which sometimes gives him bouts of intense pain. He ended up coming home from work early several times because of his back pain and also because his blood pressure shot up. I suspect his blood pressure went high because of the back pain. He went to the doctor a week ago, but his blood pressure was ok when they checked it so the doctor did not change his medication other than telling him he could take two pills if necessary.
Today EJ started to work first shift because his company is eliminating second shift. (The doctor said working first shift might actually help EJ because working nights is hard on a person’s body.) Today was EJ’s first day on the new shift. There are advantages and disadvantages to each shift. It just requires reordering our schedules a bit.
At this company EJ works ten hours and gets three days off. On second shift, he worked on Monday through Thursday and got Friday through Sunday off. Now he will work Friday through Monday and get Tuesday through Thursday off. This means our “weekend” will be in the middle of the week. I think it will be difficult to remember which day it is for a while. But other than that, I kind of like his daytime shift because I can get most of my tasks done before he gets home from work. When he’s home during the day, I like to spend time with him.
Our meal times have changed. Before, we had our big meal at noon before EJ went to work. Now, our big meal would be in the evening except EJ said he’d prefer a really big breakfast and a light lunch and supper. I don’t want a big breakfast so I’ll still make my big meal at lunch. If EJ chooses–and depending on what sort of food I make myself for lunch–he can have leftovers at supper or incorporate them into his breakfast the next morning. Otherwise, he says he prefers oatmeal or something for supper. That works for me. By evening I’m usually tired and just want to relax.
Bedtime is the real trial. EJ now will go to bed earlier so he can get up at 4 a.m. He makes his own breakfast whenever he’s on first shift so that I (hopefully) can continue sleeping. The last time EJ worked this shift, he got into the habit of putting a little bit of egg in Hannah Joy’s food dish. Hannah didn’t forget this. As soon as her super-sensitive ears heard EJ cracking an egg in the kitchen this morning, she leaped out of bed and frantically scratched at the bedroom door. I didn’t sleep well last night and knew I wouldn’t be able to get back to sleep after I let Hannah out of the bedroom so I just got up and spent time with EJ. After he left for work, I went back to bed hoping for more sleep. I left the bedroom door but Timmy the cat kept coming into the bedroom meowing loudly and I heard Clara the Impossible Kitten racing around playing. Hannah tends to bark shrilly at the cats if she hears them which is why we shut the cats out of the bedroom at night and turn on the fan to block out their noises.
I’m a very light sleeper so getting enough sleep has always a problem for me. It’s going to be worse on first shift. I’d happily synchronize my schedule to EJ’s except that I can’t go to bed until sunset when the chickens decide to go into their coop for the night. I can’t force the chickens in earlier because they refuse to be rushed. I’ve tried in the past, and I’ve spent a lot of time chasing them around the coop until I’m able to get them inside. In winter months when the days are shorter they go in sooner so I can go to bed when EJ does, but in the summer it stays light outside until 10 pm. so I have to stay up.
Partridge Chanteclers
Friday EJ and I got to go to the farm store. I say “got to” instead of “had to” because it’s fun rather than a chore.
We’ve always gotten Rhode Island and New Hampshire Red chickens but last Spring we decided to get a couple Buff Orpington chickens. They are a pretty golden color so I call them “the blond chicks.” Last autumn EJ and I discussed trying to find another winter-hardy breed of chicken, hoping they would lay eggs during the winter. I did some research late last week and we decided to try to find Partridge Chantecler chicks. I read that they are a cold-hardy, breed of chicken that was created in the early 1900s by Dr. J. E. Wilkinson of Alberta, Canada. He wanted to develop a breed that could withstand harsh Canadian winters. They lay about 200 eggs per year, tend to go broody often, and are noted for being calm, gentle and personable if handled regularly as chicks. They are also good meat chickens, but we want them for their eggs rather than their meat. There is a white Chantecler, but we ordered the Partridge ones. I think they look a lot like the Reds, but the roosters have smaller combs.
We read that Partridge Chanteclers can be challenging to find. I found a couple places in the USA that sold them, but the minimum order was around 16 chicks, and we really only wanted four of them. Since we were planning to go to the farm store any way for other things, we decided to ask them if they could order six chicks for us.
As soon we entered the farm store, we heard chirping from further in. “Chick Days” had begun! Chick Days is when farm stores sell live poultry of various kinds in their store. It begins about now and lasts until…well, for months. We always take time to enjoy looking at the cute chicks running around in multiple large horse tanks set up near the back of the store. They didn’t have any Partridge Chantecler chicks at the store but I asked an employee if we could special order eight chicks. She said “Absolutely.” She told me that we were the first customers to order this breed this year and it was good that we came in when we did because the breeder was only selling 75 this year and they go fast. The store had to order a minimum of 25, but she increased it to 30 because (we laughed together knowingly) of chicken math. Chicken math is when you end up buying more chickens then you intended. A person might also find themselves buying other types of poultry–ducks, turkeys, etc.–as well. The employee said our chicks will arrive at the store in May. She will reserve our chicks for us and easily sell the others. I gave her my contact information after asking EJ if he was sure we didn’t want to order ten. It was tempting, but we held at eight.
While I was busy ordering our chicks, EJ got to talking to another customer who was waiting to buy chicks. They laughed about chicken math and then the man told EJ that he breeds show goats. He described his goat farm, which was very interesting. EJ ended up friending him on social media. We don’t plan to ever buy goats, but it’s fun to friend people we’ve met.
On Sunday we drove to the local hardware store to refill our 20 lb propane tanks for our little heaters. Although we’ve had a lot of warmer weather (in the 40s), there is still a lot of snow in the driveway so driving up and down it is an ordeal. To be honest, I keep my eyes closed so I don’t have to watch us careening down/up it.
However, I did not close my eyes when we returned from the hardware store because there was a bald eagle eating something right in the middle of the driveway! It majestically flew away as we approached. It would have been nice to get a photo/video of it, but I didn’t want to miss the experience by trying to get out my phone. I love bald eagles and it’s always a delight to see them.
The Dark Side of Sunny Days
This week we’ve had blue skies, ranging from cloudless to mostly, partly, or somewhat, blue skies. It varied. The point is that we actually could see blue instead of gray skies. We’ve had some cloudy gray skies, but not as much as usual. It was also very warm with temperatures into the 40s–even as high as almost 50 degrees! It was very pleasant to see blue sky, to feel the warmth of the sun, to hear the drip of melting slow, and to watch the mounds of deep snow shrinking. It was the tiniest whisper of Spring’s approach, but sometimes whispers are enough to bring hope.
However, there is a dark side to warm, sunny days in the winter.
What was once a firm path on the snow is softened by the sun so I take a step or two and then my foot plunges into deep snow. The snow paths are now littered with foot holes. The cooler temperatures of the night forms a hard slippery glaze on top of the snow. So walking actually involves a step, slide, plunge, slide, slide, step, plunge, step, step, step. It’s very random like hidden traps set in the snow. Walking becomes very difficult so I think that I must look like a drunkard tottering with an unbalanced gait down the paths.
Tuesday morning when I took Hannah Joy outside, I slipped on a patch of ice. My feet went up in the air and I landed right on my back. Ouch! I imagined that I looked like a cartoon character slipping on a banana. The last time I slipped on the ice was in January 2018. I remember because we had only had Hannah for a month. I broke my wrist and had to have a plate inserted in it. Fortunately, I didn’t break anything this time.
I’ve taken to carrying a 5-6 foot staff with me to help me keep my balance. I don’t know exactly what to call it. I think of it as a stick because it’s long and narrow, but it’s actually a 1 inch square board that was leftover from making a shipping box. EJ actually has a staff that he made from a long tree branch. He uses it whenever we go for a walk, no matter what season. It reminds me of Gandalf’s staff. Once in a while, EJ will ask me to hold it for him for a moment while he does something or other. I can never resist raising it up to plunge it down as I thunder, “YOU SHALL NOT PASS!” But after the first few times that I did that, EJ started telling me as soon as he hands it to me to just hold it because I don’t have the authority or security clearance to use his staff of power. Bummer. I still try though.
When EJ drove home from work in the wee hours of Tuesday morning, he got stuck coming up the icy driveway. He almost made it all the way up but then the truck slid back into deep snow. He said, “Screw it”–or words to that effect–left the truck stuck in the snow and walked up to the house and to bed. After he woke up the next morning, we went down the driveway with shovels and shoveled out the truck. It took us about an hour to free the truck and get it up to the garage.
Every day that the temperatures are warm, which has been every day so far this week, I hope that all the snow in the driveway will melt away. There are some growing bare patches, but there was an awful lot of snow in the driveway, even though our neighbor regularly snowblows it for us with his tractor. EJ hasn’t got the truck stuck again, but he says the drive down and up the driveway is “more interesting than I like.” The truck’s tire tracks have frozen into ruts which the truck insists on keeping in so he says it’s like driving on rails. Our neighbor told us several years ago that the previous owner of our place kept large barrels of salt along the driveway so he could salt it. However, the salt killed the vegetation which held the soil in place so when we moved here the driveway was in very bad shape from the erosion. So we don’t use salt. We use shovels instead.
This week I’ve been setting my alarm for 3:25 a.m. to wait for EJ to get safely home. I don’t want him to get stuck in the driveway, to slide off into the valley, or to slip and fall while walking to the house. Once he makes it into the house, we both go to bed. This means that my sleep happens in two parts. Not ideal, but it will only last until more snow covers the ice or until the snow/ice melts. I was hoping to sleep in a little this morning but Timmy the cat started yowling outside the door, probably sometime between 6 a.m. and 7 a.m. I translated his yowls as “I’m hungry, feed me NOW.” I tried unsuccessfully to block out his yowls, but finally gave up and fed him.
A few days ago, I was cleaning up the kitchen when suddenly my dishcloth disappeared. I immediately suspected that Hannah took it. She always sneaks things that she knows she’s not supposed to eat onto our bed so I went and looked there, but I didn’t find it. I couldn’t find it anywhere. I even looked in cupboards, in the fridge, in the wastebasket, and other unlikely places just in case I had thoughtlessly put it there while thinking of other things. But it was nowhere. Hannah remained my prime suspect even though I had no evidence. She has a list of priors.
Last night, during EJ’s first and my second sleep, she suddenly started heaving. Both EJ and I leaped up and dragged her off the bed so she wouldn’t barf there. Up came the missing dishcloth. Sigh. Hannah is like a goat: She eats anything and everything. We do our very best to put things where she can’t reach them, but sometimes she eats things we never imagined she would (like full cans of cat food) or she reaches things that we thought she couldn’t (like my dish cloth on the counter). She not only eats things inside the house, but also outside (like animal poop). Her temporary deafness when she doesn’t want to obey and her eating everything is why I keep her on a leash when we go outside.
It was warm today–in the low 40s. But the sky was gray and it also snowed a little. Not enough to cover the ice so my alarm is set for 3:25 a.m.
Snow Fall
Today the sun has been peeking through the cloudy gray sky. My eyes are unused to sunshine–Michigan gets a lot of cloud cover because of the Great Lakes–so I lowered the window blinds halfway. I hated to do it, but the sunlight was blinding.
I discovered that I can check snowfall amounts for selected dates on the National Weather Service website. I learned that since December 1, 2024, until today, our county has had more than 124 inches of snow. The weather reports always add “with locally higher amounts” so we could have had a bit more or less than that. We live in a snowbelt where we often get Lake Effect snow so I’m sure that affects the totals. According to the NWS graph, our “normal” average amount of snow is about 87 inches. The highest amount of snow was 148.5 inches in 1984-85. The lowest amount was 36.5 inches in 1943-44. I thought was interesting.
We don’t have 124 inches of snow on the ground. Some of it melted during warm days in December. The snow also tends to settle down over time and compresses. Still, we have mounds of snow everywhere. My raised herb garden, which is near the bird feeder pole that is just outside the living room window, is completely hidden by snow. I’ve notice a variety of tunnels in the snow and holes going into the herb beds and I have observed small squirrels and once a mouse going in and out. I wonder how many critters are hiding there in the garden beds under the snow? It wouldn’t surprise me if the rabbit that visits to eat the seed that has fallen to the ground is also sheltering there.
I have made my own tunnels (paths) through the snow to the bird feeders, the coop, and the compost pile. If I step off the paths, I step or fall into deep snow.
Last weekend there were deer in the yard when Hannah Joy wanted to go outside. Since the chickens don’t particularly like winter weather and they were safely shut up in the coop, we decided to take Hannah out back to the fenced in garden and let her off her leash to see how she could act. Hannah only obeys when she wants to and her stubborn disobedience is why we always keep her on her leash when we take her outside. As soon as we took her leash off, Hannah ran to the coop to sniff it, then she ran into the garden to one of the chickens’ favorite hangout places in warm weather and began to eat their leftover poop. I called her but–surprise!–she was suddenly deaf so I had to wade through thigh-high snow to retrieve her. EJ stepped off the packed snow path and fell into the deep snow. We laughed as he struggled to get up. We finally caught Hannah and got her back in the house. She failed the test. The leash stays on.
Yesterday I took Hannah outside so she could do her “business.” I glanced toward the forest and was startled to see a deer head sticking out of the snow a few feet away looking at me. We have a deep ravine around our property and obviously the deer was coming up the side. Her body was hidden by a mound of snow so all I could see was her head. It was a surreal sight. We looked at each other for a moment and then she calmly climbed the rest of the way into the yard and went over into the orchard. We looked at each other some more and she calmly went back into the forest. Hannah never saw her.
Earlier this week I got the pots and lids from the cupboard and matched them to each other. We have several pots the same size and several lids that fit them. We put a dap of paint on the pan handles and the lids that match them–each size a different color–because we got tired of having to keep searching in the cupboard for the lids that fit the pot we want to use. We hope to buy unique knobs for each size so we can easily match pots and lids to each other. I emptied a tote, put the lids in it, and slid the tote in the cupboard so we can easily access the lids.
EJ didn’t feel well earlier this week so he took Tuesday off. He didn’t have enough accumulated sick time so we will have a smaller check next week. His usual work schedule is 10 hours Monday through Thursday so he went in to work today to help offset the shortfall. He texted me that he’s on his way home so I think I must end this post. So long until next time!
Dog Crime
It keeps snowing and the snow keeps piling up–one, three, or 5 inches at a time. I’m so very thankful for our neighbor, Dale, who faithfully snowblows our driveway for us with his tractor. What a a blessing he is!
Last week I discovered a dog crime.
Before I leave the house–whether for just a few minutes to do outside chores or to run errands–I try to make sure to Hannah-proof the house. Hannah will eat anything edible that she can reach. “Edible” can range from food, paper, dishrags, or cans. She’s practically a goat.
Last year the cats started turning their noses up at dry cat food. Last year was also the year that I began reading the “Cat Who” books by Lillian Braun. The cats in those novels insist on being fed high quality food such as lobster and meatloaf. Coincidence? Maybe. Or maybe our cats have been reading over my shoulder and have gotten ideas. We aren’t feeding them lobster, but we have switched over to giving them canned food. I store most of the cans in the unheated pantry, but usually keep six or so cans on the bottom shelf of the kitchen island where they are easily accessible and so I can cut down on the number of trips I make to the pantry, especially on cold mornings. After I feed the cats, I put the empty cans next to the sink to wash the next time I do dishes. I then put them in our recycling bin in the laundry room.
For several weeks, we’ve caught Hannah chewing on a can. I thought she was somehow reaching the empty unwashed cans next to the sink, even though I tried to push them back so she couldn’t reach them. But one morning last week, I realized that 1. I knew there had been two cans on the island and suddenly there was only one, 2. Hannah was eating a can on the couch. Although I’m not Nancy Drew, I put two and two together and deduced that Hannah had been stealing FULL cans of cat food from the island. How many has she eaten? Three? Four? Five? Busted!
I don’t know what the punishment for felony theft of cat food should be so I scolded Hannah and found a new place to store the cat food.
Timmy and Clara are getting along ok. Although playful little Clara is obsessed with Timmy’s tail and keeps attacking it. Timmy, who is probably about 15 years old, is not impressed with Clara’s kitten playfulness and sets her a boundary now and then.
A couple weeks ago EJ and I stopped in at our favorite thrift store to hunt for treasure. Just before we were ready to go up front to pay for the items we had found, I happened to spy a picture on the floor, partially hidden by other items. It was a very nice illustration, mounted on wood, of all the lighthouses along northern Lake Michigan in the region in which we live. I excitedly showed it to EJ as I put it in the cart. We declared it the find of the year.
Over the years, EJ has been slowly collecting models of Michigan lighthouses that he finds in thrift stores. It’s always fun when we find one of a lighthouse that we’ve actually visited. We’ve been putting them on a shelf in one of our bathrooms. The lighthouse picture I just bought was too big for the bathroom–and it was too nice for the bathroom, so we rearranged the pictures in our living room and put it there. EJ hung up a shelf that’s been stored in the pantry (which doubles as a storage room) under the lighthouse picture. We placed the smaller lighthouses on the shelf and the bigger ones on the table under it. It looks really nice as you can see in the photo below.
Catching Up
Yikes! I haven’t written since January 2nd. I have a lot of catching up to do.
After several mild winters, we are back to normal winters with cold temperatures and lots of snow. EJ read a couple weeks ago that we had gotten ten feet of snow so far this winter. We’ve probably gotten another foot or so since then. Some of the snow melted on warmer days but we still have a lot on the ground. The snow gets packed down where we frequently walk so we are walking on several feet of snow. Off the paths, I sink deep down into the snow and it’s difficult to walk
It’s been so cold that my trail cam batteries didn’t hold their charge and I had to charge them every day. It got tiresome so I turned off the trail cam until the weather gets warmer.
On the cold nights, we let Theo, our outside cat, into the pantry/storage room. It’s unheated, but warmer than the garage. We made him a nice warm shelter to sleep in. He likes it so much that now he doesn’t want to leave it. We figure that he can stay until warmer weather.
A couple weeks ago I went out to the coop and saw that our older rooster’s back was ripped open. I’m pretty sure Edward did it, since a wild animal couldn’t have gotten in the coop. If it had, it would have killed the rooster. We are not sure of the identity of the older rooster. EJ thinks it was Corey who was the youngest before Edward. I suspect it was Sassy but EJ doubts this since Sassy was our very first rooster, which would make him 10 years old, which is very old for a rooster. The first year I got chickens, I had banded their legs so I could tell them apart, but the chicken’s took them off and I haven’t bothered since. Anyway, let me continue.
We bought a medical spray for Corey/Sassy and put him in a dog crate in the storage room with Theo. Once his back healed, I moved him to a sturdy dog house inside the coop so he could be with his flock but still remain isolated from Edward. I figured I would let him out when the weather warmed and the chickens went outside where the roosters had more room to avoid each other. The chickens don’t like winter weather so they usually stay in the coop even when I open their little door. Corey/Sassy died a week later. I think he (Sassy) died of old age.
So now Edward rules the roost.
EJ and I had some debate about Edward’s name. I originally called him Edward the Third because he was the third rooster we had at that time. I liked that name because I could easily morph it into Edward the Turd when I was unimpressed with him. Most of our roosters have been sweethearts. Edward is a bit of a turd. EJ changed his name to Edward V because he’s the fifth rooster we’ve had since we got our first chickens. I remarked that technically he should be called Edward I because he’s the first one named Edward. But I conceded when EJ told me it was easier to remember how many roosters we’ve had if we name him the fifth. Ok. Point made. He is Edward V. We decided that from now on we will name our roosters after British kings (since Americans don’t have kings). The next one will be named Richard (or William, Henry, John…) the Sixth–and so on. I’m glad we got that settled.
Our new kitten, Clara the Impossible Cat, is settling in.( FYI: Since she is named after a Doctor Who character, her name is pronounced Clahr-ah rather than Clare-ah.) It’s fun having a playful kitten in our lives. Clara has created her own little games. She loves to attack Timmy’s tail. I was able to capture it on camera the first time she did it. I was reading in bed and Timmy was on my lap, purring and contentedly swishing his tail…when Clara saw it. This is what happened next:
Another game Clara has created involves her hiding under our bed and attacking our feet when we walk by. Since she is mostly black, we never see her until we suddenly feel a sharp pain in our foot. I got this game on video too: Clara’s Attack Game. I enticed her a little to get it on video, but usually she attacks without warning when we least expect it.
So that’s how I’ve been spending 2025 so far.
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Clara, The Impossible Cat
I hope you had a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
Our Christmas was nice. It was peaceful and free of unwanted stress or drama. Just as we like. EJ cooked us a nice Christmas dinner. We had our favorite holiday treats and relaxed. Sometimes we give each other gifts for Christmas. Sometimes we don’t. This year we didn’t get each other gifts. Until, unexpectedly, we did.
EJ saw that someone he follows at Twitter/X was trying to rehome one of her young barn cats. She and her husband live in the same general region as we do so he told them that we’d adopt her. EJ arranged that we’d meet on December 27 at a parking lot in a town approximately halfway between us. We got there a few minutes before the other couple did so we had enough time to stop at a Cops & Donuts Bakery for some donuts. The bakery has an interesting history. There is a doughnut shop and bakery in Clare, Michigan, that has been in constant operation since 1896. The business was within weeks of closing when the nine members of the Clare Police Department came to the rescue and bought it and renamed it “Cops & Donuts.” They have since expanded to other locations, one of which we went to on Friday. You can read their whole story at their Cops & Donuts website. EJ and I bought two donuts each. I chose two different types of Bismarks (my favorite!) and EJ chose a Long John and an apple fritter. We each ate one on the way home and the other we saved for the next day’s breakfast.
We adore our new cat. She is young–older than a kitten, but not yet full grown. She’s mostly all black with a triangle of white on her chest. The tips of her toes on her back feet have a tiny bit of white as well. Surprisingly, people tend not to adopt black cats, but we love them. Our black cats have always been extremely cuddly.
On the way home, EJ and I discussed names. We have often had multiple cats at the same time and over the years we have given them theme names. Like ending all the names with “Kat”: Ellie Kat, Bob Kat, Kit Kat, Thom Kat, and Fraidy Kat. We had three cats we gave Star Wars names to: Luke, Han, and Anakin, although we had to change Anakin’s name to “Annie” when we realized that “he” was a “she.” Annie sang very beautifully with extra flourishes added in. In recent years, we’ve given mostly old fashion-sounding names to our animals, such as Theo, Madeline, and Timmy. We are continuing with this theme. We considered naming our new cat “Holly” because we adopted her during the Christmas season, but she doesn’t really look like a Holly. We liked “Matilda” but it sounded too long for a first name so we shortened it to “Tilly.” We finally ended up with another name, but I’ll get to that in the next paragraph.
Not “Tilly” is very sweet and cuddly and purrs, purrs, purrs when we hold her, but she is also very shy and likes to hide. We know that it can take a while for a new animal to adjust so we give her time to get used to her new home, but we also make sure we spend time holding her so she feels safe and loved. When we can find her, that is. Because she is black, she blends in to the shadows and is very difficult to find. Sometimes we catch a glimpse of her peering at us around a corner but then she vanishes–almost as if she has teleported. We have exclaimed so much that it is almost impossible to find her, that EJ finally suggested we name her “Clara, the Impossible Cat,” which is a nod to “Clara, the Impossible Girl,” one of the Doctor’s companions in the Doctor Who science fiction series. The term “The Impossible Girl” encapsulates the enigma surrounding Clara’s existence and her ability to appear in different timelines, defying the usual rules of time and space in the Doctor Who universe. So Tilly has become Clara. I used “Matilda” as her middle name.
Meet sweet Clara Matilda, our Impossible Cat, who has the ability to defy time and space by vanishing into the shadows:
We have been careful in how we introduce Clara to the other pets, especially Hannah, who tends to have strong likes and dislikes and merely tolerate cats. This is the first new cat we’ve brought into our home since we adopted Hannah (the others were already here) so we weren’t sure how she’d react. We’ve let Hannah know that Clara is now part of the family. We have shown Hannah that we love Clara–and also that we love her. We have sat near Hannah with Clara in our arms. Hannah’s reaction? She refuses to look at Clara. She also refuses to look at EJ or me if we are holding Clara. If we get in front of her with the cat, she deliberately turns her head away. It’s rather funny. We tell Hannah to stop being ridiculous. But, of course, she doesn’t listen. It might be faster if Hannah wasn’t so jealous and Clara wasn’t so shy, but I think they’ll get there. Baby steps.
As for Timmy? He mostly ignores Clara. If they get close, Timmy hisses at her. But that is pretty normal behavior when we’ve brought a new cat into the family. Timmy often sits on EJ’s lap and EJ thinks he’s angry that Clara is now sometimes in “HIS” place. It takes time. Baby steps.
Our tradition on New Year’s Eve has been to make pizza and eat chips while we watch a long movie such as Lord of the Rings. When we were younger, we’d watch all the Lord of the Rings movies over two days, staying up all night if we had to. These days we don’t stay up until midnight. This year EJ only got New Year’s Day off from work. He had to work on New Year’s Eve. He tried to convince his company to let him have New Year’s Eve off because that is the REAL holiday. New Year’s Day is just the recovery day for those who drink, which we don’t. His company was not persuaded. I suspect that they didn’t want to give employees New Year’s Eve off and have them come to work the next day with hangovers. That makes sense. But because EJ had to work, we didn’t celebrate the new year. Oh, well. I had a quiet evening and went to bed at the normal time.
Sort of.
I shut Hannah in the bedroom with me and the cats out. I wanted Clara to be able to explore the house and I didn’t want to worry about her and Hannah having an unsupervised encounter in the night. I shut Timmy out because I didn’t want him scratching to get out of the bedroom if I kept him in and I wanted him to have access to the litter box. The plan sounded good. But Timmy wanted inside the bedroom and he yowled and rattled the door for two hours before finally shutting up when I banged on the door. Sigh. Last night I just kept the bedroom door open and there were no problems. I shouldn’t have been concerned. Clara is the Impossible Cat who knows how to defy time and space by vanishing into the shadows.
Dear Human
We have entered a period of cold weather with temperatures in the single digits. When we woke up this morning, the temperature read 1 degrees but it’s possible it was much colder. EJ read online that the temperatures of nearby towns were around -20. I think we are just having a normal winter but it seems more difficult this year because the last couple winter have been so mild. We’ve gotten spoiled.
Our house has a geothermal system, which heats/cool our house using the thermal energy stored in the earth. I asked Grok, X’s AI, to explain our heating system in a simple way: The earth’s core is extremely hot, and this heat radiates to the crust, maintaining a relatively constant temperature underground. Even just a few feet below the surface, the temperature is more consistent than the air temperature above ground. We have a heat pump, which transfers the heat from the ground and concentrates it for use in heating our house. In summer, it can reverse the process to cool our house by transferring heat from our house back into the ground. The advantage of this system is that while our house is being nicely heated from the earth, it doesn’t use propane, which saves us money. In fact, a few weeks ago we got slapped with a fee from the propane company because we hadn’t used enough propane last year. We didn’t know there was a minimum amount we were supposed to use.
The disadvantage to our system is that when temperatures fall below a certain temperature–around 20 degrees or so–the system switches to auxiliary heating, which uses propane. Our auxiliary system doesn’t seem to be very efficient at heating our house. The actual temperature never actually reaches what we set the thermostat to. We set the thermostat to 68 degrees but are lucky if it reaches 65.We had the repairman out a couple of years ago to looking into it. He replaced a part to the heat-pump but the problem might be to the auxiliary system? Anyway, We end up setting up our little electric and our propane space heaters to supplement our heat. I wish we had a wood stove for supplemental heat, but our insurance agent said he would not provide insurance if we had one.
Whenever the temperatures get really cold, we turn on all the faucets in the house so they drip to keep the pipes from freezing and bursting. However, this morning we found a bit of water on the floor in the master bathroom. Bummer! EJ looked into it and found that the drain pipe was leaking. He was able to repair it. Hopefully that is all that was wrong.
I’m not thrilled about our heating and plumbing problems but I think of the survivors of Hurricane Helene who have lost loved ones, their homes, their jobs, and are living in tents during the winter and realize how blessed I am. Our problems are minor inconveniences. I have been praying daily for them because they are going through horrifically difficult times.
A few mornings ago, I was rather cold and didn’t want to go outside where it was colder so I delayed going out to fill the birdfeeders. Suddenly I saw a squirrel leap to the patio table that is on the deck and peer in through the window. I thought that was odd because the squirrels have never done that before. He ran off when I started videoing him. A few minutes later, another squirrel came up to look in the house. And then another. Some even scratched/knocked on the window. It occurred to me that they were trying to tell me that the bird feeders were empty and they really wanted me to refill them. So I did. LOL.
I know that some people will have a problem with squirrels going to their bird feeders, but we enjoy all the wildlife. We often laugh at the clownish antics of the squirrels. The other day I was looking out the window and a squirrel suddenly dropped from the sky onto the top of the birdfeeder pole up near the house. I think it must have leaped from the roof of the house but it sure took me by surprise.
Timmy the cat has been getting finicky about his food. For a while we were feeding the cats dry food, but they suddenly didn’t like it. I wonder if the pet food company changed their recipe? So then we bought them canned cat food, and at first the cats gobbled it up. Theo, our outside cat, still likes the canned food, but Timmy has begun complaining about it. Frustrated, I asked Grok to write a list of demands from Timmy the Cat. (A few days ago, X gave me Grok for free even though I don’t have a premium account. I don’t know if free access to Grok is permanent so I’ve been having fun with it while I have it. This is the demands Grok wrote as Timmy:
Attention, human servants!
I, Timmy the Cat, have had enough of this so-called “cat food.” It’s an insult to my refined palate! I DEMAND:
Tuna – Fresh, not that canned stuff. I want it straight from the ocean!
Salmon – Wild-caught, preferably from the clear rivers of Alaska. None of that farm-raised nonsense.
Lobster – Yes, you heard me right! I want whole lobsters, not just the bits you think are suitable for a cat of my stature.
No more dry kibble or wet food from a can. I am a cat of exquisite taste, and I will no longer settle for anything less than the gourmet delights I’ve listed.
Failure to comply will result in… well, let’s just say the consequences will involve your curtains, your favorite shoes, and a lot of meowing at 3 AM. Serve me well, and you might just earn yourself the honor of a purr.
Sincerely, Timmy the Cat, Esquire
#CatLife #GourmetCat #TunaOrBust #SalmonSovereign #LobsterLover
We compared the cost of canned cat food vs canned tuna. The tuna was only slightly more expensive so we bought a few cans for Timmy. He licks up the juices but leaves the tuna behind. Sigh. I’m NOT buying him fresh Alaskan tuna, wild-caught salmon, or fresh lobster.
EJ’s company gave him a $400 gift card at Meijers (a series of stores in Michigan that are more-or-less like Walmart in the types of products it offers). We decided we’d use the gift card to buy a few special foods/treats for Christmas, but we went shopping on Friday and everything was so expensive that we ended up just buying the things we normally buy (plus tuna for Timmy). Some years we get each other a gift and some years we don’t. We are content with our lives and don’t need a bunch of stuff. To us, Christmas is deeper and more meaningful than the hectic frenzied shopping sprees. We have each other, we have a quiet life, and–most importantly–we have the gift of the Messiah. That is enough.
Snooker, Curling, and Bowls
The weather continues to alternate between cold and warm, snow and rain. We’ve been spoiled in recent years with mild winters, but it looks like the weather is back to normal now.
Our friend lives a couple hours away and often stays here when he has an appointment in the area. He had an appointment today so we “babysat” his new dog, Cletus. Hannah Joy adores our friend so we call him “Hannah’s Favorite Uncle,” which would make Cletus “Cousin Cletus.” This is the second time Cousin Cletus has been to our house. During his first visit, Hannah Joy complained constantly. She complained this time as well, but it was far less than last time. I expect that eventually Hannah will calm down more, understanding that Cletus is a guest, not a resident.
This afternoon I watched a line of about 9 deer come over the hill into our apple orchard. After a short stop, they moved on, but about an hour later I saw them moving back up and over the hill. I’ve never seen so many deer together before. EJ says that they are yarding up, which means very cold temperatures are coming. I looked at the forecast and, yup, we are going to get to the single digits in a couple of days.
At our library’s big book sale in late November, I found three books in a four-book series called “Thursday Murder Club Mystery” by Richard Osman, a new-to-me author. The books are about four elderly residents of a retirement community in the UK who get together (on Thursdays) to solve old murders. The characters are quirky and likable and the stories are interesting and humorous. I’ve finished my three books and need to find the last one in the series, as well as Richard Osman’s other books. Normally I would borrow the book through Michigan’s interlibrary loan system, which involves me ordering a book on their website, which is then sent from a Michigan library who has the book to my local library for me to pick up. However, with all the snow that keeps getting dumped on us, it hasn’t been easy to get to the library. When we are getting a foot of snow or freezing rain, we’d prefer to stay home. So instead, I am “borrowing” the book as an e-book. However, there is a 16-week waiting list so I will have to wait a while to read it. Until then, I’m reading other books I bought at the book sale.
In the third Thursday Murder Club book, called The Bullet That Missed, one of the characters played a game called “Snooker” with a man he was trying to get information from. They played it more than once, which got me curious about the game. I asked EJ, “Have you ever heard of a game called ‘Snooker’?” He replied, “Yes. It’s a type of pool game.” (Table pool not swimming pool.) I went to YouTube to see if I could find a video of Snooker. Yup. First I watched a short video that described the rules then I watched a competition. Actually, as soon as I started watching the videos, EJ became interested so we watched the videos together. It’s a very interesting game to watch. It takes a lot of skill and strategy because a player has to not just take his current shot, but plan for his future shot as well.
I mentioned to my Canadian friend that we were watching Snooker games and she suggested we watch Curling. I was already aware of Curling–we even have a team in a nearby town– but I’ve only ever watched a few minutes of it on TV during the Olympics. However, we found YouTube videos and watched a competition. It was also interesting.
I was searching YouTube for Snooker and Curling competitions to watch when I noticed the search results had brought up a game called “Bowls.” I wondered, “What on earth is “Bowls”? I clicked on the link and found yet another type of game that I had never heard of. There are two types: Lawn Bowls, which is played outside, and Indoor Bowls, which-duh–is played indoors. Like Snooker and Curling, it is also very interesting to watch. We watched some top-level players and it was amazing how accurately they could roll the “bowls.” EJ searched the Internet to see if the game is played in the USA. There a no Indoor Bowls game here and only a very few outdoor ones.
So now on the weekend evenings when EJ doesn’t have to work, we are watching games of Snooker, Curling, or Bowls. We are wondering what other games exists in the world that we are unaware of. We are keeping our eyes open for them. If you, my Readers, know of any interesting games, feel free to let me know in the comments.
I reminded EJ that because I read the novel by Richard Osman, I learned about Snookers, which led to Curling, which led to Bowls, which led to enjoyable evenings watching them. One of the reasons I enjoy reading novels is because I always learn new things–things that the characters experience that I would never come across in real life. Whenever I read something in a book–whether it involves history, traditions, items, movies, games, etc.–I look it up to see if is a real thing or just imagined. This sends me down some interesting rabbit trails.
Winter Challenge
Last week was a bit of a winter challenge.
There are some winter challenges that people participate in for fun. Like Polar Bear Challenges, in which people, wearing only standard swimsuits, plunge or swim in a body of water in the middle of winter.
Our winter challenge was not like that.
Beginning on Thanksgiving evening and continuing through last week, it snowed and snowed and snowed and the snow piled up. Our neighbor who has kindly cleared our driveway for us with his tractor-snowblower for more than five years has been MIA. He lives down the road and around the corner and we don’t know him very well beyond “Dale who takes care of our driveway for us.” We consider his service as a gift, not an obligation, but we are a bit concerned because we don’t know if he’s visiting family in New England or if something has befallen him. We’ve been very busy (as I will describe below) but we hope to call him soon and ask if he’s ok.
The snow was getting so deep that if we didn’t get our driveway cleared, it would become impassable. EJ tried to get our little walk-behind snowblower running early last week but was unsuccessful. It would almost start but then die. The fuel leaked out. He has to troubleshoot it, but meanwhile, the snow was falling and piling up so we decided that we needed to buy a new snowblower. EJ did some online research and then went to the home improvement store to buy one on his way to work on Wednesday. The one he really wanted would have had to be ordered and we couldn’t wait several days for it to arrive so EJ settled for an adequate one. As the saying goes, “A good plan today is better than a perfect plan tomorrow.”
EJ almost made it home from work in the wee hours of Thursday morning. Almost, but not quite. He got stuck halfway up the driveway. He walked the rest of the way up to the house and went to bed. Getting stuck is not a desirable thing, but I’m very, very thankful that EJ got stuck AFTER he bought the snowblower instead of before. Having to shovel our long driveway out by hand would have been a nightmare. This is a photo I took of the truck in the driveway. You can see t-posts along the driveway. they are there so we can find the driveway in the winter.
After some sleep, EJ got the new snowblower out of the back of the truck and began snow-blowing the driveway. Since there was no way he could get the driveway cleared before he had to leave for work, he took a vacation day. EJ got half the driveway snow-blowed before he became too exhausted to continue. He’s been fighting a respiratory infection for several weeks and hasn’t had much energy. On Friday EJ got the rest of the driveway snow-blowed. Then he and I took shovels down to the truck and began to shovel the snow from around the truck where the snowblower couldn’t reach. EJ was able to get the truck unstuck and up to the house. We took Saturday off to rest.
Saturday night the temperatures begin to rise and the snow turned to drizzle. It was supposed to begin raining late Sunday afternoon. Warm temperatures in winter are very bad because the melting snow/rain refreezes into ice and makes our driveway VERY treacherous. Sunday morning, before the rain started, we went to the grocery and farm stores to pick up a few items we needed. Mostly we needed cat food because we were low. Timmy doesn’t like it if I’m not quick enough to feed him. He definitely would not be happy if he ran out of food.
The roads were good and we had no problem getting to the stores. All went well until EJ tried to drive up the driveway. He’s an excellent driver who knows how to drive in snow. However, the warm temperatures had turned the deep snow into deep slippery slush and we got stuck again. We walked up the driveway carrying the perishable items and left the rest in the truck. We took time to eat lunch and then headed down the driveway with our shovels to free the truck. We got it unstuck but a little further it got stuck again. It couldn’t get traction in the slush. Shoveling down to bare ground, we made a path for the truck to travel up to the house. We unloaded the rest of the groceries and then EJ snowblowed the driveway again to get rid of as much slushy snow as he could. When he was finished, we drove the truck back down and parked it at the bottom of the driveway so he could get out to go to work on Monday (today) if the driveway became treacherously icy. It was actually unnecessary to park the truck down there because the warm temperatures melted almost all the snow in the driveway. The driveway is now bare ground rather than snowy, slushy, or icy. But better safe than sorry.
There is a chance of rain/snow tonight. Tomorrow is supposed to be another warm-ish day with temperatures in the high 30s. The temperatures will get cold again and we will be back to snow.
Deep snow is a challenge, especially with our driveway. However, snow is better than ice.
I Love To Go A Gardening 