Three Blind Mice

I have mentioned in previous posts about the mice in our barn. They started out being cute, and have progressed to being a nuisance. I still leave little treats for them whenever I feed the horses (I know, I know…!)

They would be in the barn, whether I fed them or not – at least I don’t have rats – like the barn we last boarded the horses in! It’s just part of living in the country. This winter, we will try to encourage them to live elsewhere tho!! It probably won’t work!!!!

Occasionally, I will find a dead mouse or two, and will take them out to the field, or bury them.

But in recent days, I have found 3 mice, several days in a row, floating in the horses’ water buckets. Eeew!! Apparently, they run along the rails, see the hay  that falls out of the horses’ mouths floating in the water pail, and assume, quite wrongly, that that will help them walk on water!

So, in the interest of science – I have always had an interest in bones, and how things are put together.  These 3 mice were not carted off by any critters as a snack, so I decided to use them as an experiment.

In a somewhat macabre variation of Seth’s Dinsintegration Project (http://www.thealteredpage.blogspot.com)-sorry, Seth- I have created a mini ‘bone farm’ – Three Blind Mice Disintegration Project.

I will probably lose alot of readers today!!! :>)

I used to do science classes  for elementary school kids, dissecting owls pellets, and putting the skeletons back together. The kids loved it. So, think of this as scientific ! If these little mice are not carted off by some wild thing or feral cat, I want to keep track of their …. deterioration. A crow will probably snatch them before it ever gets that far.

Kids – do NOT try this at home!!!!

The mouse on the far right died 5 days earlier than the other 2

*************************************

Life goes on…………..at Mountain Meadows this morning………………

 

A Tea Break

Well, it wasn’t exactly a tea break, but I took my new mug out to the barn, with the dog and the rakes.

I had just poured a cup of Yogi lemon pepper tea, and figured I would see if I could make it all the way to the barn without spilling it!!

I did, and put it on a fence post in the sun while I did chores.

I trusted my one dog, Sunman, to stay by my side and go to the barn without a leash. I told him we were going to look for mousies – something he loves to do – he hasn’t caught one yet!!! Like his owner, he is easily distracted- if a deer were to burst out of the trees – off Sunman would go in hot pursuit!!! So, he is not off leash too often, unless in a fenced in area, even tho we live in the middle of nowhere!

I did have to hold his collar when I escorted him thru the barn to the paddock – he doesn’t comprehend that chasing horses could cause him major injury!

So, while Sunman chased a ball and rolled in manure, I raked the rocks out of the front of the barn, changed water buckets and pulled drowned mousies out of the buckets – eeewww!!!

I would pause every now and then, to sip my tea, look at the mountains, and listen to the woodpeckers call to each other as their pounding breakfast search echoed off the hills.

It’s warm again today, the flies have defrosted and the gnats are hovering overhead.

The husband has 6 large planters ready to go – with aged chicken and horse manure, to start some of the planting. The planters are big colorful buckets from Lowes that have rope handles – so we can drag them in if a late frost appears. We have to go out today and roll up the plastic over the veggie garden to get it ready for rototilling.

The daughter wants to bathe the horses- altho it is warmer out – the well water is frigid – I am not sure that would be a kind thing to do just yet!!!

Time to go help the husband do some yard work – so I must step away from the computer – break’s over!!!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

All is well, with spring just over the horizon at Mountain Meadows this afternoon………………….

 

Cold, Cold Country!

I’ve been spending alot of time indoors lately – it’s been very cold!!! No snow – just cold!!! Tomorrow night the temps are supposed to dip to about 6 degrees, and the night after 2 degrees!!! Yikes!!! Could be worse – I could live in the midwest!!!

Maybe I will  pull out the horses’ winter blankets tomorrow- just for nighttime!!

I was in the barn the other day, waiting for the farrier, and making room in the front of the barn. I brought the horses in, closed the doors and turned on the lights, to make it a little warmer – if that was at all possible!!!

I pulled out two bins of wood (the husband keeps extra in the barn for fire starters) and as I was pulling them outside – they started erupting with little mice!!! The mice had made homes in the bins of wood – and this giant monster human was disturbing their lilliputian world! It was the funniest thing – and of course, you know, I had no camera with me!!!! The mice would scurry to the tops of the wood piles and look over their shoulders at me – and leap out of the bins!! It was like a scene from the Titanic!

I have learned NOT to leave the wheelbarrow with manure in the barn – the mice get in and make tunnels, burrowing under the stuff! It is quite a rude awakening for the little guys – and quite a leap to escape – when the manure is dumped in the bucket of the tractor, and transported across the field to be dumped!!

In this cold weather, the mice hunker down wherever they can – even if it means in piles of manure!!!

The horses are going thru bales of hay at top speed this winter – building up body heat for the cold nights.

I looked out the window tonite, just before dusk – and there was one lone doe – out back – where I put out corn – nuzzling around in the grass – looking for an early dinner. She would stare up at the windows- I’d like to think she was telepathically letting me know the cupboard was bare! But, realistically, she was watching the dogs stare out the window at her- trying to determine if they were really a threat!!!

So, I bundled up, ran out with the last of the corn – of course, when the garage door opened – she was off like a flash!  The phrases ‘turn tail and run’ and  ‘by leaps and bounds’  describe her quick exit perfectly!!

I feel like I ignore the horses a bit, when it is this cold. I will just have to tough it out, bundle up and get outside a little more. They seem to enjoy it when I am in the barn. Today I cleaned the stalls and the horses, dragged some more bales of hay down from the loft, and topped off their water trough. Tomorrow, I will probably let them out into the hay fields for awhile, to search out the last of the green grass. If it’s not too bitter cold, I’ll get that trusty camera and take pictures, while keeping an eye on the horses- 2 birds with one stone!!!

Here are some photos from the last few days:

Barn art in the snow! All 3 flakes of it!

Wall art in town - I want it!!!

Morning fog clinging to tree tops

Can you see our feral feline?

We get alot of rainbows!

Farm debris complete with cobwebs

Did you know – if you have cobwebs in your barn – leave them there – farm lore says, if one of the animals has a cut – grab a handful of cobwebs and slap them on the cut to stop the  bleeding. Hope I never have to find out if this is true!!!!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

All is well at Mountain Meadows tonite, peaceful and cold…………………

 

What Do You Do All Day Out in the Country??

That question was recently posed to me – obviously, not everyone has been reading my blog!!!!!!

I am certainly not the typical farmer. I am just a country girl wannabe who got to be!!!!

We grow hay, we sell hay, we have horses, that’s about the extent of it – so far…………..!!!!! We’re learning as we go and having fun doing it!

It’s a typical day. I spent an hour or so this morning at the barn. It  is again,  unseasonably in the upper 60’s and I had to take off the horses’ blankets. I turned my two guys out into the hay fields to have at some of the remaining green ‘grass’. The two have just started actually eating the hay we baled, and have gone thru their first square bale. This year I will keep track of how much they consume in a very high tech way – as I pull down a bale – I make a pencil mark on the barn wall !!

I swept out the barn, and opened the doors to let the warm breeze clear out the stench of mouse urine that is starting to permeate everything (see previous post about our mouse colony!) In the summer, the black snakes decimated our toad population. I love the little toads and they do their best to keep down the fly population. Since the snakes are pretty inactive during the cold weather, they are not of much help keeping down the winter mouse population!! Come the spring, I will be employing ‘kind’ methods of keeping the mice out. I don’t want to kill them. A reader shared a method that has worked for her in the past – hanging lavender in strategic places. Whether it works or not – the scent of lavender is much preferred over the rank smell of mouse pee !!! I’ll just be sure to keep the bouquets out of reach of horses’ inquiring lips!!!

Another regular ‘activity’ here in the country, is the almost daily trip to the Post Office. We do have a mailbox down at the end of the drive. When we first moved here, we did not – so we got a post office box. When the humongous mailbox was installed by the husband, we kept the po box for my eBay biz. In reality, our local  Post Office is like no other I’ve been to in the urban areas.

I recently filled out a mail in survey for the PO, and made sure, by adding a comment at the end of the survey – that the A+ service I bragged about in this survey, was ONLY available at the Fulks Run Post Office.

This Post Office, as I have written about before, is the hub of this little town. It is where you get your local news, information, weather stats, rainfall amounts, and hear who is sick, looking for a job, or selling a car.

I can find out who got the biggest bear this past weekend, who has the flu, or where to find the best trees, honey, goats, or beef. I also learned the best time to plant my corn, what snakes to watch out for, and when to pick my persimmons. If I need someone’s address, our venerable postmaster can recite it right off the top of his head!!

While I was writing this post, the husband and daughter were out dragging the fields.  For the uninitiated- that is when you attach a drag chain (think of a very heavy,  loose link chain link fence with spikes) to the back of the tractor. You then drive the tractor thru the horse paddock, dragging this spiked chain behind it. It’s kind of like dragging a rake thru a kitty litter box – since you can’t scoop up all the horse poop (believe me, I’ve tried!). The chain breaks up  the manure, and spreads it around- it disintegrates more easily and fertilizes the paddocks, resulting in a more verdant field in the  spring!!

Since what goes into a horse, must come out – eventually, the paddocks become like a veritable mine field – for human and horse alike!!! Picking cement- like horse poop out of horses’ feet is not one of my most favorite pastimes! So, dragging a field is one of the necessities of life.

Today, I have done the usual mundane – dishes, laundry, sweep, vacuum, etc. Daily, I do my ‘peaceable kingdom’ duties-take the dogs out for a run, feed the wild birds, throw out corn for the deer, clean, feed, brush the horses, do the same for the interior critters. And, of course, try to keep ahead of the never ending and very prolific  ‘dust ponies’ that accumulate everywhere when you have 4 active dogs in the house!!

My day is probably not much different from what it was before we moved here- except the scenery has changed, the stress level has changed, I work out of my home as opposed to juggling 4 jobs and the needs of two kids, I can walk out my door and hug my horses instead of driving 22 miles to do so……………..Never mind – living in the country is WAY different- and I love it!!!!

So, if you want to know what I do all day in the country – keep checking back – I’ll keep ya’ posted!!!!!! Coming soon to a bookstore near you!!!!!:>)

Aforementioned Post Office

Altho equally as humongous in size as the new black mailbox the husband installed, this one, however, only cost me 25 cents at the thrift store- and will house my garden tools!!!

A summertime view out the door to the birdie breakfast bar!!! Winter visitors include mourning doves, red finches, and blue jays, who are less willing to have their pictures taken! The blue jays pretty much rule the roost here- so any of the more exotic winter visitors are forced to dine elsewhere!!

Here again, the canine crew – shown in happier times – when all four could be in the same room together…aaahh, for the good ol’ days!

*********************************************************

All is well, peaceful, and strangely warm, at Mountain Meadows  this Monday nite ……………………..

 

Full Moon Rising……..

Everyone knows, strange things happen on the eve of a full moon. Ask any cop on the beat, the nuts are out, the arrests are up, it’s bound to be an interesting night!

Of course, on the farm, full moon occurrences are a lot milder by comparison! Planting schedules are done by the moon, and I suppose late night hunting is easier by the light of the moon.

Our moonlight madness was an uprising in the mouse colony that lives in the barn! I don’t mind the mice, no barn is complete without them!!! Could be worse – I could have rats!!! I much prefer tiny mice!

I have admitted to leaving little snacks around for the mice. They are  already there, so I might as well distract them from gnawing on other things!!! Whenever I feed the horses, I leave a tiny snack of carrot shavings or a few kernels of corn on the ledge. The ledge that runs around the barn wall, is the main mouse highway -a  rodent runway for the little critters.

Indiscriminate in their bathroom habits, the ledge has to be swept off from time to time. The mice have become used to me, and I them, little shadows scurrying around while I am there, trying to keep out of my way, waiting for their treat.

Well, the other day, I was remiss in leaving the treat. Tonite, I walked in the barn, and the odor of mouse urine was definitely hanging in the air. In an apparent late night retaliatory maneuver, the mice got together, and decided to help themselves to their midnite snack! I had brought home a 50 lb bag of horse feed, and did not put it right into the metal containers. Big mistake!!!

Two almost perfectly round quarter sized holes were gnawed in the bottom of the paper feed bag- and there was a nice mound of feed on the barn floor! I can just picture the mice, working in a tandem chewing frenzy, working their way to 50 lbs of heaven!!

The shadows were scurrying along the ledge, while I cleaned up the mess. I did leave some of their bounty as a largesse- it was of no use to me anymore.  As I said earlier, mice ‘potty’ whenever and wherever the mood strikes them – if you get my drift!!!

The feed is now safely stored in the tightly covered metal bins, the paper feed sack discarded in the trash, and the carrot shavings left in the usual spot. All the horse blankets are safely hung up, and everything that is chewable, or nest worthy is hopefully out of reach of the mice!!! I’ve given them a roof over their heads and shelter from the elements – the least they could do is respect my property!!!!

Two of the brazen li’l perpetrators below!

The evidence!!!!

This was a great moon shot – on the camera!! But I am not technically savvy enough to know how to show that on here!!! Definitely need a better camera……….

Part of the famed rodent ‘highway’ – time to call in the street sweeper!!!!!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

All is well at Mountain meadows tonite – by the light……..of the silvery moon……..