up here in lalaland ~ Tennessee here we come!

[ohiofarmgirl]

yeah - hows that stinker doing ya for?

and do ya have anymore blackberry cobbler???

even our inside cats are good mousers.... but once i see one of them quick footed demons the screaming starts. once i got up on a chair (i swear it was an involuntary response) and one of my younger cats got up there with me. i'm not sure she knew why but she couldnt believe that Nicholas would actually put a MOUSE in his mouth. both of us nearly puked.

The Big Man pulled that mouse out of Nicholas' throat by its tail. thats when the heavin' started. for sure. ick.

if them cats dont do the trick - bring in your chickens. i've never seen a blood bath like hens after a gang of mice. chilling.... the tiny little screams.. its awful.

 

[lalaland]

dace, I'll tell you how it is.
I am going to start keeping hatch marks.
skunk 6, me 0

woke up to skunk (that means, wake up gagging) at 2 am. figured it was outside, and shut the window in the bedroom. rolled over. still stinky, drift off, wake up, gag, shut another window. repeat.

3 am, 6 windows shut, a mother of all lightening storms. still gagging.

4 am, coffee, picked up the cat, rubbed my face in her fur, and oh. my.
she had been skunked. she is an INDOOR cat. door wasn't latched on the porch, could have blown open and the skunk came in?? latched the door, prayed the skunk wasn't in the house, did chicken chores, skipped breakfast (the gag thing) hightailed it to the truck, pouring rain and lightening and started the 75 mile hour commute at 4:30 am.

dang, I can smell the skunk in the truck.
must be imagining it.

gotta get some air in here. open windows, rain comes in, but hey. I'm breathing.

at work, I'm feeling kind of yucky. I realize I have skunk on my face and hands where I got it from the cat.
washed my hands multiple times.
tried the hand sanitizers.
used dish soap.
no dice.

went to the internet for help. left work. got a quart of hydrogen peroxide, some dawn detergent, and headed home. windows open in the truck.

walk in the door and holy moly. it is skunky in here. open all the windows. wash the cat with the hydrogen peroxide mix, poor thing is 20 years old or something and already has been feeling poorly this week. doesn't really fight me bathing her. looks pathetic.

so humid the floor (polished cement) is fogged up with humidity as are the glass fronted cabinets.

so, stinky, sweaty, and really really humid.


worst thing is I think the skunk was digging AROUND the heavy metal grate I placed over the hole, and the second plate must have shifted with all the hole digging and hit the skunk, resulting in the firing off of its stink. thats my theory anyway.

should have left well enough alone.

what's a skunk under the porch? I'll tell you what it is, it is skunk babies next spring! that's what it is.

now what?

and OFG, yes I do have a bit of cobbler left and I am going to have it for dessert tonight. and I don't mind saying I just might have a little brandy with it. I surely can't take another night like this last one.

tomorrow my sister and nephew are coming up to raid the garden, and dig potatoes, but we have had soooooo much rain I think it will be mud soup again!

 

[Dace]

Oh Honey I think you need a heck of a lot more than 1 brandy

I hope tonight goes more smoothly....with less stink!

 

[ohiofarmgirl]

and you might want to consider the nearest Motel 6.. or Holiday Inn
;-)

the H.Perox + dawn thingy really works.... poor old cat!

 

[TanksHill]

Oh, you poor thing. Doesn't H peroxide bleach hair???

g

 

[lalaland]

funny how everything looks better in the morning!

cat seems to feel better, the steam moisture condensing on the floor is gone gone gone, I finished with the extra loads of laundry (rugs and towels) from the sick cat, and....I got to have coffee on the screened porch because the wind was blowing away from the skunky side, and watch the doe with her fawns graze.


favorite sight last week: a bright green tree frog that jumped into the colander full of blackberries while I was picking - wish I had a camera then!

 

[deb4o]

Oh Lala, sorry for your terrible last few days but see this one is starting out much better.

What a wondeful site to have with your coffee.

Glad to hear that the peroxide and dawn works, got to remember that one.Knock on wood--we have been out here for about 7 years and no run ins with skunks yet, do see a few as road kill,but none close-up.

Enjoy your sister and nephew, and take your camera out to the garden maybe you will get another shot at that frog.

 

[lalaland]

thanks, Deb.

I did take the camera out to get a pic of the harvest that my sister hauled away, all sorts of tomatoes, green beans, zukes big and small, garlic, cabbage, basil, potatoes, flowers, peppers (green, banana, cayenee), tomatillas and eggplant. Now that I am single, well, a girl just can't eat that much! and it is so fun to give away stuff.

had to use the wheelbarrow, bushel baskets, colanders, and buckets for it all. My nephew had fun hurling the split and over ripe tomatoes at the pine forest - with this incessant rain the tomatoes seem to split daily- before they are ripe even.

chicks had a field day with the over-ripe cukes.

time to make zuke bread. or nap.

blue sky, 75 and breezy, if I was smart I'ld mow the lawn, but hey. I. don't. want. to.

 

[deb4o]

Your sister is lucky to have a sissy like you, My sis and I share the bounty also.

I vote for the nap! My DH is sacked out in his recliner, and DS has the couch, no rest for me, Iam still washing canning jars, not that Iam complaining -well maybe a little -but no one here will listen to me.

and to heck with the lawn

 

[lalaland]

No sign of the skunk for 24 hours, it did't go out or in under the porch! guess that encounter with the cat was enough to send it packing.

So as soon as i finish I'll go lay wire fence on top of the hepatica, bloodroot, etc, and use fencing staples to attach to the bottom porch skirtboard.

Imagine!!! no baby skunks next spring! Oh happy Day

dense fog advisory here, so a very misty morning, all the spiderwebs in the field are outlined with tiny dew drops. had to wear the mudboots out to do morning chores.