So here are some pictures and explanations.
This is an ingenious mouse trap we began using a few weeks back. Simple and effective. Slather the can with peanut butter, put a board angles up to the bucket edge and sit and watch the mice climb out to the peanut butter like its a drug they cant resist. The can is balances and spins on the wire, the can spins as the mice start putting weight on it and the mice fall into the water and drown. I was standing 5 feet away when one raced up to the peanut butter and fell in. Henry got a pair of binoculars for his birthday and one night we sat in the house watching from the window as 4 mice met their demise. Great entertainment.
Porter Wray making funny faces.
Calvin just hanging out.
This is my dumpster bear and antlers. I need help from my brother Tim to polish my story but....Long story short. There was this bear in a dumpster along with some antlers. I might have watched the bear and antlers go into the dumpster, but when no one was looking....I confronted my fears and battled the dumpster to release it's hold on the antlers, I then used the antlers to fight the bear until it succumbed to injuries and was lifted free from the dumpster.
It was soaking wet and a mangy mess. But I thought to myself, bears get wet all the time fishing and such, the fur should survive some water and unknown gooey substances. With careful attention and skill I threw it in the back of my car and took my spoils home. It spent 2 weeks on a picnic table drying and working it's magic on Lisa. What started as "you wont bring that thing into my house" came around to letting me put it in the basement in the new movie room. But as movie rooms go, it was dark and didn't fit the décor. With careful scheming and persistence, much like those family members persistent in getting me to post here on the blog, I won Lisa over and she allowed me to hang my dumpster bear on the wall along with the antlers used to rescue it.
I got about 10 feet from a wild hare this last week slowly sneaking. Not sure if it is truly albino or a late changer.
The neighbor's turkeys have gone wild for the summer, we currently have 3 female turkeys hanging around with about 10 baby turkeys. I use them for obedience drills with Chevron. I send him after the turkeys and then call him to stop before he reaches them. Takes a lot of discipline to stop a few feet before the turkeys and return without the prize. But this is necessary discipline or he becomes a unfunded liability.
Elizabeth participated in a pirate play at school. She makes a good pirate!
The kids have been taking swimming lessons 4 days a week for the last 3 weeks. Its part of their home school this summer and a good skill I think every kid should learn.
I turned 32 recently, Porter turned 3, and tomorrow Calvin turns 1. Porter is such a fun kid, he laughs at everything and has just enough spunk and courage to make him dangerous.
I plan on working much less overtime at work and enjoying more time off with the family.
We are considering buying a Harvest Right home freeze dryer... if anyone has used one and can give us advice please let us know.
Our friends R & L have moved out of the apartment above our garage and into their new house. We spent the last week cleaning and painting the apartment for our new renter who moves in this coming Friday.
The pigs are about 100 lbs each now and still growing. Chickens are still giving us about 12 eggs a day, and the raspberries seem to have survived the transplanting and new shoots are coming up all over. In a few years we should have a real nice raspberry patch.
If anyone wants to ship us some blackberry roots I will pay the shipping (hint hint Tim) I hear you just dig them up and wrap them in wet news paper and stick them in a cooler or wax box.
Well that's it for now.
