Tag Archive | backyard chickens

Bears, Deer, Ants

May21

Imagine my surprise to enter the chicken coop to find the feeder pulled down off the chain and thrown out through the coop door; the Tupperware of chicken feed was opened and dragged, and plastic was torn from the wall in one corner. I emailed Calvin and said some crazy raccoon must’ve gone into the coop. An hour later I got the video taken by our outdoor camera of a black bear zipping in and out of the coop.

A chicken would come out, then the bear, then two chickens went under the coop followed by the bear. All chickens survived! It was quite a dusty ruckus out there, and where was I and the dogs? Right here in the house calmly washing dishes, listening to YouTube and napping (dogs). This was all going on just meters from the house and I had no idea.

So then I got a company to come in and build a fence to keep bears out, and that’s a topic for a psychiatrist’s couch. Very traumatizing to come home to something that resembles a high security prison wall and has all the charm of one used for a firing squad. And the thing is, it still won’t keep out a determined bear so whatever all of that was about I have no idea.

Then a few days ago I heard intense barking and came out to two deer just inches from the dachshunds. They were barking furiously and I know a deer can mess up a little dog, so I was screaming for them to come. Suddenly one got crabby and gave Lou a push with her foreleg, like, get outta here, dog. He wasn’t hurt and both dogs finally came in.

We have millions of ants marching into the house at all times. Calvin got big pails, filled them with borax and put them into the yard hoping to attract the pests, but no, nothing. Today when I was gardening I suddenly felt something in my ear, and sure enough, an ant. I think the entire attic of this house must be a giant ant’s nest, but whatever. They have to live too, I guess.

On the long weekend I went to Osoyoos as did my nieces and their families for a farewell to Mom. I stupidly didn’t have anyone take pictures for me on my camera, so I have none. I’ve begged the nieces for them but can only hope they take pity on their old aunt. I was going to ask our neighbour Lynne to come and take a group photo but neglected to do so.

All of the food I’d prepared was eaten with great joy. On Friday night we had lasagne, and on Saturday it was roast pork. Sunday’s dinner was chicken Marbella. I’d also baked (see last blog) and all of that except for a few muffins got consumed. Dinner for 11 twice, and dinner for 8 once was a challenge, but a very doable one.

You know how competitive I am, so I’m going to enter the Canadian Children’s Society of Children’s Authors, Illustrators and Performers (CANSCAIP) writing contest. My books featuring the dachshunds as the neighbourhood crime watch is for kids ages 7 – 9. The very nice thing about this contest is that it’s super cheap and they also provide feedback which is the most valuable part.

I made the worst lunch ever for Mother’s Day for my friends Gitte and Roxanne, as I thought I could make vol au vent shells from frozen puff pastry. Luke’s coming tomorrow to help Calvin work on a car so I’ll make dinner for the three of us and will hope for more of last weekend’s successes.

Chicken and Iguana Bacteria

Aug20

One of my favourite stories from when Margaret and I stayed on the Island of Cozumel came from a couple from the southern U.S. They said their young son received an iguana when it was just a baby and then he and the animal slept together for the rest of its life. The dad said his son had that lizard for years before it finally died.

Margaret and I both felt sick as we had kids that slept with cats or dogs, but not reptiles. A few days earlier we’d been offered a chance to pet an iguana and said no thanks. Recounting that story to another person at the Cozumel condo he said his son had kissed an iguana in Mexico and once home found himself filled with parasites.

Then the other day I had written how I’d kissed Jennifer, one of the new chickens, and my friend Eve sent an e mail saying “Please, please do not kiss chickens.” I don’t want to find myself full of parasites, or perhaps with a brain worm, so I’ll definitely take Eve’s advice, especially since she’s a pharmacist with decades of experience.

Now that I have Okay, I’ll Bite for sale on Amazon I’m working on a romance novel for seniors. I wrote a romance novel 20 years ago and am now revamping it to feature oldsters and will see how that goes. Writing is a hard slog, but I have to do something to keep my brain from withering.

On that note, I went to Vernon again for 20 pounds of frozen chicken feet for Jan. She reports they’re delicious, but I keep thinking about the claws. Do you just spit them out, or are they removed prior to cooking?

And of course, for real stimulation there’s treasure hunting. Elsa and I went last week, and I found the perfect towel rack for my bathroom for $8.00. I said to her I could’ve used that when my German visitors were here as I have just one rack for towels which is awkward for guests.

We both bought masses of things and justified it by saying we hadn’t been in over a month. Once home I did manage to find four or five tops that could go back to thrift in order to make room for the new items. But there’s still a very large volume of everything in this house.

To celebrate how wonderful it is to be alive I bopped into the Mission Thrift Store today and had to buy a cute pair of vintage Japanese geese and a lovely soup bowl. The bottom of it said Black Knight Hohenberg, Bavaria and at $2 I thought why not. When I googled it, I was happily surprised to see it’d be ten times that on e bay. Manufactured sometime between 1921 and 1946, and in mint condition.

You know how I fear and loathe change, and it appears two local institutions are gone for good. One is the old BC Tree Fruits company that was founded 88 years ago but is now in bankruptcy and closed. The other is our local news station, formerly called CHBC, then it became Global, and now bye bye.

To deal with these stressors I’ve just made those date balls everyone goes nuts over, and will now make some chocolate chip cookies and a batch of brownies. When the going gets tough, the tough put on an apron and start softening butter.