In gardening, I always have 2 major problems,

when planting any kind of seed.........in any kind of container, and in any place outdoors......

or inside of the greenhouse.......

mice and rats always dig up the seed. It happens every year.

Now, one problem has been remedied .........so far.  I have had 3 large glass aquariums with wire mesh lids , that my children used to raise toads and lizards in. They have been sitting in storage for a long time.

I have now used each aquarium as a terrarium of sorts for sprouting all of my seed.

The glass walls of the aquarium and the wire mesh lid, keep the rodents completely away from my newly planted seed.  I also tape clear plastic wrap on the inside of the mesh lid to help prevent moisture from evaporating.

Now my greenhouse is full of growing plants 

from pumpkins to all kinds of flowers, 

getting ready to be transplanted into my gardens outside.............

which now brings up the other problem.........rabbits, rabbits, and more rabbits.

There are so many rabbits out on the grounds..........I love them, I do,..........but they mow anything that I have planted down and I lose all of my hard work in just days.

I can fix chicken wire fencing around every garden.........which I really don't want to do..

for time consuming, watering issues , and expense.

But I will, if I have to.........so can any of you , dear readers, 

give me any advice?

Do you have rodent problems in your gardens?

If so, what do you do to make them stay away??

Poison is not an option for me, and I don't have time to trap, re locate, and release.

I hope to start planing by the first week of May.

Any advice you can give me, will be greatly appreciated!

No Matter Where I Serve My Guest..........They Seem To Like My Back Yard Best

In the early morning hours, while feeding the chickens and looking over the gardens, I have been hearing the wild turkey, "gobbling" from somewhere in the woods

this morning, I heard them close to the front yard.

Just a little while later, this tall hungry character shows up only 10 foot away from my back door, enjoying the bird seed . I love the way it's eyes look........don't you?

I carefully and quietly slipped out of the door,  and took it's photos,  and then......

it spotted me and off it ran into the woods.........."making it's gobbling noise as it went"

How lucky I feel to have seen this beautiful creature.

So tell me........any dinner guests at your back door lately?

Someone Stole My Omelet For Saturday Morning Breakfast!

In the late afternoon, I went out to close up the chickens and lying in the hen house was a rattler,,,,,,,,,,

enjoying the eggs.

By the time I got back with my camera to shoot his photo, with my husband right behind me with a gun to shoot the rattler,  it had crawled underneath the edge of the hen house. With a long pole, my husband pushed into the area where  the snake was, and out it came.

I was already jumpy from earlier today.  When I was outside, I saw a skunk inside of my greenhouse.

It came out and my husband shot at it.........he missed, 

  and  the skunk went back into the greenhouse.

We did not want the skunk to get shot and to spray the greenhouse, so we just let it make it's way out. I'm glad it did not have to die.  It pushed it's way through the wire fence and headed off into the woods. It acted very slow and sluggish,  which makes me worry that it is rabid. 

I keep the greenhouse door open during hot days, so now I will fix a  wire grid door to keep everything out.

I am so glad I saw it before I walked into the greenhouse.......

as you might remember earlier, Sophie got sprayed by a skunk and it was horrible.....

Now we are all edgy as we walk out to see who our next visitor might be. 

So tell me...........what is lurking around your back door??

Homer..............the roamer

As most of you remember, a little while back, I posted about this cat that was dropped on me.

I did not want another cat........and he cant be a house cat because my other two house cats will fight with him.

But he has such a heart warming personality and how can I resist those gigantic feet?

Convincing me even more to let him stay, he has proven himself to be quite a good farm cat, catching all of the rats that have been attacking the wires in my car. 

So in the beginning, I named him Hobo........but soon changed his name to Homer.........

after Homer Laughlin........my favorite vintage dishware. 

He agreeably stays in the chicken house with my chickens to stay safe from predators at night and for shelter during harsh weather. He and the chickens get along wonderfully.

If any of you have ever had an independent tom cat..........you know how they love to roam.

Homer has been disappearing for a day...........coming back either extremely late at night or showing up in the early morning.................worn out.

These past two weeks, he has been coming home with severe injuries.  His nose has such a huge gash on it. I thought it was from another cat.....that he possibly got into a fight with.............

but the next couple of days he came home limping with a hole in one back  foot and the pad of his front foot sliced.  It looks that maybe he has fought himself out of a metal trap.

Still unsure, there is nothing I can really do, but treat his wounds and patiently wait for the next

" free neuter" day that comes once a year.......in May,  in  a local town.

Hopefully that might cure his appetite for roaming and it might keep other tom cats from fighting him. 

Friends tell me ..........

"not likely"

Whether it does or not.........it is certainly more healthy for him.

He is such a loving  cat and deserves to get some TLC and protection

whether he wants it or not.

Do you have a roamer? ..........or do you have a lap cat that never leaves the house?

I would love to hear.

Change.........such a small word.........

but so big that it can cause such great size worry and uncertainty.

We are going through that worry and uncertainty at this time.

I have always held on to the phrase " that when God closes a door, he will open a window"

Our door of security...........is closing.

After 25 years of long hours, hard work, always being at his workplace when needed, and really looking forward to his retirement in just a few short years......... 

my husband has learned that his place of work has made the decision that it will be closing it's doors later this year. 

It is hard on anyone..........at any age,  to lose a job and to have to go back out there .......and look for another one.

But when you are close to retirement age, and the nearest town of opportunity is a small, somewhat limited town........

it is worrisome at the highest.

I glanced out at my husband yesterday, sitting outside, looking  towards the horizon.............

lost in deep.......worried thought.

So the biggest question on our minds........what do we do now?

We have possibilities........other options.........but

"CHANGE"

how much.........we don't want it.

Just like a new day dawning, 

bringing either beauty or havoc

change can be good......or unpleasant......

it's the uncertainty that makes it such a dread........

until the day has set .......and we find ourselves grateful for such a beautiful day.......

and that is what we will choose to do.

We will just take one day at a time......

enjoying the good that comes out of it

and dealing with the unpleasantness as it shows itself

and no matter what dark clouds gather,

we will look for a silver lining through it all.

It is certain that none of us are immune to change of some kind or another ,

it is how we deal with it that makes the journey through it much easier.

We get complacent in our wonderfully made cocoons and don't want to be nudged out to the change and transformation.

so with this............I am hoping that this change will be a good thing. 

How about you?  How do you face the ever constant changes in your life?

I would love to hear!