Snake Bite

Last night the dogs were barking a ton and the hens were in an uproar by the coop. I noticed my dog, Hickory, had a goiter developing on his neck. I thought it might be from his collar and pulling on the run. But it was late so I put him to bed. This morning his face was huge and swollen three times its normal size. I called the vet and took him at noon. Turns out Hick was the fourth copperhead snake bite of the day. The warm fall is bringing out the snakes.The bite is not fatal, just painful and causes infection. Hick was bitten under his chin. The skin was starting to die surrounding the bite. The vet gave me pills for the fluid and the infection. I never found the snake. I hope it is dead.

Cedar Dresser Saga Part 2

This afternoon my husband and I trekked up to the second cedar tree on our neighbors property to cut it down. I rode Dolly and Alan took the tractor. This tree was straighter but had heavier branches. The heart wood was a deeper red than the first tree. Together we were able to get this tree down and finished before the sun set. Now we have a third tree to cut down and we should have enough to make a dresser. Loading these trees onto our truck to take to the mill will be a challenge.

Haunting the Mill

Here are two shots of the old mill getting ready for Halloween hauntings.

Funeral Run

Today, my husband and I attended the funeral of an acquaintance at our church. The woman who died of cancer was an active cowgirl who rode, trained horses and loved it. I wish I could have gotten to know her better, but she stopped going to our church after she became bedridden. Our church was filled with cowboys and cowgirls, hats and boots all around for her funeral. We wanted to know how a funeral at our church was performed. It was a nice and simple ceremony in the Catholic tradition. After the mass the family was thrown a pot luck lunch by our church members. The family had set up photos of their loved one in the lobby for all to see and talk over. It was a very nice and simple funeral that honored the woman who died. Someday one of us may be part of a funeral at our small church. It was nice to stop and participate, assist the church and the family. I do not like to go to funerals, I get too emotional. However, this was a good thing. Helping people and learning what needs to be done at a funeral prepares us for the unexpected. Our small church is very welcoming in a time of grief. Another one of the good things about living in a small town.

Hen Pen

The other day I caught my dog carrying one of my hens. The hen was alive and clucking. I am not sure the motivation for this hen carrying,but I beat my dog with that hen. Then I looked over the hen, she had torn flesh on her wings and body. I cleaned the wounds and sprayed her with Vetricyn and put her in a cage over my freezer. She was left alone in peace with a full bottle of hen water/vitamins. The next day she was alert and hungry. I gave her watermelon which she ate. She started to move about the cage and get strong again. So I took her outside with her flock. She was chased and pecked as she limped about the chicken yard. So I put her with the young chicks in the nursery coop. She did not get hassled and was happy. Today that hen is back with her free range flock and starting to heal. Chickens are tough.

Firewall Continues

Last week our contractor, Jeff, came in on his Saturday to work on our wall. He is working full time on another job and we are in between that one. We discovered the 7 boxes of cultured stone we purchased do not cover our 80 square foot wall as promised by the Owens Corning cultured stone distributor we bought from. So we have to order another 4-5 boxes of "Summer" stone to finish our wall. Very frustrating as a consumer who lives in the Ozarks. The product is not accurately represented on their website. Not in how the stone is put up nor the correct sized stones supplied in the boxes. So to fill in all the small holes from stones not provided, we are using local rocks on our property. They have to be picked up and cleaned before Jeff can use them. This takes time which is in short supply for us this time of the year. But the addition of our local small stones gives the wall a more natural look. Our wall is becoming a work of art created by Jeff.

Cedar Dresser Saga Part 1

We want a new dresser we can share in our bedroom. The one we have now is too small. Since we live in the Ozarks we have several furniture makers in the area. So we asked a well know Amish man to make a cedar dresser for us. Yes, he said, but he is out of cedar. He said if we have some cedar trees, cut them down, take them to a mill and have the boards cut from the trees. He will dry the wet wood them make us a dresser. So our neighbor said we could have 3 large cedar trees from his property in exchange for some threaded rods. Today we went an cut down the first cedar tree. Since the tractor only holds the driver, I rode my horse to the cutting spot. When cutting trees you should always bring an extra person. We tied Dolly, the mare, up to the tractor as we cut down the tree. The tree was at least 30 feet high and 40 inches in diameter. Alan cleared the limbs and decided to chain dragged the tree to a safe location for our truck. We still have to cut down 2 more trees and move the limbs out of the pasture area. It was getting dark by the time he returned with the tractor to pick up the tools and supplies. I followed the tractor home on Dolly who was happy to be headed home again. We got home, unsaddled Dolly, put up the tractor, fed the chickens and the dogs, put out the barn cat then made dinner. Who knew making furniture would take so much hard work!