Winter showed it's vengence...

...again! I'm so tired of Winter! Yet, today, it was welcomed....sicker'n a dog, I was.

Stayed indoors tending to my ailments!

Luckily, outside, it was quiet. Despite the rain, the wind, & the cold!

No Voles to track down (must have been hunkering beneath where it is warm!) No goats to wrestle with, no cows or horses to put back where they belong....all seemed content to exert no energy!

Just as I was doing...

Only one varmint showed it's face today. Probably cuz everything else, including the Border Collies & even Coyotes, had other things to do. The varmint? See by the pink arrow, he is escaping from my Rock Garden Smorgasbord thru the fence!

Cayenne Pepper works good, if you are consistent...rain and watering means more Cayenne

....which I buy in bulk at WINCO.

Ever chase a Vole??

...Voles are NOT moles. They don't mound the dirt up and make a mess of your lawn. Voles on the otherhand (a form of field mice, I read) have an endless network of tunnels underground. They undermine the ground to the point it eventually caves in! (Makes mowing tough!) They do pop their heads up and eat the grass, Creeping Phloxes, Dianthus, Pansies, and anything else that appears on the "plate" before their eyes! They can actually devour a whole Creeping Phlox plant...approx 18" diameter and tall, in a matter of 2 days if you don't catch them! Well, I thought they were gone! Hadn't seen the damage for about 2 months now...until today! I saw that little head munching on one of my Rasberry Sorbet Dianthus and I grabbed a shovel and headed towards him! He must have heard my stomping footsteps and slipped back underground though his little hole (about 1-1/2" diam) tucked under the leaves. I've tried before, to no avail, 'flushing' them with the hose, as you can moles...I left the hose running for about 5 hours! NO SIGN of water exiting anywhere! Having given up hope of running him off, I got out my mothballs that seem to work only once in awhile, shoved 3 down the hole & placed dirt back on top. (I have to be careful so our Yorkies don't get themselves in a predicament).
Later in the afternoon, I headed down to the barnyard to gather eggs, when I stopped dead in my tracks to ponder what I'd come upon! What might be about 35o' away from where I had the hose running so long, down below the embankment of my yard, coming up in one of the pastures was a soaking trail of water! Hmmmm.....wonder if that critter ran away?! I doubted it!
I am not a happy camper at this point...and just as I turned to the tack shed, I saw the largest goat was loose and had my pampered new corkscrew willow, that I started from a branch this winter, and had grown to about 7' tall, was between her legs and in her mouth eating all the tender new leaves! It is now only about 5' tall!! I do not care for goats! (Keith thinks he needs them for starting his Border Collies on, and others who want his help.) I am trying to get her to get back to her pen, and she thinks I am someone who actually loves her, because as she did one other time....she come running up from behind me...ducked in between my short legs and decided to give me a ride!! RRRRRRRRRR! Of course I ended up in the dirt!
As per usual, whenever critters are running around where they don't belong....my Cowboy Hubby is nowhere to be seen! Riding off yonder in them thar hills somewhere!
Ok..........I admit, I've done gathering of critters so much of my life, I should be used to it. Should just accept the fact that it is part of my "job"...part of this chosen lifestyle. But you know what?? I hated having to do it years ago....and I hate having to do it today! Today is even tougher cuz I don't move quite like I used to! And my patience isn't what it used to be either, which can create a bigger fiasco!
On to the vole that started my disgust for the day...by sundown this evening...I decided to go check out the initial crime scene. Guess what!!! Laying perfectly innocent on top of the soil, were 3 perfect mothballs.
The rest of my Rasberry Sorbet Dianthus???
History!

Tick Tick, Tick Tick....

...and I don't mean Brad Paisley's song either! That is gross! I HATE ticks! Worse than any other critter on earth! Worse than scorpions which we experienced in Az! If you live where there is a tick problem, like we do...read this about Ticks.
My wonderful Cowboy Hubby takes off riding the colts everyday, through the CRP ground, through creeks; over hills and back. The Border Collies work, run and romp along with him, mile after mile. With Hubby being a horseback, he rarely gets a tick on him; however, Mac, Tess & Millie come home loaded! Hence, they come into the yard, on the porch, and Ol' Mac, no doubt brings 'em into the house ('cuz he's spoiled now that he's 13 yr).....which brings me to the subject and even more reason for me to hate these critters! Two weeks ago, just by chance I happened to notice a 'spot' on my boob while getting dressed, IT WAS A TICK! Already embedded! Didn't even feel it! Well, last nite I flew outta bed at 4 am...'feeling' something...sure enough, just below my tailbone...was Yep! a tick! It hadn't embbed yet, thank goodness! FREAKED me out! Couldn't even go back to sleep! CREEPY!!! Picking ticks is part of our evening routine, before coming in for supper. I find them (Hubby's fingers are too rough to feel unless they are engorged) and Hubby plucks them....I just can't stand to do that! We have a jar of alcohol on the porch to put them in, as the article says, and it's getting quite full! YUK!!
Boy! ...is it ever noisy around here at 5am! Birds up the gazoo in the Hawthorne tree out our bedroom window, wild turkeys gobbling off in the distance, rooster crowing like there is no tomorrow; horses whinning for their breakfast, goats blahhing (?), calves bawling on the knoll for Momma & a 'drink', Millie & Tess barking from their kennels....with only 4 hours of sleep when I was rudely awakened...all these noises irritated me more! So, I just got gave up trying to sleep somemore, got up and made my morning coffee, sat on the front porch listening to all the morning chatter going on and surprisingly, when you aren't trying to sleep, it's quite beautiful "music" !
Hubby helped a local rancher move his cattle today, very uneventful he said. Came home and worked another colt....I heard a 'thud' while working in the garden, but I ignored it. He wasn't hollering or anything! So how was I to know he hit the ground and knocked the wind out of him.....again! Wonder how long 'til this eating dirt, gasping for air, barely walking comfortably gets him on a different path! He ain't as young as he used to be.
With the economy going the way it is, his age, where we live.....the cards are stacked against us! Hopefully, this hosting the MontanaTV1 Ag & Ranch Show coming is our ticket to some relief! Time will tell!
edit: 9/27/08MontanaTV1 failed this summer and will not resume...