Doggy misadventures

Yesterday started out well.  Miss Peanut and I went out and fed the birds.  Then she decided it was time to chase that chipmunk family around.  The poor little rodents live in the woodpile.  Peanut spends a lot of her time chasing them and and silly squirrel that comes anywhere near the yard.

I went in the house and got the laundry started.  I was checking out Facebook when Peanut came scratching on the front door (something she rarely does) and whimpering.  I opened the door and she hobbled in.  My husband John and I thought at first she'd stepped on a wasp or something.  Her right front leg and foot were very swollen.  When I looked at her leg more closely, I found 2 puncture wounds.  OH NO!  Snakebite!

I called the vet and we took her right over.  She was very short of breath, had lost her bowel control and vomited.  NOT GOOD.  When Dr. Donna Shaw gave her a thorough examination, it turns out she'd been bitten TWICE.  Cripes!

She spent the night at the vet's and should come home today.  She may need some further surgery if there's too much tissue damage.  Only time will tell.

Here in Arkansas, we have 6 different types of poisonous snakes.  Copper heads, water moccasins, timber rattlers, pygmy rattlers, western diamondbacks, and coral snakes.  Please folks, learn to recognize the snakes in your area and how to protect yourself from them.

We're not the type of people who kill snakes indiscriminately.  But, poisonous snakes are dangerous!

John spent a better part of the day yesterday trying to find where Peanut got bitten.  I don't know if it's good that he didn't find the snake or not. 

Our granddaughter, Ariel, will be coming to spend the summer.  Now I'm thinking about how to make her understand the danger.  I don't want to make her afraid of the woods.  But I do want her to understand that she can't go wandering off by herself.  In previous summers, she hasn't been allowed to play outside unless she was directly in view at all times; or if she was with one of us.   I had thought that she's now 10, maybe she could have more free range to play.  Maybe not.

Ariel lives in rural Georgia.  But she's not been living in the woods like this.  They do have copperheads there in Georgia.  I don't know if she's ever seen one or not.

We've lived here 7 years now.  We killed 1 pygmy rattler on the brick patio.  I killed a copperhead last spring by our big water tank.  We're assuming that's where the snake was that bit Peanut.  I guess I'll make sure to wear boots and carry my "ratshot" pistol whenever I'm outside now...  Damn I hate wearing boots when it's hot.

Gardening woes

We had beautiful weather at the beginning of the week... and then this massive cold front moved in.  It rained buckets.  The temperature dropped.  It was 89 degrees on Wednesday (May Day), and by Thursday night it was 35!  Damn!

We got 2 1/2 inches of rain.  Luckily that's less than the previous rain front that moved in, which resulted in 6 inches of rain.  But it's been a wild and wet time the past 2 weeks or so.


When I checked on the veggies on Wednesday; we had tomatoes, carrots, beets, radishes, squash, melons, cucumbers, okra, asparagus, rhubarb, garlic, Jerusalem artichokes, onions and potatoes growing.

Our veggie garden when planted on 4/16/2013

 This picture was taken after I had all the seedlings in the ground.  It's hard to see those little plants in this picture, but it does show how the garden is laid out.  The square on the upper right is the bed for carrots and beets.  The radishes are adjacent to this.  The asparagus and rhubarb are located on the lower left of this picture.  The artichokes are off the picture, on the extreme left.

Our NE flower garden on 4/30/2013

The row of potatoes and onions can be seen in the background of this picture, to the left and behind the irises and the peach tree.

Each of the lilac trees bloomed this year, for the first time.  We planted them in 2009, and I think they're doing very well.

 I wonder what I'll find when I check it later today.  My friend Julie said the deer came along and ate EVERY plant in her garden.  Bummer!  Now she's got to start all over.

I had my chicks out in the sun on Wednesday.  Then the weather started to turn and so I decided to put them back in the cage with a light bulb for heat... and 1 of the Brahma Cochin chicks was gone.  Poof!  Damn.  I guess a snake got it.  That's the only thing that could have take it out of that cage.  All the other chicks were alive and well.  It's a mystery to me....

Mama Bantam Pebbles still has 5 little fuzz balls she's minding.  She's a great mother.  She keeps her little babies under close guard. 

My Black Copper Maran, Jet, is very broody.  But she doesn't have any eggs in her nest, so her hopes of motherhood aren't very likely.  I haven't been taking her eggs, so I think the rooster, Henry, is eating them.  Or maybe she's not laying.  Again, it's a mystery.

Henry and Jet

I'm making a trip to Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds today with my friend Michelle.  I've never been there, so I'm really looking forward to it.  I'll post pictures tomorrow.  Here's the link for them.  http://www.rareseeds.com/

Trips to town & other miscellaneous stuff

Yesterday, our friends Michelle and Jerry came for a visit.  They're a nice, young couple who live about an hour away in Bono, AR.  We met Michelle about 5 years ago when we were doing a spinning demonstration.  She came up and asked John if she could try spinning on his wheel.  We've been great friends ever since.  Michelle met Jerry at her workplace.  They started dating, fell in love and got married.  We don't get to see them as often as we'd like, but they come and visit when they can.

Jerry and Michelle Friend at a reenactment

The five of us visited for awhile and then Michelle and I made a trip to town.  First we visited Sugar Creek Goods, owned by my friend Vicki Husk-Mann, and spent two hours at the knitting circle.  That was a lot of fun.  Unfortunately, Vicki was under the weather.  Hope you're feeling better today, Vicki.



 Sugar Creek Goods Facebook page








After knitting, we headed to the bank and post office in Hardy.  Hardy is a great little town.  It's kinda dead in the winter time, but come the warm weather it's a hopping place!

 Hardy city demographics and more data

Main Street Hardy

Then we decided to grab a bite to eat.

So, we stopped in at Words Afterwords.

Words Afterwords

 


That's a really great place to eat lunch, find a good book to read or listen to live music.

I was at a seed swap there earlier this year.  That was alot of fun.

But I digress!  So, who did we see at Words?  Why my good friends, Karna and Erika.  What a wonderful surprise!
 

Karna McFadden

Erika Schindler

We had a great lunch.   Here's the link to Erika's blog.  Erika's Craft Corner

Michelle and I then headed home to see what our men were up to.  Jerry had also headed to town to run some errands.  And we beat him back.  John and Josh were puttering around, waiting for the mail to come.

They made their daily trip to the mailbox (taking the farm truck), one of their favorite daily activities.

The farm truck

Peanut and I headed out to make sure all the birds were fine.  And all was.

We got some checks in the mail, so Michelle and I headed back to town to make the deposits.  While we were there, we decided to stop at one of my favorite little clothing stores.




Jade's

We looked around a bit.  Earlier in the week, I had seen a cute little dress on their Facebook page.  And I found it.

A cute little cream and brown dress I wanted to try on

It turns out they had one in my size, so it came home with me!  I'm not usually a "shopper",  but I do like finding a bargain.

Some of my other favorite stores in Hardy included the following:

Ozark Classic Craft Mall
 


Hardy Pottery





 


So, if you happen to be in Sharp County Arkansas; check out our little town.  Have some food, go shopping and enjoy yourself.