I just spent the last two hours walking through the forest picking berries. I have plenty of blackberry and raspberry bushes but 12 bug bites and two hours later I have learned that I see a lot of wildlife for a reason. I managed to find 10 ripe berries in the 50 bushes I searched. I also have checked the wild grape vines and they too have been eaten. Next year I will have to invest in some netting maybe or some fences. I would show you a photo of my ten berries but it was such a pitiful number and I have already eaten half of them.
The good news is that I found what looks like a butternut tree or some type of walnut tree. That will be my next foraging attempt. Lets hope the squirrels don't get to it before I do. The book I am reading says they ripen at the end of August to the beginning of September. Seeing as I will be traveling for the next few weeks that will probably be next post.
Sunday, July 24, 2011
Wednesday, July 20, 2011
How the wall came down and the bat got out
Today we received the last bit of paperwork from our real estate agent saying our other house is officially sold. Now that we will soon be single home owners with single home monthly bills I can finally start planning renovations in our current house.
My first project in the house will be the kitchen.
Actually, I sort of already started the project.
About two weeks ago we started to smell something around the entrance beside the fridge. I took out the vacuum, some cleaners and started cleaning but the smell did not go away.
This made me a little bit frustrated. I found a hammer and began to take of the baseboards. That is when I saw mouse poop and a little tiny hole where the mouse must have crawled in from. No big deal a little cleaning and vacuuming no more smell. Or so I thought. The next day the smell got worse. I thought maybe I missed something. When I started vacuuming the vacuum started to suck out something large which I thought was insulation so I shut off the vacuum. That is when I found the head of the first mouse corpse.
I went to the tool box and found a drywall knife. I cut a hole in the small hole in the drywall. Then the real smell came. After doing some research I realized I found a mouse nest filled with dead mice. I could not clean it very well so my hole then grew double in size. I still could not clean everything so the hole doubled again. After removing most of the lower half of the wall I was finally able to remove the nest. I spent hour trying to clean the wood boards using bleach, baking soda, murphy's oil and ammonia. So, the wall started to come down.
Having part of a wall removed was final until 4 am this past Friday Max shakes me awake to ask me if heard something. He turns on the light and my first thought is a burglar but then a something flies above my head. A bat. We get up grab a flashlight and a sheet. I was always told you are supposed to drop a sheet on it and then carry it outside to set it free. We finally spot it at the end of the hall near where the wall used to be. I run around to close the other doors while Max tries to find the bat. He can't find the bat. It could only have gone into two places the laundry room or into the hole where the wall was that connects to the attic. It dawns on me...the bat came in through the attic. So naturally it must have flown back into the attic. Max boards up the hole and we go back to bed.
The next evening is a little warm so I decide to open up the windows. I am in the laundry room opening the window when obviously I find the bat. The bat is sleeping between the window panes. I remove the screen and search for sheets and old yogurt containers to try to trap it with. After an hour of us trying to trap it, the bat flies out of the window all by itself.
Hopefully the rest of the kitchen renovations go a little bit smoother.
My first project in the house will be the kitchen.
Actually, I sort of already started the project.
About two weeks ago we started to smell something around the entrance beside the fridge. I took out the vacuum, some cleaners and started cleaning but the smell did not go away.
This made me a little bit frustrated. I found a hammer and began to take of the baseboards. That is when I saw mouse poop and a little tiny hole where the mouse must have crawled in from. No big deal a little cleaning and vacuuming no more smell. Or so I thought. The next day the smell got worse. I thought maybe I missed something. When I started vacuuming the vacuum started to suck out something large which I thought was insulation so I shut off the vacuum. That is when I found the head of the first mouse corpse.
I went to the tool box and found a drywall knife. I cut a hole in the small hole in the drywall. Then the real smell came. After doing some research I realized I found a mouse nest filled with dead mice. I could not clean it very well so my hole then grew double in size. I still could not clean everything so the hole doubled again. After removing most of the lower half of the wall I was finally able to remove the nest. I spent hour trying to clean the wood boards using bleach, baking soda, murphy's oil and ammonia. So, the wall started to come down.
Having part of a wall removed was final until 4 am this past Friday Max shakes me awake to ask me if heard something. He turns on the light and my first thought is a burglar but then a something flies above my head. A bat. We get up grab a flashlight and a sheet. I was always told you are supposed to drop a sheet on it and then carry it outside to set it free. We finally spot it at the end of the hall near where the wall used to be. I run around to close the other doors while Max tries to find the bat. He can't find the bat. It could only have gone into two places the laundry room or into the hole where the wall was that connects to the attic. It dawns on me...the bat came in through the attic. So naturally it must have flown back into the attic. Max boards up the hole and we go back to bed.
The next evening is a little warm so I decide to open up the windows. I am in the laundry room opening the window when obviously I find the bat. The bat is sleeping between the window panes. I remove the screen and search for sheets and old yogurt containers to try to trap it with. After an hour of us trying to trap it, the bat flies out of the window all by itself.
Hopefully the rest of the kitchen renovations go a little bit smoother.
Tuesday, July 19, 2011
Basket Weaving 101
Off I went. I cut a few cattails down and started my very first basket. I could not remember if I was supposed to start making the side of the basket or the bottom first. I started the side first which as I learned was my second mistake. When my basket was finished I realized that I had no way to connect the first and last side together...thus starting from the bottom is important.
I give myself a C- for effort. Maybe my next post will show a proper basket.
Monday, July 18, 2011
How Max and I became hicks...
What started out as purchasing a property in the country has now in retrospect turned into a gradual process of us becoming, well...hicks. I did not see it at first but everyday it becomes even clearer.
Yesterday was hot, very hot, after being outside for a few hours decided to go to Walmart and purchase a kiddy pool. It turns out $50 dollars will buy you a decent sized pool. We brought the pool home and decided the best place to set it up was on the concrete pads on the driveway because it seemed level enough. Well it was sort of level. Who knew it would make such a difference? After filling the pool with water it became apparent that it does make a difference but since we drained the cistern trying to fill it and because we are not sure how much water there actually is in the well it will just have to do.
After a day with the crooked pool it appeared to be holding its own.
Phase 2: the lawn chairs.
Today in the absence of something to float on in the pool I decided lawn chairs would be the best way. After spending an hour in my lawn chair in the pool on my driveway the truth hit me...I am a hick.
Yesterday was hot, very hot, after being outside for a few hours decided to go to Walmart and purchase a kiddy pool. It turns out $50 dollars will buy you a decent sized pool. We brought the pool home and decided the best place to set it up was on the concrete pads on the driveway because it seemed level enough. Well it was sort of level. Who knew it would make such a difference? After filling the pool with water it became apparent that it does make a difference but since we drained the cistern trying to fill it and because we are not sure how much water there actually is in the well it will just have to do.
After a day with the crooked pool it appeared to be holding its own.
Phase 2: the lawn chairs.
Today in the absence of something to float on in the pool I decided lawn chairs would be the best way. After spending an hour in my lawn chair in the pool on my driveway the truth hit me...I am a hick.
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