My day is not going as planned.
I had some outdoor projects and yard work I needed to tackle and hoped to finish at 10:30am.
It's now 10:00am and I am on my second "break" and have been stymied TWICE.
After a minor discussion of exactly WHERE the new chicken pen is going to go, I finished placing the boards and began spray painting the lines (this was step one). I'm 3/4 finished when I look up and see a branch stuck in the upper window of the chicken house. I took one step closer and it wiggled. I scream loud and long and repetitively for Bobby, who has gone back inside to do his job's work. He doesn't hear me. I run inside and yell for him. He finally comes out, and by this time the snake is no longer in the window. I'm not adventurous enough to lift the roof side near the nesting boxes where he was, so we open the nesting pole side, and see the snake on the opposing side nestled up in the far corner. It's a young black snake (also known as rat snakes or farmer's snakes because they eat mice and other small crop predators), about 24" long and about a dime's width in diameter. Bobby thinks I should just reach in and grab him out since he's harmless, but I poke him with the hoe handle through the open roof. He slithers out the edge of the nesting box (that's how I know how long he was) and drops into a hole...UNDER THE CHICKEN HOUSE!!!! I lock the dogs up, turn the chickens out, move both house and pen, and discover this snake has a tunnel (I'm assuming). There's the hole inside, two small holes outside in the pen, and a smaller hole outside of everything.
Step two of this project is to plow the lines up (the fence has to go underground due to predators). That means at some point I have to plow across the tunnel; this does not appeal to me at all!
SO, I do what I do best. I start another project! I grabbed the hoe and started tackling weeds among the flowers and the little shed. After the second or third whack, I start hearing a buzzing, just like I did in the garden. I change locations, having had unpleasant reactions to stings before, and the noise only gets louder. I put the hoe down in hopes of spotting where the buzzing sounds originates. The noise almost immediately stops. I pick the hoe up, and nothing. I start to hoe, and it becomes even louder. I throw the hoe down, and spot two holes at various points in the handle. We most likely have carpenter bees. When I told Bobby we needed a new hoe, he told me to take it to the pond and submerge it. It should then work just fine.
For now the hoe is still on the ground in front of the shed. I might tackle the tilling next.
I won't go to the gym today.
I've had enough cardio, I think.
I had some outdoor projects and yard work I needed to tackle and hoped to finish at 10:30am.
It's now 10:00am and I am on my second "break" and have been stymied TWICE.
After a minor discussion of exactly WHERE the new chicken pen is going to go, I finished placing the boards and began spray painting the lines (this was step one). I'm 3/4 finished when I look up and see a branch stuck in the upper window of the chicken house. I took one step closer and it wiggled. I scream loud and long and repetitively for Bobby, who has gone back inside to do his job's work. He doesn't hear me. I run inside and yell for him. He finally comes out, and by this time the snake is no longer in the window. I'm not adventurous enough to lift the roof side near the nesting boxes where he was, so we open the nesting pole side, and see the snake on the opposing side nestled up in the far corner. It's a young black snake (also known as rat snakes or farmer's snakes because they eat mice and other small crop predators), about 24" long and about a dime's width in diameter. Bobby thinks I should just reach in and grab him out since he's harmless, but I poke him with the hoe handle through the open roof. He slithers out the edge of the nesting box (that's how I know how long he was) and drops into a hole...UNDER THE CHICKEN HOUSE!!!! I lock the dogs up, turn the chickens out, move both house and pen, and discover this snake has a tunnel (I'm assuming). There's the hole inside, two small holes outside in the pen, and a smaller hole outside of everything.
Step two of this project is to plow the lines up (the fence has to go underground due to predators). That means at some point I have to plow across the tunnel; this does not appeal to me at all!
SO, I do what I do best. I start another project! I grabbed the hoe and started tackling weeds among the flowers and the little shed. After the second or third whack, I start hearing a buzzing, just like I did in the garden. I change locations, having had unpleasant reactions to stings before, and the noise only gets louder. I put the hoe down in hopes of spotting where the buzzing sounds originates. The noise almost immediately stops. I pick the hoe up, and nothing. I start to hoe, and it becomes even louder. I throw the hoe down, and spot two holes at various points in the handle. We most likely have carpenter bees. When I told Bobby we needed a new hoe, he told me to take it to the pond and submerge it. It should then work just fine.
For now the hoe is still on the ground in front of the shed. I might tackle the tilling next.
I won't go to the gym today.
I've had enough cardio, I think.
Comments