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Showing posts from 2017

a crazy, insane challenge

I guess I'm officially in. I recieved the first e-mail today, and the next one should arrive on January 1st. I'm a little giddy with excitement, a little horrified at the mere thought, and a tad bit relieved after reading posts from last year's quilters. It's from Australia, and it's called the 365 challenge. For the entire year of 2018, there will be a pattern sent for either a 3" or 6" block. At the end of the year, the blocks are placed together to form a queen size quilt. Insane. And yet, I've put my name on the list. http://www.365challenge.com.au As long as I can keep up with downloading the patterns every day, then it's okay if I miss a day or two of quilting. Previous quilters cut out the fabric pieces each day and placed them with the pattern in a ziplock bag with the day's number on it so they could easily access it and keep up with what had been completed or not. And that seems somewhat manageable. So even if I don't ha

openings and closings

Tuesday night, December 19th - Jr Church Caroling  Not the most promoted of our year's activities, but we pulled it off nonetheless. We narrowed our road map this year and attempted to sing to all the widows plus two other families in the church. One wasn't home; one was a little bittersweet as her husband was barely hanging on this time last year (and the kids clearly remembered she had made them cookies last year!), but the funniest was when we visited the home of a younger widow who has recently started attending our church. The sidewalk to her front door was a little narrow, and when the leader got beside her car and started walking, he jumped back in shock. There was a HUGE cat sitting on the trunk, and it was at the same level as his face! Once the initial shock was gone everyone was laughing. Wednesday, Dec 20th - Packing Day Bobby got up early to take a friend to the hospital to have a pacemaker put in, and I headed out in the rain towards Washington, NC. There were

a fun day

We drove to meet up with one of Bobby's nieces today. It was amazing to see how much the littlest ones have grown. Natalie is actually talking and wasn't scared of Bobby today (actually set across from us at the table and laughed at his faces and told him he was silly). I think her favorite food is ketchup. She not only dipped her chicken pieces and french fries in it, she mostly dipped her finger in it and licked the ketchup off. At one point she even lifted the little cup holding the ketchup and attempted to drink it. I couldn't help but think about two people in my church who have t-shirts about ketchup, one which reads "I eat ketchup with my ketchup." We had a small rocking horse for the youngest, who is not quite two. It has plastic runners on the bottom, and stuffed horse on the top. She was terrified of it. Natalie showed her how to ride it, but she was still having no part of it. We couldn't help but laugh. The older siblings seemed excited by their

the craziness countdown

Tuesday night we met with some friends and had a good time. They stayed later than I anticipated, but they helped clean up the kitchen and it felt a lot like being with family. Tonight we made our yearly trip to Meadow Restaurant and Meadow Lights. A lot of memories; a lot of wishes. I'll leave it at that. Tomorrow we'll visit with one of Bobby's nieces and her family. We don't get to see them often, but we've never had time with them that wasn't a joy. Saturday morning is housework and some baking followed by a wedding Sunday evening. Monday is hopefully our Star Wars day, followed by a night of more family time with Bobby's nephew. Tuesday is packing and laundry day, followed by a night of caroling with kids from church. Wednesday is loading/moving day for my sister. Thursday we head to Gallatin and help unload the moving truck. Friday is helping them unpack a little then heading to AL...and then it's crazy work/rest/play time. We'll cram

December

Instead of rushing to the holiday season and then relaxing, as I thought we would, we've only seemed to pick up steam. But we are getting things done and enjoying a lot of activities as well. Our Pastor turned 50 the first Sunday in December, and we've been planning for many weeks a surprise birthday party on Dec 3, his actual birthday. Except the night before, all of our plans got tossed out the window the week before when he e-mailed the deacons and informed them we were having a business meeting that night and as a prelude to it he was going to dedicate the entire service into sharing his heart about some decisions and changes. They encouraged him to wait a week and let people pray about it. He was concerned enough time had passed and there was no need to wait, and began to wonder if the deacons weren't really behind the decisions that had been made. After a lot of e-mails, they finally made the call to postpone the party a week and proceed with the business meeting as

back in the saddle

Bobby is back behind the wheel!!! :) I am too tired to count up how long it's been, but as of today his 2nd new chair is adapted to drive the van. And that makes me a very happy person. And this Friday is also our church's annual ladies ornament exchange...at my house. So each day I've been trying to tackle one area of the house. Tuesday evening a young girl from church came over to help with the Bethlehem scene. I'll have to write more about that Saturday. :) I didn't totally finish cleaning the kitchen this afternoon, but I did put a huge dent in it. So hopefully that will be finished tomorrow and I can tackle the living room, which includes putting up my AL tree and my NC tree. :) So I've not dropped off the face of the earth. I've just been dreadfully busy.

green tomatoes

Before our first freeze last week, Bobby reminded me that I need to empty everything out of the garden before the plants died. I knew I would have a handful of this and a handful of that, but I was NOT expecting a bucket and a half of green tomatoes.  Now I like fried green tomatoes...once or twice a year. They're at treat, and anything beyond that is too much acid for my stomach. So here's two recipes I've tried, and liked, though it's not done a lot for emptying the buckets. Baked Green Tomatoes Heat oven to 375. Slice thick slices of tomatoes and place on cookie sheet. Top with pieces/cuts of uncooked bacon. Bake until bacon is mostly cooked. Add cheddar cheese. Top with bread crumbs. Heat until cheese is melted. I would make this one again! Green Tomato Soup chopped onion chopped potatoes 3 slices of sausage, rolled into small balls 5 medium/large green tomatoes chicken broth water 1 T salt Bring to a boil. Lower to medium and simmer until p

twirling with the leaves

More than once the last few weeks I've been amazed at the little whirlwind of leaves I've seen while walking or driving. And the visual aptly fits how I'm viewing life at the moment. The municipal election has come and gone, and I'm no closer to a decision about what I need to do next year. Just when I think I'm going to keep going until I have a clear sign otherwise, things get a little crazy and I start thinking I might as well reconcile myself to the fact I'm in a new chapter in life. Quadriplegics (and anyone with a spinal cord injury, I assume) do not sweat below their level of injury. And when they do sweat at the head, it's not the body cooling itself as we learned in school. It's a serious condition called autonomic dysreflexia (called AD in chat groups) where the blood pressure rises so the brain will know there's a problem somewhere. I guess it's the body's way of circumventing the broken nervous system. Since the nerve endings

November

The month of thankfulness and gratitude...and I'm struggling with it just a tad. Today I picked stuff from the garden and had time to prep it but not put it up. My brain is screaming "It's November! Die, plants, die!!!" and my grandmother's inner voice is reprimanding me and saying I should be thankful when God provides. And my father-in-law would say in his deep southern voice, "Hard times are coming. You better be prepared." And I remind myself that he lived during the Great Depression and witnessed extremely hard times, so I should listen. But being the lazy, spoiled American that I am, a part of me wants to be irresponsible and just pull it all up and toss it in the compost bin. But then I see another large pile of rabbit poop, and realize that I'm still feeding the wildlife as well. That did NOT make me happy this spring when they demolished most of my garden, but now that my freezer is almost full and there's not as much for them to eat o

Did that really happen?

Monday night of this week, we heard a crash, and then our power cut off. No flickers, no storm, just the noise as if a transformer had exploded or something. We wait a few minutes to see if it will return. It didn't. Bobby checked to see if anyone on our street had lights (school side did, but not anyone on our grid's side) and did briefly see some lights down the road. We waited, and the generator kicked in. After a few more minutes, I call the power company, and am told that 12 people in our area are without power and a crew has been dispatched to find and resolve the problem.  About ten minutes later there's a knock on the door. I tell Bobby to answer it, fully expecting it to be a crewman wanting to know how we have power when no one else on our grid does. (That's actually happened before.) It was a young man who said he had swerved to miss a deer and landed in the woods. His cell phone battery went dead as he tried to make a call, and he was wondering if he could u

whirlwind

Last Monday we leisurely traveled to Bristol, TN to visit one of my nieces. Leisure travel (stopping when you want to see whatever hits your fancy) is something I have always wanted to do. Usually we're on a timeline with a deadline and nod longingly at billboards or brochures and keep on rolling. We enjoyed our brief time with them. I don't remember the name of the restaurant where we ate, but it was very colorful with metallic flowers and designs and whimsical colors. My friend Sara would call it kindergarten art, or folk art. The food was good, but then we went to a bakery downtown that had live bluegrass music...and the BEST food. The hardest part was deciding what to go. I actually got a slice of chocolate cake with chocolate icing. And the craziest thing? I left 1/3 of it on the plate. YES... me, the chocoholic who does not believe in wasting food. I couldn't eat it all. We didn't do the best job of choosing accommodations. The tiny motel we stayed in, while ver

finally...

Last Friday I turned in my quilt to the state fair. Judging was this past Tuesday. The first time I entered into the fair, I didn't know they posted winners on line, and it was several days after opening before I could go, and one of my friends told me on Facebook. I was thrilled beyond measure to find out I had placed (that was a 4th place in first time entry/beginner category). I had not expected anything at all. And several years have passed and I've not managed to enter anything since. So I've been stalking the website waiting for an answer. Tonight only the fair opened from 3pm until midnight and tickets were $1.50 in honor of it being the 150th anniversary of the state fair. So we went tonight, hoping it wouldn't rain and wouldn't be overly crowded, as we really didn't want to pay full price nor go on a weekend day with all the crowd. Not all the exhibits were open, nor some of the competitions (great pumpkins and watermelons were still being weighed, and

nnnnnoooooo!

Friday afternoon I took photographs, then we drove to the educational buildings of the state fairgrounds where I turned in a quilt. Hooray!!! I've been waiting to upload pics and and information ever since then, and thought I'd be able to tomorrow afternoon/evening since the judging takes places tomorrow morning for the category I entered. Today I just "happened" to check the website, and it says competition results will not be posted until the fair starts Thursday afternoon. WHAT?!?! I am SO disappointed! I thought I would know something tomorrow night and would be able to show pictures then as well!!! So I guess you'll have to wait until Thursday evening. Meanwhile, Bobby got a good report from the foot doctor today, and that's one less visit we'll now have to make. We lost a young rooster (one a momma hen hatched earlier in the spring) last night. Visited a 2nd woodwind shop this morning only to find it was closed on Mondays...one of these days I

change

 Stats:  90 homes      Glenn Creek Subdivision 212 homes      Royal Oaks Subdivision 115 homes      Clifford Grove Subdivision   41 homes      Unnamed Bryan Rd Subdivision 215 homes      Unnamed Ackerman/Hebron Church Rd Subdivision 112 townhomes 785 "new" families within 2 miles of our house within 2 years And there's still part of a farm up for sale. (No, not my mother-in-law's). Our world will not be the same.

hopping

We came home from an appointment this morning to find a dead chicken in the turn lane. I imagine some parent was running late and flying either into or out of the school and the chicken was crossing the road. So we lost a bird, but then this afternoon Bobby came to get me. A hen that has been sitting had abandoned the nest, and with her was one chirping, black ball of fluff with a white spot on its backside. I left the remaining eggs the rest of the day, but the mother never returned to the nest. So this evening when I realized she had totally abandoned everything but the biddie, I pulled out the incubator and placed the remaining eggs inside. I'm hoping she'll adopt whatever hatches. I really don't want to prep the brooder box and go through all that again.  Of course, there's always the possibility that nothing else will hatch. I know 4 of the eggs are less than a week old (I marked the newer eggs about a week ago). So I'm putting Oct 10 on the calendar as disposa

the die is cast

Thursday night I went online and submitted a form and printed out a receipt. I am now officially registered to enter a quilt in the state fair, and it is due at the fairgrounds no later than 5pm Oct.9. And as I finish typing that sentence, I feel like I am back in a dorm room at Free Will Baptist Bible College my freshman year, and Charity Van Winkle has walked in the door to see how I've finished my Ancient History timeline that is due the next day. She had been working on it for WEEKS , and I had no clue we even had such a project. She looked at me strangely, and informed me it was on the syllabus. I remembered getting one of those the first day of class, and it simply looked like a class outline. Silly me didn't realize that it actually listed assignments and due dates on it.  I stayed up almost all night working on that project, and I was quite pleased with my C, and no one other than Charity knew it was a last minute frenzied free-for-all. The next day after classes she

turning a corner

Back in August one my many cousins was admitted to the hospital with pneumonia. To be honest, I didn't think too much about it when she was first admitted. I figured a day or two in ICU with breathing treatments and she'd be home within 3-5 days. But then the texts and calls and e-mails got progressively worse. One lung no longer contained infection but was severely damaged from the infection. They were concerned if she picked up a secondary infection it would kill her. All visitors outside of immediate family was banned. I cannot even begin to fathom what her husband, who is a pastor, was/is dealing with as he tries to see about the congregation as well as make the 45 minute drive to B'ham to see his wife. Fast forward three weeks: Earlier this week doctors informed the family that if she continued to progress, she might be home by the middle of October, though Thanksgiving might be more realistic. They ended the conversation with a comment along the lines of "

Cambridge bound

My niece and her husband are moving to England today. Zach has been accepted into Cambridge. He plans to spend 9 months getting his second master's degree, then apply for the doctorate program. I think this degree will focus on a comparison/contrast of the Hebrew writing and Greek translation of the book of Ruth (his first master's degree was the same thing but on the book of Amos). Then his doctorate program would involve learning Aramaic, Urdu, Sanskrit and either French or German as part of understanding the translations of the early Scriptures. I think his ultimate plan is to teach at a Christian college, but at the moment that is many years down the road. We spent Saturday with them since this week is full (I'm teaching today and doctor's appts tomorrow). I'm sure their departure will not be forgotten, as their tickets had to be credited due to Irma impacting flights out of Atlanta. So last night they headed to Washington DC so they could fly out from the

fowl mornings

I've never actually seen the heron catch a fish, but I know it does as it leaves a pile of scales in the area where it perches. And much closer to the window, one of our little hummingbirds. These three birds are on their third container of nectar this summer.

class # 2

I feel like I sneezed and August was here and gone. My allergy med quit working, grapes began ripening, I hurt my back (and still struggling some), began training stuff with Board of Elections, and fall gardening. Oh, and the quilt class I signed up for back in January arrived! (I try to take one or two classes a year.) Jacqueline de Jonge, from the Netherlands, was teaching her methods of paper piecing at the state fairgrounds for 2 days (organized through Wish Upon A Quilt store in North Raleigh). Below are a few of the quilts she displayed during one of the breaks (called a "trunk show" when done during a quilt fair or show). Our teacher is the lady on the left and the one hiding her head on the right is Cathy, the owner of "Wish" (what many local quilters call it) I think this was one of her earlier patterns, but I think it's just as fabulous as the newer ones. One of her new patterns, which I'm almost tempted to purchase!! Severa

the new chair

Tuesday of last week we drove to North Raleigh to pick up Bobby's new wheelchair and receive instructions on how to operate both it and its accessories. It was more than a little overwhelming for both of us. I think the mechanic was surprised and disappointed/concerned that we weren't thrilled (these chairs are non-refundable). It's a lot to take in. This chair is not identical to what the sales rep brought to the house. Two inches here and two inches there make a world of difference. The chair we received has a head rest, which presents a small challenge in our morning routine and trying to get him buckled in the van, but nothing I can't live with. We hope to meet with the van company today to start overcoming the biggest hurdle...whether or not this chair is too tall/too long for him to drive. Every time you get a new power chair the van and the chair have to be modified slightly, but this one is so drastically different there's a good possibility it will be equ

Monday, August 21

Last Monday we drove to Sumter, South Carolina so we could view the eclipse in "totality". (My uncle was laughing that he had never heard that word in all his life and in the span of a few days he'd heard it so many times he was tired of it.)  The public park there was having a special event, but the traffic to the park was quite long so we drove on down the road to Lowe's hardware store and parked. Evidently quite a few other people had the same idea. :) Due to the heat, we headed inside, and would walk back to the garden center every 10-15 minutes to see how much it had changed. About 15 minutes before totality, Bobby came out and joined me. The lights in the parking lot that were on sensor came one, as did the ones in the garden area. A few workers slipped outside (despite the announcement not to abandon their posts) a few minutes before, and it was amazing. A worker who had glasses told those without when it was safe to look. A HUGE cheer went up from the par

97 and fall

Bobby laughed at me last night when I declared it was fall, reminding me that it was to be 97 degrees today. And yes, we are under a heat advisory here in NC today, BUT my surroundings are saying otherwise. The poplar tree has been shedding its leaves for over a week, and the grapes are ready for picking. I was too busy yesterday to take pictures, but I now have 3/4 gallon of muscadine juice in my refrigerator waiting to be made into jelly later today (and I only had time to pick 1 side of 1 row). Grapes are ripe in the fall. And, as if that wasn't enough, school is starting back this week (or starts back next week for the last track of year rounders) in our area, and I had my dry run for fall elections training. (Trainers teach the class to elections staff to make sure we understand the process before classes begin.) So everything around me, except the temperature, is screaming fall. So happy fall, y'all, sweat and all.

twice in one day

Today I attended a presentation for Quilts of Valor for a Navy vet who served during the Vietnam War. He talked about his introduction to basic training, and how excited he was when he saw the line for food. He had never seen that much food, and thought if this was Navy life, it had to be good. No more hunger. He said that evening and the following days were tough, but having enough food to eat was always a good thing. Tonight our church was full for a Wednesday night and buzzing with excitement as 25 people had just returned from serving at a camp in Haiti. Two people shared a testimony and some things that happened (the rest will share Sunday morning), and as they spoke about the bathing and bathroom conditions, as well as the food (good but they got tired of eating the same thing), I couldn't help but think about how spoiled many Americans are, and how deprived others are. I know these things will always be, but it made me think again of how the church should respond, and how

brushes

When I hear the word brush, I think of a hair brush. When I hear the words brush in a motor, I think of this: the brush found in a vacuum cleaner. So all these years when mechanics said "we need to replace the brushes" (in Bobby's wheelchair), that was the image that came to mind. So imagine my surprise last week when the mechanic came out with a piece smaller than my finger, and it looked almost like this: This is a wheelchair motor brush. The bottom piece is the size of your thumbnail, and looks like a jump drive. The end of all the pieces are different, based on the model of chair. Bobby's had wires sticking out of it. The metal pieces near the bottom had snapped and burned, and we fear it may have caused the circuit board (the chair's brain) to short circuit. So even though we've found the parts (thank you Sean the sales rep guy!!!!), and are willing to pay out of pocket (insurance won't cover it since they're covering part of the cost f

a blur of a week

It's been a good but hard week. Sometime last week I did something to my back. Unlike muscle pain I've had in my neck and shoulder, this has been intermittent. One moment I'm fine; the next minute has me gasping in pain. Afternoons/evenings seem to be worse. So I went to the dr today and was told I'd over-stretched a muscle between my ribs, and am to not do any major work in my garden for about a week. I guess that also means I won't be deep cleaning behind some of the furniture I didn't get to last week, either. Meanwhile we found out Bobby's chair had NOT been ordered, so the ordering process began Tuesday evening - which means we're still 3 weeks out from having a chair he can use. I hate it for him even more than I hate it for me. I'm realizing more and more how difficult  it is to maneuver with manual chairs. We're still waiting to hear from the sale rep whether or not he can find us a "black market" part for the old chair or i

week's recap

Monday - dr's appt; tech remembered Bobby from 2 yrs ago and laughed about unless he starts eating a lb of bacon a day and smoking then he shouldn't have problems; delivered Bobby's van to the auto body shop for repairs Tuesday - drove an hour to pick up old farmstyle kitchen chairs (yeah, re-arranging and sorting is what I do best when I'm supposed to be cleaning house for company) Wednesday - meeting with wheelchair company rep (last step before officially ordering the chair!!!). Order placed. Discussed his current chair issues. Confirmation parts cannot be obtained for this chair but found out a loaner may be a possibility as we wait the 3 weeks for the chair to be made and customized on our end. Thursday - laundry and garden week (pulled up corn and tilled and fertilized with my shovel since my car is too small for the hardware's store rental tiller and ours won't be ready from repairs for another week) Friday - wheelchair died...dead as a doornail w

Original Sewing & Quilt Expo - Raleigh

The quilt expo came back to Raleigh this year, and I had the opportunity to go yesterday with a friend. It was really cool running in to people from classes and stores, but we also enjoyed looking at the vendor booths, but mainly enjoyed the quilt shows/exhibits themselves. I didn't take many pictures this year, but here's the few I did capture:  This one was in a modern quilt/ black& white challenge. I'm not a huge fan of most modern quilting, but this is one of the several that I liked. I love the background (strips merging into solid white strips), plus the subject matter.  I think this one would make a good scrap quilt, as well as a great Quilt of Valor quilt. Here's a close up of the block:  The basic block is two four patches with two half square triangles. The placement of the dark and white and the consistent use of the reds is what creates this pattern. This one may be added to my mental list of quilts to do one day! And this one amazed me.

pics and more pics

What Bobby has dubbed "the annex"...peas, 4 tomatoes, 1 okra; a rabbit ate most of my lettuce and spinach. Zipper Cream Peas, growing in hay bales, which a yellow biddie is picking at. Main garden. green beans Geese are eating the bottom stems and leaves on my green beans, to my chagrin and Bobby's delight. Corn didn't produce much, and is mostly gone. Momma hen outside the garden, waiting on the biddies to come back out. Momma hen pointing out a bug to the yellow biddie, with black biddies coming out of the garden fence. Carrots, which the chickens keep trying to dig up. Sweet potato And where the geese are eating the sweet potato leaves... The first time I've seen the hummingbird actually perch. Usually he flies in and out over and over, never landing.

hodge podge of life

These last few weeks have been both pleasant and hard, fun and yet full of work.  Insurance has agreed to pay for repairs caused by the tire blowout, so the week we had reserved in hopes of celebrating our anniversary is now dedicated to getting the van repaired and celebrating at home.  And while it wasn't exactly what we had in mind, it really does turn out to be the best of both worlds. Still no word on the new wheelchair and what insurance's refusal on a key component will do to the whole process. The garden is still producing, and there is a small part of me that will be glad when it is over. I'm not to the "how much longer is this going to last?" stage yet, but the first inklings of that attitude began to creep in yesterday. Today is another day to work outside and then come inside and can tomatoes. It's also the first day this summer I've had to remind myself that in a few months I'll be thankful for my canned stash. Jimmy Aldridge, a

and it's now July

Since my last post, we got the van driveable, made it to AL where my brother and brother-in-law attached the side fender that kept folding back while driving, helped my parents with the garden, watched fireworks over Smith Lake (and all the boats and car horns started honking in appreciation when it was done...kind of cool) and drove back home. We "celebrated" the 4th by trying to catch up on some sleep, washing clothes, and going out to Five Guys for hamburgers. While we watched Garner's traditional July 3rd fireworks from home, someone nearby was shooting off some nice fireworks on the evening of the 4th, so we got to see a few minutes of live fireworks that night as well. Oh - we've also oohed and aahhed and cleaned up the small chicken house where we had 4 biddies hatch while we were gone. Big chickens are now happy to have one of their egg laying spots back. The remainder of this week we've taken care of garden stuff (though I still need to weed), a doctor

another day delay

Tuesday we were not quite halfway between Garner, NC and Jasper, AL when the van started growing crazy on I 20.  Thankfully there was almost no traffic around us, and Bobby was able to get the van over to the side before the next wave traffic came. I was expecting a typical flat tire, and was more than shocked to get around and see a total blowout with parts of the van hanging out underneath. We called AAA, and was thankful for the breeze and no rain while we waited. The Sheriff came by, and when he found out we were headed to visit my parents in AL there was some good natured ribbing about the Crimson Tide not quite being the best team in the US anymore, then when the Highway Patrol came he was teasing Bobby about getting reports about a man in a wheelchair racing cars up and down the side of the road. (He was sitting by his ramp so he could see when the tow truck came over the hill.)  The Sheriff went to get water so Bobby wouldn't get too hot, without us even asking. When th

postponed...again

I had two quilt tops I hoped to finish in May. That got pushed back to June.  And since I'm with my parents for a few days and only one of them was completed before I left, I think that means #2 and the different top I started but not quite finished before leaving will now become July projects. (along with trimming up the grape vines and cleaning off the back porch and cleaning all the wasp nests out of our grill, and finished adding fill dirt to the edges of the driveway). But my mantra is to keep working at things, and be satisfied with what IS finished and completed, and keep working on the things that aren't. They may (or may not) be finished in my lifetime and that's okay.  I think I'm getting better at finishing some things...I think.

cabbage

I removed the fencing from around the cabbage beds to do some weeding and didn't put it back up. Within 24 hrs, 2 of my 4 cabbages were devoured, courtesy of chickens and geese. It was clearly a fowl crime.

a crazy, but good, Monday

This morning I had several projects that I needed to finish. One of them was cleaning out a corner of the garage where some of the chickens have nested and been laying eggs. It was getting to be a very bad mess. I decided while I was at it, I would go ahead and dispose of some boards and sweep. Basic housecleaning. So I would move, sort, sweep, then repeat the process. As I neared the area where the chickens had been hanging out, I went to move an old garbage can and pick up a board behind it. As I tilted the can and reached down, I was startled to see a black snake (chicken snake) about 3" from my hand. Needless to say, I dropped the can and shrieked. When a snake is in the hen house, if school is not in session and no one is nearby, I shoot it. But this was in the garage, not out in the open. After having a not so pleasant experience toward the end of last summer with a snake, I'm a little more fearful of removing them. Thankfully a young man from church was doing some yar