Skip to main content

goose

Geese only lay eggs in the spring. And I use the term spring as in the time frame from Feb- April. And then they're done for the year. But for the last several years, we've not had a gander, so all their eggs are unfertilized. But the geese are unaware of that. So we spend the first few months gathering their eggs when they're not around (the first month or so they lay one egg a day until they have about 10+ and then they'll start setting).  And then they start to set on unfertilized eggs...which means they sit their until the eggs rot and literally explode in the summer heat. And that stinks...mightily. This year a goose has built her nest between the little shed and the old dog pen/my garden area. They're now in panic mode, as between us, the dogs, the fox, and we think a raccoon...something is getting all their eggs. And they're mostly setting on their nest (they head to the pond for the night), which means they're being very aggressive towards us. Just hissing and tongue wagging for now; no actual charging. It helps that I put the garden door/gate between us when I enter. Last year we sold their eggs to a local produce man (Bobby's uncle), but too many other critters have been in the egg business this year to really have much to offer. I seriously considered bringing her some goslings this weekend (a local hardware store had some for sale), but with the fox , turtles, and hawk around I wasn't sure how long they would last, nor that she would adopt them.  I'm still considering it, as goslings are much cheaper than full grown geese. On the flip side, I know how much poop the generate and I've not forgotten them eating half of my green bean vines last year. Do we really want more of such creatures, even if they do follow you in a straight line or fly directly at you at feed time?





Comments

Popular posts from this blog

things we do for love

Saturday we had a baby shower for Bobby's niece. As I was making the mints, Bobby asked what else was on the menu. After I recited off the litany of items, he responded with "No peanut butter?! This shower is for Hannah! What's she going to eat?" (Hannah has had stomach problems over the years and has been unable to tolerate many foods, but peanut butter has been her staple.) Despite my assurances that she would enjoy the foods we were having, he was adamant that I needed to make peanut butter & jelly sandwiches for the shower. Even though I protested that NOBODY took that to a shower, he persisted, and informed me I could make them dainty with my little cutter. And so I did. To my surprise all but 3 were eaten. Who'd a thunk it?

get your house in order

My grandmothers were very clean people. My mother thoroughly enjoys cleaning, though she doesn't quite hit the same level my grandmothers were on. I don't enjoy cleaning, but I do like things to be clean. I've almost given up on neatness. One thing that they all instilled in me is the crazy concept that your house must be in order before you go somewhere big - like a vacation or something. After all, you could die in a car crash or have to go to the hospital, and then people would go into your house and find it in a terrible mess. Who wants to be remembered by that? So up until this past year, I would sometimes be up almost all night not only trying to get things packed up, but also trying to totally clean house as well. Or should I say, make the house presentable? The Chinese had a horrible superstition that my mother and grandparents would have enjoyed. Spring Festival (the Chinese New Year based on the lunar calendar) required EVERYTHING to be cleaned top to

Wait...it's almost March?!?

 10 more months 'til Christmas. This last month has been an absolute blur. Cleaning at Mrs. Bryan's house, cleaning at our house, lots of thinking and brainstorming and rearranging, appointments upon appointments, sinus infection/allergies, Bobby's surgery, meeting with surgeon and finally agreeing to future outpatient surgery for me, ongoing updates from my parents, garden tilled and snow peas, potatoes and beets planted (and yes I left several rows empty between the potatoes and beets for something else to go later as a buffer), chickens are laying, we may have a broody hen..in FEBRUARY!!!, we have two roosters that need to disappear, lots of family have been in from out of town to assist with the sorting and cleaning at Mrs. Bryan's house, and somewhere in the midst of it all I've found time to pay bills and catch up on a few emails. While I no longer feel like our house is a disaster zone, it is still overwhelming. Years ago a friend posted a quote by Martin Lut