Voodoo!

 Do you believe in black magic? Curses? Spells? I typically don't, but every once in a while, I get a not so gentle reminder that maybe it does exist. During those times I swear someone has a voodoo doll of me and is having fun at my expense. 

I'll be walking along and all of a sudden, I am on the ground, my knee will go out. No warning, just me stumbling because my knee forgot its important role in keeping me upright. Or, I am sitting there minding my own business and someone jabs a pin into the side of my voodoo doll. Again, no warning, just a sharp pain and a yelp as Barb looks over at me as though I have lost my mind. 

Ah, the joys of getting old. Luckily, whoever has my doll does not know how to create cramps. Whoever has Dino's voodoo doll specializes in cramps as that is all I hear about when I talk to him. Unlike Dino, I am able to "man up" and carry on a normal life, not curl up in the fetal position whining and sucking my thumb. 

One of the first things I did upon arriving home was to check the trail camera on the small critter waterer that I had put up just before leaving for the farm. My intention was to provide water to the turkeys, rabbits and other small critters that could not reach the water in the bigger tank. The actual results are a little different than that. It turns out it is more like a glorified bird bath providing a place for the local bird population to come and get a drink. 

Robins, bluebirds, finches, chickadees and crows. Not a single turkey or rabbit. Well, there was one rabbit, but it looked like a hop-by and it did not drink from the tank. 

One unexpected visitor was a pair of mice who seem to spend almost every night near the waterer. 

As far as big critters go, there was one deer who checked it out and a couple of calves from the neighboring ranch which is particularly interesting due to the fact that they are not supposed to be over here. 

The neighboring ranch has about 100 head of cattle, cows, calves and heifers. All kept in by electric fencing. Despite that, there was two pair (two moms and two calves) that spend more time on our side of the fence than they do on their side of the fence. How, we have no idea. The way is obvious, as everyone knows the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence. It does not bother us, and we just let them do their thing on our side of the fence. 

The other day however, there were 40 or so head on the wrong side of the fence. Not our side, but on the road. That is not a good scenario, and the rancher was out of town for the weekend, so Barb and I jumped in the side by side and jeep and got them wrangled up and back into their proper pasture. No pictures as it was too action packed to take pictures. They had pushed a steel panel away from one of the sheds on their property creating an escape route where they could enjoy the green grass in the field and ditches adjacent to the road. 

In fact, here is a picture I took a day or two ago. Not the best picture as it was taken through the screen, but a lot going on. The first thing you probably noticed is the three deer enjoying the green grass. Beyond that you can see the two pair of cattle under the windmill getting a drink of water. What you probably did not notice was the dozen or so goldfinches on the ground in the foreground. I could not help but think to myself "It doesn't get any better than this" to look out and see this from your living room window. 

What else did we do this week? After being gone the last 3 or so weeks, I had some spring maintenance to take care of. First up was draining, cleaning and refilling the hot tub. 

Then it was up on the roof to clean the chimney. Not a task I enjoy as I have to climb a 16' ladder and climb onto the roof. 

Then it was time to spray weeds. They are popping up everywhere in the driveway and patio area. If we do not take care of them now, it will be a mess by the time we get back from our next adventure. 

I installed a pair of lithium batteries and a wireless rear-view camera on the camper. I am looking forward to seeing how these perform on our upcoming trip.

There was a camera on the back of the camper when we got it, but it never worked and was not wireless.

I also worked on the boat getting it back together after removing the old carpet and recovering it with marine vinyl. As you can see from the "before" picture, the carpet was worn and torn. This was a long process, and I am so happy to have it at least this far for now so we can get out fishing soon!

Before

While I was doing that, Barb was working in her workshop making a frame for the painting our friend Greg gave us recently. He is such a talented artist, and this frame is perfect for it!

She then put up some peg board and went about organizing her tools. 

Speaking of Greg, we went over to his house for happy hour followed by supper at Kevin and Cheryl's. While we did not take any pictures of that event, we did take a few of the day that Ryan, Alana, Dan and Bonnie came over for an afternoon. 

Ryan and Alana of course brought Sophie and Loki for a doggie play date. What they did not realize was that it was dress up day and were going to be totally humiliated!

We played Shake-a-day and sh#tbox with many laughs all around. The highlight of the day is pictured below. If you look in the background, you see Bonnie laughing her ass off. If you look in the foreground, you see the reason. Look at the bottom of Dan's glass.....was when it was Dan's turn for shake-a-day and after his first shake, instead of putting the dice back into the dice cup, he deposited them into his drink glass! 

I did treat myself to a new shotgun the other day. A new 12 gauge over/under pheasant gun. Much lighter than my old one. I cannot wait for this fall to get it out in the field!

Last, but not least we made some venison sausage on Sunday afternoon to take with us. This is our first attempt at this type of sausage. After a couple hours of smoking and cooling off, it was ready to package. It is delicious!

 I will leave you with this picture that Chris sent me from the farm. He was out checking fields with his drone when he came across the moose with two calves. How cool is that?!?!?

The past 10 days have gone super quick as we had a lot to do before we head out again. Our next post will come to you from somewhere out west where will be spending some time in Barb's old stomping grounds on the Oregon coast! Now if you will excuse me, I need to grab my Dino doll, I think a cramp is in order!