A Groundhog Story in Photos

Groundhog #6, one of the fig eaters, was trapped and relocated yesterday afternoon.

 

 

The game camera photos from last week showed at least two groundhogs at the barn eating figs, so I set and baited both of our traps in that spot ... one is on the left of the photo below, and one is on the right (but you can barely see it because it's in the shadows).

I must have set the trap on the left incorrectly ... probably forgot to release the safety hook that keeps the trap door from slamming on my arm while I put in the bait.  When I went to the barn at around 3:00 to check the traps, I found that the trap on the left was upside down and a good distance from where I put it. ... and the trap on the right was full of groundhog!  I am SO thankful that my camera was there, because it recorded the whole process. 

Grab a beverage and settle in, and please enjoy this series of photos that shows the activity of a very determined groundhog attempting to get apple and cantaloupe from a closed trap.  (The time shown on the date stamp at the bottom of the photos is correct ... the date is off by one day.)

 Sniffing the trap on the left.

 

 Checking out the one on the right.

 

In there somewhere. 

 

 Groundhog, where are you?

 There you are!

 Probably eating the apple I put in front of the trap.

 This is the photo that proved to me that the trap wasn't set correctly ... the groundhog pushed it onto its side, and the trap door is still open.

 

 

 Pushed it again, and still hasn't tripped the door.

 

 Now it's closed.

 

 Pushed it again.

 "There's still stuff in there."

 "oohh, figs!"

 "What are you looking at?"

 He's over by the right trap again.

 Pushed the left one again.

 and again.

 He's scooting the trap now.

 Pushed it again.

This was the last groundhog photo.  He must have been taking a round-about way, under the fig tree out of the camera's range, toward captivity in the trap on the right.  The next photo in the series showed mostly the seat of my pants as I bent over the trap, wondering why it was so far from where I put it earlier in the day.  (Keeping that photo to myself.)

Both traps are baited and set again this morning (set correctly this time).  Perhaps today will be another fruitful groundhog trapping day!

Got Another One!

Groundhog #5, trapped and relocated.

This is not one of the varmints that has been eating my figs.  I saw this guy near the hosta bed by our pavilion yesterday, and I put the trap there today.  It didn't take long for the lure of cantaloupe to work its magic.

Now that I'm back in the swing of groundhog trapping, I guess I should turn my attention to the ones by the barn ... if I have hope of getting any figs for myself this year.  Stay tuned.

For Kate

Kate from Chronicles of a Country Girl lost her dear husband today.  She said that she has no words ... I don't have any either.  I do, however, have flowers. 

I made this bouquet of weeds for my sister-in-law last week, to help her feel better after a difficult day.  I offer them here, in the hope that help sweet Kate, too ... maybe a little.

Bringing You Up To Speed

What a week it has been ... more than a week, actually.  Here is what I've been up to:

I left here on Friday the 6th, heading 300 miles away to SW Virginia to help my brother remodel the kitchen in the house that he and his wife inherited earlier this year.  The kitchen looked like this when I left there in April, when I went down to keep my brother company and to bring the doors and drawer fronts home to work on them here ...

... and it was transformed into this by the time I left there on Thursday morning.  It was long days of work (more than I imagined) and I am over-the-moon excited about how different it looks now.  (I have lots of photos of the process, and I promise I will show you how I did this.)

Though I worked long days on this kitchen, it wasn't all work and no play.  It's always nice to spend time with my brother fishing and visiting ... and George the cat likes it, too. 

While I was gone, my game camera captured images of the varmints that have been eating every single fig on my fig trees as they ripen.  Here we have one groundhog,

Two groundhogs,

and an Opossum.  I will leave the Opossum alone ... the groundhogs, though, will be trapped and relocated.

The day after I got home, I went to the store to get a few things.  While I was there, I bought Ruby a squawking stuffed Armadillo toy ... tried to get a photo of her with it, but she wouldn't sit still long enough to get a non-blurry photo.

Speaking of Ruby, I am hoping to teach her to ride in my Mustang with the top down.  Our first session went well, with her belted in using her harness and a leash coupler, as she got treats while the car was running and not moving.  I will work on this a little at a time.

Our grandsons came to stay with us yesterday.  We all had a great time at Hartwood Days, an annual country fair down the road from here.  There were vendors, food, games, rides, and animals ... everything you expect to find at a country fair.

Today, I am being a bum on the couch watching football ... sitting with Ruby and watching the Redskins lose to the Packers.

It feels SO good to be home!

Happy Sunday, Everyone.

Five Things for Friday

The roses in my new garden behind the greenhouse are doing very, very well.  Even the teeny tiny ones have settled in and are growing like crazy.  The garden itself, though, still needs me to finish the mulch.  Three more pick-up loads, which equals about six cubic yards, should do it. 

One of the roses in that garden opened its first flower yesterday.  This is 'Mrs. Robinson', a Floribunda from Cliff Orent in California.  This rose has everything that I love most in roses ... single row of petals and colorful stamens.  It's still a baby and it's kind of floppy right now.  I hope it will stiffen up and grow more upright as it matures.

I have noticed that the new leaves on the ends of some of my long rose canes are being eaten by something, starting at the tip of the cane and working downward.  A careful look at the underside of the leaves showed these little guys, Curly Rose Slugs.  I don't use insecticides, and there really weren't enough of them in the garden to justify it anyway.  I just spent a little time checking all of the roses that had damage, and I picked and flicked the little critters one by one.

I am leaving later this morning to go to my brother's house in SW Virginia to finish painting his kitchen cabinets.  In preparation to be gone for a few days, I moved my potted roses to a central location to make it easier for The Husband to keep an eye on them for me.  These little pots contain rooted cuttings from friends and rustling excursions.  I think they will be big enough in the next month, to have some to sell at a fall open garden day/weekend in October.  Stay tuned.

The big-leafed things up by the seat are figs ... They will definitely be for sale.

I have little appreciation for vinyl stick family decals ... but these, on a van parked beside me at the store yesterday, made me smile.

 

I have been thinking and thinking about how to pack and transport the doors and drawer fronts for my brother's kitchen so they don't get damaged on the trip.  Yesterday morning, I had a brainstorm ... pack them in pillowcases!  Now all of them are packaged and ready to load into the car.

Speaking of loading the car, I should hush now and get to it.  Most things are gathered and ready to go, so it won't take long.  I have no cell phone service where I'm going, and I don't know the status of Internet access, so I may be out of communication here till the middle of next week or so.

It's a beautiful day for a road trip!

(Happy "Random Five Friday", Everyone!)

Applied Physics, Hartwood Style

According to one of Newton's Laws of Motion, "To every action there is always an equal and opposite reaction."  Yesterday for me was a clear demonstration of this theory in real life.  After two weeks or so of almost constant motion, going nonstop from project to project, I hit the proverbial wall and came to a sudden stop.

Day after day, I have weeded, and mulched, and potted, and pruned, and cleaned, and cooked, and painted ... until yesterday.  My body and my mind had had enough, and I spent the whole day doing a whole lot of nothing.

You all understand me well enough to know that my version of 'nothing' isn't really nothing.  No major accomplishments, though.  I cooked and froze a big batch of vegetable hash with zucchini and peppers and onions that were given to us by a friend ... did a crossword puzzle ... read the newspaper and a bunch of blogs and caught up with friends on Facebook ... went to the store to get milk, lunchmeat, and coffee creamer ... and a few other insignificant things that I can't recall right now.

Giving myself permission to be a bum for a day felt really good.  I was pretty energized when I woke up this morning, after taking my mental and physical day off.  The weather is a factor, no doubt, as our heat from the weekend is gone and today was pleasantly warm with a bright blue sky and very low humidity.

I eased back into my routine today, spending a few hours working in the roses, enjoying the sunshine. 

This evening, after dinner of sautéed shrimp and vegetable hash, Ruby and I are spending some quality time on the glider on our back porch ... listening to birds and watching the sun set.

It doesn't get any better than this!

Sunday Snapshot ... Letting Go

We have been a one-dog family for three-and-a-half months now, since our greyhound Daniel passed in May.  It has been a time of adjustment and acceptance for all of us ... and it's time now for some more adjusting.  Greyhounds and a lot of other large dogs appreciate a soft bed to sleep in, and we had multiple dog beds in almost every room of the main level of our house.  Ruby prefers to sleep on the sofa or one of the leather chairs in the family room, and dog beds have mostly become a place for cats to nap sometimes.

A few weeks ago, I decided that most of the dogs beds needed to go.  They are in good condition, so I thought and thought about what to do with them ... then it hit me.  Kim at Golden Pines fosters and adopts senior Golden Retrievers, and I knew she could use my old beds  for her ever-changing crew of Goldies. 

Loaded up in the back of my Jeep, ready to go to their new home.

I had never met Kim in person until Friday.  She only lives about an hour from here.  We read each other's blogs, and we email back and forth about various things, and I could just tell that she's the type of person that I would really like to get to know better. 

We met at Ekster Antiques' barn sale, near where she lives.  We squealed and hugged and we spent the morning talking mostly about our dogs and sharing details of ourselves while we wandered through the wonders from Europe that Ekster brings together for their sales.  Neither of us bought anything ... we don't need stuff, and it's a bit pricey, but it's so much fun to look at things and gather inspiration.

I knew right away that my dog beds had found a great new home with a family that I can't wait to get to know even better.  If there was any doubt, take a look at this photo that Kim shared on her blog yesterday.

This is CarrieAnn giving her 'paw' of approval for the new beds.

In a way, it was sad to see these dog beds go ... I still get a little bit misty thinking about it.  I had to do it, though, it's time to move on, and letting go is part of this process.  I don't need these anymore.  It helps so much to know that they went to a good home and will be used by such sweet dogs. 

When the time comes for us to get another dog, whenever that will be, I will buy new dog beds just for him/her.  In the meantime, my old ones are finding new life with a great new family ... I did keep two of my favorites for the cats, though.

If you don't read Kim's blog, you are missing out on something special.  I am fortunate to have her close enough to meet her in person, and I fully intend to take advantage of this in the future.  (I took the next step when I got home ... now we're FB friends, too!)

Happy Sunday, Everyone.  I hope it's a great one for you!!