Country Living

Once we bought a place from a family who thought living in the country was supposed to be cheaper than living in town. They were dismayed to discover this wasn't true.

It may have been true at one time, but it certainly isn't now. If you move to the country the very first thing that comes to your attention all the services you have to contract and pay extra for. Trash pickup is no longer a bill you automatically pay each month. Now you have to find someone and then pay what seems to be an amazing amount for much less service.

You now also have higher insurance cost because, if you do have a fire, you are likely to lose everything. This is because there are no handy fire hydrants with good pressure and no large nearby fire house with professionals just waiting for your call. I highly recomment all critical documents be kept in fire proof safes. The portable kind are best so if you happen to be home you can get these things out first thing. You might consider doing this with all the small things (pictures etc.) that cannot be replaced.

Then there are the plumbing problems. You have a septic system and it needs to be serviced on a regular basis. This bill always comes in one lump sum instead of a manageable monthly payment the way city sewer services do. When something goes wrong it is all yours. Even outside the house this is your problem.

Then there are the pests. And I don't mean just roaches, mice and rats, though those are also present. As anyone who has been reading this blog knows pests in the country are things like 'possums (looking like super rats) 'coons (we got attitude and we know how to use it) and snakes. I've learned to tolerate non-poisonous snakes, but the rattlesnakes that have been invading lately are definitely not welcome.

All-in-all I have to say country living is neither cheap, nor is it for the faint-of-heart.

Oh, and the myth that country people are friendlier? Only if you mean they tend to know who you are, where you live, and wave as you pass on the road. Otherwise? Well, why do you think they live someplace where the nearest neighbor is a half-mile away? People who live in the country have a low tolerence for neighbors. They get claustophobic if they can actually see another house, much less the people. And, posted or not, you'd better not step on their property without getting permission. Just what do you think those fences are for anyway?

Today's Capture

This morning we have a 'possum in our trap. DH will release it later today.
We have a plumber here trying to find out what happened to the bathroom drains. It was, of course, our guest bathroom and, naturally we had guests when it malfunctioned. I'm very glad that it has turned cold. This will keep any rattlesnakes in their den for now.

Family

I do believe that having evicted the family of opposums we are now invaded by a family of racoons.

We caught another one this morning in our live catch trap and it appears to be a young one. I offered it a dog biscuit which it took, hissing and growling at me all the while. It ate the biscuit and then began looking for another one, "I'm not your friend. Don't think that for a minute, but if you've got another biscuit I'll take it off your hands (hand too if you get too close)."

As DH just said, "I have to admit living here is interesting. Not always in a good way, but interesting."

A Little Too Much Excitement

When Larry went out to feed tonight he discovered a large rattlesnake (Larry measured him at a bit over four feet) impeding his way into the barn. It was keeping warm on the concrete pad that is in front of the barn door. He came back in the house and got the shotgun. I went with him to hold the light.

He killed that snake and then while he was out in the big horses' pen he found another one. This one was smaller, only about three feet. This one was harder to kill. It took two blasts from the shotgun and chopping its head off.

The horses were very cautious coming in from the barn. They weren't going past those things until I led the way. That is except for the ponies and food or no they were not going past those snake bodies even if they were twenty feet from the barn. Eventually I did get them to quit trying to check out the snakes and come on in to the barn.

I could do without that kind of fun and games.

Pet Officially Deceased

Okay. I've given up. My attempts at creating and maintaining sourdough starter are over. I killed my last batch. Since I don't consider myself a cruel person I'll just quit tortuing those poor little microbes and go back to using ordinary commercial yeast when I want to bake bread, pizza or sweet rolls. Besides the dogs and horses refused to eat that last batch of bread I attempted.

And speaking of sweet rolls, while I was trying to find a book I consider an important refrence I ran across various old books about cooking, gardening, goat keeping, and compost building, as well as other things. These are not only books I've collected over the years, but ones various relatives collected, including one created by my grandmother. It has recipes, crochet patterns and housekeeping tips in it. Some of them are clipped from magazines and newspapers and some are written out. She gave it to me in 1967 when I was first married and complaining about not knowing how to bake bread.

Back to the rolls. I found my grandma's old recipe and decided to try it. The first batch turned out okay, but needed something. The thing is she didn't use the measuring tools I have today. Her Cup was an old teacup. Her spoons were the ones she used for coffee, soup and serving. There is also the pinch of this and dash of that that are determinded by experience.

it turned out I needed more sugar in the dough, but not as much as I put in the second time. I tested the dough by making a small pancake and tasting it. Since the dough was too sweet and you can't remove the extra sugar I decided I would make her cinnamon rolls.

The cinnamon rolls turned out okay, but when she said to add a hint of caynne to the cinnamon and sugar mixture she meant a HINT. Still they turned out edible and that is good enough for me.

Deceased Pet

After two weeks I gave up on my first attempt at growing sourdough starter.

I've started over and I'm trying a different method of keeping the temperature at a proper level. I put the container in the oven and left the oven light on. This seems to keep it at about seventy degrees, the recommended temperature.

I'll let you know if this works any better. If it doesn't, I'll probably give up. After all I can buy very good sourdough bread at a local store any time I want it.

They are late

We have an annual event that usually occurs in early October. We know the date because our daughter's birthday is then and eveytime we've had a party (beginning our first year here) we've been informed of the arrival.

I'm talking about skunks. For some reason in the fall they take up residence near or under our house. Apparently they also decide who gets to mate with whom at this time and spraying scent is part of the ritual.

This year it didn't happen until last night. I don't know what delayed their arrival. I can't even blame warm weather because we've had hotter Octobers and they were here by the first week in October. No matter, they may be late, but they are here. And our olfactory senses are going to get their annual work out.

Lazy Trainer Tip

Forget caffine if you want to wake up. Buy a tiny bottle of eau d' skunk at a joke store. If you need to be wide awake, uncap and sniff. You WILL wake up.