Bear necessities...

This morning dawned foggy, unseasonably warm, and gray, with fat raindrops dropping sluggishly from the sky. Not exactly the kind of weather I wanted to go out in first thing in the morning, but the dogs were looking up at me with "nature calls" looks. So out we went and, towards the end of our walk, we were met by my tenant who said that she had just seen a bear down by the river on the edge of our property!

When I first moved to Riverstone, a neighbor told me the story of how the previous owner found muddy bear prints at about eye level on the sliding glass doors one morning, as if a bear was standing on its hind legs and looking into the milk room and kitchen. That would have happened about 15 years ago now. Around five years ago, I went outside early one morning to find my garbage can crushed, with what looked like claw puncture marks on either side of it (I still have the garbage can). About three years ago, one of my black-raspberry bushes looked like something had sat down on top of it, flattening it to the ground, and eaten all the berries off of it.

But I had never actually seen a bear on my land.

So this morning I was only a little nervous -- and a lot excited -- about the prospect of actually seeing a bear.

My excitement quickly diminished when, 30 minutes later, I noticed two of my chickens wandering around my yard. Not an unusual sight, in and of itself, however I remembered locking them in the coop the night before, and neither my husband nor I had let them out for the day. Now worry set in. I grabbed a pitchfork from the side of my barn and walked cautiously around back to the chicken coop -- images of bloody feathers and chicken parts flying through my mind -- and found that the bear had torn the door and ramp off of the coop!

Fortunately, all my chickens were accounted for, and there were intact eggs in their nesting boxes, so obviously the would-be thief was unsuccessful.

Unfortunately, later in the day, just as I was leaving work, my tenant called me to say that she was looking outside as we spoke and was watching the bear chase my chickens around the yard! My husband arrived home soon after and was able to scare it off into the cornfield. In the meantime, I contacted the Game Commission and they said to let them know if it came around again, and they would trap and relocate it. That sounded wonderful to me! My husband however, was daydreaming of bear sausage and a bearskin rug.

Sadly, at the end of the day, we only found five of our eight chickens; but I'm hopeful that the others will turn up unharmed and happy in the morning. The remaining five are now sleeping comfortably in a dog kennel in our milk room...and that's where they'll stay until we repair the coop and figure out what we'll need to keep bears away from them in the future...

Lunar eclipse...again, and for the first time...

Almost seven years ago - on a night considerably colder than it was just before sunrise this morning - I stood outside with Sammy-dog and witnessed the moon in love.

This time though, I stood outside with my kids, the four of us bundled up in cozy robes over our pajamas. Lucy-dog pushed her way through the partially-open porch door and joined us, with Sammy-dog close behind, and Cleo-kitty coming out of the darkness to see what all the fuss was about.

At the edge of the bluff overlooking our river, with the moon's bright reflection on the water slowly shrinking, our little group stood in quiet awe of the lunar eclipse taking place before us. Finally breaking the silence, I told my children of Rahu the serpent head which swallows the moon, of the Great Bear who fights with the moon, of how the moon finds its true love in the heavens, and of the dragon who tries to eat the moon.

When I mentioned that some people would bang on pots and pans to scare the dragon away, my youngest said she wouldn't want to disturb the quiet. My son pointed out the different constellations and which one he thought might be Draco. My oldest wondered if Sammy, Lucy, and Cleo were wondering why we were just standing around outside in the dark. So like the three of them - considerate, curious, and quirky, respectively.

As the moon slowly darkened to a burnished copper, and just as the earth's shade finally covered the thinning crescent, we noticed that some robins had started up their early morning songs. So we said farewell to the shadowed disc, trusting that we would see it again tonight in its full, silvered splendor...

Lucy-dog...

SUNDAY, JUNE 22, 2014

The newest addition to our homestead:

 

 

Lucy

("Puggle" -- Pug/Beagle "designer dog" breed)

 

At home with my "kids", Lucy-dog, Jasmine, Autumn, Sammy-dog, and Charles.

Rare sight on site...

SUNDAY, MAY 4, 2014

Exactly one month before celebrating Independence Day, I was heading down my road...

...when I noticed a huge bird perched in the branches of a tree.

As I drew closer, I suddenly realized what I was looking at...

...a Bald Eagle!

I thought she was camera shy...

...but it ends up that she just wanted to pose for me with her mate in a tree right on my property! I believe that they're the mated pair which has their nest just across the river from my home.

Such handsome, regal birds. I'm in awe of them every time I see them flying over the river...

Sunny's first egg...

 

Autumn's guinea hen, Sunny, laid her first egg this past Monday, April 29th. Autumn's such a proud guinea-grandma and insisted we don't eat it. I agreed to let the first 5 eggs go, and she agreed we could harvest the rest...
 

A little landscaping...

Put together this little pathway with things already at hand:

 

Flat stones from an old wall, and transplanted carpet moss, trillium, lilies, and violets...

Pretty birds...

How our little keets have grown!

Not so little anymore, Sunny, Peep, Fizzgig, and Aronax (in this order in the first photo above) are still very sweet and friendly birds...

 

Blue Moon...

...I wasn't standing alone.

Just came back inside after checking out the blue moon with my kids and 2 of their friends who are here for a sleep-over.

Jasmine: "Wow! It's so cool...and it is kinda bluish!"
Charlie: "It's like not-quite-a-sun..."
Autumn: "It's so pretty, we should take a picture!"
NiKaya: "I almost thought there was snow on the ground."
Audrey: "Yeah, it's so bright!"

I thought I'd explain the meaning of a "blue moon" which has nothing to do with color, that it's not really rare, etc., but then thought better of splashing water on their youthful enthusiasm...

So instead we all danced in the lunar glow while singing "We're Dancin' in the Moonlight!" at the top of our lungs...