I woke up with a start. The alarm was not on. I must have turned it off. Exhausted in a way i had never known by my very physical new job, my actions couldn’t be trusted. I couldn’t for sure say that i hadn’t hit the snooze button all 13 times and slept many extra […]
Tag Archives: hill country
A Cold Winter Ahead
It was 36 degrees outside. The windshield of the suv was frosted over with ice. i slept with the space heater pointed towards my legs from across the room and it seemed to keep the chill off just enough for comfort. However, now that i was awake, the space heater had to be moved into […]
A Long-Overdue Cleaning
When i injured my foot i realized that my ankle was probably not going to tolerate fifteen to twenty minutes of squatting in cramped conditions underneath roosting bars while i wore gloves and a mask to scoop shavings into a trash bag with my hands. The tray was meant to slide in and out from […]
An Indoor Day
I came home from work exhausted, hopped on a zoom call, and managed to throw something quick together to eat. As soon as my belly was full i was out. I didn’t even make it to the bathroom to brush my teeth. turning the lights off, checking the weather report, getting well water for the […]
The Sumac Harvest
The sumac berries ripened in mid August of 2019. This year they waited until September 7th to turn shiny and bright red. Unfortunately i didn’t notice them until minutes before sundown so they would have to be harvested on September 8th, when i had light to see the berry clusters i would be cutting. Knowing […]
Deworming the Flock
i had read somewhere that organic squash or pumpkin seeds could be used to deworm chickens and that farmers regularly chucked whole split squash or pumpkins into the pen for their flock to eat in order to keep the worms at bay. I had a couple chickens that demonstrated trouble keeping on weight and i […]
Drowning in Eggs
Crystal’s eggs weren’t the only ones i had to worry about. I was allergic to chicken eggs, though i had always dreamed of having chickens, much enjoyed them as pets, and found them totally useful as bug exterminators and in light of the fact that i had no garbage disposal to handle kitchen scraps. I […]
The Strange and Brutally Short Life Cycle of Spiders
I first spotted Crystal while mowing the grass on the west side of the house. She had made a web up against the side of the house and attached it to a tall weed in the grass. I spoke to her and told her she was welcome and warned her of the danger of praying […]
When Everything’s Gone to ****
Listen, it’s 2020. Everything’s gone to shit. Just take my word on it. I could explain it but we’d be here all day. I could dwell on it, obsess over it, struggle to wrap my mind around it, but that wouldn’t really do anything to make me feel better about where we currently stand. Instead, […]
Cashew Takes on More Responsibility Around the Homestead
Cashew gets a bad rap with most of my family members and friends because they don’t understand what she’s for. I have 2 dogs. One’s a companion and the other is a working dog. One was potty trained from the get go and spends her free time napping. The other took a good solid year […]
