Monday, November 05, 2007

Those long, dark months

I hate going back to regular old daylight time. I'd be perfectly content with living on daylight savings time for the rest of my life.

I like it much better when I'm leaving before the sun comes up in the morning and getting home in the afternoon with enough light left to actually do stuff outside. Like ride my horses or work around the property. Tonight I'll have a scant half an hour to "play" outside. Which sucks. Big time. I don't have a lighted area to ride outside during the dark winter months so my horses are going to pretty much go unridden, except for weekends, until spring. Which sucks even more because I LOVE riding during the cool weather. I love feeling the crisp, cold wind on my face while cantering through a field. I love the clouds of steamy breath floating on the air when they snort and act silly in the cool weather.

I've tried rebelling in the past and just didn't bother with the new time change, but it made making, and keeping, appointments next to impossible. And the bosses didn't like that I arrived and left an hour earlier than normal. (Big cry babies!) I wanted to rebel again this year but it didn't happen.

Besides, what kind of pain in the butt is it to have to wander around the house changing all the clocks? Oh yeah, that's fun! Especially when you can't remember how to change the time on your watch, or say, in your truck. Uh huh. It's a BLAST!

*insert appropriate transition of your choice, because I can't think of one*

The fox is back and does not seem to be fearful of people at all. I got within three feet of her yesterday morning while I attempted to chase her off because she was after my chickens, again. What a skinny, mangy, gnarly looking thing. She has almost no hair left she's so mangy. She was chasing my flock through the woods and down into the creek when I busted her. Up the bank of the creek came Blanche (our one white chicken) squawking for all she was worth and in close pursuit, Old Mangy Butt herself. That fox didn't see me standing on the bank until she was within sniffing range and when I yelled at her, she looked at me with what I swore was annoyance, and turned around to stalk back to whence she came. Chicken-less, thank goodness.

I found out later that afternoon that she next visited the neighbors and got chased out of the barn where she was stalking their peacocks.

So, what to do, what to do. Hubby finally finished the coop part of the henhouse so now they have a place outside to wander around unmolested by Old Mangy Butt instead of staying locked up inside the henhouse all day. But I still want them to forage and wander. I haven't had to clean up a single pile of horse poo in weeks because they make quick work of scattering it around the pasture seeking bugs and undigested oats. But I also don't want Old Mangy Butt to turn them into dinner.

I may not have to worry about it. From her appearance, I don't think she'll get through the winter very well. And the neighbors threatened to shoot her the next time she showed up in their barn.

Ahhh...country life!

14 comments:

Anonymous said...

We had a similar occurrence in Mich years back. Mange infected the local fox population and they were almost naked, very itchy, cold, and starving. Many died or where killed, the next year the survivors all looked healthy. When desperate, they lose their fear of humans. Good luck.

Anonymous said...

can you please edit my speeling in the previous comment? thenx

Anonymous said...

Country life sounds good to me!

Wendy said...

I got your segue for you! "However, the good part of setting clocks back is that I can hunt this annoying fox under cover of darkness at an earlier hour and still have time to fix dinner after..... Yes, he's back."

Lisa said...

Can't fault Mangy Butt for trying. Everybody enjoys a warm chicken dinner now and again. :-)

Liz said...

i saw an ad on craigslist for a dog that guards against coyotes. Maybe she'll also guard against foxes?

Anonymous said...

When one wants to live out on farm, one has to put up with all the annoyances, that go with living out. But, bet you wouldn't give up living out. for any of these annoyances!

I am with you about time change, stay on daylight saving.

Gee, I have a white chicken with my name, how about that.

Jenn said...

Goat Roper...yeah, she didn't look too healthy at all.

Slackermommy...I LOVE it. I'd much rather be waging battle against a mangy fox than an influx of neighborhood kids and loose dogs.

Wendy...I should just hire you! That's a good one. I wasn't feeling terribly creative.

Lisa...Nope, I don't fault Mangy Butt at all, chicken is GOOD! I just need to better protect them.

Marriage 101...I don't know, coyote dogs are nasty and pretty much attack anything that moves. If my three dogs weren't such big babies I think they could at least chase the fox off...but they are babies.

Lov grma...I wouldn't give it up. Never. The good things FAR outweigh the bad all around.
ROFL!!! I didn't even realize I had named a chicken after you until AFTER I named her. I actually stole it from a Bruce Willis movie.. "The Whole 10 Yards." He has a chicken named Blanche. The chicken scene is hysterical!

Anonymous said...

I had to go back and read again, for some reason I thought grma meant her name was Old Mangy Butt! .... sorry grma!

Jenn said...

goat roper...OMG! That's TOO funny! Thanks for the laugh!

Anonymous said...

Good thing i call her mom . i think i'd just LMAO if i had to call her Blanche and being thinking O>M>B>!!

Anonymous said...

HAVE FUN KIDS, I really don't mind. It might just be, it is an old butt.

J. A. Blackburn said...

I am sooo with you. This latest time change is killing me. The days seem to drag ON and ON... I feel that it MUST be dinner time and look at my watch and it's only 4:00! Arrggghhh!!!

Unknown said...

A fox? Pew. Foxes stink.

I like daylight savings time because it gives me an excuse not to perform farm work.