Squirrels Living in Harmony

 
The first winter we purchased our property and even before we moved in, we saw a white squirrel running around in the yard.  I had never seen one before and was just amazed by it.  I assumed it was an albino and we would never see one again.  I was wrong.  A few miles from us lives a colony of white squirrels.  They are not albinos, just a different color.  Only a few areas in the country have them and we are fortunate to be near one of those areas.  I don't know the science behind them.  I know black labs can have chocolate and yellow puppies.  Maybe it is the same with squirrels.  Maybe gray squirrels can have black or white babies.  I thought I should look it up and this is what I found.

Most so-called white squirrels in North America are genetic color variants of the gray species, not unlike the fairly common black squirrel. They breed normally and may have gray siblings.

I don't know if that answers any questions, but we also have many pure black and gray squirrels. 

 They all live in harmony.  

 Gray Squirrel

 White Squirrel

 Black Squirrel

In winter the white squirrel blends in with the snow,  but the rest of the year they stand out.  This is a problem because it makes them an easy target for predators.  I have seen them with blood on their tails and pieces of fur missing.  Unfortunately we haven't had one last for more than a season.

From these photos you can see how they stand out in the fall.

So far I haven't had any white squirrel visitors in 2013.  If one arrives, I will be sure to report.






 

We also have red squirrels but they are nasty little buggers.  I only see one of them at a time.  I don't think they get along with any other squirrels.  They don't share and they chase all the others away.  Whereas we see the gray and black squirrels on a daily basis, we don't see a red squirrel very often.

Pellets or Wood - Another Source of Heat

Although we have a perfectly good furnace in our home, we prefer the heat of fireplaces.  The configuration of our home makes it difficult to heat every area evenly with the furnace.  The supplemental stoves we have chosen are environmentally sound and have low impact emissions.  We actually have three.  One is a stone fireplace which has a wood burning insert.  The insert makes burning the wood more efficient and keeps the critters out.  It provides so much heat that we can only burn it when the weather is quite cold or we will be too warm.

Woodpile dried and ready to burn

If it's above 20 degrees outside

we won't burn this fireplace.

It gets way too warm in the house.

 Our second stove is a pellet burning free standing stove.  Pellets are compressed from the sawdust which is a byproduct of saw mills.  This process keeps the sawdust from going into landfills.  Fuel pellets come in bags and are put into a hopper.  Then they burn a little at a time providing constant heat.

 These are the pellets.  They look like rabbit food.

Pellets are sold in bulk or in these 40 pound bags. For us

the bags are easier to store.

We have the bags delivered in the spring and then recycle

the bags after we empty them.

Our third stove is a brick fireplace with an insert that also burns pellets.  This is in our lower level and keeps it nice and cozy downstairs.

Fishing Bag, no it's a Knitting Bag

What do you think this is?

 

I know that most of you think this is a fishing tackle box.  That is what most people use it for.  I do not.  I use it for all my knitting equipment.  I learned about this several years ago from a knitting group.  It is wonderful.  Everything is in one place.  I can't put my long knitting needles in, but the double pointed needles as well as the circular needles fit perfectly.  It is amazing what can fit in this little bag.  I mark each zip lock section with the needle size so it's easy to find whatever I need and it's easy to put things back where they belong.  This would be a good storage system for other crafts also.

These bags are a little pricey on the Bass Pro website, but I received this as a gift.  My wish lists are a little different than the normal person.  Shortly after I received this, I found another one at a garage sale for $1.00.  From my blogs you can see that I very rarely pay full price for anything.  If you are patient, almost every you want and need will show up. 

 Included are heavy duty ziplock bags.  More can be added

if necessary.  Just like a notebook.

 As you can see, I have several pages.

The whole bag zips to close and to hold everything 

in it's place

 There is this mesh pocket on the outside.

Inside on both sides, there are these sectioned and

zippered pockets.  Great for little items.

Healthy Broccoli Sprouts

For many years I have been sprouting off and on.  Right now I'm on again, so I am writing about it.  When I first started, I sprouted alfalfa seeds, mung beans and wheat.  I had three jars going at the same time.  I used the alfalfa and bean sprouts on salads and the wheat in bread.  After a while, as with a lot of things, I got out of the habit.  The last few years I have been doing it again.

Sprouting is so easy.  Basically you soak the particular seeds overnight, drain the water off and rinse them once or twice a day until they are sprouted and ready to eat.  Some seeds sprout very quickly and some take a while.  Right now I'm just doing Broccoli seeds.  I really like how they taste, although they do have a strong taste.   They have many health benefits.  There are many contraptions that you can buy to grow them in, but a jar and a way to drain the water off is all you need.  If you google 'sprouting', you will see more information than you care to read.

Broccoli sprouts are much higher than broccoli heads in sulforaphane.   This compound  produces enzymes that protect against damage-causing chemicals and inflammation.  The seeds are slightly bigger than pepper and a tablespoon will produce at least two cups of sprouts.  I make them more often and only use a teaspoon of seeds. 

These sprouts are almost ready to eat.  Another day or so.  Sometimes I use a salad spinner to spin out the empty seed hulls.  Once sprouted, they keep in the refrigerator for quite a while.

Jack Reacher - A Series to Consider

Today I went downstairs to take a shower. I opened the shower curtain to turn on the water and nearly fainted. There on the shower wall and the floor were streaks of red and a red puddle on the floor. All I could think of is the movie Psycho or the Headless Gremlin had come in during the night to wash up. Only those who have read a previous blog of mine will understand the headless gremlin reference. Imagine my relief when I discovered it was only a bottle of strawberry shampoo that had fallen over.

This experience reminded me of one of my favorite authors and mystery book series. I know it's a stretch but bear with me. Although I don't read many books, I love books. My entire family reads real books all the time, but my personality does not allow me to do that. I listen to my books so I can do other things at the same time. I knit or cook or just wander around. There is a clinical name for this condition but I prefer to call it multitasking. We have a small WMA player which will play protected WMA files.   I can download books from our library website to the computer and then transfer them.  This tiny little device holds many books.  You don't have to leave the house and all the books are free.  I either listen directly from earphones or in the car.  We have a FM transmitter which plugs directly into the player and the car socket (used to be called the cigarette lighter socket).  Then we tune in to a preset radio station and everyone in the car can listen to the book through the radio.

One of the series we like are the Jack Reacher thrillers by Lee Child. My sister introduced us to this author many years ago. Although I haven't seen the movie, Tom Cruise is not Jack Reacher. The voice of Dick Hill, the reader, is Jack to me. Jack is tough, 6'5”, 250 pounds, ice blue eyes and dirty blonde hair.. If you haven't read or listened to these books you might enjoy them although they are a little violent at times and he always has a tall thin blonde to entertain him. I am such a non violent person, but this character and his personality outweighs the violence and I vacuum or hum during the interactions with the blonde.

For Christmas we received the latest Lee Child book signed by the author called “A Wanted Man".  It is the 17^th Jack Reacher thriller.  My sister and niece had the pleasure of seeing Lee Child in person and obtained this signed copy.  Although I haven't read it yet or listened to it, I'm sure it will live up to the others.

Trail Camera, Primos TruthCam 46

This is for those of you who have an interest in our trail camera and the photos it takes.

Yesterday, January 6, 2013, I posted some nighttime photos that were taken from our Trail Camera. This is our second camera. Several years ago I had an interest in seeing what wandered through our property at night when we are sleeping or when we were away from home. We started out with a Cuddeback brand trail camera. It wasn't long before we discovered many things we didn't like about it. I won't go into all of them, but the main thing was that it blew through batteries very quickly, particularly in the winter. Then it stopped working entirely but the company wouldn't do anything about it because I didn't have a receipt and the camera couldn't even hold a charge long enough to access the camera to see the date of purchase. I'm not saying all models of this camera are bad. We may have just gotten a lemon, but we won't buy another Cuddeback. There are a lot of cameras on the market at all price points, but I really didn't want to spend a lot of money on one. I started researching. My main criteria was battery life, high enough pixels to have a good quality photo and an infrared flash. If the camera is close to a road, you don't want people to know you are taking photos by seeing a flash. The infrared flash doesn't show and doesn't scare the animals either. I put my camera on trees and pointed where ever I wanted to photo. Then it became a pain to move all the time, so I mounted it on an old mosquito zapper on wheels. The mosquito zapper was not very effective at killing mosquitoes, but it works great to move the camera around. Sometimes when it is very dark outside, I have to edit the photo slightly to remove the shadows. The daylight photos are great.  You can check it often or whenever you want. Mine is close to the house and I have a lot of activity, so I go out every morning. I take out the SD card and put a new one in. I save the photos I want and delete the rest, so everyday I start out with a empty card. 

Don't Laugh this is my System

I will end the suspense. The camera we purchased was the Primos TruthCam 46. I have had it a year and have only changed the batteries (4 D batteries) three times. There is a read out on the screen that tells the percentage of charge left in the batteries. I got it online from Walmart through Ebates and it came with a free mounting bracket and no shipping costs. I paid $99 minus the ebates rebate. I believe there is a external solar charger available, but I have not used that.

You can see at the bottom of the picture information.  The moon phase, temperature, date and time.

These are color photos from the camera.

Here are the specs:

Primos Truth Cam 46:

• 46 adjustable infrared LEDs
• 1 second trigger speed
• 200 percent better battery life
• Tested beyond 30,000 photos with 4 D cell alkaline batteries
• Allows you to adjust the number of active LEDs from 46 to 25
• 5.0MP resolution photos or videos
• Date, time, temperature, and moon phase information
• Backlit screen
• Large, easy-to-read menu settings
• All settings are adjustable
• Low-profile design with Realtree APG camo finish
• Includes quick tree strap
• Easy to understand quick instructions are printed on camera door
• Molded security cable hole through case
  
  I hope this information helps.
  

Critters of the Night

I really don't have anything to post or report today, so I am posting a couple of photos that I have never shown before.  We have these Crows or Ravens.  I'm not sure what they are but they are as big as chickens and eat any type of stale food or leftovers that I care to put out.

 

At night, we also have a striped cat who comes to visit.  I don't know where he lives or if he is a feral cat.  He will not come anywhere near us so I believe he is wild, but he isn't afraid of the deer who also come to the feeder.  

 Next we have rabbits at night.  Tons and tons of rabbits.  I don't know what they eat at night.  Maybe they eat bark or sprigs of leaves that poke out of the snow.  The little pellets in the snow show me that they eat something.

We have fox, raccoon, possum and various other critters that come in the dead of night.  

The only one that I can't identify is this headless critter.  Like the abominable snowman, we will probably never know who or what it is or if it will ever show up again.

Worm Farming, An Unusual Type of Farmer

Few of you know that I am a farmer.  I'm not just any farmer.  I don't need big expensive equipment.  I don't need to get up early in the morning to milk cows or goats.  I don't need to feed chickens or collect eggs.  I am a worm farmer.  I have a worm farm and all they eat are kitchen scraps and shredded paper.  Once a year, in the spring, I take out the worms and set them up with a new home.  Then I use the worm castings and worm tea for my plants. Worm tea is the excess liquid that drains out from the worms processing the food and making the castings or it is some castings mixed with molasses and water.  It provides plants with many of the nutrients they need to grow well.   I purchased a plastic worm farm set up, but my good friend uses a plastic tote.  I didn't know about this less expensive and very effective system when I started my farm.

You can read more about the tote method at her website.  http://larksperennials.com/.  She will tell you everything about gardening from composting to growing wonderful produce.  She is very knowledgeable and her gardens were also published in Better Homes and Gardens magazine.

This is my farm.  It consists of  4 trays and a base unit.  I started with some red worms that I purchased.  Yes, they sell red worms by the pound.  Then I just add left over peelings, coffee grounds and scraps.  No meat, dairy or citrus.  I shred all my junk mail and that goes in too.  I made the mistake when I first started to shred the envelopes with the clear plastic windows.  When the worm dirt was all done there were unprocessed pieces of plastic throughout the dirt.  I learned that I couldn't put them in.

I also have a compost pile outside because I have more than this can handle.  Don't ask me why I started this, but because of my worm farm/factory and my outside compost pile, I have very little trash going to the landfill.

The Electric Pressure Cooker, My Favorite Small Appliance

A while ago I mentioned that I was going to talk about my favorite small electric appliances.  Number one on my list is the electric pressure cooker.  I have a Nesco but there are many different brands.  Mine is a refurbished one which costs less (about $55) and it works beautifully.   I cook a lot and it makes a meal in no time.  As a lot of you know, I make a lot of soup.  This cooker is such a time saver.  Even if you have a chunk of frozen meat, you can cook it perfectly in no time.  Two days ago I made chicken soup.  It took about 30-40 minutes from from start with frozen chicken legs to finish.  I put the frozen chicken in with some chicken broth.  I pressured it for twenty minutes.  While that was happening, I cut up carrots, celery, onion and garlic in my Vidalia which I mentioned in a previous post.  After twenty minutes, I took out the chicken to cool and put in the veggies.  I pressured them for ten minutes while I removed the meat from the legs.  I added in the meat and there you have it.  I usually cook a few noodles on the side because my family doesn't always care for certain noodles.

The Story of the Weeping Fig Tree

Over 40 years ago we lived in a nice old house in Stoughton, Wisconsin.   It was in a lovely old neighborhood.    That is where our two daughters grew up.  They never did forgive us for selling that house.  We mistakenly believed when children go away to college, they leave.  We didn't realize that they come back with spouses and children and we would need more space than we did when they were children. 

We had a neighbor who did odd jobs for a local builder.  He would clean out houses and take unwanted items to the dump.  Sometimes he would bring home goodies.  That is why the shingles on his house were many different colors.  One day he came home with a Weeping Fig tree.  I should say it was a stick with a couple of leaves on it.  Either his wife didn't want it or he gave it to me, I don't remember the exact details.  Being one who could never kill a plant intentionally, I took it and put it in a pot.  Throughout the years it grew very slowly but it survived.  We moved it from place to place.  We repotted it every so often and trimmed it when it reached the ceiling.  We didn't pamper it which is why it is alive and well today. 

Now you See it and Now you Don't

I learned something new today.  Over Christmas I took some photos, as I usually do .  Sometimes they are good but have stuff in the background that I didn't want to have in the picture.  I have seen the doctored photos like the one putting Oprah's head on a skinny little body.  I have seen the youtube video of an eagle picking up a baby.  Then today I got an email showing the top photo editing software programs.  One of the best at an affordable price was the Photoshop Elements 11.  I had seen photoshop in the past and thought it was too complicated for me.  The full version Photoshop is very expensive, but I went to the Adobe website to look.  I noticed that you could download Photoshop Elements for a 30 day trial offer.  So I did it.  It is very complete and this was my first time trying it.  I will play with it for the next month and then decide if I want to purchase it.  My husband said I should be proud of myself and I guess I am.

Now you see the cooler and the broom

And Now you Don't

Party Time with the Grandchildren

It's New Years Day...2013.  Every year I celebrate New Years Eve with my grandchildren.  First it was the three oldest, then last year the second to youngest joined the party.  We eat junk food and drink sparkling grape juice and cider.  We watch the Dick Clark countdown in New York.  When they were younger and as soon as the ball dropped,  I could say "Happy New Year, now we can go to bed".  Not anymore.  They are old enough and smart enough to know that we have to wait another hour before it's midnight in Wisconsin.  With my dad (the kid's great grandpa) living in our house, we moved the celebration to Sarah's (oldest daughter) home.  I went there and my husband stayed home with dad.  Sarah and her husband went to a party and I was babysitter as well as party coordinator.  I was supposed to stay overnight and had planned to do so.  When they got home about 1:30am, I wasn't very tired so I drove home.  I got home a little after 2:00am.  I quietly opened the door and dad said "I'm so glad your home".  I guess he couldn't sleep and was waiting up for me.  At the same time my husband greets me.  Neither could sleep.  I told them I might come home and so they couldn't sleep just in case.  It's nice to be missed.  I thought I would get a better night sleep in my own bed.  Oh was I wrong.  We have two pellet stoves.  One is perfect and wonderful.  They other is a little temperamental.  I could hear it screeching when I walked in the door.  All night I heard it.  Forty seconds of screeching and twenty seconds of quiet.  It was worse than Chinese torture.  I closed the bedroom door, but it got so cold.  The temperatures got to below zero last night.  Finally I got up and stayed up.  I made coffee but I'm still feeling like I was drinking and partying all night, which I was but not the same as in my youth.  I was partying with youth, age 12 and under.  I will try to nap today.  Wisconsin Badgers play in the Rose Bowl today, so that should be fun to watch.  Wishing everyone a wonderful start to a new year.

P.S.  Update on the pellet stove.  Mike discovered a couple of pellets impeding the auger.  He dislodged them and now it is back to normal.  Hopefully that is the end of that issue.  

Happy New Year

Santa Claus is going away for his Long Winter's Nap

                                 

 Happy New Year

The time has come to take down the Christmas decorations.   The visitors have left, the cookies and special foods have been eaten and it is time to look forward to a new year.  Hopefully it will be a good year for us and our friends and family.  My son in law is leaving one career and starting a new exciting chapter of his life.  My grandchildren are growing and having more exciting experiences that will form their adult life.




I will replace the Christmas decor with Winter decor.  I have several snowmen and pine trees to set around.  We will finish the remodeling project that was started before the holidays (I blogged about that earlier).  We will try to get organized and go on a little vacation.  Life continues to change and we change as well.