And Thus True Winter Begins

Hey There !

Dave from McElhoes Family Farm/Belmont here.

It's the time of chopping ice and carrying water. I had always thought of winter as a time for reflection, quiet reading and thinking. As it turns out, it is more a time of carrying things you should have put away sooner, and of falling on your butt. At least it is for me!

Eggs have almost stopped for this season, though I suppose it doesn't matter a lot, because I closed the farmstand mostly so folks don't get hurt or their vehicles stuck on our challenging terrain. Still, the hens need fed and watered, and the sheep and goats. Pipes not yet ready for winter, despite winter happening every year, need thawed or in some cases abandoned until spring.

Buckets are at a premium. If I let one sit a moment, Katie will take it for her chores and when I turn around, it is gone. I scratch my head, go look for another and take it. Then Katie calls out asking if I have taken her bucket. It is kind of like an old slapstick comedy, complete with pratfalls. Did I mention our hill gets slippery?

The squirrels are back in the yard. They seem to have memorized the small game schedules and disappear each fall until late winter when they trade hiding places with the deer in our area. While our orchard is temporarily safe from the deer, our barn loft is alive with scampering each time I go up, and I often find walnuts hidden amongst the hay.

When I first moved here, the old timers of our area told me our hollow on our southwest side had been known for many years as some of the best squirrel hunting. We are in kind of a unique area as well. We, of course, have the angry little Red Squirrels that strive and battle with all the other squirrels. But what makes us different here is that we have both the Gray Squirrels, that tend to be toward the south, and Black Squirrels, which tend to be to the north. This three way overlap leads to a great many territorial squabbles. It does not seem to be due to a lack of resources - they all seem to feel free enough to steal peaches, apples, walnuts, hickory nuts, from me as well as from each other. While the little Reds are always the antagonists, The larger Grays and Blacks seem to relocate periodically into each other's territories, without quite as much drama.

Now where did I leave that bucket...?

Thanks for Listening,

Dave