A Mouse Tale and Other Stories

Another week gone. Fall has a strong hold on Northern Colorado and the Garden Spot. The ash trees here are nearly bare, the garden is totally done following a hard enough freeze that took the breath out of what few tomatoes were still clinging to the vines, and the days are cooler. The garden will rest, but I won't until I  get those 85 daffodil bulbs planted or given away.

So here's a question for you in the from of Monday's Mosaic: What do bales of hay, a rooster, and a broom have in common? Today's Bog Post.

Looking like something from outer space, this praying mantis won't as I try to snap his photo with the iPhone camera. I think he was rather annoyed. Nathan, visiting for the weekend, found him while he was shooting baskets. We see at least one every year. I think if I would tromp around the hay field I would find more. They are always fun to find and play with for a short time. I don't think he really enjoyed being a curiosity. We left him on the hay bale so that he could find his way elsewhere.

Next, Chanticleer the resident rooster gets a new home. The Head Gardener spent days building this rooster hut so that he would have a warm place to spend the long, cold winter nights.

The hens got a short visit. They were curious about this side of the hen pen that they share with the rooster, only he is fenced off from them--for obvious reasons. 

He is a handsome fellow, but he does tend to bite, the HG says. I cropped this photo, losing some of the quality.

Now for A Real Mouse Tale

The Head Gardener has left me. He has gone to Eastern Colorado to help our friends with corn harvest, so those of you have been with me for while know that I am on chore duty. It's not that big a deal. The HG has worked very hard to make tending the animals easy. The horses get two scoops of pellets. Sundance gets a couple of flakes of hay, too. The chickens get a scoop of scratch, and at night I gather the eggs. Fresh water in the morning.

Heather and the boys were here for the weekend, so I had my little helper, 7 year old Nathan who knows exactly what to do and is very good help.

Only Friday night we had a bit of a challenge: A mouse.

With the cooler weather the mice have moved in. Fortunately they haven't found their way into the house. Either the house is tight or they are sacred off by a lazy cat and the dog. I don't much like mice, but I can keep my cool when I am confronted by one. 

Right away when I opened the door to the chick coop I saw the lid was off of the scratch storage can. And look what I found:

While I am not scared of mice as long as we keep a safe distance between us. I don't want to have to handle them. Really, who does? The question now was how to get him out of the can?

Easy. I put a broom down in the can, thinking that he would climb out. After a couple of attempts, he finally just hid himself in the broom straws and I was able to lift him out.

We had quite a chuckle watching the little guy. He was clinging for dear life, hiding in the broom perfectly still,  his little heart beating the only sign of life. I put the broom back in place and left him there to come out when he felt safe.

Meanwhile, out east on the farm, the crew gathers to start the corn harvest. The HG left Friday. 

New storage bins have been erected to meed the demands of an ever expanding farm operation. They will thrash 23-2500 acres of dry-land corn.

Here's the HG's office for two weeks.

Command Center.  He sends a lot texts.

Let the thrashing begin. The combine leads, while the tractor pulling the grain cart follows to take on the corn once the combine is full.  

The routine for the next several days.

Looking forward to this week: tomorrow a museum committee meeting late Monday. Laundry. Wednesday, tutoring at the Writing Center. Thursday, Weight Watchers and lunch with my friend. She has had her back surgery. Her recovery is long, difficult, and painful. For one who has been so active, taking it easy and resting has been a bit hard on her. I'll take lunch in or fix something there and we will have a nice chat. Oh and planting daffodils. I'll let you know how that goes. 

What will you be doing? 

Thanks so much for stopping by. I'll be linking with Maggie for Mosaic Monday. See you over there.