An Official Maine Chiots
Lucy, the resident chiots and the namesake of the blog, became an official Mainer on Monday night. She ran the gauntlet of the porcupine and came out the other side plastered with quills. Of course it happened right as we were getting ready for bed.
Mr Chiots and I worked quickly, pulling them out with pliers. Luckily, her front left quarter panel received the brunt of it and she only had 3 in her face and 4 in her paw. She stayed fairly calm through the extraction process, which took about 5-10 minutes. I don’t know if it helped, but we read on-line to snip the ends off the quills and pour some vinegar on them. It seemed to work, although I’m pretty sure the quick extraction was of most benefit.
We had avoided an encounter with the baby porcupine that was lurking around when we first arrived. We are now thinking that perhaps we should have let her learn her lesson with the little one instead of the HUGE one.
She was back to normal the next morning, hopefully a little wiser. All in all, this wasn’t as bad as her encounter with a skunk, which lingered on for almost a year. Poor Lucy is having to learn a lot of new lessons in her old age.
Do you have porcupines in you area?
Share this:
2013 Chiot’s Run Calendar
Finally, the fourth edition of the Chiot’s Run calendar is up and running. This year I decided to simplify things a bit and only choose one photo per month. It’s always hard to narrow them down. Luckily, this year I’ve been adding photos into a special folder throughout the year when I know one will perfectly sum up that month. As a result it took me much less time that it usually does.
Most of my friends and family already know they’ll be receiving one of these beauties for Christmas, in fact, I think they’d all be dissappointed if they didn’t.
I want to thank all of you who purchase this calendar, I get a small amount from each sale and this helps me keep this blog ad-free and it helps me pay the bills associated with this blog. Once again it’s available in Small and Large:
Small Calendar: 11″ x 17″ open (folds in half in the middle like a regular calendar).
Large Calendar: 13.5″ x 19″ has coils at the top so it’s one continuos sheet.
I even updated my inspirational nature quote calendar as well if you like that one.
There’s a discount coupon that you can use as well: Receive 20% 1-9, 25% 10-19, 30% 20+ off of your calendar purchase. This promotion ends November, 23 at 11:59 PM. (Coupon Code: CHRONICLE)
These will be gifted as part of my handmade holidays with my family. Technically I didn’t “handmake” them, but I did take the photos. I can get them printed up much cheaper than I could make them myself and they’re so much better as far as quality goes that I could do at home. I think they qualify as handmade!
As always, I do have a favorite month, though it certainly was a tough choice. I’d have to say that the lovely tulips in May is my favorite!
Which month do you like the best?
Share this:
Cultivate Simple 6: On the Hunt
In this week’s show we discuss hunting and the reasons, skills, and equipment needed to do so effectively and ethically.
Ethical Hunting
According to NRA’s Hunter Code of Ethics
- I will consider myself an invited guest of the landowner, seeking his permission, and so conducting myself that I may be welcome in the future.
- I will obey the rules of safe gun handling and will courteously but firmly insist that others who hunt with me do the same.
- I will obey all game laws and regulations, and will insist that my companions do likewise.
- I will do my best to acquire those marksmanship and hunting skills, which insure clean, sportsmanlike kills.
- I will support conservation efforts, which can assure good hunting for the future generations of Americans.
- I will pass along to younger hunters the attitudes and skills essential to a true outdoor sportsman.
Links
- Farmers and Hunters Feeding the Hungry
- Pittman-Robertson Act of 1937
- Appleseed Project – Learn Rifleman Skills and History
Help Us Out
- iTunes Reviews – Give us a review!
- Support Page
- Amazon Affiliates Link
- Song in the show: I’d Rather – Ellery
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:03:12 — 44.1MB)
Share this:
Quote of the Day: E.B. White
“I also ought to stir the litter in the henpen in the barn where the Barred Rocks are, and in the henhouse where the crossbred birds are; and then fill some bushel baskets with shavings and add them to the litter in the places where it needs deepening. The dropping boards under the broody coops need cleaning and I should do that at the same time, since I will be out there anyway. As far as littler is concerned, a man could take and rake the lawn under the maples where there is such an accumulation of leaves and add these dry leaves to the litter in the houses for the birds to scratch around in. Anything to keep their minds occupied in healthy channels.”
E.B. White (from the essay Memorandum: October 1942 from One Man’s Meat)
We’ve been having beautiful weather here in Maine, perfect for getting all those fall chores buttoned up. Yesterday, I spent the day mowing up mulch to put on the chicken run. The ladies were quite excited with their new digs.
Today I plan on making more mulch and adding some inside the chicken house too, hopefully it will give the chickens something to pick through on the chilly snowy days ahead. I plan on making a pile of extra leaves/grass clippings up by the coop to throw in on occasion to keep them busy in the winter.
We also spent some time getting our electric net fence up for the little ducklings. It will be ready just in time, they’re really outgrowing their other little fenced in area.
What’s on your to-do list today?
Share this:
The Tour: Driveway
I have received lots of requests for a tour of the new place here in Maine. We’re still unpacking some things and settling in. I’m a little reluctant to to a tour since there has been no painting, only cleaning and unpacking. There are also still things in boxes and we have to paint before some things can be put away. I guess all the images will make great before photos for my before & after posts – so here starts to tour. Additional areas will be toured in upcoming weeks and I’ll add links to the bottom of the posts.
I’ll start with the driveway, which deserves it’s own post. After all, we have our own road name and our own curvy road sign.
It’s a long driveway, about a third of a mile, which we actually like after living so close to the road back in Ohio. It’s good to know that when I let Dexter outside, I don’t have to worry about traffic on the road.
There are all kinds of twists and turns which take you through the woods and up the hill. It’s pretty steep; thank goodness we now have an old truck with a plow to keep the road cleared in winter.
Almost every day, we take the dog and walk down the driveway to get the mail. It’s the perfect walk in the middle of the afternoon. It stretches your legs, wakes you up, gets the blood flowing, and invigorates you for the rest of the afternoon.
Sometimes we even get lucky and Dexter joins us on our stroll. He usually meets us halfway down when we’re on our way back.
This is the view back down from the top, well almost the top. There’s still a little bit of driveway to go, but you would see the house and garage/barn if I included it. That will come next week.
No doubt there will be times in the middle of the winter when we can’t make it up the hill. That’s OK with us, we’re always prepared with boots and extra socks in the car. That won’t be anything new either, several times each winter we would be unable to get up our rather steep driveway back in Ohio as well. We’d rather have to hike up the driveway a few times each winter than live too close to the road!
How long is your driveway? Is it curvy, steep, gravel, paved?
