The rescue

animals, nature, Odds and ends

It was time to take Sunny for a walk this morning. I hadn’t planned to go far. But ended up walking for 30 minutes.

Along the way, I noticed a few worms had wiggled onto the shoulder of the road. They were covered with bits of gravel and soon would die.

I picked up one and deposited it back in the grassy ditch, not where it would drown, but where it could clean itself of the gravel and not get smashed on the road.

During my walk, I rescued 6 worms. It’s nothing earthshaking, except for those worms.

There are so many others in our world today who are real rescuers. I honor them all.

Still, doing my part this morning made me feel useful, if only to a half-dozen worms.

Copyright © 2020 by Susan Manzke, all rights reserved

Showing signs of life

Odds and ends, technology, work

Russell asked me if I had gotten the cart going. When he first asked, I hadn’t even tried turning the key to our maintenance golf cart. Well, yesterday I turned the key.

There was nothing. No buzz, no gage movement, not a flicker of light. The directional signal had been on all winter, sucking power.

The battery was drained. It was time for a charger.

I took my time connecting the charger to the terminals. First, I made sure which was positive and which was the ground. Once the positive and negative signs were visible it was easy to snap on the charger clamps.

After a couple of hours charging this old battery, the cart did buzz. After a few more hours, it almost acted like it wanted to start–that made me happy but not excited.

I’m still scratching my head, trying to get it to pop.

What I think is the best thing to do now is to get a new battery.

The new addition will come in the near future, but until then I’ll keep trying to encourage the cart to roll again.

Copyright © 2020 by Susan Manzke, all rights reserved

Eggs of different colors

animals, Chickens, wildlife

Every day, I go to the chicken coop and look for eggs. I have five hens, but only rarely do I have five eggs. Mostly, I get two or three.

So where did the little blue egg come from? Not my chickens, for sure.

The little egg was not near a tree. It was on the edge of the road, on the blacktop. Really odd, so I picked it up.

I wonder about the bird (probably a robin) who left her egg in an inappropriate location.

Usually, I find eggs that were hatched, broken into pieces. This was whole.

I had found a similar egg long ago. I put it in a pill bottle, set it in the refrigerator for years. After that long period, the inside dried up and eventually went to a science teacher–I will try to do the same with this one.

The chicken eggs were used for a pecan pie. They were delicious.

Today I shared with you just a little bit about the wildlife on Sunnybook Farm. I hope you can find nature’s beauty where you live, too.

Copyright © 2020 by Susan Manzke, all rights reserved

A furry visitor

animals, Sunny, wildlife

There are a lot of animals that visit our farm, but usually, they don’t live close to the house.

Adult rabbits have not been seen here for a couple of years. They are not the target of rural cats. Owls, hawks, coyotes, and bald eagles take the larger rabbits they find. Mostly, its the baby bunnies that end up as an easy meal for a cat or as a toy for Sunny.

I had one rabbit come for a visit today.

At least I hope it was just for a visit. The last rabbit made a nest in Sunny’s pen and Sunny found it.

Our dog did not eat the bunnies, but he did play with them. Like Lenny in of Mice and Men, Sunny doesn’t know his own strength.

I had to chase Sunny before I could take the last baby bunny from his mouth. It had not been torn to shreds. I think it died from the shock of being in Sunny’s mouth.

Anyway, I hope this is a rare sight and this rabbit has moved on to find safer accommodations. I sure don’t want Sunny finding more ‘squeaking’ toys.

Copyright © 2020 by Susan Manzke, all rights reserved

A touch of nature in the kitchen

animals, wildlife

Sometimes my house is very quiet. When this happens I turn on the television and radio–not too often at the same time. Today the TV and radio are off, but my computer is on.

I listened to a podcast while washing dishes, but afterward, I changed to another link.

This morning I turned to an old standby, the Decora Eagles nests. They can be found at explore.org as can many other animal cams around the world.

https://explore.org/livecams/bald-eagles/decorah-eagles

When I checked today, the eagle parents were away and the babies were on their own for a little while–when the camera pulled back a parent could be seen in a tree, probably hunting.

It is not just the sights that come into my laptop, so do the sounds. I hear geese, blackbirds, frogs, and even vehicles passing nearby.

Seeing and hearing this bit of nature picks up my spirits. I hope it does the same for you.

Copyright © 2020 by Susan Manzke, all rights reserved