G is for GO AWAY, GOPHERS!!

In this area, we have been having a problem with rodents, gophers and voles, moles, that sort of riff raff.  SO, there have been lots of different ideas on how to deal with them... 

There is the gum in the hole of said rodent run.  Didn't work, that I saw, but maybe I chewed the gum too long...

The cats are somewhat effective, but Mom and Dad don't have a cat, and well, they go off duty at least part of the day...

Husband smoked them out with propane.  I think that actually worked.  But, really, I get more than a bit freaked out when he decided to LIGHT it, and FLAMES and SMOKE come from the ground, like we are living near an active volcano.  

A pistol works.  However, when spouse A uses said pistol, (or shotgun, in one case), spouse B really should know, so that screaming and panic do not ensue when some unwanted rodent is dispatched... 

(Dad, next time, let Mom know, pleeease?)

Then there is the little windmill thingy... It has such good reviews.  Mom bought it, it is supposed to drive the little monsters off because the vibrations annoy them. 

Ahem.

Well, the one my Mom bought must have been tuned by the Beach Boys for Good Vibrations, because when I came over about 3 days later, there were little mole hills all over, right by the windmill!  It was attracting them!  

Anyone want to buy a Pied Piper Windmill?

G is for...

Good Morning.

Tuesday Mornings, specifically.  I have volunteer work that day, and so I have to "get at it" early.

I wake, and usually hear Husband already starting his day, showering.  I get up, let the cat out of the carrier, (we have her sleep there, for safety and health reasons.  Her safety, our health...), and we walk to her food dish.  I put down her kibble, clean the litter pan, and, after washing up, I prepare Rudee dog's food, and head out to the early morning.  In fact, right now, it's not so much early morning as just DARK.  I have to take a flashlight out, so I don't stumble.  Run the dog out for his morning potty break as I feed Buzz cat.  I hear the wild turkeys chuckle and gobble as they come out of the trees.

The neighbor's dog usually sees me, and starts barking.  Since he has the average intelligence of  burned out 1/2 watt light bulb, I ignore him.  I keep wondering how the neighbors can stand it, but they don't seem to get upset with him letting fly at 5:30am...

I get the food out, and Buzz lives up to her namesake, purring and crunching away.  I then get the chickens some food, and oyster shell.  They grumble and cluck, wanting out as soon as they wake up, this is the one day of the week they get out early.  They fly out the door, each claiming the 'best' spot, eating like I've starved them to death.  Drama Queens. (And King...)

If they decide to show, I will give a little bit of feed to the llamas.  They have learned not to dawdle, they love the food, but if they don't finish it quickly, the chickens are much willing to clean it up, even if they have to peck noses to do it.  The llamas, in turn, spray the chickens with spit, so I usually make a hasty exit before I have to have a shower...

And back into the house, quick breakfast for me, get my uniform on, make lunch, grab my various bags o' tricks, and purse, get out the rig, and get gone.

Come to think of it, I think it's one of the only days of the week that I am actually organized!

*****

G could also be for good deeds, which I saw yesterday.  I was getting groceries, and then lined up to pay and leave.  2 people ahead of me.  

Great, quick line... 

The first was an older man, another a woman a bit younger than me.  I watched as the man pulled out a card, typed in a number, and the clerk shook her head. 

"Pin didn't work, could you try again?"

Type, type, type.

Nope.

He pulls out another card.

Same result.

I start to fidget. I start to hurt if I stand very long, and this was seeming to take a bit.

He pulls out a third card.

Greaaaaaat.

Type, type, type, type.

"Sorry, sir, still not working..."

About this time, the lady peeks at what he's getting, and I see a smile hit the corners of her mouth.  She slips into her purse, pulls out a ten, and taps the man on the shoulder.  

"Merry Christmas early!  I will pay for his groceries..."

The man looks surprised, and then thanks her, asking if he needs to pay her back.

"Yes, you owe me one thing.  Go home and ask your wife what your pin number is!"

:)

G... Um...

You might notice I didn't write a blog yesterday.  It would have been Zzzz, not G.  So, I will write through Sunday, then I should be back on track again... I also haven't caught up on reading and replying, that will happen over the next few days.  I apologize, and thank you all for your continued reading and replying!

So, G is for Grandma's Kitchen.

My Grandma M. had a different kitchen, but it took me a long time to realize why.  One side had an electric stove, and a refrigerator.  There was the usual cupboards, sinks, and then... There was the wood cook stove.  And the wringer washer.  Right next to the electric dryer.

She lived at the end of what amounts to a canyon, and they lost power frequently.  Dad even remembers when they got power in the area...  So, they had to make sure they had a way to have heat and cooking when the power died.

I remember more than one dinner where veggies and sides were simmering on the electric stove, the main dish in the wood stove, and a pie or other dessert on the warming shelf above the stove.  I tended to stay very near the wood stove, to this day I love the heat from wood.   Grandma would admonish me not to play with the stove.  (I only played with the handles that you use to lift the lids.  That wire thing on the handle was interesting to me, for some reason...)

Grandma would wash the clothes, then run them through the wringer, where I was again admonished not to put fingers up near.  Pretty much, I wasn't supposed to do anything but sit quietly when she was washing.  I did sit, generally, but quiet?  Maybe not so much...

I also remember her flour and sugar bins.  They were HUGE!  You opened a cupboard door next to the sink, and there were these bins of sheet metal, basically a quarter circle, that I think could hold as much as 50 pounds or more of flour.  Again, they lived in place where a trip to the store wasn't just a quick jaunt.

Grandma also had gravity feed water.  This was great, wonderful water from the creek on the hill.  Until a bear found the new screen.  The bear thought the new screen was a great toy, and tore the heck out of it.  Dad ended up having to paint the screen black so it wasn't so noticeable to said bear...

Grandma now lives in a retirement home, with food available from a full kitchen with cooks.  Laundry is taken care of.  Water comes from the city.  It is so much easier for her.

But it just isn't as interesting, Darn it...

*****

I have been on the go of late.  In fact, I made a choice, I have been skipping a group thing I do on Mondays, so I can get more taken care of as far as shopping, and in-town chores.  I even need to get a haircut, but haven't managed to do so.  Just call me Mistress Fluffy, at the moment...  I did finish a pair of socks, but that was mostly because I knit while waiting, or when I was "on break" when doing my shift at the substation.  They have found some work for me to do, and there is a LOT of it, so I try to work on it for about 5 hours.  (It's checking information accuracy, and I check a paper printout against a computer. Much more than 5 hours, and my eyes cross...)  I also will be helping occasionally at the Sheriff's Office, they are having a Citizen's Academy, where I help with things like handing out and collecting papers, leading people to the restroom, (it's in a somewhat restricted area, so I am an escort), and generally helping as needed. 

So, I will be slowing down for a few days, then gearing up again, plus the yearly Doctor's appointment, which is when I am going to have to ask the Doc all sorts of questions.

Such as, if I can get my weight down, my energy up, and possibly adding an extra 2 or 3 hours in the day.

But somehow- I think he might not have much of an answer to the last one.

Meh.

G. Go Directly to Jail. (Just Visiting)

(Before I go into my blog, if you are in the US, we will be having a test of the Emergency Alert System, all television stations, and radio stations will be participating.  It will occur at 11 a.m. PST, so adjust for where you live.  No "War of the Worlds" scenarios, please, this is just a test...)

Headed off to the Sheriff's Office to do my Ambassador bit today.  I like to think of it as enabling coffee addicts.  Let's just say that several of the people must have very little blood in their caffeine system, they are drinking coffee from the time they come in, until they leave.  Some even show UP with coffee, and refill when I bring the coffee pot in!  Anyway,  we had a representative from Search and Rescue, then had Forest Patrol, and ended with Livestock Investigation.

The Search and Rescue (SAR) was fun, if for no other reason there was one of the 'kids' there.  Why is this fun?  Watching a gal stand at parade rest for an hour, and not so much as scratch her nose the whole time. (Our search and rescue is made up of volunteers from the high schools, age 14 to 21.  They are rated one of the best SAR groups in the state, and it shows...)  Lots of videos of the training.  One of the trainers is a former marine, so it's not exactly sitting on one's tush eating bon bons.  In fact, one of the videos shows the group sloshing through a culvert, and coming out about the consistency and color of cow plop.  Others show them climbing walls, carrying a log (the deputy said they carry it about a mile), wake up time, which consisted of several deputies setting off M-80 type firecrackers outside the tents of the trainees.  Let's just say, if they make it through, they are tough.  There is training on tracking, using a compass, things like that.  They are a great group.

The second class was Forest Patrol, which was held in the jail, in a meeting room.  This was because the SWAT team was using the room for a meeting where we were.  We told them we'd be happy to stay and watch, but they said no.  They filed in with battering rams and shields.  We went out to the jail.

This was interesting for yours truly, the doors open one, then it closes, then the next opens, so that if there was a problem, it is contained.  What I didn't know, is that if I am next to the door, and it closes, it will continue to close, even if my tookus is in the way.  I moved rather quickly, not wanting to be one with the wall...

I had to stay near the back of the group, to make sure that everyone got to the meeting room.  What I didn't know, was that the inmates were in the kitchen, and had a good view of me.  I was in no danger, but I haven't had so many wolf whistles, and comments for a long time.  I put it on high ignore, and then the deputy in the kitchen walked in front of the window, and all comments and whistles stopped, thank goodness...

The Forest Patrol is the best smelling class... They bring samples of things that are cash crops they have to monitor, such as Fir, Cedar, Bear Grass, and Salal.  It smells sorta like Christmas!  Lots of pictures of marijuana grows, (no, no samples of that, that's for the class with the dogs), and the last two pictures were an accidental comedy.  One showed a young elk, surrounded by opium poppies, and the next showed 4 kit foxes, all looking intently at the camera.  One wag pipes up, elk eats poppies, the foxes just wait for it to get stoned so they can have lunch!  The whole place cracked up!

The last was the Livestock Investigation Team.  Sadly, this group was formed because there was a LOT of animal abuse in this area, especially with horses.  It has improved, some, but with the economy, there are people that figure, well, the animal can fend for itself.  This means that a woman with 116 horses on 12 acres gets a visit from the Sheriff's Office.  This means that a man that had 6 dogs inside a single wide mobile, that never let them outside, got a visit.  This means a woman with 40 dogs, who had so many that they were dying, and to keep them from stinking, she was storing them in the freezer, with her food, got a visit.

I always find it amazing that the deputies can do some of these jobs,  I was just looking at pictures and was physically ill.  They have to deal with going into places where it's not just filthy, it's so filthy they have to use breathing gear!  But it does make me give them a lot of respect.

Next week is the final class, the graduation, if you will.  The deputies really, really enjoy this one.  I can't imagine why.

Oh, right, potluck.  Food is involved, yep, that is always a draw.

I will be there, and last time I took photos of the graduates.  I might do the same thing this time.  Please, pray that the %$#@ camera works this time...  Telling the Sheriff that none of the pictures came out after a half hour of photographing doesn't do well.  For anyone.

But there will be food!

These photos brought to you by the letter G.

Godiva Bar in a gift pack I received. 
(Chocolate good, raspberry goo... Eh...) 



Grazing.  (Look fast folks, this was taken today. 
Tomorrow, not so much sun.)



Groovy!  
(Not advised to take to a Department Of Energy building.) 



Great music!
(Hey, I have to get that in SOMEWHERE!!)





Grrrrrr!!!



This is Cat Blogger, Good Day!