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Post by binnylou on Jan 26, 2023 18:02:44 GMT -5
raphanus, do you anchor your traps to something to prevent an injured rat from leaving with the trap? I use the black plastic rat traps for chipmunk control. The trap is anchored to a board and the board has a hole drilled in it toward the end. I put a fiberglass garden stake through that hole to anchor the board in place. The first time I had to search for the trap, it had snagged a chipmunk, but that chipmunk became a meal for another critter…probably a raccoon.
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Post by gardendmpls on Jan 26, 2023 23:25:04 GMT -5
took some Rat-X organic salt-based rat poison pellets Bless you for not using the newer poisons that act on other wildlife, can be passed up the food chain if the poisoned animal is eaten and which have no antidote. I see this one is rodent specific, consisting of corn gluten meal and salt. The gluten meal acts in rodent intestines and blocks the urge to drink, which leads to dehydration. Wafaren poisons cause hemorrhaging and death, but at least there is an antidote if a pet eats the poison bait. The newer ones have no antidote. I was reading about rat terriers and similar dogs trained to hunt rats. Some owners will visit rat infested farm buildings and corrals and clean the rats out. Some charge a fee. Others don't.
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Post by desertwoman on Jan 27, 2023 0:07:43 GMT -5
Arghh!! It was one of "those days" that made me wonder what the planets are doing. Was waiting for an important (large) package to arrive via USPS- needed to be here to accept. In the mean time I did laundry, started sorting out and finishing up books so we can start taxes paperwork, cleaned out a bunch of old papers .
4:30pm comes along, Quinn walks in with the mail and a small package I was also expecting (that fit in the mailbox). But no large package. Too large (40" or so) to fit in the mailbox. Then an email arrives around 5:10pm to say the package could not be delivered because the mailbox was full (!!) and that it is at the post office in town (not the PO here in the village) and can be picked up there.
What irks me is that we have a very lazy USPS carrier who cannot/willnot drive the 200ft or so to our door to drop off packages that don't fit in our oversized rural mailbox. Then he makes up stories (mailbox is full) about why he couldn't deliver it. Variations of this has happened before. Not to mention all the days he simply does not deliver our mail, only to have a back log of delivery the next day. Is he napping somewhere, for a few hours, on those days?
Needless to say, I called the 800# for USPS, registered a complaint and will drive to the PO in town, tomorrow AM to retrieve the package and speak to the supervisor. UPS and FedEx have no problem delivering packages to our door. The USPS is not what it used to be.
OK end of rant.
Oh and the small packaged that did get delivered? Ordered through eBay, they sent the wrong thing so it has to be returned. Like I said - one of those days.
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Post by emmsmommy on Jan 27, 2023 5:44:19 GMT -5
desertwoman, you dud the right thing by calling the 800# because the issue must now be addressed and closed out by the local office. Our regular mail carrier if off on medical leave and in the last two weeks we've had neighbors mail in our box three times. Twice we've delivered it to our next door neighbor but another time it was for the neighbors who aren't very friendly and I've just raised the flag and put it back in the box. A friend sent me a piece of fabric for some mug rugs in a card two weeks ago and it still hasn't arrived. I'm guessing it's either in someone's stack of unopened mail or someone liked it well enough to keep it.
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Post by centralilrookie on Jan 27, 2023 6:14:46 GMT -5
Yesterday started early with getting sweetheart off to work 4:20 am. Did my usual domestic chores and fed the girls. Decided that I better stock up on oats and senior feed to get ahead of my hand surgery scheduled for Tuesday. With my neighbor/farmer riding shotgun we picked up enough feed to take us well into March. Later on I went to a basketball tournament game that one of the grandsons was playing in. They won handily and will be moving on to the regional tournament next week. Met sweetheart at a local eatery after the game as she was returning home from work for a late supper and a couple malted grain beverages. It was a very good day…..
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Post by Mumsey on Jan 27, 2023 6:21:08 GMT -5
We have mail delivery issues from time to time as well. We kept waiting for the bill from our HVAC guy. Finally called him, he confirmed it was sent. So physically went there and picked it up.
Then of course there's the other end of the issue where medical offices don't update your address. About 5 years after we moved, we noticed a collection on credit report. After figuring it out, they had been sending bills to our old address! I called them and had a fit. They did have our correct address on file. They agreed to lift the collection and forgive the bill. It wasn't a large amount. Apparently the old address received our misdirected mail and they must have just tossed it.
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Post by Wheelgarden on Jan 27, 2023 22:04:37 GMT -5
Started kales --- Red Russian (of course) and Premier. Also dibbled tatsoi, Yakima savoy rapa, and Fordhook chard into the sprouting trays. It's still January, but I'm antsy and restless.
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Post by Mumsey on Jan 28, 2023 5:28:38 GMT -5
Pulled out stashed fabric and started cutting up a new quilt. Got the cutting done after 5 hours then started sewing. It will be pretty quick as there is a flag panel in the center. This one is a patriotic theme, it may be destined to my brother in New York who was in the military for 20 years.
Tended to the baby onions, gave them their first haircut. Time to go through and organize seeds and see what else I can start now. Petunias mid-February for sure. Hydroponic lettuce is starting to grow fast!
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Post by centralilrookie on Jan 28, 2023 5:58:30 GMT -5
Finally made myself sit down and order seeds yesterday. Something about my lack of tech skills or failure to comprehend their directions but ended up having to call both places to complete my order. I will say the people I talked to at both places were quite helpful and good natured. Sweetheart made it quite clear that she wants to see pumpkins growing this year. She seems to forget that she broke her ankle last year at the time I should have been planting them.😂
Thin sliced a couple of steaks along with onions and peppers for my first attempt at Philly steak and cheese wraps for supper. They turned out pretty darn good except my wrapping technique could use improvement. It was a very good day……
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Post by emmsmommy on Jan 28, 2023 18:18:04 GMT -5
Well I'm still not feeling the greatest. Have a sore throat but not nearly as excruciating as the strep earlier in the week. Just don't have much energy yet. I did manage to carry in the promix yesterday and designed some data sheets to be kept by the light stand and a calendar that denotes the number of weeks until the last frost and how many growing days before the first frost. Yep, I get a bit nerdy when left alone with a laptop. Planned to sow the onion seed last night and realized I didn't have enough trays or cell packs in the house and wasn't attempting the trek to the shed in the dark. So I did the only thing that came to mind and went to bed. So everything is in the house and ready now but not sure I won't fall asleep before kiddo does. I did run out for fifteen minutes or so and spread about an inch of compost on one of the new beds. I figured since they were longer, they'd be the perfect candidates for the brassicas since I'm intending to net them. Otherwise it was a stay inside day. Now to make a change on one of those data sheets...
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Post by Mumsey on Jan 28, 2023 18:33:28 GMT -5
Spent some time this morning catching up with friends via phone. Tread mill. Made breakfast, oven hash browns with eggs on top. Then went to sewing. Took a nap, sewed some more. Made chili for DH and Butter Bean Burgers for me. Nice to have no where to go on a snowy day!
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Post by datgirl on Jan 28, 2023 19:05:00 GMT -5
Snowed all day today. We probably have 7 inches so far. Shoveled the deck a few times and threw bird seed out. I made a batch of oatmeal raisin cookies and that was about it for the day.
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Post by desertwoman on Jan 28, 2023 21:31:19 GMT -5
Today was tamale making day. It's an all day affair. Our friends that we make them with came over around noon. We mixed up our fillings, prepped the masa and then sat at the table and assembled them- 63 went into our tamale pot. They cooked for 3 hours and we passed the time like families do- telling stories and solving the worlds' problems. We sat down to dinner by around 6pm. A sharp shinned hawk stopped by while we were waiting for the tamales to cook.
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Post by Mumsey on Jan 29, 2023 17:20:53 GMT -5
Started sewing after treadmill this morning. Got the quilt top done already. desertwoman, thank you for the encouragement! Went out and shoveled deck and path to garage again. They said we only got 3 inches, I don't believe it for a minute. Looks more like 5 to me. Fed the birds and sprinkled some seed on the ground for the ground feeders. Doves have showed up. The woodpeckers keep busy on the suet. The Princess is not fond of this cold weather. She didn't even want to stay out while I was shoveling, so I let her back in. She will usually run like a crazy dog while I'm out there working. Poor neglected dog. NOT!!
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Post by Latitude33 on Jan 29, 2023 21:30:38 GMT -5
Hmmm, tamales!!!
Spent most of today working at Mom's Phunny Pharm. Added soil to one bed, weeded a planting area, planted seeds for beets and snap peas. Transplanted eight cauliflower starts and realized to my horror, what I thought was green cabbage, turned out to Brussels sprouts...Oh the humanity! Will plant those at home near the hen-house.
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