We use only the finest ingredients.

The price for the house we like in Missouri has been lowered by $5000. Just that much closer the the offer we plan to make. 

Today, I decided to go ahead and make the feast, as it is cold, rainy, and dreary. A day early does not unthankful make me. 

Roast turkey, green bean casserole, sweet potato casserole w/marshmallows, cornbread and pumpkin pie. Seating starts at 4:00.

The chickens have been released from the barn to take their chances with any stray dogs that may or may not be around. Because? Monday night, a critter, (and I assume it was a raccoon,) slithered its way into to the secure barn loft, and took one of the wyandot hens. Piles of feathers here and there was the only sign. They all must have been traumatized.

I thought they were safe, but they were mere sitting ducks, so to speak, being cooped up. 

A live trap was set last night, with some excellent pork barbecue as bait. This morning, the meat was gone, the trap was overturned, yet not sprung. It was for sure a raccoon. 

The chickens, however, were safe in the tree near our bedroom window. Sweetie spent a restless night, with shoes on and a gun in hand, just in case. 

Me? Last night, I snored away on the couch.

Today? I am thankful.

House in Montgomery City

Sign and return.

Received a text from Good Neighbor Nancy on Saturday afternoon, saying that Omelet had been found safe and mostly sound!  I was so happy I positively cried. How that little hen ended up 100 feet behind our barn in some woods, I don't know and may never know.  Maybe the dog snagged and then dropped her, or maybe she ran/flew back there to escape the Evil Beagle. I was so glad the the two neighbor boys found her and then, since I wasn't home, took her to Nancy.

Omelet is now in the back yard enclosure with her sister Buffalo Wing, her mom Henny Penny, (who is sitting on 5 eggs,) Howard the Duck, and Sugar the Angora.

Also, we may have found Our House in Missouri. Not modern and fancy, but spacious and nice enough with a huge corner lot at the edge of town. The sidewalk literally ends at the front door of this place.  Hardwood floors, a full basement, a big outbuilding, and mature trees. It is the lot that I like a lot, in fact. It is near to town, but not with neighbors too close by, and it has become the yardstick that other properties have been judged by and come up short, truth be told.

So much to do this week. And I even bought a turkey for us to have at Thanksgiving, along with pumpkin pie.

Sweetie starts work a week from tomorrow.

The 4-Way Stop Dilemma

File this under the It Could Have Been Worse file. Had made plans to take a quick trip to Missouri early this morning, to firm up some short term housing. 

It was early when I heard the horrible sound that chickens make when they are in distress. By the time I made it out the front door and into the yard, Roostifer was already gone. It was a stray dog, a beagle, one we had spotted yesterday, and mistakenly thought we had run off. 

That incident happened just at dawn, and by 9 a.m. we had captured Fried Chicken and 4 of his hens and placed them in the old bunny loft. Two hens were too quick for us, so we took a break from the chasing. About an hour later, one more hen was taken, as well as Omelet, who had ventured out into the yard from her usual safe enclosure. This time, Sweetie got a shot off with the pellet gun, and he hit the dog. 

Enquiries were made, it was indeed nobody's dog; from around here, anyway. Sweetie tried to track it, but the neighbor's said the cur was hauling ass-over-head down the road after being shot.

So. Looking at the bright side, we could have blithely left home for a day or two, only to return to no chickens at all. And I was able to snag that last hen a little bit later.

I'm sad for little Buffalo Wing, as her only friend now is Howard the Duck. But, unlike the folks in John Prine's song, I do know how lucky I am, living here in a semi-rural area, to have not lost any other chickens to predators this year. 

So it goes.

Feed daily.

One thing I haven't said a word about, until now, is Foxy. She has found a new home! It's been a week that she has spent with a young couple in Ft. Knox, and I haven't heard boo. In this case, no news is good news.

I have three pair of hand knit socks, 2 hand knit afghans, one blanket, and one pillow to mend because of her.

My left elbow is healing nicely, thank you, now that Foxy is not constantly yanking at her leash. 

My blood pressure is surely lower.

The only dog left is Princess, who is such The Good Dog! We have been taking her for car rides again, and we took her to Missouri a couple of weeks ago, too.

I am wondering whether I should just re-home the chickens or try to take with. Then there are the outside bunnies to consider. No need to decide right away, as I will be staying here in Indiana for awhile yet.

I emailed the Insubordiknit last week, as I knew she had moved to Missouri a few years back, from New York, if memory serves. She replied with a nice note and a list of fiber guilds and groups for the state. What a relief to know that I have friends there waiting for me. 

Now, breathe!

Just over three weeks ago, on October 26th, I got a phone call from an old boss of Sweetie's, from the Potato Chip Mine days. Said boss asked if Sweetie was working, and so forth, and said there was a job in Missouri if he wanted it.

The first weekend of November, we went west and Sweetie interviewed and toured the plant. It is a frozen food distribution warehouse, with no food production taking place on the premises. It's a very big company, with very good benefits, but I'm not sure I'll ever say the name of it on this blog.

Sweetie came back here, peed in a cup and took the physical at the local plant last Wednesday. Sigh. He failed the pulmonary test, (machine malfunction,) and scheduled a makeup test the next day, Thursday. Which he aced.

Which brings us to Friday last, the day that Sweetie could finally and safely give 2-weeks' notice at his current, yet hateful job. When he got to work that morning, he was asked to step into the office, where they said, "You are a great maintenance mechanic, but a lousy manager, so we are letting you go with 4 weeks severance pay and a good referral." (I said, "You are a lousy manager? Why? Because you are not an asshole like all of the other managers?") 

If you were paying attention, he was intending to give notice as soon as the new job was set in stone, and because he failed the breathing test that first time, he held off until Friday. 

He just heard today that he will begin work in Missouri on November 29. Yay, two weeks of double paychecks!

Sometimes, the cards deal you a flush. (Other times, it's two of a kind.) This situation has all worked out so quickly and so well. Now, all we need to do is sell this place! And move, and get new driving licenses, and find a new home, and and and and………

Nails down to stubs.

I have stories to tell, but cannot just yet.

In the meantime, I wanted to share this link. It's Crackle.com and tonight I watched Jimmy Stewart and Kim Novak in Bell, Book, and Candle. Yes, there are annoying and ill-timed commercials every so often, but still it was wonderful to watch this movie again.

~Link has been fixed.