# 273 of 300 Ways to Catch a Snake (and other foolishness...)

When you live in the country, you're gonna run across critters.  Critters abound out here and if you don't like critters, then don't live in the country.  Critters are different from your good buddy pets.  Critters eat your garden, dig holes everywhere, come in the house even when they're not supposed to and are a general nuisance. We're always trying to get rid of critters - mice, rats, gophers, armadillos, moles, skunks, hogs, possums, 'coons AND last but certainly not least - SNAKES.

Now I don't cotton to these kinda critters too much myself, but they're not going to keep me from loving my little farm and enjoying every minute I'm here!  You just live with 'em and deal with 'em.

This morning, we had a some excitement here at Sand Flat Farm.  I went out early - 6:45 to feed and water my chickies before work. Fresh water, fill up the feeder, strew a little corn to scratch, clean out the night's poo... you know, the usual. Upon exiting the run, I happened to glance to the side, right by the doorlatch, and lo and behold, I saw THIS ------>

WARNING - Graphic photos - not for the squeamish nor faint of heart!!!

I MUST HAVE JUMPED BACK TEN FEET!

This fellow slithered into the coop probably a couple of days ago. I wondered why the chickens only laid 2 eggs that day when they usually lay 5-6.  I thought it was just too hot outside.  Evidently, the snake had come through the small gauge chicken wire and ate his fill and then couldn't get back through with such a full stomach!  He was a good 4 to 4 1/2 feet long

Rat snake, right?  At least I hope so. We've seen him a couple of times around the yard.  He'd always shoot up under the house when he spotted us looking at him with an evil intent in our eyes.  Can you count the bumps along his stomach?  SIX, there are six bumps! Horrors!

Slowly, I eased out of the coop trying not to disturb him. I started for my hoe, but decided to go get Tony out of bed and have him come out. He dressed quickly and got the hoe ready.  Tony took the snake's tail and carried him twined around the end of the hoe out to the orchard and neatly whacked his head off.

Good job!  Another farm critter bites the dust!  Glad that was all he bit!  Tony got a plastic bag to dispose of this booger and I went to check the coop just in case there was an early egg or an egg from the night before.

GUESS WHAT!  That dumb snake swallowed all six of my golf balls that I'd put in the nests to show the hens where to lay!!!!  I imagine he did eat a couple of the previous day's eggs, and then later decided to eat the rest of them!  JOKE'S ON YOU MR. SNAKE!  I'll bet he had a major case of indigestion!  Now, don't think us bad folks for killing this guy - he would have died anyway trying to pass those golf balls.

Sooooo,  we retrieved my golf balls...

Lookie there ^ - see all six lined up in a neat row!

Kinda gross actually, but at least I got my balls back - to be cleaned and disinfected for sure - reptiles have really nasty mouths - full of germs and bacteria.  Yuck, maybe I just need to get some more...

Now, have any questions?  Well, then you've just seen #273 of 300 ways to catch a snake.  Great way to trap a snake in your chicken coop!  You're very welcome.

Keep yer dress down.

Note Card Party at VEE's Place!

Ready for Vee's Note Card Party???

This week I was looking through my photos and trying to come up with worthy photos, and my kitties kept jumping out at me!  So I thought I'd put together some kitty pictures to offer as note cards this week ---

Oct 25, 2010

Alice is relaxing under the wagon of mums...

June 19, 2010

Is there ANYTHING cuter than a little kitten?????

Aug 31, 2011

Sambo ruined my pot plants - guess he liked the cool dirt...

Jan 25, 2011

This kitty Jasper was my mouser/gopher-catcher.  Sadly, he went missing, but he was a beautiful cat with aqua blue eyes.  Sigh...

I'm looking forward to checking out your note cards!  Hop on over to Vee's blog and see who else is playing!

Po-Dunk Towns and Farm News...

Close your eyes for a moment and let me share with you something that you'll have to see in your mind's eye (cuz I didn't have my camera).   Imagine, if you will, a beautiful sunny afternoon - warm, actually quite hot, and a sauna-like breeze is blowing.  As you drive along the road, you look towards the sunny western side of the sky and something catches your eye - a flash of something glittering, a spray of water in the air.  The mist even creates rainbow-like arcs in the spray.

What I'm looking at - I'm not believing!

My hubby and I were on our way back from Nashville to see our oldest son.  Finally back in Texas country, we were relieved that we only had an hour or so to get home.  Going thru an armpit little po-dunk town which shall remain nameless, Tony and I saw something that we'd never seen before - blew us away.

There in this little town, in a little serve-yourself driving through carwash were three people - a couple of guys and a gal.  They were pressure-spraying and cleaning there in the stall ...

wait for it...

wait...





three big standard TOILETS!!!

You might be a r*dneck if...
... you take your bathroom plumbin' fixtures to the carwash to clean 'em!"



Ok, there you have it.  Aren't you glad you read that story???  Weren't you excited???

Can't believe I didn't have my camera battery charged up after going to see Adam. We had a good time - just went to see him for a couple of days. I carried his painting to him - he LOVED it!

Been SO hot here...  Just running through some of my pics and thought I'd show you a couple...

Tony and I had this portrait done when Princess H. was born.  After two boys, I went all out on her pink nursery.  I love this picture of my kids - the boys spoiled their little sister and they were both crazy about her, and still are.  That's what I think of when I look at this picture... sigh...oh where did the years go....

Next, a couple of random vignettes from around the farmhouse.  

My dear friend Trish and her daughter spied this cute shabby grandfather clock at Canton Trades Days and they brought it home for my birthday a couple of years ago.  It's SO cute, vintage turquoise.  This handpainted lamp belonged to Tony's grandmother.  It's also painted on the top, but I put this little shade over it and I kinda liked it...

Hay cuttin' season has been going gangbusters around here.  The man who cuts our hay has two grown daughters.  They, their mom and one of their friends stack that hay on the trailer to put in the barn.  Two strong strapping gals - their dad didn't have sons, so these girls have learned to do all this hard work.  They come as much as their dad does to cut, rake and bale hay.

I hope you all have a wonderful week, my friends!  It's about time for schools to start around here and work traffic to pick up. I'll have to start leaving for work a little earlier.  I'm actually looking forward to autumn and a break from the heat. Tony and I are planning a trip to New England this fall sometime. I'm really looking forward to that!

Keep yer dress down, gals!

Chick-Fil-A

Today is...

Chick-Fil-A Appreciation Day!

Get out and support your local Chick-Fil-A and tell them how much you appreciate their stand on Family and Christian values (and freedom of speech)!!!!!!!!

I've already been - Have you??????

source

I Guess I'm Done... This Is The End...

Scared ya, didn't I?

I'm just talking about my garden  :)   It's over and done with for the summer!  I'm always sad and always GLAD!  So much fun, but so much work.  This was a great garden year for us.  Alas, my volunteer pumpkins did not make it.  Well, they matured and I had some fine specimens, but just too early for fall decorating... they started rotting and then got attacked by squash bugs.  Yuck.. oh well...

Tony's tractor made small work of the remains of the garden.  Still needs a little care, but all the vines and everything have been piled up to burn after a good rain. Wonder when that'll be?  I thought for SURE we'd get in on the tail-end of that storm that went through far northeast Texas yesterday, but it dried up before it got here.

The last of my fresh tomatoes... Boy howdy, I hated to pull up those tomato vines.  But it was time.  Yes, there were still a very few small 'maters on them, but the heat is in the 100's again, and it was just a matter of time.  It's been hot and they were beginning to get spots on them that would rot before they got good and ripe.  So these were the last of the lucky ones... Maybe a big salad with chunks of tomatoes in it for supper. Maybe hamburgers with a couple of big slices.  Maybe I'll just stand over the sink and sprinkle a little salt on 'em and eat 'em and let the juice run down my arm and savor every last summer bite!

My freezer is full to overflowing, the top, the bottom, the door, AND my fridge freezer - not to mention all the canned goods from this year's harvest.  The good Lord has really blessed us here on this little piece of land this year!  Just look at the hay up there in the top picture!  It's been lush and green and abundant, too!

New Topic ---  I can't walk outside or open the back door unless THIS happens...

Of all the cluckin' and fussin' and pushin' and shovin' - you just wouldn't believe.  I'd like to think they love me for me, but NOOOO.  They only love me for what treats I bring!  Or they wanna get out and roam and look for bugs.  They fall all over themselves at the door to the pen.  When I open it, they jump and try to see what I'm bringing.  Lately (and you may have seen it in the freezer) I've been giving them watermelon - FROZEN watermelon in the hot afternoons.  They love it - it's cold, it gives them something to do, and I'm hoping it helps keep them cool.  They also love when I spray water into a corner and make some puddles.  They get in that mud and pick around and I guess it cools them off, too.

Well, my dear ones - gotta run - one last thing...  here's what's on my easel... just a sneak peak - I'll be posting over at my art blog, South Light, in a short.  Have a great weekend! 

Oh yeah - and keep yer dress down...