Wednesday, March 25, 2020

And so it goes..

Tonight as I sat out by the tiny fire I'd made for burning burdocks, I listened to the coyotes sing and off in the distance just as dark fell...

that male pheasant gave out on last loud call....

And the Hoot Owls began their nightly songs.


I'd gone to the store on Tuesday during the Senior Shopping hour at our local Quillians store.
I was the only human aside from the manager, check out person and a lady with her father.

I scored 3 potatoes and some apples and ONE onion!



A CrossFit friend of mine who is a Soviet Union Immigrant put things in perspective for me.

I still got potatoes. I still got groceries. AND I do NOT have machine gun fire nor do I have tanks rolling down my street.

We live out in the country which is pretty darned isolated. We live on a dead end road.

This morning my husband asked me if I could hunt squirrel. He then proceeded to give me a bit of a lesson of how you have to let them sit still in a tree and nail them in the head.
I recall my mother telling me the same stories. About how her dad gave her 3 bullets for the .22 and told her to come home with 3 squirrels. I think she never failed at her task.

I'm not saying that we'll have to hunt squirrels to survive. But I am saying that my hunting backround could help in a pinch.
And then I think about how lucky I am to live in such a place.

I was raised with learning the skills of fishing, hunting, and growing a garden. I was raised to learn how to put together a meal that did not come from a package or box.
[EWWW...I hate cooking!]
I learned how to make bread without a bread making machine thingy.

This week I have to trim...somehow...my mules hooves. Yes. Shelter in Place doesn't include hoof trims.
My eldest mule will help with spring foraging for parsnip roots and morels.

My other mules will be used for much of the same purposes. Foraging wild food. IF I had a harness and a plow I'd use them for turning over the garden. Alas, I don't.

I want Rich NOT to get sick. And he is perfectly happy being a Hermit. His VA Nurse called today and put off his visit with his PCP until October.

So tonight I set small fires to the burdock I'd pulled for hours.
I didn't think about all the world problems, I thought about Burdock and I thought about making supper.

And I did not think of all the what ifs....

And that is good enough for me right now.

5 comments:

  1. You don't need to plow your garden. Cover it with some heavy mulch like manure mixed with bedding (doesn't have to be composted), leaves or even a tarp. Order just one bag of good organic file online. When it is time to plant, just push the mulch away or cut a hole in the tarp, did around just a little bit with a screwdriver or something like it, dump a handful of that bagged soil in the divot, and plant your seed! Plowing seriously messes up with the soil microbes and other stuff in the soil. I have had a garden forever, and have never ever tilled the soil. Good luck!!!!

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    1. I did that one year and may go ahead and try that this year.

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  2. Good to hear you are doing okay. Yes we have plenty of squirrels here too and can fish when the lake opens up. Thinking about planting lettuce as it grows quickly when the ground warms up.
    Sure hope you stay healthy...stay strong!

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  3. Good for you! Not tilling your garden is absolutely the best thing you can do for soil health! Add lots of good mule manure and leaves and such, and you will do great! Have FUN!!!

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  4. Anonymous7:49 AM

    The fire and listening to the critters is a comforting imagine, thank you for sharing.

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