Of Coons And Bones

Every Saturday morning Hubbs and I have the ability to sleep in and skip

morning chores, thanks to our neighbor Anna.

She arrives at sun-up and tends to all of the animal needs.

And while Hubbs and I never actually sleep in, 

it is nice to have a somewhat lazy morning once a week.

While Anna was out with the animals,

I hopped in the shower and got ready for the day.

With that, the house phone rang and it was Anna.

She had seen a raccoon in the front pasture acting peculiar.

Raccoons are nocturnal, so seeing them in the daytime is always a warning sign.

This one, Anna explained, was chasing the horses across the pasture

(of course the horses were much faster, and not in any danger.)

Seeing what was happening sent the donkeys into attack mode and they bellowed

and then charged the raccoon.

The raccoon took off towards the pig house with the donkeys chasing.

It entered the front of the pig house.

Worried about the pigs' safety, Anna called them out for crackers.

By this time, Hubbs and I had reached the pig house and Hubbs checked inside.

No raccoon.

Apparently seeing the pigs in the house sent him scurrying right through and out the front door.

If there had been any interaction with the pigs,

the pigs would have been squealing...

but they were not upset in the least.

We guess that the raccoon just cut through the house and high-tailed it back out again.

The pigs are used to the cats cutting through their house,

the sheep invading their house,

and the horses hanging their heads over the fence into their house.

I would imagine a raccoon passing through was no big deal to them.

For obvious reasons, I have no photos of this morning mayhem.

Just to make sure that no raccoon was hiding in the pig house,

Anna and I stripped the pig house of all the bedding and replaced it with clean hay.

Meanwhile, Hubbs went in search of said raccoon...

assuming that it was rabid.

All of our animals are always up to date on their rabies vaccine,

and since no one actually came in contact with the animal,

there was no need for boosters.

It was just a little excitement on what would have been a very quiet morning.

The rest of the weekend was indeed quiet.

We tended chores and took walks...

and added to our collection of the macabre.

Hubbs found this skull in the woods near our pond...

it looks to be something canine... perhaps a coyote?

And I found this one in our flower bed at the side of our house.

We walked with the dogs through the hundred acre woods and retrieved the

game camera cards.

Chester had his usual turkey feather hanging out of his mouth.

Sam's big treasure was a skeletal deer leg.

Coincidentally, the only interesting thing we saw on the cards was this...

(ignore the date on the photos...we placed new batteries in the camera and forgot to set the date)

sitting on the picnic bench next to our tent in the woods...

waiting for his...

friends!!

They spent quite a bit of time trying their best to get into the tent.

Luckily it is zipped up tight... raccoon-proof!

I had the opportunity to finish a knitting project...

Edgar has a sister... Eunice Trunkhill!

I also wanted to share this recipe with you...

These are the very best chocolate cupcakes I have ever made!!

Recipe here.

I have to say... Daylight Savings Time has us all a little off schedule.

In order to get the morning work done by the usual time,

I'm having to go out in the dark.

I'll take my daylight hours in the morning, if you please!!