Archive for February, 2021

Red Got Fred

{ February 16, 2021 @ 7:45 pm } · { Life on the Farm }
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Remember my blog post on November 11, 2020 about Fred, our Mr. guinea? Click on this link to read his story…. “Fred“.

Fred become a beloved friend around the farm. Every day we looked to make sure he was still with us and at supper we talked about his antics. . We would find him running around the chicken house, feeding in the cow troughs, sitting on a hay bale, scurrying across the chicken house roof or exploring the fields around the barn. One day when Gene was loading calves on the trailer to take to market, Fred went fussing to the loading area and thought he had to get in the mix. He was not a help! Another day our employee, Tim, was running the chain saw behind the store and it was not long until we heard Fred back there just a fussing up a storm. He was not impressed with the chain saw. Fred had a lot of personality; it was loud and quirky but also unique and endearing. I am not a fan of guineas but I became a fan of Fred.

Last fall Red sleeked into the scene. He was the most beautiful, healthy, velvety red fox we had ever seen. It was kind of neat to see him passing through. He was huge, about the size of a German Shepherd dog. He would watch him stroll through our yard early in the morning. He was spotted in the woods during hunting season. We would see him running through the pasture or hunkered down in the grass. We all knew it was Red when we saw him, there was none like him.

I started worrying about Fred. We knew Fred was always on the move and very quick, but he also let it be known where he was at with his constant chatter. At first Red didn’t appear to be concerned with Fred, it seemed he was just passing through on bigger and better hunts.

This winter, especially the past several weeks, Red has become very brazen. He is leery of humans but also doesn’t seem to mind being close by and started hanging out around the barns. We would spot him on the hillside right behind the chicken house, just chilling out as if watching Fred. I became more and more concerned. Every day we made sure Fred was still around but didn’t really know what to do to protect him.

On Friday, February 12, Fred was running around and I warned him about Red. Friday night it snowed. On Saturday morning there was several inches of snow on the ground. All was still and eerily quiet on the farm. There was no good morning squawk from Fred.. I missed him but figured he was hunkered down in one of the barns. By the day’s end, we realized none of us had seen Fred.

Fred has not been seen since. There is a little pile of feathers by the chicken house door.

We have now determined that Red is calling this home. We are pretty sure we know where he is hiding out and it is just behind the chicken house. This evening he was running around the barns when Gene was getting hay for the cows and laid down in the middle of the driveway to watch. This is beginning to not feel to good.

Several days ago he was laying in the field along the driveway just surveying the landscape and looking straight at Tim’s cats.

There is circumstantial evidence….big bad Red, did you eat Fred?

A Valentine’s Day to Treasure

{ February 14, 2021 @ 7:52 pm } · { Heatwole Family, Pat's Kitchen }
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Today was a very special day that almost didn’t happen, but it did. This is the third Sunday in a row that church has been canceled due to snow and/or ice. We had a family day planned and it was looking like the weather might not cooperate but we were able to pull it off. Obe, Jill and family came from Harrisonburg and brought my parents. Keith who lives nearby and his crew all made it.

My parents are getting older and mother is facing some health challenges. We and they wanted one more trip to Powhatan.

I fixed chicken pot pies and toss salad for lunch with apple salad and a tray of homemade cookies and candies for dessert. My dishwasher broke down this week and needs repair so I used paper plates (which I never do) to save on time washing dishes. I spruced up the table with my good set of glasses that go with my china. The casual with a touch of elegance made a fun and interesting table! One of the granddaughters noticed!

Our family
Gene and I with mother and daddy.
Mother with her daughter (me), granddaughter (Jill) and three great-granddaughters (Emily, Lauren & Karla)
Keith and his kids (Emily Lauren & Noah)
Obe, Jill Hostetter, Karla and Ryan
Four generations: Mother, Me (left), Jill and Karla
The Hertzler clan great-grandchildren

After lunch we had a taffy pull. This was a throw-back to the good ole days of the sixties. Taffy pulls made a great dating event for young couples. Mother used to make taffy for special occasions such as youth group socials or when a family of cousins came to visit. I thought mother would enjoy watching us enjoy her tradition. I used her recipe. The grandchildren had a good time, they had never pulled taffy. I apparently didn’t boil the syrup quite long enough even though it was the right temperature on the thermometer, the taffy was a little sticky. But we got ‘er done and had a good time laughing at the sticky globs sticking to our fingers. There is an art to making and pulling taffy and I didn’t quite have mother’s perfection!

Boiling the taffy- Lauren
Susan Johnson
Getting started-sticky mess!
Having fun!

Cheerfully doing dishes.

The day ended with a tour of Keith’s new house.

This picture perfectly sums up the day…..

“Blessed and Beautiful”

Taffy Recipe

(From my mother, Fannie S. Heatwole. It is also in “Mennonite Country-Style Recipes” cookbook by Esther Shank, my aunt)

Mix together and let set to soak until soften: 1-1/2 tsp. unflavored gelatin and 1/4 c. cold water

Combine in saucepan: 2 c. sugar, 1 c. dark corn syrup and 1 c. milk and approx. 1-1/2 T. chunk of paraffin. Boil 15 minutes. Add the gelation mix and boil to 250 degrees (Firm Boil stage). Stir frequently. Remove from heat and pour into 2 well-buttered pie pans to cool until it is not to hot to handle with your hands. Butter your hands well and pull with partner. There is a nac to pulling and can be seen in the video clip below. Pull until the taffy turns white and very still. Stretch into long ropes and twist in cords. Snip with a large pair of kitchen shears into desired size pieces on a baking tray sprinkled with powdered sugar. Shake to coat and store in the refrigerator.

Yield: enough for two couples or four people.

Important note: Do NOT use hand lotion or soap on your hands the day of the taffy pull or you will ruin your taffy with the flavor of your lotion or soap. I learned that the hard way back in the day when I was dating a young man and ruined our taffy!

Woody Woodpecker

{ February 7, 2021 @ 1:28 pm } · { Country Living }
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Woody Woodpecker

I have only seen a Pileated Woodpecker a handful of times in my life and now I think (hope) I have one living in my yard. This is beyond special!

I started catching glimpses of this illusive bird but never long enough to get a picture. Now it is multiple times a week and I have gotten several pictures.

I have a large walnut tree at the edge of the yard that has been trying to die for years. It was rotten and struggling to live when we got married way back yonder. I wanted to cut the tree down but not Gene. He wanted to give the tree a chance. It really was a sorry looking tree and I knew the tree was not going to survive much longer and planted a maple beside it for replacement. (For the story of the tree click on the link at the bottom of the post). For forty-nine years the walnut tree has defied expectations and lived; not only lived but grown. There was no way that black walnut tree was going to bow down to a spindly maple tree. The main trunk is half dead and makes a wonderful woodpecker habitat. I suspect that is where Woody has rented a condo.

Woody spends a fair amount of time sitting in one area of the yard pecking furiously at the ground and tossing the dirt back over his head. It lands several feet behind him.

I goggled information about a Pileated Woodpecker. The female looks like the male except he has a red strip on the side of his cheek right behind its beak. I am wondering when Woody is going to show off his wife! They drill a distinctive rectangle shaped hole in a rotten tree. I will have to check out my tree and see if I can find his home address. They are very fond of carpenter ants and other insects. According to goggle, in the winter each woodpecker excavates its own hole and roosts by itself. The male may hang out the same hole they used for nesting as the young birds have already grown up and dispersed. I am hoping the male likes my yard and will bring his mate to live here.

This is a really cute two minute youtube video of Pileated chicks at the nest. The call of the Pileated is shrill and choppy, reminding me of my male guinea.

The Pileated Woodpecker, measuring 16-19 inches in length, is the largest  woodpecker found in North America. It looks as big as a crow. Their bill, which is as long as its head, acts like a chisel to chip wood away to make their homes in trunks of large, rotten trees. They start nesting at one year of age and will hatch eggs between May 13 and June 15. They rarely use the same nest over again and nest construction takes 3-6 weeks. They may used wood chips but do not use any lining material for the nest. They can live up to nine years if they survive the hawks, coyotes, foxes and other hungry predators.

The Tale of Two Trees

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