Pioneer Woman at Heart

One Flourishing, Frugal and Fun Family!

One family learning to live off the land, cut back on expenses, and to live a simpler and a more self-sufficient lifestyle.

Adopted Motto

"Eat it up,
Wear it out,
Make it do,
Or go without."
~A Pioneer Sampler, by Barbara Greenwood~

Friday, July 24, 2020

It Rained! At war with a raccoon!

It's been a very rough week.  Some days are just trying to do something to stay busy, others are tough as h-e-double hockey sticks.

I hadn't washed dishes since last Friday, so we are taking turns on the rounds to catch up.  Movement helps.

Project supplies arrived, so there is more that can keep me occupied, other than the garden.  The chicken coop needs mucked as well.


Picked another round of beans - almost 2#


Black beans are finally climbing and the blossoms are on.  We got rain, but not enough.  Just enough to give them a dose of goodness.  Many people who are watering with city water are losing their gardens in this drought.

On another note, I have been trying to order a replacement part for my sauce maker since last fall.  I pulled up their site, and it's still out of stock.  I emailed them, and guess what?  They asked for my address and shipped me one FREE!  How awesome is that?


My side bar bible verse has been changed.  It's our daughter's boyfriend's favorite verse.  

Despite the drought, and with diligent watering, my tomatoes look good.  So good, we needed to buy more tomato stakes, as some stakes were broken and shorter.  I needed 25 new stakes and could only find 17, so we'll just do with what we have and deal with it.

It's everything under the ground I'm worried about right now.

Another raccoon tore another hole in my coop and this time killed a hen.  I'm so mad right now.  I re-set the trap.  Please pray I can summon the energy and time to build my new coop and right away.  I wish I could have a coop building party and feed the crew, but family hasn't been around at all.  The boys are adding an addition to one of their houses too, and are pretty busy.

8 comments:

Susan said...

I feel for you, with your raccoon problem. They have popped up here, after none for years. They are so smart, it's hard to trap them. Wish I lived closer - I'd join your coop-building party!

Faith said...

You do need to get that coop built toot sweet! How long can it take to build a hen house for you? I hope you catch that racoon, is there anything which repels them?

mamasmercantile said...

So sorry to read about the loss of one of your hens, such a shame. Prayers are been said for you all. Glad you finally got some rain. Take care.

Unknown said...

I am so sorry, about your losing a chicken I know about dealing with raccoons, we had an especially fierce group of them one time living under our sheds. We had some luck getting rid of them after we were advised to tie strips of rags to stakes around the shed and fence around the yard to which we were to apply ammonia once a week.

Pioneer Woman at Heart said...

Susan, same here. We had nothing for years and now this. Ugh. I bait them with a few large marshmallows. They think they are going after eggs. Works great. I wish you lived closet too. I need that coop built.

Pioneer Woman at Heart said...

Faith, I put bars of Irish Spring soap in bags and hung them up in the barn, but we caught another raccoon after doing that too.

Pioneer Woman at Heart said...

Thank you mammasmercantile

Pioneer Woman at Heart said...

Unknown, thanks for that tip.