Friday, June 16, 2006, 22:01
Arts & Crafts
I have another arts and crafts fair scheduled for tomorrow. This one is in Amery, about 50 miles northwest of here.
This particular event is a juried show. That is, vendors have to apply and then be selected by a selection committee. It is in conjunction with an event called "The Nature of Amery Festival." In addition to the fine arts and crafts fair, there will be other activities, such as bird-watching outings, canoe outings and a display set up by the University of Minnesota Raptor Center.
I am thinking this will be much more of an upscale event than the centennial celebration on Memorial Day Weekend and the dairy days event the next weekend.
The temperature is supposed to be in the 90s tomorrow and humid. Goody. This is an outdoor show. I got my registration in early, though, and requested a spot in the park in the shade. So, we shall see how things go!
LeAnn R. Ralph
Thursday, June 15, 2006, 17:05
Take That!. . .And That!
The raccoon was down in the barn again Wednesday night. I knew it as soon as I stepped out of the house because I heard the kitty food dishes rattling. When I walked in the barn, I heard the raccoon scrambling around.
The barn kitties, of course, were glad to see me. They get mighty hungry when the raccoon eats all of their food before they have a chance to get what they want.
I dumped Kajun's "midnight snack" of senior horse feed into his feed box. Kajun has come to the time in his life when it's hard to keep weight on him. I have found that giving him some extra senior horse feed every day helps a little bit.
When Kajun was happily munching his grain, I went to the shelf where I feed the kitties to see if there was any kitty food left. I figured it would be all gone. But you never know. Maybe the raccoon had just gotten to the barn a few seconds before I did.
As I stood by the kitty food shelf, some instinct made me look up.
I shined the flashlight on the rafters -- and there, right above my head, was the raccoon.
"Oh, no, you don't," I said. "I am *not* putting out more kitty food so you can come down and eat it."
I stomped around the tractor, grabbed the horse whip, climbed up on top of the hay -- and whacked the heck out of the beam right next to the raccoon.
This was enough for the raccoon. He jumped down, and with the momma kitties in hot pursuit, ran out of the barn under the back wall.
This was also enough for Kajun.
Highly alarmed, he abruptly stopped eating his feed, snorted and ran out of the barn.
This, in turn, was enough for Isabelle, who did not know what in the world was going on but figured she would run around and snort, as well, just to keep Kajun company.
I trotted out of the barn in time to see the raccoon run across the yard toward the pine trees at the edge of the yard.
Horse whip in hand, I hot-footed it after him.
"Take that!" I said, whacking one of the pine boughs. "And that!"
I heard scrambling in the bushes and figured that the raccoon was only too happy to leave.
When I turned around, Kajun was standing in his pasture, head held high, eyes wild, snorting.
"It's okay, Kajun," I said. "It's okay. It's only me."
I went back in the barn. The kitties had already calmed down and were once again waiting for some kitty food. I went to my "emergency store" of kitty food -- a little container that I had hung from a hook on the wall with a bungee cord.
The container, the hook and the bungee cord were nowhere in sight. The raccoon had apparently absconded with all of it.
I went to the house and got the bucket of kitty food. When I came out of the house, all four of the barn cats were waiting for me outside the door.
After I had fed the kitties, I remembered I needed to give Kajun more hay.
The poor horse.
He was still so shook up that the whites of his eyes were showing and he was snorting and blowing. I tossed down a flake of hay for him and he nearly jumped out of his skin.
I spent a minute or so apologizing to Kajun for frightening him and explaining that I needed to make sure the raccoon had left the barn.
Isabelle, by this time, had decided that nothing terrible was going on and that Kajun was only having another needless fit of hysterics. She stood with her head pushed between the wires of the fence, watching me, waiting for a flake of hay.
For the past two years, I have operated on the theory that if I chase the raccoon off often enough, and make enough noise and commotion, he will get tired of being chased away and won't come back.
So far, I see, my theory is not working. . .
LeAnn R. Ralph