Torched

It was after dark when we went back out to punish the hornets for their evil deeds. If you don't think that they are evil take a close look at the picture above. Do you see the blazing skull?

They were still stirred up even after several hours and after dark. They were swarming around the nest, so my DH had to run in, splash the gas and pitch the burning match at it. Luckily he got ignition on the first throw. I am sure that some of them escaped with their lives but hopefully they will rebuild in a friendlier neighborhood.

Fire!

We were on our way to town today, when I noticed smoke on the south side of our property and pointed it out. My DH was not concerned and was turning in the opposite direction when he reached the road at the end of our driveway.

He thought that is was a brush fire started by one of the neighbors and not our concern. He always tends to look at things in a positive way, expecting the best. I, on the other hand, tend to look at things in a realistic way and expect the worst. He constantly reminds me of this fact, only he calls me negative instead of realistic.

I finally convinced him that the smoke looked like it was actually coming from the corner of our property which now belongs to our youngest Son. Still staying in positive mode, my DH then suggested that it was probably our Son because he had the day off today. He did however reluctantly turn in that direction.

When we got closer we realized that it was a neighbor's field that was on fire and there was no one there watching over it, so it must have been an accidental fire of some sort. If left to burn it would quickly reach the woods and then it might be pretty hard to get under control.

We called 911 on our cell phone and got a neighboring county who quickly transferred our call to the proper county. I guess we are using a cell tower in the neighboring county, so that is something that you need to take into consideration when calling 911.

We placed the call at 2:00, the first fire truck arrived at 2:07 and they had the fire completely put out by 2:13. I was impressed, they put out the fire around the telephone poles first, then just drove around the field with two trucks spraying water on the flames.

We probably don't think much about our local volunteer firefighters until we need them. They do a great job and are taken for granted most of the time.

Bone Chillin'

The weather forecast is nice for the next few days. These recent cold nights have been hard to adjust to. I am normally a polar bear. I really like cold weather, it may have something to do with hot flashes. Last winter we really saved on heating expenses but my poor DH nearly froze to death.

I got all of my green tomatoes picked before the freeze and I had to rush around to get my pool filter unhooked and drained. The wind was so strong and cold one day that my hot cup of coffee was just lukewarm by the time I got to the fire that my Husband had built to burn some stumps.

There I sat on a chunk of wood by the fire drinking a slightly warm cup of coffee. It just kind of ruined the whole affect. That wind not only ruined my coffee but it kept changing the direction of the sparks and smoke. My DH ended up having to set up two chunks of wood, one on each side of the fire for me to sit on and I kept having to get up and run to the other side. A very relaxing evening.

Some of my hens have stopped laying, I am only getting five eggs a day now. I also lost one of my Rhode Island Reds, we found her dead on the nest.

We sold Collette to a friend with good fence, so I will get to see her babies and still get to see her occasionally. My DH and I both sighed a big sigh of relief after we delivered her to her new home. Paris is still getting out once in awhile out of habit but I think that she will eventually stop.

Calico is still not liking her new living quarters inside the barn, she cries day and night. Her cries are sorrowful, mournful and loud, they are actually more of a wail than a cry. I thought that she would get over it eventually but I don't think she is going to. I tie Cooter up outside the goat lot and put her in with Paris when the weather is nice during the day, so it isn't like she is totally without companionship.

Naylor's eye still looks bad, the cloudiness is still there and he is still keeping it slightly closed but it isn't watering anymore. We have tapered off putting the medicines in it to once a day. He is still being such a good boy, most horses wouldn't let you get near them after what we have put him through. He always comes right to us and sometimes we don't even have to halter him.

Another Review

One of my family members is in Iraq, he had just barely gotten over there, when his house caught fire with his wife and young son asleep inside. His wife woke up and got their son out and the fire department managed to save the structure. They have major damage with tons of clean up work to be done.

They had insurance that was purchased from a company that allowed wood stoves, that is why they had used this particular company. They thought that they had protection for such a time as this. But it doesn't seem to be working that way. The insurance company is not wanting to pay off for this fire that started in the flue.

So, this poor Soldier's wife, who is having to endure the loneliness and worry of having a husband in harm's way and having a child who feels abandoned by the Father whom he adores. Is now having to deal with homelessness, seeing all of their belongings mostly ruined and having to deal with a heartless insurance company.

They have tried to find a Lawyer to represent them in this disaster and have finally found one that will listen to them for $250 per hour, however, he is being retained by the offending insurance company, just like all the other Lawyers are. It would be a conflict of interest for him to go after an insurance company that is paying money to retain him. These insurance companies are pretty slick and sleazy that way.

Sure this mother and child will be taken care of by family and friends. Their Church family is offering to do the repair work but they shouldn't have to do it, that is why this family has been paying premiums to this insurance company.

The Husband/Father/Soldier has been notified about the fire but they are mostly keeping him in the dark about their struggles with the insurance company, because he shouldn't have to be worrying about that right now.

I am just a little surprised that there is no organization out there to help Soldier's wives with problems like this. They have even contacted the insurance commission and while they do sympathize, they haven't done anything about it and no attorneys have offered their services.