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.

The Gate

An innocent looking gate you might say. That is what my poor Husband thought this afternoon. A gate that doesn't get much use until he decides to switch some horses around. He opens the gate and a few of the horses go through without any problems but two decide to be difficult.

Somehow, and I am not sure of the sequence of events, but he throws the gate back into the wide open position and something latches onto the top of his ring finger. With the other hand he grabs the offender and dislodges him. Then he notices that there seems to be a swarm of offenders all around him. He then removes himself from the area and looks back with curiosity. That is when he sees the hornet's nest.



He comes to the house and applies a paste of baking soda to the sting and tells me the story. I drag myself from my sick bed, grab my cane and camera and hobble out to the gate, staying at a safe distance. I tell him that he smashed the nest against the gate post and that is why they were so upset with him.



He says, "Yes, I can see that now." He also informs me that a hornet's sting is the worst. Bumble bees cannot hold a candle.

Both of our Sons were stung yesterday by Bumble bees, they thought that they were Wood Bees and the eldest Son accused us of lying to him about Wood Bees not stinging. Since I am sure that I would never lie to him, I am thinking that they have just misidentified the species.

Wood Bees are shiny and Bumble bees are hairy and from what I was told, they had a nest in the ground next to a stump or in the stump. Our youngest Son looked like a prize fighter with his swollen eye.

Anyway, back to the hornet's nest, my DH is planning on dousing the nest with gas tonight and lighting it. I did give him some benadryl and he is out in the hot sun on the tractor mowing one of the pastures. I didn't feel that this was a good idea but just try telling a man anything.

This nest was close to the ground, so that is suppose to mean a mild winter. But I just talked to a friend who said that all of the hornet's nests he has seen this year were up high.

My Quiet Day

This day started out normally with me waking up while still in bed. From there things went a little haywire, which is somewhat normal also. I am not upset or disturbed because for the most part I have enjoyed most of the day.

My morning was marred by my goats being out, I chased them around for a little while before finally catching them and putting the two yearling does in a dog kennel where they couldn't get out. Then turned around to the sound of a stallion screaming and kicks being administered. One of the broodmares and a two year old filly had knocked a gate off of it's hinges to get in with Badger our Grullo Stallion.

He was just trying to be friendly, after all they had come into his pen. They were kicking the daylights out of him. I managed to get him out of his pen and into the mare and foal pasture, then managed to get the mare, 3 weanlings and pony out of their pasture and into the dry holding lot. I left the offending mare and filly in Badger's pen. Then tied up the gate as well as I could. I felt like we were playing musical chairs.

I was scheduled to watch my three Granddaughters in the afternoon and as is always the case when they are here, my phone rings off the hook. The girls are very young and needy, they are especially needy when you are on an important call. There were a few times that I felt like jerking the phone line out of the wall and pitching the phone out the door, when the calls weren't important. It is odd to me that the older girls can be calling for my assistance over and over, the baby can be crying loud enough to wake the dead and the person on the other end of an unimportant call cannot tell that I am busy and don't have time to talk.

Two calls were important, one was letting me know that they had decided to buy a nice little AQHA Palomino gelding named Midas from us. They came to look at him yesterday.

The other important call was from a man who bought a horse from us several weeks ago. He has been riding his legs off, his daughter and Grandkids have been riding him as well. But after loading him in his trailer many, many times and even taking him away on a camping trip, the horse has decided not to get into the trailer anymore, not even for food. I gave him my suggestion, it involved pressure and a stick.

I chose today to try out a new recipe, since I didn't already have enough to do. My new recipe turned out well, but not worth the time invested. Somehow I managed to get my goat milked and my buck put up before dark, after the kids left. The DH and I even stole a couple of minutes to sit down outside and talk after he got all of the horses put back where they belong and got the gate repaired.