Yep, It’s a Full Moon
“Catalon, I can’t believe you got sprayed by that
skunk”! Catalon is my friend’s blue
heeler who is spending a few days with me. The first evening here she asks to
go out in the backyard and runs right into a skunk. I should have looked first
before letting her out. Now she is slathered in peroxide and baking soda. This neutralizes the smell at least. Catalon
just gives me this look of disgust and disbelief.
Yep, it’s a full moon.
“Red! What are you doing up on the highway?!” I’m also goat,
chicken and horse sitting for the same friend. It’s 6:30 in the morning and as
I round the corner of her driveway, I see Red, the pinto horse, running down
the highway across a 35 acre pasture from where I am. Red must be on the road,
cars are slowing down. The highway is just a two lane mountain road with a 40
mph speed limit and most folks who drive this road are used to watching for
elk, still…..
Izzy, the other
horse, is dashing around the pasture as if to say “Red! You big idiot, you did
it again! Every time you mess with the fence we both get confined to the
corral.”
After parking the car, I’m able to call Red down off the
highway into the neighbors pasture. How am I going to catch this guy? I’m a
goat person, not a horse person. I grew up around horses, but have never been
totally comfortable around them. Oh, wonderful, there’s a gate on this side of
the pasture too, but it’s locked! If I
could have opened this gate now, Red would have rushed right in. Now he’s off
and running again. Back to the corrals I trot to grab some alfalfa. If I put
some alfalfa down, he should stay down here until I can get some help.
Willard’s phone number is on the board in the barn. He is the older gentleman
who has the team of Belgian horses a couple places over. After a quick call, Willard
shows up with a bucket of grain and easily slips the halter over Red’s head.
Now to open the gate… I have no idea where the key might be.
Back up to the barn again, find some pliers. Unscrew the
bolt from the post and the chain comes free. Willard hands me the halter rope
and I get to walk Red back to the corral. The sun is coming up over the
mountain, hitting me in the face. We are walking in the shade/light area that
is so blinding. I have trouble seeing exactly where the corral gate is located.
Just hope this big dingbat doesn’t
decide to take off on me in the process. He behaves relatively well, except for
trying to walk faster than I am. We arrive back at the corral, I swing the gate
shut and remove the halter. Izzy is waiting in the stall like the responsible
horse he is. Red heads for a drink of water and I take a deep breath.
Now the goats need attention. They are not happy to have
waited an hour for breakfast and milking. It’s already 8:00 and they are all
yelling to be let out and feed. I still need to get home and tend to my goats. By 8:30 when I return home, the sun is fully
up and blazing heat into the barns. The goats are yelling, the cats are yowling
and the chickens are squacking as if to say “It’s way past chore time, where
have you been?”
Yep, it’s a full moon.
My next chore for the day is to cover the hay stack with
tarps. It was just delivered and I need to cover it before it is rained on.
Unfortunately I don’t have a barn large enough to hold the year’s supply of
alfalfa, so it must be stacked on pallets and carefully layered with tarps. The
tarps must be layered so the rain runs down off of it and not into the stack
and they must be securely tied to keep the goats from snacking on the buffet. A
double high fence must surround the stack to keep the elk from feasting all
winter as well. The 20 x 30 foot tarps act like a parachute with even the
slightest breeze, so it is much easier if a second person can help from the
ground. However, none of my help is available today, so it’s me, the orange baling
string and the tarps. Oh, and the thunderstorm coming in
with lots of lightning. This should be lots of fun walking around on top of the
stack.
Yep, it’s a full moon.
But I timed it right to plant the fall crop of peas and
spinach. Plants that grow up need to be planted with the waxing moon just
before it is full. Root crops should be planted with the waning moon.
Yep. It’s a full moon.
