Augie. The new kid on the block.
We picked up Augie wandering the streets of our nearby village a week ago today on our way to church. The people of the village said he showed up about a week before and had been wandering since. Our county is known for dumping dogs. Can you imagine? The poor thing had ticks all over him and was very scared. The village people said we were the only people that he would come up to. He picked us, I guess. He has been introduced to all the Shieling village “people”. And he checks out fine. Although, I am missing a cat as we speak. ??
Today, we walked the property to get him more comfortable with the lay of the land.
Augie met the fishies.
Fishie
Virginia tried to teach him how to swim.
We have not been able to enjoy the lake as of recent. We have had white-faced hornets taking up residency on the dock. A few days ago, our good ol’ Mr. Shady showed up all decked out to give those old hornets a taste of their own medicine. He came donned in a bullet proof vest and what not. Of course. It comforts us to have Mr. Shady come around once a week to kill hornets, step on mice, moles and voles, among many other household chores. Is stepping on mice, moles and voles one of your household chores?
Mr. Shady
I am happy to report the dock is free and clear. Whew.
We discovered living cities of beings contained in large basketball sized bubbles in the lake. Augie was quite impressed by the lake visit.
Augie and I were amazed at how nicely the cow pasture has adjusted to becoming a shooting range for golf balls.
Golf ball hitting range
And we ended our tour by checking on our young apple trees that are fruiting for the first time this year. We are giving organic a go. They may not look like the big shiny apples in the store, but they taste every bit as delicious. I am relieved because I am not spraying them. Did you know apples are top on the list of “Dirty” produce? Meaning they are highly contaminated by chemicals if not organic. Although, I just learned a frightening factoid about organic apples and pears. Some farms use antibiotics on their “organic” fruit. More reason to buy as local as you can. If you can, try buying them from your back yard.
Enjoy the following list of the Dirty Dozen produce. Try to buy organic when purchasing the following foods:
- Peaches
- Apples
- Sweet Bell Peppers
- Celery
- Nectarines
- Strawberries (sometimes sprayed up to fifty times in its short little tiny life)
- Cherries
- Pears
- Grapes (Imported)
- Spinach
- Lettuce
- Potatoes
The 12 LEAST contaminated are:
- Onions
- Avocado
- Sweet Corn (Frozen)
- Pineapples
- Mango
- Asparagus
- Sweet Peas (Frozen)
- Kiwi Fruit
- Bananas
- Cabbage
- Broccoli
- Papaya
It was a glorious day on the farm. Augie is happy to be here and we are happy to have him. I would just like him to tell me where my precious black cat disappeared to .
God bless,
Karen
The Shieling 