Raccoon! S'mores, A First for Me!

I caught a raccoon on Tuesday night. Animal Control is coming to take it away. It was a baby. Next, I will catch the mama. In one day last week, I saw 2 raccoons, 3 bunnies, one huge red ground squirrel, a ground hog and a possum,  Of course, I always see and hear hundreds of birds and squirrels. Okay, it is gone, now.

I made s'mores for breakfast. I cut a marshmallow in half, put it on half a sheet of graham crackers, put it in the oven on broil until the marshmallow started to brown. Then, I turned it over on half a Hershey bar on top of half a sheet of graham crackers.

It was pure heaven. I used regular-size marshmallows and it was too sweet. It melted all over my hand. Next time, I will use half a marshmallow. I could not have handled a giant marshmallow or the big square ones. I won't ever eat two. I will not ever eat it on an empty stomach.

I think I could have used chocolate chips that I have instead of investing in a candy bar.

Do you have a yard full of wild animals? Is there a common treat you have never had?

Groceries, July 8--14, 2018

Nothing was on sale or marked down.

graham crackers $3
marshmallows
2 Hershey bars
1 Oui
cole slaw mix
2 bananas
strawberries
graham crackers $3
2 half gallons a2milk@$4.49 each
4 bananas
2 kiwi --$.48 each
1 zucchini about $.50

I spent about $25. Too much was spent on smore ingredients.

I bought graham crackers I hated and then bought the originals. Exbf gets the ones I don't like. Someone ate the Hershey bars. I cannot be trusted!!

I specifically bought strawberries to catch two raccoons. Don't believe the people who suggest using tuna or sardines. If cats are around, you will catch cats if you use canned fish. Besides, dump out the fish for yourself and just use the can if you insist on using fish. Honestly, folks, do you think the raccoon or cat looks in and realizes the can is empty and decides to skip the fishy can?

If you put in the live trap one slice of strawberry, even the top of the strawberry with a bit of red, no cat will be tempted. However, raccoons are crazy for strawberries.

Of course, the majority of these strawberries are mine.

I meant to go to the Farmer's market on Saturday, but did not make it. I wanted more zucchini. It looked nasty in the store, so, I wll go Tuesday.

There is a receipt here somewhere that shows I was charged for two avocado @ $.88 instead of two kiwi@ $.40 each.  I certainly want to rectify that mistake. (I did.)

Tidbits

Meal moths
They are back after the cold winter in lesser numbers, but into my arsenal has come a cordless vac. These critters cannot fly well, so they fly erratically, making it hard to swat or clap my hands upon them. Hopefully, the vac will just suck them up. Yeah, good idea, but the vac has a handle on the end, making it unwieldy to handle...gone back to store, unused. Thankfully, almost all my food is now in Tupperware or half-gallon Ball jars. The rubber canning seal protects from an invasion of even the smallest of pests. I just screw the lid on very tightly.

Celery
The celery now has 5 stalks. The taller of the two original stalks grew 3/4 of an inch in two days. Indeed, it does taste like celery. I ate a leaf. now, there are now two 5-inch stalks, up from 4-inches when I first wrote about them.

Hen security
Two people donated to their security. Thank you. I still have a long way to go to protect them from predator raccoons.

My health
Knee (L) has tear in meniscus and will need surgery. An open MRI has been scheduled for my shoulder. The doctor also believes it could be a torn rotator cuff.  I cannot go into the hospital for the knee until the chickens have a secure place because I won't be able to get them into my house each night. I had knee surgery on the right knee a few years ago and know exactly what I face.

Egg production
I now regularly get three eggs each day once again. Now that winter is over and the days are long, the hens are all back in business. The hens were two years old around March 21. They are doing well.

Raccoon attack
Did I tell you that one morning I awoke, fuzzy about the dream I may have had? A squirrel had been caught in the live trap. Was it a dream? I went to the trap and there was a squirrel head. Raccoons pull their victims though the bars, ripping them into pieces in the process.  No, I did not mean to leave the squirrel to die. But, its demise just proves that at least one raccoon is still around here, a threat to my hens. Since there are woods nearby, there will always be raccoons....sigh.


Birthday
My son turned 43 yesterday, April 16, 2011. How did he get so old, so fast? I have vivid memories of him as an infant, a toddler, schoolboy, young man, student. Now, he is married to a very lovely young woman and father to a six-year-old son and four-year-old daughter. He was seven in this picture.