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Crazy as a Loom

Sunday, December 27, 2020

Moving along.

After the hawk incident, I found myself once again, trying to get my brain wrapped around the idea that you cannot control everything.

At the end of my brainstorming all the options, which I have done before, it came down to one thing:

"Acceptance is the answer to all my problems today. When I am disturbed, it is because I find some person, place, thing, or situation – some fact of my life – unacceptable to me, and can find no serenity until I accept that person, place, thing or situation as being exactly the way it is supposed to be at this moment. Nothing, absolutely nothing, happens in God’s world by mistake.

Unless I accept life completely on life’s terms, I cannot be happy. I need to concentrate not so much on what needs to be changed in the world, as on what needs to be changed in me and in my attitudes."

Yes, you have heard me say this before, for a good reason, because it is the truth.

I cannot keep my chickens from getting killed by predators on occasion.   What I can do is every possible thing to minimize that probability.  So far, they have an automatic door, a solar chicken run, rocks all around the bottom of the  fenced in yard, electric wire all around the top.  I lock them in at sunset, every night.

So today, I took my $8 purchase of aluminum cake tins, some wire, some cord, scissors, a hammer, some nails, and I put up a hawk deterrent.





I also have an 18" tall  owl with a bobble head coming from Tractor Supply, as an added

item that hawks do not like.  Predators beware, I'm on a mission.

I did not travel to have Christmas with my daughters.  I erred on the side of caution, and stayed home.  To keep myself from feeling emotional about it, and getting maudlin, I cleaned.  And cleaned.  And organized.  My Overstock dealbuster rug came, and I put it down in the studio.  Naya and Willie will love it.



I moved magazines  and books from shelves down near the floor, to shelves that are more easily accessible.


I dusted and I attacked every surface.

Sometimes the simplest fixes make me happy.


I have a few more areas that are on my list.......I figure I'll have my spring cleaning done before spring gets here.

I have found myself thinking of my mother, who lived in England during the depression, and was in the English women's army, the ATS, through WWII.  Her family was poor, and the cardboard in her shoes as a child, led her to be obsessed with shoes later on in life.   

Until the day she died, eggs, and potatoes were her favorite foods.  And butter.  Lots of butter.  Things they couldn't get in tough times.

I imagine what she would say about all that's going on today.  I think she would make tea and say, hold the line, this is a hard time, but it's not forever.


So I'm going with that.  Think I'll go put the kettle on.














15 comments:

justjill said...

Right on,

Connie said...

I hope those cake pans work, be sure and let us know. I worry about hawks and my in little dog.

Joanne Noragon said...

I'm no good at dusting. Or chickens. Your resolutions are sound; go with them.

claudia said...

Good words to live by. Thank you for sharing them!

Wendy said...

Love the pancakes, looks a bit like a space observatorium:-) but what when it snows? Should you not have placed them upside down? Now I do not have chickens so I am by far an expert on cakepans security fences.

We used to have two dwarv rabbits the furry kind. When we were on holliday my brother (is also our neighbour) looked after them. They were taken by a fox. I never wanted new ones.The foxes from the dunes closeby are getting daring more and more and I would have had to lock them up all them time. Pretty sure cakepans do not help with foxes.

I could use your cleaningspur. Once the christmass deco is gone we will be having the dark months of January and February. I will need the cleaning then... Stay safe.

Sojourner Design said...

It's really nice to be getting your posts via email again. I think it had been quite awhile since I'd received any.
Diane

Karen thisoldhouse2.com said...

You're such a good chicken mama. Love your living space, it's so warm and inviting, so you.

The Weaver of Grass said...

Sensible words Hilary. Troule with foxes - once they get the lie of the land it is a fight between you and them - who is the cleverest - and - sadly - it is not always us humans. Best of luck.

Blue Feet Studio said...

An unnecessary but welcome bonus of your return to this platform: the photo and Mary Oliver quotation every time at the top.
I'm drinking my morning tea right now --- and I toast your mother's memory.

Mary said...

My British mother drove an ambulance during the London Blitz/war, had her home bombed and lost her Royal Navy brother to a U-boat torpedo. Her solution to all problems as I was growing up was a good hot cuppa...and as I sit here drinking mine, I raise a toast to you and yours.

Rita said...

I hope the cake pans and the bobble owl scare the pants off the hawk!

I am going through a similar acceptance of things I can't change! I am going to work on not doing the internal fighting against this and that in 2021. I realized I am stressing myself out over stuff I can't change in any major way. Can only deal with things the best way I can (be as prepared as you can be, yes) and then leave it at that. Your post really hit home for me today. :)

Daryl said...

i am coveting that rug!!!!!!!

Karla said...

That's one of my favorite lines from the Big Book, also one of my least favorite, as it puts the deal squarely on ME! We cannot change the world to our conditions, we must change ourselves, sigh. Love the lengths you've taken to protect your little feathered babies! I've seen these contraptions that look like red "eyes" that you can mount on fence panels and posts, etc., makes the vermin think there are coyotes or other predators about, and sends the vermin packing! Or so I've read!

Susan said...

Love the quote and boy do I ever need to work on that! I want 2021 to be a happy year for both my husband and me. Retired two years ago and it's been a little diffiuclt. We're opposites in that I like to plan my days and he likes to get up and float thru the day. We both need to accept and celebrate our differences. Good luck with the chickens, it certainly looks like you've done all possible. Happy New Year!

C Reeder PhxAz said...

Your words were spot on for me as I read them. So glad you returned to this forum to write and share.

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