Washingtonians

[Ogress]

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Awww shucks. I was hoping my DH would stay at work for a while today. I get so much more done than I do when he is here. Nothing against him, he's just in the way though when I want to get things done.

 

[Ogress]

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Good luck with your festivities this weekend! It's always a MAJOR stress for me to entertain too. Nothing is ever as nice as I'd like it to be and at a certain point I have to just say "it is what it is" and hope my guests are happy, relaxed and well fed.
I'll bet you make really good potato salad. I don't think many younger folks know how to make real potato salad anymore.

I need a good recipe that doesn't taste like the stuff at the grocery counter.

 

[Stumpfarmer]

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Townsend's Vole is as long as my fist, about half the size of a Norway Rat and 2/3 the size of a Rattus rattus. Their tails are about half as long as a rat's. There's... I think six? species of voles in Western Washington, of which Townsend's is the largest. I did a big old obsessive study of rodents the first time I saw a black rat on my bird-feeder: it was a rat, all right, but I was hoping it would be anything else at all. I hate rats, and we didn't actually have a problem with them until the apartments went in across the road and contracted for one-day-a-week trash (dumpster) disposal: the snow storm of December 2006 coincided with Tacoma Rail dead-heading some "empty" grain cars on the siding near here and two missed trash pic-ups between Christmas Eve and January 2, and we were off to the races, rat wise.


I also have the infamous Mazama Pocket Gopher, but besides being uglier than sin and eating the occassional rose root system, they're much less annoying and destructive than the voles: Zathras finds the voles supremely tastey, and hunts them when there are no gourmet baby bunnies.

We used to have a lot of voles, but my cat is exceptionally good at catching them. Now I hardly ever see them.

Voles are basically appetites with fur, and don't seem to have any sense of self preservation beyond building really secure nurseries. Their biggest drawback, as far as I've experienced, is that they will sit and eat any concentrated food source until it's absolutely gone and then waddle off to have a couple of dozen young'uns. They don't kill live animals, which both species of rats will (the bigger shrews will take baby songbirds, but won't hurt chickens) and don't carry plague like rats and deer mice (deer mice also carry Hanta Virus, but like squirrels they get away with a bunch of badness because they're so cute).

I am still being relatively inactive, although there's a load of white shirts that I'll need to hang out in a few minutes. I've GOT to figure out a quick Hamburg pen: if I get a Nephew today or tomorrow and can contrive a door (not hard, and nothing to buy) I'll probably use a couple of flat wire trellises and make a long, narrow run. I've got plenty of wire, hinges, corner brackets, and small-dimension lumber, so there should be a way out: what I don't have is any energy at all.

 

[PitterPatterPalace]

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I'll bet you make really good potato salad. I don't think many younger folks know how to make real potato salad anymore.

I don't know.

And I'm sure I'm part of the younger crowd.

Send the recipe my way

 

[RedReiner]

caught one orange feral cat.

relocated one orange feral cat

 

[broodytood]

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That tid bit would help wouldn't it? DUH! Marans.
I did find one in Tenino... I'm waiting to see pics and get info on.

Last time I was at Illia's, she had at least 1 BW Marans Cock bird, full grown.
She probably has chicks now too.
I have her # if you want to call her, it is a far drive though...but a nice drive.

I'll keep that in mind if this other one doesn't pan out.
He is supposed to be Wade Jean lines. Well see.
Tenino is much closer.

 

[jbear]

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My thoughts exactly!!! They still have to follow the rules outside! #1 being- don't get on me!!!

Yep, that is one of the outside rules...major rule. Don't touch me.

haha--that's funny.. those are my spider rules too! If I THINK I can handle picking it up with a paper.. without panicking and dropping it, I usually try to move them outside. I usually need my son to do this for me however...

Glad you found the lil biter Heather!! *shivvers*

 

[broodytood]

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Yep, that is one of the outside rules...major rule. Don't touch me.

haha--that's funny.. those are my spider rules too! If I THINK I can handle picking it up with a paper.. without panicking and dropping it, I usually try to move them outside. I usually need my son to do this for me however...

Glad you found the lil biter Heather!! *shivvers*

Ooooo, that just gave me the willies!
I watched a spider hunt my DD one day! It was on the ceiling and she was at the table doing school. It crawled all the way over until it was above her and then the nasty critter started to drop toward her head! No joke! It was very calculated! Yuck! Those kind don't get relocated!

They just get squished!

Alright, now that my skin is crawling, I'm going back out to play in the dirt!

 

[cheryl98117]

Ok here is my lone Weaton Cockeral.

 

[TheReidHomestead]

Quote:
Good luck with your festivities this weekend! It's always a MAJOR stress for me to entertain too. Nothing is ever as nice as I'd like it to be and at a certain point I have to just say "it is what it is" and hope my guests are happy, relaxed and well fed.
I'll bet you make really good potato salad. I don't think many younger folks know how to make real potato salad anymore.

I need a good recipe that doesn't taste like the stuff at the grocery counter.

I don't like sweet stuff or crunchy stuff in my potato salad.

I basically make the Creamy Potato Salad recipe in the red and white Better Homes & Gardens cookbook. But, I eliminate the sugar and the sweet pickles and the celery, and double or triple the amount of eggs that go in. And I mince the onion really really small in a chopper thingy, so no crunchies.