when the weather forecast reads "warmest day in months"...

one wakes up and says, "hell yeah!"

We haven't seen 60 degree temps in northwest Ohio in I can't tell you how long (and yes...I realize we aren't the only ones, I realize many of you relate to this...winter was rough in many parts of the country this year).  And when I read this weather forecast on my phone this morning...I laughed out loud and said, "hell yeah"!  Warmest day in months means forget everything else and get the hell OUTSIDE!!!  Don't walk...run...RUN to the woods!

So I snatched up the dogs (who also have been feeling couped up and over it) and zipped over to Oak Openings for as long a tromp in the woods as our bodies would let us handle.  (The only serious unfortunate thing was that Chris had worked the night before and had to sleep this beautiful day away. And to that I say...never forget the dedication of nurses who work nights...and how this is truly stellar for those who have relatives in the hospital that need 24 hour care).  Otherwise...she would have been along on this trek for sure!

Judging by the joy depicted in the above image (note both dogs over my left shoulder with that "Glee...omg this is freakin amazing look about them")...it was well worth the time today. We tromped through the woods with huge smiles on our faces...I talked to birds and squirrels and such...and then I laughed when the dogs ripped through the muddy patches on the trail...not caring the least bit that they were turning black in the process.  I get it. Couped up in the house warrants ripping through black mud.  I agree!

The air smelled good today. And I smiled especially to the fact that I wouldn't have to worry about doing a tick check upon return home.  Nope. Not today.

Huge smiles as Northwest Ohio wakes from an ugly winter. We made it. We survived what we call in our house "snakes on a plane winter 2014".....interpretation...if you've seen this movie....you'll know the line...."I'm tired....of these mother-F*cking snakes...on this mother-F*cking plane"...which we have chosen to apply to the snow...of 2014.  Yep...we grew tired of it...just like everyone else.

Welcome Spring. Welcome!!

Mouse relocation plan update...

Well, now that the temps are above freezing, clearly the mice aren't as eager to fall into a five gallon bucket in pursuit of whole corn kernels.  (If you're not sure what I'm talking about here...read the blog post below which tells more details.)  Guessing that the remaining mice from the barn have wandered off into the wild blue yonder (the yard that is) since I haven't caught any mice since my last post.
The bucket still sits in its same spot...but no takers.
But...YEAH warmer weather!! Had I known that placing a "mouse relocation bucket" in the barn would have brought wamer temps...I would have done this WEEKS ago!
Cheers.

Barn mouse relocation program...

It's "day 4" of the "Rachel's barn mouse relocation program" and the total is Rachel 11, mice 0.
The idea came straight from a complete accident.

A few weeks ago when I walked into the barn for the usual morning chicken feeding...I realized that I'd forgotten to put the lids back on the trash cans that hold the corn for feeding.  Somewhat blind from sun/snow glare having just stepped into the barn from outside...I had to double-take when I looked down into the can to see the bottom of it full of gray little moving blobs. Must have been close to 20 mice in there!! zoiks!!

I didn't have it in me to "off" all these little fury guys so I just tipped the can down and like a stream of water they poured out and ran off into various nooks and crannies.  (Thankfully not up my leg) Yet...NOW knowing that TWO dozen mice are making a good living inside the barn starts to wear on my mind. I'm not really cool with mice wandering amongst our chickens and our fresh eggs.  So I decided to reenact this accidental capture in the form of a 5 gallon bucket plan.

It's working! While not capturing two dozen at a time...3 or more a day isn't bad. There's a certain spot down the road that I walk them to and upon tipping the bucket these little fellas run off into the field in one direction or another.  I'm just hoping they don't find their way BACK to the barn. I've thought about marking them in some way so I could prove whether or not I did recapture them again in the future...but that just seemed like a complication to a simple experiment.  So far it's successful. One, three, four mice at a time...who knows, maybe I'm fooling myself that I'm actually helping anything here?

There is a hawk family that lives nearby. If nothing else maybe I'm helping the circle-of-life?