As Halloween nears, I recall the naughty actions of a farm girl, perhaps eleven or twelve years old, back in the fifties.
In late October, her parents had killed a few Leghorn roosters for their meat. Feathers, feet, innards and heads were discarded and left for scavengers. The resourceful young lady saw an opportunity for 'fowl' play.
Okay, you've probably already guessed that girl was me and I confess it was. Anyway, the Statute Of Limitations has long run out.
More interested in tricks than treats, I covertly tied strings to three of the rooster heads and under cover of darkness, headed over to our nearest neighbour along our gravel road. The farm house of Harold and Evelyn Cowan had a clothes line stretched out in front of their porch. A perfect place to hang my macabre ornaments!
The Cowan's were targeted only because of convenience. Back then, they were our closest neighbours, only two fields away. I quite liked the family and they often attended card parties with my parents. Mischief, not malice was the sole motive of my foolish escapade.
I never did get feed back from the prank although they must surely have known the source. Most likely their Boston terrier, Ricky, enjoyed the 'treats'.
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In the province of Ontario, it's now cheaper to heat with electricity than with propane. My furnace runs on propane but I also have an electric baseboard heater in the kitchen and a smaller one in my powder room. Last winter was very cold and my two propane tanks actually ran dry at one point. So along with winterizing doors and windows I plan to purchase an electric space heater to ease up on propane use.
I'm happy to see lots of wind turbines in my area now. I was concerned about reports of their blades killing birds. But the turbines are geared to rotate slowly and statistics show the claim to be greatly exaggerated.
The following study shows that wind turbines are responsible for less than 0.01 percent of bird mortality. A pittance really, compared to almost 60 percent from building/window strikes.
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From my camera this month:
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| Sumacs were serious contenders in the annual colour show. |
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| Hardwood bush a mile down the road from my place. |
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| I love this cute and friendly little Red-Breasted Nuthatch. |
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| My resident Eastern Screech Owl is again using the roost box. |
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| A jay gathering sunflower seeds for stashing elsewhere. |
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| This groundhog was taking a stroll in my driveway. |
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| Discreetly coloured, I sometimes have to look twice to see him. |
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| Ellie Mae on 'watch' cat duty. |
