What's in our jar?

Uncle Matt caught the most fantastic bug on Saturday. And by 'fantastic' I mean 'fantastically evil!'

Meet the biggest wasp in the North American continent!
I kid you not - this thing is like 3 inches long!
We didn't know what it was at first. Just that we've seen a lot of them around the ranch lately. They are pretty docile and keep to themselves, but they are HUGE and sound like a helicopter in flight!


Well, when Matt caught one, we decided we'd better do some research and find out what it is.
So what is it?
It's called a Tarantula Hawk. I'm not kidding. Want to read about it? Click here or here. Want the abridged version? Well, basically this thing kills tarantulas. Don't be fooled - that isn't a good thing around here. We are friends to the tarantulas. They eat a LOT of the nastier bugs that live on our ranch. Also, this wasp has the MOST painful sting out of all the wasps. FUN!

This Tarantula Hawk stings a tarantula which then paralyzes it. It doesn't kill it - just paralyzes it. After that, it injects one single egg into the belly of the spider. Then it drags the spider off to a burrow (we have been seeing a TON of burrows around the ground but had NO IDEA what was going on inside) where it then leaves it for the egg to hatch. Once it does, the baby wasp eats the spider from the inside out. SICK! Talk about something from a horror movie!

The remedy? The ONLY thing that will eat one of these wasps is a Roadrunner! We have the whole circle of life thing going on around here lately! The tarantulas have become scarce around here lately and we didn't know why. We figured it was the drought. At the same time, these weird giant black wasps have been hanging around. And we've been seeing a lot more of our Roadrunner lately. Hmm.

Anyway, if you see one of these, feel free to squish it. Just make sure you use a very very large shoe.

Can't get enough? Check out these videos I found while doing my research:

Part Two:

Ranch Work

How do you earn your cowboy hat and boots?

First, you fix part of the fencing so the goats and pigs don't escape
James is in training!
Second, you castrate the goats
A low dose of anti toxin
Despite this scene, I am happy to report both goats survived the incident and are happily eating my rose bushes again.

The Newbies

There is a new rooster on the clover! My sweet husband called around (the very morning we discovered we'd lost Eckerd) and found a rooster that was in need of a new home. The news cheered me up, as he'd hoped, and I was able to set up a pickup time for the following morning.

We were still deep in the heart of the ranch campout, and our cousins had come in during the wee hours of the morning. So I had planned to set off at 7am so I wouldn't disturb anyone and I'd hopefully be back by the time everyone was starting to wake up. But, to my delight, my sister-in-law Erin and her boy Benji were awake and wanted to join me on my trip!

So, we loaded up both dog boxes (in the back of the van - AGAIN!) and set off. Why two dog boxes for one rooster? I'll explain in a minute....

The drive wasn't long this time. Luckily our destination was fairly close to our ranch. We piled out of the van and were greeted by the NICEST lady I have ever met. She opened her her 30 acres to us and let us meet and greet all of her animals. It was fantastic! In addition to the rooster, she had offered to give us 6 laying hens! And since we were taking the rooster - we were offered his two duck buddies as well. I couldn't say no. In fact, I am pretty sure I am incapable of ever turning down the offer to house an animal. :) I just love them too much!

Anyway, she also had a few Guinea Hens and some Bantam chickens she wanted to send with us - but I simply didn't have the room in the van. Taking those would require the coop she was offering to send with us also..... So, we agreed I'd come back in 2 weeks to pick up the rest of the gang! ;-) I told you I couldn't say 'no!'

Back at the ranch, everyone was up and trying to wait patiently for the new arrivals to show up. As soon as we drove in, a flock of children and adults circled the van!

The ducks were an instant hit! They are terribly social and hilarious! They roamed around the ranch that first day - checking things out (mostly the kiddie pool) and quacking happily as they paraded around and around the yard.

Click & Quack the Quacker Brothers
The chickens went straight to the coop so they could start acclimatizing to their new ranch. The kids thought it was so exciting to have full size chickens in the coop! I have to say though, they look ridiculous in there! The coop was the perfect size for a mini Eckerd and the 4 hens we are still raising up - but our new rooster is a big boy! Not to mention his 6 girls! I think the plan is to build them a new home here in the coming weeks, and then put our 4 hens into the current coop. But for now - they are happy! They have even started laying for us! We have harvested 6 eggs from them!!! JL and James enjoyed a couple this past Sunday morning ;-)



The girls


The diaper is for cushioning! ;-)
The big man on campus has been given the name Rooster Cogburn. He's beautiful - but I have to say.... He is not an Eckerd replacement. I think the fact that Cogburn has his own hens to manage makes him less social to the rest of us. Whereas Eckerd didn't have hens to bond with - he used us! :) But maybe that's ok. I probably shouldn't let myself get so attached to this bunch. Life on the ranch is hard. Especially if you are a bird!

But I'm happy to report the quiet is gone. The chickens are foraging in the yard and Cogburn has a beautiful crow.

Ranch Camping

James had a campout at the ranch last week. Two of his best buddies came and stayed with us for a couple nights while their parents were out of town. It was great fun for everyone! They pitched a tent, made smores, and hunted for deer (among about 400 other things they found to do!)

I neglected to get a picture of the tent. They pitched it in that big grove of huge oaks. It looked just like the nicest campsite we've ever had! They only lasted a hour before they came in to sleep in the house - but who could blame them in this heat!

There may have been a few super hero's that dropped by. Notice the shirt James has on....
Making mini-pizzas for dinner
Dario got to be quite the animal whisperer
These 3 played outside a TON! It was great for James to have some older boys around - they were all able to keep up with his energy!
E Train waiting patiently for the fire to be ready to cook smores!
They were delish!
So good - we had to make a second batch!

The Quiet

Have you ever owned a clock that chimed? Or a coo coo clock? You know how you sorta get use to the noise? After awhile, you stop hearing the chimes or the ticking? It just sorta blends into the background? You know it's there and sometimes you hear it, but for the most part it is just part of the soundtrack that makes up the house. But, if you have to take the clock in to get fixed and that noise stops, you miss it almost instantly and the house seems strangely quiet?

That's how our ranch is without our rooster. Quiet. Annoyingly still.

The silly little one-off that was part of our crew is missing and his absence is disturbing my calm. It wasn't a unique sight to see the five of us humans going about our chores outside only to be stalked around by a midget rooster. JL would wash the boat - Eckerd was near pretending to peck around for bugs. Me and the kids would be playing outside - Eck would be there kicking up mulch and cooing happily over whatever he found.

Can you mourn a rooster? I guess so. If he's become part of the family. Which, no doubt, ours clearly was.

In Memory

It is a sad day here on the Clover. We have lost our beloved Eckerd the Fathers' Day Rooster. :( He was tragically killed last night by Pancho (our Golden Retriever).

Turns out letting a bunch of kids chase a rooster around while a happy dogs plays along can end badly. While the humans went inside to eat dinner, the game apparently never stopped for Pancho. Eckerd took safety in his coop, only to be cornered by my big, goofy dog.

And it's weird because Eckerd thought he was a dog! Him and my two k-9's were best buds the last few weeks. They even slept side by side - each in their own wallows! I guess Pancho just got way too excited by the chase and couldn't help himself. :(

I am surprised at how sad I am by this event. Eckerd was just a bird! But he really wasn't. He was the first fun animal we bought to start our ranch! He was the first real farm animal that actually DID something. He kinda sorta represented what JL and I have been dreaming about for the past few years.

Eckerd was a huge part of our lives. He was always around us, he had the silliest personality, and he was just generally friendly. I hate to think of him leaving us so suddenly and unnecessarily.

Most of all I think Eckerd dying was just a cruel reminder of how fragile life really is. Just yesterday he was scratching in our mulch and crowing happily. How quickly things can change.



But, there will be others. And I'm afraid they will have to come quickly. I need something to fill this hole.

Figgy ?

What is that thing? That's the question we always get. That's the question we were asking when we first saw this place. Turns out, it is a fig tree.


We didn't really think that much of it until about 2 weeks ago. Suddenly the huge bush thing was covered with figs. And they are GOOD. The kids absolutely love them! Even my James (who is suspect of any new food!)



Aprox 3 lbs of figs

We have loads of figs! Too many infact. Most of these beauties end up going to the pigs/goats. But, I noticed they sell figs at the grocery store for $5.00 a pound! Someone, somewhere is purposefully buying these to turn them into... ?

What I am in need of now is recipes. Anyone have any good fig recipes?

Typical

This is us lately. Cooking on the smoker while the kids splash and play in the kiddie pool.

Naturally, Pancho swims with the kids

What a sister does to her younger brother when she thinks no one is looking
Pathetic!

Delish!

Porch Dwellers

We came home the other day to this scene:

Seriously?
Upon closer inspection, I noticed that everyone was there! Luke, Bert, Fergus, Eckerd and Pancho. What a bunch of nerds!

I mean really! But, at least they are all getting along. :)

Spending the 4th on the Ranch

Beautiful purple sage has bloomed in the back flower beds
Eckerd peckin' around for bugs
Chicken in the smoker - don't tell Eckerd!
Isabel and JL playing with the goats (who have totally warmed up to us!) The pigs, well they are another story!

Oak Wilt

Buffalo Clover is full of some amazing trees. Most of them are Cedar Elms. A few of them are Live Oaks. The rest of them are Junipers or other variations of Oaks.

It's the Live Oaks that are of special concern right now. Apparently about 2 yrs ago (pre us living here) there was an outbreak of Oak Wilt on the property. The previous owner had over 70 oak trees treated!! Unfortunately, a good share of the really large ones were lost. Mostly the ones in front of the house.

Anyway, with this drought, our oaks were looking a little sad and weepy. We knew we'd had a bout of wilt before, so we called in the experts. They walked the entire acreage and found only 1 tree that had an active case. Unfortunately, it's in a grove of some of our largest and prettiest oaks.

No treatment at all would have ensured death to the entire grove. So, last week, the specialists came over to treat our trees.

See those majestic oaks? Those are the ones we are trying to save. The baby tree in the photo is one of 14 that were planted shortly after the huge oaks in the front were lost. They are mostly Burr Oaks and Red Oaks. Both of which shouldn't have issues with the Wilt.

The whole process was fascinating. First, a truck with a large air compressor on it was brought in. A large hose and a guy wearing a mask and suspenders emerged. It got really loud for a little while. Then really quiet for a while. 2 hours passed before the doorbell rang. They were done!

They explained it to me like an I.V. for the trees. The barrels are full of pesticide and water. They use the hose to blow out the dirt/leaves around the tree roots. Then a surgical cord is brought in and screwed into the roots at various places. The cord is then hooked up to a pressure valve on the barrels. A constant drip of water/pesticide is then provided to the trees for aprox 6 days.




At the end of that time, they come back, clean up the cord and the barrels, put the dirt back around the tree roots and then mulch mulch mulch.

Now you know more than you ever did/wanted to about Oak Wilt. We are hopeful we can rid our ranch of it before we have any further issues.

Thank goodness for all the Cedar Elms! They are immune to the disease!

Growing Flock

Like all young things, our chicks are growing up fast! I can't say "way too fast" because I am looking forward to when they are adults and I can kick them out to the coop! (Unlike my children, who I wish would STOP growing!) But still, I am amazed with how quickly they change. No doubt, every week they have a new look to them!

Just a few weeks have passed, and the chicks have transformed! Their fluffy feathers are being replaced with adult feathers. In addition, their legs have become SUPER long. They stand nearly to the half way mark on their little tub.


They also can FLY. I have had to put a net roof on the tub to keep them from roaming around the garage.

When you pick them up now, it is almost always necessary to use both hands. They are wiggly and plump!



They are also getting their combs (that little skin like part between their eyes that lives on top their heads.) When I look at their faces now, I actually see a chicken! When they were little, they were just poof balls that could turn into any ol' bird.



I like the change. Sometimes I get impatient and wish we'd have gotten full size birds. But, it's fun to raise them up. And to see how fast they change. When I want to see a full size bird, I just go watch Eckerd! :-)

Farm, fresh eggs are coming. We can't wait.

If you'd like to compare the changes, click here or here.