Trimming the Tree

Our tree tradition: Grandma (my mom) buys the tree, Grandpa (my dad) puts it up. Grandpa strings the lights, Grandma strings the garland, kids put on the ornaments. Kids fight over using the stepping stool to put the ornaments on the upper branches, and then Grandma puts on candy canes and tinsel. Below are some pics of us 'kids' ornamenting the tree.


Some ornaments work well as bracelets, too.


We did all this at Grandma & Grandpa's house last Saturday. We had a good Thanksgiving, lots of good food Thursday at my sister's house, lots of good food Friday at my father-in-law's house. Lots of good people at both places. Lots of things to be thankful for.

Sunday, when we came home, we pulled into the driveway at around 5 pm. Who should we see scuffling along the drive next to the woods? Yes, Mrs. O. It seems four days with the hen door closed wasn't enough to discourage her from our farmstead. That night, after we had let the hens out for an hour or two, I found Mrs. O back in the coop. She saw me approach, and climbed up the stone wall a few feet. Try as I may, short of grabbing her by the scruff of the neck, I could not dislodge her from her perch. I used my long stick to poke, prod, and even pry her from the side of the wall, to no avail. Maybe I was being a wuss, but I didn't want to injure her.

I gave up at that point. Fine, I thought. Let her stay in the coop overnight. I left the hen door open in case she wanted to leave, and the next morning she was gone. Then, last night when my husband shut in the chickens, there was no sign of her. Tonight my hubby is going to set the live trap in the coop. We'll bait it with a boiled egg and lay some feed sacks over top of it. The hens are too big to go inside it, but it's possible that we may trap a cat. If Mrs. O is in the coop when we shut in the chickens, then we'll just set the trap and shut the door.

Oh, and when I said earlier that we'd bring Mrs. O to the state park, I was of course not serious. Don't drop off your unwanted wildlife at state parks! Big no-no. But there are plenty of abandoned homesteads around that would make a lovely home for a lovely opossum. I'll let you know what happens.