11/11

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27 degrees last night. Everything that was covered did fine. A patch of mature chard that only had a thin sheet of plastic over it was a little wilty. The broccoli and cauliflower that was left uncovered also got a little wilty.

Last night a few guineas roosted in the oak over the coop. I thought I'd counted 3 out of the coop, but it was actually 4. Rachel and I stood out on the doorstep about 10 at night and saw 2 guineas suddenly take flight way across the property to land high in other trees. This usually means a predator. I hurried up with the flashlight to see if it might be a racoon or something but there was nothing, no animal, no dead bird. But I only spotted 2 guineas in the other trees with the flashlight. I then recounted the guineas inside the coop and realized 4 were out.

The next morning I noticed only 3 guineas up outside the coop. So we lost another bird. The only conclusion I could come to was that a great horned owl took one. If it were an animal in the tree I would have either spotted it or found the remains of the guinea. Whatever took it took it from the air and disappeared with it - only a great horned owl is probably capable of that. I looked it up online and apparently many people have had their entire flock of guineas wiped out by great horned owls.

It took hours for the frost to clear from the grass. We watched AMERICA'S WAR ON DRUGS while we waited for it to warm up. I replaced the blades on the mower and mowed for hours. It's the final mow of the entire property before I won't be able to mow again till spring - we need the cover material. I was able to get about 10 wheelbarrows of shredded leaves and grass clippings out of the front yard. 1 wheelbarrow went to the coop over the sawdust, and the rest went out to the garden beds - some areas needed a heavier mulch, the big brassicas needed mulched close around, and the large areas where tomatoes and peppers were pulled needed remulched. I got about half the garden mulched so far. Once it's finished the rest of the clippings will be piled up for cover material for the compost bin. It won't last all winter though. We need to score some cheap old rotten rolls of hay.

While going down the driveway with the wheelbarrow I spotted a large cat right in front of me, trotting down the driveway. At first it looked like a large gray feral cat - then I noticed the lack of tail. Another bobcat. It went off into the briars but not in any particular hurry. These bobcats are bold - middle of the day, out hunting right under my nose. It may be just the season though, when predators get a little more desperate for food.

I walked back to the house to see if Rachel could keep an eye out outside while I kept mowing as I was down by the road and all the birds were out - but I'd had to wake her from a nap and she was slowly waking up. About 20 minutes into mowing I heard the birds hollering and knew somebody'd been killed. All the birds were together and looking around and Goldie was missing. We just put up the birds this evening and Goldie is definitely gone. She'd been an excellent layer.

We were able to herd all the guineas into the coop tonight - I shooed 2 off the roof with a crutch and we got them in. This is good because all the birds need locked up again while we try to trap and relocate yet another bobcat.

Tonight we'll have frost again so the fig and garden is covered. Rachel spent much of the day wrestling with the stove to improve its draft. She says it's better now.

The mower is still really shaky and clunky-sounding. Something is loose somewhere and out of balance but I can't find out what's wrong with it - we may just have to bite the bullet and take it to a dealer for them to take a look at it.
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