Thanks to benefactors! Laudie and the rooster, and some ferocious meanwhiles

• Thanks go to… anonymous! … for the First Aid Kit, you know, should I get a bit carried away with the chainsaw while a tree is falling on me. Yikes!

• Thanks go to… anonymous! … for the first aid book for dogs. Yes, I suppose that any dog who adopts me is risking life and limb, considering how clumsy I am. But maybe this is also in view of the rooster, whose spurs are big enough to gouge out a dog’s brains through the eyes. Here’s the book, with Laudie-dog feeling all the more content about this:

And here are the spurs of the rooster. I wonder if it is at all advisable to trim those down a bit. I don’t think so, since the rooster is able to use these against the monsters in the forest while the hens, with no such defense, forage for insects. Laudie is in no danger from the spurs, since she keeps well away from both the hens and the rooster.

Mind you, once Laudie is able to get herself into her spot beneath the wood stove, safe from the rooster, she is smugness defined. Here she is, looking at the door which bars the way of any danger from the rooster:

content smugness defined

Actually, I’m in more danger from the rooster than Laudie. Here’s the rooster just about taking my eyes out. You can see three of the hens below. Apparently, the camera looks like something to eat:

• Thanks go to C.A.L., for her very kind gift to the hermitage, against all my tantrum like protestations. Very kind, indeed, especially considering, you know, all my tantrum like protestations!

And then, we have some meanwhiles today, some projects to accomplish:

• Replenish the ever diminishing pile of firewood. Yesterday, I started hacking apart a huge, mostly rotted red oak right next to the hermitage. The first chunk off, perhaps 120 pounds, started to roll down the ridge and went a couple of hundred yards, barreling, careening, bouncing high in the air, smashing anything and everything in its way, before it stopped on an old logging trail. I wasn’t about to try to stop it. Pretty smart, huh? Chainsawing on a ridge. An extreme sport. I was more careful with the other chunks I cut off. Today, I’ll try to chop those up, and then perhaps go after the piles of branches that were collected last Autumn and hauled to the hermitage with Jenny the Jeep. Ice storm on the way. Done.
• Write a letter to our dear former parish priest. If I were in his position right now, I would love to get a bit of encouragement from my fellow priests. Support your parish priest today! Done.
• Investigate a bit into the individual insurance requirement. Anyone know of any updates on this, a clear presentation of the facts, that is, the parameters for this, and the rules of enforcement, any revised dates, etc.? I have something rather extraordinary in mind in this regard, but I’ll need your expertise. For this one, you can use the comment box, or, perhaps, preferably, the email address: holysoulshermitage using gmail dot com. A bit of progress, but…