My daughter and son-in-law (Amy and Paul) invited me to stay with them while in Inverness for eye surgery. I had my first operation a few days ago, with another to follow next Monday. Meantime, I’m enjoying my visit with the Alford family very much. There’s always something interesting going on at the Alford home! Amy is trying to help one of her hens raise a brood of chicks, but it’s been a challenge so far. Rat snakes keep getting into the coop at night, and they have swallowed six chicks so far. Amy is doing all she can to save the remaining five chicks.
Amy trying to haul down a rat snake from the rafters
The rooster isn’t much help, but the mother hen does all she can to protect the chicks. Amy now has them in a rat-proof cage and is keeping them in the mud-room at night!
She also took them to Vacation Bible School this week. The kids loved them!
We’ve seen an abundance of wild life on the shores of Sand Lake this week. One evening my granddaughter Beza rushed in to say a family of otters was playing just around the bend of the shoreline. Sure enough, a family of five otters was cavorting in and out of the water. What a nice sight. Then two Sandhill Cranes that usually come to that area every evening flew in. There was a bit of a standoff for awhile, and then the otters dived into the lake and headed toward the opposite shore. There’s never a dull moment here!
