On afar -And haz Joyo After awhile, you leam to expect it The unexpected. Pouncing on the unsuspecting. After years of finding yourself the unsuspecting victim of the unexpected, nothing suiprises you anymore. Wen, not much anyway. So only a smalt yelp escaped my mouth a few weeks back at what came but when I opened the chute at the bottom of the heifer feed bin. “Good thing I’m not afraid of rats," 1 observed to The Fanner STIHL Register to win th* Ntwl SUM 028 Chain Saw «l Him* participating dNtora: Bechtelsvlile Eohrata. Hershev BQnka PASSMORE SERVICE H O^Z & \MSS CENTER, INC. GARDEN EQUIP. 370 Newport Road RD 1, Rt. 100 Pohrala FA 717^731-1 131 2 Mlaa South 6( Rt. 23 215-367-9084 Ephrala, PA 717 A | O „9 m Mon|tr(y Dallastown Haro hay. PA 717-533-4060 TRI-BORO Gao CONCRETE, INC 435 Locual St. 717-246-3095 1-800-632-9018 East Earl GOODS LAWN & GARDEN CENTER Routt 23 717-354-4026 Ext. 34 Elizabethtown MESSICK FARM EQUIPMENT, INC. Rhetmt Exit-lit. 2*3 Eliubtlhtown, PA 717-367-1319, 717-653-6657 Elm/Lebanon Myerstovm BOMBERGER’S lawn ebling lawn & & GARDEN GARDEN SERVICE Elm: 717-564-4653 «• t Uneom Avt. Übanon: 717-272-4155 717-566-6720 leMs -ana engSS "HOW IaSSS INC. *3 ntMMi WKy m. jwimfon ■* m wh *** r,c -„ 717-735-4215 717-555-4515 301-57M080 later, “Or, you’d have had to peel me off the heifer pen ceiling.” There are few things I feel justi fied in using the word “hate” with, but.... I hate bam rates with a pas sion. Not fear. Hate, They’re dirty, destructive, despicable and dog goned costly due to all the feed they steal. Despite its obviously well-fed condition, the rat had zipped out over the top of the feed reserve at the bottom of the chute and fled over the feed trough. Feed scoop weapon in hand. I’d pursued it GAP POWER EQUIPMENT Cornor ot HI. 30 8 Rt B*7 717-442-8970 Hamburg SHARTLESVILLE FARM SERVICE RD 1, BOX 1302 215-488-1025 Jonestown BLUE MOUNTAIN ENTERPRISES, INC. Rl. 72 South 717-865-2994 My poorly-aimed whacks didn’t do anything but dent the end of the Sfioop. . “Here kitty, kit#, kitty," I’d called, summoning the major artil lery in the ongoing war against bam rodents. But the cat patrol zoomed in a second too late and blew its chance. A day later, I moved a straw bale nearby—and a rat ran again. This time it was moving a bit slower and the “kitty, kitty” call worked magic. For the cat, not the rat Looking back, the metal scoqp chase the day before had perhaps met its mark just enough to injure and slow the well-fed rodent. Once in awhile, the unsuspect ing win an unexpected victory. There was a celebration feast with fresh rat as the main course. I had a brownie. “You’ll never believe what just happened to that tractor," said my mother-in-law on a recent morn ing, phone call. Only minutes before. The Farmer and I had returned from her farm a few miles away, where he had tried to jump-start a reluctant battery on a tractor that had not been run for several weeks. Shippensbun LEINBACH FARM EQUIP. 1120 RHnorHwv. 717-532-5511 Tamaoua CHARLES S. SNYDER, INC. RD 3 717-386-5945 Hancock. MD HANCOCK BLOCK TRUE VALUE 220 Fulton 81. 501-678-7242 The expected result of this lat- Uncatter Firming. Saturday. Octobar 16, IM3-B3 est unexpected turn did not mater ialize - thankfully. Immediate dread of splintered house walls had not happened; the tractor simply drifted past a cousin’s nearby home and parked itself in the grass. Sometimes the unsuspecting unexpectedly receive pardons from potential disaster. (God steered that tractor real good.) “I need medical attention,” noted The Farmer one morning last week, yanking his well-used bam hat off his head and leaning down for inspection. Taking a deep breath, this unsuspecting caregiver prepared for the expected worst. No major blood trail, just a little red oozing out of a zig-zag slash in his scalp. About an inch and a quarter long, but neat and narrow. A- dousing with peroxide and dab of first-aid ointment remedied the Sweatshirt Art WEST CHESTER (Chester ernment Services Center, Suite Co.) —With a few alterations and 370, 601 Westtown Road, West some creative appliques and Chester, to find amazing ways to embellishments, Becky Scotland, dress up a plain sweatshirt for Family Living Assistant at Penn attractive holiday gifts. A folk art State Cooperative Extension, will pattern of appliques and instruc show you how you can turn an ticns are included in the $7 oversized sweatshirt into a wear- registration feedue by October 22. able work of art. Attend this For registration information, con lecture/demons(ration on Thins- tact Chester County Extension at day, November 4, 9:30-11:30 (215)696-3500. head-on collision with the feed grinder auger. “Good thing you had on a hat,” I reminded him, feeling new respect for the, shall we say, less than-clean headcovering. A mere few hours later, he was back, waving a finger wrapped in a, shall we say, less-than-clean rag. “Not as bad as it looks,” he assured my wide-eyed look and sucked-in breath. “Just a gash, but I couldn’t get it to stop bleeding. Guess it hit a vein.” Peroxide and a pair of tightly-fastened Band- Aids, as expected, did the trick. Moral of this tale: Expect the unexpected. Stock up on medical supplies. Keep your baton! Check the brakes. Be thankful when the unexpected isn’t nearly as bad as you expected it to be. And be glad you aren’t a bam rat a.m., at the Extension office. Gov-
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