On Being a Farm Wife (and other hazards Joyce Bupp For awhile there, it was almost as if they had ceased to exist. Oh, occasionally we’d catch a glimpse of them. Maybe some would turn up way back in one of the (nearly empty) hay mows. Or we’d catch a glimpse of a couple flying overhead. Sometimes it would be their calls from out be hind the barns. For much of the frozen-over, snowed-in, iced-up past months, the smaller animals and birds that live around the farm, domes tic and wild, hunkered down to wait out the worst, as best they could. A myriad of criss-crossing tracks, fox and rabbit, squirrel and bird, attested that they were getting on with life, despite hav ing to hop, jump, and wade through the drifts. »' ' ~6~PC~. BEDROOM SET" ' In Oak Or Cherry i Includes Bed Set Nightstand Highboy J Lowboy Dresser and Mirror 1 rg f> Reg Ret $3OOO 00 ‘ R| Our Price $1729 95! |s CLOSEOUT $ 1089 95 ft' ' 6FC. BEDROOM SET* " I Black and Brass w/2 Nightstands i (| Esn Reg Ret I ririd SI 229 95 ; Our Price ' $449 95 ,' L - CLOSEOUT $ 369 04 3 WAY LAMP 31 High Reg Ret $ll9 95 1 Our Price $59 95 i CLOSEOUT I $ 29 95 L 7 PC."dININQ" ROOM " " N [ Double Pedestal Table 6 Side Chairs *, $ 59_9 95 _ J ( / 'votffri7mXfes'bed set n Bed Box w/Drawers Bookcase Headboard and 2 Nightstands J rgnib Reg. Ret. ■ $329.95 I I v Our Price i saa I CLOSEOUT 1 fa „/ f ' SWIVEL ROCKER' : , RECLINER Advertised on TV ' ‘ for $599 95 < f| - Reg Ret $979 95 Our Price $549 95 DEALER *ABQ9S v REFUSAL f FUTON BUNK BED ’ Twm/Double, Comes in Black & White with 8 ’ Futon Mattress Reg. Ret. $869.95 y. 1 H Our Price J., J $329.95 [closeout $ 249 95 ' COMPUTER DESK'', . -r* ■*[ Your Choice Maple & Oak/Black [ jßpft CjSI Available in Maple without Hutches ■ sT ■ —CJ ~ Closeout $lB9 95 [ ~ Reg. Ret. $899.95 I ■ Our Price $499.95 | CLOSEOUT *229.95 ) s Under Wholesale • Most of the tamest cats, of course, showed up as always for chow at calf feeding hours. The less-tame would sneak out from the more shadowy comers of the hay mows, once dinner was served and they felt comfortable that us humans had departed. The deep drifts did deter the fe line “porch perchers” from hang ing out at the back door, waiting to snitch bites from gentle Der ra’s meals as they like to do. Not that they can get many bites in during the five seconds it takes her to scarf down a dish of dog food. Thick ice seals on all of the ponds discouraged visits by the ever-growing flock of Canada geese that claims the meadow as f STUDENT LOFT BED 1 -J Reg Ret $1699 95 \ 'LJ i Our Price $689 95 j ' r 'i_J SPECIAL ! t>' Sofa ft Loveseat Lucky with Painted Stripe , | Reg Ret $2lOO 00 closeout refusal i 1 Our Price $899 95 £4.0003 ! fcFinal Closeout SSB»W / ' I VVin/rWIN BUNK BED ' Blacks White | SPECIAL ' t s l49 95 n ' } Reg Ret 5599 95 Our Price $159 95 f BUNK BED L ~ N , Honey Pine Reg Ret $569 95 V I Our Price $279 95 f T \ \ firTTOTj. J CLOSEOUT [ S '"| \ \ ' | ■ $ i59 95 1 u ; h ' "sectional" SPECIAL’ " Tahoe Evergreen Only , CL SM9 E BB UT ; Refusal $49903, _ —* ”5 PC.’ IN MEDIUM OAK 'y Reg Ret I $lBOO.OO < Our Prict 5909.95 CLOSEOUT $399” ROCKER RECLINER „ „ 2 Stylet Reg. 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When fields highest on the hills began drying enough in re cent weeks to support manure hauling equipment, all the mead ow geese arrived and appar ently brought all their relatives. Bits of grain and seeds in the straw-bedding manure spread an offering of protein at a time when natural food was scarce and inac cessible. What a honking good time they seemed to be having. Now a good two-dozen or so regulars squabble and chatter in goose talk day and night. They’re jostling for nesting sites, slopping and poking through the meadow mud, and flapping back and forth to the grain fields to dine on tender shoots of grassy clumps just coming out of dormancy. Keeping the honkers company are the quackers which, about mid-January, suddenly moved in and claimed squatters’ rights to the goldfish pond. With the un derground spring which feeds it back to full flow, a large section of that pond remained open through the coldest nights. That gave our flock of 20-plus mallard ducks a safe and sheltered haven. After accidentally spooking UNDER WHOLESALE In Black Comes w/8 Mattress Ret $639 951 CLOSEOUT $ 139 95 All Velvet i —.r Wood Trim | Reg Ret | Ou“nce i $ 569* $869 95 } them a couple of nights after dark, Derra and I rerouted our evening strolls to the road until some of the other ponds began melting out. Most of that time, ei ther the snow or the mud was too deep around the ponds anyway to walk with sense. The ducks were pleased. Now, along with the honking and the quacking, we have gob bling. That addition vocal section to our spring chorus comes from the handsome suiter The Farmer ac quired as a companion to our two “wild” turkeys, one original hen and the daughter she hatched and raised last spring. “Wild” by bloodline only, their favorite food is calf feed and they show up like clockwork each morning for a handout. The gobbler, another pen raised “wild” turkey, sulked alone in the barn when he was first introduced. Although the hens promptly took to trutting and preening so he could se how lovely they are, the old bird even tually took up with a trio of an cient bantam chickens, more wild than the turkeys. One afternoon last week, Ql, SUSQUEHANNA O?- PRINTING Lancaster Farming, Saturday, March 29, 2003-B3 though, I glanced out the road while retrieving the mail and was astonished to see all three tur keys, streaking down through the fields toward the woods. Good news, I figured, was that they had bonded. Bad news, it ap peared, was they were all taking off to the woods together. A half hour later, doing a visual check for their whereabouts and expect ing to see nothing, instead I spied a turkey tail just disappearing be hind the bam. The hens are back to showing up faithfully each morning for calf feed handouts. The gobbler has returned to his bantam gang. But he’s been spotted all puffed up, strutting and gobbling, and probably not for the benefit of the nasty bantam rooster. With squawling cats, honking geese, quacking mallards, gob bling turkeys, chirping robins and, any moment we expect, the peeping of the peeper frogs, our animals have fared better through the winter than the con testants boot out weekly on those TV “survivor” shows. And, from the sound of all the racket out there, are getting ready to double their numbers.
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