January

January seemed like a long month even though it was no longer than December. As we generally do, we’ve had some nice days but plenty of not-so-nice days.

Chris finally trapped the elusive Simon so he has joined the ranks of the eunuchs.  There is a big Siamese trying to take his place.  We’ll get him taken care of next week and maybe we’ll have a respite before the next stray Tom shows up. Black Nose got fixed earlier this month. I trapped him and Chris took him to the vet.  He’s back on SA, sadder but wiser.  We also managed to neuter the momma cat and her nearly grown kittens.  Chris believes neutered cats keep other cats from making their area their home. According to theory, there is an inexhaustible supply of cats and some will quickly occupy any vacuum. Jill has tested the theory with good results. Chris trapped half a dozen cats a couple of years ago and it seemed like we were still getting new strays. Maybe we never reached equilibrium and maybe we will this time. Regardless, if we catch any we haven’t fixed, they will get the treatment. We may have to hold a bake sale to cover the vet bill. We’ll see.

Abigail has gone back to Waco. She and Aaron left on Saturday morning, the 11th. Classes resumed on the following Monday. Naturally Abigail was loath to end her Christmas break and we didn’t want her to leave, but a girl does what a girl’s got to do. We look forward to Easter and spring break, whichever comes first.

Our weather the first half of the month has been erratic but not too bad for January. I’ve been able to get a full work week (4 days) for several weeks before Christmas through the mid-point of this month. It has been warm enough to spray some the last couple of weeks, too. If I continue to get those opportunities, I’ll avoid the weed problems we had last year. I’ve just now hauled off the last of the weeds we pulled last summer and fall to the compost site. It’s located next to the brush site which is a part of the landfill. It rained several times during the month which is unusual for January but we only tallied .36 inch for the month.

The weather on Wednesdays this month has been decent enough to work out at the Bluff. I’ve focused all winter on removing yucca, trimming mesquite and cleaning up the butterfly garden. There is still plenty of yucca to last another winter and probably the same is true of the mesquite, although I feel pretty good about the progress I have made on the mesquite. I just about have the garden cleaned up and should finish by the end of February. It will be ready to receive some new plantings when the Canyon Edge nursery opens in April. They specialize in native and drought-hardy plants and always have a wide variety of plants that appeal to butterflies and other pollinator species. There were half a dozen broadleaf milkweed growing in the meadow about 50 yards from the butterfly garden last summer and I’m hoping they will proliferate if I water them a little bit. Wildcat Bluff Nature Center is a designated monarch butterfly way station but it is far from offering much in the way of milkweeds to attract monarchs. There are also antelope horn milkweed growing around the grounds. Maybe if the two species are encouraged we can actually deserve the waystation designation.

We took Kari to the airport to catch her 8AM flight to Nicaragua. There had been freezing rain the day before and during the night but we didn’t encounter any problems. She’ll be working on her Spanish acumen with the same people she worked with the previous two years. She was looking forward to going somewhere warm and was glad that, if we had to have bad weather and one expects that in January, it coincides with her leaving for balmier climes. That way she feels she’s getting away with something and we all enjoy that feeling.