It's another beautiful day here in WPA after a horrific thunderstorm last night.. though I slept right through it.. Wendell said it was nasty and very electrical.
I have a feeling this is going to end up an AQA day- I had to dispose of a groundhog this morning and noticed I was coughing more than usual..  I've checked all my traps and also caught 3 mice this morning (outside, not inside).. to add to the 1 I caught yesterday.  We sure have critters around here.
What's funny is to have the deer walk right up to the chicken run and when we try to scare them away, they stand there looking at us as if we had lost our marbles.. !  Aaacckkkk!
The groundhogs are soooooo bad this year.. 5 babies and 2 parents + all the extra families makes for war.  I got the first one this morning.  He's safely back in his burrow.. dead, but home.  I've disposed of 5 raccoons so far this year, and truly, I'm not trying to trap them unless they come up on the deck and wreak havoc.. which they do on occasion.  I bury all the animals in groundhog holes and throw some dirt atop.
I really don't like to do this job, but it has to be done for some type of critter control.  I don't cherish the groundhogs eating the insulation under my car as they have done in the past.
They sure do a lot of crop damage.  They have already eaten a hole in my plastic fencing around the chicken run.. and so I had to patch it with a long stretch of chicken fencing.. what else?
As for mice, I trap them outside so I don't get them inside.  I see little places that look like an animal could slip under our trailer.. so I set the traps there.  I can't believe I got 3 today.. As I walked up the stairs to the deck, Thomas was at my side.. I said "Well, Thomas, I got 3 mice this morning.. how many did YOU catch?"
He looked at me with this blank face and slowly ambled over to his dish of cat feed.  I guess that is the answer.. lazy cat.

Yesterday we had a bit of excitement here when I took the gun down to shoot a raccoon in my trap, stepped on some fencing that *I* had personally left , caught my foot in it and went down like a bull elephant, rolling across the yard and beyond the trapped animal who was likely more terrified of being rolled on than shot.  The rifle went one way and I went the other.. I am very thankful for the safety on the gun.  Wendell has taught me well.  Never take the safety off until you are ready to pull the trigger.  Glad I was obedient.  Wendell came down and helped me to my feet.  He isn't able to lift me up, but was at least a support so I could get myself up.  It could have been so much worse.  My knee is bunged up a bit.. I iced it all day yesterday and there is no bruise visable, but the pain is still very much there. 
It makes me wonder what God is trying to teach me.. pulled hamstring last week and now a bungled knee.. hmmmmm

What a fabulous picnic we had for Joyce and David.  It was so perfect and the weather was fantastic.  John did some fireworks later, and I got to have all 5 grandkids stay with me overnight!!!!  I love that so much. 
I have M&Ms for them.. Annabelle asked if she could open a package and I said yes.   She ate a few, then decided to ask David if he wanted some.. so there is David ready to pop an M&M in his mouth when Annabelle grabs his arm and says "David! We haven't prayed yet!!!"   Obviously well trained children who were very thankful for the candy.  :)

On to the day....