Schooled on frugality

The Captain schooled me on frugality.

He said, "You spent how much on wood shavings for dog bedding??"

He advised me to rake up some oak leaves to use as animal bedding.  A penny that stays on the farm is better than a dollar that leaves.

I have a Chinkapin Oak (Quercus muehlenbergii) on the east side of my house.  The trunk on the left is the Chinkapin Oak.

The leaves are stiff, dry and curled.  They resist matting down.  That is why oak leaves make good bedding.  They stay fluffy.  That stubborn fluffiness means that it impossible to stuff 20 pounds of them in a bag.

If you look closely you will notice the silvery sheen on the right sides of the bags is condensate.  I will store these bags in the barn with their tops open so the contents can continue to dry.

Six bags in the barn.  That should be enough to keep the three chickens and three dogs cozy all winter long.

Gratuitous Eye Candy

Morris Burton Persimmons against blue sky

A ripe persimmon glows with an inner light.

Blue viola were unfazed by two nights of 23 degrees Fahrenheit.