Skunk Wars - - Thrust and Parry

I block a hole, she digs a new one! I block that hole, she makes another.

I have decided that it is time to remove the skunk. We have had a fairly mutual avoidance relationship for a few years now. She hasn't really been a problem, and the kittens she produces are always cute and fun to watch.

This year, with the work we are doing on building under which she has made her home, it is time to evict her. I see no evidence of kittens this year so I won't feel bad about trapping her and leaving the young ones to fend for themselves.

My plan is as simple as it is diabolical. Bwaa HAA HAA Haa!

I am putting out a bunch of humane traps this weekend. When she is snared, I will slide a garbage can over the trap, place the trap in a friends pick up, and drive to the country.

Even though I already been visited by the Stumpfire Girls, I am still working on this stump. I think it would be faster to rent a stump grinder but not nearly as ascetically pleasing as having a little fire every night. Plus, I get a pretty good workout swinging the ax against the little fellow. It won't be fast, but I'll get it out.

In the meantime, Susan has started priming the eves on the deck. We have also found a couple of places around the railing where the paint was not really sticking. We used Sherwin & Williams Duration paint, which is supposed to be very good. I cannot remember if we primed the wood first when we painted last year. Perhaps I could refer back on this blog! What a concept!

Okay, in the time it took to change paragraphs, I have consulted old blog entries and found that I made no reference to priming before painting. I'm not saying we did or didn't. I simply don't know cuz I didn't say. I was surprised to see that we did our deck painting back in the first wek of September 2007. For some reason, I thought we had painted before that.