COYOTES, WOLVES AND A UNICORN GARGOYLE

          Yesterday, I went for a short walk with a friend George Probst who lives about a mile away from me on the other side of Green Mountain.  While he was showing me some hawthorn berries, we came across some large prints in the mud that looked like they were made by a dog.  However, the owner of the property where we were strolling about, although he has a moderately large dog, its prints would have only been about half that size.  George thought they were made by a coyote but from what I know about coyotes, they're not usually very big animals.  But considering that I've heard coyotes have cross-bred with wolves, there is the distinct possibility, the prints either belonged to a coyote and if not a coyote, then most likely the prints were made by a wolf.  The prints were very close to the size of my hand without the the tips of my fingers showing; they were very big and ominous.  Recently, I'd heard that the coyotes are getting braver, whereas before, they were rather timid and usually ran off when approached by a human.  Not that long ago, I heard on the news that a woman who had been jogging by herself was attacked and killed by coyotes - something that had never occurred before, at least not to my knowledge.
          Often, when I go for a walk at this time of year, I'm alone and I either go hiking through the forest or walking about a mile long loop to the lake on a seldom traveled road, since all the people that have houses alongside the lake have now migrated to warmer climates for the winter.  Seeing the large coyote or wolf prints in the mud yesterday and also hearing about a moose that was killed by a pack of coyotes a short distance away, I may start taking Luki (Great Pyrenees) with me.  Although I usually carry a small knife at all times, I might be able to handle being attacked by one coyote but I doubt that it would protect me from a pack of coyotes and wolves would be an impossibility.  A lot of bears roam around this area on a daily basis and although I've been quite close to them on foot, they don't scare me as much as a pack of wild coyotes or wolves.  I remember many years ago playing with a tame, young wolf in Calgary and although it wasn't quite fully grown, it easily knocked me down and grabbed me gently with a very long snout, which was full of a whole lot of sharp teeth; .
          At the moment, here at Golden Unicorn Farm, the sky is very dark and the rain is pouring from the heavens in torrents.  I was planning on doing some outside chores today but they will have to wait.  I haven't finished tidying the garage after building the barn, so I expect that will be one of my projects for the day; seems there's always something needing to be done around here.
          Sarah is quite the baker, pretty much baking everything from scratch and that's what I'll be doing over the winter; not baking from scratch but building from scratch.  My friend George and I are going to fall a fairly large spruce tree on his property, buck it up into appropriate lengths and then take it to his workshop, where we'll slice it into quarters and turn it into suitable boards.  We're planning to build Sarah a custom pantry for baking and canning and a workspace for her sewing needs as well.  I'll also be looking into getting a large sink that I can plumb into a space near the washer and dryer; apparently the washer and dryer can be stacked one on top of the other.  This will enable Sarah to clean all her baking utensils more easily, since some of them are too large to fit into the kitchen sink.  Originally, when Sarah and I were talking about building her lots of shelves and work tables, we were going to buy most of the materials at TNT ( lumber store in Woodstock) but after talking it over with George and he volunteered his expertise, I just know we will produce something that will be a lot nicer and more functional than if I were going to do the work just on my own.
    

          George creates beautiful cabinets, often times with exotic woods and his carvings are very intricate and have much meaning.  Each year, like the carving portrayed, he carves something special to be sold at an art auction.   So as you can see by the carving, I'm very fortunate to have someone like George giving me a hand with Sarah's work station.  And, just to have some fun time together over the winter months, I'm going to carve a gargoyle in his workshop; I'm thinking a unicorn would be ideal.  I haven't carved much of anything before but I'm hoping with a little direction from George, I can pull it off or at least have something reasonably well done so it doesn't look too amateurish.

          Despite the rain, I see the chickens have left the coop and are scratching and pecking about in the pasture.  Freya, our goat doesn't like to get wet, so will have to make sure she has some hay to nibble on in the barn.  We had some out of town visitors who were out on a drive, stop here yesterday; they were amazed how happy the animals and chickens were.  Before they left and after talking to the man for a short time and showing him my art studio, he bought one of the books I wrote, Arctic Odyssey and a dozen very fresh, free range eggs.  We're hoping, at some point down the road, our little farm will pay for itself and if not, at least we are having fun doing a lot of things we like to do - cheers - eh!