Sarah E. Ross

My 5th great-aunt, Sarah E. Ross was born December 15th, 1833 in Sterling, Massachusetts. On November 14th, 1863 she married Daniel Bonney, a Union soldier. I don’t have much information about many family members, so I appreciate when I find stories that reveal more about the person. The following narrative was copied by my great-aunt Verna Benson (Daisy).

Great Grandma’s sister Sarah E. Ross married to Daniel Bonney was 50 years old when she died. She was a great hunter and taxidermist. Her husband was a Union soldier.

She was an enthusiastic sportswoman killing her own game with her double barrelled shotgun. She had a very fine case of stuffed birds on exhibition in the Woman’s Pavilion at the centennial and received diplomas and the great medal for the originality and excellence of her work. She made quite a speciality of the manufacture of feather fans and feather flowers which met with a ready sale at the summer resorts. The centennial exhibition was held at Boston. The choice birds in the case of 25 were of all varieties from a humming bird to an owl mounted on an imitation laurel branch.

It’s stories like that which make people become more than simply names and dates on a family tree.

Sarah Ross died March 3, 1884.

The Dig Site

Our property has a hill rising up behind the house. The backside of the hill is probably the warmest spot here as the sun hits it at a nice angle. This is where Xander has made his dig site.

Xander digging.
This spoon ain't cutting it, I want a trowel!
Worf helping to dig.

At first he was just excavating rocks but now he likes to bring his cars and a bucket of water up to play with in the dirt. It gets pretty dirty but he sure has fun.

Washing the cars.
Putting more dirt on the cars.
Mud on his face.

We had several wonderfully sunny days last week and we spent the mornings up there. Xander digging and playing with his cars while our dogs, Poppy Seed, McCoy, and new pup Worf raced around him.

I want to build a comfy storage bench up there. A nice under the seat cubby to keep some digging toys, balls for the dogs, and a comfy cushion. That way I’d only have to make one trip carrying our snacks and his bucket of water versus the multiple trips with toys, camp chairs, etc…

Snack time!
Tired doggies.
Have I mentioned that Worf is a chewer?

Do you have any special places in your yard?

Blurry Bunnies

I’ve been trying to get some good photos of the rabbits but so many of my shots are just blurs, those bunnies are quick!

This is Bill. He is the most skittish of the rabbits.

Bill and Margene's butt.
Bill has black circles anround his eyes and nose, polka dots...
and a stripe down his back.

Nicki sometimes will let you pet her but she’s still pretty skittish.

 

Nicki about to take off and zoom around the room.
I'm not sure what this coloring is called in rabbits, she's calico or brindle, the camera doesn't capture how pretty her coat is.

And last is Margene. She is by far the friendliest and will come over to be petted, not just by me but Xander too (and he is in no way quiet or calm). A very brave and friendly rabbit.

 

Margene checking out rocking dog, all the rabbits like to set him rocking.
Hi Margene!
Trying to reach the hay. I love it when they stand on their hind legs like this.

They’re doing well and we’re having fun with them but I cannot wait until they are out of the house. Messy, messy creatures! We try to let them out to run around once a day. They really enjoy zipping around and it reinforces the need to build them a bunny tractor so they can have time out of their cage.

 

The bunny Grand Prix.

Rascally Rabbits

Last Sunday we went to the feed store for chicken supplies (this was before the dog attack) and we came home with chicken bedding, food, corn, and rabbit pellets, a bale of alfalfa, and three rascally rabbits! A buck, Bill, and two does, Nicki and Margene (and for anyone who gets the names we call the wild rabbit in our yard Barb).

We’re hoping to get a hutch built for them soon but for now they are spending time with us in the house. Did you know that rabbits can squeeze through the wires on a dog crate?  We didn’t but we quickly found out, now it is wrapped in chicken wire.

Sadly this is the best photo I have of them. We’ll have to do a photo shoot when Ryan is home.

Bill is white with black spots and a stripe, Nicki is sort of calico/brindle, and Margene is black.

They all seem pretty friendly and they have been amazingly tolerant of Xander’s enthusiasm. He shows them toys, draws them pictures, and of course hollers at them. Since we’ve been asked numerous times, these 3 rabbits are pets but we will be breeding them and their offspring will be “meat”.

Bad Day

Our neighbors dogs dug under the fence and attacked our chickens. Peaches is dead, I found Patty and Ren (seemingly uninjured), but Stimpy, Mariah, Aplets and Cotlets are still missing. Ryan was able to catch the dogs and put them back in their own yard and then fill in the hole where they dug under. Patty and Ren are locked in the coop and chicken yard for now. Hoping we find the others alive but from the amount of feathers I know some of them must be dead or at least severely bald! It’s been a bad day!

 

Menu Plan Monday

Last week we didn’t have a menu or list prepared before shopping so our dinners ended up being pretty sad. Not wanting a repeat I made sure to get things planned on Saturday for our early Sunday shopping trip.

  • Baked chicken wings (somehow a veg never made it to the plate but we both had fruit after the chicken).
  • Steak with mushrooms, asparagus, and maybe some potatoes.
  • Zucchini noodles with meatballs in tomato sauce.
  • Cod baked with pesto and tomato, with steamed broccoli
  • Chicken taco salad (with no tortilla’s or chips).
  • No bun hamburgers with sweet potato fries.
  • Greek Pizza (I’m using my Greek pizza recipe (spinach, onions, feta, olives) and instead of putting it on a pizza crust I’m going to try baking it in a pie pan)

All the meals are gluten and grain free, and most are paleo/primal. To see what other people have planned this week stop by I’m an Organizing Junkie. Thanks for stopping by.

 

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