16 Uses For Baling Twine

Oh, what a beautiful day it was! 

Peacock Sr

Waking up to sunshine can’t be beat. Add in the welcoming sounds from the animals and a good cup of coffee and you‘ve got a pretty good start to the day. And, its a toss-up as to who is the loudest in the morning. Between the horse, goats, chickens, peafowl and ducks, I think Ducky is the noisiest. In fact, she gets rather excited when she sees me first thing: she sneezes after she quacks. I find this trait of hers funny. Why would a duck sneeze? It made me think of the expression “nothing to sneeze at“ and where it originated. Take a look here because I’m sure you’ll find it quite interesting. I know I did, and now I’m beginning to think Ducky isn’t so cute.

Ducky & Dizzy

Trouble & Sandy sunbathing

As I sat in the sunshine for a bit this afternoon untangling baling twine that I refuse to throw away, knotting it together and then winding it onto a hose reel I got to thinking of the reasons why I was taking the time to bother. Well, let me count the ways:

1. Use to tie the lid down when hauling something in a vehicle trunk
2. Make braided lead ropes with clips for the horse, goats, cat, etc
3. Use it to make a straight fence line, seed rows or plant a straight line of bushes
4. Weave a floor cloth
5. Tie newspaper bundles
6. Crochet a rug
7. Use it to tie packages.
8. Make a fish net
9. Use it for temporary clothesline
10. Use it for tying down tarps 
11. Hang the chicken feeder
12. Use it for tying down tents
13. Make a string trellis for morning glories
14. Use it for string beans to climb
15. Use wood and baling twine to make a trellis panel
16. Use several strands together to make a hammock

I’m sure there are more uses, and I know there are some who would consider my reel of twine an eccentric habit. But it got me to wondering if anyone else would use my reel of baling twine after I’m gone. Naturally, I will leave it to my son. And I would hope he would gladly use it and think of me. But who would use it after him? He and his wife don’t have any children. Who is going to remember it was me that started that reel of twine? And why am I thinking of this baling twine as one of the two things I'd be leaving to posterity? Do I really want to be remembered as that crazy old woman who had a reel of twine and a sneezing duck?

Life With The Chickens

The three kittens who are still home are now 5 months old. I found the orange tiger, Trouble, chasing the chickens the other day because, well, he likes to cause trouble. Bob, a dark gray tiger, is just Bob. And then there is Sandy. I often find him among the new flock of pullets trying to rub up against them to get a little attention. The chickens are used to their four-legged companion. In fact, I'm kind of concerned that they are too comfortable with him. There were a couple of days last week that I found several of the pullets following a squirrel over to the edge of the woods.