Thursday, May 20, 2010

Goslings






The goslings took their last swim in the bathtub today and I moved them outside to their new (temporary) home.

You can watch videos of the goslings here, here and here.

Monday, May 17, 2010

Hope's Grandbabies



These pups are the grandbabies of my Mini Dachshund, Hope, who passed away last June.

The owner of the dam (Hope's daughter) is a conscientious breeder and these pups are being raised in a loving home. They are currently available for sale. If anyone is interested, you can contact me and I will give you the owner's contact info. It's all I can do to keep from going and buying them all.


(If you would like to learn more about Hope and view pictures, you can type "Hope" in the search bar at the top of this blog.)

Thursday, May 13, 2010

Ben writes home

Ben (a miniature Dachshund born here on the farm) leads an exciting life and writes home to tell us all about it! For pictures and old letters from Ben, simply type "Ben" in the search bar at the top of the blog.

Dear friends

Well, I know I haven’t written in a long, long time, but after all I’m just a pup still and I’ve been very busy. The best news is that I’ve graduated for the Old Town School for Dogs. My diploma says that I’ve “demonstrated outstanding canine intelligence.” So there!

Sandy, my trainer, gave me a free nail clip as a graduation present, and Larry got me two stuffed toys. One of them laughs like a little kid when I play with it. How do they do that? I really like it. I gave myself the best graduation present of all, though. When Larry was putting away the toilet tissue he got the same day I graduated, I stole a whole roll. Before he knew it, I’d taken it to my basket and torn the whole thing up into tiny pieces and then scattered it over the bedroom floor. I don’t think Larry was too pleased with me. He was on the floor cleaning it up, and I kept trying to steal it from him. Would you believe he growled at me? Scared me at first; he sounded just like the really mean old bulldog on Seward Square. After I got over being scared, I started trying to steal the pieces of tissue again, but it was too late.

By the way, Sandy wants me to spend Mondays with her every now and then. Post-graduate stuff, you know. I think she really likes me. I know I like her.

Did I tell you I went to Key West in February? I had to ride in a Sherpa bag under the airplane seat as far as Fort Lauderdale, and then we drove down to Key West. I still wasn’t into riding in a car yet and missed a lot of the views. Now, I really like to look out. (I get really excited when we go to the places I’ve been before, like my school). My favorite place was B.O.’s wagon, where they serve great fish sandwiches. I wasn’t allowed to have any, dagnabit, but I did grab a fry when one dropped to the floor. The weather wasn’t very good there, either. I don’t understand why my very first winter on earth had to be one of the worst ever. All that snow and my short legs. Unfair! I did get to meet Hoover, Jack’s dog, and some other dog that didn’t like to share bones. My first fight, ever! Can you imagine such a thing. I also got to meet Aunt Sharon. She took lots of pictures and wants to come and photograph me visiting Washington monuments. I don’t know when she’s coming, but I’ll be excited to visit her again. And I met another Ben, there, and his wife Helen. I had a good time listening to Ben playing the guitar and, when he quit, chewing on his arm. Not hard, just enough to show him how much I enjoyed his music.

I’m a good climber. I especially like to get up on the kitchen table, just to look around and, on occasion to snag some food. I had a great salad the other day and today I had a whole banana. I could only eat half the peel, though. Larry didn’t say a word, but you could tell he was afraid I’d throw up or poop indoors. That’s a big no-no in this house, and I’ve gotten really, really good at waiting ‘til we go outside.

I’m really excited. Pretty soon I get to spend two weeks in the country with Aunt Julia and Aunt Helen. Helen wants me to sleep with her. I hope she likes to get up early, because I like to eat first thing and then go out. Aunt Julia has another dog, Sara, who was a friend of Tyler. She’s no youngster, so I hope she’s ready for a pup in the house. I’ve got lots and lots of energy and like to run a lot. Larry can’t run. He’s got a bum ankle, so that’s a trial I have to endure. Tough luck, huh!

Your friend, Little Ben

P.S. I’ll write sooner next time. I’m sure you’ll wanna know what kind of trouble I got into out in the country.

Monday, May 10, 2010

Splish, Splash, Splosh


Saturday I got a call from Mike telling me that a young man that comes to the farm from time to time had put three "orphaned" goose eggs under a broody hen and two of the eggs had hatched out. Knowing that the wild, free range, game cross hen would never be able to keep the fox from getting the babies, I asked Mike to bring them to me so that I could raise them. They presented the two little squeaking babies to me in a cardboard box. I did a quick search on the Internet and asked around as to how to raise goslings. I put them in my bathtub and gave them some water and feed and put a light on them to keep them warm.

Sunday morning, Mother's Day, Mike came back after taking care of things down at the "beef" farm and with him he had the third gosling that had hatched out sometime during the night. I named the three Splish, Splash and Splosh. Splash is the biggest and he likes to pick on the other two. I kept trying to tell him that he could not be mean to them but he just wouldn't listen. So, we got a box and put him in "time out". It was a plastic box and he could see the other two which made him even more angry that he could not get to them. The newest gosling was still pretty weak and I did not want Splash to be mean to her.

After several hours, I came back and put the three of them together. Splash was nice to Splish and Splosh at first but soon grew tired of that and started biting their feet and pulling at their fluff again. So, Splash went in time out again.

Finally, last night, I was able to let Splash in with Splish and Splosh and was happy to see them all huddled together under the light enjoying each other's company.

Saturday, May 08, 2010

Oops!!!!

This post could have several titles:

OOPS!!!!

OH BULL!!!!!

PRINCESS IS A SKANK!!!!

I had to leave the house for a while yesterday, but not before I mentally took note of the fact that Princess was in heat. I did manage to write it down on the calender before I left. I also mentally reviewed the fact that the gate was properly latched between the field where Princess was and the field where I keep Little Davie, the yearling bull, knowing they would both be hanging out by that gate while she was in heat.

Then, I went to run my errands, spent some time at the other farm, got home and started hanging clothes on the line. While hanging clothes, I looked up to see Promise in the back pasture where the bull and Zeke (who is being weaned) are kept.

It took a minute for my brain to register as I went through the process of telling myself, "That's not Promise it's Zeke. No, that's Promise. No that's Zeke. That IS Promise and she is in the wrong field!"

The light bulb went off in my head finally that something was amiss.

I took off down to the barnyard to check it out and realized that Zeke was running around like a child turned loose at an amusement park, kicking up his heels and running like crazy in the heifer's field. At the same time, poor Promise was in the back field and couldn't quite figure out how she had found herself there and was bawling her head off.

I also realized there was an audience of all the mature cows on my side of the fence standing and watching the show.

As I begin to witness the true show,the phone rang and it was my husband calling me from the hay field. He tells me that Princess is standing for Davie.

"No joke, I say as I witness the breeding from just a few yards away.

I started into a verbal tirade about how I wanted to wait so that Princess would have a baby in April and how I didn't want a February calf.

Mike said, "Well maybe he didn't hit the mark. Separate them."

"Sure. No problem" I'm thinking as I observe the little 34 inch yearling bull and 38 inch 19 month old heifer.

I was careful but still pretty brave due to my anger at the unruly teenagers free love fest going on before my very eyes! I tried to move the gate but soon realize it's not unlatched but it's busted! Well, the gate was not busted. But the gate was off the hinges on one side and the latch busted on the other side. (This is not a small gate, mind you. It's a big, red bull gate. These "teenagers" were determined.)

I must say that Davie was never aggressive towards me even in the heat of the moment. (Good bull, Davie!) When I got behind him and kicked his butt, he moved and I managed to get him in the stable. Once inside the stable he threw a royal fit as any good bull would do! (Pawing, prancing, snorting, and banging his head against the walls.)

While Davie had his fit, I had to repair the gate, get it back on the hinges (think heavy gate and wimpy woman here) and then get Promise back in her field and Zeke back in his field.

After all that when the adrenaline rush had subsided, I realized that there was no way the compromised gate was going to keep the two lovers apart. As the thought sunk into my thick head that the Princess was more than likely bred anyway, I figured I might as well put them together and save myself more headache.

So, I did.

I am like the mother who plans an elaborate wedding for her daughter and her daughter runs off and elopes! My little Princess is such a skank!

Of course, as any good grandmother would do, I had to check to bovine gestation calender to see when the baby would be due if Princess actually did conceive. Would you believe, right around Valentine's Day?

Now isn't that appropriate!?!

Thursday, May 06, 2010

First Cutting





Looks like the only thing I can manage to get on my blog recently are pictures! We have started on the first cutting of hay for the season.

Saturday, May 01, 2010

More Weekend Photos





Weekend Photos





Update on the Angel Tree Lady



Almost a year ago, Mike and I went to South Carolina to visit our daughter Kristin and her finace' Nate. While we were there, we visited St. John's Island and the majestic Angel Oak tree that grows there. While we were there, we met two delightful women. One of the women was a caretaker for the other who was 105 years old. When it became aware to me that the women had forgotten to bring a camera with them, I offered to take pictures and email them back to the ladies. Such a simple thing to do and I was so pleased to be able to do it. You can read my account here.

This morning, I received a message from the caretaker stating that the older woman passed away at 105 1/2 years old. She said that the woman made those around her look everyday at the pictures I had taken of her at the Angel Oak . Such a simple act on my part that didn't take hardly any time out of my day brought daily happiness to a woman during her last year on this earth. We just never know how much joy a simple act of kindness can bring to the life of another. I have to admit, I cried when I heard of her passing. Although I only met these ladies once, our chance encounter was more of a blessing to me than it could have ever been to them. I still believe I met two Angels at the Angel tree that day. One of them has simply gone home to heaven.