I couldn't resist bringing this little girl home. She reminded me so much of Dodge. We've named her Maggie. She's an angel of a dog and is happy as all can be outside. But has an utter fear of being inside our house, obviously there is a troubled past here. We discovered Dodge too had some issues but after living with us for the past couple weeks, he is starting to come around and is a happy little dog now. It seems I always find the puppies with a troubled past or not from the best of condition homes. Or maybe they find me.
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Last Sunday an F3 tornado wripped through the sleepy lakeside town of Goderich, Ontario, an hour's drive north of us. Goderich is a town very special to me and my family. For six years we had lived ten minutes away from this quaint little city Queen Victoria had dubbed "the prettiest town in Canada". It has a population of approximately 8,000, one grocery store, two department stores and a historical octagonal shaped town square that overlooks Lake Huron. The town's number one industry is their salt mine that is perched on this coastline. It extends under the lake at a size double that of the city itself, making it the largest salt mine in the world. The beaches, historical buildings and breathtaking sunsets has made it a popular destination for many, and the reason why I fell in love with this city. So when we heard about the tornado which was the largest in the area since 1996, we were shocked and horribly saddened. Yesterday, we finally got out to Goderich to see the aftermath of our beautiful city. Alot of the cleanup was done, but there was still lots to be done. Streets looked bare from trees being torn from the ground. But mostly it was the town square itself that got the worse damage. It was still completely shutdown so I was unable to go down and witness the devastation myself, but what I saw was bad enough. Historical church with it's roof torn off was no match to the storm. Siding torn off the back end of the old salt mine. The new salt mine with it's dome wripped off. On the opposite side of town, the salt mine's elevator didn't fair any better. Messages were left all over buildings for the kindhearted souls of Goderich and surrounding area who helped out after the storm.
I've been slowly trying to introduce the ducks down to the watering hole in the horse's pasture ever since that first attempt with Sir Quacksalot and the Mrs. It hasn't been going very well. I finally was able to lure them down with food but just as soon as they were done, they'd head straight back up the hill and to the pond. Not that having ducks at my pond isn't nice, but having a poop covered deck isn't so nice. So frustrated, I thought I would have to buy some snow fence and erect it around the watering hole forcing the ducks to stay down there, another expense I didn't want. Then the other day my boy came running over to me to inform me that the ducks were heading down the pasture toward the watering hole on their own. We just had a huge storm the night before and the watering hole finally had water in it after a long drought. So I quickly snatched some feed up and ran down after them. I was met by the horses who thought duck feed tasted delicious. After spending some time and effort chasing them away, I finally was able to lure the ducks back. Then, with the horses no longer a threat, I sneaked back up the hill and watched from a distance. Guess what? The ducks stayed! This was monumental! Really, ever since my boy tracked duck poop onto my hardwood floor I've been yearning for this moment! Unable to resist, I sneaked back down to see what they were doing. A little bit of encouragement from Emma and they were in! Finally! I stayed and watched for a while longer until the horses returned, then I left the new roomies to get to know one another and went back up the hill. And they stayed! I climbed the pasture fence behind my backyard and peered down the hill and could still see them swimming in the watering hole (white speck in middle of photo). They hadn't followed me back! Of course, an hour later I look out my window and see the older ducks swimming in the pond. Guess when the horses eventually wandered off, the ducks took it as their opportunity to make a break for it. Oh well, at least they stayed longer this time. Besides, if the ducks were to permanently stay down at the watering hole, we'd miss out on these moments.
Yes, I am dedicating an entire blog entry to my breakfast. Afterall, I have been waiting for this particular breakfast since April so I am going to make a big deal about it. And they were the best tasting scrambled eggs EVER!
We are pretty excited here on the farm, one of our chickens has laid our first egg. Which solves two mysteries. One, the gender of Lucy here. Obviously, this confirms she is a hen, and secondly I had suspected she was an Easter Egger. The colour of her eggs confirms this. And yes, I said eggs. She gave me not one, but two! One after the other! Is that normal?!
Yesterday was vet day. We took Dodge in to get neutered and while there we brought the goldens in to get some shots and a check up. I was slightly concerned for Emma as she started limping for no reason, but thankfully the vet checked her all over and couldn't find anything wrong with her. When looking for a dog for my boy, I knew I wanted an older dog but not too old, just enough to have passed the puppy stage and training stage. Yet, young enough if not trained properly I could correct. If he were already neutered that would have been a bonus. At the age of two, Dodge turned out to be everything I envisioned my boy's dog to be. Unfortunately, however, he did not come neutered. Perhaps I should have waited a bit to make sure he had no behavour problems or get a physical before getting him neutered, but with Emma being unspayed and Ryder not neutered, that was not an option. Any dog that comes onto our property must be fixed. And if things really didn't work out, at least I feel better knowing I'm keeping unwanted puppy pregnacies down. Anyway, he came out of the surgery fine, but won't stop licking the wound. That is obviously a no-no but the vet's don't put those cone collars on them anymore. The stitches are on the inside so no fear of the dog opening up the incision, but by licking it they can cause infection and delay healing. So I made him a cone myself out of cardboard from a case of pop. But it wasn't sturdy enough and kept blocking his view causing him to walk into things and hence damaging the cone. Listening to him lick his wound all night long I knew I had to come up with a better plan. Hey, at least it works! Much to Dodge's frustration. In other news from around the farm, rooster #2 has revealed himself. That would be my chantecler whom I had suspected was a rooster when he challenged the turkies when noone else did. I'd say my odds are pretty good considering he is the only rooster out of my six chanteclers.
For never having seen a horse before, Dodge fell in love with Chase at first sight and attached himself to his heel like a suckerfish to a shark. Farm Girl couldn't even ditch the pup when she went off riding. Oh well, it's a good thing they both enjoy the company of dogs.
My boy has been wanting a dog of his own for a while now. He even had his name already picked out. But his number one choice in breeds had me hesitating in getting him one. About a year ago when my daughter was volunteering at the humane society, we popped in to visit the animals while waiting for her to finish up. There was a Jack Russell there that literally bounced up and down in his cage which tickled my boy's funny bone and had him wanting a Jack Russell ever since. I did my research on Jack Russell's and new they weren't a good match for me, the primary caretaker. Beagles on the other hand, were more my style. Of course they were a little low-keyed for a hyper boy like mine so new we had to meet in the middle somewhere. Enter this little fellow. A jack russell/beagle cross. Not only did he win my boy over, but he melted all our hearts on first meet. And if you are wondering what my boy named him, here's a hint (and yes we had the kerchief bought long ago).
My fingers are raw, my knuckles have bled themselves dry, my knees have early arthritis and back pain has kept me up most nights...and yet those damn weeds continue to grow! So I am putting out a plea to the great blogosphere....WHAT IS THE SECRET TO REMOVING WEEDS FROM GRAVEL?! (And keeping them away!) I am hoping someone can help before my gravel driveway is overcome by weeds completely. (That green patch in the top right corner used to be completely gravel two months ago.)
I went across the pasture and up the hill to take a new updated photo of the farm for my blog header, but there is too much growth on the trees to see anything. I'll have to find a new spot with a clearer image for my summer shot. What is black and white checkered? That would be one of our duckings and his sibling. I love seeing the colours of foliage and fur developing on new critters. We've called this one Nascar. And look who went cock-a-doodle-doo this morning. The first one out of the group to do so. It would be nice if he were the only one. And lastly, look who finally got in the mood to help! It's a good thing too because I couldn't get that pole back out of the hole to take into the barn for it's cutting and drilling.
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