Happy Harvest Blog
First strawberries of the year!
In the background these days, we are coping with the discovery that our beautiful dog, missing since April, died a long horrible death. He was a five minute walk away on our neighbour's property, and I am in disbelief and pain that I did not find him while he was still alive. He was a good and sweet dog and deserved much better. I cry every day.
Quill face
The winter is a blessed time of relative porcupine peace, but earlier in the fall, the dog got a mouthful. I pulled them all out of his mouth, but then, many days later, I felt a little prick on top of his nose. It's a quill! Worked up from inside his mouth, poking out the top of his muzzle.
mouse season
Not the brightest mouse in the maze, that one. No mouse parenting awards. Let's have babies in the dog's house. We'll live in the blanket, right underneath the dog! It's warm there. Not a mensa mouse.
Doggiversary
One example of a lot of other charming traits he exhibited at the beginning: he had some phobia of the leash around his legs. The lead simply getting looped under his "arm" would inspire him to suddenly hurl his body in all directions at once, thrashing and flailing around on the ground while shrieking insanely about it; on the whole, behavior appropriate to being attacked by a swarm of hornets. This was a mesmerizing spectacle, especially because it often wasn't clear what provoked the scene.
Little piggy rototillers
The pigs are growing. Petunia is a dedicated rooter, who is methodically expanding her plowed field. It’s getting kind of impressive.Rudy just follows her around, re-inspecting the ground she’s turned.
Positions my dog thinks are comfortable
Sure, I totally fit under here. As long as I don't move my head.Please can I lie on the pile of tools?
Got mange?
Smokey's got a funny thing going on. His undercoat hairs are trying to fall out/shed, but only in one spot, on each side. The guard hairs are fine and shorter there, and you can feel his skin right underneath them, as opposed to somewhere deep under a thick fur blanket.
Let the pig slathering begin.
Therefore, we moved the pig palace closer into the tree line for more shade, and set out to slather the pigs in (wondrous, all-purpose) Bag Balm (ears), and aloe vera gel (body).Critically, we forgot our ear protection, despite talking about it ahead of time. HW seized a pig and held it down, while I slathered as fast as I could. Rudy was first, screaming blue murder. Unhand me! The outrage! I demand of you to release me! How dare you!
Better dog
For months, our primary feeling about him was what were we thinking? He was pretty troubled when we got him, a huge handful, and he introduced himself by killing one of my chickens. It was a bad beginning and it didn't really improve.
How to get the garlic in the dog.
Sure, raw garlic is a natural alternative for deworming. But how to get it in the dog?I have the answer. A raw perogy (thawed out).
Moving day for the dog. Hilarity ensues.
First thing, the steel roof came off.This made the dog very nervous. He settled into the house like an Occupy protester and started dealing out morose looks.Perhaps I should explain that the dog is very attached to his house.
First Day of Spring in Nova Scotia!
Officially 4 feet deep. The snow is over the top of our garden fence. Indoors, however, the first seeds of the year hatched today:) Yay, green! Sunflowers germinate so fast!
Tragedy/Hope
Same day, the red hen went broody, and I broke her up by accident! I thought she might be hurt, crouched unusually on the floor of the coop, and I stroked her. She jumped up with a peep revealing three hot eggs she’d been on, and when I checked later she was on the roost, not on her eggs.
Instagram.
I may not make a blog post every day, but at least I Insta.
Bite size.
