Good Bye to the Guard Dog

In the picture above Fluffy just getting back from one of his patrols around the farm. 

Fluffy past away last Saturday, he was a great guard dog and we will miss him very much!

 

More Storm Stuff!!!

Mom has a great account of the storm!  Go to my sidebar and click on The Farm Blog if you haven’t read it yet.

This is scrappy, he is sitting on my lap as I write, isn’t he cute?

7 Inches & Ice

 

 

Yesterday we woke up to 7 inches of snow on the ground and a little sprinkling out of the sky..….and then that sprinkling snow turned to rain, freezing on contact, coating everything in ice!

 

 That evening we lost power, we are still without power and probable will be for the next few days, as it continues to rain the trees get heavier and heavier snapping and popping  every which way, making line repair very difficult.  I will post more pics and fill you in on more of the excitement  later.  It’s crazy out there!!!!!

 

Little Snipe!

This morning while I was doing my chores, I happened upon this little one, near the duck pond. 

Common Snipe is it’s name, it hangs out in freshwater marshes and ponds. It seemed to be fairly brave, staying near the pond while I was working. 

I Did it Again!

Another Farm tragedy, due to my forgetful/sidetracked brain. 

A few night ago I went out to feed and put away my turkeys as I do every night…..but I missed that last step, I fed them but I forgot to go around and shut all their doors.

As I stepped off the porch the next morning I knew there was something wrong with the picture I was seeing. It wasn’t the free ranging turkeys that I noticed first, no, it was the small clump of white feathers on the ground, immediately I realized, “ Oh I left the turkeys out!!!!!!” As I got closer I saw more and more feathers here, there and every where.

The coyotes must have been waiting for this very opportunity, they killed and carried away two big toms.  One I didn’t really care about, but the other was my favorite.  I do have a replacement……but the fellow I lost was in his prime.  He had all his big boy feathers and he was so pretty and…...Oh well, that’s enough whining! 

The fact of the matter is I have a definite problem on my hands ~forgetfulness~ I try and have a routine so I don’t forget anybody.  Sometimes my brain runs on auto pilot and that’s where the routine helps it makes me think about what I’m doing, what comes next, it also makes me more efficient.  It doesn’t always work though, sometimes I think too far ahead and skip a step, or blend two chores into one.  Like when I pick up the bunnies from their bunny-tractor and go to put them in their hutch in the barn for the night, I try to put the bunny in the the dove pen cuz’ I was thinking about doing game bird chores at the moment! I’ve done that twice now.

I think the answer might be a sidekick, someone to follow me around and question my every move!  

I’m taking applications.  

Mink!

Recently I lost all of four my Dutch hook bill ducks.  (the smaller breed)

 

The Dutch hook bill are in front~And that’s a cat on my shoulder

The first night three were taken, then it came back for the last one the next night, carrying them up the wall of their shed and out through the gap between the wall and the roof….I have patched the gap!  I had been thinking it was a small raccoon that did the deed, but this morning I saw it! a little mink running along the edge of the pond, forgetting we had the little critter I never suspected it.  Its all so clear now! 

Take My Word for it

 

It’s a Red-tailed Hawk!

Habitat: Deciduous forests and open country of various kinds, including tundra, plains, and farmlands.

The Red-tail is the most common and widespread American member of the genus Buteo.

These are not leaves!  They are little birds, a very large flock of little birds, too far away to identify.