Earlier this week, Shawn and I made the decision to put Abby up for adoption and started advertising. Don't get me wrong, she's a good dog and had come a long way in just under 2 weeks. All her food guarding issues resolved quickly (though I did fully disclose that to her new owners) and she had come a long way in learning her name and we began working on her recall.
But, it was very soon after losing Buddy to add a new dog to the household and having 2 pups and an older dog is way more work than having 2 older dogs and a pup! I wasn't ready to commit to that kind of work for a dog that just sort of showed up here. Plus... she's a lab... her whole personality, the way she runs, eats, learns... its all so "labby".
I know many people LOVE labs... but they really aren't my favourite type of dog... we already have one lab, Pixie, to whom we've made a life long committment to and that's fine... but I decided YEARS ago, there would be no more labs in my life. Then Abby showed up and thinking about committing another 10-15 years of my life to a type of dog I really don't like... just seemed overwhelming.
So we advertised her... we got a few responses, but no one was actually interested enough to come and see her. Then I got an email saying a friend's sister was very interested and was given contact info. We made contact via email and on the phone and I did my best to ask all the appropriate questions and they asked everything they could think of about Abby.
Given that these people were recommended to me by one of HJ's members who has done much good for both horses and dogs in need in the past, I felt reasonably comfortable that they would provide a good home. After talking to them, I was even more sure.
So today, they drove from Guelph to Ottawa to pick her up!! They have two kids, 8 & 10, so not really little. When they first arrived (I had my 2 whacko mutts locked in their crates upstairs so as not to cause total chaos!) Abby was in her crate in the mudroom. She was initially a bit overwhelmed by the extra people, but we took her out in the yard and let her explore the new people at her own pace.
It wasn't long and she was following the kids around while they held her leash and feeling pretty comfortable with her interactions. They already have her booked for puppy classes starting THIS week, like in 3 - 4 days!!
The adoption agreement was signed, the fee exchanged and all was good... Abby's crate and her tub of stuff was going to get loaded into the back of their mini van and then Abby put in her crate.... then it was discovered that they locked their keys in their van!
Some attempts were made with a coat hanger and various bits of wire... then CAA was called. They said it would take them 90 minutes to arrive! While waiting for CAA more attempts were made ot unlock the doors, but no go. During this time, Abby was taken for several walks around the property with the kids and me.
We made an effort this morning to tire Abby out in hopes she would sleep for the long ride home... by the time we were walking around the property, she was practically a zombie! She kept looking at her crate longingly, in hopes she could soon nap.
During one of the walks around the property to distract both kids and pup, one of the kids had a major run in with a burdock bush and required some help to get unstuck from himself! I bet that kid gives the next burdock bush a WIDE berth! :) Burdock trauma ;)
Anyhow, the local tow truck finally showed up... much sooner than 90 minutes! (They were here a total of 90 minutes) and the tow truck driver got out his fancy tools and in minutes had the doors open! Abby's crate and tub of stuff got loaded and then I lifted her into her crate, told her to be a good girl and that was that.
I don't imagine they will get home to Guelph until 8 or 9pm tonight, depending on how many stops they have to make... what a LONG day for them!
Due to the timing, Shawn and I missed lunch (and we shared a box of kraft dinner for breakfast... gross, I know!), so we went into town (we were in NEED of some groceries!) and picked up some groceries at Farm Boy... we also bought some food to eat in the car... Shawn had veggies and dip and I had a small container of Farm Boy potatoe salad. We gobbled down our snacks and were still hungry, so we stopped at the Shell gas station on the way home and got a couple nasty, yet delicious, gas station hot dogs and gobbled those down too!
Oliver and Pixie seem fine with Abby being gone... they are both exhausted from the 2 weeks of constant playing... neither looked for her or anything like that... they are both sound asleep now... Ollie on the couch and Pixie on the floor. Its so quiet here... not that Abby was that noisy, but her presence made Ollie be busier than normal and often made Pixie bark when Ollie and Abby were playing.
It's almost 6pm and at some point I'll make us some supper... but maybe a late supper since we inhaled a bunch of snacks at 4-430pm! :)
I'm pretty sure Abby went to a good family that will do right by her... and I'm sure she'll turn out to be a wonderful dog, once she settles in there... she's got a good friendly heart and just needs some consistency in her world and someone to teach her how to be a good dog. I hope they enjoy her... they have said they will send me updates, so we'll see.
It sure is hard letting them go, but I know we did the right thing for us and I'm pretty sure it will be the right thing for Abby, also!
Anyhow, now I should head out and feed my goat babies and sheep their supper and bring fresh water. Always someone hungry and / or thirsty around here! :)
-- L
Saturday, March 21, 2009
Friday, March 13, 2009
Another Friday The 13th
It's been one month since we lost Buddy. So far, and I almost fear saying this, March's Friday the 13th has been much better than February's Friday the 13th.
This week we acquired a new puppy, Abigail. I posted some pics in the FHH album of her, Pixie and Oliver. She literally showed up at our door step and her owners asked us to take her in. I told them I would take her, but I couldn't guarantee I'd keep her, but I'd make sure she'd find a good home if I didn't keep her.
Oliver really likes her and treats her like his own personal toy. Mostly the whole time they are together, they are go, go, go... .run, wrestle, chase, bite and all that. Being as there is only 6 months difference in their ages, there's much fun to be had... Ollie is a BIG fan of fun :)
Pixie tolerates her... she's not afraid of her like she was when we got Ollie, but she's also about 5 months old, so she's mostly a dog already and doesn't have that toddling puppy thing going on that Oliver had.
Abby is said to be a lab x shep... we were told her mother was a yellow lab and her father was a shep x of some sort... another one of those secret, unplanned rendez-vous that dogs are famous for! She was born October 15, 2008 and when we went to the vet this week was 42 lbs. She's short, but chunky... you really notice the chunkiness if you pick her up and carry her anywhere, especially if it involves stairs.
Abby seems to be a bit spoiled and seems not to have had any discipline in her life... while she can sleep through the night without having to go out, she sometimes wakes up and cries a bit... her old owner told me that when she used to do that, the owner would go and get her from her crate and cuddle her for a while. Needless to say THAT has stopped and she's now relearning that if you cry at night, you get taken outside to do your business and immediately returned to your crate. Apparently that's not all that much fun ;)
She also seems to have a few issues with protecting her food, even from people. We started working on that immediately this week and she seems a bit better... she lost the right to just get served her food in a bowl... now she gets a bowl with a tiny bit of food and then I add a small bit at a time. She now accepts my hands near her bowl without problem, as I'm always adding more food to it. I can lift her head out of the bowl and pick up the bowl while there's food in it without any snapping or growling... I make her sit patiently and then she gets it back.
Abby also doesn't know her name, but then again, we changed it on her, so that will take some time to learn... she didn't seem to know her old name though, anyhow. If motivated, she can sit, shake a paw and lay down... but pay any attention to you when you call her... No Way! We'll work on that also. I'm trying not to throw too much at her all at once... after all, she had a kinda crappy week, suddenly leaving her old home and coming here, getting to know new people, new dogs, a new house... a new name... everything.
I'm also not sure if its all the change or because she's fairly young... but she seems to not have much personality yet at this point. She reminds me a bit of our sheep... the sitting and blinking with a blank stare and stuff like that. Hopefully that will change.
The lab blood in her seems to be stronger than anything else... she's very similar to Pixie in many ways... the way she runs, the way she sits, the way she eats and the blank staring! ;) Of course, I'm used to Oliver, who is Mr.Personality Plus... really, he might have enough personality for both of them!
Its probably not fair to say she lacks personality... I don't really know her yet and she's getting used to all the changes and I don't feel like I've bonded to her yet in any way. That combined with the fact that I was not really ready to have a 3rd dog again so soon after we lost Buddy... we'll see how it goes.
Adding her into our house has really highlighted what a good dog Oliver is! Abby thinks nothing of putting her front paws on the counters and if there's anything in reach, grabbing it and running off. I swore I'd never have another lab after Pixie and yet somehow, one showed up on the doorstep. I really should have the "Sucker" tattoo removed from my forehead. Abby seems to be a strong willed, scrappy little girl though... which I suppose is good when it comes to playing with Oliver.
Oliver has changed this week with Abby joining our household. He acts a lot more like Buddy did... being the man dog of the house and keeping an eye on everyone... quite the little busy body. So far, I think he will end up being the dominant dog... Pixie has no inclination that way and Abby is kinda young.
All the dogs are really tired this week from all the playing... it means they are either sleeping or going full steam ahead... there doesn't seem to be much in between... I'm sure that will mellow out with time.
I just want to make it clear that Abby is not a replacement for Buddy, there's just no chance of that and never will be. Oliver on the other hand, is doing his best to try to fill up that Buddy shaped empty spot in my heart. He won't replace him either, but he does help reduce the sting. That's something.
Anyhow... enough about dogs.... we had a bunch of snow and ice melt... we still have quite a bit to go though... I'm looking forward to it all being gone!
The sheep and goats are doing well and I think are looking forward to there being some green grass at some point... the sooner the better as far as they are concerned. They are enjoying the hay that I got brought in... its the good stuff and only the biggest, toughest stalks don't get eaten and then I just use it for bedding. (How comfy sounding! ha)
I can't think of anything else new or interesting, so I think that's it for now. Don't forget to check out the pics in the FHH album.
--L
This week we acquired a new puppy, Abigail. I posted some pics in the FHH album of her, Pixie and Oliver. She literally showed up at our door step and her owners asked us to take her in. I told them I would take her, but I couldn't guarantee I'd keep her, but I'd make sure she'd find a good home if I didn't keep her.
Oliver really likes her and treats her like his own personal toy. Mostly the whole time they are together, they are go, go, go... .run, wrestle, chase, bite and all that. Being as there is only 6 months difference in their ages, there's much fun to be had... Ollie is a BIG fan of fun :)
Pixie tolerates her... she's not afraid of her like she was when we got Ollie, but she's also about 5 months old, so she's mostly a dog already and doesn't have that toddling puppy thing going on that Oliver had.
Abby is said to be a lab x shep... we were told her mother was a yellow lab and her father was a shep x of some sort... another one of those secret, unplanned rendez-vous that dogs are famous for! She was born October 15, 2008 and when we went to the vet this week was 42 lbs. She's short, but chunky... you really notice the chunkiness if you pick her up and carry her anywhere, especially if it involves stairs.
Abby seems to be a bit spoiled and seems not to have had any discipline in her life... while she can sleep through the night without having to go out, she sometimes wakes up and cries a bit... her old owner told me that when she used to do that, the owner would go and get her from her crate and cuddle her for a while. Needless to say THAT has stopped and she's now relearning that if you cry at night, you get taken outside to do your business and immediately returned to your crate. Apparently that's not all that much fun ;)
She also seems to have a few issues with protecting her food, even from people. We started working on that immediately this week and she seems a bit better... she lost the right to just get served her food in a bowl... now she gets a bowl with a tiny bit of food and then I add a small bit at a time. She now accepts my hands near her bowl without problem, as I'm always adding more food to it. I can lift her head out of the bowl and pick up the bowl while there's food in it without any snapping or growling... I make her sit patiently and then she gets it back.
Abby also doesn't know her name, but then again, we changed it on her, so that will take some time to learn... she didn't seem to know her old name though, anyhow. If motivated, she can sit, shake a paw and lay down... but pay any attention to you when you call her... No Way! We'll work on that also. I'm trying not to throw too much at her all at once... after all, she had a kinda crappy week, suddenly leaving her old home and coming here, getting to know new people, new dogs, a new house... a new name... everything.
I'm also not sure if its all the change or because she's fairly young... but she seems to not have much personality yet at this point. She reminds me a bit of our sheep... the sitting and blinking with a blank stare and stuff like that. Hopefully that will change.
The lab blood in her seems to be stronger than anything else... she's very similar to Pixie in many ways... the way she runs, the way she sits, the way she eats and the blank staring! ;) Of course, I'm used to Oliver, who is Mr.Personality Plus... really, he might have enough personality for both of them!
Its probably not fair to say she lacks personality... I don't really know her yet and she's getting used to all the changes and I don't feel like I've bonded to her yet in any way. That combined with the fact that I was not really ready to have a 3rd dog again so soon after we lost Buddy... we'll see how it goes.
Adding her into our house has really highlighted what a good dog Oliver is! Abby thinks nothing of putting her front paws on the counters and if there's anything in reach, grabbing it and running off. I swore I'd never have another lab after Pixie and yet somehow, one showed up on the doorstep. I really should have the "Sucker" tattoo removed from my forehead. Abby seems to be a strong willed, scrappy little girl though... which I suppose is good when it comes to playing with Oliver.
Oliver has changed this week with Abby joining our household. He acts a lot more like Buddy did... being the man dog of the house and keeping an eye on everyone... quite the little busy body. So far, I think he will end up being the dominant dog... Pixie has no inclination that way and Abby is kinda young.
All the dogs are really tired this week from all the playing... it means they are either sleeping or going full steam ahead... there doesn't seem to be much in between... I'm sure that will mellow out with time.
I just want to make it clear that Abby is not a replacement for Buddy, there's just no chance of that and never will be. Oliver on the other hand, is doing his best to try to fill up that Buddy shaped empty spot in my heart. He won't replace him either, but he does help reduce the sting. That's something.
Anyhow... enough about dogs.... we had a bunch of snow and ice melt... we still have quite a bit to go though... I'm looking forward to it all being gone!
The sheep and goats are doing well and I think are looking forward to there being some green grass at some point... the sooner the better as far as they are concerned. They are enjoying the hay that I got brought in... its the good stuff and only the biggest, toughest stalks don't get eaten and then I just use it for bedding. (How comfy sounding! ha)
I can't think of anything else new or interesting, so I think that's it for now. Don't forget to check out the pics in the FHH album.
--L
Sunday, March 8, 2009
"Spring" Is Exhausting!
So its March and clearly its not truly spring yet... but Saturday was spring LIKE... which meant we did our best to make the most of the day. After feeding the dogs and goats, I decided it was so nice out that I would start picking up dog poop in the yard.
Generally, we like to pick it up right after it happens and not have a messy yard... I hate having poop everywhere, then someone steps in it, tracks it into the house and all that! But this winter was LONG and COLD and it was easier just to open the door, let them out to do what they had to and then let them back in. Otherwise you have to pile on all your outside clothes and boots and hats and mitts, just to pick up a poop.... for most of the winter we had 3 dogs which means that happens at least 6 times a day!!
Anyhow, I've picked it up a few times, whenever there's a decent day and since it started melting this weekend, there was more that became visible. So Shawn I spent almost an hour touring around the yard with bags, picking it up. Unbelievable amounts, is all I will say!! Oh and we were smart to do this BEFORE breakfast, as after breakfast would've been much much MUCH worse!
We also went out into the goat yard and raked up all the nasty, dirty, soggy, wet, poopy hay that had accumulated over the winter. When its nice outside, I like to feed a bit of hay outside on the ground... the goats like to eat in the sunshine and I figure the fresh air is good for them. Every evening when I lock them up in their shed, I like to rake up the leftover hay and if its not too wet, I toss it into the shed as bedding... but of course, you always miss some... sometimes it snows on it and covers it and stuff like that.
We filled and hauled (Shawn did most of the hauling) at least 8 - 10 muck buckets of this nasty stuff out of the goat pen.... mind you, the buckets weren't full, at about half full they were almost too heavy to carry!! Gross stuff now that will hopefully make nice dirt to grow pretty stuff in eventually!
We also took down the outside Christmas lights and all the extension cords (except for one that part of it is still frozen under some ice and snow. They are all rolled up neatly and waiting to be put away in their rubbermaid container until next time.
We also went into town on Saturday and I ordered my new eye glasses... I had gone in earlier in the week looking for new frames and found ones I liked the style of, but not the colour... the manager of the store was a great help during the process and told me the style I liked came in another colour, but they didn't have them in stock, but could order them in for me to try.
So by Saturday they were in and I took Shawn with me to make sure I didn't look TOO stupid in them. They are a similar style to my current ones... a bit more chunky though... the fronts are a dark gray / almost black and the arms are a brownish colour. They look better than my description makes them sound :) They should be ready in a couple weeks for pick up. They are the kind that come with clip on sunglasses (sort of like the magnetic ones I already have, but they happen to not be magnetic, if that makes any sense!) Thank goodness for extended health insurance, otherwise, I'd have to keep making do with the ones I have!!
While we were in town, we made a trip to Home Depot... a spring day and Home Depot... a perfect combination! We looked around at various things, Shawn bought a new pair of gloves (I got a pair earlier in the week). They are very similar to our SSG riding gloves, but a little bit thicker and definitely cheaper!! ($10 compared to $35 - 40!) They are still think enough to operate snaps and fasteners which is what we were after.
Today we took it a bit easier, it was quite a bit colder out and there was a nasty wind... we mucked out the goat shed though... a good day for that... yesterday would've felt very warm... today was cool enough that we needed our hats and coats on and no one worked up a sweat!
We also spent some time thinking about chicken coops and what we want to build and how to do it cheaply and still have it look nice and have the features we want. We didn't come to any decisions yet, but we're going to look into the shed kits again (sold at HD, Rona, etc).
We had looked at them for our goat shed last year, but decided they were just not going to be durable enough for goats without a lot of $$ improvements... chickens on the other hand are smaller animals and don't need the same level of durability... mostly it just has to be strong enough to keep predators OUT with chickens. So we'll see... I'm sure this topic will be debated for a while yet... I'm sure you all wish you were here to listen to it in all its excessiveness! ha!
So that was our tiring weekend.... some where in there Shawn's laundry got done... meals got made and enjoyed.... dogs fed and played with... goats fed and fussed with... all in all busy enough compared to recent weekends. We're both tired and I think both of us are feeling a few muscles that got a bit soft over the winter... but the good weather comes, you start to feel like doing stuff and you start gearing up again... that's just how it goes around here.
Both of the dogs were pretty tired yesterday and today.... they aren't used to being outside so long and running, running, running... Ok, only Oliver runs like a madman... Pixie runs only when necessary! :)
I will still likely eventually get around to making my own post here about Buddy... I'm still not nearly ready to go there... I'm hoping with time comes perspective and with perspective the pain will diminish enough to make a posting and move forward... but not... not yet.
I think sometime overnight tonight we are supposed to get SNOW... which is not springlike.. maybe 5 -10 cm in the next 24 hours... but its not spring... but while March can be nasty, its not likely to be death cold and any snow we get, won't linger too long... and that's encouraging!
That's it for now...
-- L
Generally, we like to pick it up right after it happens and not have a messy yard... I hate having poop everywhere, then someone steps in it, tracks it into the house and all that! But this winter was LONG and COLD and it was easier just to open the door, let them out to do what they had to and then let them back in. Otherwise you have to pile on all your outside clothes and boots and hats and mitts, just to pick up a poop.... for most of the winter we had 3 dogs which means that happens at least 6 times a day!!
Anyhow, I've picked it up a few times, whenever there's a decent day and since it started melting this weekend, there was more that became visible. So Shawn I spent almost an hour touring around the yard with bags, picking it up. Unbelievable amounts, is all I will say!! Oh and we were smart to do this BEFORE breakfast, as after breakfast would've been much much MUCH worse!
We also went out into the goat yard and raked up all the nasty, dirty, soggy, wet, poopy hay that had accumulated over the winter. When its nice outside, I like to feed a bit of hay outside on the ground... the goats like to eat in the sunshine and I figure the fresh air is good for them. Every evening when I lock them up in their shed, I like to rake up the leftover hay and if its not too wet, I toss it into the shed as bedding... but of course, you always miss some... sometimes it snows on it and covers it and stuff like that.
We filled and hauled (Shawn did most of the hauling) at least 8 - 10 muck buckets of this nasty stuff out of the goat pen.... mind you, the buckets weren't full, at about half full they were almost too heavy to carry!! Gross stuff now that will hopefully make nice dirt to grow pretty stuff in eventually!
We also took down the outside Christmas lights and all the extension cords (except for one that part of it is still frozen under some ice and snow. They are all rolled up neatly and waiting to be put away in their rubbermaid container until next time.
We also went into town on Saturday and I ordered my new eye glasses... I had gone in earlier in the week looking for new frames and found ones I liked the style of, but not the colour... the manager of the store was a great help during the process and told me the style I liked came in another colour, but they didn't have them in stock, but could order them in for me to try.
So by Saturday they were in and I took Shawn with me to make sure I didn't look TOO stupid in them. They are a similar style to my current ones... a bit more chunky though... the fronts are a dark gray / almost black and the arms are a brownish colour. They look better than my description makes them sound :) They should be ready in a couple weeks for pick up. They are the kind that come with clip on sunglasses (sort of like the magnetic ones I already have, but they happen to not be magnetic, if that makes any sense!) Thank goodness for extended health insurance, otherwise, I'd have to keep making do with the ones I have!!
While we were in town, we made a trip to Home Depot... a spring day and Home Depot... a perfect combination! We looked around at various things, Shawn bought a new pair of gloves (I got a pair earlier in the week). They are very similar to our SSG riding gloves, but a little bit thicker and definitely cheaper!! ($10 compared to $35 - 40!) They are still think enough to operate snaps and fasteners which is what we were after.
Today we took it a bit easier, it was quite a bit colder out and there was a nasty wind... we mucked out the goat shed though... a good day for that... yesterday would've felt very warm... today was cool enough that we needed our hats and coats on and no one worked up a sweat!
We also spent some time thinking about chicken coops and what we want to build and how to do it cheaply and still have it look nice and have the features we want. We didn't come to any decisions yet, but we're going to look into the shed kits again (sold at HD, Rona, etc).
We had looked at them for our goat shed last year, but decided they were just not going to be durable enough for goats without a lot of $$ improvements... chickens on the other hand are smaller animals and don't need the same level of durability... mostly it just has to be strong enough to keep predators OUT with chickens. So we'll see... I'm sure this topic will be debated for a while yet... I'm sure you all wish you were here to listen to it in all its excessiveness! ha!
So that was our tiring weekend.... some where in there Shawn's laundry got done... meals got made and enjoyed.... dogs fed and played with... goats fed and fussed with... all in all busy enough compared to recent weekends. We're both tired and I think both of us are feeling a few muscles that got a bit soft over the winter... but the good weather comes, you start to feel like doing stuff and you start gearing up again... that's just how it goes around here.
Both of the dogs were pretty tired yesterday and today.... they aren't used to being outside so long and running, running, running... Ok, only Oliver runs like a madman... Pixie runs only when necessary! :)
I will still likely eventually get around to making my own post here about Buddy... I'm still not nearly ready to go there... I'm hoping with time comes perspective and with perspective the pain will diminish enough to make a posting and move forward... but not... not yet.
I think sometime overnight tonight we are supposed to get SNOW... which is not springlike.. maybe 5 -10 cm in the next 24 hours... but its not spring... but while March can be nasty, its not likely to be death cold and any snow we get, won't linger too long... and that's encouraging!
That's it for now...
-- L
Sunday, February 22, 2009
Buddy
 |
| Buddy |
We had to put Buddy down the week before last, on Friday February 13th. In the end, it was just his time. He had started to have troubles with his front leg, dragging the toe a bit, and it was steadily getting worse.
He passed very quietly. Our vet did a wonderful job.
I've posted some pictures and a movie of Buddy that I took the morning before we took him to the vet.
He had the best life we could give him, and he leaves behind a lot of wonderful memories.
Running away from hot air balloons, dragging me back through town when we still walked him. Hot air balloons (or anything similar, like the moon) were his nemesis. The poor dog, in the past few months, went outside in the morning to see a giant Mr Peanut shaped hot air balloon in a neighboring field. He was very offended.
Acting like a nut at the dog park, wrestling with Pixie, running and running and running.
Playing obsessive fetch with his blue ball. Beating Pixie if she dared take his. :-)
The time we got the new dog beds, and when I was finally done assembling it, he realized what it was, licked my face, and jumped up on it.
Putting his blue blanket over him at night.
Endless tummy rubs.
Being constantly underfoot. :-) He always wanted to be where the action was.
The time he tore off after a deer, and we thought we'd lost him.
He was a good dog. He will be missed. :-(
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Time Flies...
So somehow I haven't posted since November!! I'm not really sure how that happened exactly, but I can hardly believe it!
I suppose December was a little busy... Christmas came early around here, as my parents came for a lovely visit about 2 weeks before Christmas. So our fake tree went up early, but it also came down early, before New Years day, but now of course, I can't remember what day it was :)
Just before Christmas, on December 20th, we got another new addition to our little herd... a sheep! Now we have 3 goats and 1 sheep in the shed... they all fit in there just fine and have mostly worked out the herd dynamics. The sheep is now known as Gordon, though often gets referred to around here as "the sheep"... honestly, he doesn't seem to care one bit.
Ernie and Bert don't mind the sheep too much, though Ernie will boss him around if he's standing in the way of the hay or something... Bert is still a little freaked out by the sheep, but has gotten over it a bit and will now bite chunks of hair / wool off the sheep to make him move! Grover has an extreme dislike for the sheep and will boss him around at any and every opportunity.... just as Ernie and Bert, especially Bert, love to boss Grover around. Herd dynamics are certainly interesting, that's for sure.
Winter is pretty much in full "bloom" around here and has been for well over a month now. Blah. Right now its snowing and about -1 degree C... later tonight, it will be -28 C with the windchill, and later this week it'll be -34 C WITHOUT the windchill... so friggen cold!
Today I pushed all the decent bedding in the goat shed aside and scraped out the bottom layer of wet bedding and filled 2.5 muck buckets (not much). I then rebedded using the decent bedding as a bottom layer, then some old stalky hay out of the feeder that they weren't interested in eating was spread over and then I added another half bale of straw so they would have lots of bedding to burrow into and snuggle down when the temperature drops tonight.
A couple weekends ago we rebuilt the hay feeder to accommodate the extra animals so there would be room for everyone at the feeder. Its on the same wall, but is now a 6 ft long hay feeder. We also changed the design slightly... its somewhere between the first feeder that Bert hated and the 2nd feeder that allowed them to waste too much hay. This one is working out pretty well so far and the waste has been dramatically reduced! Wish we'd come up with it sooner, but live and learn.
Oliver is about 9 months old now and still growing. I'd say he's as tall as Buddy now... I just weighed him today and he's 62.2 lbs! And after holding him in my arms on the scale, I now remember why I get Shawn to weigh him usually!!! :)
Thankfully, there's not much new around here these days... same old, same old. I figured I should update the blog though, just to prove we're still around :)
I suppose December was a little busy... Christmas came early around here, as my parents came for a lovely visit about 2 weeks before Christmas. So our fake tree went up early, but it also came down early, before New Years day, but now of course, I can't remember what day it was :)
Just before Christmas, on December 20th, we got another new addition to our little herd... a sheep! Now we have 3 goats and 1 sheep in the shed... they all fit in there just fine and have mostly worked out the herd dynamics. The sheep is now known as Gordon, though often gets referred to around here as "the sheep"... honestly, he doesn't seem to care one bit.
Ernie and Bert don't mind the sheep too much, though Ernie will boss him around if he's standing in the way of the hay or something... Bert is still a little freaked out by the sheep, but has gotten over it a bit and will now bite chunks of hair / wool off the sheep to make him move! Grover has an extreme dislike for the sheep and will boss him around at any and every opportunity.... just as Ernie and Bert, especially Bert, love to boss Grover around. Herd dynamics are certainly interesting, that's for sure.
Winter is pretty much in full "bloom" around here and has been for well over a month now. Blah. Right now its snowing and about -1 degree C... later tonight, it will be -28 C with the windchill, and later this week it'll be -34 C WITHOUT the windchill... so friggen cold!
Today I pushed all the decent bedding in the goat shed aside and scraped out the bottom layer of wet bedding and filled 2.5 muck buckets (not much). I then rebedded using the decent bedding as a bottom layer, then some old stalky hay out of the feeder that they weren't interested in eating was spread over and then I added another half bale of straw so they would have lots of bedding to burrow into and snuggle down when the temperature drops tonight.
A couple weekends ago we rebuilt the hay feeder to accommodate the extra animals so there would be room for everyone at the feeder. Its on the same wall, but is now a 6 ft long hay feeder. We also changed the design slightly... its somewhere between the first feeder that Bert hated and the 2nd feeder that allowed them to waste too much hay. This one is working out pretty well so far and the waste has been dramatically reduced! Wish we'd come up with it sooner, but live and learn.
Oliver is about 9 months old now and still growing. I'd say he's as tall as Buddy now... I just weighed him today and he's 62.2 lbs! And after holding him in my arms on the scale, I now remember why I get Shawn to weigh him usually!!! :)
Thankfully, there's not much new around here these days... same old, same old. I figured I should update the blog though, just to prove we're still around :)
Monday, November 24, 2008
Winter Prep Continues
We've been busily working on winter prep for a couple days now. All the windows in the house have been sealed shut with removable caulking and our bedroom and upstairs bathroom windows have also been covered in heat shrinkable plastic. We still have to add the heat shrink plastic to Jess's room and the guest room.
We won't bother plastic-ing the downstairs windows, they've been caulked shut and that will do, I think.
A guy from Rogers cable finally came today... no not to bury my internet cable, I couldn't be THAT lucky (plus the ground is frozen) but he moved it... he tried running it under the driveway through the culvert, but couldn't get through there. The culvert is quite low and I imagine filled with "stuff". Yuck.
I finally talked him into running it along the overhead wires, across the driveway and then down the big evergreen tree in the front yard. It then runs from the tree parallel to the driveway along the front lawn to where it comes into the house. Now I hardly care IF they ever bury it.. I managed to not run over the cable on the other side of the yard with the lawn mower for the whole season, I imagine I can work around this. I'm happy now that it no longer interferes with the driveway. Now the snow removal guy can come when needed and I don't have to run out and disconnect the internet before the cable gets chewed! Yay :)
I also moved a small pile of scrap wood that was out by the new goat shed that had just been sitting there. I just threw it into the raspberry patch for now, but at least its out of the way of the snow removal guy.
The weekend before Shawn's surgery we also put up some tposts out near the new sheds to help keep the snow removal guy from hitting the sheds or catching the edge of the rubber mats I have out front. I think we're all set for him now :)
I still have a pile of "stuff" to move out of the yard next to the white shed... some plastic skids, some chainlink fence, a couple bags of soil... nothing major... I'm hoping to find space in the white shed and put it in there.
Shawn also clipped off the pop cans off the electric fence for the winter, so they won't fill with snow and ice and drag on the wires... he did that before his surgery.
I don't think you can ever be READY for winter, but I'm doing my best to plan and be as close to ready as possible. I'm sure I'll forget something vitally important... just not sure what that will be... YET :)
We won't bother plastic-ing the downstairs windows, they've been caulked shut and that will do, I think.
A guy from Rogers cable finally came today... no not to bury my internet cable, I couldn't be THAT lucky (plus the ground is frozen) but he moved it... he tried running it under the driveway through the culvert, but couldn't get through there. The culvert is quite low and I imagine filled with "stuff". Yuck.
I finally talked him into running it along the overhead wires, across the driveway and then down the big evergreen tree in the front yard. It then runs from the tree parallel to the driveway along the front lawn to where it comes into the house. Now I hardly care IF they ever bury it.. I managed to not run over the cable on the other side of the yard with the lawn mower for the whole season, I imagine I can work around this. I'm happy now that it no longer interferes with the driveway. Now the snow removal guy can come when needed and I don't have to run out and disconnect the internet before the cable gets chewed! Yay :)
I also moved a small pile of scrap wood that was out by the new goat shed that had just been sitting there. I just threw it into the raspberry patch for now, but at least its out of the way of the snow removal guy.
The weekend before Shawn's surgery we also put up some tposts out near the new sheds to help keep the snow removal guy from hitting the sheds or catching the edge of the rubber mats I have out front. I think we're all set for him now :)
I still have a pile of "stuff" to move out of the yard next to the white shed... some plastic skids, some chainlink fence, a couple bags of soil... nothing major... I'm hoping to find space in the white shed and put it in there.
Shawn also clipped off the pop cans off the electric fence for the winter, so they won't fill with snow and ice and drag on the wires... he did that before his surgery.
I don't think you can ever be READY for winter, but I'm doing my best to plan and be as close to ready as possible. I'm sure I'll forget something vitally important... just not sure what that will be... YET :)
Saturday, November 22, 2008
I'm A Bad Not-Updater
So its been almost 3 weeks since i updated. Time just flies.
Lots of things have changed, but more has stayed the same, which is how we like it :)
We got a new goat last weekend from a local horse boarding facility that was not really looking after his needs. His feet were pretty messed up, I already posted pics of them to the FHH album. We renamed him Grover to fit in with our theme and it seems to suit him. I gave him a good trim this week and now he's moving around quite a bit better and is peppier. The first couple days he spent a lot of his time laying down.
Grover is also quite afraid of brooms, shovels and pitchforks and the first time I found that out was when I was done trimming his feet and I had the other 2 boys locked out of the shed and I thought I would sweep up the nasty hoof trimmings before I re bedded the shelter(I mucked it out before so I could have a nice work surface, right on the rubber mats instead of on the straw).
I took the broom and started sweeping and poor Grover went ballistic and ran blindly around the shed and tried to climb the wall to escape. I stopped right away and only continued once I had turned him out with the other 2 and even then he moved far away from the door while I did it. He's been slightly better since, but he doesn't hang around if I'm working, unlike my other 2 that are always right in the way, trying to eat the tools and stuff!!!
He's also enjoying treats here... at first he was sure I was trying to poison him with a carrot, but he quickly figured out that carrots bits are yummy. Now he's almost as grabby as the other 2 when I have treats. Tonight I took them eat a feed bowl with banana, carrot bits and some peanut butter muffin that I made yesterday. They all inhaled and looked for more! Spoiled? My goats? ha... never! ;)
Shawn finally got his wisdom teeth removed on Monday... all went well and he's recovering nicely. He's more sore now at the end of the week than he was right after, I imagine since the swelling has decreased now there's a bit more pain. Mind you, he's not taking the prescribed percocet, either, just ibuprofen and tylenol, so that's not bad.
It was about time he got the teeth out, he was supposed to do it many years ago, but never had benefits etc... he had 5 wisdom teeth to remove and 2 of them were in a cyst in his sinus cavity. (Yuck!) Now once he's healed a bit, he'll go back to the regular dentist and get some work done on one of the back molars that was against one of the wisdom teeth... it has a cavity in it from the wisdom tooth being in crooked and food getting stuck between where it was hard to get out. Then he should be good to go for a while again.
Its been quite chilly here lately... at least it seems chilly to me... I've been cold all the time and am already wearing as many clothes as I did last year during the coldest weather... I dunno what I'm gonna do when it gets colder... freeze, I guess. I did get some nice long johns from Walmart (of all places!!) this year... they are black, come in "chunky girl" sizes and cost about $6 for bottoms and $6 for tops. I've been wearing them as pajamas also, they are so comfy :)
Buddy has been cold too... he's not as young as he once was... this week I ordered him a dog coat from Greenhawk and it came the other day. Its the same kind as I had for goats last winter... his is black (cause he's a tough guy! ha) and he likes wearing it. They are reasonably priced and wind and water resistant, I think overall a good deal.
I technically have enough blankets of appropriate sizes now to outfit all 3 dogs. The 2 younger ones don't really need them yet, but they might when it actually gets cold. Oliver doesn't have a really thick coat and when the wind blows he can get a bit shivery if he's not running around like a maniac. Pixie generally only gets cold feet, but she's not as young as she once was either and may appreciate another layer eventually.
I'm doubting that I'll blanket goats this year since they have a good shelter now... I don't think I'll need to... I hope I don't need to. Keeping them from undressing themselves is a pain :) When the weather is colder, I may just keep them locked up during the day to help conserve the heat in the shed... when its cold they don't go outside anyhow.
I'm having a really hard time wrapping my head around the fact that Christmas is coming! It's like a month away! I think in general we're going to try to make it a little "leaner" Christmas than some...but there will still be a little something for everyone... just not overboard.
I have the vet coming this week to give the goats their shots... I would do them, but I vaccinate for rabies which only the vet can do, so she'll do them all for me... easier that way too, I often have to give them shots by myself and this way I can hold them still while she gets them. Plus, I like to have the vet just look at them now and then, at least once a year, to make sure I'm not missing something...another set of eyes and all that.
My internet cable is STILL not buried from last fall... I've been on the phone with Rogers all summer and fall and getting a run around. It MUST be moved before the snowplow needs to come and do our driveway. No way will they get it buried now, the ground is almost frozen. I had a brilliant plan that we would run it from the pole, through the culvert under the driveway and then just up the side of the driveway to the house. Seemed brilliant until we looked at it carefully and realized the culvert is very low and pretty much always under water... now ice. Poop.
Our latest scheme is I've scheduled Rogers to come out this week and assess the situation. What I want them to do is to run the cable back up the pole and along the overhead wires until its across the driveway and then run it down and across the front lawn. This would solve my snowplow issue and I'd be fine with waiting til spring to bury the damn thing. We'll see if I can sell the idea to the Rogers guy.
I found a local small engine repair guy through my mechanic up the road... I called him the other day about having our snow blower maintenance done... he came by about an hour after I talked to him and picked it up. We tried to start it to load it and when he pulled the cord we noticed it was just hanging by a thread... a very thin thread. He replaced that while he had it and did the maintenance (changed the oil, clean spark plug, checked belts etc, lubricate controls, inflated tires, checked gear oil) All that, plus he picked it up and delivered it for $81.95 bottom line. I thought it was really reasonable and great service. We had it back about 24 hours after he picked it up! So now our snow blower is ready and hopefully we won't need it :)
Our furnace guy is coming out this week to do a maintenance on the furnace and to get us set up with their maintenance plan. If nothing else, perhaps it will give us priority should our furnace go out like it did last winter, when my parents were here just before Christmas. He's also supposed to fix the furnace exhaust pipe and extend it so that maybe this year it won't get buried under the snow, which was what caused it to go out during that storm we got.
I'm sure I'm forgetting other very "important" updates, but that's all I can think of at the moment.
-- L
Lots of things have changed, but more has stayed the same, which is how we like it :)
We got a new goat last weekend from a local horse boarding facility that was not really looking after his needs. His feet were pretty messed up, I already posted pics of them to the FHH album. We renamed him Grover to fit in with our theme and it seems to suit him. I gave him a good trim this week and now he's moving around quite a bit better and is peppier. The first couple days he spent a lot of his time laying down.
Grover is also quite afraid of brooms, shovels and pitchforks and the first time I found that out was when I was done trimming his feet and I had the other 2 boys locked out of the shed and I thought I would sweep up the nasty hoof trimmings before I re bedded the shelter(I mucked it out before so I could have a nice work surface, right on the rubber mats instead of on the straw).
I took the broom and started sweeping and poor Grover went ballistic and ran blindly around the shed and tried to climb the wall to escape. I stopped right away and only continued once I had turned him out with the other 2 and even then he moved far away from the door while I did it. He's been slightly better since, but he doesn't hang around if I'm working, unlike my other 2 that are always right in the way, trying to eat the tools and stuff!!!
He's also enjoying treats here... at first he was sure I was trying to poison him with a carrot, but he quickly figured out that carrots bits are yummy. Now he's almost as grabby as the other 2 when I have treats. Tonight I took them eat a feed bowl with banana, carrot bits and some peanut butter muffin that I made yesterday. They all inhaled and looked for more! Spoiled? My goats? ha... never! ;)
Shawn finally got his wisdom teeth removed on Monday... all went well and he's recovering nicely. He's more sore now at the end of the week than he was right after, I imagine since the swelling has decreased now there's a bit more pain. Mind you, he's not taking the prescribed percocet, either, just ibuprofen and tylenol, so that's not bad.
It was about time he got the teeth out, he was supposed to do it many years ago, but never had benefits etc... he had 5 wisdom teeth to remove and 2 of them were in a cyst in his sinus cavity. (Yuck!) Now once he's healed a bit, he'll go back to the regular dentist and get some work done on one of the back molars that was against one of the wisdom teeth... it has a cavity in it from the wisdom tooth being in crooked and food getting stuck between where it was hard to get out. Then he should be good to go for a while again.
Its been quite chilly here lately... at least it seems chilly to me... I've been cold all the time and am already wearing as many clothes as I did last year during the coldest weather... I dunno what I'm gonna do when it gets colder... freeze, I guess. I did get some nice long johns from Walmart (of all places!!) this year... they are black, come in "chunky girl" sizes and cost about $6 for bottoms and $6 for tops. I've been wearing them as pajamas also, they are so comfy :)
Buddy has been cold too... he's not as young as he once was... this week I ordered him a dog coat from Greenhawk and it came the other day. Its the same kind as I had for goats last winter... his is black (cause he's a tough guy! ha) and he likes wearing it. They are reasonably priced and wind and water resistant, I think overall a good deal.
I technically have enough blankets of appropriate sizes now to outfit all 3 dogs. The 2 younger ones don't really need them yet, but they might when it actually gets cold. Oliver doesn't have a really thick coat and when the wind blows he can get a bit shivery if he's not running around like a maniac. Pixie generally only gets cold feet, but she's not as young as she once was either and may appreciate another layer eventually.
I'm doubting that I'll blanket goats this year since they have a good shelter now... I don't think I'll need to... I hope I don't need to. Keeping them from undressing themselves is a pain :) When the weather is colder, I may just keep them locked up during the day to help conserve the heat in the shed... when its cold they don't go outside anyhow.
I'm having a really hard time wrapping my head around the fact that Christmas is coming! It's like a month away! I think in general we're going to try to make it a little "leaner" Christmas than some...but there will still be a little something for everyone... just not overboard.
I have the vet coming this week to give the goats their shots... I would do them, but I vaccinate for rabies which only the vet can do, so she'll do them all for me... easier that way too, I often have to give them shots by myself and this way I can hold them still while she gets them. Plus, I like to have the vet just look at them now and then, at least once a year, to make sure I'm not missing something...another set of eyes and all that.
My internet cable is STILL not buried from last fall... I've been on the phone with Rogers all summer and fall and getting a run around. It MUST be moved before the snowplow needs to come and do our driveway. No way will they get it buried now, the ground is almost frozen. I had a brilliant plan that we would run it from the pole, through the culvert under the driveway and then just up the side of the driveway to the house. Seemed brilliant until we looked at it carefully and realized the culvert is very low and pretty much always under water... now ice. Poop.
Our latest scheme is I've scheduled Rogers to come out this week and assess the situation. What I want them to do is to run the cable back up the pole and along the overhead wires until its across the driveway and then run it down and across the front lawn. This would solve my snowplow issue and I'd be fine with waiting til spring to bury the damn thing. We'll see if I can sell the idea to the Rogers guy.
I found a local small engine repair guy through my mechanic up the road... I called him the other day about having our snow blower maintenance done... he came by about an hour after I talked to him and picked it up. We tried to start it to load it and when he pulled the cord we noticed it was just hanging by a thread... a very thin thread. He replaced that while he had it and did the maintenance (changed the oil, clean spark plug, checked belts etc, lubricate controls, inflated tires, checked gear oil) All that, plus he picked it up and delivered it for $81.95 bottom line. I thought it was really reasonable and great service. We had it back about 24 hours after he picked it up! So now our snow blower is ready and hopefully we won't need it :)
Our furnace guy is coming out this week to do a maintenance on the furnace and to get us set up with their maintenance plan. If nothing else, perhaps it will give us priority should our furnace go out like it did last winter, when my parents were here just before Christmas. He's also supposed to fix the furnace exhaust pipe and extend it so that maybe this year it won't get buried under the snow, which was what caused it to go out during that storm we got.
I'm sure I'm forgetting other very "important" updates, but that's all I can think of at the moment.
-- L
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