Jest Another Day in Pear-A-Dice - Higgins Rat Ranch Conservation Farm in Alberta

[CanuckBock]

Gone to the birds...a tad on the wild side of living...

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/946654/calling-all-wild-bird-feeders/310#post_15527058

 

[CanuckBock]

Heel low:

Fer any that purchased "hatchery" stock from Miller/Rochester...yikes!

http://rochesterhatchery.com/frame.html

Click on the tab for "For Important Info About Salmonella Enteritidis (SE)"


Yeh...and being told that some have had to cull their entire flock because of the salmonella. Lovely, eh!

Doggone & Chicken UP!

Tara Lee Higgins
Higgins Rat Ranch Conservation Farm, Alberta, Canada

 

[CanuckBock]

Heel low:

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Doggin' the days of summer...right Foamy?

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She was less than happy with me just a few minutes prior...she got a brushin' and she was not so pleased...but got some of the puffies she's been packing around. Have to grab her again and do some more but she surely deserves a reprieve...good dog...and she looks so much finer...purdy girl!

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Them dog dogs always seem to find a nice cool spot to hang ten from...or is that hanging eighteen? Does the tail count to make it 19??

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"Who is that? Is that the BOY come to visit, drop off the xpen, crate, and mat he borrowed? Did he donate a buncha toys for the two puppy gals too...what a good son to help the puppy project along!"

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Rain storms, yuppers...so glad we are getting those...so many places burning up literally AND some are predicting in places, the fires will rage till the fall...so people will be displaced from returning to see if anything is left...till the FALL? Wretched!

Hauled out the dog Man Porch ramp...put her in place...for them puppers...

Can't be called a MAN Porch if the best friend of man is not worked into the equation, eh!​

Certainly tell it is summer time here...

Wild roses, tons of birds out and about on the lawns...

Projects up the wazoo getting completed....

Ridge cap and metal on roof of Coop fur Sure is done. Rains need to wash off the storage dust on the roof, eh...​

Landscape timber perimeter round about the Taj Mahal got completed on Sunday...

My part is near done too...hauling the rock and sand materials in...yee haw! ​

Absolutely silly things happening here like I finally found chicks to go with one of our lawn roos and hens...THREE chicks...a complete chook family now!

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In preparation for the Orchard plant pond (future--not this year at least)...I had a few hilarious floating ducklings kicking about...just added the parents. Can you believe...they had a pair of Wood Duck parents... FTD indeed!

Another COMPLETED Family Unit...me so joyous! ​

Everything is on the grow here...gotta remember to stop and suck it all up...plants grow, blossom, it could be so simple to forget to SUCK IT IN...can get busy but make time to smell the flowers...it could be white here instead of green...soon enough, eh!

Dog Kennel, Foamy and shade garden... ​

Flowers EVERYWHERE...

More roses


Portulaca/Moss Roses


Lilies


Pond Iris​

Speaking of the pond...

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Even got amphibian visitors (always have one visit every year...so grand and says...this is a natural place...a good place to be)...

Ribbit!​

And the winged free loaders who figure, yeh, the water feature we put in this year...is totally for them...yeh...

Have yet to capture it, but birds are trying to land on the top of the EGG and it is a hoot and a half...gotta capture that if I can!​

On to the edibles...

Homemade chook soup and salad...yum!​

Spaghet...​

Taco Time!​

And YES,,,indeedy...the Haskaps are fruitful...that plan, evil master plan of bringing in other varieties of the Haskap plants WORKED...fer years un years, purdy yeller flowers where the very first flowers to appear...and then,.never EVER any fruit...by George, we done got that taken care of!

Tried a widdle one, tasted wretched...will leave them on the plant and see if getting bigger makes them HONEY berries like they say...
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Our growing season is in full swing...regular heat (oh my, hot...hot hot!) and regular rains...and if not no rain, we can fix that good...

Tater Patch and the Corn - soaker hosing her and she is a growin' concern!
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We are EVER so pleased with the way this new plot is going...wonderful!

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And last but not least...sign shop finally done did up our front plate for the doggy bus...the 1980 Suburban now shouts what she is...1980! Rick has installed front amber lights on her too but that photo will hafta be taken another day...this one above shows the new plate on the front AND the tinted bug deflector he installed on her. Works good too, far less buggers on the windshield, eh.

So that be that...off I go again...whee hee hee...

Doggone & Chicken UP!

Tara Lee Higgins
Higgins Rat Ranch Conservation Farm, Alberta, Canada

 

[drumstick diva]

Foamy is certainly looking great - like "queen" of the cattle dogs. At least till puppers arrive. Nothing is cuter than puppies. But, she may love having playmates after all.

Tara, your grounds are so beautiful. It's like a dream sequence, I was just floating till you mentioned "white" oh no, not yet - please no. We usually hold off on white stuff till November.

Our spring was so icky, I kept putting off starting pepper plants because I didn't think nice weather was ever coming. It's too late now. Maybe the seeds will still be good next year. I don't eat peppers but, these were called "Peter peppers," and look like a certain body part., thought I'd surprise the neighbors. I don't think our growing season is long enough though and indoor light gardening is nowhere as strong as sun. Drat!!

 

[scottcaddy]

 

[CanuckBock]

Foamy is certainly looking great - like "queen" of the cattle dogs. At least till puppers arrive. Nothing is cuter than puppies. But, she may love having playmates after all.

Tara, your grounds are so beautiful. It's like a dream sequence, I was just floating till you mentioned "white" oh no, not yet - please no. We usually hold off on white stuff till November.

Our spring was so icky, I kept putting off starting pepper plants because I didn't think nice weather was ever coming. It's too late now. Maybe the seeds will still be good next year. I don't eat peppers but, these were called "Peter peppers," and look like a certain body part., thought I'd surprise the neighbors. I don't think our growing season is long enough though and indoor light gardening is nowhere as strong as sun. Drat!!

Gonna intro the Foam Dome slow to the pupper gals...I won't tolerate puppies pestering adult dogs too well and I remember Makins, sweetness but bring her around pups and she was high stepping like they were not pups but POOPS...LMBO! She was not puppy orientated but once she had her litter with Fixins--awesome Mom and totally tolerant beyond belief of the wicked little blighters! Pups with needle teeth and rude with no manners...yeh, an adult has to wanna go thru that for sure! Otherwise, why??

What I don't want is the girls to bother Styra and have her react by snapping or some such thing...tender time for the girls about new learning experiences. So we shall see and go slow so the girls have a positive time, as does Foamers.

I do hope that Styra joins in the romping good fun play times...she is more a follower, not a leader and she has to have other dogs to join in with.

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Got half the safe containment for girl pups completed...one kennel, ex-pen and floor mat in place...one down, one to go.

This is like having twins, everything has to be in twos...twice as much!

I like this carpet much better than the rubber horse mat we had when we had this set up for Fixins. Had the carpet before the mat...probably get ourselves another industrial carpet like this one. Just flip the carpet and it is soft and cushy...fer them puppy toes, eh.

The dogs reside in this area when (safe containment area...safe and usually they have a nice nappy nap...so love this time out place--more was for when Rick and I both worked full time, but now will be used alot less often but still needed) there was at minimum, TWO dogs in the house...one which was Fixins, was in the contained area here whilst older Mommy Makins, she was loose in the house by herself because she was trustable to behave herself. ONE dog...like ONE kid...no issues...two kids and gong show! "Yeh, and which one of you broke the lamp, eh??" Grrrr...when Makins passed, Fixins was the sole dog in the house, so she was let loose and we had no setup of ex-pens and crates on mat in the spare room any more. Now I hafta get that set back up, times TWO!

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Stored on the top of the kennel there of the one made up containment area, are the items we allow the dogs to have unsupervised in with them. Stainless steel puppy pail (hung so they can't dump it and small enough there is NO drowning in it either), strong chewer toys, and kennel/crate bedding. Having the two girl pups...we have to have identical TWOs of everything so they have no differences...

Now with the general toys, here we can have single items because these will be supervised items.

Hmm...enough toys, eh?

I have been inspecting old plushy toys and after tossing them in the washer and then inspecting them AGAIN to see if they need sewing; big worm had some stuffing coming out, the triangle toy was ripped a bit...Fixins and her siblings were rough on toys...anything that got sniped, I took out of the OK for them to have no more's...for young pups, these still have ONE more play in them from puppies before they are worn out for good.

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I am glad you like the place here...yes, so much green to suck in and everywhere, there is just a growing concern going on.

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Rick came over last night from the pond...all beaming...pretty proud. Announces to me, "Did you see the one water lily is got a flower bud?" Nope, I had not noticed and was quite surprised because it was the second lily we got that was blooming...thought it would be the first one.

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Second day of the flower bud and it has not opened up yet...I believe they are short lived...lily flowers. Be spectacular to see it opened up!

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Things that happen in summer, Rick decides he wants the garden hose buried under one of the gates...puts it in a metal pipe, this morning I attacked the ground with a pick and rake and got her buried.

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More to do's, Rick wants the tree ring on this Dolgo crabapple widened...I worked on it last year to get it this big but she is a growing concern and needs MORE room...and so it goes, unplanned things pop up in the summer time that need doing...will I get to it, dunno.

I was walking on one of the limerock paths and the thought crossed my mind...wasn't this WIDER than it is now...grass creeping in, probably should trim it on back out...yeh, need to switch thoughts like that OFF...

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Be like the Taj Mahal perimeter...yeh, we got to it and here it is all decorated up and indeed...

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Ain't this Mommy Dragon and Babe statue just too much fun?? I wuv the curled up tail, wing cuddles and just over GLOW of the love...hee hee...can you feel it? Makes me grin stunned and stupid every time I look at them!

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Rick is mowing about and now dumping those grass clippings to make awesome better dirt for the grass that should relish that!

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I am not totally done carts of gravel as the apron part but kinda thinking one or two and she will be completed! My arms are taking a pretty good work out...funny when there are parts of you you did not know you had but do now because they ACHE!

Veg Garden is doing fab...I see the walk ways (I do raised beds) needs some attention in the weeding department but nice all is on the grow. Last bed I planted, lettuce for the birds and such...it has not germinated but the second planting of beans and peas are up, along with that leaf lettuce. I won't be buying green onions now and looked at the Romaine, probably do the thinnings or cut off some of the more robust heads of Romaine and let it regrow...so no buying lettuce now...got some in the fridge I better use up from the store or feed the birds with.

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Took these pics this evening and thought, if it don't rain like they forecast, gonna need to water...well she is raining pretty good and that is one less thing that needs doing.

Left of the Fire Dragon statue, seeded to lettuce but not up yet...not quite.​

I don't mind our short growing seasons up here...plant around the first of June...can sneak in May but we got -5C with punched quite a few things down...the new tater patch was one that suffered in that some of the started potatoes got frozen enough their tops crated and they had to start over or some just rotted instead. I don't mind because I had a few spare seed potatoes to stick in these slots but some of the 100 foot row is empty...oh well. Growing can last till well into September, October...but all it takes is one dump of snow and a good freezing and things like the beans go bust.

I would not fret over gardening...to me it has to be enjoyable...so if it just never happened, just shrug it off and make plans for next year. Thing about gardening is every year is different and there is always, always NEXT YEAR!

Doggone & Chicken UP!

Tara Lee Higgins
Higgins Rat Ranch Conservation Farm, Alberta, Canada

 

[drumstick diva]

Tara, enjoying all your greenery and your statues. Where did you find a dragon mama and baby? We have a statue place about 20 minutes from here but, mainly the same old, same old animals and stuff.100's of figurines but mostly all alike. Some gargoyles but nothing like dragons.

I had to comment on the doggy toys, the kong looking ones with nylabones sticking out like lollipups.(for puppies). At first they looked like hand grenades to me, and I thought cattle dog puppies, must be awfully tough to fetch those. Ha ha.

Checking days on calendar and starting to get breathless - the day is coming up fast. I'm sure fireworks will go off and bells will chime to ring in the arrival of new puppies.
Sometimes I wonder how the days went so fast - even if it didn't seem like that before.

Bet I won't sleep tonight, I'll be counting cattle dog pups jumping through hoops or piling out of utility tunnels. Nighty- night Tara-

 

[CanuckBock]

Tara, enjoying all your greenery and your statues. Where did you find a dragon mama and baby? We have a statue place about 20 minutes from here but, mainly the same old, same old animals and stuff.100's of figurines but mostly all alike. Some gargoyles but nothing like dragons.

I had to comment on the doggy toys, the kong looking ones with nylabones sticking out like lollipups.(for puppies). At first they looked like hand grenades to me, and I thought cattle dog puppies, must be awfully tough to fetch those. Ha ha.

Checking days on calendar and starting to get breathless - the day is coming up fast. I'm sure fireworks will go off and bells will chime to ring in the arrival of new puppies.
Sometimes I wonder how the days went so fast - even if it didn't seem like that before.

Bet I won't sleep tonight, I'll be counting cattle dog pups jumping through hoops or piling out of utility tunnels. Nighty- night Tara-

So glad to amuse you my dearest DD.

Maybe not a drug free sleeping pill...indeed, I seem to keep you awake from precious sleep more than restful bliss...

If I was infinitely wealthy...I would order this set of three...they are like nine inches high, so the shipping costs would not be too terrible...sorry, stunned items like this just make me grin and feel foolish all over...a feel good thing I enjoy for years and years...I know, easily amused and hope to keep it that way.

http://massarelli.com/mainproduct/lil-dragon-playing-ball

The reason I grabbed the Sweetwater Pals (5116) is because I could not find it listed on their long, long list of statues...so I panicked and bought it right quick before the one I had seen in the city was gone, and my, my, she was pricey...well for me that is pricey but I live in the past when money bought you alot more...ha ha ha. Probably the same value but I am old, miserly and that be that.

Reminds me too much of me and the kid...that Mom Cuddle with Babe feeling...I know, I know...sweet indeed...sickenly to a marvelous limit!


Massarelli's is a place I enjoy supporting. The local network of Co-Ops buy his products to import from the States and Rick's water feature in the pond (with the egg on top...still GRIN every time on that one...Eeeee!) came from there. I think their website is WAY too tempting...so go there well warned...the arrangement of cast stone statuary is AMAZING.

http://massarelli.com/american-dream:

The first bunch of concrete lawn hilarities (past the cowboy water fountain we bought like 20 years back), Rick and I were going across the Border to pick up birds in 2008 and saw this fella's set up on the Canadian side in Milk River...a husband and wife team, he did the casting concrete parts and she painted them. I can attribute all the concrete items except the dragon statues to that LOVE team. She has passed on sadly and he sold the biz...so no more items from Rainbow Concrete...and indeed, their stuff was like the gold at the end of a rainbow. Love this silly stuff. Thankfully, I am not a garden gnome person but one day, some day...may ask my son to order me in some zombie pink flamingoes...hee hee...I mean I am tacky enough but ZOMBIES...oh my TOO hilarious. Stick those out in the greenhouse/orchard area and cause automobile crashes as people peer in to see what the plastic stuck in the lawns are!

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I bought this winged gargoyle unpainted and love that I found acrylic goldish paint to do his chain with. Dog hydrant, FIVE foodogs (love my foo foos!) in 2 grey, one black, two bronze...

My chicken family up at the Veg Garden building​

Two cats with sleeping mice (one grey/one orange tabby below), set of cactus and bird bath for the New Orchard by greenhouse, marriage plaque was another unpainted one I painted, corn cob and gopher, rattle snake, road runner, armadilla...mom 'yote and three singer babes... Oh my I forget all the concrete blocks of silliness that are here...that is until I hafta go load them up to store over winter so the freezing does not flake them to itty bits.

Cat & Mouse​

Laugh but we had a large orange truck tarp on the greenhouse roof until baseball sized hail punched holes in it and Rick changed it out to a green metal roof. We had the orange accents to make the ghastly tarp and the orange snow fence along the perimeter fence to help the shelterbelt plants thrive...it was hard to accent ORANGE, eh!

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The Kong and Nylabone (nfi's)...that was all a Rick thing...hee hee. So like 20 years ago, he watched as Makins tried in vain to grip the bone with her paws and his man brain went..."stick that there"...hee hee... Leave it to a man to stick things places, eh. Works fab and now when there is a Kong...it has to have the matching Nylabone stuffed in thar. Dogs love that...softer chew when wanted and harder bone for that teething madness they go thru. Chewing like rams banging horns, releases endorphins to dogs...when Makins got stung by some wasps when we were fencing-post pounding...I gave her a rawhide chew to distract her from the pain while Rick got rid of the nasty wasps that attacked us. She went into her zone and was oblivious to the three stings...thank heavens! Precious puppers.

We always try to get the huge sized aggressive chewer toys...anything less and the monster ACDs could risk an unwarranted trip to the vets...no please...hate those setups!

Will be buying carrots (until ours in the veg garden are big enough) and in fridge, given to pupper as toothy pain reliever. Expect to go thru tons of carrots with the two girls in the 4 to 5 month cutting teethies period.

DD...Hand Grenades...oh my, you remind me of the Holy Grail gang and the "holy hand-grenade" to get the wicked gnarly toothed killer wabbit...

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Yeh, no girl pups better end up with dentition like that...

Have all the stock here fainting at the mere presence of them...AGH!

Yes, time if flying as must I...be the end of the month far, far too soon and wanna be ever so ready...energizer bunny ready...oh make the bun bun puns STOP!

Dec 23, 2014 - PINK fer girl dog​

Tomorrow is Fixins' B-day--she woulda been fourteen and still not long enough for the likes of us...sweet and sour, happy and sad...yeh...not here but still here...forever here in our hearts.

Doggone & Chicken UP!

Tara Lee Higgins
Higgins Rat Ranch Conservation Farm, Alberta, Canada

 

[CanuckBock]

Heel low:

Ah summer time...time for flowers & a time for eggs.

Anyone interested in joining me for a ONE EGG omelette??

This is the third clutch started by Black Pearl (and Stove Pipe)...one pair of the two pairs of Australian Black Swans for anyone not up and up on the going's on here where Pear-A-Dice is a regular occurrence.

Pearl's very first egg...May 7, 2014 was 251.8 grams
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Her second clutch's first egg...

Pearl's first egg of her second clutch...October 6, 2014 was 255.4 grams​

Her third clutch's first egg...

Pearl's first egg of her second clutch...July 13, 2015 was 262.9 grams​

So as we can see, her eggs are progressively getting larger...kewl...

To put this into perspective...she weighs all of ten pounds and this first egg amounts to 3.8 Extra Large sized Canuck chicken eggs!! Talk about putting yourself all out there, eh!

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I knew it was getting close to eggy time again fer her because she has been making a nest out of their pen's and house's oat straw plus she is done moulting. When I go in and all the bedding is piled high and the edges are bare...yeh, we know where her mind set is at. Nesty nesty...eggy eggs...

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Pearl has got this figured out but not sure if Piper has figured out his part in this all...

"See? This is a Swanny egg...cygnets come from this but you gotta contribute to this too...!!!"
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NO worries, if Piper hasn't done his part...this happens twice a year and since I see that the Blacks can live like 30 to 40 years...well if he never helped out this round...there is always next time, and the next and the next...

Like I said, "Omelette anyone?"

What I have managed to succeed at doing is realizing those containers that panty hose use to come in (L'eggs--anyone else recall those ones? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L'eggs ), they are the PERFECT size for making surrogate fake Wanny eggs...in October and May, Pearl lays her precious eggs when we still get freezing weather...so just a matter of me putting some weight (Rick suggested some sand) inside them and when it's freezy, collecting the eggs and putting these fakers in. This time of year, no worries, Pearl gets to roll her egg(s) around and get Piper thinking about his part in parenthood...or not!

Real Black Swan egg surrounded by L'Eggs​

He probably knows if he has lil' blighters, he'll never get any spinach because Pearl already tries to hog it all...and with kids, the Man of the House is really outta luck, eh!


Ah my...such pleasures...

Pearl beginning a clutch...the water lily about to blossom at the fish pond (checked this morn, still closed...come on HEAT!)...

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The rains coming at night and watering my plants, with the heat in the day for them to be on the grow...

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Small projects completed...

Gate where pipe for hose is buried now.​

Last salad fer a while made from store bought greens...soon to make the transition to home grown GARDEN GREENS!

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Yup...pleasantries indeed.

I shall not want to blink...don't wanna miss a moment, eh!

Doggone & Chicken UP!

Tara Lee Higgins
Higgins Rat Ranch Conservation Farm, Alberta, Canada

 

[CanuckBock]

Heel low:

So bin a busy yet thought provoking time!

Today, three months ago, Fixins passed...we have a delivery date for the two girl puppers...August 4th is the BIG DAY! (Yes DD, do the happy dance! ^~~^ & ^~~^ -

- ^~~^ & ^~~^ ) and it will be a looong day for all involved...the pups arrive at Cargo at 9 p.m. which if we grabbed them turned around and just drove off, is a two hour commute back to the Ranch. We will be tres happy when the eight paws hit our soil, time for naps and just soaking up being here.

The interesting part for me is the subtle messages I get...you cannot say it is hocus pocus...because it is, well jest strange. I find meaning in them, maybe it is silly but it brings me joy, peace, tranquility and thoughtfulness. It may be all in my head and be very silly, but oh well, it keeps me going, and that has to count fer something, eh.

I am calling a pet store down in Calgary to find the special kibs that the two girl pups are on...and on the radio is a song by none other than Lacy J. Dalton! The day the flight arrangements are finalized, on the TV is a show with Emmylou Harris and the next show is one with Sheryl Crow (the breeder's name is Cheryl). Coincidence, perhaps...perhaps not.

What got me way weird tho is on Fixins' birthday...fourteen years ago on the early, early morn of July 14th, I took Mommy Makins in to our fav vet at 2 a.m. where he delivered Fixins and her two siblings at 3 a.m....it was a stormy night, it was a terribly stormy night...a frightening drive indeed for me--torrential downpours, winds, flooding, lightening--it was like the devil had been unleashed and was bound and determined I would not get me Makins to someone that would help her and her yet unborn babes. I have NEVER EVER run a stop sign in MY life but I did that (bad bad me!) night to get her to the vet clinic tout sweet. I assisted as our good vet delivered by C-section the three magical pups. I will always remember towel rubbing off my little green babies...making them a light green (white fur with green birthing fluids)...oh my. Such wonderful pups, such memories, seems like just yesterday and it was more than fourteen years ago. Time flies, when you are fortunate and having fun.

So on July 14th, 2015, I get a message from the Fixins. What represents death in a flower but white lilies, right? White lilies are used at weddings to represent innocents, placed on graves and it is said white lilies spring up on graves of persons unjustly killed, and that drops of Christ's sweat when he was on the cross were said to turn to white lilies...interesting that, eh.

White lilies = death.​

So the one water lily we have, the second one is suppose to be a pink lily right...it is the first to bloom in this area...how exciting!

July 14, 2015​

Well this ain't NO PINK...it is white...WHITE lily?? So I am like "what the heck??"...did they label the plant wrong that we purchased...I think, no, and then I began to look into this particular lily. On day one to two, the lily flower is pink (OK...I get it), but what happened is for two days, it has been overcast, raining and cold for July 12 & 13...water lily flowers will NOT open when it is not warm out. Yeh, I looked at the bud of this water lily as it popped to the water surface and thought how the edges looked pink...but I guess what happened is sure enough, the flower WAS pink but refused to open for two days (thanks Fixins!) when it was that colour, and on the third day, the colour, as it should, changed to white.

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So a white lily opened on July 14th for us...a message from Fixins who is now dead, but not gone, now is she!

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The water plants are truly enjoyable...and with flowers coming on still, the first water lily in the front will blossom later on...what fun, eh!

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Even the fishies are enjoying the plantings (and not enjoying as in EATing or destroying them!). Rick figures this makes the pond more natural to them and they love going about like the wild fish would.

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Has been immensely amusing to go have a sit still by the fish pond/waterfall and suck it all in.

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Lots of bird birds in the yard with their young'uns...like a dang airport round here. Going thru the bird seed and Rick is filling feeders like sometimes three times a day. Yeh, magnificent to hear...CHURPies and all the fun activity of baby birds learning how to fend for themselves!

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Ruddy pair are moulting off their specula feathers...

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These are the hen's feathers...

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The male is shedding his now...very purdy still even without their green shinies on, eh!

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I believe that Pearl may be laying her fourth egg today OR...she has decided enough with just three eggers (last clutch, she laid six!), and has gone setty.

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Either case, if she is laying another egg or she has started to incubate the three (35 to 40 days--mid September?)...yee haw, let her rip girl...

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Means IF there are any cygnets, they will be fledged nine months later.

Let's see waz on the go right now's...

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Rick is working to sheet the first truss on the Parking Building, he has half the trusses up and stacked on the building site. He now has both sky lights boxed in. He's still working far too many hours during the week and doing this on the weekends...yeh, gets old seeing him try to find the time and energies to get at this. Hope he takes some time off, he looks tired.

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I have most of the Taj Mahal building rocked in...one area on the back side I wanna cover in some gravel and then top with limerock to totally complete it.

I have spread out some used bedding to compost out and improve the grassy areas. I limerocked the pathway a bit, so enjoying how nice the grey dusting cover looks as I tromp on it going about doing chores.

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Cleared the inside pens of the Taj and re-loaded both sides up with three carts each of river sand...then oat strawed the one side where the duckies are.

Melony Feasting Mandarins Ducks...one hen thar is standing on last evenings "melon pelt!"​

New tater and corn patch; almost ready to steal a few new potatoes for a small feast of our own...almost!

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Been eatin' real good...

Last night made fresh egg drop soup...​

Bacon and tomato sangies with a glass of moo juice



French toast made on French bread with sausages​

BQ Chook, potato salad, beans and mac salad ​

White meat chicken strips oven roasted with a Chinese type noodle, veg and chicken chunks​

Brought home some duck weed in the plants we purchased last round and Rick said to put it out in a whiskey barrel by the greenhouse, seems to be replicating real fine.

Duckweed clumping on left...​

Now if'n we added REAL ducks not replicas like the duckling (and the tacky floaty flowers)...FTD would consume that weed in one bill full...I suspect!

And I know, I know...me and the signs I see in the city...I really should look away, worse yet, I snap photos...hee ha hee...

Tim Horton's parking lot, employee parking...I am pondering how well the Tim's outfit works out with the tiara...??​

Oh my...must stop...me bad er what??

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OK...one more's and then I can stop...I've never seen one of these kinda acts of vandalism--took the time to actually have the lettering done up, but it makes me giggle...

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And that be that...stop fer now, eh!

Doggone & Chicken UP!

Tara Lee Higgins
Higgins Rat Ranch Conservation Farm, Alberta, Canada