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

[getaclue]

I SAW those little legs and feet behind the flag! So cute. So is that how you guys get birds ready for flight up there? A makeshift flight simulator.

 

[drumstick diva]

Love the girls checking out the ducklets, it's amazing how you know what the girls are thinking. You must be clairvoyant Tara, among your other talents.

 

[scottcaddy]

Love the girls checking out the ducklets, it's amazing how you know what the girls are thinking. You must be clairvoyant Tara, among your other talents.

My Dear Diva, how do you think that she can breed so many different kinds of critters and always have better get then the starting stock was?
Lovesyamuchly!
Scott

 

[CanuckBock]

Heel low:

I SAW those little legs and feet behind the flag! So cute. So is that how you guys get birds ready for flight up there? A makeshift flight simulator.

One of the parent birds (Rick says, the MOMMA!) attacked him when he got home last night.

Had a hangy bug in its bill and put the quick run on Rick.

No, we will not be giving out flight lessons any time soon again. Grrrr...too stressful on us oldsters. Dang creatures doing dangerous things. WE personally feel fault for it but also, Like we knew any better huh!

I'll see if I can snap a click or two of the angry bird...but cautiously as I don't want to stress THAT family out any further...just for record I suppose.

Love the girls checking out the ducklets, it's amazing how you know what the girls are thinking. You must be clairvoyant Tara, among your other talents.

The girls have to realize, these wee ones are THEIRS to care about...not slurp up as crackers... So I get the babies to do the big toothy (that's a lie) grins and say, "cheese" and Lacy figures they would go great with "crackers" these wee quackers...Good Gack!

My Dear Diva, how do you think that she can breed so many different kinds of critters and always have better get then the starting stock was?
Lovesyamuchly!
Scott

That's very kind of you Scott...one could always hope the additions are better...the combination equals more than the original sum. One can always hope!

I moved the last pair of swans out to the Pear-A-Dice area yesterday afternoon. One more nagging task completed...move swans to summer quarters. The cob Smoky immediately went pond bound. I laugh, first year I decided instead of carrying the pair, one to each arm...I would be far more sensible about tiring myself out (it was over 30C yesterday too, so that was a factor ) and took cob then pen. I don't think Smoky noticed Ember was not with him. Personal water feature and waterfowl goes to their heads, eh.

Removed and replaced some of the welded wire panels. There was a few Rick bought that are not as closely wired (more horizontal lines) and I found I put up two in gate passage areas. The lambs can still manage to slip thru the bigger squares in these panels (makes them excellent to use for creep feeders to keep the adults out of) and I want to be able to contain Mommas and Babes in areas and not worry them babes are off investigating at large. Laugh...WARNING: LAMBS AT LARGE!

And large indeedy. Last weighing was on July 1st and Èva was 18 pounds, Èd was 20 pounds, and Èdy was a whomping 24 pounds.

​

Time for a few more photos.

Summer time...GREEN time​

Yesterday, eh.

I do believe that Emmy has a Tiger by the tail?? ​

No way Lace is gonna move without Em knowing about it. Gotcha covered, eh!

It is not so much re-runs...Sheep TV is always endearing
to a certain crowd, eh! ​

Note the puppy playground equipment is multi-purposed here...

Rick asked me why I wanted to move the playground stuff from the Ram Pasture...well you all now know why. More on the rental agreement come to with the dogs and the lambs...more later on that...

Moms & Babes​

And oh my, yes...I banked this grass by the Ewe Barn...special place...just for times such as these...special...

Èva & Èd

Èdy​

The TRIAD of Trouble

A force to be reckonned with... ​

Yeh, sure...we all fall over defenceless with cuteness and mirthful laughter...The FORCE!!!

Boss Man aka Dad...
​

He's underline shedding. He keeps his top covering and some persons with Dorpers, this is all they want, clean bellies...personally, I want more (gosh durn, eh?). I wanted and thought full shedding was the norm and THE reason I originally changed sheep breeds from Jacobs to Dorpers. I suppose not, but ever so happy and joyous, Boss man threw two hair lambs (which I believe = shedding, as in full shedding out every season--we shall see).

I have asked two Dorper persons with way more experience than I and maybe they will reply and as is often the case, perhaps not...sigh! They are both on MugMag which I don't do...sure is a different format on there...unlike a website where you would expect postings of person's achievements in beasts...it is more like this butterfly flit flit about...all about nothing much? I miss websites where you had lists, proclamations with substance, usual to see animals and peds and tests or lists of facts...there seemed to be more accountability when we had websites...these are my creatures and such. Now there is mostly this photo and a "Hello it is Wednesday" typical greeting format instead of the more accountable facts usually done in a web site. Oh well....

Was our birth weight in these three an average or better than average for the breed (too big and you got birthing problems...always too much of a good thing IS bad)? What is birth weight for single, twin, or triplets? What is the expected rate of gain in newborn to a few weeks of age Dorpers? There is an unwanted "hair" coat in Dorpers...I expect just hair and not a combo of wool and hair...what does this undesirable covering look like?

Is hair covering recessive (hidden in both Boss Man and Peanut as I have been shown??)...needs to line up and voila, hairy Dorper is made or? I will either get answers or answer them myself if given enough time. I also want to know, if hair in a Dorper automatically means you have a full shedding sheep? Hairy = full shedding?

Way way too curious for my own good and far too old to learn up new tricks, eh. Bother bother, asking why is the sky blue?

​

Doggone & Chicken UP!

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

Edit...missed posting a photo...cripers...

 

[CanuckBock]

Heel low:

OK...the now dog pups inherited the puppy playground equipment...running a tad old on some of it...last used by Fixins - Makins' pups from July of 2001.

"We noticed this playground equipment...
"Was it yours to lease?," ask the lambs
"Yes, you may inspect it further...," reply the dogs.
​

"Pretty spacious...we can keep growing and still use it!"

All three lambs LIKE the <dog>loo...

Èd checks out the balance beam...

"Hey, this balance beam is nice too..."

"Those dogs took good care of it...STURDY!"

Meets with the twins approval!!

Twins come back to dogs...
"So what kind of terms you dogs thinking?" ​

Dogs reply they need to inspect the dogloo now that the three lambs have been inside and see if the equipment will withstand lamb attentions...did they leave it in good condition or?

Girl dogs inspect dogloo...
Èdy peers at the dogs from the protection of her mother's belly...
Will the dogs say, YES??​

"OK!" the girl dogs say to the lambs...
"You may lease the puppy playground equipment!"​

Terms are that the three lambs don't destroy the playground equipment and the girl dogs can sample beans...unharrassed when Tara is not looking...since she frowns on bean consumption. Lacy pipes up about free sniffs occasionally...the lambs all agree and a deal is struck...

How contractual deals made without lawyer's consulted...in the next posting...is revealed.

Doggone & Chicken UP!

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

 

[CanuckBock]

Heel low

Dogs are happy with leasing playground to lambs​

Lacy thinks about the terms and decides to test one...
Emmy says to Lacy..."Might want to think otherwise..."

Lacy decides to go in for a FREE SNIFFING!
Emmy is laughing quietly already!

Great BIG Butt Snork!​

BUSTED!!!!!!!!!
​

Deals made with lambs who are underage and not in charge of their own wellbeing are prohibited...the girl dogs NEVER struck a deal with Momma Peanut and her terms are severe for touching ANY of the lambs!

That don't stop Lacy from trying again...

​

"HEY LACY...leave those innocent lambs alone, eh!"

"Ah...but one little sniffing...jest one more attempt!"

​

Nope...NOT allowed by the powers that be and that be MOM!

"Darn it all"...lambs a laughing as Lacy exits, stage right... ​

That's fine and dandy...the dogs decide the playground equipment can be used...and that they as stock herding dogs can still command respect...live and let live but they are in command of the flock. Never to be forgotten the duty of the stock dog to their stock.

"We're the DOGS...and we say PAY us our DUES...!!!"​

Sheeps as in adults and babes all respect the dogs...dogs word is listened too..."So like where to next dog dogs?" Snappy salutes all through the flock.

Doggone & Chicken UP!

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

 

[getaclue]

I'd be watching them so much, I'd never get any work done.

 

[CanuckBock]

Heel low:

I'd be watching them so much, I'd never get any work done.

Sheep, ovines are the worst! My go to creatures when I need to stay stationary staring, drool running down chin!

The dogs have me mobile, always tossing toys and such, but the sight of sheep, gently mouthing grasses and add lambs bouncing about...yes, they would be your worst nightmare if productivity was your goal.

I have to tear myself away and do other things. Water plants were the MUST do yesterday evening. We had found some fabric bags to go with the planting pots...so a planting we did go.

Nice day for it. Thirty Celscius again...so finding shady cool spots to plop down in...a good thing!

The two kidney shaped planters with small one nestled amongst on the left will be planted with a heart shaped tiny water lily (Floating heart - Nymphoides peltata) that likes to be suspended six inches below the surface and has a pretty yellow flower besides the cute shaped leaves...and an arrowhead (Sagittaria latifolia) and some Mare's Tail (Hippurus vulgaris).

​

First repot is done of the Variegated Sweet Flag (Acorus calamus v. variegatus) and on to the next task... I thought I had brought and mixed up too much potting medium...I had maybe three shovels full left over...not too shabby a planner.

​

What a huge plant...half in pot, quick click and other roots exposed (bad, bad) gets plunked into pot.

​

De pot, into sand/soil mix, top up, water and settle planting medium in around plant and water...top with aquarium or pea gravel. Water again to allow pot contents to settle and ...

​

Voila...Rick's huge iris is now TWO! Two potted water plants.

​

Ready, set, go. I try my best to have everything ready to receive the plant before unpotting it. Less stress and more likely to be successful than whiling away the minutes AFTER the crucial moments where the water plant gets stressed by being outta the water.
Busy planting...busy busy!

​

Mid planting of the arrowhead...got gravel on one top, two to go!

​

The arrowhead we bought gave us THREE plants to start...wonder bar! One for each big pond and the little one for my whiskey barrel water feature!

​

The coloured aquarium gravel inhibits the soils from floating up and clouding the pond water AND keeps the fish from rooting too bad in the pots too!! Dang Carp, eh.

​

I potted up a Variegated Sweet Flag (Acorus calamus v. variegatus - no blooms but I am a sucker for a pretty foilage) and split up a huge (Good find Rick!) Blue Water Iris (Iris versicolor). A Marsh Marigold (Caltha palustris), and an arrowhead (Sagittaria latifolia).

Me tres happy!

In the pond it looks like the pencil cattail (Typha angustifolia) will give us tails this year...yah! And we shall be dividing it out and splitting both the pencil cattail and the slender cattail (Typha laxmanni) into two of each...for each pond, natch. Arrow grass (Triglochin maritima) is doing well. The two native water lilies (Nuphar variegata) seem to be happy too. Gave up on the "hardy" pond lilies...lot of effort and they are more like an annual here than a hardy plant. Less showy but more reliable is good for us. Tired of having our hearts ripped out trying to make a hardy water lily make it thru the seasons...

I have Bog Arum (Calla palustris - the "calla" part makes me figure it is of the Calla Lily family?...pretty) that Rick brought home years ago and will add that to the ponds also. Thrives here very well...despite me, eh!

​

Maxed out on photos...

Doggone & Chicken UP!

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

 

[CanuckBock]

Heel low:

Simple dinner...them gremlins don't seem to want to do my laundry, dishes and cooking, eh. So if I play REALLY hard...I gotta drag my sorry self-inflicted misery arse about doing what keeps this place running along...or hobbling be the case.

​

I need an infestation of Gremlins...any idea of how to attract them here to do the mundane run the show chores done up while I am off goofing it up elsewhere?

Dead beat tired cooking...still num num!
​

Beef Burger Spaghetti and garlic toast!

Got cottage cheese, beans, potato salad and 3 bean salad in the fridge...add some sorta meat (sometimes hot dogs on the BBQ are the BESTEST, eh) and dinner is done for another day, eh.

So yesterday evening's fruitful labours
​

I'm pretty happy even though it don't l00k like too much once the clean up is over...messy during the process and now all tidy and the seven planted pots are all ready for when we have more strength to hang them in the correct designated ponds.

Way too tired to risk hanging pots...whoops, there goes the entire bother bother...upside down and contaminated the pond with it. LOL

Won't that be a sight for sore eyes...repotted plant, pot and planting medium ... all upside down at the bottom of the pond, eh. Nope, older and wiser...quitter when it suits ourselves because we finally have come to the common conclusion that the just one more thing is sometimes the straw that breaks the camel's back.

Still OLD fools , but there is a dif between foolish and silly...silly means you make more work because you won't quit while you are a head (case?)...foolish means you are weak to your KNOWN faults. Know thyself and embrace your imperfections!

So these two pails have the last of the nagging yet to be done up water plants. As Rick said last night...the sooner we get these water plants in their places, the more grow time they have before the fall and cold weather hits. He drilled bigger holes in the planting pots and strung string for hanging them pond side. Always a joint effort and the BEST fun is had as we do our parts and see a joint project come to completion!

The smallest arrowhead (Sagittaria latifolia) is potted up on the bottom left...the Floating heart (Nymphoides peltata) was sold to us as a handful of it, and I already put the plant in planting medium to hold it over till I had time and attentions (energy too) to divided it up properly. The Mare's Tail (Hippurus vulgaris) is also one that requires special care...should be lots of it to divide up for the ponds and whiskey barrel.

I also got one load of gravel to the New Orchard yesterday to top off the whiskey barrel water feature spot and hope to top that with limerock load and then run hoses and water to top the Orchard pond and top up all the Pear-A-Dice ponds. But not running water sitting inside here having a coffee with you'all...so skedaddle it is--dirt still under my finger nails and likely gravel dust to add to it yet before the day is done.

​

Got a mammogram appointment to attend to tomorrow...Rick went in yesterday to find out why he continues to have issues going to sleep (been enough time since his nasal surgery now)...his Family Doc suggested it and we are going to try Verbena (Verbenaceae) tea (get that tomorrow! Kinda neat, I plant that in our frog pots every year...but as a tea? Who knew!) and got non-drowsy antihistamines yesterday...and so far, the first pill seems to have helped. Lots of pollen this year (mega yellow on the waters still!) and he is mildly allergic. Older and requiring more TLC maintenance I suppose, eh.

Doggone & Chicken UP!

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

 

[CanuckBock]

Pretty Cute DD...

Sharing it here, natch!

Halloween costume suggestion for Emmy!