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

[perchie.girl]

I am used to seeing teeth in play.... snap snap snap... or both dogs on their backs head to head bonking teeth.... My greyhound PowCho showed his teeth all the time scared the crap out of the meter reader.... "No... hes just very happy to see you..."

and he was all play bows and shiny teeth.... no snapping just grinning. I think the same reader stabbed PowCho though... came home to a limpy dog with a small wound in his shoulder... took him to the vet and the wound went between his neck and shoulderblade and almost through... PowCho came home with a drain tube and a new Tshirt to keep it all clean.

with two dogs tussles only happened over food... all got screamed at... we were careful not to give unbalanced attention.

deb

 

[CanuckBock]

Jest like kids, eh....we as the parents must love them all...some more equally than others I am told if you had more than ONE lil' angel!

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Speaking of angels, Alexander's Glorph who has lived two more winters than the Shelter said he would when Alexander adopted him...Glorph, he growls, well more grumbles...Al says it's his way to say "Hello..." I do find it unnerving because to me it means warning...ha ha ha.

Yeh, I'd have been quite irked if I found on some person came here and harmed one of the dogs. Dogs on the grounds are doing what they are suppose to do...keep humans back from our property and if you had explained he was just being him, "Grrr..."

Rick remembers a time as a kid if you went past the farm yard...you had better be peddling your bicycle really, really fast and be prepared to lift feet and legs high when (not if), when the farm dogs came roaring down the country roads to GET YOU! If you timed it right, you were long gone...you hoped! Can you imagine the hoopla nowadays over dogs putting the run on the riff raff! Ack.

In fact, we had one kid think he was going to go home (was having a fit because our dogs did not like him and were making a ruckus about him!) and get his father to do something about our dogs when they would run down OUR drive and bark at him on his bike going past our front gates. The dogs were never at large and on our property the whole time; farm dogs bark...not after 8 pm or before 8 am, so not violating any noise laws either for here. Rick gave both the father and the kid an earful and told the Dad that the kid had even stopped and begun to tormented the dogs at the gates, not realizing we were not too far behind them dogs and witnessed the whole ordeal. Teasing farm dogs doing their job - that's something way out thar, eh.

Had this metal sign fer years in the front window...yeh... ​

Dogs that bark when strangers come are like geese that cause a roar too. We got them for that reason! Alarm us systems.

 

[scottcaddy]

We had yard geese at one time, way better then dogs for loud 'just who are you and why are you near my yard'!
Even the little bible thumping old ladies would not get out of their car to knock on the door, just honked the horn (I don't answer horns).
Have you got a shipping date?
Scott

 

[drumstick diva]

Scott - one question did your yard geese allow you into your own yard? I know they are feisty and very territorial

 

[scottcaddy]

Scott - one question did your yard geese allow you into your own yard? I know they are feisty and very territorial

Yes, we raised them and we (to include the neighbor kids, not other adults) were treated as part of their group even our dogs and cats. Anything else was seen and talked to and if it dared to come into their yard it was attacked. Had to have the meter readers call ahead so we could lock up the geese before they would read our meters. tried to get us on dangerous dog laws, but it wasn't our dogs so that didn't go. No law covered geese in the country on the owners land.
Scott

 

[drumstick diva]

That's cool Scott

 

[CanuckBock]

We had yard geese at one time, way better then dogs for loud 'just who are you and why are you near my yard'!
Even the little bible thumping old ladies would not get out of their car to knock on the door, just honked the horn (I don't answer horns).
Have you got a shipping date?
Scott

Dogs, Geese and the Swans...Ruddies too...nobody "sneaks" up unnoticed here...then the roos and turkeys are pretty attentive too.

Shipping dates...working out all the details now. Be before we can blink, that's for certain!

Purdy busy...time is jest screaming by...

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Just this weekend.

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Rick wires in under Man Porch in preparation for puppies...safety first--small area needs to be blocked off so no pups decide it would be extra specially fun to go under thar!

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My contribution on the Saturday morn, I remove some dirt and refill with gravel. Make sure the step is all solid and water can drain off better from the roof run off.

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There, that job is off THE List.

Sunday...Taj Mahal perimeter...been dragging our donkey butts on this one. Knew it would take just a morning to get Rick's part over and done like finished...yeh, sounds like a bazillion must do jobs here...no one job is terribly long to complete. Just too many of them adds up to near overwhelming.

So suck it up Buttercup and get cracking on it.

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Rick cuts, fits, drills landscape ties...rebars them in place.

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Ensures it is level. He's purdy darn good, no adjustment, all done by eye and the level says, "YUP!"

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Drives spikes in top layer but not until inspected by Styra--along with many mandatory "pet the dog" payments...sheesh, all these under handed handouts in the construction biz...amazing anything gets completed, eh.

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My contribution besides the tool fetcher, cold water bringer, and timber getter...gravel hauler. Start on the fill needed.

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Every chance I can, I'll be bringing carts of gravel and then limestone topper...be busy on this a while...then some loads of sand to cover up tree roots then lawn clippings to make nice soil for grass to grow...finish off this area then!

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Unplanned tasks done...

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Haul feed bins (garbage cans) to car wash and clean...got a bunch of wild bird seed for Rick to mix and store up in these cans.

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Purchase two more marginal plants for the fish pond. Pencil cattail and arrow grass...need to pot those up today and Rick will hang them in the pond this evening.

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Sit by the pond, enjoy the fact that another busy weekend comes to a close.

Ah my...what fun...no wonder the time is flying by, eh.

Got my sheep trimming by the Veg Garden building and I just heard a "BAAA" where a BAA should not be...BAAD escapees... Them feisty sheeps eh...gotta go...later me friends...LATER gotta go do herding....

BAAAd SHEEPS!

Doggone & Chicken UP!

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

 

[CanuckBock]

Heel low:

Yeh, the Jacobs decided today to be Mouflons...agh! So obviously they were bored and time to go home...mountain sheep...climbing, whatever. All back home to their barn and good timing too...huge down pour of rains came and I got everyone tucked away...but AFTER I did sand.

Yeh, been meaning to bring sand to the puppy sand pit. Always seems to wanna rain and no good sifting wet sand...so today got her done.

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Got my trusty sifters and a cart fulla river sand. Took a five gallon pail out, left by the pond for when Rick came home...gonna repot those marginals, need sand and soil mix with colourful pea gravel topping...any sand left after these two projects, goes to the Taj Mahal as filler on the tree roots...planned her out well.

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Sand, but the clay & roots are sifted off...which eaves behind only the...

THE sand for PUPPIES to play in!

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Now I gotta make sure the sand STAYS dry...so trip over to the goose area...recalled TWO smaller sized kiddy pools we were not using...

Viola - the perfect fit...topped with a heavy slab of wood, done deal.

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Rick comes home, it starts to rain...hurry hurry...get the Pencil Cattails divided and into two baskets. The Arrow Grass in another basket, he cuts cord and starts hanging the plants in the pond.

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And the skies open up and we are done and we head for the house to change and watch the deluge from the Man Porch. Oh my, no need to water the new tater patch...make sure that corn is watered and growing...nope, she POURED and keeps on pouring on and off and on & off again.

Just went out and snapped a photo (rain drove me in before I could do the final CLICK!) of the pond newly planted up.

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There...two new Pencil Cattails on left, new Arrow Grass on the back right...and the fish, well you can see one of the BIG BUGGERS (yellow one) right up at the surface by the crocodillia...so FISH approved.

I put one load of gravel in the perimeter of the Taj and a big (the gods gave us it) rock that fell outta my huge sand pile...one of those awesome fine building rocks, like a brick and big...so I wedged that one beside the one corner of the perimeter (opposite the cinder block on the inside) and in goes that one load of gravel, some inside and some outside. I am pleased as a chook that found a stash of corns...

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And the left over sand from the puppy play pit and the repotted pond marginals...well that is swell on the tree roots like Rick wants. Yee haw!

Still need more sand on the tree roots on the left, but hey, widdle by widdle it widdles the "to do" list down.
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Happy, happy, joy joy. Dinner time with Rick and another blessed day completed. My my, time is flying and well, as I keep saying, so much a going on. So what's like new, eh!

Doggone & Chicken UP!

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

 

[scottcaddy]

Tara, you and Rick just about wear me out, and I'm only reading about your day.
You know DD has blinked alot!
Scott

 

[CanuckBock]

Tara, you and Rick just about wear me out, and I'm only reading about your day.
You know DD has blinked alot!
Scott

I guess the boring routine parts like daily chores and the need for restocking would kill you's as plum totally wore out.

Only posted about HALF our two days last weekend--morning part sorta. I never mentioned that we went to do grocery shopping in the city on Saturday afternoon (get stocked back up in "Old Mother Hubbard's cupboards"--can't be bare now can they!).

Sarah Catherine Martin - June 1, 1805 (origins based on St. Hubert, the patron saint of dogs, hunters, mathematicians, opticians, and metalworkers):
And then on Sunday, another trip we did on that afternoon was to get fresh veg and lunch stuff for Rick's upcoming work week, AND to arrange & send full payment for our two girl puppers.

I had complained to Rick that any time I tried to get a photo of the many Grosbeaks that have decided to make this their home base (new for this year, they visited a few times but always in the Fall to have some berries and then continue on with migration) they scared off before I could get any number of decent clicks of them.

Rick told me to just be patient and sure enough, on Canada Day, I was rewarded.

A young male Grosbeak...well he landed ON my knee when I was sitting in one of the lawn chairs in the front yard. He surprised me so much I just sat there frozen, camera still with me looking at his silly ruffled fluffed feathers and holding my breath not to scare him away. He gazed at me, looked me right in my eyes...like he was saying, "Hello? Who are you? I'm a trusting baby you know!"

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When he was done looking me all over, his Mom came, so he hopped off to join her.

"This is my Mom...she looks after me and is teaching me how to do the same."​

"Her bill is better than mine, she cracks the feed for me."



He is HUGE compared to her...who's giving more than getting?

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"Nummy!" Hilarious to see BIG baby bird twittering flaps for food.​

It's a dang nursery, feedlot, safe learning facility here right now.

It is amazing the focus he has...but of course, there is a food reward if he learns what to do for himself, eh.

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You could tell he was soaking in all he could on what to do. The baby beaks are nowhere near as robust as the adult beaks...so I guess he'll do a bit more watching and learning before he does much shelling of sunflower seeds for himself.

After the feeding and lessons from Mom, he flew over to the fish pond, hopped down on the floating 'gator and fetched himself a drink.

Three males hunting for snacks in the lawn. ​

I complained and now I have to hush up--no more whining...there are tons of Grosbeaks here really quite at ease with us now.

Female Grosbeak breaking sunflower seeds open​

About a dozen...adults and babes call this place home sweet home.

Tis like having your own wild flock of pretty parrots... ​

Rick and I celebrated 17 years residing here on July 4th--amazing it has been that many years--don't feel like it until we look at the size of the plantings we made the first year here...then yeh, I get it.

Time flies quite literally when you are having fun...yes, Scott a blink and a big wink...she's been all like a dream world come true to reality. It seems like we never have to wake up...unless it is to smell the tantalizing scents of fresh perked coffee and then go out to have a cuppa together on the Man Porch.

Doggone & Chicken UP!

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