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

[lularat]

Tara the dog bus looks great and those wolves look like they are always having fun. I really like those concrete dragons too.

 

[getaclue]

Thank you! I'm already liking all the pics, and comments.

 

[Amberjem]

 

[drumstick diva]

Tara, did you get the new dragon?

 

[CanuckBock]

Girls are passed out at my feet right now...such a pair these ones!

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Not always sedate...here is Em beaking off at the Hyena backed Lace-a-lot​

"Leap at moi!," says the Lace..."Here's a chesty bite!"​

Then the infamous SPINE BITE! "Did that hurt?" ​

"Let me curl a tail about yer butt and help you along...," says the Lacy

First mistake...helping Emmy...here's what that gets one...
Emmy has Lacy in an arm about chokin' yah hold!
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No matter, NO angels here...seconds later, eh--"EAT DIRTy snows EMMEST!"
Lacy smushing Emmy's head. Good GACK!

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Quote:
Originally Posted by scottcaddy

The last one of these type of cars that I seen was in the U.P. of MI and it was wadded up in a snowbank and a tree.
Why do some people think that the North is fast/race car country?
Scott

Well Scott, there are huge numbers of exotic car owners here up North. Lots and lots...so many, twice a year when I am driving bus in the morn, I see 20 to 30 fancy cars roar on past us in one long line of VARROOM!!! --virtual rainbow of colours for Ferraris, Maseratis, Lamborghinis, Porchs...etc. They plan them well, the weather is fine, fine as can be (recall I lived on the WEsT Coast and with their flighty BLACK ICE showing up...I would far sooner be driving an exotic race car here with the weather chosen than on the Coasts...) and the pavement is dry--no idea their destination but since I see them only in the a.m. doing this twice a year run, expect they are travelling way up thar.

When we saw that Ferrari, it was perfect driving conditions for it...no ice, no moisture, dry pavement...sure, go off the road and there's still piles of snow, but perfect weather. Rick and I plan our loser laps by weather...the newest dog bus, the white suburban...that one I have put my foot down and said, "we need one to drive in less than ideal conditions" and while I do realize it is almost too nice to drive, tough luck. Rick actually turned the deal down to buy this one and I want one we can have to sacrifice, so I made him go get it. We have three already that require care about weather conditions (and two 1936's and two 1928's that are weather held hostage too)...but enough is enough as I want a dog bus to bus the dogs about, whatever the weather. Never happen for the red Chev, the blue Suburban and the one ton Chev, two Maple Leafs and '28 one tons...but for the dog bus white 1988 one, she will be DRIVEN--not abused but driven.

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Girls watching Rick work on the Dog Bus​

Air horns tucked in right side under grill



Steering shock in back thar--wonderful improvement on old one ​

Supper tonight...spaghetti and beef steak

Two colours or onions, three colours of peppers--y'all know I am gonna be outta this world when these are MY veg in tons of colours!

Then tomarrah...

Saute this in me new fry cast iron pan ​

Lasagna pie made from the spaghetti sauce I am makin' today!

Crock pot a cookin'​

Quote:

Thanks for telling me about your thread. I'm subscribed now.

Ever so happy to see you here...too bad I am about to get very sporadic in my posts...getting super busy. Was the warmest February on record past the one in 1977...for as long as they have been keeping records on weather I suppose. I suppose if you get tired of waiting for a post from moi, there are the 172 pages back thar...hee hee...oh my...

Tara the dog bus looks great and those wolves look like they are always having fun. I really like those concrete dragons too.

Rick has done an oil change on her, put in air horns (yeh, he's that kinda blow yer mind kinda driver...root a toot TOOT--bad bad bad man...I love him so what can I say, eh?), new windshield...oh heavens, he's still pulling wrenches and fiddling but he's happy and in his glory.

Work on Dog Bus still passing dog inspections with flying colours!

On my to do list today...Honey do one...I have an order for LMC (nfi) to put into an excel spreadsheet and get organized...order to the States...looks like the Canuck buck still sucks but not as bad as recent when it was, oh like 63 cents...think we're around 75 for now... but don't you blink or it'll sink. Hee hee...

Oh my, not another concrete dragon fan...hee hee...surprising how many of us "lawn ornament" types also like chooks and dogs, livestock. Hey, at least its not the blue gnomes...but I do want the skeleton zombie pink flamingos...I finally got some metal pink flamingos for the New Orchard (might survive the hail storms). I think I am putting it out thar for a RAID the tacky lawn ornament attack by some rangy youths...but then again, the way kids are now, might be too much effort to crawl over the three perimeter fences to be destructive...SAVED by the fences...again!

Hey woman...

Got four of my seed orders--waiting on one for the tenders (like taters, asparagus roots, rasp and blackberry canes), plus waiting on two for seeds but ordered those just recent. I got the how to save seed pamphlet and SO ever learning tons...plastic still lets in moisture, perferations are still bigger than water molecules, so must now find glass with rubber bung containers for seed containment...that some plants require second year growth to produce seeds--with our winters, not likely I can collect seeds off those kinds, that the peas, beans, tomatoes are super EASY for seed collections, and although things like cukes and squash can cross pollinate (need pretty huge distances between and I got me one greenhouse thanks, eh!) and will all be in my greenhouse together, I might be able to avoid cross pollination on ONE kind if I only let one "go to seed" and only collect up those ones.

I am going to chalk up this year to figure which of the way out thar kinds of seeds (oh my, so many kewl kinds this season!) we grow well, we enjoy eating and have a hope in heck of actually making seeds from for saving and growing onwards.

Veg Garden Gate...still same ol' same old -- growing ICE worms...​

Major excited about the Gardening year coming!

Tara, did you get the new dragon?

Yes, I am ever so weak...weak kneed for dragons.

Treats...the treat is biting the tail in anticipation of "TREATS!"

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Not only the one called TREATS, but there was one littler one...called LADYBUG (has one on the ear) but she was fifty bucks and had a broken ear that was glued together. It was a Saturday, so knew there would be nobody of any authority there...so left a note, my name, tel # and that I'd pay twenty bucks for it. Voila, call on Monday, come get me dragon. Rick took me in and waited around for 20 minutes to find the authorities to authorize me paying $20 and its mine. I laughed because I could have just hit the small one in the ear with a mallet and taken it home, cheap cheep cheap!

Ladybug - damaged ear on the left​

OK...six swan eggs, nine Mandarin eggs (the hen has now tore out chest down and I am just about ready to replace the two golf balls in the tree nest for her to incubate). I just don't know what eggs got chilled, so will have to candle them and if the weather will hold. It is amazingly warm for Feb and now March...cripers, like -1C this morn...dunno, don't have a crystal ball, so whatever...

Been quite disturbed by the way banks are advertising...we all do know that the banks have been betting on that we will pay our mortgages so lend you the money, but in more recent years...they have been hedging bets on the opposing side off the "lenders will come good on debts" aspects. They bet we pay and now they bet we won't and they cannot LOSE...unlike us debters...who risk letting the banks deep six us. When I worked at Debtor Assistance in BC (alternative to bankruptcy--consolidate your debts to one amount, you budget and make payments we distributed to your creditors), the credit card companies were loaning $1500 to single parents that worked at McDies...yeh, they never wanted the single parent to pay off the principle, nope, just earn a return on the $ they loaned them. Yikes. Best friend, worst enemy.

Now I hear on the radio a new jingle..."you are worth more than your T4." Fer the Yanks, T4's are what we Canucks submit when we do our income tax...our earnings from jobs with the deductions we pay in income tax, pension and unemployment insurance.

I had a hard time swallowing the jingle by one bank "yer richer than you think" and they'd call a depositer in to help them realize the $15 Latte (what's a latte??

) they bought five times a week should stop and they are RICHER than they think when the quit five x $15 per week = $322.50 per month...yeh sure. What's a latte? Hee hee...whatever...

So of the stats on hand...Canadians, on AVERAGE, Canadians spend $1.65 for ever dollar ($1.00) they make. At sixty-five percent MORE than you earn...that's GREAT ADVICE...that has gotten the masses in huge troubles.

The other jingle I abhor by a car company..."It's easy to get into a FORD." Yeh...sure, EASY...very EASY to get in...now try getting OUTTA the deal, eh. Man oh man...best friend, worst enemy. The time when the local bank manager was canned and the banks went to these centralized call centers where you get loans and credit on the telephone...now those were signs that the guilt and shame of what consumers were being lead down the garden path to slaughter was all about meant people...employees could be ousted because having any sort of "hand shake" and you were good for the money paid back...well those days were and are long gone. They want you to sink your finances in so deep you never ever have any hope of financial freedom. That you barely scrape by making minimum payments...drowning in debt.

Yeh...in under five years, Rick and I will be solvent...I don't know what that means to us but right at this time where the world economy is in such upheavals, I figure it is good. Now we might bite the bullet and go back into debt but for now...freedom, freedom to be our own masters of our destiny. Should be good and yet weird--spend a long time worth more dead than alive (life insurance does that!) so now it's no financial gain to up and kick. Gotta hang on and live some more I guess...only way we are worth any value, eh.

Feb 28 - the Emmest


Feb 28


Feb 28 - Lacy Jill​

Got to wash the cold frame structure twice now


Bought a set of casters for the one four tiered mini greenhouse
Rick to install them with wood strips to reinforce

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Set of clicks from March 1 ...

Lacy inviting Emmy to play - play bowing



Emmy playing BITE YER FACE

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A Lacy SNEAK ATTACK​

Gotta fly, so BYE fur now's--BOW WOW's!

Doggone & Chicken UP!

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

 

[scottcaddy]

Thanks for the update.
I think that most of the North American continent has had a warm winter.
Good luck with spring freezes.
Scott

 

[drumstick diva]

Scott what are you doing up so early this morning?

 

[scottcaddy]

Scott what are you doing up so early this morning?

Good Morning My Dear Diva!

I normally help get the grandbabies ready and out the door for school.
I'm up around 0510 or so to start my day before the chaos starts.
Scott

 

[CanuckBock]

Heel low:

Noted a few days back that Emmy was shaking her head...to me that is a sign of irritation in the ear...cleaned her one ear out and noted it was back to being kinda dirty again few days later--dirt in the ear?? Thought nope, should have stayed clean then so hmm...ear mites but my vet reassures me in all his time working, seen ear mites here in Alberta dogs maybe three times...so not likely.

Took both girls in, time for the vet to have a check and make sure I have not missed anything...yeh, kennel blind! Ha ha ha...not!

Yeh, not dirt (one ear only) but a mild and very, VERY early yeast infection was starting up. My vet is always amazed at how early I catch on to these things but I shrug...Emmest was shaking her head...that was an easy call. Something not right, take dog in as I don't do EYES or EARS--too scary those areas. Done did. So Emmest, she gets some ear drops for 7 days and we should be OK...if'n that is what it is. Always could be something like what Fixins developed...a food allergy but as my vet quips, "unless they are licking their toes too..." He figures paying attention to dog feet by the dog = food allergies and he's always been quite right. See how the drops go in a week er so.

Amazing skies...jest on the road leaving Pear-a-dice to head fur the Best Vet's...two & half to three hour drive to...
half hour thar and turn round and head back for the home sweet home

Ramping up prep for dog show coming up. So first official BATH day for the gals...went over great...I got tired out and soaked and the dogs...bit damp but dried out nice and swanky clean. Emmy has a nicer day of bath coat than Lacy...Lace needs a few days to un-POOF herself. Makins was like Lacy and Fixins was like Em...no correlation by colour on that.

Soggy Dogs but in nice warm weather to dry out in...still rambunctious brats!
No wetting down the energies, eh. ​

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Taking girls on evening drives in the Winter Dog Bus--

Was Rick's EXCELLENT idea to turn the crates round so the dougals could see us whilst driving...
POOF with my flash <<oh my eyes!>>

Out and about walkies in areas with people and strange smells. They are having lotsa fun with it which makes me happy and more relaxed about the upcoming show. My son has booked off the time and it should be kinda kewl to see how the two girls do as Senior Puppies.

Diva asked me if Lacy ever leaps...I guess she LEAPS if there's a worthy cow <dog> to leap over!

Mandarin hen is on ten eggs, see how she does. I don't have much hope that spring is here to stay, but hey, if it is, bully. Swans have six eggs, again, like see if it works er not...not like I have high hopes...just weirdo weather and trying not to let it suck me in in like setting up seeds too early and getting ZINGED

Rick continues to tweak with the Winter Dog Bus. Got a new carb in the works and some fuel pressure kitten kabootles...when you mess with the exhaust like the previous owners did, takes a bit more effort to tweak her up and get the fuel and engine running up nicer. He always does the finer things others quit at. Like reliable and well running rides...leave that to Rick to get fine tuned. Order on parts to the States is delayed one week for a back order to show up. Then get her in. Finding parts for the 80's having manufacturers quitting outright...scary indeed and all the more reason to get what we need and be pleased we still can source parts...fur now and in some cases, hunting a tad harder but gotta try and get her done up and completed. Then just suck in the clover on the winds and the rides we be in...loser laps...yee haw! Away...

Got the shelving done up for the cold frame.

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Eating good...lasagne, spaghetti...roast beef...not too warm weather, more cold weather heat the house up fare but still fine.

Steak and spaghetti became the next day...

Lasagne and garlic toast!

So better skaddattle...so far, March has come in like a lamb and the forecast is for continued mild weather...bizarre...but not sucking me in to being over the top stupid...spring for now, caution is the best med.

Soggy doggies...not fur long...weather, so unseasonably fine...

Doggone & Chicken UP!

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

 

[scottcaddy]

But, My Dear Tara, it is so nice and warm NOW!
Gotta get started soon so things have enough time to do good.
Scott (who is working in his garden)