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

[CanuckBock]

Tara I love watching your play by play with your dogs.... Give me insigt i never had

Glad to assist!

Sometimes I ponder if I post more photos than required but nice to know they are helping...good to know the feedback. Thank you...

I had no idea they knew my name -

Course the girls know your handle AND yer real name DD...hee hee... who else would I "blame" making them pose nice/nice fur all those photos that show up here...heh heh

Posted this in case someone here may help out...

http://www.backyardherds.com/threads/dental-surgery-on-ovines.33793/

Tara

Talked to my best EVER vet on Saturday...I got the two for one special...first news about the dogs and then on to Dorper ewe Spice...


First bitta news...I can show the dogs...YES, you read that correctly...with my vet's FULL blessing the dog showing will go on and I am once again gonna show them two girls again in November...begin conformation practicing in September because I am tres busy but yah...can show dogs again...can you feel my joy and great happiness in this!

How, why, what the???

I told vet the dog's got kennel cough from the April show (he was busy, I was busy, we never talked I left a message for him about it) and gave it to old dog Foamy in April...well I guess this is not deemed kennel cough...not one of the "bordetella" kinda issues. It is a viral thing, it is as mild as the girls did have here...no vaccine, my vet could not have prevented this from happening but the greatest news is that I can show the girls without them bringing home that pneumonia type kennel cough that was making the rounds at the Red Deer show last November...I can show the girl dogs...Emmest and Lace-a-lot return to the ring again in November...yee haw and slop the chookers...I am elated...

Way way too kewl...I purchased some shade cloth and privacy netting half price this weekend and will sew up some fitted crate covers for the girls...need to get some wheeled up contraption like we had planned for wheeling the girls into the show with all their show stuff...so it is on again! EVER so JOYOUs...

THE GIRLS will be SHOWING again...

So now for the real reason for conversation with vet...about Spicey's lump pa dump on her jaw.

Worst case scenario...it is what is called lumpy jaw (Actinomycosis) caused by consumption of COARSE FEED (not got that here)...

This could well be a pre-existing condition Spice has caused often by harsh foods puncturing the mouth...nasty grasses like foxtail will make the problem occur...poke the skin in the mouth, cause the mouth to react because stuff present IN THE MOUTH already then enter the tissues inside...and basically in easy to fathom understanding...the sheep's mouth gets all ugly as it battles the very bacteria already present in the mouth---the problem is caused by the foods they are eating. So, worst case my vet says is if that is what it is (and he did not say it was this, only the worst diagnosis would be that it IS this...) he has done this with cattle (works heavily with dairy cattle)...you bring sheep in, they get an IV with iodine and salt mixture once and then bring her back for second treatment. He told me if she was preggers (she is NOT), she could abor the fetus during this treatment (funny as the info I found says this procedure is safe in cows but well yeh, sheep could be WAY different but kinda irrelevant as is does not apply to Spice right now).

What my vet thinks this lump is and hopes it is, is an old injure that Spice is continuing to recover from...he mentioned how lambs can get kicked or hit in the face, and this abscess then forms and over time, they heal up. His major question to me was "Is she eating and is she otherwise healthy?" YUPPERS...she is all those things...not as substantial as a sheep I have here the same age, but quite frankly, this is NOT a life or death or wretched existence kinda situation. I am to watch it for any changes...changes of it getting BIGGER would be a sign we need to pursue this further. My vet has told me that if nothing alters, we leave well enough alone.


This is NOT Caseous as some might think...I vac for that and these sheep were vacced too...so not Caseous...thankfully. Vet concurred with me in that it is not a lump in the right place to be Caseous... some have told me I need to have the sheep tested and that is not valid...see bolded area below...


http://waddl.vetmed.wsu.edu/animal-disease-faq/caseous-lymphadenitis:

:

Second bolded area is what my vet talked to me briefly over the phone about doing...if'n the worst case scenario happens...fingees and toesees crossed that Spice does not have to endure these treatments...

So sheeps have had to adapt to their forage...this study is kinda neato in that wild and domestics were studied...


https://www.researchgate.net/public..._wild_sheep_and_its_evolutionary_implications:

Spicey in the door way on the left...same old, same old...​

Love how the hair sheep are shedding out their winter clothes for summer time ones...kewl! Cooler...hee hee...


Quote:
Originally Posted by drumstick diva

Could they do just local with novacaine or equivalent.? Of course I am not a sheep, at last look anyhow but, I've had abcessed teeth pulled with just novacaine. I guess the main problem is getting her to stand still. Put her in a squeeze pen???

My mother had an abcessed tooth that drained through a hole that developed in her cheek. We were all scared too death it was cancer so happy to just have the tooth pulled.

If I could afford it, I would have the surgery for the sheep. I didn't know it would be an inherited problem. I would think it could just as well be damaged maybe cracked biting something that shouldn't be bitten.

So you restrain the sheep in a squeeze pen...how you getting her to hold still with the mouth parts...???

Like the eyeballs in the ram lamb...the area inspected and about to be or not to be operated on has to hold still. How you getting the sheep to hold her mouth still without sedating her??

Humans may easily and I mean easily lose a portion of their finger casually poking round a ruminant's mouth...not so much the bottom teeth and dental pad but the incisors...whoo eee...yeh!

No thanks...I may need my own fingees and I definately need my vet to keep all his expertise digits.

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One can use a gag on a sheep to inspect their mouths...I don't have one of these...

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Pig-Sheep-A...erinary-Instruments-Hog-J181-lx-/171733393636

Lists one for like fifteen bucks...I suppose I could buy one like I have a rubber bootlette for sheep or goat feet...which has never been used but is there jest in case. I already got more meds and equipment for sheep/lambs than most vets do....hee hee...think I will pass on this for now...



Boils down to this...do you sedate a ruminant because it is a life/death situation or a life of misery existence. Sedation KILLS ruminants and I know you too GET THAT part.

The ram lamb with severe notches in his eye lids...every blink would not have worked to clear his eye. Farm beasts live in dusty conditions...especially in winter when we feed hay and bed with straw. SO...I kept the ram lamb intact (full males handle operations better), had the operation where he was sedated (how do you stop an eye blinking...you hafta sedate...how do you stop a sheep CHOMPING...sedate them) and then wethered him...he continues to live a happy joyous life here giving us a cloud soft (no testosterone no mores to harsh up his fiber) fleece each year. He still acts like a male, first in line to check stuff out and first to call the alarm...he has kept his protective mode going which is nice (but not the savage breeder type behaviours like ramming me or the other sheeps...he's a tamer version of the rams).


So I hauled out my restraint devices...decided to use the head and front leg restrainer to have a closer inspection of Spice's cheeky lump. She hated me ever so much after that ordeal but I hadta feel her lump without her moving her head away...she had to be contained so I could tell my vet past the photos I emailed to him.

https://www.premier1supplies.com/p/gambrel-restrainers?cat_id=4

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Love, love and adore having this restraint item...no, don't have any financial investment in past if you end up owning goats or sheeps...this is one KEWL item to have...jest in case, eh!

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Under the 2x4 bracing we put in the ram barn...they still managed to bust out the sheet material...a kinda blessing in disguise as I will be installing two levels of 2x6 for my portable head gate to be installed upon. Then I can use it like I use it in the bigger Ewe Barn (Sheep Dip Inn) which is delish being so close at hand...I gotta get these 2x6's installed.


During my studies about Spice's lump...I dove into my Vet Sheep book...thick like a phone book and if'n you only ever were exposed to owning sheeps with this book...you would figure they are an awful sick lot...for all the things that can affect them...hee hee...


Ran across these in my sheep vet ...costly though!

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Kinda reminds me of this trend...


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grill_(jewelry):
In hip hop culture, a grill (most commonly spelled as grillz also fronts or golds) is a type of jewelry worn over the teeth.

I laughed and laughed when some of the super stars got gems in their mouths...in their teeth...wasn't it Mick Jagger that got an emerald but later changed it to a diamond because people kept saying he has spinach stuck in his teeth. Or was it a ruby and blood...I forget but makes me grin.

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Herb garden planted...

Crispy ice on the water this morning...

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Horrific hail storm

June 11th - may as well be WINTER, eh ​

Yeh winter is not quite done with us yet...eek

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Started transplanting tomatoes I grew from seed.

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But in NO real rush to get them to the greenhouse...

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Hurry, hurry so like WHY...so they can get frozen and DIE???

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Got the bigger pots ready...another 28 more which fills up one bench in the greenhouse...

Hurry up and now I wait...till it stops being below freezing...good gack...not this week, not forecast for above freezing till like Friday...oh well...whatever...

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Pear-A-Dice still looks pretty...

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Lotsa summerish meals though...

Still got good EATS...steak, chook and beef burgers... num

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And with all the WOmanly labours this time of year brings on...yeh, eat, work and be very merry...

Coffee break is over and done did...away, away...

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Doggone & Chicken UP!

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

 

[scottcaddy]

Even at this time of night, you make me hungry.
Good news about Spice and the two girls showing again.
Thanks Much
Scott

 

[drumstick diva]

I'm always hungry when I'm not sleeping.

 

[drumstick diva]

Yes - great about showing the girls again - would be fantastic if they finished their championships

 

[scottcaddy]

Morning My Dear Diva

Right now it's 'Butter Crunch' Time!
Have a good Morning!
Scott

 

[CanuckBock]

Heel low:

Summer is upon us and what fun we be having...

The Hairy Scary SEVEN...why is SEVEN scary...because seven ate nine & ten might be next?

Happy Summer solstice to y'all...

So far, spring has been kinda crapola, so don't mind it flocking off like the birds, eh.

Weather this spring has decided to be on both sides of extreme. I see down South some horrendous heats...and we have horrendous colds...so why can't we meld them and get more moderation...oh well...weather be whatever it wants to be I suppose.

Did a really good number on the beans I planted. Rick the ever eternally positive...says wait on the beans and see if some recover...me, I'm thinking my glass is half empty and grumble but will wait to see if in a few weeks of the heat we are to get...they will bounce back. Otherwise, this spring has been terrible for growing...May had me thinking am I silly not to take advantage of the 102F/39C weather...and glad we held off. The beans, they in a normal year would have been A-OK...but we have had five, count them...FIVE days of killing frost in a row. I thank my stars I potted up only 28 tomatoes and left them IN the garage. Have only lost one tender herb in the herb garden but the Martha Washington geraniums IN the Man Porch (usually quite stellar about resisting any frost), three have been hit hard.

Right side, going to plan B...wilted geranium gets replaced with red clover right above it in pot awaiting re-planting​

No worries, yesterday ten bucks and a trip to the place we got the six originals (should not be sad, half are fine...) has me going to repot them up and voila...whatever. After five days in a row, duh...not like much heat left to have them survive and so it goes, planting in the Great White North. But as said, not tempted with a HOT May and glad I was cautious about getting things out to the greenhouse. Saved my tomatoes, saved my work. Now to see if we can avoid hail and more frost days...I suppose if you do not try, you never get to fail a bit.

On the table is the three replacements...take wilted ones out and repot...survive, great, don't, well can't truly care!​

The regular gardens here like this shade one are doing fab...

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There are lots of hardy plants to survive thru the Alberta nix you kinda weather episodes...

So what bin up to...yeh...what a blur. Here goes...

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Moved No. 1 son...

Was excellent because we arrived and he had everything outside awaiting the truck and trailer...so we could get right to it. He saves about $500 a month at his new digs AND he has way more privacy and it is so much quieter AND closer to his work...he can walk thar...wonderbar!

Sheared three of the four Jacobs...

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This is Nascor IN fleece...

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Some of the process...they get sheared and I trim their toes too...check their horn growth and whatnots...for 13 year old sheeps, only the wether is missing one tooth...so purdy good for that age!

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I own a pair of ele shears and they suck big time...they heat up and I can burn the skin of the sheared one even with kool spray...so gone back to hand shearing...It takes longer but whatever...I'm old and I can manage slow speed and enjoyment of the process, eh.

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Happy sheep, happy shepherdess...got one left to do and hoping I get to it today...YAH! Done for another year.

Nascor's woolly coating sans herself​

Here is Regina...and her six horns...kewl, eh! I bred this one...she came outta a two horn ram...the horn core splitting was strong in this mating.

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I moved the wooled Jacob sheeps, two llamas and doe to the Ram Pasture--the flock of seven hair sheep ate the pasture down, Rick mowed it up (looks like a golfing green) and we shall let it grow back now. Plus side too...when you shear one, the others don't quite recognize the sheared one...so to the Ram Pasture barn so they can be side by each...one side sans fleece, other side ones fleeced. Gives them time to sniff noses and get to know each other over again. Otherwise the unsheared will butt the sheared ones...and so it goes. Silly creatures.


Been magnificent having all these lawn mowers to move about and graze all the greens we have on major grow.

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The hair sheeps went over to the big barn where I have several cross fenced pastures needing their tour de force grazing to knock it down before it gets unpallatable. I also have jugs I can set up in the Sheep Dip Inn (these hair sheep will be bred and lamb out...so may as well get them use to their digs)...plus the barn is cougar proof. I don't have a llama in with the hair sheep...so it is a pure flock of sheep as is, where is and I DO prefer the big Sheep Dip Inn because I can swing the door closed and it is extra predator proof.

Just a bit of insurance I guess...Rick mentioned that as a flock alone without the spitter squad...it is a tad riskier. Never lost anything to predation past one late retired stayed out instead of going in chicken in all our years and would like to keep it that way, eh!

Feed room and barn door pulled shut up tight​

I have a block and tackle I use with a sheep scale for weighing...I am going to trade out Spice for another ewe and her ewe lamb. The sellers were not pleased that I had her with her lump and want me to take another animal in exchange. I am fine with that...not my creation this Spice and I can't really be too pleased in buying a sheep for full price (my vet was beside himself I was to not pay full $ for an animal that was compromised) that may or may not need vet care--and could be lots of vet care...eep! So we'll take her back and pick up the other ewe I have picked out and her ewe lamb.

I need to weigh the new hair sheeps to deworm and do vacs next. Record their weights and watch for gains and rate of gain on the ewe lambs and such. You know that fussy mussy stuff.

Duro​

Duro is one big ewe lamb...born Jan 2, she's massive in all the right places...and a girl too! Duro's got a big butt, a big butt...a BIG butt...yummy!

Peanut​

This is the biggest of the ewes, and oldest...I don't GUESS at weights...not for deworming...I am set up in the Sheep Dip Inn for weighing...so glad I switched the flocks around. Truly...glad!



So truly enjoying the season...

Lacy and lil' Dito ​

The girls EVER SO MUCH love the new sheepies...

Butts...lotsa butts...which butt is which?

So much so, the girl dogs even seem to meld as one with the flock...

Jest flocking about...​

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And I too have been stopping and flocking...

See the tip of me shoe in the view...x2?

Bring on the DOG DAZE of SUMMER, eh...​

Lots of lives on the go here...common wren has taken up residence in TWO of Rick's bird houses...I paused this morn to watch him sing charming in the one hanging in the peak of the Parking Building bird house...could be two pairs but how would we know past seeing or hearing TWO males singing and thus far, sole male and potentially two females in the two nests in use...find out sooner or later or not.

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June 14th, found this shell on the ground below the Robin nest... oh my...BABES busted on out!

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June 18, oh my...see the baby beaky under the parent's chest...extra kewl!

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Dogs have found the pink flowered strawberry plant I have in the Man Porch...so I hung it up in the rafters. Stop the thieving varmits from free for all harvesting all willy nilly, eh.

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Laughed and laughed...Emmy zipped on over and mouthed this berry when I had the plant on the one coffee table...so I cut the slobbered upon berry in two and the berry sucking dogs got half each...yeh, rewarding the bad behaviour...moi is guilty as charged I guess.

As a yearling - lookit his length of back! Wooee...all that room for lambo chops!

Thinking I may purchase this registered Dorper ram. Bin doing the inbreeding co-efficients on him and the ewes I have and he is like mostly just over one percent related. He has just turned two years of age and already has a crop of lambs on the ground...might get one of his daughters too. Then I can kinda watch how she does and all...we shall see. I kinda wanted two rams, ram lambs to grow up and get use to me and my ways but well, lots of the Dorpers are related, small gene pool and to have an opportunity to get one so UNrelated to my current breeding flock...yeh...shall see. I may still get a ram lamb but a Katahdin...if'n I can find a clean farm to get one from. I have real issue with places that don't sanitize foot wear on persons visiting and all the biosecure things we should see them doing, eh. Start clean, keep it that way, and you never EVER know all the ugly you missed out on...

Ram Barn - the Screw Ewe Saloon​

I have the Screw Ewe Saloon all empty and ready whatever I do decide...keeping the grass around this barn free and clear for if'n I do get Boss Man. Then he can graze there and yet not be completely alone because the ewes are next to him at the Sheep Dip Inn. The thing about the Screw Ewe Saloon, it is divided inside so I could get a ram lamb and let the ram and the lamb get use to each other thru the dividers. I jest dunno...all up in the air and I am the only one to make my mind up and do it I guess...oh well. Issue with the Dorper breed is they cycle continuously, breed out of season because of the Persian Black Headed breed use to make them up...so they can be bred whenever I want. I don't really want lambs in five months, eh. Hee hee...so won't really need a ram till like November if I want to have lambs at a sensible time of year here.

I am a tad wishy washy because I am down to seven days of driving and then shut down for summer...so kinda on the slide for now. Don't make me decide anything in solid stone...coasting fur now. Hee hee. Will be glad though...I picked up a cold from the kids on the bus and I won't be missing that part of the job...hee hee. Might explain why I am indecisive...

Jun 15, 2016 dinner, beef steak and compliments​

Father's Day was awesome...Rick had his whole day planned and it included the dogs and I too...we all got ice cream and did some loser laps...was tres fun indeedy....

Supper, his request, he wanted a nice steak (found two rib steaks for $16 which ain't half bad)...corn and baker potato on the BQ...got his wish.

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One of our loser lap songs we enjoy listening to...never heard it before I met Rick...love the song...tis a real good one...

Knockin' On Heaven's Door by Bob Dylan:
So from heaven's door here in Pear-A-Dice...off I fly again...I got a million and seven things to do and that be that...later eh.

Doggone & Chicken UP!

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

 

[scottcaddy]

Thank You Tara, I was starting to think about looking up your E-Mail addy and send off a question mail to you.

Scott

 

[CanuckBock]

Yes - great about showing the girls again - would be fantastic if they finished their championships

Yeh...Rick asked me so the vet says its a go...what show you going to next? I know he was thinking I'd ramp it up but that'd be insane...ha ha ha...

I had had plans of showing next in November in and that plan is a go again.

You betcha to have them titled is my objective. Never was one to "campaign" dogs. I like to show but it plum takes way too much outta me. Even in my younger daze, eh.

So I got to check the virtual dog papers (at one time it WAS this actual paper we got mailed that showed how many points the dogs earned...same format, just on yer screen...I use to photocopy the relevant pages, painstakenly cut and paste the points out and copy all that on each of the dogs I showed...so I knew how many points they had earned)...I see that Lace-A-Lot did earn two points on the Saturday for Best Opposite under my son's hands...and Emmest did earn her two points on the Friday...despite ME handling with a lapse of what, a dozen or so years...forget, how long but long enough I did need to go back last November to SEE the run round the ring silly again to refreshen the old mind.

So the girls are tied...hee hee...two points, two majors...very

I simply cannot choose which gal is the show dog of the duo...depends on the day, the judge's preferences. I guess jest like our kids...if'n we have more than one...we love them just the same and can't pick one over the t'other...so it goes on which dog is the better show proposition. I can however say that Lacy LOVES showing...all those pets, the run silly round the ring and what nots. Emmy does not enjoy showing...she's on guard for the both of them and is suspicious of strangers...EXACTLY what the Standard for the Breed says they are to be...but amiable in the ring...sigh.

So we shall hafta dust off the show equipment, get back in the swing of things and go to conformation practising in September...in the meantime, let the silliness of summer unleash itself. I cannot help but do the big "X's" in my mind of how many days, hours, minutes left of driving school bus...the cruel bus as Rick quips it to be. I shall be ever so glad to shake off this last of this school year's colds (so much to do, no time to be sick...grrrr....)...and run wild with no reason to quit to go drive...tee hee hee...come September, have TWO things to highly anticipate...end of the stupidness here on the ranch and back to sanity of a driving schedule AND conformation practising for November. The lady with the other Australian imported ACD, Kathy and her lovely Parker have plans of attending November's show--had SO much fun last April when we all showed, that she booked her room then and thar...for November...tee hee...let the fun times be enjoyed PRE happening, eh...

Thank You Tara, I was starting to think about looking up your E-Mail addy and send off a question mail to you.

Scott

No worries Scott tho I did ponder how the virtual foodie in yah was gonna survive with once per week feedings...tee hee...

Jun 20, 2016 - I cheated on this one...



Technically it was kinda a stuffed chicken breast but cheated...​

I took bought chicken coating crumbles, added a dash of parmesan cheese, slapped ham and sliced moz on it and called it STUFF that...tee hee...

Did turn out jest fine and I'll be doing that again. Bought two chickens on sale for like $7 each...that made soup broth and meat for the girls, coated wings and two meals and a coupla lunches for Rick with the coated concoction. Loved that...made my Monday a good thing.

Last night's meal...pork was cheap cheep cheap...BQ'd she tasted great!​

I suppose you shall have to fast my dear Scott...

Virtually so won't be too ruff ruff I hope!


Week er so is about normal time lapse for me during summer to get on here to post the what not's and what's up's. Got the fact my server is compromised by the peoples out and about stealing my space on the uploads and downloads...and during the summer, OH MY the fun we be having makes the time jest zip by.


'Kay...catch up time...some I talked about without pics...these are some catch up pics...

Sheared three, one Jacob to go when I get over this bus cold ​

Garden flowers rousted up and brought INSIDE to enjoy ​

Summer solstice this year...fab...the domestic garden roses started to bloom plus some lilies were blossoming up nice. Gotta luv that!

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Water plants did great even with all the frosting days in a row. Fish love their time in the big old pond...another place for the humans and dogs to stop and gather up a restful breath...pause and enjoy.

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There are FOUR baby Robins in the nest by one of the two doors into the Man Porch. Rick has taken to using the side door because he dunna wanna disturb the nursery. Moi, I'm a right fretful down right jerk...I use whatever door I need to thinking, "THEY chose to build a nest and the busy coming and going on's are probably the why they did...less predation with me and the thunder girl dogs making our exits and entrances, eh." Four is the number that last Robin's had in the Wishing Well at the New Pasture...wonder if that is the max size allowance of Robins...hmm....

June 21 2016​

So with the cold I have not gotten as much as my mind says I should...gonna plant the wagon of my two draft sheep...still gotta deweed the thyme bed but don't surprise me that it sits waiting...been a few ears on the roster of want to do's, too.

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Rick came home, I kept the dogs shut up inside whilst he torched the rings of the trees...

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Before I get carried away with yesterday...better finish out on the Monday...

Back in 2007...got from habitat for humanity fridge grates...Rick used these to make tables for my plants in greenhouse...fabulous!
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Monday's work bee - I got fabric cut and taken to greenhouse​

I put down the fabric to keep the dirt outta my gravelled floor in the greenhouse...all night temps are above freezing, so it is a GO for the transplanting of them tomatts...

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Decided sick or not, still gotta get things done...so I potted up HALF what I normally woulda done...dozen I think it was (dang cold, forget my own name eh). Hope to get another dozen potted up and in there too...this eve.

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Strawberries look to be ready to be fruiting...wonderbar!

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I plunked some of the terra cotta pots in the herb bed...son gave me a gift certificate on M-Day a few years back and I bought small pots and painted up HERBISH letterings...chives, sage, etc...

Can we all shout out in high pitched squeaker voices..."TACKY"...ultimate TACKY ijit GARDENER...​

Y'all know I love the silly and willy nilly...herb garden is a busy place of hilarity...come one, come all and enjoy the TACKY ness...at its best!

Really enjoying the routine each eve of going to the new orchard and greenhouse...those silly two fish we put in the barrel mean we hafta go feed the fish, so every day, get to water what needs watering and now with the transplants starting up IN the greenhouse, all the more reason to wander there in the evening...even if we have NO tomatoes to harvest come the fall...who cares, we have spent lots of enjoyable time thar, eh.

I think the green thumb, the gardener in us is the thing that makes us pause and stare, to enjoy the fruits of our labours even if we BOMB or get bombed (frost, hail, to much heat, etc.)...that doom against failure...wishful against the odds, we try and see if we can make plants prosper, be fruitful and multiply and ensure we enjoy our veg from the work of our own hands. Yada Yada...

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So each eve we all RUN the dogs...who let them dawgs OUT!??

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Each day...unless comatose on deathbed...gotta get something done... Yesterday, water day for the Ram Pasture...girls benefitted from that--new fresh water done up.

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Rick sits by the greenhouse, administers PETS on demand whilst I water plants (see now I am almost outta the big tub in the greenhouse water...gotta fill that up too next).

Reminds me, better clip those girl claws...never caught up...ever​

Emmy is looking away...disgusted at the gluttony of the PET FEST via the Lacer's requesting...bwa ha ha...suckin' it up..."everyone loves moi!"...says the Lace.

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Seems only one blackberry is growing...mighta lost the other one but I keep watering the TWIG...in the hopes...oh well. Thankfully, I checked and read that blackberries are mostly self pollinators...so if one survives, not so wretched a prospect for fruits maybe next year, eh.


So reviewing what I have planted...here is what is up...

Oats are up...

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Think I'll take the tiller and whack down the weeds on the t'other side thar (got like three TONS of seed oats...) and grow out some more oats...why not...eh...what the hay thar...

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Potatoes are up...

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Them frosted beans...are up and still sorta kinda kicking...guess Rick is correct, leave and see the damage done by four frosty days.

Gonna educatedly skip planting corn this year...not got the heat and I can do that next season. No worries...

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After pm bus run yesterday, decided I WILL repot the new geraniums...I must...therefore I SHALL accomplish something...no how, no way...gonna do it.

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So there they be...

Reddish coloured clover in the dragon pot on the bottom...clover...good gack, what will intrigue me next...
hee hee buying up some new fancy decorative...CLOVER...sheesh

And before I forget...that common wren that sings such sweet songs...yuppers, got clicks on Monday of him in the nest box Rick hung way way up thar in the peak of the Parking Building...

"Who is that trip tromping BELOW me nest...way up high in the near sky"​

Hee hee...LOVE the stinky eye as I clicked these pics AFTER the dogs were run...panty dogs...me below crashing bouts...yeh, trying to SNEAK up and click...get right on that...

"NOT YOU THREE..."

"I SEE you Varmits...get lost...get going...BUGGER OFF or I'll give y'all a good ol' beaking!"
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"Vamooose...be gone! Scaring off any LADY friends I might serenade..."​

And because his Medusa eye's melted us three...the girls and I retired outta his visual range...left the male in peace to sing his songs...

That be that again...

is over and done again...time flies, having WAY too much FUN...

I got some flower beds to ram shackle up to protect their contents...so the hair sheep flock can muncha buncha the greens...they are doing an excellent job...jest like all the sheeps have been doing...keeping the grass mowed in a most economical and environmentally friendly way...plus makes me pause, pause and just admire the view.

Later...flocking off to the mayhem... sweetnesses....

Doggone & Chicken UP!

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

 

[CanuckBock]

Heel low:

Turning out to be a more typical JUNE...rain wise that is. Soon be July and let fly the untamed fun stuffs... wee hee hee

Got a window of opportunity and gonna grab it...some sun to shear last sheeps...so a quick posting and then I am checking on out again...

So quick coffee with y'all and duties callin' a YOO HOO!

Grazers...wandering and pondering the true meaning of life...ENJOYng the JOY!

Truly bin a highlight to spend time with the new hair sheep. Forgot how good young sheep and sheep in a number can clear away the grass. More work of course than firing up a mower, less cost to jest go buy a nice mower too...but hey, it is not about finances, it is about a life style and being kind to the Earth & its occupants. Waz that...leaving a positive instead of a negative impact...somethun like that!

I did up a mental tally on how many sheep enclosures that are able to be mowed by ruminants and by golly gees...got TWENTY...and TEN when I do the ditches (fire preventatives...them grass fire preventers...delish!). So yeh, could literally have thirty paddocks. Kinda kewl. Kinda neato. We are suppose to rotate pastures as worm parasite preventatives too...30 should do us. Too bad round about August, the heat and lack of moisture grinds the grass and forage growth down to nada...oh well, blessed with bounty for now!

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So this is the contraption (times two...Hero make me TWO nice flower beds) protects the beauty of the flowers and plantings. Always howl when people think that you just herd a flock of sheep to the area to be mowed and by some miracle, they leave the plants you happen to want to be left alone...get real!

Shade bed, gorgeous by the Heel Low/Doggone Dog Kennel...staying purdy!​

Yuppers, that be moi, the two girls and the hair sheeps...the view from my sandals...sipping a java and sucking in the view...earned it by durn...earned my butt time soaking in the BESTEST part of owning critters...doing what comes natural to them.

View from the Sandals...​

Lots of laughter and enjoyment...

Lacy kissing Ditto​

Gotta hand it to the sheep--nobody is more SPECIAL than anyone else here in Pear-A-Dice...what is good for the goose, is good for the gander...

Emmest smelling D'Arcy's "lamb chops"...don't WE EAT this smell??​

I could sit for literal hours, mesmorized by the view of the interactions between the species...

Lacy sure looks plumb pleased with herself​

But then things would get neglected...run down, run amock...disorder in the orderly sanctuary.

So many sheeps to get to know better - Rick's chosen sheep Decor...​

Do I ever laugh...

Lacy thinks its OK to smell sheep--never asks THEIR permission...but when another sheep decides to smell her...yeh

No double standards Lace...you smell, they smell, too bad, so sad...

Girls doing what herders do, moving a straggler up closer...safer IN the flock--no wanderings​

Love the summer time GREEN and the summer time mowing...everyone getting use to each other...

D'Arcy, diving head long into the greens under the watchful stinky eyes of the turkey hens who want out on the grasses jest as much!

"Hmm...you look funny for a sheep...you don't smell like a sheep...what are you?"​

Melissa to D'Arcy, "Child! What in tarnation are you up to...Get eating, you need to keep on the grow!"
"But Momma...I'm jest visiting with the residents!" ​

And some people's standards certainly are not MY standards. Was told these sheeps get toes trimmed once a year...maybe it was twice but got told they had just been done. HA! Not in my books...this is the oldest' sheep's toes...

I trimmed the one side to give the non toe sheep persons a view on what is a trimming and what is too long...

Top cloven side, supposedly trimmed...HA!
Bottom cloven side, what I consider a trim...
​

No foot = no animals and I like to see a decent foot trim because it balances the animal. If the foot is trimmed up right, usually you don't hafta mess too much with their toes, natural wear from a correctly leveled hoof. The curl under hoof wall sucks crap. Easy peasy to trim and the Dorper toes, no hard a hoof than my Jacobs.

As mentioned, said that Rick burned the tree rings, sure tidies things up nice...

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I tilled under the weeds out in the Ram Pasture, sorta kinda like a green mulch. If'n I get to it, probably seed this to oats since the other side is doing so well.

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Rainy June...dark skies, threatening to dump...

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Awesome time to sit in the Man Porch, visit with dogs and Rick and pot up tomatoes.

Did up sixty tomatoes now, got about another 40 to go still...​

All the more reason to visit the New Orchard and water...water up the plants IN the greenhouse...exciting, fun, frivolous and fanciful...maybe even fruitful...hee hee...definately noted some varieties did better than others...real learning curve to soak up on what tomats do well under my conditions.

​

So like the sheep flock all in a row to go...that be where I be going...gone...going going I am now GONE on...

Doggone & Chicken UP!

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

 

[CanuckBock]

Heel low:

Whadda I say about rain... good

Nix is my second set of lambs born here...twins to Nuber (Rick named that one, his privilege, to name the FIRST sheeps - 2003) Nix is Latin for Snow
and what a softy plushy fiber she has!

​

Pedicure anyone? Anyone?? Hold still and I'll get yah!

So jest about got Nix done, half done in reality and I hear the booming, some flashes...eep...what did I say about the dang rain and me trying to shear the last widdle sheeps...

Peeling the wool offa the gal

The wind starts blowing...drops start falling...good golly, it's coming on...

​

So I flip the gal, get that fleece off her...tout sweetness get it gone!

No time for a decent snap...no nice fleece laid out, sheared beasty in the background...
this is; stuff, run, duck and go for cover!​

Release her and myself!

I will have to do her back feet and her belly...her tail too needs a bit more touch up (I like to put a lion's tail on the Jacobs...non-docked and the pompom on the tail end is excellent fly swatter weaponry), but hey now, mostly the bestest part, the fleece is off and she is pretty happy as am I. Done woolling for another season...Yippee ki yay!

Gotta fly...afternoon bus run is a calling...there I goes...running thru the rain drops hoping not to get zing zapped by the lightening!

Doggone & Chicken UP!

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