End of May

Trapped.  Twice.

We were finally able to set up the coyote trap down the back just inside the woods and near the swampy bits we know the coyotes like.  It's near where the hunter shot the coyote in the fall.  Hubby continues to research and learn much about coyote behaviour and how to hunt them. 

 So, we added to our daily routine the checking of the trap.  And to keep extra tabs on the dogs knowing that one of the three could find themselves in the trap.  We were more concerned about the Maremmas since they can be very food focused and of course raw meat is the bait of choice in the trap.

 Twice Rocky Raccoon got himself into the trap.  He is cute.  We figured he / she was a yearling.  Wary, it would not leave the cage while we were there, but he did leave.

We have since moved the trap to a different location.  And no dogs have yet been caught in it.





Play

 Lambs can be very curious and playful.  It gets them into trouble!

Here is a common gathering spot for lambs.  It seems their mothers drop them off at the park while they graze nearby.  The lambs like to rest in the warm sand and nibble on some grass tidbits.

Another favourite lamb play spot is the weeping willow tree in the front year.  Yes, the sheep are mowing our yard!

From the front door we watch lambs play in the weeping willow tree.  This brave guy has a jumping game going on.

Can't you just hear these lambs having a conversation?  "Come on, get up here.  There's room for all of us.  It's fun.  It's not too high up.  Your mother won't mind at all.  Come on!"






Garden Goings On

We are very grateful for the fall donation of a rototiller.  I was looking forward to getting to it.  It's been a busy time.  I just could not get it started.  So, I called the fix-it folks.  They came and took it away and brought it back a few days later with a new starter.  Now I could start it.  Well...  After I put some gas in it.

And away we went.  One good pass around the garden and there were problems.  A belt had slipped off.  And the handle bolt was missing.  So, off it went with the fix-it folks again.  It finally came back - no charge this time.

In the meantime a neighbour offered the use of his tiller.  This was wonderful!  It has been so busy with other things but finally I got to the tilling and yesterday planted the majority of the vegetable garden.

Next is to finalise the new herb garden.  Well, as final as a new garden can be in its first year.  Hopefully I will get our tiller onto that garden today.

The fortunate thing is that my tardiness in getting plants into the ground meant we had no losses with the hard frost last week.  There were many losses across the province.

Rams and Lambing

This year there is an extended lambing period.  Usually, since sheep have approximately a three week reproductive cycle, the bulk of lambs come in three weeks followed by some stragglers in the second three weeks.  Our year has been much stranger than that.  We jokingly say that the new ram lamb, Birch, got tired.  Abe, the emergency Christmas Eve ram purchase, is older and much more experienced.  I realise now that Birch was sick. 

Birch is starting to look more like a ram.  Hanging out with Abe he should learn how to walk that talk.  Abe can be very dominant and bashes Birch a lot.  Abe has come at me a few times.  He now wears a bell so I can hear him coming.  One should never turn their back on a ram.  When I go into their pen Birch runs up to me and slips behind my legs as if he is hiding from Abe.  Birch is quite friendly and has made no unpleasant moves - yet.

The lambs are good and strong.  There have been lots of single births.  Cookie's cast comes off this week.  I did some rearranging and have been able to get her and her mother, Nancy, outside.  Here they are...

Nancy and Cookie - outside at last!

At this point in time, there are five sheep left to lamb.  It's getting hot and I'm sure they'll be glad to get those lambs on the ground.  I still expect lambs up until June 5th or so.  So, stay tuned.

Shearing Day 2015

First, let me send a HUGE thank you to the four gals who came out to help.  You really were amazing, one returning from last year and three newbies.  They managed the skirting station in the garage.  I asked them to be brutal and they were, removing anything that a spinner would not want to deal with.  Two of these fine friends went home with a fleece of their choice - okay they battled over the two - and I look forward to seeing the results of their creative efforts.

I need to back track a bit.  Shearing begins days ahead of time.  I had to watch the weather and ensure the sheep remained dry.  The one night it rained my sheep were locked up inside whereas if we did not have housing that would be an issue. 

And I had to set up.  Things were different this year and we could not shear where we did last year.  So, I fenced off an area in the south overhang so that the sheep could move from the large area in the Big Barn to a small holding pen, to the shearing area and then outside.  The shearer liked the arrangement and all went very well.

There was excitement during the day but all went well.  The shearer arrived late but that was okay.  This meant that shearing continued until later and I had planned for this.  Hubby was on task to barbecue the dinner I had prepared and we had extra for the two helpers that stayed late.  Again, I had planned for this.

The shearer agreed to trim Henrietta the llama's feet.  I was pleased with this but had no idea what this adventure would entail.  After lunch, I asked if he was ready to do her as she was volunteering.  I got a hold on her halter and the shearer said "Sure.  Let's do her now."  She was quite good for the first three feet, fighting a bit but okay.  For foot number four we had quite a dance around the barn.  I was not letting go.  Henrietta I guess gave up.  She went down on all fours, laid down on her side, stretched out her head and wailed.  The shearer finished her foot and we left her there, feeling quite indignant.  And it was done!

Henrietta really wanted out of the barn.  I tried to coax her out but she would not go past the sheep that were left to be shorn.  Then the door got opened somehow, whether by a sheep or Henrietta.  And she was away.  But then so was an unshorn sheep.  So, after herding the unshorn sheep into the holding pen, I grained the rest of the flock to get them all into the barn.  I captured the MIA unshorn sheep and got her into the holding pen.  All was well.

Some sheep were very buggy but most were better than I expected.  At the vet's advice I had drenched them to deal with the bugs and plan to repeat the procedure.  Some sheep look thin but they are heavily producing milk for twins right now.  The seven who have not lambed are all pregnant. 

Abraham - Abe - the big ram.  His fleece was very white and he was very well behaved.

Now that the sheep are without their wool I have to learn who they are again as they do look different.  I also realise how much I rely on their voices to distinguish them.  It's coming together.  Sometimes I just hang out with them to figure out who they are.  And they are so very small now without their wool!

Libby, the colourful spinning fleeced ewe I purchased last summer, has a gorgeous fleece.  The spinners were in awe and would have fought hard over that one had I not declared in advance "It is mine!"  And she looks different now that she is shorn.  And the shearer wonders if she is not carrying triplets!

The colouring on Libby's legs and belly looks like that of a leopard.

A close up of Libby's delightful fleece.  It contains all colours.  Underneath it is much more black while the topside is sun bleached and a lighter brown.  Lots of colour here for sure!

Lambs abound

Hubby has been enjoying gathering photos of the critters, especially the newborns.  And I've had several requests for photos.  So here are a few.

This year we have blue ear tags for the boys and red ear tags for the girls.

They look so tiny when they are out in the pasture!

Can you eat it? 

Ear tags are essential.  They all look the same to me too!

There are more males than females so far this year.

Nap time!  The adult sheep nearby are yearlings born here last year.  They have not yet lambed.

These are Polar Bear's twins, about twelve hours old.  I love the turned up tips on the ears of the male on the right.  This is a feature of the ram's breeding.

I wonder if it is instinctive for babies to play on this well cover?

The lamb has approached Ruby and she is carefully staying down as she knows if she gets up she will startle the lamb.  It is expected that the dogs will bond closely with this year's lambs.

Maremmas are known not to be obedient so I can assure you we did not set up this photo!  Wonderfully, this is what they do - and I tell them, "Stay with your sheep".

The Clover Calamity

It went on for several days.  I never realized how concerned and worried I was until the Vet pulled out of the driveway.  Poor Clover....

Clover is Smudge's lamb from last year.  Smudge has, well, a smudged faced.  It looks as if she stuck her face in the ashes of a fireplace.  Smudge is a character with a strong focus on food.  Thus, I thought a food related name for her ewe lamb was in order and clover is something sheep like to eat.

Clover is also a best buddy of Ruby Dooby.  When Ruby had her spay surgery Clover was one of the sheep that kept her company for the two weeks she was in the box stall.  Clover is very accepting of both dogs.  She can be found lying in a doorway and does not move; others have to go around her, whereas most sheep would jump up to be out of the way, especially the way of an oncoming dog.

She was getting big and I was pretty sure she was going to have twins.  Finally on the Saturday evening she was off by herself and was not eating.  She was not chewing her cud either.  That evening I was able to put her into a pen.  Nothing seemed to be happening.  It needed time I thought.

On Sunday I checked her numerous times.  It was now more obvious that the birthing process had begun but she still did not lay down and push.  I consulted my shepherding neighbour.  Between the two of us - she came over to check out Clover - we found that she was not dilated enough, that lambing had begun, no lamb was stuck...  It just wasn't right though.  After another hour, I called the Vet.

He called me back quite quickly for a Sunday after hours call.  The Vet and I have really gotten to know each other in the last ten days.  He arrived in less than an hour.  Despite all his efforts he was surprised that she was so poorly dilated.  He managed though to break the water.  It was dark - not a good sign. 

We decided to leave it overnight, that the breaking of the water should be prompt enough to get the process moving along.  If not, a caesarian section was in order.

I checked Clover several times during the night and all was the same.  I examined her at about 7:30 and all was the same.  I could feel something, but it was not a foot or a nose...  I called the Vet.  His office suggested he would be here late morning.

Dr. McG - yes, he's a Mc while we are Mac - arrived at eleven o'clock.  The service is mobile.  There is no clinic.  Dr. McG examined Clover again and concurred my findings.  He began set up for surgery.  There's a workbench in the barn, alongside Clover's pen and that was cleared off for the surgical site.  He located an electrical outlet for his clippers.  I brought over the trouble light for lighting the area.

He had already given Clover a sedative.  We lifted her onto the workbench and I stationed myself at her head.  She was immobile very quickly.  I put a towel under her face.  Dr. McG began shearing / clipping the surgical area.  I wanted the fleece so we piled it up nearby.  And then he washed the area about three times with three different 'soaps'. 

My Sister had arrived on Sunday afternoon just as the neighbour was leaving.  We chatted briefly over a tea.  I explained what was on for dinner, that I had thawed a roast beef because she was joining us but that she now would be cooking it.  She took over in the kitchen and I went back outside.  I was gone several hours tending to the Vet then doing chores.  We met back up over dinner.  She hadn't planned to stay overnight but changed her mind.  She had an emergency toothbrush and jammies with her.

I was so grateful for her help.  She appeared in the barn just as Dr. McG was completing the clipping.  I was attached to Clover and not much help with anything else.  Sister got a bag and gathered up the fleece.  She stood by and was that extra pair of hands that one needs in such crazy situations.

I explained to the Vet that I can be squeemish so if I turned my back to him he was not to take it personally.  I am usually okay, but some days....  He explained that he really did not know what we would find.  He began.

As the abdominal cavity was exposed Dr. McG let out an explanation of surprise and jumped back a bit as fluid rushed out of the cavity toward him and onto the floor.  I wondered if her guts just landed on the floor, but thankfully not.  He explained to me later that this was fluid from inflammation.

There was another surprise voiced as the dead and deformed fetus fell to the floor.  It was HUGE and he called it a calf.  No sheep could have delivered that.  As we discussed, it was a one-off, genetic malformation.  When he examined the carcass later we saw how it was so full of fluid, that the huge and puffy ear was likely what we had felt that morning.

I said we made all the right calls.  From my calling him on a Sunday, to waiting an additional twelve hours to moving forward with the c-section.  There was nothing we could or would  have done differently with the information that we had.

Clover began to stir as he completed his stitch work.  Closing her up seemed to take a long time.  Dr. McG administered a long lasting anti-inflammatory and antibiotic.  I was to give her a five day course of antibiotics.  Amazingly, as we moved her from the table to the pen floor, he said she would stand, and she did.

It was now about one o'clock and I was very hungry.  Sister and I had bacon and eggs and she headed back to the big city.  Having experienced several nights of distressful sleep I had a good solid nap.

It was Wednesday before Clover began to look more like herself.  Her eyes were brighter and she was more engaged with her surroundings.  She fought with me a bit as I gave her an oral liquid supplement.  She was now drinking and eating.  Later that day I saw her chewing her cud for the first time since the weekend.  She is on the mend.

Tough Cookie

She really is a "Tough Cookie"!  Even though I won't be keeping her I have - yes - broken my rule and given her a name. 

Last year Olive had twins and I kept her female lamb and named her Nancy.  Now please understand that when I use a person kind of name I am not naming the sheep after any person that I know.  In this case, Nancy was the last of the five ewe lambs kept that had not yet been named.  In my mind I referred to her as No Name.  Finally my mind said No Name Nancy and from there I called her Nancy.

So this is Nancy's first year to lamb.  One evening I counted the sheep and one was missing.  I looked around and found Nancy standing behind the barn in the process of giving birth.  She was outside the back doors so I scooted around the barn and closed all of the other doors to keep everyone out.  When I reached the back where Nancy was located she was lying down and pushing.  I went to her immediately and could see the two feet and a nose.  A Shepherd is always relieved to see those three things!  It was a tight fit and I assisted, pulling on one leg which eased the shoulder through the pelvic girdle, then gently pulled on the other leg.  The gentle pulling happens in rhythm with mother's pushing.  The lamb eased through and lay in a puddle behind Nancy.

She was beat and didn't move.  Often the sheep jumps up, the umbilical breaks and mom begins to chat to her baby while she licks it clean. Nancy was too tired and this was her first.  She did make a motherly sound or two.  I wiggled the lamb closer to her head but didn't want to pull on the still attached umbilical.  I cleared the mouth and saw that baby was breathing.

I ran inside the barn for a lambing towel.  When I returned I used the towel to wipe baby's face further.  There was a chilly breeze on my back and I was protecting the lamb from that breeze.  Mother still did not get up.  Finally, I shoved her a few times and Nancy got up.  The umbilical broke and mother began the licking ritual. 

After a few short minutes I scooped up baby in the towel and holding it low and at nose and eye level to Nancy, I backed into the barn.  Mother followed, seeing and sniffing baby.  I put down baby just inside and closed the door to the chilly breeze.

After awhile I put Nancy and her new daughter into a lambing pen.  The barn was busy with lambs.  At two thirty that morning I had entered the barn for my night check to find Olive with a new baby daughter.  I had put them into a larger pen.  Nancy got the small pen.

When the lambs are a few days old, they have been ear tagged for identification, have had their tails and testicles banded and are well bonded with their mothers they go into a 'nursery'.  In a larger pen I group a few moms and their babies.  This is a transition to the larger world of the larger flock.  There is some pushing and shoving as the ewes work out their pecking order and mommies and babies work out finding each other in the group.

So, at two days I thought I'd put grandma and daughter together. I wanted to get Nancy out of that small pen.  I figured this would be a good opportunity, that Olive would help Nancy figure out some of the ropes of new motherhood.  Yearlings get picked on by the older sheep but I didn't expect that to happen here.  Olive is a top sheep in the flock as I observed last summer when each morning it was she that led the flock out to pasture.

I was wrong.  There was absolutely no warm familial atmosphere at all.  As I puttered around the barn doing other things I realised there was some bashing going on in that pen.  I made sure they had hay and water to occupy them and with good access by both ewes fighting and bashing should be less.  Still, I could here a bit more thumping going on. 

I looked more closely into the pen and could see Nancy's smaller baby holding up her right hind leg.  She held it high.  Sometimes they get banged and it stings and five minutes later they are tearing around again.  This did not happen; it did not get better.  I picked up the lamb and felt down the leg.  It felt fine to me, but how would I know unless a broken bone poked out sideways.  I put her down and waited.

After a few hours I realised there was no change.  I called the vet.  The office telephoned back to say he would not be there until after seven that evening.  I put grandma Olive in a larger pen with three other ewes and their lambs.  Nancy and her lamb were by themselves again.

It was broken right through in the pastern area.  For such a break to occur someone would have to stand on top of it, the vet explained.  Unfortunately the vet had had a very long day and his supplies were low so he could not cast it.  I wonder if he thought that might not be the outcome.  At any rate, he came back the next day and cast baby's leg.  Almost immediately baby felt better.  When she was returned to her pen she rested the leg on the ground for the first time.  The vet was impressed.

Euthanizing was an option.  This did not readily come to my mind.  "As long as I break even", I had said to the vet.  And then he said, "This is an experiment.  I felt so badly that I didn't have the supplies with me last night."  And he also suggested in our conversation that the leg might not heal very straight.  It would however heal and the lamb would be without pain.  That was / is a worthy goal.

She really is a "Tough Cookie".  "Cookie" will do just fine. 

Sleep Deprivation

Bob Calves

Bob calves are the male calves from a dairy farm.  A dairy farmer generally has no use for a bob calf so at a few days of age they truck them to the auction.  Thirty odd years ago we paid the dairy farmer down the road one hundred dollars for each three day old bob calf we bought from him.  We did this two years in a row and each time we got three.  Three is a good number since if you lose one you still have a pair to keep each other company.

We bought calf milk replacer and taught the calves how to drink milk out of a pail.  We fed them a starter ration to get them eating solids.  The only health issue we had was scours or diarrhoea.  One calf consumed a lot of Pepto Bismol.  After about a month or so the calves were turned out onto pasture.  There they stayed until it started to get cold in about October.  Then we brought them in a fed them corn for about a month before they went off to the butcher. 

A recent visitor with whom we shared calf fun thirty odd years ago was reminded that she was not disappointed to see the calves go.  They weren't cute anymore by the end of the summer.  This is true for just about any farm animal.

At any rate, this year we had planned to do the same thing.  However, the dairy farmer who got barely twenty dollars a calf two years ago now gets well over four hundred dollars a calf at the auction.  We decided this was not a cost effective venture.  Our goal was to keep a calf in our freezer and sell the other two.  Suddenly there seems to be a huge call for veal bob calves.  This may be due to the overall rising price of beef and oil.  In the meantime we will purchase a side of beef from our butcher friend again this year.


Barking

In anticipation of new lambs I began to leave Ruby out of the barn at night.  That is, I did not lock her in with the sheep.  She could get in the barn through the doggy door.  To my surprise I found her in with the sheep in the morning as she climbed or jumped back in with them.  She certainly is bonded to them.

As a result of my permission, so to speak, to be outside all night, Ruby has become very active at night.  She barks at just about anything.  This has diminished a bit as the weeks have gone by.  Now there seem to be spurts of barking by both dogs during the night.  Although we appreciate very much having these girls on duty we are having to learn to sleep through it and this is taking some time.


Muskrat Killer

A new duty with the night shift seems to be the reduction of the Muskrat population.  Perhaps it is the reduction of their numbers that has resulted in less barking at night.  Ruby has now brought home three dead muskrats.  There are no markings on them and she does not seem to eat them.  This photo shows her proud self with her catch that she brought right to the sheep's hay pile.





Babies

Spot was the first to lamb on April 17th with twin boys.  Smudge had a single female that evening.  Marmalade had twin boys the next afternoon.  At 2:45 a.m. on the 19th Olive was found to have a female single.  Early that evening, Olive's daughter Nancy gave birth to a single female. 

The pattern is clear:  twins are male and females are singles.  All are healthy and well.  Nancy, a new mother, needed some help and lots of encouragement.  She and her baby have bonded well.

This is Spot in the photo.  She is sporting the latest sheep coat in our flock.  It seems the sheep have discovered that you can scratch your back on the underside of the bucket on Oz the tractor.  The effect is black grease in your coat.  This gives added meaning to the expression "grease fleece" which is unwashed wool containing lots of lanolin.

It was a very busy few days and the first two nights I was deprived of restful sleep.  When the dogs woke me up I went out to the barn.  Otherwise I found myself lying there and worrying. 

I have been very concerned about how the dogs will react to a lambing sheep.  So far, all is well.  Ruby stays out of the way while Millie is desperate to eat the afterbirth.  I spoke to my neighbour on this and got a few pointers as one of her dogs does the same.  I have locked the dogs outside of the barn several times.  Monitoring is needed until we all figure this out.

More baby photos will be posted soon.  Interestingly, Spot was one of the first to lamb last year.


Maple Syrup

Here is our complete production of maple syrup.  Okay, some is missing from that tall narrow bottle as we had some on blueberry pancakes - yum!.  This is the result of tapping two trees plus a donation of some thirty litres from a friend.

Next year we will tap more trees but have not yet decided how many.  Boiling down the sap on the cook stove in the cabin worked very well indeed.  All of the equipment has been cleaned up and put away until next year.  Oz has some work to do back at the cabin to put up a stash of wood for next season's sugaring off.

April Anecdotes

The Sled

Okay this didn't happen in April but I keep forgetting to share this story.  We had had a fresh snowfall and after morning chores I walked out to the cabin with the dogs.  This morning walk is helping my back these days.  As we were coming back through the woods behind the house there were some very interesting animal tracks.  It appeared to me to be an animal pulling a sled.  Really, a sled.  Behind the animal was a squared up trail, seeming almost to have a runner at each edge.

I wondered if a coyote had dragged a dead animal.  I discounted this as there was no blood and the track was too consistent.  I then thought of a beaver.  Yes, it must have been a beaver dragging its flat tail behind it.  Still, though, that didn't seem right.  There was such a rectangular shape to the track.

Back at the house I checked out google images until I discovered who my visitor had been.  I was thrilled to learn it was an otter.  And sure enough I followed the trail back to the creek that runs south of the house.  The creek travels east to a neighbour's large pond or west and south right down to the St. Lawrence.  The "sled" was the otter's belly as he moves along in his travels.  He had come up from the creek and checked out one of the still very frozen ponds near the house.

I look forward to observing some otter play when the weather is warmer.

Maple Syrup

The long Easter weekend was somewhat dedicated to maple syrup.  As early adventurers we decided to tap just two trees.  A friend came over with spiles and buckets and a drill...  Hubby had been dutifully checking buckets for days and we had accumulated enough to get boiling.

We got a fire going in the cook stove in the cabin and poured the collected sap into the top and bottom of mom's turkey roasting pan.  It is still blackened from our teenage adventures doing the same thing:  boiling sap.  I still roast turkey in this pan.

After days of progress the well reduced liquid was  brought to the kitchen for completion.  It was not long before the small amount remaining suddenly reached the correct temperature and consistency.  I had to go out to the barn and hubby was minding the stove.  When I returned he was straining it into a bottle.  Oh, and it tastes wonderful!

We are continuing.  The temperatures are suddenly right and the sap is flowing more abundantly.  As a result we have collected a lot in the last week and I began the cook down process today.  I had to split wood first.  That was a pleasure with the new wood splitter.  In addition a friend has given us his remaining sap as he will be away for a week.  So, more syrup is under development.



Needling

What better way to spend your holiday Easter Monday than to help your sister needle her sheep?  This worked for my sister and I appreciate her help.  Needling sheep is just that:  giving them needles.  We vaccinated the sheep for clostridium infection.  At this point in their gestation the vaccination will provide some protection to the newborn lambs.  A booster will be necessary.  We did the boys too.

This vaccine is administered by subcutaneous injection.  I am not really comfortable with sub-q however it all went well.

We got the sheep in the barn with some grain.  Remember - to the sheep grain is candy.  Then we bribed them further into a penned area.  The idea was to get them crowded into this pen.  We got 14 of them into the pen.  Of the 5 outside of the pen, 4 were yearlings.  I guess they are not yet into candy.  I climbed from one sheep to the next, while my sister handed me the prepared needle.  The sheep were calm.  They were comfortable, not too crowded and not too worried about anything.  The job went fairly quickly.

The 5 evasive ewes required a different approach.  Two of them we managed to get into another penned area.  One yearling was laying down and she is very friendly so I just walked up to her.  One very skittish one I managed to grab and she leaped into the air but I hung on.  Fortunately she is not too big - yet - and I had a good hold on her. 

Each one had the top of their head marked with a red crayon so we would know who we still needed to catch.  When they all had a red mark on their heads we went in for tea.

Signs of Spring

It is April 8th and this afternoon we were blanketed in snow.  It was very very pretty.  It is not cold, barely sitting above freezing, and quite pleasant actually.  We are however tired of winter.  The season of mud has just begun and is a welcome assurance that spring has arrived.  The snowfall is just mother nature teasing us - further!

There are no baby lambs yet, not even anyone looking really close.  The due date is tomorrow.  I think maybe next week.  My neighbour has no lambs yet either.  We wait.

There has been a lot of bird activity.  Many flocks overhead have been seen and the tell-tale "V" of the geese.  I saw a blue heron last week.  We think we have each seen the Northern Harrier.  And our own chickens are everywhere, it seems.  They are happy to stretch their legs and travel the ground exposed by the melted snow - until this afternoon, that is.

The sheep have been taking strolls around the field, searching for morsels of grass.  I don't see anything green worth eating.  Nonetheless they get muddy mouths for their efforts.  They come back to the barn a lot to pick through the leavings from their last meal.  And they lay around outside, enjoying the fresh air.


Burrs

I've seen deer across the road a few times; and so have the Maremmas.  The other morning Millie ran barking down to the fence at the road, Ruby following closely behind her.  I followed their gaze and could see the flash of white tail as two deer slowly pranced away from the canine noises.

Later in the early evening the dogs roared down to the fence again.  It looked to me as if the deer were now returning home, back to the bush from which they must have emerged in the morning.  The dogs barked a long time.  Although there is a gap under the fence there, they have never gone under the fence.  I've seen Millie run back to the barn to jump over a fence there rather than get under that fence at the road front.

This was not to be today.  Next time I looked up the dogs were gone, flashes of white appearing in the field across the road.  Beau and I wandered over that way and I called and called.  When I could tell that the dogs were not heading further toward the neighbour's farm house, I slowed up my calling.  I then puttered in the front yard until the dogs returned.

They both hit the ground and inspected themselves.  There were each full of burdock.  Ruby's tail now contained many more burrs than it already had.  What a mess they both were.

The Thief

Her name is Ruby.  Yet, Millie possesses the traits of a thief, too.  I refer to Millie as garbage girl.  If she hears a plastic bag it must be garbage and destined for her.  Several times I have left a bag of garbage outside of the back door to put in the secure bin in a few minutes.  Millie must have a super 6th sense because she gets to that bag in minutes.

I found a sock in the barnyard the other day.  My sock.  Granted it is half of a pair with holes and destined for the holey sock pile.  Ruby must have taken if off of the clothes line or found it near the clothes line - and then back to her lair in the barnyard!

We've been cleaning up the cabin and bringing stuff up to the house.  Most of the stuff has to be cleaned before it can be assessed for its utility to us.  A cutting board broke when it got to the back door so I left it outside to dispose of shortly.  One of the two pieces is no longer at the back door.  There was also a barbecue fork that had previously been repaired and was now destined for the landfill.  I carefully wrapped the sharp end in newspaper and a plastic bag.  I found it on the shavings pile at the barn this morning.

And then there was the hamburger.  Both dogs had disappeared up the road.  This always worries me.  A while later I spied Millie near the end of our driveway eating something, a tell tale plastic bag nearby.  She was eating something wrapped in meat paper.  It was meat.  The paper was stamped "hamburger"  just the way our butcher does it.  Millie inhaled it.  Ruby bounced into the picture and had a wrapped parcel in her mouth.  At the house she dropped it and I grabbed it to get it out of the paper.  Ruby was determined to eat it, and now.  I dropped it out of the paper and she was on top of it.  Beau went for a morsel and was thoroughly told off.

We expect much of spring.  Nature does bring us the next season in due time.