A little bit of Easter fun for you today, as Baxter helps you gear up for the big egg hunt this weekend.
Happy Easter, everyone!
Category Archives: Animals
Crazy for a full moon
I think we’ve established that we don’t have a fenced yard, and we’re still working on helping Baxter remember he has to come when called. So any time Baxter goes outside, he’s wearing a leash, and a human is holding the end.
As the human responsible for the first and last outings of the day, I love a full moon.
Being able to see my shadow at 6am and 10pm is a luxury.
On most of our walks this winter, I was stumbling over ruts, tripping over tufts of grass, straining my eyes for telltale strips of white–and my nose for the putrid scent–that signifies skunk.
Now that the days are getting longer, our walks are starting to be lit by the rising sun. However, I still have a special fondness for moon walks.
While the full moon is reputed to cause craziness, full moon walks are so much more relaxing. What drives me crazy is if my full moon is hidden behind cloud cover.
Aside: Apparently there was an eclipse yesterday. I missed it. Eclipses are neat enough that I would have given up my full moon without complaint.
What’s your favourite phase of the moon? Is anyone else wandering around outside in the wee hours of the morning and night? Did you catch the eclipse?
The vulture has landed
The turkey vultures have returned to our neighbourhood. They spent the weekend gliding over the farm intimidating animals and humans alike with their dark shadows, their red heads, their beady eyes and their giant wings. At one point, two touched down on the ridge of the barn, opened their wings and stood there sunning themselves.
They are absolutely massive birds. Unfortunately, Matt got outside first and yelled at them, so they flew away before I could get a picture. (Matt’s a bit concerned about any… let’s call it “interference”… landing on our new solar panels).
Here’s a picture from last year when a trio touched down on the barn roof. (Look how green! And no snow!)
I still don’t think this photo conveys the scale of these birds. Just keep in mind the barn’s really, really big, and you can clearly distinguish the vultures sitting on top of it.
Do you have turkey vultures in your neighbourhood?
Life lessons from my dog
When the going gets tough, I get trudging. With all of the snow and wind we’ve had recently, I spend a lot of time trudging.
In the photo below, I am up to my thighs in the snow, while Baxter the lucky dog lightweight stands on top.
When the going gets tough, Baxter gets hopping. He makes like a bunny and bounds through the snow.
Sure, sometimes he lands in a drift that’s over his head. There’s a moment while he ponders the injustice of the situation and how he came to be buried up to his ears. However, then he gathers himself together and makes a larger leap, charging on through the snow.
Other times, he embraces the drift and dives in deeper, searching for real live bunnies.
This week, when work has been particularly hectic, when things seem to be much more difficult that they need to be and when I’m feeling particularly frenetic, a dog’s enthusiasm and joy for life are good lessons.
How’s your week going? Anyone else enjoying/dealing with particularly deep snow? What lessons have you learned from your pets?
Eating us out of house and home
Downside of the ice storm:
- No power for 3 1/2 days
- Broken branches and downed trees everywhere
- A driveway that is now a skating rink
- Grasses and branches all hidden under ice and snow
Upside of the ice storm:
- Because all of the grasses and branches are hidden under ice and snow, the only food available is in the bird feeder (okay, this is probably a downside from the birds’ perspective)
- Lots of fallen branches give me lots of material to make artificial bushes around the bird feeder so that the birds can scout out the situation or line up to wait their turn
Since putting up the bird feeder at the beginning of November, I have had no customers. Then, on a cold snowy January morning as I was sitting at the dining room table, I glanced out the window and I saw it. A little black dot in the bird feeder.
Was it?
Could it be?
It was!
Finally, a bird had discovered the feeder.
His friends soon followed, and now we have a steady line up of chickadees every morning.
I love sitting in the dining room, eating my breakfast and watching the birds. This is exactly the scenario I envisioned when I built the feeder.
At first, only the chickadees were brave enough to come to the feeder. When I was outside photographing them, I heard a jay and eventually I was able to spot him high in the trees across the driveway. After a week of building up his confidence, he finally made his way to the feeder. It was neat to watch him cautiously select a seed and then take it up into the tree for his mate who is still too shy to join the buffet line herself.
Although it’s a large feeder and the chickadees are very little, everybody goes one at a time. Occasionally a greedy guy will try to sit in the feeder and steal more than one seed. A waiting bird always flies up and moves the glutton along.
Even going one seed at a time, the birds are quickly emptying the feeder. This thrills me immensely. So much in fact that Matt is worried that I am going to blow all of our money on bird seed and we will lose the farm and end up destitute. However, having gone half the winter with no birds, the 50lb sack of seed that I bought back in the fall is holding out very well. In fact, I couldn’t fit it all in the Knodd I got from Ikea, so the sack still has some seed in it. The Knodd is really convenient though any time I have to scoop out more seed to refill the feeder.
As I’ve been working on this post, I’ve had Feed The Birds from Marry Poppins in my head. It’s by no means my favourite song from the movie, but for some reason it’s all I can think about.
Our birds seed is a mite more expensive than tuppence a bag, but I still don’t think it’s likely that we’re going to end up destitute selling bird seed on the street corner any time soon. So come one, come all. Just try and eat us out of house and home. (Just don’t tell Matt).
Do you have a bird feeder? Who are your regular customers? What do you feed your birds? What’s your favourite song from Mary Poppins? Has anyone seen the new movie yet?
Merry Christmas
Given that it’s the week before Christmas, I’ve decided to keep it light and have turned the blog over to Baxter. In the meantime, I’m still working on the house behind the scenes and will have lots more DIY for you in the new year.
Well, it’s been really nice hanging out with y’all this week. Julia says this is my last post for the year, though, and that I have to wish y’all Merry Christmas.
I’m a little sad to be saying goodbye, but here goes. Merry Christmas everybody.
(Note from Julia: I take no credit for this Christmas scene. This is not our tree, not our stockings, not our fireplace, not our house. Obviously, it is our (solemn) dog. Thanks to my brother- and sister-in-law Greg and Kristine for hosting all of us for a relaxing pre-Christmas get-away. And for taking a cute photo of our favourite guy.)
Getting along like cats and dogs
Given that it’s the week before Christmas, I’ve decided to keep it light and turned the blog over to Baxter. In the meantime, I’m still working on the house behind the scenes and will have lots more DIY for you in the new year.
These photos are old. I don’t know how long in dog months, but y’all saw on Monday that there’s nothing green outside these days. I wanted to show y’all how hard I’m working to be friendly with the kitty-cats.
First, Easter ignores me, even when I give her my most puppy-dog-eyes through the window.
Then she comes closer. I stand very still–except for my tail which I keep wagging.
Finally, our eyes meet, and she sits down. She sticks her tongue out at me, which is okay ’cause I’m pretty sure she’s just being licky and not actually being rude.
She stays for a few minutes, but then she hops down and runs away. When we’re both outside together, she never lets me get this close. I have to admit to y’all that sometimes I’ve been a bit impatient and chased her. I just want her to be my friend.
I think Easter has maybe found a new friend. We haven’t seen her around the farm much in the last little while. We’ve all looked for her–I did my very best sniffing. Julia was saying all kinds of not nice things about coyotes and cars, but then Easter came back one day for a little while. Now Julia and Matt think she’s found an attractive he-cat with a warmer barn somewhere in the neighbourhood. I hope she hasn’t found a dog she likes better than me.
Ralph is still around, and she’s not running away from me as fast now. I think she’s a little lonely without Easter. She still won’t let me get close, but I’m hoping that for Christmas we can be friends. Wouldn’t that be the bestest present ever?
I shall sing you the song of my people
It’s a week before Christmas, and I’ve turned the blog over to Baxter. In the meantime, I’m still working on the house behind the scenes and will have lots more DIY for you in the new year.
As a southern gentleman, I pride myself on being quiet and calm. However, every afternoon, I am overcome by my inner party animal. I blame the Boxer side of my personality.
Matt walks in the door, and I just have to pick up my kong and play it like a trumpet.
It shows Matt how happy I am that he’s home and how wonderful he is and how much I love him. But it’s not at all dignified.
As I come back into myself, sometimes I end up in a no-dog’s-land where I’m not sure who I am or what I’m doing. It’s a very confusing place. I end up sitting there with the kong and no idea how to get rid of it.
Seriously y’all, it’s hard to be a distinguished gentleman when I’m sitting there with a rubber cone hanging out of my mouth.
Any advice for helping me to control my excitement? Or any suggestions of tunes I should learn to play? What song do you think Matt would really appreciate?
Just call him Gilligan
Given that it’s the week before Christmas, I’ve decided to take it easy and have turned the blog over to Baxter. In the meantime, I’m working on the house behind the scenes and will have lots more DIY for you in the new year.
Matt and Julia make fun of me a lot for how much I love my bed. I don’t see why. They have “the most comfortable couch in the world.” I have the most comfortable bed in the world. But they won’t even call it a bed. All the time, they call it my “boat.”
I guess technically, with the ring around the outside it kinda looks like a dingy. Boat, bed — who cares? What’s most important is the boat is very cozy, and I can do all kinds of snuggles.
I can lounge on the deck with my sleeping bag.
If I feel like there’s bad weather coming, I can hunker down in the hull–of course with a paw out in case I need to paddle.
Sometimes I like to pretend it’s wavy and roll around (although it’s always embarrassing when they catch me kicking off my covers).
Since the boat docked at the farm, I haven’t even sat in Matt’s chair. Now, I just sail around the house, floating and dozing.
It’s a captain’s life for me.
Snow dog
With just a week to go ’til Christmas, I’ve decided to keep it light and turned the blog over to Baxter. In the meantime, I’m still working on the house behind the scenes and will have lots more DIY for you in the new year.
Being that I’m a Kentucky boy, Matt and Julia aren’t sure how much experience I’ve had with snow. Well, I’m keeping that bit of information to myself. But I will tell y’all that snow has come to the farm.
Julia said how some of y’all had been asking for snowy pictures, so I told her to put on her boots, put on my leash (on me not on her), pick up the camera and get out there!
Julia and you other humans just can’t appreciate how sniffy snow is.
When I’m not sniffing underneath, I’m sniffing over top. It may look here like I have a chilly foot, but this is just my point pose. I’m a natural.
It has been pretty cold here, and I’ve had to tripod it a few times. It’s hard to be a (figurative) cool dude when you’re hobbling around on three legs, but I don’t let it slow me down much.
Full speed ahead through the thick woods means that more than my feet get snowy.
In case you can’t tell, Kentucky boy or not, I’m a natural snow dog.
Home on 129 Acres 