Mild Monday

We live in Canada, and depending on who you talk to,  we must live in igloos, have a dog sled, and spend much of the year bundled up in fur.  

Right now quite a bit of North America and Europe is covered in snow.  Not this part of Canada though.  We are actually having above normal temperatures, and lots of rain.  But today, there was a bit of sunshine, some blue skies, and good gardening weather.

Larry got a start on on pruning the apple tree.  The leaves on the tree were still green a few weeks ago when we got our cold snap.  Now they are brown and dead looking, but refuse to let go.

Jake hung around with Larry, who occasionally obliged him by throwing the ball.

This was my project, the flower bed at the front of the house.

The Siberian iris was a mess

Luna kept me company. 

Just what is she staring at?

But since I didn't seem to want to oblige her, she just turned away in disgust

This is really boring

A girl might just as well take a nap

I got out one of my favourite weeding tools

And pulled out the weeds, wrenched out a lot of the excess Sweet Woodruff and Forget-Me-Nots, and cut the Iris,  Daylily, Catmint and Aster back to the ground.  It doesn't look pretty, but it's a lot tidier.  I want to spread some of the rotted horse manure on it.

It's hard to remember that it can look something like this in the summer.

Maybe one year we'll actually get the trim finished off around the front door.

And since we are talking about weather....

I thought I'd check the weather forecast for my sister.

What the......?

Seems the government weather site is getting creative with their symbols.

A border collie is now the symbol for 'A mix of sun and cloud'

I checked a few random places, and it happens in B.C. too.

How weird is that?

Update : Okay, is there some weird virus that puts border collies in as a mix of sun and cloud?

I checked Meredith's laptop Tuesday morning, and she doesn't have it, but I still do.

Apparently we are having a border collie day this coming Friday.

Trial Run

Yesterday morning we met Jeff and Sue and their dog Pippin down at the dyke.  Jeff and Pippin are members of our dog club, and Pippin is one of the two dogs at the club that Luna actually likes.  

Pippin's family is heading to the snowy prairie of Saskatchewan for Christmas, and Pippin will probably come and stay with us for a few days.

We thought that we should do a bit of a trial run mostly to see how bitchy Luna was going to handle it.  I thought it would be best to meet on neutral territory first, so we all met on the dyke and had a really nice hour long walk. There were quite a few other people and dogs down there as well, and I'm happy to report that Luna only snarked at one of them.

In fact Luna and Pippin actually played together, and had some good old racing around

And Luna looked on in disgust while Pippen ate some sand.  Not sure what that is all about, but Jeff said he has given up taking him to the beach along the ocean, as Pippen poops out sand for days after that.

We all headed back to our place for coffee and a visit, and to bring Pippin in the house.  We live about seven minutes away.  All three dogs fit nicely on the back seat of our Echo, as Larry made some wood bench type things that fill in the foot wells and make it one big platform back there.  For some reason Luna thought she should ride home like this. 

(Sorry for the lousy photos.  The camera lens fogged over when we got in the car, and I didn't realize it)

Maybe she always wanted to be one of those bobble head dogs that you used to see in the back windows of cars

Calli thinks some dogs are just weird, and how come I'm all squished in the corner with no room to lay down.

The visit to the house was great.  Luna wasn't at all protective of  her  place, and Pippen settled down pretty well while we had a good visit.  Of course the fact that he was leashed and fastened to the door knob near where we sat probably had something to do with it:)

Pippen is a real food hound, so we'll have to be very careful not to leave anything remotely edible within his reach, and supervise him well.

Oh Rats!

Damn, we have rats.  I guess on the bright side, they are causing issues outside, and not in the house.  Not that we've ever had rats in the house, shudder.

There is a rat or rats hanging around one of the chicken coops.  I guess they've settled in for the winter somewhere, and have figured that the chicken coop has an endless supply of food for them, and what the heck, what more can they ask for.  The door is closed at night, well no problem, we'll just gnaw a hole through the wall so we can get in and help ourselves.  Since the walls are made of that OSB stuff, and it is rather weathered and old now,  they aren't much of a hindrance.

When we had this same problem a few years ago, we found that the only way to solve it was to take the feeder out of the coop each night.  We tried a trap, which killed a bird, but the rats ignored it, and so ended up using poison.  Which, I know, I know, can be really dangerous with other animals around.  What we did was to put a block of poison in an ice cream pail, with a lid on and two holes cut in the side.  The rats would go in to eat it, but didn't seem to try to drag the block out.  We would put the bucket out at night when all dogs were safe inside, and pick it up in the morning when we went out.  The only way we could get the rats to eat the poison was if we put the chicken feeder somewhere they couldn't get at it.  What we did was to put it in the blue barrel outside the coop that we use to store the bags of feed.

This time around, that barrel is full to the top with feed, so nowhere handy to put the feeder. (The thing weighs 45 lbs when full, and is awkward, so not something you want to carry too far).  Larry figured if he jammed a thick piece of plywood over the hole, it would stop the rats from getting in the coop.  It all looked good from the outside, but the next morning I noticed from the inside that there was still space to get in.  So I changed the board, but yesterday I noticed they had gnawed more on the underside and got in once again.  Meanwhile there was a trap set up outside under a propped up plant pot (to keep the birds safe), but it seems that they prefer chicken feed to cheese.  I was going to use peanut butter, but ours was really runny and messy, so I went for the easier cheese.  So last night around dark, we are out there getting the chickens in so we can shut the door.  We came up with the idea of bringing another barrel down to the coop, and putting the feeder in there.  Those feeders are a central tube that suspends a tray underneath by means of three wire clips.  The clips attach to some slots on the tray.  You put the clips in whichever slot works best for the food you have, to allow gravity to make it fall down the tube and keep the tray filled. The whole thing must be hung up by a handle, and gravity keeps it all working.

Well, as I am heaving the 2/3 full feeder out of the coop, one of the clips gave way, the tray dropped on that side, and feed poured out all over the aluminum grid that is outside the door, as well as some falling under the coop.  We scooped up what we could, swept up some more, but there was no way we could get it all.  We even encouraged the hens to come out and peck up some of the feed.

  In the end we had to leave it, hopefully the rats feasted on that instead of chewing another hole into the coop to get to the feeder, which of course wasn't in there.  We had blocked off the hole with some bricks, both inside and outside.   The trap was set again, but it will probably ignored.  Unless of course they want a little wine and cheese to finish of their meal.

Now that we have a solution for putting the feeder somewhere safe at night, we WILL get those rats.  It's up to them whether they go for the quick death of the snap trap, or the maybe unpleasant death of poison.

This morning when we went out, they had gnawed around the first hole they had made, which Larry had jammed a rock into to block it, and got into the coop again.  At least there was nothing for them to eat in there.  They had been around the spilled grain outside, which now is just wet mush, and eaten some of that.  Hopefully the chickens will clean that up today.  The trap of course was untouched, but I might try baiting it with chicken feed tonight.  Larry saw one of the rats in the greenhouse last week, he said it was pretty fat.

Just add the job of replacing some of the wood on the coop and making it more rat proof, to our long 'to do' list.

Sometimes a house on a lot with no farm animals starts to seem really appealing.

The Good, the Bad, and the Really Funny...

Here's the good....The little pup in the video following is so darn cute, that I'm sure adoption applications will be pouring in, especially with a story like this.
The bad...  Well you can see for yourself.




Some members of the human race really, really suck:(
Let's hope that some of the good homes that attempt to adopt this little pup, and are unsuccessful, will take a look at the other dogs in the shelter, and take one of those home instead.

And here's the funny...

Maypole Dancing Gone Wrong

We had two farmers markets this weekend.  So of course in the previous two weeks I had spent a lot of time making jam and doing the sewing that didn't seem to get done over the summer.

Yeah right!

It always seems that on the Friday before a market, I am trying to get all the things done that I had thought I was going to get done in the previous week, or two, since the last market we were at.  I also seem to have this inflated idea of how much I can actually accomplish on that one day.

I started out well, we were back inside from our farm type chores and the walk around the bush at a decent time.  So, I was just going to have a cup of coffee and a few minutes on the computer before I got started on some jam.  I just happened to start looking at condos, for that, um, family member that needs a little help to fly the coop again.  Of course a few minutes turned into an hour or so.  

I finally got my act in gear,  and got three kinds of jam made before I stopped for some lunch.  All the while I was looking out of the kitchen window at the beautiful sunny day, watching Larry going back and forth, doing this and that, and it was so nice out there he had shed his jacket and was down to a t-shirt.

And then I threw down the towel, or the ladle, or wooden spoon, or whatever, and said to hell with it, I'm going outside.  

We gathered all three dogs, who really didn't need much gathering, since once they realized a walk was in the works, they were all over us.  Into the car we piled and off we went.  This time we were going to the Hogan Family Nature Reserve, which is only 10 minutes away but in the 24 years we have lived here, we have never been to.  Actually, I lie.  We have been to it, just never through it.   Years back when we used to go out on Citizen's Patrol we drove down there one night to check that no undesirable types were hanging around.  (Not quite sure what we would have done if there had been any undesirables)  It is down at the end of a narrow little road, that is more like a lane.  Basically it is probably 5 acres of bush and a creek with a rough trail through it. Since it was a nature reserve, we thought we should keep the dogs on leashes.  By this point they were beside themselves with excitement, oh wow, a new place, and there seemed to be some really hot scents.

Now I can walk the three dogs on extending leashes by myself down the road without much trouble.  Calli and Luna's leashes in my left hand and Jake's in my right.  After we have been going a few minutes, Calli is usually near me or a bit behind, Luna is towing leading me down the road, and Jake is out in the middle of the lane to my right.  No matter if you walk with the traffic or against it, he always wants to walk out on the road.  Good thing our road is relatively quiet, but he does know what 'car' means, and will move over onto the shoulder if a car is coming.  Most of the time it is like a well coordinated dance.  I can press the button to stop one dog from veering off course and under another dogs leash, which is usually Jake dashing over to pee where one of the other dogs just went.  I picture it as like a maypole dance, which both David and Meredith did in elementary school as kids, and we watched for many years as part of the Mayday celebration.

I'm the pole (although not tall and slender, well maybe thirty years ago..) and the dogs are the dancers at the end of the ribbons, and it usually works with relatively few tangles.  When Larry and I walk together, which is most of the time, he walks on my right (you know, very chivalrous to protect me from the traffic) and he has Jake, who is out to the right flirting with traffic.  I have Luna and Calli, and quite often I am to be seen with my left arm stretched back as Calli stops to smell something, and Luna is straining ahead to get to the next smell.  My sweaters all seem to be short in the arms now.  So for the most part the 'Maypole Dance' works pretty well.

Once we headed into the little park with it's rough, narrow trail, it was a disaster.  Two people, three dogs, extending leashes, hot smells, trees and shrubs and branches and logs and.....well we spent the first half of the walk unwinding our selves from leashes, dogs from other dog's leashes, leashes from branches and bushes.   I just had to laugh.  I couldn't imagine what a non-dog person would have thought if they'd seen the mess were in.  The chances of meeting anyone else were next to nil, thank dawg.  We probably wouldn't have even been able to get off the trail to let them by, as we would have been too tangled up.  Anyone that has seen our three 'well behaved' dogs hanging around at our booth at the farmers market would have had their bubble burst if they could have seen us there.  Finally, after 10 minutes or so, the excitement died a bit, and the second half was relatively under control.  Before we knew it, we were at the end of the trail.  One of those 'been there, done that' and it will probably be another 24 years before we go back.

The walk was so short that we continued on to another nature park where it was open field, and the dancing was more under control, and we could unwind a little bit:)

Come For a Walk With Us

Anytime from about mid afternoon on, every time we make a move to head outside, the dogs start going nuts. It's walkies time!  You'd think they were locked in crates all day.  Some days we stick close to home and just go up or down the road, or around the block.  Other times we go down to the dyke or wherever else we can think of that is a bit of a change of pace.  It's always preferable for it to be at least partially off leash.  Abbotsford has three official off leash areas.  I don't want to go somewhere that has a lot of dogs, as Luna isn't particularly great with dogs she doesn't know.  She is kind of snarky, and then if they want to play and start running, she gets into barking/herding mode.

I suggested we head to the east to the off leash area along the Sumas drainage canal, where we hadn't been before.  You take the north parallel road from the Whatcom Rd/Hwy 1 interchange and park just east of Atkinson Rd on the north side of the canal in the parking area.  This part is called the McKay Creek trail.

There are spots were there is fairly easy access to the water, so it would be nicer in warmer weather for the dogs to swim.

That white bridge in the distance was where we had to cross over to the dyke on the south side.

The end of the trail comes out almost in some one's yard, and you walk right past a small paddock with these two guys in it:)  

I told Larry that Pride needed a goat buddy too.

The we crossed over that white bridge and headed down the dyke on the south side, heading east towards Chilliwack.  

Calli kept going down to the steep bank to the water, and then because she doesn't have any push with her back legs, she couldn't always get all the way back up. Sometimes one of us would have to scramble down part way and grab her collar and haul her up, and every time Luna would charge over and it was kind of like she was giving Calli heck!

In one of the corn fields there was quite a large flock of Trumpeter Swans  spread out.  They are huge birds.  

I don't think I've seen them before.

And on the far bank there was a Great Blue Heron

We've definitely seen those before.

You can just barely see the heron along the bank to the right of center.

Before you get to this area there is a rifle range right up against the mountain.  It was a little noisy.   I thought it might bother Jake, but he was okay with it.

Also, the freeway is about half a mile or so away, so there is the constant roar of that.

And here we came across the rare Sumas Monster, kind of like a cross between a crocodile and a rhinoceros 

We didn't actually get any sun, but we could see blue sky in the distance, shining on the mountain peaks, and the view was beautiful

That's Mt. Cheam on the left

We didn't walk all the way to the end of the dyke, but turned around just past this tree with a large nest in it.  An eagle's maybe?

On the way back we spotted this, a cormorant.  Not what I expected to see here, I would think of them being more along the ocean.

And last but not least, a group of mallards snoozing on a log.

We were walking for at least an hour and a half.  We only met two other dogs, but as we were coming back on the south side, we did spot a few other people heading out from the parking lot on the north side.  It was well worth the drive:)

Feeeeed the birds.....tuppence a bag....

Loved that movie.....

I got a bird feeder hung up when we had our little taste of winter last week.  Usually I hang it on a pole in one of the chicken fields, then any seed that gets wasted and dumped on the ground, gets eaten by the chickens, so then of course it's not wasted.  Waste not, want not, you know:)

This time I decided to hang it closer to the house, so that we could see it from the window.  It took the birds a day or two to find it, but since then it's been pretty busy.  It did remind me of the bag or two of lamb fat that has been languishing in the bottom of one of the freezers for a year or two, or three, or four....

I dragged it out the other day and stuck it in a pot on the wood stove.  I was being rather optimistic that that it would all fit in the pot, but eventually it started to melt down and I was able to get a lid on it.

When it was done it looked like this.  See, look at all the room in the pot now.

In the meantime I smeared a bunch a bunch of peanut butter in the bottom of a pan, until it was soft and melted

And Jake was standing by to clean off the spoon for me

Then I poured a bunch of birdseed in the pan and stirred it around to mix in with the peanut butter

 I poured the melted fat out of the pot, into the pan, and stirred it all around.  The sunflowers seem to rise to the top.  I put it somewhere cool to set, and when it was mostly set, ran some knife lines through it to divide it into six pieces.

It was Calli's turn to lick that spoon.

And here's what it looks like when it's done.  I think next time I would stir it all well again and then pack it back down when it's at about the half set stage.  That way everything would be better mixed.  Looks like the peanut butter sank to the bottom and the sunflowers are all on the top.

As I was typing all this, I was thinking that I could have made my life much simpler by just hanging the fat out in a bag as it was.  Oh well, I feel much more creative this way.  I will hang out the fat pieces that are left from melting it down.  I'm saving these suet blocks until we get our next blast of winter, that they keep promising us will come.  

Yesterday was grey but quite mild, getting up towards 10 degrees, and we raked leaves and I planted some of the daffodil and tulip bulbs that were still waiting to have something done with them.

This morning is sunny and frosty, beautiful!