Della, our Black Lab that guards us

This is all about Della, who is our 2 1/2 year old black lab that is smarter than both of us and most other humans.

Here on the farm, everybody has a job and Della's job, which she does quite effectively, is to protect Susan and me from strange things and strange people. She does this with a menacing bark that is directed at anybody or anything that shows up unexpectedly (Fed-ex, UPS, etc.). Once we show we are friendly with the visitors, Della is their friend too. She is all bark and will let it fly from the porch but, so far, has not tried to bite or attack anyone. Also Della has so many faces to fit her moods and I think we know them all by now. That's the good side of Della.

The bad side is Della likes to chase deer and the deer lead her on long runs in the surrounding area. Once onto the trail of a deer she is relentless but never seems to catch a live deer.

Now the worst side of Della is that while on these deer chasing jaunts, she comes up on dead deer (carcasses) left by hunters after they have cleaned off all the useable meat (at least useable by us human types). Then Della has to bring her find home so we can share in her joy, so to speak. i think she competes with the black and turkey buzzards for these finds.

Well, last night about 3 am, Della, who sleeps in our bedroom on her rug at night) stirred and Susan let her out, presumably to take care of her bladder business. Then she returned about 4 and Susan let her back in. Off to sleep until daybreak. Then when we went out to feed the chickens and goats about 7 am, Susan cried out "Come here!" And there, under the walkway that connects the garage to the house was a full grown deer carcass that Della had drug up in the night. It was huge but obviously a hunter had cleaned it so what Della got was mostly ribs and a few bones, but the skeleton was still fresh and intact. Well, we promptly loaded it in a big black trash bag and put iut in the truck to go to the dump later. Only then did we realize how strong Della can be. It weighed about 15 pounds and the nearest hunting is probably 1000 feet away. She has been recuperating all day with more sleeping than normal. We're not 100% sure it was Della that drug this carcass up to the house, but if it was not, then we've got a bigger problem I suppose (Coyote, Mountain Lion, etc.) but this is not likely or Della would have had a fit last night (remember her guard role?).

Oh, the life of a dog! We love Della as do all of our 8 grand-children but sometimes she can be very frustrating. But most of you would kill for a dog as great as Della.

And to think we got her from the local Animal Protection Society! That's the place to go for good dogs. And that's Della's story for today. I'm sure that all her chapters have not been written.

Thanksgiving

I almost forgot - yes, Thanksgiving was great. We had the 26 expected and it went well. Two tables outside (it was nearly 70 degrees) and one inside. Very inter-generational and inter-family. Lots of fun. We really are blessed.

Winter Is Coming

Thanksgiving is behind us and the wonderful Christmas season has begun. We have two plans for the winter: Plan A is what we do when it is below 32 degrees and Plan B is what we do when it is above 32 degrees. Keeping the animal water flowing is a challenge. Plan B is haul it in buckets and plan B is use the hose system for the goats and Daisy. So these are big questions in the morning and in the evening: Is it going to freeze tonight? We really like Plan B best - easier, quicker and more pleasant.

Yesterday I saw a young bald eagle fly by as I was sitting in my office. Still hear the pileated woodpecker in the mornings.

Two days ago, one chicken got loose and two goats got loose, unrelated events. Took a while to get everything back under control. Third goat got tangled in the electric fence (juice was not flowing at the time). Today I repaired the fence so that it will be harder to get tangled. Also got the juice flowing.

Chickens not laying eggs yet and we hope it is still due to the molting --- otherwise we'll have a big problem --- not feeding chickens that don't do eggs for long. It's been 6 weeks now.

Bought Christmas tree last Friday, erected it in the stand last night and will finish decorating it this Friday. This is pretty good for us.  

Garden is growing winter crops but slow to get to harvest. Amazing how they hunker down in the mornings when it is so cold and then rebound as it warms up. God really knew what he was doing, didn't he? We get mint, cilantro, and some other herbs from the yard as we need them for dinner. Susan still is creative in using what we have for the meals. We eat fresh stuff most of the time.

The field is cut for the winter and on heavy frost mornings it looks like a nice dusting of snow.

Beautiful moon these past few nights with Venus and Jupiter hanging close by.

So a little slow these days on the farm, but that's the way it is ... and should be.

Come see us.

Dwight

Fall Events at our Farm

As we move through Fall, we are more aware than ever of the full impact of the change of seasons.

Some things, like mowing the lawn, cutting the field of hay, and planting/harvesting the kitchen garden take less time.

Others take more time - like water for the animals (due to overnight freezing temperatures, our hose systems do not work in really cold weather), like us getting dressed to go outside(shorts/T-shirt vs. lots of clothes & heavy coats, and it just seems we move a little slower. The days are shorter so we have longer nights after the dusk when all the animals are tucked in for the night, which is nice.

The sunsets are absolutely gorgeous on most days, we enjoy the early-morning pileated woodpecker on the dead tree (wow, is he/she loud!), and the freshly cut field is giving us better views of the deer.

One chicken died - Susan thought it was sick a few weeks ago as the crown was not straight but what do we know, as rookies at this? Bad thing is it was a hen, not one of the 3 roosters. And an older hen at that so this will cut down on the eggs. One of the roosters born this year is really pretty with many colors - he's really a mixed breed but wish all of you could see him. His feathers are many colors, including a shiny green. Right now, the chickens are still molting and not producing eggs. We're faced with the sad possibility of maybe having to buy some from the co-op. But maybe they'll get going again soon.

One goat - Chloe - somehow found herself outside the goat pen fence - and since it is electric (in theory), she was quite distraught until we led her back into her familiar territory. That was a first and we hope a last. I think she was just jumping around and crashed through the fence accidentally.

We enjoyed identifying trees in the fall by their leaf color and found that we have a dwarf sumac, which is brilliant red (like a sugar maple).

Our friend Jerry cut the field yesterday for the winter. Looks really good - from a distance, like it was mowed but really it was bush-hogged.

One of our cats, Jerry, just seems to come and go for long periods. He leaves when we are away for a couple of days and he returns after a week, or sometimes after a month. He looks well fed. His brother Tom stays around. Tom has asthma and knows not to play very far ...

Della is doing fine - she's our black lab. She may be smarter than most people. Loves chasing deer, barking at strange things (which is her paying job - we pay with food and good heath care) that show up (like the UPS man), and snuggling with us. Really, she is pretty sharp. We can almost talk to her in our English. Still have to fiugure out how to keep her close by as she is beginning to wander towards the road and on the neighbors lands as she fruitlessly pursues deer. We tried an invisible, radio fence but it scared her too much so we sent it back. To fence in her area would be about 1000' of fencing - yuk. So still open thing to be solved.

Lots of hawks mixed in with eagles and buzzards these days. They're incredible at how they just seem to float.

The sky is clear most nights so the moon and stars are spectacular. Esp. since we do not have outside lights in this area. Very dark.

Susan is harvesting winter crops - mustard greens, some lettuce, broccoli, cabbage, broccoli rob, some spinach. Still getting swiss chard - great stuff. She also planted a few flats of pansies as a buffer with the kitchen garden fence - looks really good.

Next week is Thanksgiving and we expect about 26 people. Will tell you about that later.

Anyway, that's the way things are in the Fall of 2008 here on the farm.

It Was Supposed To Rain!

We got out early this morning to get it done because the rain was supposed to come. We had put down stones for the walkway a couple of weeks ago, but they were only arranged, not level and fixed in place. It had been staring us in the face every time we drove in the driveway. So..today was the day. We had to dig out, level, put down tiny rocks, tamp in place every stone. We did about ten stones, got hungry and stopped for breakfast and went at it again. We came back and finished it. We swept off the rocks, wet them down, moved dirt around. It looks great. I like the way it curves...it's serpentine.

Still there was no rain. There was plenty more to do. Dwight tilled around the garden fence so that I can plant pansies and keep the grass from growing into the garden. I began the process of getting out the grass (plus some earthworms and grubs) and tossed them over to the chickens.

The rain still had not come so Dwight tilled in the courtyard area near the woods line so that I can plant some beautyberry bushes and a lantana that I got at the arboretum plant giveaway. Then we trimmed some stray limbs from the maple behind the plowed area.

You know, that rain still has not gotten here, but we surely did have a great productive fall day outside.

Free Plants at Raulston Arboretum

On Saturday, October 11 2008, we went to the Raulston Arboretum in Raleigh, which is affiliated with NC State, and participated in their plant distribution for members. This was a great time - they gave away 5,000 plants to those who supported the arboretum and we got about 28 - free! Susan had gone on-line, decided what we should go for, and then when we got there at about 8:15, we registered and lined up. There were maybe 200-300 others in line, and at 9:00 they blew the horn and we positioned ourselves near the plants we wanted. The plant varieties were numbered and in rows sequentially. Then we could get one plant of three different types so for the two of us that was 6 plants. Then we waited for the second horn and did it again and then the third horn. Now we had 18 plants. After that it was a free for all and we got about 10 more plants! It was very organized and we appreciate the volunteers at Raulston for making it a lot of fun. Plus we met some neat folks in line. We highly recommend this arboretum ... and their plant give-away.

Oh, the chickens are doing fine with their move - we measure success by the eggs they provide us and they still come 2-4 per day. Yesterday, one of the younger chickens got outside the fence and Susan and I herded him/her back under the fence. He/she seemed relieved to be at home inside the fence. Fortunately, neither of our cats (Tom and Jerry) nor our house dog Della saw what was happening.

We have changed the grain feeding bowls for the goats so they cannot put their feet in the bowls - moved the three bowls outside their stall and cut holes in the wooden fence around the stall. Then we wrapped it in wire so Daisy could not get to it. Still need to tinker a bit with it but seems to be working pretty well. There's always something like this to do in the barn. But it's a lot of fun to think through the solutions as the problems arise. Tonight we are getting a delivery of 8 bales of orchard grass from Jerry.

Susan has planted lots of fall vegetables and they are doing really well. we are eating the lettuce, swiss chard, and okra (not a fall vege but still hanging on). The weather looks like there will be no frost for a week or so which is good. We are nursing the last two-three peppers along and hope that they can make it. The beans are gone and the tomatoes are 98% gone.

And it is so beautiful outside!

Moving The Chicken House

Yes, a friend with a tractor came on Sunday night (october 5) and picked up the whole chicken house and moved it about 200 feet to the upper garden near our house. It had to be done at night after the chickens had gone in. And of course we tried not to upset the chickens too much as they rode inside their house because we did not want them to forget about laying eggs. It all worked out and we appreciate our good neighbors who are so helpful on these things and who have the right equipment. So thanks to Jerry, Victor(Jerry's son) and Jerry (Victor's friend). It was quite interesting to see this move only in the tractor lights and the moonlight.

I wonder what the chickens thought the next morning as they cautiously exited their house to new surroundings. They seem to be quite happy.

So why the move? Susan had a great idea to let the chickens scratch the compost at the end of the kitchen garden to remove the weed seeds, especially the Johnson grass seeds. Johnson grass is awfiully hard to get rid off because of the huge roots. We managed to get a truckload of it out of the compost but are sure lots of seeds remained. So the chickens are there and doing a great job scratching out the seeds and eating them and .... 

Of course, after the house was moved, Susan and I had to move the electric fence as we do not let our chickens roam freely. This went OK too.

Some of you may think that the chicken yard will smell badly (especially since it is 25 feet from the house) but that is not an issue. There is no odor, except inside the chicken house when we do not clean it out often enough. So no problem with smells. And the eggs are great and easy to gather!  Also it's now easy to toss the garden weeds and dead plants ovber the fence to the chickens instead of haiuling them to the old chicken yard.

Another good byproduct of Susan's idea is that the goats now have a bigger and better fenced area. 

The only negative is that the old gate to the original chicken yard, which is on two posts seciured by concrete is still there and unused. We call it the "Gate to Nowhere" (you know about the "Bridge to Nowhere" from Sara Pailin).


After the chickens finish their Johnson grass seed cleaning business we may move them back. Also thinking about putting wheels on the chicken house to make the moving easier.

And that's the story of the chicken house being moved in the light of the moon on Sunday night, October 5.