Maddie

Things I'm sure this x-jumper never thought he'd experience...

You're on my fewd

Good thing he's so good natured about it all!

The Mysterious Daphne

 Daphne had been sneaking off between meals and I couldn't find out where she was going, since she was acting funny (very vocal with a quiet quacking sound) I was hoping she was hiding a nest somewhere. Hubs found her while hunting for pigeons and I'm very glad she picked the spot she did!

She's up in the loft above the cows in the very farthest corner. So when the fox came in the barn thankfully he didn't find her and her nest spot is probably why.

She is also sitting on 8 eggs, and guessing they'll be due a day or 2 before Delilah's but I'm not sure. Like Delilha's we will have to move the ducklings as soon as they get moving, or they'll fall out of the loft; but it's a pretty good nursery for little duckies!

THOR

As mentioned we're having a bit of a predator problem, so I put the feelers out to find us a guardian who needed to be re-homed. Thor's former owners loved him so much they gave him up because they didn't have big enough fences and lived on a busy road.

Thor, that ice is thin...

We're really happy to have him.

Hopefully he's going to bond well with the animals and take them all in as his herd. So far he's a little unsure of what's going on, but really loving his new friends.


Thor is not quite 2 years old yet, so he's just maturing into the guardian years, so the bonding should be pretty easy.

Told you! 

First he met the kids at his former home, so a space he was comfortable, he's a giant cuddle bug so that went well.

Then we stopped by hub's jobsite so he could meet Thor too, and Thor got to stretch his legs and meet a bunch of people. Also went really well, he's very friendly.

He even got a timbit from the lady at Tim Hortons for being so adorable.

Once I got him home I introduced him (one at a time) to the dogs here, again, went great they're already all friends.  

One wet puppy!

 Then we went for a walk around the property, starting with the pond which none of the dogs listened to me that the ice was thin & they all ended up in there!


 Thor is a pyr mix or possibly a Karakachan which is a bulgarian livestock dog, based on his colouring I'd agree!

His new territory

Very gentle and sweet, and just big enough to be pretty scary if you were on the wrong end of him.

Hopefully just his bark will be enough to keep the predators away, then we don't have to do anything about removing them from the environment.

Win-win!

Ducks were not so impressed
(you can see the number Steak has done on
that fence,  needs to be redone asap!)

He got right to work as soon as he saw the ducks! He was guarding meat birds last year, it was really important to us we find a dog that was good with poultry. Definitely don't want to bring one in that kills our birds, but I'm not worried about that with Thor at all!

Can't wait to fix that tiny section of roof,
looks so bad!

The animals are not so convinced Thor isn't going to go after them. Cowards!

They'll all get used to him over the next few weeks, and he has to get use to them too. This first sight of Billy and Thor was heading for the hills!

Then again Billy is pretty odd looking, just took a few encouraging words for Thor to realize Billy wasn't going to try and hurt him (Billy has NO fear and apparently still thinks he's a dog).

Play time for the BIG puppy!

 One of my big concerns was that the new guard dog get along with our dogs, he's got to take his job seriously, but not so seriously he hurts one of the family pets.

Not a problem.

In fact they played for a few hours yesterday getting used to one another. Thomas LOVE Thor, and they had a great time together.

The Goat Committee,
Still not convinced.

Reno: The bathroom

From the bedroom...

Duck Nest!!

Not exactly the best place, but also not the worst. She's tucked away where the cows are unlikely to step on her, but we'll have to move her & the ducklings as soon as they hatch. Cows don't look where they step!


8 Eggs so far!! That's probably all she's going to lay right now but it is possible she'll have more. If the other ducks were laying I'd sneak those babies in too but I can't find any other nests.

Not pleased with me for fussing with her!

Ducklings are due April 11th (muskys take about 35 days to hatch).

Uggo Update

He's still here. Apparently my last threat actually sunk in and the little bugger is staying in the barn away from the hens.

Seems we have a new barn mascot...

It's always the ugly ones!!!

Mixer-made pasta

I tried before to make pasta in my stand mixer and it went horribly badly. This recipe did work better though, it produced quite a nice strong pasta (especially because I added an extra egg) which still tasted good.

http://allrecipes.com/video/74/homemade-egg-pasta/detail.aspx

Overall I still like hand-made the very best, but it is a lot of work. Second I would say is doing it in the food processor, but since mine is toast, I'll be going with this method for a bit.

Turkey Love

Yeah, I'm a little obsessive about the turkeys... can't wait for poults!!!!