And then there was two....

This time last year we had 5 cats. Now we have 2. We only have one in the house now. Binoo. Daisy is gone. She chewed her last electrical cord. That's all I have to saw about that.

Outside we had Shadow, Tootsie and Duke. Now we only have Duke. What happened to the other ones will remain a mystery. Again, we figure coyotes. Now that we have Tundra we don't see them on the property as much anymore, but the cats don't stay on the property. They like going in the woods. That's where the problem lies. The coyotes are just pacing and waiting to come on our land. Dave heard them yesterday morning and they were close. I heard one after supper. It's still light out. They don't wait for darkness anymore.

Febe giving me some lip and the evil eye!

Today Dave was a busy little beaver. He remodeled the goat pen. It used to be one big one and one tiny one. Now it's three regular size ones. Febe wasn't letting Cindi Lou eat enough so something needed to be done. I was also concerned when the kids were born. Was Febe going to be aggressive towards Cindi's kids. Hmmmm...yup. So this will be better. I moved them tonight. Tommy is freaked out, and Febe is not a happy camper. Cindi Lou is happier than pig in slop! Or happier than a goat in a briar patch! She can eat what she wants, when she wants, as fast or as slow as she wants! Happy goat!

One happy Cindi Lou, ready to eat to her little heart's desire.

We got two calves for our winter beef. We've been bottle feeding them like we did last year. We were only going to have one, but Dave had called two dairies. One called and we picked up calf number one. He was huge! Then three days later the other dairy calls. So Sunday we went and picked up calf number deux. This one was small. Honestly I have no idea what we are going to do with two of them. One is enough. We'll probably end up selling one of them.

Oh their names are Mooocher

And Teddy.

How on earth can anyone eat a steak called Teddy?

Well I don't think the eggs in the incubator are doing anything. I've been candling them but all I see is a big mass on just one side. Strange. It's in almost all of them. This doesn't sound too promising. One week to go.

Well that's it for this week.

Have a Blessed Day

Lisa

Vacations over...back to the ole grind.

Well my vacation week is over. Crud, crud, crud. I want another several weeks!! I think it should be law that everyone gets a weeks paid vacation every month. Who's with me!???

We went to Halifax for 2 days. The reason was because Dave had an appointment to a surgeon for his hand that he broke back in December and they still can't figure out why he's in constant pain. But a few days before we left, they called and cancelled!! He asked when he could expect to be rebooked and they said a year to a year and a half!! Excuse me???!!!

But we already had the hotel booked so we just decided to go anyway and do the touristy things. We got a great deal for the hotel. We got in a ritzy hotel for 60$ instead of their regular 200$! I love www.priceline.com.

We shopped for J.'s school clothes, went on the Harbour Hopper and it's not a tourist trip to Halifax without a ride on Fred the bus.

Fred is a free bus that picks up tourists at certain points in Halifax and gives you a little tour.

J. and I in Fred the bus.

I had never been on the Harbour Hopper. It's an amphibious machine that takes you on a tour of Halifax, then brings you on a tour of the harbour. It was so much fun.

In front of the Harbour Hopper.

In the Hopper on top of Citadel Hill.

Our hotel ritual of delivered pizza

Every time we stay in a hotel we have to have pizza delivered since it's not possible where we live. 40$ for a pizza, but it was good and fun. It only happens once every 2-3 years.

We left the next morning to go pick up Tundra. On the way back we stopped at a fellow goat person's house. I had never been but wanted to visit her and her goats. It also broke up the trip since it was a 6 hour drive!

Well she's got goats!! Not just one or two, but GOATS!!!! She said that last year she had up to 60 GOATS!!! I find that 4 is too many. But they were cute. Nubians are cute. Stubborn and not the best dairy goats, but cute. I know, I know. Don't blast me, but I've had experience in both Alpines and Nubians and that's my opinion. And several other goat people's opinions to.

My goat friend, Cathy and her goats.

The day after we got home. We had a big chicken BBQ to throw. Dave loves making chicken BBQ. We supplied the chicken and beverages and we asked everyone to bring a salad or dessert.

Dave's chicken!!Yum!!

Now I have to just vent here for a little bit. We hand delivered the invitations about 3 weeks before the date. ON THE INVITATION it said to RSVP before July 17th. Half of the people didn't. So does that mean they're coming or not? In my book of etiquette you RSVP whether you're coming or not. To let the hostess know how much food to get. Many people said a few days before, "We're not sure yet." So I told them without trying to be mean or rude, "I'm going to have to take that as a no. Because we need to know how much chicken to buy and we don't want to get stuck with too much chicken." I don't know if I offended anyone, but come on people. Be a bit considerate of the hosts.

We are not millionaires here. Far, far from it. But we thought we'd do this for our friends.

THEN!!!THEN!!! Several couples didn't show up, even though they said they would. How about a phone call saying "Oh I'm sorry, I'm sick, something came up yada yada yada." Is this too much to ask?

Dunno, maybe I'm being too sensitive. Maybe it's because I knew we really couldn't afford it, but we did it anyway.

Oh well. The people that were there had fun. That's all that counts. The kids had a blast since we had J.'s water slide out. Of course, Red Green a.k.a Dave, rerouted the water through the solar panels so the kid's water wouldn't be too cold.

Water slide time!

My aunts and cousins came also and they had fun to. That was a big bonus.

My mother, aunts and cousin.

Well on the farm side of things.

We have Whisper and Esme sold. They are going to a good farmer. I'm so glad that they are going together and to him. They're leaving Thursday.

The ducks are going soon. The drake has gotten really nasty. He attacks you when you turn your back to him. Not good.

Charlotte is due in mid-August.

My chicken watching has come to an end. A mink attacked them and I can't catch him. He killed my mille-fleur rooster. This means war! I took a baseball bat to the mink but he escaped. Why couldn't he go after the ducks?

I put an ad on Kijiji for another one and someone answered me back, saying they have one and they only want 200$ for it? Excuse me? Oh Mylanta! Is it lined with gold? Or maybe it's from a golden egg.

We've lost Tootsie and Duke. They both disappeared a few weeks ago. Duke showed up a few days after he disappeared. Tootsie is still missing in action. We are all devastated. He was the best cat ever! He was the one that got hit by a car and crawled back home on his front legs.

We are having so many problems with coyotes here in Nova Scotia. It's not good. I figure that's what happened to him. This is also why we got the dog. At the moment she doesn't look or act too much like a guard dog. But it'll get better.......I hope.

Have a Blessed Day

Lisa

Ducks, clotheslines and Victoria Day weekend.

The following picture is now off limits for me. I have been told by my hubby to not use it for awhile. Oh I miss it. But it falls off it's track at the other end and when that happens Dave has to climb on top of the barn and then put a ladder on the roof of the barn to reach the wheel and the clothes that have gotten stuck up there. Not the most ideal situation. I don't really want my hubby breaking his neck for a few clothes.

Well Otis went to the big pasture up the road last week. Dave actually walked him there. A friend of ours actually stopped and said, "Aren't you supposed to walk your dog? Not your cow?" Dave said, "I don't have a dog, so the calf will do."

Otis actually found a friend in the pasture. That night we went to visit him and he actually made friends with a larger Holstein in the pasture. It was kinda cute, since all the rest of the cattle were what I call meat cattle and a few Jerseys. But there was only one other Holstein in the bunch and they became friends. I wonder if cattle are prejudice? Ha ha.

Pretty soon people are going to start calling me the crazy cat lady. We have a new addition to our cat family. It's not by choice. She kinda adopted us. This pretty stray has been eating the barn cat's cat food for months now and she's decided to become a bit friendlier. Well really it's amazing what a determined 9 year old and a couple of bags of cat treats can accomplish. So that means we now have 5 cats. Ugh.

Dave went to the cattle sale a few weeks ago and sold the twins. Sniff, sniff...But we cannot keep them all. I didn't get much for them either. Bummer. 66$ for 2 twin goats. Not good.

But while Dave was there he thought that he'd surprise us with a treat. So please meet our 3 new ducks. Or as I call them, "Supper for the wild minks". One has a bum leg, but you can't get with 20 feet of them. They are really petrified of humans. Hmmmm.... I wonder if a few bags of cat treats and a determined 9 year old would work on them?

In Canada this past weekend was Victoria Day weekend. It was a gorgeous weekend. I was off work!!!YIPPEE for me! J. and I did some gardening.

Well I have so much to blog, but it's going to have to wait for another post. I am having so many problems with blogger that it's now an extreme pain to blog.

I cannot move my photos around on my post, so I have to save everything, open a new post, copy and paste the body of the post to the new post, then copy and paste the photos to the exact spot I want them in the new post. So I'm doing all my work twice. NOT FUN!!!! It's almost as bad as trying to make cheese! Which I'm trying to do again tonight. Yes, I am a sucker for punishment.

Have a blessed Evening

Lisa

Be careful what you wish for....

This morning I went to check on the laying hens. As I walked in someone crowed!!! I was so excited! The only problem was that I was staring the rooster in the face and his lips weren't moving! (yes, lips) I blinked in disbelief and he crowed again. This time the crowing was coming from outside. Either my rooster can throw his "crow" or I had another rooster that I never figured on. I went outside and there in the midst of half a dozen hens was a tiny pullet that was crowing away. It's a bantie and I was positive was a pullet, not a rooster. I guess I was wrong. But in the meantime back in the chicken coop Mr. Henpecked decided he wanted some attention, so HE started crowing! Now I've got 2 roosters that are crowing. Like I said, be careful what you wish for...

Tootsie, J.'s kitten has been missing for a few days. This morning when Dave went outside to go to work, Tootsie was at the bottom of the steps. He could barely move. So pitiful. We figure he got run over by a car. We brought him inside and put him in the basement in his little bed with food, water and litter box close by. It seems like his back legs are dislocated. I gave him tylenol and prayed a long bit. J. doesn't take death of animals too lightly, any animals. He worried all day long. I called the vet and they said that cats are super tough and I should just do what I'm doing for a few days and see how he's doing. I know you're probably asking why don't I bring him to the vet. Well the answer is horrible, but the realistic truth. We can't really afford to dish out 500$ to the vet. From past experience I know this is what it's going to be. Or darn close.

Tonight I got home from work and it's amazing the transformation Tootsie has gone through. He's still walking with a limp but he's walking, which this morning he could hardly move. He's eating well, using the litter box and wanting to be cuddled. I'm praying that he will make a good recovery. I don't think he'll make a full one, but you never know.

Speaking of being broke, tomorrow I have to get my tooth fixed and we all have appointments to get our eyes checked. Ugh. Plus my washer is going on the fritz. The repair man is coming tomorrow morning.

Yesterday I tried making yogurt again. This time it totally flopped. I'm not sure why. I also lost my thermometer in the yogurt. It died. It got full of yogurt. Digital thermometers and yogurt don't mix.

Have Blessed evening

Lisa