Animal Planet at Aagaard Farms!

It's a cacophony of critters here at the farm! If you've seen the previous post about the swallows, they built their nest right outside our front door. They're a little nervous every time we come and go, and we really wondered how that would work out. But, Saturday morning we found a broken egg shell, so we were hopefully all was well. Within a couple of days, five little beaks are peaking over the edge of the nest! It's really hard to get a picture; the nest is very close to the ceiling, it's dark there and every time we come out Mom and Dad swallow call to the babies to hide! I'll keep trying for a photo op but....

Meantime, Friday night/Saturday morning showed some great thunder and lightening. We woke up in the night to the dogs fussing a bit - not completely unusual in a storm. This time, though, Farmer Man couldn't quiet them (especially Panda Bear) so he switched on the bedside lamp. I woke and he poked me and pointed to the corner of the bedroom. I looked: there's Blaze curled up in the corner, shivering and shaking. Farmer Man points again and I realize that that is not our Border Collie! That's not our dog. Sweet, little, older Border Collie, very frightened. We ascertain that she's a nice, sweet dog looking for protection so we go back to sleep. Long story short: her name is Babe, she belongs to the acreage a couple over and they were away for the evening. She must have been on the run in the storm, found our doggie door and helped herself. Our little ones are so well socialized that they fussed, but didn't attack. Adorable doggie - she went home Saturday afternoon! I would have kept her in a minute.........

Then there is also the gopher Grizzly Bear chased into the garage, the baby mourning dove who spent a couple of days on the ground in the windbreak, apparently unable to fly up into the trees and an assortment of baby birds in all the trees! And yes, the piglets are settling in fine and The Hens and Rocky are enjoying the summer!