Goats Like Squash, Too!

Yes, our obsession with growing winter squash seems to have rubbed off on our animals.  I make part of the food the dogs eat: a big 'boil-up' of rice, ground pork or beef, oil, garlic and a vegetable.  They've had winter squash in the mixture with no objections.  The house cat has had a little spoonful of the same mixture with similar results (Blondie has been known to carefully eat around every single pea).  Chickens go absolutely nuts for the seeds of any winter squash and will peck at the flesh.  So why not goats?

 We had some of the bigger Hubbard squash damaged on a very cold night earlier in the week.  They were outside, under tarps but still developed some water-soaked spots on the skin - totally edible but not so pretty.  So, Farmer Man decided to roll a big thirty pounder into the goat pen; if nothing else they might play with it a bit.  We have, through the summer, offered the goats some summer squash and once they got the hang of it, they liked it.  Goats only have teeth on the bottom of their mouth, the top is a plate all about grinding leaves and twigs.  It seemed difficult for the goats to take a bite of a zucchini unless we broke it apart for some rough edges.  The large Hubbard proved an instant attraction; fortunately it had gotten dinged getting in place and one, Goldie of course, started to nibble.  Her interest led to the full attention of the other two goatlings and soon they were all gnawing heartily!  They love the skin, chomped through the meat and nibbled delicately at the seeds!  The nice thing is it amused them the whole afternoon, and saved us from the increasingly fruitless search for leafy twigs.  Having a stash of squash will be good for everyone this winter!

I'm Gonna' Fly Now....

Mother Nature is so amazing! It was just a few weeks ago that we found a little broken shell, and assumed our little swallows had successfully hatched at least one egg. A few days later, we could see five tiny, fuzzy heads reaching up anytime Mom or Dad swallow flew to the nest. Just a few short weeks later, and the nest 'runneth over'! There are baby swallows coming out everywhere! Farmer Man put a little platform by the nest; we were a little worried that the babies had no place to go as they tried to learn to fly. Landing on the ground or the small bench by the front door would have made them easy targets for The Old Cat and Blondie the Cat. This morning, the babies are thinking about it....this afternoon the nest is empty! And tonight, seven swallows have been joyously romping around the skies about the house! They are so beautiful in flight! And rather amusing, too, as the babies are still not very good at landing and have been almost falling off the arbour in the flower bed!

Little Finch! Let Me Help!

I heard a small commotion in the sunroom. With small dogs and cats living in this house, you get a little 'tuned in' to disturbances. I go to the sunroom, and see Blondie the Cat in full-on hunt mode: crouched low to the ground, tail very slowly swishing, eyes seemingly intent but somewhat glazed over (rather like The Hens when they are laying!). Blondie pounces, and for a moment I see a flutter of little wings! I leap into action and swat the cat and a little wee yellow finch starts fluttering wildly around the glass room! Now, did Blondie bring the little bird in, or did he find his way through the cat door? No one will ever know for sure. But Blondie's on the move again, so I grab him and throw him in the bathroom, then close the drapes on the sunroom door to try to contain the little birdie. The camera is sitting on the table, so I grab it, like a good blogger should! Didn't close the door firmly enough, 'cause Blondie's back in a moment, pushing past me. The poor little bird is just frantic! I grab Blondie again, and put him in the office, door firmly closed this time. The little bird has followed us out through the curtains and heads for the living room, where there are large patio doors. Now The Bears want to know what's going on and they start nosing around. The little bird finally settles on the floor, beside the TV in the mess of wires and cables under the legs of a plant stand. Talking softly and gently, I reach in and she let me pick her up with out much fuss. Perhaps she was tired, or perhaps she knew I was trying to help. Anyway, a short walk through the patio doors and I set her down on the wall around the patio and she flew off in a heart beat. Then I let a rather miffed Blondie out of the office, and things returned to normal here at Aagaard Farms.

They're Back....

I was having a peaceful moment, petting the Blondie cat, who had been outside roaming around. Then, I got a creepy-crawley feeling and, sure enough, a tick! Another 'tis the season! We go through this every spring for about a month; with four doggies and two cats we get some ticks. Farmer Man has already found a few on himself, especially after a day being out disking the fields by the willow shelterbelt. There is a concern here for Lyme disease, although fortunately it is not a big problem here in Manitoba. It's mostly just the creepy-crawley thing - both of us are now a little hyper-sensitive every time we have an itch, or see some little black thing on the carpet! It's doggie inspection time every night, now! The doggies think it's great: they love the attention and the mini 'massage' they get as we search for ticks!

Old Cat

This is Peanuts; he came with the farm.  Between Farmer Man and his sisters, we've figured his age to be twenty or twenty one.  That's pretty old for a cat!  He doesn't do much anymore: a lot of sleeping, gets up now and then to yowl in the middle of the kitchen floor for no apparent reason (rather disturbing at four in the morning!), cries if the water bucket gets too low for him to reach in easily.  He doesn't like to be brushed anymore, so he looks a little ratty.  He can't hear a thing now, either.  This winter, his new favourite spot is in the bathroom, which we keep a little warmer than the rest of the house.  He likes to curl up right beside the base board, for hours on end.  He won't budge, even though we're stepping past him to get in and out of the shower.  Every now and then, we take a close look, just to make sure he is still breathing.

Kitty in a Box!

As Christmas nears, parcels and boxes are wrapped and shipped. As we're getting organized, boxes and wrapping are left around overnight, sometimes. Blondie the cat decided one was perfect for a little bed overnight! Sweet dreams, kitty!

Last Farmers' Market!

The photo is Wee Man, the Green Spot's Vice President in charge of Rodent Control. We know exactly how he feels - found a warm, cozy spot and got comfortable! That's what Farmer Boy gets to do, at least for a while! Today was the last Market of the season, and we are ready for a break. It was a good Market, and we have really enjoyed October inside at the lovely Green Spot. But this year, with the addition of the new Friday Night Market at Shoppers Mall, we have done over fifty markets. Hard to believe just five years ago we started this adventure with twelve markets - every Saturday morning at Riverbank Discovery Centre. Time to curl up for a little nap!

Chicken Coop - Raw!

Farmer Boy certainly has his work cut out for him now!! Delivered today: chicken coop construction material. Twenty five chicks arrive in five days, and they will need a home. Granted, they cooould start out in the sunroom but we haven't quite figured out how to tell the two cats that the little creatures will NOT be for amusement purposes. So, Farmer Boy must build, seed, plant seedlings, water, cultivate areas to be planted, keep up with the weeds, feed and tend 'the girls', and well, it's really great when he makes dinner, too!!

Farmer Boy has his design settled on and will have a proper door and a small window. Lo and behold!! At the dump today he finds an excellent triple-paned window. In great condition! How to reuse and recycle!