Hot and dry best describes our summer and I am not complaining. I have never seen so little rain on the West Coast. It has been a wonderful test for our well which at the best of times produces a very low volume of water but it continued all summer to produce water even though the recovery rate was a little slow. The summer has been hard on the larger trees, especially the cedars which clearly show signs of being drought stressed.
Oh yeah, Marva says it was also a hard summer on Postal Workers as they were also heat stressed.
Joey our limping goat is still limping even though I broke down and called a veterinarian to come by and treat her. She has had a full treatment of antibiotics, liniment, marihuana ointment, and has had her leg bandaged to help support and stabilize the leg. Nothing has helped to date. She is happy, active and eating well as she limps her way through life. She did come perilously close to having her life ended, but not due to the hurt leg as you will soon see.
The raspberry canes that I planted in the back half of the garden adapted well to the soil and new location growing fantastically. The only thing that grew more spectacular was the corn that I put in the first row, 24" in from the lower fence where the soil in the deepest and richest. Of everything I planted this year it was the fresh corn on the cob that I was looking forward to the most. The corn stalks were the first plants to break through the ground and they grew like a weed. One morning after attending to the animals I walked over to the garden and found a disaster, the corn stalks which now were about 6" tall had all be pulled out of the ground and much of the tops had been eaten. Nothing else in the garden had been touched. I looked for sign that either deer or rabbits had been in the garden but failed to produce any evidence to identify the culprit(s). I carefully replanted as many of the corn plants as I could find and sadly realized that my corn crop had been reduced in half.
I maintained a much closer watch on the garden and would walk around once in awhile with my pellet gun looking for those pesky rabbits that I would see playing and sunning themselves in the field below the garden. I was sure that they had been responsible as deer would have to leave hoof prints in the soft soil. I decided that I was going to eat a rabbit in lieu of the lost corn.
The surviving stalks were now well over a foot tall and some a good foot and a half. All is well in the garden, when Uncle Gordie and Aunt Nonie came for a visit. We welcomed them at the front door and the first thing Gordie says "As I drove in I saw your white goat with its head through the garden fence eating." I ran out to see Joey hobbling away from the garden fence and all the corn stalks once again were pulled out and eaten. My first thought was I will be eating goat tonight not rabbit. Marva immediately made it clear to me that it was not going to happen, besides it was my fault for planting the corn to close to the fence.
"Rocket" and "Eclaire" our new lambs have settled very well into life on the farm. When I transferred their registration "Rocket" became "Rockette" which is more feminine and representative of the young lady she has become. They are currently living in with the goats and have their own stall in the goat barn as we do not want them bred this year.
Oh yeah, Marva says it was also a hard summer on Postal Workers as they were also heat stressed.
Joey our limping goat is still limping even though I broke down and called a veterinarian to come by and treat her. She has had a full treatment of antibiotics, liniment, marihuana ointment, and has had her leg bandaged to help support and stabilize the leg. Nothing has helped to date. She is happy, active and eating well as she limps her way through life. She did come perilously close to having her life ended, but not due to the hurt leg as you will soon see.
The raspberry canes that I planted in the back half of the garden adapted well to the soil and new location growing fantastically. The only thing that grew more spectacular was the corn that I put in the first row, 24" in from the lower fence where the soil in the deepest and richest. Of everything I planted this year it was the fresh corn on the cob that I was looking forward to the most. The corn stalks were the first plants to break through the ground and they grew like a weed. One morning after attending to the animals I walked over to the garden and found a disaster, the corn stalks which now were about 6" tall had all be pulled out of the ground and much of the tops had been eaten. Nothing else in the garden had been touched. I looked for sign that either deer or rabbits had been in the garden but failed to produce any evidence to identify the culprit(s). I carefully replanted as many of the corn plants as I could find and sadly realized that my corn crop had been reduced in half.
I maintained a much closer watch on the garden and would walk around once in awhile with my pellet gun looking for those pesky rabbits that I would see playing and sunning themselves in the field below the garden. I was sure that they had been responsible as deer would have to leave hoof prints in the soft soil. I decided that I was going to eat a rabbit in lieu of the lost corn.
The surviving stalks were now well over a foot tall and some a good foot and a half. All is well in the garden, when Uncle Gordie and Aunt Nonie came for a visit. We welcomed them at the front door and the first thing Gordie says "As I drove in I saw your white goat with its head through the garden fence eating." I ran out to see Joey hobbling away from the garden fence and all the corn stalks once again were pulled out and eaten. My first thought was I will be eating goat tonight not rabbit. Marva immediately made it clear to me that it was not going to happen, besides it was my fault for planting the corn to close to the fence.
"Rocket" and "Eclaire" our new lambs have settled very well into life on the farm. When I transferred their registration "Rocket" became "Rockette" which is more feminine and representative of the young lady she has become. They are currently living in with the goats and have their own stall in the goat barn as we do not want them bred this year.
We also added two new mature white ewes to our flock bringing the total to nine. "Chloe" and "Crystal" both (2 years old) were purchased from Brian on Saltspring Island. They were both wild little things coming from a larger flock with much less direct contact with humans on an ongoing basis. They always stay together but get along well with the rest of the flock. They have become tolerant of me, meaning that they no longer panic and run into fences when I approach. They continue to be less trusting of me than the other sheep but they are coming around nicely. Currently they are running with "Rosie"and "Bilbo" our black ram . "Frodo" our white ram is spending time with "Pia" and "Goldie". We are looking forward to spring lambs starting in the middle of March.
The orchard did not do so well this year mainly due to the heat and dryness of the summer. The little fruit that we did produce went largely to supporting the squirrels and birds. Our yellow plum tree had a reasonable crop and I watched it closely in order to pick them when perfectly ripe. One Saturday morning I got a bucket and went out to pick the fruit. On my walk to the orchard I saw a big black squirrel jump out of the plum tree and run for it. I arrived to find not a plum left on the tree or ground. The birds also got all the blueberries again this year. I do feel that I am doing my part is supporting local wildlife.
It is really fall now with the leaves changing colour and falling from the trees. It is windy and raining outside and the wood stove is well stoked. Several nights ago we had our first real wind storm. I had secured all the animals in their barns as the neighbours had photos of a big black bear on their trail cam just above our property. At approximately 5:00 am a large Grand Fir tree succombed to the wind and fell hitting the sheep barn dead center. When I went to let the animals out, I found the treetop across the barn with a branch punched right through the roof. In all there were three holes in the roof and some crinkled roofing but there was no structural damage.
It is really fall now with the leaves changing colour and falling from the trees. It is windy and raining outside and the wood stove is well stoked. Several nights ago we had our first real wind storm. I had secured all the animals in their barns as the neighbours had photos of a big black bear on their trail cam just above our property. At approximately 5:00 am a large Grand Fir tree succombed to the wind and fell hitting the sheep barn dead center. When I went to let the animals out, I found the treetop across the barn with a branch punched right through the roof. In all there were three holes in the roof and some crinkled roofing but there was no structural damage.
The sheep were not happy with this aerial assault, but no one was hurt. I fell two additional trees that were a possible threat, so I hope we will be safe from falling trees for the rest of the winter.
New Champion
"FurryCreek Arctic Sky Blue" aka Pippi completed her CKC Championship in July 2017, at one year of age. Pippi was handled by Marva Smith and I thank her for her hard work and dedication in bringing out the best in Pippi.
Tilly has been taking life easy after raising her first litter. She did Basic Rally training this summer and although she did very well at it, she hates it. As a result I have retired her from Rally and she has mastered lying around on the couch. Proving again dogs take on the best traits of their Master.
Tilly has been taking life easy after raising her first litter. She did Basic Rally training this summer and although she did very well at it, she hates it. As a result I have retired her from Rally and she has mastered lying around on the couch. Proving again dogs take on the best traits of their Master.