The Hard Goodbye

 This was written by my husband last night after a horrible night looking for my Osa, finding her, then burying her:

Our old german shepherd, Osa, has been nearing the end. She's been barely able to walk, couldn't hear, and would forget she was eating, even between bites. She's not been in pain and seemed happy, so we didn't call the vet to put her down. We check on her throughout the day.

Today, I went out to put up the chickens and I couldn't find her. After lots of searching, Ruthlynn found her floating in the pond. Although we left water all over the property for her, she probably went for a drink or swim and fell over. So, I had to wade out in the dark and hook her collar to pull her out, which was horrible. We spent a few hours digging a hole in the pasture and buried her.

She was the best dog we've ever had. Ruth says she's not a dog person, but this was her dog. So, she could use some of your sympathy. Osa adopted us in 2009 and Ruth is the one that tamed and trained her. She dutifully patrolled our property, even when she could barely walk, and was Ruth's constant companion. She had quite a few exciting adventures, like escaping from the vet's office and stealing left-hand gloves from people's pockets. She even saved Ruth from a bear once.

It's sad to see her go, but I am thankful she lived her life with us.

Here's Ruth's post from 2009 when Osa first showed up at our place, emaciated and in need of help.

Orphan call

On Friday evening I sat outside and got a message from someone I have never met in person, just a FB friend. She knew I raised ducks and posted about raising ducks of all kinds. She was retired, had a flock of ducks on her farm and predators got to her flock. All were missing, killed and gone except one lone duck. She did not have a dog to watch the flock and they were easy pickings. She wanted to know if I would take the last duck. So we met at the feed store and I got this crazy female Indian runner. She is in quarantine until she learns this is her new coop and her new life. She can see every duck comes in at night and she wants to be a part of them, badly. She is afraid of me and makes that known. Very high strung for a duck. But I will give her a chance to relax and join up with my flock.

It is not a good idea to add animals into an established flock. They can carry diseases, parasites and more. I always try to pair up newborn orphans and try to avoid adult orphans. It requires a lot of my time and effort to quarantine an animal. You need to have separate area for them, separate feed and water. Also there is the unknown as to how the animal was treated. Do they have a fear of people or where their spoiled and fearless! Yes, that matters. A fearless rooster or drake will attack you when they are feeling the urge to mate or protect their flock. Some people raise livestock as pets, the animals get too big and they do not know what to do with that pet chicken or duck. Most do not want to buy a cage and deliver the pet to the auction house. But that is what is done with livestock. I do not name my livestock. It makes life easier when I have to sell or cull them. It is better for the animal if it enjoys its life on our farm until it can no longer serve a purpose. We do keep our poultry until they die of old age. Roosters get replaced each year. Young roosters get sold off. But our egg layers get to stay with us until they die. It is a good place to live. They are happy, keep the bugs down and are neat to have around. When a new arrival does not work out I have to build a cage and take it to the auction myself. But I try to give the animal a chance. It is one of the nice things about having a farm. 

 

 

Dill me In

My cabbages from seed have thrived even in this heat and drought.

My first successful harvest of cabbage.

Our upper garden this year. Butternut squash, peppers, dill, lettuce, melons. The tomatoes are not thriving this year. Waiting to see how they get on. But very slow this year. This is my second year leaving the fabric on the ground. I will pull this up this fall and put down new fabric next spring. I need to till in manure this winter.

The Kajari melons  growing on the archway.My first time growing these unique melons.

Ah the dill this year is so happy. I started from seeds this March in the greenhouse. They are five feet tall and full of heads.

Just a wall of happy dill for days.

I reduced my cucumber to half a cattle panel this year. I planted English and straight eight. Very heat tolerant and are located under a huge peach tree.

 

Green Beans then Breakfast

We had a cooler morning and so I picked green beans. There were too many! I had to get the sled and bigger buckets, picked about 10 gallons from thirty plants!

Many trips up the hill and back to the garden.

Came into the kitchen and got the jars going.

I canned about 16 quarts and gave the rest to the local senior center before they opened.

Then came home and made breakfast. Some for us but double recipe to take to neighbor and a friends house after. Busy day!