joni
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Posts by joni
Snake death
0It isn’t unusual to come across a garter snake or a black rat snake around the property. We even find the rat snakes hanging out in the garage on occasion. I always enjoy seeing them. I think snakes are fascinating animals and I know they are the reason we have never had a mouse problem. This evening as we opened the overhead garage door to take trash down to the road, a rat snake was entangled in the door track and roller. We didn’t see it until the door was almost all the way up. The snake was completely wrapped around and pinned behind the roller. The poor animal was obviously fatally injured and the only thing we could do was lower the garage door enough to free it from the roller. The snake was almost completely severed in two pieces, just an inch or so behind its head. It seemed as though only a very small strip of skin was holding it together. There was no chance that it could survive such massive injury, so together, we ended its suffering. Putting an end to an animal’s life is not something that either of us wanted to do, but seeing it suffer so was even worse. I guess it is all part of taking responsibility for this little parcel of land and all its inhabitants.
Bob bio
1
just Bob
Bob was born in the spring of 2000. I had been thinking it might be nice to bring a new pup home for companionship for Ellie while I worked during the day, but I wasn’t really in the market for a puppy when I saw a sign at the pet store for “Free Border Collie mix puppies”. I was just going to stop by and look at them – I should have known better. They were all very cute, of course, but one pup attached himself to my leg and did not stop looking at me the entire time I was checking out the other puppies, so how could I refuse him! I thought he looked like a “Bobby”. I will never know why he fell in love with me like that, but it became quite evident when we got home that I was the ONLY one that he loved. I don’t ever remember seeing a puppy act quite like that before. He was not playful or friendly with anyone else and ran away and even growled and snapped at other family members, even though he was the sweetest little thing for me and just stared into my eyes adoringly. This behavior continued for a few months. The situation became so bad and everyone else was so unhappy with the new pup, (who had become just Bob, definitely not a Bobby), that I actually drove him to the animal shelter with thoughts of giving him up. I had to give them a brief history of the pup and they explained that they had so many dogs up for adoption and too little help to work with an “unfriendly dog” and he would be euthanized. I sat in the lobby crying my eyes out with Bob staring at me with those adoring eyes for nearly an hour. I knew my family was not going to be happy, but I had no choice. I could not leave him there to be killed when I was the only person in the world that he trusted and loved.
That was, gosh, 11 years ago. Bob has mellowed over the years and will tolerate the presence of others, but it is still evident that he prefers only me and Todd. Bob still looks at me like he is completely in love and now he looks at Todd the same way, but no one else – that’s it!
Ellie bio
0Ellie was born 5/18/1998. I had wanted a German Shepherd Dog for years. I always thought they had a look of intelligence about them and that they were very trainable dogs. I’m sure the fact that I thought they were beautiful animals was in there also. I spent 2 years researching and checking out different breeders before deciding on the von der Hollenburg kennel in Greenville, Ohio. I met all the dogs that were scheduled for upcoming matings, and after selecting a prospective pairing, paid a deposit on a female puppy that was yet to be conceived. Everything went according to plan and I got a call when the puppies arrived. I went to visit them when they were a few days old, but of course it was way too early to make a selection. I returned when they were 4 weeks old and chose a little bundle of fur and energy, who really looked just like all the others. Whatever it was that made me choose her, it was a choice that I have never regretted. Ellie is and always has been a wonderful dog. It just goes to show you what great dogs caring and responsible breeders produce. She does come from royal lines – her full name is Stewart’s Ellie von der Hollenburg. Parents – Mike vom Haus Bork and Iff Iv-Re. Great grandparents – 2 time World Seiger (champion) Uran vom Wildsteiger and herding champion Pischa vom Kirschental. All that is great, but what I really care about is what a sweet and gentle dog Ellie is. As she was born the same year as my granddaughter, Darrien, I wanted a “kid proof” dog. When she was a pup, I spent a lot of time tugging on her tail and ears and feet, sliding her around on the tile floor, getting my fingers in her ears and mouth – all the things a toddler will do to a dog. As a result, Ellie would happily take anything that Darrien could dish out, and find it all to be great fun. I remember when Darrien first started climbing up onto the sofa she would often use Ellie as a step stool, as quite often the pup could be found taking a snooze with her back up against the sofa. Ellie not only didn’t mind this practice, she usually didn’t even wake up!
throw it just once more, pleeease!
My Ellie is getting up there in years now. All her life her favorite pastimes have included chase the tennis ball, chase the tennis ball, chase the tennis ball and chase the tennis ball. Now it is more like chase the tennis ball, sleep, rest, walk, carry the tennis ball around a bit and then take a nap.
Maggie…
0We lost one of our Ameraucana pullets on Thursday 6/16/11. Poor little thing had been keeping off to herself for a few days. We brought her into the house and found that she was drinking but not eating at all. I took her to Dr. Ryan in Westminster because the doctors at the vet clinic where I work have not had much experience with birds. Dr. Ryan did a very thorough exam but was unable to determine what was wrong with her without more extensive diagnostics. I sent out some blood samples through my clinic but poor little Maggie died later that night, before results were in. We took her to the Animal Health Diagnostic Lab in Frederick for necropsy. They perform post mortem examinations on poultry at no charge. We wanted to be sure that she hadn’t succumbed to something infectious in order to take precautions with our other birds. I received a preliminary pathology report later the same day. Turns out she had developed an intestinal blockage that led to perforations in her intestines and peritonitis (actually known as coelomitis in birds). The vet who performed the necropsy commented that it looked as though she had been eating mulch – she was full of it. As the chickens do not have access to mulch, I can only assume that she had been consuming an inordinate amount of the pine shavings that we use as bedding. We see most of the chickens peck at the shavings from time to time, but have never had a problem like this before. All the others seems fine today. I’m hoping it will stay that way. Rest in peace, sweet little Maggie.
Cool treat on a hot day
0The chickens really enjoy a cold strawberry on these hot days we have been having lately. Of course, I think they would be this excited about a strawberry at any time, but it makes me feel good to give them something cold when they are so hot.
Tiger lilies
0The tiger lilies have started to bloom. I know daylily connoisseurs don’t care much for them, but I love them because they take me back to my childhood
summer
summers on the farm where we had a huge patch of them behind the house. They always bloom about the time that the preying mantis hatchlings are everywhere and I remember spending so much time observing the little guys when I was a kid. That big bed full of tiger lilies was just covered with what seemed like 1,000’s of mantis babies. So tiger lilies = mantis babies = summer = kid on a farm – priceless.
Back yard in June
0I love this time of year when everything is so lush and green, well it was up until the heatwave the last few days anyway. The landscape is still looking pretty good for the most part. Pictures like this are great because you don’t really notice all the weeds mixed in.
view from the back deck
Gorgeous guineas
0
mine, mine, mine, mine
The keets are growing nicely and getting more used to us. We are still not their favorite things in the world but they will tolerate us for a handful of mealworms or a stinkbug treat. It’s not so easy to get a good picture of them as a group as they seem to be in constant motion, always on the lookout for the next bug. Check out this head shot – “I’m ready for my close up Mr. DeMille”!
guinea or vulture?
Growing up so quickly
1
Winnie - silver laced Wyandotte
The baby chicks are getting so big! (We will probably always call them “the babies”, just to clarify which group of birds we are talking about. We’ll have
Emily - Ameraucana
to find some different collective names when “the babies” start having babies of their own.
They are very friendly, for the most part, and come running whenever we approach their pen. It’s a lot of fun spending time among them and watching them. They really love clover leaves and we try to give them a few handfuls every day. Their yard was long ago picked clean of the choicest weeds. They have lots of grass to pick at, but nothing beats the nice fresh clover from our hands – what a treat! Of course, some are more friendly than others and they have names because we interact with them a lot more. Out of the 20, there are only 2 or 3 who won’t eat out of our hands.
Bonnie Blue - copper blue maran
Tarik - Egyptian Fayoumi (center)
Pass the peas, please
0
from the vine...
...to the freezer
We finally got some of our garden crops into the freezer the other night. The garden peas and sugar peas have been great for fresh eating but they were starting to pile up on us so time for some processing. Some of the beans we had frozen last year ended up being too watery and not so tasty because of all the ice crystals that had formed as well as some freezer burn so we decided to try packaging veggies with a vacuum sealer this year. We bought a Food Saver brand sealer with an assortment of bag options. It was very easy to use – only one failure that we had to repackage and try again. That was my fault for trying to stuff too many peas into a bag that wasn’t large enough. We blanched the peas by placing them in boiling water for 2 minutes, then immediately immersing them into cold water to stop the cooking process. Next they were dried a bit on a towel and then put right into the freezer bags and sealed – pretty quick and simple. Hope the vacuum sealing does the job and our peas taste great this winter!