June 6th, 2006

 

went yesterday afternoon with my friend to look at a horse... the horse was a looser, but it was a great outing. Ok.. the horse has ALOT of potential, but that is another story...

I get home and "Kid" and bf run out to greet me and tell me they have a present for me... curious.. as I know they did not go anywhere.. I wondered what it was. Somehow I knew it was a living creature..

They opened the box when I finally got to the porch as it was weighed down with a lawn chair on top. Convinced a baby moose was NOT in it.. I was wondering what the next option was... Someone took the lawn chair off and lo and behold.. I saw a little cold wet body with 2 webbed feet.

"A Duckie" I exclaimed.. and my bf corrected me.. apparently it is a Canada Goose gosling. I will buy that...



My bf was weedeatering the fence line and had just got done when he saw a small creature run like crazy across the driveway and towards the sled dogs by the house. He was questioning what kind of crazy animal that was. He finally caught it and he and the boys looked ALL OVER our place and asked the neighbors if they had a goose nest on their property. Nothing... We have no idea where he came from.

I set up a heat lamp in the mudroom for the gosling now called "Danny" (the boys had just watched the movie Pearl Harbor and the human Danny was a flyboy) and he (?) is a happy camper out there. I am glad that my bf saw it and saved it before it would have died. I saw a black fox again this morning, who I am sure would have liked that little guy as a tasty snack. We will turn it loose as soon as it can fend for itself on our back pond. Technically we have to pinion its wing, but since it was wildborn and I am going to raise it as non-domesticated as possible,


I really do not want to do that. I want it to fly south as it is very very doubtful it can live the winter up here without heading south.  

 

Evening Update


hunderstorms.. so much for corn planting this afternoon. My chore part of the day, started out when I went to let the various species out and check on all of them. All was well until I went out to the pigs. No pigs...

It monsooned last night and the top layer of the pig pen was wet.. except for a large spot where it was turned up to expose the dry earth underneath. It looked like a skirmish went on there. No pigs. I went into their house and walked in there... like stomped around and was yelling "piggy piggy".. and no pigs.. I look at the fence (which is 6-7 ft tall chain link) and no holes.. no pigs no nothing.. my bf gets home just at this time and I yell down to him that the pigs were missing. I was quite sure a cougar had grabbed them and hauled them out of there as the fence was perfect which it would not be, if a bear had crawled over it. My bf comes up.. we look for pigs and then all of the sudden when he oinks for them.. they wake up and crawl out of the straw in their house where I had STEPPED RIGHT ON THEM!!! I have no idea how they hid themselves under it as the straw is about 4" deep now. But apparently they could.

My bf, who has raised 100's of hogs, laughed at me and said pigs get cold up here easily and when it is cooler will bury themselves in the straw.. .this I knew. Like I have said previously, I have raised every species and then some of livestock.. except pigs.. with the monsoon storm here, they decided to take a nap and read in bed or something.. but I cannot believe they did not move when I stepped on them however. I mean I am 140# and they are 25# each?

Got my primary fermentors stirred today.. and the one glass carboy with a fermentation lock is working well. I ought to be able to bottle soon on the one.

I am thinking what I am going to do with 25# of Rhubarb in my spare fridge. I have not found a way that tastes good to me with Rhubarb, so I need to inquire with my bf what he would like done with it and then do that today since my outdoor day is messed up.

I think some Potato-Onion bread might be good with dinner as well. It is just a gross day outside.. the thunder is just boom-boom-booming.. I do live in the mountains after all and the weather can get quite exciting.. I am just glad we have been having a bit of rain as it would not be good to have a wildfire.