The bottom of the food chain or… it’s a puppy eat kitty world.

September 28, 2010

The goose picked on the puppy and the cat because they were smaller. Lucky who is normally very patient will put the puppy in her place if she gets too close to his bone. Zoe attacks the cat nonstop until the cat swats at her and then she will still bark and bark at the cat. Zoe will chase the chickens because they are smaller. (and I dare say a lot of fun with all those feathers flying about and the squawking!) The cat attacks mice & moles.

It’s a puppy eat kitty world. And some days you feel like you are at the bottom of the food chain.

And in between all of this is the constant picking up of puppy pee, rare puppy poop (she likes to do that outside now) and this afternoon puppy puke, bits of paper, sticks… Honestly, I’ve no idea where she seems to find all the paper to shred but it has saved me from having to run things through a paper shredder.

I am not complaining but I am starting to come face to face with the circle of the food chain. Literally.

Last night Klink let me know that I was missed. He went outside then within a half hour he brought me a present. He actually brought me a full meal if you look at the photo. A balanced diet is very important so along with the “mole steak” he brought me some salad greens. Thank you, Klink!

Hawk’s Nest

September 26, 2010

Taken by Us :)

On the tram

Saturday we took a little visit to Hawk’s Nest State Park. I can’t ever remember going there as a child but it is not very far away. They have a tram that will take you up and down the mountain which was nice. I’m very pleased there wasn’t a ton of people there… it worked out perfect. I should have done a bit of research first as it would have been great if we could have done a bit of hiking. But, it was Paul’s last day at home before he hit the road again.

Where ever we go, we love to explore parks and searching for perfect motorcycle rides. I love being outdoors. I think we are going to have to plan a camping trip before it gets too cold out.

I decided I wanted to try embroidery. I’m not sure where this comes from because I don’t know the first thing about sewing much less hand stitching. I think I may be in a bit of trouble however. I seem to be stumbling over the “basic” stitches. My stitches do not look like the ones in the book that I got. I will not give up. I have a long winter ahead of me with a lot of time alone. I’m convinced I will get the hang of this.

When bored: please chew any wire that is handy.

September 27, 2010

Traveling with Zoe was surprisingly easy. She slept in her crate most of the way to Ohio. I would stop once an hour to let her go potty and have a drink/snack. I checked ahead to see if the hotel we stayed at accepted pets and they did for a nonrefundable $25.00 fee.

The weather was cool so when we went to dinner we took her in her crate and she stayed in the truck. Once again she must have just been bored and slept. Back in the hotel room we had a couple of hours of rowdy play to make up for the forced captivity.

On the way home it was just as easy. I’ve had dogs who got sick in particular on curvy roads of the Midland Trail. Not a peep out of my girl… she was a star!

However, when we got back home she quickly made up for lost time. She chased her tail, knocked over a plant and took bits around the house, went pee 3 times, unpacked my bags for me, started chewing my speaker wires (she already chewed through one completely) and went into my closet and pulled shoes to play with.

All of this was done in the 20 minutes it took me to check my work emails.

If a strong cup of tea can’t fix it call the fire department…

I had to distance myself from Wednesday before setting it to paper. Never write or say anything that can’t be undone or come back to haunt you!

The oddest thing happened to me on Wednesday. Something so surprising that I would never have conceived it. At the time it kicked off I was pretty damn miserable but I still have all my limbs (and now a bit of perspective) as my mother would say.

All I am going to say is this… if you currently or will ever be in a position to hire people it is very important to ask them before contacting their current employer. ‘Nough said.

But really, this should not matter. Since June I have not worked “FOR” anyone but myself and my clients. I am an independent contractor. Having said that, it would have been helpful if I could have been the one to let my previous host agency know that I was leaving. Timing really is everything.

Be ready for any disaster. But was it really a disaster? Looking back now I can say it was not how I would have liked it to happen and it may have been a little inconvenient for me, but not a disaster. It was not inconvenient for my clients and ultimately that is what is important to me.

Life with Edgar and other adventures

Wednesday September 22, 2010

Living with Edgar and other adventures…

When Edgar was a baby I read online somewhere that I should get him a stuffed goose to keep him company. I presented it to him thinking he would cuddle up to it at night, he hated it. He attacked it then refused to go near it in the fish tank I put him in. (to limit human contact)



Edgar sleeping with his pet



When we moved out to the farm I came across the “pet goose” and tossed it out to Lucky the dog thinking he might like to play with it. Nope, Lucky didn’t want it either. And so the goose sat in the driveway for a couple of weeks alone. One day I went outside and caught Edgar carrying his “pet goose” to a nice spot where he preened it a bit then slept with it. I instantly felt a pang of sadness. Was he that lonely for his own kind? Were we not enough? The second I realized what I was thinking I tried my best to stamp on those emotions… wild animal, wild animal… say it over and over and maybe one day your heart will believe it.

 

We knew Lucky had a reputation with the birds. My husband being British had a reputation with the birds too… but that is a totally different story! Lucky had endured a long life of loneliness. He had been chained to a car away from the house where his people lived. He was forced to live without the one thing that dogs crave the most… people. He’s an old dog and he’s part retriever and something else. He is so desperate for attention that he will gladly suffer you washing and brushing him as long as you pet him. His life is different now. He does still get chained up outside, but now he gets to come inside the house many evenings.



Where was I??? Oh yes, Lucky loves birds. He once got loose and went to a neighbor’s house that raised fighting cocks and killed a couple. This is before we came into his life. My uncle paid for the roosters and eventually the person got caught fighting them and thank goodness no longer has them.

We weren’t sure how Lucky would take to Edgar but in the early days of life on the farm we let Lucky have a bit of freedom. Bad, bad idea. Give a boy an inch and he will take 35 acres. One day I was cooking and I heard Edgar let out a distress honk. I ran to the back of the house and Lucky had Edgar pinned down from behind. He could have killed him but instead he was licking Edgar’s back and pulling out a few feathers. He didn’t even break Edgar’s skin. Was he just trying to play with Edgar?

After that Edgar was wary around Lucky.



Lucky n Edgar having a nap



They settled into a relationship of sorts. I think Edgar grew to realize that Lucky didn’t really want to eat him and because of his size he offered some protection from the critters that roam at night.



Once Edgar was full grown we stopped putting him in a pen for the night. He was in theory big enough to stand on his own two webbed feet. Nearly every night you could find him laying about a foot away from Lucky.

At first Lucky would get up and chase him off if he saw us coming. He has a long history of this. My uncle told me this story about him:

Lucky used to be tied up close to the apple tree in the front yard. Deer love apples and would come eat at the “apple buffet” every year. One night they were driving home and were coming down the driveway and they stopped to watch all the deer eating around the tree when they realized Lucky was lying down in the grass just a few feet away. As they drove closer to the house Lucky suddenly jumped up and started chasing the deer away.

This is how Lucky got a reputation as being a “live and let live” kind of dog. I think he genuinely doesn’t care if animals get very close to him as long as they are no threat. It’s only when he realizes that we are watching him that he feels obligated to chase them away. Almost as if he has to look like he’s earning his keep… for appearances sake.

Monday September 13^th Edgar disappeared while I was at the store shopping. Paul had left to go on the road working on Saturday so neither of us go to say good bye. I knew in my head that if we had done a good job he would one day fly away. You can not tell this to my heart however. I have cried and cried as if I had lost a friend. Maybe I have.

Since it was during the day I don’t think anything bad happened to him. There is no telltale pile of feathers or a carcass anywhere I can find. We have a lot of black buzzards around and you know if a mouse has died by the way they circle around it.

It is certainly not how I had imagined saying goodbye. I thought we would have a tearful "let him be free" type of thing that we would video tape. I only just now realize I have no photos of him with me at all. All of our photos I took of Paul interacting with Edgar. At least I have a ton of photos of my handsome boys.

Tuesday September 21, 2010

“Just you try it! I will whack you like a baseball!” This is how I started my morning. No sooner than I let my chickens out of their pens to free range for the day then a hawk starts screeching near by.

“Don’t you stupid chickens know he is coming for you? Get in the dang bushes”… but nope, I had just spread out a hand full of food which they were gobbling up blissfully unaware they were about to be gobbled up. This called for drastic measures… a broom.

I’m sure if anyone could have seen me standing in my yard waving my broom (to make myself look really big and scary!) and shouting at the hawk that was getting closer by flying from tree to tree… did he really think I wouldn’t notice he was getting closer? I live with a cat for crying out loud… I know ALL the tricks!

I may as well start writing at this point as well. I was advised by friends that I should keep a journal of my adventures (or mis-adventures) on the farm. I don’t know that anyone will actually want to read this. But it will help me to remember special times with Edgar and the zoo. I apologize in advance for my writing style. I write like I talk. (very long winded, in circles, and I constantly shift between subjects)

A bit about me... I am a country girl who left to live in the city for the past 25 years. I’m a travel agent who after 19 years has finally become an independent contractor. I no longer commute to the office. Since I can work anywhere, we (meaning I) decided to move back to West Virginia where I grew up. My husband and I live on one of my uncle’s farms.

It really started with Edgar. Edgar is a Canada goose who came into our lives in April. He was slightly mauled by a dog and I rescued him. It was only later that I discovered that while we could kill goose eggs, shoot them and do anything we could to keep them away from where we lived, we were in fact not allowed to save him. Too late.

We quickly realized that Edgar doubled his size every week and it seemed natural to want him to grow up in a safe environment. Our intention all along was to keep him wild. You know what they say about the best of intentions?? Well, I could never remember so he quickly became very attached to us and we to him. He was just so cute when he cuddled up to us. How could we resist?

Nope… I mean it, he is a wild animal and we really must stop treating him as he was part of the family. So, naturally we up and moved to the farm to make sure he had a safe place to grow up.

Since we were living in the country why not try my hand at a few chickens? I was given three feathered (footed) bantams from a co-worker. As they grew up I realized I got really, really lucky with two of them being 2 hens and one rooster, Fergus. Then my cousin gave me 6 Rhode Island Red’s which were not hand raised and they forever more shall be referred to the “red demons” in this blog. They will peck you. They will run away from you. They are not at all like my sweet banties, they are eeeevillll. (you have to say it like Dr. Evil would)