Saturday, December 29, 2012

Happy Holidays ~

Traditional Apple and Cinnamon Spice Ornaments

We filled our Christmas tree with these homemade ornaments! Not only do they look good, but our house is filled with a warm fragrance for the holidays! They also make beautiful hand-made gifts for family and friends for anytime of the year!

If you would like to order some ornaments
 
Wishing everyone a Happy and Healthy 2013!

Tuesday, December 11, 2012

All Grown Up

Tony is 6 months old now!! 
 
And here is Tony being born May 2012...It never ceases to amaze me how wonderful mother nature is!!

Wednesday, December 5, 2012

Our Rooster "Skittles"

 
This is our 26 week old barred rock rooster named ''Skittles''.  He just found his crowing voice a couple of weeks ago and it is hilarious when I say "Do it again Skittles" and he crows for me.. Skittles and his 10 hens free range during the day :-) In the background down in the pond are the Pekin ducks simply enjoying life.. Click here  http://shamik4.blogspot.ca/2012_07_01_archive.html to find out how they got here!!

Thursday, November 15, 2012

Willow Tree with a Face!

On our canoe trip the other day, we came upon this willow tree standing on the side of the bank.. It has the shape of face with a little nose and eyes just above the 'wide open mouth'... Not exactly the Harry Potter whomping willow tree, but unique in its own way!

Sunday, November 11, 2012

Skye

Skye is our devoted border collie who deserves to be shared with the world.  Skye is 2 years old and a very smart dog. And I'm not just saying that because she is ours, she really is!!  (The Border Collie was on the cover of the National Geographic in March 2008.. Studies have shown that some border collies know and associate up to 340 words and counting) Sometimes we have to spell words when she is in our presence, otherwise, she is patiently waiting to do that job from the words she hears.. She will, on command, ''pick up'' items and bring them to us, or if we say "recycle", she knows to look for a water bottle to take to the recycling area!! One of my favorites is saying "slippers".... She is off on a mission, looking, looking, looking, and within a minute, she is back with my slipper and then, off she goes to get the other one! One time, she brought the two of them together.. (that was just luck).. Since a puppy, she loves playing with "sticks" and the bigger, the better!  "Ball" and "frisbee" are on top of the list as other favorite games.  She loves the camera and poses for me on any occasion.  Here, she is out on the farm keeping a watchful eye on her large family of ducks and chickens who are free-ranged during the day... Come dusk, and she hears the words "chicken bedtime", she is up and ready with her tail wagging! When everyone is accounted for and tucked in for the night, she is a happy dog and knows her job is done for another day!  See you tomorrow.  Love Skye <3

Wednesday, October 24, 2012

Autumn Rainbow

While having our morning coffee, we were blessed to witness this magical moment!

Monday, October 8, 2012

Summer Fun '12 Doggy Style

 Sabbath teaching Bella how to 'dog dive'

"Ok, I got the hang of it... I think I will give it a try!!"

Definitely not a graceful swimmer!!

Bella taking a moment to catch her breath!!

  
"I need to learn more from Sabbath"

 Bella and Skye watch from the sidelines as
Sabbath makes another remarkable dog dive!

At the end of the day, Bella still has a smile on her face!! Guaranteed a good night's sleep!

Wednesday, September 5, 2012

Homeopathy for my Pekin Duck!!

Well a few weeks ago, our baby Pekin duck who would be about 11 weeks old at the time, was all of a sudden limping around.  We came to the conclusion that he stepped on a sharp object and punctured the bottom of his foot.  After a day or so, he wasn't walking on it and only layed in one spot and did not want to go in the water and swim with the rest of his friends :-(

Once we determined that there were no broken bones, we took him up to the barn and made a cozy little place for him to rest and after 24 hours, he was no better.  And it seemed like infection was setting in.  I tried some of my home remedies on him which started that evening:

St John's Wort Oil which would help him with any inflammation and infection.

(Arnica 30c) for the pain.

(Silicea 6c) This homeopathic remedy is used to extract any foreign object that may be inside his foot causing infection.

(Colloidal Silver) An ounce of colloidal silver in his drinking water.  Colloidal silver fights off infection, cleans wounds and helps build up the immune system, to name a few.

(Epsom Salts) One cup of epsom salts in tub of warm water. Soaked foot for one hour two times a day!




I phoned our vet, who is an hour drive away and asked her if the time came and the homeopathic treatments were not working, could we take our Pekin duck to see her.  She agreed!! You see, the closest avian vet is 7 hours away~~and we didn't want to traumatize our poor little Pekin anymore than he was.  Our vet said that she fixed a broken wing on a bird once, but never worked on a duck!!  We made an appointment for the vet the next day. We needed to create a name for the duck on file with the vet, so we called him "Peekee"



The next morning, after Peekee's epson salt bath, we set him down on the patio deck for a moment until we organized his little makeshift fort.  We used a little swimming pool filled with soft hay and a white sheet over his head for his roof to block the hot summer sun on him. We suddenly heard his little feet going pitter patter pitter patter and he was making his way to the other end of the deck!!!! It was an amazing sight to see.. He then waddled all the way to the other end, with no problem at all.. It was a miracle to see him start walking again.  He was still limping, but not nearly like he was before.  We called the vet and talked about how he was walking again.  We came to the conclusion that the homeopathy was working and we would continue with it.  We cancelled the appointment with the vet and we continued with the remedies on hand.  We massaged the foot with St John's Wort Oil twice a day for the next week and put colloidal silver in his drinking water.  We put him back down in the pond with the rest of his friends the next day and you could see that he was very happy!

Today, Peekee is swimming with his friends and walking around the grass and just having fun being a duck!! It is hard to pick him out of the group now.  He is keeping up with them as if nothing was even wrong with him!! We were thankful that it worked out for him and we will always make sure we have the above noted remedies on hand!

If you would like to know how we got these beautiful ducks, here is the wonderful story

Thursday, August 2, 2012

I Was Here First!

  You can almost sense by the facial expressions what this Blue Jay and Northern Flicker are saying to each other!!

And now it is two against one.. Does the Blue Jay have a chance at claiming this spot?

Northern Flickers are happy once again!!

Monday, July 23, 2012

New Additions!! Baby Pekins

This is one of the five baby Pekin ducks
that we just adopted!! She is 5 weeks old!






Baby "Pekin ducks" just born

I love my life!


 



 



These Pekin ducks were incubated in a grade 4/5 classroom and born on May 26/12 and then raised for a month by the children, who got to watch and learn all about this intelligent breed.  It came to our attention that they quickly needed homes, so after a few emails and phone calls, the school teacher made the four hour drive and delivered all 5 of them right to our pond!! They quickly adjusted and absolutely love their new home!! They are a joy to have and a great addition to our farm!!
Videos and 'baby Pekin ducks just born' photo courtesy of the elementary teacher! 

Friday, July 20, 2012

A Ruby-Throated Hummingbird!

This little fella is a regular at our feeder.
Here are some interesting facts: 
Physical Description
Average length: 3.5 inches (8.9 cm)
Average weight: 1/8 ounce (3.1 g)
Body temperature: 105°-108°F (40.5°-42.2°C)
Wing beats: 40-80 per second, average about 52
Respiration: 250 per minute
Heart rate: 250 beats/min resting; 1200 beats/min feeding
Flight speed: 30 mph (48 kph) normal; 50 mph (80 kph) escape; 63 mph (101 kph) dive

Thursday, July 19, 2012

A Hint of Orange

Hike to the Falls!

 This female Spruce Grouse was walking along the trail in front of us and didn't seem to be too alarmed by our presence.  As we got within feet of her, she flew up into the pine tree right beside us and watched us walk by!

 And here she is allowing me to photograph her at her best!!

 
The top of the falls.. The water is extremely low!
 The falls are almost a trickle here.. We need rain!

Shelf mushrooms all in a row!

Tuesday, July 10, 2012

Lightning Strikes!


 From this....



To this.... in just over an hour!


This is the first time I ever captured lightning on my camera.. It was quite exciting when I downloaded over 400 photos with absolutely nothing and then voila!! Usually, one would run and hide for cover in a lightning storm, but the excitement of the possibility of getting one shot was enough for me to stand out on the deck with my camera firmly gripped to one hand and cable release in the other.. It was rewarding for me to get these two!!


Wednesday, June 27, 2012

Pioneer Cemetery in Loch Lomond



Pioneer Cemetery - Loch Lomond, Cape Breton, NS
You will find this unique beach rock pillar located at the entrance of the cemetery  

Sunday, June 10, 2012

American Kestrel

American Kestrel - This amazing falcon is nesting in this box which is located about 40 feet from our back deck! How cool is that..!! The mother and father take turns, although stats say that father sits about 15%-20% of the time and mama takes up residence on the nest all night. For some facts on the Kestrel : http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/American_Kestrel/id

And to see a live cam with 4 baby American Kestrel chicks born the end of May from Boise, ID: http://www.allaboutbirds.org/page.aspx?pid=2451



Tuesday, June 5, 2012

Farm Yard Family Photo


Our furry and feathered friends keeping each other company!!

Two Against One



I anticipate that there was a Blue Jay nest in this tree and they were protecting it.  After about 5 min and a few feathers shed, the Bald Eagle got fed up and flew to another nearby tree.. With his wings covering his head as he flies away, one would think he was humiliated by the outcome!

Gaspereau - Grand River Falls

This is the time of year when one can watch the gaspereau make their way up the fish ladders in Grand River Falls.  It is quite the show and facinating to watch them not only go up the ladders, but also up the falls! They must be extremely tired when they finally get to the top!

Grand River Falls

Fish Ladders - Grand River Falls


Gaspereau resting in the pool









Lots of gaspereau!!!!

Gaspereau running up the river

Posing for a photo before continuing on!