First Day of Spring !! (okay, if you say so) !!

Snow mixed with ice pellets ending early this afternoon then cloudy with 40 percent chance of rain showers or flurries. Snow and ice pellet amount 5 to 10 cm. Local blowing snow early this afternoon. Wind southeast 40 km/h gusting to 70 becoming south 30 gusting to 50 this afternoon. High plus 2

The official start to spring was at 8 am today!! This is what we opened our eyes to:

"the first day of spring is one thing, and the first spring day is another"

All I can say is those little rodent groundhogs better hide a little longer, wherever they are for getting our hopes up and telling us we are going to have an early spring... haaaaaa

What little sign of daffodils we saw last week breaking ground, are now covered in snow!

But, guaranteed, spring is just around the corner.. why?? because the

''spring weight restrictions now in effect'' signs are everywhere!!

So, now I look forward to making a ''spring snow woman'' when this wind tames down a bit and I will dress her up in a colorful ''spring'' outfit and a pair of flip flops!!

HAPPY SPRING everyone!!

Proceed to part 2.... As Promised My Spring Snow Woman

Our Muscovy Ducks

 Muscovy hatchling 1 day old....

and if you think this is cute....

......

......

 Two Muscovy Hatchlings <3

"And let's just say that perhaps this may have not been the most appropriate shirt to wear on day one of this little duck's life"

A few facts:

• The adult males can weigh up to 10-15 lbs (4.5 6.8 kg). The male measures, on average, 31 inches or 79 cm

• Most of the females are 5-7 pounds (2.3 - 3.1 kg) but can, in rare instances, reach up to 10 lbs (4.5 kg). The female measures about 23.6 inches or 60 cm

• Muscovies also eat mosquito larva in the water....They make a huge difference when it comes to insect control.....They are excellent fly catchers!! (click on the photo below to see Donald in action)

Donald, our 3 yr old Male Muscovy catching flies!!

• They have webbed feet and strong sharp claws for grabbing tree branches and roosting.  Their tail is fairly short, flat and wide

• Male Muscovies have a dry hissing call - often ''wagging'' their tail and fluffing up the feathers on their crown at the same time and the females make quiet trilling ''pip'' sounds

• They do not swim much because their oil glands are under developed compared to most ducks.  Muscovy hens can set three times a year, and the egg clutches can vary from 8-21 eggs.  The eggs are incubated for 35 days.

Life of a Duck...."Lucky" our Pet Call Duck

 Posing for his portrait.. nothing to it..  He's a natural!!

Now it's sleeptime.. !!

"Lucky" is a Call duck and is the smallest domestic duck.  It is almost 2 years now since he has been with us.. He eats layer pellets and when he is hungry, he lets you know it.. He walks, or should I say waddles to his cupboard when his belly needs to be fed, and instead of crying like a baby, he quack quack quacks until we open the door.. ! He does not have his flight wings clipped, so he is able, and does fly around the house whenever he feels like it!!  He is very tame and is a pleasing addition to our home and family.  When he goes outside in his enclosed 'bungalow', he is soon surrounded by all the chickens, Skittles the rooster, and of course Skye, our Border Collie, who is always close by keeping a watchful eye on everybody!!  When Lucky is in the house, he wears a 'duck diaper', yep, that's right, and it's custom made by the way.  Thank goodness for google and our online friend Christine from http://www.facebook.com/pages/Waddle-Wrappers/132401986855304 ;-) We sent her a few measurements and a couple of weeks later, our duck diapers came in the mail... !!  Lucky is extremely amusing to watch and gives us hours of pleasure with his inquisitive behavior.  He is simply irresistible.

UPDATE:  Lucky was alone up until last year.  (Alone, as far as having another duck to play with)... you can see his furry family here .....Last spring, we got our Pekin ducks and now, this year, we have Lucky back outside and he is having a great time.  We are happy that he is able to be adventurous with rest of his feathered family!!  Lucky even became a father this summer.... Read all about it here !!!!

Happy Birthday Skye !!

Three birthday cheers for our loyal sidekick and soulful companion.  How can anyone live without woofs, purrs, quacks or tweets in their life.  Our Border Collie turned 3 today!!  Thank you for gracing our life with so many wonderful memories of love. Happy Birthday Skye!!

Love is in the air

Clouds naturally forming a heart-shaped sky!! How often to clouds form a heart?  It was neat when I looked out of the window and saw the formation beginning! ~~ note: this photo was not altered; only the lighting and contrast were touched up!

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

You can find them here ! 

 

Wishing everyone a Happy and Healthy 2013!

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!!

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!!

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!

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

Autumn Rainbow

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

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!

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

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!!

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! 

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

A Hint of Orange

You can find this print for sale here

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!

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!!