Garden Gate

Yesterday was one of the first days in quite a while where I didn't have plans to be anywhere, or have to work inside at my day job. I have built up quite a to do list of odd jobs that need doing around here and without a honey to help out with the "honey-do" list -the list has grown rather long.

About a month ago I built a yard gate. A temporary closure had been there since we first visited our property. It did the job of keeping the dogs in - for a while, and then the dogs discovered they could squeeze through the gap and it ceased to be effective. A new gate was a must!

I was still humming and hawing about what I wanted to put there but my humming and hawing was accelerated! Being that new metal gates are expensive (about $70.00 for a 4 footer) and don't have a whole lot of eye appeal, I decided to build my own gate.

This gate was my inspiration:

My materials list:

• 2 pieces of 2x4 (scrap I had lieing around). I cut one into two pieces the desired width of the gate and the other was cut to fit the diagonal
• 8 Cedar pickets 5/8" thick @ 1.62 each, total $12.96
• Gate hinge set $14.97
  
• Screws-Various left overs I had on hand

Total cost $27.93.

Construction:

I first cut 2 2x4's to the desired width, and laid out my pickets on them, spacing the pickets so that I didn't have to split a picket lengthwise. I then screwed the pickets to the 2x4's, being careful to measure each as I went to keep them spaced evenly. Once they were all screwed on, I cut and screwed the diagonal board to keep everything aligned.

Then came the task of cutting the arch. I wasn't sure how to do this so opted to use a piece of baling twine as a guide. I lay the baling twine on the gate, and then curved it into an arch. I used a pencil to trace a guide line, took a deep breath and cut the arch with my circular saw. I was very happy with the end result.

Mounting the gate was no fun what-so-ever. My drills were not cooperating. The battery drill's battery was dead and my electric drill's power button kept getting stuck and it would only turn at 1/2 speed. The screwdriver I was using when the drills failed just wasn't strong enough and the tip started wearing. Through a rotation of tools, I finally got the gate hung and latch mounted!

I'm pretty proud of the end result-the gate even swings AND latches!

What's Wrong With this Picture

I filmed this clip just after I fed my sheep the other day, does this put a whole new perspective on the prey model of dog feeding? (For those who aren't familiar with the prey model of dog feeding it is a diet modeled on feeding dogs as they would eat in the wild - a diet made of all raw meat, bones and other animal parts) There were no hidden treats in this video!

I'm glad the dog is enjoying the expensive hay!

Not Just a Cat

She came to us just about 3 years ago in a bittersweet time -our beloved Aussie, Selby who was only 12 years old had been diagnosed with terminal cancer and given only weeks to live. We were making the best of our last weeks with her living each day as if it were her last not knowing how many tomorrows we would have.

We had decided that barn cats do better in pairs and had decided to get another kitten to keep our little orphan kitty Tootsie company out in the barn. I had seen an ad on Craigslist for some super cute looking kittens and decided to go see them. It was kind of odd when we went to see her. We knocked on the door and said we were there to see the kittens, the little girl who answered basically shoved the kitten into Katielyns arms and then we were sent on our way. No small chat was exchanged, just a rather cold "here she is" and we were seen to the door. I'm not even sure if we really had a chance to say no!

Baby "Amy"

We christened our new addition "Amy". She was supposed to be 6 weeks old, but did not look a day over 5 weeks, if that. There was no way she was going out to the barn to fend for herself, so she was ensconced in the house until she grew up and was big enough to become a barn kitty. Annie our youngest Aussie was quite taken with her, and Amy, the kitty, with Annie. Annie became her foster Mom -the little kitty even tried to suckle on Annie. She would climb up onto Annie and snuggle into her fur. And Annie was ever so gentle with her licking her clean. I was almost afraid Annie would lick her bald! We never had any trouble finding the kitty, she'd either be snuggles with Annie or Annie would be following her around, sometimes with a look on her face that said "Could somebody please control this child?"

Amy and Annie Snuggling

As Amy grew up it became apparent that she really wasn't barn cat material. She lacked the lithe action of a barn cat, and for a cat was rather clumsy. She would jump up onto my desk, and miss, and fall to the ground taking with her an avalanche of papers. She'd then get up, shake, and strut off as if saying "no-one saw that, did they?"

Amy and my daughter became bosom buddies. When I'd go into Katie's room at night to read to her, Amy would follow and jump onto the bed, purring like a finely tuned sports car. It was as if I were reading to them both.

Nobody who came into the house could ignore Amy. She'd jump up onto our dining room table and proceed to lie down on anything they had brought with them. She loved to crawl into boxes of papers my accounting clients brought with them. And my assistant, Ronda's laptop carrier-that was a truely beloved spot to hide!

Typical Amy squishing her pudgy self into a tiny space

As Amy matured she really became a pretty cat, with long mottled orange, amber and white hair and sporting the stripes of a tabby within her calico coloring. Her big eyes expressed her amusement with life, and her long eye lashes made her irresistible.

Sadly this past labor day weekend, it seems Amy slipped out of our lives. We're not sure what happened. We always brought Amy in each night. I used to jokingly call her "coyote bait as she is so happy go lucky and totally unaware that danger could lurk around the next corner. I can envision her now strutting up to a coyote and saying "Hi, I'm Amy". Sadly that vision may have come true. One evening she was here and then the next morning her presence was missed. We think she must have slipped outside unbeknownst to us.

We have posted fliers around town, at the schools and put them in mailboxes. I asked the mailman to keep a lookout for her as well as all the neighbors. I've walked our acreage and all the adjoining parcels, and nary a hair to be seen. I've looked up every tree and crawled under anything that a cat could possibly use as a hidey hole. The shelter and local vets have been alerted to her loss and an ad placed on craigslist and in the weekly newspaper. It seems that she's disappeared without a trace.

On one of the days shortly after she disappeared, my husband (not a cat lover) told me "It's just a cat" -he's lucky I didn't divorce him on the spot. More false words have never been spoken. Amy truly was not "just a cat".

I keep hoping to her scolding "mrow" in the morning, telling me off for leaving her out so long, but alas, each morning there is silence. I look out on the back porch where she'd pat at the door knob wishing she had thumbs, but there is no Amy there. I beg the phone to ring with someone saying they have her. As each day passes my hopes fade a little more but they won't die. Just today I was reading on Google about a cat that was found in NY city 5 years after it had disappeared from it's home in Broomfield, Colorado. Can you imagine that? The cat was 1600 miles from home, if only it could tell it's story, what a tale it could tell! Truly inspirational.

We've only had Amy just shy of 3 years, but how she has woven her little self into my daughter and my hearts (and Annies too). Amy wherever you are, you are very missed, I truly hope there are more snuggles in our future.

How Quickly they Grow

I was just out taking pictures of our not-so-little-anymore ram lamb as requested by his new owner. It's amazing how quickly they grow. Here he is:

And this is our ram lamb we purchased in April. I just love this guys expression -he has the sweetest face.

And this is Jasper now about 8 months old. He's pretty good with the sheep -he just has one he can't resist "playing" with. We work on that daily. Next step will be chickens...that'll be fun!

Lemon Aid

I've been wanting a Meyer Lemon tree for a while now. I saw some earlier this year at the big home improvement stores and passed them by thinking I could

1. get better looking specimens and;
2. get a better deal ( Iremembered the year before seeing large trees lined up at 1/2 price at Lowes)

They then sold out and much to my dismay I couldn't find any others. I sure was kicking myself.

Then I decided to get proactive and started calling the many small nurseries around here and much to my delight the closest nursery had one Meyer Lemon tree and it was 50% off because they were closing for the summer that weekend. I scooted over there and acquired my Lemon Tree - a great specimen. It's about 5 feet tall with one branch that towers about 7 feet high (I'll probably prune that branch). I was so happy to get such a nice tree and it was only $30.00!

That's where the happy story ends and despair sets in.

I got it home and then had to decide where to put it. I put it on the South side of our house figuring it would get lots of sunlight -which it did but the winds were knocking it all about and I feared all the fruit would get blown off so I moved it to the North side in a sheltered corner.

I've been blogging about my war with pests this summer. I had always thought that citrus was a bit of a natural repellent . How wrong I was. After a few days I found some leaves curled up and some kind of bug hiding within, so I drenched the tree in insecticide soap. I was vigilant in spraying it every couple of days with the soap.

Despite vigilant spraying, I found mealy bugs and aphids and grasshoppers on the tree. And to make matters worse it began dropping leaves and the remaining leaves were turning yellow. I fear I over watered it. I felt horrible -the tree was gorgeous when I got it and after it came home it was subjected to about every torture imaginable.

I decided to move my tree to the other side of the house where it would get more sunlight. I also started using a moisture meter to gauge soil moisture. I watered much less frequently which I found disturbing considering every day the temperatures are over 100. Still the tree declined. Then the grasshoppers attacked in full force. One day it was just a poor tree that had been over watered, the next it was stripped of most of its leaves and even some bark. I couldn't believe the damage.

Grasshopper damage to bark

Major intervention was in order. I decided I didn't care about organic care at this point, the grasshoppers had to go. I went to Home Depot and browsed their shelves. I was disappointed that there wasn't anything other then Sevin which even listed grasshoppers as a victim. I have Tempo in the storage shed -that will kill everything but I'm not using that in my garden. I came home empty handed and disappointed that I was still without grasshopper killer. I then stewed on it some more and opted to not succumb to non-organics. Since the Lemon tree is in a pot, I chose to bring it inside where I know I can at least keep the grasshoppers off of it.

I purchased some Alaska Fish fertilizer in hopes that some good natural fertilizer my help my struggling tree. I mixed it up as per directions and oh my. This stuff stinks. The label says it is "deodorized with wintergreen oil". Who are they trying to fool? It reaks. You know it smells disgusting when no sooner had I watered my plant with it then my dogs were fervently trying to get in the pot and dig and eat up the dirt. Great now I have to contend with them digging up the plant. I shooed the dogs off and told them they were gross.

Poor Bedraggled Tree Prior Prior to Repotting

I was still concerned about the pot size so I chose to repot the tree this week. It was in a 3 gallon container so I thought an up size to a 5 gallon would suffice, along with a well draining media. After a lot of reading I figured a gritty mix would be good for the lemon tree. Here is the "recipe" for the gritty mix I made:

Gritty Mix

3 parts pine or fir bark fines
3 parts Turface MVP (or equal)
3 parts crushed granite (turkey or chicken grit - not crushed shellfish)
1 part vermiculite
1 part coarse silica sand
1 tbsp gypsum/gardening lime gallon of soil (1/2 cup per cu ft)
if you use gypsum instead of lime, add 1/8 tsp Epsom salts/gallon of water each time you fertilize

I wasn't able to purchase any pine bark fines so pine mulch and some pine nuggets I had on hand had to suffice -I just pulled the large pieces out of the mix. I was able to buy chicken grit at the local feed store by the pound so wasn't stuck with a 25# bag to use up. And turface isn't carried in most of my local stores so I opted for "Oil-Dri" which is very similar.

Materials for Gritty Mix

I mixed up my planting media and then dumped out my lemon tree. The roots do not look healthy -they were in a tight ball and there certainly aren't many healthy looking white roots spreading out from the ball. I broke up the ball somewhat and put the tree in the 5 gallon pot -it barely had any extra room around the edges. This size pot wasn't going to work. I went to our shed and of course I didn't have anything bigger. Now what. I looked around and decided that my container blueberries which have been struggling didn't need a pot as big as they have and they were very unceremoniously dumped out and the lemon put in their pot in place. It is a perfect size. The roots have room to spread but the container is still quite movable.

Close Up of Gritty Mix

So the lemon tree is now replanted. I still have it in my "mud-room" which has a sunny east facing window. Each day I check the plant for new growth. I haven't seen any yet but it was just Thursday that I re-potted. I should sacrifice the lemons that are still clinging to the tree and allow the tree to nourish it's trunk and leaves rather than the fruit but it seems such a shame to lose them now. I will watch a little more and if I don't see new growth shortly, they will be picked off.

Texas 4-H Dog Show

Katie and I had the pleasure of going to the Texas 4-H dog show in Belton this weekend. It was a wonderful experience all around, very well organized, lots of great Kids and of course loads of dogs of every shape and size!

Katie was the only competitor from our county, Cooke. She competed in just about everything (rally,tricks, obedience, costume, conformation, showmanship, photography and agility!). I was very proud of how well she did and how well she handled the ups and downs of showing. Her low was when Diva wouldn't potty no matter how much she walked her and then pooped in the obedience ring. Her high...I'm actually not sure what her high was, there were many. I think I was proudest of her 2nd place in the tricks class as there she was competing with kids of all ages including seniors, and she trained her dog herself! Each competitor had to perform 3 tricks with their dogs. Katie and Diva did weave through legs, skateboarding and pushing a ball with her nose (the dog pushed the ball not Katie!).

My favorite class was the costume class. This had to be the best costume class I've ever seen. The kids were allowed props and it was obvious a lot of thought went into the design of the outfits and props.

Katie and Diva ready for the costume class

Unfortunately I didn'tget many photographs as I was a volunteer and was kept very busy working!

Getting Diva Ready for Mixed Breed Confirmation

Katie and Annie getting 1st Place in Novice Showmanship

Chicken Run

Egg white and chocolate our two game chickens given to us in April seem to be what I call "welfare" chickens. I've nicknamed them "Useless" and "Useless Too". Why do I talk about them like this you wonder?

Well I got these chickens as laying hens. All seemed OK -not great the first couple of weeks. They laid about 6 eggs in two weeks -not super laying numbers by any means but I figured they needed to settle in and get used to life at our farm.

Then they stopped laying. I blamed it on their quarters, we hadn't finished their chicken tractor yet and had to use a dog x-pen and dog carrier as their temporary home for a couple of weeks. Meanwhile we had some hard rains and the chickens got wet. I wasn't about to blame them for not laying under those conditions.

Then they moved to their new chicken tractor and still they didn't lay. But I gave them the benefit of the doubt- afterall they had moved twice in less than a month. Finally we found an egg or two in the tractor and we thought all was well.

Then things heated up in Texas. It seems these chickens don't lay when the temps are above 90 degrees nor do they lay when it storms. In Texas conditions are either stormy or hot or both about 75% of the time. I won't be counting on these two chickens for my egg needs much longer.

I was going to put an ad on Craigslist offering two free game chickens (my dd would never forgive me if we ate her first chickens), but then I had an idea! I've been battling bugs and pests in my gardens as I do every summer -what better to demolish the grasshopper population then a couple of chickens?

This morning I opened the coop. Chocolate instantly took off running (her wing feathers haven't grown back in sufficiently to fly). She ducked under the horse fence and kept on running. Wild thing. I figured she was gone forever. Egg White meanwhile came out and wandered around, then ducked through the electric fence pen where the sheep are. I didn't think anything of it until an hour or so later, when I look out to see Jasper, the pyreness puppy chasing her. She beat a hasty retreat under the fence and then hung out for the afternoon. I think Jasper was only trying to play but he could have killed her in a heartbeat if he had got hold of her.

I just went to put Egg White back in the coop and thought I should at least make an effort to find Chocolate. I looked into the horse field and there she was poking about. I climbed the fence into the pasture and maneuvered past where she was and then approached her. She took off to hide under some Cedar bush. I grabbed a stick intending to beat the bushes, but then the horses came to investigate what the commotion was about. They scared her out and she took off running toward the fence and the coop on the other side. She ran along the fence line looking for a spot she could duck under and found one, only to find Jasper on the other side. He didn't do much but she took off in the other direction-right towards the coop. She ducked through the fence and jumped into the coop.

With a grin I closed the coop door and thought Day one free ranging done! I wonder how day two will go?

Safely back in the coop for the night

And then came the Sheep

As mentioned in my first post, Annie my Aussie and I have started stock lessons. Annie is shall I say a bit over the top -she's just so excited to be with the stock. I'm very happy to see her enthusiasm considering how hard it is to get her motivated in other events, but do need to find a way to moderate her desires. At $35.00 a lesson how much will it cost just to get her to settle so that she (and I ) can be trained? My solution? Get some sheep of my own so she can watch them. We're certainly not ready to practice with them yet but I figure just letting her see, smell and be around them should help her relax a bit for our lessons.

Annie's first time on sheep about a year ago...look at those eyes

Now it's time to decide what kind of sheep to purchase. I've browsed the herding boards, observed the sheep we work with for our lessons, talked to our instructor and basically absorbed everything I can about sheep for the last month. At first I thought perhaps I'd get some shetlands -they are so incredibly cute, look at these guys:

But as I read more, it seems these little cuties aren't the ideal sheep for herding, first of all they have wool which means dealing with shearing (or rooing if lucky enough to have sheep that will shed) and they aren't the best flocking sheep which makes them difficult to herd and not a beginner herding sheep.

Dorpers are popular around here and are easy to find (we're not in sheep country so there isn't a huge selection of breeds to choose from). I practice on a mostly dorper flock and you can't beat their temperament. Here's some of the flock we practice on with their lambs:



Barbados Blackbellies are another popular sheep for herding. Their small size appeals to me, as well as their coloring and they are a hair sheep. I'm not so sure about the rams and their horns though -I guess I don't need a ram (or not yet anyway).




While researching barbados, I stumbled upon "Painted Desert Sheep" These are a breed of sheep developed in Texas by crossing Mouflon,Rambouillet, Merino with Blackbellies. They are built like a barbados but have "painted" markings like a paint horse. I have decided this is the breed of sheep I'd like to try.



I have scanned the craigslist postings and have located a farmer with a herd of barbados/painted desert sheep priced reasonably in Kingston, OK so I plan on taking a look to see what he has on Monday.

The Beginning...

We were just a horse ranch. Then Annie came into our lives.

She was the result of an accidental breeding -her parents duped me. I had faithfully kept the two dogs separated for just about 3 weeks. Finally I thought Selena was "out" and let her outside with "Bryce". She growled at him when he came running over to sniff her privates. Ahh...great...she's done. No more having to play revolving doors with the dog...open hall door, let dog in. Open front door let dog out...

An hour later, I looked out my office window and arggh...what did I see? My two dogs doing the dastardly deed! I was aghast. Not only was this not planned it was also not desired -these two dogs are both very strong willed, both merles (for those that don't know merle colored dogs should not be bred with each other - a puppy that inherits two merle genes "a homozygous merle" is genetically predisposed to a slew of defects such as blindness, deafness etc) and to boot not even registered in the same registries!

Bryce
Selena

I discussed the breeding with some breeder friends and hummed and hawed. If Selena was pregnant should I abort or should I let her have the pups. Abortion would have it's own complication-she could contract pyrometritis which could be fatal. Loving my dogs as I do taking any risk wasn't worth it to me. So after a few weeks I had her checked and sure enough she was pregnant. Wonderful.

Puppy day came and I braced myself. I still hadn't reached a solid conclusion on what to do if she had homozygous merle puppies -I certainly didn't want to bring into this world pups with disabilities. It's recommended to put these pups down at birth -but I knew I couldn't personally do it. I held my breath as Selena went into labor. Her first pup was a black-tri male, just a little guy. Then came a beautiful blue merle girl...so far so good...she then slowed down and seemed to struggle with the next one. When I saw her it was no wonder -a huge red merle girl....phew so far so good. It seemed that perhaps she was done and I began to relax. It then became apparent that there was perhaps one more. I prayed that this wouldn't be the homozygous merle....up and down she went, pacing around the room, stopping to lick her puppies...and then she had Annie, the black-tri girl my daughter had been hoping for (she'd already decided that's the one she was keeping and even talked to her before she was born through Selena's tummy). Annie lay there, very still. To my horror I realized she was hardly breathing. Often puppies get fluid in their respiratory systems before birth-and it must be removed or else they will suffocate. Casey, my friend quickly grabbed her, cradled her in her palm, and swung her up and down. The pup came to life, sucking in air to her little lungs. Selena settled down to licking and cleaning her puppies (and herself)...labor was done and I had four healthy, stunning puppies.

Normally when breeders have puppies they'll evaluate them for desired traits and pick the puppy that expresses the most desired qualities. I was not afforded such opportunity. My 5 year old daughter had picked her puppy before she was born, the black-tri girl, Annie was not going anywhere.

Katielyn with Annie at 3 days

Annie proved to be an odd character. She's extremely affectionate - a true cuddle bug, always touching me, yet so easily distracted. It's so hard to get her to focus on the job at hand. I had to quit my first agility lessons as she kept trying to fence run with a neighbors dog. At home in the morning she took to jumping our chain-look fence to go bark and fuss at the horses. I enrolled her in obedience lessons to get a handle on my wild child, and it helped but still she LOOKS for distractions.

Annie will be 6 this year and I have gained a degree of control evidenced by several agility titles, her CD certificate and a rally title but I also have concluded that Annie needs a job.

A little over a year ago I took her to a "Meet the Sheep" seminar. She got to track a flock of sheep. I saw my dog change before my eyes...I had never seen such desire in her before. You see, despite her unruly fence jumping behavior Annie is not a very motivated dog. I've spent hours trying to teach her to play, to interact with me and not just be a couch potato. Just seeing the sheep brought Annie to life. When her turn was done, she had to practically be dragged out, and then she turned to face the next dog to work and barked at it as if saying "hey quit, those are my sheep". I had found something Annie really wanted to do.

It was almost 8 months before I could get some stock lessons arranged. Annie proved to be just as enthusiastic but I realized very quickly -she's over the top -too enthusiastic. At $35.00 a lesson how long would it take to get her just to relax? I decided we needed some sheep.

And herein begins the rest of the story...how are horse farm has quickly become home to various other lovely animals. Join us as each day we awake to some new wonder or adventure.