The baby animals always get the most attention, but they need it! And they are sooooo cute and only stay this way a little while. Did you know geese can live up to 50 years?? We better do everything we can to keep them happy NOW before they are 25-pound monsters ruling the land.
Tim put the excavator to good use and dug a big hole.
Ariel brought home some heavy duty tarps and we cut up some ground-cloth we had to make a nice thick, tough pond liner. We turned the hose on and went to make dinner while it filled.
We took the geese down to the pond to test it out but something still wasn't quite right.
Tim headed over to Port Angeles for the weekend and came back with a fountain pump for extra class.
Now the geese and select duck (Punky) have been enjoying nightly swimming lessons!
We carry the geese (and duck) down to the pond to let them swim, then herd them all back up the hill to their house (the well-house) after to warm up and nap. Tilly and Tim are doing well together with the gentle herding.
The little ducks braved a few nips from the geese and all the waterfowl have been integrated. At first I cut holes in our leaky duck pond so the ducks could go in and out of relative safety to get away from the geese, then moved the pool away from the corner to get rid of hiding places, then they made such a mess of their pool I took the whole thing away and forced them to live in one big clean area together. Next weekend they are going outside!
While Tim was away for the weekend, Ariel putzed around working on little projects like calking the "Tophouse" above the well-house, pulling tansy and nettle, and admiring the spring flowers.
Then Cousin Min-Min and Aunt Agnes arrived! (and Min-Min's cousin Henry and uncle Dan) We went to the beach, went to the swimming pool, played with all the animals on the farm, and played in the herring hammock in the trees. Henry and MinMin were even interested in learning to weave beach grass and did a great job.
Henry's finished weaving projects and MinMin's still-growing seaweed.
Agnes and I stopped by the Coupeville art show to see my friend Jordan's pottery work and walked around town but couldn't get far with all the people fawning over Tilly and her pooffy hair. We picked up Tim and his newly engaged friends Mike and Holly from the ferry and brought them back for dinner over the grill and campfire.
Cheff Tim
And the goats are terrible trouble and riped up all the egg cartons and got into the chicken coop to eat all the food.... AAGGGHHH!!! Do you know anyone who wants some goats?
The little chickens and their two moms are doing great. I finally freed the moms after weeks of being cooped up in the baby coop and they were ecstatic about their dust baths. I didn't have the heart to lock them back up, so the babies have been learning to come and go from the barn and scratch in the dirt under bushes. The rest of the hens have been hiding their eggs somewhere I haven't found yet unfortunately. I found one stash of eggs but now they aren't laying there or the nests. I'm hoping to find it in time to have eggs for fishing and to collect them all before they start spontaneously incubating from the warm weather we've been having.
No comments:
Post a Comment