Saturday, May 31, 2014

busy as bees.....

Goodness, after the long and very cold winter we had, I think I am enjoying spring even more this year. Everything looks so pretty and I love seeing all the "green". The barn swallows are back again and have claimed their spots int he barn. I love hearing their calls, and see the swooping in and out of the big barn doors. They're great little "bug eaters" and I am happy to help them in the housing department. I see we have one family already sitting on a nest.. so I expect to hear chirping babies soon. 
Memorial Day weekend turned out to be a busy one. Though it was  more of a "work" weekend than a "party" one, we did manage to attend one cookout at the home of Katie and Craig. This is a new home to them, and they were excited to have everyone over, show off their pretty little house and celebrate...
They have a nice big deck off the back of the house -- just what I am hoping to get on our house one day... and it was perfect for entertaining.....
even Reagan thought so!!!!!!!
Abbie has been very interested in learning "how to sew".... between her Mom (who loves to knit) and me... (with whatever million projects I seem to have going)... she wanted to "learn too"... I found this cute little "beginner needlepoint kit" at the local craft store, and we have begun "lessons".....
She is pretty patient with herself and I like the fact that she tries over and over if she doesn't get it quite right. There is a knack to it, and I think she has the patience and talent to learn. Nothing like passing on the "crafts"......
We also had another therapy dog visit with the children's center. Looks like this is going to be a once a month event, which I am pleased to be a part of. The dogs love seeing the kids (and the kids love the dogs...) but the "visit" we have in the parking lot, before the "visit"... is always great fun. The puppies love to get together.....
We bring the NEADS puppies too, but it seems that "they" change each month!!! So, i guess Moxie, Camille and Livy will be the "usual" ones.. and then the roster will change month to month depending on who we have from NEADS.....
This was Danny's first visit. Fortunately Bernice was able to come and "handle" him... I got enough on the end of the line with Camille and Livy... but I don't want any of them to miss out... so it's wonderful to have that extra pair of hands..... Danny got hugs even before he entered the building....
And even before the kids... we have to schmooze with the staff first... they like to see who we are bringing and "where the other puppies have gone"... and catch up on all the  news.... then it's off to see the kids!!!!
After we got threw the surgery with Trev... Danny needed to check in with the vet and get his shots and the like. He was as easy going and laid back as I thought he would be. Got right on the scales and plopped down to have his weight taken. There doesn't seem to be much that gets this boy excited....
I always like to get a photo of the puppies with the vets. Since they donate their time and services to us... this is a very important thing. It would be hard to raise these puppies without the great donations and support that we receive. 
and if things weren't busy enough... I got an email that the bees are finally coming. I am (was) ready and I'm not ready... I had to make some "bee food"... but I didn't want to make it too soon and then have it "go bad" before they got here. It's just a sugar water mix, something to give them a jump start until they can settle in and figure out where all the food sources are. Though with everything in bloom, I don't think they are going to need much, but I got a batch made just the same. 
Ed went out and got the bee yard mowed. Our "old" bees are used to having him mow around the hive, but we weren't sure how the "new" ones will handle this. So, we got that done, and after they have time to settle in, he'll show them what "mowing" is. People are always so surprised that you can get so close to the hives without suiting up.. actually we only suit up if we are going into the hives. As long as you stay out of the "flight" path, the bees are too busy to bother anyone. 
Our hive is already and just waiting the arrival.... the space is for putting their frames of wax/honey/babies inside....
By the time we got to the bee store, many of the hives had already been picked up..... there were 50 of these transport boxes full of bees waiting for their new owners to come and get them....
On the truck they go..... and we head for home with our new  "ba-bees"........
When we got back to the farm.. we suited up and got to transferring the new bees into their new home. A bit of smoke to calm everyone down....
There are five frames that they have already built. And it's just a matter of taking the frames one by one and putting them into our hive. The biggest "deal" if you will, is that the frames stay in order... the bees have a certain pattern that they have built and you don't want to mess that up on them.....
and here they are. Looks like a nice strong colony and we saw that they have a good amount of food (honey) and some babies are "in the works"... I don't think it's going to take them long to get things up and working.
You can easily see the original hive and then the new frames. They have to build out the wax on the new frames and increase their space. But usually that is done in just a matter of weeks....
Adding the sugar water into the feeder.......which we will remove in a month or so if they aren't using any of it....
And then we leave the transport box by the hive to the stragglers a chance to figure out "where their house has gone"..... The bees want to be with the queen, so once they have a chance to figure out she has moved.. they will too....
Since we were "out playing with the bees" we also checked on the old hive. It's looking good there too.... I am just so happy that they made it threw the winter....
Everyone is busy... and I was very happy to see all these new babies coming along (that's the white blobs you see in the wax cells)... and the "capped" cells are baby bees that will hatch in about a week, and bring in brand new members of the hive....
This is a neat picture... where you see the bright yellow "dots" in the wax cells.. that is pollen that is being stored to be used as food for the baby bees.  And it's a little hard to see, but there is some honey in the bottom left corner.... that's honey that hasn't been "cured"... the bees will need to cap that when it's ready....








and here we are... a two hive family!!!! I have been asked if we would do more than two hives, but I don't think we will. There's going to be plenty of "work" to do in maintaining these two, and I would rather do a super good job with a few than to get more that I can handle... so, hopefully it will be a good summer and we'll have honey in the fall......

oh no.... Trevor!!!!!


Poor Trevor!!!! We have had some bad news about our little growly boy. For the past year or so I have been "watching" a cataract growing over his left eye. Sadly, this is typical with cockers, especially older ones.. and Trev is nearly 13. So, when I saw it happening, I just knew it needed to be watched. Well, over the weekend, it "changed", I couldn't quite describe "what had changed" but I knew it was "different". I called the vet and we went in to see what is going on here. 



About what I had "feared"... not only is there a cataract, but we are now dealing with glaucoma and for that ... there is no "cure". They measured the pressure of his eye and it was 45... which is way above the normal range, and it means that it's extremely painful. So, verdict... the eye needs to be removed. 

I have to say, I was pretty upset by this news. Not so much that he will lose his eye - which isn'/t great - but he can manage without it. Just the fact that at 13, he will have to go threw the surgery and then the recovery time. Poor little chap. I dropped him off at the clinic and was told to come for him in the afternoon. I also had them do the bloodwork ahead, just to be sure that he would handle the surgery well. 
and he did... in fact, when I talked with the vet afterwards.. they said his blood work and levels were excellent, better than they thought for a dog of his age. I was pleased to hear that, because he should heal quickly because he is in such good shape. He came home quite pitiful and you can tell that he is in some discomfort, but good pain meds will help with that. 






I put a big crate with lots of fluffy blankets right in front of the french doors, so that Trev can be a part of the family, but safe from being bumped by the others. This will be "home" for the next couple of weeks. Once I had him settled and got some meds into him, he went right to sleep, I know he is happy to be home. He's going to be sore for awhile, but once this all heals, he's going to feel so much better, and for now...he's going to be the one that gets all the special attention......  "love you growly boy!!!"

Monday, May 26, 2014

spring chores...



So, spring has finally (!!!!) found us, and it's time to get all those wonderful spring chores done. Project number one... get the pasture opened up for the horses. They have been fairly good about not breaking out, but if we keep them off the grass much longer, I don't know if the fence will hold. Because Mocha and Twinkle don't have much space, we (will I decided) to re do their area. Which meant... we needed another corner post put in. So, post hole digger goes on the tractor.....
I decided to move the round pen, and open up all this area for the ponies. Not sure where I am going to put the round pen now, but that is a project that can wait for another day. Right now, pasture is more important, and I know these two will be thrilled to have all this space. 
Abbie came along to help. She loves to be a part of almost any farm project that we do. And actually she is getting to a point where she really is a great help. She likes to move the gator for us and can inch it up here and there as we need it. 
All winter, the horses have been housed close to the barn... you can see how much wear and tear the ground gets.... but once we open that pasture.. they move out and it give this part a chance to "rest".....
Tonka had great interest in what was going on... he's seen this before and knows "what comes next".... he almost had a hard time waiting, so Abbie went over to entertain him for a while. 
They were so silly together, and played this great game of "follow me".....
Which he did for the longest time. I'm so happy that Abbie has a chance to do things like this. She has no fear of animals, and sadly I see too many children who are afraid....
It took us a few hours to get everything moved around and the fence up and running. We had to close the horses in the barn because they were getting too anxious... But when I opened those barn doors and let everyone out... it was a beautiful sight..... Silver went right to his favorite part of the pasture....
It took Mocha and Twinkle a little longer to realize they had new space... (everyone looks so ragged... they're still getting rid of winter coats!!!)
But once it was all figured out, they got down the serious job of eating. We could hear the crunching that nice spring grass. And if it goes as it has done in the past, they probably won't even go near the barn for the next week or so. Once that grass comes in, I hardly feed out a flake of hay......
We have another week to wait on the new bees. It's been a cold wet spring and they are a bit late in coming... 












but the "bee yard" is already and waiting for them......


Thursday, May 22, 2014

back to the city..


It's time to visit NEADS... and one little black dog is in need of a tub!!!! He and Livy are such great pals, and so love to play outside and get into all sorts of trouble. And even though he has a nice "short" coat, he can get dirty... and he can't see Dave like that.....
Abbie was there to help and comfort... but this boy loves the water, so having a tub wasn't anything "unusual" for him. However, I do have to wonder what it's going to be like to lift him into the tub a few months from now. He's going to be one big dog!!!!
Our day at NEADS was (as always) great. We check in at campus... and report on the puppies and what they have been up to. Poor Cappy.... she was here with me for awhile and then moved to Kathleen - who didn't have a puppy- but based on her work, and how sensitive she is... it has been decided to drop her from the program. One thing we don't think about (enough sometimes) is... does the dog want to be a service dog??? NEADS is very careful about that, and based on the signs that Cappy was sharing, we felt her answer was  "no.. I don't want to do this". But no fears for her, she was almost adopted before the day was even over.  Danny, so far, seems to think this idea is OK.... but like all the others, he will be carefully watched over the up coming year to be certain this is a good fit for all. 
We went to our usual place in the city, actually we haven't been in the city all winter. With the weather so cold and snowy, we found plenty to do right at NEADS.. but it was sort of nice to be back. (can't believe I'm even saying that!!!!)
The day was cloudy and cool, and by the looks of the sky, we were only hoping to get some work in before the rains came.....
Danny did great, and seems pretty comfortable with about anything we "throw" at him. I will say, and I don't know why I seemed to notice it today.. but the city is so loud!!!! Maybe I am just used to the super quiet on the farm... because I don't think it was any busier than "normal"... 
We went into the hospital to play on elevators, stairs and to get some lunch. Of course, the moment we arrive "everyone" knows the NEADS puppies. Right now, all our puppies are little, so they draw a lot of attention... (which they don't mind in the least!!!)
Ah, lunch... a favorite for us. They have a great food court at this hospital, and you can find all sorts of good things to eat. We just enjoy sitting and talking, sometimes about the puppies, but many times just catching up with each other's lives... which I find is a rare treat in this day and age. 
And with all the puppies being so little (everyone is under six months)... it doesn't take much to wear them out. "Unders" today were a snap, and I think they were all happy to snooze while we ate and visited....
Little Sasha.... Linda's puppy.....
From the hospital we moved to the bus station and the train station. Again.. the same response... "NEADS dogs!!!"  When the puppies are under six months, we pretty much let them say hi to everyone and work mostly on "social skills"... as they get older, we stop the socializing and teach them to think more about "work"... but right now, it doesn't matter so much. 
The train pulled in, and while it was on the stop over, we played with getting the puppies on and off. I asked Dave to take Danny for me, because I don't like working a puppy over that space between the platform and the train. I know it sounds silly, but I just get this vision of if my puppy doesn't jump over the space, he will be sucked up under the train. And instead of "trying to deal".. it's just easier to hand my puppy over to someone else. As you can see, Danny had no problem jumping the space!!!!
We hung out until the train left - we like the puppies to hear it when it pulls in or goes out. Danny walked up to Dave - I thought he was looking for a little pat, but actually, he saw a great place to take a little nap.










He laid right down on the steps in front of Dave, placed his head on Dave's ankles, and in moments was almost snoring. I guess when you are 3 1/2 months old... trekking around the city is pretty tiring.......

While we were at the train, the sky really began to turn grey.... that rain was right on our heals, and doubtful we'll make it back to the car before it comes.....
And we didn't. But, service dogs have to be willing to work in all types of weather... so we just chalked this one up for... "experience".... Danny, however, was really ready to call it a day.....
And the moment he jumped into the jeep, he curled into a little ball. and was done!!!!! I don't think he moved a hair the whole rest of the ride home!!!! Even when we made just one quick stop at the puppy house.......
To pick up new friend... Trooper!!! This little chap is heading home with Kathleen. We tried to tell Danny there was someone "new"... but he decided to greet Trooper another time!!!!
I've lost count of how many service puppies Kathleen has raised!!!! But this makes Danny not the baby anymore!!!!













Quick potty break and we're headed for home. And before I can even blink, another month will go by and we'll be back again.