It is a beautiful day in the neighborhood

July 16, 201231 Comments

The air is fresh, and the sun has come out giving the world that special glow that only comes with a good scrubbing of a prolonged and gentle rain. Even the grasses have revived and are rising to the occasion!

Don’t you love days like these?

Well, maybe the neighbors dogwood will take a bit longer… 😦

But don’t you just love that brand new tree house! I makes me wish to be a child again, how about you? 😉

~ Herbs in the garden ~

Umbels of Bronze Fennel

The cooling blue of Borage

~ Vegetables ~

Asparagus refreshed by the rain arises to catch the sun and store it away deep down underground, keeping it there in its roots for next spring.

This morning I see that the runner beans, having been stunted and scorched in the drought, now race to catch up.

~ Flowers ~

We approach the new gate leading into the goose yard, and beyond are the herb and vegetable gardens. There stands Miss Becky, a weather tough form of Rudbeckia, who grew to a mammoth six feet tall! (I suspect her roots grew equally deep into the earth to sustain her.)

Miss Becky!

Turning to go another direction I pass the blackberry vines and discover…

a surprise pair of naked ladies where there were none before! I suspect they were kicked closer to the surface when Bob rototilled this section of the garden in early spring. I await their grand opening.

~ The Geese ~

My little gaggle will be the first to tell you, that the newest grass shoots are the most tender and fine. 😉 Foreground L to R: Little Dorrit, Miss Hissster, Polly, Background: Georgie and Frellnick.

My how those boys have grown!

~ Till next time then! ~

Behind the barn with Lil’ Bit.

~ * ~

A bedtime snack

June 7, 2012June 7, 201216 Comments

Yesterday morning I put out food for Georgie and Frelnick,

and the Mommas ate it all up!

~*~

So, right at sunset I put the Mommas into their yard and gave the Gosling Brothers a bedtime snack.

I think they were happy.

~*~

Though I can’t say the same for the Mommas.

~*~

Have a blessed day!

Improvement all around

May 30, 2012June 1, 201223 Comments

Lately it would seem that if it could go wrong it did. There were broken glasses, dryers, teeth, and sick animals too! However, things are getting better here on the Farmlet.

The geese are improving, growing, and need to be OUTSIDE! Their bills and feet should be turning a bit to the orange, but without daily sunlight this is not happening.

They are long overdue!

(Click the photo to see how much they have grown!)

~*~

Then there are the toxic fumes from their ~~diapers~~ towels (which need changing a minimum of 8 times a day)…

(Please click to be taken to Desktop Nexus and this screen saver)

and are smelling worse than a diaper pail!

!!! 😦 !!!

Under normal circumstances the Gosling Boys would have already been outside. However, being sick they have needed special care and a more controlled environment. Recently, I have been taking them out to eat grass and get more exercise and sun. I’ve gradually increased the time they spend outside, and their time alone as well. I’ve been going in and coming back out at varying intervals, and they don’t seem to like it much! I can hear them crying at the back door as I type.

They have become overly dependent upon my presence.

While we are out I let the Mommas over into the back yard to visit. The goslings want to play with them, but every time they run over to greet them the Ladies all pull up their skirt-feathers and run away! It is simply too funny to see grownup geese run away from the babies! Well, one can only hope that the boys will gain finesse and a better standing with them as they continue to grow.

Interestingly, there is a bond, of sorts, that I didn’t know existed between them. Today when I went to catch the goslings, the Momma’s came up honking, hissing and threatening me within an inch of my life. I really thought that Polly was going to take a bite out of me! You see it’s the screaming they boys make. It is ear-piercing and quite pitiful sounding. In fact, if you could hear it you would think that something more along the lines of a life and death situation was going on. It has come to this because of having to administer all the medications. They have now become so strong that it is a fight every morning and evening. Thankfully, we are almost done with medications!

Meanwhile, I have Polly and the Hister Sisters to contend with.

POLLY…

“Put the Gosling down, and back away, or someone is gonna get pinched!“

~*~

If you need me I’ll be in the dispensary…

May 23, 2012May 23, 201235 Comments

Over a two-day period I watched my two new baby goslings become a bit less exuberant, less talkative, eat less and drink more. By mid morning on the second day they were sleeping by their water bowl and dipping their heads over the edge to drink.

So I sat there being concerned, watching and listening, as any good goose mother would, and that’s when I heard it!

“snick” breathe in, “snick” breathe out.

Not wanting to believe what I was hearing I ran to the kitchen and turned off the dishwasher. The house was now silent. I tiptoed back to the babies sat down and really listened.

“snick” breathe in, “snick” breathe out…

and with the horror that any mother might feel the first time her baby gets sick, I ran to look up goose disease and treatment. I read for an hour and could not make sense of it. Too many diseases, too many similar symptoms and most requiring different medications and procedure. So I called the vet.

The only avian vet in North Alabama who will treat farm birds is 47 miles away, and it would take me an hour to get there. I called and they made me an appointment for 4:00 PM.

The Dr. examined them, did labs, and came back with the verdict: Streptococcus (bacterial infection) and a severe yeast infection. The yeast was from airborne moisture in their food causing it to spoil (the new bag is now being stored in the house to keep it dry). We are uncertain as to exactly where they came into contact with the Strep. So until they are well and their immune system is stronger they are strictly INSIDE.

So, now my day is filled with twice as many “Diaper changes”

And resultant laundry which must be hung outside to dry because my @#!%& dryer broke this week (more on that later)…

So, I am dispensing two meds to the babies via an oral syringe, two times per day, one of which must be crushed and mixed with 5 ml of water. Putting an oral syringe down a goose’s throat is an adventure. Doing this, essentially, eight times a day is torture. For all of us!

My guest bathroom has now been turned into…