Straykat

Cory & Roxanne

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Cory (Falcor) & Roxanne, a.k.a Jake & Elwood Blues

Cory was our second Great Pyrenees, and Roxanne was an Akita.  There were best of friends and kept each other company.

Falcor is from the Neverending Story because he reminded us of the Luck Dragon.  Roxanne was named for the Sting song.

Cory was great with kids, holding perfectly still so they could pet him. Roxanne, on the other hand, was a handful, a super guard dog, a nipper would attack if you stared at her, and not good around people or kids. 

Cory passed away from Osteosarcoma and Roxanne passed away from a complicated infection. We miss both of them.

Raptors: Red-tailed Hawk

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Red Tailed Hawk

Today we had a visitor, a red tailed hawk. He has been sitting on logs down in our meadow. He seems to be hunting for ground squirrels, chipmunks and other small game. Our cats and dogs would be too big for him to be able to pick up.

We have a burn pile from all the debris from our woods. He has been sitting on the highest point in this debris pile, watching for critters. He’s been here for two days in row.

We’ve noted him on power lines and telephone poles in our vicinity. We live in a rural community that has lots of varmints, ground squirrels, chipmunks, field mice and the like. We also have bald eagles where we live, because we have a substantial creek within a mile of our farm. Our neighbors say that there is an Eagles nest along the creek, but I have yet to find it.

 

 

Red-tailed Hawk on our farm

Lumberjack as a side hustle

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The mess after recent storms with trees down.

Several storms during February, some with high winds, caused a few of the dead trees to fall.  They are big, my 18 inch chain saw doesn’t get through them on one pass. There is one huge tree with multiple main trunks that has to be nearly 6 feet diameter that I’m not sure what to do with. It’s going to take a while to get this cleaned up.  I’m only good for about two hours at a time manhandling the chain saw.  I might be in the market for a longer bar, for the chain saw.

Timber..!

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This winter has been strange. Only one really cold snap, and otherwise mostly rainy and dreary. The ground is not frozen, and we’ve had several storms come through, resulting in four large trees falling, with one in the pond.

My little tractor and skid steer are no match for the one in the pond. That’s going to be a problem to get out. This week one tree fell into the meadow on the grass and took several smaller trees with it. This means a lot of chain-saw work and using the grapple on the skid steer to clean up all the broken branches and debris. My chainsaw is only an 18-inch bar, and all the trees are 36 inches or bigger.

If anyone wants some firewood and is willing to go mucking around in the woods to get it and cut it, you are welcome to it. Otherwise, it will be a working winter into spring to clean it all up.

Chipped, Snipped & Pooped!

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February was the bernedoodles five month anniversary, and they went to the vet for a check-up, neutering, spaying, and chips for both. Both did fine with the surgery and stayed overnight at the vet. When they came home, both developed diarrhea, and Bonnie vomited on day three. I don’t know if it’s a side-effect of anesthesia or what. Today they started on chicken broth and rice to calm down the diarrhea. They both slept more than usual.

Overall they don’t seem to be in any distress with it all. We’ll call the vet in the morning, post-op day six, to see if they know what going on and what’s the best treatment for getting rid of diarrhea. On the vet’s scale, their weights were 33 lbs for Bonnie and 41 lbs for Clyde.

Clyde chilling

Tommy, moved in for a while, might be the father of Sophie Moma’s kittens

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Tommy was our neighbor’s cat, and he roamed far and wide and occasionally went back to his home. We had a dog door, and he came in regularly and stayed for days at a time. When we adopted Sophie, Tommy seemed to hang around more. Then Sophie became pregnant and had five cuties. As the boys grew, they had a striking resemblance to Tommy. We don’t know for sure, but we suspect he is the father of the boys Levon, Mia, and Phatty, and the two girls Bagel and Peggy, who had marked different coloring that found homes with friends.

Zoe kitty

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Zoe was Sandy’s cat. She was our grand cat. She traveled with Sandy from Indianapolis to San Antonio and back. She was blind in one eye, but that never slowed her down. She kept all the other pets in line. She was prone to scratching and biting people she didn’t know. She passed away in 2018. Chase planted a weeping willow tree in her honor.

Airborne!

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The pups were out in the front yard running and playing tag. It was great weather just before the storm came. This is Clyde being chased ‘airborne’ by Bonnie. Can you imagine what it’s like to be sitting on the sofa when suddenly two forty-ish-pound dogs leap from the middle of the room onto your lap?