Down for the Count

On the weekend, Nika got herself into some trouble. There are some sheets of steel behind the barn that she likes to run rabbits into. Unfortunately, the steel can be sharp and she must have caught her leg on it somehow because we came home on Sunday to find her with a nasty gash on her hind leg and evidence of her injury on the steel.

(Be thankful I’m not showing you the photo of the injury).

Now, fifteen stitches and way.too.much money later, she’s – thankfully – all fixed up. She came home around lunchtime today. Completely dopey. Cone on head.

She’s totally annoyed. I’m pretty sure the leg itself isn’t even bothering her. Just the stupid cone. She runs into everything when she walks, she can’t figure out how to get herself into her favourite spots to lay down (yea, I definitely moved the coffee table way out into the middle of the living room so there’s space for her, cone and all, to lay between the table and couch), and of course, is ticked off about being stuck inside.

The whining is epic. She can hear the other dog outside and it’s driving her bonkers.

And, unfortunately, someone is not helping with the annoyance since she’s made her life goal to get inside the cone with Nika.

This is going to be a longggggggg two weeks.

Did I mention that’s how long she has to wear it and stay inside?

Phew.

Silent Sundays: Me and My Girls

The View From Here #2

Since I posted last week, the BFF, the dude and I have finished planting the rest of the veggies in the garden and we're now eagerly awaiting the harvest. Lettuce and swiss chard should be popping up and ready to go pretty soon.

The thing that amazes me most about growing a garden is how quickly the progress takes place. When we left for the weekend last weekend, our potato plants were quite small. When we got back Monday afternoon, our jaws dropped as just how huge they had gotten. I can literally see changes in the growth on a daily basis.

On Wednesday morning, I was outside looking around and I saw that 3 or 4 tiny bean plants were starting to sprout. When I went out Thursday afternoon to take some pictures, the entire row of beans was up and had grown a good inch! Amazing!

Strawberries

Onions

Peppers


Butternut Squash

Cucumber

Zucchini
Acorn SquashOops - looks like I didn't get any photos of the tomatoes or Okra.

When I posted last week, Jessica asked me how we keep critters away from our garden and prevent them from nibbling on our plants. I told her that we have never had trouble with having rabbits or other animals eat our plants and we always assumed it was because Nika kept all the critters away. Well, I shouldn't have spoken so soon because the next day, we went out to find a lot of our pepper and tomato plants had been chewed away!

We were quite surprised to find that a rabbit had been able to make its way that close to the garden without getting chased away by Nika, but it looks like it did. We're going to give these plants another week or so to see if they can bounce back and if not, we'll have to replace them and think about ways to keep the rabbits out.

As you can see from the photos, we desperately need to do some weeding out there. If the weather is nice, I plan to get out and take care of that on Saturday. The problem is that I don't like to weed until the plants are a bit bigger because I'm scared of accidentally pulling out veggies. Last year while I was weeding, I got a little carried away and accidentally dug up an entire row of carrots. The dude was not impressed. Oops. So, I guess I will just weed around the bigger plants and leave the rows that still have seedlings waiting to pop up until a little later when it becomes more obvious what are weeds and what are plants.

The other thing that has taken place around our little "farm" this week is that the Dude has spent a few hours working on the chicken coop and making it a little more, um, presentable. I don't have a great photo to show you how incredibly white trash horrible the coop was before, but this one gives you some idea.

And now it looks like this ...

Much better, don't you think?

Nika and Mr. Quacklewayne have had a few showdowns over the past week because the Dude usually let's the birds roam free while he's out and about working back there. The duck is certainly not afraid of Nika but it's possible that she might be somewhat afraid of him. I am going to try to catch one of their interactions on video to share with you. It's a hoot (or, um, a quack)!

April Fools!

Do any of you get into the whole April Fool's Day Business?

Growing up, there were two classic April Fool's Day jokes that circulated in our family. The first one was that we would spike each other's toothbrushes with baking soda so that our family members would get a nasty taste when they brushed their teeth. The second one, which was clearly way more intricate, was that my Dad would tell us, and as the years progressed, we would tell him, that there was a giant turtle sitting on the front yard. Somehow, this joke got to be a classic in the family and it tends to get brought up in one way or another almost every year. I also remember my mom telling my grandma that either my sister or I were pregnant before we were married. Oh, good times.

Last year, I think I tried to trick the FD by calling him at work and telling him Nika got hit by a car. That's just cruel, I know. But I think I may have had him partially convinced. This year, I have no idea how to try to trick him. The fallback trick, "Guess what honey? I'm pregnant" would not have as a great of effect this year as in past years.

So, perhaps, this year I will have to stick with the good ol' turtle on the front lawn.

What are some good April Fool's jokes you have pulled, or have had pulled on you?

Not Me Monday - Weekend at Unky and Auntie's Edition

Not Me Monday is a blog carnival hosted by MckMama! Join in and share all of those lovely things that you did not do this past week.

This weekend the fabulous dude and I did not keep Little H so that his parents could have a weekend away together in Niagara Falls before baby #2 makes her debut.

While Little H was here, I did not let him take off without his diaper on after attempting to sit him on the potty before bedtime.

While I was not wrapping up his dirty diaper that I had not yet replaced, and he was not running around naked, I did not hear "Oh. Yucky" followed by laughter.

When I turned around I did not see my 19 month old nephew laughing at himself as he created a puddle of yellow stuff all around his feet on my dining room floor.

I did not then chase him around my apartment because he did not try to run away from me as I tried to get his PJs on.

During the first night, I did not have to turn a fan on high and blast it near my ears because I was not overly paranoid about him, which did not cause me to hear every single peep he made all night.

When I got up in the morning to go get him up, I was not a little bit disappointed and jealous that the first thing he said to me was "Puppy. Now" instead of greeting me with a smile and a kiss.

In the morning, Unky and Auntie certainly did not let him eat his breakfast while curled up under a blanket on his "chee" (chair) watching a Veggie Tales video.

I most certainly did not bring him along to the grocery store with me simply because I wanted to show off to my community how stinking cute my little nephew is.

When Nana and Papa came over to visit, Nika definitely was not so jealous that Nana was paying more attention to Little H than her that she did not try to wedge herself between them almost all day.

The second morning he was here, I did not ask the Fabulous Dude to go get up with him when he woke up at 6:15 because I did not think I deserved to sleep just a little bit longer.

Then, my heart did not melt when I got up to pee, and came back in bed to find the FD and Little H snuggled together and back to sleep in our bed. (I really wanted to get a picture of this because it was so cute but I didn't want to wake him).

I did not spend the next hour in and out of sleep because I was not overly concerned that somehow the FD would fall deep into a slumber and let Little H roll off of him and out of bed and onto the floor, causing him to break a number of bones and automatically electing us to world's worst aunt and uncle.

Over the course of the weekend, I certainly did not learn how busy and exhausting it can be to a keep a toddler entertained for two days. No way, easy stuff.

One more for the road....

Join in for the last random dozen of the year as 2009 comes to a close. Click on the button below to link up!

1. Do you find it gross to share drinks with family? Friends? No. I'm not really a germaphoby type person. In fact, I've been known to use the FD's toothbrush on occasion when absolutely necessary so I would say that sharing a drink with him is mild in comparison. I probably wouldn't share a drink with a complete stranger but if I knew you for at least 5 minutes, I would.

2. What have you learned this year? (You didn't see a question of that weight coming, did you? At least not for #2.) I'm going to stick with an easy answer - I have learned that baking my own bread is not as difficult or time consuming as I would have thought. In January 2009 I made a goal to stop buying bread and start baking my own. And, aside from one package of store bought tortillas purchased in an "emergency" in February, I have not purchased a single bread product for a year. I have learned a lot about being more homemade than I ever thought I would be. I have learned a lot about being a frugal homemaker... there is still much to learn, but I think the way I do "home" has changed so much over the past year.

3. When do you dismantle the Christmas decorations? Well, we set a record this year for the earliest Christmas tree taker downers ever. In fact, on boxing day, my uncle said that if we ever do that again, we should let them know and make some sort of deal, since they were putting up their tree the same day we were taking ours down! On a normal year (read: a year when my tree doesn't completely die a week before Christmas), we take down our tree and our decorations in early January. The rest of my Christmas decorations are still up and will be put away sometime next week.

4. Something you wish to accomplish before the end of 2009 is: Enjoy a few more days of holidays whilst visiting with some dear friends.

5. How do you feel about winter (after Christmas)? It is ballZ. With a capital Z. Especially since winter officially started for us two days after Christmas.

6. Have you participated in after-Christmas sales? Yes. Although here in Canada, we prefer to call them Boxing Day Sales. I bought all of my wrapping supplies for next year, a Christmas door mat, salt and pepper shakers to match my Christmas dishes, a wall calendar and some clothes and shoes all for great prices. They practically paid me to buy all that stuff. You'd be stupid not to.

7. Do you have plans for New Year's Eve? I do believe we'll be hosting a wee gathering with some of our closest friends. Snacking on munchies, playing games, and attempting to set a record for the most people we can squeeze into our wee home overnight.

8. Is there anything special awaiting you in January? Two new classes of students, my husband's birthday, a weekend with my nephew, a visit to some family in the states, bridesmaid dress shopping, baby showering, and an 80th birthday party.

9. If your life this year was a movie, what category or genre would it be? (Romance, Comedy, Drama, Thriller, Suspense, Farcical, etc.) My life as a movie would definitely be the same genre as Julie and Julia. A biography/drama/comedy. I watched it over the holidays with my entire family and what was more entertaining than the movie was seeing them laugh at all the parts that reminded them of me. "It's like my readers need me, in a way. Like I fill a void in their life. That they would be somehow void if I didn't write".

10. How much time per day do you spend blogging? Please do not lie. I will know. I average about 1-2 hours daily.

11. Who runs your household? Her.

12. Share one hope/dream for 2010. Thanks to the encouragement and inspiration from two fabulous gals, SnoWhite and Jenny, my goal is to read the entire new testament in 2010.

Sometimes I Get Tired

Sometimes I get tired.

Sometimes I get tired of freezing my hands off from digging through the freezer to find the cherries I need to bake muffins, only to discover that I dug out sour cherries, when I needed sweet cherries, and have to go digging again.

Sometimes I get tired of having to walk out to the barn in the rain to get shredded zucchini from our "overflow freezer".

Sometimes I get tired of picking up the fabulous dude's dirty clothes, of putting them in the hamper, of washing them, of drying them, of folding them and then of doing it all over again.

Sometimes I get tired of menu planning, grocery shopping and cooking week after week.

Sometimes I get tired of taking 10 minutes out of a busy day to process the stale bread crusts to make bread crumbs.

Sometimes I get tired of working on my thesis day after day.

Sometimes I get tired of wiping up muddy paw prints off the floor.

Sometimes I get tired of life.

But then I stop to think.

And I realize how blessed I am to have such a vast assortment of chicken, pork, venison, shrimp, fish, fruit, vegetables and baked goods in the freezer that I literally have to dig to find what I need.

I become aware of how spoiled we are that we needed to make use of the extra freezer in the barn at the end of the summer because we couldn't fit everything we have into our regular freezer.

I think about how blessed I am to have a husband to pick up after, clothes to wear, and a washing machine and dryer that were given to us for free.

I think of how incredible it is that we have the means to eat new meals each week and how blessed we are to have enough food in our home that we could eat for weeks without buying a single item.

I consider how abundant our blessings are that we have enough bread that we can afford to let the crusts go stale to become bread crumbs.

I remember that the privilege I have to become educated is one that many do not have.

I think about how comforting it was when Nika cuddled up with me to have a nap when I wasn't feeling good, and when she came to check if I was alright when I burnt my hand with boiling water (even though I'm pretty sure she was trying to see if any ribs fell out of the pot). And I think about how nice it was when she licked the brown sugar I spilled off the floor so I didn't have to sweep.

I realize that I take for granted that I am healthy and blessed beyond compare.

And then I am no longer tired.

Then, I am ashamed for ever being tired.

Then, I realize how selfish I am.

Then, I am humbled.

Then, I am grateful.

Show Us Your Life - PETS

I know you probably all know who Nika is because I talk about her often enough, but because today Kelly is hosting a Pet edition of Show Us Your Life, I thought I would take this opportunity to formally introduce you to the furry black lady who stole my heart nearly three years ago.

Name: Nikita Lou Contessa
Birth Date: January 12th, 2007
Breed: Black Lab and Border Collie
Hobbies and Interests: Running very fast, protecting the farm where we live, digging large holes in very inconvenient places, wrangling chickens,

driving

blogging

swimming

working out

sleeping

working with my dad

fetching sticks

Favourite Foods: Mice, rabbits, curry, meat, bananas


Least Favourite Foods: Seafood, onions, ketchup
Fears: vacuums, mugs and cups, chapstick
Hopes and Aspirations: To be a professional dog sled dog

Even though she loves to get herself into trouble, we love her to to death!

Mad Parenting Skillz

While the dude has been away, it has just been me and Nika at home. (Sidenote: You might remember I said that he was taking her, but since I didn't end up going to the states, it was easier for him to leave her at home).

I have learned a few lessons about my doggy parenting skills over the past few days. I am beginning to wonder if the way that I parent my dog is any reflection of how I will parent my future children.

Two examples.

Example One: Bribery.

I've mentioned before that Nika is a good ol' farm dog. She goes inside and outside as she pleases and just runs loose. For the most part, this is just fine. Except for that one time....

Anyway, she generally goes outside in the early morning, comes back in at some point during the day, if I'm home, to have a nap, goes back out in the late afternoon, comes in while we eat dinner and goes back out in the evening.

It's the fabulous dude's job to go outside and call her in when it's time for bed. She usually comes in around 9:30-10, eats her food and crashes.

Well, what we have discovered over the past 2.5 years is that she doesn't really listen to me very well. So, when I'm by myself it's a bit tricky to get her to come inside.

During the summer months, I just make sure to bring her in while it's still daylight. The problem is it now gets dark around 5 pm and she would NOT settle with being inside all evening. The reason I have to bring her in in the daylight is because once it gets dark, she knows she can hide from me because I won't be able to see her. Sometimes she just lays down on the grass and stays very still so I can't see or hear her.

Anyway, I realized that while the dude is away, and darkness sets in around 5 pm, I would need to find a new way to get her to come inside for the night.

So, I bribed her.

When I was ready to get her to come inside, I put on some shoes, grabbed a tin of peanut butter balls that my friend had made for me and went outside and started shaking them, yelling, "Niks, come get your treat. Come get it, little puppy".

Miraculously, within seconds she came leaping and bounding towards me like a kid on Christmas morning. As soon as she leaped with excitement into the garage, I closed the door quickly so she couldn't get back out and ushered her into the house. And yes, I gave her a piece of one of the peanut butter balls.

It worked so well, I did it the next night, too. Except this time I blind-sided her, and shook the tin of milk bones instead of peanut butter balls. I got the same reaction except I think she was disappointed that all she got was a measly dog treat instead of a delicious peanut butter ball.

Example Two: A Me-First Mentality.

One of the nights the dude was away, I awoke around 2 am to hear Nika barking and growling like crazy in the living room, right by the patio door. I'm sorry to say, but this makes me scared. In the middle of the night, while I'm all alone, it makes me wonder what, or who, she might be barking at out there.

Of course, logical-coherent me would assume that it's a racoon, a squirrel or a cat. But 2-in-the-morning me assumes that it's an axe murderer just waiting to prey on a innocent victim like me.

And then, of course, I "hear" (notice the quotations) a bang on the window and scratch on the wall and all sorts of other noises that indicate that the assumptions made by 2-in-the-morning me are, in fact, correct.

I burrowed myself under my covers, squeezed my eyes shut and willed myself back to sleep. The only problem was that I have this crazy habit that I cannot wake up in the night and get back to sleep without peeing.

For 20 minutes I lay awake weighing the risks. I could continue to lay here, try to fall back asleep without peeing and risk wetting the bed. OR, I could get up, run to the bathroom, do my business and go back to sleep. The second option clearly seems better except I do believe we are forgetting something ... OH YEAH, there is a killer on my patio.

So, I tossed and turned for 20 minutes, listening, hoping I could determine whether or not someone was out there. And finally, as I glanced out my bedroom door and saw Nika laying in the doorway - which also scared me because it implied that she felt the need to place herself between me and whatever was out there - I made my decision.

I would make a break for it towards the washroom and on the way I would glance at the patio door. If I did see a killer there, I would throw Nika in front of me for protection and run upstairs to my landlords for safety.

What a perfect solution.

Of course, as I sprinted towards the washroom and glanced behind me to the patio, I saw nothing on the patio. Nothing but some leaves blowing around and an old dead autumn mum.

But, as I peed and crawled back into bed, I couldn't help but feel a small twinge of guilt about the fact that I had planned to sacrifice my sweet pup for my own safety.

What kind of mother am I?

So there you have it. If I can employ half as much bribery, trickery and me-first-mentality with my future human children as I do with my four-legged child, I think we can all agree that I will be one fantastic mother.

you have got to be kidding me...

A few weeks ago, I told you about our little chicken farming expedition. Remember? Well, so far so good. Sort of.

Sometime last week, one of the girls who lives upstairs came down to tell us that she had been mowing the lawn that afternoon and looked down to find a chicken standing in front of the tractor. Luckily, she did not run it over. She picked it up and got it back into the coop and shut the door. Apparently, the little devil was finding a way to sneak under the chicken wire and escape into the great big world.

The fabulous dude spent some time re-securing the wire and placing some reinforcements (those wood planks) on the sides so that there was so escape route.

After that incident, I kept trying to trick him into believing that more chickens had escaped. He never believed me.

Last Saturday, after returning from blueberry picking, I went around back to check on the garden and the chickens. There were five little chickens in the coop. Five? Aren't there supposed to be six? I asked my SIL how many chickens were in there just in case my eyes were playing tricks on me. They weren't. There were five chickens.

We went in the house and I said to my fabulous dude, "I know you're not going to believe me because I know I lied about it before, but seriously, there are only five chickens in the coop."

He told me that he knew, he had realized that one was missing earlier that morning. He also informed me that the lost chicken had been found. Buried in a giant heap in the side flower bed.

You see, our dog is part border collie, and it is in her nature to herd and collect things. This natural tendency manifests itself by her burying anything she can possibly get her hands ...err, paws... on. We have watched her collect and bury a dozen rotten eggs, corn cobs, a bagel with cream cheese, a birthday cake, whoppers (malted milk candies), mice, Big Mac wrappers, socks, cherries, barbies, among many other things. Sometimes we actually see her in the process and sometimes we just find the evidence later. Such as when FD and his friends were playing horseshoes and were greeted by a shower of cherry pits flying out of the sandpit when the first horse shoe landed in it. Apparently, she thought it would be nice to add a chicken to her collection.

When FD and my brother returned from fishing on Saturday, they saw a giant heap of dirt in the flower garden, against the house. He assumed she had buried a mouse or something. He went into the barn to get something to dig with and lo and behold, a chicken foot popped out of the dirt when he started digging around. He then attempted to teach the dog a lesson by making her lay down in the chicken coop and letting the chickens walk around her and on top of her. He was sure she got the hint that she wasn't allowed to eat the chickens. We still aren't quite sure if she somehow got into the coop and got it or if it escaped and she found it roaming loose and took advantage of that opportunity. I assume the latter.

Well, yesterday afternoon, I headed out to take the dog for a walk. I was circling the barn calling her, when I came to the chicken coop. What did I see? Four chickens.

Four. That is one less than was left after the first incident.

I could see that one of the wooden planks was knocked over and the wire was kind of bent up, with a pile of chicken feathers around it. I could not believe that she had gone and done it again!

She came around the chicken coop with hear head down and her tail dragging between her legs. A tell tale sign that she has done something wrong. I gave her a good talkin' to and then we headed out for our walk. When we got back, I decided to look around the gardens and the orchard to see if I could find where she had placed her treasure. I cut through the barn and I was walking across the floor, do you know what I found?

These beady little eyes staring back at me.

(well, not actually these eyes, per say. At the time, I wasn't interested in snapping photos. Plus, this picture is a rooster, not a hen...but you get the point. source)

I would be lying if I said I did not spend the next 20 minutes chasing this chicken around the barn trying to capture it. I was talking out loud to the chicken, begging it to let me catch it. At one point, I even attempted to seduce the thing by grabbing a handful of chicken feed, tossing it on the floor and hoping that the chicken would be dumb enough to trust me to get close to it. It was not dumb enough. The stupid thing outsmarted me over and over again by hiding under the boat, causing me to run straight through a gigantic spider web and hiding in the tiniest little crevices!

Finally, I gave up and headed to the house to get some help. FD wasn't home so I got one of the girls from upstairs (different one than previously spoken to in this story) and her father to come out and help me. Between the three of us, we were able to corner the chicken and chase it in to a smaller, enclosed area of the barn, where I (being the huge chicken lover that I am) grabbed the bird - which is now full grown - with my bare hands and carried it, squaking and squealing, back to the chicken coop.

They don't call me Old McLucy for nothin'.

Not a crazy dog person?

Before we got Nika, I was a dog hater through and through. I did not like to look at them, touch them, smell them, be around them, talk about them, or even think about them. So, when the fabulous dude dragged me to his boss's neighbour's farm to check out the new puppies, I was not overly excited.

But then I saw her, with her tiny, sweet face huddled behind her mumma, looking up at me, practically begging to come home with me and my whole world changed. I could not resist her. Without an ounce of thought, I said, "I want that one". Two weeks later we were on our way back to pick her up and bring her home.

Then and there, at that very moment, I made a vow to myself. No matter what, I would not allow myself to become one of those crazy dog people. Even though we were getting a dog did not mean I had to be that kind of person. She will never wear clothes, will not be in our family photos, no way is she going to be allowed to get on our furniture or, heaven forbid, sleep in our bed. And when she's old enough, she will become an entirely outdoor dog.

I would like to share with you some photos that demonstrate just how well I have upheld that goal and retained my I'm-not-a-crazy-dog-person-mentality over the past two and a half years.

See, I told you that I've maintained my goal.