February Spring

Here are my two Sebastopol geese Ella and Fella splashing in our pond along with the ducks. I took this video last year . Ella and Fella spend part of every day in the pond but lately have taken to hiding themselves in unlikely places. I have found them in the wood shed, the kiwi arbor, the hay shed,  behind the veggie garden hiding in the long wild grasses on the other side of the fence, and behind a tall shrub in the front yard flower bed. I had a suspicion that proved true...

 ...they're ready to lay and hatch a clutch of eggs. My husband found the first goose egg of the season today. Look at the size of it compared to 3 large chicken eggs I just gathered. I am going to try to incubate the eggs in a small incubator I own. The last 2 years Ella and Fella were diligent parents and tended their eggs faithfully. For some reason all the eggs developed fully but the goslings were unable to hatch and survive. ( Even with help.) This year I am hoping to accomplish what Ella and Fella were unable to do and return successfully hatched goslings to the nest for them to raise. We'll see.

The weather has been warm for this time of the year and the sound of the frogs at night is almost deafening. Our honeybees have been out and about and it is a good thing my husband supplements them with sugar boards he places in their hives because there are not enough flowers or trees blooming to sustain our hives at this time.

My Jacob sheep were sheared last month and I can see 9 of my ewes seem about ready to pop with lambs. Their udders are full and lambs should begin arriving any time from now until the end of March. The ewes ( female sheep) seem almost comatose in the sunshine as they lean against fence posts or soak in the heat of the compost pile. It looks so funny to see sheep literally stretched out all over the pile. Later on after the lambs are born they'll have fun leaping over the pile. Who knew a manure pile could provide more than garden enrichment ? SHEEP ! ( 11 year old and very pregnant Sassafras shown in the picture )

I know the calendar says it is still winter but our animals , bees, and wildlife say it is spring.

Dancing Fairy ~ Frilly Geese ( Gifts from the heart)

 The gift that made my heart sing , a painting done for us as a Christmas gift by our daughter's oldest daughter. She painted what I feel as I watch my beautiful geese swimming in Cedar Pond. The fairy seems the magical embodiment of my geese as she dances over the water. When I look closely ( click onto picture ) at the painting I see so many more details and marvel at granddaughter's ability to capture so much with paint and her imagination. Thank-you KN !

" It is not how much we give but how much love we put into giving," Mother Teresa

" You can give without loving, but you cannot love without giving." Amy Carmichael

" Some of the most beautiful things worth having in your life come wrapped in a crown of thorns." Shannon Adler

 

* Pictures are of my Sebastopol geese Ella and Fella .

Ella, Fella & Blizzard

Blizzard is a very curious cat and the package I brought home from the post office intrigued him. The package chirped !

In the small box were two goslings. Sebastopol goslings to be precise. I put myself on a waiting list last fall to even be able to order them and here they are, a pair of goslings of a breed I have wanted for a long time. I named them Ella & Fella. The gosling in the foreground is Fella.

 Look, Fella is peeking out of his box for the first time. He is barely two days old in this picture.

 Ella and Fella were shipped in this box with a warming pad, it is the white rectangular object in the box. It was still emitting heat when I opened the box.

 Blizzard is very interested. I would say he is a keen observer of all that goes on in the sunroom gosling brooder. My brooder is a livestock water tank with two heat lamps. Because I have 2 house cats who would probably love to snack on fresh gosling I also have a metal wire lid to place on top of the tank. ( Sorry Blizzard & Miss Marple)

 Inside the brooder there is newspaper to absorb the water and toweling on top of the newspaper to make it more comfortable for the goslings and easier on their delicate feet. The waterer is on a metal rack inside a cookie sheet with even more toweling to absorb the water.This helps keep the water contained after the goslings play with the water. That is the primary problem with raising water fowl. They are too young to be wet all the time but cannot resist playing with water until it is all gone. This takes a lot of upkeep, but I think it is worth it.

  The aluminum foil on top of the tub surrounds a heat lamp to help direct the heat down into the tub . The metal crib springs keep the cats out and the heat lamp which is firmly clipped into place from causing a fire.

Having a large metal tub in my sun room does wonders for my home décor don't you think? But the entertainment value of a curious cat and goslings in a tub beats Nat Geo and Animal Planet paws down.