R.I.P., Ping

We adopted Ping in May, 2011 when her owner couldn't keep her.  We called her Ping because she made a little noise that sounded like sonar, "Ping, ping, ping, ping."

In June she joined the older Muscovy ducks in the barnyard.  THEY were the ugly ducklings (although they got uglier with age).

They were fascinated with poor Ping who often found herself the center of attention.

Then in late 2011 our remaining female Muscovy duck, Jemima Puddleduck, was killed, and Ping was the lonely petunia in the onion patch--the sole female among five males.  Her life became miserable until Herb managed to catch her in May 2012, and we moved her to the Home Pasture.

In this safe refuge Ping was able to grow back her feathers and live a peaceful life.

Now Ping had a swimming pool all to herself, and she often took luxurious morning baths, preening and combing her feathers.

She still got out of the way when the pigs wanted a bath, but she found them to be good pasture mates.  She learned that such sloppy eaters tended to scatter bits that she could enjoy, and when she saw us coming with food, she would greet us with excited, loud squawking quacks.

After the pigs left, Ping's next pasture mates were Rambo and Obaama.  They weren't such good buddies when they got bigger because they tended to run right over her trying to get to their food.  But Ping stuck with them, quacking gamely for her share.  She was the mascot for a succession of animals from pigs to sheep to cattle and turkeys.

We think the drakes had injured Ping's legs because she always walked funny, even for a duck, and being run over by the sheep a couple of times didn't help.  Yesterday evening Herb found poor Ping lying dead by the pasture gate when he went out to take Misty to bed.  Our best guess is that one of the cows or sheep stepped on her and fatally injured her.

We will miss you, Ping.  We'll miss hearing your loud quack, announcing supper time to everyone; watching your graceful morning baths; and smiling at your funny waddle.  The pasture will be a much more lonely place without your presence.  Rest in peace, Ping.

Family Snapshots

Here are some snapshots of our animal family from earlier this week.

We let the guinea fowl out of the brooder house on Sunday.  It took a couple hours for them to finally get over their fear and move out into the wide world!  We gave up watching long before that!

Cash surveys his little domain in the Home Pasture, while Sara grazes far away in the Lower Pasture.

After a couple of days in the chicken tractor, the turkeys enjoy their freedom.

One of the sheep gets up close and personal.

Macree loves her daddy Cash and usually stays close to him.  I guess every little girl goes through a stage as "Daddy's Girl!"

Sara and a little black dot who is Tundra enjoy their solitude.

Ping follows her new pasture-mates.

Ping has finally found someone lower on the totem pole than she is--that turkey is flapping away from Ping because she asserted her dominance over a soggy strawberry.  Misty likes to sit out near her charges, but she doesn't worry herself with their antics.

Sticking close to daddy.

The little family in the Home Pasture, right before we moved the cattle to the Far Pasture (in the distance).

The guineas have taken to roaming all around, but they seem to like to be near the turkeys, their former housemates.  The bird in front of the others got itself into the Home Pasture and couldn't figure out how to get out.  So the silly birds kept running up and down along the fence gabbling at each other until I went out in the pasture and shooed the lost bird through a gap to join its friends.

And finally, a close-up of Tundra, the newest member of the family, and mom Sara.

April Showers Bring . . .

Yesterday we had another tropical-style downpour with yet another 1.6" of rain in a few hours.  Let me apologize in advance to any readers who are still experiencing winter or drought.  I'm really not gloating--I'm just reveling in our soggy, gloomy winter finally being over--and I'll be wilting under our own hot, dry summer soon enough!  Apologies gotten out of the way, let me get back to the subject at hand:

April showers bring . . .

. . . lightning-dodging, mad dashes for the house . . .

. . . myriad shades of green on the trees . . .

. . . soggy sheep . . .

. . . lucky ducks basking in the cool dusk air . . .

. . . wistfully wet dogs . . .

. . . and incomparable sunset skies.  All in the space of two hours! 

"Like the Gleaming of the Sun on New Grass After Rain"

We got 1.1" of rain over the weekend followed by bright sunshine this morning.  I grabbed my camera as I headed down the driveway to get the newspaper.  Care to join me?

Misty and Hero wrestled their way down the rain-soaked hill while I admired the mist-sparkling morning.

Spiderwebs shone in the woods, every strand glinting in the bright sun.

Misty pretended to be vanquished by Hero, only to spring up and tackle him.

A redbud blossom hinted at beauty-to-be.

Pesky privet glowed in the woods, draped in countless diamond raindrops.

Bursting pink in the orchard testified to an escape from the pre-Easter freeze and tempted me to walk back the long way, past the Lower Pasture and up the hill through Kara's Pasture.

Siobhan came galloping across the Lower Pasture to see me.

I was glad for the heart-felt greeting and laughed at her head-tossing good spirits, all the while bemoaning the halter around her neck--again--and such a lack of decorum in a pregnant lady.

As Sara joined Siobhan in a bucking leap, this verse came to mind:

But for you who fear my name, the Sun of Righteousness will rise with healing in his wings. And you will go free, leaping with joy like calves let out to pasture.  (Malachi 4:2, New Living Translation)

The Bradford Pears stood bright against the blue sky and the hint of green beyond them.

Across from the barnyard, kindred spirits shared a friendly moment.

The God of Israel spoke. The Rock of Israel said to me: "The one who rules righteously, who rules in the fear of God, is like the light of morning at sunrise, like a morning without clouds, like the gleaming of the sun on new grass after rain."   (II Samuel 23:3-4)

Build a Cheap Sheep Shack

Say THAT five times, fast!

The old Gypsy chicken coop would have made a nice sheep shack if it didn't have a wire bottom that sharp sheep hooves would poke through.

It does, however, make a handy sheep scratching post!

It's also a cheerful place to bask in the sun while setting on a clutch of duck eggs.  The sun, however, has been rather scarce around here with almost 14" of rain in the first two months of this year.  Who wants to walk around wearing a water-logged wool coat when it's cold and rainy?  Not I and not ewe--and wethers don't like that kind of weather, either!

So Herb took an hour out of studying and threw together a cheap sheep shack so our wethers could be happy whatever the weather.

He used four pallets, some hay twine and a tarp.

Three pallets make an open-sided shack with a fourth pallet for the roof.  It isn't pretty, but it works!  About the time Herb finished the shack it started to rain, and before he got inside the house, the sheep were inside theirs.

I waited for a sunny day to take these photos, profiting from the nice weather to patch a gap in the Misty-proofing of the Home Pasture gate.  We felt a bit like the government, having problems with Misty-Leaks instead of Wiki-Leaks.  Misty had been "leaking" out of the pasture at night, necessitating a second trip outside to shut her in the Misty-proof barnyard.
 

Obaama says "Thank you for keeping us safe!"

Herb finally found the source of the leaks:  She had shoved my roll of chicken wire aside so she could crawl under the lower gate.  But Herb fixed the "leak" just in time.

We arrived home from babysitting Charis and Kol last night to find a strange, HUGE dog starting up the driveway toward the barn and pasture.  Our arrival scared it away even before Misty was aware of it.  When we let Hero and Zephyr out all three dogs chased the stranger away and made it clear he was unwelcome.

Thankfully, everyone was fine.  We were glad we could put Misty in with her charges and know she would keep them safe.  As far as the animals in the barnyard, between Brandy and Sara, I pity any stupid dog that would try to get in there!

Four Wonderful Things

1) Pony rides!

 Charis went first.  (Thanks to Monique for the photos.)

"Look, Ma!  Only one (dirty) hand!"  Actually, it's just powdery paint from climbing the round pen.

Whoa, Julie, that's a little too fast!  Didi had to run to keep up which spooked Julie so she jumped, and Didi did his job--snatching Kol out of the saddle.

Brave cowboy Kol to get back on.  "Not so fast," he said--and the rider's the boss!

2)  New residents!

The newest residents of Zephyr Hill farm arrived after lunch.  From the way everyone in the barnyard acted, you'd have thought it was the circus come to town!

Nope, it was just sheep farmer and Covenant College sociology professor Matt Vos with (on the right) Rambo and (on the left) . . . wait for it . . . Obaama!

Rambo came, well, like a lamb!

Obaama, on the other hand, was a bit of a butt!  He didn't intend to cooperate, and that's what he showed Matt.

Matt is laughing here because of what I just said, "Matt, the way Obaama's giving you such a hard time, I'm guessing you're a Republican!"

3)  Ping's surprise!

The next wonderful thing is about Ping (and I'm a poet, but don't know it, but my feet show it--they're Longfellows'.)

Here's a picture, although you probably can't see the wonderful thing.  And no, the wonderful thing is not the serape-over-a-crib-springs awning I made for the lambs.  Check out that pile of hay.

Ping has laid a dozen eggs!  We normally just pour her food over the fence since the rain has kept her swimming pool filled, and today was the first time anyone has gone in her pasture in weeks, so it was a big surprise!

She did escape into the barnyard twice and fell victim to the Muscovies again, so the eggs could be fertile, but I'm sure they won't hatch since they're ice cold.  Ping doesn't seem to know that she's supposed to actually set on the eggs!  But we're proud of her accomplishment anyway.

4)  More meat in the freezer!

The freezer in the hay barn is chock full again thanks to a former, er, sibling of Rambo and Obaama.  Don't tell them because we don't want them to have nightmares, but we almost named them Curry and Souvlaki!  This lamb is partially grain-fed, but we'll transition Rambo and Obaama to a grass-fed diet because we love our grass-fed meat.

My youngest sister thinks we're horrible and refused to help me name the lambs if we're going to eat them.  At least she'll be happy that we didn't name them for food.  That just means that while I look out and enjoy the beautiful sight of sheep safely grazing, I'll have to make sure to picture Rambo and Obama like their sibling above so I don't lose sight of the reason they came to join us.

After all, this is a farm, and a farm is all about food!