Teresa & Mike CHS - Our journal

[Mike CHS]

This is more for Barb since I haven't posted many Mel pictures recently. He has been here a couple of days over 5 months now and both dogs finally seem to have the pecking order worked out. Mel is a joy to watch with the sheep. He moves slower than Maisy and the lambs don't even move as he wanders among them.

He has fully recovered from his visit with the skunk and his hair is growing back fast. We were getting in the car yesterday to go to town but there was a strong smell of skunk. Teresa and I looked at each other then out to where the dogs were and didn't see anything that they were reacting to. We weren't gone long but I called them both to the paddock they are in now to check them out. Our neighbor was coming up the drive and he stopped and just looked at me and finally got out of his truck to ask what I was doing. I was literally sniffing them from head to tail to make sure we didn't have a repeat of the last time. He knew the event and just laughed and said it was funny since it looked like I was licking the dogs all over.

 

[B&B Happy goats]

...yepper got that visual in my head , Mike.

 

[Mike CHS]

I started to make a pot of turkey noodle soup and when I started looking for celery, I found that we are out. I had no desire to run back into town so I went up to the loft and checked our dehydrated stores and found a mason jar full of dehydrated celery with a date of 2012 which was three years before I retired. I did a test batch to re-hydrate them and they work great.

 

[farmerjan]

Yay, for putting stuff up when in abundance..... and properly storing. Wish we lived closer, I would be supplying stuff in exchange for made meals!!!!!!

 

[Baymule]

I dehydrate tomatoes for winter salads. Crumbled up over a salad, they are delicious. I should dehydrate celery too, that is a good idea.

 

[Mike CHS]

We buy stewed tomatoes for the winter anymore. They at least taste like tomato and are pretty consistent but we like the dehydrated for crumbles.

 

[Mike CHS]

I came close to losing a couple of lambs this morning but thanks to Maisy, they are fine. Mel was waiting by the feed area this morning so I went down and fed him before calling the rest of the critters in. I went ahead and put feed out and replenished the creep feeder then took Maisy inside to feed her. She often wants petting before she eats but this morning she just stood there looking at me. After several minutes of that I decided she wasn't hungry and opened the door to go out in the stall only to see what looked like two dead lambs stuck in the same opening on the feeder. They were so tight that I figured I would kill one or both of them trying to get them out but when I got the first one out, it took a deep breath and got right up. It took the other several seconds but it did the same. The holes on this feeder are only big enough to let about a 15 pound lamb get its head in and with over two years of use, have never had an issue until this morning.

 

[frustratedearthmother]

OH wow - she knew something was wrong! Glad you got to them in time. Good girl Maisy!

 

[Beekissed]

I'm so glad you found them in time!!! Good dog, that Maisy!

 

[Mike CHS]

The last time I went out to check how the grass is holding up to the sheep, I started to play with Mels, head a bit and he decided it was OK to do some play fighting with me. He ran around me a couple of times then pushed himself into me. My 33 ewe (Wild Thangs sister) was pretty close and after he pushed his weight into me one last time, she head butted him to make him stop.