Buddy and Friends

Buddy @ seven months

A handsome calm dog

Here's Buddy! He's really grown hasn't he? We've been working on training and he has mastered 'down' and 'stay' if it isn't too long a time. That's the big push right now, to get him to stay. He's actually doing quite well and is a pretty mellow dog.

I hear him occasionally at night really barking so he's obviously tuned into something that shouldn't be here. Although I've noticed since we've had Buddy that we don't see turkey's like we used to and there haven't been any deer visible on our property and squirrels are rare. We haven't had any snow this season as yet so once the ground is covered with snow and the deer are foraging, we'll see how effective our Buddy is! Although we haven't yet had snow, it does get very cold at nights and some days so Buddy's coat is very very thick since he is an outdoors farm dog. He has a house but he prefers being out on the ground or on the deck.

He loves his tennis ball and I play fetch with him at least once a day. He's just learning the Frisbee. One of the annoying puppy behaviors is bringing all his 'toys' to the front yard. Those toys include huge beets that disappeared before I could chop up for the compost pile, acorn squash he found ---must have been volunteer squash in the pasture since I didn't plant them this year, bones, branches, horse manure, tennis balls, and his all time favorite cloth braid with which to play tug-of-war. I clean it up and new items appear such as squashed cans, bits of plastic, pieces of bark...you get the picture! I can't wait for him to grow up to adulthood with hopefully less of these behaviors. But as Mark pointed out, he is cleaning up all the debris he finds in the pastures.

Playing fetch all out

He loves his tennis ball

Listening for trespassers

Mellow Buddy

These are the baby guineas or keets. They are growing so quickly and can fly so they fly to one of the upper decks in the guinea shack to sleep with the adults at night but fly down to the floor where they spend the day. We provide food, water and a heat lamp so it's a good environment for their safe growth. With the seven keets, we're back to a dozen guineas. They don't like humans in their pen so the pictures are not the best since I have to point and shoot while defending myself from mama but you'll see that they are growing in their adult feathers. It doesn't take long for these birds to grow up.

Not such little guys anymore

And the season for Project FeederWatch has begun so I'll be counting birds for Cornell University's Lab of Ornithology again this year. The key is water and having the country birdbath (skillet!) with a heater to keep the ice from forming on freezing nights. We're seeing lots of birds bunched up, like the robins today. They have been monopolizing the birdbath.

At one point we had robins, blue jays, chickadees, yellow finches, cardinals and waxwings! It was a beautiful sight but I couldn't get the camera quick enough to capture that mix! Buddy lays in the warm sunshine on the back deck near the birdbath and feeders and he ignores the wild birds which is a relief.

I'm starting projects like deep cleaning and soon window washing. There is something satisfying about cleaning since there is instant gratification. I'm still thinking about creative projects I want to do this winter. More on that later.

Have a great week,
Delores