Busy, Busy, Busy

These past few weeks have been a little bit hectic for both of us. Diz has had several requests for his tree skills, so I have been along with him to help out where I can. I have also been working at a petrol station cooking in the Deli on a Saturday and was asked to do holiday cover for the baking. So we have both been working 7 days a week for the past few weeks. Diz has been clearing fields where the digger has pulled down hedges and trees and the farmer then doesn't know what to do with the rubbish, we have been hedge trimming, tree planting, large tree dismantling and apple tree pruning. We have also been asked to plant a garden up with ornamental trees and plants, which we will give a bash but have made it clear that we are not landscapers!
What else has happened around Cloghermore?

Well the five gosling's have been creaking and groaning and are now quite plump. The seven of them now rule the field and anyone who gets in their way knows about it! One of the poor lambs happened to get too close and Spotless and Bruiser attacked it. They both knocked it to the ground and slapped it with their wings, the poor thing was struggling to get up. I had to go and rescue it which believe me I wasn't looking forward to, so after throwing a feeding pot at them they left it alone. Thankfully it got up and was begging for food again, I couldn't find a scratch on it. I bet it was a bit sore though, even it didn't show it.

Talking of the lambs, all three are growing well, two are off milk and munching grass contently and trying to stay out of the way of the geese. They are forever getting their bottoms pinched because they don't run fast enough. Jes still enjoys licking their faces and running after them, so much for stock training!

We had our first chick hatch last week, Tuft had two fertile eggs and although both hatched sadly one didn't make it. Indy, from the Indian Game pen, has settled on three fertile eggs and was due to hatch a couple of days ago but sadly only one hatched and died and the others haven't. We will get her settled with some more eggs in another couple of days and hope for the best. We have another twenty four eggs cooking in the incubator, of which fifteen are fertile.

Jes hasn't come across chicks before or protective mothers, so it wasn't long before she was taught respect and now keeps a wide birth. In the photo Kip is on her rear tip toes looking over, but Jes isn't, she is sat looking!
The chick is a cockerel, which means it is very independent. Anything white and it gets followed, poor Taz has it chasing her legs and because she can't see it (or probably hear it) it gets tumbled around. Jes has also been followed by it and is terrified of being got by Tuft so runs away, which is much better than eating it!

The hounds are all doing very well. Taz is still struggling along, more puddled than normal, but is otherwise upright. Jes has grown considerably and now towers over Kip and is catching up with Taz. Kip is getting a little fed up with Jes and snarls a lot more now, but Jes is none the wiser and carries on. Jes's training is coming on nicely, she retrieves and leaves very well, her climbing is as good as Kip's and she comes when called, well 99% of the time, occasionally she has something better to do! She always returns to the whistle though, which is brilliant especially when she is our of sight. She can't be trusted in the house on her own yet though, so far we have been lucky and only had a few things chewed, tops of wellies, one crock, a jumper and a dog bed, otherwise she sticks to her toys. She has nearly outgrown her house cage so we will have to start trusting her soon. She is lovely and is certainly my dog, but probably because I have spent more time with her. She is very good natured and seems to have the same temperament as Taz, which will be great. Her and Taz get on brilliantly and Taz spends time with her (when she's upright), which Jes enjoys. Such a different story to when Kip arrived.

The rabbits are getting bigger and seem quite happy in their house. Jes likes to play with them through the wire, we have watched her lay on her back with her legs in the air and her nose pushed through the wire and Moss goes over to sniff her nose! She's going to be a great rabbit catcher, isn't she!!!

I think that is about it for now. I hope you're enjoying the blog, which is surprisingly viewed all over the world including Cambodia, Malaysia, Russia and many other places. Love to know how some people found us. Thank you to those of you who have signed up as a follower, welcome aboard.
Take care.
Stella.