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Hi Everyone,
Every guard dog that we have ever owned has its own unique personality. The first Archo was terrified of storms—and you cannot blame him for he saw lightning strike the neighbors pine trees and cause a fire twice. After that he would leave home whenever the smallest grey cloud appeared on the distant horizon. The second Archo lived to a ripe old age and he was a faithful guard dog. He took guarding a little too seriously. We had some close encounters between him and a few of our guests. Martin and Lucy were never any good for they enjoyed killing animals more than guarding them. Jack and Jill were the first really sweet guard dogs we had—but because we got them when they were two years old we had a hard time keeping them home. Jack was always taking rides with strangers, hanging out at other farms a few miles away from ours, or just going out for strolls on all the neighboring dirt roads. When we first got them it was next to impossible to catch them to bring them home. They were not used to us and we couldn’t agree on names for them (and the previous owners had not named them) so it was impossible to call them to you. Jill finally learned to stay home and she lived to a ripe old age happily guarding the chickens. Sheba was the sweetest dog, but sheep were not her “thing”. Sheba enjoyed guarding chickens, and when Jill saw that Sheba did such a good job as a chicken guard dog--Jill retired. When I bought Sheba I planned on breeding her with Jack—but he ruined those ideas when the week before Thanksgiving he went out and never returned. A few years later a gate was left open and Sheba got out and the first time she had ever left the property had a tragic ending when she was hit by a car and left with a badly broken back leg. The vet quoted $10,000 and no guarantee that the surgery would be a success, so we chose to put her down. She was greatly missed. The next dog we got was named Yasha. She was given to us free—and has been the most perfect dog we have ever had. If I was in to breeding dogs she would be one that I would definitely breed. She is great with people—very friendly and she even smiles when she comes up to greet you. She is a pro at guarding sheep and chickens. Yasha is the first dog that we have ever had who has been a natural at guarding sheep—meaning that she never tried to eat them or claim the lambs for her own. Guarding is her call of duty and she is most content in the pasture with her sheep or chickens. Yes, while she is great with the sheep, we had to move her to the chickens when Jill died. All of these dogs have one thing in common—they are Great Pyrenees. The last dog that we have acquired was supposed to take Jill’s spot in the chicken yard, so that Yasha could continue to guard the sheep—but Aliyah has turned out to be the class clown. Aliyah is half Pyrenees and half Anatolian Shepherd. She is not the worst dog we have ever had—but neither is she the best. Aliyah definitely wins the prize for the most character. She was terrible with the chickens. When she was a puppy they chased her around and she would run from them yelping like she was being killed. Then when Jill died (for she ran with Jill so that Jill could train her to guard chickens) Aliyah decided to retaliate—and it usually ended with her eating the chicken. I honestly believe that Aliyah stressed the chickens out so much that they went into molting—which put a damper on our egg production. Since she wasn’t good with the chickens we put her in with the beef cows. They were big enough for her to play with them, but not small enough for her to hurt them. We thought about putting her in with the sheep—but they were just small enough for her to stress them out chasing them, and if she caught one it would be a bad situation. The breeder told us that sometimes it takes a dog until they are 18 months old to calm down and behave—and until then you have to do your best to prevent any problems. Aliyah is now 19 months old and she can finally be trusted with the chickens—she is even know to circle the hen house at bed time to encourage the chickens to go to bed. Our property is divided into two acre paddocks and therefore the dogs do not have free range of the whole property—just the field that the chickens are in (which rotates to a new field often). Yasha doesn’t like hot wire, and she will not come near it. Aliyah is a different story! She likes her morning and evening strolls around the farm. She will head over to where ever the beef cows are and check on them. She will mosey around the pond, and she will mosey on up to the house to see where Papa is and if he is coming out to feed her breakfast or to make sure that he hasn’t forgotten to feed her dinner. The funny thing is that Aliyah will go under the hot wire—no matter how low it is, but if the hot wire is on the ground she WILL NOT step over it. Papa has taught her to shake before he gives her a doggy biscuit. Sometimes we will be eating breakfast or dinner and I will look outside and see Aliyah walking through the back field. Papa will step outside and whistle at her and tell her “No” and to “Go Back!” She is very obedient for she turns around and heads back down the lane and back under the hot wire into the field where she belongs. One thing that Aliyah really likes is to go for a ride in the golf-cart—and the other day she met us in the yard and Papa told her to load up in the golf-cart and wait there until he was ready to take her back out to the field where she belonged. So while Yasha is content to guard the chickens, Aliyah wants to make sure that the whole property is secure and everyone is okay.
A month ago when I opened the East Garden Tunnel front door I was greeted with a wall of weeds. I spent an hour pulling weeds and only accomplished getting the big weeds out of a 6 x 6 foot area. I had no idea how that tunnel would get weeded before it was time to plant the fall garden. Fast forward a few weeks and I decided to have Steve stop watering that tunnel. The only thing growing in there was weeds and okra—and the okra was at the end of its season. Then the hurricane hit and we lost the plastic off the top of the tunnel, which ended up being a blessing in disguise. While the plastic does block out some of the sun, it still amplifies the heat making it impossible to work in there for very long. Last Monday Mama and I decided that it was time to tackle the East Tunnel and not having the plastic on top made it possible for us to spend the whole day weeding. Mama started on the west side (at the front door) and I started on the east side (at the back door). Mama’s side was THICK with weeds, and my side had a row of spent okra, a lot of dirt, and some weeds. I wanted to make sure that it looked like I had done something when I was done. There is nothing more discouraging than to work at something for hours and not be able to see any progress. I was able to get my area all weeded before lunch. I also managed to save one of the okra plants in order to let the okra pods dry out so I could save seeds for next year. After lunch I helped Mama finish her side and to our great delight the whole 14 x 50 foot tunnel was weeded by the end of the day. It was very helpful that it was the perfect time of the year to weed out crabgrass—for it was dying back and therefore easy to pull up. There was still some fine tuning to do, but that would require broadforking and digging to get the coastal grass up. On Thursday we made it back to the tunnel and the first thing we did was to edge the outside of the tunnel because the grass was so thick and tall that it was growing into the tunnel. When we were done edging, we then broadforked the first two rows and got the fine-tuning done. Our goal is to have the carrots planted by Tuesday night, along with some multiplying onions. I have faith that we will get the carrots planted—but will have to wait and see what happens with the onions.
I started seeds in the greenhouse the beginning of August—and somethings sprouted very few things to be exact. The mustard was the biggest success, followed by kale, Swiss chard and bok choy. The celery didn’t sprout at all, and the collards and broccoli had a few seeds sprout. So last Tuesday I decided to replant. By Saturday the broccoli, lettuce, and cabbage were making a very successful showing. The celery and the collards are still playing shy. I may have to buy new seeds and try again.
Last Sunday the roof on our hay barn was replaced—well, not all of it just the pieces that blew off. They blew off because the barn is 27 years old and it was only nailed on. The wind just pulled those nails right out of the wood. Papa wanted to have the rest of the barn roof anchored down with screws, but the roofing man didn’t have time—but he was kind enough to leave Papa a bucket of screws so that Papa could put the screws in himself. So a few days last week Papa was spotted spending his afternoon securing the metal roof with screws. He ran out of screws and had to go to town to get more screws. The east side of the barn roof is done, now he has to do the west side. The barn is 50 x 50 feet, and each metal panel is 26 feet long—so there are a lot of screws to put in the roof.
Friday we had the privilege to have a dear friend over for dinner—and having company gave us an excuse to do some much needed cleaning in the kitchen. Dinner was to be simple and easy, so as soon as lunch was over I mixed up a meatloaf and set it in the fridge. Then I had to make the weekly batch of yogurt before I could make a galette. I had some fresh peaches and blueberries and I decided that the best way to turn them into a dessert would be to make a galette. They are the easiest pie forms around. You make a pie crust, and then you roll the dough out on a floured parchment lined cookie sheet. To the center of the pie dough you add your fruit mixture (fruit mixed with cinnamon and sugar). Then you haphazardly fold the edges of the pie dough up over the first few inches of the fruit filling. Then you bake it for 40 minutes. It tastes like a pie, and it looks like a pie (though a little flatter), but you do not have the fuss of getting the pie crust from the counter into the pie plate without the crust falling apart. It was a total success and my new favorite pie recipe.
Saturday was spent ironing, taking care of customers, and finishing up cleaning in the kitchen—as in finally getting around to washing the pear jars that we had canned back in July. Before dinner I sat down at my piano to play for a little bit—and an ant crawled on my foot. Then after dinner I sat down at the piano and an ant bit me. I grabbed the flashlight to check the floor—but I couldn’t find any ants. Then when I was done playing the piano I grabbed some reading material and curled up on the sofa to relax and read—Mama was on the other sofa reading too. I hadn’t got very far in my story before I got bit by another ant. We had battled ants in the living room last Saturday, and now they were back—but this time they had moved into the sofa and into the corner wall of our house. Papa found a big pile of dirt on the porch under the corner wall and when he bumped the siding the ants came pouring out. We grabbed the vacuum cleaner inside and went to war on the sofa and baseboards, and Papa grabbed the Dawn dish soap and water and went to war on the front porch. It was the not so perfect way to end the week, and it was just one more thing to add to our list of inconveniences for the week. Three weeks ago the air conditioner flooded because the drain pipe was clogged—so we went two days without the AC. The next week Hurricane Idalia left us without electricity for three days and while we had a generator, the AC pulled too much energy so we didn’t run it. Then last Tuesday when the AC service man arrived to do our bi-yearly check up on our AC units he found out that the flooding had caused some issues and now we needed to replace the whole air conditioner unit—so once again we are without AC until they can come and install the new AC. We are learning to cope, but I have to admit that when you are working outside until you are overly hot—you really do want some place to go to cool off. I am thankful that we have ceiling fans and box fans and that the nights are cooling off into the 60’s. Yes, fall is here and I am ready for some cooler weather and to change the décor in the house from summer to fall!
Serving you with Gladness,
Tiare