Yearly Archive: 2018

Life on the peony farm this week saw warmer temperatures so most of the snow continues to melt. Of course with the warmer temps and frost coming out of the ground, a muddy mess continues to be the theme around here. Oh and yes the decaying morsels found under the snow. The ‘where’s the mouse’ game is however still working. As you can see in this next pic, both Heidi and Redd challenge each other to find the phantom mouse.

I’m not sure who is having more fun? Heidi is so fast that I have not been able to photograph her when she stands up on her hind legs and dives into the long grass. She is definitely a jumper in the field and now she can climb halfway up her kennel to try and greet me when I tell her its time for a Gator ride.

Not sure why this morning Redd was not willing to face straight ahead like Heidi was doing. I think the cute photo of looking directly into the camera is over! Will try again next week as those pics are adorable. Heidi’s pinned up ears were not working today. Not sure if she was tired or amidst another growth spurt.

As you can see from a side angle. Heidi is getting close to Redd’s height but Redd has her on width and bulk. That will change in the next couple of months so enjoy your dominance while you can, Redd. Now to work on Heidi jumping into the Gator. She has mastered jumping out but just sits and watches Redd jumping into the Gator. Dear old dad is always at her side to lift her in. Will have to weigh her sometime as she is getting heavier by the week.

In honor of National Puppy day on March 23, I leave you dear friends with our puppy pic. Not to be too biased, but man is she cute! I have to remember that while still cleaning up her accidents in the kennel, jumping up on me in my Sunday best clothes with mud covering my khaki dress pants, finding decaying morsels under the snow only to regurgitate them on another new doggy bed, running to the farm supply store to buy another one (5 total so far and hopefully not anymore at $70 a piece) and of course licking me with who knows what she just ate. Life on the peony farm…you gotta love a new puppy!

What better way to start the first few days of spring here on the peony farm with some new family members! Yes our cat lovers this is your post! As you know from previous posts, our dear Heidi has taken a liking to playing with our cats. However in this case, Lucy is the star of this post. Lucy came to us as a stray and we nursed her back to health. It was apparent last fall that Felix really took a liking to her since he had not been fixed yet. Well one thing led to another and low and behold Lucy appeared to be gaining a lot of weight back in January. Oh dear, she is pregnant. Within the past few weeks, Lucy would not let any other cat share the nice warm cat hotel that was built by some close friends of ours. Lucy was content to have the cat hotel all to herself. Well Thursday night and Friday morning, Lucy gave birth to four wonderful kittens. All are doing well and enjoying their nice, warm living quarters. So we share this post with all our cat lovers who have asked me to post more of the feline members of our family.

I wasn’t able to get too close to them as mom was not very happy that I was peeking in at them.

When we first received Lucy from a neighbor who found her at their doorstep, she would not show herself to us but we knew that she was eating the food we had left her after we departed. Over the months she has been here, now Lucy is the first one to great us when we go into the barn. She is a love ball and will even let me hold her on my lap.

Lucy is such a great mom and now we know why she was keeping our cat hotel all to herself. We can’t wait to see them grow up. Don’t you just love the all white one? Since Felix, the dad, was a ‘mitten cat’, appears that some of his babies are blessed with a second thumb as well. Life on the peony farm…continues to have new four legged family members.

The snow continues to melt here on the peony farm. Assuming by next week, only the drifts and snowbanks will be remaining. The warmer weather now allows Redd and Heidi to settle in to Redd’s kennel in our garage. They seem to be adjusting better as roommates but the decaying morsels now visible and scented underneath the snow, provide a smorgasbord of nasty bites to eat. Last night I had to take an emergency run to a farm supply store to pick up ANOTHER bed. Yes those two goofballs went through two doggy beds after tasting and depositing the delectable decaying morsels on their beds. I don’t get it! We buy very expensive, Fromm, dog food, but yet they prefer the putrid morsels. However, seeing these two cuddled up on one of two remaining doggy beds, washed away the clean up procedure.

Ok troops, time for a trek outside. Neither of them wanted to leave while basking in the warm sunshine.

Whenever Heidi is tired or is roused from a nap, one of her ears doesn’t pin up. Always on the watchful eye for Redd, we have to keep her on a leash so she doesn’t find the delectable decaying morsels! Redd, ‘here’ so I can take another side-by-side picture to compare another weeks worth of growth in Heidi.

Is this a cute shot or what? Its fun to see Heidi exert her independence or maybe Redd is saying, ‘not again dad’! What’s that over there that Heidi is so focused on?

Redd, look whats over there!

Oh dear, its Franky! They are turning into best buddies and Franky lets Heidi lovingly tussles with him. Again, no feline family members were harmed in this photograph. As you can see in the upper left hand corner of this picture, Redd is on a mission to find more exposed morsels. Thankfully Heidi is distracted by her buddy Franky and continues to play with him. Life on the peony farm…is a delectable slice of adventure!

Though our peonies are dormant, appears that the fertilizer production team (FPT) gave us a surprise new member this week. While checking the team on Wednesday evening, a rather agitated mama cow was hovering in the corner. Upon further investigation, a white-faced calf was laying contently in the hay. Where in the world did we get a Hereford and Dexter cross? Remembering that a year or so ago we did have a similar bull that is no longer with us. I had a talk with Elvis Lee, our red Dexter herd sire, and told him he wasn’t doing his job! He assured me this will never happen again! In any event, please welcome ‘Spot’ a bouncing bull calf, as the newest member of our FPT. Life on the peony farm is full of surprises!

What would life on the peony farm be without updates on Heidi and Redd? Redd is having a hard time adjusting to Heidi’s presence in HIS kennel during the day. Since that has been HIS home for 8 1/2 years, having a roommate isn’t HIS cup of tea! Thus we’ve changed their schedules to include some alone time for each of them. Last night they had their first sleepover at Redd’s home (kennel). When I checked on them at 1 am they were snuggled together and appeared to be doing fine. Checked on them again at 6:15 am and all is well! Whew! I was worried that Redd may do something naughty but they were fine. When I mention ‘ride’ seems like they forget their indifference’s so off we go in the Gator!

Come on dad lets go! When I looked at my previous post pictures on Heidi a couple of weeks ago, my has she changed…again. Her ears are now pinned up and it is so cute when she runs to me with them pinned back. Ok Heidi time to jump out.

Yes but Redd is already out and running around! Lets go Heidi, ‘out’.

There you go Heidi! Good dog! Now where’s Redd? There he is!

Redd puts up with Heidi hanging on him for a few seconds but then he is still the dominant one for now! We play a game called ‘where’s the mouse’. It is so funny! Now they each try to outdo each other by looking for a mouse.

Heidi tries her best to find a mouse but to date neither of them have found one. Wonder how long this will last (the find the mouse game vs actually finding one)? Heidi, Redd found a mouse! Off to see if Redd found a mouse.

This distraction works for 5 minutes so it is an absolute blast to watch! I tried shooting a video of it but they run around in circles so fast that I can’t keep up with them. Needless to say after our run and where’s the mouse game, they both take a nap. Heidi can now keep up to Redd running but the loving snip from Redd keeps her at bay for a few seconds. Life on the peony farm, the fun having four legged family members is a blessing!

Sorry for missing last week for my post for life on the peony farm.  Yes we had the flu bug come through our home but all are well now. Our prayers for moisture were answered though with 11″ of heavy wet snow. With the temperatures hovering above 32 F during the day, snow has been melting very slowly. Sure makes for a muddy mess around here but thank goodness for Muck boots. The fertilizer production team welcomed another new member on Thursday. He is a bouncing baby bull and for sure we know his name is ‘Willy’ versus an earlier post on ‘Willy’ our feline family member who actually turned out to be ‘Wilma’! Please welcome Willy to the FPT team!

Mom and son are doing great! Rudy and Willy in this next pic have turned out to be best buddies!

With the warmer temps during the day, having fresh bedding is paramount to the FPT’s having a dry area to bed down at night. Yes we put the bedding down rather thick so poor Willy had a hard time navigating through the new hay. Life on the peony farm…love it!

Fairly quiet week on the peony farm and thank you Lord for the snow! Thursday night received 5 inches and later on today and tonight forecasting 5-9 inches more. This is a welcome answer to prayer as the ground is very dry. Bummer that it won’t last with warmer temps next week but any moisture at this time of year is great! Speaking of great, this morning on my walk with our four legged family members, I was greeted with a spectacular hoarfrost awakening.

Hard to depict the splendor of this shot with a hazy sun. These are the kind of winter mornings that I am in awe of. I tried to show Redd and Heidi (now Heidi Bell though she still comes to Heidi and if she doesn’t come, its Heidi Bell) but they were not the least bit interested although they did sit for a few seconds in this next pic.

As you can see Redd is favoring his left leg. During a friendly tussle last evening, appears he re-injured a tendon in his leg. Thus Heidi is now kept under leash to give Redd some time to heal. Oh and in some cases its much easier to catch her as she’s learned that dad and mom do not have treats all the time when she comes to us. Oh dear, Panda Bear, aka Toby, wanted to get in the picture…

He loves to watch Redd and Heidi play but left himself exposed as Redd is on IR. On no, here comes Heidi…again!

Heidi was determined to find something under the rock to eat or play with as Panda Bear just watched. Nothing there so Panda lets play?

No go Heidi! Panda continued looking at Heidi’s antics and was happy just to watch. BTW, no cat was injured during this encounter or any other encounters. We too are thoroughly happy to share life on the peony farm with you and of course watching the Olympics!

Another week has come and gone on the peony farm. Time for another trip to the end of the driveway. Come on lets go dad!

Heidi was chomping at the bit to get going so off we went on our morning cruise!

Since it was 35 F out this morning versus below zero, Redd obliged my ‘out’ command.

You can do it Heidi!

Oh Heidi you are so close! Its ok Heidi, you can do it!

Heidi you can do it! Good girl! She jumped so fast that I missed the shot.

I think Redd was proud of her too as they started to play as soon as she landed. Heidi’s color continues to change.

I was not able to get Heidi to sit for her usual picture as I think she has had enough of those poses. Heidi says good bye for now until next week. Both Heidi and Redd are now taking a nap until the next run to the end of the driveway. I hope you are enjoying this weekly post on life on the peony farm and of course our 2018 peonies!

Squeaker has been featured a few times in this very shot on the peony farm. She like Heidi, loves to get her picture taken. Thankfully her ears were out versus pinned back as she was protecting another new member of our fertilizer production team. Rudy, a bouncing baby bull was born on Tuesday. He and mom are doing very well. Elvis, our herd sire, is awfully proud as of late with three new calves in the past 6-weeks.

Rudy came out to meet his other family members this morning and yes enjoyed a nice sunny snooze in the hay.

Frosty and Rudy are getting to be very good pals although Frosty walked away when I tried to take a picture of both of them napping next to each other.

Both of them are doing great and glad to see Rudy out and about. Oh dear, I’m hungry again! Mom, can I have another breakfast?

Squeaker is such a gracious mom! Dexter’s are very loving and protective of all their family members.

Come on dad, lets go! Redd still has his alone time with me and accompanies me on the tractor when putting hay out for the fertilizer production team.  Life on the peony farm, you gotta love it!

I have been remiss in noting our four legged feline family members in a positive way here on our peony farm. Since we too are cat lovers, seeing Franky chased up a tree by Heidi in a former post may not have left a good impression. (Although Heidi thought it was fun.) With the temps a balmy 35 degrees this morning, our cats were out in sun having fun. Who we thought was ‘Willie’ actually turned out to be ‘Wilma’. Not sure how that happened so will have to go back to our cat identification manual and study it again. She is rather shy, but came out to meet me this morning since Redd and Heidi did not accompany me.

She is just a doll and loves to be cuddled. Her brother Franky, wanted some attention too, so poor Franky was chased away again by yes, Wilma.

Wilma and Franky remind me of Redd and Heidi except Wilma is the dominant one between these two and of course for now, Redd over Heidi.

Toby, aka panda and panda bear and tobemonster, enjoyed the bright sunshine and quiet peace without Redd and Heidi chasing him around. So dear cat lovers, these pics are for you today on the peony farm.