Last days of August

The mornings are getting a bit cooler and leafs on the trees are no longer perfectly green. It's that time of the year that I love the most, but unfortunately autumn is just around the corner. This morning the sun is out and there is not a cloud in the sky, a sky that is starting to show that pale blue colour of cold weather to come.

Mindy, Mandy, Molly and My are picking up speed. The warmest, sometimes really hot weather is over and our lovely sheep can breath freely, again. Their woolly coats are impressively thick and they are a bit too big where the waistline should be, so cooler days are a treat for them. They are eating the lush, deep green grass with such frenzy that I think they have had a look at the calendar too and know that summer is about to end. At he moment, their passion is the rowanberry. They have eaten all the berries they can reach so now they gather under a tree waiting for me to come and help them. Mindy knows that I can be slightly slow on the uptake so she tries to stand on her hind legs, just to show me what they are trying to achieve.

So I pick berries for them and first everything is calm and orderly and then they get a bit exited and greedy. I bounce between four very round sheep like a lottery ball, trying to keep my balance, sharp clippers in my hand and giggling madly. This makes them even more exited and the whole thing is just a bit silly and a lot of fun. The berries must be very good for them, so as long as we can reach them, we'll carry on picking. The trees are full of big, red bunches of vitamin so there is plenty to go around. No migrating bird will be left without a travel snack either. There are also a lot of apples for the bigger animals this year.

Our four sheep are still providing their nanny service to our tired hens. Lotta is using them as soon as she has a chance to get away from little Matti and Maja. I found Matti having a late breakfast with Mandy the sheep, one morning. The funny thing was that he felt that standing between her front legs was the safest place. Poor Mandy stood stock still for ages, while a little cockerel munched away happily. Maja is a bit more careful around her huge minders but she can always be found somewhere close by. The siblings stay together at all times and the constant beeping is a soothing soundtrack to the day. Matti's voice is not so hi-pitched anymore and Maja's voice was always calmer... Little Ulla stays with her mother most of the day but even Pippi has started to trust our nanny sheep.

They all tend to meet up under the Rowan tree in the afternoons and one day I saw the tiny, fist sized little chick climbing along on Molly's back. Molly was lying down looking a bit worried, but Ulla was enjoying her adventure and did not seem to be remotely nervous. Pippi the hen stood by but for once she did not peck the sheep or dance around like a hyper duster. Even Pippi needs a break from her chick, it seems...

The birthday boy

Mr. Chip celebrated his 14th birthday yesterday!! We never thought we would see the day but lo and behold, we did." And a very nice day it was", said the birthday dog. His Cushing syndrome did a U-turn on us. When we went for his blood tests, a week ago, they showed that he was completely devoid of cortisol, the stress hormone. So now we are having a weeks break from medication and then starting slowly again. The fact that Mr. Chip is so balanced means that we did not see the difference in his behaviour. He still ate well, asked for walks and slept normally. He rolled around in the bed as if he was possessed and chewed on hands, in a polite way.

After a weeks break we do notice a change in him, though. He barks madly if he's left behind for some reason, he has an even bigger appetite and he bounces on bare feet. This is a 14 year old dog who probably should know better...  His best friend would have told us that "This is the glory of a terrier". And so it is. My toes are a bit sore, though....

The swallows are meeting up in large groups, preparing to head off for warmer climates. This year they find our garage to be a good meeting point. My small car looks like a manure heap on wheels as I keep forgetting to park it outside. Yet another sign that summer is ending...

The Rowan berries are also popular amongst red foxes, badgers and squirrels. Makes sense, when you think about it... Deer and elks enjoy them too. Happy September!!

Family gathering

We had a slightly old fashioned family gathering at our home last week. That's why our blog was so late, as we were busy reminiscing about the day gone by. Some, who actually had a bit of class, sat with a glass of chilled vine in their hand. Me, I was drinking my 60th cup of coffee....

It really is a good idea to get relatives together now and again. It's easy to loose touch with people and while you don't want to live in each other’s pockets, it would be a shame to completely grow apart. They are nice people, as well...

Monty behaves politely when we have guests. He walks his grounds but gives way to victors. It struck me again, how lucky we are to have such kind animals. Children running around and tall men visiting the stable could easily be too tempting for a cockerel to claim his turf. Not our Monty, although he did keep the whole group of hens close to him, as long as the guests were around.

Mindy, Mandy, Molly and My did their usual sprint around the place, calling for help as there was "Something going on!"... They calmed down when I went out and had a little talk with them. Horsey people are a clever bunch. They have upbeat, cheerful expressions with a bit of go in them, when talking to their horses. I on the other hand sound like someone with a slight problem, when I calm down our sheep. It works but I do get funny looks.... The problem is that you can't walk up to a group of hyper sheep and tell them to "buckle up and tally ho!" That would frighten the daylight out of them so I end up sounding like an old hippy trying to hypnotise four panting, shaking sheep. But as I said, it works...

Mr. Chip had a ball. First he sussed out the most generous guest and shared the catering side of things with her. When he, once again, looked as round as a ball he happily wandered off to look for his men. Dear husband had our lovely dog as his personal shadow for the rest of the gathering. A group of men discussing whatever they do discuss, in calm, deep voices is as close to heaven as an old dog can get, on this side of the clouds. In the middle of all these men Mr. Chip slept soundly, feeling that he belonged. I bet he thought of his best friend, who I'm sure we all also remembered that day.

 

Ulla, the chick, looking for her fan club.

When everyone had left, four sheep plopped down like ripe fruit under the Rowan tree and for a few hours. All you could see of them was four heaps of wool. The hens left Monty's side and scattered all over the place and I'm certain that little Ulla, the chick, felt that her new Fun club had deserted her. Mr. Chip started eating again - his own, boring food this time. As I have said before, one charming feature in a fox terrier is that once they are happy and content, they don't do melancholy. "Hi ho, and on to the next thing!" seems to be their motto in life. It's very refreshing and helps a lot... (Elvira, our hunting dog used to look for people that had gone home and that was a bit trying, at times...).

Everyone had a lie-in, the next morning - everyone, as in Mr. Chip, the sheep and me. The hens had a fit, as they were not let out before 7.30am. They stand by the door, ready and waiting for the day to begin if it's light outside. I did try to tell them that life is not all about them but apparently I'm wrong. Mr. Chip suggested more gatherings as it livens up his diet considerably. We're of to the vet next week and they will be lively enough when they see the size of our dog... Mr. Chip turns 14 years old on the 27th and there will be cake.

Otter news - my sister's friends, the otters, are doing better. They turned out to be a girl and a boy so that explained why one was slightly smaller than the other one. They were seriously dehydrated so liquid and food supplements were put in as their first aid. They already got warmth on the way to their new home, being wrapped up in Mr. Chip's fleece blanket. Halfway to their destination my dear sister had to stop the car and have a discussion about the "no wrestling in her car" policy. At least not while she was driving hundred and ten to save them. It did show her that they were perking up, though... Now we just have to hope that they find their appetites and start growing. It would be lovely to see them return to us in the spring. They are staying with a kind couple that has done this sort of thing for the last eighteen years. They were feeding the elks when I called them... That's cool in my books!

The European otter, Lutra lutra, is the only otter we have here in Finland. It lives mainly on fish, is highly territorial and is also known as the Old World Otter. The average weight is between 7-12 kg but there have been sights of much bigger specimens. Otters can live along the coast and fish in the sea but they need regular baths in fresh water to clean their furs. The female otter gives birth to one to four pups.

Have a good week. We are having guest for the whole week and I really hope they will get better weather than all the rain we have had lately. Here's hoping... 

On Holiday and back

 We went on holiday, my dear husband and I. We left our little farm in the hands of my kind sister and her children. (I say children but they are all taller than me...). We visited good old England and went to a Bryan Adams concert. Seeing the band on stage, it struck me that Monty would fit in nicely. He could strut around with the best of them but B. Adams always hits the notes spot on. It was a really good holiday and I flew home after three days.

Mr. Chip thought it was Christmas time when we were away and took upon himself to visit the henhouse when he felt peckish. Apparently he's a great believer in healthy food so gorged on rice, corn and the dry food meant for laying hens. On my return I found him a bit rounder than before but extremely happy. I guess Mr. Chip had a holiday too...

Mindy, Molly and My gave me such a talking to when we met up again. It's not the done thing, this skulking off to fun and fairs they said. Mandy just gave me one of her most endearing smiles and hoped I had enjoyed myself. The hens told me their new friends were lovely and so much more into exercise and playing than silly old me. The fun they had running in the forest in the evenings and zig-zagging around the stable together; they were reminiscing... Not just going to bed every evening in the same, safe pattern, they continued. Little Ulla had grown just a tad and now she/he is sporting wings and a little tail with real, grownup feathers. Her mother Pippi is very proud and so she should be.

My dear sister's comment about their day's together was; "They all survived!" but she said it with a broad smile on her face. I think everyone had a good time and the famous five-hens thinks my sister rocks.

This week ended in the spirit of which this whole summer has enveloped itself. Dear sister had a visit from two half starved otters, young baby otters whose mother had gone missing and was clearly not coming back. The baby's had been crying all night and now they were hungry, cold and very unhappy about it all. So saved, warm and taken to an animal shelter, we are now waiting to hear how they are doing. My sister did a lot of driving last night as the shelter was not around the corner from us. And so the summer of wild animal stories continues...

Baby otters on their way to the animal shelter.

This week’s news will end with a cliffhanger and more about our new friends next week. Let's hope it's good news, fingers crossed... Toes as well, just in case...

Dear husband returned in the night and Mr. Chip can sleep soundly in the night, knowing all is well in his world again.

Holidays are fun but being at home with our gang is not bad either... Enjoy your week and more otter news to come. Dasha, the illustrator, is also now holidaying so all the best to her and her friends from us here in the sticks.

Photo break

The time has come for Nina and dear husband to take a well deserved holiday. Therefore, this early edition blog update will feature photos of us all wishing you a happy summer. The normal'ish blog will continue next week.
​

Mr Chip ready for action.

The ladies - Mindy, Mandy, Molly & My telling me to go away.

Monty with his ladies, Henrika, Lina & Darya.

Lotta with Matti & Maja, the chicks.

The teenagers - Jill, Jane, Trisha, Emma & Katie.

Pippi and newest arrival, Ulla.

Dasha, the illustrator at work.

And finally, us...

A year has gone

Happy one-year anniversary, dear friends! It’s amazing that there have been small updates from us for that long, and that you have stuck by us. Mindy, Mandy, Molly and My are not at all surprised, they tell me. We had a chat about this, under their favorite Rowan tree, yesterday. The weather is hot and clammy, with not a wisp of a breeze, so lounging in shady places is the thing to do. My job was to chase the flies away from their eyes. Our dear sheep think that everyone wants to hear from them; just because they are so kind and maybe they are right.

Monty sends his love to all and everyone. He started tooting at 3 am this morning and has not had a break since. His friends, the hens have left for the forest. Feeding Monty an additional breakfast does not inspire him to take a break. He just carries on, mouth full and sounding dangerously close to choking. When he was younger this trick worked, but now he is too busy and probably too grown up for distractions. He still sounds a bit tone deaf but don't we all, early in the morning?!

We had a walk down the field, the famous five and I, this morning. It was just after five am, still a bit misty and wonderfully magical and we decided that the moment was right for some names. The name giving ceremony resulted in Emma, Trisha, Katie, Jill and Jane. It seemed appropriate to give such endearing hens names by all my favorite "feel good" authors. My dear husband agreed and as he was half asleep when I informed him of this fine event, I will tell him again in the evening.

Emma is still much smaller than her friend's but fast as lightning. Trisha is so big and sturdy that I thought she was a cockerel for weeks and weeks. She now told me to stop obsessing, as it was not doing her feminine side any favors. Jill and Jane are light brown and as beautiful as hens can be. Dimi, our dear friend that went to heaven much too young, had the same colouring.

The chicks have started popping over to the house with the others. They move like small doves, delicately flying here and there and being very brave. They are now named Matti and Maja and the names seem to fit them. Maja is wild but slightly more sensible about things than Matti, who just moves about full pelt and believes he is the size of a horse. He is actually the size of a small toy. A very small one... Charming birds, though.

Lina, Pippi, Henrika, Darya and Lotta also want to wish everyone a happy first year of blogging. They like the fact that they get their portraits painted on regular bases - and very nicely so, they want to add. They are right of course, this blog would not be the same without Dasha’s art work. We are always looking forward to the next, beautiful painting and we know how lucky we are to get them.

I feel blessed, being able to keep animals this way. It's an indulgence, in a way, to keep farm-yard animals as pets. I know we should be producing meat for the table and concentrate on getting cost efficient eggs from the hens. Instead we keep our sheep for life and spoil our hens rotten. Never has an egg cost so much and hopefully the taste makes up for it. The eggs are a byproduct of having lovely birds around the place.

The only animal that has put in his working hours during the years is Mr. Chip. He is now our retired personal trainer but for ten years he kept us fit and brisk on our feet. We will now slowly go to pot and he will tell us to start bicycling or something... We still walk together but as I have told you before, the speed is not breathtaking but the charm of walking with him is still there. He is feeling his age in this warm weather and takes it easy. He comes alive in the evenings when everyone else is starting to fade. So between early bird Monty and nocturnal Mr. Chip we get very little sleep at the moment.

I repeat myself but we do have a lovely bunch of animals that we hope can bring some joy to others, too. The funny thing about keeping animals is that you never sit down thinking about how well you are doing. Animal husbandry always keeps you on your toes, worrying about all that can go wrong. I guess humbleness comes into it, at an early stage.

We had a short walk, the sheep and I, last night - it was just a plod around the place when the weather had cooled down a bit. Returning home I found raspberries so I picked some for the hens and myself. Our dear sheep stood grazing nearby and I had some time to ponder on the fact that this probably was one of those perfect moments in life. Then there was an almighty crash with hens complaining loudly, in their beds. My, the sheep, had become bored and gone home, stumbling over a stable brush. Right behind her three more sheep stumbled over the same said brush and everyone was awake in the house. There is never a dull moment with animals.

Lotta gave us one of her beautiful, almost blue eggs, today. Seven-week-old chicks tend to stand around asking when their mother is done, so she must have the calmest nerves in the village. Now it's only Pippi left. Hopefully her egg will hatch soon and we can see more of Pippi, again. We do wish she could be outside, enjoying the summer days with the rest of us. Little Eric, Pippi's first born sends his love. He is enjoying life and being rather spoilt in the process. He is not so little any more but as beautiful as ever, I hear.

It's the end of July and it feels that this summer moves along too quickly! The first year, writing this blog seems to have flown by, too. I guess it's a good sign and it’s just to go with that feeling.

So happy first birthday everyone and lets hope for many more. Love from all of us to all of you and now I sound like Jiminy Cricket in the Christmas special and that's all wrong.... Take care and we'll be back next week. Mr. Chip hopes you will eat some cake to celebrate this. He informed us that we should, at least..

Text by Nina

Next blog on the 4th August

The bundles are growing

Lotta's two chicks are now six weeks old and very nice they are too. Lotta is doing a good job, bringing them up all on her own. Their father is around but he is not a shining example of an active father figure. At the most he can claim some fame by the fact that he talks to his offspring. These are not long chats about football and sports cars but thoughts about worms, sheep and beetles. The food issue is close to Monty's heart and our sheep pop into the conversations because you have to warn small bundles about sixteen hoofs coming their way.

Monty means well but he hasn't got a clue how to behave around his family. He dances around Lotta until she nips him and sends him on his way. He could probably collect some food with the young ones but as they are so quick off the mark themselves, Monty's helping hand is not needed. So he talks for a while and bobs about until Lina the hen informs him that it is time to go. The rest of the day you can find Lina, Darya, Henrika and Monty doing a bit of exploring and compost turning. They have also started popping over to our front step for refreshments. Sunflower seeds, the odd biscuit, and a sip from Mr. Chip's water bowl are what they need to keep them going. This is a good thing, as we then know where they are. They have always done this as a spur of the moment thing but now it seems to be a regular feature. I think it's their way of taking a break from all the young hens and motherly tempers that flies around the henhouse. They also crave company, so when they hear us doing something fun they turn up.

With Lotta tending to her pride and joy and Pippi laying on her egg and stone, the egg production has diminished noticeably. I planned to use up some old milk on Sunday, so an oven pancake was the answer. As it was a fine day with lots of things to do, the hens made it indoors late in the afternoon. By five thirty pm we got two eggs and the pancake making could begin. It's a charming way to live and the eggs are nice and fresh.

The two toddlers took up mountain climbing today. They found the big stones lining our wide, deep ditch that leads water past the stable, to be a perfect playground for them. They jumped and climbed all over these boulders, managing not to fall into any of the small caves, along the way. It looked wild and their mother stood calmly by, nibbling on some nettles. I had to leave as my heart was in my mouth and I wanted to make them stop what they were doing. Had I stepped in, the result would have been two startled chicks falling into a deep hole amongst the stones. So I went home and had some strong coffee instead. The chicks seems to be living on ants, at the moment...

Once our famous five start producing eggs, we might get 9-10 eggs a day if everyone feels inspired. That is a scary thought, if ever there was one! I like hens and their sense of humour but I'm not so keen on many eggs a day. They are beautiful, though...both the hens and the eggs...

Credit: Dasha Dimitrova

The little chicks are, unfortunately, not afraid of cars. They tend to step out into the road to get a closer look at the passing car. This is not the smartest thing to do when you're small, sweet and difficult to spot. We have had words about this but they forget the conversation as soon as they see the next car coming. Luckily our road is not exactly busy but it's still not safe for small bundles. By the by, our chicks look a bit funny at the moment as all the exercise they get has given them chest muscles. They look like tiny body builders who forgot to change their routine at the gym. Their mother looks like she could do with a break.

Mindy, Mandy, Molly and My find all this summer activity slightly tiring. "The sun is hot, milling hens everywhere, and not enough bread for them" they tell me. The fact of the matter is that we feed them lots of treats and they have nice, shady places to rest in. It's just that they have to be where the action is and that way they get tired. We let them in to the stable in the early evenings just so they can enjoy some nice, quiet time on their own, before all the hens arrive back indoors, for the night. Our four dear sheep are feeling their legs as well. They eat all day, ending up looking like Shetland ponies and that can't be good for their joints. They will have to slim down a smidgen, in the autumn. At least they eat a lot of berries at the moment and that is good for older sheep, I'm sure. We love our, sometimes very loud sheep and autumn will be here soon enough with cooler winds and rainy days. Then they will want the sun to warming their lovely faces, again.

They also love our little bundles of joy so that's why they follow them around so much. It's just a shame that chicks speed around the place like wind-up toys and our sheep are not so keen on this exercise regime. But off they go, looking out for their little friends, because they are such kind animals. I have not had the heart to tell them that it might all start again, if Pippi has a little chick too. Then our four sheep might have to check in to a spa for a rest. We will probably all want to do that, once darling-Pippi gets going, ordering us around. Animals are lovely, though... And I can't see the charm in spas...

The snail is one of the slowest moving creatures on earth. They can see but they can't hear. Their ribbon like tongues, called a radula, has thousands of microscopic teeth with which they rip their food into tiny pieces. Very handy and now we know why they don't greet us back in the mornings. They do not hear our cheery "Hellos!"...

Text by Nina

Next blog on the 31st July