goldie-doghouse

GOLDIE’S NEW YARD

by with No Comment CrittersMountain Gaitway

As winter looms in the not too distant future, we have been thinking about a yard for Goldie where she would have protection from the elements when we have to go away. We also had started thinking about another shed at the end of the driveway and near the house. We came up with the idea of making the yard extend from the end of the deck and attaching to the shed where Goldie would have a sheltered area and a warm dog house.

Here’s a pic showing Goldie heading out to her yard that extends off the left end of the deck to the shed:

She can run free from the yard onto the deck and around the house to the other end of the deck on the east side. She really gets her exercise and can watch over everything on all sides of the house. We placed her doggie house at the end of the shed, under the overhang.

Here Goldie is using her vantage point from the deck to watch while I’m out feeding the horses:

She’s a great watchdog, alerting us to killer bunnies, man-eating deer, etc.

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GARDEN PLANNING FOR 2017

by with No Comment Garden

We’ve begun planning for our new garden! Tim and I have been reading up on high-elevation gardening, to be aware of where to put the garden, how to lay it out, and what to be prepared for. We want to have a pretty good idea of the big picture soon, as I want to plant what I can before winter sets in, namely onions, garlic and asparagus.

Our first thought was to put the garden on the south side of the house in full sun. That’s what all the books & websites will tell you, right? So, this is where it WAS going to be, beds terraced down on the left side, as well as some in front.

As you can see, plenty of sun on the south side of this house!

However, after observing what the summer conditions have been like the past two summers, and reading of some of the challenges faced by other Colorado Rocky Mountain gardeners, we have decided to place the garden to the east of the house, with some trees around to provide afternoon shade. The sun is so intense here that things will bake in the sun if allowed full exposure. Also, when the winds pick up it dries out the soil quickly, so at the east it will be a bit protected from the brunt of the wind.

Here’s where the garden will go. These photos were taken this afternoon, so there won’t be as much shade in the summer as there is now, when the sun is higher in the sky. The garden will get full morning sun and filtered light in the late afternoon.

This photo looks to the East.

 

This looks to the West.

This garden won’t be nearly as large as the Wellington garden, but it will be ample, less than half the size. We’ll grow a lot of cool season vegetables, and as many short-season varieties as we feel we can, including some tomatoes. We’ll have to be especially careful to cover the tomatoes nightly, as they’ll need all the warmth they can get. We will be making hoop covers to guard against frost as well as shade/hail covers to guard against the intense sun and occasional hail. Of course, we will have a 7-8 foot fence surrounding the entire garden, lest the deer get into an all-you-can-eat buffet.

I’ve been gathering weather statistics from our weather station the past two summers.
The lowest “low” in July-August was 34 F.
The highest “low” was 51 F.
The lowest “high” was 52 F.
The highest “high” was 92 F.
The average temperature for the summer months has been around 59-64. So, as you can see, many of the plants will require frequent covering!

It’s fun to get into gardening mode again. We have lots of designing and planning to do, and the work will be rewarding.

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“SIX-PACK” GROWS UP

by with No Comment DucksSix-Pack of Ducks

The “baby” ducklings are now 9 weeks old, and all grown up!

Nine Weeks Old

We just have the six ducks now. We gave away the two remaining Golden Cascades. It just seemed easier to deal with feeding and caring for the six young’uns. When we took the six-pack out to the big pen with the big ducks, we had a partition up the middle of both the house and the pen, to keep them separate. Besides requiring different feed, we weren’t sure how the bigger ducks would treat the smaller ones. When we did put them together in the same yard one afternoon, they basically avoided each other. It probably wouldn’t have been a problem, but we really didn’t want to keep 8 ducks–6 will be plenty.

They now happily enjoy going outside of the pen to forage, and have learned to make quite a racket when feeding time comes. Blackie is definitely the quackiest. According to information I had read, I thought that the Cayuga ducks (Blackie) were supposed to be quite calm, but not this one! Whitey is beautiful and the most photogenic. Harley and Quinn, the Welsh Harlequins, are quite calm and steady–if I look closely, I can tell them apart. The runners, Cocoa and Fawn, are cute–I expected them to be taller, but perhaps they haven’t finished growing. It’s nice having different colors, shapes and sizes, after previously getting ducks of the same breed.

In the past we have added lighting to the duck house in an attempt to get them to lay eggs as early as possible, but this time we don’t plan to add the lighting: we will let nature take its course and take the eggs when we get them. I expect to see eggs sometime around February, when the ducks are fully mature, spring is coming and they’re ready to lay.

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THE NORTH 20 FENCE

by with No Comment CrittersMountain Gaitway

Finally! After several weeks of really hard work, the north 20 acres are now fenced. We turned the horses out into their new pasture last Thursday and they are loving it.

Having this much pasture (about 35 acres for the 3 horses) is going to save us a bunch of money on hay. And, it is such a pleasure to see the horses out in the wide open spaces living more like they were created to live.

You can see some fall color in the Aspens.

 

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NEW DUCKLINGS COMING

by with No Comment DucksGolden CascadesSix-Pack of Ducks

It’s been a long time since the last duck update. We now have just two of the Golden Cascades, Gertrude and Spot.

After dealing with the prolapsed oviduct issues with Bess, then with Gertrude and Ellie May, we decided to remove Wily, our drake, from the flock in April. We weren’t sure we wanted to continue this breed, if the problems we’d had may be inherent with the breed. (Although, I wrote to Dave Holderread about these problems with 3 out of 4 of my ducks, and he had not heard of these problems with other Golden Cascades.) At any rate, whether Wily was causing these issues with his overactivity or not, it just seemed unnecessary to keep him. So, after separating him from the girls for a couple of weeks, off to the Wolf Sanctuary he went.

In May, Ellie’s prolapsed oviduct was so bad we had to let her go (another trip to the Wolf Sanctuary). Gertrude continued to have some prolapse issues (see previous posts), but continued to consistently lay eggs. Eventually the prolapse appeared all healed. She and Spot both continue to lay eggs faithfully, although Spot’s eggshells are soft and often punctured or crushed by the time I pick them up. Since Ellie left, they’ve both gotten awfully crabby! They quack and complain any time we go near them, hunker down and ruffle their feathers. They just don’t seem happy, and neither are we.

We decided to get some new ducklings, and at this time aren’t sure whether we will keep Gertrude and Spot. I will make that decision when they molt and take their yearly break–as long as they continue to lay I will keep them.

Chocolate Runner – Metzer Farms

On Wednesday, August 3, our shipment should arrive with the following 6 ducklings: 2 Welsh Harlequins, 1 Cayuga, 1 White Layer, 1 Chocolate Runner, 1 Fawn & White Runner.  We’re getting them from Metzer Farms this time. They add a heat pack to the shipping container to allow for a smaller minimum order to be sent safely. These ducklings will all be females, so we won’t need to deal with extra ducks or butchering the drakes. We had Welsh Harlequins before and were happy with them, and wanted to try some runner ducks as well as a variety of shapes and colors. Hopefully these will be fun!

I already have names picked out: Harley & Quinn, Blackie, Whitey, Cocoa, and Fawn. Go figure.

 

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TWO YEARS LATER

by with No Comment Mountain Gaitway

This photo, taken this morning, is what the property looks like now, just 2 years after we bought the property. We have really enjoyed our home and property, and are still amazed that we live HERE!

It’s been nice to “take it easy” a bit, and not feel so pressured to work on the house. We still have a lot of little things to do, but the major part of the work is behind us. We’ve had some visitors come enjoy the guest house (the RV), and feel like we know more people here in Guffey than we ever did in Wellington. We’ve enjoyed riding the horses with new friends as well as work with training, and yesterday we took time out to ride to the top of Black Mountain, which overlooks our house. It’s nice to be able to take off and ride, which we didn’t do much at all last year.

Last week Tim completed the first phase of fencing the property. The “South 20” is now fenced and the horses are enjoying much more area to roam and graze. Eventually we will get the north side fenced as well, and will be able to alternate pastures or let them roam the full 40, with the exception of the area around the house.

This photo looks south from the same hill I stood on to take the view in the previous photo. We only wish we could see through the hill to see the horses when they’re on the other side!

The inside of the house is mostly done, and entirely live-able. This panorama looks south, over the living area & tv room to the view out the big picture windows.

This panorama shows the back half of the house, including the kitchen and bedroom.

The kitchen is still in its temporary state, with a make-shift counter and temporary shelves & cabinet. Tim will be building cabinetry in the fall & winter, but until then it is completely functional. Our plans for the bedroom area include custom-made desks and a murphy bed that will become a sofa when not in use as a bed. The bathroom and utility room are behind the kitchen wall.

Goldie has been a great addition to the household. She enjoys being out on the deck, watches everything, and alerts us when anything strange enters the picture, like these deer. She’s learned to heel nicely, has learned to stay near us when off-leash on the property, and to come when called. It’s nice to see her run and play like a dog should! She loves to play ball, and has learned to get the ball out of the container where it’s kept. On hotter days she stays quietly in her shady pen below the deck and when we leave home she can stay there out of the rain.

All in all, we’re happy and healthy and glad to be here.

Goldie

THE RESULTS ARE IN!

by with No Comment CrittersMountain Gaitway

Goldie’s DNA results are in! She is……..drumroll…………
50% German Shepherd (to Tim’s delight)
25% Boxer
12.5% American Staffordshire Terrier
12.5% American Bulldog (but “iffy” on this one, may be a mix)
Now that we know, we can see the German Shepherd  in her, and also the Boxer (her face and ears). Tim is delighted about the GSD, as he has always loved his German Shepherds. She sure is a cutie!

She has been a delight to have around. She has very few discipline problems and it has been fun to begin training her. She is amazingly calm for a puppy of 8 months, and overall is a pretty good girl. She sits nicely, “shakes” and is learning “down”. She “stays” for short periods of time and at short distances. She has never had an “accident” in the house. We are working on teaching her to heal, but that is a challenge. We’ve been searching out different training methods, and trying to pick the right one (or combination) for us and for Goldie. Every dog and every situation is different, and I don’t think there is a “one method fits all” approach.

In the evenings she has begun to entertain and exercise herself. Tim has put a gate across the open end of the deck so she can enjoy being outdoors and watch us when we are around the house. She entertains herself quite nicely with a couple of toys out there. She occasionally runs back and forth, back and forth, sometimes carrying a toy, sometimes not. It’s quite entertaining for us as well. This evening she appeared to be trying to catch snowflakes as they came down.

We’ve been calling her the “wonder dog”. Prior to receiving the DNA results, it was “I wonder what you are?” And of course, there’s “I wonder where you’ve been all your life. I wonder why you were in the shelter. I wonder why no one else took you before we showed up.” Whatever the answers, she certainly is a “wonder dog” for us and we’re glad to have found her.

 

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ALL THAT GLITTERS…IS GOLDIE!

by with No Comment CrittersMountain Gaitway
“Chantilly” at the shelter

For a while, we’ve been wanting to fill out our menagerie with a dog. I (Tim) have always had dogs around, while Laurie’s family was a cat family. We’ve been watching “Craigslist” as well as checking out animal shelters. Laurie spotted a 7-month old puppy at the Humane Society that peaked our interest. We went to see her and it was a perfect match! “Chantilly” had just come into the shelter and they don’t let them out until they are spayed. So, we had to go back the next evening after her surgery to pick her up. That worked out well, as we had to make some preparations at home before we were ready for her. Of course, one of the vital preparations was to pick out a name. We decided on “Goldie”.

I made a crate for her to stay in the house to aid in housebreaking (if necessary). As you can see, the crate didn’t phase her. She was too “pooped out” from the surgery.

When we picked her up, she was still under the influence of the anesthesia. She tried her best to look around while driving home, but most of the way she just laid down and snoozed. She has to wear a cone most of the time for about a week, to keep her from licking on her stitches. When Goldie got more alert, we let her roam the house and get used to her new home.

It turns out we didn’t need the crate at all, as Goldie is very good at “holding it” and hasn’t had a single accident in the house (yet).

We got a nice, soft pad for her to lay on. Of course, we also got her a few “chew toy” selections. She really likes the rope (a whopping $2 investment). Here, she took her rope to bed with her.

We’re taking her on walks, introducing her to the horses and ducks, etc. She has been a great addition to the family and we look forward to many years of companionship.

 

We were told that she is a German Shepherd/Lab mix. However, we’re not convinced of that. We’re splurging ($70) for a DNA test to see what she really is. We’ll let you know when the results are in.