More Birds

Are you tired hearing about birds yet?  Since we were getting three day old baby ducks it was easy for us to decide to get ready to lay hens (4 months old) as opposed to newly hatched.  We still have three chickens from our first 'batch', which meant we needed to introduce the new birds to the old ones.  To help transition everyone and avoid a problem with bullying we were given advice on how to fool them all.
First the new birds were kept in their box, the original 3 girls were put into their own box.  The coop was empty.  Then, under the cover of darkness we quietly and quickly put them all back into the coop.  It felt a little bit like a secret undercover mission.  All six of us, in silence passing birds around.
Doing this meant they were all tricked into thinking that no one was new, that they were all part of the same flock.  So far so good.  The new birds are a little slow, they haven't caught on to everything yet.  Like we mean food, so to come running when we are near.  Or that the dog is going to chase them so stay away.  But generally its all going smoothly. So know we are up to 13 chickens.  

Maple Syrup

I love producing our own Maple Syrup.  There is something so satisfying about going through such a long process; tapping, gathering, boiling off in two stages, preserving, for something so incredibly yummy.  This year I really didn't do much except act as cheerleader, encouraging everyone else to keep at it.  This year Chris made candy and maple sugar.  Wow was that good.  In total it was ten litres of liquid gold. At the rate it gets eaten I don't know if it will get us through the year.

A Beautiful Owl

A few weeks ago we were thrilled to be treated to having an owl sitting on the post close to our house.   A few days later I noticed something under the big pine tree at the side of the house. Assuming it was an item of clothing left behind by the kids I asked them to get it while they were playing.  Minutes later they were all rushing in the house,  talking over each other.  It was not clothing, but a dead owl.  The bird was fully intact, it hadn't been attacked by anything as there was no marks or damage.  We were in awe of this amazing bird and the opportunity to see it up close.  We were also very sad.  To have this majestic, powerful bird laying lifeless in our hands.
We happened to be heading to the Muskoka Wildlife Centre a few days later which seemed like a perfect opportunity to talk to someone about the bird.  The naturalist at the Centre confirmed our guess that this was a Barred Owl, most likely an old one.  She showed us the breast bone and how there was very little meat on this one, indicating that it was most likely sick and undernourished.  The bird might have had poor eye sight due to age making it difficult to hunt.  It was at the bottom of the tree, making it very likely that it died and fell out.  We were shown how to take the feathers out, for keepsakes.
 The centre is an educational facility, with a component of travelling around to grounds teaching them about local animals and conservation.  After some consulting we decided to leave the bird with them, where they will bury it in their compost heap.  Here the bugs will clean off the bones of the bird, leaving them with a fabulous skeleton for teaching.  We made arrangements to head back next year to see have the bones look like.

First of the Season

It doesn't take more than a little sunshine for the call of the water to win them over! All four of them planned to go in after dinner and all four of them dove under!  Far braver then I. It wasn't the chilling temps of the water that brought them home, but the black flies.  Despite the bugs everyone is thrilled to have beach season upon us. Yay!

Little one

Last summer he would often fall asleep late in the afternoon from exhaustion, keeping up with the big kids is hard work.  It is rare that he falls asleep before bedtime despite how active his day is, he has passed over that hump.  Tonight, was the exception.  Dadda's warm arms wrapped around him was enough for him to give into sleep.  Those glimpses of being little are fading, I will take them whenever I can. 

Discoveries along the Path

Scat is very exciting around here.  Our hike at Algonquin Park had us jumping for joy at all the animals signs to follow.  Moose must have been in abundance considering all their markings.  

Stars of the Show

Needless to say the duck love continues.  The video camera is out and movies are being made.  Today it was interviewing the ducks, among other questions there was "How did you remain calm when you realized you were going to have to break yourself out of the egg?"


And after much consideration, negotiating and debate the ducks have names.  The one with more black around it's neck and who splashes a lot in the water is named Puck (Midsummer Night's Dream is being reread).  The one with more yellow then black is officially named Apollo after the sun god, however most people are choosing Sunny as its nickname.  

And More!

Spare moments are used for duck snuggles.  They stop cheeping really loudly when you hold them close.  Their down is so soft and their little wings are so tiny.  Uber cute!  They are still nameless...but there are lots of ideas floating around- Lily, Pan, Eddie, Tiny, Flap, Splash, Big Foot, Maple, .....it's getting interesting!

Lakeside

The weather is warm, the bugs aren't here yet and there is no where else we would rather be.

New Friends

Shai likes to have the ducks follow him around the house.  When he puts them down the two will run behind him wherever he goes, their little webbed feet padding along on the floor.  They do have little claws at the ends of their 'toes' which can be a little scratchy.  Socks on your hands apparently work!

Ducks! We have Ducks!

The first time we went to the farm store to find out about having chickens we learned about the huge variety of birds you could order.  Varieties of chickens, turkeys, ducks, peacocks, and geese oh my! Just having the option of raising ducklings was enough to plant the seed.  Now that the new chickens have settled in, we were ready for our two day old Rouen ducks.  Wow are they ever cute. CUTE! They are so soft, tiny and incredibly cute.  They are yellow and black at the moment, covered in down.  When they are full grown they will look very similar to Mallards.
We don't really know much about raising ducks.  As is our way, we are just learning as we go along.  They ducks will stay in an aquarium as until they get too large under a heat lamp.  Amazingly baby ducks don't know how to swim right away, so we need to ease them into shallow water and build up their swimming strength.  Its a good thing they loved being held close because as you can imagine they are getting lots of love!
It's another wonderful adventure having ducks.  

Happy Mother`s Day

We had a beautiful day, the kind of day that reminds me of all the reasons I am thankful to be a mama. A mama to four pretty great kids.  The sun shone while we hiked on a trail we enjoy, climbing rocks, picnic by the lake, chasing the dog, taking in the view. 

Reading Challenge

We did it! We met and exceeded our goal.  Everyone read feverishly, soaking up every book they could.  We got together for a celebration with friends for themed snacks (ie. little itty bitty cookies for the Littles).  It was a challenge my kids loved.  Books on their shelves that hadn't been read were taken out, recommendations were being shared and new styles of books were read.  I hope this becomes a yearly event. 

Art

An Inukshuk, a family tree and a pendent. He combined lemon juice and olive oil to make his own polish, bringing out the colour in each of the pieces.  

Welcome Luke

As soon as we knew we were going to my parents to celebrate birthdays we blocked a chunk of time to meet  a special new friend.  It goes without saying we fell in love instantly.  A perfect new addition into a family who holds a special place in our hearts.  The cuddle time was heaven.  

Bowling Bash

To celebrate Elias and Grammy's birthdays we decided to go bowling and out to dinner to celebrate.  It was a great choice of activities, all ages enjoying some friendly competition.  It turns out we all had our own 'style'.  There was the leg slide, the power house, the wobble, the one pin standing, the ramp but I think we could agree without a doubt that the most memorable and unique was the stomp.  Incredibly my sis could throw the ball and as soon as it left her hand she would extend her leg as though she was going to do the classic leg slide but at the last minute stomp it hard on the ground instead.  Impressive.  Ben even got an action shot!
Needless to say to was fun. 

Lots of love

Happy Birthday!