WISHING YOU ALL A VERY HAPPY NEW YEAR

As the old saying goes, this was the worst and the best Christmas for us.

The weather was so nice Christmas Eve day that I had the door leading to the sun deck open and also the gate off the deck open.
The hounds were coming and going and I wasn't paying a whole lot of attention to them.
Around 1 30 I was giving each of the dogs a cookie. Ben, Sam and Princess only have to hear the lid of the cookie bucket and they come flying from where ever they are.
Bridgett, being deaf would miss out if I didn't take the cookie to her.
When it was only Ben and Sam that came to get a cookie I thought at first that Princess must be sleeping in the office.
I called her and checked every room. She wasn't in the house so I called out side. Nothing. I went out looking for her first on the property then out and about.
After about an hour I stopped in at a neighbors to see if she had seen her. My neighbor said a fellow had shown up at her door about an hour before with "A Tall Skinny Light Brown Dog" on a rope asking if it was her dog.
I was horrified to think someone had my dog on a rope, relieved that she at least hadn't been hit by a car and more than a bit cross that my neighbor didn't realize it was one of my greyhounds!
I called the local Greyhound rep who came over right away to help look for her. Sharon, her husband and their daughter also came to help search as well as my daughter and son-in-law and my two grandsons.
We were out until dark with no luck.
Christmas morning Rob was out first thing to see if she was around.
I ended up unwell and in bed Christmas afternoon even though I was supposed to be making the Christmas dinner. I know it was just stress over Princess being missing.
The day ended and family were ready to leave. Colin, (7 year old grandson) was first to go to the door.
I was still in bed. I heard him saying "PRINCESS, ITS PRINCESS PRINCESS IS HOME"

I don't know who was happiest. Us or Princess. She didn't know who to go to first. She was so excited to be home and of course we were all trying to get to her to hug and pet her.

She had been tied up somewhere because part of a rope was still attached to her collar. She had chewed through it to make her escape and find her way home.
She had been missing for about 32 hours.
Our granddaughter said she is our Christmas Miracle. I do believe she is right.

Christmas Eve.
We had snow Saturday morning and rain Saturday afternoon and Sunday.
The snow has been washed away so no white Christmas for us this year.

I ended up taken both of my pygmy goats to the vet on Saturday to have them put down. Very sad journey but necessary as they were both in pain from arthritis.

I was keeping the two peafowl that I got a week ago locked in the chicken house. It is recommended keeping them in for at least a month before letting them free range. I guess I didn't slide the latch far enough and one of the goats opened the door.
This morning only one peafowl was in the yard. It was calling frantically for its partner who wasn't answering.
I was convinced the missing one had gotten onto the highway and was probably dead.
The remaining one started to wander into a bushy area still calling to its partner. I followed in the hope I would be able to herd it back and try to get it back into the chicken house.
I am not sure how I even spotted the missing bird, I was amazed at how far up a tree it was.
I can only hope they will both stay close by and return when they get hungry.

PS. After posting this page I checked out side and was so happy to see both peafowl sat on the fence together!

Its almost Christmas.
I love the true meaning of Christmas but really don't like all the fuss, expense and rushing around that always seems to be part of the preparation for one day of the year.

Looked out the window this morning to see everything white with snow again. So beautiful.

Princess is finally free of the splint on her leg and is getting along pretty good. She has a slight limp that I am not sure will ever go away. The plate in her leg will stay in as long as it causes her no problems.
She is still driving me around the bend with her antics but Rob really wants to keep her, so, as well as working on training her I also have to train myself to put things out of her reach if I don't want it chewed or otherwise removed by her!

This afternoon I am taking my lovely goat Becky to the vet. Her arthritis has become so bad she is probably in pain all the time. I have been putting it off for far too long and know its just not fair to her.
Our other goat Molly is not in as bad a shape as Becky but she also is suffering with arthritis and I told the vet that I will probably bring her to him as well.

Wishing you all a wonderful Christmas with joy and happiness in the New Year.

*Peafowl:
Peacock: male peafowl
Peahen: female peafowl

I have thought about getting *peafowl for a while but knowing they are fairly good at flying, I didn't want to chance they would get onto the highway and either get hit or be the cause of an accident.

My son phoned me a couple of nights ago to tell me there was a lady living locally that was looking for homes for some of her peafowl.
I told him my reasons for not getting them, he had already called the woman and talked to her about our location being close to the highway. She told him peafowl are not dumb birds, they would fly into trees before flying onto the open space of a highway.

Of course I gave her a call and made plans to go visit her and see the peafowl.
She has the most fantastic set up. She has 10 fully fenced acres.
Not only are there lots of peafowl wondering around, she also has ducks, geese, chickens and swans, as well as horses, goats and would you believe a wallaby.

We hit it off right away and she has invited me to go back on Monday to show me around a bit more.

I was admiring the art work on her office wall and found out she is a photographer and it was all her own work.
We talked about the greyhounds and she donated one of her pictures as a fund raiser for our next auction. I accepted it greatfully. It is of one of her swans.

After a long visit it was decided that when I go back on Monday I will help her sort through boxes of her art and try to get it better organized.

I think I have met a new friend, at least I hope so because we got along so well for a first meeting I think it will only get better.

Oh yes, I came away with two peafowl.

The couch was taken by Ben and Princess









So Sam tried to get comfy in the chair!

Look how pretty and innocent Princess is looking. She has a fresh pink bandage on her leg that so far she hasn't tried to chew off.

I was so mad at her the other day that I email the Greyhound league and told them to find another foster home for her.
She has been forgiven for chewing 4 pair of shoes (All mine) the side of my spinning wheel, the arm of the couch along with many other things.
She went too far a couple of days ago when she took a gift off of the kitchen counter and pulled it apart.

I belong to the local Spinners and Weavers Guild. It is our Christmas pot luck dinner this evening and we are to take a home made gift for the gift exchange.
I spin, that is it, I don't knit or crochet or weave or do any crafts with my spun yarn. I had no clue what to take for a gift.
I thought of asking my daughter to bake some home made cookies that I could put on a festive plate and pass that off as something home made.
Friend Sharon, told me just what she thought of that ideal and said it had to be something to do with spinning.
OK, What?
Smarty pants Sharon suggested putting a picture of My Goat, Hey Babe on a gift bag with some of his fleece inside.
How simple and perfect is that!
I am the only one of our group who has angora goats so of course any of them will be thrilled to have some of his fiber to spin.
I thought I has sent all the fiber to the mill but after a search I found some that I have already carded ready for spinning. I also found a small skien of spun mohair.

That is what Princess took off of the counter.
As I said, At the time It was the last straw!

Any how. I was able to re card the fiber and untangle the yarn and re spin and put it back into a skien.
Again she has been forgiven, I also email the league back and told them I will continue being her foster mum.

Haslam Creek runs through the bottom of our property.
In the summer it is a fantastic place for kids and adults to come and cool down.
I spend a lot of time with my grandsons, nieces, nephew friends and even dogs and goats at the creek during the warmer days.



In the fall the salmon come up the creek to spawn so we get eagles, gulls and even bears cruising by looking for a fast dinner.






The winter changes the slow melody of the summer creek into a
spectacular but dangerous symphony of motion.

Our back yard has gone from looking like a neglected yard, (last post) to a Winter wonderland.
It is snowing very heavily at the moment and I love it.
I took a few pictures to show you.