Welcome Comfort Farm

Latest Rescue.

This Boston Terrier with "cherry" eye and a corkscrew tail turned up at a rescue shelter recently. Guess who they called?  We named him "Big Head Todd". He might be crossed with something else, with his head seemingly too large for his body, which is perched on tall skinny legs. Bursting through the door with lightning speed, devouring two bowls of dog food and then upchucking both on the carpet was his first choice of business. Following that fiasco, he quickly and discretely number 2'd on the other carpet. He has made himself right at home and has already learned the dog doors. Not even close to being house trained, the doors are used purely for entertainment purposes only.  He is about two years old and was just neutered yesterday. Still feeling his hormones loud and clear, this is going to be a long week!

Noticing the mud on Jesse's truck, Michael wants to know when he can take driver's education. (How about never?) With warmer temperatures and some sun, our 13" of snow has nearly melted and one does not want to venture off pavement. Unless you are 14 and 19.

Puppy love. Or dog germs...Your call.

Jennifer made me delete the picture where Ruby had her tongue on her mouth. (My personal favorite.) Ruby seems to think puppy kisses can only be given on the lips. With lightning speed and before you can react, she jumps in your lap, crawls up to your chin and lays a big wet one on you. Then a few more.

I have gone to calling her "Ruby-Tube". She just looks like a tube. Her attitude is so bad though, I change her name to "Ruby-TUDE" quite often. For bad attiTUDE. She can't weigh more then 8 pounds and you need armored gloves to move her at times. Can't disturb her at night. Can't disturb her at all, for that matter. Everything has to be HER idea. But we love her. Crankiness and all!

Frosting fun!

An Easter family gathering here is not complete without sugar cookies to self decorate and homemade chocolate covered, creme filled eggs with your name on it to take home.  Jen takes after me, coating her entire cookie with as much frosting as is humanly possible.

Michael, Caylie and Derek's masterpieces.

Kristy and Jason are lightweights when it comes to sugar coatings!

The husband. Turns his bunny cookie sideways and makes a motorcycle. Of course he does!

Even Joel's mom gets in on the frosting action.  At 82 years young, she is proof positive that you are never too old for sugar coatings!

A new little bun.

Caylie came home to a surprise yesterday! Just the cutest little flop eared bunny you have ever seen. She named her Sophie. Sophie lives in  the chicken coop with the chickens I just gave to Jen. Tim fixed up an old shed into a coop and I promptly filled it with three hens and a rooster. Day one, the hens laid eggs in the rafters instead of the nest boxes and the rooster took off for greener pastures. We're hoping the hens figure out that nest boxes are for eggs and the rooster came back a day later. With 13" of snow on the ground overnight, he must have decided the coop wasn't such a bad place after all.
We spent over two hours digging out yesterday from an odd spring snow storm. I was really glad it was Saturday and had the husband to help. I can see why people have heart attacks over this stuff. The poor critters had just enjoyed a 50 degree something day, so taking us all a bit by surprise, no-one was very happy about winter's last hurrah! Well, let's hope this is the last hurrah!

A colorful day.

Easter just isn't Easter around here with out several dozen eggs to make potato salad, deviled eggs, 7 layer salad and to just eat. On an overcast "spring" day, these colors are sure to cheer. Followed by chocolate bunnies, I don't think we can go wrong!

It's maple suryp time!

With the sweet smell of boiling sap permeating the air, we stopped by the sugar shack to check on the progress of this year's haul. Mr. Heator was busy as usual, with this year being a very productive year. Union City's Rotary Club faithfully collects sap every year from the sugar Maples around town and boils it down into yummy bottles of real maple syrup. Blueberry pancakes and buttermilk waffles will certainly be on the menu for a while!

Well Good Morning!

Making an unusual appearance at our front door, the Guineafowl posed for an early morning portrait.  Originally hailing from Africa, these prehistoric looking birds are a delight to have. They make excellent  "watch dogs", screaming at the top of their lungs if something is amiss.  They eat lice, worms, spiders, ants, and Lyme Disease carrying ticks. Small frogs need to look out as well. They can fly clear to the top most reaches of the barn and just scream for fun too. They don't particularly like to get too close to people, so I was surprised they allowed their picture to be taken. Gunieafowl mate for life and raise several babies, called "keet" every year.

Mud time.

Spring thaw is well on it's way and the mud is pretty much an issue everywhere. Not that the ducks mind. Maybe it comes from living side by side with the pigs here, but these guys don't mind the mud at all. In fact they'll splash around in everyone else's dishes and make even more mud! The ducks pictured here are "Call" ducks, so named because hunters use them to call down other ducks. I like them because of their small size and large personalities. The females, who are the only ones to make noise, sound like they are laughing when they quack. When one starts, they all join in, and you can't help but laugh yourself.

Today is the third day in a row that we could do chores without a coat, head muffler and gloves and it is a welcome sign for warmer temps to come. It's amazing how good 45* feels after days on end in the 20's or worse. There is just something about that first inkling of spring that is rejuvenating. I love the seasons here in Michigan. Just about the time I tire of one, another rolls around and I look forward to the change and all the traditions the next season brings.

Along with that first inkling of spring comes the first traditional thing for me and that is the "list". Mine is pretty long this year, with barnyard repairs, exterior painting and fence fixes along with the usual to-do's like get the garden ready for tilling, de-worm critters and have the vet out for all the vaccination rounds.

It seems everyone has a "list", including the hens. First on their list is nesting down and making chicks! This gal below found a not so clean corner, actually, in the cat house (and yes, that is a kitty litter box) to set up her nest. She has discovered all the cat food she can eat, a heat lamp, fresh water within a few inches and a secure spot away from all things disturbing. She pecks at any cat that comes within reach and will not budge from her spot. I guess I'll add "buy another cat box" to my list!

Visitors!

Jennifer turned up today with two little charges who were very interested in the critters here at Welcome Comfort Farm. The critters were very interested in visitors as well. Spring brings out little people who are often loaded down with treats. Scout, our 30 plus year old (rescue ) pony, was happy to take apples slices from Rachel. She was immediately grossed out by the pony slobber that followed and moved on to the goats, but not before taking a ride. After seeing the slobber on his sister, big brother immediately moved on to the playground equipment. You can always tell those city kids!