Saturday stuff

I'm off to Greece tomorrow. Gordon will be here, minding the fort. Here are some animal pics for your weekend viewing pleasure...

Eight sleepy pigs who are looking forward to some warmer weather!

George, post bath.

Unlike Lenny, he had his bath outside, without the benefit of blow-drying (unlike his elderly flock-mate, Lenny!)

Meanwhile, Honey thought it would be a good idea to get up on the roof...

...feel free to take down the Christmas lights while you're up there, Honey!

She jumped up from the deck railing!

She thought about going to the higher roof but I think my yelling stopped her!

We really need to take down that dish. And paint that brown metal black!

And Julius (and Emily!) popped out for some fresh air...

Poor Julius, who is 15 now (or possibly older!) lost his eyesight completely in December.

Nonetheless, he has adapted extremely well! But he's not allowed outside unless I'm right there with him.

Emerson cam over to hang with the old guy for a bit.

Hope you all have a great weekend! I will check in from Greece.

Spring, so elusive...

So I had to give my bees some fondant yesterday, to give them a little sugar to keep 'em going until the weather improves and there is something (pussywillow pollen, tree sap) out there for them to collect. 

I had to snowshoe out to my field hives, but once I got there, I found some very busy bees!

This gal came to check me out. If you look closely, you can see her little red tongue.

This gal fell in the snow and didn't make it back out.

So out of 11 hives, I lost 2 this winter, which isn't bad. I think the problem with both of them was that the colonies were a little too small going into winter, but I will do a post-mortem once the snow has melted some more and I can actually get the dead hives moved to the barn. The two in this picture are doing just great!

As you can, there is still lots of snow but it looks like the daytime temperatures are going to stay above freezing for the foreseeable future!

Who cares! I'm going to Greece on Sunday. :) But spare a thought for my poor husband, who is staying here!

Meanwhile...

Can you tell I have six barn cats?

Time for a car wash! 

And...

...the sun was so warm yesterday, the pigs actually ventured outside for the first time in I don't know how long!

Jersey has grown quite a bit!

She was sitting in manure, enjoying the sun! She is clearly a different breed from the other pigs, but I don't know what kind.It may not be clear from these photos but her snot SNOUT (thanks to my dear friend for pointing out that typo!!) is a lot longer and pointier than the other pigs' schnozzolas.

I am going to get the vet here soon. They all need hoof trims, vaccines and deworming.

I think they're pleased it has finally warmed up a bit!

Friday night selfies

But before the selfies, first we have the amazing PEEKABOO DORK DOG!

Dum de dum de dum....

PEEKABOO!!!

That thing hanging off his just is a benign pendulous wart thing. We never bothered having it removed because we honestly figured Tristan wasn't going to live long enough for it to become a problem. Back in August 2013 (!!!) he has his spleen and an enormous hemangiosarcoma removed from his abdomen. We all thought we'd be lucky if he lasted three months. And yet, here he is! He's having quite a bit of trouble with his arthritis and is on several medications, but he hasn't lost his zest for life yet. We take it one day at a time with this old guy. He is 12-1/2 years old now.

Still a cutie!

And he still makes an excellent pillow!

Have a great weekend!

PS: Remember how Honey used to be a barn cat?

Ha!

My husband, so funny...

So when I walked into our bedroom last night, I found this...

Flat Nat!

My husband is hilarious. And that cow is Denise. He gave her to me after my hysterectomy nine years ago. I named her after our vet at the time, Dennis. She is the perfect size to put behind my neck when I'm reading in bed.

I like how Naomi is sleeping where she normally sleeps on my body when I'm in bed!! And Emerson and Honey are just spectating. Speaking of Emerson and Honey...

They just LOVE each other. Before this pic was taken, they were busy grooming each other.

And here's a pic of our farm now and in the 1940s...

I think I've posted the old farm pic before but it's interesting to see them side by side. The house, barn and granary are all still here. The wooden silo and trees along the laneway are gone, and the garage is new!

Speaking of Greeks...

This is Honey, our failed barn cat. She hails from Syros, Greece, along with her sisters Buttercup and Daisy. Honey is a big fan of mittens, gloves, socks, and heat vents.

Here she is having pushed my mitt dryer right off the vent.

And here she is having her way with my mitten. She often steals them (and socks and gloves) and drags them around the house!

She looks quite pleased with herself, don't you think?

I have to say, she is the sweetest cat ever! If you'd like a Syros cat of your own, read my last post. I'll have some up for adoption in April!

Would you like a lovely Greek cat... or two?

So here's the scoop. In two weeks, I am flying to Greece to visit my friends Joan and Richard on the beautiful island they live on. And I'm bringing back these four...

Archie, Agnes, Annuk and Amber!

(Yes, poor Gordon has to stay here and look after our crew.)

Like our current trio of  Greek kitties, these four were left to die in a dumpster. But Joan rescued them and had them vaccinated and neutered. She already has many cats in her rescue, and was going to have to send these four back to the wild to take their chances, and was understandably upset about that.

I think I have posted about these four before. Joan thought they were pretty special.

She ells their story here.

So I told Joan that if we could get them to Canada, I would foster them and find them adoptive homes.

Initially Joan's husband was going to bring the cats over himself and amazingly, Joan has already fundraised quite a sum of money to contribute to their flight!

But then Joan had a fall and is now in the midst of a lengthy recuperation. So she and her husband wondered if I might come to Greece to get the cats and fly back with them.

Twist my arm! :) I've been living on the Arctic Tundra here since November!

So I'm leaving in two weeks to spend  ten days on a Greek island with my very favourite crazy cat lady, her husband, and their beautiful felines. I will give Joan a hand with the care of her rescue cats while I'm there, then bring home this quartet in the heated cargo hold of a Lufthansa jet (which is how my trio travelled.) It's all booked.

So my next step will be to find homes for them all!

This is Amber. She is the shy one, but so lovely!

Now, I am still volunteering with the Ontario SPCA and our local shelter, and still doing lots to help (and rescue!) animals locally, but I want to help these four as well. Joan does absolutely amazing work saving cats in Greece, where they are, for the most part, regarded as vermin and even poisoned like rats. This is not to say all Greek people do this, because there are some wonderful, caring people helping and adopting cats there. But it is much harder to find homes for cats in Greece, where times are tough for humans right now, never mind cats. And I wanted to help Joan by helping these cats. Plus our own Greek trio is absolutely amazing.

 Joan does a fantastic job of bringing up sociable, beautiful cats.

Aggie and Annuk. Sisters!

Amber again.

So if you are interested in adopting one of these beautiful felines, let me know! I am willing to transport them a certain distance by car. I'm an hour from either Ottawa or Montreal, and 30 minutes from the border crossing at Massena, NY.

They are fixed, vaccinated and microchipped.

 Agnes (Aggie)... love those toes!

Annuk

Let me know if you are interested in adopting one! And if you can't adopt a cat but would like to help out, Joan is selling these lovely cards on her Etsy site to raise money for these four, and the other cats in her rescue.

Buy the card here! And visit Joan's Facebook page, God's Little People, here.

(All photos in this post were taken by Joan!)

Please consider opening your heart and home to one of these beautiful Greek cats. You won't regret it. And please help spread the word!