Chocolate Chip--a Horse of a Different Color

DeeDee and Chipper

     We proudly announce the birth of Chocolate Chip (Chipper) the colt, born Friday, April 23 11:30 p.m. at Mountain Springs.

     

     Other than the birth of a grandchild, the arrival of a new baby animal at our house is a major cause for celebration.  We have closely watched our mare, DeeDee's behavior for the last two weeks, knowing the birth was near.  Every evening, Jack put her in the stable for the night.  Before bed, he would make a trip down to the barn to check on her.  Friday night about 10:30 he went down and stayed a long time.  In fact, I was in bed and debated whether I wanted to get up and check on things.  Fortunately I did.  As I stepped out on the porch, I could see Jack was down in the lower pasture on the four-wheeler.  Slowly, I watched the light he was carrying move slowly up the trail to the barn, stopping occasionally along the way. Since it was pitch dark, I wasn't sure what was going on. 

     When he go closer, he called to me to bring the towels and lights-- she was in labor!  I quickly dressed and gathered everything I needed (including the camera) and ran down to the stable. Though it was only a minute or two, little Chipper had already arrived!  It was close!  She had managed to get out of the corral and down to the lower pasture before her water broke!  Jack said, as he lead her up the hill to the barn, there was a time or two when she balked and he envisioned the baby  being born right there on the trail! 

     We watched in the stable for two hours as the baby struggled with those four long, awkward legs getting on his knees, then flopping (litterly) back on the soft straw of the stable.  Occassionally, DeeDee would encourage him by gently pulling at an ear or quietly neighing in his ear.  It was a memorable moment when I watched as she slowly, deliberately, breathed her breath into his nostrils to imprint her scent on her baby.  Something all mother animals do to assure her baby will always know who she is.  This is so apparent when you watch a pasture full of black cows with black babies--they can always find each other no matter how many other mothers and babies are in the crowd.

     After a while, he had all four legs working together, then he was hungry.  Again, it took him a few minutes to find just the right place to nurse.  Even with his mother's help, he made a few 'dry' attempts before his first meal.

     How fast animal babies develop!  Now, has no problem eating--other than when his mother 'nips' him for biting in a sensitive place!  And, his legs are working very well!  He runs and bucks around the corral kicking up his heels just for the joy of being alive!  When not sleeping or running, he is checking out everything within his reach--'tasting' everything from the rope tied to the gate to the stable door.  He will nuzzle us when we reach out to him, often 'nibbling' my jacket or whatever he can reach. 

     As with a grandchild, I will probably have a lot to say about our new baby.  Speaking of the grandchild, he is excited with the baby pictures we sent, and is insisting that his parents get him up here right away! We are encouraging this by sending more baby horse pictures!

Trust in the Lord and do good, dwell in the land and enjoy safe pastures,

Delight yourself in the Lord , and He will give you the desires of your heart.  Psalm 37:1-4

Bird News on the Mountain

Our first meeting with the Blue family 2004

Yesterday, I realized that I was spending a lot of my time observing the bird life from our porch.  After working hard to get things in shape around the yard and flower beds, taking a break is a good thing.  But, sitting on the porch in one of our new rockers can become habit forming and leads to procrastination! 

     I bought two new rocking chairs on impulse when shopping in Harrison last week.  The salesman assured me they would fit in the back of the Traverse (and they did, with some manuvering!) I had no idea how badly we 'needed' porch rocking chairs!  In years past, folding chairs worked fine.  No more!  The chairs are a magnet, and with the little table in between they make a perfect place for coffee in early morning, taking a break from yard work in mid-morning, eating lunch at noon, cooling down with a glass of iced tea mid-afternoon, and watching the sun go down at dusk.  Hey, we even make a late night visit to watch the stars and moon before bedtime!

   

Back to the 'bird world' on the mountain:

On morning in February as we were drinking our first cup of coffee in bed, we had a visit from the Blue Family.  I was glad to see Mrs. Blue clinging to the window screen, looking in--first at one window, then the other.  I thought we were in for another year of  'Life with the Blue Family'.  However, this was the only visit.  Soon after, we had the 'great-first-day-of-spring' snowfall (the most wonderful 'snowday ever'!)  We haven't seen them since!  We have other blues who have moved in, but they aren't the 'porch' variety, and have chosen the house at the end of the fence in the backyard. (see May and June 2009 blogs)  I think the little couple who set up housekeeping there are last year's youngsters.  Maybe it was one of the family members who got his/her photo made as he emerged from the box to try his wings.  They left a legacy, no doubt!

I'm not sure what happened to the little couple, (maybe old age and a nursing home in the sky).  But we will always remember the original 'Blue Family'.  They became a part of our family as we watched her move from window to window during the day, maybe curiously wanting to be a part of the human family who lives here. Then, we watched anxiously and counted the days as she sat on her eggs in the box while he sweetly sang to her from a nearby perch, bringing her nourishment (worms and bugs)  as needed.  They were a constant reminder of God's beautiful world.  

The window screens are cleaner this spring, as she had a bad habit of leaving her 'calling card' in the form of 'poop'!  But mornings are not the same without her early morning visit to the bedroom.

The martins are back in full force.  I really enjoy their chatter, especially when they 'scold' me for working in the garden too close to their house-in-the-air.

The hummers are slow arriving.  Don't know why.  The first ones got here around April 1, and we still have only 3 or 4 during the day.  Wonder if they stopped at the neighbors'.  They put up 4 feeders early.

The cute little finches who 'hang' around the finch sacks year 'round, are now a pretty, bright yellow and flit all over the yard picking up weed seeds.  Maybe it is their way of repaying us for feeding them all winter.

The Trumpeter swans at Boxley (3 of the 4) didn't leave for northern climes this spring.  They can be seen around the mill pond most of the time.  Obviously, they, too, 'Want to stay forever' in the Ozarks!

There are a pair of Canadian geese who fly over our house occassionally.  I believe they have set up residence in the pond across the road.  I'm not sure they are welcome guests!

The sparrows--too many!

And, we have discovered that if we get up early and sit in those rockers on the porch, we will hear the 'gobble-gobble' of turkeys echo across the mountains.

Twittering on the mountain is in force!

For everything comes from Him and exists by His power and is intended for His Glory.

                                       Romans 11:36

Visions Of Daffodils Dance In My Head

Bloodroot along the trail

     The catalogs started arriving in January--full of enticing pictures of flowers and vegetables found only in a gardener's  dreams.  At the time, it was easy to flip thru the pages hastily and lay it on the shelf for later.  That was because there was several inches of snow covering the yard, with promises of more to come.  We had a blanket of snow on our yard and surrounding pastures for the whole month of February.  After a brief respite, we had the record 12-14 inche snowfall come down in one day--the first day of Spring 2010!   One doesn't get too excited about tending the garden under those conditions! 

     Then-- the snow melted, and the daffodils popped up (none the worse for spending a few days under the snow), the grass turned green in the pastures almost over night, the yellow belles (forsythia to me) burst into balls of yellow sunshine, red tulips appeared in the bed by the fence, little spring flowers of blue, yellow, and purple (some call them weeds) jumped up (that's why the call them 'Johnny Jumpups) all over the backyard, wildflowers littered the trails to the waterfall, and the garden centers brought out the blooms in full force! 

     I know better than to succumb to temptation this early in the spring.  The first year we lived on the mountain, I fell under their spell, and planted too early.  Which meant I had to watch the weather report then run out in the yard at dark to cover the tender plants in hopes of saving them from having to spend the night freezing to death (literally!). My friend, Debbie, who has her own greenhouse business will not let me buy her plants until late April or early May.  She tells folks, she doesn't have enough extras to sell them twice!  Home Depot in Harrison should have learned this lesson well.  They brought out the blooms in March, only to have them nipped in the bud by a hard frost!  I hear they had to start all over with everything. 

     However, planting fever has attacked my system!  I am still turning my head as I drive by the garden centers and greenhouses that spring up by the side of the road in Harrison.  But---Jack is mowing the yard for the first time as I write, my neighbor is tempting me with pass-along-plants from her garden, and, I confess, I bought some pansies yesterday! 

     So--- sun is shinning, the hummers are here, I saw a butterfly or two seaching for a bloom, the honeybees are buzzing, the bluebirds are checking out their boxes, the purple martins have arrived in force as confirmed by their familiar chatter that fills the air, and the weatherman is singing songs of sunny weather (like, really, does he have anything to do with providing good weather?).

     Okay, I give up!  It's too late to turn back!  I can't stand it!  I'm going outside and  get my hands dirty!

Happy Gardening to all!

 

His righteousness will be like a garden in early spring,

with plants springing up everywhere.

                                                Isaiah 61:11 NLT