In Memoriam: HSF Jaguar Moon

HSF Jaguar Moon  3/14/2012 - 6/11/2014

My heart is so heavy tonight.  My chest feels like it has a full ton of bricks sitting on top of it. There is a hole where my heart was.  And I am very, very angry.  This could have been prevented.  This did not have to happen.  I warned the neighbors about what could happen, but they kept telling me their dogs "just wanted to play."  I asked them to fix their fence where their two dogs kept getting out and onto my property.  They leaned a fence panel here and there or a piece of old tin roofing, nothing substantial.  The dogs found other places to get out, more panels, more tin leaning up against the fence.  "They just want to play!"  It is bad enough that as I walk down my driveway to the mailbox or mow my lawn, the dogs are constantly growling and barking at me from their side of the fence.  

Sometime last night after 3 am, after Ben got home from work and put the garbage out by the highway for pickup, the dogs got out once again and ransacked that same garbage, then got into Jagger's pasture, chased him, cornered him, and killed him.  They were just wanting to play.  They bit his nose off and tore off huge clumps of fiber from his neck.  They bit him on his stomach.  Then they left.  This morning they were on my back porch chasing Max, my outside cat..... again.

Now, I know that a lot of you are animal lovers. I am very much an animal lover.  A lot of you are most especially fond of dogs.  Some of you think that Pit Bulls get a bad rap.  I respect your opinion.  I do not agree entirely. These were Pit Bulls.  They were an incident waiting to happen.  They do not just want to play. They want to attack.  That is what they were bred to do.  Not all Pit Bulls act on this impulse, and they can make very good and sweet family dogs with the right people and training.  I understand this and I do believe this.  My son, Matt, and his girlfriend, Melissa, have a wonderful Pit Bull/Basenji mix that is so gentle and sweet. Stella is afraid of her own shadow.  She fascinates me, and I adore her.  

Here in East Texas, however, a great many people have Pit Bulls for the sake of Looking Tough.  The dogs are often inbred, and are not of good quality, and most are not trained to behave. This is a real shame.  This is why they have a Bad Reputation. The inbreeding and over-breeding leads to the more agressive characteristics being dominant. I say this from observation and from an intellectual standpoint.  I am very familiar with genetics, having bred llamas, purebred dogs, and purebred cats. It just makes sense.  

I have actually seen people selling Pit Bull puppies at Canton and in the Walmart parking lot proudly proclaiming how agressive the pups will be when they are grown. 

In my part of the world, adults and children get mauled by Pit Bulls, and most of the victims die, and any that do survive retain horribly disfiguring scars for the rest of their lives.  Some of the victims are members of the dog's own human family.  Dog fighting does go on around here.  I know this because arrests are made every now and then, and it is reported in the newspaper.

This is what being mauled by a pair of Pit Bulls looks like if you care to see:

This is what is left of Jagger.

This was the Arena.  You can see the trampled grass and mud, full of dog foot prints. Bite marks on his belly and clumps of his lovely fiber here and there on the ground.  

This is what is left of Jagger's nose.  I found it about 5 feet from his body.

Yes, I did call the Sheriff, and they sent out a Deputy Constable who cross-examined me as if I were a defendant on trial.  He said he would try to get "in contact" with the owner of the dogs.  He said he would write up an "incident report."  He didn't believe us when we showed him where the dogs get out under the fence because he thought they would need to dig out, even though Ben and I told him that we had seen with our own eyes how they came and went numerous times.  He asked me when I last saw Jagger alive ten different times, but my story didn't change.  He called this "just a dog incident."  I told him that next time it might be one of the neighborhood children.  

I also told him that I was planning to raise chickens and turkeys when I retire in two years.  That they, along with my garden, would be my main food source on my road toward sustainability once I am on limited financial means. How was I going to be able to do that with dogs that get out and "play" with my creatures? I didn't mention the paw prints I have seen in parts of my garden recently.  I could tell he didn't feel my pain. 

Several friends have told me what I need to do.  But, I am an animal lover.  I just want the dogs to be kept responsibly on their own property, and let me enjoy Life on HeartSong Farm without any more "dog incidents." 

I leave you with a photo of the first hour of Jagger's short life.

My beautiful spotted boy at 40 minutes old, drying in the sun.  In the next 15 minutes, he was on his feet and nursing.

He will be missed.

Hearts are very heavy tonight on HeartSong Farm.

Tour de Farm 2014

Spring continues to try to break into full swing, with a day and/or night here and there where it seems like Winter is having a hard time letting go.  My Bradford pears have all bloomed fully and the red buds are now taking their turn.  The ones on the east side of my house bloom several days ahead of the ones facing north, with the one on the northeast corner right in the middle.  I find this interesting, a micro climate easily seen, literally in my own front yard!

This is one of my Bradford pear trees in full bloom one day this week. 

Look how the pastures are greening up! This one is directly in front of 
my house, and was Smokin's pasture until last fall when he passed away.  

In a  week or so, I will move his son, Jagger, out of the backyard and
 into this pasture for the spring and summer.  The highway is in the distance.

This past week I was thinking that it is about time I show you around HeartSong Farm.  So, let the tour begin.......!

This is not the front door, but it is the door everyone uses for one!  It is on the west side, by the driveway. Many years ago, Ben built an arbor over this door for me and I planted a yellow Lady Banks rose on each side with the idea of keeping some of the sun and heat off that side of the house.  The roses evidently liked the job that they were assigned and now we have to prune them several times during the summer months just so we can go in and out the house and get in and out of our vehicles!  The difference they have made in my electric bill is very much appreciated, as are the beautiful yellow bunches of blossoms each spring. Speaking of which, they would normally have bloomed by early March......hmmmmm......but not this crazy year!

This is Max Steed, our guard feline who lives outside and doubles as our barn cat.
He is great at catching mice and snakes, but steers clear of the raccoon and possum!

Here we have Ben's "man cave" to the left, and to the right is where we
keep the hay bales and some of the outdoor tools and equipment.

This is the gate to the backyard from the driveway side of the house. 
As you can see, Jagger has been pastured here for the winter and has

done a really nice job of keeping down the grass and weeds for me.  

He will soon be moved out front to his own pasture so that I can use

part of the backyard for growing my vegetables.

This is the back pasture where Texanna resides.  At one time I had ten female llamas and their crias in this pasture, but all except Texanna are now gone and it is quite empty to look at sometimes.  I used to really enjoy sitting in my back porch swing and watch them graze and interact within the female herd.  The fox family lives way back up there in the back past the fence line, and I suspect that some wild hogs live up in that woods as well.  

Here we have my ramshackle barn...not nearly as old as it looks!  I trusted someone that I shouldn't have and paid them good money to build it for me.  The roof leaks terribly.  Nevertheless, it has worked well enough up til now, and maybe it will last until I don't need it any longer.  It is located to the east of the house, half in Texanna's pasture, and half in the front pasture where Armando and Moonshadow reside.

My llama weather vane on top of the questionable barn roof.
 I just absolutely LOVE it!  (The weather vane, not the roof.)

This is the front of my log home taken from Armando and Moonshadow's

pasture out front and to the east.  The house itself faces due north.

Okay, this is the Real Front Door!  There is a small porch and this is where the Eastern phoebe pair make their nests each year on the ceiling light fixture.  Ben built a pergola of sorts for me extending out from the porch, and now jasmine and a climbing white rose grow up and onto it.  That red bud to the right got mowed over by the same Ben at least four times before he finally remembered to mow around it!  It is a true testament to the power and determination of Nature....

This is the back of the house, taken from Texanna's pasture.  There is a nice long porch along most of it and a porch swing for sipping tea and relaxing.  I would really like to enlarge and screen it in one day.  It is the perfect place to catch a spring or summer breeze coming around the corner of the house from the northeast.  Couldn't live without my porch!

  

Sir Prize is now 15 years old.  He was my first baby llama (cria), and he is still 

an intact male and is pastured away from the other males as he would fight 

with them over Texanna, whether they could breed with her or not.

Texanna is also 15 years old and was the first cria I got to 

see being born!  She is the only female I have left on the farm.  

These two guys are my geldings.  They are half-siblings born in December 1999, so they 

are 14 years old now.  They have lovely, soft and dense fleece which is a joy to spin!

And this is my baby, two year old Jaguar Moon, or Jagger for short.  Texanna is his mama and Smokin' Jaguar was his sire. Smokin' passed away last October, 2 weeks shy of his 19th birthday.  Jagger is the spitting image of his papa except that Smokin' was a silver gray with spots and Jagger is a cream with spots.  He is the only male that Smokin' ever put spots on, although I had numerous females born spotted. Knowing that I would not be breeding much longer with Smokin', I bred him to Texanna, who always had spotted females despite being a bay, and then for the next 11-1/2 months I prayed for a spotted male.  My prayers were answered with this sweet fella!  And his fiber is AWESOME!

From Sir Prize's front pasture, you can see the highway to the north.  Once the tree line fills out in May, the traffic noise is much less noticeable, for which I am grateful.  You can see the red clay that makes up most of my property in that reddish orange spot to the right in the photo.   That is part of a dust bowl where the llamas enjoy rolling around in during the spring and summer, fluffing up their fiber to help them stay cool and to keep the bugs from bothering them too much.  

This is The Brier Patch between the house and the highway.  I prefer to put downed limbs and cut branches, etc., in this pile or "snag" so that it can be a home to rabbits, mice, birds, insects, or whatever, rather than doing what has been suggested by some and simply burning it.  Brush and grass fires are just way too common around these parts.  And, I like to think I am providing a home and cover for those creatures who need it.

This is my trailer for transporting llamas.  It is made from a 4 x 8 utility trailer, a 4' gate and two 8' gates, all "welded" together with duct tape that gets re-furbished once a year.  I added some cattle panel a few years ago when I discovered I had a llama that thought jumping out would be a good idea!  This simple inexpensive trailer will hold four llamas for short distances, and I have trailered 2 adult and 2 young llamas nine hours from here to Arkansas twice!  I made it in 1999 and it still keeps working!

This is the Big Pile of Topsoil for making more veggie and flower beds this Spring. 

Looks like a lot work, doesn't it?  It will be well worth it come harvest time!  That
is the highway out front in the distance.

And look what I found in the front yard while I was walking around this week!
They are some kind of wild hyacinth.  They come back every year about a week 
after the johnny-jump-ups, and bring a smile to my face every time!

Just now, as I was typing here at my computer, a downy woodpecker landed in the Japanese magnolia tree outside the window! When I lived in Connecticut in the 90's, we had downy and hairy woodpeckers everywhere, but this is the first one I have seen since moving here!  Wow!!!

And, for me and Ben, the REALLY BIG news here this past week was that we witnessed "my" red-shouldered hawk, Token, reunite with his/her mate!  Last year was the first time we heard and saw them find each other in the sky above the farm.  This year, first we heard one cry and then the other as they called for each other high aloft. And then.....one landed in the clump of trees near Ben's man cave.....and the other landed in the clump of trees about 20 feet away!  We were watching from the parking pad by the side door, holding our breath and grinning from ear to ear!  What an event to be privileged to witness!  After about 5 minutes, they left, one after the other.....reunited for the spring and summer to raise their young and continue the cycle of life!  Love it!

Everything is as it should be.....

And I am very much ready for Spring here on HeartSong Farm!

Spring 2014 has sprung?

Spring 2014 is trying so hard to spring, but Old Mother Winter keeps showing back up at the door this year! It is like the weather is on a roller coaster and the jet stream is to blame, and something called the Arctic vortex.  This past weekend we had a glorious 70° Saturday again, giving me a chance to putter in my garden and walk around and take photos of some of the blooms showing up in my yard before I went inside and finished doing my taxes.

Forsythia, a favorite of mine, along the drive to the house

Pear tree blooms near front pasture.  Moonshadow and Armando curious as to what I am doing!

The temperature dropped throughout the day on Sunday until, by dark, we began to have rain, then freezing rain, and finally sleet.  I woke up Monday morning to 23° and ice in the water troughs.....again!  What is the deal?! About two hours north of my farm there was lots of ice and thousands lost power.  I feel sorry for all the birds, wildlife, and flowering bushes and trees that are as confused, if not more so, than we humans are with this shift in normal weather patterns that has been occurring all over the country, bringing severe cold weather with it.  Do the flora and fauna of the earth know about the Arctic vortex? 

In town, the red buds were already budding out, as were the salmon-colored quince bushes and perky yellow jonquils. Everything in town always blooms about one week ahead of those on my farm because I am a bit north and east of there. It is amazing to me what a difference those four miles can make.  It also makes it nice for me, who gets to see everything bloom, essentially, twice as long as those who live, work and stay in town.

I found these precious little johnny-jump-ups in the front yard.  Aren't they adorable?  Like tiny, elfin faces in the grass, smiling up at anyone who looks down!

Johnny-Jump-Ups

One morning this week, going to work and about 1 mile from the outskirts of town, I spotted a full grown coyote trotting out of the woods on the right hand side of the highway.  It paused and let me and the truck behind me pass, and then, in my rear view mirror, I watched him trot across the two lane road, duck under the fence, and continue into the pasture beyond.  What a privilege to see "him" or "her" going about their business!  Coyotes are a favorite of mine, and it is such a thrill for me to see one, "alive and in person".  I feel blessed to live where I can hear them yip-yipping and howling to each other long into the night.  I don't even have to have my windows open to hear them, they are that close, and loud!

A typical East Texas coyote

On my walkabout on Saturday, taking photos, I saw honey bees already out, busy and a-buzzing.  It worries me when I read that they are losing many of their habitats.  Our earth needs them so much to help propagate our fruits and vegetables, not to mention the yummy honey they produce all by themselves!  I try to do my part by planting things that will attract them, and I enjoy seeing them active on my farm.  One year, they built a huge nest and comb in a tree out front, away from the house, and we couldn't mow around that tree without getting attacked. Needless to say, we left them alone to do their thing until freezing winter temps sent them on their way. When they did not return for two years, I finally decided it was safe to "harvest" the bee's nest last fall, and I plan to hang it on the back porch this spring as a special "prize"!

Bee's nest plucked from tree out front

I noticed quite a few fire ant hills scattered around in the yard and in some of the pastures, but no activity going on above ground.  Maybe fire ants are smarter than all of us and know not to take some warm late February and early March days as a sign that Spring has sprung.  I am sure that fire ants serve some purpose in the Big Scheme of Things, but the next warm weekend that comes around, I am going to sprinkle some granules of poison on their hills to greet them whenever they do decide it is time to come out.  Surprise!  Take that, you mean-spirited little so-and-so's!

Fire ant hill in my back yard.....ARGHH!

I have finished my income taxes and have ordered my seeds for spring planting from Southern Seed Exchange. Now a trip to Lowe's is in order for purchasing lots of peat pots and some potting soil, several large plastic pots, and some fertilizer for my backyard lawn.  My Wildflower Fiber Retreat takes place this weekend, so I will have to wait until next week to get these needed items.  

I have decided that I will try growing my squash varieties in large pots this year and see if being up off the ground will keep the mildew and that yucky white mold off of them.  I will also go back to planting my eggplant (my favorite!) in large pots because I can put them under cover easier when and if there is an early frost.  I am really not one for container gardening of vegetables, but I have found that some types actually do better in a large pot, and for me, at least, eggplant is one of those.  I am interested to see how the squashes do in pots, and if it will help to extend their season for me.  I could eat squash, eggplant and tomatoes every single day!  One thing that pots do have going for them in my estimation ..... they are a whole lot easier to weed!

I will leave you with a photo of a dandelion and a "wish" from my yard to yours.  May Spring find her way soon.

Dandelion and "Wish"

Wishes come true, sometimes, at HeartSong Farm!

A Winter Wonderland

                HeartSong Farm barn and pastures covered in snow.

On Friday, Deep East Texas woke up to a brief Winter Wonderland and temps in the 20's again!  We were expecting it and it was a glorious sight, if only for a few hours.  The 1" deep carpet of white covered everything on HeartSong Farm, and although it began to melt by noon, remnants in the shady areas lasted through Saturday afternoon.  

The hoop greenhouses under a blanket of snow.

My winter garden stayed protected from the white stuff and chilly temperatures under the portable hoop houses quite nicely.  Those baby turnips are growing and will soon be ready to pull.  I know they appreciated the protection of the plastic that kept the snow off of their heads.

Texanna in Wonderland with snow on her back

The llamas with their thick coats did not mind the freezing cold temperatures and slept out in the pastures in the open as the snow fell overnight.  Texanna still wore a light "robe" of snow across her backside when I went out to take some photos.  Her only concern at the time was whether or not I had brought the feed bucket with me. Jagger had never seen snow before and I am sure he was mystified by the sight of the white cold stuff covering the ground around him.  He, too, wondered where I was hiding the feed bucket.

Jagger 's first snowfall, January 2014

The bird feeder was bustling with activity from the moment the sun rose.  I counted at least 10 different varieties there all at the same time, and the seed supply was dwindling at a rapid pace.  I must say that they all behaved themselves quite well under the circumstances. Food means warmth to our feathered friends, of course, and I made sure to replenish the seeds at mid morning and again late afternoon.

Male cardinal in tree near the feeder on a snowy day, January 2014.

Besides the cardinals, there were pine siskins, purple finches, gold finches, chipping sparrows, starlings, blackbirds, cowbirds, chickadees, titmice, house wrens, mourning doves, and Inca doves in the mix. There was also a larger sparrow type that I haven't yet identified.

A pair of blue birds landed on the fence mid-morning near the barn when my camera was not handy. The bluebirds came back to HeartSong Farm on January 14th. They will decide on a house by February 15th, and begin nest-building and egg-laying soon thereafter. It is always a welcome sight to see them. Over the years, several pair have built nests in the gourds or houses I have on my back porch. I could sit in my porch swing and watch them come and go only slightly cautious of my being there. I hope they choose a home on or close to the porch again this year. My daddy built several houses for me and they are scattered on fence posts around the farm.

Bluebirds nested in this gourd on the back porch last year and had a bit of fun with decorating!

There were robins flocking in my front yard on January 2 this year, which is about two weeks early for them. I am not sure where they winter, but apparently they had had enough of the weather there and decided to come early to East Texas this year. They never stay long here; only a week or two and then they are off again. Personally, I wish they would take these cowbirds, starlings and blackbirds with them when they go! I'm just saying..... 

The weather has certainly made the headlines this winter, hasn't it? It has been bad in the southern hemisphere, also, where it is summer to our winter. I wonder if it has been enough to change the minds of some of the non-believers when it comes to Global Warming, or at least make them consider the possibility of a climate change? I would like to think so, but I am not holding my breath on that one.

The climate has certainly been interesting this week here on HeartSong Farm!

A winter garden

Oh, the sun is just beautiful again this weekend and I have been outside enjoying it as much as possible.  My first morning cuppa joe was sipped on the back porch in my swing.  It is on the southeast side of my home and so as I warmed up on the inside, I also warmed up on the outside as the sun rose to greet me.  Jagger, who is spending the winter in the backyard, was curious as usual.  He finds humans interesting.  Llamas are naturally curious, much like cats, and he is no exception to that rule.  He looked at me, looked at the swing from different angles, looked at the coffee cup in my hands with the steam rising, and then looked at me and tilted his head!  All at a distance of perhaps three feet.  I held out my hand, down-turned, to him and he took a step closer, but not onto the concrete porch.  He sniffed the top of my empty hand and I turned it palm up. He sniffed my palm, then looked back up at me as if to say:  "Why is it empty?  Where is my treat?!  I really would like a treat!" 

Jagger's sweet face, asking for a treat

I assured him I would get him a treat after I finished my coffee and he blinked his lovely eyes, looked once more at my hand and wandered off to watch the birds at the feeder.  He got his treat in a little bit and then I came back into the house for another cup of coffee and to check email and to read a chapter in my current Jack Whyte book in the Camulod Chronicles series.  I have made it almost through the 5th book, The Fort At River's Bend.  I finished my third cup and got to a stopping place and it was time to make a trip to my winter garden and see what might need picking.

I have been able to take the plastic sheeting off of the portable greenhouse hoops in the beds the last two weeks as the temps have been mostly between 34 and 60 degrees F.  Folding the plastic sheeting has been difficult and I have not done a very good job of it....in fact, I would say that I just wadded it all up until I can get it all dry and have another pair of hands to help me.  I am talking about you, Ben!

Portable Hoop Greenhouse in position

Framework of the PVC for the Portable Hoop Greenhouse

These hoop houses were so easy and inexpensive to build quickly using 1/2" PVC pipe and 6 ml plastic sheeting.  My son, Ben, and I put two of them together one Saturday in December in about two hours as the wind picked up, the temperature dropped, and the rain/sleet began to fall in the first of many strong and frigid cold fronts that have passed through here this winter. Nothing like what other parts of the country have experienced, of course, but pretty darned miserable for those of us here in East Texas.  And for me, with this being my first winter garden, I thought I had another week to get these built, but it was not to be!  We were able to get everything under cover, though, in a short time and before we were totally frozen to the bone.

We used 1/2" PVC pipe (and 3/4" would have been better, I think, because the wind gusts did knock these over a few times) that come in 10 ft lengths.  We cut 10 of the pipes in half and drilled holes in the PVC at the top ends of the 5 ft. long side pieces, and used cable ties to fasten these side pieces to the top 10 ft long piece at approximately 2 ft intervals.  This was NOT easy in the cold and wind, but we did it!  I came back days later when I could and tightened the cable ties even more, which helped with the sturdiness of the framework.  We also attached the bottom ends of the side pieces in a similar fashion to another 10 ft long PVC pipe that would lay on the ground. This meant that the frames could be folded up and easily stored when not needed.  But that plastic sheeting is still going to be a real booger to fold!  

The e-book we used

The directions that we got from the e-book by Taylor Birch used special PVC pipe clamps to hold the plastic sheeting to the pipes, but we could not find these clamps at our local Lowe's.  So we just held the plastic down at the ground with some rusty T-posts.  I found out later that I can order the PVC clamps online from one of several greenhouse supply companies and they are very inexpensive (about 65 cents or so apiece.).  The e-book is available for purchase and download to your computer or device from Amazon.com, and it also has good directions for building raised frame beds.  Check it out!

Inside the hoop frames my winter crops have flourished even though the outside temps have been quite extreme at times, as you can see from the photos below.

Inside the portable hoop greenhouse all is nice and warm!

And since my raised beds are 4 ft wide and I made three rows of plants in each, I am able to sit on my weeding stool inside the greenhouse and weed and harvest quite comfortably!  This was not consciously planned.  It was a lagniappe, a serendipity, for sure!  Gosh, I need a new weeding stool, don't I?!

Weeding and harvesting is easy inside the hoop frame!

You can see in this last photo that I ended up having to anchor the bottom pipes down with some stones and pavers to keep the 60 mph winds from folding the whole shebang over onto its side again.  The book says to anchor the bottom pipes either to the raised beds with a different type of clamp (available at Lowe's) or with stakes into the ground.  I will do this later.  I need to re-do my raised bed construction this year anyway before I plant in the Spring.  For now this is working for me very well.

It was so lovely out and I walked around my place for a bit, checking to see how the llamas, pastures and fencelines were fairing for the winter.  Everything was looking good!

But soon I came inside for it was time for NFL football playoff games at HeartSong Farm!