Duke

Our faithfull companion and friend passed away after a short illness. He was on the job till the end, we miss him. The following was written in June 2006 to the students in Korea , they liked Duke and as some were smacking their lips.......yes they do eat dogs in S. Korea.! This was not to Stephanies liking!

Onze trouwe Duke is na een kort ziekbed overleden. Hij was ''on the job'' tot aan het eind.

Het volgende was geschreven in Juni 2006 aan the leerlingen in Korea, ze vonden Duke leuk en lekker...........ja.... ze eten hond in Z. Korea! Tot zeer ongenoegen van Stephanie.

Tribute to Duke Sept 1998-Feb 13 2009

Duke is our 8 yr old bouvier, he is our faithfull guardian of the farm and all who live there. Duke takes his job very seriously and will make enough noise for anyone or anything new to tread lightly on the property. He will howl with the coyotes at night and will play with the odd one in the field.He will chase raccoons and stray cats up the trees. His best buddy is Flip, our small mix breed, in the morning they will inspect the the farm yard of any nightly intruders and if so will leave their mark on top! This goes on for at least 1/2 hr. before all is well and they come in for a treat. Every Spring Duke gets his wintercoat clipped.He looks like a black bear at the end of winter and his heavy coat is too warm for him so he is in full co-operation when I take the cattle clippers to him. He lets me slowly clip him like a sheep until he comes out like a new dog, a bit shrunk in size too. One of Duke's favourite trips is hunting muskrats in the creek at nights. With a full moon, for sure, he will sneak out to the creek and in the morning he returns totally exhausted muddy and his belly bloated with creekwater.....he is getting to slow to actually catch one.....I never found one on the doorstep yet! He will have this happy satisfied look . Of course he is getting no where close to his doggybed in the mudroom untill he is in tip top shape again .....and that means a wash....I will need to drag or carry him.....which I am incapable of doing.... to the milkhouse for this warm water bath....so a gardenhose and cold water will do too. He will stand very quiet and sorrowfull on the grass and will let me scrub him clean .....the mud will be running of in streams. Afterwards he runs like a puppy and then collapses in aheap to sleep in the sun. Duke has a 6th. sense for bad weather . He can feel a thunderstorm coming hours ahead and will stay close to me as to tell me to keep an eye out on the sky. He is a bit of a baby when the storm breaks and will demand to be in the house or at least very close to a human being. He is a good dog and at nights will tiptoe quietly out of the mudroom into the livingroom and take a spot at my feet. Of course the thinks this is all done unnoticed as if he is this tiny mouse of a dog!All is well as long as the creekwater is not going to gurgle up!.

Duke Sept 1998-feb 13-2009

Duke is onze 8jr. oude bouvier, hij bewaakt ons en het bedrijf trouw. Duke neemt zijn taak zeer serious op en maakt genoeg lawaai als iets of iemand vreemd het erf op komt. Hij huilt met de coyotes 'snachts en speelt met een enkeling in het land.Vindt het een sport om raccoons en zwerf katten de boom in te jagen. Zijn beste maatje is Flip,een klein van alles wat ras, 'smorgens gaan ze het erf rond alle vreemde luchtjes die door de nacht achtergelaten zijn weer hun merk te geven, dit gaat wel z'n half uur door totdat ze alles weer geur herstelt hebben, dan is het tijd voor wat lekkers uit de honden snoeppot. Elk voorjaar moet zijn wintervacht eraf, aan het eind van de winter ziet hij er als een zwarte beer uit, zijn dikke vacht maakt het te warm voor hem en als ik met de veeclippers hem scheert vindt hij het prima en wordt hij netjes uitgepakt en daarbij ook gelijk een maatje kleiner gemaakt. Duke mag graag op stap naar de sloot, muskrat vangen,met volle maan gaat hij 'savonds aan de haal en komt in the ochtend thuis, totaal versleten, uitgeput en zijn vacht vol met modder, zijn buik staat bol van het sloot water....hij is te langzaam om ze te vangen...ik heb ook nog nooit een jachtbuit gezien op het erf. Hij ziet er zo voldaan uit en zou het liefst op zijn mat neerzakken in de mudroom, maar eerst moet hij langs de kraan in het melkhuis en daar heeft hij geen plezier in. Wassen wil hij liever niet als het even kan en moet ik hem naar het melkhuis dragen of slepen en dat gaat natuurlijk niet! Dus de tuin in en met de tuinslang en koud water de modder afspoelen en dan nog een lekker zeepje .........hij laat dit met zeer zielige blik toe en staat rustig totdat ik klaar ben met hem,dan schiet hij als een dolle jonge hond door de tuin en laat zich lekker vallen op een zonnige plek en maft verder de dag weg! Duke voelt slecht weer aan en drentelt de hele dag rond me en dan weet ik al dat er onweer en zwaar weer op komst is. Hij is geen held met onweer en wil graag binnen zijn, dicht bij ons. Duke is een goede hond en 'savonds sluipt hij de mudroom uit naar de huiskamer en zo stil als een muis gaat hij aan mij voeten liggen hopend dat niemand hem ziet.......ons goed zolang het sloot water niet begint te borrelen!

A Thanksgiving to remember

On Sunday,Oct 12, a beautifull and sunny Thanksgiving was shared with family and friends at Pete and Edie's Pondarosa.

Turkey was served with all the trimmings and we all made sure to have a room for the sweet desserts.
Edies wine, as always, enjoyed with gusto and it showed with all the goofyness that followed.
The turkey was delicious and many thanks to Edie to make it all happen and to all the contributers of the side dishes.
That afternoon we walked through the trees and were in awe of the fall colors.
Took the boat out, paddled and surfed on the pond with the dogs in hot pursuit.
What a blast it was and to think this is October!
Enjoy the pictures....... Thanksgiving--------->

Northernlights and Fire Rainbow

Northernlights over Canada....Het Noorderlicht over Canada.

A FIRE RAINBOW -
THE RAREST OF ALL NATURALLY OCCURRING ATMOSPHERIC PHENOMENA.THE PICTURE WAS CAPTURED (in July 2006) at the IDAHO / WASHINGTON BORDER.
THE EVENT LASTED ABOUT 1 HOUR.CLOUDS HAVE TO BE CIRRUS, AT LEAST 20K FEET IN THE AIR,
WITH JUST THE RIGHT AMOUNT OF ICE CRYSTALS
AND THE SUN HAS TO HIT THE CLOUDS AT PRECISELY 58 DEGREES.

Herfst Kleuren

Oct 5-08 en geheel in kleur op Oct 13-08

Hallo allemaal

Herfst laat zich dit jaar in al zijn glorie zien, de kleuren zijn bijzonder intens dit jaar en genieten we de laatste dagen van het

het mooie weer.

Zie meer rood geel en oranje ...klik op mijn pictures ...Herfst kleuren

I am done with winter!

It has been a long, cold and snowy winter and I am happy to see the first signs of spring.

I am pleased to see the emerging doggy do's from melting snow, frozen for the last 3 months.

The mud caked dogs happy to sniff out the raccoons in the bush.

Picking up the litter from the trees , thrown about by wind and freezing rain.

Treating the blisters on your hands from raking the yard for days in the sun.

But best of all to smell the soil again, the first spring flower, the robins out and about, swans in the back flooded field resting a night or 2 to fly on again to the Artic.

The Canada geese honking overhead and the killdeer flying low over the field.

The constant twitter of the house sparrow looking for a mate...........It's Spring.

Hip Hip Hurrah..............I am ready!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It only takes a second

We hope and pray for a full recovery again!

Farming is dangerous, even the smallest mistake will have its repercussions, especially working with rotating equipment.
Safety of your own person and those around you is a must.

We had a major snowstorm starting on the 7th and lasted till the 9th. of March
Mountains of snow had formed on the road and yard and a major clean up was on the way Sunday the 9th.

A breakdown on the snowblower and PTO of the tractor got Chris's leather mitt caught on the turning PTO and took thankfully
only his right thumb off ( just hanging by some skin)....I do say thankfully because he had the quick reflex to get his hand out of the mitt, otherwise one can only imagine.......

This was at 5.30 PM in the evening....arrived at the Brantford Emergency at 5.45 pm.
They cut his heavy coveralls and jackets and gave him a warm blanket and hospital gown, stabilized and on morphine drip, the thumb was repositioned and we took off again to the plastic surgery team that was called in at Hamilton St Joe's to reattach his thumb.

(To save precious time I took him in the car , with the snow storm comes shovelling snow and the heart attacks..... the ambulances were to stay in Brantford.)

The plastic surgical team was ready and by 12.00 pm Chris was in surgery and 6 1/2 hr. later his thumb was stitched back to his hand and with some creative work they had bloodvessels and nerve connected up again.The main joint ligaments were not severed and Dr. was pleased about that. To make the joint stable they inserted 2 pins which will be removed in 4 weeks.
The next 6 days were spend in hospital making sure no complications arose.

When Chris was readied for surgery it was time for me to go home. The cell phone kept Ab up to speed with it all and at 11.30 left for Harley........

April 2-08 Chris is doing well and has a removable splint to protect his hand. Last week he had his check up with his surgeon and he was pleased with the wound healing. His feeling is good on the right side of his thumb but need to establish itself through time again on the left side (palm side).A nurse comes by the farm to change his dressings and next week he will start therapy at the hand clinic in Hamilton.
Chris is adapting being a lefty and is managing the finishing of the new barn by phone.
April 21 has been set to get the cows over and all crews are working towards that.

We have only praise for the emergency nurses, doctors, X ray technicians and volunteers in Brantford General Hospital for their speedy intake and stabilizing Chris. Dr.Quigley organized a plastics team together on Sunday evening and the long hours in the night the team worked at St. Joe's shows the commitment and professionalism of all to make Chris' thumb a functioning part of his hand again.

We left Chris with one thought ...... How many people are feeling and dealing with the impact of his injury.......many!

The pictures, Chris' thumb, are not for the faint of heart!

Mooi plaatje

Februari, we zitten binnen uit de wind. De timmermannen kunnen in de utility ruimte opwarmen en hopen we de komende week ook alle vloeren te storten in het kantoor enz.
Chris wil zo snel mogelijk de koeien over doen maar dat vraagt nog wel wat tijd.Er moet nog veel afgewerkt worden en de robot moet ook nog geplaast worden.
Er zijn weer foto's geplaatst van alle drukte hier.
Groeten Ab ,Yoka en Chris

Carien and Oreo

Carien's horse Oreo looks strikingly familiar to a border we had named Pete, a sweet old boy.
Oreo has her ways and Carien is retraining her.

Groeten van de Emond Family

Leuke familie foto. Van links naar rechts,

Phil, Sandra en Sacha, wonen komende Februari in Calgary, Alberta.

Ton, Juul, Casey en Bobby Joe( puppy) genieten van hun vrije tijd in de winter.

Amy en Mark zijn vol ondernemens lust in het melkveebedrijf.

Of het boven nul is of ver onder nul, het werk gaat door.

Januari, brengt van alles op ons dak, sneeuw maakt alles zo mooi schoon!
Wind, dat je bouw afval moet ruimen tot ver het bouwland in.
Regen, je staat weer enkel diep in de modder.

En dan begint de kou.
-18C met een dun windje.
Dit houdt een week of wat aan en dan begint de sneeuw en regen weer.
De bouw gaat gewoon door en wordt nu de binnenkant van de stal afgewerkt.
Er is nog veel te doen, het ligt aan het weer of het binnen of buiten werk is.
Stal foto van 10 Jan.-08