A new Blog has begun

I have started Blogging again...if you have missed this blog you can join me at my new one on my wesbsite, here is the link http://standardschnauzer.weebly.com/blog

The End, or that's a wrap

At least for the time being.  I have been blogging here since 2008, it has been a fun place to share photos and adventures of my Standard Schnauzers and the rest of my menagerie.  It does seem that my blogging has puttered out, so I will say goodbye to the blog and concentrate my effort elsewhere.  I will leave it up on the web for now, I think there is probably some actual posts of interest on Schnauzer ownership, training, feeding and grooming along with lots of pretty schnauzer photos :-)

You can always find me over on my Dinsdale Standard Schnauzer Facebook page HERE
Or on our Dinsdale Website HERE

Beautiful morning on the deck today.  Glad I enjoyed it, I hear we are in for a few days of rain

My flower

Trying to get some nice photos of Fiddle and our summer flowers...let's just say she is not the most cooperative model

Summer breeze

Absolutely stunning summer days this week, sunny, breezy, not too hot and cooling at night for sleeping.  Hope everyone has a beautiful weekend.

Relief of sorts

And a little (just a tiny bit) of disappointment.  Our accidental love liaison of Cyrus and Hazel is not going to result in pups.  An ultrasound concluded that Hazel is not pregnant.  Which is good, cause my back is only now feeling better and I don't need the strain of looking after pups next month.  But, I know a couple folks on my list were hoping that a puppy would be in their future this Fall, for that I am sorry. 

So, plans are in order now to breed the two in December (we obviously know they are not opposed to the idea) as originally planned when Hazel is next in season, which would mean pups would be ready Spring 2015 for their new homes.

My Embden Geese

 They are such big lovely geese, love them!

Flower Power

Our Summer flower....Daisy

No doot aboot it

IT'S CANADA DAY.  Have a great one.

Love my Geese

When they pose for the camera they make lovely heart shapes

 

Chicken, not so impressed

 My hens think the ducks and geese are a noisy waste of time.  "Humph....they don't even lay eggs for you!"

It must be dinner time

I am sure I have mentioned that Standard Schnauzers are evil little stalkers, they watch everything you do, they do attempt to do it without you noticing, but they are not fooling me.  They are also very precise about their schedules, for instance, as soon as I click the TV off with the remote each night the dogs run either to their crates, or up the stairs to the bedroom.  Here Daisy and Clover have migrated towards the kitchen, because, it is pretty much dinner time, and if I don't respond shortly, they will start to pace.
Please note they are doing the stare/stalk while I finish up on the computer.

 Gathering by the kitchen entrance, attempting to be patient

Yes, I am just about finished guys.  As soon as I pick up bowls they scatter to their crates, this happens so fast I wasn't able to get it on the camera, as a matter of fact, in this shot, Olive has disappeared to her crate.

Rainy day grooming

So here is Cyrus after spending a couple hours on the grooming table today.  I was pleasantly surprised to find this gorgeous new coat hiding under his shaggy one.  A little more work on the legs and his head and if my back continues to improve I just might get Cyrus out into the show ring.

Birthday bear

This is my shaggy birthday bear Cyrus who turned 2 years old on the 17th.  Isn't he adorable?  OK that isn't really a question, shaggy or groomed Cyrus is always adorable.  I particularly love the dandelion seed stuck in the side of his face in this photo.  The dogs haven't been kept in stripped out show coats with my back injury, but, they do get a brush dragged through them every few days, which, if you ask my dogs, works well for them.
What did Cyrus get for his birthday, well, on the day nothing, but, he managed to sneak a breeding of Hazel, unplanned, unwanted (on my part) and hopefully....un-fertile last week.  We will know in a month if Hazel is actually pregnant, in the meantime...Happy Birthday you randy bugger!

Garden is exploding into production

 Finally, we were slow to get the garden started this year, however it has really started to kick into gear.  So far this year we have harvested a small crop of asparagus and some salad greens.

 Spinach is looking wonderful and we will be eating next week

Our brassica bed is full of broccoli, brussel sprouts, kale and kohlrabi.  I have heads started on the broccoli and should be able to start harvesting kale next week.  Lots of great salads and fresh green smoothies!

Beach Run!

Update at Dinsdale

Anyone that checks in on my blog has noticed that it has been a rough year around here.  I topped it all off by throwing my back out last month.... badly.  It had been aching a bit for a couple of weeks and I was trying not to aggravate it, than, I opened the cupboard under the sink to pull out the garbage bin and BOOM out went my back, just like that.  For a week I could barely move, I could also barely sit or lay down, was an interesting time.  It loosened up a bit after about 10 days, feeling a little better I took Currie to his weekly training class and managed to injury it again, sigh.

Mick has been working double time, doing his normal job, trying to finish up early to get home and do all the things that I have not been able to do.  It has certainly messed up all my plans to get the garden planted and for us to start some home renovations.  I actually decided to skip a Spring/Summer litter of pups so that I would have time for all the things that need to be done here.  What is it they say about the best laid plans???  We are getting things done, slowly, but, we are having to make do and cut lots of corners, the yard and garden work suffered the most, but at least the many critters are being looked after, we (read Mick) was able to get most of our seedlings planted, we even cut the grass...once :-)

With all of this happening, Hazel came into season and I finally made the decision to skip breeding her.  I hope to be feeling a lot better in a couple of months, but, I am paranoid that hulling a litter of pups around will have my back injured again.  I have cancelled the breeding and will hold off on pups until early Spring 2015. Seems a long time away, but, it will be here soon enough and with fingers crossed, my back will be healed, I will be refreshed and we can raise pups with energy.

I am sorry to anyone that is waiting for a pup from us this Fall, I will post news on my website, if anyone wishes to remain on my waiting list for a Spring 2015 litter be sure to touch base and I will keep your name on our list and update you as I have news.  You can email me at dinsdale@eagle.ca

Lovely Spring days

We have been blessed with some gorgeous weather this week and Fiddle knows how to enjoy it

 Ducks and Geese have been outside for a couple of weeks now and are enjoying roaming over the property, they graze on the grass (haven't had to mow anything in the farmyard area this year) grub around for bugs, mess up all the water bowls, generally annoy the hell out of the chickens and make me laugh every day.  I call them...'the collective' this is truly a flock, they move as one unit, if a duck or goose is accidentally separated they all work themselves into a tizzy until they are all together again.  Very different from the chickens who are much more independent of each other, choosing one or two friends that they hang out with and only getting together when I feed them and at night to go to roost.  This bird thing is all very interesting.

Cardinal daddy on watch

My old fellow :-)

One of my goals this Spring/Summer was to get Cutter through the awful Winter so that he could enjoy the Summer snoozing in the sunshine like an old dog deserves.  It sure made me happy to see him doing that this evening, hopefully there will be many more days of this over the coming months.

The beauty of a zoom lens is being able to capture moments like this, my two old guys having a cuddle on the porch, lovely.

Goosey goosey gander

Hello Toulouse Goose

 I have been wanting to add geese and duck to our little 'farm' for the longest time.  A week and a half ago they arrived.  Three noisy funny little Toulouse goslings, two handsome Embden goslings, three Khaki Campbell ducklings and three Cayuga ducklings.  They are incredibly cute, the goslings especially are way more outgoing and interactive than the chickens ever were.
They are also incredibly MESSY, oh my goodness, they want to play in their drinking water and with that comes endless scooping up of wet shavings.  They have doubled themselves in size in 9 days and we have moved them to this big pen, about 12 feet by 4 feet which is a little easier to keep dry.  I am looking forward to the weather warming up and being able to get them out on the grass, even if only during a few hours each day.
Look out for lots of photos over the coming weeks, I think I may have to fill up the tub in my grooming room and let them have a 'real' swim soon.  I will be sure to share video of that!

Khaki Campbell Ducklings

A group shot, the black duckings are the Cayugas'

One of our Embden goslings