Go Get Your Big Brother!!!

That will teach that squirrel to come in our yard!!!!  Yeah, you bring back your nutty big brother squirrel, he will get the bat treatment too!

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A Tasty Dish

Everyday for a year a squirrel visits the collies and teases them endlessly.  It comes through the tree branches and gets on the lowest branch about 8 feet in the air and lays there looking down at the collies flicking its tail!  When it first appeared it was young and small and it is a rather large and fat squirrel now.

As time has progressed it has developed a routine and it comes through right at 3 pm everyday and the collies know it!  First, lil Hallie is looking up at the trees watching and then Mick joins in and soon the others and I have this strange site of a bunch of collies looking up in the tree!  Then, lil Hallie will move towards a side of the tree and sure enough there is the squirrel and the yard erupts with a huge roar of barks as the collies circle underneath hoping the squirrel misses a step and will be there with them on the ground!

So, the Squirrel jumps from tree to tree and then sits up there looking at the collie as they look back at it.  Oh, the cruel games he plays…. keeping their hopes alive he will fall…. even coming down the tree several feet to drive them even crazier.  It seems to know I wont hurt it so it plays for about a half hour with the collies and then moves on as they bark their protests at its leaving.

Today I came in to get the camera but it decided it didnt want it picture taken and when I came out it was scurrying away!  As soon as I can I will get some pictures…..  till then all I have to offer is this story of our daily visit from the Squirrel!

If that squirrel ever falls he’s mine… nom, nom, nom

 

 

 

 

 

 

Do squirrels play ball?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I think Squirrel fricasee sound really good!  Come here little squirrel…..  we wont hurt you.. for long!!!!

 

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Love…..

In the animal world there are some disturbing things I see… so I will address them after some cool information….

Here is a collie in the 30’s at the home of Edsel Ford!  In the min-cars are Josephine Ford, known as Dodie who loved animals till the day she died donating large sums of money for their care.  Josephine Ford was the daughter of Edsel Ford who was the son of Henry Ford. Edsel was a kind man who did not like many of the antics his father pulled.  Edsel was not only President of Ford but of Lincoln and Mercury. He founded Mercury and had a big role in designing all Ford cars after the advent of the Model A which was his first Ford design.  While all that endears me to Edsel, he had a collie!!!!

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The other child is William Clay Ford who is the youngest child of Edsel and Eleanor Ford.  William Clay Ford is the only one alive of Edsel’s 5 children.  He is presently 88 years old and he owns the Detroit Lions….. too bad he can;t have success on the football field that his family has had with their cars!

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-My love for Tractors is also well known on this blog.  Here is a picture of a Ford 9N tractor and beside the back tire is Henry Ford and in the middle of the picture is Edsel.  Next to Henry Ford is Harry Ferguson.  Ferguson developed the revolutionary hydraulic three point hitch that changed the tractor world forever!  He later had Ferguson tractors after working with Ford till Henry died and then later was merger with Massey-Harris to build the Massey-Ferguson company that still thrives today!

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To further see a quick shot of their collie as a young dog go her and go to 2:33 on the film to see Eleanor playing in the snow with the kids and the collie!

 

Those who live nearby should know you can walk your dogs there and they have dog days so check out the website. 🙂

Henry Ford at Fairlane created a refuge for wild animals having many brought in from threatened areas.  One of his specialties were bird. Five Hundred bird houses were built and he loved watching them……

In 1912 and 1913 Ford threw his weight and money in to help pass the Migratory Bird act.  It still serves as protection for the Geese and Ducks and others whom you see flying south in the fall and north in the spring.

So, what is the point of this post?  Well part of it is that I like the Fords and love animals and that they had a collie.  But, the other is that saving animals, helping them and loving them is not relegated to just average folks or working folks or what have you.  It is a spectrum of people from the poorest to the richest who work for the betterment of animals.  W don’t get political here on Collies of the Meadow but in today’s world I think it is important for all of us to remember animal care is not just the realm of self-proclaimed protectors or activists who seem to pour scorn upon the wealthy.  It is for ALL of us to do.  People like the Fords could pour in money and pull favors from connections while people like you and I help where we can and take in what we can and try to care for animals around us through everyday activities that include kindness and love.

Together we all can make a difference….  I dont care if you are rich or poor….. just do what you can like build a birdhouse, feed the birds in the winter, take in a stray cat or dog, give money to no-kill shelters, even $10 helps!  Donate your time…… whatever….. it all helps.   So what about the tractor?  Well, I love them but planting corn in the part of the world I live in has helped the deer, migrating birds and squirrels as well as raccoons and others eat all winter so they dont starve like they used too.  Yes, despite protests of some there is a place of modern technology in helping to feed the animals.

For me, I love animals.  We take in all we can, feed all we can, find homes for the unhomed we know of and give them all love.  Animals from the wild seem to know we love them and many come to our home to spend their final days till they pass away such as the woodchuck who showed up one day and whom I picked up (which horrified everyone for they thought it would bite me) and wrapped in a blanket and put under the big Maple with food and water. He never ate or drank but stayed till he passed in peace.  We have had injured birds come, injured bats and squirrels and while all of them were beyond saving they all were cared for till they died feeling cared for.

One doesnt have to do great things for animals.. just be kind and loving…. for even the most wild animal has to have love….. just love them….. it will change your life.

 

 

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What Would They Do?

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There he is… everyone act like we dont see him…. on the count of three we rush him….. 1… 2…3…. CHARGE!!!!!

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Wow! That was close!!!  There he goes… you had better run you #%$#$%  squirrel!!!

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Rutherford; Ya know Walter… I was just thinking… what do we do with him if we do catch him?

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Sigh…. we do what we did in Georgee….. we make southern fried squirrel fricasee out of him of course… sigh….. never fear Ginger is here!!!!

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Thats exactly what we fear!!!!

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Hi!!!

Lil Hallie here…. dad is very tired so I am writing tonight.  As you can see I was very annoyed at him taking endless amounts of pictures of me.  After all I have lots of things to do like keep everyone in line, stopping Ginger’s misactions, keeping the tree rats out of the yard and putting the boys in their place.  Its a hard job and I am hungry…. where is my food… and everyone else’s food?  After all what is theirs is mine  and if they try to refuse I am too cute to refuse…… plus I will eat their face off!  LOL

 

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Feels Like Fall

The feel of Fall was in the air today. Cool breeze, the dampness with a warm afternoon sun with a crispness in the air. The collies loved it running around and having one of their most active days in a while.  They are starting to shake the down mood that has been here at the Meadow since the loss of Smoke.  It will take at least 6 months for this to work itself out but it will.

The collies played hard and long with lots of running and barking, chasing squirrels, battling the train and one huge melee wrestling match that left me wondering what that was all about.

-Wheee!!!

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Spent some time working on Molly cleaning up the distributor today, but it didn’t help much so tomorrow I will get to the points.  Cleaned the garage so we can be ready for winter….and took Annie out for a spin.  Today was interesting for lots of ppl were waving from their yards, others beeping as they drove by. I think they are starting to recognize the big old tractor. One neighbor said she can tell when the Case is coming for she has a sound of her own. 🙂   By next weeken high temps are supposed to struggle to reach 60…. could a early winter be on its way?   We shall see…

 

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A Nice Day

Today I got to spend some much needed time in the hammock after doing more planting, watering and weeding, painting a few tractor parts and touching some up.  As usual we had our 10 minute battle over who gets the hammock with lil Hallie and I fending off all endeavors to steal the hammock from me.  That finally solved the train roared past and the collies chased it away, strutting proudly once it had rolled away knowing they had put the fear of God into it.

Then, just as peace and quiet ruled, the squirrel arrived!  For the next half hour the collies looked up at and cursed at the chicken squirrel who would not come down.  Then, once that was over a flutterby got chased for about another half hour.  Ginger watched the Hawk circle above us, the garden Robin paid us a visit and hopped around one step in front of the younger collies who tried hard to catch her.

Finally, they took a nap for about ten minutes as I lay there enjoying the quiet.  Then, Ginger and Rutherford tried another attack to get the hammock but I won that round also.  But, I can see they are scheming and plotting so I am sure a new trick will be pulled soon….

 

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Kill the Butterfly!!!

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Come down here you stinking squirrel and quit being a chicken….

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Has anyone ever had Hawk Fricasee and Grits?

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Stay away from the  Hammock, it is Dads!!!

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-Here comes that stinky train… time to show it who is boss!

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Come here little Robin.. all I want is a sniff…..

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Plot? Plot? What plot?  Rutherford, pull your jaw up.. you have to play dumb.. remember?

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Geniuses!!!

Genius! Ginger is a genius.  She saw the squirrel on top of the fence running and was watching. The other collies ran towards it and it jumped onto a branch and  scooted along it as the collies roared underneath. But, not Ginger she was plotting.  The squirrel picked a branch and down the tree it came to make a leap onto the shed or to scoot under it… but guess who was right where the squirrel was going to go? Her eye glowed and she had that fiendish grin going… “Come here little squirrel!”  But, the squirrel saw her just in the nick of time and went back up the tree to the top to wait it out……Ginger just laid down deciding she would wait…. sigh… geniuses….

-comer down little squeel!!!  Its time for squirrel fricassee……

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A New Plot

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What a wonderful day of frolicking in the sun, running, chasing, barking, jumping, chasing the squirrel, flutterbys and birds!  We love the fun in the sun days!

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Okay everyone…… CHARGE!!!!!!!!!!!!    Ginger dont you dare….

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Well everyone that is all for today… I cant stay and talk for well….. dad will probably wake up soon and it will not be pretty!  So, I have to come up with another plot to distract him… hehehehe

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Gearing Up!

Dad spent Thursday touching up paint, working on taking excessive paint bleed off accessories and tires and then today he will make sure the fluids are all full and the gas is up enough to do the parade and have some left over.

He played with us and we mauled him in the hammock!  Ginger led a riot in the yard, then a chase and Lad and Walter chased their balls while Rutherford played with his sticks and led the charge against the squirrels. Lil Hallie was cute and ran to dad and led a couple of squirrel charges herself. Branwen chased her bat with Skylight and Ellie following along behind making racket while Smoke looked on is disdain….

 

We chased the train away, had several charges across the yard at make believe enemies as Ginger plotted how to attach thumbs and then tried something new. She saw dad working on the tractor and he spit out some dirt and she tried it.. so far its not going so well… but she keeps trying.. for she says if she has thumbs and can spit she will be more advanced than 90% of humanity……

 

-Annie is looking forward to showing off on Saturday and to the road trip…..  dad is a bit nervous we think …..  why we are not sure…

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– remember, its red!  ahem….

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-once I get this spitting thing down I will spit on that darn tractor….. now to get back to experimenting with implanting thumbs on my paws…..

 

 

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