December 21st 2009: Feathering the Turkeys
We have snow! Yipee. The dogs are loving it. We have a lot of ice too...under the snow. We were going to dose our ewes yesterday but our yard is an ice-skating rink so that will have to wait for another day. Nothing like a bit of snow to get Kelvin into his winter running gear and off for a run...or perhaps he was guilted into it after hearing from good friends in Canada via email last night. Whatever, it worked. He is out the door and off running with 5 or 6 dogs. Here's some pics of our place this morning.

Looking from the pond up to the cottage and the hill beyond

Our Twin Towers

Ladies by the pond in their winter shrouds

Where are the rabbits?

It's been chilly here but we are warm and toasty. The fire is roaring. The snow won't stay long. We live on the sunny side of the valley which is so super. The sun floods in all day long by mid afternoon it's all gone from our training fields. You know what that means! Yep, time for some fun.

We went off to Mike and Nora's last night to feather the turkeys in time for Christmas dinner. Kelvin took along some of cockerills for feathering too. These wee fellas looked painfully small after being hung up next to the 20lb+ toms (that's a male turkey) and 18lb-ish hens. Scott and Bridget, who are here for Christmas, chickened out ('cuse the pun) of going feathering. Wimps. Of course Nora cooked a hugh feast for all of us, which was super after freezing our butts off outside. One of the nice things about feathering turkeys is your hands don't get cold! Hope that doesn't put you off your Christmas dinner! The road conditions on the way back were pretty bad with our street being the worst we encountered. Our driveway is a sheet of ice.

We got a new pup this week and she is a total dream. Her name is Zoe. She is named after Zoe Eisenring who was a delightful student of Kelvin's in Canmore, Alberta when he taught there. She was one of the best young artists Kelvin has ever seen. Her parents are lovely folks. They ran a very successful restuarant, called the Peppermill, in Canmore for many years. Zoe is now at high school in Canmore. Wonder if she'll be thrilled that Kelvin has named a dog after her!

Kelvin put a wee box in Zoe's playpen and she loves to jump in it and curl up and go to sleep. Easy care! I waited 18 months + for this pup, and Kelvin stole her off me in about 2 seconds. Oh well! We'll see...