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After ten years you'd think you've seen it all, experienced every fact of life with the critters, not.
Even though the year can be devided into different periods, seasons, patterns... this year a major change occured with our Canada geese!

We started with six geese ten years ago, our white domestic couple Hans & Grietje, and our two couples of Canada geese Felix & Fay and Rudie & Riet. For three years, untill they matured, they all shared one pen but when the hormones kicked in the Canadas started to harras the white geese.
Hans and Grietje got their own partition of the goose pen and peace had returned.
Our four Canucks lived together like a happy little flock except for breeding season when the ganders got overly protective of their ladies and started to fight eachother. For the duration of mating season I had to separate them untill molt set in and could reunite them again for the rest of the year. But this summer that all changed.

You may remember my reports about the arrival of the swan family this summer. I enjoyed those big white birds on our canal but it appeared that our Canadas didn't like them one bit. When the swans visited, the geese (specially the guys) went ballistic and almost honked their heads off trying to chase the swans away. In the wake of this event the ganders started to become very agressive towards eachother and I was left no other option than to separate them, even though breeding season was over for a long time.

I suppose the ganders considered the male swan a threat which triggered them to protect their ladies more fiercly.
I'd hoped they would settle down again once the swans moved on, so over a period of a few months I tried to reunite them every other week but to no avail. They would tolerate eachother for a couple of hours untill one of the guys made a wrong move and the fighting would start again.
I decided to give it up and keep them away from eachother permanently. It saddens me because they looked so beautiful together, but I don't want injuries.

A positive aspect of this new situation is that there is no competition between the guys anymore, I guess there's always been some rivalry between them. Rudie has always been the leader and Felix had to play second fiddle, but no more, both guys are now boss in their own pen, which means I have much closer contact to the guys individually (so I get something out of it in the end afterall;-)

Happy Feathery Friday from Fay and all the honkers at Foppe's Acre.

Felix' Feathery Friday Cafe has opened its doors and our Canucks would like to invite you to share a picture of your feathered friends for today's happy hour.
Drinks are on the house! Cheers!!

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The only thing blue around here is the sky!;-)

Beautiful start of the week, after a cold night (-4c) the sun came out and shone over a white frozen landscape. A big contrast with the spring-like weekend we've had, but the cold is not going to last. Tonight will be another cold night and then the temperatures will rise again and the wind and rain will return.

Blue Monday.
The third monday of January is supposed to be the worst day of the year, the weather is crappy; people realised they failed their New Year's resolutions; end of the month and money is tight.
How silly, like it's going to be all better on Tuesday. Someone must have made it up to give people a reason to whine, another high-light (down-light) in the most boring month of the year after the December festivities. An insult to people who really suffer in the darkest days of the year.

So let's all forget about it and celebrate today! Hey, we're given another beautiful day to be grateful for all that we DO have!

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For some unknown reason I woke up with a smile this morning;-)
So after feeding the cats I went outside and greeted the sunshine and my sweet Patsy dear.

I'd reserved a patch of Patsy's pasture for our Canada geese to forage on in winter but since the geese don't get along anymore I can't let them have it (I cut grass for them, no worries, they don't come short of anything). So every Saturday Patsy is allowed to eat some good grass which she enjoys (by now she's fed up with hay) and I enjoy seeing her graze.
It's a wonderful day in Friesland so I'll be out and about spending much needed time with the critters.

Have a great weekend everyone!

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Everyone who has the care over animals has been there once or twice, when someone is ill and even the vets don't know what to do anymore. Or when a beloved pet passes away and you need that extra push to carry on. I know I've been there.
At these times I always burn a candle in front of my old buddy Ratje's photo, it served its purpose but I wanted to create something more permanent. For years I've been trying to find a statue of Saint Francis, he's the patron saint of animals afterall, but never could find one that I liked. I decided to create something myself that I could use whenever I need some guidance and figured other people might find comfort in it too.

I'm happy and proud to present my Saint Francis Devotion Kit! It's a cute little kit that holds everything when you need that extra push into the right direction;-)

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Past Sunday I visited my mom again to wish her a Happy New Year after a long absence from my part. I always try to visit her every two weeks but for all kinds of reasons it didn't work out lately.
It was also time for our six-monthly photo shoot together so one moor reason to hop in the car and see how she was doing.

Mom is well though lately she's been bothered by bronchitis. She was short of breath for a while so my sister insisted she saw the doctor. She's on antibiotics for it but it may be a long term condition, in spite of that she's feeling good. We had a wonderful time together as always.

The holidays were tiring for her, mom attended Christmas dinners at my brother and sister's, celebrated New Year's Eve with the family and confessed that it was a wee bit too much for her this year.
There's a lot going on in the family at the moment, some serious illnesses which worry her but a new baby too. After spending time at the nursing home we went to visit my niece Miranda and her husband Leon to welcome a new branch on the family tree; baby boy Jurre (her second great-grandchild).

It was a good day with the family and when I left I promised to try visit more frequently in the new year:-)