Hildegard and the Skunk Tail

What are the odds...

Missing the cut on getting into the earlier post by only a few short hours, Hildy vanished for an hour or so this afternoon. We called and called for her and were getting our coats on to go look for her at the VFW -- a favorite haunt of hers when she's on the lam -- when she turned up.

Now, whenever Hildy disappears she usually returns with some sort of treasure and it's generally someone else's trash. Today was a new one for us though. As we went outside to scold her for flying the coop -- so to speak, for, she doesn't actually reside in our coop -- we realized we had something new on our hands...

Here's what we encountered: a euphoric puppy delightedly playing with her favorite new toy... a skunk tail!

Hildegard

As our regular readers are well aware, this spring we added a dog to our bourgeoning menagerie and named her Hildegard. She comes from a local breeder that has cross-bred a few different traditional European guardian dog breeds and developed a sort of "Northwoods" Guardian Breed. These dogs are big enough to fend off wolves and coyotes and gentle enough to bond with livestock.

Little 10 Week Old Pup

Hildy, as we call her, has been for the most part a very happy addition to our farmstead. It's been great fun to have a furry little ball of affection 'assisting' in our projects: from harvesting rhubarb...

... to feeding the chickens.

Her best friends were far and away the pigs. Needless to say she was sad to see them go, though she hasn't seemed to mind getting pork drippings on her kibbles when we make pork roasts!

She has grown from a shy and utterly adorable little pup to a big, sprawling, hyper and bounding bundle of long-limbed energy. According to our calculations she is now around eight months old.

Scanning the Horizon for Predators

Her primary purpose on the farm, apart from being enjoyed by us, is guarding our pigs, turkeys, chickens and future livestock. Yesterday she bravely stood at the edge of the field barking at a crow that was munching on something a few hundred yards off... what a dog!

Off to see about a potential threat: the vicious and beguiling black bird

With the frigidity of Northern Wisconsin winter beginning to creep in, we had to build her a dog house. 

Naturally she had to inspect throughout the building process

Since she hates being confined we weren't sure how she would take to it, but when it gets below freezing she seems to love it.

Early morning wake-up call

In getting Hildy to 'bond' with our animals we were supposed to more or less ignore her so she could attach to them instead of us. We more or less utterly failed in that venture, but we're not entirely sure that we care, since she is very loving and a good companion.

Asking if we think maybe she should come inside for a visit

Fall Update

Greetings Friends of Magdalen Farm!

Wow-- it's been almost five weeks since our last post... far too long, we know. Since time for an extended update isn't currently unavailable and since you all seem to like our video efforts we decided to get creative and do a short video update.

We've taken a slew of pictures during our various projects over the past month, we just haven't had (or, I suppose, 'made' would be the better word) the time to put the post together. So, here's a pictorial smattering of what we've been up to.

Fresh Milk and Cream from Farmer Steve

Huntin' for Dry Oak

Carrying Dry Oak

Potato Plants Before Harvest

Potatoes Hardening Off

'Taters emerging from their perfect soil! 

'Taters Abound!

Neatly stacked and ready for storage in the root cellar

One of our harvests of tomatoes ready for saucing

A batch of fresh salsa

Canned Tomato Sauce 

Wild grapes

Wild grapes getting cooked into jam

Straining the grape remnants

Homemade grape jam

Homemade apple cider

Pumpkins!

Pumpkin elements: seeds for toasting and flesh for cooking

Steph loves these little guys! 

Our covered bed for fall gardening, including a lettuce blend 

Lettuce close-up! 

Hildy inspecting our work, while we frame out her house