A new pup, working from work

Mama and Victoria have been concerned for some time about Sam’s health. Sam has been with us for seven going on eight years now. He now has serious issues with his hips. It is sad to see him struggle to get up once he has laid down. Especially if he has been down for a while. Mama and Victoria are giving him a daily dose of meds to ease the pain, but we are seeing an end to his active duty as guardian of the farm. He still will lay in the field across the road to guard the farm from the coyotes that have made a den somewhere in the tree line on the far side of that field. Our dogs will not hunt down the coyotes. They as re guardians, not hunters. But his day of such service are numbered. With that sad thought in mind, Mama and Victoria bought a Pyrenees puppy to train up to replace him. A daunting task in some respects.

They have named the little female, Gemma. We were all unsure where to put her last night. Her first night on the farm. We finally decided on the kennel. She was not happy, but it appears she finally settled down. Over the next few months, as she grows larger and stronger, we will allow her more access to the farm. Right now, we are worried she will follow Sam or Sasha on a run after the coyotes and get left behind if she is not able to keep up. I do not know if Sam or Sasha have ever fought with the coyotes, but we would hate to lose Gemma to the varmints we are hoping she can work to keep off the farm in the coming years. A couple years ago, one of Kira’s pups we named Prince was left behind when he got out and followed Sam into the chase. When he did not come home with Sam, we assumed the worst. Happily, Prince was later found hiding in the shop building at the quarry lake.

Gemma is not totally white. An offence to Grandma who recognizes Pyrenees only when they are totally white. She will get over it soon enough. Especially when we do lose Sam. Gemma seems to be a quiet, loving pup. She is quick to follow. She does not seem interested in chasing the chickens but at only eight weeks old, wanted nothing to do with the nanny goats. I will suggest today that Mama put her with the little females we have penned up together. Maybe they can get used to each other since they are more closely matched in size.

I did not check on Gemma this morning as I left for work. All was quiet. I am working only a half day in the office so that I can capitalize on the internet connection here. it is nearly impossible for me to download PowerPoint files remotely with the connection provided using my phone as a hot spot. Trying to upload those files is a waste of time and my allotted gigabytes of data. We were told yesterday that our remote work would be extended through next week. At least we are allowed to work from home. For that I am thankful. Not all employees have that option during this panic.

Right after Mama and I fed I went back over to the quarry lake and fished from the bank for crappie. Pastor and I had found them Tuesday evening and I wanted to get a few for the Chinese families. They wanted whole fish, not fillets. I was able to catch ten crappie – two of which I threw back because they were too small to keep – and two very large bass. I filleted the bass. It was my first time to actually cut fillets, so they were not too pretty. I also filleted two of the crappie. The rest I gave to the Chinese. I will probably go at least once a week to get fresh fish depending on how well Mama and Victoria like them. What I caught last night took less than an hour. I was able to fillet our part of the catch and deliver the Chinese their part of the catch before our church service was broadcast.

I really miss church, but I think this need to broadcast the services has given the pastor insight into the need for such broadcasts. He has been hesitant to do so, but with the shut ins we have who were once faithful to the church, it is a blessing for them to see the services any way we can get it to them. It definitely puts us under the microscope of digital scrutiny when we open our services for all to watch, but I think we can adapt. The church has upgraded the internet to allow live streaming. Once we get comfortable with that, we will look into upgrades to our sound system to make those broadcasts higher quality. I am excited about the project.

Mamas’ little nail business is already starting to produce income. She is thrilled.