Amazing Sunrise Today

Going through the mechanics of making coffee and breakfast, I came aware that everything outside was awash in a dusky rosey hue. Looking up through the trees, the sky appeared to be on fire. My first thought was, "Oh no, forest fire." But the rest of my senses said no. Wow, it was just the sunrise. 

My own phone camera didn't give me a decent picture, but Judy Knapp got a better one. It gives a good idea of how intense and beautiful it was. 

The sunrises and sunsets are often magnificent here. First the vog resulted in the beauty, today it's the stormy weather. 

Monthly Job List - October & November

"H" asked me if I have a month-by-month list of the jobs that need to be done on my homestead farm. 

I have no written list of tasks. I've often seen published lists of "what to do in ________" (fill in the month or season). I guess that's what "H" is looking for. Truthfully, I've never even thought of writing down a list. Perhaps I'm not all that forgetful yet, thank heaven! Now that I'm older, I have indeed become a list maker for some things. I find myself writing down a list of things to do, buy, harvest, etc. But often I walk away and forget to look at the list until the next day. So much for making a list! Egads, there's times when I even forget where I placed the list. Oh-oh, looks like I am indeed becoming forgetful. 

But to help "H" out, here's some of my list for October, if I were to have such a list. Keep in mind that since I garden year around, these special jobs are things I don't need to do the rest of the year. There's still plenty of year around tasks such as making compost, sowing seeds, harvesting, mowing, fence maintenance, etc.  

...harvest & process pineapples

...prepare garden space for pineapple starts and plant them 

...harvest & process guavas

...harvest & process lilikoi

...harvest & process coffee

...harvest & process avocados

...shear of any old wool from the sheep so that they can head into winter with good coats

...start making Christmas season presents ......sea salt, jackfruit candy, dried pineapple

There's lots of other things that are done every month, but they are not October-only tasks. Things like tilling, mowing, planting, harvesting, fence repair, compost making, deworming livestock, etc.

October is also a good time of year to evaluate the chicken flock. The egg laying hens are in one pen, while the mostly non-layers are in another. So if any of the previous egg layers look like they're pau laying, I'll graft them into the non-layer flock. Plus I'll take a closer look at the young growing chickens that are running around (I tend to let the youngsters be unpenned since they stick around the adult flock. By "around" I mean within a 300 foot radius.) The roosters will go into a "finishing pen" and the pullets will join the laying flock. 

Now for November.  I really don't know what the special November jobs will be. That's right, I never took notes. But I can see these things coming up....

...harvest the last of the pineapples 

...check on the progress of the citrus trees, especially the oranges

...harvest the guavas in my area, since those located at lower elevation are now pau

...harvest & process more of my coffee

...plant gourd seeds (this is also a good October job but this year was too wet to do it) 

...finish the Christmas packages and start thinking about getting them mailed

On Training a Dog

"M" asked me who's method I used to train Noodles. "D" gave me advice on how to train him. "H" wrote in to warn me how not to train him. 

Thank you everyone, your thoughts were gracefully listened to. But you see, I subscribe to a common sense approach to dog training. Basically, I try very hard to see the world and situation from the dog's point of view, then think like a dog. Quite long ago, in 1969 in fact, I got my first puppy and asked my mentor how to train her. He replied, learn to speak their language. Get into her head. Learn what it means to be a dog. See the world through her eyes. Watch how her brain works. Then try to learn how to communicate with her. Jeez, that wasn't the answer I was looking for. I wanted a cookbook set of infallible instructions. Take one puppy, stir in one cup of dog food daily, season with treats, bake for 6 months. Out of the oven comes one prefect dog. Ha! It didn't work that way. 

(Above: Carmen, my mother's dog. This dog was ultra smart and observant. Mom never had to do much to train her. Carmen believed in being a cooperative pack member. )

I knew nothing about dog training in 1969. Luckily I got involved with dog showing right away and was willing to listen to the experienced dog people of the day. I attended various dog training classes, read all the books, tried show obedience, tried sled dog working, and showed my puppy. But all my mentors repeated, think like my particular breed of dog. Learn how to talk fluent "dog". Luckily my first pup was a dominant but good natured Siberain Husky who wasn't above considering me to be the stupid one in the family, the difficult one to train. Boy, I learned a lot from that dog! She was quite the trainer. 

Years later I learned lots more from the various dogs I owned, or should I more correctly say, shared my life with. Each and every one of them was a different individual. To have used the exact same approach on each dog would have been a mistake. (Initially I tried that, and I was frustrated because it wasn't working or going smoothly. I was unhappy. The dog was unhappy.) To use just one person's trading regimen would have been like pounding the square pegs into the round holes. Not my idea of cooperative, successful training. 

So "M", I'm not a believer is following just one training method. I don't do the inflexible militaristic approach, nor the positive reinforcement only approach. I don't yell, don't use the "no" command (there's a better way to get the negative across), don't get mad, don't demand instant mindless obedience. I don't have long training sessions (those 1 hour training classes were really for training the owners not the dogs). I listen to the dog and work to communicate. It's not a case of demanding submission and obedience. It's a case of getting the dog to be a cooperative pack member, so that they know what to do, when & how, and what not to do. It's the dog learning the pack's rules and habits. 

I have some notions I still retain from my original mentors. I initially rejected their opinions, but gradually came to accept their wisdom. 

...learn the dog's talents and abilities and train to enhance them. In plainer words, don't expect my Siberian Husky to be a sheep herding dog. Best to train it to be a good sled dog. Ever wonder why most of the top agility dogs are Border Collies? That sport fits their talents.

...not all dogs are trainable, at least not in the way many owners hope. I could never train my Siberian not to runaway, not to kill livestock, or train her to bark an alert. A Curly Coated Reyriever we had never could comprehend being a watchdog. He simply wasn't trainable in that fashion. But he made a fine show dog and hunting companion. One of my current dogs, Crusty, isn't trainable for obedience "tricks", but he's a fine farm dog even if he refuses to submit to those smart obedience sits, downs, and recalls. 

Above, baby Noodles playing with his new big brother, Crusty. 

...never tolerate a biting dog. This is one that most people refuse to accept. Initially I refused too, making excuses for the dog. But I've known and worked with hundreds of dogs in my life and I've come to totally believe in this. The only acceptable biting dogs are those who are trained for a job that demands it -- military, police, protection, man killers (example, anti-poaching dogs), take-down style hunting dogs. Family dogs should never bite, or at least never get away with it. It's against pack rules to bite a higher ranking member. 

I could talk about dog trading for days. In fact, at the dogs shows we did indeed talk about training over and over, show after show after show....for years. So this blog really isn't a suitable platform to describing dog training methods. I couldn't do the topic justice. 

Cozy House

Walking up the driveway after checking on the pigs (they turned out to be ok), I looked up toward the house. Wow, it looked so inviting and cozy! It was getting dark outside with a bit of light still in the sky, and the house glowed golden. It looked like just the place I wanted to be, to have a quiet dinner, then snuggle up with a good book. 

A warm sense of accomplishment and contentment washed over me. Yes, it's a good house. It's the house that we built. I personally know almost every board that went into it, plus every window and every door. I can truly say, it's my house. 

Noodles Update

"M" wanted an update on Noodles. 

Mr Noodles is maturing out to be a good dog. Oh, he's still young enough to get into trouble, but all in all he is coming along just fine. He's one of the easiest pups I've ever raised. What's really nice is that he has such a positive outlook on life. He seems to be always happy. But he's no dummy. He quite smart, observant, and a good watchdog. But also gentle, loving, and laid back for his age. 

I'm still having fun with him, spraying him different colors. Two weeks ago he was a Bengal tiger. 

This past Sunday he was a Dalmatian. Two black ears and spots all over. 

Don't know yet what he'll be next time. We shall see. 

"M" also asked if I trim his coat. Yes, I do. His whiskers, ears, topknot are natural. I shave his cheeks and lower jaw fairly close, for cleanliness. And also under his tail and his belly, again for cleanliness. I scissor about an inch off the hair on his tail just to make him look more balanced. Every two weeks I run a clippers over his body, bringing his hair down to 3/4 of an inch in length. Then I scissor his legs to blend in. Sounds complicated but it only takes 15 minutes from start to finish. Noodles is a very cooperative customer. 

How Gates Work

Here's something that new gate owners often get wrong........gates open downhill. I've seen lots of new people, hubby included, that tried to open a gate to the uphill side. That doesn't work. The gate gets stuck on the ground. The only way it can swing freely is to the downhill side. 

Here's a typical gate.......

This is the only way to get it open so that a car can pass through.....

Knowing this is important when you install a gate. You need to make sure there is enough room to fully swing it open on the downhill side. 

This particular gate is homemade. Bent tubular piping with 1/4" bars welded to it. All galvanized metal. Gate posts are reinforced cement pillars. Simple clamp style hinges. 

Simple chain & hook, and welded "latch". 

It works quite nicely and is close to 20 years old and still functioning just fine. Just don't forget to open it downhill. Otherwise you could damage the gate and its hinges. 

Planting More P & P's

Today I added 18 more baby white pineapples to the gardens. I'm hoping that next year I'll be drowning in pineapples. That would be grand. 

Found spots for a dozen more pipinolas. If you live here, you probably think I'm crazy growing all these pipinola. But they are an easy crop for feeding to the pigs and chickens.......and wwoofers. Low work crops are right up my alley! 

Speaking of pipinolas, I harvested an oddity today. You know, if you grow enough veggies you're bound to find some oddball ones. Well. This is the first oddball pipinola that I've come upon. It's a double, a Siamese twin so to speak. The pair in the foreground are joined. I put one behind them to show you what they normally look like. 

Pipinola fruits are always singles. Not only have I never seen two being produced on the same spot on the stem, I've never seen two joined. Pretty neat, I'd say.