Last weekend was very disappointing. Saturday morning we woke up to a dead goose in the pond near the shore. I went out to have a look to try to determine what had happened. The first thing I noticed was that the gate to get into that area from the field was not closed properly. It was open about 12-15 inches. As I walked to the goose I looked for tracks. There are a lot of leaves and other matter on the ground so I couldn’t see any tracks. The goose had been partially eaten but had not been dragged from the water.

Nicholas admitted that he was the last one through that gate and he didn’t secure it. We thought it was most likely a coyote. We discussed the importance of keeping our animals safe by closing gates as we go through them.

Sunday morning we woke up to another dead goose, in the water, by the shore. The boys went and looked at that one. Again partially eaten.

We are now wondering what is doing this. A coyote would have taken the whole goose and eaten all of it. Right?? What about a raccoon? Does the fact that the geese were in the water when they were killed tell us that some omnivore/carnivore is living in the pond? Nutria, mink, ferret???

It is impossible, at this point, to know with certainty but I think all of our females are now dead. They might have been unfriendly little things, but they are enjoyable to watch. Now we are down to three. When we moved here there were eight. What are we doing wrong?

On to some news of a happier nature.

Apparently our town has an annual daffodil show the first weekend of spring. Joshua and Nicholas decided, at the last minute, that they wanted to enter some daffodils. We certainly have a bunch from which to choose. Joshua cut three different kinds and Nicholas went with one. They gently cleaned them off and Michael drove them to the grade school where the show was held.

We went back on Sunday to see if they had won any of the contests.

Joshua’s “Fortissimo”placed second and his “Crown Gold” place first.

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Nicholas’ “Dateline” placed second.  Joshua’s “Thalia” placed second.

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Needless to say, this has opened a desire to compete each year. Hopefully our daffodils won’t bloom at the end of January again next year. The lady running the show said this was the earliest bloom in 18 years. They have two more shows over the next two weekends and believe there won’t be any flowers for competition for the second show and only a few for the show before. Early bloom and a big rain and wind storm the night before. Not the best combination of events for a daffodil show.

Our tulips are in full bloom.

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Enjoy the weekend,
Karen