Hey peeps!! I have had a lot of puppy inquiries lately and I just wanted to touch base! 

In April (ish) we will be breeding Lucy (attempt #2). And by April I mean when ever between now and then that she decides to go in heat. Those of you PATIENTLY waiting for puppies my list is about 20 people long. Don't let that get you down though because lots of people change their minds and some have been waiting longer then others. It'll work out! We'll keep you posted!

If you're wondering what we've been up to the last few weeks the answer is ... a whole lot of nothing. Haha, just kidding. Just doing the same old routine, taking care of the farm and working. The last week a cold has been running through our house and got me pretty good. 

John got his cast off on Friday but now has like a splint thing instead. It's been a long road to recovery but at least he got to keep his leg! 

Also, in exciting news, my best friend Toni had a baby!! He was a few weeks earlier then expected but he was still a big boy!

​He was born on February 9th!! Welcome to the world Hudson!! 

Anyways, aside from the same old mumble jumble nothing fun to report. Hopefully puppies soon though!!! 
​
-A

Oh such a wonderful time of year!
Every time I think that I'm busy I remind myself that this time last year I had all those little puppies running around, people in and out of my house, and poops galore. But guess what... it was BLISS!

​I'm taking this break as a chance to get 'caught' up with my to-do list for the new year. Mind you, 12 days is not a lot of time when you have a lot of stuff on the go. I doubt I'll get back here for another post so I'm going to JAM in everything I can here today!

I know many of you have been waiting on the news of Lucy. Unfortunately the breeding was unsuccessful, as we knew it would. If you missed my post about the breeding disaster, you can read it here. 

We did an ultrasound and there were no puppies to be seen. Our plan now is to breed her in the Spring 2018 and try again. The good news is that next time we will approach the situation a little different and move straight to the AI (non surgical) since Lucy is too shy to do it the old fashioned way. (Which is totally fine!) 

I know some of you are very disappointed as you've been waiting for puppies for so long but I reassure you, I have been there and IT'S WORTH THE WAIT. 

​Someone told me they were "sorry". Don't be sorry, BE HAPPY! Like we are. Want to know why? Because Lucy is still healthy and alive and all is good, not having puppies isn't a bad thing but it's not a good thing either, but still, we still have her and she's still alive and we have next time to try again.

If losing Audrey taught me anything it was that in situations like this you have to reflect and think to yourself, is this a bad thing? Is this a 'first world problem'? You can only look at the positive because there is a positive. Lucy will have puppies, just not this time.

When Audrey was sick, there was no positive outcome.  Only sadness and no future. 
If you hadn't noticed in this post I have been thinking a lot of Audrey lately. I watched some videos of her this weekend and it ripped my heart out all over again. Hopefully one day I can look back at our memories and smile instead of cry. She has left a giant gaping hole in my heart. 

I think she's been with me a lot lately as Christmas approaches (she LOVED opening gifts and smelling all the presents under the tree) and as her puppies 1st birthday quickly approach's my mind wonders to the thought of her. This time last year things were very different.

But that's okay. That's life.

Hey guys! I feel like the last few months I've been sharing a lot of sad posts with you guys. Lots of not-so-fun things happening, but that's life! Not everything always goes as the way we planned! So anyways I decide that today I'll give you guys a little look at some more positive and happy things happening here on the Clarke Farm!

To start off, we adopted two little kittens!
We named them Tootsie and Pixie!
They are just the sweetest little sisters. They came from Anitgonish and were in desperate need of dewormer when we first got them. But since then they have grown a lot and are feeling healthy and strong! ​

During October we had lots of fun events! It's usually one of the busiest months of the year aside from December! We had lots of fun visits to the Valley, pumpkin picking and carving, apple picking, corn mazes, Halloween parties and more! Here's a few snaps... 

Were exhausted and ready for winter now!

We also wanted to thank everyone who gave us their pumpkins after Halloween! It was a great snack for the goats and sheep and they very much enjoyed them!

As for anyone looking for updates on Lucy... It's been 9 days since her artificial insemination. Nothing to report at this time. Her nips are quite firm but that's a normal thing for her after her heat cycle. She has also had false pregnancies before so I wont get my hopes up. She does seem to be more chill when outside and avoids her usual tackle playing with the boys. We'll keep you guys updated. And we plan to do an ultrasound in a few weeks so we don't have to wait so long to know for sure! 

Cheers!!

-Amanda & Fam

Hey guys! I just wanted to pop in and let you know what's going on with our next potential litter. Here's how the last few weeks have gone..... 

Wednesday October 11th I noticed Lucy's heat had started, woo hoo!!
​I promptly contacted Timmy's owner (the Stud were using) and let her know!

Wednesday October 18th I brought her to the vet to be swabbed. Everything was on time. She was around day 7 which was what I had expected.

Sunday October 22nd I drove down to Windsor to breed Lucy.
Lucy was very shy and scared and would not let Timmy do anything and we did not have a successful tie. We figured maybe we were too early.
On my way out the door, Timmy wanted one last sniff of Lucy and pulled his owner who was holding his collar and she unfortunately fell to the ground.  After a series of events following that, the end result was that this poor woman broke her hip and required surgery. Since she was in the hospital we decided to take Timmy to our house to try breeding here.

Monday October 23rd we picked up Timmy and brought him here for a few days. Still no successful tie.
My wheels started turning and my gut was saying we need a back up plan. I called the vet and booked and artificial insemination for Wednesday. They wanted to do Tuesday but we had to go out of town for a funeral so it was not possible. 

Wednesday October 25th off to the vet we go. Lucy was swabbed and Timmy was collected. Unfortunately, Lucy's swab came back that she had past her fertile days. Timmy's sample that was collected had a low count (Timmy wasted his swimmers humping Bogart that morning). We went ahead with the AI anyways, with all our fingers and toes crossed... Dr. C didn't seem hopeful. 

If were LUCKY (which were not) we'll get puppies, but only time will tell. We will probably know within a month or so if she shows signs. We'll likely do an ultrasound in a month to check for sure so we don't leave anyone hanging. 

Since it was our first time breeding Lucy we did not know it would go this way. Therefor in the future we'll jump straight to the AI (non surgical by the way) since she doesn't seem fond of getting down with strangers.

Sooo... the bad news is if the stars don't align this time we'll have to wait until her next season, which will be in the Spring. Sorry guys, were bummed too!!!
​Will keep you up to date! 

-Amanda

As most of you know our little cat Chicklet went missing on Monday evening. We have a daily ritual of locking the cats up at night and free to roam during the day. Chicklet never returned to us on Monday evening for her dinner and there has been no sign of her since, not even a spotting. 

We've gone door to door with flyers, called every SPCA and rescue, 311, Facebook, Kijiji, put flyers up around our neighborhood, left food out for her... everything, but nothing. 

At this point our heads are in many places. We first off thinking, this feeling is wayyy to familiar. The feeling of the unknown. The same feeling we had when Audrey was sick. It's not a fun feeling. After about day 4 of her missing we start to think realistically. Yes, we want her to come home but we have to prepare ourselves for the worst. 

What could have happened to her? Well here's the options at this point...

- Bald eagle swooped her up -> very possible, we see them around a lot but she was also a good hider, so I'm skeptical.
- Coyote or bob cat took her -> possible, though I have not heard or seen any around here others have. But she also went missing during the daytime, so again, I dunno.
- Someone stole her -> yes but shes fearful of strangers so very unlikely.
- She's lost or on an adventure -> maybe? but unlikely... but cats are unpredictable.
- She's chillin' in someone's house -> doubtful, she's friendly but not litter trained so I can't see anyone wanting that
- Hit by a car -> could be, but still we've looked high and low and no body found.
- She was sick and we didn't know and she hid away to pass -> Honestly this one feels the most likely to me based on my knowledge of my own cats behaviour. Our cats are very well fed. Kitcat is a healthy weight but Chicklet was always skinny. I never investigated because I thought that was just the way she was but it's possible something else was underlying there that we didn't know.

At this point all I can pray is that if she's out there alive, that she returns. And that if she's not, that her death was peaceful and not murderous.

Sorry for the early morning morbidity.

 It's likely that in the coming few weeks we will get another cat to keep Kitcat out of trouble. if Chicklet returns, then we'll have 3 cats. 

- Goat & Sheep Feeding up at the farm, as most of you know we have a 25 cent machine for corn! You can feed them over the fence or go right in!
- Dave will be doing mini tours of the farm and he'll show the kids the chickens and ducks. You can go in and pet them or just look from a far (like I usually do)
- Bunny petting. We have a little pen we'll set up and put the bunnies in there so kids can hang out in there and play with them. That will be down by the house.
​- Some people are coming to see the dogs too! They have a little enclosure that I don't usually use for them but I'm going to use it by the house. Feel free to say hello! Just be careful with your kiddos because their not used to tiny humans and sometimes they like to jump. Also, Charlie has a minor case of Kennel Cough from doggy daycare so please use caution if you bring your dogs. Our other 2 dogs have not caught it so it should probably be fine but just wanted to give the heads up! 
- Food, current food situation is free hot dogs. BUT I only bought 24 so once their gone their gone, sorry peeps I can't feed the neighborhood for free :) 
- Snacks (and you know I love snacks) ... we will have our popcorn machine out so help yourself to popcorn ... AND I bought a big bag of candy corn. Corn seems to be a theme so why not roll with it haha!! 
- Games, I'm still undecided. I may set up washer toss and/or badminton, I dunno. I'm going to see how today goes. I feel like theirs going to be so much other stuff going on nobody wants to play games...
- Bathrooms,​ 2 years ago when we did our open farm day everyone needed to pee, of course they did! Come on in and use our washrooms, I'll have a sign, no need to ask. Wonder around the house a little if you want, just don't drink Dave's milk. 

Things to remember...
- Farm animals have big feet! Please wear appropriate footwear. I go up every day in my slippers and I'm telling you they will leave a big bruise if they step on your toe.
- If your child is allergic to animals please give them allergy medicine before or bring it with you as we don't have any here! 

I hope to see you all there!! 

If anyone needs our address the information it's posted in contact us page. We're just 1 km down the Meagher's Grant road in Musquodoboit Harbour (turn left at the police station). We'll have a sign posted at the bottom of the driveway. 

Thanks for reading!!

​Love, The Clarke's

I was about to say "Happy Sunday" but I realized it was Monday! I love having Monday's off... gotta love holidays!

I feel like it was just a few days ago that I gave you guys an update on the farm BUT so much has happened in the last few weeks! 

We added two more livestock to the farm... SHEEP!! Mary and John!
We got them from Mount Traber Bible Camp in Musquodoboit (Dave's cousin). We fell in love with them right away the first time we saw them because they were sooo friendly! They were born in April this year and they are TWINS! See... another reason to come and see us at our open house in a few weeks! They are getting along with the other animals amazingly!

If you are wondering what's next for the farm the answer is NOTHING! Well for now at least! Haha! We have our hands plenty full. 
​-A