Here’s Beauty, Eweness and Rosie spending their afternoon like we’re hoping you’re spending your Sunday afternoon – maxing and relaxing! There’s lots going on around here like always, and our menagerie is growing (stay tuned, we’ll share some photos soon of our new four-leggeds), so sometimes these ladies just need their quiet time! We’re working on our Goat Park, so that all our sweet creatures have lots of room on easy street. What a life!
Our Ponies’ Debut!
We love our ponies and so do our guests, so it was only a matter of time before they got a little online-love! Thanks to Newfoundland & Labrador Tourism for their recent blog featuring all the wonderful things to do on the Western shore of Conception Bay. And thanks to blogger, Dominique Chiasson, for staying with us, writing such a nice review of The Doctor’s House, and including our girls, Bridie and Shamrock in it. They’re our rescued Newfoundland ponies, and we’re happy to get the word out about how special they are!
And thanks again to recent guests Stephen and Kayla for the beautiful photo of Bridie.
Cook’s in the … Greenhouse!
Here’s our wonderful grower, Barb George, getting up close and personal with some freshly grown peas! You may remember that this past winter we built a greenhouse. Well, as you can see, it’s up and running – and offering up lots of fresh greens for use both in Dining at The Doctor’s House and the Shag It. Cate and Chris, our Executive Chefs, are happy – and we’re even more so, because we get to enjoy the results.
Bridie and The Berry
Everyone leads busy lives these days. We certainly do, as we navigate a new industry, and we know all our friends and colleagues work hard, too. Add in all our devices and on-the-go culture, and it’s hard to unplug! That’s why we love our animals, big and small. They force you to slow down, without your screens and cell phones, and live in the moment while you care for them. Here’s The Berry and Bridie, our Newfoundland pony, going through their evening ritual. It’s truly a blessing!
The Great Escape
Talk about a comedy of errors – especially for someone like Jerry who is mildly afraid of horses! A few evenings ago he was working reception at The Doctor’s House, when through our glass door he saw blurred images moving past quickly. Knowing they couldn’t be human, he ran and opened the door – to see our 4 ponies and Eweness the Sheep on the gallivant. They’d found a hole in the fence and taken full advantage.
The Berry was away, and Perry, our caretaker, was unreachable – so it was up to Jerry, slightly (just slightly!) afraid, to figure out how to get our animals, now on the loose, back to the safety of the barn.
So he got some apples and a bucket and went looking for the beasts. He found them in the furthest field from the barn, all smiles, munching on the fresh green grass and enjoying the sweet taste of freedom.
Shaking, a little, bucket in hand, Jerry approached Monty – the leader of the pack. As Monty munched on his first piece, Jerry put on his rein, held the old bucket in front of his nose, and led him easily (with heart pounding) back to the barn. To his relief, the others followed their leader neatly behind him.
Back at the barn, Jerry released the horses to look for the hole in the fence. He found it quickly, but not before the four ponies took off in full stride again, down the field and out through the hole, back to where he had last found them – laughing at him all the way.
So Jerry fixed the fence and started after them again. Thankfully, by this point, The Berry had returned, so she much more confidently led them back to the barn.
Here is the picture we took the morning after the Great Escape. The animals are clearly not as happy to have given up their freedom – but they are much safer now that their little adventure is over. And, it’s not like we don’t make sure they get plenty of exercise! 
Goat Park!
Perry, our Groundskeeper at The Doctor’s House, came up with a great idea to build a Goat Park for Rosie and Eweness. Rosie is playful and energetic, but we can’t let her roam because she tries to head off-property, and she could also hurt herself on some of our vegetation.
So we’ve setup this big rock to start the park, right across from the duck pond. We’re going to fence it in and add lots for them to jump up on and over. Rosie and Eweness are about to be the luckiest bovines around!
Lottie
We’re not the only people around with new animals in our barn (Eweness is still doing great – stay tuned for updates!). Clifford also has a new Newfoundland pony, Lottie. She is, without doubt, the nicest looking pony I’ve seen – sleek, elegant, so feminine. And no wonder – she is Monty’s daughter, actually. What a beauty she is!
Welcome Eweness
This weekend was a special one for our Ocean Delight/The Doctor’s House family – we are now one sheep bigger. Thanks to The Berry who found her, we welcomed Eweness, our first sheep ever, to the menagerie.
Eweness is sweet and pretty, and may be pregnant – so we might have more sheep soon! She comes to us from Denise Critch, who rescued her from the meat-truck last Monday. Denise already has a barn-full of animals, and since we have extra room we were more than happy to take this little sheep.
We picked Eweness up on Saturday, and she was nervous and skittish, as you’d expect. We were actually a little anxious about how introducing her to Mrs. Roosevelt the Goat. Eweness had been scorned by the goats at her previous home, so we wanted it all to go smoothly. We prepared a special place in the barn so we could introduce her to Rosie gradually.
Turns out we had nothing to worry about. When Perry put her in the pen with Rosie, they acted like reunited sisters. We had felt that Rosie needed a buddy for a while – that became clear when we saw them together. Eweness started to think she was a goat and tried jumping all over like Rosies does. Rosie thought she was a sheep and kissed her several times.
The ponies also seemed to welcome Eweness. When Denise and Jasmine, her previous owners, came to check on her, they were delighted to see how quickly she was accepted by her peers and how truly happy she seems to be here.
Apparently, we need to leave her inside for a couple of days so that it sinks in that this is her new home. Once she adjusts to the new smells and animals, she’ll be attached to her new family. We’re learning lots. Two years we had no animals. Now we have a whole menagerie – 4 ponies, a goat, geese, chickens, ducks, two golden retrievers, a Devon Rex and now, happily, a new lamb! And we’re happy that she’s here in time to help us celebrate Valentine’s!
If you’re like to see more photos of Eweness, you’ll find them on our Facebook page. And if you’d like to hear more about our Valentine’s special, please do so here.
Walk the Goat
Some days, The Doctor’s House is so alluring that we take our work and spend our days there. Then it’s always a treat to take what Murphy calls our ‘four-leggeds’ out for a walk. I would never have guessed how friendly goats can be until I met our fabulous Miss Rosie. She was a little intimated of Murphy at first, but now she’s the clear leader, and they enjoy their walks together. She loves being around people and bossing around the other animals, she couldn’t be sweeter, and taking her on walks is always the highlight of the day.
Some Love for Shamrock
We’ve had some questions after posting about our construction project to turn a barn at The Doctor’s House into a wedding reception hall, wondering whether it would displace our menagerie of animals. And the answer is, happily, no! Our Newfoundland ponies and goat have their own, newer barn, where they’re given lots of love and other necessities – and that’s not going to change.
Here’s Laurelyn with Shamrock, a looker if ever there was one, and the sweetest pony around. She loves attention and kisses, and absolutely loves humans. Thankfully, the feeling is mutual!