farming – Page 2 – Ocean Delight Cottages

June 5, 2014June 3, 2014

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!

May 28, 2014May 25, 2014

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!

May 7, 2014May 2, 2014

Green House Coming Soon

This project is near and dear to our hearts. Along with our many other projects at The Doctor’s House (like building The Big Barn for the upcoming wedding season), we’re also building a green house. We’re going to use it to grow produce for our Dining Room (talk about local!) – everything from herbs, of course, to elery, cucumber, pumpkin, ground cherries, tomatoes, and more. Our salads will be garden fresh, and we’re going to have a lot of fun doing it! We’ll also be growing cut flowers for the rooms. We’ll keep you posted as we populate these homes with plants!

February 12, 2014February 11, 2014

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!

February 10, 2014February 10, 2014

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.

January 24, 2014January 23, 2014

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!

January 6, 2014January 6, 2014

Mrs. Roosevelt Doesn’t Need Power

… But she’s the only one that doesn’t! If you’re reading this, your power needs are in good shape. I thought a little Rosie – oh, excuse me, I mean Mrs. Roosevelt – would be a fun way to kick off a new year of blogging. Thanks to Newfoundland artist, new friend and former guest Leonard Howlett for the beautiful shot of this beautiful little creature. She’s sweet, too.

January 2, 2014December 17, 2013

Trapped like …. Goats?

Rosemary sent me this shot of Perry, who takes care of our animals at The Doctor’s House. Apparently he locked himself in the goat pin! We think Rosie was happy for the company – she loves people! Thankfully, Rosemary was able to come to the rescue – but not before getting this shot!

December 21, 2013December 18, 2013

Pretty Ponies

There is one thing for certain – The Doctor’s House, an animal sanctuary, has some beautiful residents. I never thought I’d be responsible for ponies, but then again, I never thought I’d be doing so much that we do out here in our new lives as Innkeepers and Restauranteurs. I wouldn’t trade it – or them – for anything.

Thanks to our genius chef, Anna Dohey, for capturing such great photos and passing them along. You can see more on our Facebook page. Anna is also behind our New Year’s Eve menu, which we’re excited about. Clearly she is a woman of many talents!

October 15, 2013October 14, 2013

Tuesdays with Murphy: Walking with Rosie

With this past busy holiday weekend at the Shag It Cafe and wedding event planning at The Doctor’s House, the two-leggeds around here think they’ve been busy dealing with lots of changes. But it’s really the four-leggeds who’ve had the most to deal with it. I now have not one but TWO new little ones to mind and show the ropes – on top of all my Guest Relations duties.

Joe of course has his new golden retriever, named Friday – he’s sweet and smart, but it’s still going to be a lot of work for me to show him all of our Ocean Delight ways. And Rosie, well she’s a unique one. And a new partner for Jerry and me when we go on our morning walks. She must think she’s a dog, because she acts just like one.

Anyway, I don’t mind my extra charges. It’s like I always say – we four leggeds have to stick together!