Never Forget

Catch of the day or Run that away!

My mood is better today. Yesterdays rant boiled down to our justice system failing yet again and the criminals getting away with it again.




However today is a brand new day. The sun is shining. I read a few of your blogs earlier this morning and they put a smile on my face.



I was hoping for a rather uneventful day. But of course there is always something that pops up. No big deal. Keeps me on my toes!


Can you see what is under this bowl? If you see a small Bull snake you are correct. I was in the barn this morning and heard Ruby one of our outside kitties howling. A quick peek out the door and immediately I see why she is howling. This baby Bull snake is hanging out of her mouth twisting every which way. Thank goodness Ruby comes running when we call her name so after calling her she dropped the snake, which wasn't moving at this point. I walked over to the snake. Yup, it's alive with no visible marks. Grabbed the first thing I could find ( which was actually on the top of a garbage can) and placed it over the snake.

Into the house to grab the camera. Take a few pics. Shoo some cats away.

Lift the container off the snake and guided it into this container. Then it was off to find a safe place to release it. And just as I released the snake what do I hear?

The sounds of a distressed ground squirrel. One cat had it in their mouth. Yell at cat. Cat drops squirrel. Another cat comes along and tried catching the squirrel which has started to run towards the house. First cat and a third cat trying along with second cat darting here and there trying to catch the squirrel. Human ( me) yelling at cats and throwing small rocks to distract them to give squirrel a chance to get away.


Squirrel finally makes it to some rocks by the house and hides. Cats upset. Ground squirrel safe for now but very, very upset. Squirrel is still hiding and every now and then I hear it chirping when a cat gets too close.


Later on I'll try to shoo it out from under the rocks and towards the pasture.



Yes, I know its the whole food chain going on. And that's okay. Personally, I don't want to hear it or see it. Bad enough I find dead birds and moles every so often.



Oldest daughter is on her way out to bring lunch. Mmmm, love food!


Until next time...............

Okay, now I am just pissed!

I must have woke up this morning with a bee in my bonnet. You know the mood, get in my way and I'll run you over! As I was perusing Face Book I saw this picture on my news feed. After reading the news article

http://www.wjhg.com/home/headlines/102502389.html I got downright pissed off. Then the more I thought about Champ ( horses name), the more my anger rose towards any person who abuses or neglects any animal. I am sick of abusers/neglectful owners getting away with acts of cruelty .

Why do people send their horses to the auction where most likely they will be bought up by kill buyers, then crammed onto trailers ( yes those double deckers that are suppose to be illegal to use for horses), then sent to Mexico or Canada to be slaughtered under inhumane ways.

And the men who were arrested for the 20 horse butcherings that went on in Florida but are now thinking about taking a plea deal.

And how some workers at medical facilities who experiment on animals torture and abuse and neglect the animals on frickin purpose and thinks its funny.

What about the people who tie their dog up in the backyard and forget about it! How can you forget you have a dog!!!

What about the men ( I use the term loosely) that beat baby calves severely and filmed themselves doing it. These same 'men' hit cows in their faces with crowbars while the cows were restrained and couldn't move.

And what about OUR Mustangs being rounded up off of OUR public lands by so called professionals ( BLM) and the horses are dying during the roundup and in the holding pens. How many horses have to die before this madness stops?

The list just goes on and on and on.

Where is the real justice for these animals? What consequences do the abusers/neglectful owners receive? What punishment awaits people who do horrible acts to animals? How loud do we have to scream so that the justice system will finally do their job and prosecute to the full extent of the law people who abuse/neglect animals? What is it going to take to get some damn justice for the animals? It's time to replace the elected officials that don't give a rats ass about animals!!!

Yes, you can bet I call and email and write real letters on behalf of animals.

Okay, I had better stop now before my head explodes with anger.

Thanks for listening. I'm off my soap box now.

Time to use this energy I have going on something productive.

Until next time............................

Coons and Cats and Birds

Last night Mama Coon and her three pretty good sized babies came up to have dinner ( cat food). When I walked to the screen door she growled at me! Um, really!! In the years I have lived here not one coon has ever growled. So, I stood there. She kept growling. I kept standing there. She kept growling. On and on it went for a little while. She wasn't going to leave and neither was I! Finally she walked off growling the whole time. Ha Ha, I won!!!! In the background of the picture you'll see two white dots. Those are the eyes of one her babies.

This afternoon I had to go to town and as I was walking out the door what do I see? A cat with this bird. Geez, not again. Yup, chased the cat away, finally grabbed the bird, put it in a box, into the bathroom and off to town I went.

Came home, checked on the bird, yup, still very much alive. Alright then, time to go back outside. Hmmm, where to turn it loose in case it doesn't fly off and I can catch it again without cats around. Hmmmm. Okay, the backyard it is.


Thankfully as soon as I opened the box all the way out flew the bird. Thank you little bird!


It has been cloudy and kind of rainy. Yay!!!! I'll take this weather over those baking triple digits any day.

Until next time........................

Plumbing

This morning after taking care of the 'herd' and some morning chores it was time to tackle the plumbing situation. The more I thought about it, the more I knew I could fix the situation. So, after finding the plumbing snake, right sized wrench, hooking up the hose, I was prepared to tackle the job. And tackle it I did! I have watched enough how the proffesionals did the job so, remembering how they did it, the job got done. Okay, maybe it took longer. And maybe it wasn't as proffesional. But, the drains are cleared and working normally once again. Although I have to admit it is something I would prefer not doing again!


Today I noticed that my hands look like cowboy hands. You know the ones, old and weatherbeaten. I suppose the days of youthful looking skin is long gone and I just now noticed. Ha Ha


Until next time......................

Lots going on

I have been so preoccupied with other things that I didn't notice something was missing until.............. it literally hit me. I'm sure you are asking why is there a picture of a spicket surrounded by tall grass. Nope, there is nothing to see except the spicket and grass. Although, yesterday evening as I was getting ready to water the front and back pasture waterers, I reached down to turn the spicket on and was hit by a very small Gardner snake. Then I realized I hadn't seen all the frogs who live in the grass for awhile now. Well, obviously little snake found an all you can eat buffet. So, little snake lives by the spicket now, so will be more careful when turning the spicket on.

I have been asked from several folks who is all going with me when the time to move arrives. So, besides all the cats, the three dogs, the five goats ( minus Betsy goat), Pearl ( above) and

Mike and

Pewter and

AJ, Arnold, Doughnut, Cookie and

Little Inger and

Houdini ( my horse) and Marshmallow will all be moving with me.

We had another yard sale this past weekend. Got rid of a lot more stuff. Met some fantastic folks. And consoled an older woman who was very distraught when she learned as to why we have to move. I kept telling her it was going to be okay. That the right place will show up when the time is right. And that the animals will stay with me. She gave me the biggest heartfelt hug with tears streaming down her face. She almost got me to crying because I felt so bad that she felt so bad and we didn't even know one another. She calmed down when I assured it that it really will be okay.

Today I have been trying to catch up on the house chores ( it looked like a band of renegades lived here) and while everything was going smoothly enough another challenged reared it's ugly head. After cleaning the main bath toilet I flushed it to watch the water start to rise to the top of the bowl! Oh great, now what. So, grabbed the plunger, got the water to recede, and reluctantly flushed again. Nope, here came the water rising again. So, after checking the main bath shower to see backed up water in there, then checking the master bath shower and seeing water standing in there, it was time to walk out to where the septic tank is located. Sure enough water was leaking from the drain. Really!! Well, today is Labor Day and I am not calling a plumber to unclog the line ( I know exactly where it is clogged) and paying the holiday rate. I will wait until tomorrow. Heck, I may just run to the hardware store and buy one of those snake things and do it myself. I've been through this whole thing before so know exactly where to snake at). So long as the lines aren't overloaded with water everything will be just fine. A thought just ran through my head. Since I no longer own the house, then I suppose I am not responsible for paying the plumber. Hmmmmm. Regardless, I will fix the problem.

Slowly but surely I have been playing catch up with everyone's blogs.

Have I told you that you are all wonderful and quite the excellent support system? Well, each and every one of you are! And I truly thank you for it. :)

Until next time...............................

Patti Cake, Patti Cake

Yesterday it was time to send Patti Cake, my mini mule, to her new home. With everything going on, it was best for her to be placed into a new home where she can still be spoiled and where her new guardian can spend more time with her. It was tough to say goodbye. She really touched my heart, but sometimes we have to do what is best for them. I explained to her that I had found a most wonderful lady who takes in rescues and that she is going to lead a very nice life where she will be loved and respected and spoiled. This pic was taken June of this year.

This is Patti Cake the day I brought her home. Yes, she was a rescue. Kind of a scruffy little girl who had been severely abused from her first owner and then overly indulged in her second home. Talk about a lot of baggage with this girl!

This pic was taken a few months of being here.

I made a written contract with Patti Cake's new guardian that if anything happens where she can no longer care for or keep her, she is to be returned to me. I feel bad about not being able to keep my word to Patti Cake about her being able to stay here until she passes on.

When Patti Cake was loading up into the horse trailer she was very hesitant. I was holding it together just fine. No tears. But then she turned and looked right into my eyes with a very scared and worried look. So, I walked up to her, gave her a hug and told her it was okay, to get into the trailer and that I will come to visit her. That that is a promise!! After seeing her eyes relax knowing everything will be good, she walked right on in.

Yes, after she left the tears rolled. And it sure was strange not seeing her last night or this morning at feeding time.

I am still on the hunt and search for a place to rent. I did find a perfect place that will accept the horses, donkeys and goats, but ran into a wall with the dogs and cats. So many landlords/ladies don't want to rent to people with dogs and cats. Which I understand because years ago I rented out a house I owned at the time and let's just say, I learned a lot about what some renters are capable of doing to a house!

And another obstacle is I don't have any rental history! It has been 25 years since I have rented a house. Thankfully I have friends and family who have written reference letters for me.

Another yard sale is planned for this weekend. And I have to say, getting rid of a bunch of stuff has been quite wonderful. It's almost like a small weight has been lifted knowing I don't have to pack it all, haul it and store it.

Hugs to you all. And I really will catch up with all your blogs. In fact, I have set aside some time later on this evening to do just that.

Until next time...............................