Visitor

"Hey, come over here. Want to see something you haven't seen before?"

"Okay, I'll take a look. What is that?"

"Hey I want to look too. What in the world is that out there?"

"Don't be alarmed. It's just me."

We haven't had any raccoons for some time now and was very pleased to see that one is back.

Now that I know the coon ( s) are back, I'll keep an extra special eye on the chickens. The food in the pan is for the outside cats and well, for the coons too.

Yesterday I had writers block really bad and couldn't think of anything remotely interesting to talk about. Unless you wanted to hear about the humdrum daily chores! :)

I almost forgot to let you know where I got the blacklight flashlight. Amazon for about $7.00.

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

What do these have in common?

I see that there are 50 followers now reading my blog. WOW!! A big thank you to all of you. WOW!! 50!! That really made me smile. Thanks. :)



What do these pictures have in common?

If you guessed cat pee, you are right.

Yesterday was a bit too hot for me ( 84 degrees) so I caved in and turned the air conditioning on. After a few minutes there was this smell. An awful smell permeating throughout the house. Anyone who has cats knows 'that' smell.

Now to find out where it was coming from. Since the air was on it made sense that it was coming from or around a vent. The vents here are in the floor. So with my trusty blacklight I checked every vent. A blacklight will illuminate urine spots.

Yup, after checking a few vents I found 'the' vent. Ugh! Okay, now to get to cleaning. Out with the vent, in went a towel down the tubing to get the pee, then soak another towel with Simple Solution, put that down the vent opening, leave it for awhile so the enzymes do their trick, pull that towel back out, another towel to finish cleaning the residue, that towel back out and time to put the air back on to see if the smell was gone.

Seemed to have done the job.

I know who the culprit is. His name is Static and he is special needs. His auto immune system does not work so once a month he gets a shot of Depo Medrol which is a steroid. If he doesn't get his shot, he scratches himself until he is bloody. No, it isn't a flea reaction. Other than his auto immune not functioning right, he is a nice, normal, happy, loving cat with no other issues.

The down side to his shot is it can cause diabetes which will cause him to drink lots of water. This isn't the first time he has peed somewhere he isn't suppose to. I am going to make an appointment with the vet to see if diabetes has set in. If it has, the decision will have to be made whether to euthanize him. I am a firm believer in quality of life rather than quantity. I will never have an animal that has their life prolonged even though they are miserable and in pain just because it is too hard to let them go. ( No, this is not what I have been diligently working on and waiting for an answer).

This is not a sad post in any way.

Better mood today.

Thank you to all who left such nice comments from yesterday's post. You all made me smile. It wasn't the neighbor who had me in a mood. He thanked me for the hospitality and getting a halter on his horse. His horse is now in a much more secure fenced in area ( where I can see) and all is well there.

Usually after a what I refer to as a 'blue' day, the next morning I am full of ( excuse the term) piss and vinegar ready to take the world by storm. There are times when things just really get to me and yesterday was the day that it all seemed over whelming. Between the oil spill in the Gulf Coast and all the wildlife being affected ( mainly with their lives) to the scammers in the animal rescue business to finding out that their are now too many roosters here and they have to go to new homes ( where most likely they will be eaten) to.........

finding a half eaten baby ground squirrel by the barn which may have been the one I saved from Mr. Worm ( the cat) last week to so much more.

Also there has been something that has weighed very heavily on me these past few months. I have been working diligently on this matter with no answer as of yet. It is something that will turn my world upside down if it doesn't go through, or will let me breathe a sigh of relief to know that all will be fine. No, it is not a health issue. Time is ticking down and as much as I don't like to admit it, I am getting a bit scared. So, everyday I ask the Guardian Angels and send out prayers and thoughts to the universe that all will be good. It is all I can do at this point.

And this morning as I was letting the chickens out of the chicken house, Danni ( pictured above) flew off the top roost right into the back of my head! Her feet got a tad bit tangled in my hair, so there I stood with a chicken trying to get free all the while flapping her wings and squawking and my hands reaching behind to get her off me. After a minute or so she was free and I was laughing.

Today the sun is shining, the sky is blue, and maybe today will be the day I find out one way or another. If not, then it's okay.

Time for me to get outside and get some chores done.

Wishing every one of you a glorious day.

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

Ever felt like this?

Today is one of those days.

Neighbor came over last night and took his horse home.

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

Guest update

Hmmmm, see something different about this horse? Yes, yes, he now has a halter on!

Yesterday evening when the neighbor got home from work. I met him at the fence, asked about his hands ( due to rope burns from the other night trying to catch the horse), saw that his hands are pretty chewed up, told him it was ok if his horse stayed another night. Then I asked him if it was okay with him if I worked with his horse and get a halter on him.

He said be my guest and good luck but not to feed him. Well, that's all I needed. My chance to prove that patience, calmness and talking quietly really does work!

This morning after feeding my herd, I took some hay up to Roy ( horses name). I had the halter with me, went into the arena without feeding him first, talked with him, rubbed the halter all over his face and shoulders, walked out, fed him and left him alone. I know, I know, he said not to feed him, but no animal goes hungry here, ever!

A few hours later I went back up with the halter, into the arena, rubbed the halter on him, had him follow me around, talked quietly then put the halter on him. Then I took it back off, walked away, he followed, and I put it back on him. No fuss, no muss. I rewarded him with a pat and a good job, then gave him a horse treat. He didn't know what a treat was and at first wasn't too sure about it, then decided he liked it.

Getting him haltered took about ten minutes. Hmmmm, don't suppose my method worked do ya'! Wait till the neighbor gets home tonight!!!!! Oh alright, I am grinning a bit because my way worked and his good ol' boy method didn't! :)

I may go up in a little while and try to untangle that mess of a mane he has.

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

Over Night Guest Continues

Well, the over night guest is still here. The owner came over as promised after he got off work to catch his horse. Well, since he is still here you already know he was unsuccessful at putting a halter on. He tried for over an hour with no luck. Then he decided he would just rope him. Okay then.

So he threw the rope, caught him and then the rodeo began! First there were some pull backs, then a rear here and there, and of course some pretty good bucks. The horse was having none of the rope and had no intention of cooperating in any way, shape or form.

Well, then the horse decided to bolt and bolt he did. The rope slid through through the owners hands and yup, some pretty good rope burns. The owner is getting frustrated. Horse is running all over the arena with the rope still around his neck. So the owner tried keeping the horse moving and eventually would tire out. Um, nope.


Another hour goes by. Owner is ready to blow. Horse not giving up. It's pretty dark by this time. I finally tell the owner it's ok to leave the horse and try again tomorrow. Well, the owner comes out of the arena without taking the rope off the horse. Uh, aren't you going to take the rope off for safety reasons. He tells me nope. Leave it on the little s.o.b.. Uh, aren't you worried about what could happen overnight? Nope. He then tells me what I need in my arena is a snubbing post! Really? I haven't ever had to use one, don't believe in them, and that in my humble opinion if training is done softly, with patience and asking, it gets you further and with much better results. He then tells me a story about a horse he had years ago he kept snubbed for over a week ( yes he took water and food to the horse) and that in no time he had the best horse. I made the remark about 'good old boy' training' and he said yes that is what he believes in because it works.

Ok, that's fine. Everyone trains their own way and it is not for me to judge which is best. What works for one person doesn't mean it will work for another.

So, tonight we will see if the overnight guest is still here in the morning or not.

If he is unsuccessful at getting a halter on him tonight I will ask if it is okay if I try tomorrow. With it being someone else's horse it is not my place to go out there and work with his horse without his permission.

Stay tuned!

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

Overnight guest

Yesterday evening I noticed through the kitchen window that the sunset was really pretty. So off outside to take a few pics of it. Sorry, the focus isn't very good. It really was a pretty sunset.

As I was taking pics I noticed that the neighbors horses were running full board in their pasture. The next thing I see is their 2 year old stud colt jumped the fence right into my pasture! Off next door to let them know where their horse is. The owner came out, apologized, came over here to catch his horse, but his horse was having none of it.

To be honest, his stud colt hasn't been worked with much at all so getting a halter on him was, well, not going to happen. By this time it is getting dark so I mentioned to the neighbor to just put his horse in the arena overnight. I sure as heck don't want his stud loose with the jennies ( female donks). Not an option!

Here is his stud colt in my arena this morning. After feeding my herd I hauled water up to him. The neighbor is going to come over after he gets off work and halter his horse to take him back home. Which should be rather entertaining considering the horse is pretty much untouched! He also said he was going to call the vet out to geld him! Hooray!! One less horse to reproduce. And he is going to run a hot wire along the fence line.

Please excuse the look of the arena. With all the rain we have been having I haven't been able to get out there and rake it.

Hope everyone has a great day. There is a lot on the agenda here and I hope to get it all done.

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