Caught Red Handed!

Can you see the mischeviousness lurking in that face?

Notice the chain and the bungee cord? This is what we have to use to lock Pewter's ( one of our horses) stall door. I'd go out in the mornings and every now and then Pewter would be out of her stall greeting me at the gate waiting for breakfast. This was before the double chain and bungee cord. Before it was just a single chain with a snap clip. I knew one of the donkeys was somehow letting her out. Hmmmmm.

This is how we now have to latch and secure the round pen gate. We have two gelding donkeys who don't get along so one of them has to go into the round pen during the day and is turned out at dinner time when the other gelding is in his stall for the night. Before it was just the original latch that we used, but every now and then we would notice the latch was pulled to open. Then we used a bungee cord to make sure the gate could not be opened. Now we use the original latch, a bungee cord and a black nylon strap with a clip.

Well, yesterday I was standing in the kitchen looking out the window towards the round pen. I see Pewter, messing around the round pen but never thought anything of it. That is until I saw the round pen gate start to open!!!!! Noooooooo!!! Holly and I took off like jack rabbits to make sure the one donkey didn't get out and start fighting with the other one. We got there just in time. Whew!!!

Now I knew who was the culprit in letting themselves out of their stall and also who was responsible for attempting to free the one gelding from the round pen. It was...................................

this sweet natured, innocent looking Pewter!!! Caught red handed! She is the kindest, sweetest, trustworthy girl ever. Never in a million years would I have suspected of her letting herself out or trying to free the one donkey. Hmmmm, looks are decieving!!! And I started to suspect Patti Cake the mini mule ( pictured first). Sorry Patti Cake.

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

Ignorance

I have been stewing on this for several days now. Time to get it off my chest.








The other day I was in our local feed store and overheard a conversation between a customer and the retail clerk. The customer was saying that she just got a free stallion and since she has a mare that she turned the stallion loose in the pasture to breed her mare. The clerk asked if either horse was registered. Nope. The customer just wants a baby. Since the mare has never been bred before she thought it a good idea to have at least one foal from her. Then the customer left feeling all proud of herself. Hmmm, what are the chances that woman is going to keep the foal throughout his/hers entire life? Slim is what I think.








After a few minutes my blood began to boil. How ludicrous, stupid, irresponsible and thoughtless were my first thoughts. Which sent my mind racing. There are so many unwanted horses, dogs, cats, goats, donkeys, etc... in this world. A lot are due to irresponsible breeding. Quite a few horses and donkeys will be sent to auctions or listed for free which most of the time seals their fate. Kill buyers lurk at auctions. They look for free horses that are advertised. When they get enough horses, the horses are sent to Mexico or Canada for slaughter. Transportation is in itself cruel and disgusting what these horses have to endure. Some die during the trip. Some come off the trailer with broken bones and cuts. Their end is the cruelest of all. They smell death in the air with no escape from it. They are shoved into narrow chutes where they are whipped, prodded, etc... to where the killers are. In Mexico horses are stabbed in the neck and back until they fall, then they are dragged still alive and hung up having their throats slit. Not a nice end to a horse or donkey that has unconditionally loved their owner. And the owner has a clean conscience because they tell themselves that the nice guy who either bought their horse at the auction or came over and gave some bull story to get the free horse is going to give their horse a wonderful home.








Which brings me to another point. Free kittens everywhere. Personally I am sick of the lame excuses of, it's good to have a female have at least one litter or it's good for the children to witness life being given or it's," to get them spayed or neutered is too expensive. " There are programs available that help in the cost of spaying and neutering. A female does not have to have a litter of kittens. And please, little Tommy or Suzie could care less about the miracle of birth. They are too young to understand it.








One last thing I need to get off my chest. Free dog ads. There are gutterballs who search the free dog ads. They go to the house and lie through their teeth to the owners that they will give Fido a good loving home. Then Fido is taken away from his family forever. Possible to be used as bait for dog fighting. Or sold for medical experiments. All the while, the owner has a clean conscience. After all, the person or persons who answered the ad said all the right things.



What I am trying to say is, I'm not against breeding for the right purposes. For example, to keep certain bloodlines going that are exceptional. To try to keep a breed as pure as possible. When you choose to bring an animal into your life, it is just that, for life!


Sad we are such a throwaway society. We throw away our animals, children and elderly.


Okay, I am off my soapbox. The next blog will be a lot more lighthearted.


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

Found

Nemo--lost, found & returned.

This afternoon while hubby and I were going into town we were about half a mile from our house when I saw a dog running in the middle of a very busy road. Actually the road is a Hwy.

We stopped, turned the flashers on so warn other drivers to be careful. Thankfully the drivers coming in the opposite direction saw the flashers and stopped.

All the while this little dog is running scared still in the middle of the road. We followed the dog about a quarter of a mile where other cars and a log truck had stopped and saw what was going on and also put their flashers on.

By this time there are several of us trying to get this dog to come. Traffic is backing up.

Finally the dog darted onto our road and ran up to the nearest house. With the help of a passerby, we were finally able to catch the little guy.

We brought him back to our place. Posted two found ads on Craigslist and called Animal Control in case the owner had filed a missing pet report.

Since he is such a good natured little dog he got along with our big dogs just fine.

About half an hour ago hubby and I decided to start knocking on doors. Turns out the first house we went to was the right one. Come to find out the dog squeezed under the fence and decided to explore.

The owner was very happy to have Nemo back. And we were very happy that Nemo is back with his family.

I have to say how impressed I was with all the drivers out there that actually stopped, turned their flashers on and got out of their vehicles to help.

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

Cats at it again.

This is Mr. Smith and as I was getting ready to do some work on the computer this morning, he decided to flop down letting me know he wanted attention. So as usual the computer can wait a few minutes and I give Mr. Smith his pets and kisses.

A few minutes after Mr. Smith left, up jumped Ozzie wanting the same. Wow, two cats in one morning.

Trashcan must have read yesterday's blog because as soon as I was done working on the computer I hear growling coming from the other room. Off to find out who is growling and why.

What do I see behind the chair in the family room? Trashcan's tail flipping up and down. Growling getting louder. I walk over to see what all the fuss is about and just what I want to see before my second cup of coffee. Half of a ground squirrel in Trashcan's mouth. Um, yuk!! Off to the kitchen, grab a plastic bag, back into the family room and reach for the ground squirrel. Nope, not so fast says Trashcan. After a few minutes of chasing him through the house I finally win and get the ground squirrel. He is one ticked off cat now. I take it outside to dispose of it all the while Trashcan is following and swatting at me. He wants his prize. Well, he can have it outside!









After I come back from feeding the herd another one of our cats has caught a bird and is eating it by the front door. Geez, come on. Enough already kitties!







An hour or so later I go back outside to start on chores and what do I see? Yup, another cat running towards the house with a snake! I run after the cat to find out if the snake is alive or dead. Sadly, the snake didn't make it.







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

You Know Your Owned and Loved By Your Animal Family When....

You know you are owned by a cat when they get between you and the computer while you are working and demand your attention. If you don't give it to them, they give you "the look".

You know when you are owned by horses and donkeys when feeding time is getting close and they all let you know very loudly that you better not be late getting breakfast or dinner to them.

You know you are owned by the dog when she lays in the kitchen and expects you to walk around and over her.

On the same note, you know you are loved by the cat (s) when they bring you their 'treasure' into the house such as birds, dragonflies, baby ground squirrels, andmy favorite, the live snake! Luckily we have been able to save a few birds, a couple of dragonflies, one baby ground squirrel and yes, the live snake.

You know you are loved when you are having a bad day and a horse or donkey walks up to you and puts their head on your chest just to let you know that they are there for you.

You know you are loved when the dog ( who graciously allows us to sleep in the bed with her) lays her head on your pillow and gives you that ' I love you look".

Isn't it wonderful being owned by our furry family!

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

A Very Special Chicken

This is Little Inger and as you can see she is my chicken buddy. She loves to be picked up and petted. When she sees me on the other side of the coop she runs over and starts telling me all kinds of things. Out of curiosity I would walk to the other side of the coop and sure enough she follows.

She is the first one to meet me in the morning. The first one to meet me at the gate when I go inside to give them their goodies. All the while she is telling me all about what is going on. It is adorable. Too bad I don't understand chicken.

I never thought in a million years I would get so attached to a chicken!

The other chickens are great. Each one does have their own personality. For instance Rachael is independent. Jan makes sure everything is ok. Bonnie and Danni observe everything. Pam and Kim are best of friends and do everything together. But Little Inger is truly a special girl.

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

Just Pictures

Gosh I hadn't realized it has been a few days since I last wrote. Been one very busy week. Loading, hauling and stacking hay. Cleaning out the barn. Getting ready for a yard sale. Washing horse blankets so they will be nice and clean for winter use. Listing on EBay. And on and on.....

The pictures were taken over the years we have lived here at this house. I really like them and want to share with you.

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

Triple Digit Day--Again--Ugh!

Since today was another horrible triple digit day, and my snow dance is not working. The next best thing is to look at pictures of snow. The following pics are of what our place looks like when it snows. Different days of course.

I feel cooler just looking at the snow.

The hot temps didn't help because today we had to haul hay. Then this afternoon I loaded up one of my rescued horses who was adopted by a wonderful family. It was bittersweet watching him leave. He had been here since he was five months old. I was waiting for the perfect match and after several years, the perfect match came along.

Several dear friends (who also have horses) and I have the same high standards when it comes to placing our animals into new homes.

Patience pays off.

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

Helping Out.

This is Apollo who is one of our dogs. Yeah, it's tough holding down the furniture. Totally exhausting. This is Cookie Cat who showed up on our doorstep about eight years ago on a Christmas morning. She was so scared and so skinny it broke our hearts. It was obvious she had just had kittens somewhere and by the way she acted I am pretty sure someone physically abused her. We searched for kittens but never found any. To this day she does not want her hip area touched. Our little Cookie Cat is the sweetest girl with a very soft meow.

Doughnut, Arnold and Cookie.

Jeff who with his mom were rescued the winter of 2004. Jeff was five months old at the time. As of yesterday he has been adopted by a wonderful family. His mom lives the life of a Princess with one of my dearest friends.

Static. He is a recent addition. Poor guy has allergies and an auto immune deficiency and has to have a shot once a month to keep him healthy and happy.

As usual my mind is always on the thinking mode. I know today's times are tough. Really tough. Heck, I've been reading about the Great Depression and my goodness we are living it again. Who would have ever thought in today's times we would be reliving the past.

Anyway, my mind went of course to our animals friends. Especially the ones that are in shelters, or wandering the streets, or who show up at our doorsteps. Animal shelters across the nation are filled to the max.

Which had my mind giving thought how we can help all of our local animal shelters or rescue organizations close by. They can always use food. Even a small five pound bag of dog or cat food helps them. For a rescue organization such as horses, even one bale of hay helps. Or one bag of grain.

The ultimate would be if all the animals could find safe, loving, caring homes, but sadly that won't happen for many of them. Which puts my mind on to another channel but will leave that one for a future blog.

We can step up to the plate and donate a bag of food, a bale of hay, a bag of grain, toys, etc... I know times are tough for us, but they are also tough times for our animal friends.

If you can, how about donating something to your local animal shelter. You can even ask about fostering a dog or cat.

Every month I donate a bag of food to one of the local organizations here.

And if you can, donating to your local Goodwill or Salvation Army or food bank is a great thing to do. ( Just wanted you all to know I care about all the struggling people too).

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

Oregon Beauty

Yes, those are my bare feet in the snow. I adore snow! Crater Lake National Park. One of my favorite places.

Crater Lake National Park. It is amazing!

We stop off at the Gorge on our way to Crater Lake.

Waterfall at the Gorge.

Gorge again.

I thought for those of you who haven't seen Oregon, a few pics would show you how beautiful a place it is. Crater Lake National Park is an amazing place. Pictures don't do it justice.

If you ever make it to Oregon, a must see is Crater Lake.

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

Comparing

This is what is in my medicine cabinet. Yup, top shelf has animal supplies. The medicine cabinet out in the barn for the horses, donkeys and goats.

Top shelf of the bread cupboard used for more animal meds.

The big bottom drawer in the kitchen that has nothing but supplies for the dogs and cats and a few items that have to stay at room temperature for the horses and donkeys.

This morning I noticed when I opened the medicine cabinet that there isn't much in there for people. So, off to the kitchen out of curiousity to see how much dog/cat/horse/donkey first aid supplies and meds they have.

They have a full drawer, the top shelf of the bread cupboard and the top shelf of the medicine cabinet.

There are also a few items in the fridge that have to be kept cold.

Out to the barn to see how much is out there. Well, as you can see in the picture, the horses and donkeys have their fair share too.

Looks like they are prepared for just about anything if they get cut, bruised, scraped, upset tummies, foot issues, skin allergies, etc...

Until next time.......

Feeding the Herd

First stop is to give the chickies their goodie plate. Grain that has to be mixed into the grain bins. We have to do this twice a week.

Bales of hay on. Grain buckets filled and ready. Donkeys beginning to line up.

Donkeys and goats waiting to be fed.

Donkeys enjoying their little bit of grain they get. Main reason why they get a bit of grain is to keep them away from the gate so we can drive through to begin feeding.

Horses and donkeys that go into stalls all fed, grained and happy.

Some of the donkeys starting dinner.

I thought you might like to know what it is like to feed the 'Herd'. We feed at seven in the evening during summer hours. It takes almost half of an hour for each feeding. We have to load up two bales of hay, one full mixed grain bucket, one container with special grain for one of the horses, one container with special grain and medication for another horse, then we park the Gator by the pasture gate.

Then, we put up three horses, three donkeys and one mini mule into their stalls. Check all waters. Walk back to the pasture gate all the while weaving in and out of five other donkeys and goats who don't have to go into stalls.

To get the donkeys and goats away from the gate, I pour small amounts of grain along the fence line to keep them busy so we can drive the Gator into the pasture.

Once inside we drive a bit, throw four flakes of hay out, drive to the other side of the front pasture and throw out four more flakes of hay. By this time the goats have caught up and are all over the Gator looking for grain. And usually a donkey or two has made it to where we are to make sure they aren't missing out on anything.

Then we drive into the breezeway and start feeding everyone in the stalls. All the while walking around goats and sometimes a donkey. We feed one goat on one of the seats of the Gator just to keep her occupied, otherwise we are always bumping into her.

Once everyone is fed and settled in, we drive back to the barn, load up two more bales of hay and get the grain buckets ready for morning feeding.

I feed by myself in the morning and I have it down to a science! I must admit there have been a few times that the goats or a donkey has managed to get past the gate and into the yard before I could shut the gate. Thank goodness they love food so much they come back into the pasture as soon as I rattle the grain bucket.

We feed twice a day at the same time. Same routine. As soon as everyone is eating, they all get a once over to make sure everyone is happy, healthy, no scrapes, cuts, etc...

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

Family

This picture if for Holly. Your cat is ready for take off. This picture is for my sister Connie who loves goats and never gave up searching.

This is for my 'sister' Kim. We have led almost identical lives, went through the same harships, good times, etc...

Yesterday's blog was about friends. So of course today's is about family. What the heck would we do without family! What can I say about family. I can say that mine are ( as I'm sure yours is too) crazy as loons, loving, supportive, have a black sheep or two, of course a village idiot!

I have three incredible daughters.

A sister who just found me last year after searching for a lifetime. And she informs me that I have two brothers I didn't know I had. Long story short. We share the same dad.

A sister and two brothers who grew up with me.

My Aunt Barb whom is the sweetest, most honest lady.

A 'brother' Chato who I grew up with, lost touch for many years, but now keep in touch.

My 'sister' Kim who has also gone to hell and back and survived.

Families argue over the stupidest things sometimes. There have been those unforgettable holidays and special occasions. You know the ones. You tell your kids about them!

I guess what I am trying to say, is if it wasn't for our families, we wouldn't be the person we are today.

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

Friends

The white chicken is named Bonnie. This is Jan.

This is Danni.

This is Eva.

This is Pam.

This is Inger ( front) and Bonnie (back).

This is Rachael. Pam and Kim are on the left. Bonnie is on the right.

Today's blog is dedicated to friends both online and in person. It is amazing how such a strong bond is formed. Friends support each other. Have ears to listen with. Shoulders to lean on. Are there through thick and thin. Make us laugh. Make us cry. Are great for bouncing ideas off of and get honest opinions.

This week has been tough on some of my friends. I won't mention names or why, but please know that positive thoughts and prayers are with you.

I named my chickens after some of you. Everyday I think of each and every one of you.

Friends are truly precious.

To my friends, hugs to you all.

Until next time........