Some Highlights of 2009

Today is the last day of 2009. My goodness what a year! It's been one trying, tough, hard year for a lot of folks. Even though the road has been a lot of uphill climbing, there are moments amongst the pot holes that will stand out. Those moments that will make you smile and forever stay etched in your memory. These are just a few of my highlights throughout 2009.

My baby, Holly, graduated high school in the top 5% of her class. She started college in the summer.Talk about one very proud mom! She is one great kid!

This is my sister Connie and her husband Crea. They came for a visit in May. This is the first time we have ever met one another! After many years of searching she found me last year. By the way, she is a fantastic sister!

This is my dear friend Danni. She and her husband Jim came for a visit. It was wonderful. She has a heart of gold and her love for animals is huge. If it wasn't for Danni having her own blog On the way to Critter Farm, I would never have started mine. Thanks for the friendship and all the help.

This is the first, real, honest to goodness farm fresh egg ever gifted from the girlies here. Never had chickens before so this egg was special. And yes, tasted sooo good!

Can't forget Patti Cake, the mini mule. She is the first mini mule I have ever had the pleasure of learning from. She was an owner surrender. Never knew anything about mules, but I have learned so much about them. Way different than a horse or donkey!

The girlies when they were three days old. First time ever raising chickens. Wow, they are fascinating. Just love my girls.

Of course can't forget to mention the three other little highlights this year. Squirrel, Rodent and Jove those mischevious kittens!

2009 has been a great year for friendships, both old and new. Just to name a few.

Rachael, who is one very strong willed woman who stands up for what is right and who is there to catch you and lift you back up. You can read her blog, It's All About The Animals

Inger, who is determined and has so many strengths. Her blog is Deseert Canyon Living.

Bonnie, who is a go getter and adores her horses. Blog is Stasser Equine Blogging.

Sheree, who is one of the sweetest gals around.

Cindy, who has had a tough year but she forges ahead.

Kim, who had her world turned upside down but that didn't stop her from reaching for the brass ring.

Wishing everyone a happy, healthy, prosperous 2010!!!

Until next year..........................

Remembering

This is not a sad post. It's a post about remembering the time that was gifted. A time that was shared with our animal family. Beavis 1991-2009 a good old cat.

Wyatt 2008-2009 got out of the house and hit on road

Spazzy ?-2009 got sick

Chicken Dog 1999-2009 cancer

Joey 1987 (?)- 2009 brain tumor

Otto 2008-2009 loss to Feline Leukemia

Kurt ?-2009 just disappeared

Winston 2008-2009 Got out of the house and lost to the road just like his brother Wyatt

And one more loss. No pic. Steven ?-2009 disappeared

Again, this is not a sad post. In fact it is one that is bringing a smile to my face because each one had their own personality and I was blessed to get to share their life with them while they were here.

May 2010 be a great year for all of you. May it bring health, happiness, laughter, prosperity and lots of memories.

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

Squirrel and Chickens

Have you ever been busy doing something and then realize that something just isn't right? Stew Pot has been crowing a lot this morning. And it just seemed a bit closer than normal. I walked into the living room and this is what I see in the backyard. Stew Pot and the girlies have decided that there is new territory and they need to pick it clean.

After a few minutes Squirrel jumps up onto the sofa and realizes there are chickens in the yard. Hmmm, chickens in the yard!!

Squirrel is fascinated watching the chickens.

Oh look, here comes another chicken!

Sometimes the chickens remind me of a bunch of two year old children. They are always getting into something.

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

It's a compromise.

It's official. The neighbors dog and I have come to a compromise. Our neighbors got a new dog early in the summer. By the end of summer their dog was wandering over here. The dog began stealing items from the barn ( old plastic containers, hay twine, a lead rope, and one time a saddle pad). The neighbors put the lead rope and saddle pad on the fence knowing that those items belonged here. Obviously the neighbors know their dog is coming over here.

Over the months it stopped going home when I told it to and would stop and stare at me. So there we were, staring at each other time and time again. I'd pick up a small rock at toss it in his direction, tell him to go home, and nope, didn't work.

As you can see in the pictures the dog is pretty small. I worried that the donkeys or horses or Patti Cake the mini mule would hurt the dog since he would run behind them or sit next to them. He never actually chased them, but one kick or one step and that would be the end of that. There has been two animals the dog has chased. One was Inger my favorite chicken and the other was Goat one of our cats. Well, Goat I believe has cured the dog from chasing cats. Good girl Goat. And as for Inger, I cured that. Little dog got a swift kick ( no not hard) in his little rear end. Haven't seen the dog chase chickens or cats now.

This morning sure enough there is the little dog out in the back pasture with the horses, donks, goats and Patti Cake.

Okay Little Dog, it's a compromise. You can stick around so long as you behave yourself.

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

Another Small Step Forward

Rodent, one of the rescued kittens, who has been very shy and almost unseen decided last evening that being a part of the family was worth a try. Jovi, the grey kitten in the front of the picture has come a long way. I actually petted the little booger the other night! Although I have to admit it was kind of sneaky on my part. He had jumped up onto one of the counters snooping around and while he was perusing I ran my hand down his back. He didn't move so I did it again. And once more. The fourth time he arched his back the way cats do when it feels good. Well, that was it. He turned around, realized he had been touched and took off! Although he didn't go very far.

Anyway, back to Rodent. You can see him behind Ozzy. This is the first time Rodent has stayed in the same room as us for any length of time. Even after a few snaps of the camera he continued to stay there! Slowly but surely he is continuing to take baby steps forward. Wonder what he is going to do when the tree comes down. Hmmmm. Guess we will find out soon enough.

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

Just a Little Bit

My oldest daughter Jennifer set up donation bins around town at various places to help out our local animal organizations. Even though times are tough and money is tight people still managed to put a little something in all the bins.

These are just two of the bins that she picked up this evening before she came out here. In fact these were the last two that needed to be picked up.

All in all the generous folks here in the valley donated blankets, food, litter, toys, dog sweaters, towels, and a cat scratching post. Some items are used and some are new.

Tomorrow Jennifer is going to drop off the donated items to the various animal organizations here.

It warms my heart that even though people are having tough times, they still dig deep and find something to help the animals.

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

Darn it!

All I can say today is 'Darn it. Animals are suppose to live as long as us!"


Today I had to make the 'big decision' concerning one of our dogs.


She had cancer. It took her sight so we became her eyes.

This past weekend was a bad one for her. She was in a lot of pain and the pain medication wasn't helping.

So this morning the decision was made to let her go peacefully. One day of watching her be that uncomfortable was enough to know that the time had come.

I believe whole heartedly that it is about the quality of life, not the quantity.

As you all very well know making the 'big decision' is a tough one, but when you know in your heart it is the right one, you make it.

Rest in peace Chicken Dog. 1999-2009. See ya' on the other side.

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

Grounded Chickens!

This is our exit gate driveway. You are probably asking yourself why I posted this picture.

See these beautiful chickens? Oh, and Shortbus on the left.

Such nice little chickens.

Beautiful girls who gift eggs.

Well, all of those beautiful chickens got grounded to their chicken house/pen yesterday.

They crossed the exit gate and were heading towards the road!

They have plenty of property to scratch but yet they chose to go pass the exit gate.

Talk about some unhappy chickens yesterday! Everytime I went outside they would see me and holler up a storm.

My reponse to them was,"You are all in trouble and are grounded for the day. So you just think about what you all did and I suggest that when you come out tomorrow that you do not go to the exit gate!"

I let them out this morning and they haven't even gotten anywhere close to the gate!!!

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

Giving

Today I was going to show you some of our 'special needs' animals here. But changed my mind. Recently I started watching a program on the National Geographic channel called Rescue Ink. It's about a bunch of 'tough guys' that banded together to stop cruelty, abuse, etc... When I first started watching it I started thinking that I wasn't seeing much in the form of rescuing animals.

Then the more I watched it and went to their web site I realized that they not only stepped up to the plate for cruelty and abuse, they step up and help their fellow man/woman care for the animals that they have. One episode showed the guys helping a veteran (who was in the hospital). They went and got the veteran's dogs, found them a temporary home so the dogs would be cared for until the owner was released from the hospital and could care for their dogs again.

I started thinking this morning that we can all help someone who is having a hard time feeding, caring for, etc.... their animals. Maybe your neighbor would appreciate a bag of grain for their horses. Or a bale of hay.

Or a bag of dog/cat food given to a friend who could use it to feed their animals.

Warm blankets/towels taken to a house where you see an outside dog.

What I am getting at is this is the season of giving.

We should all step up and help when we see someone struggling.

That bag of food, or cat litter, or blanket will really brighten someones day. Maybe even relieve a little stress for them.

If you don't know of anyone or any animal that needs help, there is always your local pet shelter or rescue organization.

Playing Secret Santa is always a good idea!!!!!!!

I know I have talked about this same subject before, but it really is something we can all do.

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

Observation

Wow, seems time has slipped right on by since the last blog. Ever have a light bulb moment? Today was a light bulb for me.

I was watching the donkeys being the individuals that they are.

Cookie, the pretty longear on the right of the above picture, is a bit different than the other longears here. She is always in your face. Has to see what you are doing all the time. Nothing fazes her. And I mean nothing.

When I am cleaning the stalls some of the donks have to come in and see what I am doing ( yeah, like it isn't something they haven't seen done before!) Well, they get in the way and I shoo them out. And they leave.

Cookie on the other hand just looks at me and stands there. Not budging.

It dawned on me that out of all the donkeys here, Cookie is the only one who has never known cruelty or neglect. Her previous owner gave her to us because she didn't feel Cookie was getting all the attention she needed.

All of the other longears have a history of abuse and or neglect.

I have always wondered why Cookie was differant than the other ones. No fear. No worries. Life is good.

The reason I feel she is different is because she has never known a sad day. The others all have. They are more leery, watchful, etc....

Funny how a light bulb goes on and then you understand what has been in the back of your mind.

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

Sheets of ICE!!!!!

Yesterday's weather sure affected what was waiting outside this morning! Sheets of ice everywhere. Picture the ice on the windshield out on the roads. Our road hasn't been this quiet in a very long time! It's very enjoyable too!

Ice and icicles!

All of our vehicles have sheets of ice as well as icicles. Heck, everything here does.

Due to it being so cold, gotta make sure the girls stay somewhat warm and that their waterer doesn't freeze.

Not sure if you can see the differant tracks in the ice. This was taken last night when I locked up the girlies and Stew Pot. To the left are my boot prints. Down the center are chicken tracks. And on the left are kitty paw prints. It looked exactly the same this morning when I went out to feed.

According to the weather report, more freezing rain predicted for today. Although I am leaning towards, "Not going to happen".

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

Is it Snow? Or Freezing Rain? Hmmmm

Today has been an odd weather day. Clear skies this morning. The the clouds rolled in. Then it got dark. Then it started raining. Then hailing. Then snowing. And now freezing rain. Danni here is as confused as the rest of us are. Which is it going to be? Rain? Snow?

Yeah, everything is starting to turn white. But it really isn't snow. And it really isn't hail.

"Is it over with yet out there" asks Stew Pot.

This wacky weather had Little Inger confused so she kept 'talking' to me telling me she wanted 'up'. So I carried her around while I took some pics. All the while she is 'talking'. One of these days I am going to learn chicken language!

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

Mmmmmmm, warm oatmeal.

Now that is it very cold in the mornings, the chickens get warm oatmeal. Stew Pot is a bit disgruntled that Shortbus was checking out the oatmeal bowl.

All I have to do is holler "Babies" and the girls come a runnin'.

Wait, wait we're coming. Don't eat it all.

Ahhhh, nice warm oatmeal to start the day.

Today I mashed a banana into it.

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