The ears have it or Silent Saturday.

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

Another step forward for animals!

I was watching the news this morning and this perked me right up.











February 24, 2010 YREKA, Ca. - California legislators are considering creating a registry for animal abusers similar to that for sex offenders. Senate Bill 12-77 would create a statewide registry and tracking system for convicted animal abusers. It would be the first of it's kind in the country, in a state known for its bipartisan support for animal rights. "I think someone needs to stand up for the animals, Just because you own an animal you don't have a right to do what you wanna to... a dog has rights as far as I'm concerned," said Donald Fisher with Siskiyou County Animal Control. The bill would likely be funded by a tax on pet food. Those against the bill say it infringes on privacy rights and may make it difficult for offenders to get a job and housing.









Only speaking for myself, but an abuser is an abuser is an abuser, period! If someone abuses and animal, chances are they will or have abused a child. Abuse in any form needs to be stopped! Why should an abuser have privacy rights? If they were 'macho' enough to do the abusing in the first place, then why should it be a hidden secret? The abuser is the one who did it, then why wouldn't they want it to be known. Don't ya' think they wouldn't care who knows that they abused an animal? Or how about a spouse who beats their wife/husband! Or an adult who beats on a kid! What are they ashamed of!







Yes, today's post I am on my soapbox. Animal abuse/cruelty/neglect is a subject that will get me fired up everytime.








Please, if you see any kind of animal abuse/neglect, please step up and do something. You might be the one who saves a life!











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






Sorry, but the segment on the news this morning really wound me up.

Wild Bird

Please forgive my talking on the video. I'm not very good at it at all!! The whole tongue tied, not sure what to say, brain fart thing. :)

Yes, the wild bird is now out of the chicken coop which makes Little Inger, Bonnie and the babies at ease.

Update on the ducks. Thanks to a friend ( Kim), she has identified the ducks as Egyptian Geese! So they weren't ducks at all. Oooops! Looks like instead of a Duck Crossing sign, it'll have to be a Goose Crossing sign.

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

Ducks and chickens and Spring..Oh my!!!

For awhile now I have seen these ducks on our neighbors property and also crossing the road to get to the ponds across the way. Today I was finally able to get somewhat close enough to take their picture. He wasn't all that thrilled I was standing there and he let me know it! Never knew a duck could hiss and squawk as loud as that! He was definitely letting me know he would rip my face off if I got any closer. The folks that live up and down the road slow down when the ducks are crossing. And those folks that don't live on this road, well, if I am collecting the mail and see the ducks getting ready to cross, I'll stand in the road to make sure they get across safely. I have not a clue as to what breed they are, but they sure are pretty.

Are these the early signs of Spring buds?!! I am thinking yes!

These are hard to see. If you look really close you can see little white dots on top of the green. Yup, white buds.

Poor Eva is bald on her back thanks to Stew Pot. She is locked up with Little Inger, Bonnie and the chicks until her back heals up. None of the other hens are bald like this. Obviously Eva is Stew Pot's favorite gal! I've heard of hen aprons that will protect their backs and am seriously considering getting her one.

And this is Stew Pot who has done the damage to poor Eva. And yes, I have already informed him that if he continues this behaviour ( even though it is natural) he isn't just going to be called Stew Pot, he will be in it!!!! Shhhhh, not really. I just told him that to scare him a bit. Doubt it will work, but it is worth a try.

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

Really?

Yesterday afternoon I put my horse into the big yard in front of the house so he could start eating down the grass. The way I figure it is, why not let an animal eat down the grass rather than use the mower and pay for gas. He was so happy to be in the yard and started munching right away. Not giving a second thought about anything than that yummy grass. Figured I'd just leave him in there the entire weekend. This morning there he was eating grass. All was fine until I turned the other horses and donkeys out for the day. That's when it all started.

As soon as he couldn't see anyone, that's when the pacing and running started. And of course the hollering!

Down the fence.

Sorry this is a repeat of the above pic.

I came back into the house and watched him go up and down. Pace. Pace. Pace.

Still going strong.

Then it was running.

Back down the fence at a trot.

Still at it.

More running.

He hasn't moved this much in months! His favorite speed is walk. In fact, he worked himself into a sweat! All because he wasn't out in the pastures with the others. But remember, yesterday he was loving it! All that lucious green grass all to himself. Last night he was still enjoying it. This morning he was savoring every mouthful.

Until....... everyone else was turned loose. So, he has spent a good part of the day ignoring the grass under his big feet and worrying about everyone else.

Just a few moments ago the horses came up from the back pasture and now that the big Goofball can see them just across the driveway, he is fine now.

The only word that keeps coming to mind is "Really?". Here it is you have a big area filled with green grass, fresh water, no one to bother you, etc..... and you are worried because you can't see anyone else, but yet yesterday you could have cared less about being in the big yard. Really?

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

Barns and a Church

Seeing other folks' pictures on their blogs of old buildings gave me the idea of sharing a few of our older buildings here in Southern Oregon. This used to be a schoolhouse many years ago, but is now a church. If I remember correctly it was built in the late 1800's or very early 1900's.

Just an old barn.

These barns are on a cattle ranch not far from where I live. In fact, I pass the place when I drive into town. For those of you who want to know what breed of cows, well, there are Angus and Hereford and I think Charlois (?). Don't know a lot about cows, but thanks to several blogs (A Ranchers View, Cattle Call Farm , Dakotagoats) I follow I am learning.

Just another old barn.

A beautiful old red barn.

This one was used as a dairy barn many years ago, but has just been left to sit unused these days.

This isn't a barn but a really old house. The folks around the valley wanted to preserve the old place so there are a lot of volunteers who keep up the maintanence on it and the property. This place was built in the 1800's. It is now on the National Historic Registry. You would think I would know the name, but can't think of it right now.

Today has been another glorious warm, sunny day.

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

Sunny Day

This post is for the kind folks who visit my blog that are having to deal with winter weather aka a LOT of snow and freezing temps. Bonnie is still sitting on five eggs. Hmmm, wonder if and when they are going to hatch. I took a peek under her and there are four Bantam eggs and one big white one.

Thought you might like to see how big the first chicks that were hatched compared to the last two. Quite the difference!

Today it has been close to 70 degrees. Beautiful blue sky. Warm soft breeze.

Pearl just relaxing and enjoying the day.

Arnold snoozing with the warmth of the sun upon him. Cookie not wanting to do much of anything but stand around.

On a side note, this morning I had to drive to town and on the way back the traffic slowed to a crawl. What the heck. The speed limit is 45 and everyone including me were doing 30! Was there an accident up ahead? Did a car break down blocking traffic? Nope, neither of those. It was a truck way up ahead with no one in front of them, and that driver was doing 30, which caused the whole line of traffic to do 30. Um, at that moment the word hostage came to mind. Here it was, one driver was holding up a lot of traffic by going that slow and the rest of us didn't have a choice but to follow. Ugh!!!!

Back to today being a beautiful, warm sunny day. I hope the pics put a smile on your face for those of you dealing with snow and wanting Spring.

The video at the end is short, sorry.

You can hear the frog next to the house, but can't see it.

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

More New Additions

The numbers of eggs hatching is increasing. There are now 6 black chicks and 3 yellow ones. A total of 9! And Bonnie is still sitting on 5 more eggs!! It was hard to take a picture of all the chicks now that they are running everywhere in all directions. You can see the first ones born are now beginning to feather out. Even the three yellow babies are starting to feather out.

This one was born yesterday. There are chicks of different sizes and ages. Chicks, chicks everywhere! And I love it!!!!!

Meet Doug. He belonged to my middle daughter who could no longer keep him. So, as you can see, he came here. His name was Danger, but honestly, didn't like the name, so changed it to Doug.

As soon as Doug arrived he fit right in. None of that scared, freak out attitude. In fact, he fit in so quickly that before I knew it he had fallen asleep. Awww, how cute.

I guess he was so relaxed, this is the position he fell asleep in. Yes, you are seeing right. The pillow is upright. Doug is snoozing hanging over the top of it.

There is one thing that Doug needs to stop. And that is waking me up at 4 in the morning wanting to be loved on. You know, the cat face in your face with of course the loud purring in the ear. Hopefully in a few days he will stop with the too early rising. As it is I am up at 5, don't have any intention of getting up any earlier than that!

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

Frogs!

There is no picture with this video. It is all sound. Turn up your speakers and you will hear frogs. Hundred and hundreds of frogs from the ponds across the road from here. You will also hear a Honker ( Canadian goose) every now and then. They are also at the ponds. I had to wait until it was dark because that is when the frogs really start croaking. And yes, in case you are wondering, there are quite a few frogs here. In fact, in about a month or so there will be hundreds of frogs in the driveway and on the house. No kidding! It really is amazing. The frogs are so loud that we can hear them from inside the house!

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

Cat On A Mission

Do you have one of those cats that you swear try to trip you while you are walking? Well, we have Laura Bubooshka who does just that. I am not kidding when I say that I swear she tries to trip me when I am walking. To the left, to the right, back to the left and on and on. Laura is a cat on a mission and I know it! I have tried scooting her out of the way and it only makes her more determined to come right back and do it again. I've tried picking her up while walking to avoid the tripping, but that doesn't work. She wants down. I have actually jogged away from her when I see her coming to avoid the 'dance'. But to no avail, cats run fast! Having her around keeps us on our toes!

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

Donkeys & Horses Wanting Out

Yup, another video! When it is time for the horses and donkeys to come out for the day, this is how they let me know. Please excuse the mess in front of the fence. I have let the mess get out of hand these past few months. Normally it looks nice and neat.

And for those of you who remember from my earlier posts about the hatching of the eggs, well, we are now up to 5 black chickies and still just the three little yellow chickies. There are still five more eggs to hatch! While Bonnie sits on the remaining eggs, Little Inger is teaching the youngsters. What a team those two make!

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

Donkeys walking

I opened the front door and this is what I saw. It was raining and the chickens did not want to get wet so decided to hang out until the rain stopped. Can you see the mess they leave? And I'm not talking chicken poo! They spread the cats' food around which makes for a horrible mess especially when it gets wet. Good thing the raccoons will clean it up tonight.

No braying in this video, just the herd of donkeys coming down from the back pasture thinking I have a treat. At the end you will see our little monster, Patti Cake ( mini mule). She is quite the character and if I may say so, a turd at times! She may be small, but she runs everyone else off, inlcuding the horses!

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

Thought you might like to hear one of the donkeys. It isn't his best bray, but you'll get the idea. In case you are wondering, he has to stay in the pen during the day because him and one of the other donkeys don't get along so they need to be separated. He gets to come out when the other one goes up. And yes, that is mud you see! This is the only area where it is that muddy.

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

Donkeys, donkeys everywhere

For those of you who have never had a donkey in your life, please allow me to say that they are incredible animals. Very intelligent. Loving. Comical. Some are more vocal than others. Each has their own distinct bray. They are fantastic guardians. They are watchers. They watch everything. And you can bet if one of these beautiful animals is watching something and turns tail and runs in the opposite direction, I'm headed in the same direction! Sadly donkeys are one of the most abused and neglected due to the fact that a lot of people think they are dumb and stubborn and worthless. Well, all I can say is I cannot imagine my life without them in it. I took these pictures this afternoon and my first thought was donkeys, donkeys, everywhere. Hope you enjoy.

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

Video of Chickies

Thanks to Danni at Critter Farm and John at Going Gently, I was inspired to post a video of the chickies. First time uploading and posting one! Hopefully I did it right and you can watch it!

There are now three White Silky babies. Bonnie is still sitting on eggs while Little Inger teaches the youngsters.

The next thing I need to learn is how to add other bloggers addresses into my posts. In the meantime the blogs mentioned can be found in my favs and followings.

Stay tuned for more possible hatchings.

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

Bringing the outdoors in

Today is a beautiful, blue sky day. And with such a beautiful day the cats are really paying attention to all that chirping going on inside the chicken house. Trashcan ( black cat) and Chit Chit ( gray tabby) acting nonchalant. I was mistaken about them wanting to get inside and help themselves to a chickie meal. Yeah, right boys, you were just hanging around to protect them!

So, since Little Inger, Bonnie and the chicks cannot come out of the hen house, I dig up some dirt and grass and brought the outside to them.

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One of the chickies trying a piece of grass for the first time. I am pretty sure he'che liked it.

Little Inger has done such a good job teaching the young ones to scratch and look for food.

dGw/s400/Chicks,+Little+Inger+003.JPG"> Finally a picture of the second White Sillky baby.

No other eggs have hatched this morning. Bonnie is still sitting on them, so will let Mother Nature take her course. Maybe tomorrow there will be another surprise.

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