Community & An Award

First I would like to thank Teresa over at http://edenhills.wordpress.com/ for this award. You made me smile! Thank you. Pop on over. She has a great blog! I am suppose to pass this award on to ten people. Well, since all of you are so great, I pass this on to all of you! You all deserve it!

Secondly, no, the perfect place has not been found yet. I have called on quite a few places either to find out they have already been rented or no return call. That's ok. I'll keep asking and looking. There is no move out date yet, but everyday I expect 'the' letter will arrive. Until then it is more packing and sorting.

Over the weekend we had a yard sale. Got rid of quite a bit of stuff and made a little bit of money. Another yard sale is planned for this weekend even though it is Labor Day weekend. Hey, you never know, maybe it will be great and all the stuff will be gone and there will be more jingle in my pocket!

Over the weekend I met quite a few folks from right here in the community that I had not met before. They came on over when they saw the big Moving signs out front. After explaining why we have to move they started telling me that they have either lost their homes, or were in the process of losing them.

I also found out just how many people whom I have not met before, how they will miss seeing ( and hearing) the donkeys and horses. They told me how much they love driving by and looking to see if there were any 'new' faces out in the pasture.

One lady told me that she is losing her house next month and was going to come over and ask if I would take her llamas and goats. That she didn't want anyone else to have them but me because I take such good care of the animals here. After apologizing that I wouldn't be able to bring her beloved animals in right now, but when, not if, when I find property I will take her animals until she finds a place where she can have them back.

After talking with quite a few people in the same boat, I have decided that it is up to us, the little people, the backbone of this country, to band together and help one another. So that is what will be done! I have a plan forming in my head that if it works out, the 'little guy' will get the help that is needed. It is obvious our Government and banks are not helping us, the little guy. Oh, they say they want to help, but the truth is, they don't. And it all boils down to the almighty dollar! They make money hand over fist while the little guy loses everything.

And over the weekend, I got more hugs from folks whom I have never met before. Genuine caring hugs. By Sunday evening I was so touched by all the people I met. I must admit, it has given me a bit a faith in us humans!

Oh, before I forget, I have been asked about whether Betsy goat will be going with us. Sadly, no, She does have to go back home. But she can stay here until we move.

Well, I think that wraps it up in a nutshell. For now anyway!

As soon as I have a little bit of extra time I am going to catch up on everyone's blog. Gosh, I miss you and keeping up to date what is going on with you.

Hugs to all of you.

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

Almost a year since.................

I just realized that it is coming up on a year since we brought Squirrel home. Poor little thing had an eye infection, ear mites , infested with fleas and was pretty skinny.

Feeling good enough to play.

Looking a little better.

Almost an adult.

This pic was taken this morning. My goodness she has grown into a little Diva! When one of us walks by her and we tell her how pretty she is, she always meows to let us know that yes, she is pretty. Squirrel is pretty much allowed to do what she wants. Only because she really is a good girl. Her right eye still gets kind of icky now and then, but with a few days of medicine she is all better.

The packing is coming along pretty good. I have a method that when I pick something up I decide right then and there whether to keep it or get rid of it. No looking back.

This weekend is the big moving/yard sale. Still no place to move yet, but I am certain something will come along when it is suppose to. The word is out among everyone I know what we need.

Early next week a very nice lady is coming over to bring Patti Cake ( mini mule) home with her. Next weekend two of my friends donkeys who have been here for quite awhile will be leaving to a new home.

Okay, time to get back to packing and getting ready for the yard sale.

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

Packing, Boxes and Cats

The past few days I have been packing what I want to keep. Putting stuff into boxes for the upcoming yard sale and what's going to be donated to Goodwill. Today I tackled the bookshelves. It came down to having to choose what books to part with and which ones I just can't let go. So far it's only nine boxes of books I am keeping. Yes, yes, I love books. After coming in from locking up my chickens this evening, I walked into the family room where as you can see are stacked boxes ( yes the boxes with the books) and saw the cats surrounding them. Can you count how many cats are in the above picture?

Counting the cats in this picture is a bit harder.

In between packing, taking care of the animals, I am frantically trying to find a place to rent with property so I won't have to put the animals in temporary homes ( which I have been lining up). Having them not with me where I can watch them and care for them will drive my OCD into overdrive.

Okay, enough of that stress.

The answer to how many cats in the first picture is 6.

There are 7 cats in picture number two. The seventh cat is black and is on the cedar chest in the corner by the lamp.

If I remember right, if you double click on the pictures they will enlarge.

Hope everyone is having a wonderful day/evening.

I am trying to catch up on all your blogs.

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

Onward and Upward! To New Beginnings.

Well, life has taken some changes.

After months and months of working with the bank to get a home loan modification, well, they won. Which means it's time to move on. I have been finding temporary homes for the animals until I can find a place that will accept them. And let me tell you, finding a place to rent that will accept them is darned near impossible.

Thank goodness for friends and family.

I have been busy going through stuff to either keep, put in the upcoming yard sale or donate to Goodwill. The house is already beginning to look empty.

Am I angry and depressed about it? Well, irritated with the lender for not working better at it. Depressed? Could be, but I am a positive person so am looking at this situation with a positive outlook.

When one door closes another opens. Maybe this is the universe's way of telling me it is time to move on because bigger and better things are awaiting.

My first priority are the animals. So long as they have places to go to where they will be safe it will make this transition easier.

I will find a place to rent that will accept animals so we can all be together again.

Also my youngest daughter is moving to the dorm at the end of September and have to get her settled.

In the meantime I will be busy dong what needs to be done. I will try to catch up on everyone's blogs when I have a few minutes here and there.

Onwards and upwards! To new beginnings!!

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

All at once

For once the weather forecast was right on! There were special weather statements throughout the valley concerning a nasty thunderstorm coming in. And that thunderstorm came in like a lion!

Wind picked up. Thunder way off and moving in quickly. Then the lightning started. Finally the rain came. Then it started hailing. At first it wasn't much. But holy smokes did it pick up!

The lights flickered several times. Internet on and off.

Outside animals a bit nervous at first. As I stood outside trying to capture lightning strikes I soon noticed the animals started to perk up. Then I noticed the horses seemed full of energy. Something I hadn't seen in quite awhile due to the excessive high temps that have just lingered and stalled here.

There they were running and bucking and rearing and snorting. You could just tell they felt good. Renewed. Refreshed. Cooled down!

Now of course the donkeys do not like to get wet. So every longear was either in the stall breezeway or under trees. But when it was all said and done, it was obvious they were feeling pretty good themselves.

This morning the air is so clean and fresh. All the animals just look refreshed. You can see it in their eyes. Even the chickens feel much better.

And with the cooler temps today I can finally tackle some much needed outside work. Even I feel more energetic than I have in a long time. Amazing what continued heat, day after day can do to ya'!

Oh, for those of you who are unable to see the video, it shows the rain coming down so fast and hard that the gutters on the house cannot keep up with it.

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

Who needs coffee to wake up?

Every morning I go out to the playroom, watch the morning news, drink that first cup of coffee and have a cigarette. Don't know about you but that first cup of coffee is a must. Have to have it. As I was sitting there I kept hearing this ticking, scraping sound. I ignored it for a little bit but it just kept getting louder. Finally enough was enough and the search began for the sound. Afer moving a few things around this is what I found! A huge beetle! And since I uncovered where it was hiding, it very quickly started scurrying across the room. Wait, wait I hollered. I have to get a picture.

So, ran into the house, grabbed the camera, back out to the playroom and would you believe that beetle was still there! Sorry for the picture quality. I just aimed and clicked.

After taking the first pic the beetle took off at high speed across the room again. It stopped for a fraction of a moment by Maggie's paw. Maggie is a Boxer and weighs about 70 pounds. You can see how big the beetle is compared to her paw.

Well, if you haven't already guessed, the beetle was caught in a container and taken outside where he belongs.

So, who the heck needs coffee to get the adrenilin pumping when a huge beetle is there to do it for you! :)

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

Busy, Friend,Dreams

Wow, it's been awhile since I've blogged. Time really does have a way of flying by.

Last week I was busy raking both back and front pastures. Which means pulling the arena rake with the Gator over both pastures spreading the piles of poo. And while I was doing that there was fencing to check and repair if necessary, picking up anything that doesn't belong in the pasture, begining to winterize, etc...


Also it was still tackling the totes and boxes in the barn. Geez where does all that stuff come from? I swear it multiplies.


Wednesday my dear 'old' friend called and said she was coming up here to Oregon on Friday. It was her first trip up here and talk about happy and excited to see her. This is the funny part. Rachael and I have never met in person, but through emails and phone calls, we have become fast, forever friends. So actually meeting her was really the cats meow!
Here is Rachael ( left) and myself ( right). Rachael is very photogenic whereas I am not ( really I already know I'm not. It's not a secret).

Rachael and I have been putting our heads together for about two years now on starting an Education and Sanctuary Facility. While she was here we went and looked at a piece of fabulous property. Now all we have to do is come up with the dollars to purchase the property. It's in the cards that our endeavour/dream will come to fruitation.

Please take a look at her blog at http://web.mac.com/rkomulainen/Site/Welcome.html

While Rachael was here Mr. Smith started sneezing very bad. Bad enough where droplets of blood were coming up. Thank goodness my oldest daughter is a vet tech and she came over to take a look at him. Mr. Smith is older and needless to say I was very worried about him. After a few minutes of examining him, my daughter found out what the problem was. My first thought was a foxtail. Nope. It turned out he had somehow sucked up his nose an almost three inch blade of grass!! After pulling it out, Mr. Smith is back to his old self of being ornery and demanding.

While Rachael was here she received a phone call from a mutual friend Jan that another very dear mutual friend of ours had to put her sweet Princess to sleep. Many of my followers here know Inger over at Desert Canyon Living http://www.desertcanyonliving.blogspot.com/
Inger, our hearts and thoughts are with you at this time to help relieve the pain you are going through of losing your beloved Princess. Sleep well Princess and we will see you on the other side.

There has been so much more going on but I promise not to bore you all with it!

I now must catch up on all your blogs to see what has been going on with you. I have really missed you all!

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

Donkeys and bread

Thought you might get a kick out of watching the donkeys come running as soon as I start rattling the bread wrappers. Donkeys adore bread.

Second video is after they have eaten all the bread. It was hard to video and throw bread at the same time.

Betsy goat is still here! Haven't even seen the neighbor other than when I see his truck when he gets home from work. Well, I guess he isn't too worried about taking Betsy home. Oh well, that's okay with me.

I have no idea what kind of bird the one in yesterday's blog is. My guess is some kind of Swallow. Going to have to find out now!

As I'm sure you have already noticed I changed the pic of the header. That pic was taken out in the back pasture last winter.

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

Another Save

Earlier as I was sitting here listing on EBay what do I hear? A critter in distress. Stopped what I was doing, walked outside, located the sound and realized how quickly I can move!
What do you suppose is in the box?

It's a baby wild bird. Well, should say, "was" in the box. I had to argue with two cats who were determined to have this fella for breakfast. As soon as I grabbed one cat who was stalking the bird, the second cat would come around from the other side. One cat got the bird, so grabbed the cat and with a quick shake the cat let go only to have the other cat grab it. So, grab that cat, a few more quick shakes, bird gets away and hides behind a planter. Now there are two cats on either side of the planter wanting the bird. Um, what the heck am I going to do now!

Okay, grab one cat with right hand, use left foot to push the second cat away and swoop in and get the bird with left hand. Haha, I have the bird now kitties!!!!

So, put bird into box into bathroom. Several hours go by, time to check on the bird only to have it fly out of the box! Okee dokee, bird is fine. Bird flies all over the bathroom. Lands a few times, take some pics. Attempt to grab bird without over stressing it.

Bird flies up and over the shower doors and lands in the tub. Then flies into plastic cap. Hmmmm, good time to try to catch bird while it can't fly forward.

Success!!! Sorry picture quality is so poor. Couldn't focus very well.

Now that the baby bird is okay, out we went to a nice tall Oak tree. After a few seconds of realizing it was free, off it flew.

Hen is still improving. Oreo is the same. The haze from the Russia fires is better.

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

So that's where it came from!

Yesterday I noticed there is a kind of haze here in the valley. As the day wore on, the haze seemed to get much more noticeable. Pewter has a reddish tint to her. Hmmmm. What in the world is causing this haze. There are no wildfires close by so new it wasn't that. So I started investigating. Didn't take me long to find out..................

that the haze is coming from.....are you ready? It is coming from the over 500 wildfires burning in....Russia!! Seriously. Who would have thought smoke from Russia would ever make it down this way. To the right of the pic you can kind of see the haze, but to the upper left it is normal.

You can see the haze a bit better in this pic. Apparently the smoke caught in the airstream, and made its way to the Pacific Northwest. I thought it was kind of cool, not for those having to go through the wildfires, but the fact that Russia wildfire smoke has come into the Valley here.

I made a few phone calls yesterday about the bat. I was told to just wrap it up without of course touching it and throw it away. Really? Yup, they haven't had any reports of rabid bats so for me not to worry. Well, okay then. Not wanting to take any chances of burying the little bat, I carefully wrapped it up in a soft piece of cloth, inside a bag and set it into the dump trailer.

The little hen that hasn't been feeling well is improving with each passing day.

I am still trying to figure out if Oreo goat really is pregnant. She hasn't had any babies before, she is about 8, maybe 9 now and I really don't know a lot about goats. Thankfully my sister does and she has been guiding me as to what to look for.

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

A Bat!!!!!!

Look what I found on the ground this morning. Yup, it's a bat.

Surprised the heck out of me when I saw this guy on the ground.

Nice set of teeth there.

He was a bit dried up so have no idea how long he had been laying on the ground. And definitely have no idea how he ended up dead. Doesn't appear to be any bite marks on him. Hmmm, not sure who to call to see if it was rabies that did him in. In the years I have lived here haven't seen a bat dead on the ground.

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

Hanging around

This morning has been somewhat busier than normal. Had to go to town to renew the tags on the car. Stopped off at the bread store. Got home, unloaded, then out to scrub and fill the water troughs. With these awful hot days and no end in sight I put another trough in the back pasture to double make sure there is always plenty of water. Not that there hasn't been plenty of water back there, but it makes me feel better.
And much to my surprise the Praying Mantis is still hanging around. I had thought he had moved on, but nope, here is in on the screen door. And look, he is starting to turn green now!

The reason I stopped off at the bread store was to get a bunch of close to out dated bread for the chickens, goats and donkeys. For $7.00 I got a packed full, grocery cart of bread. Everything from regular white bread to wheat bagels to blueberry English muffins and a bunch of other varieties as well. The picture doesn't make it look like that much bread, but it really is. To get a deal like this you have to sign a form stating that the bread is for livestock only.

I have already given the chickens a loaf of blueberry bagels. The goats got a loaf of wheat bread. And the donkeys got wheat buns. The horses don't much care for bread so they didn't get any.

I love a good bargain. Especially when it helps with the food bill. Naturally the chickens will get the bulk of it.

Oh, my sick little hen seems to be improving. She is still walking slow like it hurts, but she is coming out of the house instead of hanging inside the carrier. Not knowing exactly what is wrong with her I can't help much other than to make sure she is eating, drinking and pooping.

Still no pics of mama coon and her babies. I'll keep trying. Hopefully

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

Too far?

Well, according to the folks at the stores I went to yesterday, I have gone off the deep end.

Why do you ask?

The other night a mouse was seen out in the playroom. Geez, a mouse in the house! Come on you guys. You have plenty of room outside, no need to come indoors.

Then came the debating whether to put out a trap or let it be. Knowing the damage mice can cause with electrical wires and insulation plus not having the money to repair the damage, the trap was set.

Not too long after it was set, it went off. A quick look revealed sure enough the mouse had been caught, but sadly it wasn't a clean quick kill. Poor little thing struggled and squeaked a bit before finally passing away.

That's when I decided to get some humane mouse traps. So off to town I went. After several stops at different stores there wasn't one to be found. In fact, the looks I got when I inquired about them was on the lines of, " This lady is a nut!". "Why in the world do I want to live trap mice and then set them free" was the question posed to me. " You do know that they carry diseases and will make you sick?" I was asked.

Answer each time, "Yes I realize they carry diseases. Especially if you don't clean and let the poo and pee just lay around. No, I don't want them in my house to multiply a hundred fold. But, a life is a life. I cannot let a living creature suffer if I have anything to do with it. Yes, I take the bees and yellow jackets and ladybugs out of the water troughs when I see them in there so they won't drown.".

Then came the question about how I felt about flies. "Do I save them too?" Okay, no I don't. The flies can live outside where they belong, but I do draw the line when they come into the house.

There wasn't a humane trap to be found. Hmmm. Maybe I have gone off the deep end when it comes to saving the critters. With all the cats around here, a mouse is very rarely seen. No droppings in the barn. None in or around the chicken house. Nothing in the hay area. So maybe there really was just one that got into the house.

Have I gone off the deep end? Have I gone too far?

Oh, in answer to whether I will be complaining about winter and snow and rain and the cold temps. Nope. Not one complaint. I adore winter especially the snow.

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

Chickens, Goats, Yellow Jackets, Oh My!

First I have to say, " I am so done with summer! The high temps are too much. Time to start the snow dance!" One of my little hens hasn't been feeling well the past few days. At first I thought she may be egg bound, but she laid an egg so don't think it is that. The first day she wasn't feeling well she hid in a corner with her head tucked in. Hmmmm, not a good sign. Then she went into one of the cat carriers that is in the hen house for them to lay eggs. Well, she is eating and drinking, but still isn't acting right. She walks kind of like it hurts to stand . Her feet and legs appear to be fine. I suppose time will tell.

And Little Inger's tail feathers are well, just plain gone. None of her other feathers are missing, just the tail ones. I don't know if the two chicks she is raising are picking them off or what the heck is going on.

Oreo goat appears to be pregnant, but I don't know for sure. Old Dick, the buck, is between 12 to possibly 14 years old. I have had the goats for 6 years and not a one baby. Not that Old Dick doesn't try, because bless his heart, he sure gives it his all. And Old Dick is the only buck here. No other bucks close by either. This is the first time Oreo's bag has filled up. I am going to call my sister today and ask her about Oreo. My sister raises the most beautiful Boer goats.

I know, not a very pretty picture.

And look what I found under the eave of the house today! Great. I try not to use any insecticides because of the chickens. I don't want them eating the insects that have been sprayed. However, this time around I may have to use 'the spray'. Maybe a hard spray with the hose might do the trick. Of course that would be done either at night or really early in the morning. Sometimes cohabiting with Mother Nature is a bit tricky.

Oh, last night a mama coon brought her small babies up to eat the cat food. Did I remember to grab the camera? Nope. Maybe tonight I'll get some pics.

Better get more chores done before it is too hot.

Betsy goat is still here with no word from the neighbor.

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

Fine, Go Ahead and Have It!

An empty box.
A Squirrel in the box.
Doug wanting in the box.
Squirrel trying to get Doug out of the box.
"Fine. Have the stupid box!"


What is it with a cardboard box? Cats love 'em. Give a child one and they'll play with it for hours.


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