Bats and Why do people do that?

Every evening I make it a point to be outside to watch the bats. Amazing little critters!



After hundreds of pics I finally managed to capture one! Ever try to photograph a bat in flight? All I can say is it is hard. They move so quickly and quietly. I have counted a dozen or more that swoop in and take care of the bugs every evening. And in case you are wondering, yes, the bats get very, very close sometimes!




What is it about donkeys in a field that people in cars just have to bray at? On a daily basis there are at least four or so cars that go by and passengers hang out there windows and bray at the donkeys! As if the donkeys care! If it were the same cars then they would be locals. But they are different cars so am thinking tourists. All I can do is laugh because knowing how intelligent donkeys are, here it is people are making fools of themselves. If only the 'brayers' knew how wonderful donkeys are!

Yesterday a lady who adopted two donkeys from me three years ago contacted me telling me that she has to give up the donkeys ( the two she adopted and one she raised from a baby). Her husband passed away suddenly and now she is in financial difficulties. I had to let her know with a heavy heart that I am unable to bring them here ( explaining my own situation about losing my house), but I would contact some donkey people I know who may be able to help. I feel so bad because I can't bring them here and help her out. Sigh.

Also yesterday I found out that some friends are in foreclosure of their home. Another big sigh. I wish I could help more than just having a shoulder to lean on and letting them know I really do understand what they are going through. It is devastating! And it takes a long time to get over it, if ever. Life gives you lemons and you make lemonade, but really, how much lemonade can one person take!!! Lol!!

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



Content and happy

Feeding time. Everyone happy and content.

As you can see Arnold has his appetite and is doing much better today.

Thank you for all your prayers and positive thoughts for him.

The horse across the street is really enjoying having lots of friends to talk to.

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

That time of year!

 Well, it's that time of year! What time you ask? Pumpkin time!!!! Today I bought the first of many pumpkins both for baked seeds and for donkeys to thoroughly enjoy. You should have seen the looks on Arnold and Cookie's faces when they saw me walking with pumpkin shells. They couldn't get to the fence fast enough.  Here is Arnold enjoying his favorite treat.

 And here is Cookie really devouring her shell.

 Even though Mike ( on the right) doesn't much care for pumpkins, he just had to walk over to see what all the fuss was about. Right after I took this pic Cookie laid her ears back and chased Mike away. She gets very possessive concerning pumpkins!

 And while I was enjoying watching the donkeys I noticed that the fungus thing is back on one of the oak trees. This is the only tree the fungus grows on. And every year it shows up for a short time then goes away. The donkeys or horses are not in the least bit interested in eating it.

By the end of the week the fungus will have grown all the way down the trunk of the tree.



And the Angels may just be answering my prayers about finding a place to rent that all the animals can come with me. I received a phone call this morning, and the gal I talked with has exactly what I need. The house isn't much, but I don't care about that. What is most important is enough property for everyone. The gal is going to come over and we are going to talk more in a few days.


Oh, and todays' temps are suppose to be in the 60's!Yes, the 60's!!! Sweeeeeet!


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

Guilty Pleasures

As of just a few minutes ago two donkeys have left to go to a new home. Ruby and

her daughter Chop have left to go up to Northern Oregon. The girls ( Ruby and Chop) have been here with me for two years and were suppose to go to their owners house, but due to the wife having a stroke bringing them home was no longer an option. After much processing it was best for the girls to move to a new home.

This morning I kept noticing a shadow on the ground coming from the sky. When I looked up this Turkey Vulture was flying above the house.

Sorry about the quality of the pics but my camera was having a hard time focusing in on this guy.

I may have a lead on a place to rent. I will find out next week.

As the title to this post says, Guilty pleasures, I have a guilty pleasure! Want to know what it is? Are you ready for this? Are you sure? I enjoy playing video games! Not all of them, just a selective few. I don't own any systems anymore so now I play games on the computer. For some time I have been hooked on Farmville. I have found playing video games gives my mind a rest from all the processing of life and lets me unstress playing mindless entertainment. I usually am able to squeeze in a half hour or so pretty much everyday and let my mind relax.

Do you have any guilty pleasures? I do have a few more than just video games but will save those for another day.

Oh, and the ground squirrel that has been hiding in the rocks by the house did not make it. I found his lifeless and headless body at the end of the walkway. :( So, of course he got a name ( Buddy) and was buried.

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

Lots going on

I have been so preoccupied with other things that I didn't notice something was missing until.............. it literally hit me. I'm sure you are asking why is there a picture of a spicket surrounded by tall grass. Nope, there is nothing to see except the spicket and grass. Although, yesterday evening as I was getting ready to water the front and back pasture waterers, I reached down to turn the spicket on and was hit by a very small Gardner snake. Then I realized I hadn't seen all the frogs who live in the grass for awhile now. Well, obviously little snake found an all you can eat buffet. So, little snake lives by the spicket now, so will be more careful when turning the spicket on.

I have been asked from several folks who is all going with me when the time to move arrives. So, besides all the cats, the three dogs, the five goats ( minus Betsy goat), Pearl ( above) and

Mike and

Pewter and

AJ, Arnold, Doughnut, Cookie and

Little Inger and

Houdini ( my horse) and Marshmallow will all be moving with me.

We had another yard sale this past weekend. Got rid of a lot more stuff. Met some fantastic folks. And consoled an older woman who was very distraught when she learned as to why we have to move. I kept telling her it was going to be okay. That the right place will show up when the time is right. And that the animals will stay with me. She gave me the biggest heartfelt hug with tears streaming down her face. She almost got me to crying because I felt so bad that she felt so bad and we didn't even know one another. She calmed down when I assured it that it really will be okay.

Today I have been trying to catch up on the house chores ( it looked like a band of renegades lived here) and while everything was going smoothly enough another challenged reared it's ugly head. After cleaning the main bath toilet I flushed it to watch the water start to rise to the top of the bowl! Oh great, now what. So, grabbed the plunger, got the water to recede, and reluctantly flushed again. Nope, here came the water rising again. So, after checking the main bath shower to see backed up water in there, then checking the master bath shower and seeing water standing in there, it was time to walk out to where the septic tank is located. Sure enough water was leaking from the drain. Really!! Well, today is Labor Day and I am not calling a plumber to unclog the line ( I know exactly where it is clogged) and paying the holiday rate. I will wait until tomorrow. Heck, I may just run to the hardware store and buy one of those snake things and do it myself. I've been through this whole thing before so know exactly where to snake at). So long as the lines aren't overloaded with water everything will be just fine. A thought just ran through my head. Since I no longer own the house, then I suppose I am not responsible for paying the plumber. Hmmmmm. Regardless, I will fix the problem.

Slowly but surely I have been playing catch up with everyone's blogs.

Have I told you that you are all wonderful and quite the excellent support system? Well, each and every one of you are! And I truly thank you for it. :)

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.....................

Donkeys in the Sun

These past few days have been HOT! Doughnut and Cookie sleeping in the HOT sun.

Arnold snoozing in the shade of a tree.

Lets' see. Laying in the HOT sun or snoozing under a nice tree with shade. Hmmmm.

Just so you can see that there is more than one tree in the yard. In fact, there are six trees that provide shade. Silly girls!

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

Comical Cookie

Sadly the wild bird did not make it. I buried him/her.

The temps are beginning to climb close to triple digits.

And with hot temps, well, for some reason my mind starts acting silly. Hence the video which I found comical starring Cookie. She loves human treats and one of her favorites is licorice. So every now and then she and the other donkeys get a treat or two.

Today is suppose to be mid 90's. Tomorrow 100. Thursday 102. Who knows where my mind will be on Thursday! Ha Ha I may have cracked up by then!!!! :)

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

Walking across the desert

As I was outside taking care of the chickens, as usual I stopped what I was doing and started watching the donkeys. Can't help myself.

Now that the pastures are brown, it looks like a desert. As I stood there the donkeys started 'migrating'.
Pearl was in the lead crossing the desert.

Mike following Pearl.

Mr. M. Mallow behind Mike.

Hoody Dude bringing up the rear.

Whew! Finally reached the destination. The shade of an old oak tree.

Don't let the pics fool you! Today's temps are very nice. As you can see there is still hay left over from this morning's breakfast. Lots of oak trees for shade. Water troughs scrubbed and filled daily. Yeah, they live a terrible life! :)

Just to let you know, I feel a rant coming on!!!!

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

Offended & I don't want to see that!

This morning I had to go to the little store down the road for something I forget when I was in town. As I was standing their paying for the item the gal asked me how all the animals were doing. All doing great I replied.

I then mentioned that I am still trying to find a home for two of the donkeys here. They were rescues and it is time they move on to a permanent home. Anyway, as soon as I said that she looked at me and said, " Donkeys!" And this is what she did next. She very loudly made the hee haw sound. And then she laughed. Well, I took it as she was referring to donkeys as a lot of people do. Making fun of them. That they are stubborn and dumb and good for nothing. That offended me! Rather than set her straight about how wonderful they are, I thanked her and walked out. Although the lady who was next in line did see my reaction ( the right eye half closed, eyebrow raised) and am fairly certain she said something to the gal behind the counter. Maybe I overreacted, but when it comes to animals, well, what can I say.

Now that summer has arrived there is something I just don't understand. Why, oh why, do some men who have big old nasty beer guts and man boobs ( some man boobs are bigger than some womens!) think they look sexy mowing their lawns on their riding mowers without wearing their shirts! I know, I know, to each their own. It is not for me to judge. I can look away ( which you can bet I do!). But when you turn a corner and it is right in front of your face, how can you not notice! Now if a good looking guy is shirtless and is sweet looking eye candy, heck yeah I'll look! Because that is something easy on the eyes!

Okay, I'm done venting. Well, for now anyway!!

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

Look who I found in.........

Look who I found inside the chicken coop. Thankfully my camera was with me. Doughnut has figured out how to get into the chicken house where the cracked corn and chicken feed bowls are. She didn't get a chance to eat much of the food before I caught her.

She started to walk inside the chicken house but some of the hens were in there and by their squawking I don't think they wanted a visitor in there.

Since the weather has started to get warmer, the flies are beginning to emerge. So the sticky fly paper went up.

I finally convinced Doughnut that being in there was not an option. Out she went.

But she had to take a souvenir with her. She got some of the fly paper stuck in her forelock and ear. After a few tries to remove the sticky fly paper, she was paper free although some of her forelock came with it.

Hopefully I have blocked off where she can go into the chicken house but making sure the chickens can still get in with ease.

Never a dull moment around here! Wonder what the rest of the day has in store!!!

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

What the........!!!!!

As I was preparing to make dinner this evening I hear my youngest daughter calling Cookie's ( donkeys) name. Sounding pretty close, so, stopped what I was doing. Walked out of the kitchen towards the dining area, looked to the right and see..... this! Youngest daughter has the door wide open trying to coax Cookie inside the house!!

Youngest has been telling me for quite a few years that one of these days she is either going to bring her horse or a donkey into the house.

Youngest getting out of the way. Cookie making sure there is enough room.

Cookie rethinking about coming in. Youngest giving her a pep talk.

Cookie getting closer. Um, okay, that's far enough!

To answer your question, no, Cookie did not come into the house.

At least not this time!!!!

If I did walk in to see a horse or donkey inside the house, well, honestly, after I got through laughing, taking pics, the horse or donkey would be escorted right back outside.

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

Cleaning, Trimming,Searching,Found

Yesterday Joe, my farrier, came out to trim the donkeys. He is the best farrier around. I always enjoy it when he comes out. He has lots of stories to share. After trimming the donkeys, he took a look at AJ's feet. Yup, sure enough there is a considerable amount of growth from when he was here about a month ago. That's a good thing!

Here are the two front feet trimmings. For only four weeks, this is a lot of growth. So far it looks like the laminitis hasn't effected her feet too terribly. Everything is still holding together.

After Joe's visit, and the rest of the outside chores were done, it was time to continue my cleaning spree. After cleaning out the fridge there were dishes that needed to be loaded into the dishwasher. I left the dishwasher door open. Can you guess whose head was inside cleaning the dirty dishes for me? Yup, Honey Dog. Thanks, Honey Dog, but I prefer the dishes to be washed in hot water, not dog slobber.

For awhile now I have been trying to figure out who is a hen and who is a roo from the ten chicks hatched a few months ago. So far there are three roosters. Jeff Lewis ( pic above), a White Silky and a Barred Rock cross. The other ones I just haven't been able to distinguish whether they are a hen or roo. Well, thanks to Jeff Lewis, he is helping me narrow it down to who is a hen! Good boy Jeff Lewis!! Looks like there are more hens than roosters. Yay!!

The past several days there have only been one to two eggs in the chicken house. Hmmm, what the heck! Now I know the girls are laying on a daily basis so there should be more eggs than that. Well, sure enough, some of the girls have found a new place to lay. They have decided that in between the hay bales in the barn is a mighty fine place to lay. Now instead of collecting eggs from the chicken house, it has turned into a hunt and search in the hay barn. The egg pic above was taken awhile ago from inside the chicken house.

A few days ago my oldest daughter mentioned to me that I have a 'Farmers Tan' going on and need to start wearing summer shirts. I would take a pic of my arms, but honestly, you don't want to see them!!

Oh, the neighbors dog who attacked his goat hasn't been seen or heard since it happened. Hmmm, have a feeling he doesn't have that dog anymore!

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

Let me out!

I was hoping to catch Patti Cake do her bray/honk sound, but instead I caught her relaxing in the breezeway.

So instead of getting to hear Patti Cake, you get to hear Cookie letting me know she wanted out of her stall. So demanding!

And there was another surprise last night. When I walk into the chicken house to lock everyone up I always do a head count. Well, I did a head count and it didn't add up. So I counted again, and there was a reason the count didn't come out right. The missing Mottled Houdan hen had come back and was sitting with the others! It took me a moment to realize she had come back. She was fine. Although the hen apron she was wearing is gone. Have no idea what happened to it. But she is back and safe.

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

Donkeys and Cats and Chickens and Plants

The past several weeks I have been watching the Pampas Grass bushes in the front year. There didn't seem to be any signs of growth and I was certain they were dead and gone. Much to my surprise I spied green growth! Hoo Wee! When we bought this place six years ago the previous owners said that the Pampas Grass bloomed every year without having to do anything to it. Um, not one bloom at all! Oh well, guess the grass just doesn't want to do its thing these days.

I have been asked several times if the donkeys when they are turned out into the yard, if they do any damage to the trees and plants. Well, yes as a matter of fact they have. This little plum tree has had its branches broken in half or completely off.

This is Jeff Lewis. My oldest daughter came out yesterday to help with mucking stalls and when she saw Jeff Lewis she commented on how big is he. Yeah, they have a way of growing! :)

This morning as I as coming back towards the house I noticed Doug and Squirrel in the cat room window enjoying the fresh air. Obviously Doug takes up too much room so Squirrel has to do the best she can to get the breeze in her face.

Yesterday afternoon I put the donkeys into the backyard. Of course where there is an open window you will find a cat sitting in front of it. And in this case, a donkey on the other side. Doughnut is doing her best at sniffing Doug through the screen.

Not sure if she liked what she smelled or not!

Cookie had to come over and see what Doughnut was smelling. But, um, she was sniffing to high.

Since I have been turning the donkeys loose in the front yard, and we have hay in the barn, it was time to block off the donkeys from the hay. I dragged a 12 foot gate up am using it to keep the donkeys and hay separated. The last thing I want is for those hay bales jumping in with the donkeys!

Speaking of separating. The reason I keep Arnold and Miles separated is that they were both gelded later in life and they both think they are, well, you know, having all their equipment intact. So not wanting to take any chances of either of them getting hurt, I keep them separated.

For those of you who are curious as to how many animals live here. Here is a breakdown:

3 horses

8 donkeys

5 Fainting goats

3 dogs

16 cats

18 chickens

1 Fred ( ground squirrel)

2 Egyptian geese ( who come and go as they please)

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