Drivers!!

Now that the summer time temps have arrived and not going away anytime soon, I started watching Mount McLaughlin ( I'm not sure how to spell it!) that can be seen from my house. As you can see there is still a tad bit of snow still left. But it is melting fairly rapidly. The old timers around here say that when you can see the Angels Wings on mountain, then it is salmon fishing time.

Well, the Angels wings can be seen now. Which means there is going to be a lot of salmon fishing going on around here.

Yesterday evening my youngest daughter ( who still lives at home) called me and told me to hurry outside. And she meant hurry! So I took off out the door to see her out of the car by the entry gate. She is yelling for me to run! Knowing that something was wrong I ran towards her.

Once I reached her she told me that as she was coming up our road to turn into the driveway she saw a car hit a cat right in front of our place. She got out, ran over to the cat, thinking one of ours ventured to the road. It turned out it was not one of ours. It was a cat that I hadn't seen before. She had picked the cat up, it was still alive, and gently laid it in the shade by our driveway. When I started checking kitty over to see how badly he was hurt, he passed away.

So, I sent my other daughter into the house for a towel to wrap the cat in. Then it was time to start knocking on doors to find the cats' owner and let them know what happened. Well, no one in the neighborhood owned the cat.

Okay, owners can't be found, can't leave the cat where he was, so I placed him into a box still wrapped in the towel and proceeded to dig a hole. Believing that no one or no animal should ever be put to rest without a name and a prayer I gave him the name Dexter. After burying him I said a prayer and told him how sorry I was that the driver of the car did not care enough to at least stop to see if he needed medical attention. I will never understand how anyone can hit an animal and not stop. I guess they either really don't care or they are too wrapped up in their own world to be bothered.

So, to Dexter, be at peace, enjoy the other side of the rainbow bridge, have lots of cat naps, eat your favorite meals, and be surrounded with love always.

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

Sunset

Betsy the goat is still here. By the way, yes, the goat belongs to the same neighbor as the 2 year old stud colt that jumped the fence and stayed for a few days here. We had thunderstorms roll in late afternoon. And with thunderstorm clouds comes very pretty sunsets.

As I was walking around getting pics of the sunset, here came three of the donkeys wanting to know what the heck I was doing.

Donkey ears really are pretty special.

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

This time it's a goat!

Yesterday it hit 103 degrees here. Can you say Y-U-K!!! It was miserable.

Yesterday evening the two small boys from next door knocked on my door and informed me that their goat was in my pasture. Really?! Since the donkeys and Patti Cake the mini mule are in the back pasture they couldn't go out there alone to get their goat. So, out into the heat to help catch the goat. After about 45 minutes catching her was out of the question. The boys started chasing her all over the pasture throwing a homemade rope at her. Duh, I would run too being chased liked that. I finally told them to put the rope down and walk towards her calmly. Did they listen? No! The older of the boys couldn't understand why the goat didn't want to be caught. Well, by this time I am hot and tired. I looked right at him and told him if him and his brother were nicer to their goat then she wouldn't mind being caught. I then asked him how many times I have yelled at him for being mean to their goat. He didn't answer me. Little turd!

Anyway, enough was enough. I told the boys to leave the goat here overnight and to go home.

Well, my goats weren't too happy about having a stranger in the pasture. Neither were the donkeys or Patti Cake our mini mule. I took these pictures this morning. The brown goat with the horns is the neighbors goat. Her name is Betsy.

Betsy trying to get close to the food.

My girl goats banding together to chase Betsy away.

"Get the stranger!!!!!"

It's a standoff. The ugly one with the hair hanging off of him is Dick.

Um, do you see a difference between my goats coats and the neighbors goat coat? Can you see how much thinner Betsy is compared to mine? Hmmm, maybe I feed my goats too well!!?

Since it is going to be another scorcher I am not going to worry about the neighbors goat staying here another day or two. I am not going stress her in this heat to get her back next door.

Time to get some outside chores done before baking temps set in.

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

Wild Bird and a vent

This morning as I was coming back to the house after feeding, I heard a bird in distress. After a few minutes of searching I found Kirby ( one of the outside cats) holding down a wild bird. Um, nope, not while I see or hear it. So, I picked up the bird, looked for wounds, and tried to set it free. But it didn't fly off. Just layed their in my hand with no attempt to escape. The wings seem to be okay, however I suspect one leg might be broken. Okay, now what to do with the bird. It won't fly away. I can't just put it in a tree and let it fend for itself. Hmmmmm. So, I grabbed a cat carrier, put some pine shavings in it along with a container of water, set the bird inside, took the carrier out to the chicken house and hoped for the best while I went to town.

Well, as soon as I returned from town, out to the chicken house to check on the wild bird. To my surprise the bird is still alive! Eyes wide open, breathing normally, but no weight on the suspected broken leg. So, I will do my best to help heal the bird, then set it free. I really have no idea what to do for the broken leg so thank goodness for the Internet. Hopefully I can find some info.

Little Inger is still sitting on eggs. What is it with her and wanting to sit and raise babies! The other hens could care less.

And now Bonnie is insisting on sitting on eggs. Aw, come on girls. Just how many babies do you think we need around here!

Alright, are you ready for my vent? What is it with customer service anymore. Is there a question on applications that asks if you can be rude to the customer?! And if you check yes, you get the job. As I was grocery shopping this morning there were so many rude, inconsiderate employees at the store. They wouldn't get out of the way of the customers. It was the customers having to veer around them as they stood there talking with another employee. Or if they were coming in the opposite direction of an aisle, it was the customer who moved over to let the employee pass by first. Um, wait a minute. It is the customer who keeps the employee in a job! Make the customer a happy camper and they come back to spend their heard earned money. There are several stores in town I refuse to shop at because of their poor customer service.

I worked customer service for many years. And it didn't matter if I was in a bad mood, or not feeling well, or dealing with a ridiculously ignorant, rude customer, a smile was always on my face, tone of voice nice, being helpful, etc..... So I know what it is like on the other side of the coin. It is not easy dealing with the public. Most are wonderful. There are a few who are jerks. But you still put a friggin smile on your face and play nice! If one chooses to work with the public, then be nice, not a stuck up, non helpful, rude ass!

Yes, customer service is a big thing with me. And no, I am not a demanding customer. All I want is a smile and possibly some small talk at the register without attitude!

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

Where does the time go?

Geez, where does the time go? All week I have been tackling the project of thoroughly cleaning out the barn. Which means going through every box, every tote, every cabinet and every shelf. Three piles were started. One that goes to Goodwill. One that goes to the sanitation department ( dump). And the last was the keep pile. As you can see from the above picture there are now a lot of empty totes! There is still a bit more to do in the barn. I have to say I was amazed at how much 'stuff' one can accumulate over the years.

This is Danni. She just cracks me up. The whole time I was cleaning she had to come over and check things out. And she is very vocal. Having chickens has been a blessing. Not only do they gift eggs, but the bug population is way, way down. I didn't find one spider in the barn while cleaning. And for that alone I am grateful! Spiders creep me out. Over the years I have gotten better about not plowing people over to get away from them!

I was also able to rehome the extra roosters that were here. Three in all. Jeff Lewis ( pictured above) is staying. I debated about rehoming him along with the others, but a little voice kept telling me to keep him. No, it wasn't Jeff Lewis telling me! lol

Well, more projects to get to today. The temps are perfect so better take advantage of them. Next week it is predicted triple digits! Um, no thank you!!!

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