Busy as usual

Can you believe the end of 2011 is just days away! What a year! And where the heck does the time go? Seems the older one gets, the faster it goes.

Yup, as usual I have been busy. Always, always something to do.

Ever since moving here Arnold's feet have become a daily challenge. Some days he walks just fine, others he can barely move.  Thank goodness I know what is going on so basically it is just dealing with his laminitis issues. I have talked about laminitis before and let me say, it keeps you on your toes on a daily basis.

And it isn't just Arnold's feet I have to watch constantly, it is also AJ's feet! Who would have thought that a Mustang would have issues with laminitis! Arnold and AJ are always on the radar.

My dear friend Sue, who had a major stroke almost three years ago, comes out to get donkey therapy. Her and her husband bring out goodies for the donkeys which as you can see those donkeys really enjoy! Sue has come a long way since her stroke. Feeding and petting the donkeys has helped with her hand eye coordination.  Oh and yes, I know the fence is leaning which is an ongoing project to keep it up until we can sink some wood posts this spring and run new livestock wire. I sure do miss the wood fence at the old house.

Grace's first Christmas. Can you believe she is going to be a year old at the end of January! Not only is she walking and running everywhere, she also climbs onto everything she can. Talk about keeping me hopping! I am teaching her colors, shapes, numbers and the alphabet.


Grace's mother, my middle daughter, needs to get her priorities in order. There are days I just want to punch her in the face! 

Just recently found out that some friends are losing their house to foreclosure. This truly saddens me because they are in the mid 60's.

I have decided that when we plant out garden next year, we will plant extra veggies for friends and whoever else needs them. I have already started asking friends what veggies they like so I can make sure to plant them. Going to check into donating fresh veggies to the local food bank.

Every evening a Buck and his four Does graze in the front yard. What a beautiful peaceful sight to see.

I have to go over to my oldest daughter's house soon and help her git rid of a spirit that has decided to hang out.

My youngest, who has OCD worse than my oldest daughter and myself has been keeping me busy helping her get through her crisis's. I have figured out why she has steadily gotten worse over this past year. It is all due to Grace's mother being an idiot and not telling anyone she was pregnant with Grace. For some reason the delivery of Grace in the bathroom triggered something in my youngest.  Slowly but surely progress is being made with my youngest.

Now that horse slaughter is set to begin in the USA, horse theft will be on the rise so I have decided to freeze brand the horses and donkeys. I am working on a brand to have made and then register it with the state of Oregon. I want a visible mark on the horses and donkeys to hopefully deter theft.

Okay, I don't want to bore you with the ramblings of a tired mind so will end this post now.

Here is a hug for each of you. Everyone can use a hug!

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





 

Animals, animals, animals

What does Grace, donkeys and the Gator have in common?

Sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do! Two of my donks jumped the fence day the other day, got out into the road and stopped traffic. Thankfully some of the drivers got out and helped me get the donks back onto the property. Put the donks in the front pasture ( which isn't all fenced). Ran back to the house, grabbed Grace who was in the stroller this whole time, ran into the house, put Grace in her car seat, ran back outside, strapped Grace into front seat of the Gator with lead rope, drove up to the barn, loaded up hay, drove to back pasture, grabbed lunge whip to get the other donkeys and horses away from the gate, drove through gate, spread hay into back pasture, drove back to front pasture leaving back pasture gate open, with lunge whip in left hand and driving with left hand while holding onto Grace's car seat with right hand herded the two escaped donkeys into back pasture. Then it was fence fixing time with baling twine ( which is all I had on the Gator). Yup, sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do!

I had to rehome the Guineas. For some reason they kept going out onto the road and yes, they too would stop traffic.  I did not want them getting hurt or worse killed nor did I want to get sued for causing an accident, rehoming was the best option. They also had become vicious towards my chickens. The have been gone a few days and although I am glad they are gone, I do miss those stupid birds.

A few weeks ago as I was locking up my chickens for the night I heard rustling in the leaves behind the coop ( which is right by the house). As I was securing the door to the coop I hollered out to the outside cats that I was going to feed them as soon as I was done ( thinking it was one of the cats wanting dinner). As I walked out of the coop I looked up to see what I thought was a stray cat. Upon further looking it wasn't a 'stray' cat, but a Bobcat! He looked at me. I looked at him. He bounded up towards the barn, stopped and looked at me again, then was gone. I was so excited to see him. My adrenalin was pumping and I ran into the house to tell everyone what I had just seen. The next day I realized that having a Bobcat that close to the house was not a good thing.

Now that hunting season is over the Buck and his does are coming down off the hills and grazing in the front pasture. In fact one of the does was grazing right in the front yard!

Last night as I was having the last cigarette of the day I heard crunching sounds in the yard by the walnut trees. Hmmmm, what the heck! After getting a flashlight I found out what was making the crunching sounds. It was a huge squirrel eating the walnuts that had fallen on the ground.

I seriously love and enjoy all the wildlife.

Oh, one more thing. The pic of Grace, well, to me she looks like Curly from the Three Stooges in this pic.

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

Wow!

Yup, it's me! Took some time but think I am alright now. John ( Going Gently), thank you! Also a thank you to Ron, Jim, Sophie, Tina, Lilla, Rachael and my Sister Connie.

A lot has been going on not only in life, but mentally as well. I needed time to regroup and figure out what the hell was wrong with me. There was a pretty big problem with hubby's and my relationship. It's been a year since I lost my house. Grace is ten months old now. Well, let's just say everything finally came to a head.

I have always been a strong person, but there for awhile I didn't feel I was. And that bothered me! I knew something wasn't right and had to figure it out.

Slowly things started to surface. And when they surfaced it was like a volcano! Just erupting up and out. Wow! Yup, a lot of anger and resentment was unleashed.

I was angry as hell for losing my house. Angry that my one daughter didn't say a word about her being pregnant and having to deliver a baby in my bathroom! Angry that I didn't feel I was taking care of my horses and donkeys the way they were used to at the old house. Angry at my hubby for several large reasons. Angry that Grace's mother was in fact taking advantage of me as far as Grace was concerned. Angry that I allowed myself to get into such a depression ( which is what it was ) and put my life on the back burner.  Angry that for the past year I have been unable to help more animals in need. Angry at how society has crumbled. Let's just say I was damned angry!

It's funny, but when you realize what is going on with yourself you can see it in a whole new perspective!

So, instead of pushing the anger further down any longer, it was unleashed!  Once I let it out, said what needed to be said, I threw it out to the universe to be rid of it. Not saying it is all gone, but a lot of it is.

Now instead of  dreading 'what the hell is next' in life. Instead of trudging on an uphill battle in the mud getting worn out.  I have decided that I want to see what is on the other side of the hill! Whether it be good or bad I want to see it. And what's over the next hill, and the next. Sometimes alone, sometimes with someone else, but getting to the top and seeing.

There is so much more going on but will leave for that for future posts.

Big, big hugs to the folks I mentioned in the beginning of this post. You may not know what you did for me, and that's ok, because I know what you did!

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

Issues

So much going on these days. It surprises me I remember to even breathe!

I have some personal issues going on which I am having to ponder on. Kind of like being at the crossroads.

However, I can't stand at the crossroads forever so I need to start making some choices.

Lately I have had the urge to travel. Which is rather odd for me since I don't like to travel and I dislike driving!  As a kid we moved a lot from state to state, city to city, etc... which is why I don't like to travel.

Just jumping into a small motor home with my dogs and cats sounds wonderful. Although the thought of leaving my horses and donkeys saddens me. 


Anyway, just letting you know that I am taking a hiatus for awhile to sort some stuff out.

I will keep up with what you are all doing when I can.

Hugs to all of you.

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

History Find, City Folk and another Experience

Day before yesterday as I was outside I noticed several people feeding my horses and donkeys over the fence. Um, not acceptable. So out to pasture to have a chit chat with these folks. As I walked closer the woman asked if I didn't mind if they fed the horses and donks some carrots they had. Well, yes I do mind. They should ask before feeding anyone's animals. Well, come to find out the couple had travelled all the way from the Los Angeles area to attend the local church out here. Wow, really! They were telling me how beautiful it is here compared to down there. Yes, it is beautiful here. The husband then looks at all the blackberry bushes and asked if it was okay to pick the raspberries. Um, they are blackberries, not raspberries, but yes go ahead although there aren't many berries left anymore due to the bears pretty much picking them off. When I mentioned the word bears, his eyes got big as saucers and asked me where they come from. Well, off the mountains I told him. Then he starts looking around for bears! Sorry, but by this time I am giggling. I had to tell him that the bears come down in the evening and early morning so the chances of him seeing one are pretty low. They thanked me, I told them to have a good trip and if they wanted to feed animals in a field to please ask the owner otherwise there could be some really nasty trouble for them.  City folk!!! :)  

Looky at what was found close to the house. It is an old, old window weight!!! There have only been two house built on this property. The first one built about 1870, the second one ( which I live in) was built mid 1950's, And I can say that the windows in this house have no window weights! I don't know how to date window weights, but am hoping it is from the original house.

Another find was this pick ax. Pretty sure it isn't antique old, but with all the rust it just looks good with the other pieces I have been finding.

October not only means Halloween, it also means pumpkin seeds for us humans and the shells for the donkeys.

Now for another ghostly experience.

A few years ago some friends gave us a car they had no use for. Turned the car into the work car to save on gas. One day I had to go to town so decided to use the car rather than my truck. As I was warming the car up I looked into the rear view mirror and much to my surprise there sat an elderly woman, short blue/gray hair, wearing a blue shirt and was staring straight into the mirror. Not much will make me jump, but I can say when I saw her sitting there, well, I was startled.  Startled enough to get out of the car! For some reason she really took me by surprise. After a few minutes I got back in. Nothing. She was gone. 

Nothing else happened for a few days, then she showed up again. This time hubby was driving and I was in the passenger seat. Being more aware of her, I wasn't startled this time around. In my mind I asked what she wanted. She informed me that she loved her car and was trying to get in contact with her daughter, but that her daughter wasn't paying attention because she had so much on her mind. She wanted her daughter to know to not back down, that she was happy and everything was going to be fine.

I contacted our friends and casually asked about the car. They informed me that her mother had recently passed and that she had loved that car! Really! She also told me that ever since her mother had passed she had been having problems with some members of the family trying to bully her into going against her mothers' wishes.

Okay, by this time I couldn't keep my mouth shut anymore. I told her what I saw in the backseat and the messages got. I also told her that her mom has been trying to contact her. I gave my friend  a description of the woman I had seen. She got up, came back with a picture and yup, I saw her mother! I told my friend to open her mind and look for signs. Sure enough, her mother came to her and everything worked out.

We still have the car, but the mother has since moved on now that business was taken care of.

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

 

Responsibility and another ghostly experience

I was reading on the Internet about Muhammad Ali and his wife suing the former owners of the house they bought because they say the former owners weren't truthful about the house. Um, correct me if I am wrong, but isn't that why one hires a home inspector before purchasing a house?  Something is dreadfully wrong with society these days. Everyone is blaming someone else, suing over ridiculous things and acting like a victim.

No wonder our society is in the crap hole. No one wants to take responsibility. For instance, that woman who sued McDonald's because she burnt herself when she spilled a cup of coffee she purchased. Duh, the container says HOT CONTENTS! Or the  people blaming the fast food industry because they are fat. Hello, no one forces anyone to eat at fast food places. It's a full conscience choice to stop and order and eat the food. Or how about the folks wanting to pull all unhealthy cereal off the shelves because our children are fat. Well, who the hell is buying the damn cereal? Yup, the parents/guardians. Don't want your kid to eat certain foods, then don't buy it!   I would love to hear someone stand up and say, "Yup, I did it". End of story. No excuses. No blame game. Just a simple, "Yup, I did it". 

Whoops, looks like that was turning into a full blown rant!  

Here is a ghostly experience I needed help with.

At my last house ( the one I lost last year), there was a Native American spirit who used to sit on top of the barn. I saw him the first day I went to look at the place, but dealing with spirits my whole life I didn't give it a second thought. He was there the second and third time I went to look at the house.

While we were moving in I would catch glimpses of him. After about a year he started to move around a bit. When he peered in the kitchen window it startled me a bit, but got used to it after awhile. Then he moved to the one living room window and stare in. Okay, fine, he could watch tv with us if he wanted to.

Then he started falling my youngest daughter around outside. At first it was okay. But then he started to attach himself to her. Wherever she went, there he was. When she was riding in the arena, there he was. When she was mucking out stalls, there he was. When he started to follow her to the front door of the house I had had enough. I didn't want him inside the house!

He was a young man, mid twenties, beautiful black hair, no shirt, buckskin pants and was very sad and alone. Well, I had never dealt with an Native American spirit before so knew I was going to need some help. I contacted a friend who is Native American and she in turn asked her Elders what to do.

She got back to me and told me what needed to be done.

I waited until everyone was gone, brought out the sage I had purchased, lit it and walked the entire property saying prayers and letting him know it was okay to go to his People. He had been forgiven for whatever he had done while on this earth and it was time to go. I then headed to the barn, still burning the sage, had a nice talk with him ( one sided), said some more prayers, again told him he needed to be with his family and wished him happiness. I also thanked him for not scaring my youngest, but that he just couldn't attach himself to her. It was time to forgive himself since he had already been forgiven by his family.

After a bit, I walked out of the barn and felt a peaceful presence. Then it was gone and so was he. He never came back. Whatever he had done while he was living was what was making him stay while in spirit. Since he never came back I hope he found his peace.

Oh, there is a church behind the property and while I was saging and praying, well, you should have seen the looks and stares I was getting! I had chosen a Sunday to do all this.  Priceless!!

Until next time.................. 

Happenings and another ghostly tale

Before I know it time has slipped away again. Geez!

The other night I received a phone call from my youngest daughter informing me that she was sitting on the side of the freeway with a flat tire. She had just purchased new tires a month ago so I called the tire place to have them go out and take care of it. The tires are still under warranty. So anyway, I call, explain the situation and was told that because it was after hours it was going to cost between 140.00 and 180.00 dollars for them to go out and take care of the tire. Really? Wait a minute, tires are under warranty so why the charge at all? Well, was told that during business hours there is not charge, but after hours there is a charge. Seriously?

So, hubby and I hooked up the car trailer, drove clear to the other side of the valley, tried putting air in the tire, only to find out that the inside wall had blown out. Put the car on the trailer, went to my oldest daughters house, dropped off car and youngest, drove back here and by this time it was close to ten o'clock at night!

Tire was replaced free of charge the next day!

The local library was having their annual book sale so you know where I went!!!  For three dollars I got two boxes of books! I say, come on Old Man Winter and Mother Nature because I am ready! Ha Ha

For the past month hubby, my brother and I have been trying to figure out how to fall this old, dead tree so we can use it for firewood. Problem being is the tree is between the old dog kennel ( where the donkeys go to get out of the rain) and the pump house. Falling the tree backwards is also not an option due to it being too steep to haul the wood up. So it has to fall forward. Hmmm.

I have to share a story about the Guineas. I am keeping them free range 24/7 now due to them being mean to my hens. The other day they went into the garage snooping around. Throughout the day I noticed that they were still in the garage. What the heck! As I was getting ready to feed the horses and donkeys I noticed that those Guineas were still in the garage. Okay, what is going on. Then it dawned on me that they couldn't figure out how to get out of the garage even though the inside door leading out to the breezeway is always left open! I had to open the outside garage door to let them out! Um, not so bright in my book!

Another quick story about one of the dogs and Grace. Sugar Dog ( pictured here) was a rescue years ago along with her sister Honey Dog. Both dogs have not been around small children so I was concerned how they were going to be around Grace. Well, no surprise to me that Honey Dog will have nothing to do with Grace. However, Sugar Dog has turned into the best kids dog! Grace crawls all over Sugar Dog, chases her around the house, and as you can see doesn't mind one bit that Grace has a hold of her tail.


Okay, now on to another ghostly experience.


Years ago I was driving alone past a cemetery when all of a sudden I felt a presence in the car. At first I ignored it. But when the door locks in the backseat went up at the same exact time, then a few minutes later slammed back down I knew I wasn't alone. I gave it a few more minutes to see if anything else was going to happen and sure enough something else did. I heard breathing coming from the back seat! Okay, that was enough for me. I pulled over, opened the back door and told the 'man' in the back seat that I knew he was there and asked him what he wanted. There was no response. I asked again. Still no response. So, I figured if he had nothing to 'say', then he needed to go somewhere else.

I informed him that I tried to help, but with no help from him  he needed to either go to someone who he knew and that they may be able to help, or he needed to move on to the other side. I waited for a bit, knew he was still sitting there, so had to tell him that he was not coming home with me and that he had to get out of the car. After a little bit I felt him get out of the backseat and disappear. I have no idea who he was or why he chose my car to get into. He knew he had passed on. Once I knew he was gone, I continued on home.

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