Whattaweek!

This has been such a busy week. First off, the golden retriever mix in my last post is safely settled in rescue. YAY!

Harley, a little black dog that I thought was a pot bellied pig ( for just a second, but still...) when I saw him in the pound, got adopted on Saturday.

My DH who has been out of work this entire year got a job and started on Monday. It might only be for six weeks, but hey, there will be money coming in! I am working really hard to keep up with everything that needs to be done around here - how did I ever do it when he was gone all day every day? Well, I guess I will just have to relearn the new/old schedule, eh?

I am sure this is news to no one, but this heat is killing animals. We lost two chickens to the heat, the latest casualty was Annabelle my little mixed chicken, and the oldest of the flock. I was so sad to see her go. Eddie buried her in the front yard by the hydrangeas. That's Miss Anabelle in the picture.

Moses, the skinny dog gained 17 pounds in two weeks and is just starting to look less scary. Our vet vaccinated him yesterday and he was posted on the St. Louis Senior Dog Project petfinder page here . Moses is a really affectionate dog who love to stay close to his peeps!

And, last but not least, Keesha came to our house to stay. Keesha was an abuse case and her wounds have still not healed. I am waiting to see how much I can tell you about her. I will post pictures tomorrow - they are not easy to look at though. I Promise pictures tomorrow.

Rusty, and Why I Won't Be Able to Sleep Again Tonight

Rusty, pictured here, was in an email forwarded to me tonight by a friend who will just not stop sending me these emails, no matter how hard I beg. Rusty is living in a mud floor kennel with no roof or shade in heat that is killing people and animals every day. He is a very desirable golden retriever mix, three and a half years old and just as cute as a bug's ear - don't you think? Rusty's owner has decided he doesn't want his dog any more and so he is going to shoot him.

So how, you might ask, did I find out about this? Well, because a local rescuer is trying to find a place for Rusty to go before his lovin' owner shoots him. In this day and age, when we are all connected, an email from a rescuer in rural Missouri can reach virtually all of the rescue groups in the state, and beyond, in less than a day. And we are all full. Every group that I know of, is full of dogs that are not being adopted out. These same groups are worried about how to pay the vet bills, to boot.

Do you know of anyone who could love a sweet golden dog, even if only for a few weeks, while we find a spot for him? Puleeeese? Someone out there must have extra space even a kennel with shelter and access to air-conditioning would be so much better for this boy.

I do have another reason for not sleeping tonight. My baby Timber, the little Bottle fed Lamb that is living in my bathroom is sick. He is showing some of the same symptoms as an Angora goat that I recently lost. Keep your fingers crossed for him won't you?

Hopefully the next blog entry will be a happier one.

New Beginnings

Today was a day for the record books. At the adoption event, Huck, the yellow lab who was in the car accident with his foster mom, got a new home. And not just any new home, but a home with another rescue person who will provide lots of updates about this super dog.

Another foster dog of ours, Jack also got a new home with his very own boy. Every dog doesn't need a boy, but Jack seemed to like this boy a lot, so I am hoping it works out.

Moses, the starved dog off of the city streets started eating yesterday and met Logan the big sheep today. That's the two of them saying, "hello" over there on the left.

My friend, Lisa came over tonight to help shear Logan. It was a very untimely shearing as he is not due till spring, but I may start shearing twice a year as I just don't see how he would make it through this very hot summer with out a hair cut. I will try to get a picture of the naked Logan for the next post. I think he looks wonderful and cool, but the other sheep are not so sure! The wool that I kept will go into the wash water tomorrow. I think it will be "mine all mine" as it is somewhat shorter that can be expected and well, that makes it mine, right?

Baby. it's hot out there!

I know this is a boring, bland, "duh" kinda statement, but geezle peet, it is so hot! I am worried about the guys up at the barn. My metal barn doesn't make it easy to keep the animals cool. Fortunately most of them know that the shady corner buy the turkey abode is the the coolest spot, but baby Timber is just transitioning from my bathroom to the barn - in the hottest weather we've had in a long long time!

I took the picture to the left of Cam and Hammie a few weeks ago when it was cooler and everyone, including me, enjoyed playing and lounging in the barnyard at twilight. Now, I sort of dread going up there, afraid of finding that one of my barnyard babies has succumbed to the heat.

Well, it may take me weeks longer to get Baby Timber transferred to the barn and I have say, that is not really a hardship for me as I always hate to see them go. I wonder how my friend Sandy does it at her at her place? Sandy is a way cool animal friendly fiber farmer and you can visit her here.

If you are interested in Animal Friendly handspun, shoot me an email or a comment and I will get in touch to see if I have what you are looking for!

I Think God is Laughing at Me!

Maybe the trick to getting a break is to just not ask for one. Eddie left for welding class this morning and returned an hour later with the thinnest dog I have ever seen. Really, see for yourself - that's him over there on the left. The first words out of my mouth when I saw him were, "HOLY MOSES"! So the name stuck and now residing at our house is yet another dog that needs a permanent home.


I guess the prayer for a break must have sounded like rank whining and we all know what happens to whiners. So, from now on I am going to stop mumbling about how tired I am and just get down to business.


To that effect we took poor ole Moses up to see Dr. Laura today and she said he is to thin to even vaccinate. I think that might be a first as well. I have had dogs that were to thin for surgery, but to thin to vaccinate? Yep that's a first. And not one for anyone to be proud of either.


It was no surprise that the skinny fella had worms: hooks, whips and tapes. We have stuff to get rid of all of those and will try to put enough weight on him so that he can be vaccinated. It will be fun to see him fill out and learn to be a dog.

I wonder what he will look like when we get him all fattened up? I can't even venture a guess as to his breed, how about you?

Good News, Bad News

Whew. Whatta Weekend.

Yesterday's adoption event was good in that: Rudy found a new home. I took him to his new home today, and I believe it is a good adoption, to good folks.

Unfortunately, I got word last night that one of our volunteers was killed in a car accident on her way home from yesterdays adoption event. Joyce was a wife, retired school teacher, a twin sister, a mom, a grandmother, and a foster mom to Huck, a big orphaned yellow Labrador Retriever. She was also a very kind lady. Most who knew her would call her one of God's Angels on Earth. She will be missed.

Her foster dog, Huck, was in the car with her when it rolled, and was miraculously unhurt. My eternal thanks go out to the un-named animal control officer who was at the gate when I arrived and broke the rules to release Huck to me. Huck is here and is shaken, but seems to be ok. He is calming down, little by little, and will have a visit to our vet tomorrow for the little scrape that was on his eyelid and just to make sure that he is really ok.

So, what does this mean? Do I get a break or not? Everytime I place a dog, it seems like God goes out of his way to place another at my doorstep. Really, God, I need a break. Let's cool it on the dogs for a while.

Kati

Adoption Day Wishes

Rudy, a big black dog who was dropped off at our place, might get a new home today. The family that wants to meet him is coming to visit with him at the Saturday adoption event. That's Today!

The application looks good and there will be time for a home visit since I can just go from the adoption event. This will be a short post because I promised to be on time (a rarity for me) and I still have to gather paperwork and load the car.

Please keep your fingers and paws crossed for Rudy who deserves a home and some peeps to call his own.

Waiting for the Ball

I rescue dogs. Well, WE rescue dogs. My family is always asking me, "how many dogs do you have there now?" The answer is always the same, "A lot." In the spring, when we are out playing ball with the dogs it's lots of fun to get all of the "ball chasers" together. In the spring, when they are all tracking mud in the house...not so much.

We have been rescueing for 15 (plus or minus) years and I would love to take a break. Some of our older dogs need us to be there for them full time and it is hard with a house full of rescues. We have farm animals needing attention, too. Yep, I'm looking forward to a break!

I think I will have to wait a little longer for my break than the dogs in the picture had to wait for Eddie to bat the ball to them.

On a completely different subject, I learned something new today. Horses are afraid of sheep. I think that is only true if they have never seen a sheep before, but the horse people I saw today were adamant that horses don't like sheep. I found this out when I brought Timber, our baby Shetland/Rambouillet cross lamb to my daughter's therapeutic horsemanship lesson. I had Timber on a harness and leash and caused one of the horses to balk. Also, after I left and went to the bacd of the barn, out of sight of the horses, none of the horses would approach the mounting block. It was a huge faux pas.

And now, I am off to put the chickens and Turkeys to bed.

The First Time

So, this is my very first blog post. Sitting down to write brought to mind other "firsts" and I thought I would share a picture of the first garden here. Jefferson County soil is all clay and rock, but the farmer who built this house also owned river bottom land somewhere and he brought in bottom land soil by the truck load. The result is that some of the garden was really easy to work, and some places had to be "dug" with a mallet and crowbar!

The garden looks much different, now. An experiment with using chickens to cultivate the weeds went south when I added a pair of adolescent turklets who rapidly scratched the soil to expose plant roots. In fact, my whole Turkey experiment had been a learning -uh- curve, but more on that later.

More "firsts" include sheep, goats, chickens, turkeys and small dogs. That's right, the confirmed large dog people now have little dogs running around the place as well.

Drop by the blog every now and again and I'll tell you all about it!