Just a quick note for you horse lovers

I realized today that one of my favorite blogs is not on my list of "Blogs I Follow". So I added it. It is called the "Life of Lynz".

I "met" this incredible girl at a dinner auction fundraiser for Ride On St. Louis, the therapeutic horsemanship center where my daughter rides. I "met" her because she had two incredible photographs in the auction, and I purchased one. She wasn't really there, but from the pictures she donated, I knew I wanted to get to know her.

Luckily her grandmother was present at the auction and came over to congratulate me on my purchase. I gave my email addy to the grandmother and hoped that Lindsey would contact me. She did!

Now you can read all about this fabulous girl and the horses she loves.

Enjoy!

Spring! ( thank gawd)

Temps are warming up and I am desperate for spring to be here all the way. So, I broke one of my gardening rules and planted pansies this year. I used to figure: "why plant flowers that are guaranteed to fry when hot weather arrives?" But, I am especially sick of winter this year so, the deck "ice bucket" planters got pansied! The stuff in the middle is curly ornamental grass and I have two whole justifications for buying it. One: when the pansies bite the dust, I can put some petunias around it and it can live on the deck all summer long. Two: when summer is over it will live in the garden for the rest of it's perennial, ornamental, grassy life. So - it is a bargain!

Notice Henri Roo in the yard behind the deck post. He and Sirkhan were living in the bathroom for a while as they both needed a bit of doctoring, but now that the weather is warmer the "sick bay" is in the garden, where it belongs. Yay for getting my bathroom back to myself, it is really really hard to share a bathroom with two roos, they lack sphincter muscles, you know, so there is no way to get them to use the toilet even though they are living in the bathroom. Eventually, I gave in and got chicken diapers for them. Yep, chicken diapers exist and you can read about 'em here: http://chickendiapers.com/ if you are so inclined!

Hazel Rose, my little Frenchie foster girl, had a tail amputation. She came from a puppy mill auction and her inverted tail was sort of rotting inside of her skin folds. It was a truly horrific situation with the tail growing straight down and pushing into her rectum. Our vet, Dr. Ivan did her usual magic and amputated the tail bone, but saved a little skin flap so our little girl looks like she still has a tail! Hazel is going home after her spay surgery in two weeks and I am going to miss her like crazy, but I know she will be the Queen of Everything at her new home.

The little Toy Fox Terrier that lived loose in the wilds of Jefferson County and that I was finally able to trap, is now a permanent resident at our house. She is a tiny thing and I marvel everyday that she was able to survive on her own for seven whole months, including a freezing spring and a blistering summer. Although she is still shy as can be, she loves cranky old Heywood, my twenty year old farm collie. Here they are together on the deck. She had to have him with her to venture outside and will eventually gain enough independence to leave his side. Heywood growls when any of the other dogs bother him, but he can be seen sleeping on the rugs in the hallway with his tiny girlfriend curled up next to him. Go figure. At night she curls up on the pillow next to my head and I fall asleep to the sound of her tiny heart beating away against my ear.

And speaking of new dogs, we did get few more fosters. I saw Salty dog on a shelter rescue site, and it was love at first sight. I showed the picture to my husband and got the "go ahead" to pull Salty from the shelter. Actually the "go ahead" was more like a shove out the door, but bless his heart he worries about dogs in pounds and once the decision is made to save one, I don't think he can sleep until they are safe. Salty was listed as a girl because his "boy parts" were hidden behind folds and folds of fat. We found out he was a boy and all had a good laugh about that. However, the general state of Salty's health is no laughing matter. He is at least thirty pounds overweight and at his age, it is hard on his joints to carry all of that excess poundage around. Since he has been here, he has already lost four pounds. I think his weight loss because he likes to walk around and smell things. As you can see, he wants back inside and on the bed once he is finished with his perambulations, and if the door doesn't get opened fast enough, we are treated to the coonhound song. Salty's voice is very deep with lots of soft "airy" bass in it. Very Pretty Indeed! Unfortunately, we just found out that Salty has heartworms and because of his advanced age and his physical condition, our vet does not want to treat him. We are hoping that some weight loss, 21 days of doxycycline and Heartgard will make him a better risk for treatment down the line. Keep your fingers crossed as we were not counting on having another permadog!

I will leave you with the image of Gabe with his bottom feet on the rung of the ladder to the hay loft. I was climbing up to get flakes of hay to feed the goats and sheep and I guess I was not doing it fast enough. Gabe was trying to cllimb up to help!

You can see my leg and barn boot on the ladder and both of his front feet are on the bottom rung. Look at that impatient look on his face - I can almost hear him calling, "hey hhhuurrry up, mom, we are all hungry down here!".

The fields are all greening up nicely but my lazy boys don't want to walk out for fifty feet to get the new green stuff. After all, why walk when mama throws alfalfa/grass mix from the loft. Sigh. Hope you all are having a good time in the fabulous weather we are having - I'll be back soon with more news of the great goings on at Dogrush.

I'm A Fan

Back again. Winter is not over yet but the sun is out a little more so I am (more or less) arising from the dead. Yep, I am a victim of the winter blues. I really need to get one of those sunlight lamps.

I was doing dog/housecleaning/volunteer stuff around the house tonight and had American Idol on in the background. DH and I used to watch it together, but DH is working nights (ah, yes, employment has arrived. More on that later.) Anyway, I kept hearing the judges say: " you know, I'm a fan of yours..." REALLY ? Oh C'mon. Surely everyone can hear the problem with that. If J'Lo or Stephen Tyler is a fan of yours, you already have a recording contract, right?

Even though I am not the judge of anything I wanted to share some things that I really do consider my self a fan of - and I can't get nuttin' fer nobody! But still, here are some of the things/blogs/stuff that I enjoy enough to share:

ROLLING DOG RANCH
http://www.rollingdogranch.org/index.html

The Picture is of Widget, the blind beagle. The place has won numerous awards, the blog is pretty well known, and the guy that writes it has such a knack for writing about - well, read the blog and you will get it. It is one of those blogs that makes you laugh out loud, or cry, or sometimes stand up and cheer.

You might be familiar with my friend Tammy the Shepherdess at Fairlight Farm. Tammy does her best to help strays (against all odds), and her little farm is a delight to read about. Try it, you'll like it!
http://musingsfairlightfarm.blogspot.com

At Tammy's place I discovered this lovely place: http://bluffcountryshetlandsandbackyardchickens.com

and the matching blog:
http://shepherdsvoice.blogspot.com

I have to confess that the Bluff Country Shepherdess has me drooling over her chickens.
Maybe I can get some hatching eggs and have a few of these Calico Cochins gracing my garden. Not to eat , but who could resist these lovely ladies? I am hoping to get some hatching eggs before spring is over and we will just have to see what the incubator can do with them!

By the way -if you visit the blog: whatever Dream says, it is probably really important, so you don't want to miss it. While you are there, look for the source of the ringling dingling sound.....

And last, but not least is the Queen of the STL SDP Bloggers: Kim and JTK (AKA Joey the Kid) Kim's blog is an inspiration to me. I suwannee, Kim takes pictures everywhere she roams. Her blog is full of really cute pictures, lots of thoughts on rescue from the perspective of a busy single mom ( again, I don't know how some people do it all!) , stuff about local St. Louis events, since busy Kim finds a way to participate in just about every thing with JTK and her various fosters. Her latest blog had pictures of the Mardi Gras Parade at Soulard. You can see it here: http://dogadoptionkim.blogspot.com

Something that I am a huge fan of , but have not spent much time with since the move to Jefferson County: My bike. It looked like the slick racing machine over there on the right when I first started riding it. But, a few hundred miles and a couple of wrecks later and it has been modified to more of an old lady's ride. I'm talkin' a padded seat, a really long stem and mountain bike grips. It is still a great ride, tho and I will put it, and me, through our paces this summer. For my birthday, I am taking on the Katy Trail. I figure a week long meander with lots of stops along the way should be a nice trip - unless it rains the whole time;o) Anyone care to join me? Really. I am looking for some riding partners so let me know if you are up for a ride - even part of the way? Hopefully between now and the summer I can figure out how to blog from my phone so I can keep everyone posted during my great adventure across Missouri!

Lots of updates!

I now have a working computer and a new monitor, so I will try to do a long blog with lots of updates - months worth!

I went out to the back field to visit at the barn, and decided to plop down with my camera for a while. I got some close up pictures of the goats and sheep and will try to share some here. There on the left is Hamilton, aka Ham or Hammie. He is doing his best profile for me and I just love this picture.

He let me get one from the other side, that's him below and you can see that he is a very special goatie boy.


When I went to the field none of the animals were around , but soon the two tom turkeys came to see what was going on. They wanted to see if I had food, no doubt! At the time, the two boys got along very well. Now, we have to separate them and I hate it. They were such buds at first. I have learned to dive into a turkey fight and snatch one of the boys off to the seclusion pen ( solitary confinement) really fast with out getting scratched, bruised or having my eye blacked as a result of a "wing whap". Turkey wings hurt!

After the toms came and went, the rest of the troupe came over to investigate, but they never stay for long. Somehow, I think the toms let them know there is no food to be had. But Nancy, the bourbon red hen always has a few words for me and I need to get a video of her chatting with me. It is one of the cutest things to see and hear, she is always so sweet and ernest when she is feeling chatty!

Pretty soon the goats and sheep come to investigate and then the real fun starts. My little guys never disappoint me and always find a way to make me laugh!

When I first got the shetland boys, Andy and Barney, from Tammy , they were not really tame. Now, they are the first little hooligans to come running, and Andy has climbed into my lap to sleep at times! I love my shetland boys. Here is a very, very close picture that I tried to take when they were running over to see me. I was afraid they wouldn't stop until they were in my lap so I held my hand out to try to get them to slow down. Barney was mostly out of the frame but you can see Andy's look of determination to get to "Mama" first!

Timber was not far behind and when he arrived he settled down one side of my leg, and Barney plopped in my lap. Andy was out of the frame here, but he is never far from his brother.

The goats are along side, alternately grazing and trying to chew my hair off. I try to tell myself that they are not making any kind of personal statement about my hair coloring expertise - but I am sometimes tempted to write the folks at L'oreal to let them know that "Light Ash Blond" looks like "Hay" to some folks!

Last, but hardly least, is Logan, my first bottle baby boy. He is such a calm sweet sheep. His hogget fleece was very chocolate coloured, like Timber's is now. But as you can see, he has lightened up to a pale moorit. Timber will also be morrit, but I don't think he will be as light as his uncle Logan.
That is Timber's fleece over there on the right. It is already much longer and I think he will have some primo spinning fiber at spring shearing.

That's it for now. I'll be back soon.

Clifford The Big Red Dog

Don't Weep for Me

Do not stand at my grave and weep.
I am not there, I do not sleep.
I am a thousand winds that blow.
I am the diamond glints on snow.
I am the sun on ripened grain.
I am the gentle autumn rain.
When you awake in the morning hush,
I am the swift uplifting rush
of quiet birds in circled flight,
I am the stars that shine at night.
Do not stand at my grave and cry,
I am not there, I did not die.

Clifford the Big Red Dog left this earth last evening. He was a grand old guy who deserved better than he got. He is no longer in pain and I am sure he was met at the bridge by his former owner who preceded him in death and who loved him dearly.

I wish I could have done better for him.

I'm BAAAACK!

Computer woes have kept me cyber-silent for weeks. My screen is doing a flashy thing ( like a strobe) that is making it almost impossible to use. Collin, the computer wizard, is coming to have a look at it tomorrow, so, hopefully things will get better soon!

In the meantime I can now log on with Fire Fox and Explorer. So far, it hasn't made much difference except late at night when apparently I can type at least this much with out the strobe effect kicking in.

I have to tell you about Oscar and the great flea invasion. My good friend Lisa was on her way to my house one evening when she saw a dog limping along "the new highway", a big four-lane replacement for the little two-lane state road that we live on. She pulled over and was able to get him in her car. His collar had just "fallen off of him". (It had been unhooked and was caught in his fur for a while then fall off just as Lisa pulled over.) The collar had tags. Lisa scooped up the tired thirsty scared dog and pulled in my driveway.

A little detective work, a few twilight zone-ish phone calls and a really odd home visit resulted in the discovery that Oscar was in a really, really bad home and needed a place to settle. He had been dumped from a truck when Lisa came upon him. So, ( you just know what I am going to say - right?) he came here to be fostered for adoption.

Oscar had fleas. Millions of fleas. Fleas on his fleas. He got a flea bath, was neutered, waited a day and then Frontlined. By now, all the dogs in the house have a flea or two, so they all got Frontlined as well.) Then, Oscar got a home! YAY!!! Then, he came back because: HE STILL HAD FLEAS.

Hmmmm. Oscar got Capstar. The fleas died, but eggs were still there. Oscar got Frontlined (again). Every rug in the house got washed. All the bedding, (people and dog) got washed. Diatomaceous Earth was purchased and worked into mattresses, couches, chairs, the one nice unwashable wool rug, any cracks in the wooden floors, under baseboards. Well, you get the picture.

And, finally, Oscar is finally flea free. His adopters won't be taking him back, but that's OK. Oscar is a really easy going guy. He is completely housebroken and gets on well with kids, cats and other dogs. He loves to snuggle and is learning how to play with toys. Oscar loves to play with Moses and the big dogs. Most of the day my big black dogs are running and tumbling all over "the middle field". Thanks for coming along and helping to wear out the big boys, Oscar. You can stay as long as you need to.

There's a Breath of Fall in the Air!

Fall is slowly making its way to Missouri, and it's bringing some odd things in it's pockets! Yesterday when Eddie locked up the barn for the night he didn't look to see who was where, since the chickens and turkeys usually go to their respective houses. The chickens have a bolt hole that we just close for the night, shoving a concrete block in place to keep it shut. the turkeys are in horse stalls with wire tops.

This morning when I opened the big door to the chicken house, I found one very distressed turkey hen! Poor Nancy got locked up on the wrong side for the night. I can't imagine how she got in there, as she won't fit through the bolt hole, and it is hard to imagine not noticing a full grown turkey hen strutting through the big door along side of you. But that is what must've happened.

Then to top it off, over on the Turkey side, I found Henry, the big cinnamon and white roo who has taken over "roo duty" for the two "orphaned" Serama hens . That leaves poor Sirkhan the White Sultan roo with no hens to call his own and a big potential roo fight in the offing. Hopefully we will have peace till spring when I might be able to track down a few extra hens to keep the peace.

Fall chores are pressing now, the big center section of the barn needs to be mucked out one more time before winter deep littering starts and I am still working on getting straw and hay in and put up, and it's really late for hay! It is hard to get someone to deliver just the twenty or so bales that we need for the winter, and the ten or so bales of straw extra don't seem to make much difference to the folks doing the delivery! ( psst! I need a little trailer!)

Another thing that this early fall brought with it was my first ever sinus infection. I didn't know what I had cooking up there in my widdle head, so I think I let it go to long. Sheesh - what a mess. It is clearing up now with antibiotics and the good help of the voodoo doc, but for a day or so there I was ready to tell Eddie to dig my hole!