NOT EXACTLY WHAT I EXPECTED

MIKE AND ZEKE ON THE STREETS OF TOMBSTONE WITH AN ADMIRER

TERESA AND ZEKE ON THE STREETS OF TOMBSTONE

TOMBSTONE ZEKE WILL BE HAVING HIS EYE SURGERY NEXT WEEK.  A BIG THANK YOU TO EVERYONE THAT HELPED PUT THE FUND RAISER OVER THE TOP.  HE'S WORTH IT.........!

Yesterday we finally got an experimental cat box ready for use.  A friend of mine had a storage container with a hole cut in it for a cat box and it cuts down on cat litter being dragged all over the house.  With four cats, 3 of which like to sneak up on the other one and make her run at the most opportune moment makes for a lot of kitty litter EVERYWHERE.  Kathy said it actually works, so we figured to give it a try. 

As you can see Nigel took to it immediately, unfortunately not in the way intended.  I have taken the top off, to see if that helps them figure out how to use it.  

Most of the donkeys now have fly masks on.  The flies aren't that bad, but even a few usually go for the eyes, which has to be irritating.  We haven't put masks on Wister and Ruger.  We did put one of Ruthie and haven't seen it since, which is one of the reasons we haven't bothered with the boys.  I'm sure they won't stay on very long.

Boaz's knee is still looking good, I sure hope this time it heals.

 Yesterday I received a summons for jury duty.  This has always been something I've wanted to do, came close a few years ago, managed to make it into the jury box, but the druggie didn't show up.  I told the guy sitting next to me, that we should have just went ahead, found him guilty and the next time the sheriff picked him up, he could go straight to jail.  Wish I had a picture of his face, he seemed to think I was a little judgemental I guess........!!!   I'd love to be on one of those big ones, but I have a feeling neither side would want me, especially the defendent.  LOL  I'm a little too black/white in my opinion of right and wrong to be swayed by a bunch of lawyers jabbering I'm afraid.

Unfortunately with Mother being bedridden, there is no way I can go down to Bisbee and play with the system.  I got in touch with them and explained Mother is bedridden and I am her primary care person, actually her only one.  So I have a call into her doctor for a "get out of jury duty" letter.  I hope he doesn't want to see her, she is so frail no telling what a trip to town would be like for her and for me.  Hopefully he'll take my word for it and write the letter. 

TOMBSTONE ZEKE NEEDS EYE SURGERY

Mike and Zeke have done walk-a-thons the last few years to raise awareness and money for donkeys in rescue.  

Now Zeke is in need of a little rescuing of his own.  Years ago he lost the sight in his right eye.  Recently it has started to bother him and the recommendation is to remove the eye and sew the eye socket shut.  It's rather common surgery, horses have a propensity for getting in medical trouble rather easily.  The surgery isn't cheap, $1200-$1500, which is a lot of money to come up with when you weren't expecting it.  

Mike and Teresa aren't rich and want what is best for Zeke.  Mike and Zeke have raised money for many worthwhile causes, so maybe it's time for them to receive.  If you have a little extra money that would go for a wonderful cause, you couldn't find a better recipient than Zeke.  There is a link to "Fundrazr" under New Stuff on the right side.  If you can help that's great, if not please keep Zeke in your thoughts.

SUNDAY MIGHT BE AN ADVENTURE

The couple that has Ruger and Pancho came out yesterday afternoon to see if they could find a replacement for Ruger.  I don't think the man is that enthralled with donkeys, but his wife seems to really like them.  She wants to keep Pancho and decided that little Pepsi might be a good fit. 

 

This is Pepsi looking into the courtyard trying to figure out if it's worth getting yelled at, to go into the "forbidden" territory.  

He's been here for about 6 years, he came in with Shag a beautiful little bay mini horse.  They were both overweight and 11 days after they got here, Shag broke a rear leg above the hock and had to be euthanized.  He had been born with a club foot and a weak rear leg, which is the one that broke.  He was having too much fun running around I guess.  

I think Pepsi and Pancho will get along very well, they are both pretty laid back and not demanding.  Very unlike Ruger probably has become.  It sounds like he's pretty well done what he wanted to do for the last year.  I thought they'd been gone for 2 years, but they went out the 3rd of Dec 2012.  We've taken back others from similar circumstances and it's like starting all over again, they don't really think you should be in charge, after so long of doing their own thing.  

The problem Sunday will be, if he hasn't had a halter on, he's not going to be the least bit interested in having one on.  I have called the people and asked that they put a halter on him, so we'll see if that happens.  They don't have a little pen available, so whatever we can do to not get him riled up will be a help.  I've walked them down before but I think the area he is in is about 3 or 4 acres, I'm getting too old for this..........!!!!!   LOL

Doug is up for another adventure after going out to visit Mike and Teresa the other day, I guess he said he will go along to help.  

Woke up to a drizzley rain this morning, and it drizzled off and on all morning.  So far we've had more drizzle than rain, but in the desert we'll take what we can get.  I hope by Sunday it clears up.  

This is what Ruger looked like when he left, I'm anxious to see what he looks like now.  Wister is more of a roan, even though they are full brothers.  Ruger better not think he should be in charge, because Boaz who is his daddy will put him in his place, real quick. 

OPEN HOUSE UPDATE

SOME GUESTS MAKING RUTHIE AND WISTER HAPPY

 Saturday was a beautiful day and we had a steady stream of people coming to see the donkeys for most of the day.  Mike and Teresa came up from Tombstone and presented us a nice check from Mike and Zeke's walk-a-thon in September.  They say this is the last walk, but Mike was talking about what a wonderful time he had, meeting so many people and said he'd never laughed so much.  So I'm not sure that is his last walk.  We'll see.....!!! 

Sunday was cold and windy.  We almost had more volunteers to show people around than we had guests to visit with the donkeys.  Since there weren't many people to show around, we all came in the house, ate chili and vegetable soup and had a great visit.

BOAZ TRYING TO GET PEOPLE'S ATTENTION

Unfortunately while we were inside having fun, the donkeys weren't appreciating being in their pens with nothing going on.  

We didn't realize how unhappy they were, until this morning when John went out to round them up.  Some of them were within sight and weren't the least bit interested in coming in, others weren't even around. 

We think that 2 days of being "confined" with the 2nd day being rather "slow" was too much, they decided that if that was how it was going to be, they'd just as soon not cooperate.  They got out today, so hopefully tomorrow morning they will be more cooperative. 

Reba the big red mule, figured out the game really quick.  John put Coquette and Penny's bunk close to the fence, so people could put pellets in there.  Coquette gets a little excited sometimes and fingers have been known to suffer.  Penny because of her missing teeth and her distrust of people, has a hard time picking pellets out of a hand.  She does much better with an animal cracker held by thumb and finger.  But they both did great, Coquette didn't eat any fingers and somewhere along the way Penny figured out how to take pellets out of a hand.  They also thought it was a fun game and made sure they were standing by the fence when the people came by.  

Jack, the mini mule was obnoxious as usual.  He wants all the attention, all the treats, all the "oxygen" and Molly can just stand over there someplace out of the way.  We've seen her double barrel kick him, but unfortunately she doesn't do it often enough from my point of view.  He loves to put those short little ears back and act silly.  What's funny is, if I yell at him, the ears come up and he looks like a perfect little angel............brat......!!!!

INFO ON T-SHIRTS

 This is the information Teresa has on her Facebook page:

New info on our T's. We have made an arrangement with Outlaw T's and you can order your T right from them. You can contact them at 520-457-2209, and use your credit card right through there store. They are such great people. The store hours are 9-4. The T's will be ready to ship in about a week and a half. The sizes run from Med. to 2x. Can do special orders for 3x, but they cost a little more. The T's are $10.00 + shipping and priority mail is $6. You can also get them through Mike and I. We ordered a bunch today. Outlaw T's is located on 5th St, stop by and say Hi. Thank you all.

Mike and Teresa are such good hearted people, and always wanting to give to others.  At one time Mike wanted to walk with Zeke from Minnesota to Tombstone to help educate people on the plight of the donkey, one of the most misunderstood animals on the planet.  Unfortunately Mike's health isn't the best and this will probably be his last walk for charity and Zeke isn't getting any younger, he's 23 years old.  Mike wants to raise enough money to buy as many all terrain wheelchairs as he can, I hope he can buy a dozen when this is all over.  

Please help pass the word about Mike and Zeke's walk to everyone you know that would like to help Wounded Warriors, and Zeke's fellow donkeys.

DONKEYS HELPING SOLDIERS.........SEPT 24, 2013

  

Got this from Mike's wife Teresa this morning.  This is the logo on shirts they've had made up for the Walk in September.  They are in white only, this will be on the back and Tombstone, AZ will be on the front.  They haven't figured out the postage cost yet, but the shirts will be $10.  I'll put out a link once they get the total cost, in case anyone would like to get one.  The money will go towards buying all terrain wheelchairs for veterans, that want to be able to go out away from the sidewalks and enjoy nature as they did before becoming wheelchair bound.  The chairs cost about $15,000 each, Mike and Zeke would like to raise money for as many chairs as they can, and also a few bucks for Zeke's fellow donkeys.   

Speaking of fellow donkeys, it's amazing how much more interested they are in coming in at feeding time, now that they are "trapped" on the 10 acres.  There are beans here, just not quite as many.  John checked Burroland today and the cattle haven't "discovered" the open gates yet, so he sweetened the deal with piles of salt in the middle of each gate opening.  It shouldn't take them long to find the salt and hopefully all the beans too.  John said you can't imagine how many beans are on the ground over there, not to mention how many are still up in the trees.  This has really been a good year for beans, for some reason.  Last year we didn't have very many at all.  

This afternoon Jack & Molly the mini mules were doing their running thing again.  They sure get those short little legs moving, I don't see how they keep from running into trees or rocks, as fast as they go. 

GLAD I'M NOT A FLY WITH LOTS OF EYES......!!!

JEFF, BRIANNA, ZEKE, TERESA & MIKE IN TOMBSTONE

The first eye went so well, they are doing the other one next Thursday........!!!!!  Seems rather quick, but I can't get new glasses until they are both done & healed.  So the sooner the better I guess.  Just wish it was later in the day, or we lived closer to Tucson........... Or they did house calls.  That's not going to happen, they have their cataract surgery down to a well ran assembly line.  And they still manage to make you feel like you're the only one they are interested in.  At least until you go into the twilight zone, after that who knows what happened.......LOL

Tomorrow morning we are taking either the 4 little minis, or Buddy Brat & Pepsi down to Sierra Vista for the Care for the Horses Rummage Sale.  Ann has been having this for a few years & it has become quite a happening, they usually do really well not only with donated items, but make money to continue their good work.  We've taken donkeys down before, for the people to pet if they want.  I think last time it was BlackJack & Chester.

Speaking of BlackJack we are going to bring him & Boaz home Monday.  Karla called & said the weeds are pretty much gone, so the boys have done their job & it's time to come home.  They might be disappointed when they get here, the donkeys that weren't picked for weed control, have made sure no weeds survived here, so there isn't much to browse on.  

Still working on Jenny's foot with the proud flesh, & it seems to be doing pretty good.  Proud flesh can grow into a monster almost overnight, but can take a long time to control & get rid of.  

Last night I used a rag to clean off some of the stuff the Equaide had destroyed.  One rather large piece about the size of  a half dollar, (if anyone remembers what they looked like) came loose real easy..............and started bleeding all down the front of her foot.  At least it wasn't a sprayer, but it didn't want to quit.  Equaide is great stuff, BUT, it doesn't stop bleeding like Wonder Dust.  Sigh......!!!  So for a couple of days I guess we'll use plan B, Wonder Dust.  Hopefully if I don't mess with it for awhile it will stop being such a problem.

I've been putting off having Courtney come out because Jenny's foot is compromised right now & her other feet seem to be doing OK, in boots.  The other one she comes out for is Gus.  For the last 2 or 3 weeks, he has been walking pretty normal & willing to walk fast, chases John down for treats when it's time to go in the pens.  It seems like usually he gets ouchy after a trim, so I've been putting it off.  But, I'm sure if his feet get a little too much growth, he'll slow down & not be as comfortable. 

MIKE & ZEKE ARE READY TO GO AGAIN....!!

Last October 12th on Donkey Appreciation Day you might remember Mike & Zeke walked from Ft. Huachuca to Tombstone, Arizona to raise money for our rescue.  It was a lot of fun, & Mike's wife Teresa called today to let us know they are going to do another walk-a-thon this year for us, & also for  Care for the Horses, a local horse rescue that help a lot of horses in the area.  Don't have any information yet, except it will be Friday, Oct 12, not even sure where Mike & Zeke will walk from this time.  But they will end up in Tombstone.  Last year we took BlackJack & he actually behaved himself, so maybe we'll take him again this year.  

Of course this morning he went on my "not favorite list".  He actually spends quite a bit of time on that list, although not as much as he did years ago.  He's learned what he can get away with & what he can't, & for the most part stays in the boundaries.  

This morning a friend was driving in the gate & BlackJack made a break for freedom........!!!  I was in the house, but John saw what happened.  The friend came in & told me, so I took off in the golf cart to see if I could help.  I found them, BJ  was eating mesquite beans as fast as he could stuff them in, & John was standing watching him.......!!!! Hmmmm, I asked what was going on & was asked if I brought a halter & lead.  It seems that BJ had staked out where he planned on staying until the beans were all gone & wasn't moving for any reason.  A 4 foot limb whacked across his rather abundant rump changed his mind about moving (John & I have different approaches to unruly donkeys), but of course he didn't go the right direction.  

I went back to get a halter & lead.  Came back & here is John & BJ sauntering down the road like best buds.  John said when BJ stopped he let John walk up to him, & John put his belt around BJ's neck.  By the time I saw them, no belt, but John was sharing treats out of the "treat" pocket, & BJ was more than happy to mozy along beside John.