Vincent Van Gogh, painting

Steve a volunteer is coming out tomorrow to trim some of the trees.  A few days ago John asked me to go around & mark which limbs I want gone, so I used bright colored plastic tape to make them.  You can probably see where this story is going.  We're on poo watch to see if we can figure out who has developed a taste for plastic tape.  John thinks it's either Ruthie or the minis, Cheyenne in particular.  It's bright pink, so should be easy to find.  Guess I'll take Steve around & "show" him where to trim.  LOL

When I took the diaper off Jenny's foot this morning after 2 days, it was pretty wet.  Dr. Voss said to soak every 2 days & I thought leaving the diaper on would be OK.  I can't tell if the moisture is what the epsom salts & betadine is drawing out of the hoof, or build up from the foot being wrapped.  It was never that damp when we were re-wrapping every 5-6 days, so hopefully it is the poultice doing it's job.  

Talked to Dr. Megan & we decided that I'll see what it looks like in the morning & if it's still too damp, I'll start changing the diaper twice a day.  I'm about out of the metronidazole, & the vet has to order it, guess they don't keep a lot of it on hand.  We're just about out of options at this time.  Dr. Voss told Dr. Megan that the only thing left would be another resection.  I doubt that her foot would take it, & if there is infection in her foot, she doesn't have much coffin bone left for them to remove.  So I really hope this works. 

It was 20 degrees here this morning.  We covered my tomato plants in the courtyard with a sheet, but a sheet was no match for 20 degrees.  It's a shame there is lots of green tomatoes on the pathetic looking plants.  I'll pull them out & prepare for next year I guess.

Gus & Quilla are lucky to be in the Phoenix area I think.  This morning at 6:11am the thermometer outside the bedroom registered a balmy 24 degrees.....!!! It projects on the ceiling above the bed & now that I can see without my glasses I can find out these little tidbits of information without asking or putting on my glasses..........!!!  YUCK.......I think sometimes ignorance is bliss, who wants to get out of bed when it's that cold.  

Of course it starts warming as soon as the sun comes up, so by the time we were done with chores we started shedding clothes.  

Heard from Chantilly's new Mom.  They let Lily out of her pen the next morning & Marsha said there were no fireworks, no snarky faces, not even a pinned ear, so that's really good.  

I didn't realize they hadn't seen Chantilly's face, she had on a fly mask when they come to visit, & had her mask on when we delivered her.  Marsha said she's got a beautiful face & she does, very delicate with big brown eyes.  

The black & white blob standing by the goat pen is Levi.  Levi would like to get in the pen with the girl goats, but that's not going to happen right now, so he is in with the horses & donkeys in about a 3 acre pen.  Not that he goes anywhere except right by the "girl" pen, trying to figure out how to get in it.  From my point of view he needs "brain" surgery, but I think Marsha wants some little goats eventually. 

Marsha told us that he likes to go up to the horses & Lily & rub his horns on their legs & sometimes gets his horns around their legs, which gets everyone's attention.  

I guess he tried it on Chantilly, she spun around & sent him rolling about 2 or 3 rolls.  Thad just happened to be watching.  So far not only has he not tried it on Chantilly again, he's leaving the others alone too, so Marsha thinks maybe it was a good thing.  I'm sure Levi didn't think so......!!!! LOL

Yesterday morning Jenny was 3 legged lame on her bad foot, & would not eat her hay.  Not eating the hay was easy, she's been on SMZ antibiotics for weeks, & I guess they finally got to her stomach.  Need to get the good bugs back in her digestive system.  Patti had me use Florastor a few months ago when Jenny didn't like the antibiotics I was giving her, & she was eating within 24 hours, so I tried it again.

Dr. Megan called Dr. Voss in Gilbert to see if he had any brilliant ideas on her foot.  His best guess was perhaps another abscess trying to pop.  Dr. Megan had been hesitant about soaking because Jenny's hoof is not that sturdy because of the open area.  But Dr. Voss said to soak in epsom salts & betadine for 1/2 hour every other day.  After soaking he wants the open area packed with a Sugardine poultice. 

I planned on soaking her foot when she came in last night for supper.........BUT......when John went out to do round-up, she was below the house & not interested in moving or even taking a treat.  We went ahead & fed everyone else, of course by then it was dark.  So I loaded up my soaking "toys", & thrashed thru the brush to where she thought she was hid.  Mixed up some sugar & betadine to a dry paste, plastered it on & wrapped with brown gauze.  She still wasn't interested in moving or eating when we came in to go to bed. 

This morning John set the alarm (YUCK) because we were taking Gus & Quilla up to Claire's for the winter.  I dreaded John going out to do round-up, because I figured Jenny was still where we left her last night.  When I went out, she was already in her pen, & John said he looked over towards Burroland & here she came with Ruthie, & Pepper leading the parade.  She was walking pretty normal for her, slow & steady.  She was also ready for her breakfast.

It tried to rain last night, didn't do a very good job, just barely dampened the ground.  I figured it had probably ruined my gauze bandage, but it was still on.  I decided to not mess with it, Dr. Voss said to leave it on between soakings, which will be tomorrow.  I'm anxious to see what it looks like in the morning. 

We hurried with chores, the 2 boys almost hopped in the trailer, guess they figured we were going to do something fun & away we went. 

Claire & David were happy to see them, & the boys were more than happy to get out of the trailer after over a 3 hour ride.  I think they knew where they were, they sure acted like it. 

 David, Gus & John

 Quilla, Gus, Doc, & Thunder's head

The boys coming to say good-bye

Got home after 7pm to a bunch of grumpy donkeys.  They really expect to be fed on schedule & don't seem to understand being fed late at all......!!!!  Couldn't find Pepper at first & John was afraid he was down someplace & we wouldn't be able to find him in the dark.  But finally, he came waltzing in, at his own speed, thank goodness.  If my hair wasn't already grey, this old buzzard would make it so.  Between him & Jenny, I am becoming quite a worry wart.  LOL

OPEN HOUSE, SAT & SUN, DECEMBER 1 - 2

We will be participating in the Cascabel Community Fair (use to be the Cascabel Christmas Fair) again this year, I think it is the 6th year for us. 

We usually have quite a few people that have never touched a donkey before, which is really fun, especially the kids. 

We need volunteers to show people around & tell them about the donkeys.  So if you are in this part of the country, SE Arizona & would like to come out & help with the Open House, let me know.  We have good friends that usually come out to help & it seems like the only time I get to see them is during the Open House..........you know who you are......!!!!  (G) 

Saturday we went down to Tubac to an art festival.  A few weeks ago Leigh Morrison came out to take pictures of the donkeys to paint for the festival.  When we drove past where she was set up outside her studio painting, one of the first things we saw was Cisco on display, along with a lot of her other paintings.  How exciting is that...........!!!!!!  

We parked & came back to visit & look at all the paintings.  She took this painting of Frijolita out of the display & gave it to me.  As anyone that has been in my house knows, I'm about to run out of wall space, but managed to find a prominent place for it. 

I took her head shots pictures of some of the donkeys, didn't really know if she would be able to use them or not, but she thought they were great, & said to watch her web-site in the coming weeks.  

Today Dr. Megan came out to look at Jenny's foot.  She agreed that it isn't doing as well as it was last time she was here.  Too soft & mushy, where the abscess was, & has tracked up into the coronary band.  She says we need to figure out some way to dry it out.  I have been using Wonder Dust, which I don't like, it definitely isn't very drying.  She recommended Kopertox or Thrush XX by Farnam, which you paint on with a brush.  So we'll try that & see if it helps.  She wasn't too worried about the proud flesh.  The Wonder Dust has controlled it, but not got rid of it.

After the Vet left, we loaded Chantilly in the trailer & took off to deliver her to her new home.  Got there & they already had Lily in her small pen, so Chantilly could get use to the "lay of the land", so to speak without having Lily in her face.  They are going to keep Lily in over night & let her out in the morning.  The 2 horses just looked at her like, "Ye gads, there's another one".  Chantilly has been around horses before, so she just looked at them, went over, touched noses with one & went on about her business of checking everything out.

 Checking out the new place

 Guess what they are watching?

Comfortable enough to take time out for a dust bath

Poor Lily in her pen missing all the fun

Lily actually acted like she was afraid of Chantilly.  She looked at her & then tried to run around in the little pen, about 12' x 20'.  Chantilly basically just ignored her, so I don't think there will be any fireworks when they get together tomorrow morning.  

Win or lose, I'm REALLY glad the election is OVER......!!!! 

Courtney got here last night & did some trimming.  With Gus she just took a little bit off all over the bottom, didn't try to lower the heels or shorten the toes.  If he likes them the way they are, so be it.........!!!  He's walking just fine this morning, she was worried that anything she did might upset his walking.  

She agrees, Jenny's rear foot looks horrible.  She is still on antibiotics, & the x-rays taken a few weeks back, looked decent & didn't show any infection anywhere.  But since then she's blown an abscess on the front on her hoof about half way down.  The area just keeps getting more cracked & now is up into the coronet band with an open slit about 2 inches long.  

I have a call into the local vet clinic to see if Dr. Megan can come out again & evaluate the situation.

The good news is, Courtney thought her front feet looked good.  She's wearing boots all the time on the fronts, & it seems to be making her more comfortable, so she walks around more, which helps to improve the circulation in her feet, we hope.  

Heard from Honcho & Simmons new Mom.  She said they are doing just great, & are really entertaining.   Cindy seems to appreciate Honcho's overbearing personality, which is wonderful.  Not everyone would think he was "cute", when he pulls some of the stunts he is capable of pulling.  She says now that it's cooling off, she wants to start clicker training, at least with Honcho.  He knows the basics & is a big show-off, so they should have a lot of fun. 

Can I keep him?

We're waiting for Courtney to show up to trim Gus & Jenny & it's after 6pm.  I don't know when she sleeps, & I'm pretty sure she never has time to wonder what she could be doing, because she is caught up with nothing to do............!!!! LOL

Jenny's foot is falling apart, I'm hoping that trimming it shorter will help take pressure off the hoof wall.  It has so many cracks in the hoof you can watch it squirm when she walks.  But walk she does, she hasn't given up & we won't either unless we have to.  She's still on antibiotics & there is a little drainage from the cracks.  The drainage is clear, which I hope is a good thing. 

Pepper got down on his right side this afternoon for the first time in weeks.  John flipped him over on his left side & after a couple of minutes he popped up & took off.  He doesn't fight us anymore when we try to flip him, which really makes it a lot easier.  John was getting ready to leave for town, when I found him thank goodness.  I haven't tried to flip him by myself, not sure I can, don't want to try.  

We will be taking Chantilly to her new home next Tuesday.  We did a home study yesterday & it should be a good home, although Lilly her new best friend is quite precocious.  She's a little bit "in your face".  Chantilly is rather shy, so I hope Lilly isn't too much for her.  They'll have about 3 acres of desert brush to roam, with 2 mares.  Lilly had been real close to Sonny an old horse they had to put down a couple of weeks ago & she has been odd man out with the mares, they won't let her into the "inner" circle.  Lilly was running the fence chasing the dogs on the other side for fun when we were there.  Maybe Chantilly will have a calming effect on her..........!!!!!  LOL

HAPPY HALLOWEEN

Yesterday John left a rather large can of assorted screws in the golf cart.  He & Steve,  a volunteer had been working on the well house, trying to cover all the wood, so the donkeys can't eat it.  It has started looking some what like a large piece of Swiss cheese, Cheyenne in particular seems to love the taste of siding. 

John comes in yelling & screaming about damn donkeys etc.  It seems the little darlings had discovered his can of screws.  Donkeys are worse than cats when it comes to finding something that wasn't there the last time they looked.  By the time he found it the plastic can was pretty much flattened, & the screws were strewn in a pattern like someone had the edge of the can in their mouth, & preceded to fling it around until the "neat" rattling sound quit.  I thought it was funny, but then again I didn't have to sift thru the dirt & gravel, looking for screws.  LOL  

We had some visitors today, one couple had been here last year they said, their friends were visiting from Pennsylvania.  Judging from the horrible weather on the east coast, they said they are glad they aren't home.  Hopefully it will be better by the time they leave, although I think they are flying home this week-end, not much time to fix things.  

Looks like Gus & his "bud" Quilla will be going up to Claire's next week for the winter.  Claire said her pasture is brown & has quit growing, so they should be OK.  Courtney is coming this week to do a "final" trim on Gus & work on Jenny.  Gus is still walking around like his feet don't bother him, but they are getting long enough she should be able to trim a little off without doing anything drastic.  

Jenny's foot is going thru some more changes, it seems like everyday it looks different, sometimes good & other times not so good.  Today was a not so good day visually.  But it doesn't seem to bother her much if at all, she goes everywhere, & "insists" on getting out of her pen.  The people today were a little late for their tour.  As usual the donkeys stayed in their pens after breakfast, so as the morning moved along they started letting us know that it was time for them to be out.  By the time the people got here & we did the tour, Jenny was more than ready to get out.  What that means is you better watch her & yourself, or you will probably get knocked somewhere you don't want to be.  She uses that big old head as a weapon.  Pepper does the same thing, but he's a little easier to handle. 

Speaking of Steve the volunteer, Tula took a treat from him yesterday.  That makes about 5 times in 8 years or so, that she has taken a treat from someone.  I think all the others were women.  Steve said maybe she is coming around, until I burst his bubble by telling him how long she has been here. 

PERHAPS THE AGE OF MIRACLES IS NOT DEAD....!

When they checked my eyes Friday, I checked out at 20/20.  That's not really a far stretch, I've usually tested with good eye sight, just very very far sighted & a lazy eye that goes where it wants to, which glasses have "fixed" since I was 18 months old.  

When I told the doctor I couldn't see out of my glasses, he wasn't surprised.  I also told him my depth perception was really messed up.  Again he wasn't surprised........!!!!   Hmmmm, "me" thinks he knew a lot more about what was going on than I did......!!! 

I asked him if this was going to be permanent, he said if my eyes continue to work together & the weak eye strengthens, so the other one doesn't over ride it, that it will be permanent, so good bye tri-focals.   In fact he told me to go to the drug store & get a pair of 2.50 reading glasses, which seem to work just fine for now.   

Let me say this has been quite a shock, I didn't realize I had so many wrinkles, let alone bags under my eyes.  YIKES, maybe ignorance is bliss...........!!!!  LOL  No wonder when people find out I drive a race car, they usually react the same way, an incredulous "you drive a race car?"  I look like I ought to be sitting in a rocking chair, with my shawl, complaining because it's cold..........!!!! LOL

My next appointment is in 10 days, & I am going to ask Dr. Kuzman if this is a miracle or does he do things like this every day.  It might not be a miracle to him, but it certainly is to me. 

Everyone seems to be doing good right now.  It's really cooling off at night, as low as 30 degrees, so the fly population is getting smaller & smaller.  We have some little buddies that are doing their best to help with eradicating the flies.  

In the fall every year the Praying Mantis' get on the fly traps & stay there for days eating flies.  I just wish they were bigger so they could eat more flies.......!!!  I checked the other day & out of 5 traps, 4 of them had a little buddy, "shopping".  They are all the exact same size, not sure what that means, no little ones or bigger ones. 

30 degrees this morning..........!!!!!  YIKES!  I know people in most of the country probably think 30 doesn't sound too bad, but this is Arizona you know..........!!!!  LOL 

The sun is up & by 9am, we'll be shedding jackets & looking forward to a gorgeous fall day.