LUAU TIME.............!!!

 Last night was Luau time at the Pima Fairgrounds for the Ramblers RV organization.  Our donkeys were invited to participate.  This is the 2nd time the donkeys have been invited to one of their get togethers over the years.  The people really enjoy seeing the donkeys and the donkeys really enjoy having access to green grass, so it's a win-win for all......!!!!  

Kim and Frijolita getting ready for "showtime"

Mike and Frijolita

La'Roy doesn't seem to be the least bit excited about the "weird" relative holding his lead, he's enjoying the green grass.

Jackson and Kim ready to join in the fun.  

This Saturday the Ramblers will have a Cowboy theme dinner and hoedown and the donkeys will be on display in the afternoon for people to visit.  Last time they invited us, there were so many people coming by to see the donkeys and a lot of them had stories to share about having donkeys when they were kids or stories of donkeys that had touched their lives.  

Unfortunately John and I came home from our trip to the Midwest testing positive for covid.  So we have been in quarantine since we got back much to our disgust.  Thankfully John tested negative yesterday, will retest tomorrow and if that is negative, he's good to go.  Me...........not so much.  My little test is still showing a pink line.  Neither of us has been sick, thought we had allergies from being in the Midwest with different flora and fauna.   At least if we were sick we'd have something to show for hiding out in the house...............!!!  LOL

So we have been in isolation and Suzanne has been taking care of business.  Last night Kim and Mike went with Suzanne to the Luau and will go to the Cowboy party tomorrow to help Suzanne with the donkeys.  Thank goodness for all the volunteers that have been here every day, making sure the donkeys are taken care of, while John and I were gone and haven't been able to help much since we came back.  They are all invaluable and will never know how much we appreciate their efforts.  

The donkeys haven't been wearing fly masks the last few days.  The masks are still hanging in their  pens..........just in case, but hopefully the fly season is over.  Everyone seems to be doing good with the cooler weather.  

SUPERIOR JACK ASS DASH IS OVER

 

The Forever Home donkeys waiting for the race to begin

Everyone seemed to have a wonderful time, thanks to the Bray Club's effort to put on a great race.  Lots of pictures and great stories to tell. 

Suzanne's brother Greg with his running partner Cochise.  They had a slight difference of opinion about how fast they should move at about mile 3 of a 10 mile run.  Cochise showed his displeasure at not catching the runners in front of them and gave a wake up call to Greg in the form of a well aimed kick.  They finished the 10 miles and Greg wants to run with Cochise again.  In the future Cochise will probably be wearing a red tag on his tail, which is a warning to anyone that he has been known to have strong opinions on how races should be ran......!!!  LOL

This is Cochise and Greg on the right before the race.  On the left is Koshare and Jenni.  Jenni has ran with Koshare quite a few times, and he loves to run with her.  They finished a strong 2nd in the 6 mile and might have finished 1st except Jenni had to stop to tie her shoe and Koshare took off .  It takes awhile to get the team back together and they have to start back at the point where they parted company.  Thankfully Koshare didn't get too far before the 1st place team caught him.  Most of the racers will go out of their way to help each other, which is really nice.  

This is Jenni and Koshare, trying to look exhausted after the race.  Jenni is a runner and I'm sure neither of them were wore out.   

WEATHER'S GREAT, NICE AND SUNNY...........!!

     Didn't realize how grey the skies in the Midwest are this time of year.  We didn't see "real" blue sky until we crossed the border into Arizona coming home..  Had a good time, a family reunion in Indiana and a high school reunion in Missouri.  I was really surprised at all the "grey" hairs at the school reunion.......... LOL  Well maybe not, it seemed like everyone was walking around looking at chests instead of faces.  Our faces had changed over the years, but our name tags told who we were.  Actually some of the faces looked pretty darn good, for over 6 decades of wear and tear.  

    All the donkeys looked great and I think some of them actually missed us.  Muchacho acted like he was going to climb in my lap.  With him the primary goal was to get animal crackers, he didn't fool me with his "I missed you" routine............!!

    Suzanne had volunteers to help all the time we were gone, which was great.  I think she still stayed pretty busy.  Her new modular home FINALLY was delivered, but is still waiting to be put together. 

 

    That's suppose to happen this week, the 2 sides have to be put together and made into a home.  Who knew getting a new home would take so long and be so complicated.  I'm sure it's no big deal for the people that deal with it all the time, but it's pretty nerve wracking if you've never been involved before.  Hopefully from now on, it will go smoothly and Suzanne and her mom can get moved in and enjoy being able to spread out.

    I'm sure I missed out on a lot of donkey doings being gone for almost 2 weeks.  Every day with the donkeys is an adventure with lots of observation of donkey behavior.  They certainly don't quit being entertaining just because I don't see them being donkeys.  I have noticed one thing before we left we would have to go find Bonnie in Burroland and she would not follow.  So we would have to halter her and she led just fine, just wouldn't start on her own.  

I went out a couple of times to find her after we got back, since everyone else had already went to their pens.  She followed me all the way back to her pen.  I guess sometime during the last couple of weeks she decided she didn't want to be haltered, which is a good thing.  Now if she would just come in without us having to go find her, that would be great......!!!  She's really walking pretty good for her, which is wonderful.  I assume her feet are getting more comfortable, hopefully she will continue to improve.  

Suzanne got to meet one of our neighbor's the day after we got home.  This isn't the one she met, we were too busy capturing him to take pictures.  She was in the feedroom and said he came climbing up the cabinet.  Suzanne isn't a fan of bugs and I don't think she had ever seen a centipede before.  They are pretty creepy when they move and they can give a pretty nasty sting.  She got him in the sink, covered the drain, so he couldn't disappear and we managed to get him in a bucket for release outdoors.  He probably was looking for a nice place to spend the winter, but we don't want to have to look for him everytime we went in the feedroom, so out he went........!!!  LOL

 I'm back and buried under paperwork.  Suzanne and our wonderful volunteers held everything together and the donkeys looked great.  They even came to greet us when we got home this morning.  More later, when I get a chance to raise my head, hopefully in a few days,,,,!!!

ON THE ROAD AGAIN............!!!

 John and I will be traveling for the next couple of weeks.  I haven't really joined the 21st century as far as keeping in touch with the world, we still use a flip phone.  So I will be on the road and basically out of touch until we get back to Arizona.  

We packed tonight and I packed long jons just in case the weather in Indiana and Missouri is pretty normal for this time of year.  Desert rats have thin blood when it comes to cold weather.  

I'll catch up when I get back.  

FINALLY.............??? MAYBE............???

Suzanne's mobile home was suppose to be delivered in July.......it is almost October and every week for quite some time she has been getting erronous information like next week and then excuses.  They are promising this week for sure............!!!  I don't think any of us will believe it until both halves make it thru the driveway gate.  

The donkeys right now are all doing really good, even Cisco.  He went thru a couple of weeks of problems with his heart on top of the kidney failure, but is back to eating and his daily routine again.  Actually his daily routine is pretty simple, eat breakfast, go stand in the carport or shed, once people start moving around at dinner time, move back to pen to eat.  

John lets everyone out around 9pm for the night.  We noticed when Cisco wasn't feeling well  he spent his nights in the pen area.  Suzanne was getting up to check his heart every 4 hours for a few days.  But we don't know if that is "normal" for him, she isn't getting up to check him now.  

We are having to doctor  both Cisco and Jasper for ear bacteria.  We usually don't go around sticking our fingers in everybody's ears to see if they need attention.  They let us know by scratching their ears on anything available, including us.  Cisco gets it every year, but I think this is the first time for Jasper.  They get black gooey yucky stuff in there that needs to be gone.  Cisco is resigned to his fate because of years of having wash rags or paper towels poked in his ears.  Jasper has not had this done and isn't the least bit interested in the process.....!!! LOL  Their ears are getting better and Jasper's disposition is improving a little bit, Suzanne and I aren't getting quite as wet from him slinging his head to get rid of the soaking wet paper towel in his ear.  

 

Cisco with an admirer..........!!!

Beefy and Roper have developed a relationship, not sure what kind.  They are chasing Ruthie, Tula and Frijolita like bad boys.  They also play fight and that's funny to watch.  Roper is about half Beefy's size, height and weight.  Roper has no qualms about grabbing Beefy's legs or neck...... what is interesting is Beefy just stands and lets him do it till Roper quits.  Then they go off to find the girls.  Beefy is really mellow except when he can't find the girls, then he becomes a jack mentally instead of a gelding.  In that mode you have to make sure you don't get in his way or between him and the girls. 

Roper's surgical area on the right side of his cheek, has healed well and the area Dr. Howard said might be scar tissue, seems to be getting smaller after injections of steroids about 10 days ago.  Our hope is scar tissue and we won't have to do more treatment for cancer.  

Bonnie is doing really well with regular hoof trims.  She came in with abscesses in both front feet and chronically foundered.   She would go out and it took her a long time to get back to her pen.  She spent 

most of her time out laying down in the wash.  

These days she has no bed sores on her hips I can't remember the last time I saw her laying down.  She now has a boyfriend, Waylon Jennings seems to think she's pretty cute.  A good match, his feet are just about as bad as hers.  

Suzanne heard from Jackson and Melvin's family that spent the summer in Colorado.  They should be back about Halloween time to spend the winter in Arizona.  

Jackson is looking good since we separated, him from Melvin at feeding time. Melvin is an energetic  eater and was getting more hay than his share.  So there is a small pen inside the pen they share.  We started out putting Jackson in the little pen, but they trade back and forth, on a daily basis.  Whoever goes in first stays in there to eat.  Jackson is somewhat of a loner, but Melvin likes to be with the herd.  Hope he doesn't miss the rest of the donkeys when he goes home.  

    

Jackson

UPDATE ON ROPER............

 We took Roper up to the clinic in Gilbert earlier this week for an evaluation of the area on his jaw where the soft tissue sarcoma was removed.  When we got there Roper knew exactly where he was and remembered he didn't like it.  He's usually very easy to work with and willing to go along to get along.  Not what he had planned for the day and certainly not at the vet.  It took 4 determined people to literally push and pull his reluctant body to the exam area.  Should have parked closer that's for sure......!!!   LOL  

After examination, Dr. Howard says he thinks the lump is actually scar tissue rather than a return of the cancer.  It hasn't envaded his mouth, although he did have a sore from a sharp tooth.  So to add insult to injury he also got a dental work over.  

The black area is actually dark pigment and the sore is just above there.  The inside of an equine mouth looks really weird to me and they aren't ever interested in letting you get a good look to figure out how it all works.  So, the only time I look is at the vet clinic.

 We are on wait and watch, to see what happens over time.  We will do whatever is necessary to have a good outcome for him.  

Work is still being done to finish the storage/office/store.  It's down to the little finishing touches, except for the shelves in the store room.  We're having a lot of fun with that particular project.  Figuring out what we need to do the job isn't as easy as I thought it would be.......!! LOL  

Suzanne set this up temporarily until John gets the display cases painted.  If someone comes out and wants to see t-shirts, books or stuffies.  everything has been piled up in one of the bathrooms and we would have to dig thru to find what they wanted to look at.  This way they can at least see what's available and it will be easier for us to find since the boxes and totes aren't piled up 4 or 5 high.  

Suzanne is at SanDam this week-end with 9 donkeys.  Usually she would be keeping us up to date on what's happening and how it's going.........BUT.........she is in a dead zone for communications and there is NO COMMUNICATIONS.  They had an obstacle course event last night and the race was to start this morning at 8am.  Hopefully she'll get a chance to let us know what's happening, otherwise guess we'll find out when she gets home, tomorrow afternoon.  

HEADED OUT TO SANDAM........!!!!

HOW CUTE IS THIS VIDEO?

 Gunner and Snickers

ETC

 Office/store still isn't done, but there is work being done every day.  Mike our wonderful volunteer is working on the air conditioner this week.  All the fans work and the bathroom is done except for the hot water heater.  We decided on a demand water heater.  There is no tank, turn on the faucet and water starts running thru pipes over a coil heater, so you pretty much have instant hot water, for as long as you don't run out of water or electricity.  The heater is about the size of a Kleenex box, didn't want to waste space and it will heat 1.6 gpm, which should be enough to wash hands which is all that is needed.  

The little bit of cooling off has made a world of difference with the donkeys that have skin problems.  I don't know if it is because of less sunlight or the temperatures, but they are enjoying not having to be doctored quite as much.  Still wearing fly masks and probably will be until November.  .  The boys are playing more in the early morning when it's cool and are coming in without their masks.  We're trying to get by with the masks we have, but between losing them and tearing them up, I don't know if we will make it to winter or not without having to buy some more.  

  The donkeys have really enjoyed the green growth of weeds, although the lack of rain the last week or so, has most of them wilting and dying.  Weight control is always a problem with the donkeys, some worse than others.  You can only cut their hay so much.  We notice Harley one of the minis was finishing his hay in about 10 minutes.  A lot of people in Europe feed straw with a little hay to control their weight.  We've tried feeding straw before and it isn't a real big hit, in fact they aren't impressed at all..........!!  

Harley is the little black and white mini.  He doesn't look as fat as he really is, I think he's heavier now than he was a few months ago when this picture was taken.  So far he has had 2 days of having 75% of his hay being straw.  I guess there is still enough to eat out on the 30 acres at least for awhile because he isn't the least bit interested in straw..  Siggy, the micro mini had no problem last night when John opened the pens.  He went right into Harley's pen and started eating straw.  He's a little round too, hopefully he'll continue eating straw and we can cut down on his hay too.  They'll eat dry sticks, I would think straw would be tastier than a dry stick that has laid out in the weather for months.  

Kris is all over his bout with hyperlipidemia .and back to eating normally.  It is always scary when they aren't interested in eating anything.  He and Waylon have settled in nicely although they aren't best buddies.  Kris will fret is Waylon isn't close.  But when they are out on the property, they usually aren't together.  .

This is Waylon trying to outsmart Suzanne.  He knows he's suppose to get a treat when he goes into his pen.  I guess he figured if he put one foot in he might get a treat, then he could work the other 3 feet into the equation and get 3 more treats.  Not sure what he was thinking but Suzanne said he stood that way for a long long time, looking at her like, "do you see my foot is in the pen".  It is so much fun to watch their minds work

NOT DONE YET, BUT GETTING CLOSER............!!!

 Good grief it's like being 6 years old and waiting for Christmas, as we all anxiously await the office/store being done.  Suzanne is making plans to get her office furniture out of storage as soon as she can and finding someone to unload it.  

John has been painting baseboards, to be put up now that the floor is done.  Mike has the electricity done although the A/C still isn't in and operational.  He's been working on the plumbing, so now the commode works and the sink.  We have a porta potty, but this will be much better for visitors.  The hot water heater isn't cooperating and so far doesn't want to work. I'm sure Mike will change it's mind when he comes back.  LOL 

The last big project will be putting the shelves in the store room and rounding up all our supplies and equipment to fill them up.   Haven't bought the shelves yet, but we pretty much know what we want.  

The donkeys have almost complete access to Burroland now.  We haven't had rain, so all the yummy weeds are just about gone.  The only time they are in their pens is to eat twice a day and if we have tours coming.  

Tours started up the 1st of Sept and we've already had quite a few. It didn't take even one complete tour for the donkeys to see the red solo cups and figure out it was "showtime" again after a 3 month layoff.  Tours will really pick up when the winter visitors come back probably late Oct..  Many of them come out here every year to see the donkeys.

This was the day they got to go into Burroland after being on just the 10 acres for awhile, so they didn't have access to the mesquite beans.  

Cochise was front and center when I "sneaked" over to open the gate.  I don't even know where he came from all of a sudden, he was there.

Although he was first the others weren't far behind.

Herd into Burroland

This is Debra, one of our volunteers.  I think she was picking up poo, but had to take time out to visit with Muchacho.  In rescue you aren't suppose to have favorites, BUT, she seems to have a thing for the old guy and he really enjoys her attention.  

This is Kris and Waylon, the newest boys enjoying being out and about.  Counting the legs it looks like there is someone else behind Kris......!!!  LOL  Kris needs to lose some weight, you can see the fat pockets on his sides.

We had a medical problem with him and he had to stay in his pen for days, had the vet out twice.  Since he is heavy it's pretty much a fact that he has fatty liver disease, which isn't unusual for donkeys.  Add to that, our abundance of greenery because of the rain we've had.  One very prevalent plant is pigweed.  Some donkeys won't eat it, some will.  The one's that do eat it, become addicted to it and will not eat anything else.  It's high in carbs, 16% protein, good source of lysine which is good and high in nitrates which is bad.  

When they are fat if something changes their eating habits they can develop hyperlipdemia which we've dealt with over the years.  Eating pigweed exclusively rather than hay by an already fat donkey isn't a good idea.  

We ended up giving him Karo syrup 3-5 times a day.  Big shot of sugar to make his body think he had plenty of sugar and didn't need to release fat into the blood stream, which can be fatal.  

It took about 5 days for him to start eating on his own again.  Whew.......!!!  The survival rate is about 50%, so we were lucky.  We've only lost one over the years and she was carrying a 10 month old foal.  That was our first one and we've learned enough to save the others since then. 

This is Yukon one of the winning pack burro racers in Colorado.  He has a really strong personality and isn't afraid to use it...........!!! LOL  It looks like his teammate Bob was holding him back and he didn't appreciate  it. Yukon and the little mini Buttercup are neck and neck to win the championship this year.  They've both been champions before, but this year I think they are the only ones that have won a race.  So I would imagine they both are trying their best to add another championship to their list.  

                                                                             

This is little miss Buttercup with her dad Marvin Sandoval.  She's not very big but she holds her own with the big guys.