Night before last we caught another tom cat in the trap.  Heard him about 3am, went out covered him with a blanket & made plans to call the vet in the morning.  Unfortunately we didn't move the transfer operation from trap to crate to the spa room, & he escaped.  I would imagine that is the last we'll see of him for awhile.  Talked to a neighbor & she said all these cats are from a neighbor that moved out about 3 years ago & just left her cats to fend for themselves.  That's the same neighbor who's son threw rocks at our Forever Home sign out on the road, until it split in two.  I guess waiting for the school bus was boring. 

Snooky & his mom Hobo didn't show up yesterday morning for breakfast, but she came in later in the day.  We worried about Snooky & he finally showed up about dark.  Yesterday was really windy all day, & I guess he hunkered down somewhere to wait it out.  Hobo is still hanging around the yard & playing with the "kids".  It's amazing the difference in her before & after surgery. 

Yesterday afternoon when the wind was blowing like crazy John looked out & Quilla was chasing Sha'ba.  THAT IS "NOT" ALLOWED..........EVER......!!!!  I ran out & got in Quilla's face & then went to find my little man.  He was standing by the side of the house & ran when I got close to him.  He is blind in one eye & doesn't hear very well.  He finally let me get close enough to put my hands on him so he knew who it was,  & then followed me to his pen.  

Quilla is about the most un-confrontational animal on the property so we were really stymied on what was going on.  My best guess is, the wind was blowing & everyone was just standing around waiting for it to quit.  Either Quilla or Sha'ba moved & Quilla got into Sha'ba's space without Sha'ba  knowing it.  Sha'ba panicked & started running.  Since a lot of times they run when the wind blows, Quilla probably thought it was time to run, & took off too.  The more he ran the more Sha'ba ran, etc.  The wind is blowing again today, but everyone is behaving themselves, so far. 

 

John finally got the Ritchie waterer operational.  I didn't know if the donkeys would even drink out of it, but quite a few of them, especially BlackJack have decided it's a pretty good place to get a drink.

It's like a commode, they drink the water out, & it fills up again.  The little red circle is where you drain the "bowl" to clean it out, after you turn the water off inside the red cover.  Until the wind quits blowing it isn't going to do any good to clean it out, I'm afraid.  We'll still have buckets in all the pens, but this will give them access to fresh water all the time.

This is what we are doing with our extra corral panels right now.  Not very attractive, but this time of year, the donkeys love to strip bark & break limbs, guess the sap is running. 

This is what they do to the trees, we keep telling them there isn't going to be anything left to eat if they kill all the trees, but they just keep tearing them up.  Right now they are after the gray thorn.  We had some barbed wire around the salt cedar, in fact it's the barbed wire Wookie got caught on & had to go to the vet.  John caught BlackJack straining as hard as he could to reach the salt cedar.  That's when we decided we needed a plan B.  We've talked about putting a fence around the "woodsy" area north of the house, but haven't figured out what we could use that wouldn't look like a fence.  I'd love to use a split rail, but we figured it wouldn't last very long, they'd just add it to their diet. 

CHEYENNE & HER NEW BEST FRIEND

Thanks, Claire

Well it's getting closer & closer to everybody getting a fly mask.  We put one on Jenny yesterday, I think John said that makes 8 wearing masks now.  So far no one has lost a mask, which makes it easier to think about leaving Burroland open during the day this summer.  

The kittens & Hobo are living in the back yard, they don't seem interested in wandering around, getting into trouble, which is a good thing.  Hobo is actually interacting with the kittens.  Before she was spayed, she acted like she would kill them if she could get ahold of them, & they knew it.  

Yesterday when we decided to put a mask on Jenny I brought out my brand new Supermask II made of shimmery sun screen, really pretty.  I guess Farnam has found a way to save a few pennies on each mask.  I bought an X-large, as a mammoth she has a very large head.  It fits around just fine, but is cut so short it ends about 2 inches below her eyes.  That's also where her cheekbones are prominent, which keeps the furry part of the mask away from a tight fit.  I dragged out her old one from last year, & sent an e-mail to Farnam with my "concerns".  When I thought X-large this isn't exactly what I was thinking of.  I don't think it would even fit Rusty the white mule.  

We've had another tom cat spraying our windows, so John set the trap last night.  He said he was in the kitchen this morning & heard "SNAP"  Looked out & saw a very unhappy Wookie bouncing all over the inside of the trap.  He went out, & soothed her frazzled nerves before he let her go again.  I was afraid they would probably get caught before we caught anyone else, guess I was right.  I suppose Snooky & Julius will have their turn before it's over. 

 

U.S. TREASURY, WASHINGTON D.C. 1904

This morning all 3 kittens & Hobo were in the back yard.  Hobo was actually hanging around with Wookie & they even ate at the same time.  Hobo has never hung around, she would come in, eat & leave. And she has been pretty rough on the kittens if they  got in her space once they were on their own.   I don't know how long it takes for their hormones to change, but judging from her behavior I'd say not long.  The kittens are letting us pet them, so I guess they don't hold a grudge.  Wookie wants back in the house.  Julius & Snooky, not so much, in fact this morning Snooky didn't come in until after 10am, & we were starting to worry about him.  I guess he slept in this morning.  

Heard a rattlesnake in a brush pile down by Sha'ba's pen this morning.  There are a lot of rock squirrel holes under the brush & it sounded like he was down one of the holes, probably hibernated there this winter. 

We having an almost "fly-less" spring this year.  I put out fly traps early, & my fly predators started arriving in February.  Usually by this time of year we have fly masks on everyone, but so far, we're only putting masks on the ones that are blind in one eye, or have allergies & leaving Burroland open during the day.  Actually most of our "Oh! let's take each other's fly masks off" guys have moved on to their new forever homes, so we might try to leave Burroland open this summer & see how it goes.  If we start having to look for masks on 30 acres instead of 10, it won't be that difficult to close the gate.....!!! LOL

I'm still doctoring Rusty's cut right above his hoof.  It's doing good, but it's going to take a long time to heal.  Where it is, every time he lifts his foot it causes the cut to open.  But it looks good, so I'll just keep doctoring until it heals.  

Heard from Calamity Jane's (CJ's) Dad.  She was the little black & white mini horse that had some real nasty feet.  Her new Dad is a farrier & trims her every week or so.  He said she is doing great, has bonded with his 2 big horses, & is shedding out like she should.  We were told she had Cushings disease, but it sounds like maybe not.  She is also called Checkers now.  I kinda liked CJ it was perky sounding, & she is perky.  But he said she knows her new name & it sounds like she's wormed her way into being the center of attention both for him & for the 2 other horses. 

 

HAPPY EASTER ONE & ALL

We had visitors yesterday for the afternoon.  Of course the donkeys were out & about, so we had to go find them.  Actually most of them were on the other side of the wash by the chicken pen.  John had closed the gate to Burroland & that's probably why they were all there, trying to figure out why.  They all came to see us, but weren't too thrilled when they found out no treats were involved.  Gus & Sha'ba weren't there, so we went down below the house & there they were.
  

The folks brought treats & even brought a traffic cone & some little jolly balls.  The balls are just about mini size, Pepsi & Justin haven't found them yet, I'm curious to see what they do with them.  They stayed & helped with chores at feeding time & the donkeys actually cooperated on going into their pens.   They made it look like we're organized & know what we're doing.   LOL

We let the kittens out this morning as planned.  They didn't rush out & take off, in fact they were a little hesitant although Snooky did jump over the wall & go check out the rabbit bush where they use to spend a lot of time.  That's where we let the skunk loose a few days ago, so I assume they have all met before.

Not a real good picture, of them in the open door, Wookie as usual was the first one out.  She seems to be more adventuresome than the 2 boys.  Snooky had to smell his way out, he smelled everything.  Julius just wasn't sure.  They've already went back to the "closed" door to see if they could get back inside.  Sure would have been nice to find homes for them, even well fed outdoor cats are hard on wildlife, unfortunately.  And these are very well fed. 

YOU CAN'T SAY WE DON'T ENTERTAIN COMPANY.....!!!

This is John's cousin Carol & I getting ready to go for a ride in my little race car.  One of the advantages of living in the country, is you can run around in "less than legal" vehicles & not get caught.  We went out to the mail boxes on the main road at pretty much race speed & back.  What got me is she enjoyed it.....!!!  (G)  Got back & asked Don if he wanted to go, which he did.  I asked John why he didn't take more pictures.  He said after we got out of the carport, we were going too fast...........hmmmmm............ me thinks the problem is he isn't use to my camera, we weren't going "THAT" fast. John says he's going to ride along next Saturday in my heat race.  As much time as I have been spending off the track, he'll get to see the track from a lot of different angles I would imagine.........!!!! LOL

Still soaking Gus' feet twice a day, but I'm running out of IV bags.  He is still pouting & part of the process is stomping around in the gravel until we leave.  No matter how quickly we leave, he manages to wear the bottom out of the bags.  Not sure what I'll do when the bags are gone.  I guess I could put a duct tape "sole" on the bags, but not sure that would work unless the whole thing was covered with duct tape since in his stomping the bags end up all over the place.  SIGH....!!!!

Soaked Rusty's cut this morning.  It was looking a little gooey, although it's healthy looking, no redness or swelling.  I have been using Vetericyn, but am now trying Underwood Horse Medicine.  I've heard really good things about it, you spray the medicine on the wound & then cover it with baking powder, & don't wash it off, just keep spraying it & adding more baking soda.  I'm willing to try it.  

We let Thomas the ex-tom cat out of the garage last night about dusk.  Since he is nocturnal we thought that would be a good time.  Hadn't seen him since we put him in there a couple of days ago.  Opened the big garage door, & he popped up from somewhere, started meowing, looked around, went out, went back in, started to walk towards us, turned around & headed out at a walk.  So maybe he won't write us off his path in the future we're a good place to get a bite to eat, if hunting isn't good.  

We plan on letting the 3 kittens out tomorrow, although John is trying to talk me into letting them into the house.............!!!  They've made a big enough mess in the spa room, I can imagine what the house would look like once they felt comfortable enough to start chasing & fighting.  

Monday will be release day for Hobo, we'll probably let her go at dusk, although she does roam around during the day sometimes.  I doubt if we'll see her for awhile, she does hold a grudge.  Right now she growls everytime we go into the spa room. 

Got donkey company coming this afternoon.  That's always fun, we love to talk donkeys.  Heard from Katie/Maggie's Mom.  They just love her, Kathryn said she never gets tired of hearing Maggie bray.  She also said Maggie has lost about 75 pounds which is wonderful, she was pudgy & that's being polite......!!!  She also takes her companion job very seriously, Kathryn said she is never very far from the old mare. 

THE KITTEN FACTORY IS OFFICIALLY CLOSED FOR GOOD....!!

Hobo came home from the vet clinic last night without the kitten factory.  We had to keep her in a large crate last night, because Thomas was still in the kitty condo.  We talked about letting him go outside, but finally decided to turn him loose in the garage with food, water & a litter box for 3 days, so we could still watch him to make sure he gets along OK.  He seems to be doing just fine & when we opened the crate in the garage this morning he came out looked around & came over to rub on my legs.  So he is either someone's cat, or has been.  He's recently been in a fight, he's got wounds on his face.  I hope that doesn't mean there's another tom cat in the neighborhood....!!! 

Managed to get Hobo in the kitty condo without her getting away from us.  She doesn't seem to be really upset as long as we don't go close to the cage.  I have a feeling when the time comes she'll take off without a backward glance, & we probably won't see her for a long time, if ever again.  

Gus has been a little ouchy on his feet the last couple of days.  Courtney said to soak his feet in case they are so hard he can't slough off sole like he should do.  So this morning I got out my IV bags, put ice water in them & headed out to where he was eating hay.  I found out 2 things, # 1 he likes to lock his knees if you try to pick up his foot, & # 2 he pouts if he doesn't like what you're doing.  Once I managed to get a bag on each front foot, he just stood there, wouldn't eat hay, wouldn't do anything.  I told him I didn't care, & went on with my chores.  I went in the house to do something, & heard someone braying, & braying & braying.  Went out to see what was going on & found "Mother" Daisy, standing by his pen, braying to tell me he had managed to get the lead rope between his front legs.  I had to tie him up because he wasn't going to cooperate at all unless I did.  And I tied him long enough so he could eat hay if he changed his mind about  pouting.   I guess Daisy thought she should let us know he had a problem.   John gave her an animal cracker for being such a good girl.  Now she will be tattling on everyone probably, so she can get a treat......!!!!

Rusty's cut is still doing good, although this morning I tried to get all the dirt & crud off it, & finally gave up.  It's too close to the ground & is covered with dirt.  It's also in a place that is almost impossible to put a bandage on.  So I put some thuja zinc oxide on it, hopefully it will soften the crud & I can get it off.  The wound itself looks real good, no swelling, redness or weeping.  I guess there is enough moisture to it, to attract dirt though.  

John's cousin & her husband from Alaska are coming tomorrow for the day.  They are getting ready to head back to Alaska in their RV, which should be a wonderful trip.  This time of year in Alaska is great, & when the Air Force sent us up there in  April 1968 we had a great adventure driving the Al-Can.  At that time it was still all gravel, except for a bridge in Whitehorse, which was very exciting to drive across after 4 or 5 days of driving gravel.  

Unfortunately this morning I found a habronema larvae sore on Sha'ba's sheath, so the summer battle is beginning.  I mixed up my special concoction, hopefully I'll be able to keep ahead of them this year.  Last year although Sha'ba had sores off & on all summer, they were never as bad as they've been in the past.  And Cisco didn't have any open sores at all, which is a first for him in the over 10 years he's been here. 

THIS MORNING'S CATCH........!!!!

 

Last night when we brought "Thomas" home & put him in the condo, Julius decided he was going to take him on thru the wire.   I wandered off somewhere for some reason, & John hunted me down to tell me Hobo was in the spa room........!!!  I guess she came out of wherever she was hid since morning to see what was going on.  So I called the vet clinic & told them to reserve a place for this morning.  Figured we might as well set the trap again, since I was going to be making a trip anyway.  Ooooops!  Not what we planned, we also didn't plan on the blanket getting blown off last night.  When John went out this morning the trap was completely uncovered.  Wouldn't be a problem with a cat, but it's a BIG problem with a skunk.  I went out one door & held his attention, while John went out the other door & sneaked up with the blanket & threw it over the trap, so the skunk couldn't see him, when he picked it up.  Turned him loose by a big growth of rabbit bush & he went down a hole on the edge of it, like that might be home.  Wish it was farther from the house........!!!! LOL

So the setup for the night was, Thomas in the condo, the kittens & Hobo loose in the spa room.  Went OK until morning when we woke to a hellacious cat fight going on.  Ran in the spa room, & Hobo had her kids stuffed behind the washing machine in the closet.  In fact Wookie was wadded up in the fish net we needed to catch Hobo.  Before we could catch Hobo, we had to get the fish net & Wookie from behind the washing machine.....!!  Julius & Snooky were crammed behind the dryer out of the way.  Got Wookie out, & discovered the net was caught underneath the washer.......SIGH!  So John had to move the washer & we finally got it loose.  Now on to catching Hobo...........boy was that fun.  Not only was she fast & determined, she has a pretty nasty disposition when it comes to controlling her.  The first time John didn't get the net flipped quick enough & she flew out to bounce off the windows some more.  Finally got her & managed to get her in the crate without any personal damage.  I sure wouldn't want to try to put a hand on her......!!!!  

Watered & fed the others, & once Snooky came out from behind the dryer, all he wanted was to get in the rest of the house.  He was so traumatized he even let me pick him up a couple of times.  He's always been stand offish & shy, so I was really surprised. 

Hobo is now at the vet clinic, so she is their problem until this afternoon, when she becomes our problem again.  Where to put her?  Thomas is in the condo, & we really have no other place that is secure enough for her.  We should keep Thomas in for 5 days, but we are talking about keeping her in a crate tonight & letting him loose in the morning so she can be in the condo.  Males usually do just fine, but she will have an  incision, that could open if she starts trying to escape.  

Thank goodness the donkeys are all doing OK right now.  I'm still soaking Rusty Mule's cut every morning, & it's looking real good.  He's putting more weight on it every day, so I think it's going to be OK, just take awhile to heal.  I'm glad the flies haven't shown up in droves yet, makes it a lot easier to doctor. 

THE BEST LAID PLANS OF MICE & MEN........!!

Well life doesn't always go in the path you have planned. Called the vet clinic, this morning & they said too busy today, so tomorrow morning.  Hobo got fed & watered & we decided to leave her out of the kitty condo & put the other cat in there.  John brought the trap in & we got  "Thomas" in the condo.  So far so good, at least he wasn't in the attack mode.  I looked around & asked John where Hobo was..............!!!  She got out when he came in with the trap I guess & he didn't notice.  I doubt that we'll ever get a chance to catch her again, we'd been trying for about 3 years.  Not 10 minutes later the vet clinic called & said bring them in, we can do them today.......GRRRRR........!!!!  If I had known that we would have hauled him in the trap & it wouldn't have happened. 

We'll set the trap again tonight, but I'm pretty sure Hobo won't come around for awhile.

Soaked Rusty's cut this morning & doctored it.  Looks pretty good, & he seems to be putting a little more weight on it, so hopefully it will heal quickly.

THINGS ARE GETTING LIVELY AROUND HERE.......!!

It is Hobo, that we caught.  Put her in the kitty condo in the spa room to await her fate.  Yesterday afternoon I heard Rusty the white mule coming down the driveway.  He came right to me, limping on a very bloody right rear foot.  I yelled in the house for John, which meant he missed the last 5 laps of the NASCAR race he was watching on TV.  That's OK, Jimmy Johnson won, so the finish was a disappointment anyway.  

We got him in a pen & started hosing it off.  He's got a cut from the outside of the pastern that drops down & ends in the crack at the back of his heel.  It's about 3 or 4 inches long & doesn't look really deep although it bled quite a bit.  Have no idea what he caught it on, John went out looking around but didn't find anything.  He won't stand on it, & won't move around much.  So I hosed, betadined,  Vetericyn  & put him in the "hospital" pen.  Of course it isn't his pen, so he isn't happy about that. 

Yesterday morning for some reason Jenny didn't want Pepper eating with her, & started pushing him around.  He is so fragile that I was afraid she'd either push him into a corral panel & he'd end up with another cracked hip, or he'd go down.  He managed to stay on his feet, but was moving slower than usual when we got there.  Last night at feeding time he was still moving slow & after taking a couple of bites of his mush quit eating.  Didn't act like he was choking, but it's unusual for him not to eat.  I worked with him like he was choked, which he didn't appreciate for awhile.  Then he started acting like he wanted to lay down & switching his tail...........colic?  Who knows, I certainly don't.  Gave him a shot of banamine, checked on him in an hour, & he was eating............!!!  Haven't seen him yet this morning, so I hope he is OK.  He is such a character, we've put so many human traits on his behavior, it's like having your weird old uncle living with you.  

This morning about 4am, John heard a lot of noise in the spa room.  Checked & Hobo had managed to get out of the kitty condo..........!!!   She isn't trying to destroy the 3 kittens, so we just left her loose in there, until I call the vet this morning to see if we can take her in for spaying. It will be fun to get her in a crate, we'll have to use the big net I would imagine. 

John set the trap last night & "sho nuf" there is a "guest" in it this morning.  Looks & acts like a tom cat.  Must be the one that's been spraying our doors.  John thought it might be OJ, but this cat is lighter colored & his hair is not as short.  The vet insists on names so I guess this will be Odie, we've ran out of orange names.........!!! 

If the vet can't do them today, we'll have to figure out living arrangements in the spa room, it's going to get crowded at this rate. 

GOT HER......AT LEAST WE THINK IT'S HER.......!!!

We have been trying to about 3 years to catch the momma cat responsible for the 4 kittens we had spayed & neutered in January & Sunny the only survivor from the litter before.  She has always been very trap wise & wouldn't even come on the porch if the trap was sitting there.  We are getting ready to let the kittens outside again.  We haven't  found anyone interested in giving any of them a home, & we can't have 6 cats in the house, especially when 5 of them love to run & play.  Moogee just watches with a disgusted look on her face.  Sunny & Nigel have caused enough damage, in the house, without adding 3 more little live wires to the mix.  So out they go, I hope they remember their upbringing & how to protect themselves.  I hate that they are hunters & are hard on the birds & lizards though.  

So before we let them go, we decided to try catching any outdoor cats that need "corrective" surgery.  We figure if we set the trap with the kittens outside, they will be the ones we catch.  Lo & behold this morning a cat that looks a lot like Hobo was in the trap, & very unhappy.  I'll call the vet clinic tomorrow & see if they can spay her.  

Now to the hard part, we don't know if she has another litter of kittens or not.  She doesn't look or act like it, but she is so long haired we can't see if she is nursing.  I doubt we could ever catch her again, so we will have to take her in no matter what.  It would be a hard decision to make, but long term it would be the right one, I'm afraid.  I just hope she isn't nursing. 

THEY LIKE TO PLAY WITH MY MIND, WHAT LITTLE I HAVE LEFT....!!!

INDIAN SCHOOL, PINE RIDGE, SD 1891

Tula has figured out a new way to show her independence the last  few days.  In the evening when John goes out to do round-up most if not all of them are within sight around the pens.  As soon as Tula sees him, she heads over to Burroland, being followed by her most loyal supporters, Frijolita, Daisy, Jenny & Cisco.  They don't do anything, except go over there & stand looking towards the open gate, they know one of us is going to come thru, looking for them.  Jeesh........I guess she thinks we need the exercise.  

The last couple of days Gus has been standing by the chicken pen which is over by the Burroland gate.  He doesn't go with them, but waits until they come back & follows them across the big wash back to the pen area.  He use to either  be in his pen when John went out or would go into it as soon as he saw John.  Guess that independent streak is branching out.  That's OK, if you're going to chase 5, might as well chase 6......!!!!!!  Actually it isn't much of a chase, you go over carrying a whip, find Tula, point with the whip & tell her to "GIT" & off she goes, trailing her little band behind her.  What makes you want to wring her neck is as soon as she gets in her pen, she starts yelling like, "hurry up, where's the carrot, you're wasting my time"............!!!! LOL

In the morning the whole bunch including Tula are usually in Jenny's pen.  That's where the sun shows up first in the early morning.  As soon as they see John they start heading for their appropriate pens, at least most of them.  What the difference is between morning & evening we haven't figured out yet, & probably won't.............!!!  We're use to being on the deficit end of the thought process when dealing with donkeys......!!!!

ALL IS RIGHT IN THE WORLD TODAY......!!!

PINE RIDGE INDIAN RESERVATION 1891
 

Jack was fussing & wanting out of the trailer when John brought him home yesterday.  The vet couldn't find anything wrong with him, vitals were good.  She "picked " a road apple from the originating source & although it was a little dry, not bad.  She even did a sonogram. Found either a testicle or a small tumor.  He was raised on the Slash Hook Ranch up by Morenci, AZ & probably was "cowboy" gelded.  She said it isn't unusual for the cowboys to miss something.  He has never acted studdy at all, so I assume it's probably a little tumor.  In the future if he colics or something like that we'll know there is a possibility of a tumor & will be able to tell if it's grown or not.  Good information to have.  

So she tubed him, with some water & mineral oil, gave him a shot of Banamine & sent him home.  John & I had to give him another Banamine shot last night.  He is really difficult, but we managed to "git 'er done" without someone getting hurt.  Like I said when he got home, he was pretty lively & this morning he was yelling for his breakfast as usual.  

Last night before dark, Nigel the Bengal cat seemed to make a decision to go out, no matter what it took.  He got out on John, who doesn't always realize where the animals are & what can happen because of where they are.  We finally got him back in the house, almost lost Moogee in the process.  Had to leave the door open to run Nigel in & Moogee decided she'd give it a try.  

I usually know where they are, so I was very surprised when I went out a little while later,  &  Nigel flew past my feet like he was on fire.  He wasn't even in the kitchen when I opened the door.....!!!  So we got to chase him around some more.  It was almost dark, & he is a lovely color of gray that would be almost impossible to see in the dark, I'm really glad we managed to herd him in.......again.  Now that he knows he can get out, we'll have to really watch him for awhile.  Hopefully he'll give up his "dash for freedom" idea quickly. 

Gus is still doing good.  He is "parking" his front feet a little bit, but not as often.  This morning he went out when everyone else did, & they all left as a herd.  I guess he's getting use to being with other donkeys. 

1890

John just left for the vet with Jack the mule.  This morning he was laying down, didn't seem stressed, breathing was calm, but he really wasn't himself.  We went ahead with feeding while we watched him.  By the time everyone else was fed he got up & looked at his feed bucket, which I hadn't put anything in.  

I put his breakfast in it & he started eating, but not with his usual gusto.  To say he dives in, is an understatement, mush flies everywhere.  He was eating "lightly" & turning his head to the side, like something was bothering him.  

In the past he has had infected cactus spines in his gums.  He's also had a couple of abscessed teeth pulled & at this time of his life only has 2 teeth in the back, one on one side & you guessed it, the other one is on the other side.  

I called the vet & they said they'd work him in, so we loaded him up & John headed out.  I'm waiting for the guy to come out & probably hook up DSL internet.  I got a nastygram from Wild Blue this week, that I'm using too much time & they are going to slow my available speed down, (which incidentally I pay a premium price for)  if I don't quit hogging the net.  Not a problem, watch me bail.  Since it costs almost 3 times as much as the local DSL, I'll be happy to leave.  I just hope the DSL is fairly fast, everyone I've talked to in the area are satisfied with it, so I'm going in with the idea that it will be fast & they won't lecture me.....!!!!

The tow van only needed 4 more miles to turn 500,000 miles before John & Jack headed out this morning.  Three years ago when we bought the other van, I was told this one was going to be scrapped.  Unfortunately it has a "honking" ex-race motor in it & can pull just about anything.  And the newer van is pretty much of a woose.  Just isn't made for towing.   The tow van is literally falling apart around us, but John keeps patching it together.  I've been trying to find a 6 liter window van on the internet for quite awhile.  I guess people keep them, because they sure don't sell them used, at least that I can find.  John will NOT buy a new one, won't even look at one, so I hope this one keeps going, until we find a used one.  

Gus is walking pretty good this morning, and isn't parking his front feet to take the weight off them.  So it looks like we're headed in the right direction.  Courtney is going to try to make it back out here in 2-3 weeks, to trim some more.  I think once she gets some of the height cut down, he will be able to start doing some self trimming running around on all this rock, sand & gravel we have.  

This morning his buddy of choice was Cisco.  Yesterday we noticed someone has had one of his ears in their teeth.  Also the side of his neck.  Boys will be boys I guess, they do like to play fight.  Not sure he's ever played with boys before, but if they keep gnawing on his ear, I bet he'll learn real quick.........!!!

27 DEGREES IN APRIL......................!!!!

Not what one would expect especially with the mesquite trees leafing out.  Today is nice & sunny, BUT there is still a nip in the wind.  Suppose to be 70 today, but don't think it will make it.  

Waiting for Courtney to get out here & trim some feet.  Gus is laying down in his pen this morning, haven't seen him do that for awhile.  But then again Sha'ba & Jack are laying down too, so who knows.  He is acting normal, but lately he's been eager to get the gate open so he could go explore.  I'm sure he hasn't seen it all yet.  

Last night we were suppose to go racing, but because of the weather they cancelled.  Just as well, it would have been miserable for everyone, & a lot of drivers & spectators probably wouldn't have shown up.  At least if they had any sense.  We were all loaded & ready to go, so that shows you our level of intelligence......!!! LOL   

Here's my little car on the trailer ready to go.  John got it painted this week, with our colors & number.  Looks more like a race car to me. 

This has been our color scheme for over 40 years & what's really great is they have the orange & the white in spray cans, you just have to buy a lot of them, especially when the car is already black.......it's hard to cover black with white.......!!!  But he got it looking pretty good.  I know our son is cringing, his car always looks pristine when he pulls it into the pits.  So far he hasn't ran us out of his pit area, so I guess he'll survive the experience.......!!!! 

MOMENTS THAT MAKE RESCUE WORTHWHILE.......!!!

 

 

First let me say the weather today is horrible, cold, dreary, very windy & a chance of rain at our level, & a snow forecast for the mountains.  The poor mesquite are starting to bud which is suppose to mean spring.......hmmmm..........me thinks someone didn't get the memo.  Picking up poo this morning was fun, you had to pick & dump without much lag time, or the wind blew your "gatherings" off the rake.......!!!!  

Jenny was late getting out of her pen this morning, she's a slow eater.  By the time she got out everyone else had disappeared, including her running buddies, Daisy & Frijolita.  Of course they all hate wind, which added to her problem of looking for her buddies.  

She has been walking really well lately, & when she came by the pens she was stepping out nicely.   She stopped for awhile, trying to hear where they were at I guess.  All of a sudden she took off at a trot, stopped at a dusting spot, laid down, rolled, got up & cantered towards the pens.  I don't know that I have ever seen her canter in the 4 years she's been here, a few trots,  & other times when she could barely walk.  I've never seen her move as free as she was this morning.  I wish I had the camera, it was really beautiful to watch.  She came in the pen  with us for a few moments & then headed out again.  WOW.......!!!!   Can't wait to tell Courtney all about it when she comes tomorrow.  I just hope Jenny doesn't overdue it, her right front foot turns out quite a bit & we know from x-rays taken years ago that show she doesn't have a lot of coffin bone left & the bones aren't lined up.   I did notice when she was running & turning that she was favoring that side just a little. 

Gus has decided he doesn't want to eat his beet pulp.  Oh! he'll pick out the timothy pellets, but leaves the beet pulp.  I wouldn't really care but he is getting a minimum amount of hay because he needs to lose weight & he needs the extra supplements in the beet pulp.  We are trying different yummy additions to see if we can change his mind.  So far peppermint leaves aren't doing it.  Tonight I'll try red beet powder & see how that goes. 

STINKIN' WIND......!!!!

Wow, it is really windy today, even more so than usual in the spring.  It's suppose to be cold tomorrow, so I guess it's blowing in from up north someplace.  I am REALLY not an advocate of wind, it's one of my least favorite weather occurrences.  We lived in Iceland for 2 years & the wind blew there constantly which really gets old in a hurry.  

This morning when I went out, John was rounding up the stragglers.  He was "herding" a donkey & at first I thought it was Frijolita.  "She" was almost trotting & I was surprised when John passed her pen headed for..................Gus' pen.  It is amazing how free & easy he is moving.  Obviously his long feet & high heels aren't bothering him like they were.  

Quilla was with him, they are spending quite a bit of time together, which is great.  Their personalities are a lot alike, so they would make good long term buddies. 

Yesterday morning I made a video of Justin, Pepsi, & Quilla playing with a jollyball.  Well it hasn't been a "ball" for quite sometime.  It looks more like a flat squashed piece of road kill.  But they like to play with it, flat or not.  Gus was watching the fun, & I have no doubt will participate in the future.  I have not been able to get the darn thing to load on the blog.  I tried most of yesterday & it acts like it's loading, but never finishes.  I know there are problems on my computer, & I'm afraid the answer is to erase everything & start over......!!!! SIGH!

LOOK AT GUS STEP OUT.........!!!

THIS MORNING, LOOK AT HIM GO.......!!

This is without being trimmed again, Courtney is going to try to make it out Saturday.  He really looks so much more comfortable.

 

Unfortunately, I am having trouble with downloading pictures from my camera to my computer right now, & we haven't had time to try to fix it.  I need to go on line & download some drivers.  So until  that happens I'll just add these great old photos by a western photographer from the late 19th century named John C. H. Grabill.

Everything is getting back to normal again.  We will watch Noelle's grave for a few days to make sure nothing bothers it.  Unfortunately in the desert food is an  vital important resource.  We had one grave almost completely dug up overnight, never figured out what did it, obviously more than one animal to have dug that much.  Thank goodness they didn't get deep enough, & John redid it.

Gus is really doing well, he's walking easier, not laying down as much & learning the routine.  He is still standing with his front feet out in front of him when he stands, but I think when Courtney gets him trimmed again, that will make a big difference on his comfort level.  His heels are still about 3 inches tall & his toes longer than they should be.  As much as his walking has improved with the trimming Courtney did in the trailer, I think when the excess is taken off, he'll be buzzing around like a maniac in no time.  Then we'll work on his "love" handles.