JACK IS SURGING AHEAD IN THE BATTLE OF WILLS

Poor John, I'm not sure he's really up to this battle of wills.  He's at a disadvantage because the fencing is barbed wire that has been up for over 20 years on T-posts.  T-posts over the years don't always stay in place which means the wire gets loose.  Plus there is the added feature of the large wash the fence goes across.  And Jack knows very well he can get thru the fence, if he just finds the right spot. 

We let them into Burroland yesterday afternoon, took an hour and 15 minutes to get them all back over here.  That's a lot of exercise for John and I, much more than we wanted.  We managed to get back with no major wounds.  Trying to keep up with donkeys in the mesquite and brush, not to mention all the dead limbs on the ground trying to trip us.  Wouldn't be so many limbs, but when they are trying to reach the beans, they break off limbs.  A lot of the limbs on the trees hang at just about eye level, but we managed to survive those too.  It's not very effective for 2 "mature" humans to try to round up a dozen donkeys on 20 acres, that have no intention of cooperating.  Our only trump card is to just keep at them, so they know we are behind them, until they finally give up.  What gets me is you can tell when they are ready to go to the gate.  Before that if you manage to get them in the gate area, they just go past it like it isn't there, usually at a high rate of speed.  Once they make up their minds they head for the gate by the shortest route at a walk.  I had a whistle I blew once, won't do that again.  It took us forever to even find them after that......!!!! LOL  Rusty the white mule was under a tree eating beans like a Hoover, ignoring me.  When I blew that whistle, I found out just how fast a 34 year old mule can move.  Of course all the others left too, at warp speed. 

I guess Jack isn't satisfied with the rationed time over in Burroland, so this morning when John rounded everyone up, Jack was missing and Molly was standing by the fence looking into Burroland.  John's already found out where Jack wiggled thru, just has to fix it.  I've always heard "if your fences won't hold water, don't get goats".  That might be a good thought for little black mini mules too......!!! LOL

Yesterday morning Daisy came in with a bloody nose on one side.  Equine aren't known for having nosebleeds, there is usually a good reason, gutteral pouch,  and ethmoid hematoma are a couple of reasons you really don't want.  Of course there is the exercise reason well known in the racing industry.  I doubt that Daisy would ever have an exercise nose bleed, not her style.  I cleaned her nose out and it felt like there might be a scratch in there.  I put some Vaseline in her nostril and this morning it isn't draining, so hopefully that's what it was.  She probably stuck a stick up her nose.

Mike and Zeke are home.  I haven't heard how the parade in Kingman went this week-end, I hope they made it.  Zeke picked up a piece of wire in the sole of one of his feet and went lame.  They were within about 20 miles of Kingman, but Zeke's health and well being, is more important than pressing on.  I hope he doesn't get an abscess, which is pretty common with a sole puncture, the place closes over because it's such a small opening and traps dirt and bacteria. 

BRATS.........!!!

Well, I must say round-up Friday night was "interesting". Most of the herd were over in Burroland and not the least bit interested in coming in to eat hay.  John went over, found some of them, got them headed to the gate, and they circled around him and disappeared.  

I went over and pretty much came up empty handed.  Went I came back, I almost got ran down by a thundering herd, headed for the gate.  John had found them and once he got Tula headed the right direction, the rest followed.  Wished I had the camera, they were running, bucking and having a great time. 

Somewhere in the melee Coquette lost Penny.  Talk about a crisis?  She absolutely panics if she doesn't know where Penny is.  John got her in their pen before she really fell apart, so then she just paced and yelled.  When Penny showed up you could almost see the relief in Coquettes eyes.  Coquette would be adoptable, she's healthy and has had training.  But her attachment to hunchbacked, fearful Penny probably means they will both stay here.  I can't see most people wanting to give Penny a home, although she is very sweet, she is not what most people want in a donkey.  Sad............!!!!  Unless Coquette gets over clinging to Penny, we won't ever separate them.  They weren't even in the same pen up at Milagros, I guess this attachment developed on the trailer ride. 

John had ran across Pepper, so we knew he was up.  But we couldn't find him, everyone else was finally in their pens........no Pepper.........!!  We had not planned ahead for such a problem getting them in their pens, so by this time it's getting pretty dark.  I went over to look for him, and finally came back to go ahead and mix up my feed pans, while John went over to look for him.  John said he walked the complete 20 acres, never saw hide nor hair of him.  Was almost to the gate to come back over here, said he heard a noise behind him, and there was Pepper, looking at him like, "you looking for me?"  

We've seen him laying down twice lately on his left side, which is great.  He can get up pretty easy from his left side, not at all from the right.  I don't know if he puts any thought into the repercussions when he lays down.  My personal thought is his right leg and hip are weak from the hip being cracked and the left leg, while not all that strong anymore, is stronger than the right.  So when he tries to lay down by collapsing his hind quarters, the stronger leg, stays up longer than the almost useless weak one, and the right one gives out first and down he goes.  Maybe the right one is getting a little stronger, so he actually has a little bit of control of which side goes down first.  I'm sure after 3 years of us having to roll him over, he knows what he needs to do, but it doesn't always work out like he'd like it to. 

Yesterday was race day, so they didn't get to go over to Burroland, but we'll let them out this afternoon for a couple of hours.  Hope it doesn't take longer to get them back, than they are over there.......!!! LOL

Finished the test for my "safe driving" award.  What a waste of time and effort, remember I said I was learning more than I ever wanted to know about Speed Racer?  After spending 4 hours studying driving safety with Speed Racer questions thrown in for comic relief, the final test of 25 multiple choice questions was all Speed Racer questions, like "What is Speed Racers favorite animal at the zoo?" or 

"What is Speed Racers favorite snack?"....!!  Afterwards they asked for a critique of the class, so I did my best.....!!!!   Don't think they will be using it as a testimonial.......!!! LOL

Racing has gone better.  The heat race was OK, but in the main event, I got a flat about the 2nd or 3rd lap.  They will let you stay on the track with a flat, unless it is the right front.  Mine was the left front, so I stayed out and managed to stay in the pack, until coming in contact with another car, flattened the right front, so I had to pull off.  You might know, there were a lot of hornets for a change and only a couple of them had fell out, even though it was late in the race.  So I got scored at 15th....!!!  That's my lowest finish this year.  Too bad it wasn't one of those nights when only 10 or 11 cars show up....!!! LOL.  We have 5 more races, two of them the same night as a make up race for a night this summer when we got rained out.  I trying to hang on to my 5th place for end of the year points, it's going to take more than 15th place finishes to keep it.  Hopefully this was just a bad night and not the start of something else.....!!!

DON'T EVER GET A SAFE DRIVING AWARD FROM TUCSON.........!!!

I have managed to get to my advanced age without ever getting a traffic ticket........well except for one in Germany for sending a motorcycle rider into the air and under another Mercedes, for being in my lane when I was turning right with my turn light signal on.  It's a long story, but in Germany there is always responsibility of both parties involved, because if you hadn't been on the road, there wouldn't have been an accident.....!!! I was only 10% responsible and he was a lot smarter.

Anyway back to the problem at hand, Tucson has cameras at a lot of their intersections, so if you run the light, they have you.  Over a month ago I was turning left and saw a flash out of the corner of my eye. Dang it had been so long I figured it must have been for the guy behind me..........nope........they sent me a nice little letter with lots of drawings, even a picture of me driving the car.  Jeesh! they don't even give you any wiggle room.  What's really funny is there is 5 other cars scrambling around in the picture of the intersection, that one is a money maker I guess.....!!! LOL

So there are options you can pay...........are you ready...........$355 and they will accept it graciously without even a thank you very much.  Or you can fight it, big chance with my face right there.  The other option is to take a defensive driving school course, which will save you money, $218 instead of the $355, and you can take it on line.  It's only 4 hours and "LOTS OF FUN"......according to the propaganda on the web-site.  

Let me say I have learned more about Speed Racer in the last 2 hours than I ever wanted to know.  I guess they put in these little tidbits to make sure you are reading everything.  You also are timed, so you can't read the page and go on until they tell you "time's up"......!!  

At least you can log out and go back at a later time.  I'm debating whether to ruin my evening or wait until tomorrow.......!!!

I can't really complain, I've got away with a lot of driving no-nos over the years and have always said if I got stopped for speeding, I'd take my ticket with a "thank you officer", and consider myself lucky.  Whoever thought I'd get caught running a "pink" light?  

On to something more interesting.  I don't know how long this toy will last, but Pepsi is really enjoying for now.  

As of today we gave up on the cows coming into Burroland and cleaning up the mesquite beans, it just isn't going to happen this year.  There isn't enough range cattle to make much of a difference, guess they sold them all.  And there are still mesquite beans everywhere along the roads, so why would they bother to come in the gate?  

So we closed the gates, and opened the gate to Burroland from over here a couple of hours before feeding time.  Most of them figured it out and away they went.  Our plan is to let them over there a few times a week for 2 or 3 hours a day, so they can clean up beans, but hopefully not gorge on them.  We'll see how it goes, I know how it will be when they go over there one day and the next day the gate is closed..........it's not going to be pretty......!!!! LOL

THE WALK CONTINUES.....!!

Good news for Mike and Zeke, it's only 97 miles from Ash Fork to Kingman, so their trip will not take as long, hopefully by the middle of next week, they will have finished their walk.

SELIGMAN, ARIZONA, taking a break....!!!

Along with that good news on their 2nd day, some men came by and asked them to join the annual Andy Devine Parade in Kingman this Saturday.  Of course they won't have walked to Kingman by then, but where there's a will there is a way.

They will walk until Friday afternoon.  Mike will trailer Zeke to Kingman, where they will be honored guests at the parade and Mike will stay in Kingman for the week-end visiting with people, letting them meet Zeke and hopefully getting lots of donations for the Wounded Warriors.  

Andy Devine was raised in Kingman before he left for Hollywood and it's really nice that they still remember him.  He was always one of my favorites, sort of like a uncle that talked a little funny and was always fun to be around.  I would imagine he was just about like he came across on the screen.

So after a busy week-end, Mike will trailer Zeke back to where they left off the walk and continue until they make their goal of Ash Fork to Kingman.  I know Teresa will be glad to have them home, and also Gypsy Rose, Zeke's favorite girl.  

MIKE AND ZEKE ARE ON THEIR WALK......!!!

It's official..........the walk from Ash Fork to Kingman along the old route 66 started this morning, which is also Mike's birthday.  It's about 130 miles and they plan on about 2 weeks to complete the walk.  I hope they meet a lot of generous folks along the way, that will appreciate what Mike is doing for the Wounded Warriors and open their hearts and wallets, to a wonderful gentle man that is always thinking of others.  Over the years Mike and Zeke have walked in Arizona and also in Colorado to raise donations for  different organizations.  Because of Mike's health this will probably be the last walk.  Please like and share their facebook page, we'd like for Mike and Zeke's walk to reach as many people as possible in the next 2 weeks. 

Things around here have been exciting this morning.  I was in the feed room fixing my feed pans for tonight and John comes in to get me to help get a baby rattler out of the hay barn.  Quite frankly I was happy doing my pans, really didn't need anymore entertainment, but "duty calls".....!!!

John said he was coiled up asleep beside an overturned bucket in the loose hay.  Sure enough, coiled up about the size of a hamburger pattie.  I told John to walk softly and maybe we could use a rake to "rake" him into a hay bucket.  Obviously walking softly means something different to John than to me, maybe it's his lack of Indian blood....!!! LOL  As he tramps into the hay barn the little snake woke up and went under, either the bucket he was beside, the bucket beside that one..........or.......our hopeful choice, out the side of the hay barn.  We stood there for a minute deciding what plan B was.  I used the rake to turn over one of the buckets, nothing happened.  John decided he'd turn over the other one and told me to go outside and see if the snake came out.  When he turned the bucket over, the snake plopped out of the edge of the bucket.  I ran back in the barn, grabbed the rake a just barely managed to start rolling him around in the loose hay and straw with the rake to keep him from going under some of the other junk piled up in there.  I'm yelling for John to get a bucket and for some reason he's standing there fascinated with watching me "play" with this snake.  Jeesh...!!!  My inner sailor came out, language wise, which seemed to get his attention, he grabbed a hay bucket, and in went the snake.  Poor little thing probably wondered what in the world happened to his little world.  John put him in one of the piles of tree trimmings we leave for the little critters to have for shelter.  He wasn't much more than a foot long, had one little tiny button on his tail, which means he had nothing to rattle, even if he wanted to.  

That is the first snake we've seen on the property this year, but does bring up a burning question?  Where is his brothers and sisters?  Did momma live bear them in the hay barn?  If so, where are the rest of them?  According to John's info book, there can be as many as 23 babies born, 9-14 inches long, born in the late summer.    Hmmmm........... sounds like he is pretty new to the world.  John says he's going to be pretty careful in the hay barn for awhile.  

I go back to doing feed pans, came in to water my tomatoes on the courtyard and there is a little mouse running around bouncing off the courtyard walls.  I tried to get him out the courtyard gate, but he kept going back to the tomatoes..........hmmmm...........me thinks I know where the bite spots on some of the tomatoes are coming from.  He acted like he knew where he belonged, he just didn't want to get a bath.  I've been soaking the tomatoes, but now that it's cooled off a little I was going back to spraying them.  Guess he didn't like it....!!!

NEVER DULL AROUND HERE............UNFORTUNATELY...!!

The morning started as usual.  John usually gets up about an hour before I do, has his breakfast, watches the same news he saw last night and gets ready to face the day.  

When I got up and started working on the computer, I immediately noticed the cats are bouncing off the patio door way up high,  and trying to destroy the blinds.  Neither behavior is particularly unusual, except for the fact they usually wait until we're asleep or not here to do these type of things.  Then we are met with damage and 4 innocent little cat faces.  It's like kids, if there are 2 or more, no one is EVER responsible. 

I ran Snooky and Sunny off 2 or 3 times and finally bothered to see what was so interesting.  

This is a little Pallid bat, that somehow had gotten in between the transom window and screen over the patio door.  It's daylight which means he doesn't want to move.  What to do, what to do.........????  

Well of course the first thing is to yell for John and turn the problem over to him...!!! LOL  We watched the cute little thing (I've always had a thing about bats) which it didn't appreciate, the more we watched him, the more agitated he got.  John's idea was to get the ladder and some heavy gloves, catch him, put him in the snake box and haul him up to the hay barn.  

It really went pretty good.  John climbed up the ladder, tried to catch the bat, as it flew out & landed on the courtyard gate.  OK, time for plan B.  They obviously have very good hearing, because as John moved towards the gate, the bat went to the other side.  But, John managed to get him in his gloves and we got him in the box, squeaking and biting.  John had on pretty heavy leather gloves and said he could feel his little teeth biting the gloves.  

John said when he poured the bat out on the hay in the hay barn, it flew out the front and disappeared, hopefully in the other little barn where John keeps all his "guy" toys, like tractors, bobcats and golf carts. We've seen bats roosting in there before, so hopefully he found some of his friends.    

As we are winding down into fall, my doctoring is getting a little easier.  Although yesterday, I found a nasty place on Quilla's fetlock, where the polo wrap had slipped and left an open area for the flies to work on and work they did.  So I had to really "doctor" rather than the casual way I get away with as their assorted wounds heal.  I'm SO looking forward to fall and winter, and I'm sure they are too.  I know they are ready to get rid of fly masks, polo wraps and all the other things they have to put up with.  Probably won't happen until in November sometime.  Since we really don't have winter per se, we have flies year round.  But by November their numbers have declined to just a few that we have to live with.

When it finally cools off, I have to make the effort to work with Penny.  She's got a lot of trust issues, probably from being a roping donkey.  At least she isn't fear kicking anymore, but we haven't done any training this summer.  She now lets us pet her and I can even doctor her legs without using the "redneck" squeeze, as long as it doesn't take too long or get too envasive.  

Haven't heard anything about when Boaz, Ruthie and Wister will be coming back.  Not sure how long it takes 3 donkeys to eat down 5 acres of weeds, but I'm sure they are doing their best. 

JACK IS SURGING AHEAD IN THE BATTLE OF WILLS.......!!!

John just came in and asked if I could watch the gate to Burroland, while he went to run Jack back.  Heh, heh, heh, I'm sure glad I'm not involved in this little mind game.  Actually he was almost within sight of the gate and let John put a halter and lead on him.  

I had a problem while I was waiting for them to get back..............BlackJack....!!!!  He wanted to "help" me with the gate.  The problem with BJ is he knows we aren't going to kill him or beat him with a stick, he figured that out years ago.  I do have a buggy whip that he will react to, but anything else is not much of a problem as far as he is concerned.  He was determined to get into Burroland, no matter what I said or did.  Once I found out John had a halter on Jack, I locked the gate till they got there, much to BJ's disgust.  

John is out there even as I type...........pounding more T-posts, he watched Jack start at the end where he was getting out, trying the whole fence line across the wash.  When he got to the end where it goes up the bank, he managed to squirm and wiggle thru the area where it starts up.  It's not actually wide enough for him to get thru, but he managed. 

I'm thinking of starting a betting pool, for when the next escape is.  Can't wait for Boaz to come home, he's another fence challenger.  Well, one thing John will find out exactly where his fences need repair...!!! Ha! 

NOT SURE WHO'S WINNING THE WAR...........!

I know John would like to think he is, but this morning he had to go retrieve mini mule Jack from the neighbor's side of Burroland.  I guess he was waiting for the dogs to come out and run the fence with him.  

No dogs, but when he saw John arriving, John said he picked up the pace.  John went out wide and when Jack saw he wasn't going to go away, John said he brayed, well actually he doesn't really bray, it's more like a pig grunting with a little squeal here and there, and took off running for this side.  John had left the gate to Burroland open, just in case, and Jack beat him back by minutes....!!!  John on 2 legs didn't stand a chance.....!! 

While they were eating, John used the T-post driver (one of his "favorite" tools) and drove 3 T-posts into the wash.  That fence across the wash is usually not actually attached to the ground, so when the wash runs, it will float up, rather than get torn out.  But little Jack Horner knows that now.  Hopefully the monsoon season is over for awhile.  I let everyone out of their pens while John was playing with the driver.  Jack went right over to his escape spot, stuck his head under the wire and started pushing and shoving.  John just stood there and watched him.  He said Jack tried and tried and finally figured out it wasn't moving like it did.  John came in crowing about how he'd outsmarted Jack.  But the next time he went out he couldn't find Jack, came in to get me to watch the open gate while he went over to retrieve Jack..........again......!!!!  Heh! Heh! Heh!  Couldn't leave the gate open, because now all the others were out too, without someone standing guard.  

John decided to look down below the pens before we went over to Burroland and he found the little monster calmly eating mesquite leaves with the herd.  It scared John enough that he pounded some more T-posts all across the wash to the other side, so the whole thing is attached to the ground.  John said he knew it wouldn't take Jack long to just walk down the fence from where he had been getting out, till he got to the unattached fence to wiggle under. 

Guess days like this is why we're never bored...........!!!!! LOL

GOOD DAY'S WORK, YESTERDAY

Well, I think yesterday went pretty good.  We got there in the early afternoon, which is about as early as we ever get anywhere...!!!  Morning chores has doctoring involved, which takes time.  I've just about got everyone with solar keratosis covered with polo wraps.  I must say it looks like a colorful rainbow when they are all standing around together.  I'm also questioning "my" diagnosis.  The problem is, vets don't have a definitive answer if you ask them what it is.  Each one has their own idea, and of course summer sores is the overall answer.  In summer the sores show up.  I get it......!!!  Since I have quite a few animals with IT, I would really like to know what IT is.  

As I read more about solar keratosis, it seems to have a raised crusty identity, rather than just a bloody circle, that makes the flies happy.  So I'm not sure that is what they have.  It is on the ones that seem to have immune problems, not sure what that means, but it's another little piece of the puzzle maybe.  

We got there with our corral panels, John and Sam unloaded them while Jo and I picked out a spot for the little pen.  John recommended under a shade tree.  Silly me, I was just looking for a flat spot.  So we found a shady spot, relatively flat, and John went to work.

This is John attaching the floating corral panel to the little pen we built.  He uses large hose clamps and leaves them loose enough so the panel will be able to move easily.

I was so shocked at how easily the big jack went in, I didn't even get a chance to take a picture of him.  He went in, Jo brushed him a little, we wormed him, gave him some treats and out he went.  No big deal. 

 I think this is the head jenny, not really sure.  She was our 2nd victim.  The jack was "very" interested in what we were doing to his girls, and stayed right by the pen, watching what we were doing. 

She was pretty good, not overly concerned.  The other 4 were a little more cautious, the jack has learned that people are good, they groom and give treats.  Consequently he was almost a nuisance.   The head jenny is still pretty stand offish, but the other 4 weren't really interested in interacting with us.  

That's OK, if it all went smoothly, Jo and Sam wouldn't see how to fix it.  They did real good and I think will be able to get the kids in the corral just fine.  We told them to spend as much time with the donkeys as they can, the more time spent, the better the outcome. 

This was our final victim, a little guy about Wister's age, maybe a little younger.  The other 5 really behaved well, but this little devil has probably never had to do much he didn't want to do, and it showed.  He squirmed, he wiggled, jumped and managed to get his hind legs outside the corral panels.  He used up a lot of energy in about 2 or 3 minutes of high energy "I'm not happy" behavior, before he finally stood still long enough, and we could let him out without him thinking he had won. 

Courtney is coming tonight, hope that goes well.  She's never trimmed Reba, Coquette or the indomitable Miss PennyPacker, the fear kicker.  She's much better, but that doesn't mean trimming will go well.  I've been putting polo wraps on her legs at liberty, but it's a big step to picking up a foot and doing things to it.  Her back feet really need trimming, they grow funny, maybe because she walks funny with her crooked back. 

TOMBSTONE NEWS

This is from the Tombstone News covering Mike and Zeke's upcoming walk. 

Today we are going up to the Oracle area to help the couple we hauled the 7 donkeys for a couple of months ago.  

They lost one of the jenniess because of massive internal infection, but still have 3 jacks and 3 jennies, of course, that are probably pregnant.  I found out yesterday they have in fact adopted all 6 and are no longer just fostering them.  WOW, I don't know if I'd take on 6 feral burros at once.....!!! LOL  

Anyway we're going up to build them a "redneck" squeeze to help them work with the burros.  They have no small area or anyplace to isolate one to work with it.  Not sure how it will go, but we'll give it a try.  I've never tried the squeeze with jacks.  Two of them are pretty young and hopefully malleable.  The other one is probably responsible, not only for the 2 younger jacks, but the jennies being pregnant, although he doesn't "look" very old.  Jacks as they get older usually get more opinionated on being "messed" with and can really make their point, if they want to.  But we're hoping since they haven't been "cowboyed" at least since they were captured, for cooperation on their part.  

If there are no updates, to my blog you will know, it didn't go well.........!!!!!   LOL

LOTS GOING ON RIGHT NOW......!!!

 "This is NOT what I signed on for"

Between doctoring and quite a few phone calls and e-mails about donkeys, I'm staying pretty busy.....LOL  

I think I polo wrapped 10 legs this morning, and could have wrapped 4 more, but John couldn't find my "stash" of polo wraps.  So Penny just got her legs covered with thuja zinc oxide.  I found my other wraps afterwards, so tomorrow she'll probably get wrapped.  

Today was the first time I had doctored her without using the "redneck" squeeze.  John was responsible for keeping her entertained and I decided to try.  She did just fine, of course the amount of animal crackers he stuffed in her mouth probably had a lot to do with it....!!! Ha!  

Have a family looking for a new home for their two donkeys.  Said one is a jenny and one a jack........!!!  Not an easy sell to find a home for a jack.  The clarification said the jack is gelded...........!!!!  HUH?  Words have meaning, and to me a jack is intact and a john is a gelding, if you want to get technical.  Most of us just call them geldings.  Same with jennies, they are technically jennets, but who calls them that?  Not many people I know.  So I've put out the word.

Just talked to Frijolita's former mom about their other two jennies.  One of them either Chimi or Taco coliced a couple of days ago with sand colic.  The vet said to give them psyllium which is SOP and in fact a lot of people give their equine phyllium on a regular basis to prevent colic. But the girl's have made a judgement call on psyllium, they "ain't" eating it.  Ellen called to see if I had any ideas.  Not really, the few times I've used it, the donkeys didn't have a problems scarfing it down and looking for more.  We also discussed, it might be time to start looking for a home for the girls.  Chimi is about 30 and came to them pregnant, Taco is about 27 and has never be off the property.  Ellen and Charlie both have health problems.  Frijolita originally came out here because Margarita coliced and died.  She was odd man out with her friend gone, the other two wouldn't let her in to the inner circle.  She's been here probably 6 or 7 years and has bonded with Daisy, which is one reason we haven't tried to find her a new home.  She is very adoptable, but Daisy isn't because of having Cushings.  Besides if we need a gate opened she's our "go to" donkey.......!!! Ha!  I would imagine eventually the girls will end up out here.  Sure would be nice to get our numbers down before then. 

TOMBSTONE ANNUAL DONKEY/BURRO RESCUE WALK

The video they are sending out to news/information organizations is now available.  It turned out really nice I think. 

 TAKE A LOOK

I HATE WEEVILS..........!!!

What an interesting name, it suits them.  You kinda have to purse your mouth to say the name and can continue to purse as you wrinkle your nose at the thought of the little beasties.....!!!  LOL

I am not as grossed out as a lot of people are about them.  In West Texas in the 50's before everyone had a freezer to stick flour in to kill the little critters, it was common place to have them in any and all flour products that came in the house.  That's what they made flour sifters for, to sift the little monsters out of the flour so you could use it.  Done it many times, had a head start in Saudi Arabia when we lived there on a lot of the wives.  The flour products downtown reminded me of the 50's in West Texas. only more so.  When there is more weevils than flour, even I will admit defeat though.  A lot of the wives saw one or two, and developed a case of the vapors immediately.  They were some of the same ones that soaked their raw eggs in bleach water and wondered by the yolks were green.   Egg shells are porous, guess they didn't know that.........!!!! LOL

We've been buying rolled oats for the guys that don't have enough teeth to do the job.  Tried crimped oats and they just passed straight thru, which is why we weren't getting whole oats.  I noticed the other day there were weevils in the container that was just about empty.  YUCK...!!!  John bought a new bag this week and guess what..........????  It came with a healthy eco-system.  I know they won't hurt the donkeys, but it just gross to have them in the oats.  I've heard of people mixing 2% diatomaceous food grade earth in with feed to keep the weevils at bay.  Went on line and ordered some.  In the meantime I guess I'll just close my eyes, when dipping out oats for the kids.  

The couple that came out to see if they wanted the mules called this morning.  She liked Jack, he liked Molly, didn't like Jack at all because he looks too horsey.  They also were too big, although they are well within the mini measurement of 36 inches at the withers.  And  they didn't want to fight the battle of the mesquite beans.  Boy, I can certainly agree with that!  As for the other "problems" I told her that was just fine, that we want a home for them where they are both appreciated for what they are.   It's hard enough to get John to agree to adopt any of them out, so we aren't trying to get rid of them.  John would be perfectly happy if none of them ever left. 

JOHN HAS OUTSMARTED JACK, FOR THE TIME BEING

 New Forest, England............  "Can we help you?  Do you have treats?"

At least the little brat hasn't gotten out since the last time....!!! LOL  What gets me is he isn't over there trying to figure out how to get out again or anything.  It's like, no big deal, but it sure was for the couple of days he was going thru the fence at warped speed. 

I guess we're getting desperate about the mesquite bean problem.  John asked the guy we got Reba from if he knew anyone that had some cows to loan out.  Just what we need someone's cows to worry about.  I doubt that anyone would be interested in moving cattle around just because we need them to eat beans.  Wednesday at evening feeding time we heard cows west of us on the road.  I took the golf cart out to see what was going on.  I found cows wandering around, ignoring the abundance of mesquite beans EVERYWHERE down both sides of the roads.  Why would they bother to go on our property to eats beans, when they would have to walk over beans to get there.......!!! 

Then John came up with a brilliant thought..........there are at least 4 range bulls out there wandering around and at times fighting.  What if we had cows in Burroland and the bulls decided they wanted to entertain the new girls?  I would imagine most cows this time of year are already pregnant, but if not, I'm sure our fences wouldn't even slow them down if they had a reason.  Then we could not only have to go find them, but try to figure out which cows were range cattle and which ones weren't.  I think we'll forget about borrowing cows, it could definitely get complicated in a hurry.  

Our only chance now will probably be when all the weeds and grasses are no longer available for them to eat, and they will hopefully be more interested in beans.  The ranch has a spring-like area that stays flooded most of the summer, whether we get rain or not.  Can't see it from our place, but would imagine it is a rather tasty lush grassy meadow. 

WANNA FEEL STUPID, TRADE BRAIN POWER WITH A MULE........!!

 This is just "SO" not right......!!!

At least I wasn't involved............but John was.......!!!!  

Yesterday John went out at 2pm to start feeding, so we could go to the races.  Found everyone but Jack the mini mule.  That's unusual, he is almost always within eye sight of Molly whether she wants him there or not.  We went ahead and fed everyone, still no Jack.  I went out and walked the 10 acres, then John walked the 10 acres and I went again.  Call us slow, but we decided he wasn't on the 10 acres.  I walked the perimeter and then went out on the roads in the golf cart.  John chose to go over on Burroland to look.  He had heard the neighbor's dogs barking and thought he might be over there.  

I finally came back and there was Jack in the pen with Molly, obviously John had found him.  Sure enough he was over running the neighbor's dogs along the fence.  John used his belt around Jack's neck to drag him home.  Of course all this made us late to the track.  I had a friend draw for my starting position in the heat race.  I started outside pole, that's probably a much better draw than I would have done.  She drew terrible for her husband, he had to start all the way in the back of his race.  

I finished 2nd in the heat race and 4th, again, in the main event.  I actually had a 12 year old Birthday boy ride with me as part of his birthday celebration.  He had a great time, I took his brother for his birthday a few months ago.  There are 3 more kids in the family, guess they'll all go before it's over. 

Got home late, went to bed got up this morning.  John went out, came back in & said he needed help to get Jack back on the 10 acres, he was over in Burroland.  It wouldn't have been such a big surprise, but John had fixed where he "thought" Jack had gone thru the fence about 2am this morning.  Obviously not..........!!  

We got chores done and I let everyone out.  A few minutes later John came in and said he needed help to get Jack out of Burroland............again.........but this time he had shown John where he was getting thru the fence, and it wasn't where John thought it was.  By this time Jack had decided we were messing up his lifestyle and became a little evasive.  That means taking off like a startled deer.  John was guarding the gate, so I was doing the hazing, or trying to.   I wasn't keeping up too well, but I stayed close enough Jack knew I was still there.  Once he decided I wasn't going away, he leisurely walked to the gate.  

John tells me he fixed it, but has not guaranteed Jack can't get out again.  Guess we'll find out when we do chores later. 

POWER STEERING IS THE ANSWER TO THE WORLD'S PROBLEMS......!!!

At least I think so.  The races last night were the most fun I've had in a long time.  I've never driven with power steering, so didn't know what I was missing.  Usually after the races I'm wore out, but that wasn't the case and I know it was the power steering.  YIPPEE.....!!!!   I won my heat race and finished 4th in the main event, the only thing that would have made me happier was to have won the main.  I was up there trying, but there's just too much motor in some of the other cars, although I was hoping they might run over each other.....!!!    I know that's not very sportsmanlike, but a win is a win and I'll take it anyway I can get it.....!!!!  LOL  Over the winter John and some of the guys are going to lock up the differential, which according to those that have them, really makes a difference.  We're racing tonight again because of Labor Day, hopefully it will be as much fun as last night was. 

Of course when we go to the races the donkeys get fed early, we start at 2pm as opposed to 6pm.  We don't get home until sometime after 1am, so they get to spend a lot of time in their pens with nothing to do.  When I get out to open the driveway gate, it sounds like a chorus, if you enjoy a donkey serenade, although I'm sure they aren't "singing" because they know we like to hear them.   Of course right now they are confined to the 10 acres, which adds insult to injury in their minds.  So far the cattle haven't gone into Burroland.  We haven't even heard any cows lately, don't know if they've been moved or what.  I asked John what we were going to do if the cattle don't eat the beans.  He said something about having a "bean raking" party with all our friends.............Hmmmmm.......I would imagine we wouldn't have any friends if we wanted them to rake 20 acres of beans....!!!  I really don't know what we'll do, we've heard they won't eat them after the beans have laid on the ground for awhile, but I'm not sure I want to rely on that information.  

The people are on their way to see if they want to add the mini mules to their herd.  I rather torn about letting them go, if the people want them.  They really are cute little devils with busy little minds, lots of fun to watch.  But a good family home trumps being in rescue/sanctuary any day, lots more one on one time, especially if they would be trained to drive.