Brrrrrr

This is what effective begging looks like.  I think it's Justin, but can't be sure....LOL

I'm sorry to be such a whiny wimp, but 16 degrees this morning is just the latest in a long line of early morning surprises....!!!  It is nice and sunny this afternoon, and looks lovely, BUT, I'm inside.  I have stuck my head out a couple of times, and looks can be deceiving, so I think I'll just stay in here.

John as usual is out and about.  Tony and Mike, came out from Tucson today to work some more on the shelters.  They've really been a lot of help with doing some of the work that gets forgotten in the daily routine of crisis management.  Right now John is busy cutting wood, which we use to heat with and building race cars to get ready for the new season which starts the 5th of February.  Between those 2 "jobs" and trying to keep all the water pipes and hoses from freezing, not much building or remodeling would get done until spring, if it wasn't for the guys coming out.  Jenny is working today and I guess they got bored.   

Yesterday John did put an engine hoist together.  He has to exchange the engines out of two Kias, which was going to be a lot of fun with just his tractor.  His hoist is in at our son's in Tucson, and probably would never make it back home anyway, so he might as well get another one.  I'm sure he'll need it in the future.  

We've been a little worried about Penny, because of the cold.  John noticed she was shivering a few mornings ago, when he was putting everyone in their pens.  She's had a broken jaw and probably was born with something like spinal bifida.  She has a hunched back and her hind legs aren't right, although she gets around just fine.  But for some reason the cold seems to be bothering her more than the others.  

Penny and her best friend, Coquette

Over the years we have had others, generally older ones that needed a blanket when it got cold.  The problem we have is, if we put a horse blanket on one, they have to stay in the pens, because of the brush and mesquite trees we have.  I'm sorry to say these donkeys are so use to being loose on the property if we make them stay in the pens, it's like we are torturing them, for no reason.

John has been putting a microfiber blanket on her in the morning when she comes in the pen for breakfast and leaves it on until she goes out.  We tried putting the blanket on overnight one night.  Took John quite awhile to find it the next morning, who knew they roamed so far at night.  It was all the way over by the north fence line in Burroland.  That morning when she came in, we put another blanket on her and Saddik the dog promptly grabbed it and hauled it under Doug's RV.  That's where we know to look for things like missing gloves, towels or anything else that looks "interesting".  

We were surprised he got it off her, she hates him with a passion.  One afternoon when it finally warmed up enough so I ventured out Penny was as usual begging for cookies.  She doesn't like people, but she will put up with us as a necessary evil, for treats.  We make sure she gets more than the others, she probably hasn't had a lot of goodies in her life.  

Most of them love the fruity Tums.  The only time they get them is when I bring the bottle out of the feed room and sit on the porch.  For some reason she was by herself, usually Coquette is glued to her side.  So I got the bottle and, sat down and we had a love fest.  Well maybe I did, she was just in it for the Tums.  So here comes Saddik, he's still enough of a puppy to lumber into just about anything without thinking of the consequences.  As I said she doesn't like him, but she wasn't about to run off.  He's bound and determined to see what she is getting and she was bound and determined he wasn't.  What gets me is he's been here long enough to read donkey body language.  She started out, ears in "not happy" position.  Then she went to hind legs just rising in place a couple of inches.  No reaction.  Then she started getting into position to send him somewhere he probably wouldn't want to go.  That's when I got up, and put the Tums back in the feed room.  I would imagine he did a fly-by, grabbed the blanket before she could react and never slowed down, because if he had been there for any amount of time, she would have nailed him, if she could.  

So between the brush and trees, and the dog, she's not going to be able to be blanketed at night, unfortunately.  I am making sure she has all the mush she will eat.  I'd like her to have a little more meat on her bones, but she will only eat, what her body needs I guess.  And with her back and legs she doesn't need to carry more weight than necessary.  Sure hope it warms up soon.........!!!!

TIS THE SEASON

Well Christmas has finally gotten here after months of advertising.  I don't recognize the Christmas of my childhood, and the circus it has become.  I guess I've become a Scrooge, but I doubt that the children today get the thrill children of an earlier era had when they got to see a department store Santa.  There weren't that many, I lived close to a big city, and he only hung out at Sears and Roebuck and Montgomery Wards.  So getting to see him and tell him what you wanted for Christmas was very exciting.   One year while I was waiting in line to talk to him, Mrs Claus came up and asked me my name.  When it was my turn to go up, Santa called me by name.  To say I was enthralled at the idea that Santa knew my name is an understatement.  I don't know if Santa was wired or Mrs. Claus wrote it down, but it's still a wonderful memory, many years later. 

I remember going to midnight Mass with friends, although I am not Catholic and appreciating the grandeur celebration of  the birth of Christ.   I'm not a religious person, but that doesn't stop me from respecting beliefs of others.  I am sad to hear and see so many differences of opinion on what is or shouldn't be Christmas.  I guess it's that old Libertarian thought process, why does the beliefs of others have to even be discussed or destroyed by anyone?  I would have no problem with a pagan ritual on one side of me and all the pomp and circumstance of hundreds of years of religious ritual on the other.  

We're not doing anything special, John has had it easy all these years, I've always been of the contention, that giving presents because of a holiday isn't necessary.  It seems so many families are broken, and either expects presents to show caring, or give presents  to show caring.  And you hear of so many family fights during the holidays, for whatever reason, generational differences, politics, expectations not met, lack of respect for individual ideas.  A lot of families aren't as close as they once were, and to come together for the holidays and be one big happy family, when you barely know each other, is a lot of ask.  

We have a tour Christmas morning.  The woman said they were coming to Benson, just to see the donkeys.  It's always nice to have people that appreciate the donkeys and how special they are, come for a visit.  A lot of people come out to visit, that haven't been around donkeys and probably haven't ever thought much about them, it's just something to do.  I hope when they leave they have a better understanding of donkeys and their place in the world.  Many times people have said, they didn't know there are donkey rescues or a need for them.  That's the people we like to see, because they will probably talk to other people if they had a good experience, which helps spread the word.  

Right now everyone seems to be doing really good.  Gus has a vertical split in one of his front feet, so Courtney had to take his foot cast off.  We were afraid his foot might go "wonky" (that's a technical term) without the extra support, but it's been almost a week and he is walking really well.  Also good news,  the split isn't as deep as it looked in the photo.  

As soon as the holidays are over, I'll be getting in touch with Renee at Colorful Equine to order my annual spring fly mask order.  I just sent off my annual order for fly predator wasps from Spalding Labs, so I guess spring must not be too far away.   Right now John is out cutting more firewood, because the next few days are suppose to be really cold, so it's not spring yet.

Would you believe two days ago, Saddik the dog found a long nose snake out and about?  Who would

think a snake would be out when the days are only getting in the 60's, if that, and the nights are really chilly.  He wrapped around a greasewood bush trying to get away from Saddik.  John said he was striking and shaking his tail, of course they aren't poisonous, so that's about all they can do.  I asked John if he picked him up and he said no, he used the snake catcher, because the snake was so mad and striking at everything that moved.  John put him in the hay barn, have no idea where he's been staying.  Couldn't put him in the well house, as far as we know the rattlesnake is still in there, that probably would not end well............LOL 

Merry Christmas to everyone...!!

I HOPE SANTA BRINGS WARM WEATHER.....!!!

Really getting tired of cold weather.  Nights in the teens and days in the 50's...........not good...........LOL

So far this week John and I have been gone every single day.  Nothing really exciting, just things that needed to be done in town.  Yesterday we helped Santa by taking the great grand-kids goodies into Tucson for Christmas morning high excitement.  Last year they got Strider bikes, which have no pedals.  They have to balance and steer and use their feet to push off.  This year they are getting "real" bikes with pedals.  They also come with training wheels, which our grandson is going to take off, that's the beauty of the Striders.  The boys should already have that balance thing figured out and not need the training wheels.  

We also went back to where we delivered Ruger and Wister to give them their rabies shots.  The woman was tied up in the house when we got there, so we went out to where the boys were.  There are pole fences around some of the trees and Wister was inside the fence.  When he saw us coming he put his head down, scrunched his body down and out he went.  Unfortunately the poles are set at horse, not donkey height.........LOL  

THEY OBVIOUSLY THOUGHT WE WERE BRINGING COOKIES............SURPRISE....!

It looks like they are in a pen, but they really aren't.  They are standing in their turn-out, but the end gate is open, so they can roam all over the place............like where the mesquite trees are suppose to be in protective custody. I should have gotten a picture of the barn, it's really a nice one.  I noticed Ruger had figured out how to go in and out of the barn with no problem.  

The fencing is suppose to be put up in January at their foster home, and they will go back there and be permanently adopted.  There will be a strand of barbed wire 6 inches above the no climb fence, to discourage fence leaning by the boys.  

Julius, the outdoor cat has been coming in more and more.  He likes to come in mornings and clean up the canned cat food, the other 4 have for breakfast and then he lays in the sun, or gets in Snooky's doughnut bed, much to Snooky's disgust.  So far he usually goes back out in a couple of hours, but he has stayed in all night once and all day once.  I don't know if he is getting out of the cold, or if he is trying to figure out if he wants to give up his independence.  He's actually a full brother to Snooky and a half brother to Sunny.  

The donkeys are all doing good, enjoying a little extra hay because of the cold.  I've tried upping the amount of hay pellet and beet pulp mush, and some of them are leaving a little bit of it.  That's good to know, we were wondering if they needed more than we were feeding them.  Obviously not, or at least we're pretty close on what we're feeding.  As long as they don't start gaining weight, we'll probably continue feeding extra.  

HUMANS WON THE BATTLE...........SO FAR.......!!

This is Ruthie on the right, Wister and Ruger, working  people for treats

Well, not without a few changes in their routine at least for a few weeks.   Yesterday was cold, windy and rainy here.  We were lucky, some of the area got snow, so I'm not complaining.........but moving donkeys around in that type of weather isn't fun for us or them.  Donkeys really hate to be messed with if they are wet.  We drove in the driveway and they come running across the pasture to greet us.  I think they were actually excited to see if there was anyone in the trailer..........LOL  

Sarah was there and had been to 3 different feed stores to buy rabies vaccine.  The woman where the boys will be staying insisted on them being vaccinated for rabies.  But the feed store didn't sell rabies, although they do sell other types of vaccines.  I thought it might be a county thing, I've always bought my vaccines thru Valley Vet and haven't bought rabies for years, actually since Buddy Brat had a reaction, which scared the devil out of us.  When we came home I went by my feed store and sure enough, I guess feed stores can't sell rabies, even though you can buy it from catalog or on-line stores.  So I went to my vet and got them.  We actually called a vet clinic while in Tucson to see if we could buy the vaccines from them, but they required a $70 exam and they would give the shot.  SIGH...!

I'll be going in again this week sometime to "shoot" the two little trouble causers...... Actually "Santa" has to take a couple of bikes and train set into, Tucson so his "helpers" can make sure Christmas morning is a good one.  Santa was going to bring an outdoor playground, but we decided that would be a good spring project and the boys could help put it up.  Santa couldn't figure out the logistics of installing it in the back yard without getting caught and he certainly wasn't interested in doing it in the dark, after 2 little boys went to sleep..........LOL

Ruger and Wister are staying in 5 star "digs".  They have a real nice stall and turn-out and also a paddock with lots of room to run and play.  They weren't too impressed with the stall, which is inside a barn, which was another negotiating subject.  In fact Ruger was so unimpressed he wouldn't go in at all, and had to be brought in from the gate at the end of the turn-out. He still hadn't gone in when we left, although Wister had went in and out a few times.  The raised door jam was a stumbling block, literally, I'm sure they will figure it all out.  Her mare was acting like an idiot, running and blowing and staring and glaring.  Her gelding just looked at them like no big deal.  

John and Larry got to Belen to pick up the car, drove almost 800 miles and managed to get home before bedtime.  Didn't have any problems as they got farther north in New Mexico, he said there was snow on the ground, but the roads were clear.  

I think this car will be the last thing I buy sight unseen.  I told the guy what I would pay based on the picture, and actually it was quite a bit less than he was asking.  He agreed, and off the guys went to get it.  

It will be just fine as a race car, but he could have never sold it as a street car.  It's covered with frost in the picture, 24 degrees will do that you know.........LOL  But the rear window is not there, the bumper cover is torn and it hasn't even been raced yet.  The transmission won't engage, John thinks it might just be undone.  Not the right word, but it's too early for my brain to come up with anything else.  John said the motor sounds good, so now we have 3 motors and 2 transmissions, if this one does work.  Hopefully that will be enough to get me thru a season........!!!  

John's got a few more little things to do on the asphalt Dodge Neon and it will be completely done, except for the graphics.  Then he will start on this one.  

I'm not sure how running 2 cars at 2 different tracks is going to work out.  I know one thing John will probably be sorry he came up with this idea, before it's over.  All the work will be on him.  I would have been perfectly happy to just go back to the dirt, but we already had the Neon for the asphalt track.  I tried to get him to race it, but he is sticking to his "retired" guns, no more racing for him. 

FOR THOSE THAT THINK THEY ARE SMARTER THAN A DONKEY.......!!

PEPSI AND HIS GIRLFRIEND LYNN

 

 

I got a call this morning from Sarah, her family has been fostering Ruger and Wister for a few months, to see if they want to adopt them permanently.  Permanence depended on how they got along with the new goats and how they fit into the family.  

The goats came and everyone is getting along fine.  BUT, last week the neighbors harvested their pecans with a shaker.  The shaker shakes the pecans out of the tree, and also shakes the leaves off the trees.  The leaves blew over next to the fence.  I guess the boys started out leaning over the fence to get to the tasty leaves.  Pretty soon the fence started suffering from this abuse.  Next thing the boys are over the fence, not once but on a regular basis.  She said yesterday it was down low enough she could walk over it.  They have plans on having a new fence put in, but not until in January.  She said she had been crying all morning, because they have become so attached to the boys.  She also said the neighborhood loves them, cars stop and one girl that lives in the neighborhood comes twice a week to groom them before school.  A good home like this is worth fighting for, so I offered for us to take the little travelers until they got the new fence in, which she agreed to.  She also had another idea which I like even better.  The woman that takes care of their 2 little girls, lives with her parents about 3 miles away.   They have 2 horses and a nice pasture area and are willing to let the boys stay there until the fence is finished.  

So we will probably be transporting the boys Monday.  I also suggested running either barbed wire or an electric fence along the top of their new fence.  I don't like electric because it can kill birds, and I hate to accidentally get shocked more than anyone else in the world.  But a lot of people don't like barbed wire either. Our perimeter fence is barbed wire and we've only had one scratched nose in all the years we've had donkeys.  And that includes them sticking their heads thru the fence to get to whatever goodies are on the other side.  We actually find quite a few of the fly masks stuck on the wire, fly masks don't seem to make the trip thru the fence as well as their heads do.  

The reason we can't do it this week-end is, today John is going into our son's in Tucson to work on a friend's motor for his race car.  Tomorrow John and Larry, the friend are driving to Belen, New Mexico to pick up a KIA SEPHIA to make into my dirt car for this year.  So as usual our plates, or at least John's plate is over full.  SIGH..........  We didn't want to let this car go, since we've been looking for one for weeks. 

The Dodge Neon to run on the asphalt track is finished.  John and Larry spent 2 days last week, welding on the roll cage.  Road racing roll cages aren't exactly like circle track cages.  If they wreck, they usually wreck differently, so the strength is in different areas.  They got it all ready to go, so all that's left, we hope, is to get the graphics on.  In the old days I made them with patterns cut out of brown paper bags.  But that's not good enough anymore I guess..........LOL  

I had to take a picture when John pulled in

TIRED OF WINTER ALREADY........!!!

LITTLE CHEYENNE HIDING IN THE CHOLLA

I know I'm sitting in Arizona being whiny, but why do the nights have to be so COLD?  It doesn't build incentive to get out of bed in the morning, that's for sure.  I even catch John turning the mattress heater on his side on, in the early morning hours.  He turns it down on low, but he gets too comfy and oversleeps.  I'll wake up and there are cats sitting and staring at him, like that will wake him up.  LOL So I wake him up, much to their delight.  

Julius the outdoor cat is becoming very "I really like being inside and eating canned food".  He comes in every morning, plays with the others, cleans up their canned food, plops himself down in Snooky's round high sided warm bed in the sun for awhile and then wants out again.  So he hasn't given up his freedom, but he is enjoying the indoor comforts.  Snooky gets the funniest look on his face, as he sits by his "personal" bed watching Julius sleep.  Julius has one of the Burger Cat Beds on the back porch and he stays in it quite a bit too.

We took Jake back to his home a few days ago.  He had been here because we weren't sure how he would act towards the 3 new little babies Jim and Bobbie had, since he had been a herd jack until last spring.  Jim said he moved right back like he had never left and seems to be very mellow with the 3 little monsters.  I guess they are very busy running and jumping around.  They've got plenty of room to run and get plenty of exercise and all seem to be very healthy.  I ran my hands all over them, picked up feet and they didn't mind at all.  I guess Jake always turned the wheelbarrows over.  We don't have any wheelbarrows, but Jim said he started turning them over right on schedule the next morning.

 Here is eight of the herd of eleven, look at all that room to run.....!!

 Here is John with Shadow and Rowdy, two of the little "darlings".

Over in the NEW STUFF links on the right is a video on teeth and dental that is really interested.  If you get a chance check it out.  

YIPPEE.......!!! I CAN MAKE PICTURES AGAIN.......!!!

I don't think it's a permanent fix, but one of the Blogspot guys, figured out a go around.

This is what my kitchen looks like this morning.  If we had been smart when we built the house, we would have not went for beauty and went for permanency.  We had lovely wooden windows with aluminum clad on the outside.  Over the years what little rain we got, started getting between the clad and the wood.  We now have window frames than have either rotted or dry rotted.  Not sure what the difference is, but do know you end up with gaping holes where wood should be.  

So there is a crew here today, replacing the worst ones on the south side of the kitchen and great room.  I'm sure they will be lovely when they are done, and it's suppose to be done by tonight, but in the meantime, the disruption drives me crazy.  I know, short drive.............LOL  I have a friend that is having major remodeling done to her house and she has my admiration.  There is no way I would survive that..............LOL  

This is the longest we've ever lived anywhere.  Being in the Air Force for over 20 years, we moved every 2-4 years, so remodeling and replacing wasn't much of a problem.  But if you live in the same house for years, I guess normal wear and tear catches up with you.

My new cook stove is also causing consternation.  Got it a few months ago and have noticed the oven would make booming noises like it was getting too much gas.  I kept complaining and John seemed to think I was being whiny.  Until he was watching TV and I was baking a pie.  It had blown the oven door open before, but he didn't take my word for it.  This time he did..........LOL  Just got a call from the stove guy and the factory says this has been a problem and the igniter needs to be replaced.  I'm surprised they haven't done a recall, because believe me you need nerves of steel to stay in the kitchen area, when that thing blew..........LOL

The donkeys of course aren't happy today, they are staying in the pens.  They are entirely too nosy, and helpful when workers are here.  We would let them out if they went on about their business, but that isn't their M.O.

Here is a cute picture Doug took of Boaz.  Boaz has learned how to beg effectively and this look is what gets the goodies flowing in his direction.

WORKS EVERY TIME.......!!

THE EXPERTS ARE ON THE PROBLEM

I went to my blog server and voiced my disapproval of not being able to download my pictures, without Google's nose in my business.  Seems like I'm not the only one, quite a few people jumped onto my message, and now the Forum moderator has asked us all for some information to try to figure out what is going on.  So we'll see, seems like it would be easier to go to Google and ask them what they are doing, but maybe I don't see the "big" picture.

It was 17 degrees here this morning, Doug's water is frozen until later in the day.  Of course all the water buckets have to have ice broken and netted out.  At least the heater is still floating in the Rubbermaid tank.  Although everyone has small bucket in their pens, we also have 2 other areas for water and they are both heated, so they have access to open water all the time when they are out of their pens.  

The reason I mentioned the heater floating in the Rubbermaid is a couple of days ago it wasn't.  It was sitting on top of the insulated box around all the faucets that go to the feed room, pens, etc.  None of us know how it got there, someone had to grab hold of it floating in the water, and hang onto it long enough to drag it out, when the electrical wire probably stopped it from going any further.  Over the years it's never been a problem before with the donkeys.  But, Saddik the new dog was not here before.........so he's getting the blame, unless we catch one of the donkeys dragging it out.  

Although they don't enjoy the cold weather, I'm pretty sure they are all enjoying, no fly masks, no polo wraps or socks on their legs and no doctoring.  I'm going out this morning and gathering up all the fly masks to decide which ones are salvageable which ones to throw away.  I think quite a few of them are still good, but I'll still have to get in touch with Colorful Equine to order a supply to start out next spring. 

We'll be taking Jake home to his herd Friday.  The little ones are big enough to take care of themselves and the other jenny hasn't had a baby, so we'll give it a try.  If she does have a baby, we could always go back and bring Jake back here, if we thought it was necessary.  He's really a nice donkey, gorgeous and very sweet and mellow.  I'm sure he will be glad to get home to his family.  The 8 donkeys adopted together by one couple, were a active herd, Jake was the herd jack, 5 jennies and 2 weanling jacks.  It's not often a little herd like that would get to stay together, so this is a special situation.  They now have 3 more little jacks to have gelded in the spring.  It would have been cheaper if Jake had thrown jennies instead of jacks........LOL  One of the jennies got her neck trapped in the fork of a tree this summer, probably broke it and couldn't walk, so had to be euthanized, unfortunately. 

Since we are in a cold snap, John has upped everyone's hay, which they seem to appreciate.  At least they aren't leaving any, like they were during mesquite bean season.  Except for the 3 fatties, Coquette, Rosie and Buddy Brat, the others all look pretty good, so I don't think a little bit of extra hay to help keep them warm, will be a problem.

NO PICTURES TODAY

I'm not sure what is going on with my blog.  For some reason it won't let me download pictures from my computer, which is what I usually do.  Instead it wants me to sign in with Google and download from my on line account................HUH.........????  Didn't know I had one and that isn't what I want to do anyway.......!!!  So I'll just press on and hopefully I'll be able to figure out what is going on.  

After the Great Garage Caper, John did find some damage.  One of his racing posters disappeared except for the 4 thumbtacks at each corner and a little bit of the poster that was under the thumbtacks.  Who to blame, who to blame..............Rosie was there and she is our alternative eater of wood a paper.  What's really funny is she didn't leave a scrap, she at the WHOLE thing, about 2' x 3'......!!! LOL  

Actually weight wise everyone is doing pretty good right now.  Most of their mesquite bean access has disappeared, and the only ones still obese are the usual, the a fore named Rosie, Coquette and Buddy Brat.  I am going to continue trying to get weight off those 3, but I think it is a lost cause, unless I starved them, which I won't do.  It also would be dangerous because of hyperlipidemia, where the liver releases fat into the blood stream and basically suffocates them.  

Thursday we will take Penny and Daisy to have their teeth done.  Penny is going for a follow up appointment and Daisy has been quidding a little bit.  She's about 30 years old more or less and hasn't been checked for a few years.  We're trying to decide whether to take Coquette with us or not.  She is permanently attached to Penny as her BFF...... to the point of being absolutely skitzo if Penny gets out of her sight.  I can imagine what she would be like, if we put Penny in a trailer and hauled her out the gate.  John's afraid she will stress too much.  We've actually taken Penny a couple of times and Coquette was OK when we got home, so I don't see it as a problem.  We'll see how it plays out I guess.  

We are also getting ready to take Jake back to his home.  He's the young BLM ex-jack that had been a herd boss, until last spring, when he was captured, gelded and actually adopted by a couple along with his whole family of 5 jennies and 2 weanling jacks.  Of course the girls were PG and we were afraid the babies would get hurt if Jake had not forgotten his JOB...........!!!!  So he's been here about 2 months, while the 3 new little jacks, get a little bigger and stronger.  Jim says the 3 little ones, usually hang out as their own little herd, and not as attached to their mommas, as they would be if they were by themselves with just momma to play with.  Jim says the mommas don't even care if they wander off.  Jake actually isn't real hormonal, at least not as much as Pancho.  Pancho becomes a little tiger when the girls cycle.  Sometimes he and Boaz will spar a little, so far Jake just watches the show.  He's really a nice, well behaved young man.  We had waited for awhile because there is still one jenny that hasn't had a baby, but she isn't acting like she's going to.  I'm sure if she is PG, as soon as we haul Jake home she'll have her baby........LOL

BAD BAD KIDS

This is what happens when John left the garage door open this afternoon to come down and watch some of the last NASCAR race of the season.  Don't know how long they had access, but they had dragged a box of car parts down and had eaten a lot of the cardboard, didn't hurt the car parts, thank goodness, or John would have probably been very unhappy.......!!!   LOL

For some reason I'm not getting the sound for the video.  There is sound where I downloaded it to my computer, so not sure what is going on.  If you hear sound, let me know..........LOL

He had my car out to start painting on it, this afternoon was nice and sunny, perfect painting weather, with no wind.

Of course like most things around here, he had help...!!

YIKES IT'S AMOST THANKSGIVING, CHRISTMAS IS JUST AROUND THE CORNER..!

Holidays have become so commercialized, I almost dread them anymore.  I was in Walmart the other day and they already look like Christmas is NOW.   Even had a decorative sign saying only 30 some days until Christmas.  Guess I'm getting old.........!!!   LOL  

And poor Thanksgiving gets stuck between adults dressed up for Halloween and the Blitz of Christmas shopping.  Do people still make homemade costumes anymore?  I don't even think they had store bought costumes when I was a kid.  If they did, I never saw one.  

As for Thanksgiving, John has given me a pass, again, this year.  We will go out to eat, but I have promised him I'll cook a breast, so he can have sandwiches.  I think he likes that more than the original meal anyway, as long as there is lots of cranberry sauce, lettuce, onion and mayo.  

I am still checking Rosie's belly every day, but except for that I'm officially out of the doctoring business.  Her belly still has 3 areas that are scabbed over.  I have thought before she was about healed and the next thing I know those areas get bloody.  Have no idea exactly what it is, it's not down the middle, which is normal for ventral dermititis.  Earlier this summer I heavy dosed her with wormer in case it was neck worms.  But it didn't seem to make a difference.  The homemade salve made with DMSO and Nitrofurazone seems to help, but you have to keep using it past the time you think it's healing.  I guess next spring I am going to start doctoring before anyone has skin problems.

RAINY DAY

Well not exactly rainy, mostly misty and dreary.  I know it's late fall and we should expect "weather", but in the desert we get crabby if the sun doesn't shine.  

But, I didn't have to doctor anyone this morning, so that's good news.  I just wish all the bare legs would grow back hair.  Unfortunately when they have raw, sores year after year, eventually the hair follicles give up the fight, and no more hair grows on their legs.  Quilla is the worst, he had no care on his legs for about 9 years.  So I would imagine every summer they just got worse and worse.

Some of the others have scarring, hopefully we will be able to keep them from getting any worse.  All in all everyone is doing good right now, although they do seem to think we are being rather stingy with the hay.  John is still cutting them short, as long as they don't try to eat the shelters..........well except for Rosie, she eats shelters or anything else wood, just because........!!!

We've had a little visitor in the well house area for a few days.  A few nights ago, John was checking on the water tank by the well house and noticed a rattlesnake curled up between the tank and the well house.  Didn't think much about it, but when he went in the insulated box on the other side of the well house later, he got nudged when the snake tried to move away from him.  Said it was a scary experience.   Ha!  I'm sure it was.

Over the years we've had mice in the well house and I would imagine he is catching mice before going into semi-hibernation for the winter.  We've seen him, in the well house, stretched out, warming up, in the box and beside the tank.  It's driving Doug crazy, he's the type that says, the only good snake is a dead snake, so the idea of not killing it, is rather foreign to him.  He's really keeping his eyes open when outside though.....!!!  So is John........!!!   HA!

Haven't said much about racing since my car got wrecked.  We had a replacement car the next week, so John has been busy working on it.  It has actually been a road racing car, so it has a roll cage already in it and other racing parts.  But it still takes time to get it ready for the 1st race Feb 5th.

There is still talk bout the dirt track "maybe" having a local race schedule next year.  I couldn't race this car on dirt, so we are looking for another Kia, since we have 2 good motors for a Kia and also the roll cage in the wrecked one, could be taken out and put in a new car.  They aren't that easy to find, at least cheap ones.  We need to find one that has a bad motor, the people just want to get rid of. 

If the track does race, they will race on the week-ends the asphalt track doesn't, in other words every other week.  John seems to think I will need to race at both tracks, so I'd be racing EVERY week.  And John would be crew chief and fixing boo boos.  I don't know why I have to keep racing at the asphalt track, if I have a dirt track to race on.  I'm not sure such a schedule wouldn't kill both of us.....!!  It takes us until Wed to recuperate from racing on Sat. night as it is. 

ALMOST AN ARTIFICIAL HOOF

Courtney was here a couple of nights ago to rebuild these nasty feet.  The bottom 1/3 of his hoofs were crumbly the first time Courtney used the the casting material a few months ago.  She has been using an epoxy type 2 stage material for quite some time to build him a sole.  His coffin bone is demineralized, so there is less than half of the bone there.  To say there isn't much stability in his feet is an understatement.  The "fake" sole really made a difference in his ability to move around comfortably

When she came out during the monsoon, the wet weather had probably caused the bottom 1/3 of the hoof to basically fall apart.  With no strong coffin bone, he had nothing to walk on.  So she said let's try using cast material to build him a foot.  

With one thing and another, she didn't get back out for almost 3 months.  She was surprised it was still on his feet, she said it only stays on horses about 3-4 weeks.  She wanted us to take it off the night before, so his feet would have a chance to dry out.  John tried every type of cutting tool he had and nothing would cut thru that material, that was wet, and flexible when she put it on.  Once it hardened it wasn't going anywhere.  Courtney came out the next day and she even had a hard time getting them off.  His feet were damp and smelly, not to mention he had about a 1/4in gap on one foot where the white line should be.  

We decided to leave him barefooted and see how he did.  John has been cleaning his feet a couple of times a day.  That gap was filling up with rocks and whatever else would fit in there.  

He'd actually been walking pretty good, but a week or so ago, he started hanging out in his pen or by the dog pen in the soft sand.  He was still walking decently, but obviously wasn't quite as comfortable as he had been.  

When Courtney came out to evaluate and decide what to do this week, she was absolutely thrilled with his feet.  She said he has more sole than he has ever had and the new hoof coming in from the coronet is tight, not crumbly.  She also told me when she was out the last time, that she was afraid we were coming down to the end.

So she decided to put another epoxy sole and strengthen the hoof with the cast material to hopefully continue to grow out good hoof.  It takes about a year to grow a hoof, so we'll see what happens.   

 

I'M IMPRESSED.......!!!

Those of you that know me personally, probably already know, it doesn't take a whole lot to amuse me. I have been blessed with curiosity, (thank you Daddy) and usually try to figure out a better way to do something......especially if it's something wasteful and/or messy.

The vet salve made with nitrofurazone and DMSO is messy.  If you scoop it up with a gauze pad, you usually get more than you want, "ie" wasteful and and more than you want usually ends up messy.  So I got the brilliant idea of putting it in a 60cc syringe with an end cap.

I'm so impressed with my "fix" I have to share it.  I can envision all sorts of salves than could probably be dispensed this way, as long as they are "runny".  There is one small problem.......getting the salve into the syringe.  This picture shows the 2 instruments I'm using.  The spoon is a tad too wide and the plastic knife is a tad too narrow, which is why I'm on a hunt for a tongue depresser.  Ellie in Florida said they have them at WalMart, 25 to a package.  Nice to know, but it would take me a LONG time to use that many, since I'm not a "use once and throw away" type of gal, goes back to that wasteful thing.  John has been to the doctor recently and I forgot to tell him to ask for one.  It was his primary care physician, which might actually have one.  Most of the specialists probably wouldn't unless it had something to do with their specialty.  His next appointment is with his gastrointerologist.  I know that isn't spelled right, but my spell checker isn't any help.....!!  Probably won't have one, but I'll send John with the request anyway. 

I'm down to only doctoring Rosie and Quilla, still checking the others each morning, but so far they are doing great.....!!!   

John is almost back to normal, except he doesn't like to kneel on that knee.  Yesterday he was working on my race car for next year.  One thing that has to happen is the key start has to be disabled, so we can start it with a button.  The wiring is inside the dashboard.  At his mature age he doesn't bend as well as he use to and in order to get underneath the dash, he had to take the steering wheel off and take the seat out.  Even then he said he got under there and almost couldn't get out.  It took a lot of squirming and using the roll cage to pull enough to get out.  I guess I'd have found him at feeding time, but by that time, he probably wouldn't have been very happy.   He did get the wiring out and the button installed, which is a good thing.  If he hadn't have accomplished his mission, he would have really been unhappy, I would imagine.....!!!  LOL

31 DEGREES THIS MORNING....!!

Not sure what these are, the info said India asses, they look like Kulans a type of Onager.  Onagers can not be tamed and are pretty dangerous to work with.  Peaceful Valley Donkey Rescue has 4 of them, they picked up as strays a few years ago.  Texas has canned hunt ranches, where people that don't want to waste a lot of time, can go and kill an animal of their choice.  The ones at PVDR probably escaped and of course the ranch wasn't going to go looking for them.  They have to be kept in special high pens because they can jump, anyone working with them have to be aware at all times of where they are.  Mark told me about one of the workers leaning on the fence on one side of their pen a few years ago, talking to someone.  This was a smaller pen only about 30 feet square and the Kulans were on the other side watching him.  He was talking, not paying attention and all of a sudden his arm had been bit and he had been kicked.  By the time he reacted, the Kulan was back with the others, watching him.  Mark said they never tame one little bit.  But they sure are a pretty animal.  

Still not having to put on fly masks, which is a good thing.  At the rate they were tearing them up and losing them, where we couldn't find them, we wouldn't have enough masks to last if the weather stayed warm enough to keep the flies happy.  I'll wait until after the holidays to order masks for next year.  I order in the winter, when Colorful Equine probably isn't as busy.

We had a little bit of excitement around here yesterday.  John and Doug were out doing whatever it is guys do and I was on the computer, as usual.  Doug comes in yelling, couldn't tell what he was yelling about, but it seemed important.   I finally understood that John had fell off the ladder and was laying on the ground.  Memories of about 4 years ago, flashed thru my mind, when John fell off a ladder in the courtyard and compound fractured his arm.  Sure enough, got out to the feed room, where they had been trying to run an antenna thru the roof and ceiling, and he's moaning on the ground.  Said it was his leg, so I started poking and prodding, didn't get much reaction thank goodness.  Although he was a little touchy with the muscle and tendon behind the knee.  Then he complained about his ribs.  Poked them a little bit and not much reaction, so we decided to get him up and standing.  That went good, and except for complaining about not being able to take a deep breath, he was good to go, even did chores.

This morning he's still complaining about breathing, had to cough a couple of times and didn't enjoy that.  But the leg is OK except when he turns the ankle.  So I think he's going to be OK.  Now as to what happened.  For quite awhile after the earlier fall, he wouldn't get on a ladder, then he started getting on one and I guess had become a little too complacent.  Doug had been holding the ladder, but John told him to go in the feed room and see if the antenna was coming thru the hole.  While Doug was gone, John over reached the ability of the ladder to stand on uneven ground and down he went.  I think it's a guy thing.......LOL

Had some real nice people out today to visit with the donkeys and do some grooming. Now that it's cooling off, we're starting to have more visitors.  The donkeys really enjoy getting groomed, some of them like Frijolita will yell and scream until someone grooms on her and then when they go on to someone else, she starts yelling again.  I think she got groomed 3 or 4 times.

I'M ALMOST OUT OF THE DOCTORING BUSINESS......!!!

It's amazing what a couple of weeks of nice weather will do for skin problems.  We're still doing doctor patrol every morning before they go out after breakfast, but for the most part I just check the ones that need it and do a little touch up, with my homemade salve.  

When I first started using it, I was going thru a lot of it everyday, because of waste.  Using cotton or a gauze pad to scoop it out of a container, means you scoop out more than you need.  Since nitrofurazone has caused cancer in rats, and I'm a cancer survivor, I don't want to scoop it out by hand.  I tried gloves and there was still a lot of waste and my hands are so small, even small gloves end up hanging off the ends of my fingers........... soooo.......... time to put on my thinking cap.  

By the time you add DMSO to the nitrofurazone it makes a runny salve, not bad, but in the summer you have to keep it in the frig.  I have 60cc syringes and some of them even have caps for the end.  Why not put the salve in the syringe and just squeeze out as needed, and smear around with a gauze pad?  Voilla'...........really works good....well except for getting the salve in the syringe, that is a little dicey, it's not runny enough to just pour into the syringe, of course not.  I think a tongue depresser would probably work really well, BUT, who has one of those laying around and I don't plan on going to the doctor anytime soon to see if they'd give me one.  I tried an ice cream stick, which was really ineffective, so my latest tool is a plastic knife.  But the idea is a keeper.........!!!  

One day it was cool enough, John left fly masks off for the day.  It was such a treat to see their faces for a change, I'd almost forgotten how beautiful their eyes are.  

Everyone are still on short rations, even though the mesquite beans are gone.  Occasionally someone finds a few and we see the beans in their poo, but they certainly aren't getting very many.  They are also a lot more interested in coming in at feeding time.  John has upped the hay a little bit, but they are still only getting about half of a full ration, especially the fatties, like Rosie, Coquette and Buddy Brat.  Rosie lets us know if she isn't being properly fed, she ate 2 of the cedar boards in BlackJack's shelter last week.  She will eat wood whether she is fed or not.  I've had people ask if she cribs........no she doesn't, she simply eats wood..........LOL 

THIS IS SOOOOO WRONG.........!!!

This is the view this morning, out my kitchen door, doesn't exactly look like the sunny southwest, does it?  LOL  This isn't really expected this time of year.  According to the experts, the monsoon was over the 15th of September.  So I guess this is an early winter rain, which usually hits between Christmas and New Year.  

I know one thing it isn't appreciated by the donkeys.  I have never been able to figure out why a highly intelligent animal such as a donkey will leave a perfectly good shelter to stand out in the rain and look absolutely miserable.  A few of them, prefer to be in the shelter, BUT, if the gate is opened, they will go out like it is a requirement for them to do so. 

Time Marches On.........!!

It seems like there is always something going on around here, it certainly helps to stay flexible.  LOL  Every morning when I doctor with my excellent vet tech, John I never know what I'm going to run into.  Right now I have 3 of them with what I assume is bacterial infections on their legs, or shoulders or in Rosie's case, whatever she has had on her belly all summer long.  It seems to less weepy when I use the homemade salve or is it because it is getting cooler?  Who knows.  Quilla's legs absolutely got ahead of me for some reason.  The problem with using a salve is unless you cover it with bandages or something, it ends up with dirt caked on the sores.  This morning I ended up "diapering" both front knees and wrapping the rest of his lower legs separately.  If anyone knows of a workable way to wrap a knee and leg together I'd like to know how..........!!!  

Coquette has it on her legs and shoulders, but she's actually doing pretty good with just socks on her legs.  I tried socks on Quilla, but he has sores on his knees, that stick to the socks, which rips the scabs off when it does try to heal..........SIGH!  So far hers is just on the canon bone "ie" shin bone.  They are all improving, if I can just keep Quilla sores from sticking to something. Next summer I am going to be ready with nitrofurazone at the 1st sign of skin problems.  

Heard from Reba and Rusty's foster mom.  She said they  really enjoy having them with their mule Ruthie.  They make a little herd, although she says the 2 girls won't answer Rusty when he gets lost, but they will answer each other.  Poor Rusty, he thinks he's a ladies man............guess not..........!!!   LOL  She said Rusty has excellent hearing, anytime he hears the barn door, he comes running from wherever he is and does a western type slide stop in his stall, just in case she might have something for him to eat....!!  Her parents live in a little house on the property and the mules all go down to visit every morning at 8am.  Her mother isn't very mobile and really enjoys seeing them.  It sounds like they are enjoying all the extra attention, we didn't have time for here.  Reba still isn't real friendly, but she was never anything but a pack mule to be used.  But Kris said if they are paying attention to Rusty and Ruthie, next thing they know Reba is standing real close, so maybe she will decide that letting people into her space has it's rewards.  

Also talked to Sarah about Wister and Ruger.  They have fit in very well, although they still aren't thrilled with the little 4 year old girl.  I guess it's OK if one of the parents are holding her, but when she's on the ground they still aren't sure.  She said Wister is the dominant one, even if he is the youngest, which surprised me.  They went into this home as fosters because the family planned on getting some goats which is going to happen in a couple of weeks.  The donkeys are to be protectors of the goats, which means no chasing, no picking up by the neck and no stomping them.  If any of those things happen, I would imagine they will be coming back real quick.  I have my fingers crossed, because it would be an excellent long term home for them.

My good friend Patti came out this afternoon for a visit.  She makes it out about once a year, but we always have a good time, when she does.  
 

TIME FOR A PLAN "B" I GUESS

Every summer the same donkeys have skin problems.  I'm sure it has something to do with poor immune systems.  Not all the sores are the same, some are big dried scabs on their legs and shoulders, generally.  Some are oozy serum wounds, that grow as the serum drips down the leg.  Some don't bother the hair, others make the hair fall out in patches.  And right now I have 3 of them with dried black hairless areas on their lower legs.  I've always thought the stable flies caused the sores, but am beginning to wonder if the sore starts and the flies follow.  I know stable flies are vicious whether it's before or after. 

It would be great if you could take them to a vet and they say, it's this or that and here's what will fix it.  Of course that doesn't happen.  Since there are so many different looking situations, they generally have to do a biopsy or scraping for analysis and a lot of times it comes back without a definitive answer.  So they throw something at it, if it works great, if not, we'll try something else..........Very frustrating.  Sun does seem to make it worse, that's just my theory.

Years ago we had to take a donkey to a vet in Tucson, no local vet available for a skin condition.  The vet gave me a homemade remedy of nitrofurazone and DMSO. Nitrofurazone has been out of favor the last few years, because of it's reputation as a cancer causing substance. And DMSO has been used for years by people with arthritis without the backing of the FDA. 

In this case the two were mixed together, using the DMSO as a carrier to help the nitrofurazone be readily absorb into the skin. 

The vet that came out earlier this summer for Boaz's legs that had sloughed off most of the skin, did a biopsy, and it came back as bacteria infection.  She gave me a salve that looked suspiciously like what I used years ago.  So I asked her if it was nitrofurazone and DMSO and she said yes, with a couple of other things added.  I don't know what the other stuff was, but I am trying these two things as of this morning to see if it works. 

Other than skin problems, everyone else seems to be doing great.  Although I'm afraid my fly masks aren't going to make it to the end of fly season at the rate the "fur" kids are tearing them up.  It's bad enough when the geldings get to playing, of course the fly masks are the 1st thing to get grabbed.  But now Saddik, the dog likes to join in the fun.  He thinks of Pancho as his personal friend and takes his mask off almost every day.

The mesquite beans aren't all gone, but almost......!!!  They are back to having access to Burroland all the time except at feeding time.  There's a lot of desert grass over there they really like, but it's getting pretty depleted too.  They have been on starvation rations for weeks and haven't really cared, it was almost more effort to get them to come in for feeding, than it was worth.  But the last few days they've been a lot more interested in hay, and some of them are running the pens when John lets them out, to see if anyone left anything to eat.  For the most part no one is leaving anything and John has upped everyone by 1/2 a pound of hay.   He's not going to be in any hurry to get them back up to normal.  As long as they don't start getting frantic, which I don't think they will, he'll just slowly start adding hay. 

ANNUAL DONKEY WELFARE SYMPOSIUM AT U.C DAVIS

https://www.facebook.com/DonkeyWelfareSymposium/videos/1076015392410249/

This video is really interesting, shows a lot of what goes on in the rest of the world and the need for education.  In many parts of the world donkeys are still a valuable addition to a poor family. 

This symposium started a few years ago, and is a gathering of donkey experts from all over the country for a 3 day conference.  Donkeys are finally getting some of the respect they deserve, which is a good thing.  

Jake kicked John yesterday, very close to a place we won't talk about...........LOL  What really got John was, he had just given Jake a carrot, and Jake spun around and kicked.  One of the girls is "entertaining" and I would imagine Jake saw John as a threat.  Must be a guy thing............!!!!  John didn't appreciate my reaction I don't think, but it seemed pretty funny to me.......!! 

HEH..........HEH.............HEH........!! CADDYSHACK TIME........!!!

John and Doug have been having lots of fun lately.  The donkeys of course resent having their time over in Burroland, curtailed and I've mentioned this a little bit.  The minis have figured out how to go under the floating fence over the big wash and go do their thing in the forbidden forest..........LOL

John has fixed it, Doug has fixed it, they both have fixed it and every morning some or all are over there.  It's somewhat like the old movie CaddyShack, when they destroyed a golf course to kill a gopher and the end of the movie was the gopher looking over the top of his burrow, chattering as I recall.  It's been decades since I saw it, so can't be sure of all the details.  But that is what this battle of wills is turning into.  At least the big donkeys haven't figured it out yet.....!! This morning the tractor was involved.  I haven't been out to see what they did, but I'm sure it will be effective.............MAYBE.........LOL

Last night when John came in from letting everyone out, he was sporting a mangled finger.  It seems when he gave Rosie her animal cracker, she got his finger by mistake and held on.  When he screamed (If you've never had an equine clamp down on a finger, you don't know what you're missing)  it scared her and she tried to run..........with half his finger clamped in her teeth.  John said he was running with her, hoping she wouldn't bite down more.  Thanks goodness they were still in the pen, so she couldn't go far.  She has always had to be watched, she opens her mouth wide and will lunge for a treat, if you don't tell her "easy" and get her attention.  If you just stick it in front of her mouth all bets are off and you are on your own, as John found out.  The finger isn't broken, although it is still swollen and  missing some of the skin.  Education can sometimes be painful, I'm afraid...........LOL

We are going to be race car poor, before this racing season is over.  After last Saturday's destruction, it's been pretty much a lot of people concentrating on getting me another car for next year.  I went in on Craigslist being nosy and found a car up in Phoenix.  It's just a street car that had been backed into, had very little damage to a door and door post, but the insurance company totaled it.  Peppy little car, with a little more horsepower and a good price, so we brought it home.  Told our son what we got and let's just say he wasn't overly impressed.  He wants to REALLY upgrade since we have to start all over anyway.  So I told him to find a good one at a "cheap" price.  Low and behold a friend of his ran across an ad for an actual already race car..............up in Phoenix, of course.  So John and I are heading back up to Phoenix tomorrow to see if it's as advertised.  If so, guess we'll bring it home too, why not........the more the merrier..........!!!  We could probably sell the 1st one to another racer, it would make a good race car, but we also might just keep it, in case we need it in the future.  That old, bird in the hand is worth two in the bush thing.  It's not always easy to find a replacement race car, especially if you would like to have it in a hurry, so having a project sitting around, is a good idea. 

AUCTION MULES AND DONKEYS

If you would like to get involved in helping save equine from being sold for a one way trip to Mexico, here is a group that is trying to help.  As most of you know almost all rescues are over extended as usual.  But that doesn't stop people trying to help find homes and safe places for animals thru no fault of their own have fallen on hard times. 

 http://www.auctionhorsesrescue.com

https://www.facebook.com/auctionhorses

If you would like to get involved here is some links to a group that is trying to make a difference.

UNFORTUNATE SATURDAY NIGHT.....!!

My last night for points in racing did not go well.  Actually that is an understatement.  I only ran 3 laps in the main event before one of the other racers decided to door slam my car.

 This is the damage from him leaning on me. 

This is the damage after I lost control, hit the wall, lost my steering, went back down across the track into the infield.  I might add without hitting anyone or getting hit again.  Slid to a stop and the firemen came over and said "you're on fire, get out".  

Let me say I envy drivers that can get in their car and get all their gear on and organized in nothing flat, or take it off.  I don't happen to be one of them, John usually "dresses" me and makes sure everything is as it should be.  Of course he isn't in the middle of the track, so I start fumbling and bumbling around.  By the time I managed to get everything unhooked, one of the firemen came up with a little bitty fire extinguisher, and put out the fire.  I'm still not out of the car and because of my fire suit pants, probably not going to get out before the races are over...........so........one fireman grabbed under my arms and another one reached in and grabbed my feet, and out I came.  I have no idea what John was thinking, he said he was just glad they got me out.  But I have a feeling it looked like dragging a body out........LOL  The rest of the night so many people came up to ask if I was OK, never thought so many people would care about a crazy old woman.  That was rather nice, considering my car is totaled..!  That was the last point race, and the guy responsible for the damage was 2 points behind me for 5th place.....!!!  hmmmm, I wonder......????   No, surely he wouldn't do it on purpose, would he?  

Of course by the time we got home early this morning, Doug was asleep.  But this morning we heard about how the evening went.  

A few days ago, while we were gone Doug found the gate to Burroland off the post on the back side two days in a row.  We blame Frijolita, she is our gate challenger, although the rest of them seemed to appreciate her efforts and went with her.  We have been limiting their time in Burroland to cut down on their access to mesquite beans.  Guess they decided to take matters into their own "hooves".  

John fixed it and I guess he did a good job.  Doug said when he came out to round them up for evening feeding, everyone was easy to get in, except Lynn and Cheyenne were missing.  Of course he panicked, said he looked all over the 10 acres and they weren't anywhere.  Amy and Morgan came to help feed and clean pens and so the 3 of them started looking.  Amy started yelling she found them.........over in Burroland, headed towards the closed gate to finally come in for supper.  This morning those two were back over on Burroland again.  But, they goofed up, Doug was watching when they came to the fence and tried to get back in from where they had went out.  Heh! heh!  Busted.....!!!  Our land is not exactly flat, there is a lot of difference in the topography and the fence in some areas isn't low enough to stop a determined mini I guess.  That particular spot won't be usable in the future though.  

The flies are really bad right now, I guess they are trying to complete their life cycle before it gets cold.  I don't think they have to be so frantic, it usually doesn't get to freezing around here until late November. 

HE'S NO LAP DOG.......!!!

We've tried to explain this fact of life to Saddik, but so far he doesn't seem to understand the problem.  He really is a nice young dog, whoever dumped him, probably did him a favor, they obviously didn't appreciate him.  He's still taking medication for Valley Fever, the last blood test still had high numbers.  He'll be tested about every 3 months, hopefully next time the numbers will be lower.  

It was 44 degrees here this morning, John is finally giving up on his shorts in the morning.  He puts them on later, but for morning chores he's putting on his usual winter wear AKA sweats.  

Yesterday we had to go to town for the day.  Doug was going to let them into Burroland about 1pm, so they could gorge themselves on whatever there is to eat over there.  He said he went out about 1 and was surprised to not see any donkeys standing by the gate.  Usually they just stand there waiting for someone to fix the problem.  When he got over the wash he saw why no one was waiting.  Somehow they had gotten the gate off the back hinges, enough to give them room to squeeze thru and not need to wait for one of the stupid people to do their job.........!!!  LOL  My first thought was Frijolita, she is our little gate manipulator. 

I guess they were having a good time over here, because when it was time for afternoon round-up, it didn't go smoothly.  In fact Cisco never did come in.  After everyone was fed and he still hadn't showed up, I asked John if he had seen him.  John said he had seen him 2 or 3 times, happily munching away on stuff, so we didn't have to worry about him being down somewhere.  Usually whoever doesn't come in during the round-up will come waltzing in  before we're thru feeding.  After it got dark, John went out to see if possibly Cisco had come across and went in his pen.  No he hadn't but when John was coming back to the house, he saw him coming across the wash.  I'd loved to be able to channel their minds to see what goes on in there.......!!!!  

This morning after chores here comes a County truck thru the gate, hmmmm....... I'd just as soon they stay in their office and play video games, rather than be out trying to justify their jobs.  John was in the hay barn weighing hay and that's where the truck went.  When he left I went out to see what was going on.  John said the permit we got for the hay barn was still open in their files..........REALLY.....???  That was in 2006, guess they ran out of video games.  Or some big boss came thru and saw the back log.  

The BLM does the same thing on their mustang/burro adoptions.  We got a jenny from a family, they had for 4 or 5 years.  We adopted her to a retired vet in California and a couple of years later the BLM got in touch with the original owner saying they wanted to see the donkey to make sure she was being taken care of properly.  ?????????  Where was all that interest and concern, for all those years?  So we had a flurry of phone calls and paperwork going around and around, so their files would look tidy.  They wanted a vet to verify the burro was taken care of, no problem the retired vet's sister is also a vet.  

Now if the BLM spent as much time and effort with the 50,000 mustangs and burros they have in holding pens, with no shade and no room to move around.  Or if they had as much concern for the mustangs and burros that are killed and injured during the round-ups they insist are necessary.  Better quit before I really get mad..........!!!!