THE MULES WENT HOME THIS MORNING

We raced last night and when we got home about 1:30am, there was a message from Kris, that people were bringing their animals home, although the pre-evacuation order had not been rescinded. Usually I think there is more news coverage in these situations.  This time coverage seem to be a little bit hit and miss.  

Last night when we were coming home, it was pretty dark, and I looked in the direction of the fire and couldn't see any glow or anything.  

I call her this morning and made arrangements to bring them home around noon.  Kris and Jim invited us out for lunch after we delivered the "fur" kids.  We had a great time at the Benson City Grille at the local golf course.  It's about the nicest place to eat in Benson, if you want to "dine".....!!  We sat on the covered porch overlooking the ponds, with ducks and coots, not to mention some kind of frogs that were quite chatty.  We even had time to just sit around and talk, was a real nice afternoon, weather was great.  As I always like to say, it was the type of weather people come to Arizona for.

I think the mules were glad to get home, they roamed around checking all their favorite spots, rolled some, check out their feed bins, just in case Kris had put in some goodies.  When we left they were way down the hill almost out of sight, didn't even say goodbye...........!!  LOL

 Gizmo begging for a cookie from John

Pooh Bear checking Linda out, she might have a cookie.  I thought Pooh was a Belgian mule, but Kris said she is a Halfinger. I know one thing she is a real "sturdy" type of gal.........!!

Well the races last night were "interesting".  I am in 1st place for end of the year points.  I figured last night, a couple of the guys would probably knock me off my perch.  Won't know for a couple of days, it takes for the results to be posted by the track.  I won my heat race which is my 1st win on the asphalt.  

I finished 3rd in the main event, after starting in 6th position.  Had some problems with one of the young boys, blocking me, when I would try to pass him.  That went on for 5 or 6 laps, while the 2 cars in front, were getting farther and farther ahead.  I have a video taken from inside my car and the consensus of most people is he was using a 2 way radio, so someone could tell him when to go high or low, to block me, when I'd try to pass him.  That's all well and good...........except Hornets aren't allowed to run 2 way radios.  I had to keep putting on the brakes, to keep from hitting him.  I finally got along side of him and he body slammed my car.  When we got out of that he was still in front and the next time he swerved in front of me, I didn't brake soon enough. He spun out and I didn't.............LOL  When I got to tech his Dad I guess, came over to tell me what he thought of my driving and what will happen next time.  

I sent the video to the race director and bet him a dollar the kid is running a 2 way radio.  I doubt that anything will come of it, but who knows, maybe he'll watch the kid a little more.  He was responsible for totaling a race car the last time we raced, so he does bear watching.  There's a group of about 3 or 4 drivers that seem to be a little bit rough and they run as a team, John's afraid they will gang up on me next Saturday.  Guess we'll find out..........!!!  LOL
 

Lynn and Linda are heading for Colorado in the morning with their 2 donkeys, Leddy and Turbo, and 2 of ours Cisco and Boaz, the skin problem kids.  They will also have their 3 dogs and our dog Saddik.  Should be an "interesting" trip.............!!!  LOL  They are only going to drive about 350 miles the 1st day and it's about another 350 miles to where they live.  I hope it's a good trip for them, I'm pretty sure it won't be boring..........!!!

Linda and Coquette being goofy

It's going to be boring around here without them, the donkeys will really miss them, because they spend a lot of time with all the donkeys.  Linda usually carries a brush in her pocket and brushes whoever she sees.  Lynn spends quality time with them too.  I looked out awhile ago, and they were packing in the dark or trying to figure out what they will take with them.  If it's something they won't need in Colorado, they will just leave it here for next winter.  They have pretty busy summer planned, hope it all goes well and they get to race the "burros", and Lynn gets to race in the people races with Saddik.

Lynn got to race last night on the asphalt for the 1st time.  He did really good, stayed out of trouble and had fun, managed to pass a car and bring it home in one piece.  He said that was his goals for the night........!!!  LOL  We'll be finished racing by the time they come back, but there's always next year. 

FIRE IS STILL AN ISSUE

And the mules are still here.  Nothing has really changed, it's gotten up to 40,000 acres.  Yesterday was a good day for containment, but today is going to be windy, so they won't be able to put the planes and helicopters in the air to drop the fire retardant.  

So we will keep the mules until the fire either is out or contained to where they drop the pre- evacuation order.  

It's amazing how much "adjusting" has to be done adding 3 animals to the mix.  When we added the 3 boys last month, it was easy. They went in Frijolita's big pen, she went in Quilla's smaller pen and Quilla went in Daisy's old pen, which had been empty since she died last summer.  So everything was in line, just had to adjust pans and hay buckets in the line-up.  

 Linda couldn't resist dressing up the girls.  This is Reba

PoohBear looks like she's about to fall asleep

Now, Gizmo is in the pen that is not in line, Leddy is running loose on the property.  That's OK at feeding time he's right where he needs to be, by the feed room........LOL  PoohBear and Reba are in Leddy's larger pen, but it is divided in half, so they can eat without drama.  I figure just about the time we get it all figured out and it's going smoothly they'll be headed home.   LOL

We talked about letting them out today, but tomorrow we will leave early in the afternoon to get to the race track so Lynn can practice.  He's not had a chance to try out the asphalt, so we have to be there before 3pm.  I'll mix up the feed before we leave and put it in a big ice chest, so Doug can feed by himself when it's time.  So we are still thinking about it.  They could go out today and not tomorrow, Reba needs the exercise, otherwise her arthritis makes her gimpy.  

Lynn and Linda are leaving Monday, headed for Colorado, with their 3 dogs, and Saddik, our dog.  He's going for the summer to race with Lynn in people races that allow dogs.  They will also have their 2 donkeys and our Boaz and Quilla.  I'm anxious to see if the change in climate helps with their skin problems.  We sure will miss them, when they are here they just about take over the chores and other than that they are just fun to be around.  

Even with those 2 skin problems gone, I'll still have some to doctor.  Penny and Rosie already have all 4 legs wrapped.  The flies aren't too bad yet, but the ones here sure like to chew on donkey legs.

This little lady lives in our backyard.  John noticed the other day her "door" was open.  When they are in their burrow, they put a web across it.  Next thing we know, she is on the back door early in the morning.  We figured she was out hunting and got caught out in daylight.  If  you look at her right rear leg, it is shorter than the other one.  At sometime she has lost that leg and a new one is growing back.  

After John's adventure with the tarantula last year, I was surprised he was willing to try it again.  He got her on his glove, although you might notice she isn't on his glove in the picture.......!!!

He put her down by her burrow and she scurried in, didn't even slow down to build her web back.  Later on John said the web was up.

UPDATE:

Just heard from Kris, "mule mom", and the fire is within 5 miles of their house.  I guess today, especially if it's windy, will be the deciding factor.  

I also heard from Linda, who has 4 donkeys, one is our Chester.  Her donkeys are north of I-10, so if it looks like it's going to jump the interstate, we'll either bring them down here or haul them somewhere for her.  If it jumps I-10 and is still headed east or north east, we'll be right in the path, and will be looking for someplace to take our animals.   Our son has 1 1/4 acre in Tucson and the rental house next to him, is 1 1/4 acre.  Both are set up for horses, BUT, we'd have to make at least 3 or 4 trips using our stock trailer and Lynn and Linda's.  

SAWMILL FIRE

A few days ago a man made fire in the Sonoita area SW of us started and has now burned over 20,000 acres.  Yesterday was a very windy day and the fire has been moving fast thru the grasslands in that area.  

Yesterday afternoon we got a call from Kris, who lives between us and the fire.   Kris and Jim love mules and a couple of years ago started fostering Rusty and Reba for us.  Unfortunately last year Rusty had to be put down at the age of 37.  To make a long story short, they have been fostering Gizmo, the mini mule, along with Reba and their mule Pooh Bear.  

They are in a pre-evacuation area, have a 2 horse trailer with 3 mules, even though Gizmo isn't very big, there's no way 3 animals could be hauled in a 2 horse trailer.  

So John, Linda and I headed out with the stock trailer, while Doug and Lynn stayed back here to get ready for "new guests".  Lynn hooked up their stock trailer and we let the Sheriff's office know we have stock trailers, will haul.  The local livestock sale barn is a place people can haul their animals if they don't have friends with space for their animals.  

It went really well, considering we got there after dark, with flashlights and expecting them to hop into the trailer, which they did, without a lot of drama.  Well except for Gizmo, deciding he didn't want to play the game, jerked away from Linda and away he went.  He made a mistake by going into one of the corrals, so then we put 2 leads on him and John and Jim got on either side and he realized the game was over......!!  LOL

We only had one empty pen and it was Gizmo's old pen, so in he went.  We were going to throw BlackJack out of his pen, but Linda said Leddy's pen was big enough to split and he's pretty mellow.  So BJ kept his pen, and Leddy became an vagabond.  

This morning at feeding time, Leddy was a little confused.  He couldn't get in his pen, because the girls were in there.  You could almost read his body language, of confusion.  When the hay showed up he dove right in, but took time out to follow the golf cart, up to the hay barn when the guys went up to get the buckets ready for tonight's feeding.  

THIS IS TURBO AND SMOKEY JOE CHECKING OUT GIZMO.......THANKS LINDA

GIZMO ENJOYING HIS BREAKFAST THIS MORNING

REBA AND POOH BEAR WAITING PATIENTLY FOR BREAKFAST.  WE SEPARATED THEM TO EAT, REBA EATS SLOW AND POOH BEAR DOESN'T........!! 

REBA LOOKS PRETTY GOOD FOR AGE 34......!!

I HOPE THAT TONGUE ISN'T A JUDGEMENT OF POOH'S LIFESTYLE CHANGE...!!  LOL

POOR LEDDY DOESN'T HAVE A PEN TO CALL HIS OWN........AS LONG AS FOOD IS AVAILABLE, I DON'T THINK HE CARES............!!!!

Dr. Jeremy came out yesterday morning to do health certificates for the 4 going to Colorado, probably Monday and to draw blood for Coggins test, which is necessary to cross state lines.  While he was here I picked his brain about skin issues and he says what I'm doing is about as good as anything.

He also checked Gus.  Gus has never dropped to pee and lately he's started dribbling.  Dr. Jeremy said he might have a bean. Donkeys aren't as bad about developing a bean as horses, but considering he never drops anyway, it's highly possible that he has "gunk".  So Dr. Jeremy tried to "investigate" the problem and found out why he has never dropped.  The sheath opening is very restricted, he couldn't even get 2 fingers up far enough to check for a bean.  So we are looking for a small nozzle to put on the hose to hopefully "flush" enough to get rid of a bean, if that's the problem.  He is so easy to work with, yesterday John "flushed" him a little bit, but we're waiting to find a small nozzle to really get up in there, poor guy. 

STOCK TRAINING IS GOING WELL

We were going to work with both Gigi and Penny this morning, but Penny was still eating, so she got a vacation today.  

Linda put a halter on Gigi, Gigi followed her to the stock and went back and forth like it was no big deal.  Of course I'm sure the steady supply of animal crackers helped.....!!!  LOL 

 She needs to learn to go with whoever is leading her, so John took a turn and she followed him just as good.  Tomorrow we will get her in there and put the chains up, so she can't go forward or backward.  Hopefully that will go smoothly. 

This is Smokey Joe, he looks like he's checking out the golf cart, but in reality he is trying to get someone to give him animal crackers. 

Wish Don Juan didn't have his fly mask on, this would have been a nice picture.

OBTW, yesterday John was cleaning out the bed of the pick-up and guess what he found?  MY WATCH......!!!  I guess when I reached over the side of the pickup to get the loppers, it fell off my arm.  Glad he found it, he got that watch for me in Saudi probably25 years ago and it's a good one.  

I thought I had wrote about my watch, but after being in town all day, and rereading this post I noticed I didn't say anything about it yesterday.

Before we left the track, I noticed I didn't have my watch and knew I had put it on before leaving the house.  We all tried to backtrack everywhere I'd been, and checked the piles of limbs.  We did find a dime, some beer cans and other assorted shiny things,  but not the watch.   So I was very glad when he told me to close my eyes and hold my hands out.......!!!

TODAY HAS BEEN VERY FRUSTRATING

Thank goodness it has nothing to do with donkeys.  They all seem to be doing good, although I am having to keep Quilla's legs covered already.  I assume the heat, we're hovering around 90 every day and the sun work together to cause his legs to get bloody quickly.  I can check his legs in the morning and they will be bloody by afternoon.  I hope when he and Boaz go with Lynn and Linda to Colorado for the summer that Linda doesn't have to spend the whole summer doctoring.  

The dirt track was suppose to have a race the 29th, next Saturday.  They haven't had a lot to say on the internet, in fact they haven't said anything at all.   A few days ago, Jackie a volunteer that has been doing what she could to get the track up and running, put out the word, there would be a work detail this morning to trim trees in the parking lot.  

So we loaded up chain saws, loppers, whatever we thought we'd need and headed out after feeding the donkeys at 4:30AM..........!!!  YIKES..........!!  Wanted to get there before it got too hot.

Got out there and Jackie and her husband were the only ones there and that didn't change, I'm sorry to say.  

This is Linda and John cleaning up a tree, all the green at their feet is limbs they've already cut off.  I don't think the trees have had much care lately.  

An hour or so into our project Jackie got word that the track wasn't going to race the 29th after all........!!!  I don't know who was more disappointed, her or me............or Lynn.  He was looking forward to getting to race again before they head home.  

We stayed around and trimmed what we could and then headed home.  I don't think there will be dirt races this year which is very disappointing for a lot of people.  John just got my dirt car finished, so he built 2 cars that won't have a place to race. 

But I will get to race at the asphalt track the 29th and try to hang onto my 1st place.  I would imagine that prestigious position will belong to someone else before the night is over, but I'll give it my best shot.  

On the way home we went to St. David a little farming town SW of Benson.  They were having a big auction of 7 parcels of land, individually, some with houses, some with pecan orchards.  All together I don't think there was 150 acres  involved.   A real estate agent bought the whole group for just a little less than 1 million dollars, not sure but it was about $995,000 with a 6% buyer's fee.  Everyone seemed to think it will be chopped up into a couple of acre plots and they will either build houses on the land or sell it at a profit to someone that will. Hate to see irrigated pasture and pecan orchards disappear.  

When we got home the donkeys had turned on one of the water spigots and ran about 200 gallons of water out on the ground.  It wouldn't be newsworthy except we are waiting right now for the state to give us a permit to drill a new well.  Yesterday we had 1600 gallons of water delivered for the 2nd time in a month, our well just isn't keeping up.  When it was put in 25 years ago it was done with a cable drilling set up, in fact the equipment was oil field equipment from Odessa, Texas, where I was born.  The guy that drilled it was just about to retire, so he'd been doing it for a long time and hadn't changed over to modern drilling equipment.  He also used a welding torch to cut slots in the well casing, so the water could flow into the pipe.  That's fine, except over the years the slots have closed up from the minerals and calcium in our water.  We've had it cleaned once and were told that it couldn't be cleaned again without probably damaging the casing.  So it's time to "bite the bullet" and get a new well.  John thinks it will only take them a couple of days to put down a 500 foot well with new equipment, but first we have to get the permit.  The drilling company had penciled us on their schedule to start this Monday, but I doubt that is going to happen.

Thanks for the picture, Doug

Saddik is going to Colorado with Lynn and Linda for the summer.  So they will be taking Quilla, Boaz and Saddik.  I caught Lynn even eyeing Moogee the cat last night........!!!   LOL  

Lynn likes to run with Saddik, he has a special lead, that attaches to his waist and Saddik, usually runs right next to Lynn.  He's got such long legs he can really run fast and Lynn likes the challenge.  I guess a lot of the races allow dogs, and Lynn wants to see if Saddik is as good as he thinks he will be.  Not at the same races where the donkeys are racing thank goodness, I would imagine that could be quite "interesting", since donkeys don't like dogs that aren't part of their family and will try to stomp them. 

So they will leave here with 4 donkeys and 4 dogs.  I probably should check their trucks and trailer before they get out the gate, at this rate, when they leave.  LOL

STOCKS ARE HERE, I'M SURE PENNY AND GIGI WILL BE THRILLED

Got a call this morning that they were ready to bring the stock out today.  You might know John was gone to Larry's to fix the damaged door on my asphalt car.  Lynn and Linda were gone to Tucson, and Doug got back just before Darren got here with the stock.

It's not a lightweight piece of equipment, so we needed the use of the tractor to pull it off the trailer.  I haven't learned how to use the tractor, certain things are just "guy" things to me.  I think it has to do with my age, men don't cook and women don't drive tractors.........LOL  I know that is a generality, but every time I see a woman driving a car with a man riding, I notice it.  OH! well I think society will survive without my idiosyncrasy's becoming mainstream in the 21st century, as long as society allows me to quietly notice and shake my head on occasion.......!!!

Back to this morning.  Darren hopped on John's little sub compact tractor and away he went.  

 

I have a feeling Penny and Gigi aren't going to be the least bit impressed.  In fact Penny was watching the whole process from the west end of the pens, close enough to watch, far enough away, no one was going to think she wanted to participate in the adventure.  She is very smart and I wouldn't be surprised if she has already figured out not to go anywhere close to this new "thing".  

Today seems to be wrestling day for the geldings.  The 1st ones were Smokey Joe and I think it was Pepsi, could have been Justin.  They were in the 3 Amigos pen and it looked like Smokey Joe did want whichever mini it was, in there.  He was being more forceful than they usually are when playing.  So I went out and became head jenny, to break it up.  Later on, Leddy and Buddy were at it.  No girls around, just boys, being boys I guess.  I don't like them to be squabbling in the pens, too easy for someone to get hurt.  As it is Joe shoved the mini into the wooden shelter pretty hard.  He would have went down if the shelter wall hadn't been there.  That's when I decided enough was enough.  

Linda is getting OJT on doctoring the last couple of days and it's with Quilla and Boaz the 2 they might take to Colorado with them, so she'll be all trained.  Hopefully the cooler weather up there will make a difference with their skin issues and she won't have to doctor them, at least I hope so.  Quilla also has edema on his belly.  He's had it before, almost the whole belly area has a relatively hard swollen area, that is about 2 inches thick.  I've had vets look at it and they just prescribe a round of antibiotics, which seems to make it go away.  So that's what we're doing.  SMZ's are given twice a day and taste nasty.  Tucoprim is give once a day and tastes good.  Guess which one I have?  So she is also learning how to grind SMZ tablets and mix them with molasses, given with a syringe.  She really catches on to all this quickly.  Quilla's knee is having to be doctored, I use a diaper on it.  She hasn't got to do that yet, probably next bandage change in a couple of days, I'll let her do it.  But the hope is, she won't need to use all this medical stuff on the boys this summer in Colorado. 

HAPPY BELATED EASTER.........!!!

As we've gotten older we don't do much celebrating anymore.  Linda doesn't let that interfere with her holiday spirit......!!!   LOL

Yesterday morning John came in and said we had been invited to a SCAVENGER HUNT.......!!!  He had the 1st clue in his hand that said "his family likes engines".....!!!  Had to be Turbo.  The donkeys were already out and we were headed out to find Turbo, when Linda took pity on us and said the hunt was pretty much within the pen area.

We headed for his pen and started looking around and turning stuff over.  

It took awhile for us to figure out the logistics of the hunt.  Of course the next clue was in the last place we looked.........the orange traffic cone right behind me........!!!   LOL

Leddy was the 1st "troll" we came across.  We had been warned of "trolls" along our way, so we were carrying animal crackers, just in case.  

The next clue was "go to the 7th letter of the alphabet x 2.  We got to the 7th letter "G" and then we got off track, till Linda kinda helped.  I think our brains are wore out.........!!!!   LOL  She gave us enough clues to come up with G-G aka Gigi, so we headed off for her pen.  There are only so many places in the pens to hide anything, and by now we're getting into the swing of things and found it rather quickly.  

Next clue,  what do amigos, blind mice and little pigs have in common?  The number 3 comes to mind and 3 amigos had to be Shaggy Bill, Don Juan and Smoky Joe........sure enough the next clue was in their pen.  We're really starting to get into this by now........!!! LOL

If we had a 100 of her, we'd have a dollar............!!!!  That had to Miss PennyPacker's pen and it was.  

The last clue was go to the pen where you would play a popular card game............had to be BlackJack.........!!!  

The gate was closed to keep the "trolls" out and there we found our Easter basket, with 2 little furry donkeys, some Easter suckers and a donkey T-shirt that unfortunately fit John........Ha!

Thanks for all the pictures, Linda and thank you so much for the fun we had, and the effort you put into entertaining us, it was great.......!!!

I tried to take a picture of the little donkeys tonight, but I'll try again in the morning.  Let's just say, daylight will make a difference.........LOL

IT'S MORNING AND HERE ARE THE FUZZY DONKEYS HIDING OUT IN SOME OF THE OTHER "NON" EATING  HERD.......!!

This is a pretty special picture Linda took, yesterday.  The subject of the picture on the left is Penny, who is fairly distrustful of new things.  Linda has taken on the project of getting her a little more comfortable with new ideas.  Looks like she's willing to try, for Linda at least. 

This is Buddy aka Buddy Brat.  He sometimes seems to get lost in the shuffle.  He is just a little grey donkey with a weight problem nothing special, I guess.  He was the 3rd donkey we got years ago and did go out to a home for a couple of years.  Unfortunately he and Honcho were returned and the people had allowed him to gain a lot of weight which took a long time to get off of him, for the 2nd time.

When he was younger, we called him Brat for cause.  Because he loved to get into everything he could, one time he found a roll of paper towels in the back of the van and TP'ed the driveway, until the roll ran out.  LOL 

Coquette is another one that kinda gets lost in the shuffle.  She's just a fat donkey with skin problems in the summer.  We've actually managed to get a lot of her extra weight off..........but..........when mesquite bean season gets here, she'll probably end up having to be in a pen.

Last year I had her checked for Cushings, since she doesn't shed out.  Her numbers came back good.  She has guard hairs, like BlackJack so I think she might have some Poitou blood in her also.

I would imagine she enjoyed playing dress up for Linda, she's loves attention.  

             

The 1st thing I said when I saw this picture is, "what happened to Lynn's ears"?  I thought they were in the hat, but Linda took another picture that shows they are laid down behind the hat.  Donkeys look rather weird without their ears...........LOL

STOCKS ARE ALMOST READY

Got a call a couple of days ago to bring a donkey to see if the stocks were going to be the right size.  We couldn't take Penny or Gigi, since they are the reason we have to have the stocks.  Let's just say they aren't very cooperative, especially when something new has been added to the mix.  

We went thru all the names, trying to decide who was closest to their size,  Boaz won the brass ring.  Yesterday after chores we loaded him up and headed for Benson.  

They just had it tacked together and didn't have the rubber mat installed on the floor.  I really didn't like the way the floor looked, too slick and shiny.  But we were there for a fitting and I decided to give it a try.  

 LYNN TRYING TO ENGAGE BOAZ AND BOAZ LISTENING TO THE DOGS BARKING AT THE ANIMAL SHELTER DOWN THE ROAD

GETTING CLOSER BUT NOT REALLY INTERESTED

I JOINED IN AFTER TAKING THE PICTURE, HE STILL WASN'T INTERESTED.

But between Linda and me tugging on the front end and John and Lynn picking up feet on the other end we got him on it.  Almost immediately his feet slide out from under him, off the side and he panicked, as we all did.  He managed to get his front feet on the ground and dragged his rear feet behind him.  In the process one of his back legs got cut at the fetlock.  At first he wouldn't put it on the ground and I was afraid he had broken the fetlock.  Then the blood started gushing, which we all panicked again.  

John found some shop towels and duct tape in the truck and I made an emergency bandage.  He finally put his foot down on the ground and the bandage seemed to slow down the blood, so they decided they could take measurements with him beside it.  Boaz decided he had seen enough of that "thing" and wasn't going anywhere close to it.  So they had to estimate their measurements.  Could have saved a lot of anxiety, both human and donkey if we'd done that in the first place. 

 

By the time we were ready to load after many cookies by all, begging forgiveness he was walking on his left rear and not even limping.  WHEW.....!!!  

Got him home, removed my bandage and it had quit bleeding.  He has 3 gouge marks all the way to the bone.  I put some Underwood Horse Medicine on the wounds, Linda gave him bute last night and this morning and it's dry and healed over, thank goodness. So I guess that crisis is over...........unless we want to put him in the stock sometime in the future.  I have a feeling he's not going to be the least bit interested in anything to do with that THING........!!

We're also going to have to work with Gigi and Penny, to get them use to it.  Neither of them are easy to work with and are suspicious of anything new, or different, so it might take awhile.......if ever.

Yesterday the dirt track put up a schedule that shows Hornets racing the 29th of April.  We haven't heard anything for weeks about what classes were running when and the word on the street was, they weren't even going to race Hornets.  I have a real dilemma, I want to do what I can to promote the track and make sure they have enough Hornets to race.  BUT, I am in 1st place at the asphalt track for end of the year points and their schedule has been out for months.....!!  I have always said if a racer wants a track to race at the only excuses for missing a race night is, you are in the hospital or dead.........LOL  Guess I'll have to add another excuse, I can't walk away from being in 1st place, sorry Wildcat Raceway.   I've been trying to find out what time they are racing at Wildcat.  The tracks are about 6 miles apart, if they were racing in the afternoon, I might could race both tracks, with a lot of help from other people.  But it looks like they will be racing at night also, so it just isn't going to happen. 

Lynn and Linda had planned on leaving for Colorado the 28th or 29th, but I think they will be leaving later, so Lynn can race on dirt the 29th.  That causes another dilemma, Lynn needs someone to help him get his safety gear on, and get to staging on time.  John drew the short straw, and will go over with him.  John's kicking and screaming, but there will be plenty of people at the asphalt track to help me if I need it.  He just won't get to see me race...........LOL

Rod, our son will be racing his modified at the asphalt track, and just found out today our grandson hopefully will have his Super Stock at the dirt track.  So John will maybe get to see him race and I won't.  Life just isn't fair sometimes..........!!!! LOL 

 

WELL IT MUST FINALLY BE SPRING, FOR SURE

The reason I say that is............we took the flannel sheets off the bed yesterday and for about the last week or so, EVERYONE are wearing fly masks, during the day.   And the mesquite trees are leafed out.  Its also in the high 80's, low 90's and the weather people are wondering when we'll hit 100*.  Hopefully not for awhile. 

Linda too these pictures the 1st day, it's almost like they were showing off their new masks

Last night after chores I got a frantic phone call from Linda, who adopted Chester from us about 7-8 years ago.  She is living in Tucson right now and the neighbors are taking care of the donkeys, although Linda visits with them 3 days a week.  

The neighbor called Linda and said Chester couldn't walk, looked like his shoulder was dislocated.  Linda called me on her way to Benson from Tucson and asked if I'd meet her.  Linda and I hopped in the car and took off.  She beat us there, and Dr. Jeremy was also there.  Of course he just lives a couple of miles where the donkeys are.  

He had already opened up a hoof abscess and Chester was actually walking pretty good by the time we got there.  Dr. Jeremy also told us it is almost impossible for an equine to dislocate a shoulder because of the way they are built.  Good information to put in my memory bank.  

Chester wears a toe shoe on that foot and it was time for him to be trimmed and the shoe reset.  Tyler, bless his heart came out after Linda and I headed for home and trimmed Chester and put a duct tape boot on to protect it for a few days.  Hopefully that keep it open enough to drain before it heals over.  

When Chester was here we had to take him to the vet clinic in Gilbert for what we thought was an old wound from being kicked.  Turns out he had a infection that was really nasty, and had caused him to be 3 legged lame.  

Believe it or not, this is after the surgery and what it looked like when we brought him home.  I called the clinic and they said it was just fine and I guess it was.  It healed without even leaving a scar.  

This is Chester and John years ago.  I've always thought Chester is a prime example of what a donkey should look like.  He's always been a very pretty boy. 

Chester came to us because he had been kicked in the pasture and was lame.  We finally figured out he had a paralyzed radial nerve in his leg, where he had been kicked.  

This is Martha an equine massage therapist, Courtney brought out, when he was so lame.  She worked on him quite a few times, and managed to get the nerve operational again, and he has walked with almost no limp at all ever since.  

This morning I had to call Dr. Jeremy out for a poked eye.  Poked eyes are scary, you never know if the cornea is scratched or not.  It's great having a vet almost on call, I've really never had this particular pleasure before and I'm making the most of it.  After he got here he said he hadn't had any appointments for today, and had planned on going for a ride on his motorcycle.  Unfortunately the people he was going to ride with were meeting at 9am, so he missed out........!!  And it was just a run of the mill poke, nothing special............SIGH

Lynn and Linda are gathering up their stuff to head back to Colorado the end of the month.  We really are going to miss them and I know the donkeys will.  They spend a lot more time with the donkeys than we do and it shows.  I won't say the donkeys are pushy, but they make sure they are where the people are, just in case someone wants to pet or brush them........or give them a cookie.  

Pepsi has started hanging around their RV, he knows they both are in there.  Linda usually comes out first in the morning and he gets petted and probably a cookie or two.  Rather than follow her down to the feed room, he waits for Lynn to come out, for the required petting and cookies.  

It looks like Quilla and Boaz will be heading to Colorado, when they go.  Both of them have bad skin problems in the summer.  We are hoping the cooler, higher altitude will help with their problems.  As I told Linda if it doesn't she's going to have a fun filled summer playing doctor/nurse, she said that's OK.  

So they will be traveling with 3 dogs, and 4 donkeys.  They've decided to leave their RV here, rather than drag it back, which is a good idea.  Besides that way we know they'll be coming back next winter.......LOL

PET PARADE UPDATE

For some reason Leddy had a bee in his bonnet, even before we left for the parade.  And his disposition didn't improve as the day wore on.  He wasn't bad he just wasn't his usual happy boy.  

Maybe he didn't like all his "stuff", although he was grumpy even before Linda "dressed" him.

But he was ready for his adoring public

Turbo on the other hand, was Turbo, except for chewing on the lead ropes.....!!!

Family portrait getting ready to go

 They didn't win any prizes, but then again the competition was pretty strong.  

A 70 pound desert tortoise, won most unusual

I miss my chickens..!!

It was a good outing for the boys, they need to get use to any and everything going on and not let it 

bother them.  They are both are really good, and Turbo only being almost 3 years old is amazing, Mr Cool, Calm and Collected he is.  

Lynn was a carrot, the night before we were trying to figure out how to put the green carrot top on his hat.  Boy, that kept us busy for awhile, think of the empty cardboard center of a toilet paper roll spray painted green to hold up the floppy stuff. BUT, people recognized that he was a carrot, so I guess it worked............LOL  He's as good as John is about going along with whatever crazy idea Linda comes up with.  

Parades don't always move, so there is down time.  John was dressed up like he dresses when he goes on his jeep tours, complete with his 45 on his hip.  In the hand you can't see he had an Easter basket and plastic eggs with candy in them, to hand out along the parade route.  I did get a little bit of negative feedback, when he found out he was going to be a cowboy, carrying a pretty Easter basket.  He said some of the local characters, that roam the streets of Tombstone everyday as old west characters, looked at him a little strange..........LOL  They probably just thought he was an outsider trying to move in on their territory.  

This is Nigel with the eggs, after we filled them.  He was plowing thru them and when Linda gathered them up, he tried to lay on them.  Would love to know what he was thinking......!!!

WE'RE IN TOMBSTONE AGAIN THIS WEEK-END

A couple of weeks ago we did the St. Patrick's/Salute to the Troops parade, this week-end Tombstone had the Rose Parade yesterday and today they are having a pet parade.

We went yesterday just to be nosy.
 

Mike and Teresa were in town

Little guys hauling big wagon full of people

 

Pretty little girl

Canopy of rose blossoms, 9000 sq feet

Under the canopy rose bush from Scotland planted in 1885

Linda with some of the local color

 

Would be handy in this day and age, for men too.........LOL

Thanks for the pictures, Linda........!!

Today they are having a pet parade, Lynn and Linda are taking Leddy and Turbo dressed up for Easter.  The main objective is to get the boys use to being out in public.  Actually Lynn is going to be dressed as a carrot, which if the boys can handle that they should be able to handle anything......LOL

John is going dress like a Tombstone regular, in his cowboy gear he wears when he does jeep tours.  He will have a basket of plastic Easter eggs filled with candy, to hand out to the people along the parade route.  Me............I'm going to take pictures, figured I couldn't get in too much trouble doing that.......!!!  

We got up at 4AM to feed and am waiting now for the boys to have time to finish their breakfast before we load them and head for Tombstone.  We forgot to close Burroland last night, so of course this morning most of them were over there and saw no reason to come over here in the dark, besides it was cold and they don't like to move until the sun comes up.   Lynn had great fun, finding them and insisting they come over here, but they all finally made it.  Now we just have to wait, we'll start loading at 8AM.  Lynn and Linda have been working with them, so hopefully they will load without drama.