A Look At Nature

Noah came running into the house, breathless. "Mama, come see!" He and Zack had taken some scraps to the compost bin behind the barn. He found a female box turtle preparing to lay her eggs. Thank goodness she was on the outside of the fence. Unlike last year, a turtle had chosen a spot right in the door of the barn and the goats trampled all over her little buried nest.
We spent maybe 45 minutes watching her dig and rest, dig and rest. She laid 3 eggs and meticulously covered everything back up. She was so intent on her job that she never even seemed to notice us. So Cool!

The Sweetest Babies

A baby from a former litter- our bottle baby, Napoleon.


Well, we had good news and bad when I spoke with my vet. Tiger Lily did great during her surgery. Our vet was correct in his assumption that the puppy that was twisted around trying to be born did not survive. The good news is that the other little boy was fine.

Mama and 3 babies are home and settling in wonderfully. They are so tiny and precious and fragile-looking.

Last litter I had a mama with no milk. Thankfully, I had another mama who had delivered the day before. She was able to take on the 2 extra puppies with no problems except one of the puppies was so much smaller that he everytime he squirmed his way to a nipple he got pushed back. He looked like he was body surfing.

I kept them all in my room for the first week. I got up every couple of hours and held the mama in my lap and let her "foster" baby nurse. I moved him from nipple to nipple so he could get some doggy milk. I then supplemented with a bottle.

I woke up at every noise just like I did with my human babies while they were tiny. I got up constantly just to check.

This recent litter was moved to the living room after that first night. Better sleep for us all.

File Movement!!!!

Amazing! We were in IBESR for one day less than 4 months and we are out!!!! We are ecstatic to say the least. Many people got stuck in this legal phase because of possible rule changes concerning families with bio children. We feel really blessed and are now praying for our many friends who went in around the same time. One mom mentioned maybe they are "housecleaning" before slowing down during the summer months.

I get this incredibly wonderful email and before I can even share it with anyone except my husband we fell into more excitement. One of our long coat chihuahuas, who was due to whelp her first litter on Saturday, went into labor. Actually, I was suspecting she was in the beginning stages early evening. I was rejoicing in my email when I ran back to check on her. She did not want to go out with the others for their final potty run. I brought the playpen in with the whelping box to bed her down for the night.

I signed off the computer and when I checked on her again she growled at me. That was odd. I walked off and then thought better and came back to check again. I noticed a precious little rat size shape next to her. #1 baby boy had arrived. Ahhhh!!! I felt unprepared. She was not supposed to have him in the crate - it wasn't sanitized! We quickly got her moved to the box. We had to tie off the cord since it took 20 minutes to pass the rest. He is a fiesty one weighing at 1 oz.

We waited 2 anxious hours for #2 baby girl to arrive hind feet first. Okay, she is also fiesty and healthy weighing in at 1 1/2 oz. Mama seems uncomfortable but thrilled over her babies. She settles down to rest before the next round. Oddly, she is still too round to be done but she "acts" done. Oh no!

I call my vet repeatedly and every vet around with an emergency number. Can't find anyone! S says "Aw, she's just done. She's not having more." I don't know. I still feel that she is too big. Her labor has stopped and she is just enjoying the puppies. It is 3:00 a.m. so I finally go to sleep. A vet wakes me up at 6:30 returning my call. He says bring her in. They are packed and I wait 1 1/2 hours before my girl gets her x-ray. I was right - 2 more babies. One is twisted and chances aren't good for it but my vet is more optimistic about the other.

Now we wait. He says go home and they will call when they do the surgery and tell me the results.

Right now, I am just in survival mode myself since I don't do well with so little sleep. I have never been a party animal or night owl. I like to go to bed early and rise early - or my body does whether I want to or not.

I called my mom on the way home from the vet to share my adoption news. She couldn't believe I had such news and contained myself all this time. Well, I am sharing it now. I just hope I can remember who all I talked to after I have had more sleep!

A Recipe

I love finding new recipes that are simple and relatively healthy. I found this one online and my family loved it. It looks pretty too.

Taco Mac Salad
1 box(8oz.) tri-color spiral noodles
1 lb. taco seasoned grd beef
1/2 cup bell peppers, chopped
1/4 cup onions, chopped
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1/2 head lettuce, shredded (I use a bag of mixed salad)
1/2 cup french dressing
1 bag nacho chips ( I use 1/2 a bag)

Cook noodles as directed.Drain. Rinse with cold water. Drain again. In a large bowl mix noodles, green peppers, onion, cheese, and lettuce. Chill. Just before serving, stir in warm seasoned meat, french dressing and chips. Toss lightly. Yum!

Another chicken story

I am not sure if I mentioned we had to get rid of Big Red, my beautiful rooster. Several months ago, he started getting really rough with my girls. He even almost decapitated one of them. Noah called her the "scary hen" for a long time because Big Red totally plucked all the feathers off her head until she was bloody and bald. Good bye Big Red!

Actually, I took him to the flea market and sold him. We have the neatest flea market/trade day. We have a few around but people come from near and wide to go to this one. It has all the usual stuff but up on the hill in a back corner there are animals. My husband suffers through this part but I always insist on going there first. There are every kind of chicken imaginable, goats, pigs( grossssss!) horses, ponies, ducks, peacocks, quail, sheep, rabbits, hunting dogs and more.

Okay, yes it is loud and smelly. There are all kinds of people there selling and buying. It definitely has atmosphere! I have met some really interesting people there - interesting in a nice way.

I buy most of my chickens there. I was on a mission this Saturday for that very reason. I did a lot of looking before I came upon a woman who was selling 5 chickens about 2 1/2 months old for 1/2 price because they were her last and she was ready to go home. Ahhh, I love a bargain! They are Rhode Island Reds - in the top 2-3 best egg layers. They are not babies that I have to be so careful with either.

I brought home 5 chickens. Now if you know much about chickens, you know you can't tell them apart until they get several months old. Hatcheries employ people highly skilled somehow to seperate them right after hatching when they can somehow tell. The rest of the population has to wait and see. This lady told me one was a rooster based on the way it's feathers curved at it's neck. She seemed sincere but we couldn't see it. Maybe she's right. My husband looked at me in amazement when I said I thought I could see what she was talking about. All I know is they looked healthy and were a good price. If one is a rooster we will deal with that when the times comes.

I got them home and settled in a large cage inside the chicken coop until they all adjust to being together. If you don't do this the older ones will peck the new ones to death.

I stood there admiring my new purchases and watching how the older girls were walking up to the cage and trying to scare the news ones into submission. Lucas had been telling me that he thought another of my more recent purchases was turning out to be a rooster. I tried to study it's feet in comparison to the others. Roosters develop spurs on the side of their feet. Sure enough, this one appeared to have little knobs developing. Maybe Lucas was right, I thought.

I fed and watered everything before church yesterday morning. As I walked back toward the house, I heard a rusty ERR-ERR-ERR-ERRRRRR! Yes, we have another rooster in the hen house ladies.

Computers-Argggg!

I have tried all week to post pictures of our trip to the beach with no success. We have dial-up, need I say more?
I give up and move on.

A couple of months ago I got the sweetest card and package. It was from a friend of mine. She is so super thoughtful. The way I wish I was. I think "thoughtful" thoughts but I get busy and forget to follow through. Like birthday cards. I say every year I am going to send a card to everyone in my large family to celebrate their day. Birthdays should be special and these are people I really love, right? I just can't get it together to remember the card and send it off on time. They end up with a phone call sometimes a day late. See what I mean?

Anyway. I got this card. It said she was browsing through some magazines at a thrift store and saw this magazine that looked like me. It was only a quarter and she bought it. She sent it and a year's subscription to me just because she thought I would enjoy it. I was blown away! How sweet was that?

The magazine is "Farm and Ranch". It is such a neat magazine for us farmer wantabees.The articles are interesting and the pictures are beautiful.

My friend made me feel good and bad at the same time. The magazine was so on the mark for me - could I return the favor for her? I'm not sure but it was another reminder that I need to slow down and keep trying to follow through with those "thoughts" I have.

A great weekend

We had a busy week leading up to this eventful weekend. Our three older kids were packing up to spend some time with S's brother and his wife. We all adore them and wish we all lived closer to spend more time together. Not only do the kids think the world of them ( they don't have children yet and make our kids feel so special), their home is like a mini summer camp. They have a pool, golf cart, 4 wheeler, boat and more. They also live close to the beach. I wonder if the kids will even miss us. Yeah, right! I know I'll miss them like crazy.

Our plan was to meet them about half way and hand off the kids. S decided at the last minute to rent a cabin at a beachside state park as our meeting place. We left a day early and spent a glorious day and a half at the beach. The water was a gorgeous emerald green and clear as glass. The waves were just right. The sand bar went so far out even Noah could walk out a long way. The weather was perfect, the water warm.

Originally, Noah was not going with us - he preferred to stay with his cousins and avoid the long ride. When our plans changed to include time at the beach, he decided to go. He has been to the beach several times and is like his mom; he is not too keen on getting his face in the water. We stay along the edge normally. It has been almost 2 years since the last trip. I will never forget what an incredible time this kid had. It was like his first time. He had a blast. He yelled the whole time for one of us to come see what he found or look at what he could do. He still never got too far out but he loved the water. I almost cried from pure pleasure of watching the joy in his face.

This little trip was just one of those spur of the moment wonderful memories. I just sat under my umbrella watching my family thinking how good God is and how blessed we are.

Of course, in the midst of my musing and thankfulness, Baby Girl kept coming to my mind. I could not get away from the feeling that a part of us was missing. I could just imagine her playing in the sand next to me or seeing her splash in the waves. I kept thinking how she was missing out on all the fun we were having. I voiced it aloud to S and he said,"Next time, for sure, she will be with us."

Yes, for sure next time.

Blog Roll Please

As you can see, I got creative and decided to change the look of my blog. I am not quite satisfied but it will do for now. Unfortunately, I lost my blog roll. I am trying to put them all back on my list but I know I am missing many.
Please leave a comment if you read this so I can add your blog to my list. Thanks!

He's Back...

Well, Boomer is back. The lady fell in love with him but misunderstood her lease. There is a $550 one time deposit and a $250 yearly fee. She said she just could not swing it right now. We met her after church and got him back. The woman cried and held on to him until the last minute. I felt sorry for them both. I get so angry with irresponsible people who don't take care of their pets and somehow I am thrown in the midst of an emotional turmoil to find them good homes. Grrrrrrrr!!!!!
Here at the farm we have our own sad news. I have cried my heart out and hesitated to share this online. My little Tinkerbell ( my rescued baby goat) disappeared last week. We have searched the pasture several times. She was not one to get out. Actually she was a bit of a tattle-tail about that. I always knew when Ivy got out - she's my little escape artist. Tinkerbell would stand at the fence and cry until we came out and put Ivy back in.
I truly adored that little goat. Every day when I checked on everyone she would rub up against my legs like a cat. She loved to be rubbed and would snuggle when I squatted down to talk to her. I often thought to myself that I would have a very difficult time if something happened to her. It was like I knew she would not always be with us. We are honestly baffled at her disappearance. We have coyotes really bad. Who knows. I miss her so much that it is difficult to even go near the barn. She would have been a year old next month.
Have I already said this? It's difficult to be a country girl.

Rescue me!

The other day, S was late coming home from work. He had Caleb with him as he works part-time at S's office. Eventually S called to let me know what was going on. They were almost home - coming up the winding road of the mountain. There are a couple of hairpin curves that are a favorite dropping off sites of unwanted pets.

S tells me that they are pulled off at the lower curve trying to help this lady catch a little dog. She told S that she had seen it hanging around the curve for a couple of days. She pulled off to catch it and thought she hit it. Caleb caught him relatively easily since he was weak with hunger.

The lady says she doesn't want him, she just was going to take him to a vet's office and see if they would adopt him out. S offers to take him home and find a good home.

S calls me back to say be prepared that he is bringing home a really cute half-starved chihuahua that did not seem to have been hurt by the car. This scenario is not uncommon for us. We have rescued dozens of puppies, kittens, dogs and cats from that area. Those we could not catch we put out food for.

I got out towels, food, water and an empty crate. We raise chihuahuas and have a pregnant dog now so we had to keep the little guy quarrintine until we had him checked out.

I looked him over good and other than a couple of ticks and his terribly emaciated body he looked fine. Judging by his teeth, he is about 1-2 years old. He's chocolate,tan and white and small, maybe 4 pounds. A little shy but not snippy at all. A real sweetheart.

The kids fell in love immediately. They named him in spite of the fact that we kept telling them he was only with us temporarily until we could find a good home. They went through the usual routine of how they would take care of him - Caleb especially saying since he had a job he could take care of all his shots and medical care. Sorry, not gonna happen.

We decided to bathe and worm him and feed him several small meals while keeping a close eye on him to check for any signs of sickness. Meanwhile, we put the word out to see if we could quickly find a good prospective home.

We had a few nibbles but we were holding out for the "right" home. He had been through a lot and we wanted him to go somewhere special. We took him with us to show someone and stopped at Petco. While in line to pay for our dog food we got to talking to the lady behind us. We told her the story about finding the dog. She said she knew of the perfect home.

Okay, we were listening. She told us about her friend (50) who is recently divorced. No kids and her husband took their only dog. She was devastated and was looking for a small dog for a companion. Sounded good. We exchanged names/phone numbers.

Needless to say, little Boomer has found his forever home. We could not be more pleased. At least until we find someone else's poor throwaways.