Bathing Beauties

All was quiet these past two days and Sunday evening filled the farm with peace and serenity, making it a perfect weekend (besides the scary storms!). I went about my usual routine of cleaning and taking care of the animals. The corn yard was quiet. I am thinking Beauty might have given birth as she didn't show up for dinner with her son Browntail...they always feed together. On the way back to the barn with both horses in hand, I saw most of Brownie's 'brood' lying down together near the thicket, all chewing their cud...now that I haven't seen before! Usually the girls will take a breather, not the boys, who are most distrustful. I couldn't get close enough without disturbing them which was disappointing. Unfortunately I fell off my narrow perch on the wheel cover of the horse trailer while trying to avoid touching a large red wasp and while keeping my balance! Thankfully no humans were around to laugh at me. I loudly voiced my disappointment which caused the deer to raise up to see what had just happened. Then my reward came. I was blessed to be able to watch Brownie's bathing beauties!

(ooops, sorry for omitting the word 'could' in LB's photo).

Farm Love

It is easy to find love on this special farm. Have some fun and scroll down to see what I mean.

Nugget and Little Bear's version of Puppy Love!

The lone goose either found a new love or she is his original love and the neighbor's gun shot was just to scare them off.... who knows? I love it that they are with us.

Cricket loves to pretend he is a black leopard and a ferocious fighter!
Callie loves to stop in front of me and roll in the dirt. Princess loves to catnap.

Coty loves to smile for the camera! Pretty Coty!

Sammy loves to explore with Little Bear.

Daddy Cat loves to bat my legs if I stop petting him too soon.

Browntail loves to follow me and eat corn.

Bunny loves corn, too!

Cocoa loves to be bad and chase Daddy Cat away! Bad Cocoa!

Brownie loves her corn and hopefully her human 'Mama'...

Slither loves the cool grass and is quite photogenic! (stop groaning! Black snakes are friendly!)

Jessie loves her new salt lick. Blue already devoured his!

Everyone loves Nugget!

Nugget loves children.

Laquinta loves to watch Tiger play.

Tiger loves to bite!

Finally, I love the good husband, our farm and all of these beautiful critters!

Poo Problems

Poor Rocky hadn't 'pooed' in a couple of days due to sneaking and eating Tiger's dry food. Rocky's bowels cannot handle dry food anymore. His poo comes out rock hard and I have to give him Cat Lax daily in order to get it moving. He has done so well for almost a year without having to go to the vet and receive an enema. I feed him Fancy Feast canned food mixed with warm water and sometimes a little pumpkin or salmon oil, or milk or natural plain yogurt. He has to eat small amounts due to his extended colon. He hates the prescribed stool softener that is compounded and he can be a very difficult patient should the mood strike him....two vets have both called him Mountain Lion! I love my Rocky and feel so badly when he is going through this pain. I just wish there was a way to treat the cause and not just the symptoms.


Since I was headed to the vet, I brought Little Bear along for a blood test to check her pancreas after ingesting the scarecrow 'tails'. She is finally off her antibiotics. Little Bear rides in the car very well and never complained once. Rocky meowed the entire time.


Little Bear does not like other dogs, especially female dogs and threatens them with a warning growl or a bark. She might even start a fight. She is a farm dog born of a wild mother. She is used to protecting her territory from all critters and rarely sees other dogs unless they are chasing deer and those dogs do not stop and socialize! So at the vet's, there was a little black and white thing, looking fearful after hearing Little Bear's rumblings. The owner did not look happy! I think he was worried about his little girl and did not need any more problems. Bad Little Bear! Then a nice lady with another small dog choose to sit next to us. "Lady, why would you do that after hearing my warning and seeing that the empty seats offering distance away from the growling black farm dog?" And to think the nice lady was asking her baby why she was shaking? Okay.... Upon leaving the exam room, Little Bear wanted to approach a large white dog...I didn't see the dog at first. I was told his name was Max...low and behold, he belonged to a friend of mine! Of course we spoke. Max used to run the trails at the boarding barn where all of us boarded before we purchased our own farms. It used to drive me crazy. Jess would spook and I saw and heard nothing and then suddenly he would run past her. He was so quiet out there! He looked sooo different. The boxer I knew was sleek and golden brown with a black muzzle. Now he is all white! I haven't seen him in 7 years! He has a great mother that is for sure! Lots of good health to you dear Max!

Dr. Dyer, formally my large animal vet, has decided to only practice with the small animals. His schedule overtook his life and he needed time to spend with his young children and wife. I miss him as he was good with Jessie and Blue and I really trusted his intellect. His ego was in check and if he didn't know an answer (which was rare) then he was not afraid to tell me. Rocky was good to him for the most part but he held Rocky too long and Rocky didn't like that so he jumped out of the vet's arms onto the examine table to head for safety in the black carrier. He left only a tiny scratch...Little Bear's pancreas is fine but her BUN is slightly elevated which indicates kidney issues. She needs to ingest more water so I will add some low sodium chicken broth or warm water to her kibble and more soft food. Back in three months to check her...oh and she received her rabies and another vaccine.

The good husband picked Rocky up at the end of the day as I had a commitment and now Rocky is safe at home, hiding in the closet. He still has some pain as he was hissing while trotting to his treasured spot. His poor tail is all wet from getting cleaned after the enema. He did eat well, so that is good.

Oh, the trials and tribulations of owning furry babies. No complaints from me...I wouldn't trade them for anything in this world!

Questions

I have lots of questions as of late...this is nothing new for me as my poor mother can attest...I have always asked questions and it frustrates her to no end. When she tells me news of her old friends in Vermont or about people in the past; I ask questions that she cannot answer and I wonder, why doesn't she think to ask? I tell her, 'I will ask them for you' and she agrees that I have no problems with that! But, these questions are different...so here goes...

When will my arena be completed? Why did the original excavator whom we trusted and have given a whole lot of work in the past five years just brush me off after daily calls last week and after promising me they would come when the ground dried? And... after waiting an entire year? I called another excavator recommended by the gravel company...supposedly they are coming Monday. I am not holding my breath. Their rates are close to the original one so that is a good thing! I waited a long time allowing the crush-n-run base to settle, noticed the huge puddle and called a few times last year but was thinking of building a roof above so nothing was urgent. Now with the recession, we elected not to build at this time, in case you were wondering why it took a year....

Why did 'gray cat' not stay around when he was fed good food and could see my other cats were treated with lots of love and have a good home? Did Daddy Cat tell him to go away?


Why did the losers across the river shoot this poor gooses' mate a couple of weeks ago? I heard a shot one day, then heard a goose squawk loudly for the longest time. Those two were in our field earlier which was just fine. Now the lone goose eats corn if the deer do not chase it away. Poor baby, it watched me feed the deer and saw the deer get close to me so I hope it knows that our farm is safe. He walked a few steps towards me, but I am not pushing it...maybe he will tame up and realize that this is a good home!

Why do borer bees continue to buzz my head and threaten me when they know I am just going in and out of the barn?

Why are my special barn fans on back order AGAIN? I ordered them in March and now I will not receive them until June 13th. I chose this brand since it had the size I wanted which wasn't too big nor too small and the other brands I researched did not have that size. The motor is sealed and it oscillates if I remember correctly. They are expensive. I am not comfortable using box fans anymore as I have heard of fire issues...so I was trying to do the right thing! You would think a manufacturer would get the inventory ready for the season...hello!!!!

Why did a huge branch on my pink rose fall to the ground? Did the dogs have something to do with it or was it too heavy? Maybe I should have cut them back afterall...regardless, they are really beautiful and I hope the buds will bloom.

Where has my huge toad been in the last week? She has lived in the flower bed for two years now. Did the black snake eat her? I saw that skin under a bush and pulled on it and you won't believe this, but I think the snake was still shedding!!! My tug was met with pressure on the other end and not all of the skin came off! When I looked the next day, the torn skin that was under the bush was gone. I didn't want to search too closely as those boxwoods are thick!

Now, does anyone have any answers for me?