My Mustangs.

Echo gets a new roommate.

2011-12-24T21:46:00.000-08:00

It was the day before Christmas and Echo got a new roommate.

I thought it was time that Echo and Dandylyons spent some time together. Dandylyons is a good influence for horses because she's so calm and steady. I plan to walk Echo around the farm yard and expose him to scary things and it would be so much easier if Dandylyons is with us.

But first I have to get them bonded. The only other time she was with him, he chased her and she's never forgiven him for it. She spent the night in a small pen next to a him. This morning I let her out and she went right into the barn to clean up all the hay bits on the floor.

We have been storing hay in there. Echo will not go in the barn and so the hay was perfectly safe from him. We had to move it into the next stall because Dandylyons would try to eat it all at once. Echo watched her and was very interested, but would not go in.

Brad tried to coax him in but I don't think he'd go in the barn even if he was starving. He does have less cozy shelter in the pasture that he uses.

Dandylyons keeps close to Brad and Echo acts indifferent to her.

She remembers people, other animals and events really well. She kept a close eye on Echo.

Teddy wanted to herd her about really bad.

It was pretty hard to leave her there, but I trusted Echo not to hurt her. She peeked between the boards and mooed as we drove off. Later I checked them and this is what I saw in the corner pen!

On Christmas day the two new roommates were getting along really well. Echo shared his hay with her and not once did he put his ears back. After they ate I had Brad come over and we turned them out....big mistake! Dandylyons started walking in the direction of the other cows and Wildairo. Echo wouldn't leave us so we sat in the Jeep and then he left to catch up to her and that's when we saw his dark side.

He was horrible. He galloped up to her then raced passed bucking and kicking his feet in her direction. She started trotting in an effort to escape and that really set him off. If she just stood still he would have settled down but she decided to make a dash for the trees and took off at a canter. She only walks slowly these days so I was pretty upset to see Echo making her canter. I don't know what he was trying to do and I don't think he had a plan either. Once she got to the trees she was safe from him.

She found some tasty weeds there.

Echo was waiting for her to break cover.

We brought them back in. I will try turning them out again in a few days and see if he can behave himself. She's too old to be chased by some young scallywag.

I have many photos and farm adventures I want to write about and badly need to catch up and will do.

OBAMA IS A HORSE KILLING SCUMBAG.

2011-11-30T10:40:00.000-08:00

Our Australian Shepherd pup knows cows!

2011-11-16T21:22:00.000-08:00

We have been walking the cows out to pasture every morning and bringing them home in the evening. It has given Teddy lots of practice with working the cows.

I walk ahead with Dandylyons and when I get to the road, Brad lets the herd out. I call them when they come into sight and Teddy keeps them in order from behind. Here is Dandylyons walking with me.

We have to put Echo away twice a day because the cows walk past his field and he creates a bit of a ruckus. He has always come in with no trouble or he'll let me catch him in the pasture. This morning he was running, bucking, and didn't want to be corralled. He has been such a good boy; I don't know what got into him this morning because he was going really crazy. Soon as he galloped into the corral, William slammed the gate closed before he could race out again. Once again, the little 'wild' mustang was caught...this time without the help of helicopters. Here he is giving me the evil eye.

Here come the cows around the corner. Brad is flanking them on the right and Teddy is working solo behind them, keeping them moving. See two of them fighting...Teddy will not allow that kind of nonsense and quickly barked orders for them to face front.

Dandylyons and I are out standing in our field as we lure the herd across the road. I can hear Teddy's bell jingling and her little quick barks as she gets the stragglers to catch up.

Teddy brings them solo because Brad is too slow and gets left way back. It's amazing how that little pup brings them across the road by herself!

Here is Teddy bring them home in the evening. At first when she got confused, she would run over to Brad for guidance, now she's working independently. One white cow turns and gives her guff, so Teddy is ready for her...ready with a bark and she almost goes in for a nip. There is a Ginger heifer that misbehaves often and so Teddy is extra vigilant with her. Teddy now zig zags behind the cows and will go around them to get ones that wander off back in line. It's wonderful to watch. It all comes naturally to her.

A couple of times, on the way back home the cows have taken off. The first time they took off bucking, jumping and chasing each other, they chased Teddy and so she ran home. A few weeks later, they ran off again and chased her again across the meadow. This time she managed to turn them and Brad was ever so happy to see the cows running back to him with Teddy behind them. Now Teddy's attitude seems to have changed towards the cows, she is braver, more confident and stops trouble before it starts.

This afternoon I stopped in the gateway with Dandylyons to watch Teddy in action. We let the cows run past us into the corral. Teddy did not like Dandylyons standing there and thinking she needed to be with the rest of the herd; she barked at her and tried to nips her hocks. Dandylyons didn't even noticed and I had to tell Teddy that Dandylyons was with us and to back off. I'm so glad we got Teddy. She is so much fun and very affectionate.

Dandylyons has earned her stripes.

2011-10-31T12:01:00.000-07:00

Dandylyons finally had her way this year and got to dress up for Halloween as a

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TIGER!

She was so pleased with herself.

She even had a tail.

She became the object of curiosity.....

....which soon turned to ridicule.

Dandylyons didn't care because at the age of 20 she is very comfortable in her skin. Dandylyons and I lead the cattle out to pasture every morning and bring them home in the evening. Even though she was still in her tiger costume the cows didn't care and still followed us; hopefully forever laying to rest the old wives tale that cows don't follow other cows dressed up as tigers. The bloke driving the Budweiser delivery truck slowed down and gave us a cheery wave.

Here we are bringing them home last evening. That's me and my girl in the front.

We make sure they cross the road safely.

This was taken as the cattle, bellies full of high energy feed, stampeded past us to their corral.....I used Dandylyons as a shield and lived to tell the tale.

Brad and Teddy bring up the rear. Teddy is an incredible dog!

But once home, Teddy gets involved in domestic matters....

A week in the life of Teddy.

2011-10-17T20:23:00.000-07:00

A week ago today Teddy went to the vets to be spayed. We dropped her off in the morning and picked her up in the afternoon. She was not only spayed but had her vaccines updated and was also micro-chipped.

She did very well and was so pleased to see us when her vet led her into the waiting room. Here she is that same evening. She had a pain pill and was comfortable.

She snuggled up to William when he came home. Right after this picture was taken she was romping with Blondie almost like nothing happened.

She had such a tiny incision and four little pink stitches.

The next day I tried to keep her from rough housing with the other pets as much as I could. Here she is on my bed.

Soon she was going shopping again.

She has started barking at people in stores if they seem to sneak up on her. I think her days as a shopping companion are coming to an end. She's not at all aggressive and tries to hide behind me. If people ignore her she wags her bob tail and sniffs them...it's when people come around corners and surprise her she gets scared. The people who work in the dog friendly stores have been very patient with her trying to make friends, but she remains very shy. I think all the exposure to different places and people have really helped her, but she will always be nervous around new people.

Today Brad took her stitches out and it must have made her feel much better because she raced around the house with her toys most of the evening. We always have our pups spayed before they are 6 months old and have had trouble free healthy girls.

Teddy works hard at having fun.

2011-10-09T21:54:00.000-07:00

Teddy is now almost 6 months old and tomorrow she is going to the vets to get spayed. The following are pictures of her third time helping with the cattle. She's an Australian Shepherd and her instincts for cattle are incredible.

When a few of the cows make a break for it Teddy is right on them.

Dandylyons spots me hiding near the oak tree and tries to join me, but she's the wrong side of the fence.

I was trying to keep out of sight... so was Muffin.

Teddy and Brad get Dandylyons turned back.

Teddy keeps her moving.

Brad tells Teddy she's doing a good job.

Dandylyons sneaks the right side of the fence and pleads to me for help. She doesn't like being used as a pup training tool.

Dandylyons reluctantly joins the herd.....

and they all go in the corral.

So much for me trying to make myself scarce....Teddy knew where I was the whole time.

Good pup Teddy!

Fight of the Bumblebee.

2011-10-07T23:30:00.000-07:00

Things started peacefully, then the bee spotted someone else who seemed to be really enjoying himself.

Even though he was surrounded with thousands of flowers, the bee lumbered over to see what was so good with this particular flower.

Holding off the other fellow, he tried to have a taste...

but the other chap stood his ground.

So our hero retreated...but not before he gave the little fellow a kick in the head.

The light frost we had didn't do any damage to the garden. I even picked tomatoes tonight. But I think the big frost is about to strike....maybe tonight. I have been enjoying the garden and it's little inhabitants before it's all gone for another year.

Indoor projects have already started. It takes me ages to get things done these days it seems. This piece of furniture, along with the books, have been in Brad's family for over a hundred years and I finally got around to refinishing it. Over the years it had been varnished a few times too many and the old varnish was looking horrible. So I stripped it off and spruced it up. The wood underneath was lovely...oak. I glued down some of the loose scroll work and it looked as good as new.

The project took me three times longer than a job like that would have before. While I was working on it I couldn't help but wonder about all the changes that has happened since it was first brought into the house...two world wars, all the inventions, the babies that were born in the house that have grown old and past on.... I uncovered little repairs that had been made to it years ago. I hope a hundred years from now one of our descendants refinishes it and wonders about us.

All the books in it are over a hundred years old and at least one is 160 years old. They are fascinating to read and we really enjoy them and the other old book in the house.

First frost & Teddy's first job.

2011-09-30T10:40:00.000-07:00

This week we had our first frost. It got down to 30 degrees F. That same morning we also woke to cows on the lawn.

Dandylyons was one of three cows who dropped in for a visit. It was a perfect opportunity for Teddy to start her herd dog training. Brad took Teddy with him to get them in while I tried to keep out of sight so as not to distract her. I was so impressed with her natural abilities as she kept close to Brad and watched him for directions. She walked quietly right behind the cows as Brad moved them along. It's too bad our really tame cows totally ignored her and she didn't get to actually get them to move away from her. Our Airedales had to be kept away from any cattle herding because they would run around barking with sheer exuberance while creating havoc.

Later on the rest of the herd showed up. They had all been on an unauthorized adventure on the bluff and it's the reason Wildairo has not been let out with them. He's still in the corrals and I'm trying to get him domesticated again.

Teddy is a super little dog and I'd wished I'd taken some pictures of her working the cattle. She is just a pup still and gets easily distracted by things such as our cat Muffin who was trying her hand at cow herding as well and needed to be chased.......and then there's the cow poo.......Teddy has never seen a cow pie that wasn't worth investigating.

I took these first four pictures with my new phone. As you can see the light frost didn't do much damage. I started Four 0'Clocks (Miribilis Jalapa) seeds indoors and grew dozens of plants. I planted them out pretty much everywhere. I didn't know what Four 0'Clocks were and I have been really pleased with them. Some of them grew more than 3 feet tall!

Rock garden with Strawberries and Cream Ribbon Grass, Peace Rose, Petunias, Sweet Alyssum, Chrysanthemums and violas. The water is not turned on because of the ducks playing there all the time and making a mess.

More four 0'clocks. They are very interesting because more than one flower color can grow on one plant and they also close up in the heat of the day. They have a nice light fragrance as well.

Brad drilled holes in basalt rocks and I put some potting soil in the holes and sprinkled in viola seeds. It's so pretty.

Swathing the meadow.

2011-09-25T23:05:00.000-07:00

Here's William cutting the new stand of alfalfa with oats as a cover crop. Brad and William seeded this in July and it grew pretty heavy.

So heavy in fact that the swather got plugged up a few times.

Teddy was only allowed to play around the swather when it wasn't running. Dogs love windrows!

Wildairo ignored me when I was standing at his fence with carrots and a muffin. He was pining for his comfort cow and wouldn't even look at me...... so Echo got his carrots as well as his own. Brad ate the muffin.

I don't let Echo bite into carrots or apples when I'm holding them. I give him bite size chunks. So here he is licking the carrots.....such a good boy. (Well he would have bit them after awhile if I let him).

Taking pictures of dogs.

2011-09-14T23:05:00.000-07:00

Today I had a photo shoot with the dogs.

Here is Teddy swimming.

I had William put her in on one side while I called her...then I quickly snapped the picture and handed the camera to Brad so she wouldn't get it wet when I helped her out of the pool. She is a very good and fast swimmer. Blondie splashes too much and Bobby can't swim. Bobby tries to climb out of water and gets vertical and sinks, so we keep her away from deep water.

I wanted all three dogs to pose for pictures and it was difficult to get all three dogs posing nicely at the same time.

Here Bobby is distracted by a bug.

Teddy wanders off and the other two dogs smile nicely.

Bobby keeps her eye on a hawk.

Would have been a nice picture but Blondie blinks.

Squirrel?

Oh well.

Wildairo and Teddy.

2011-09-12T21:01:00.000-07:00

But first a nice sunset.

I took that picture out of the car window as we drove home from Spokane the other day.

I put Teddy on a little table in the barn and called Wildairo in. I thought Teddy couldn't do much mischief up high.

But she gave Wildairo a playful nip.

Poor Wildairo, he's locked in while the cattle are out and about and misses Dandylyons a lot. I get the chance to re-bond with him anyway while he's desperate for a friend. He wants nothing to do with me when he's with his best gal.

They made friends over a bran muffin.

Full moon tonight....... but I took this last night.

It's been very hot here. It got up to about 100 degrees F over the weekend. I hope it stays hot for awhile longer so Brad and William can get the hay up.

Teddy at four months.

2011-09-05T23:41:00.000-07:00

Teddy is a lovely little dog and we are enjoying her so much.

She has been walking right passed rabbits on her walk without noticing them. The other evening I walked her up to one until she spotted it. This picture is of Teddy's very first bunny chase.....now she looks for them.

Echo really likes her. I was about to take a picture of her meeting Wildairo for the first time but she crawled through the gate and was about to bite his nose. Wildairo is not as easy going as Echo and so I had to intervene and missed the shot.

Here she is meeting Dandylyons. (Cell phone pic). Teddy's eyes got huge....Dandylyons eyes are always huge.

Teddy was a bit frightened of Dandylyons and tried to push her away.

Here's Ted doing her stalking walk around the garden. She does this funny grin sometimes. She wrinkles up the side of her mouth and it's so cute.

I took her for a little walk and she loved it. Blondie and Bobby came as well. Bobby ran off after bunnies and Blondie kept close to me.

What really makes her happy is .................................................

shopping!

I put her in the shopping cart to see if she would still sit in one and of course she did. We passed a Jack Russell being pushed in his cart.... another shopaholic dog. She walks around the dog friendly stores on her leash. Sometimes she's naughty and plays leash tug and recently she has tried a bit shop lifting, so she has to be watched closely. She has come with us on all our trips around Eastern Washington and is comfortable going into all kinds of places now, but she doesn't like people walking right up to her and tries to hide behind me. If we are talking to someone and they talk to her she'll wag her little bob tail and go up to them. The other day in the Spokane Home Depot, three people who worked there came up to her with dog biscuits and she was so shy of them she wouldn't take the biscuits. I'm so pleased there are so many dog friendly businesses. Even our bank has dog biscuits on hand.

Bobby became ill and had to go the vets. She was panting and acting disorientated. I was worried it was her heart. The vet said she had heat stroke, which puzzled me at first because we have lots of shady places outside and she is inside the air conditioned house most of the time. Then I remembered she'd dug a hole in my flower bed and had sat in it even though it was right in the hot sun. She can even open the back door herself to come in so I don't know why she decided to bake herself that day. She sometimes acts weird and I'm wondering if it's to do with her age or brain full of porcupine quills. The vet said she is in terrible condition for only 9 years old. She has joint pain and very smelly breath. She started having bad joints when she was only three years old. Anyway she's doing better and goes out on patrol (in the cooler parts of the day) barking none stop at large birds and air force C-17 cargo planes to keep them from landing here and making off with the chickens.

Last week Teddy had a lovely visit with her new friends, Molly who's a border collie mix and Daisy a boxer. Molly played rough with her and even though at first Ted was a bit worried, she realized she was getting what she usually dishes out to other pets and she really enjoyed herself.

The excitement of shopping wears her out.

Cows and wild fire.

2011-08-30T23:13:00.000-07:00

It seems when the sarcoidosis gets the upper hand for some reason I find it hard to blog. I was taking a higher dose of steroids for a while and it really helped. Since I've weaned down the dose the inflammation is returning. I have subcutaneous granulomas in my legs, arms, back, ankles etc. (Granuloma is a medical term for a roughly spherical mass of immune cells that forms when the immune system attempts to wall off substances that it perceives as foreign but is unable to eliminate). Granulomas were found in my eyes and throat at one time, so I think they are pretty much everywhere. Some of them are pretty big and others tiny. They can interfere with the organ, nerve, muscle etc. they are growing in or near. I'm hoping my sarcoidosis will go into remission but for the last three years it has been active. I started having acute attacks of the disease in the mid 90's when I had all kinds of muscle issues like cramps, torn muscles, tendons, twitching, pain, difficulty walking and bouts of really bad fatigue. In the summer of 2008 it hit again and this time decided to stick around and now it has affected my joints and vision as well.

Anyway, all this has made it difficult for me to function as I used to and that is the reason I have been only playing around with the mustangs and have long ago stopped any more serious training. My autoimmune doc told me I have an area in my spine that had severe osteoporosis caused by the sarc and could easily fracture....so I'm in no hurry to get on a green horse, even if I could. All in all I'm happy and having fun...just wanted to explain myself a bit though......don't want anyone to think I'm just being lazy... :)

Life on the farm has been rolling along. In July, Brad and William seeded a nice stand of alfalfa with a cover crop of oats in the meadow. They have been irrigating the heck out of it and it's coming along really nice.

The other day I found myself defending the fort while Brad and William were gone for three or four hours....and wouldn't you know it..some of the cows got into the alfalfa field. Cows can bloat and die a horrible death if they gobble down too much alfalfa and so I knew I needed to do something. I made a couple of attempts to go and save the day with my two hiking poles and Teddy, but had to call the mission off due to the heat and all that, and also I didn't think I could get them in by myself...Teddy is just a pup still. Although only a few of the cows were out, I knew the rest would follow them soon as they finished chewing their cud and I couldn't stand idly by and watch them bloat. Anyway, I came up with a cunning plan....

Before the cud chewers spotted the escapees in the alfalfa and went to join them, I cut into a bale of hay, put it into my jeep and drove into the corral honking and calling as if it was a big feeding time. Not only did the cud chewers come to the jeep but the silly cows that were up to their bellies in delicious alfalfa started to come back towards the corrals. When the corral cows were busy eating the bit of hay that I made a big deal of, I moved as quick as I could to 'chase' the escapees back in. I was amazed that they went in! A couple of calves ran around having fun but I slapped my straw hat into the crop and yelled at them and they raced in after their mothers! Dandylyons noticed I was hyperventilating and she came to walk back with me and then stood between the bull and me so I could get in the jeep.

Sun, heat and stress are the worse things for me and it was difficult to recover once I got home. I noticed the light outside turned orange and then the phone rang. It was then I discovered something was wrong with that phone...I could hear someone asking if anyone was home but the caller couldn't hear me. I'm glad I couldn't hear him because it turned out it was a neighbor telling me a wildfire was racing towards our house. I think I would have just had a heart attack at that point! As it was, a little while later Brad and William saw the fire on the way home and called to tell me there was a fire and it was under control. Luckily, the wind died down.

The fire started beside the road, about a mile from the house, just the other side of our fence, and took off across the sagebrush.

Brad came and got me and I took these photos of the local volunteer firemen doing mop up. You can see how close it was to our fence.

Coyote update.

2011-07-27T15:36:00.000-07:00

Last week I was about up to my feet up and was having a cup of tea when I spotted a coyote pup on the lawn in front of the house. He was peering towards the side of the house..the same place I last saw the chickens. I bolted to my feet. It's funny how you can move so fast when you have to. Rattle snakes can make me move at lightening speed as well...like when I was spraying weeds with a heavy backpack sprayer and a rattlesnake rattled in the long grass right by my feet. One minute I was tired and sluggish, the next I was some distance away and feeling very energetic and awake. When I was very pregnant and sitting on a plank bridge watching Brad work by the irrigation ditch, a rattlesnake rattled right under me.. all I could think of was that knot hole in the plank. The next thing I knew I was some distance from the plank and I never knew how I got there. Funny thing was I was so pregnant I was having trouble getting up and down.

I dashed outside and yelled at the pup. He went into the long grass between the garden and the cultivated soil in the field. William came and we looked for him. William was convinced he'd ran off, but I thought he was hiding in that bit of grass. I suspect he's been hiding close to us for awhile and has become accustomed to seeing us and hearing our voices.

I took Bobby and Teddy outside to keep an eye on things and we lay on the slope under the oak tree. Within minutes Bobby focused on something behind me, rose up and streaked off. I turned around and there was that little stinker on the lawn again! I was right behind Bobby, actually running a bit. Bobby quickly caught him ...and....well Bobby is a very friendly dog and the meeting was very cordial until I came on the scene yelling, 'Kill Kill Kill', because I didn't know what else to shout. The pup ran under the crab apple tree near the chicken coops. Then Brad and William showed up. William got his gun and so I got mine. Things were starting to look bad for the little pup. While we were getting ourselves well armed, Brad and Bobby found the coyote pup trying to hide in the long grass and had him surrounded. William went into the tall grass first with his gun and mumbled something about shooting him if he was to run off. I went and had a look and there was this lovely little frightened puppy trying to get as low as he could to make himself invisible. I was all, "Awwwww hello sweetie". Keep in mind this pup is the same size and age as Teddy, so at this point assassination was out of the question.

Well, we had to come with some other plan and who better to come up with a cunning plan but me. I suggested catching him. Brad got his snare and welding gloves and I prepared a dog kennel to drop him into. What we would do with him after we had him in the kennel wasn't thought about. I'm not really a detail person.

In retrospect Brad should have given the snare to William who was in front of him and he could have caught him easily, but Brad went from behind him and the pup ran into some deeper grass.

Here's Brad and William with the pup right between them.

Crab apple trees on the right and strawberry trough forever on the left. We should have used the net from the strawberry trough to catch him.

The pup ran into this grass and we lost him. Bobby was useless. She probably found him and just winked at him. I threw in some firecrackers (onto a big rock) but no pup ran out.

William with his 72-year-old Soviet battle rifle.

I got in the chickens by dropping bits of bread to get them to follow me.

The ducks are easy to herd but this silly hen came in with them and they attacked her really bad. Ducks have a dark side.

The pup was fine with hunting the plentiful rodents in the meadow, but Brad ploughed it up and re-seeded it. As it turns out the pup is now hunting across the road in our hay field that we call the 'flat'. The hay there has just been cut and turned and there's lots of things for him to eat.

The other day William found this bunny trapped where she shouldn't have been and he brought her to me. The bunny was really tired. I offered her lettuce, but she didn't know what it was. She did have a drink. I sprayed her with a bit of flea spray and we let her go.

Echo does well.

2011-07-26T23:31:00.000-07:00

Second day of saddle pad training and Echo does very well. He eagerly came in for the training session and gave a disappointed snort when he saw the saddle pad and realized it wasn't going to be a carrot eating training session.

He let me put the pad on his back and was okay with me banging on it and taking it off and on. We ran into a spot of bother when I took it off him and opened it up under his nose.....he ran off. But he came back and let me put it on him again. Because he wasn't wearing a halter, I had to tell him to "step up" to get him to move with it on. He did a little frightened trot but calmed right down and came to me.

Here he is being a good little lad.

Echo gives a saddle pad a ride.

2011-07-25T22:42:00.000-07:00

The day started out hot and extremely windy. A wild fire started about 10 miles west of here and that was scary with the wind blowing so hard towards our place. It was so smoky! Then it rained and the fire and the wind died down. It turned out to be so very pleasant that later that evening and I decided to try something new with Echo.

Echo meets Foxsun's old saddle pad.

He was snorting at it and scared. I put it down on the ground and let him maul and bite it.

After awhile he seemed okay with it. And so I decided I'd put it on his back.

And Echo did what he always does when he gets rushed...................................................

he ran away.

He came back and the saddle pad was really staying on good....till it fell off. Echo never bucked.

I was getting ready to let that saddle pad have another ride when William showed up. He wanted to make sure I was okay. I asked him to take our picture. That's me giving the thumbs up as I rub the pad all over his back and bang it around. Notice I never put a lead rope on Echo and so when it was on his back he took off again. This time it slid off very slowly and when it did fall to the ground, Echo let it have it with both of his back hooves.

He was okay standing with it on his back and didn't mind me moving it around or banging on it, but he was uneasy when I lead him. We will have to work with that more.

He looks so small with William.

He did very well considering I never did de-sensitize him with bamboo poles, sacks and things. I will have to do that before I put a saddle on him. Echo gets so scared and puts his nose on my nose wanting me stop scaring him and to take it off his back. That's what he did when I first put he pad on his back. It was when I wouldn't remove it he ran off. I really enjoyed myself and I think Echo had a bit of fun as well.

Teddy goes to the vets.

2011-07-20T13:36:00.000-07:00

Here's Teddy with her big sister, Bobby, learning to guard the chickens/ducks from hawks and coyotes.

The chickens love to scratch everything up but keep the snakes away, so they earn they keep.

Teddy gets along with all the other pets. Here she is playing tug with Bobby and Squeaky pig.

When she was out doing some digging with Blondie she got a cheat grass seed in her ear. When cheat grass gets into a dog's ear the only way you can get it out is with a otoscope and forceps. The mobile clinic comes to town on Tuesdays and I was going to go there but then Brad said he was going to Moses Lake to get some seed and asked me to go with him. I thought we could pop into the vets there to have the seed taken out, but the vet was in surgery. I was told she wouldn't be finished for three hours! So we went to another vet clinic that I'd never been to before. Here's poor Teddy looking worried at the vets.

The receptionist, at the 'other' vets, went in the back to talk to the vet and came back and told me that I'd have to leave Teddy there and she'd be given a light anesthesia. I didn't want to leave Teddy and I didn't like the fact they'd decided to give her anesthesia without even looking at her. So we left. When we got home, Brad went to do his seeding and I drove Teddy to see our regular vet in Ritzville. Regular vet can get cheat grass seed out of dogs ears without always doping them up. I put her in an old fashioned snout lock and the vet removed the seed quick as a jiffy. The vet told me that he thought Teddy was a very nice dog and seemed well impressed with her. Teddy then got more of her vaccines and her first rabies vaccine so she'll never end up like Old Yeller. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ipVO3ZnrzWk

Teddy is looking cheeky because she just jumped onto a chair and finished off my cup of tea.

When I point my finger at her and tell her she's a bad dog, she barks at me.

Coyote Pup update.

That coyote pup must have been getting accustomed to the sight and sound of us for a long time and is very fearless. He spends his days in the meadow eating mice or hanging out in the shade under the farm equipment. He's doing a great job eating the mice and gophers, but comes too close to the house. I took Bobby out to chase him away a few times. (once I actually waited for him to enjoy his mouse before unleashing her). Bobby goes after him like a laser beam letting out her yippy war cry....but she's old and has arthritis, so as far as the coyote pup is concerned, it's like being chased by his great great grandmother.

The other day the pup was trotting along ahead of William and he came across the feral black tom cat that has been hanging about here for ages. The pup jumped on the cat and they had a big fight. William says there was lots of screaming and he's not sure who was doing it. I think it was the pup...cat claws are sharp. The cat ran passed William and both were okay. The tom cat is back to his usual tricks of peeing everywhere and waiting for out cats to appear so he can fight with them. The pup continues to hunt closer to the house. This is very troubling. I hope the pup has learned to avoid cats and stick with rodents..but...I'm worried about the birds and the cats. Normally we have no trouble from coyotes because there is so many rodents and other things for them to eat that they don't want to risk fighting with a cat or sneaking close for a chicken or duck. Our cats go all over the place. Two of them are very old and arthritic. Here's Maxwell.

Max walks with a limp and sleeps most of the time, but he enjoys catching a mouse or two a day....out in the meadow.....where the coyote is. I'm keeping the cats in until we can think of a solution. William has suggested The Final Solution.

Random and rambling.

2011-07-16T23:04:00.000-07:00

We have a dump on our farm that hasn't had anything dumped into it for decades. There are a lot of old cars and trucks dumped there and even though it's not visible from the house or road, I've always hated it. For many years we have said we would get rid of it, but have never got around to it because it's such a huge undertaking. Last week Brad and William pulled down off the bluff 11 old cars, called hulks. There's still some very old trucks up there that are maybe 50 or 60 years old.

Brad squashed them as flat as he could and then they hauled them to the scrape-yard on a truck and a trailer. I thought we'd have to pay someone to take them off our hands, but the scrape yard pays for this old metal rubbish and these cars are very heavy like tanks! Before you can take them to the scrap-yard you have to have a policeman sign off on them. So we had the sheriff's deputy poking about the place. lol.. they'll never take me alive.

Teddy was part of the action.

Before we left the house, she jumped up and grabbed my camera bag that was attached to my belt loop and damaged her tooth when it got caught.

We have stopped Teddy from nipping us but she thinks it's great fun to nip the other dogs and poor Echo. Echo doesn't seem to mind too much, in fact he's extremely tolerant of her puppy ways. I have to have someone hold her because I dare not put her down around the horses because I know she'll nip their legs. Echo would just jump away but Wildairo would put her in orbit if he had the chance. I had Echo in to worm him. He's such a good horse.

The other evening William and Teddy walked over to Echo's with me. William saw two girls he knew out riding their bikes and so while William and Teddy talked to the girls, I played around with Echo. I brushed out his mane and tail and while I tugged away at his tail I remembered when, for such a long time, he wouldn't let me touch him and just the sight of my hair moving in the breeze would make him bolt off. He's as solid as a rock now. He stands so well without even a halter on and if I want to move him I tell him to step up and he walks towards my upraised hand. (I really need to teach him to be tied though).

I put his halter on and led him along side an object that I could stand on and leaned over his back a bit, slapped him with my hand all over and pushed my knee into his side.....he stood perfectly still....head in the air, like he does, and ears back paying attention to me. Here's the crazy part..I felt so comfortable and confident with him that if my body wasn't damaged by the sarcoidosis, I would have put my leg over his back. I've never mounted a horse that has never been ridden before (I sent Foxsun to a really nice trainer for a month when he was three) but it felt pretty natural just to get on. I'm thinking that I would like him to be broke for riding even if I never can ride again. I think I'll put a saddle on him... probably I should make an effort to desensitize him better first.

Tommy T Tone feeds a hungry coyote.

2011-07-07T15:14:00.000-07:00

Today our cat, Tommy Two Tone murdered a plump young quail and was immediately put under house arrest as a punishment, (I love birds), but I'm not sure he noticed he was being punished though. A little while later Brad and William came in for lunch and told me the coyote pup they'd been seeing for a couple of weeks in the meadow, who is totally alone and had become used to their presence.

I went out to take a look and sure enough there he was, right where they said he would be.

I took Tommy's freshly murdered quail and put it in on the ditch bank, then I herded the pup towards the ditch.

Just as Brad and William had told me, the coyote pup wasn't very scared of people and because he didn't blot off I was able to steer him in the right direction.

He started sniffing as soon as he got to the ditch because I'd put some dog treats near the quail that have a strong smell that Teddy loves...I use them for training her. When the wild pup spotted the quail he jumped on it like it was about to fly off and then he carried his prize into the long grass to eat it.

For one brief moment I imagined Teddy and coyote having a play date. I know coyotes love to play because I found things on the bluff they have been playing with like a wooden goose decoy and an old shoe, both covered in teeth marks and always in different places. (I don't even know where the objects came from). And so being an old softee, I left a rawhide chew for the wild pup.

Meanwhile Teddy has turned into quite the domestic goddess. Here she is pre-washing the dirty dishes before I started the dishwasher. I didn't give her this job. She had been trying to lick the dirty dishes while I was loading them and when I went to get the rest of the dishes, I pushed the rack in thinking she'd leave things alone, but when I returned this is what I found...

Teddy has learned to jump onto things! Nothing will be safe now! Everything that is not nailed down she has made off with. She's such a happy pup and so entertaining. We love watching her play with Bobby and Blondie. She does this thing where she nips Bobby's legs or nose and then, quick as a flash, jumps out the way. I'm sure this is because she is a herding dog and they nip and then jump back to avoid being kicked. Bobby growls but is very tolerant of her...her tail wags with joy the whole time. Blondie likes to play as well but had to bite Teddy very hard on the nose to teach her boundaries. Teddy yelped and ran off shaking her head and rubbing her nose. It must have really hurt her. When she came back in the room she peeked around the corner at Blondie and wouldn't go near her for awhile.

Teddy still goes shopping and is still shy of people. She doesn't greet people but will back away from them when she's on her leash. She feels more secure when she's in the shopping cart or I am holding her. I just want her to know that people are okay and not a threat. One lady bent down to talk to Teddy and Teddy backed right up to the puppy toy basket in her favorite store. Once Teddy realized she couldn't back up any more she seemed to relax and let the lady make a fuss of her. She did not return the affection. I think it's doing her a world of good to meet dog loving people that are total strangers. Today I took her in the court house with me and even there some dog lovers found her.

Teddy at nine weeks.

2011-06-26T16:44:00.000-07:00

Teddy is now 9 weeks old. Friday, not only did Teddy go shopping but she had her first visit to her vets. She weighed in at 12.3 lbs and had her second set of vaccines and worming. She was such a good girl that she was allowed to pick out a new toy at the feed store. I kind of think they put all those toys in the basket low to the ground just to tempt pups who happen to be walking past. She had a choice between Squeaky Hare, Squeaky Rabbit, Squeaky Duck and Squeaky Fox. Squeaky Fox won paws down and we had to listen to him squeak most of the way home.

She looks older than she is in this photo. Look at her happy face!

When I'm out and about with Teddy people often tell me how good Australian Shepherds (Aussies) are. A man we met shopping told me all about his incredible Aussie, Andy who is 15 and he loves dearly.

Teddy enjoys being with the other pets. Here is Bobby going out on patrol with Teddy, who wanted to tag along.

Teddy doesn't go far from home yet and so Bobby continued on without her.

She really gets along well with Tommy Two Tone. Where Tommy goes...Teddy is sure to follow.

Here is Tommy with Teddy right behind.

They have a lot in common. Tommy likes to follow the chickens around and so does Teddy.

Tommy teaches Teddy to eat grass. Here they are grazing in the the shade of the birch tree.

Teddy didn't understand the reason for the grass eating, but thought if her hero, Tommy does it then it must be a good thing....so she continued eating the lawn.

She had a little difficultly chewing it. She tried to keep an eye on her pal Tommy.

Tommy was an inside cat only till about 2 months ago. I started letting him come out with me while I gardened. He kept really close until the day he discovered a mouse. Our sweet little Tommy Two Tone became a serial killer! The lawn was littered with his murdered victims...mice, voles and gophers. Sometimes he'd pile the corpses up outside the back door. Our other cats are pretty old and would rather sleep than hunt these days and Muffin is more into birds...so there was a job opening for a good rodent hunter around here.

Teddy suddenly thought of a more traditional game she could have with Tommy...

Cows at work.

2011-06-23T16:03:00.000-07:00

We have been making our cows do work for the last 6 weeks or so. Brad and William are going to plough up the meadow and re-seed it and to make the job easier, the cows had the job of mowing down the grass.

They took on their assignment with great eagerness and dedication.

They quickly organized themselves into a hard working group, only taking short breaks for cud chewing, feeding their young, naps and romance with the bull.

Thanks cows for a job well done.

Summer Solstice

2011-06-21T23:29:00.000-07:00

My favorite day of the year.

Summer Solstice

Through the Spring, the Sun
Rises slowly toward the azimuth
Until at last, the apex reached
Night and day teeter in the balance

Soon to begin its slow decline
Foretelling the decent in Fall
But for now we shall enjoy
The warm days of Summer

Capturing every precious moment

Savoring the long, lazy days

That will sustain us through

The Winter that's sure to follow

I took these photos in the garden as the sun set.

And then Teddy leaped off the retaining wall and belly flopped onto the lawn, in what William calls, 'The Full Superman'. For a moment she looked like she was off to save her home planet.

Herding dog meets herd for the first time.

2011-06-19T19:17:00.000-07:00

The cows were near the house and so I took the opportunity to introduce Teddy to the herd.

She ran away.

But she came back.....

Deer stalking, shopping with Teddy..

2011-06-18T14:59:00.000-07:00

and cows in the mist.

Sometimes when I see deer in the garden - I stalk them. When they come out from behind a tree.. there I am with my camera. I enjoy seeing the look on their faces. It's usually early in the morning and so I'm in my bright yellow robe (dressing gown) and slippers, but the fright they get might be from what I look like first thing in the morning!

This guy came out from behind the tree and I was waiting the other side.

I was walking up behind this fellow as he snacked on my crab-apples. I got very close.

He never looked around until he was in the field and then he bounded off as fast as he could.

Teddy has been doing a lot of shopping with me. Here she is in the garden center at Lowes yesterday.

I have to be careful because if I push the cart too close to the plants she will bite them.

When we caught up with Brad and William in the boring hardware section, she was fast asleep.

I took Teddy to as many stores as I could and walked her around people in an effort to get her okay being around strangers. A little girl petted her and some other people spoke nicely to her. I wish I could give people bits of cheese to give to her. I took her to a scrap yard where there were a lot of men in hard hats. She was a bit frightened at first so I cuddled her and she relaxed. At the irrigation store, where Brad and William were getting irrigation stuff, two ladies who work in the office, kidnapped her for awhile. She's super good about being in the Jeep or pick-up truck now. I take her puppy food and water and she drinks and eats when she needs to and also takes potty breaks.

Teddy was born on April 23 2011, and she learned to sit on command a week ago. She also knows 'come' and 'stay'. That's pretty much all I know about training dogs so I'm going to have to learn more because she's very smart. She is almost completely house trained already! She has started asking to go out!!!! Are all Australian Shepherd's this smart? Do I have a pup genius? Have all the other pups I have had been slow learners? So many questions.

When I'm gardening Teddy helps me do everything...weed...dig holes for new plants and she will run all over the place with the empty plastic pots in her mouth. I bought a nice Angle Face rose and dug a hole for it, when I came back with the rose Teddy was in the hole furiously digging her way to China. After I managed to plant the rose and was watering it in, Teddy was trying to dig it up again, so I squirted her with the hose and she didn't seem to mind too much, in fact she was covered in mud and was so happy about it. When she's not gardening she likes to herd the chickens and ducks. She quickly learned that if she moves too fast moving our two ducks they will fly away. She doesn't chase the birds but herds them all over the place. They don''t seem to mind too much.

Teddy gets around.

2011-06-11T13:08:00.000-07:00

Teddy is meeting the animals on our farm. Here she is saying hello to Echo.

I took Teddy to work with me and Blondie. She curled up with Blondie in the bed that I put in a laundry basket. Blondie was glad of the extra warmth.

Friday we took her shopping. She sat so nicely in the Ranch and Home (now Big 5) shopping cart as I shopped for toys, puppy food and a new bed. Surrounded by her new stuff, people came to talk to her which was what I wanted. I want her to enjoy going places and being okay with strangers.

Here she is shopping for plants in the Home Depot. I put her new bed in the cart and she was asleep most of the time.

I've never had a pup that was so good about not doing their business in the house as Teddy. She spends the night in the down stairs bathroom and after spending 6 nights here she has only done two puddles in the bathroom over night and that was the first two nights. She sleeps all night as well. During the day, as soon as she wakes up from her frequent naps, I carry her out to the lawn and she hasn't gone in the house since the first few days!

She's becoming a bit of a terror and has already ripped Brad's pants when she grabbed them when he was walking. She thinks it's funny. She ran into my legs this morning and I think she may have learned a lesson from it because I accidently stepped on her paw. Poor little Teddy ran off holding her paw up and I felt like a puppy beater.

I have bought her lots of chew toys. Some of the toys were in the bathroom and she went and got them one by one and bought them into the living room. Bobby respects her stuff but Blondie will steal her treats. There was a raw hide chew on the floor that Teddy had walked off from and Bobby stood over it with her head down just staring at it. She loves them but knew it belonged to the 'baby dog'. She sat next to Brad's chair with her head over the arm rest and just cried. Blondie doesn't give a hoot, she'll sneak up and grab Teddy's stuff.

Here's Bobby with her first toy ever. Bobby is 9 and has never been interested in dog toys. She prefers to spend her time chasing Rock Chucks (marmots), but she has joint problems now and so I called this squeaky pig a "Rock Chuck" and she's been 'killing it' on a regular basis.

Notice the hair on her face is worn off from shoving her head into pipes and rock holes after Rock Chucks. Needless to say she hasn't quit hunting the real thing.

Teddy is home.

2011-06-06T17:19:00.000-07:00

Sunday we drove to Idaho and got our 6 week old Australian Shepherd pup. Her name is Teddy. (Blondie comes when I call "Bobby" so I wanted the puppy to have a name with a distinct sound..problem is now Blondie comes when I call Teddy's name).

On the way home I took her for a few little walks on a leash and she surprised me by following behind me. I took these pictures today in the garden.

Henrietta was horrible to her. She pecked her nose and then jumped on her. Teddy is not allowed to go near Henrietta again. I don't know what got into that one eyed hen. Here Henrietta is stalking poor Teddy.

Our rooster, Jetlag wanted nothing to do with either of them.

Teddy thought these flowers looked good enough to eat.

Here Teddy wants to climb up a rock to come to me, but her legs are too short.

So she tries to eat a leaf that she thinks is handy.

I'm really pleased with her, she comes when I call her and follows right behind people, walking into their legs even. She is such a happy pup. Everyone, except for Henrietta, loves her. It's been nine years since we had a pup in the house and I almost forgot what fun they are.

William is home.

2011-06-02T22:03:00.000-07:00

William came home. His plane was delayed hours on the run way at JFK in New York because of very bad weather and he missed his connecting flight in Seattle to Spokane. The airline paid for a nice hotel suit for him, even though the flight delay wasn't their fault.

William explored New York City and was walking 150 blocks a day as well as riding the subway. He was in the audience on the Letterman show and was on the plaza for the Today Show. I asked him what time he was there because I never saw him and he told me it was when they did the segment for the dogs needing to be adopted.. well that explained it...I was busy looking at the dogs and not the people.

William, being a hard working farm boy, walked all the way around the outside of central Park and zig zagged across it several times. He went to the river to go to the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space museum, but walked to the East River.. realizing his mistake, walked all the way back across town to the Hudson River. I wish I could still walk like that! He even explored Harlem and declared it his favorite part of NYC. He didn't much care for the rest of the city. I enjoyed hearing about his adventures in NYC and wished I could have been there. The first time I went to New York was when I was 19 and that was 38 years ago. The city has changed a lot since then, it's cleaner and safer now. It doesn't bother William to travel and explore alone. While he was in the UK he took a ferry over to Northern Ireland to do research in Belfast. He went to London to visit the museums and do more research. He travelled to Glasgow, Leeds, Manchester and other cities. He declared his favorite city that he has visited on his travels so far to be the city of York...the old original York, not the new one.

The first thing William did was take a walk around. Echo was sitting down and when he saw us all coming he leaped to his feet. I thought for a moment he was going to snort and run off, but he came trotting across the pasture to see his long lost friend, William.

He wanted to give William a proper kiss but William just let him kiss his cheek.

Echo likes to give people kisses. If I ask him if he wants an apple, he'll give me a kiss. He's very gentle and not at all pushy. Here he gives Brad a big kiss.

Because I'm shorter, Echo can give me in a real big hug. He puts his head around me and squeezes me in tight. I have never known such an affectionate horse.

He follows close behind us when we take a short cut through his pasture. Today was his first day of being turned out without his breakaway halter on. Needless to say, he's very good about being caught. His training hasn't progressed very far. I just groom him, feed him treats and give him lots of cuddles and kisses. That will be his job in life...being a pet.

William is home for awhile now. He plans to work on the farm for a year and then hopefully start Law School next year. I can't tell you how happy I am to have my boy home. He's already making himself very useful working with his dad. What would be perfect is if Keegan, Nicky and Amelia were living here as well... a mother can only dream. :)

Meanwhile back at the ranch...

2011-05-25T19:13:00.000-07:00

"Farm livin' is the life for me.
Land spreadin' out so far and wide
Keep Manhattan, just give me that countryside".

William is still exploring New York City.

Who needs 'Sex in the City' when you can have 'Sex in the middle of a farm Road'.

Brad took this photo of these two love birds. He thought they might have been cold and were cuddling, lol. To get away from the paparazzi, they scooted into Echo's pasture. Earlier that same day Brad remarked, upon seeing a hummingbird flying amongst the blooms, "It's small because it's probably a baby one". Who needs the bright lights of Broadway when your married to such a bright spark. Never a dull moment.

William might be outside the Today Show studios in the morning, waving like an idiot. lol.

William is in the Big Apple

2011-05-24T01:08:00.000-07:00

His plane was seven hours late. He got to his hostel at 4am! I was about to come completely unglued with the thought of him on the New York subway at this hour.. when he came on line.. phew. Safe and sound.

His family had a large farm (for the time) on Manhattan in the 1630's. I wonder what those Dutchmen would think of the old place now.

I'm your Huckleberry!

2011-05-23T10:21:00.000-07:00

I found our new dog! I have been calling people selling Australian Shepherds and a few have sent me pictures. Soon as I saw this pup below I knew she was our Huckleberry. She's not weaned yet, so we have to wait to get her a few more weeks. She lives in Idaho.

Meanwhile, William has just left London. His flight was delayed because he's flying to Iceland and the airport there was closed because one of the local volcanoes erupted. As you can see below, he's finally airborne.

Natural Disaster Advisory
Disruption at Keflavik due to Grimsvotn eruption

Live Flight Information

Arrival Information
Airport:Keflavik (KEF)
Scheduled Time:5:50 PM, May 23
Takeoff Time:10:01 PM, May 23
Airport:Newark, NJ (EWR)
Scheduled Time:7:55 PM, May 23
Estimated Time:2:03 AM, May 24
Time to Arrival:1 hr 47 min
Terminal-Gate:61
Flight Details
Aircraft:Boeing 757-200
Altitude:38,000 ft.
Ground Speed:460 mph

Today is Williams last full day in England.

2011-05-22T21:09:00.000-07:00

Since graduating and after a short stay with his grandparents, William has been staying with his big brother. Saturday they all went to Great Yarmouth on England's east coast.

William in the North Sea.

Keegan said this is how William always carries Amelia.

Amelia gets rescued by her mother.

Keegan, King of the North Sea!

keegan being keegan and William with his darling niece, Amelia.

Amelia looks concerned but bravley hangs on as her dad starts to climb, lol.

Keegan, his wife Nicky and Amelia.

My two sons.

Monday William starts his journey West.

William's great adventure.

2011-05-18T21:51:00.000-07:00

William has graduated from the University Of Huddersfield in Yorkshire, England, with honours (Brit spelling) in History. His landlords kindly gave him a ride to the train station and he headed south to Bedford to stay a few days with my parents and visit his Uncle Joe and Auntie Ray. His older brother, Keegan picked him up to stay with him and his wife Nicky and cute little Amelia for a few days and then William continued his adventures by flying to Edinburgh, Scotland.

He having a wonderful time sight seeing around in Edinburgh. He keeps me updated by calling me from his cell phone and I use Google Earth to see where he's at. It's a bit of a hoot.

He'll be back in England tomorrow to stay with Keegan, Nicky and Amelia, before heading off on his next adventure.

Here's William and his niece Amelia playing the other day.

Still reigning after all these years.

2011-05-11T15:12:00.000-07:00

This is a lovely picture of our Queen riding her Fell pony with two of her grandchildren, in the bluebell woods. There is no place more lovely than England (and Wales) in the Spring.

The Queen is 85 now and as you can see, still enjoys horses and riding. I would love to ride a good British pony once again through an English wood and to still be able to do it when I am 85 would be a wonderful thing indeed. The Queen is with her grandchildren, Lady Louise Windsor and James, Viscount Severn, in Windsor Great Park during Easter.

Meanwhile, her husband, The Duke of Edinburgh (89), drives his team of Fell ponies.

The Duke competed with true passion. What a fun sport!

Home Thoughts, from Abroad

By Robert Browning

O, To be in England
Now that April 's there,
And whoever wakes in England
Sees, some morning, unaware,
That the lowest boughs and the brushwood sheaf
Round the elm-tree bole are in tiny leaf,
While the chaffinch sings on the orchard bough
In England—now!

Dandylyons gets a break.

2011-05-09T11:02:00.001-07:00

We were greeted by an horrible sight yesterday when we went to have a walk around the cows.

It was Wildairo sleeping with his mouth open.

He is a very heavy sleeper and doesn't wake up easy.

Soon as he got up he herded Dandylyons away from everybody.

Dandylyons asked me to rescue her from him.

I told her to follow me....

....while Wildairo was looking at the Rock Chucks, (Yellow Bellied Marmots).

Dandylyons hid behind Brad.

Wildairo lurks around waiting for his chance to steal Dandylyons away. I tried to give him carrots, but he wouldn't let me near him. Brad was joking and told him he was going to end up in Canada.

She was happy to be with us.

Sparkle enjoyed her first mothers day.

Tinkerbell is a yearling now.

Stella looking hot.

Levin looking sexy....the bull arrives any day now.

Picture taking came to a sudden end when in my eagerness to get a photo of every cow/calf on the place, I stepped back into a cow pie.

We let Dandylyons graze around the farmyard where there was lovely tall grass for her to eat. I curry combed all the built up dirt off her back and she was in heaven. Wildairo stood by the gate watching her and so I took him a bag of carrots, he ate them and let me stoke his face. It'll take a bit of time and plenty of carrots, but he'll come round again.

Wild life watching with Echo.

2011-05-05T21:45:00.000-07:00

It was a nice day and so I thought I'd go for a walk through Echo's pasture and take some pictures of his pasture pals.

Echo follows us everywhere now.

Echo stops for a quick nibble.....

but he soon catches up. He has some of his winter coat still and as you can see it's a reddish brown. He's turned out everyday in his break away halter, but he doesn't need to wear it.

There were lots of bunnies

but I missed all the good shots of them frolicking because it's hard to be stealthy and take good pictures when you have a horse breathing down your neck.

The last of the cottontails got tired of posing and left.

Blogger seems to have a glitch tonight. I cannot make these pictures come out the same size. It's very weird. :(

Still nippy.

2011-05-02T16:44:00.000-07:00

Rain and hail today and still no blossoms on the trees. I notice the cooler temps haven't slowed down the lawn dandelions at all. Speaking of Dandelions, my dear cow Dandylyons turned 20 two months ago and she still looks fabulous. Her boss, Wildairo has gone almost feral again. He's nervous about coming to the fence to take a treat from me now. His mane had a big knot in it and he must have been having a scratch and pulled that part of his mane out and and down to almost the top of his leg .... giving him a real nice wild horse look. I'm dreading having to work him again. He's a big lad and is not afraid to fight.

I only had to clip one Airedale this Spring because old Montie died last month. She was 13. She had a heart attack and past away in a patch of sunshine in the kitchen a little while later. Not a bad way to go after one hell of a fun filled life. Montie was a prize from Brad for attending a dinner with Hillary Clinton in Seattle. Don't get me wrong, I think Hillary is great but I don't like going to events like that, so after the dinner we went to Tacoma and picked out Montie. She was with her seven brothers and sisters and both her parents in the breeders back yard, in the rain.... covered in mud. Ten excited Airedale's jumping around and me in my 'going to meet the first lady clothes' lol.

Bobby made a big fuss at Montie's funeral and will not be allowed to attend another one. Montie's hearse was a black wheelbarrow and Bobby guarded her body as she 'laid in state' from all things real or imagined, while Brad has his lunch. Remember she also stayed at Foxsun's side during his last days and came unglued when he went down and had to be shut in the basement. Letting her attend the actual burying part was a big mistake and she's lucky not to have ended up in the same grave with Montie. Bobby is very high strung, intelligent and when she's not driving me up the wall, she is also very amusing. She's really a wonderful doggie pal but she has joint problems now and has a hard time getting about sometimes.

Here she is guarding her old friend;

Henrietta, who's blind in one eye, likes to come in the kitchen for a peck about. I toss down bread for her. She wasn't keen on the lettuce...

...neither was Tommy Two Tone.

Something is missing this year...

2011-04-27T22:12:00.000-07:00

Spring! What happened to Spring?????

Here is what was going on last year on this day;

Here's the same tree today;

It's been so cold. We have had only a few days that were warmish.

Updates on the horses, ducks, chickens, dogs, cats, cows, garden and the occasional rant, starting again....YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.......and you thought it was safe to go on the internet again, lol.

Wildairo becomes a dad.

2011-03-21T13:33:00.000-07:00

Wildairo is spending his first Spring with the cows while they are calving and has proven himself to be a very good dad horse.

Keep in mind that he never shares his hay with the cows.......not even Dandylyons, his comfort cow. So this is pretty amazing.

He might have realized that the calves are not really eating the hay, but copying him. These calves are very young, maybe a few days old and are just nibbling the hay.

I can't believe he's being this gentle with them. He has bonded with the herd and seems to have the role of the babysitting dad. I notice he has let Dandylyons go out further into the sagebrush to graze, but he keep close to her. Last year he wouldn't let her walk out of sight of the corrals. I'm really happy about this. If I'd turned both mustangs out together they would have stuck with each other and not the cattle. I know from the past, when Foxsun was the dad horse, when the cattle got out, he would stay with them for awhile and then do his best to round them up and bring them home. He usually came home herding 5 or 6 cows. Sometimes he'd manage to bring home more. I noticed though as long as Dandylyons was in the bunch he was happy. The cattle never go far from home and always come home eventually, so when both horses are with them they will stay with 'their' herd if/when they get out.

The first calf was born to the heifer, Sparkle.

Sparkle had her calf the end of February when the weather was so cold, I think around zero. She did well and had the calf with no trouble. I was glad she had it when Brad was here and not when he was in Utah. I thought we were out of the woods because all the other cows are old pro's at child birth.....but no.

When Brad was in Utah the last time, I saw a cow calving when I was out feeding. I went back out a little while later expecting a calf but she was about as far along as she was half an hour earlier. I started to get worried and tried to get behind her to have a peek, but she kept turning to face me. For a spilt second I got a glimpse of a leg sticking out the back and it looked all wrong, which made my heart sink. It was very cold and windy and I hid behind some tree stumps waiting for her to go down. I had started taking steroids (again) a few days before and they were just starting to give me some help, otherwise I would have been in trouble with all that walking around.

When she went down I was able to walk around and have a look at the calf's legs and my biggest fear was realized.....the foot sticking out was a hind foot and it was covered in meconium, which is the calf's first poo. If they poo before they are born it's a sign that the calf is stressed. (I had two emergency C. Sections and both times my babies were covered in meconium because they were very stressed). I called the Brad and he called someone to come and pull the calf. I thought about asking my neighbours, but their cows are calving about 8 miles from here and they have maybe a thousand cows to watch over and so I know they are busy.

Our cows are good cows and can handle a big calf and she managed to push it out. She sat there stunned, probably tired and in pain, with the calf behind her. When I went to her she jumped up and started to lick the calf very vigorously, but the calf was still. She tossed her head at me and I was too chicken to go to the calf. Wildairo and Dandylyons came up right then and Wildairo wanted to see what the cow was licking. This made the cow back off and so I dashed in and pulled the membrane off the calf's head and shook it's legs and slapped it's head around. Then I put my hand in it's mouth for some reason. I really tried to wake her up, but she was gone. Funny how it's instinct to know what to do with a newborn, even if it's a different species. Heck, I didn't even see my own boys when they were first born...lol, probably a good thing because I would have slapped their heads around, shook their legs and stuck my hand in their mouths. (Both my babies were born unresponsive but quickly recovered). Brad called then and I got my cell phone all slimy when I answered it. Like usual, I was really upset. I wish I could toughen up or had some of these pills;

The Muddy Season

2011-01-18T23:09:00.000-08:00

The ground here is either very dry and dusty or snow covered and frozen solid.

But....every now and again we have mud! Lots of mud.

Bobby comes home after spending a few hours digging and wants to come in the house!!

She wants in bad and doesn't understand why I don't let her in.

She can let herself in by pushing down the door handle. Try as she might she can't get in because I have locked the door. She makes a mess of things trying to get the door open.

Later on Brad washed her off a bit and let her in.

Ducky Girl looks through the dirty door. She does this to get my attention.

I give them some food and water to wash it down. And 'like a duck to water' Ducky Girl gets in it.

The ducks are almost a year old now. They waddle off to play in the puddles and are really disappointed that the worms are not out and about yet.

Maple lives!

2011-01-17T22:49:00.000-08:00

When Brad came home from his trip, he was impressed with my containers of water all over the house, but not enough to want to live without running water.

The next morning he got to work.

He said he'd put new pipe around the sugar maple if the leak was right under it, instead of damaging it. So I didn't have to chain myself to it. Luckily the leak was a few feet off to the side and only one root was damaged.

The leaks were exposed when I turned the pump on for a second and the water shot out. Here the pump is off but it's still leaking. The last time this pipe saw daylight was over a hundred years ago.

Here he saws out the diseased section.....

...and repairs the old pipe with a section of new modern pipe.

He refills the hole and replaces the scalped bit of the lawn and it looks as good as new.

We have been having temperatures as high as 55 F and all the snow is gone. The frost has come out of the ground, but not before we had horrible mud everywhere.

A job well done Bradley!

Bad luck Tuesdays.

2011-01-13T17:43:00.000-08:00

This week I have been on my own again while Brad is down in Utah. I've discovered while he's away, Tuesdays are very unlucky for me.

The first Tuesday I was here alone, the furnace stopped working. The house got really cold, but I was okay with some electric heaters.

The second Tuesday I was here alone, I fell on the ice and on the way down I twisted my already swollen and painful knee.

The third Tuesday, which was this week, the worst thing happened. Well it didn't need to be all that bad, but I freaked out. It was windy and everything was frozen solid. The ducks water bowls and their little paddle tub were frozen solid and embedded into the ground. I went to the stone building to look for these pots and pans I threw out last week. Well, as I walked across the frozen tundra that was my lawn, suddenly my feet sank into water!

A pipe had burst under the lawn and the water was running over the ground towards the house. I called Brad and told him were it was and he informed me it was the pipe that goes up to the top of the bluff!

Years ago, Brad's grandfather, father and Uncle, put a 7,000 gallon cistern on the top of the bluff. The water is pumped out of the well near the house, and then it's pumped up the side of the bluff to the cistern, for storage and provides household water pressure. The water also goes over to the corrals.

Brad said there was nothing I could do but turn the pump off, which was running all the time to keep up with the leak. I instantly went into survival mode....that sounds better than panicked.

Before I ran out of water, I filled up stock tank to the brim, that would last the cows three days. Then I raced home and filled every container in the house full of water. Watered all the house plants, took a shower, washed clothes and started the dishwasher. Phew!

And then it took 30 hours for the water to drain out of the cistern. lol. I have hot and cold water at the little house, which has a different well. Echo is on that system, but Wildairo is on ours, and that meant I'd have to haul buckets of water in my Jeep for him, so I got a bucket ready.

I was all set for when taps went dry, then Brad called and he mentioned that if I wanted to water Wildairo or to use a lot of water in the house, all I had to do was turn the pump back on for awhile. Heck, for some reason I thought the cistern had to be full first. So that is what I have been doing. Soon as the pump is on, water starts coming out of the lawn again, so I don't leave it on too long.

Brad is going to use his back hoe to tear up my lawn. Today was quiet warm, over 40 degrees. As you can see from the picture below, there's a little problem, my sugar maple is right on top of the epicenter. I think the maple was the one who damaged the pipe. Anyway, I'm going to chain myself to it when Brad comes with his back hoe.

Brad is on his way home. It takes 24 hours because he leaves in the afternoon and then spends the night somewhere. He took this photo with his cell phone. He had to stop and let these buffalo cross the road. I hate it when that happens!

The Wild Life.

2011-01-04T20:02:00.000-08:00

I became curiouser and curiouser the more I learned about deer collars and so I emailed the Wild Life Department with my questions and included a couple of pictures of the collar wearing deer. I didn't expect to hear back but I did. The guy that put the collars on wrote to me! He told me they collared 300 deer!

Here's part of his email;

To capture these deer, we used a net fired from a large net-gun as we flew over the deer in a helicopter. While we had the deer in hand, we collected blood samples, fecal samples, took standard biological body measurements, measured body fat and pregnancy status using a portable ultrasound, and fitted each deer with a radio collar. Each radio collar has its own unique frequency, which allows us to locate the deer by homing in on the radio signal using a special receiver; we do most of our monitoring from an airplane but sometimes we track from the ground using vehicles or on foot. Each radio collar has a mortality switch which allows us to determine if a deer has died; by getting to a deer shortly after it has died, we have a better chance of determining the cause of death. Using locations of radio marked deer, we can learn many things about how deer make a living across the landscape including seasonal movements and habitat use, survival rates, migration corridors, identifying critical areas important to deer, all of which help us do a better job of managing the mule deer herds. Unless we recapture a deer and remove the collar, the deer will wear the collar for the rest of its life.

If I had the frequency of the radio collar of the deer in your photo, I could produce a map showing the relocation and movement information over time for that deer. Without the frequency, I do not know which deer this one is.

He asked me if he could use the pictures I sent in a presentation he's doing and wanted to know if I had any more. I sent him many more. Here's one of them.

You can see where the collar has worn away her fluffy coat.

While I was poking around on the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife web page, I saw that a person can become a licensed wildlife rehabilitator. I think I will do that one day.

I have helped a lot of injured birds and returned them to the wild. Mostly birds of prey such as great horned owl, barn owl, screech owl, red tail hawk (which was put to sleep because I made the mistake of taking him to the vets) and a kestrel.

Here's me back in 1984 with a great horned owl.

Notice I'm not wearing gloves. The screech owl I saved would dig his talons in deeper if I moved my fingers. That was brutal. But this old boy was a gentleman.

I found him in the middle of the road one night, with his legs in the air and out cold. I took him home and he woke up after awhile. He was a bit dopey at first but soon got his wits back. He ate really good and was a real survivor. I remember I had to treat him for lice. I bet all owls have lice that they catch from their prey. Once he did a good job of flying across the room and landing on tricky spots with no problem, I let him go. I always sing Born Free when I let something go, lol.

I read the requirements and I saw the glaring problem I would have as a licensed rehabilitator, if a wild animal imprints on humans they have to put it to sleep. I can't see me bottle feeding an orphaned fawn and no bonding going on. I'd be a death sentence to any cute cuddly creature, so I'd have to be birds only.

Oh Dear.

2010-12-29T17:05:00.000-08:00

A herd of 12 deer came into my garden today to make sure my plants were nicely trimmed,

Suddenly I noticed one of the deer was wearing some kind of collar.

I don't know what it was or who put it there, but it seemed to make her boss of all the deer. She kept a close eye on the other deer and every now and again she'd strike them with her front hooves.

If someone stepped out of line, she'd give them the devil deer look......

which would strike fear in their hearts.

They were gobbling up my tiny seedlings and then they stomped all over Foxsun's grave.... I decided I had enough and it was time for them to pose for the camera before I told them to leave.

They give me the old innocent.."Surely you don't mean us" look.

And that means you too Boss Deer with your fancy high tech collar!

My idea's from my last blog are already being done..with success.

2010-12-28T23:31:00.002-08:00

I was so pleased to read on Linda's blog, Beautiful Mustang, that there are many people who care about America's wild horses and they are coming up with solutions to keep them on their home ranges and to also handle them with less stress.

Please read part one of Linda's interview with TJ Holmes here.

BLM issues and my idea.

2010-12-27T17:27:00.000-08:00

I had almost forgotten all about writing about the ideas I had for managing mustangs until I came across a letter to the editor in the Sunday newspaper. It was written by Lorna Moffat and it did my heart good to read a letter from a fellow horse lover who truly cares about the welfare of America's wild horses.

Lorna wrote of the abusive horse round-ups carried out by the BLM and their contractors. Being limited to only 200 words she was only able to scratch the surface of the horrors of what our wild horses are put through.

I have read enough of the BLM's own documentation to be truly disturbed by these 'gathers' as they call them.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Here's a snippet about a gather;

CARSON CITY, Nev. -- The U.S. Bureau of Land Management suspended a wild horse roundup in northeast Nevada on Monday after seven animals died of dehydration and another was shot when it broke its leg in a holding pen.

Animal rights activists were outraged, saying the outcome was predicable given the sweltering temperatures and helicopters used to gather the animals.

The BLM said the animals appeared in otherwise good shape when two groups were herded by helicopter to holding pens in northern Elko County on Saturday. But the roundup was halted Sunday morning after four horses were found dead in the pens and others showed signs of colic and brain swelling.

Garden Deer.

2010-12-17T23:18:00.000-08:00

I get a lot of Mule deer in my garden. The yellow flags mark where I have planted shrubs and tiny trees. Between the gophers and the deer, I'm having a hard time getting this area started. I don't mind because I love to have these beautiful visitors.

I carefully opened the kitchen door and talked to them to get them to lift their heads up.

But then Max walked out through the open door and they must have thought he was a Bob Cat and so they took off. Look how nimble they are at going over the fence.

There's still a lot of snow on the North face of the bluff.

There must have been at least 10 of them altogether. They return every day to browse.

By myself and doing the chores

2010-12-16T20:40:00.000-08:00

This week I have been alone on the farm because Brad is down in Utah.

Here's me doing my chores. First I feed the ducks and chickens. If there's not too much snow I let the ducks out for a fly about. Here they are coming back.

Wildairo is wanting to know if he's getting a carrot or apple before his breakfast. He got an apple.

Dandylyons pushes the other cows away so she can get to the feeder first. She is the Boss Cow.

Dandylyons will be 20 years old in March. When Echo was put in Foxsun's old pasture, I saw her standing alone when the other cows had gone out to graze, she was staring over at where Echo was in the distance. She's still hoping Foxsun will return.

Brad has set up everything so it's easy for me to feed. I just roll hay off the bales into the feeder. They are happy cows because hay is dairy quality and they are also grazing now because most of the snow has melted.

Next to take care of is Echo. Echo likes a cuddle in the morning. Then I go in the barn to get his break away halter and as soon as he hears the jingle of the halter, he's off.

He trots around all of the pens evading capture. I normally tell him to knock it off before it gets this far, but this is what happens if I don't say anything.

Whoops...he's got himself trapped in the little pen.

He has a way of evading capture in small places. He carefully and daintily goes sideways past me, facing me the whole time, till he's far enough from me to turn and run... see Echo knows if he turns his back on me there's a good chance I'd jump on him or something.

After I had taken enough pictures of his shenanigans, I mentioned apple and kisses and he skidded to a halt and got in the willing horse position to get his halter on.

He's stands frozen like this with his head up in the air till his halter is on and his mane sorted out. I talk to him and give him kisses, but he just keeps like this till I walk off, then he's right behind me wanting more cuddles. He follow me all around the pasture, gently tapping me in the back to let me know he's back there. I think that by evading me in the morning he still thinks he's got his wild horse card...he probably does actually.

Next I turn off the cows water and water Wildairo. He left his breakfast and came over hoping I had another apple. I didn't.

We managed to survive.

2010-12-05T16:19:00.000-08:00

I managed to survive last week on the farm alone...and I'm happy to report that all the animals survived as well.

In anticipation of all the work I had to do, I started back on steroids several days before I was left in charge. I've been in bad shape with the sarcoidosis caused arthritis in my joints, mostly hands, wrists and knees, so Brad was going to have someone take care of everything for me, but I love farm work and before getting ill, thrived on hard work. So with the help of prednisone and pain meds, I did all right.

The first day went well, I really enjoy my own company and never get bored or lonely. It was the next day things went south. When I came downstairs that morning, noticing it was a little nippy, I turned the thermostat up and didn't hear the sound of the furnace starting up down below me in the basement. I called Brad and he said he'd get someone to fix it but I said I'd manage without it. I have some electric heaters for downstairs during the day and I love sleeping in a unheated house so I was happy. I'd jump into my cosy bed with my hotwater bottle and Blondie and sleep like a log. During the day, if I wasn't cleaning the house to keep warm, I'd be snuggled under a blanket with Blondie (who's a heat seeking missile) watching television.

It was on Wednesday the county road that goes through our place was finally ploughed creating big snow/ice boulder berms across our drives ways. I have to get out on the road to go to my studio or Echo's place. The first day I walked down the road to feed Echo, but that night I didn't think I should because there was nowhere to go if a car came and also it was a bit foggy. I attempted to walk through the pasture to Echo's barn, but after trudging a little while through the crusty snow I was worried I would damage my artificial ankle. So that's when I took a run at the berm with the Jeep, smashing into it and pushing snow boulders with the front. When I was driving home, the Jeep followed and older deep track in the snow that Brad had made and I had to step on the accelerator to get back up on the road before I ended up in a deep snow drift that had formed since in the meadow. The Jeep got back up onto the road and kept on going across the road despite the brakes being on, stopping just a foot short of going into the irrigation ditch! I didn't even have time to hold Blondie's little paw Thelma and Louise style!

I was worried something would happen to me and I wouldn't be able to get to the horses, and so I overfed them just in case. When I noticed the cows stock tank was icing over I went to the shop to plug the water trough heater back in and I couldn't get in the door because the snow/ice off the roof had fallen in front of the door and was about 4' high. I had to smash the ice with a fork.

Echo was begging me to let him out to play but the fence was down. I spent extra time with him instead. Wildairo just wanted to be fed and no playing about, thank you.

When Brad came home late Friday night he was stunned how cold the house was and I was surprised because I thought it was cosy..... down stairs anyway. He got the furnace working right away. When he went up stairs he said he couldn't remember it ever being that cold up there, he said it was only 40 degrees lol.

Here's Brad clearing the roads.

Echo finally gets to go out to play. I was driving in my Jeep and spotted him going up and down like a yo-yo to roll. I took all these pictures with my cell phone from inside the Jeep.

And then he ran and ran.

He made many passes by the Jeep and I cheered him on.

He loves to run. Even in the corrals he has his daily work out.

Wildairo is like a big tank when he runs and doesn't run unless he has to. But Echo just goes and goes. Sometimes he comes in so hot he has sweat running down his legs. I have to rub him down, walk him and keep him away from his water for awhile. Both these horses will be on this farm for the rest of their lives and I'm looking forward to the day they can run here together on hundreds of acres. That'll be fun to watch. Fences need work first and so does Wildairo.

Brad is going away again this week, but for only three days this time.

Doing the chores in the snow.

2010-11-30T20:58:00.000-08:00

I'm running the place this week and everything is ship shape.... so far. I have to feed the cows and then the two horses and make sure everyone has water.

All the cows look good except for Levin. Those twin calves she had this year really dragged her down because she put's all her energy into her milk and raises big calves. She's looking better all the time though.

I also have to make sure the chickens and ducks are fed and have water. I give them some lettuce as well as their grain and crumbles or pellets. I always give Henrietta grapes and she likes to swallow them whole. The ducks get a bowl of warm water several times a day because they love to get right into it and splash about.

I have taken to feeding the wild birds and it's getting more like a scene from Alfred Hitchcocks 'The Birds'. I thought the 50lb sack of seed would last all Winter, but the rate they're going, it'll be gone in a few weeks. Quail can really pack it away.

It snowed most of the day and it was about 33 degrees F. Wildairo seemed cheerful again...I think it may have something to do with the carrot I gave him.

Echo wanted to go into the pasture, but the electric fence tape is hanging down in the snow and so I'll wait for Brad to fix it because the snow is deep and there's rocks out there. I felt bad for him so I gave him extra attention and another apple.

Echo is a dark horse.

2010-11-29T23:07:00.000-08:00

Brad is out of state and he set things up pretty nice for me to feed while he's gone. He put the horses' hay in their barns so I wouldn't have to walk about much in the deep snow. He put Echo's inside his barn right where he could get it if he was brave enough to go inside there.

Well guess what? This is what I found;

(Picture taken at night with cellphone).

Those are supposed to be two bales with only this mornings feed taken off one. Brad's pretty tidy and I know he didn't make that mess. I took this photo and sent it to his phone and he confirmed, it wasn't his mess.

I turned and looked at Echo who was standing outside the barn playing the old innocent 'I'm afraid of the barn' game.

It looks like he snuck in grabbed some hay, flung it around, scared himself and ran out. He was pretty hungry when I put some hay in his tub so he didn't eat much. I put the tub in the door way where he can reach it and normally if some hay spills too deep inside the barn he leaves it rather than venture in after it.

Most days I put his break away halter on and let him out in the pasture till it gets dark. He's really good about coming when I call him, although he can't bring himself to walk back through the gate alone.

Some days he wants to play by running around the different pens when he see's his halter, but he always stands still when I tell him to.

He's the first horse I've ever trained to understand words, besides the normal commands like whoa, trot on, etc. He knows 'apple', 'kiss' and 'step up'. I think he's learning 'outside to play' and a few other words. He's the African Grey of the horse world.

I have been having Brad put his halter on when I'm not there. Brad says as long as he lures him with promises of apples, he can get him haltered.

Wildairo is getting a bit fat which is better this time of year. He had some carrots tonight before his dinner and was pretty happy for a change. He wants to be with the cows again but it's better for him to be in where he can get shelter and better for them to get peace and quiet from him for awhile.

Birds, Horses and a BLM rant.

2010-11-25T19:02:00.000-08:00

I put out grain and seeds for the wild birds in the shelter of some trees. We had Starlings, Sparrows, Dark-eyed Juncos, Wood Peckers, Quail and (I think I saw) Purple finches show up for dinner. Everyone was enjoying themselves until a Starling flew into the side of the house and killed himself.

Speaking of birds and this being Thanksgiving, here are some pictures William took this Spring.

He's a wild Turkey looking for a girlfriend. He walked over to check out the chickens, who were still in their run. I noticed our hero rooster was very quiet.

He then jumped up on the stone house for a better look at what we had to offer before walking up the bluff.

We had much more snow today and thankfully the weather warmed up. It finally got down to minus -21.8 degrees F here Tuesday night. When I was going up to bed I noticed the front hall seemed so cold and I saw why; cold air was pour through the keyhole and it was covered in frost. Our house is over a hundred years old and the front door has a big old fashioned keyhole. I got some wide tape and put it over the keyhole.

Echo is refusing to go in his barn still. He went into the other building when he thought no one was looking, but something must have scared him and he stopped going in there. Wildairo goes in that same barn to eat with no problem.

This is how Wildairo approaches me; ears back and angry.

He soon softens up when I give him some baby talk, which he still loves.

He's not at all like Echo, he doesn't want to hang around with me. Soon as he's had his apple he goes back to his comfort cow, Dandylyons.

He went pretty feral again when he was turned out with the cattle and he needs a lot of work and so in Spring I will work with him.

I'm keeping them separated because together they will be impossible to work with. Echo made a lot of progress once he was out of sight of Wildairo.

Here are some pictures I took of Echo that first day I turned with out in his new pasture. I went back to check on him and he walked right up to me. I don't think they had trees on his wild home range because he seemed hesitant to approach the trees in the pasture.

He soon figured out the advantages of trees.

BLM Rant.

I've been doing some thinking about these mustangs. Both of them have trust issues with humans. This is understandable after what they have been through.

They were taught to avoid humans by their mothers and then one day they are 'all out' attacked by the Bureau of Land Management(BLM). They are chased by a helicopter for miles over hard dangerous terrain and in an all out panic. They are ran into a trap where mayhem ensues. They are hauled in a truck to a place where they are processed, put into chutes, given shots, branded, blood drawn. Later they are ran in again to be gelded and periodically to be squashed in a chute, rolled onto their side to have their hooves trimmed with an electric grinder. All the time they are chased from place to place by people waving sticks with plastic bags tied to them. Then they are put up for adoption.

Some horses are not as traumatised by this if at all. I think if a horse with a calm unshakable disposition (like dear Foxsun's) goes through all this and there are no mishaps along the way, he comes out of it okay. But there are accidents due to carelessness by the BLM and their contractors. Every round up there are horses killed or injured. And I know there are horses that are emotionally damaged because I have one.

I have to the conclusion that Echo has PTSD. Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. He's a lovely sweet, gentle and intelligent horse when I'm doing things with him that the BLM's policies never had the chance to screw up, like leading him or just giving him cuddles, he's a relaxed normal boy. Here's an example; On Sunday, just before the snow started falling, we were burning a big pile of weeds right next to his pasture and he cantered over to watch and wasn't at all scared. He was enjoying the new experience. But every now and again he has a flash back and becomes a terrified wild horse again. The other day when I approached him in my winter coat and hat he became so panicked he almost fell as spun away to flee even though I was talking to him. I took off my hat and coat and tried to calm him down. I cornered him in a little pen and he had a look in his eyes of sheer terror. It really concerned me. I snapped him out of it by doing something the BLM never did. I went up to him with my head sticking forward, lips puckered saying, "Echo give me a kiss". He stretched his head towards me, blew in my face, breathed my air in and then gave me a kiss. Then he just melted with relief and stepped forward so I could put my arms around his neck. For now he's okay with me wearing a coat and hat, till his next flash back.

Wildairo has a grumpy disposition till he's softened up, but he hates strangers. The grumpy disposition he was born with, lol. They caught on the same day.

I'm not new to horses. I have owned at least one horse for over 40 years and I started riding them at riding school 47 years ago.

What happened to Echo? He has a big dent in his neck about the place his BLM number tag would have been. Did the nylon rope collar they wear around their necks get caught in something? Did he have an accident or was it just the constant fear of what was coming next because that is what causes PTSD. When I had him over at the cattle corrals, the wind was blowing making the head gate bang, he was shaking in fear. I have never seen a horse shake in fear like that. He must have thought he was going to be worked through the chutes.

There are some people who own mustangs that defend the BLM no matter what. In their eyes the BLM can do no wrong. I made the mistake of visiting one of their web sites and was made physically ill. Once again a BLM round up was being defended. It appears that someone was claiming a foal was injured or abused and the BLM apologist was 'setting the record straight' for some concerned animal lovers. What caught my eye was the pictures of the helicopter hovering right above a pen of trapped and frightened mustangs. I thought, 'what the hell are they doing, they will kill those horses'! I read on and sure enough, a mare had panicked (for some god-damned reason) and broke her neck.

I'm sure the people who work at the Burns Wild Horse Corrals are not the ones who decide when or how to round up these horses. I imagine those orders come from someone above them....at least I hope they do because the BLM people I have met and spoken to from the Burns Corrals seem like horse lovers and nice people. I know they use contractors to round up the horses. At least they do for the helicopters, trucks. corral fencing for the traps etc.

Anyway, I have a plan, a cunning plan for working these horses with less stress and keeping more of them on the range. Like most of my schemes it has some rough bits to be work out. I've managed to handle cattle without stressing them and I will show the BLM how to do it with the mustangs. Our cattle weren't always the pussy cats they are today.

I will be writing about my 'Happy Mustang' plan soon. Stay tuned.

It's minus -20F or minus -29C and still dropping.

2010-11-23T23:05:00.000-08:00

The blog planned for today has been cancelled due to weather conditions. Instead I bring you this scary weather blog:

Last night we had a big snow blizzard. We put Wildairo's hay inside and he went in to eat it like a good boy. Echo was another story though. I put some extra hay inside his barn to try to get him to go in, but he didn't. I stood in his barn when the wind was blasting the other side of it and it was very calm and cosy in there, but he wouldn't go in. He stood outside getting covered in snow but he did have shelter from the wind though as he ate his hay in the door way.

I was so worried about that little duck being out in it. When I woke up this morning I saw deep snow drifts in the places where he would have sheltered. I thought about going out and poking a stick into the drifts like he was avalanche victim, but there was so many drifts and I thought he'd be dead anyway.

Brad went out to feed everyone and when he came back he was all happy and announced that we still had two ducks! He pointed to the sky and there they were, up high and doing circuits over the house. I thought the next time I'd see my water fowl airborne it would be in the 'missing man formation' and that's hard for one duck to pull off.

Brad said it was Ducky Girl who was missing, not Duckie Boy and he said he found her quacking loudly under a tarp behind the hen house. I thought my duck was frozen and dead in a snow drift, but she was in a tent the whole time! He lifted the tarp up and she shot into the air and was quickly joined by Duckie Boy.

After they landed, I herded them into the run and gave them a bowl of warm water, feed and a pile of hay for a bed in the duck house. Boy, I feel better. I hate it when we have a missing pet.

Here are the ducks this July having fun in the new flower bed.

...and also having fun on top of the rock waterfall.

They pooped in the little pool and clogged the pump. Brad had to put a thing over the pool to keep them out. They did look cute playing under the waterfall though.

The Great Blizzard of 2010

2010-11-22T22:08:00.000-08:00

We have snow, lots of snow, and wind, a lot of wind.

I ventured out and took some pictures before it got bad.

The Fairy roses and the butterfly's are just a memory now. In the background is the horse barn

The flower covered rock wall is now covered in snow.

Here are some deer down the draw, filling up on some alfalfa.

I'm very worried tonight about Duckie Boy, he is missing. Normally when I let the ducks out they quickly go through the gate and take off into the wide blue yonder. Today they just wanted to keep to stay in, they must have known the weather was getting bad.

Our old deaf Airedale, Montie likes to follow them about. She just walks slowly behind them and has become a nuisance. I don't know why she started doing it. Anyway, I left their gate open and when Montie was out here she managed to spilt them up. Duckie Boy was gone and the blizzard was moving in. Bobby and I had a look around for him.

It was getting too dark for him to come out of hiding and the wind was picking up. I hope he's found a nice cosy place to hide.

The other night silly old Montie was doing the same thing, just walking behind them. I didn't realize what she was up to until she'd made Duckie Girl fly off. I heard quaking and I thought, 'What the hell, it's almost midnight, how come the ducks are still up'? I went out there and saw that old fool walking around. Duckie Boy flew down out of the darkness and almost landed in my arms. I picked him up and carried him into the duck run. Duckie Girl didn't come home till the morning. Now the same thing has happened, only it's Duckie Boy on the lam. It couldn't have happened on a worse night. Ducks can be caught at night, in snow storms by coyotes.

I had another scare, this time with Max. He wanted to go out just before the blizzard started. When the wind was howling and the snow was coming down sideways, Brad asked where he was. We looked around outside for him. I went over to the shop and there he was meowing very loudly in the center bay. When I brought him out and the wind and snow hit his face he really didn't like it and I had to cover his face with my hand. He was glad to get a ride home in the Jeep because there were a few very big drifts along the road.

Max is often brought home from his adventures in the Jeep. He sits next to me and purrs. I've spotted him hunting across the country road, by the big barn. I always admonish him and bring him home.

Here he is after his blizzard adventure. It looks like he grabbed my camera and took this picture himself.

My next blog will be about the horses and I have some concerns about the BLM.

Coyote update and an old post.

2010-11-17T20:04:00.000-08:00

The post below is what I was working on when the dreaded coyote/wolf/dog beast attacked my flock. Ironically I had just taken the pictures of the birds enjoying the last of the nice weather when all hell broke loose.

The keen observer will notice that our hero rooster, Jet Lag is missing some tail feathers even before he bravley tangled with the beast that very day. The week before we returned home after dark to discover the rooster and a hen not in the hen house. This was the first time he'd never come home to roost and to our dismay the ground was covered with feathers. He returned with the hen the next morning and I suspect there had been some kind of altercation with a predator. I would say that the old boy does a very good job of protecting his girls.

Since I went postal and shot in the general direction of the coyote/wolf/dog beastie I had a few more scares. One afternoon I was looking out the kitchen door when I saw two regular coyotes running towards the house. I lobbed out a couple of fire crackers out and they scarpered right quick.

The next day I saw a coyote on the lawn and I yelled at him. He reluctantly slinked off kind of like a stray dog would. I quickly put a couple of bullets in my gun and even though he was gone, I fired a warning shot. A little while later in almost the same spot, I saw his pal. They were both coming in the direction of the hen house. This time things were different...I had a bullet in my gun.

I carefully got my gun...the Airedales were jumping up and down with excitement because they love gun fire. Leaving the dogs indoors, I spotted the coyote right under Foxsun's apple tree. He was nonchalantly walking along like he owned the place till he felt that bullet zing passed his head and then he took off at warp speed. I have never seen anything move that fast and we have seen no coyotes since, lol.

Brad asked me if I wanted bigger bullets and I told him I didn't want to kill him but put the fear of my ruger in him.

I think the coyotes are showing up here because the neighbours are weaning hundred's of calves and playing loud music 24/7 to calm or entertain them and the coyotes have come this way for some peace and quiet.....then the poor things get shot at.

As promised the post from a month ago when it was still warm and sunny:

October 14th 2010

I was going to write about the horses but I just had to sneak in another blog about my garden.

Yesterday everything looked and smelled so lovely I was a bit sad about it all until next Spring so I snapped a few pics. I woke up this morning to our first light frost so I was glad I took the pictures yesterday.

I brought in my potted tomatoes, Gardenia, Jasmine and the China Doll tree which had enjoyed being outside all summer. I took down the curtains and set up some grow lights to keep the tomatoes going as long as possible. Tommy Two Tone had fun knocking down the little tomatoes and chasing them. It's a regular jungle in my kitchen now.

The plants on the rock wall filled in and grew over the side.

I know I was shooting into the sun but I wanted to capture the Sweet Alyssum which smelled lovely. I hate weeding, as you can see from the weed in the foreground, but I put in lots of plants like Sweet Alyssum and I find it kind of hides the weeds.

The plants filled in around our waterfall rock. I have put in several miniature roses for next year. It is very messy in this pic because I had just planted lots of hyacinths under the annual petunias and my chickens wanted to see what I was doing and tried to scratch up the bulbs. My two little mallard ducks follow me around when I'm outside as well as Henrietta so no worms are safe around here.

This rose is called The Fairy. It fades in the hot summer sun to almost white.

Old Max was trying to distract me by looking extra cute.

One of the oak trees was loaded with acorns. I think we really need a pig to eat them.

The Golden Elderberry bush, which is a beautiful yellow/green in the summer sun, produced tons of elderberries that the birds just love. I noticed the birds have already eaten all the big red berries off the Washington Thorn.

My newly developed shade areas did very well in the summer heat. This Rhododendron did well.

Our rooster Jet Lag and Henrietta. JL is missing some tail feathers.

Then all hell broke loose.

Armistice Day WW1 ~ Poppy Day.

2010-11-11T13:35:00.000-08:00

This is my maternal grandfather, Albert James Peters, in January 1916 when he was recuperating at a military hospital in Egypt after action in Gallipoli. He was a Welshman who fought with the Royal Irish Fusiliers 1914 to 1918 ~ World War One ~ The Great War ~ The War to End All Wars. "He served with honour", won many medals and was Honourably Discharged in December 1918.

He didn't like to talk about the war, he saw some horrific things in the four years he spent fighting in that terrible war. He was a wonderful granpa and passed away in 1975. As a little girl I went on lovely walks exploring the local woods and countryside with him and his dog Rover.

This is me, my mum, Granpa and Rover back when we were both pups.

Granpa took good care of me. I remember when I would fall and scrape my knees he would wrap them up in big bandages WW1 style, lol.

Here he is making sure my draws didn't fall down when I went swimming.

My dad's mother's three brothers all fought in the First World War. Here are two of them, Harry and Jesse with their mother, Elizabeth.

Harry William Hulatt. Private, 1/5th Bedfordshire Regiment. He was mobilised with the Territorial’s in August 1914, and completing his training in the following year was drafted to France, where he took part in much severe fighting in the Somme and Arras sectors. He died gloriously on the field of Battle at Ypres Belgium on the 19th August 1917 (age 21) and was entitled to the 1914-15 Star and the General Service and Victory Medals. “His life for his Country, his soul to God”.

(War grave information of). Pte. Harry William Hulatt 32130 (3162), 6th Battalion Bedfordshire Regiment. Killed in action 19th Aug 1917. Voormezeele Cemetery, XV. Row D. Grave 15. No 3 Extension/Enclosure, Ypres, Belgium.

Jesse Richard Hulatt. Private, 4th Bedfordshire Regiment. Volunteering in 1915, he was drafted overseas in the following year. During his service on the Western Front, he took part in many important engagements, including the Battle of the Somme, Bullecourt, Arras and Cambrai, and was wounded twice and gassed in action. He was demobilised in January 1920, and holds the General Service and Victory Medals.

Frederick Walter Hulatt. Rifleman K.R.R.C. He joined in February 1918, after a period of training he was engaged at various stations on important duties. After hostilities ceased he proceeded to Germany with the Army of Occupation and served on the Rhine at Cologne until his demobilisation in June 1920.
______________________________________

Jesse Richard Hulatt, died 17th November 1924 (age 27)
Frederick Walter Hulatt, died 21st March 1936 (age 35)

In Flanders Fields.

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie,
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

The Menace from above.

2010-11-02T18:27:00.000-07:00

It was a beautifully calm 60 degrees today. We've only had light frosts so the trees are looking lovely in their Autumn glory and the grass is still growing and very green. That's my English oak on the left and the birch on the right. I'm loving this weather!

I haven't been blogging because for some reason when I'm not doing well health wise I hate to write. I think if I was to blog it would end up nothing but me complaining about my ailments, lol. I'm controlling pain and fatigue better now and so I will try to catch up.

Attack of the Air Heads.

A few Sundays ago Brad had just come in from fixing fence and walking the cows up to the circle and so we were having a relaxing afternoon at home. The 'circle' is our center pivot irrigation system that is about a mile away from the house. Shortly after getting in Brad was surprised to see the cows were already back. I looked out and sure enough they were not only home again but running around in a panic. Wildairo was running in circles in the corral where Brad had put him so the cows could go out without him preventing them. None of them settled down and when I saw Dandylyons running I knew something was very wrong because she's old and hasn't ran for a few years.

I went outside and I immediately saw what was terrorizing everybody. Coming towards us, up the draw and at a low altitude, was a hot air balloon. It had chased the cattle all the way home. Then I remembered Echo was alone in the horse pasture directly in the path of this thing! Brad and I jumped in the Jeep and raced over to his pasture. There were two 'chase' vehicles there. One was parked in the drive and it's occupants seemed to be trying to calm Echo. Echo was in a low earth orbit (high headed panic) but staying in the part of the pasture where the people were. I was scared to death because we have an inner fence that's electric but some parts of the pasture there's an outer fence of barbed wire. Normally he can't get near it but if he blew through the electric fence he could get into the barbed wire. Around here there's miles of barbed wire because it's cattle country. I wasn't worried about Wildairo because he was in a very secure corral.

I called Echo once and he came, not at a trot or a canter, but a flat out gallop. Boy was he glad to see us. We took him into the pen and made an Echo sandwich of him as that balloon was directly over us. I could see right up in to the inside of the balloon as they turned up the burners to gain some altitude. Echo watched that thing with great big eyes as we calmed him with our arms over his neck. I gave those airheads a piece of my mind and my language was as colorful as that balloon.

Because they were so low they must have launched it near town which is about a mile and a half from where we were. More than likely they used our field like they did years ago...without informing us. They were floating towards our neighbour's who has over a thousand calves they're weaning. They have loudspeakers blasting music 24/7 to calm the calves and here was this huge low altitude balloon coming towards them!!! Luckily they started to drift north before they got to them. What the hell were these idiots thinking? If they had launched the balloon just north of the town they could have floated 50 miles before they saw any livestock.

I found this web site that had tips for hot air balloon people.

It seems they are very aware of the danger to horses and cattle and I think they should make a better effort to avoid them. I suppose if they did manage kill Echo they'd only be out $125! I'd hate to be riding and see a low altitude balloon coming at me! Some horses might be impossible to hang on to if you dismounted. I find it safer to stay on a frightened horse so if he does bolt you can at least steer him away from danger until he's under control again. Poor Dandylyons spent a few days by herself sitting down a lot recovering from the ordeal.

These selfish people were having a peaceful and tranquil float-about while down below them, on the ground they are creating chaos. At least I managed to have a good cuss at them. The only good thing was that I found out that Echo now considers humans his protectors!

The Horror Continues.

2010-10-22T20:00:00.000-07:00

Sunday another horrible thing happened....and this one was really out of the blue. Last night I was going to catch up and write about it but I didn't because I had taken two of my meds that I usually don't take at the same time and got pretty sick.

About 1 am, after crawling back from deaths door, I thought I'd take little Blondie outside for a walk to get some fresh air before turning in for the night. At the door I noticed the motion detector light was on outside. This is no biggie because bats and moths can set it off, but I always peak outside anyway. I saw the culprits, a herd of deer in the drive way and there were some little ones with them. I waited for them to walk away a bit and saw a big doe walk up to the duck run to look at the ducks. lol, it must be like a visit to the zoo for them.

After they disappeared into the dark I opened the door to let Blondie out with the intention of taking her around to the other side of the house so as not to spook the deer. Well the little bugger must have seen them through the French doors and she took off like a barking rocket in their general direction. All hell broke loose. The others must have bolted in the direction they were going but the big doe ran my way doing that hopping thing they do that's really cute. Blondie went to chase her. Suddenly the doe stopped, spun around and attacked Blondie who started yelping immediately! All the time I was trying to get to Blondie and shouting her name.

The doe was trying to stomp Blondie under her hooves and Blondie was yelping in a blood curdling way like dogs do when they think they are getting murdered. Blondie managed to get away and run around the wheel barrow and under the garden bench and the deer was still trying to get her! I'm almost on top of the deer and still shouting when she decides to back off. She goes between my Jeep and the hedge and stands in the shadow of the cherry tree making these odd vocal sounds. I couldn't see her but could hear her in the dark just the other side of the new flower bed with the waterfall rock.

I wasn't sure if she was going to attack again and there I stood in the middle of the driveway, under the yard light. I went in to the 'bring it on' fighting position and waited for her to attack me but I heard her climbing up the bluff, probably really intimated, lol. I've never seen anything like it! Blondie had got between her and her fawn and she wasn't taking it.

I found Blondie hiding the other side of the rock wall...totally unharmed. The next morning I showed Brad the deep gouges the doe made in the hard ground at the end off the drive way, he was amazed at how ferocious the attack was.

The next episode will be about the horror that came out of the blue last Sunday and terrorized all the cattle and horses.

Animal lover goes postal on the local wildlife

2010-10-14T22:10:00.000-07:00

This afternoon it was lovely warm sunny and I was in my office putting the finishing touches on my latest blog and listening to some music when I heard something odd outside. I turned the music off and listened..it sounded like a dog whining to be let in. I went to the French doors and all three dogs were inside content and not whining. I went outside and was greeted by the most frightening sight. On the lawn was a strange looking huge coyote and he was trying to get something under the shrub by the rock wall. I had Bobby with me and I screamed "Coyote Coyote"! She knows what one is but she turned her attention to the bluff where it's more natural to see coyotes.

This beast was maybe 30 feet from me yet he didn't react as a coyote would to my screams. He didn't seem all that afraid of me! He did move to the meadow and I gave chase while I screamed like a banshee to keep him moving, which he was reluctant to go till Bobby spotted him and started barking. For the first time for many years, I ran (fake ankle). All I knew was my chickens and the two ducks were in the garden somewhere and he was after them.

At the other end of the lawn, under Foxsun's apple tree was Jet Lag our rooster, all alone, which was strange. I really went nuts then because the beast had to run near Jet Lag to get to the cottonwoods where he was heading.

Bobby stopped when she got to the end of the lawn because she's not a risk taker. She barked at him and he stood by the cottonwoods looking at her. I walked back to check my birds and to my horror this is what I saw;

I didn't go close to see who the victim was. I knew there were not red hen feathers so I thought it must be dear old Max or one of my two darling mallard ducks. I went around to the kitchen door and got my gun and a handful of bullets.

Brad showed up as I was loading. He'd seen the beast with me in pursuit. I told him, "there's been a killing" and he loaded my gun for me. I went off to revenge my pets and Brad went off to study the remains and look for more victims.

The beast wasn't under the cottonwoods any more but then I saw him right on the top of the bluff looking at me. I stood in my two hand stance, went squinty eyed and shot him! Brad materialized pretty fast when he heard that. "I dropped the bastard" I told him. He told me there's no way I could have got him at that distance with a .22. I said, "Well he ain't looking at me any more". Brad said the boom made him run off. The Beast Lives!

Brad told me that the feathers were Jet Lags which really confused me because I saw him alive by the apple tree. He convinced me there were no gruesome body parts in the pile of feathers and to look for myself. Sure enough they were the roosters feathers.

The ducks came out of hiding all ducky and healthy. Jet Lag ran into the hen house and sat on the perch looking a bit shocky and thread bare. Max was in the house having a snooze.

We did some crime scene investigating. Close to Jet Lags feathers were a clump of red hen feathers.

There were more hen feathers going up the steps under my office window. This is what must have happened; the brazen beast grabbed a hen and Jet Lag came to her rescue like he did when Blondie chased a hen that time. He distracted the beast long enough for the chicken to run away up the steps and he went one on one with the beast loosing many feathers in the process. Somehow he ended up the other side of the house and lawn under the apple tree. The beast was trying to get the hen who was hiding under a shrub when I came on the scene.

It's a mystery how Jet Lag ended up where he did because whenever there's a scare like a hawk, the birds all hide under the shrubs near the house...he had to run across a wide open stretch of lawn to get where I saw him! Also it's the other side of the garden from the hen house and he doesn't go there normally.

I called the hens and Jet Lag came out and did the cockle doodle doo which must have sounded the 'call clear' because all the hens came out of hiding...everyone accounted for. Our rooster, Jet Lag is a hero!

There was something very fishy about the strange looking coyote. For a start he wasn't as nervous like a regular coyote. Our coyotes around here are not like the more suburban ones, they are very shy and have a lot of natural prey to eat so they don't bother us. This beast was a different color than a coyote, he looked more grey also he appeared not as long and maybe taller. I might be wrong about his size because I'm used to seeing them in their natural setting and not on my lawn. Brad said he looked darker to him as well. He had the same bushy tail. We are wondering if he was a wolf or a wolf coyote cross. I know they do interbreed.

We cannot have him hanging about in the garden snacking on our pets and so Brad is going to bring the big guns out to surprise him with. I love coyotes and love to watch them in the wild but there's something not right with this fella.

Here's a re-enactment. I'm holding the camera in this picture, but when I turned killer I had both hands on the gun.

Apparently my six shooter is next to useless for revenge killing at long distances.

When I went in for the night I was hurting very bad but had a wonderful feeling of exhilaration from my little run.

The Big Escape.

2010-10-12T14:30:00.000-07:00

Last week we brought the cattle in to wean the calves.

Wildairo made a nuisance of himself because he thinks if anyone is going to do any cattle sorting it's going to be him.

He was banging on the gate and shouting out orders.

The calves were bought by our neighbor and we kept just one, Tinker-Bell. I got out my brushes and gave Dandylyons a good grooming.

Dandylyons was pleased to see our neighbor and I was pleased that he has, after almost 20 years, stopped telling us to sell her. He's a serious cattle rancher and doesn't understand the pet cow concept.

Dandylyons's back was thick with dirt because she likes to kick dirt over her back to intimidate the other cows.

That night Wildairo did some cow sorting and in the dark I could hear the sound of his hooves galloping and his angry shouts. Brad went out with the spotlight and said Wildairo was keeping them in a tight bunch and not letting them go out very far. He's a bad tempered control freak. They settled down once Wildairo found Dandylyons and held the poor old girl hostage.

The next day Brad had to leave for a last minute meeting out of town. I was having one of my bad days..well I don't seem to have good days health wise any more. I decided to do something I rarely do during the day, take to my bed. I was going up the stairs when I saw a sight that almost made me faint...COWS EVERYWHERE THEY SHOULDN'T BE. There had been a massive break out.

I called Brad and all I could manage to say was, "Cows out...come home". He was three hours away and in the middle of a meeting. He said he'd start for home right away but in the mean time it was all up to me. It suddenly occurred to me not only were the cows desperately looking for their lost calves but Wildairo was with them! OMG!

I went over to the pasture and found the gate by the trough off it's hinges and lying on it's side. I had a quick look around at the hoof prints going over the gate and they all looked like cattle prints to me. So hoping Wildairo was still in the pasture somewhere, I lifted the heavy metal gate and tied it back up with baling twine.

Some of the cows had wandered down the draw to eat, some were cleaning up some hay bales near the equipment and four were walking down the road towards the county road like cows on a mission and mooing intently.

After securing the gate they knocked down, I chased the ones around the tractors in through another gate. The four cows heading towards the road were still in search of their calves and so I yelled as loud as I could, "Come Boss Come Boss". They stopped, turned around and started trotting towards me still mooing. They know when they get called they are about to get something good..here's Levin a few weeks ago helping me weed my garden.

And so they thought I was going to take them to their calves and followed me into a corral. They gathered around me with faces full of eager anticipation and I felt so horrible. I think pretty quick on my feet sometimes and so I told them their calves were in their belly's. They seemed happy with that.

The cows down the draw were as happy as clams in the alfalfa and all I did was hook up some wire and they thought they were behind electric fence. All was secured till Brad came home.

Silly Wildairo was so busy keeping Dandylyons to himself and away from the other cows he missed his big chance to escape!

Free at last....well sort of.

2010-09-30T09:01:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was a special day for Echo. I opened the gate and let him explore Foxsun's old home pasture.

He walks out of the open gate and just has a snack.

I walk off and he joins me.

And off we go exploring.

He trotted up the hill to get a good look about.

He respected the fence.

I called him, "Echo...apple". He quickly came for a apple snack.

I think he was impressed with the set up old Foxsun had..nice views all over..even a feeder for extra shade and shelter. I think he finally realized why Foxsun didn't run away when he had the chance.

He followed me back to the barn.

I was amazed at how calm he was. I have never turned a horse out on pasture for the first time who acted like him. He stops and looks at things and then moves on. He realized there are a lot of big rocks in the sagebrush and he could get hurt if he tripped on one. I had a horse once that had no common sense and he would gallop through the rocky sagebrush and I saw him go arse over tea kettle several times.

I felt really bad leaving him alone but I had to go home to rest. I cannot tolerate the sun or heat (sarcoidosis) and it was 80 degrees. I returned several times to make sure he was okay and each time he came to see and follow me. One day Wildairo will be with him.

Echo pursues his favorite hobby.

2010-09-28T11:17:00.000-07:00

Away from the prying eyes of his former wild herd mate, Echo can finally relax and enjoy his favorite past time.

With his eyes glazed over, tongue poking out and frothing at the mouth...

and trying to ignore being made fun of..

Echo happily and loudly slurps apples. Noticed how he sucks his cheeks in.

The little guy can stand there for hours doing this, as long as I pop another apple chunk in his mouth every now and again.

Echo has a new home.

2010-09-27T10:50:00.000-07:00

Echo has moved into his new digs. I want him to get used to it and feel at home before I put both horses in there.

I thought about putting Dandylyons in with him, and maybe I will, but she poops all over including inside the barn. Cows are not as tidy as horses and I want Echo to establish his bathroom area and not pick up her filthy ways. I was nervous about leading Echo there so I put two lead ropes on him, one for me and one for Brad in case Echo tried to bolt away from me. As it turned out I had trouble getting over the rocks in the tall grass and Echo and Brad had to lead me.

Echo loves to go walkies and is always eager to leave the corrals. He went through the gates and across our farm road like a champ. When we got in view of the road he stopped and watched some cars go by. It was all new to him and he took it all in with great interest. I like the way he looks at new things and then calmly moves on. He doesn't get worked up into a tizzy like some horses I've known.

He loves his new home and he seems like a different horse there. It's like he knows it was a happy home for many years for Foxsun and Dandylyons.

Here's the happy couple in 1992.

Echo explored the pens that evening.

The county road runs between the big barn and the little barn. He was fascinated by the cars that went racing by.

He refuses to go inside though and so for now I'm putting his hay in his tub near the door.

I left a night light and the radio on for him but he was so relaxed I don't think he needed it. I'm really surprised what an incredibly calm horse he is now he's gotten over most of his fear of humans.

Three Dog Hike.

2010-09-22T19:47:00.000-07:00

Yesterday William returned to England to continue his studies. The day before we took a walk on the bluff. Brad even joined us.

Here is William, Brad with Bobby in a choke hold and little Blondie at his feet.

Our other Airedale, Montie is old and deaf and was off chasing bunnies. How on earth do you get a deaf dog to come back?

It was a lovely day for a hike. I used my hiking poles which are a tremendous help for me. The Airdales raced around but Blondie kept with us until we scared a huge herd of deer. There were deer every where. Big ones, little ones some with big antlers some and with none. We must have walked into the middle of a deer convention. Soon as I thought the stampede was over, two little ones came running from the other direction. Talk about confusion.. I thought I was going to get trampled. Bobby gave chase for a little ways. I think deaf Montie must have been gazing the other direction and missed all the excitement. Blondie went missing for awhile and we all went looking for her. I was worried she'd fallen down a badger hole. She was okay though. She gets lost in the tall grass very easily.

Before leaving for the airport, William had to have a little last minute gun play. This is a Russian gun and was made in the 1930's. It sounds like a huge cannon when it goes off. If we ever get invaded I guess we'll be able to put up one hell of a fight, lol.

Bon Voyage William. We'll see you in the Spring.

Absolutely nothing to do with horses.

2010-09-18T20:55:00.000-07:00

Beside being a farmer, Brad has a business where he designs and makes processing equipment for the bio-fuel industry. Last week his lastest project was completed and shipped. Our youngest son William was one of the workers on the project that was built on our farm.

Here is Brad and William all smiley and happy working on the project. William is wearing a cap that goes on under a welding helmet and a welders jacket.

Here's the almost finished project. William is on the top.

The small crane couldn't lift it so they had to get a great big one from Moses Lake to do the job.

The two parts are standing side by side but were put one on top of the other at the refinery that they were built for.

Brad was kind of sad to see it go, but saw it successfully set up in another part of the country.

Echo is a sweetheart.

2010-09-12T11:13:00.000-07:00

The mustang boys were hanging out in the warm September sun looking all fat and shiny. I had to take a picture before they get their winter coats.

It's hard to get a good picture because of this....

Notice his lips are puckered.

Because he likes to give and get kisses.

And next week we'll be discussing nose reattachment surgery.

Blondie holds court and I entertain.

2010-08-07T11:25:00.000-07:00

At the edge of my garden is the much neglected rose garden. Most times I'm out there some cattle show up to watch me.

They seem to be fascinated with little Blondie.

She sits and listens to their complaints and the latest gossip.

I draw a bit of a crowd when I go for a swim as well. I bought this little pool to help me recover from ankle replacement and it's in its third year of service. I fill it up so the water comes up to my chest and it is a real nice cheap and easy to set up pool.

That's my long time friend, Dandylyons standing in the shade of Foxsun's apple tree.

The other day I had all the calves lined up watching me swim, so I put on one hell of a show.

Echo's excellent adventure.

2010-08-02T21:11:00.000-07:00

One moonlit night I slid the lead rope down to Echo's withers and he didn't mind, so I jiggled it. And just like that, Echo decided the rope was okay.

Leading up to that night I'd been spraying him with mosquito repellent and it suddenly occurred to him that after he's been sprayed the bugs stop biting and so it must be a good thing after all. He even lets me spray his undercarriage with no one holding his head. AND (now I'm really bragging) he stands still, in the 'eyes front' position, again with no one holding his head and lets Brad give him his shots!

Here he is in the 'eyes front' position while I fix a pretend saddle on his back.

Here I am getting the girth good and tight.

On Sunday evening I took him into the big pasture for the first time.

I was worried about him walking too fast for me and maybe clipping my bionic ankle. He was a real gentleman though.

He kept putting his mouth on me and I think it may have been for reassurance. I looked at his face and his eyes were as big as saucers and you could see all the white.

I did all the leading but here I gave the lead to Brad and William so I could take a picture.

We had an apple picnic by the big pile of dead cottonwoods. Echo was biting and sniffing the trees that have been rubbed smooth by cattle and horses.

He was really good but very alert. He eye balled the big boulders but didn't spook from them. I sat on the really big rocks to show them I was boss....that impressed Echo.

This evening I took him out again. I opened the big Powder River gate while I held him and he was so good about it. I really think he wanted to go walkies again. Brad and Will saw us and came along. They were walking and talking ahead of us and I was talking to Echo. It seems they don't have the big rocks all over Beatty's Bute like we do but the sage brush is the same. We went further this time and he stuck to me like glue. I went to push my hat up and he jumped back only to realize he was at the end of the rope and quickly got close again.

One the way back he started to get high headed and telling me danger was behind and to the left. He wanted to bolt but had no intention of leaving the safety of me. (I told him that I can fight off bears and lions). To make matters worse Wildairo was doing these loud explosive snorts over in the corrals. Well it turns out there were a couple of people on bikes riding on the county road that goes through our place. He couldn't see them but could hear their voices far off in the still evening air. I have seen Wildairo get frightened and bolt for home when he hears distant human voices. Must be a mustang thing.

Echo's troubles.

2010-07-15T14:46:00.000-07:00

Last night I was out in my jim-jams and slippers giving Wildairo an apple and I heard a commotion coming from Echo's area of the darkness. I noticed his hay half eaten and spotted him with my little light kicking his belly like crazy and swishing his tail. I almost passed out with fright for these are signs of colic.

Then he took off and continued to canter around the big corral, down the ally and around the other corral. He was in a frenzy and I was worried he'd run into me in the dark and dust when I went after him. When I caught up with him it was obvious what was happening. I heard a loud buzzing as the swarm of mosquitoes buzzed around my head. Poor lad was being sucked dry by the little bastards. I went home to get my fly spray and asked Brad to spot for me because Echo was in a right tizzy. Brad felt really bad for him as well. We sprayed him down and he seemed very grateful. He wanted me to itch his belly really bad and pushed his bug bitten body into my hand. Funny how they didn't want to eat Wildairo. They had a bit of a nibble on me and now I really itch.

Here's Echo today, asleep with his bottom lip hanging down....notice the wild fire behind him.

Hey Echo, look behind you!

He's having a thinkie thought about this.

He got a little scratch on his nose the other day. Brad found the electric tape down and spread across the big corral. Also the gate near the building was open. Brad thinks Echo got caught in the tape raced off across the coral and hit the gate. The gate was open but Echo has a policy of not going through gates and every now and again it pays off. He also got a little scrape on his neck and below his knee. All on his right side so he must have hit the gate sideways. Poor little fellow has had a run of bad luck lately with bugs and stuff. Here's his poor little leg.

The boys are doing a pretty good job of trimming their hooves themselves. As much as I hate our rocky pastures and corrals, like Echo's gate deal, every now and again it pays off! Wildairo needs to pay better attention to his left front. Notice how much sturdier Wildairo's legs are.

Wildairo is standing on a little rock. That's why his right foot looks odd.

I haven't been doing anything with the horses except feeding them apples and giving them kisses. I have been trying to manage my pain which has hit an all time high. I've even fell over a few times. It's odd but I just trip and don't even try to catch my balance any more for some reason. The falling bit is fun till I hit the ground. I fell onto the hot drive way when it was 95 degrees and I sizzled like bacon in the frying pan. I had to roll onto the lawn because my knees are so inflamed I couldn't right myself on the cement. I had a laugh about it was just glad no one was around to see me! As I lay there I remembered how we used to laugh at those "Help, I've fallen and I can't get up' commercials. So I said it to myself and that made me chuckle more.

Day Five of Arlene's Garden

2010-06-23T14:50:00.000-07:00

Yesterday the ducks went on their maiden flight. They flew over me at a low altitude in the 'we can't believe we're doing this' formation. They landed on the lawn behind the house with surprised looks on their faces. As they say, "Any landing you can walk away from is a good landing".

The last day of my Garden Tour I will be showing some new areas I'm developing. The first area I started two years and I'm dedicating it to mostly native plants. It's really coming along nice. I planted lots of tiny bare root shrubs and trees such as Chokecherry, Golden Currant, Blue Spruce, Service Berry and Elderberry. Last year I added two Maples, a Locust and a plum. This Spring I went completely nuts and planted some Lilacs and Viburnum. There's going to be a trail through the middle and hopefully it'll be all shady and woodsie.

Here's another new area. I've planted lots of shrubs such as different varieties of Ninebark, Lilac, Viburnum, Blue and Alberta Spruce and Summersweet. There are two groupings of shrubs and there will be a pond between them. Foxsun's grave is in the shade of the apple tree behind the little shrubs. To the left of the picture, in the distance, is the big barn and the little horse barn. I'm still planting shrubs in this area. I try to do a little everyday.

We completed the latest project on Sunday. Here's William bringing a large basalt rock in that Brad had drilled a hole through.

Father and son team.

It was important to set it right so the water wouldn't run in the wrong direction.

William seems to know what he's doing.

They plumbed it and now we have a nice little waterfall.

Day four of Arlene's Garden.

2010-06-22T16:52:00.000-07:00

I've always wanted more shady places to plant shade loving plants. This Spring it occurred to me I could create some shade under some trees by asking Brad to cut away the lower limbs.

I planted a Rhododendron, Hosta, bright green Lamium and a Foxglove. I forget the name of the plant in front. I planted it a long time ago and it's been neglected. I'm not very good at remembering plant names.

Here I planted lots of ferns, more hosta, Bleeding Heart, and Sweet Woodruff. It'll look nice when it fills in.

Flintstone furniture. We have a lot of rocks and we try to put them to good use. Here is my throne and foot stool.

It is very big and heavy. Brad dragged it in behind a tractor. I enjoy sitting in the shade with a cat on my lap or a small dog. To the right of it is a Hosta I saved from the chickens by putting a wire cage around it. There were four other little plants I planted the day before that they scratched up.

Here's a side view of my throne.

I enjoy walking around looking at rocks and imagining what I could make of them. Much to Brad's delight, I usually forget where they are.

Here's my strawberry trough.

William put a net over it to keep the birds away from the strawberries. We all stand around the trough grazing.

Here are the chickens in lock-up. The ducks are to the left of them. The ducks don't wander far when they are let out. I think they can fly now but so far I haven't seen them do more than a few vertical take off's and some brief touch and goes.

There's the stone house that B.J. built many many years ago and my trusty lawn tractor/mower, which I'd be lost without. I kind of put a tarp over it.

Day Three of Arlene's Garden.

2010-06-21T08:32:00.000-07:00

Before I took over as head gardener (only gardener, lol) here the tree varieties consisted of Apples, a few Spruce, Cottonwoods and Poplars. The Cottonwoods were not doing well and eventually died.

The trees I have planted are English oaks, Crab-apples, Cherry, Birch, more Spruce, Camperdown Elm, European Weeping Beech, Willows, Flowering Ash, Crimean Linden, Sugar Maples, Locust, Plum and Weeping Mulberry. The oldest which is eleven years old, so they have some growing to do.

One of my favourite places is the Finch Arboretum in Spokane. When I started landscaping I had that place in mind.

This is my youngest English oak. The branches are very horizontal which I love. The leaves are a bit lighter green than they should be so I'm going to give it some extra iron.

Looking east; my five variety cherry tree in the foreground.

One of the Bluest Blue Spruces. Every evening the Quail come home to roost in the Spruce trees. We love to hear them all talking to each other before they settle down for the night.

In the foreground is an American Fringe tree, which really is a shrub. It's very late to leaf out but has lovely delicate blooms which are well worth waiting for. In the background is a Weeping Mulberry, which is also very late to leaf out.

This is English Oak is ten years old and is big and sturdy.

It, like many of my trees, has a Robin's nest in it. I love this tree!

I've been visiting the Weeping Beech at the Finch Arboretum for 33 years and love it so much I have been growing on in my garden for almost 10 years. Although it's going to many years before my descendent's will be able to have a picnic under it!

This is my Camperdown Elm. It is covered in scales every Spring and I have to blast them off with the hose.

Day Two of Arlene's Garden.

2010-06-19T22:04:00.000-07:00

We live on the same farm that Brad's grandfather, B. J. Lyons, homesteaded in 1890. He was only 20 years old when he came to Washington, which had just been admitted into the Union. His older brother, Will Lyons, had homesteaded a few years before, also in the Crab Creek Valley. The Great Northern Railway hadn't made it's way to Odessa, in fact Odessa wasn't even here yet. There were no roads, no fences, no stores and no fresh water. Any travelling had to be done by horse. It was an all day ride just to get the mail from the nearest post office.

The Lyons acreage has increased since the original 160 homestead acres but we still live on the home place. Our house was build for B. J. and his wife Grace in 1907. Family have been born and some have died in this house. We are surrounded by history. Here are some of B. J.'s dairy's milk cans. I use the beat up rusty ones as plant stands.

There are metal tags on the cans that bear his name.

Here is a old horse shoe I dug up in the garden last week.

It's very heavy and and is made for good traction. B.J. had to wrap his horse's legs when riding through snow that had an icy crust on it to avoid his horse's legs getting ripped to shreds.

B.J. built a root cellar deep into the side of the bluff. In the early Spring the smell of the Chokecherry is wonderful and is one of my favourite fragrances. The chokecherry shown here in the background has always been here, it's a native plant and grows at the base of the bluff where there are natural springs or run off. I have planted more chokecherry in my native garden area.

The root cellar door is on the left.

Here Max guards some newly purchased plants waiting for a new home.

In the back ground is lilac, viburnum, and golden currant.

To the right of Blondie are three big pots that I am growing my tomatoes in this year. I have a some green ones already but I'm afraid they already have some chicken pecks in them!

Day one of Arlene's Garden.

2010-06-18T18:21:00.000-07:00

For the next five days I'm going to be giving you a tour of my garden.

This rock wall was built for me in 1996 by my dad, Colin Burridge who lives in Bedford, England.

I love it because beside being very attractive it's easy to take care of. Many of the plants re-seed themselves every year.

Sometimes they don't stay on the wall but find another place, like this crack in the side-walk.

Some of the plants growing are roses, California Poppy, Lamium, Viola's, Columbine and Alysium, which will look lovely when it grows over the edge.

Brad and William put in a trellis for my new grape vine.

I put wire around the little vine to keep deer from snacking on it before it has the chance to grow.

Day Two of Arlene's Garden tomorrow.

Echo gets halter trained.

2010-06-08T21:53:00.000-07:00

Now I could secure a lead rope to lead Echo I needed to train him to stand still to be haltered.

The first try was a failure. I put the lead rope around his neck and started to put the halter on when the heavy snap on the lead rope tapped him and he bolted. The second try was also a failure. I decided to forget the lead rope and just put the halter right on him. All was going well till he saw the stiff leather crown piece going up and over and he bolted. Well he had a bit of an argument then. He stood in his corner snorting at me and I was shouting "Bad boy"! We soon made friends and had a nice cuddle.

The third try was a success. I made his lead rope into a halter and led him into a small pen. I called Brad and William over for moral support and put his nose through the nose band. He's used to me putting things over his nose and he stood still starring bug eyed and Brad and William. This time I carefully slid the leather crown up behind his ears and struggled to reach it the other side. William asked me if I needed a telephone book to stand on and that made me start laughing. For a reward I gave Echo a dose of wormer, poor lad. Worming actually is a none issue for him.

I brushed his mane and made him look very handsome.

I got him used to me brushing his forelock and now he's much better at having things above his eyes. He's not keen about me taking pictures while standing at his side and he keeps trying to turn to face me. I have to say sternly, "Eyes front soldier" and he snaps to attention. It's very cute.

I brushed his mane over to one side and took a picture of his rarely seen freeze brand.

Out in the big area, I practised taking the halter off and putting it back on. Once he found he gets cheers and applause for having his halter put on he was eager to put his nose through the nose band. He loves being groomed now. He's still not too keen on me touching his back feet though. Soon as I get my hands around his fetlock he pulls his foot away in a defensive move. We'll get there one day.

Echo escaped.

2010-06-01T08:45:00.000-07:00

In between rain showers I was innocently weeding my world famous strawberry trough, minding my own business, and for some reason I turned around and looked towards the corrals. I saw the unmistakable sight of a newly liberated horse running with his wild herd mate.

Just as I spotted them, Brad and William pulled up to the corrals and saw the whole caper. I quickly drove over there to sort them out. That corral is the last place I want those two mustangs having one of their knock down, drag out play fights. It has wooden posts with panels in between, which would be perfectly good for horses but the wooden posts are old and need to be replaced. Years ago I remember seeing bulls fighting in there, oblivious of the fences, and whirl around and around and go right through them. Bulls and cows are much harder on fences than horses but I still didn't want the lads getting into a rumble there.

As I drove up I saw Echo trying to graze and Wildairo biting his bum wanting some action. Brad and I started to open up gates and stuff and when I turned around to looked at the mustangs I saw they had both dropped to their knees and were trying biting each others legs. It was the start of their well choreographed wild horse play. I knew where this was going. But then Wildairo looked over at us and saw gates wide open so he jumped up because Wildairo has never seen an open gate he didn't want to go through. And go through the gate he did! He ploughed through the sloshy mud like a big tank and parked himself in a small pen, and just like that, we had him secured.

Echo got back to unmolested grazing. Now came the big test, would Echo let me near him or even let me get him in? Brad went near him and he bolted off snorting. I thought I was in for trouble. I approached Echo but it never occurred to him to run from me. He was happy for me to put my arms around his neck and give him a cuddle. He even followed me a little bit!

Suddenly it occurred to me while I'd been teaching Echo tricks and monkeying around, I'd never taught him the best trick of all...standing in the open and letting someone put a rope around your neck or put a halter on. So I had to rely on all the monkeying around and games we played to get him in. He knew the sign for apple and step up and followed me back through the gate. Brad and William were behind him a ways to give him a little encouragement.

I was so proud of the lads coming in like that and not acting silly. The grass is long and inviting out there. I let Echo graze a bit on it but not too long because he's not used to it like Wildairo is.

Last year Brad rebuild part of the corrals and made it so the gates could be opened easy with one hand or one horse nose. Wildairo had slid the latch open and pushed the gate open towards Echo. Now they are tied or chained closed.

Since the big escape I taught Echo how to stand still while I fashion a lead rope into a make shift halter to lead him. We did half a dozen times and he's really fine with it. He also leads with the rope around his neck. I just have to be careful not to swing the rope around too much but he'll get used to even that. I also have been working on lifting his hooves. I have managed to lift up the front two although I only keep his hoof up for a few seconds. He loves the clapping, hugs and congratulations he gets afterwards for being a good boy. I'm still working on getting him used to me messing about with his back hooves and legs. I don't believe rushing this little horse is productive.

I also learned that Echo is extremely jealous when I give Wildairo kisses. The little stinker was shoving me quiet hard with his nose when I was with Wildairo.

Dandylyons enjoys herself.

2010-05-27T13:33:00.000-07:00

I was out taking some pictures of the cows. This is one of Levin's daughters, her name is Pebbles.

I noticed Dandylyons and some of the other cows having a bit of a frolic with the bull....well Dandylyons is completely confused and was chasing the bull. She had her last calf was in 1996.

I opened the gate and thought I'd introduce her to Echo. Echo thought he'd chase her. It was so funny because she stopped and he thought she was going to let him have it with her back hooves like a horse would. He skidded to a stop and quickly back peddled staring in horror at her powerful back legs which he was in strike range of...if she was a another horse!

Dandylyons came into the building for me to hide her from crazy Echo.

Dandylyons in her safe house.

Echo lets her come to me.

Here Dandylyons is hiding behind Brad for protection. When she was a baby she was afraid of the cows because she was raised away from them and so when I would take her to see the cows she would hide behind me.

We move the herd, including Dandylyons to another pasture.

We noticed Wildairo has been keeping the cows from going too far to graze. He has become very good at keeping them in a tight little bunch so we fired him from his job as head cow horse...for now anyway.

I'm embarrassed to point out that is Dandylyons riding off into the sunset...and not with the bull. Like I said she hasn't had a calf since 1996 and there's a good reason for it.

She is totally confused.

Echo is glad to see William again.

2010-05-26T16:33:00.000-07:00

Echo has always liked William.

Echo is a very affectionate horse and loves cuddles and kisses. I can touch him all over but he's being stubborn about letting me pick up his hooves. He's learned all he has to do is put weight on the hoof I'm struggling to lift and I can't budge it. If Echo ever did anything the easy way I think I'd be a bit disappointed. I took off his break away halter because it was fraying so bad it looked like it was going to break by the nose band and I didn't want it dangling around his neck if it did.

I saw William on the BBC live!

A week or so before leaving England, William spent a few nights in a youth hostel in London. The day he got there I was watching the BBC live internet coverage of the change of government over in the UK. I was the new coalition government get ready to form their new government and watched as the new Prime minister drove to his new residence at 10 Downing Street for the first time.

Anyway, I was enjoying the live BBC feed when I got a call from William in London telling me he was there at Downing Street and had just saw the new Prime Minister drive past. I found that very funny that William was right there on the ground watching the same thing as me 5000 + miles away. After a little while the new Prime Minister left Downing Street to go to the Houses of Parliament, driving right past William whom I saw on the internet...lol.

William was finding his way alone all over London and I think that's pretty good for a farm boy raised in the middle of nowhere. He also voted in the elections there and is proud of the fact he voted in to General Elections to two different countries within 18 months.

BTW, William was also shown on the BBC watching a football (soccer) game. I never saw that live, lol, but he did get a picture of it.

William is home.

2010-05-24T21:16:00.000-07:00

William arrived in Spokane from England, tired and much thinner.

Tommy Two Tone was scared at first because William was pulling his luggage on wheels, but soon as he realized it was William he was so happy and kept jumping on the back of chairs to get as close to his face as possible. Bobby was happy as well but Montie is old and deaf and I'm not sure she noticed he was even gone. Echo no longer snorts at him.

The next morning William was doing something he hadn't done for awhile; shooting guns.

Don't believe the Republicans when they tell you liberals are going to take away your guns. Liberals have guns, big ones and little ones.

William and I are both vegetarians so we only shoot vegetation.

Our Airedale's love any kind of loud explosion but little Blondie doesn't. She seems to be getting used to it though.

Sched.	Flight no.	To	Status	Term.
13:50	AEU502X	REYKJAVIK	TAXIED 18:07	S

Sched.	Flight no.	To	Status	Term.
13:50	AEU502X	REYKJAVIK	AIRBORNE 18:13	S