Cows and wild fire.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.