Country Musings

A Work Outside Day

It’s supposed to be decent weather and temperature wise today.  That means time to get outside and do a little fixing.

Have to replace the bird netting that covers the outside area around the chicken coop.  Our new birds don’t realize that it Should be there and a couple have gone on a walkabout.  They also don’t realize that they are at a nice tender age for the Bald Eagles and the many Hawks we have around here.

We found a bunch of little feather all over the driveway next to the Avalanche yesterday.  Some little sparrow had a rude awakening and didn’t get both eyes open fast enough.  ( wondered why that hawk was looking very satisfied with himself).  So bird netting is first on the list today.

Next on the list is replacing the man gate that goes from the corral to the inside of the horse barn.  The horses almost have it chewed off.  We got a  4′ metal gate that will slow them down bunches.  (lets see them chew thru that).

The tarps that cover the hay stack took a real beating in the last 2 days of high winds.  They have to be resituated and retied.

And,,,anything else we can find that isn’t gonna take money and an army to fix.

Have a nice weekend.
Cindy

February 28th, 2009 Posted by Cindy | Musings | no comments

Mom’s Test Results

And,,,the verdict is in.

The test wasn’t real clear, but they saw a little area near her previous bypass.  They want her to have an angioplasty.  The Dr’s office was going to call the hospital to have them check their schedule for next Tuesday.

If they find a blockage, they will put a stint in.  They said she should be in one day and out the next.  The last time she had a stint put in, it was a little over a week before she got out.  (she doesn’t believe in doing things the easy way)

We have been telling her that the symptoms she was having were pretty much the same as when her first stint started getting blocked.  She kept saying it wasn’t. (once a mom always a mom, what’s an adult child to do, sigh)

Anyhow, that the scoop, and will know more next Tuesday hopefully.  We haven’t heard back from the hospital yet for a time or even the day.

Catch ya all later

Cindy

February 27th, 2009 Posted by Cindy | Musings | no comments

Another Unplanned Trip

Mom had a DR’s appointment today. I didn’t know about it till late yesterday afternoon.  She went in for a Stress Test.  She can’t do a normal, treadmill test, she has to do the nuclear one.  The do an injection that simulates the stress on the heart.  She only has about 12% of her heart functional, not a lot of room to stress it.

After these tests she never feels very well and needs help even walking.  This lasts for about 1 hr.  Then she starts feeling better.  Since she hasn’t been feeling good for about 3 weeks, and after a trip to the ER Saturday, the ER Dr. told her to go get this done.

She has been sick to her stomach and not eating.  So the next test will be with a scope to check her esophagus to see if there is something there that is causing problems.  Sooo, next Dr’s appt is next Tuesday.

I am trying to get a new blog up, and having problems with the db.  I would have thought after so many WP installs, I would have this down pat by now.  Oh well, its empty yet so can delete and reinstall as needed.  Second try as soon as I get done here.

later all

Cindy

February 26th, 2009 Posted by Cindy | Musings | one comment

Nice But Windy

Well, another nice day in the Valley.  Temp. is about 50 degrees, but the wind is blowing like a banshee out of the SSW.  At least it is a warm wind.

Update on Dusty and his life lessons:  Still been working on his manners at feeding time.  He realizes he isn’t always the first to be fed.  Morning feeding is a little worse than the evening one.

In the morning he needs to be reminded with hand signals once in a while.  But at evening feeding, he just goes to his stall and patiently waits for me to get there.  I am so glad I worked with him on hand signals.

I went out this morning and he was rolling in all the mud and water.  Oh lord, what a mess he was.  Guess its time to get start working with him as the weather warms up and start brushing him.

Will try to get a pic of him after he gets done rolling.  It’s one of those “ya have to see it to believe it” type moments.

Later

Cindy

February 25th, 2009 Posted by Cindy | Musings | no comments

Nice weather today

….for a change.  It was about 45 at morning feeding time.  It wasn’t too awful muddy.  The one good thing about all the sand we have around here is it does drain rather quickly.

We were doing some calculating yesterday and decided long about the 9th of March we were going to have to go on serious “Lamb Watch”.  The non serious watch will start about the 5th.

Oh goodie, another photo op, or rather a Kodak moment.  Don’t worry, there will be plenty of pictures and stories, I’m sure.

Cindy

PS: here is the picture of our “fireplace cleaner”

February 24th, 2009 Posted by Cindy | Musings | 2 comments

Gallery Link

I do have a gallery of sorts tied to this blog.  I am trying to get it configured and tied in better with this site.  I have a couple plug-ins to try today and see if I can get there from here.

If you click on Gallery on the nav bar above right, it will take you to a Gallery page.  That particular page is left over from a previous Gallery I had and wasn’t happy with.  I found another that works a lot better and does more that I wanted it to do.  I just have to figure it out and fine tune it more.  But for now, click on the “here” from the Gallery page and you will hopefully “get there from here”.

I have another album I am going to try to get up today that will be sunsets, sunrises, and cloud formation pictures.  So stay tuned

Cindy

February 23rd, 2009 Posted by Cindy | Musings | one comment

And Heeeere’s Coco

This post will introduce another of our rescues.  She is or was supposed to be  Choc. Lab and Shepherd.  Well guess What?  She may have some of those breeds in her, but her “bark” (if you can call it that) sounds like a hound dog of some type.

Koda decided that Coco was a keeper.

I have a Gallery tied to this blog, I supposed I should get all these baby pics uploaded to that, huh.  Guess I will see about getting that done tomorrow and then I won’t have to pick and choose ones to post here.

I have a couple more that are cute that I will post tomorrow.  One where Coco decided to try her hand at being a fireplace cleaner.

Here is a link to 2 previous post about Koda, I forgot to put them in yesterday.

Click here.

And here

Cindy

February 19th, 2009 Posted by Cindy | Musings | 3 comments

More Koda Pics

I was going thru my photos last night, my oh my we have a lot of Koda  lol.  Really hard to pick the ones to show, but will go on to the ones as she was growing up.

This was a Kodak moment and I could only get it thru the screen door, that’s why it looks cloudy.

Koda and Bree

Koda and Taco

This picture was adorable.  Taco was what they call a Bummer.  Either its mom died, had to many to feed, or just plain rejected the baby.  When that happens, they go around to other Ewes and “bum” a meal, hence, Bummer.  This one is 2 days old.  Koda wasn’t real sure what to do with it.  She was so tenative with that paw out to touch it.

This is 3 our our gals with the another years batch of bummers.  There are 3 there somewhere.  We let them get their exercise with the dogs.  The dogs are Mindy, Koda and Coco.  Coco will take center stage in tomorrows post.  The dogs were fabulous with the babies.  They would explore them when they first went out, then ignore them.  The lambs were the initiators in the games.  They are very inquisitive, even as adults.

OK, one last pic, look close at Koda’s nose.  Here is the quiz I mentioned yesterday.  What is different with her nose?

And that is what our little girl looks like now.

Coco will be on center page tomorrow

Cindy

February 18th, 2009 Posted by Cindy | Musings | one comment

Then there was Koda

Ah yes, Koda.  She is something else.  She has some husky in her, and the humane society in Ohio thought maybe collie, or shepherd.  I don’t, and haven’t seen many signs of shepherd.  Coloring and fur says more collie.I think this was taken either the day after of maybe a couple days after we got her.  She is almost 6 weeks here but not quite.

2 months old here.  That is her crate that she would go into to rest.  Notice her black nose in this pic. there will be a quiz later.

This pic and the next were taken the morning after the one of Mindy all covered with snow.  This was Koda’s very first snow, and wasn’t sure what to make of it.

As you can guess, we have a lot of pics of here.  She was such a cuttie pie.  Will post some more of her as she got older tomorrow.

Cindy

February 17th, 2009 Posted by Cindy | Musings | 2 comments

Mindy Picture

This is a picture of our Mindy.  The picture was taken just before we moved from Ohio to Utah.  The snow storm was one of the biggest we had seen on the Island.  It dropped about 15 inches.  As you can see, Mindy is just Lovin it.

Don’t let the fact that it looks like she has been out all night bother you.  I assure you she wasn’t.  It is just snowing HARD.  We took the picture from the door and as you can see, she isn’t the least bit interested in coming inside where it is dry and warm.

This is a picture of Mindy and Sabrina (Bree) during the another snow storm.  Bree got real sick and didn’t make the trip to Utah with us.  Bree was mostly lab and not sure what else, but looked like a lab.  Bree is on the left.

Tomorrow I think I will highlight our rescue that has had center page in this blog before.  It will be Koda, our little baby.  (Not so little now though)

Cindy

February 16th, 2009 Posted by Cindy | Musings | 2 comments

Our Black Lab

I don’t think I have a picture of her as she is a bit camera shy, but trust me she is BIG.  She has a thyroid problem and is on meds for it.  She is about 6 yrs old and probably around 100 lbs, maybe more.  Mindy is her name.

She is the typical Lab.  Very laid back, and loves to play with the other dogs.

Anyhow, she absolutely loves going out with us in the morning for the A.M. feeding of the animals.  She runs past the hen house, barking and fur up on her back.  If the chickens are out, she hesitates long enough to bark and growl at them.  If they are all inside, she just takes a quick look and keeps on truckin.

Next stop is the cow enclosure.  Here she takes the time to really pester the cows.  Sweetie Pie, the momma cow,  rakes her horns across the cattle panel at Mindy.  Teeth barred, hair up on back, barking and growling, Mindy runs back and forth on the outside of the panels.

I get her with me as I head for the horses.  Well, she has to take a detour around the lamb pen on the way.  Same routine here as with the cows, except the sheep won’t fall for her pestering.  They stand in the middle of pen and look at her.  Mindy decided early on that if they didn’t run, they weren’t any fun.

Onward to the horses.  Same thing.  Barking, running back and forth outside the fence.  The horses will not run either.  They are inquisitive and come over to the fence to sniff Mindy.  Sometimes she tries to bit their noses, but always falls short.  I think it’s intentional.  By then I have the hay down for them in the stalls and they head in to eat.  Mindy continues to investigate the area and run around some.

When it’s time to head in, USUALLY she is ready to follow us.  But once in awhile she doesn’t think she has been out long enough and refuses to come when called until she is ready.

Yesterday we had a couple inches of snow.  By feeding time, about 10AM, it was warm enough that the snow was packable.  Shari and I threw snowballs for Mindy to chase.  When the snowball hit the ground, it usually broke into pieces with Mindy standing there looking for it.  She would see it break up and try to chase all the little pieces.

By the time we got in the house she was one big, tired lab.  That was a lot of exercise for her.  I will see if I can get or find a picture of her for another post.

Cindy

February 15th, 2009 Posted by Cindy | Musings | one comment

More About BLM and Mustangs

I probably shouldn’t have gotten started on this tangent.  I wouldn’t want any of MY horses seeing this.  I could go on and on about what appears to be a gross injustice being done to part of our American Heritage.  I understand totally there are always 2 sides to any situation.  I  don’t consider myself an “Animal Rights Activist” in the sense of getting on a soap box.  Maybe some will call me that though, I don’t know.  I just wish I was about 25 yrs younger and had the means to take in Mustangs.  (But then it would be dogs, and whatever stray happened to find my doorstep.)

So in this post, I will include numerous links to pages where more information can be found.  Reading about this can do more than me trying to write about it and keep my opinions out of the equation.  I think I have made it plain what my opinions are.

Now its time for me to give you the resources to read and form your own opinions.  I feel that is the responsible thing to do.

There is a Utube movie available on the page listed below.  There are lots of other links for information also on this page.

http://www.wildhorsepreservation.com/index.html

http://www.wildhorsepreservation.com/resources/ecosystem.html

http://aspcacommunity.ning.com/group/horsingaround/forum/topics/new-awhpc-action-to-help-3

The link above is to a thread at the ASPCA site.

Here is a link to BLM website.  To be fair to both sides, this link is included.

http://www.blm.gov/wo/st/en/prog/wild_horse_and_burro.html

http://www.saveourwildhorses.com/

This link above was posted a few days ago.  Revisit it for good information including the fact that the Wild Mustangs are eating food that is needed for an endangered bird.  Also find out how many millions of acres have been lost which reduces the amount of land available to the horses so that land can be leased to cattle ranchers for winter grazing of cattle.

I sincerely hope you will find usefull information in the above links and maybe take steps to help the cause by writing letters.

For further information on abuses of horses, do a google search for PMU horses.  This shocked me, and I am sure it will you also.

Till tomorrow

Cindy

February 13th, 2009 Posted by Cindy | Musings | no comments

Home Late from Town

We made an unexpected trip to town today, Cedar City about a 45 min drive and didn’t have time to get everything together for today’s post on the Mustangs.  I promise to get it together and get it up for tomorrow.  I hate doing a rushed post…..and want to have all my facts correct.

For those interested, here is a site with a lot of information on the Mustangs, and some interesting reading.

http://www.saveourwildhorses.com/

Anyhow, we got salt blocks for the horses, and a new 30 gal. water container for the cows, theirs is sorta cracked and can’t fill it completely.  The cold got to it this winter for some reason.  But they will have a nice shiny new black one now.

Going to get going for now and start getting tomorrows post “rounded” up.

(no pun intended)  lol

Catch you tomorrow

Cindy

February 12th, 2009 Posted by Cindy | Musings | one comment

Here are a Couple BLM Sale Pics

These pictures were taken a couple years ago. Bev and I went to see how the horses looked up close. They were all in what appeared to be good condition and feet looked good.

Some of them were broke to halter, some to saddle, some not at all.

I liked this one, it had a black strip down its spine and a dark mane and tail.

It really hard to believe that the US Government is seriously thinking about euthanizing horses that are not adoptable.  These Mustangs are part of the American Heritage and need to be preserved.  They were here before we were and have the right to continue.

They say that the competition for food has grown due to the number of Wild Mustangs.  I will have some stats for you tomorrow that will shock you.

Till then

Cindy

February 11th, 2009 Posted by Cindy | Musings | 2 comments

BLM Sales

Every year, BLM (Bureau of Land Management) offers wilds Mustangs and Burros for sale that have been “gathered” from land it manages.  There is a limit of horses and burros that open range can support.    These roundups, known as gathers, are usually performed with helicopters, some places do it on horseback, others do it on foot.

Horses that are gathered are put in holding pens, given shots, medicals, and the stallions are gelded.  All year round, there are sales in various locations across the United States.  The horses are started at $125.00.  And sometimes a “pasture buddy” can be purchased for and additional $25.00.  If I’m not mistaken, I think a mare with a foal alongside starts at $250.00.  These horses are in all age ranges from weaned on up.

In order to be eligible for the adoption procedure, there are requirements that have to be met.  Below info is taken from the Bureau of Land Management web site that can be found here.

Adopter Must:

• Be 18 years of age or older
• Have no prior violations of adoption regulations or convictions of inhumane treatment to animals.
• Keep no more that 4 untitled animals at one facility at any time without written permission.
• Have received Title to all eligible animals previously adopted.
• Be financially able to properly house, feed, and provide veterinary and farrier care for the animal(s).

CORRAL

Facilities must meet these requirements and be constructed before your application will be approved:

• An outside corral with a minimum of 400 square feet (20×20) per animal. Corral should not be too large (more than 50×50), as animals are easier to gentle in smaller corrals.
• All fences and gates must be at least 6 feet high for wild horses over the age of 18 months. Five foot high fences are allowed for gentled horses, yearlings, and burros.
• Fencing material should be 2×6 inch wooden planks spaced no more than one foot apart, rounded pipes, poles, or similar materials that do not pose a hazard to the animal. Small mesh, heavy gauge, woven wire fencing with a 2×6 inch board along the top, center and bottom is acceptable. No barb wire, no electric wire, no T-posts. Once gentled, the animals may be maintained in pastures or in box stalls with daily turnout.

SHELTER

Shelters can be a three-sided shed attached to the corral, or box stall in barn attached to corral, allowing animal to move freely between the corral and shelter. Shelter or stall space should be at least 12 X 12 feet per animal.

TRANSPORTATION

• Adopters must provide their own vehicles or make private arrangements.
• Standard covered stock trailers and horse trailers large enough for 4 or more horses are generally acceptable, contingent on final approval prior to loading. NO 1-HORSE TRAILERS. Two horse trailers are not allowed unless they are a stock type, with no internal dividers. Animals will ride loose and must have enough space to turn around.
• No pick ups with stock racks.
• Lengthwise and slant-load dividers must be removed.
• NO DROP RAMP TAIL GATES ARE ALLOWED

PAYMENT

• Payment may be made by cash, check, money order, Visa, or MasterCard.
• The adoption fee is the amount of your winning bid.

HALTERS

• Halters will be put on the animal by the BLM staff or contractor if requested, and must be provided by adopters.

YOUR FACILITIES MAY BE INSPECTED PRIOR TO OR AFTER ADOPTION. FACILITIES AND ANIMALS MAY BE INSPECTED AT ANY TIME UNTIL THE TITLE IS ISSUED.

BLM retains ownership of the animals adopted for a period of 2 yrs.  Any time in that 2 yrs. they can inspect the animals and/or facilities where animal is kept.  Will post some more of the adoption requirements tomorrow.

Peace

Cindy

February 10th, 2009 Posted by Cindy | Musings | one comment

BLM Mustang Sales

Those of you not into the horse world may not be aware of the goings on with BLM. (Bureau of Land Management).  BLM is directly responsible for managing the wild Mustangs on the open range.

Right now there is a conflict between ranchers that lease land from BLM for cattle grazing and the Mustangs.  This isn’t a new conflict, but an ongoing one.  Here is an website that will bring u up to speed better than I can. Please click HERE.

Cindy

February 9th, 2009 Posted by Cindy | Musings | one comment

Weatherman Missed the Mark

Phew, he was wrong.  Wish I had a job like his.  The only place I know you get paid whether you are right or not, what a deal.  We had a lite dusting this morning, just enough to make foot prints.  Was starting to melt already when we went out to do the morning feeding.

Had a phone call from our neighbors, Clyde and Amber.  She called to tell us they have 2 new heifers.  One born Friday, and the other about noon today.  Spring is in the air when the animals start having babies.  Their sheep are due in about 3 weeks, and ours are about a week or 2 after that.  More pics for sure.

This picture was taken last year at a Bureau of Land Management Mustang sale in Hurrican, Utah.  It was close to us so we went to see how they work.  Tomorrow I will give you an explanation of how things go at these sales.

Cindy

February 8th, 2009 Posted by Cindy | Musings | no comments

And the Weatherman said,,,

Well, here we go again.  We are just getting rid of the snow from last week.  We are in the muddy stage yet, but not as bad as yesterday, its drying up a little.

Tonight the weatherman spoke his words.  8-10 inches of snow by Sunday afternoon.  Oh thrill!  There goes our mild 50 degree temps again.  SIGH!  Also guess that means I better get some hay off the main stack and into the barn.  Another couple layers and I won’t need the extension ladder anymore.  Too bad they don’t  weigh less as the stack goes down.  Still around 110-115 lbs. a bale.

Hay Stack for Horses

Will get some pictures tomorrow, and then again after the snow, if we indeed get it.  This being the Valley and all, only time will tell.

Cindy

February 7th, 2009 Posted by Cindy | Musings | no comments

Ya, Welllll

Pretty quiet as far as events around here.  It was almost mucky again this morning.

At least mom is feeling better.  She was sicker that a dog yesterday.  She was a sickie last Wednesday also.  At least to day she is up and around, and eating and taking her meds today.  We can only hope the rest of us don’t get her bug.

With all this muck, the dogs are a mucky mess when they come in from being outside.  The horses are a disaster, they love this crap, and roll in it.  You can’t even begin to imagine what they look like.  UCK!!!!  Oh well, we have some weather coming in this weekend, guess will see what surprises this front brings us.

Here are a couple pictures you might enjoy.

The big and little of it.  These 2 eggs are the extremes: one is smaller than normal, and the other is wayyyyy larger than normal.

Nice looking eggs huh?

Mom’s Hen House label that has all our information on it and goes on every carton of eggs we sell or give away.

Cindy

February 4th, 2009 Posted by Cindy | Musings | no comments

Mild Weather Again,,,,,

Things are getting mild again.  That means MUCK boots.  Almost needed  boots for morning feedings today.  Butttttt, it also means not having to break a lot of ice from water buckets.

Weather is calling for 5 days of  “weather” coming in again though.  At this time of the year, that could mean either rain or snow.  Gee,  imagine that..  I’m starting to catch on to this weather out here  lol.

In talking to the “life long”  residents, they say we have the worst of it has gone by us already.  We may get a couple storms like the last one that dumped on us and then started melting in a day or so.  That’s fine.  We still get to enjoy the snow, then its gone.  I like that idea  lol.

Oh, our ewes are getting soooo big.  They only have a little over a month to go and we should have some new babies.

Buttercup, our little heifer, is growing like a weed.  She is still a cutie pie.  I’m still organizing pictures to get uploaded to my gallery.  That gallery is going to be huge when I get it all done.  Phew.  Glad I have an extra hard drive to keep pictures on.

Oh, our latest plumbing crisis, the leaking wax ring on toilet, is fixed, again.  Second time in a year that sucker has started to leak.  Bruno came over and helped us.

That’s about all I can think of for now, will see about getting some pictures up for tomorrow’s post.

Later

Cindy

February 3rd, 2009 Posted by Cindy | Musings | no comments