Catching up.

So a lot of this is 'news' that isn't worth news to some folks. 

Sunshine is doing well at Kristi's place. In April she will be 29 years old. She is showing her age in her face but not her attitude and willingness to go riding.

Kristi has given her a new pasture mate named Willow. Another mare and Sunshine is really quite happy with that.

Her gelding Cash, seems to be losing weight so she has moved him into an area where she can grain him and help him maintain a healthy condition.

We have finally figured out what is going on with Siera. Her weight and the great pasture I had was not kind to her.

I did some more researching about pastures and removed them from the back meadow. It is lush and has quite a bit of white clover in it. The high sugar content is not good for her. In years past, that back meadow has been grazed to the ground with 4 or 5 mules so it wasn't so lush and dangerous.

This morning I walked around and set up a plan to try and deal with Siera's weight [I know, I dropped the ball on this issue because she had been going through periods where she seemed 'cured'.]

Tomorrow I am making Sundance and Siera a smaller lot in this shady area. I can keep them there until Winter and they can be joined by Sunshine this late fall. It will be a dry 'lot' where I can monitor exactly what they eat and their condition.

Old photo from 5 years ago.

This morning.
What a difference a wet summer makes when you have only 2 grazers instead

of 5.

This area is on my list for a clean up project for next year. It won't take much but it will take machinery I don't have to clean up the fallen trees not pictured here from last August's windstorms.

Sundance is the youngest mule. She has been off and on slightly gimpy for quite a while now.  She has been diagnosed with ringbone in her right front. Otherwise she is perfectly healthy and full of herself. Ringbone is a form of arthritis. Treatment can include joint injections, special shoes, and special meds. She is a pasture pet and only shows slight discomfort once in a great while. 

Three older mules and an ancient pony cannot keep down our pastures so I have to consider doing something different.

The large meadow in front of the house will be brush hogged and one section will be bulldozed so I can mow it myself next year. The other half will be used as a winter pasture since it offers protection from the winds.

Photo from last year. Winter Pasture.

I'll keep mowing the back meadow because the dogs and I love walking there and in the winter it will make a nice area to cross country ski.

Little Richard is 35 years old and his teeth are worn out. He made it through last winter with flying colors. 

This summer he gained weight being staked out and having access to a small forested paddock. He is slowly losing weight again. I am fighting a slow motion battle that I will lose. It will pain me to possibly make a decision this fall with him.

I'm a realist. I won't keep animals that are in poor condition or in constant pain. I feel that is cruel. We set our long term plans in motion 10 years ago when Rich was no longer able to help with chores and maintenance. We kept the elder animals to give them a retirement. The young ones we had were sold. Over the years, the elder animals have crossed over. 

Charlie is recovering nicely. He has been bossing Hannah around and trying to steal her chew bones. Uffdah. I can't let him do that! He is back to ruling the household.

Hannah? She honors Charlie's space and cuddles with him when allowed to. She is also quite good at getting into trouble.

Here I ask her if she was in the shed digging under the old tractor.

Who...?
Me?

What shed?
What makes you think that?

It's August now and I'm finding it to be difficult to deal with so many decisions. It seems like that is all I have been doing for months now.

I'm even trying to plan out what I want to do once the large animals are gone. Some days I think I know what I am going to do and others?

I have no clue.

My busy messy gardens. Hannah update too...

A post by a friend AC, got me thinking about my own gardens and yard. The mowing is done by a zero turn and push mower and it looks pretty nice. Unless you count all the overgrown areas of pasture [not safe to mow] and weeds growing around old equipment.

So I've always tried to make a very colorful and brilliant bunch of little gardens.

They may be messy and weedy, but the birds and the bees are really enjoying them.

Creeping Thyme flowers.

Morning Glories on the porch.

Self seeded Sunflower in the yard.

Happy Birds

Sunlit Nasturtium. These flowers literally take over the SE section of the porch.

 

Not a hummingbird.

Blazing Stars being watered.

My outhouse garden looks amazing and is nearly surrounded by Bee Balm plants. I can sit on the back stoop and watch bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds dodge around in the flowers. 

If I move closer and am patient I can get photos of them.

The East garden. It is one of my free for all gardens. I have creeping thyme, vinca, iris, day lilies [not shown] bee balm, zinnias, cosmos, a pumpkin plant...😁 along with nasturtium and corn flowers. Basically I took a jar of seeds to the one side of the garden and tossed them in, raked, and stomped and thought I'd see what happened.

There is actually a hidden path that goes through the garden. The dogs and I use it.

Yes the garage is still there crumbling slowly. No word from Frank on when he is thinking of tearing it down. I'm okay with waiting because Frank is also busy with working on two farms with crops. He also raises cattle and runs a Excavating and Gravel business along with hauling things for farmers. His wife believes he should clone himself.

Below is another mess. I had Borage Flowers that grew to 4 feet tall and got taken out by last week's winds and 6+ inches of rain. But the surviving flowers are filling in. I don't do a strict border, but just mow close to the plantings. Love in the mist, Borage, Morning Glories, and it looks like some self seeded black eyed susans are going to appear between some marigolds and nasturtiums. I like my untidy messy gardens. Lots of crazy textures to admire.

I've ignored this spot-- below.... 

But this spring I had a tiny field of tall Sweet William which I just let grow. I'll probably save some plant seeds from these and dig the whole thing up this fall to start over or let it grow to grass. It is a mess and overgrown.

I'm going to pick my battles and do less next year as it is obvious I can't keep it all up. I didn't have time to properly care for it last year either. So perhaps it is time to go. Though I hate to dig up the black eyed susans that put themselves here too!

My one tidy garden is this one.

I may do the same for the other half of the porch next year. But I'd rather have cosmos and zinnias along with all the reseeded Love in the Mist flowers.

I love looking at tidy well done gardens, but for the life of me, I like to mix up as many things as possible and see what happens with no rhyme or reason.

I'm finding out what flowers like to grow together on my own and which plants like which places the best.

I suppose I could study some garden books, but the gardens they suggest are too rigid. I like wild and untamed.

Hannah and I saw Dr. Grimm, she is an awesome vet and Hannah loves her! Hannah does have what is called a seroma or pocket of fluid that is to the side of the incision. Her surgical incision is healing perfectly, the seroma is a small concern and we want to stay ahead of it.

So instead of my solution to keep her from licking it open...we changed tactics.
The area must be open to the air yet keep her from irritating it. 

I have a cleanser to swipe the spot twice a day.

So not a gross shot but here is a photo of the incision and the area points to what seems to be a seroma: Clear fluid that is next to an incision. 

Doc and I want to stay ahead of this as it could be serious and hard to treat if not taken care of.

I learned something today!

She has a new look with a PJ top from Olive's house, she gave me some shirts that her kids didn't wear anymore.

So Doc gave me some cotton balls in a solution to swab the sight and she came up with this to keep the area aired out and keep her from licking it.

It is a toddler t-shirt with leg holes. It is super easy to do and she was embarrassed at first, but is not bothered with it by bedtime.

Farm stuffsss

Farm life for us.

Hannah and I did fence and field inspections via the 4 wheeler on Saturday morning before the smoke moved in. 

She has adapted well to being a 'farm' dog. 

Since she is part terrier she believes she is a super dog. She is fearless. She tags along when I lead Little Richard from one place to another. She will bark at and chase any animal that may stray into her vision. She thankfully is smart enough to return after a chase.

I went back to putting 'clothes' on her and wrapping her incision area with ace bandages again. She has developed a spot to the side of the incision that looks like a little bubble. Trying to keep a 'Terrier-Terror' calm without jumping, running, and chasing is a tall order. 

For most of the week I've been stuck inside during the worst of the smoke and the other night both dogs had so much pent up energy that they had the most crazy Major Zoomies/FRAPping I've ever seen or heard. Charlie chased Hannah, Hannah chased Charlie around the house.

Both surprised me by leaping onto the couch and using it as a springboard to leap to the area rug and take off again. 

I thought it was hilarious and let them do it. Afterwards, they fell sound asleep on the couch together. In fact I posted the photo of that peaceful moment in my last blog.

While doing belly rubs the next day, I noted that Hannah had a little 'seroma' which is a pocket of fluid that is generally a reaction to the inner stitches of her incision. It is usually caused by activity after being spayed. You know, like what pups normally do. Jump, run, play. 

That means we are back to limiting activity. The advice to keep her calm from internet searches are: Crate Time, only leash walks, keeping the dog from jumping and so forth. 

Hannah Hannah. 

I will call the vet today to see if she would like to check Hannah's Seroma out. This morning it is back down but I rewrapped her. Otherwise she tends to lick that area and I imagine that irritates it also.

She tolerates the clothes and the Ace Bandage very well. 

This dog really loves her food bowl. She will lay next to it in the late afternoon and sleep on it so she won't miss her supper. This after a busy morning of being a porch dog [anchored to the porch by tie out!].

Below, 10 seconds of Hannah's eyes from ground view while she is watching me. It is just pretty funny. This was late afternoon when she was sure that it was feeding time.

How's Mr. Charlie? He is fine but most of the time he doesn't engage much with Hannah if he doesn't have to. They will lay on the porch bench together and watch the world go by.

Charlie. Carlos, Chuck, he always looks so serious and dignified doesn't he?

I did get out to see Sunshine on Sunday. We went for a short ride because the smoke was moving back in. It felt really nice to ride again after all the hot and smoky days. 

No pics. Sunshine was really bothered by the huge herd of sheep that rotate through sections of Kristi's farm [they rent the pastures and forest to an Amish who raises sheep]. Sunshine was not impressed by their bleating and the guard dogs barking. My guess is that the sheep were just moved to that section and had been herded in by the sheep dogs.

I figure once the sheep get pastured next to her and Cash's pasture, she will have the opportunity to get used to their noises. She has already accepted the pygmy goats and mini donkeys that live on the farm.

We turned away from the sheep's temporary pasture [we'd ridden that area last week] and headed towards another field. Sunshine spotted movement not far off in a cow pasture. A white cow was making noise and others were moving around. She has seen them before but this wired her up a bit more. 

Meanwhile Cash just gave Sunshine the 'whatever' look and walked past her. 

By the time we rounded another field, and headed back to the indoor, Sunshine was back to her old self. While Kristi unsaddled Cash and rinsed him off, I had Sunshine practice 'heeling' to my shoulder. It gave her some ground work to think about. She did great and we ended up on a very positive note.

[I've taught my mules to 'heel' to my shoulder for ease of leading them. Hands free heeling is fun to do. They stop when I stop, walk when I walk, and back up with verbal commands. It took a lot of time and effort, but it is fun teaching it to them.]

I rinsed her off afterwards and when I turned her out with Cash she acted very ho-hum. But by then the nasty noisy sheep had all quietened down.

I wonder if she thought all the bleating sheep were a sign of distress and in her head it meant danger. Once they quietened down, she absolutely chilled out.

If we could only get into animal's heads!

No pictures during the ride, we were concentrating more on the vicious biting flies and our mounts, and the monster creatures. It was still quite relaxing.

As I left for home, the smoke move in with a vengeance. On the ridges it looked like this, but on the highway the road disappeared at 1/2 mile intervals.

I'm glad we got our ride in before the smoke descended on us again.

Hot Summer Daze

But first!

Not long ago, I got a surprise package delivered. Mary came to visit me and go on adventures. Immediately I had to follow her around to see what she would be up to.

She seems quite comfortable going on adventures and exploring. I even found her holding 'court' with my dinosaurs.

Mary doesn't look perturbed at all. She looks as though she has everything under control. It must be her sunny attitude they admire. One dino even brought her Forget-me-nots!

In 'other' non important news:

The heat has been exceptional. The dew point and humidity are some of the factors that make it feel so unbearable.

Of course the dogs wanted to be outside for a while. I was with them to make sure Charlie didn't overheat. He has a hard time with intense heat because of his Dachshund and Pekinese background.

Hannah isn't quite as bothered by the heat, she often goes out to lay on the gravel driveway in the sunshine.

I put my shallow stock tank out the day before and put water in it so it wouldn't be super cold for them. The water was actually warm, but it seems that they didn't mind. Hannah jumped in and out of the water while Charlie just stood there quietly.

I thought I'd do a little bit of 'work' with Hannah. She, like Charlie, is food driven. Unlike Charlie, she is extremely brave and curious. It took only a second for her to notice I put a dog treat in the Lego Robot's hand. 

We worked on 'wait' so I could try to get a photo of her taking the cookie from the Robot. Anything more than a two second 'wait' is a bit beyond her at this point, so I had to work fast.

Charlie wanted a treat too but he wasn't willing to push Hannah to the side to get it. He waited patiently. He was still soaking wet from his time in the stock tank.

I didn't know that Wednesday could get that much worse but it did. The humidity is worse and the breezes we had the past two days stopped. With that wonderful combination, the smoke from the Minnesota and  Canadian wildfires have descended on our area.

Just a couple of hours ago my son in Wausau sent me a photo looking down his street. It looked as if brown fog had descended down his street. It is about a 3 hr drive northeastward to where he lives. 

No wind. Smoke, humidity, and heat. Looks like another good day to read a book and work on crafty things. 

Sticks, glue, moss, and cardboard. Maybe a new 'forest house' for my Lego Minifigures. Hey the stuff is free out in the yard and forest, I just have to build it!

No night shots right now unless the mosquitoes let up a bit. Right after dark and just before dawn they are murderous. 

It isn't worth going out and trying to shoot stars when I'd get carried off by monster Skeeters.

Stay cool if you can. Doing chores this evening is going to be a soaker.

 

Our Big not Big 4th

 We have safely passed through another big Holiday. Rich was not a 4th of July guy. He preferred to stay at home and let 'the rookies' get into trouble on the Holidays.

He actually would have trouble with fireworks, especially those being set off when he didn't expect them.

Loud noises, sirens, helicopters, low flying planes, fireworks, and gunshots. They were all triggers for his chronic and severe PTSD. So all of our Holidays over the years have been at home and very quiet.

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

Hannah's incision was well enough for us to sign up for a 1 mile walk/run [there was also a 3 mile, 5 mile, and 10 mile event but the dogs wanted to go...and is was hot ... so...]

So I asked the 'kids' if they wanted to go to town and take a walk. This was their reaction.

[Charlie was yawning, but we can pretend he said YES!]

The start of the fun event was held at our CrossFit gym. One of my friends didn't want to do the 1 mile walk alone so she'd asked if I'd go. I felt it was a great opportunity to introduce the dogs to chaos.

Hannah was so happy and Charlie watched for any human that might want to pet him.

As it happened a young cross country runner and his father asked to pet them. We got to chatting and I said I loved cross country, it was the first woman's sport team I was ever on. Title IX allowed girls to be in sports.

I mused that the first X-C meet I was in at college, we wore Basketball uniforms inside out to run. The guys were entertained.

Nice little dogs make for good conversations and break the ice.

Hannah wore her Security shirt. I just thought we might need her for that, right???

Below...
the pups sat like this
through the 
Star Spangled Banner.

We headed off behind the big crowd of runners with my friend Charlene and her grandkids. The cool-ish morning turned very hot so I am very happy that I hadn't decided to do anything foolish like try and walk 3 miles with the dogs.

We finished the walk and when I went to the kiddy pool to pick up a little bottle of water for me, Hannah tried to jump in it. I did have water for them with their little foldable doggy water bowl.

Next stop was the Farmer's Market. I had told another girlfriend that I'd stop by. I took off the 'clothes' and we headed into a crowd of kids, dogs, and holiday goers. 

We ran into quite a few tourists who asked about what 'breed' Hannah and Charlie were and were they related? There were some very nice and friendly dogs at the Market too. 

The point of the excursion was to get Hannah used to crowds and socialization so she will be a good dog. Charlie mostly ignored people and other dogs as if he were above it all.

Except little kids.  He loves little kids. He stood quietly wagging his tail and panting as he was fawned over. 

Once in a while he'd look over at Hannah and I as if to say...

"You know who is the STAR here!"

The two of them were tired and worn out after the busy morning and spent most of the day napping while I read a book and relaxed. 

It was still too wet to mow and the yard still squished when I walked in the lower areas.

Charlie slept on his chair and Hannah? Well, our house and farm were as Secure as ever as she kept a watchful [ahem] eye on the place.

I bet no one makes off with her chew bone or ball.

Hannah, Fireflies, Puppy Jake Foundation

First off, I don't mean to go on and on about my dogs or my mules, but they are my immediate 'family' at this time.

My sons are hours away with busy lives and their families. My older grands are busy with working and figuring out their lives too. Most of them that have jobs and vehicles live 2 to 3 hours away. I have heard twice from the stepdaughter since her dad passed away 9 months ago.

I do have my friends, so don't get me wrong at all. I do have a life with humans involved.

Now I better understand people who wrap their lives around their pets. Pets are constant companions who don't have distractions. Their lives depend on you. They are toddlers that need constant affirmation of love and care. Who doesn't love that?

So, I will write about them and talk about them. They are the main focus of things happening in my life at the moment.

Years ago, I had Morris, a Jack Russell Terrier. He was not a typical terrier. He was not fearless and brave, but he was kind and sweet. But he was sure that Fireflies were insane little monsters that were going to eat him.

In 2007 Morris made me aware of the evil fireflies that surrounded our house and fields on summer nights. He knew he had to protect me from the conniving little flashing bugs. We laughed and laughed that such a mild mannered dog was so upset over flying insects. 
Night of the Fireflies is the original post. 

Each year after that, Morris would go out and watch for them with his hair on end and a soft constant growl. He'd even jump on the bed to look out the window and protect us.

Fast forward 19 years [has it been so long???]

Last night Hannah stood on the porch and when Fireflies lit up the yard and garden in front of her. She backed up and growled. Her hair was on end. I thought 'No way!' Charlie never even gives the little flashes of light a second glance.

But there it was. Hannah and the Killer Fireflies. I tried to tell her that they wouldn't harm her. No use. She has her mind set on the fact they are a threat.

Hannah will be 6 months old on the 24th and she'll visit the Vet for being neutered on the 25th. She still nags Charlie but not as bad as she did at first. She is maturing and learning to walk on a leash without distractions and sit when I stand still. Baby steps. 

During this last hot and humid week, I spent some time indoors bored. So I flipped on YouTube to browse things to watch. I ended up on a documentary about the Puppy Jake Foundation in Iowa that trains service dogs for Veterans.

What transpired next was fascinating.

She watched the whole documentary. When a commercial came on, she walked away and looked out the door, when the narrator came back on, she walked back to that spot and watched intently.

I thought it was a fluke or maybe she was interested in seeing the dogs in the program so I put on a dog training video featuring a dog and a person explaining how to use a leash.

Imagine my surprise when she growled and backed away from the TV as if it offended her. She barked and looked at me then at the TV. I doubt she made the connection that I was in charge of the programing, but I changed back to the same documentary we'd been watching.

She was enthralled once more.

I changed the video again to another dog video of sorts. She had the same reaction. 

She is the first dog I've had in all of my years on this earth that has 'watched' TV. Did she like the narrator's voice? Did she like what she was hearing and seeing?

I showed the video to some friends and their reply was 'She wants to be Trained to be a Service Dog!'

Hah.

She is my Emotional Support Dog, right? 

Years ago, I went through a dog obedience class with my first dog Missy. The class was 8 weeks long and by the end of the class Missy would walk off leash and ignore other dogs and distractions. She was insanely good at obedience. The instructor only docked her because she wouldn't take cues from him, but he did suggest that we go to the next level for a working dog and eventually train for Search and Rescue.

It was a path I wished to explore but couldn't as I had two young kids at home. 

Hannah is a quick learner. When she has her 'working line' on she is all business.

Here, she is learning the basics of 'heel' and sit when I stop. It has only taken her two sessions to figure this part out. 

She is 80% consistent with no distractions at this point.

Of course, she already understood sit. However she didn't get the concept of walking at my side with a loose line and sitting when I stopped walking until we started.

At the end of each session [no longer than 15 minutes] I give her a release word and unclip her. She immediately checks with me and then goes into Zoomies.

I wonder what I can accomplish with Hannah.

Charlie? 
He has always been an extremely smart dog. The one thing I had to teach him was to 'come' when called, his manners and leash walking have always been good without any extra work. His duty since puppyhood had been to be with Rich and other elders as a lap dog and petting dog. 

He's decided that it looks like Hannah is going to stick around.

He even allows this:

I've had dogs since I was a kid. It all started with Albert the female mutt we got from my uncle's farm. Some day I'll reminisce about her.

Cute dog and hanging out in the forest

Oh Darn.

This little dog.

Can that face be any cuter????

Did you know there is a study regarding Black Dog Syndrome?

Some feel that black dogs are adopted less frequently because they don't photograph well. [Apparently these are photos that are used to promote the dogs for adoption.] Other theories are that people just don't always like the color black. Or the color is associated with evil or misfortune. 

Clearly, I do not fall into that category. The color of a dog, cat, horse, mule, or any animal has ever made me consider anything different. The color of the animal isn't important. It is the character and temperament of the animal.

I will admit though, that Hannah and Charlie are a bigger challenge to photograph compared to Morris who was tri colored and easy to photo in any kind of light.

Our evening activities.
A little campfire, some lap time for the dogs, and time without distractions.

Here is the Killer Doe that the dogs saw. Charlie growled a warning to the doe and Hannah shook like a leaf.

Our little fire.

This space in the forest is so unique and beautiful. I am trying to figure out if I can mow the area with my little self propelled mower on its highest settings. It would be a shame to let it go wild again. 

I think Patrick is supposed to come and brush hog the meadow and hopefully this area twice this year.

The mules do go back here to get into shade and relax, but I am going out with the dogs any night that it is calm enough for a fire.

No. No terrible bugs have eaten us. Just Killer Deer.

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Some photos from our day out working in the forest.

Have a nice weekend. Mine will be quiet.