Getting Warmer All the Time

Well, we made it to 25 today... but... by tomorrow we should be 

back in the 40's or 50's!  This is a crazy winter. 

Here is a picture I've shared before of a terrible winter in the past. 

Every time I think how much I miss living in the country full time... I think of winters like this. 

Yes, that IS Beau, our pony, on the porch, and his friend Lilly, the mini-horse, at the bottom of the steps. 

They had a shelter.  Beau preferred the porch.  I would look sometimes and he 

would be standing at the door, looking in at me. 

When we were porch-settin'... before the deck was built... he would come up to the very edge,  

close his eyes, and listen to us talk. 

He was wonderful. 

Despite the fact that it snowed most of the day yesterday, 

we didn't get much snow.  

It's still very cold though, 25 degrees.  I thought long and 

hard about taking Jester out. 

One of the red tails was 

hunting over the pasture. 

Here's another look at the blue rooster.  He's a beauty. 

Yesterday, I let Jes step inside the coop for the first time.  

He sniffed around, eating poop, etc. like dogs do. 

Today, I told him he could come back in while I was in there. 

This ensued! 

Jes jumped back and the rooster went UP... and both ran off. 

I had to laugh. 

I poured a little bit of seed in the flat feeder, and it drew this female cardinal. 

This is what happens when I tell the dogs it's time get in the car and go... Jester does zoomies around me as we go to the car.  He is such a wonderful little guy! 

I confess I have not done my seed order yet, so I am going to buckle down tonight 

and try to get it finished. 

Have you all ordered seeds? 

Pet Memorial Day

Today is Pet Memorial Day in Blogland... 

and in a way, it makes me sad to remember all those 

who have gone before Lilly and Jester. 

Mama's Little Doll... Hannah Jean 

Our beautiful girls, Abby Lynn on the left, and 

Gertie Lou on the right... how we miss them!

Addie Mae, our very first pug! 

(seen here with puppy Lilly) 

The inimitable Beau the Wonder Pony

Our golden Rambo and all his hens, and all those roosters and hens that came after them. 

All the geese we ever owned

The beautiful, faithful Ranger Boy 

Oscar, our first dog as a married couple... our first dog at Calamity Acres... 

killed by a truck in the road, and buried under Oscar's tree in the front yard. 

We can't forget these guys:

The Nickster

Jennie and Josie

Gwen or fondly,  Gwenly

And we can't forget these guys, either:

Though Tony and Yankee have crossed the bridge, Inca
is still alive and well at Oak Grove Animal Sanctuary

I haven't shown you any of the ducks or turkeys, but we loved them all. 

They still hold a place in our hearts and our memories... 

we were so lucky to know them! 

A Lovely Story

Okay, I was going to embed this video, but, frankly, I don't think I know HOW!

Here is the link to it, if I can't get it to embed. 

http://www.wimp.com/gooseman/ 

 It is about a 3 minute video with a remarkable story about a goose who has befriended a retired man in Los Angeles.  It is truly incredible. 

The thing is, Keith and I have seen this same thing happen here at Calamity Acres, so believe every bit of it. 

Here are some pictures that show the partnership we had here between pony and goose about five years ago... the pony is Beau, and the goose, Samantha. 

That was our tiny little pond that was filled in two years ago. 

She would groom him constantly when he stopped, whether eating or just laying in the pasture. 

Somewhere I have a picture of her picking straw from his mane while he was taking a siesta one day. 

They even ate together. 

Beau was about 32 in this picture. 

Sadly, we lost Samantha and her companion Tim to a predator.  Tim went first, then Samantha bonded with Beau.  I noticed Samantha walking oddly one morning, but over the course of the next few days, she valiantly followed her Beau around.  Then I found her dead one morning, picked her up to look at her more closely, and found she had been injured under her wing and it had become infected... I could not see the injury from the outside of her.  It was very sad to lose her, and we had marveled for weeks at this friendship. 

I hope you have time to watch the short film above.. it is truly worth it.  Animals are amazing! 

That's it for today from the snowbound Calamity Acres, where Mary Ann cannot get up her own driveway because it is such a mess! 

Looking Back

Waxing nostalgic tonight, and looking back over the time since I started blogging about our lives here at Calamity Acres.  We have had so many animal members of our family in the seven years we have been here, that it seems like we have lived here much longer.

Here is our dear old pony Beau, and his goose friend, Samantha.

Samantha had a mate, Timmy, who was killed by a coyote attack, and all we found of him was his back and wings against the far fenceline.  Samantha loved Beau, and ate and drank with him daily, following him around the pasture.  She would pick straw from his coat as he laid in the sun, and I caught her doing it with the camera one day.  Sadly, something attacked Sammy and she suffered for days while I kept treating her wounds with iodine and salve... but missed a wound under a wing, and that got her. She was a lovely goose.

The brave Mama Llama, who came here to guard against coyotes after Sammy and Timmy died, with her then-little cria, Tony.

What a wonderful old girl she was!  She taught Tony and Inca well, and that's why Aztec is growing up so well today.  Sadly, Mama Llama has since died... inexplicably, in her home pasture at my friend Joni's. As Joni said, when you buy an animal at auction, you often do not know how old they really are. 

Sweet little Addie Mae, our first little pug.

Our beautiful geese and ducks.

We are hopefully going to have waterfowl again later this year. 

My little doll, waiting for me as I cleaned house.

People have come and gone too, stepson Brandon finished high school here with us, and is now living and working back in Council Bluffs, Iowa.  Grandson Chris comes and goes, helping out, and Nathan comes frequently to visit us, including this weekend.  We are hoping that once I am retired, we can frequently have family over for cookouts.  It seems now that the weekends either fly by with errands, or we are so tired that we just don't put forth the effort to have company.  I think that will change with this coming summer.

It seems like just a short time since we moved here... I had had surgery on my knee and couldn't walk, and Keith, God bless him, moved us BY HIMSELF.   I don't to this day know how he did it!

He actually painted the whole interior of the house before he started moving us, and moved me in a pain-medicine daze after he got the furniture moved.  And yet, we have had so many adventures since we moved here... Keith has built so very much.... the place has gone from a plain house sitting on five acres to a house with a pasture, with a barn, with fencing, with a garden, an arbor, flowerbeds.... it's a different place than what we bought and moved into.  It's a family place, it's home.

A Look Back

I have been looking back through some old pictures these last few days, and thought I would share some with you while I wait to replace my camera.

Here is Mama Llama, borrowed from my friend Joani, with the young cria Tony, now our stalwart guardian.

As you see, Tony was quite a little guy when he came here to live.  We borrowed him and his mother when we lost one of our geese to the coyotes.  That was the last one lost!

Mama trained Tony and Inca well, and her red cria, Yankee, whom we lost when he was gelded.

We were sorry to see her go home to Joani. 

Here are three of our happy ducks.  They gave us huge eggs, and were content to wander around the pasture.  They were so glad when we got the pond, the pond that would not hold because of the limestone ledge.  For a while they were able to swim and enjoy it.  I miss having ducks and geese.  I DON'T miss breaking ice in their fortexes all winter.

Here is Samantha, and her pony, Beau.  Something did get at Sam, and she suffered terribly while I tried everything to heal her wounds.  We don't know if it was a possum or what, but it hurt her.  She was inseparable from Beau, and groomed him constantly.  She was also a very gentle goose. Beau actually had a decent body weight here, a year before his death.

And lastly, here's the Nickster.  We lost Nickie a year later to a virus that the doctor could never discern... he had had all of his shots.  He loved being on the farm, the way he had loved being at the first Calamity Acres.  What a good boy he was! 

It doesn't make me sad to see these old friends, but happy to remember how we loved them and what pleasure they provided as we watched and interacted with them. 

I wanted to tell everyone tonight to be careful opening up Shabby

Blogs.. I run a firewall constantly and it warned me twice when I tried to open it a few days ago that there was Malware attached.  I don't know how to reach the blog owner to let them know, but am afraid to go there, though they have so many goodies for blogs.

From Winter to Spring

All in a week!

Snow Pony

Now we have his feed on the porch, since he feels so free to come up and drink from the dog bucket. We give him warm water, too.... and keep a tub of feed. Today he came up to get a drink and eat a little, and just stand out of the sleet and snow for a while, even though it is concrete. He was Beau, the Snow Pony.

More Evidence

He's been on the porch again! He only has a few teeth left... so grass has a tendency to fall out of his mouth instead of being swallowed. Purina Senior keeps him going... and I highly recommend it!

A Pony on the Porch

Sunday morning, we opened the door to find the above scene! Not fifteen minutes after we took the picture, Beau lead Lilly Horse up onto the porch and deck. They walked around (while Keith held his breath) and surveyed the deck, and then one went down the precarious snow-covered wooden south stairs, while Lilly came down the stone steps from the old porch. Whew! We are not encouraging this behavior, and we long knew that Beau wanted to join us on the deck, as he had joined us in the yard all summer. He doesn't enjoy being handled much anymore, but he loves to be near his people when he wants to.

The above has not happened again, but we have blocked the south steps so they can't get up there. The deck is still covered with drifted snow, and there are a few planting pots left on it, so the horse and pony will be staying in the yard. They are bored, like little children, and the addition of two more inches of snow last night did not help matters. They are sleeping in their cozy little garage stall, though, and we have found them laying comfortably in the deepened straw.

Uncle Beau, December, 2009

Uncle Beau

Gentle Uncle Beau, our old Gentleman, is fading. Each week sees him thinner and more forlorn, and this week our good vet Dr. Jeannie came to check him again. She asked our intentions for him, and we said we will not put him through another winter in the condition he is in. We have increased his feed, because the grazing he does all day long is not bringing him any benefits. It hurts us to see him like this, but we know we are giving him all the Purina Senior he will eat, along with his medicine and sweet feed. He seems to be comfortable, and rambles between yard and pasture, where Mama Llama lets him know who is boss when he tries to steal her feed.

A Visit from a Ship of the Desert

Thursday your blogger had a half day at work, and was visited by the erstwhile owners of the borrowed Llamas, Big Mama and Tony. Our friends had come to shear the llama wool for the summer's coming heat, give shots, and trim toes. Along with their shears and selves, they brought some more of their pets to visit. Clarabelle and Charlie the camels, Ali Baa Baa and Jasmine the baby sheep, Buddy the baby reindeer, and Frisbee the zebu calf all hopped out of the trailer when it pulled up. Didn't we have some fun!

Mama and Tony were shorn of their hot wool, and just in time for warmer temps. We expect Mama to be dropping her new calf (cria) anytime now, and are eagerly searching for them each morning in the pasture to see if there are twelve legs instead of eight.

I had fun bottle-feeding the baby reindeer ("buk buk buk") is the noise he makes, and the calf. Both had fun head-butting me, but all four babies believe Michael is their Maa Maa.

Here we are at the end of another week, and I have to admit we are worn out and tired. The events of last weekend (family wedding) and just keeping up daily chores is taxing, and throw in some viral complaints and it was good to see the work week over.

I'll post some pictures of the little critters.

No, He isn't Dead --- He's Napping!

Gathered by the Porch

Yes, She DOES get Under the Pony!

Besides walking back and forth under Beau's belly,
Sammy also grooms his mane for him!

Hey, what the heck are THOSE????

I'm not coming any closer, uh uh!

The Lost Weekend

Where do the weekends go?

Yesterday I wrote about making fence, but the supplies are laying there at the gate to the pasture in the cold and wet. It was just too blustery cold for the menfolks to build fence yesterday.

I guess we have one more day of this winter like weather, and then it will ease up (again). Something is banging outside to the east of the house, and I am almost afraid to look... the wind has been fierce and many old branches have come down out of the maple tree near the house. Beau was standing near the porch eating a little earlier, and when I looked out a few minutes later, a very large branch was down and shattered right on his bowl. I ran out the door to make sure he was allright, and found him on the north side of the house grazing. Whew!

We went to lunch for a Sunday afternoon treat, and came home to find all the new birds taking shelter in the lee of the big henhouse in the henyard. The Little Bunch was all out as well, and I told Husband only the big girls had the sense to stay in. Upon going into the henhouse, I discovered THEY were all out as well, and as I sit here and type this, I see red, brown, black and white tails running through the grass outside the horsepen. Even the 38 degree temps and bluster isn't keeping my girls in, though their feathery skirts are flying!

This weekend we had the two older grands, and their stepbrother. The house was full of boys, and we saw a good movie and then came home to play Monopoly. This morning after church I made cookies to be taken home and shared before we started out to meet their mother. We are glad to see them, but glad to "get the house back" too, and have peace and quiet, which we are enjoying now. Husband is napping, and I'm blogging, prior to going out to do the evening chores.

Pictures? I still can't figure out how to post the new Kodak Pictures into the blog... but I'll figure it out this week!

We are praying that Easter Sunday will be about 30 degrees warmer with sunny skies!

The Day After

After yesterday's taste of winter, today dawned sunny and bright. Before church, doing chores, I noticed how the ice shined like jewels on the grasses of the pasture, and especially on the tree branches. The birds were so happy to be able to run out in the pasture again, after being cooped up in the weather of yesterday. Beau had turned from a shivering ponysicle into a normal old pony, and was glad to get out of his pen and into the pasture, where he headed for his tree. We notice that he watches the neighbor's three cows a lot, now, and are planning on getting his goat companions soon.

A trip to WalMart for a new fish tank stand took up part of the planned afternoon, and now it is almost 3 and time to put the pork tenderloin in for dinner. Some potatos and a salad should round the meal out nicely.

I just saw Nickie slink by the window headed for the horsepen full of chickens. I now see him starting across to the pond, and wonder about my new little Old English Gamehens. Hmmmm. Nick has been known to take down a songbird occaisionally, so maybe it's time to go out and see what he is up to before finishing emptying the car and starting dinner.

A Week Without a Message

I didn't intend to go a week without blogging, but sometimes life catches up with you and you just don't realize that you haven't set aside personal time.

We had a busy week at Calamity Acres, once we settled down about the loss of our dear old fuzzy faced Lacey. It was hard to drive by "The Spot" on the driveway each day coming and going, and not think of her.

Beau settled down after three or four days of calling her, and has become resigned to be the Only Horse. We are hoping to get him some caprine friends sooner rather than later, but Husband has a full week of work ahead of him, and I can no longer do fence alone. (in my decrepit old age).

As soon as we can, some Nigerian Dwarf goats will come to keep him company, along with his goose.

On Friday night, I went to the Gasper Family Farm in Linwood, Kansas, to purchase some additional egg layers. The Gaspers were personable CSA farmers, who readily answered all questions about the care of their organically raised pullets. It's fun to "talk chicken" with people who know what they are talking about, and I was able to observe their Gloucestershire Old Spot hogs in the pasture, and their Akbash guard dog. I got four nice pullets, who are in the little henhouse getting used to living at Calamity Acres, and eating their heads off. We hope to get some nice eggs from them.

Saturday morning was spent at a bi-annual poultry and gamebird auction with my middle grandson, Nathan. We saw a lot of expensive poultry, but we came home with three tiny Old English Gamebird hens for the little roosters, in the red pyle coloration. We brought additionally home 3 beautiful silky pullets.... after seeing some gorgeous colors of silkies. We didn't want any more roosters (8 IS enough) and when 3 pullets came up for auction, I was quick to bid and got them. Though the auction was going on until the evening, we left at noon since we figured our birds had eaten all the feed they had been checked in with on Friday, and we were right. They rode peacefully home to join the Production Reds in the little henhouse, and all ten girls are currently getting aquainted. The roosters have heard them and are knocking at the door... I could hear them tap tapping while I fed the girls yesterday from the backside of the henhouse, but they will have to dream on until a week has gone by and I am sure the new birds are healthy. We are a little worried about the snakes getting the OEG's as they are very small, but they are lively, so perhaps it will be okay.

Dovey, our grey hen on the eggs in the big nest, has a half eaten eggshell next to her, so we know a rat or snake has been trying to get under her. We don't want same to get an OEG as I bought them for the delight of the little guys, One, Two, Three and Four, and Butch, Studly and Curley.

Nathan had his very first ride on Beau this weekend, as we had not realized that he was actually fearful of the horses. He kept a deathgrip on my right shoulder as we walked along, but did very well for the first time up, and bareback at that. Beau was a beaut, and walked along sedately as I lead Nate around. We'll get a blanket this week for Beau's saddle, and the next time Nate visits, he'll get another ride and we will get him over his fear of large animals. He's a cat person, as he reminds me often, but the dogs adore him.

Sitting out in the garden, I had Lilly laying by me when we heard sirens coming up the highway. Lilly tipped her head back and gave a mournful howl... her voice is much lower than Ranger's, and very staccato when she barks. I was able to catch her doing it.

And finally, spring is truly here. We had a farmer come to plow our garden, and we are eagerly deciding what to plant this year. Since Stepson will be playing baseball from now through July, I have once again taken over the gardening duties, and after the plot is tilled down this week, will get busy with my starts. I took some shots of the man as he plowed, and later, a flock of birds descended on the area to eat the worms turned up. I wish I could have let the chickens in the yard, but that would be fatal if the dogs got out of the house!

So now a new week has started, and a short one for me. A class on Thursday, and a vacation day Friday, will shorten it to 3 days. I am looking forward already to the long weekend, and scrapbooking with my friends on Saturday.

It's Melting!

Well, despite the fact that we didn't get over 20 degrees today, the snow of yestermorn is beginning to melt a little. The outdoor animals had a hard day in the cold though, that was helped a little by the fact the sun shone. For the second day in a row, the chickens stayed in the chicken house, even with the pophole open, because they are smart birds and didn't see any reason to go out and troop through the snow. We loaded them up on feed and scratch and they did fine, to the tune of 8 eggs for us!

Even though it appears your blogger thinks only about her animals, it's not true. I have become a magazine addict, fueled by the fact that I work in the marketing department of an international corporation which advertises in many magazines. We get complimentary copies of most of those, and I have become a magazine hoarder. I force myself to recycle once a month, to try to keep the numbers down so that husband doesn't groan when I come in the door. I subscribe to a fair number, as well, and am lamenting the fact that two of my favorites, Mary Englebreit's Home Companion, and Country Home, have ceased to publish as of last month and this. They were little bits of beauty in this farm home which needs so much work done on it, and inspiration. The last issue of Country Home, in fact, was a very beautiful "keeper". As Susan Branch says on her website... what's next, Country Living? Say it ain't so!

I watched "Finding Neverland" last night after getting everything finished for the day. I am not a Johnny Depp fan, but I have always been a Peter Pan fan since a little child. I sobbed my way through the end of the movie, and then sat down after church this morning to find out the true facts of the J.M. Barrie/Peter Pan story. It was very interesting, and much literary license had been taken by the movie makers but in all, I think it was a good movie and made me appreciate Johnny Depp more than I ever have before. Would I go see his next movie? Ummmm no... but I might watch it on tv some Saturday night.

And what would ending the weekend be without more Pony/Gander pictures?