Losses

First there were three, then there were two, now there is one.

I can't believe we've gone from three active, wonderful watchdogs down to one in a span of six months.

Jack was always the family favorite, having grown up with the boys. So it was a terrible blow to the whole family when he got cancer and had to be put down last summer. Moriah has always been "my" dog and very attached to me since I raised her from a pup. Echo came to us as an adult. She's been a handful and not always cooperative and obedient. But overall she has been a good girl, super watchdog, excellent walking partner and loved by everybody that met her. I am sad she died and she will be missed around her for sure. But I feel bad mostly for Moriah. She's lost her two best buds. I know she will be lonesome. She has nobody to romp and play, explore the woods and bark at the cars with.

Tonight I went out the garage door to do my evening chores (feeding horses and dogs). Moriah was waiting for me as I lifted the door, then headed straight over to where Echo was (still laying) on the porch (covered up). (Duane had covered her when he found her after work since he couldn't do anything with her tonight. We'll have to bury her tomorrow.) Poor Moriah, she sniffed Echo, nosed around on her and whined like she was trying to tell me something was wrong with her friend. It was heartbreaking to watch.

Tomorrow we will bury the big girl and spend some extra time with Moriah. Unfortunately, losses are a part of life. Not a good part, but a part of this sin sick world. I'm thankful God has a better place He is preparing for us all. And there will "be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain".

I have this little chicken...

she's not very pretty

In fact, some would say she's down right ugly.

But you can't blame her. She's the only bantam chicken I have left (from a little flock a few years back) and everyone else picks on her. So she's missing some feathers on her head and she's kind of skinny.
In the summer she runs off by herself to scratch and roam in the yard. But in the winter, she stays inside the chicken house since all of them are penned up right now.

This picture is kind of dark, but over on the left wall are nest boxes. She usually waits for me there while I go outside and feed everyone else. Then I put a handful of food in the nest box with her so she can eat unmolested. If she happens to be on the ladder, she'll wait and let me pick her up and move her to the nest box to eat. We've become friends this chicken and I.

Today I decided to give her her own "palace". She really needs to put on more weight. This way she can eat all she wants and be afraid of getting picked on.

I mean can you blame her for being intimidated?! Look at these big 'ol chickens she has to be with. The black one in the back left of the picture  is half bantam. You can see she's a bit smaller than the rest, but still is quite a bit bigger than the little "Mama."

Oh, and here's "Hopsing", my rooster. (Can you tell I grew up watching Bonanza?) 

All settled in. Hopefully she'll do better here.

Today's walk

I decided to make my walk today a bit more challenging! Instead of walking down the "road' (our driveway) with the dogs, I went a bit cross country and led the horse too. I thought I might as well get us both out and about, and working on getting in shape. Plus, poor Silver hasn't been out of his pasture on a trail in quite a while (but that's another story).

Hope you enjoyed our trail!

Morning praise

When I awoke this morning and ventured outside into the freshly fallen snow, my eyes turned upward through the treetops to this magnificent sky. And this song came to mind:

"For the beauty of the earth
 For the beauty of the skies
 For the love which from our birth
 Over and around us lies
 Lord of all, to Thee we raise
 This our grateful song of praise"

I got distracted on my walk the other morning...

.....can you blame me?

My walking buddies

It's hard to see in the picture, but this is what I call, "snow glitter". The snow is almost blinding with the glittering little pieces reflecting the sun's light. Awesome!

As you can imagine, it took me longer than usual to complete my walk; so much of God's handiwork to admire!

A good day in my kitchen :)

I consider this to be a good day in my kitchen. Lots got done. Of course, I didn't get much done anywhere else!

Homemade pizza for lunch!

Five quarts of pasta sauce made (after peeling all the tomatoes!) and canned.

A double recipe of Giant Carob Chip Cookies baked.

(Recipe from www.veganpantry.com)

One and a half bags of swiss chard washed, blanched, weighed, chopped and frozen. Ok, so this didn't actually get done until the next day :P

But I did get a batch of Lemon Poppy Muffins baked. (From my new cookbook; "The China Study Cookbook"

And made a batch Granola (also from www.veganpantry.com) made and into the oven. This is before it go all nicely toasted and crunchy.

Now to clean up the mess in the kitchen!

I just bathed my cat...

I don’t make a habit of bathing my cats. Most cats aren’t too enthusiastic about being put in a large sink and dosed with water. On, a funny note, this cat didn’t seem to mind. He purred the whole time I was scrubbing him and didn’t even mind the “getting wet” part or the rinsing. He is a strange creature.

The reason for the bath was a fly strip.

You know those fly strips. You hang them outside, in the barn, in the garage; to catch those nasty pests. They’re incredibly sticky, hence the reason why they work so well. You have to be very careful when you hang them. Don’t you dare touch the thing or you are stuck!

I happen to walk out the front door at just the right time. Sauntering across the front porch (with a strange look on his face) was Zeus. (Zeus is one of our “new” kittens that we picked up at the local feed store a few months ago to help with the rodent de-population.) Wrapped around Zeus’ neck, front legs and shoulder area was a fly strip. (I’m laughing just seeing it in my head again). Apparently, Zeus must have been in the garage (where I have several hanging), probably batting at it, like kittens do, and it “attacked” him! Guess the fly strip won. *wink

The "culprit" with the rubber gloves I used to safely remove it and bathe him.

So Zeus is now grooming himself (after his bath) locked in a wire dog crate until he’s dried. I still may have to shave part of his hair as part of him is still sticky. Although, I did manage to wash the dead flies off of him.