April 24

It was a cooler day again. I’m not complaining. The animals are all enjoying the cooler weather. We were supposed to get more rain but we have not. 

Rena is trying to get up and move around more. She ate and drank more today so things are looking up for her. She even tried to run from me today. She did not make it too far but she tried. I would say that’s progress. 

The cows and Mattie got a new hay bale and they always act like that’s the greatest thing. The cows will stand and moo at the tractor. Mattie apparently likes to roll in the dirt in front of the tractor. They all all crazy. 

Willow is doing well. She is starting to make funny faces. She has been more stand offish since the weather is cooler but she still will give you some drive by attention. She is cute and she knows it. 

I did see something funny. Sonny was trying to get in the shop and Yeller was swatting at him to go away. Sonny did go away, until I opened the shop doors. 

Mattie was begging for attention and food when I got home. He makes the funniest faces. 

Noma acts like she is starving and I have noticed Willow nurses more often then Mattie did. I am feeding her extra but she still acts like she is starving. I feel for her. 

All the animals are doing well. They are all loving life and I’m grateful for that. They are all loved here and they know it. That is important to me and to them.

Word of the day is love. Romans 12:9

April 23

It turned cold for sure. We actually got some rain as well. I was woken up several times by thunder and lightning last night. The temperature stayed in the 40s and 50s today. The air has a cold feel though since it had been raining. 

I did go out and check on the animals. They were all in their shelters most of the day. I did not blame them. I stayed in the house most of the day. 

Willow is doing fine. I wondered how she would do, but she was fine. She was running around in the pen, so she stayed warm. I should not have worried about her and just believed she was going to be fine. 

Rena is fine also in the trailer. I put extra hay in there and she is doing fine. She was cuddled up in the hay. I could tell she had moved around some throughout the day so that was good. I did give her some extra food and I syringed her some water to make sure she was getting some water. She is learning to trust me. 

All is well. 

Word of the day is believe. Mark 5:36

April 22

We had a kid out doing community service today. He seems to enjoy being here even though he is having to work. 

The temps were warm this morning but by the time 6 pm rolled around, the temperature had dropped about 15 degrees. The wind was cold. 

Rena was up walking around in the trailer. She is not walking well but she is trying. I added more hay for her in the trailer since it’s supposed to be cold tonight and tomorrow. I will be checking on her tomorrow throughout the day. 

Willow was having a great time with the wind. She was running around that pen all afternoon. She is doing well. 

The donkeys and goats were all over the place today because it was getting cooler. 

The pigs were in a funny mood. I had a kid with me they were not sure about while cleaning the pen this afternoon so they ran around the pen while we were in there cleaning. 

Suzie Q is trying to dig out of the chicken coop which makes me laugh. She will beg to get back in once she is out. I guess it’s something for her to do. 

Sandy, Cracker Jack’s previous owner asked me for pictures of him today. I looked through 4 years of photos and sent her almost 200. I spent some time reminiscing about him all the fun we had. I sure do miss him. 

I’m going to be praying for these guys as the temps fall tonight. It will still be in the 40s so not too bad but I know it’s hard on them when it’s been in the 90s this week. 

Word of the day is asking. Mark 11:24

April 21

Oh how I have missed you Friday. Today has been a wild day. I was so grateful when the work day ended. 

All the animals are doing fine. Nothing out of the ordinary happened. I was too tired to hang out with the animals tonight. I wish I had not been so tired, but I was. 

Willow was full of energy of course. She is doing well and I am happy for that. 

Rena was moving around on her own. It’s not much, but it’s something. That’s a great thing. I’m still hopeful she will get better. Her foot is not looking good, but we will see what happens. 

Word of the day is tired. Jeremiah 31:25

April 20

After the wild cloud last night, this morning was a dust storm. Those are never fun. 

The donkeys and goats were at the fence like they were telling me goodbye this morning. That made my day. 

I went to check on Rena immediately after getting home. She was still in the same spot, so I got her up and moved her around a bit. She acts like she is trying to use her leg but is unable to. I will start working with her. 

The goats are being funny with laying in their food bowl. I’m not sure what that is about but it makes me laugh. 

Not much went on today. I did start trying to do some therapy with Rena later in the day. She did not appreciate it but she isn’t scared of me anymore. I worked with her and then put her back in the trailer where she is protected. She will probably always need protection now. I’m going to give it some time. Hopefully she will recover. 

Mattie is working on tolerating Willow through the fence and Noma has stopped trying to get in between them. That’s a good thing. Mattie cannot hurt Willow with all the fencing we have up now. At least I’m hopeful about that. 

Willow is showing some personality now. She is just cute. 

I took some selfies with Maggie tonight. Poor girl. She just has not been feeling well lately. 

Word of the day is hopeful. Hebrews 11:1

April 19

This morning was a nice morning, it looked like it could rain, but it did not rain. Why would it? This is West Texas. The temperatures were in the 90s again this afternoon. 

Today was a day full of lessons. Sometimes you know there are lessons involved even though you do not want to admit it. Life is one big lesson. 

I had a knot in my stomach when I rounded the last corner to go home. I had no idea why, I just knew something was wrong. When I got home, nothing was out of place and I couldn’t figure out why I had that knot. I let the dogs out and for once I was glad the dogs did not cooperate. Pepper went into the back yard. Something out of the ordinary caught my eye. I saw a cat under the porch. It looked like Athena. As I got closer, I saw, it was not Athena. It was Persia. Somehow she had escaped the house this morning and neither Ronnie nor I noticed she was not where she was supposed to be. I’m grateful she did not run off. When she saw me she started crying but was too terrified to move. I grabbed her and took her in the house. She is fine now but she is hiding. I bet she does not do that again. She was out alone for the first time in thirteen years. I’m so glad she stayed close to the house. The lesson here is to always trust your gut. 

I also had been missing a chicken, Rena. She is my chicken missing a toe. She had been hanging out in the shop. I noticed I had not seen her in a few days and I knew I needed to look for her but when I would go outside I would forget. I noticed some broken eggs in a weird spot. I went to look closer and found Rena. She had been stuck between a tool box and a piece of sheet metal for days. I felt so bad. I’m actually surprised she was still alive. It took me a bit but I finally got her free. I held her for a bit and then put her down. She had no use of her left leg at all. I put her in a safe spot and gave her some water through a syringe. I also gave her some food. I had no idea where I could put her since the coop is full and chickens were already pecking on her since she was injured. When Ronnie came home, he helped me with making her a spot in the trailer. Hopefully she will heal, but I may need to do some physical therapy with her. And she may just have to be by herself somewhere. I would put in another coop just for her. The lesson here is also go with your guy. I knew I needed to look for her and I waited, so here we are now. It’s not the first time she has disappeared though. The last time, she hatched out a bunch of chicks. 

Ronnie came in and said you have to see this, so I went outside and saw the strangest cloud I have ever seen. It looked like something big had exploded but there was no explosion. It looked like it could rain again, but it didn’t. There was some thunder and lightning but that was all. It also looked like a mushroom which I found intriguing. 

I try to get pictures of baby teeth when we have a baby around. Mattie was easy to get teeth pictures of, still is. Willow on the other hand is not easy. I tell you the difference in make and females in animals is just like in humans. Women are not easy to deal with. There’s another lesson. 

To end on a good note, I got a kiss from Noma!! 

Word of the day is lesson. Matthew 5:38-39

April 18

It got hot today. The temperature was up in the 90s. It did have a nice breeze though. That’s something. 

The animals were all good regardless of the temperatures. Gus is still not limping. The horses had no new injury. Willow was doing more zoomies. The donkeys and goats were all wondering around like they normally do. We found 13 eggs today. Some of our plants have already died. I think it was the heat today. We will replant. 

Sometimes having a simple day is nice. 

Word of the day is simple. Luke 12:15

April 17

There was a chance of rain today. We need it so badly. The wind was blowing so hard and fast while I was trying to feed. The wind makes things harder. 

I went to my normal spots for eggs. I stuck my hand in a crate to grab an egg and got a surprise. There was an egg, but the egg just had a thin membrane covering it. There was essentially no shell. It was not a lash egg, I looked that up. This was an egg with no shell. I have never seen anything like it. I threw the egg away. 

I have been happy that Auburn is still alive. I have wondered if her days were numbered. She was eating today and I have not seen her do that in a while. Maybe she is better. 

The wind was so bad, I found 3 of the 4 cats between the hay bales together. They were sweet laying there together. 

I noticed Gus is barely limping now. That makes me happy. I’m so glad he is better. 

I watched little Willow running zoomies around today. It was so cute watching her running in circles. It really made my day. She is precious. 

I found more eggs in a different spot. I could not get to them so Ronnie had to get them. 

I was in such a hurry to get the feeding done, I was running down the fence row to feed Jeb and Jeb starting running with me. Oh it warmed my heart. 

None of the animals liked the wind. Most of them were trying to hide from the wind. I understand that. 

Word of the day is understanding. Proverbs 17:27