Visiting Clare

 While we were out getting Jasper banded and Alex acquainted, Ronnie and I got to see Clare. I will be honest and tell you, having her here was trying but I happen to miss her. After seeing her again, I felt like we didn’t give it enough time. I don’t know that for sure but that is how I felt when I looked at her. When I spoke to her she remembered me. You could tell by her eyes, they got huge in recognition. When Ronnie spoke to her, she had even more of a reaction of recognition. She was looking for us. I’m not sure if that was good or bad but I know she knew us. I hope she finds a great place to live. Who knows, maybe one day she we be back here. She is getting broke now so we shall see. If not, I will never forget her. She taught me a lot in the short time she was here. 

Alex

 Well, I knew Jasper was lonely. We did try to bring another cow home to keep him company and that didn’t work. Clare was not happy here. Ronnie and I had talked about bringing another cow home. We found one where we got Jasper and I just fell in love with him. They gave us time to get a pen up for them and we went to get Alex home yesterday. Alex is a steer. We took Jasper with us so he could be banded also. We also wanted to make sure they would get along so they were put into a pen together for awhile and they seemed to do fine. Alex even let me pet on him. They got in the trailer together and they have been doing fine together since we got them home together. They are becoming friends and will do fine together. I’m happy they both are here together. We did get them both unloaded without any difficulty. I’m grateful for that. It did not go well with Clare but Alex is much more relaxed than Clare was. Alex is a great addition to the farm. He has only been around other cows so it has been interesting. When the horse makes noises or the donkeys, he runs out to see what is happening. He chases the chickens around because he has never seen one. It’s cute. I know he will be fine here. 

First Injury

 We have had our first injury here on the farm. I mean, it happens, we all know that. I did not see what happened but from the sounds of it, Jeb was throwing a fit over food and he tore some skin off his backside on a t-post. It looked like it was a clean wound and it was scabbing over. Yes we treated it. It was looking better and he took the scab off of it. He also looks to have injured his front foot with either breaking Jasper out or his hoof had too much mud and stuff caked in it and it’s making him limp. Ronnie took out the mud and stuff in the hoof and treated him for possible thrush in one place on his hoof. He is still limping but seems to be better. His wound has been treated again today also. I am hoping he continues to get better daily or it will be another vet visit for him. Oh Jeb. He is young and learning new stuff daily. I know he will be fine but it makes me a little uneasy. 

Another Escape Artist

 So, this farm is known for its escape artists. The wayward pig started this name and she was the first. Her name is Treat. Then there was Pork Chop. Then the list goes: Russ, Darla, Hercules, Carlos. Brutus was the worst one but he came next. Then since moving here we have had Clare, Ned, Darla (which I haven’t talked about but she is here and fine), and Rona. This next one was unexpected and the story is rather hilarious. I walked out to my car on Friday morning and I thought my eyes were playing tricks on me. I saw a cow. Now, most people do not know this about me, but I do have depth perception difficulties. Knowing that, I wasn’t sure if the cow was on our side of the fence or if the cow was on the neighbors property. I kept looking and realized it was Jasper. Now, Jasper has his own little barn and is fenced in. I usually bring him out on a lead rope to eat the green grass since we need to get the barn up in the pasture and once that gets finished, we will fix the fence and add a gate so Jasper will only have to be in there at night. He does get plenty of fresh grass, hay, and feed so not to worry, he is good. We have tried to keep him away from Jeb, the horse because the last time they were together, Jeb was a little aggressive toward him and we didn’t want Jasper to get hurt. Saying all of that leads me to this, Jasper was in the field with Jeb, Noma, and Cracker Jack. And the big thing is, he was loving it and Jeb was not trying to hurt him. Ronnie was home and he went to investigate while I went to work. He texted me later saying it looked like the horse and Jasper had worked together to break Jasper out. The bungee strap was still on the gate and latched but the gate was opened enough for Jasper to slip out. Jeb’s hair was wrapped around the bungee strap. Jasper was out all day while Ronnie was working outside and once Ronnie shook the feed sack, Jasper came right back to his home and sat down in the hay. He was clearly exhausted. I was able to sit down beside him and hang out a bit. It’s obvious he is lonely and wanting to be in the sun. We will make it happen. 

Halter Fail

 The appointment for the donkeys to get fixed had to be rescheduled. Let me tell you, I was upset about this. These donkeys refused to get halters on and get into the trailer. They were not having it. It was a stressful situation for all of us. We got the donkeys into the loading shoot off of the barn. But, once they decided they were not going to into the trailer and were not going to let a halter be put on them, one of them just jumped the fence and ran off which the 2 that were not in the shoot ran with them. Pedro was going to jump and instead we figured we should just let him out instead of risking an injury. I will say this, with the more time I spend with them, those halters will be on so we can get them to the vet. I spent a lot of time with them trying to get those halters on them. I do enjoy those moments, even if this time was a huge halter fail. There will be a next time and it will happen. Sometimes we definitely could use some help around here. 

Treats for Noma and Pete

 Let me tell you, hard work does pay off. It might look small but it’s still something. Ronnie brought out more treats a couple days ago and those donkeys went crazy. They will eat out of my hand, and that includes Noma and Pete. It’s a small win, built it’s a win. Those are the only two that are still not friendly enough for people to go up to. I am determined to win them over. It’s been 6 months and a lot has happened. They were doing better and then I brought more donkeys home and then they had to be separated so it put off progress. I know in my heart it will happen and they will let their guard down. It’s all going to work out. 

So Much To Do

 My goal here is to get a nonprofit going here and help people who have had suicidal thoughts or a family member has died by suicide. I know that in the times today with covid and all of the isolation, it’s a huge problem. I want to help. Since moving here, I keep saying this is what I am going to do and that hasn’t changed. What has changed is that I keep putting off doing the paperwork to get the nonprofit going. I want to tell you why. We have 56 animals here that need care, food, water, attention, etc. Ronnie and I are working hard to get things set up. I don’t want to have to rely on donations for everything that needs to be done, so we are setting up pens, working on fencing, getting the shelters built, having a barn set up, working on repairs, socializing animals...the list goes on and on. Ronnie and I are 2 people who both have full time jobs and can only get bits at a time completed. I am so excited to see where this goes. I am excited to get it all completed and get it started. There is just so much to do. It’s almost like the minute we get something finished, we have another task to complete. I am not complaining at all, I enjoy being outside. In enjoy taking care of these animals and getting tasks completed. Sometimes I feel like there is never enough time to get it all finished, but I know it will happen. It is taking longer than expected but it is all going to be amazing when it is all finished.