Did A One Eighty...

Did not buy a dog, did not get a pound puppy either. Decided that maybe my see-sawing dog wishes were not because I wanted a dog but because I could work with them and make better pets.

Here is my first foster dog! ICARE in this county has more dogs than they have foster homes. They have had great success adopting to many different states.

This is my mission to help Gypsy Rose Lee, that's right, Gypsy Rose Lee, become a better settled, better trained pet for adoption.

Knew she loved water when I gave her a drink after I picked her up and she stuck half her head into the bucket and blew giant air bubbles.
So guess where her first romp was At The Farm? Gypsy loved it! She snuffled, she blew bubbles, she drank, she cavorted and just had a good time all around.

Of course there was the traditional butt sniffing but Gypsy was more eager to play than sniff or be sniffed.

I have discovered a few things. She loves children, does well with dogs, does not meet a stranger but I suspect Gypsy has never seen a cow or a horse. She was quite intimidated and I had to carry the big galoot past the cows the first time.. She is interested in cats and chickens but I corrected her and moved her to another area. We shall have to work on that a bit at a time.

We definitely know for sure, she loves water! Gypsy kept going back to the water, in the water, around the water, though the water and had, I think, a glorious time. Gypsy comes when called so that is a plus for starting out. I could allow her off leash in this area.

Gypsy ran as if she had never been free but always came when I whistled. Now she is quietly laying behind me on a rug after having her second walk of the evening.

I do not know her breed but she has hound in her. Since she is marked like our Border Collies but has short hair, big paws and giant ears, I am dubbing her a Border Hound, a new designer breed.

(We no longer call them mutts or mixed breeds but designer breeds, now isn't that elegant? It doesn't matter what the father or mother was, breeders out there, listen up. When it is not the same breed, it is a MUTT!)

I thought, in addition to the regular light training of come, sit, stay, heel, I should introduce her to house training since more than likely Gypsy will become some one's house dog. My goal is to make her calm-submissive in the words of the great dog whisperer, to make her accept all the animals here with no aggression toward them, and to remain the wonderful people person she is.

Gypsy will be spayed tomorrow. She had ticks and fleas...a lot!...that has been taken care of and she has ear mites which will be eliminated in a couple of days with medicine.

Welcome to my adventure in the land of fostering an animal for adoption. May I train her well and may she find a wonderful forever home with ICARE's help.

Put the word out there, guys, I got a good dog for adoption! If Gypsy is not what you are looking for check out ICARE's home page.

Seize The Day

and live in the moment. Seize the day is exactly what I did. As I did my farm report on Sunday I also took pictures of many different things and you shall be overrun with them this week.
This is what Mom called a black berry lily. The leaves look like Irises, but the bloom is small and Lilly-like and the seeds look like black berries...maybe that is where it got it's name!

The timber is still renewing itself from the devastation of the tornado and the ice storm but things grow back and with the leaves on the remaining trees, the damage does not look so sad.

As I walked to the "new pond", which it has been called since it was built almost forty years ago, the fog was rolling over the top as if the water was on fire. This picture does not do it justice. This pond is stocked with catfish, crappie, bass and perch. When we want fish to eat, this is where we go.
Den's ideal of damming one spring branch has worked wonderfully. The cows are enjoying the deep hole and still have fresh spring water. It ain't so pretty but the water is fresh and clear and it is doing the job.
My genius hubby placed an over flow pipe so the water can continue to the creek. What would I do without him?

The First Day Of School

How long will the smile last?

I bet the smile will be gone before the cannas.

Farm Report From A Sunday Walk

My baby boy, Broken Arrow, shining in the sun. Don't you love his color? I am not even sure what to call it. I think the vet wrote sorrel bay on his coggins and he is just registered as a bay, but what a bay he is!

My big little girl, mother of Magic and Arrow, before her mane detangling and her fly wiping and her brushing. She is a puppy!

Charme after her mane has been unsnarled, combed, and separated one more time. She seems to get the strangest knots and also items in her mane.

The white dove showed again today. Far away from the house, in the pasture. It let me get quite close before it flew. I think it is an escaped pet, my hubby, forever the Emergency Manager, says it is bird flu...gotta love him, he keeps the county safe.

Seymour has taken every step with me this morning. I heard him chasing a rabbit, he does so with a high-pitched yelp and a persistence that amazes me. He is the armadillo eliminator and does occasionally catch a rabbit but does not touch the chickens or the cats.

The cash crop is looking good. The grass is green for August, Thank God for that. Normally we are dry and hot. The weather has been very pleasant and the rains have come when we needed them.

Maggie Mae, who speaks five languages and is honored by in home residency, was also with me all the way. This is my husband's dog and she is smarter than me, probably I would get kicked from the house before her!

Collateral, our young bull whose father was year before last Grand Champion Gelbvieh, is shaping up quite nicely and he has proven he is fertile. He produces small calves that grow quickly.

Here is some proof of Collateral's fertility. I like this breed of cattle, large boned, good milk producers, calm and lots of marbled meat. I believe they produce better steaks than Black Angus.

Another one of my spoiled babies, Knot seems to be sunning. They trek to the barn each morning to see what treats Marcy has left them, peaches, pears or apples.

It is such an amazing day, why am I not riding these beauties????

Being Brave

I am calling it quits on this one.

and this is my new project.

I do not do art, I do therapy, oh, that I could paint or draw! Many of my blog friends produce fine works of art, I envy that. The fact that I am brave enough to post this says something...don't know what!

Not exactly a prime display but I use the old pant hangers to hang them up to decide to keep or trash. Many days I throw them away and Bev pulls them out of the trash. I love the painting of it, not the end, so I guess I will keep painting and not worry about the end result but remember the love of painting it.