He and all of my beautiful animals continue to be a wonderful gift every single day.
I hope that all of you are able to enjoy the gift of those you love this holiday season.
Merry Christmas from me and my herd to you and yours.
Tuesday, December 25, 2012
Christmas in July
My very best ever Christmas present showed up on July 1st this year.
He and all of my beautiful animals continue to be a wonderful gift every single day.
He and all of my beautiful animals continue to be a wonderful gift every single day.
Monday, December 24, 2012
My Version of Holiday Decorations
A little bit of sunshine showed up to put a bit of sparkle in the world...
Saturday, December 22, 2012
Everybody Needs a Pair of Muck Boots
It has been the craziest week for weather. Thursday night started with snow, turned to sleet then torrential rain all night only to revert to snow Friday. Today, we get blizzard conditions.
We went from squelching muck...
to squelching muck covered in snow and 60mph wind....
I took a short trip over to the next little village where there is a tire shop for farm vehicles. You know you live in the country when the owner of said shop knows just what you want when you say you need an inner tube for a donkey's foot.
He led me out to a massive, truck-sized pile of dead inner tubes of every conceivable size, from tiny wheel barrow size to massive things that you could hide a large body in (you also know that it is a good thing we have made it to the solstice and the days are going to start getting longer when these are the kinds of analogies that spring to mind:). I brought home several likely candidates and made Ramsey a muck boot...
I think it will work. Lord knows the price was right, I could have hauled away as many dead inner tubes away as I could carry had I wanted to. The tire shop was glad to be rid of them. We didn't really get a chance to try it out because I couldn't convince either Emma or Ramsey (or the horses) to do more than poke their noses out of the barn.
Instead, I gave them fresh, clean bedding and a pile of straw to play with and keep warm in. I also had to break down and put Emma's blanket on last night. I was hoping to avoid blanketing her, but she was cold and is much happier now. She is also oozing out of the blanket in every direction, I could barely get the front fastened and if it weren't for the tail flap, her hind end would be hanging out in the cold. I guess she has really grown a lot since last winter, I am going to have to find a bigger size. Maybe there will be some good after Christmas sales....
At least Tanner likes the snow (today is our 10th anniversary. I brought him home as an 8 week old puppy ten years ago today) and the woods were pretty (just as long as you don't mind the occasional crashing limb, falling tree and the fear that you might not make it out un-squished)...
We went from squelching muck...
to squelching muck covered in snow and 60mph wind....
I took a short trip over to the next little village where there is a tire shop for farm vehicles. You know you live in the country when the owner of said shop knows just what you want when you say you need an inner tube for a donkey's foot.
He led me out to a massive, truck-sized pile of dead inner tubes of every conceivable size, from tiny wheel barrow size to massive things that you could hide a large body in (you also know that it is a good thing we have made it to the solstice and the days are going to start getting longer when these are the kinds of analogies that spring to mind:). I brought home several likely candidates and made Ramsey a muck boot...
I think it will work. Lord knows the price was right, I could have hauled away as many dead inner tubes away as I could carry had I wanted to. The tire shop was glad to be rid of them. We didn't really get a chance to try it out because I couldn't convince either Emma or Ramsey (or the horses) to do more than poke their noses out of the barn.
Instead, I gave them fresh, clean bedding and a pile of straw to play with and keep warm in. I also had to break down and put Emma's blanket on last night. I was hoping to avoid blanketing her, but she was cold and is much happier now. She is also oozing out of the blanket in every direction, I could barely get the front fastened and if it weren't for the tail flap, her hind end would be hanging out in the cold. I guess she has really grown a lot since last winter, I am going to have to find a bigger size. Maybe there will be some good after Christmas sales....
At least Tanner likes the snow (today is our 10th anniversary. I brought him home as an 8 week old puppy ten years ago today) and the woods were pretty (just as long as you don't mind the occasional crashing limb, falling tree and the fear that you might not make it out un-squished)...
Thursday, December 20, 2012
A little Freedom
The one good thing about freezing temperatures, is that it does firm up the wet, sodden ground so that a certain little donkey can wear his sneaker and run around, tormenting his mother...
and kicking up his heels just a little...
and kicking up his heels just a little...
Wednesday, December 19, 2012
A Foot Update
Ramsey's foot seems to be healing well. There continues to be good granulation within the hoof and there is no sign of infection at this time. He is using it normally and showing very little sign of lameness. I was even able to trim the hoof a little a few days ago. 
I have been treating the large hole in his hoof with a product called Equisilver with very good results. This is a chelated silver solution and, while I had never heard of this product prior to Ramsey's surgery, I was glad to see it when I was presented with it at Cornell. I have had near miraculous results using silver solutions on bad and non-healing wounds in the past.
I was even more intrigued by this product as it is labeled as a respiratory treatment for respiratory infections and allergies. I spoke with the vet at Cornell about it and he said they have been having excellent results as both a wound treatment and respiratory therapy. I intend to talk with my own allergy doctor about it, if it can do miracles for horses with chronic breathing problems, it ought to be able to help me.
As I hope you can see, the wound in the hoof is clean, dry and showing some healthy tissue growth.
The extremely painful blistering around his coronet band and his heel bulbs is also healing. While it still looks rather awful and is sensitive, it is no longer terribly painful to him and there is some nice healthy tissue appearing there as well. It would really benefit from some time in the open air, but that still isn't an option. I have been using some of my homemade beeswax salve on it recently and that seems to be helping. It moisturizes without being gooey and the wax provides a protective, antimicrobial barrier.
I spoke with the vet at Cornell this afternoon and since Ramsey is doing well and is no longer in pain, he is cleared to get more exercise as long as I can keep the foot clean and dry. That is a challenge in this miserable weather and my search for waterproof footwear continues. His Build-a-Bear shoes aren't up to the standing water and the snow storm expected this weekend. I'll figure something out though, it is high time that Ramsey get to go out and be a baby donkey now and then.
I have been treating the large hole in his hoof with a product called Equisilver with very good results. This is a chelated silver solution and, while I had never heard of this product prior to Ramsey's surgery, I was glad to see it when I was presented with it at Cornell. I have had near miraculous results using silver solutions on bad and non-healing wounds in the past.
I was even more intrigued by this product as it is labeled as a respiratory treatment for respiratory infections and allergies. I spoke with the vet at Cornell about it and he said they have been having excellent results as both a wound treatment and respiratory therapy. I intend to talk with my own allergy doctor about it, if it can do miracles for horses with chronic breathing problems, it ought to be able to help me.
As I hope you can see, the wound in the hoof is clean, dry and showing some healthy tissue growth.
The extremely painful blistering around his coronet band and his heel bulbs is also healing. While it still looks rather awful and is sensitive, it is no longer terribly painful to him and there is some nice healthy tissue appearing there as well. It would really benefit from some time in the open air, but that still isn't an option. I have been using some of my homemade beeswax salve on it recently and that seems to be helping. It moisturizes without being gooey and the wax provides a protective, antimicrobial barrier.
I spoke with the vet at Cornell this afternoon and since Ramsey is doing well and is no longer in pain, he is cleared to get more exercise as long as I can keep the foot clean and dry. That is a challenge in this miserable weather and my search for waterproof footwear continues. His Build-a-Bear shoes aren't up to the standing water and the snow storm expected this weekend. I'll figure something out though, it is high time that Ramsey get to go out and be a baby donkey now and then.
Tuesday, December 18, 2012
Sweet Talker
The weather here has been of the extremely dreary and wet variety, very unusual for December in NY. I am glad we don't have snow, but the mud is unspeakable. Emma and Ramsey don't even want to poke their noses out of the barn, which is just as well as I have yet to come up with a suitably waterproof hoof boot for Ramsey. I was thinking about a motorcycle-tire-tube, but I haven't figured out the proper size. My one foray into motorcycle shopping did not work out so well. Anybody know what size tube will fit a bandaged baby-donkey foot? The bottom of the foot is about 2x3". Any input would be welcome.
The mud and the drear has all of us hunkered down with not much happening. However, I did finally manage to get a little video of Gabe talking to me. Gabe talks a lot, but every time I point the camera at him, he stops. Generally, he starts talking to me as soon as I step outside every morning and he keeps it up until breakfast is forthcoming, which often takes about half an hour. Unfortunately, for the poor, big doofus, his voice can only be described as cute, bordering on adorable.
My good friend KC got to enjoy one of his serenades a couple of months ago and was charmed. She tried to capture it on her camera-phone, but, as usual, the big lug quit as soon as he had any attention focused on him. I finally managed to capture a bit and I am posting this for her as she is also suffering from the drear at the moment. Turn your volume up and try to ignore the horrific mud.
The mud and the drear has all of us hunkered down with not much happening. However, I did finally manage to get a little video of Gabe talking to me. Gabe talks a lot, but every time I point the camera at him, he stops. Generally, he starts talking to me as soon as I step outside every morning and he keeps it up until breakfast is forthcoming, which often takes about half an hour. Unfortunately, for the poor, big doofus, his voice can only be described as cute, bordering on adorable.
My good friend KC got to enjoy one of his serenades a couple of months ago and was charmed. She tried to capture it on her camera-phone, but, as usual, the big lug quit as soon as he had any attention focused on him. I finally managed to capture a bit and I am posting this for her as she is also suffering from the drear at the moment. Turn your volume up and try to ignore the horrific mud.
For you KC!
Sunday, December 16, 2012
Sunday Stills - Pets (and contest winners)
This week's challenge (for the the fourth anniversary of Sunday Stills) is 'pets'. I know, every week is pet week around here right? Regardless, this is what I came up with Saturday afternoon...
And for those who have been anxiously waiting to hear who the winners of my fudge giveaway are, Emma and Ramsey have made their choices. We started with this...
I gave each little section a number, starting with 1 in the upper left and going clockwise to 14 in the lower left. Then I convinced the chooser to come check it out. Emma was distracted by her own breakfast and I had to convince my helper that he had an important job to do, he rose to the challenge admirably...
Looks like he has gone for the high end numbers. I had a list of 60 names and they showed up in my PayPal account on three separate pages so I took number 14 from the first page, 13 from the second and 12 from the third. What I came up with are:
But wait, we're not done yet, we need two more names from my list of comments. Here's where the excitement really starts (in fact, the excitement must have been too much for the videographer, because she goofed up and took photos instead of video. Oops).
This first result is quite clear, the nose is squarely on number three, which just happens to be Michaele from sprout 'n'wings farm.
The second choice...hmm, it could be a toss up. Looks like number five, but that upper lip looks to have crept over into 6...
Hold it, hold it! Number five is Mary Ann again!! That's it Mary Ann, I think you have got to send me a lottery ticket! I guess I will have to send you an extra chunk of fudge:).
With these somewhat questionable results however, we had better have a closer look at number 6...
Oh no! Number 6 claims not to LIKE fudge! (Hmmm, I suspect my friend Dougie Donk may be making a noble sacrifice, but who am I to argue?) What to do, what to do?
Well, it seems fairly clear that Emma has caught onto this scheme and is headed towards number 7. Lets go check....YES, 7 likes fudge! Seven it will be, and who is lucky number 7....why it's sheepmom from Knee Deep in Sheep.
Whew, that was a bit tricky there at the end, but I think we pulled it off (I hope). And Michaele, please get in touch with me so I can send you your prize. I think I have all the other addresses and I will try to send everything out tomorrow (just as long as I make it to the post office in time).
And for those who have been anxiously waiting to hear who the winners of my fudge giveaway are, Emma and Ramsey have made their choices. We started with this...
Looks like he has gone for the high end numbers. I had a list of 60 names and they showed up in my PayPal account on three separate pages so I took number 14 from the first page, 13 from the second and 12 from the third. What I came up with are:
- Mary Ann Y.
- Pamela R.
- Vicki W.
But wait, we're not done yet, we need two more names from my list of comments. Here's where the excitement really starts (in fact, the excitement must have been too much for the videographer, because she goofed up and took photos instead of video. Oops).
This first result is quite clear, the nose is squarely on number three, which just happens to be Michaele from sprout 'n'wings farm.
The second choice...hmm, it could be a toss up. Looks like number five, but that upper lip looks to have crept over into 6...
With these somewhat questionable results however, we had better have a closer look at number 6...
Oh no! Number 6 claims not to LIKE fudge! (Hmmm, I suspect my friend Dougie Donk may be making a noble sacrifice, but who am I to argue?) What to do, what to do?
Well, it seems fairly clear that Emma has caught onto this scheme and is headed towards number 7. Lets go check....YES, 7 likes fudge! Seven it will be, and who is lucky number 7....why it's sheepmom from Knee Deep in Sheep.
Whew, that was a bit tricky there at the end, but I think we pulled it off (I hope). And Michaele, please get in touch with me so I can send you your prize. I think I have all the other addresses and I will try to send everything out tomorrow (just as long as I make it to the post office in time).
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