Back In The Saddle

Mourning is officially over, for everyone except Pony Boy. He usually just carts around little children and gets rewarded with buckets of carrots and sweet feed, but he was a good sport today. He even put up with lots of hugs and kisses.

nothing like that pony/puppy smell

His bridle was dusty and needed a little polishI needed to walk over to the mounting block to climb on my 12 hand steed.

Double wide

I thought it would be fun to round up the Longhorns, but changed my mind…..

git along little doggies

After 14 years of smiling for the camera, our little pony has it down pat.

Smile for the camera!

Fast Eddie the super tortoise wanted to join us on our trail ride.

Wanna come?

We rode the fence-line and the weather could not have been more perfect.

Flower power

Miss Piggy was content to hear all about it when we got back to the barn.

what did I miss?????

Everybody got extra treats to celebrate the awesome day……once again I feel like I am living the dream.

Talk To The Hoof

When Mini Mac was taking a rest, Fast Eddie finally had a chance to get a close look at his hooves without taking a chance of getting stepped on.He thought that they looked like little tortoises. Now they have something in common…….Say a prayer for Mini Mac, even with this drought, he is confined to a pen to lose a few pounds and is not too happy.

If you’re happy and you know it….

……blog about it

Here’s a GREAT blog with great photography and writing. I’m busy painting.

Check it out  click HERE

Parting Is Such Sweet Sorrow

 

I promise I will bring plenty of cookies!!!!!

Any one who has pets knows how difficult it is to be away from them. I had a panic attack before we left the last time, imagining all sorts of afflictions that they would suffer, not to mention the possible trauma they would inflict upon their caretakers. The four dogs were in heaven at their grandmother’s house running in and out of the house and barking non stop for five days. The goats, sheep,tortoise, ducks, cats, horses and Miss Piggy were in great hands here at home with Tiffany our priceless vet tech house sitter. I think they just might be a tad bit spoiled, though, I don’t know how this happened, but I didn’t want to burden Tiff with their usual feeding schedule.  A typical morning starts off with either waffles,pancakes,bagels with cream cheese  or all three for Miss Piggy and the sheep and goats. The horses get their sweet feed and manage to drop a few crumbs on the ground for the ducks and Miss Piggy. The cats get fed every time I walk out the door and I always put a few handfuls out for  Miss Piggy. By then it’s time for peanut butter and jelly sandwiches that Miss Piggy shares with whoever wants them, followed by carrots for all the critters. So you can understand why I wouldn’t expect anyone to stick to this routine when I am gone and this is just the morning ritual, dinner time gets complicated. I realized how much they  missed me the first time we left for a week. I went out for a morning run our first day back and looked behind me to see all four goats/sheep jogging along behind me. A few paces back, Miss Piggy was doing her pot bellied best to keep up. I figured they would stop at the gate, but they stuck with me for over a mile. I decided to turn around and take them home. Later in the day, I planned to take just a quick trip into town, but my efforts were useless when a herd of ponies surrounded my  truck. Every way I turned they were there herding me back towards the feed room. Was I paranoid or was it  a conspiracy to keep them  from missing a meal.  I was a little leery  when we returned from our trip to Chicago in June. This was the longest time that we had left them in quite a while, what were they going to do this time? As I learned last time….they have ways to make us stay! I jumped into the truck and promised them that I was only going to the feed store, possibly the bakery and then I would be right back. Thinking they were convinced I started to drive away, Bridgett was smirking at me from beside the barn, the horses were grazing and trying to look nonchalant. What is up? I thought. I soon discovered why when I realized my left rear tire was flatter than the pancakes that Miss Piggy had for breakfast…..I didn’t need to see dental records to identify the perfect underbite marks that pierced the rubber…….

How To Lose A Pig In Ten Days

Starring Will Feral…….

 

mud,mud,mud....I love mud

The plan was for us to be pig sitting for a few days, but it took longer for our friend Eddie and his family to build a pen substantial enough to secure this guy. “Bacon” became very comfortable in the barn and he had it all to himself. I turned it into a piggy paradise, making sure that he had all his favorite treats and plenty of mud. Filling up his buckets of slop and cleaning out his wading pool became a work out I guess you could call Piglates. When it came time for him to go home, I put his food, water and toys in the trailer, but I think because it was obvious how much I loved hanging out with him, he figured I really didn’t want him to go. Eddie, his dad and I tried for hours on Saturday, with no luck. We discovered that if sufficiently poked and provoked, a domesticated pig can revert to a ferocious feral hog in a matter of minutes. Finally on Sunday, Tom was able to lure him into the trailer using a trail of waffles. These were the same waffles that I had tried, except that when I said go I really meant NO and when Tom said GO he really meant GO!!!!!

Welcome to the Ranch

Well, the best way to welcome a stranger is by serving up a home cooked meal, but it’s too hot to cook and I suck as a cook anywaybut you can’t go wrong with a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and some cold french fries. This is one of Miss Piggy’s favorites, so we thought it would be a hit with our week-end guest, Baconcito.

He definitely loved it! 

He kind of reminds me of a chubby Labrador Retriever. We actually have a deed restriction that excludes pigs from the neighborhood, but he is a Lab….that’s my story and I’m stickin’ to it.

 

Velvet and Sunrise

Velvet and Sunny have been racing around the barn like they’ve never seen a pig, I mean dog before. I’m sure they will be great friends in no time. After all they only have “a few days” to get to know each other!

Being that he is such a handsome dude and Miss Piggy is such a cute puppy herself….I have a feeling that if they do have the good fortune to meet, this is what they are gonna see!!!!

 

Happy 4th of July 2009!!!!!

Let’s celebrate our butts off, America!!!!!!!   Today is a blessed and awesome day ! Happy 4th of July 2009

Mr. Piggy

Miss Piggy always wanted a friend, even a bucket or ball or any object that was her shape would hold her interest until it sadly rolled away. I’m sure she has forgotten that she is a pig. I was just making her yummy pancakes this morning when Eddie, one of Peyton’s best friends called. “It’s Eddie” Peyton said. “He wants to bring bacon over. They are on their way” How sweet, I thought, but why would he be bringing us breakfast. ” Remember, Mom, “Bacon” the pig that he asked you to keep “for a few days” until they can build a pen?” Oh, right. I went to feed Miss Piggy, there was nothing I could say to prepare her for this, but I needed to tell Tom and I wondered how many times he had heard the  line “just for a few days”. A little while later Eddie and his dad drove up pulling a short little trailer with an adorable squealing, large hog ready to bust through the sides. “Well we agreed to take this pig, but Eddie was expecting a cute little Babe or Wilbur” his dad confided. We opened the trailer not knowing if he would bolt for the hills, but he walked right into the barn and as they say in those sappy love stories………..right into my heart. Now after a welcoming treat of carrots and cream cheese coffee cake, I think that he loves me, too. If the name Bacon has any literal meaning, he will be staying here until pigs fly and I know just where to hide him if they start planning a luau.

Feeling down? Talk to the Clown

Yeah, it happens to the jolliest of us all.  Even living in paradise on earth, sometimes you just need to go somewhere quiet and be alone. I was trying to escape  the other day and hide out for a few minutes, just to absorb all the ups and downs of the last few weeks, without upsetting the dogs and Miss Piggy.  So I blinked back a few tears and walked over to  the barn to be in a crappy mood for a while. As usual our resident clown saw me coming and was prepared to uplift my mood and make me forget anything but his silly self. Here he was herding our 80 pound tortoise across the pasture

Move along little doggie

When the farrier came later in the day to trim hooves, he felt obligated to hand him his tools and accidently dropped a heavy metal object on his foot. When I had securely locked a filly into her stall, he managed to set her free to run around playing hard to catch for the next 30 minutes. I swear it must be a conspiracy to make me happy!!!!! I LOVE you RUSS!!!!!!

Miss Piggy

I’m not sure how old our Miss Piggy is in people years, but I think she must be a teenager around 15. She is still sweet and polite, but she is sporting a radical new hair style, a MOHAWK and I am wondering what comes next. I’ve read that even these innocent little pot-bellied pigs can transform into feral hogs in a matter of weeks! Has she met her dream Javelin while rooting around the fields? Will I see her with a family of marrinitos? No, I think she is happy to slop here at the Rockin’ P. Besides she would never give up  her treats from Grandmother……

Just Something Silly To Lighten Things Up A Bit

I love all animals, duh! Bugs, included, scorpions not so much, but I am more a dog and pony person rather than a cat in my face person. Tom especially could live without them, especially inside ones. But  anything that reminds us of Daddy Bub is gladly welcome in our house. In this case a really spoiled cat named Kirby. We brought her home last December and she fit in just great, litter box and all. To keep the dogs from stealing her food, I kept her bowl on the bed side table. She would reach up to get a bite several times a night until she realized it was much easier to wake me up so that I could put the bowl on the bed beside me and give her a massage while she ate. Just fine until we went out of town for a few days. Now she has to be on the pillow next to me or on me with her bowl next to her all night. Last night, I forgot about the bowl and tipped it into my face. Luckily I was able to scoop most of it back into her bowl without even waking Tom.