Pretty end to the day

This week has been, well, hell. Still on a 4 hour feeding schedule for the little girl and I have the 1am and 5am shifts. As many will know, I don't do well with less then 6 hours continuous sleep, so 3 hours here and alarm. 3 more hours, alarm. I'm barely functioning. Add in that every day this week after getting to work at 7am and leaving at 5pm, we have activities each night. 4-H meeting, 4-H dog obedience/4-H horse clinic(same night, lucky it was at the same place), makeup 4-H horse clinic, riding lessons/wash dogs, pack for show, leave for show.



Along the way a few mishaps but nothing we can't work through. Chickens escaping into the horse pasture-no biggy. Taking a mud caked clydesdale to the clinic, so we spent 20 mins in the wash stall taking a layer of gunk off her before the Ms worked her in the class. Late feeding on the little girl one night. Another girl going in season. Dogs killing anothe duck(lucky it was a cayuga that I'm trying to get rid of--FYI--four 2 yr old cayugas free to a good home! dog trained and easy to work with)

So on the way to the horse clinic tonight, this is how the day was ending. Peaceful and beautiful. I think the week is going just fine now.

Later gators....
C

Lickity spit....

That's what you get when you lick a toad.

I found said toad, surrounded by five cardigans. They were taking turns licking it, then it would bounce around a little, get licked and well, Alec ended up saving it. Off to the poultry yard it went.

Frank then spent the next five minutes in the pool rinsing his mouth out.

Later gators...
C

Sleep, who needs sleep?

Puppies always create a wrinkle in your schedule. Last year the Dirty Dozen were not exception, especially when you had round the clock supplemental feeding of 12 puppies when Mom was having a hard time keeping up with demand. That lasted about 2 weeks and then we were good. This time around, it's just one, but it's every four hours for our little girl.

Good news is that she gained about an ounce and has held it for 24 hours. The common thought between my two vets and others is that even with her hefty brothers seeming full term, she was just a little too early to this world. Here's how she takes a nap using Mom as a pillow....

I finally got the litter page up on the website, please let me know if there's any links not working. And more photos to post in the next few days, I promise!

Later gators....

C

Have cooler will travel!

For those of you doggie people, this has many meanings. For us, during this time of year with puppies on the ground, it means the ultimate form of transportation for those newborns. I
learned it from a good friend years ago.

Simply put, you line it with towels or bedding of choice, put in the heat pad or warming item, close the lid and let it "perk". When ready to move puppies-say to the vet for dewclaws or like last night, under the stairs as the funnel cloud flew over the house, load puppies, prop open the lid and it keeps them warm and safe.

So you just did the double take and re-read that line-funnel cloud.....yeap, Iowa weather, gotta love it!

Out working with the horses, getting bridle paths clipped, trimming a few wayward hooves and then hell came down in the form of pelting rain. It didn't end there! Dime sized hail. Horses come running back from the lower paddock. But no, Moo and the Clydes stand out in it getting nailed by the hail. Phoenix and Rio are in the loafing shed, flinching at the sound of the ice hitting the roof. Torey in the stall getting more and more paniced as the noise gets louder. Then it turns to golfball sized and keeps going for 5 mins! The ground was a solid sheet of round ice balls. Finally let Torey loose, they all sprint to the mid pasture area and you can see them flinching with each piece of hail-no way will they come in as the noise is so great that we can't hear each other scream.

Hail stops. We have a 20 sec discussion on checking chickens, ducks and windshields. And the look up to see rotation. It was dash to the house, dogs down stairs, puppies in a cooler and under the stairs with the Ms who has Merlot and Clairee on lead with her.

Did you know that 911 puts you on hold to transfer to weather service? No hold music either. So rotation turns to debris when it starts to touch down 1/4 mile away at the intersection. Didn't last long. I'm still on hold, btw. Then I get weather service, give my address, she says thank you, take cover and hangs up on me. By this time we are out of the path. Two of the counties sirens. are near us, 1 is 1 mile south, the other is a 1/2 mile north. I hear nothing. See nothing on the TV. Good job weather service!

5 mins after our call, warning issued for areas east of the Hwy from us. Dobbler indicated hook. Hello??? Did I not just say I saw it? Sirens go off and I plop my tushy in the easy chair and call my mother to see if she's in her safe spot and to tell her not to worry, it's already past us and them.

Then the 80 mph straight line winds come. Pushes water up through the roof cap and we get a leak through the center seam of the house. No biggy, been there done that before. Now we are wondering what we will find when Oz finishes landing in Linn County.

About 30 mins later it lets up enough for us to take a quick lookie, chickens-check, ducks-check, oh s**t, it starts pouring again and the lightening is unreal! So back to the barn for 15 more minutes. Recheck chickens-3 massively wet ones who bunked down with the ducks during the storm. Fence held. Agility equipment safe and in one piece. Peonies-flat. Indigo-flat. Cup plant-battered, again, poor thing. Pick up a few buckets, stand up the hibiscus. No smashed vehicle windows. But the roof of the barn looks like the dimples on a golf ball. Some decent dents in the hood of the truck and roof of the big tow.

Let's take a swing around the neighborhood to see if anyone has damage and needs help. Some wind damage in our corn field. Big trees down in the timber. Then swing up to the Hwy.

The four lane Hwy is getting resurfaced right now. From Cty Hm Rd up past Central City, about a 7 mile stretch. 1/2 of the north bound lanes are done, so center drop off and cones, lots and lots of cones. Add in 80 mph winds and well, get the picture? Cars are going 15 mph dodging 7 miles of turned over construction signs, cones, barrels and well, anything else that got moved. It was actually funny weaving in and out, over the center bump and such. We were all giggling as we got back to the house. What can you do but laugh?

I turned off the a/c, opened up the windows, feed puppy, and crashed. Almost slept through the 1am alarm as I was in such a nice deep sleep. And it's still raining this morning. Oh joy-wet dogs. I think I need to stock another cooler with adult beverages for nights just like this!

Later gators,
C


***update: okay, so it looks as though I was wrong. Alec found a crack in the windshield of the Big Tow this morning. Off to the insurance agency we go.......

First photo

Not the best photo, camera is doing something goofy. I'll try to get a little better photo of each tonight. You can see in the upper right a little butt with a dog on it? That's the little girl, who from reports from the home front this afternoon, is still holding her own. Da'boys, huge. Just huge I say!

Later gators...
C

Sorry for the delay.....

But we have puppy chaos in our home. I promise, photos will be posted as soon as I get a nap or several naps.

We have 5 lovely puppies. Yes the xrays were wrong and the reason---huge babies. I had planned a c-section for Merlot on Friday and good thing. She would have never have been able to pass these guys. 13.5, 14,15,15.5 oz. And that's all boys folks. Yes, 4 boys, 1 little girl who is 8 oz. We are struggling with her as she doesn't want to nurse, but is a willing bottle feeder. So there's the reason for my need for a nap.

And the funniest part-all black and white, no mismarks. Not a blue in sight. Go figure. None of the puppies have visable points at this time, though they should only have brindle ones. Deep dark black, loads of chrome.

2 of the boys hit 1 lb yesterday and no doubt all are there today. Unfortunately I had to go back to work and left the Ms and Alec in charge of the puppies today. Ms Merlot is doing very well though Saturday she was still looking at me with a "you want me to clean up what?" Good momma though.

Photos later!

Later gators.....
C

It's official!

No, not puppies, yet. But just as good if not better! Russ is officially a Grand Champion! AKC finally got their act together and updated results. Though they are still one day behind on getting Pete's title posted. Till then, how about a photo?

Later gators...

C