The Daily Journal

We Got Six Inches of Snow This Morning

2008-06-11T11:04:00.003-06:00

Please not the date: June 11th. That's right. Mid June. Just wanted to make sure we were all clear on that.

Even in Austrailia

2008-06-02T01:25:00.003-06:00

One of my favorite kids stories has always been Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day. This week I have found myself appreciating that book even more than normal. Especially the part where Alexander decides the only way to deal with his terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day, is to move to Australia. I'm right there with him. My bags are packed.

Its actually been a whole bad week, not just one day. I'm coming up on three months running the ranch by myself since Dave had to move back to Chicago for a job. We've only been able to bring him home once in that time. I knew running a remote horse ranch by myself would be challenging - especially given the health problems I've been battling again. But I set myself up to meeting this challenge and I have met it well. I've kept the ranch running, the animals healthy and the business thriving. I like challenges. And I don't mind fighting tooth and nail to hold onto the life I want if I have to.

But its taken a lot of fighting. We are still recovering from the damage done by a storm that hit last fall. We couldn't make any real progress until the snow melted and we could see the extent of the problems. And they are extensive. I've had to replace fencing in almost every pasture, removed trees and debris and get very creative about how to contain 20+ horses while we work to fix the damage.

When spring finally got here, I thought moving out of this record snow year would see things ease up a bit. But instead of relenting, things got harder. Breeding season started and I had five mares show up at once. Normally this isn't a problem, but this year, with so many pastures out of commission, and mud season making other pastures highly unpleasant, its taken a daily juggling act to make sure that all the horses have safe, secure places to stay, and still get a little room to run. Then three of the mares came into heat at once (two for Ryder, once for Chance) and all of them stayed in for 8 days. So for 8 days I have been breeding three mares per day (mostly in the pouring rain) as well as keeping up with repairs, moving the fencing along, careing for the horses and doing everything else I do around here in the spring.

By the time the last of these three mares went out of heat, I was exhausted. I hoped to rest a bit, as my next mares aren't due to come in for at least another week. Another week and Dave comes home for his second visit. He'll stay 12 days. And the day after he gets here, Karen and Aud come out. They are as good at running this ranch as I am and they are staying for 20 days this year. So I have had my eye set on just needing to get through one more week and then I would have reinforcements. But boy, the week this has been. I've got three more days to go before Dave gets here and I am about ready to join Alexander and move to Australia.

First its been raining for two weeks straight. Pouring rain for about 6 days in a row, then raining on and off - mostly on. As usual, spring rain brings mud and that makes it a challenge just to walk into many of these pastures, much less bring feed to everyone and keep everyone healthy and semi-dry. So my week of rest is turning into a challenge, just getting the normal daily chores done.

Then I was checking a mare against the stallion and the stallion reared up and landed on my foot. So, while I don't think anything is broken, it still hurts a great deal to walk, even 5 days later. This has not made things any easier, as most of my job does, in fact, involve some measure of walking.

And, of course, there is the inevitable day when I was exhausted, it was pouring rain and I took some shortcuts while breeding one of my mares (funny how I always remember to follow all the appropriate procedures with other people's mares, but when I am working with horses I know well, it is easy to forget all the steps). For probably the first time in my breeding career I didn't put on my helmet (the mare and stallion were both easy breeders and I just didn't expect any trouble). And as I was walking the stallion to the mare, I forgot the number one rule of breeding - never take the stallion for granted. This particular stallion is young and amiable (this is his first breeding season) and I've raised him from a colt. One of the easiest stallions I've ever bred. So, being tired anyway, I didn't pay attention to him as he followed along behind me. At least, not until I realized that he had gotten so happy to see the mare he had reared up and was coming down on top of me.

Both his hooves hit me in the head and the rest of his body landed on me. I rolled out from under him and I actually knew right away that I wasn't hurt. He clearly didn't mean to hurt me and had pulled his punches when he realized I was there. Came down remarkably gently and stood there looking ashamed with his head hanging. I didn't even have a lump on my head or much of a lasting head ache. But it was a rather alarming experience which only served to point out to me that I was a lot less alert than I normally let myself become around the horses.

Then, later that day one of my yearlings was bitten by a tick with some nasty venom in him and we spent most of the evening working to pull him through the effects of that. I worked with him for two days, making sure he was recovering and in a pasture that was safe. And I worried about him a lot. I finally let him out Friday afternoon to join his buddies in the big pasture. He needed to get some exercise if he was to build his damaged muscles back up. But he got himself stuck on the wrong side of a creek and in trying to get back, fell into a small ditch. I spent about 2 hours working on getting him up, but he was trapped against the hillside and couldn't seem to get his balance right enough to do it.

I finally resorted to the one thing I knew would motivate him more than anything else. I went and got his pasture-mates and led them all to him. They came rushing over and Chance nudged him, pulled on his halter and did everything he could to get him up. But that didn't work any better than my ministrations (as I had expected it wouldn't). So then I led his pasture-mates away.

Thats about the biggest motivation you can give a horse. Especially a young one. He watched his buddies leaving him and fought with everything he had. Finally pulled himself up and trotted after us. I turned to go to him, intending to lead him quickly back to his safe little pen, when the rest of the horses caught sight of him. They were so excited to see him up, they all rushed at him, racing around him in a big explosion of stud-colt excitement. Again, not paying nearly the attention I would normally pay in the presence of so many young stallions, I did not process my danger quickly enough to get out of there. I found myself in the midst of the whole rioting herd as a couple of the two-year-old stallions suddenly decided to lunge at each-other. These guys are all great friends, but as stud colts, their play is very physical. And they have moments of sudden anger at each-other which results in one of them them challenging another and can get rather rough. Or at least, it can if you are standing in between them.

One of the young stallions lunged at the other and hit me, hard, in the side of the head. He threw me about 10 feet, through the midst of the whole wild heard as they reared and jumped and basically raced around their newly returned friend. I rolled out from under the crowd and got myself away, then scattered them in order to get them all calmed down.

He hit me pretty hard and I was covered in mud and still in the back pasture. It took me about 30 minutes to get my youngster to his pen and make sure he was safe and sound, then get myself up to the house to assess the damage. Eventually decided I needed to get to a hospital to get checked out. My sister drove up from Missoula and picked me up, since I didn't think I ought to drive.

The side of my head was pretty swollen and painful to the touch, but the doctor was pretty sure it was just surface damage. Nothing serious. Still, I was in the hospital until 1am and then had to be woken up every two hours for the rest of the night to check for signs of a problem. I stayed at my sister's and she drove me home today. I got home about five o'clock.

I was really glad to get back to the ranch and hoped to tuck myself into my bed and get some rest. But I checked on the horses first, and discovered that Echo's milk had turned white. There was a good chance she could birth tonight. This is two weeks early and she usually goes right on time and with everything else going on right now, I had not gotten my birthing supplies ready, didn't have a single stall that was not under water and hadn't even implanted the foal alert monitor in her yet. So I set about doing all that with an aching head in the middle of one of the heavies rain storms I have seen since moving out here.

I picked a stall and dug drainage around it to get the water out. Moved some straw into it and made a nice bed. Did a minor surgical procedure to implant the foal alarm in echo's vulva and then tucked her into the stall. Managed to get soaked to the bone and covered in mud, but I got it done and went inside to bed. Or I had hoped to go to bed. Actually, I laid there for two hours expecting the foal alarm to go off at any moment, until I finally realized that I wasn't going to be able to relax enough to sleep. Then I got up to do some work on my computer. Its 2:30 in the morning and I am thinking about trying to sleep again.

I've got three days before I get some help in here - three more days of running this ranch on my own before Dave comes home and Karen and Aud are here. Then I'll have folks around through most of the summer, so I ought to have plenty of help. All I have to do is get to Thursday. But there have been a number of times this week when I have thought that Thursday is much too far away. Those last three days seem like an awful lot to ask.

In the book about Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day, he eventually decides that everybody has bad days, no matter where they are, and it wont do any good to run away to Australia. But I don't know. At this point I think I might give it a try.

Tick Paralysis

2008-05-28T18:13:00.004-06:00

I learned about a horse illness I had never heard of this week - tick paralysis. Strikes horses, cattle and dogs. It can be caused by a single tick getting itself attached to your animal. If the tick happens to have a particularly nasty poison in its system, one tick can poison a horse all by itself - cause paralysis and loss of motor function. If it is not caught and treated in time, the paralysis will stop the breathing or the heart and the animal will die.

I looked out into my pasture one evening this week. One of the yearlings was laying down. Would have thought nothing of it (they lay down all the time), except that I happen to look out as he was struggling to rise. And it was immediately apparent that something was wrong.

He looked like a new-born foal trying to get up. He would get two feet under him, then flop over before he could get the others where he wanted them. I rushed out there, expecting to find a leg injury of some sort, but there was nothing obviously wrong. Except that he was also clearly not right. He looked dazed and nothing I did seemed to allow him to get his legs under him long enough to stand.

I put in a call to the vet and then sent my mom to get some neighbors. I still assumed it was a leg injury and that we would have to find some way to get him out of this pasture and into a vet clinic for ex rays and treatment. Of course, he was in the most remote pasture we've got, in a spot that required crossing at least three creeks to get to. There would be no getting a truck out to him. My only thought was to round up enough of my neighbors that we could carry him out - all 500-600 lbs of him.

My neighbors responded immediately and came to help. At one point we had five adults and 4 kids out there in the field with him. He was shaking and his breathing was ragged, so we ran to the house for blankets. Stripped a half dozen blankets off my bed and had all the kids carry them out to him while I mixed up some mare's milk replacer, and vitamins and put it all in a bottle.

I got back out there to find him covered in blankets and surrounded by people who were talking to him and petting him and generally fussing all over him. He had stopped shaking and now he just looked weak. His eyes weren't quite so glazed. I had the kids help me feed him from the bottle I had mixed up and as his strength began to come back, I sent them to the barn for a bucket of straight grain. Soon he was gobbling that up as quickly as we could give it to him. The kids held handfuls of it next to his mouth (he still couldn't sit up normally, so we fed him on his side) and he ate the whole bucket.

We managed to get him up at one point and it was clear he was not at all able to walk. It was as if he couldn't figure out which was was up - he just wobbled and fell over. It was about then that I started to realize it wasn't a leg injury - that it looked a lot more like poison. Something was affecting his brain or his motor skills. But I had no idea what could do this to him. We keep our fields well free of poisonous plants and there is nothing else around that I knew of that could cause this kind of reaction in a horse.

The vet got there right as we were debating the best way to carry a 500 lb animal over three creeks and 20 acres of marshy land to get him somewhere safe. I met her as she walked across the field and told her I was suspecting that this was not a leg injury at all, but some sort of poison. She said that what I described sounded like classic tick paralysis.

I had never heard of that. It only takes one tick, she explained. If the tick has something in its system that is bad enough to poison the horse, it can kill it. The only way to reverse the problem is to remove the tick.

Of course, searching for a tick on an animal that big isn't always easy. But then, that wasn't what she did. She just gave him a shot of Ivermectin - the same thing we use ever few months to worm our horses with, but in a more quick acting form. She said it could take up to 12 hours, but often it worked in 15 minutes. We stood around and waited. 15 minutes later, our little guy shook himself and stood up. A few false starts and he managed it. He was wobbling, but clearly vastly improved. We spent a half hour out there making sure he could walk. And we went around and treated all the other horses with Ivermectin just to be safe. I watched him for most of the evening and, while he clearly didn't stand or walk normally, he did stand and he did walk.

Its been about four days since then and he is still a little shaky. Apparently it takes a while for all the swelling to go down and his spine to return to normal. I have him in a smaller pasture so I can keep a closer eye on him and I spend some time with him every day, just fussing over him and making sure he is still improving. Most likely he will recover completely and be none the worse for wear. And I am reading everything I can about this odd illness which I had never heard of before.

Ducks

2008-05-09T18:47:00.000-06:00

Okay, so I adopted two baby ducks shortly after Easter. Typical of the season, someone bought them for their kids to enjoy on Easter morning but three days later were tired of them. They dumped them at a vet clinic and the vet clinic called me.

They are Peking ducks - my favorite kind, but also a kind that is hard pressed to survive up here. They were bred strictly for meat and they have been striped of any ability to survive int he wild. They are bright white (so much so that they almost glow int he dark), they can't fly and they walk slowly, they grow so easily and quickly that their body often becomes too much for their legs and if they live to their full growth, they are likely to have crippled legs. But I really like these ducks, so I took them in and decided to give them a try at a life.

I raised them in the house in a crate in the living room. Once they got old enough I would draw them a bath every evening and let them swim around in the tub for a while. And three times per day I made them big bowls of salad and fresh vegetables, all soaked in a pot of water (becuase they love to look for food in the water). They never got very people-friendly (smart ducks) but I enjoyed them immensely. When they got too big for the crate, I moved them to the chicken house which has a bit of protection.

They've done great outside and I figured they were happier there -they never did get calm around me (though they learned to call to me if I slept in too late and didn't make their salad at a reasonable hour). But I miss them in the house. I guess I am lonely without Dave here, and I do worry about them outside. So a couple nights ago I walked down towards the barn one evening to check on them. They took one look at me and started squawking desperately and rushing towards me. Followed me right up to the house and in the front door.

Yes, I did let them in the front door. (I mentioned I was lonely, right). I made them their salad and they ate it so quickly I ended up making them two more before bedtime. Then they settled down by the wood stove and slept happily through the night. In the morning I let them out the front door and started cleaning duck poop off of everything (it is amazing how much two ducks can poop...)

The next night they showed up at the front door all on their own. This time I took the precaution of putting down some old sheets and arranging things so that they would be confined to the kitchen so they couldn't do so much damage to my carpets. In the morning, when I let them out again, I just picked up the sheets (COMPLETELY poop soaked) and put them in the washer. And so we've been doing things for about three weeks.

So here's the problem: I have a lot of guests around here during the summer. My mom was here a few days ago and she had her dog with her (who did not take ducks in the house with quite the equanimity my dogs seem to). And my dad and Ruth are coming next week. And after that we have three months straight of guests. Somehow I don't think I can keep letting the ducks in every night - its just too messy and too much work. And not everyone is quite so... fond of pushy, ornery ducks as I am.

Also, I have a lot to do around here. And some days I am really struggling to keep up. Its not like I NEED the added work of cleaning up after ducks every morning or the added hassle of blocking off my kitchen and plastering it with old sheets every evening (you would not believe the variety of surfaces ducks can get their poop on). So I think I have to stop letting them in. And maybe they'd be just as happy if I just made them a salad and left it outside every night... (but that's another problem - we are trying to be very money conscious and salad and fresh veggies cost a LOT. For the past month, I haven't eaten any fresh food myself because I have been saving it all for them...)

Two nights ago I didn't let them in. But last night I did - they just make me happy. I like their company. But what am I going to do tonight? And for the rest of their lives? I can't let them in forever. I simply can't. Their poop is really awful. And if anyone ever tells you it is possible to make a diaper for a duck, don't you believe them. I have tried everything and it simply doesn't work. Their tails are too big, too strong... well, just take my word for it. It just doesn't work.

So now I am trying to decide what to do about them. Haven't figured it out yet. Anybody have any good ideas?

Friday May 9, 2008

2008-05-09T18:01:00.000-06:00

Had two neighbors work with me for 6 hours today getting all the fallen trees out of the goat barn pasture. We cleared about 40 trees that were knocked down at the beginning of the winter and that took out all our fencing in that pasture. All exhausted but the amount of work we did was great. I very much hope that on Monday we can move on to clearing the old fencing and getting a new fence up. I just finished with one outside mare and have three more coming this week. We need the extra space!

May 2, 2008

2008-05-02T21:25:00.000-06:00

Beautiful, sunny day and the ground is drying fast, snow is melting fast. If this keeps up we will have almost no mud season to speak of!

Tried to breed Ryder and the visiting mare this morning but Ryder couldn't get his timing right. Kept belling before he could get in. Finally put them both in stalls alone and gave them a few hours to think about it. Came back and had no problem at all. Went smoothly. I've bred this mare each day she has been in heat and expect her to go out soon. Pleased with how her breeding is proceeding. Pleased that I am getting this job done so well with only me here to do it.

Moved a few horses around. Got a few fences worked on. Got the electric up and going. All is well at the ranch!

May 1, 2008

2008-05-02T20:20:00.000-06:00

Seems like spring has finally shown up. As of the past three days, the snow is melting. Creek has jumped its banks and there is lots and lots of mud, but not as bad as most years so far. Temperatures are in the 30's getting up higher every few days.

Started my first breeding client of the year. Did the breeding by myself yesterday and it went well. No one here to help this year, so I am glad I have the routine down well enough to handle on my own.

Fences down in the back 20 today - Jared is here fixing that. Had hoped to get him going on a different project, but seems like there is always upkeep needed that takes precedence!

Echo and Cowboy got themselves over a deep part of the creek (Echo so she could be near Ryder, Cowboy because he is in love with Echo...). They couldn't get themselves back the way they had come - I left them on this little island of dry for two days, hoping they would get up the motivation to jump the creek back the other way. Finally went out and forced Cowboy across, getting myself dunked up to my waste in the process. Didn't want to force Echo the same way, as it was pretty deep and she is pretty pregnant. So I coxed her closer to Ryder's pasture and took her through a gate into there (couldn't do that with Cowboy unless I moved Ryder out, as they would have fought). All was well until Cowboy got so panicked that Echo was going in with Ryder that he JUMPED THE CREEK AGAIN and got himself suck on the little island of dry AGAIN. I finally just fed him there.

Am breeding today and moving some horses. Fixing fence. All pretty normal spring around here.

April 15, 2008

2008-04-15T09:37:00.000-06:00

We have melt! Just a little bit, but under all the snow, I can see the outline of the pond for the first time in 6 months, and the creek has begun to jump its bank. I figure this has to mean spring is on its way...

April 1, 2008

2008-04-14T09:42:00.000-06:00

Well, here is the ranch on this first day of April...

Does it look like spring to you? I am sure it should be spring. Or at the very least not still this much winter. There's still a solid 2 feet of snow covering everything. And we got 5 new inches last night. Ah well. Its beautiful!

Dave and I are both doing surprisingly well with this new adventure. He moved to Chicago three weeks ago and started a new job there. I am on the ranch alone, but am able to hire some good, consistent help, so I am actually handing things here easily. Dave loves the new job and we both have high hopes that he will get back here within a year.

I had a family come out for a week's vacation last week. Great folks with four kids - 6 months, 18 months, 4 years and 6 years. We did trail rides and some work with the kids on horses, getting them ready for their first horses on their new 40 acre place they just bought in Wyoming. The parents are both sixth grade teachers and I really enjoyed getting to know them and the kids.

Am selling horses like crazy right now. 6 youngsters sold last month. Four go out this week and the rest in a couple month.

So all in all, ranch life is great. But I do wish this winter thing would let go. I am ready to get out and ride and right now there is too much ice and snow up here to do it!

Daily Log

2008-02-19T18:28:00.000-07:00

Had a call today from a cowboy who runs a dude ranch 20 miles from here. Wanted to see what we have for sale. Really like him and his wife - good horse people. We may do a trade with them - 4 yearlings/weanlings (1 Rocky, 2 crosses and Cairo) for two young adult horses trained and ridden all summer. I think that would be a good deal for us and for him. Really pleased with the afternoon.

Daily Log

2008-02-18T19:30:00.000-07:00

Today has been a very Peopled-day. Four different groups of people came by to visit, including two groups who dropped by unannounced (a rather rare occurrence up this way!).

We had clients by in the morning, down from Canada to see Ryder and Chance (our little Chance is going to have a girlfriend this summer!). We had a really nice time with them and were settling down for some work around the house when a teenage boy showed up at the door. Turned out he was from the family who owns a cabin back behind us - we know them, but hadn't seen him in some years. His family was working on their cabin and he got board, so he dropped in to say hi. Ended up staying all afternoon playing Play Station games with Dave. Late afternoon, his parents came looking for him and they stayed around chatting for a bit.

We went out to feed the horses and fill water tanks (the ground level is now so high from all the snow pack that even though the creek runs and we keep a hole dug to it, the horses can't reach down to the level of the water - the hole is now too deep. So we fill tanks and crack ice each day.).

Just after coming back in, a car pulled up. A couple of neighbors stopped by for some chatting and computer information. We spent an hour talking with them, invited them to dinner later in the week, and sent them off.

Just after they left Sarah called to say she was coming over if we were up for it and...yep. I think I just heard her snowmobile pull in. She'll probably stay for dinner and we'll put in a movie, hear all about her new job, etc.

All-in-all a really nice day.

Monday January 21, 2008

2008-01-21T20:59:00.001-07:00

On Sat. evening our wood stove started spewing smoke all through the house. We were struggling to fix it until after midnight - finally had to remove the burning logs and throw them out on the lawn (at least our present 2 feet of snow keeps disposal of burning logs from being a problem - no fire danger there.)

We went to bed with no heater on, as our wood stove is our only source of heat. Sunday the temperatures dropped bellow zero. On Monday morning it was 29 below zero when I got up to feed. And we haven't had a working wood stove in two days.

Dave put in a heroic effort on Sunday and Monday keeping the house from dropping bellow freezing by keeping our fire place lit (a fire place does not heat a house, really, that job is left to a wood stove. But we did manage to use it to keep the temperatures around 50, so our pipes wouldn't freeze.) We were up at 5am this morning, trying more things to fix this problem, but just couldn't figure out what was wrong. Finally called every chimney sweep company in Missoula but no-one would come up and work on our chimney in -30 degree weather. We were about to go buy a chimney cleaning pole and have me climb up on the roof myself to see if I could see anything that might have fallen in there and was blocking the air flow, when one of the chimney sweeps called back. He said he thought he couldn't just leave us with no heat, so he would come right up. He was great.

Turns out to be a really good thing he came - the stove pipe had been nocked out of kilter and we never could have fixed it (or even diagnosed it) ourselves. He tromped right up on our roof (through a good foot build-up of snow) and got the thing fixed. We now have a fire roaring in the wood-stove and the temp in here just broke 70. Its heaven!

Sat. January 19, 2008

2008-01-21T20:45:00.000-07:00

On days when I am feeling good enough (when I have a little extra energy) I try to take a snow shovel around to all the pastures with me when I feed. I shovel a path from the house to each pasture, and through each pasture to the various spots where I have to break ice in the creeks, or carry hay to feed. It is a lot less work to walk a clear path than to trudge through heavy snow, and we have been getting a few inches of fresh snow per day for the past few weeks, so there is plenty of snow out there.

I did the paths today, and had good enough energy to shovel everywhere I go on a daily basis - that's a lot of ground to cover, but I actually had some energy for the first time in a week. Today's work should make things a lot easier until the snow builds up again. (One of these days we will figure out what is wrong with our snow blower and then I wont have to shovel any more...)

My normal routine right now is to get up around 9am and go to the Upper Little Barn. I load two bales of hay on a sled (150 lbs) and pull that to the feeders in the Lower Little Barn, usually doing two runs and putting out between 3 and four bales. Then I load up two more bales and drag that all the way across the Little Barn Pasture to the Middle 20. I throw flakes of hay over the fence all the way up the fence line between the Upper Little Barn and the Middle 20.

After that I take a maul (very heavy headed ax) and a shovel and walk to the far side of the Lower Little Barn to the creek spot and break it open. Then I walk to the Big Barn Pasture.

In the Big Barn, I take two bales and distribute it between 9 feeders. Then I take the same maul and break open their creek.

Every few weeks we have to do extra work on the creeks. Did that today with Dave's help. This time of the season, the bank of the creek builds up with a couple of feed of snow. However, when the horses walk on that spot over and over it tuns into ice, not snow. So there is a solid bank of ice built up around each of our watering holes and if it gets too high or too steep, the horses can't reach the water anymore. Either the water is too deep down for their necks to reach, or they slide down the ice too much and just can't stand in that spot anymore. Dave and I take a pick-ax and a couple of shovels and try to lower the bank and make it flat instead of steep. We spent about an hour doing that today and counted that good work, which will hold us for another week or two.

One of these days we will manage to water without the creek during the winter. We just found a propane heater for water tanks that would allow us to keep a water tank from freezing without electricity. Still looking into its effectiveness, but something like that would be great both for us and for the horses.

In any case, I worked for about 3 hours today - best energy I have had all winter. Slept most of the rest of the day, but am quite happy to have had that kind of energy for a while.

Sunday January 13, 2008

2008-01-13T21:25:00.000-07:00

What a weekend - it started out one of the hardest weekends we've had in a while, but ended up quite nice. Somehow we pulled through a few challenges and got everything to work out as needed.

Thursday a snow storm caused the trailer to be difficult to get out of the driveway, and we spent hours digging it out of the yard after it slipped back down. Four hours after I had intended to take Cory to town for a brand inspection so he could ship out that night, we finally got him loaded and on his way only to find out that the brand inspector couldn't do the inspection after dusk (we got there 15 minutes too late). Spent the night trying to find a way to get him on the transport anyway, and finally did. They arrived at 11pm and took him on to his new home in Colorado. So, while we spent a frustrating day fighting the snow and much of the evening thinking that we'd have to drive him to Colorado Springs ourselves and on our own dime, we finally finished the day with everything working out well.

In the midst of all that craziness, we got a call saying that our trainer (whom we love, but who just moved 8 hours away) found a good transport option to get 3 of our horses to her if I could have them ready to go by Sunday. So, after being up most of the night on Thursday seeing Cory off, I got up at 6am on Friday and rushed these three horses to town for Coggins tests and health certificates (and brand inspections) so they could travel the next day. On Sat. we got them onto the transport and sent off to do a few months of training.

Add to this weekend that we weaned all the babies on Sat. - very smoothly and successfully (the easiest weaning we have done yet) - and I feel like it was really a great weekend.

We now have one herd in the Big Barn pasture of yearling boys who are on Free Choice feed. I just put out multiple bales in feeders once per day, making sure that they always have food, and they eat as often and as much as they want (since they are growing, they need this). Now I also have a herd in the Lower Little Barn Pasture with 7 weanlings, 2 yearling girls and Blackie who are also on Free Choice which I just keep full all the time. And additionally, I have 8 mares in the Middle 20 whom I feed twice per day. Ryder is away at training for a few months so that I might start riding him on the trails more often this summer. All in all, it was a good, productive weekend at the ranch and all is well.

Thursday January 10, 2008

2008-01-10T11:06:00.000-07:00

We're hard into winter by now. Feeding involves pulling a sled of 2 bales across a pasture with 2 feet of snow (about 140 lbs) two times per day. Breaking ice every day but still not happy about how much they are drinking. Have found a water option that might work out here - submersible propane heaters for water tanks. $500. Might be worth it. Just evaluating.

Cory goes to his new home this afternoon. Thinking of sending Ryder, Rose and Cami of for a couple of months of training. Still want to get Sahara going on training, but would like to wait a few months to start that up again. Thinking of weaning babies at the end of this next week.

Been snowing most days for the past two weeks +. We usually get a few new inches every night. Our snow blower is broken, so I am shoveling paths to all the pastures (and through them - anywhere I have to go daily to feed). Hoping to get that fixed soon!

New Year's Eve, Monday December 31, 2007

2007-12-31T14:37:00.000-07:00

Its snowed almost constantly for a week, though mostly lightly. Most days we've added 2-3 inches to the ground. A couple we've woken up to find 6-8 new inches in the night. We are creeping up on 2 feet of snow total and the world is beautiful, though a bit harder to get through!

We are feeding twice per day right now. I push through the snow to the big barn, where I keep a constant supply of snow out for the young boys. Then I put three portions out for Ryder and the two ladies I have living with him. After that I put out two full bales for the rest of the herd, either in the Back 20 or the Middle 20. Have to keep an eye on the creeks as well - breaking ice with an ax and shoveling snow off of the creekside.

Got the guys back this week finishing our fencing for the winter. The last stretch should get done this week and we will call it quits until spring.

Chrismtas Eve, Monday December 24, 2007

2007-12-24T12:46:00.000-07:00

We got six inches of fresh, powdery snow last night and the ranch is all set for a beautiful, snowy Christmas! The horses are content and happy, and (thanks to all the new fencing we put up) very little trouble right now!

Dave and I are happy and excited for Christmas tomorrow and very much looking forward to starting a new and better year!

Here's a picture of the ranch this morning. Peaceful and beautiful!

Sunday December 9, 2007

2007-12-09T19:46:00.000-07:00

Down around 0 degrees again last night - in the teens the past couple days. Snowing now, about an inch on the ground so far. Got the Farrier up here and trimmed all the horse's hooves this weekend - 11 on Sat. and 11 on Sun. A big job and good to get it done.

Here's a picture of Chance, resting on Dave while the Farrier works with him - he's a rather unflappable fellow, that one!

Wild Mountain's Onyx Nite

2007-12-07T00:28:00.000-07:00

Onyx was the first foal we birthed and raised here at Wild Mountain Farms. He is the first of our horses to reach adulthood and start his career as a riding horse. We sold him this fall to a couple in the Bitterroot Mountains and we couldn't be happier with the match. They ride him every day (sometimes multiple times per day) and are constantly amazed at how calm and capable he is for a three year old - they say they often forget he is not a ten year old horse.

We are so proud of Onyx. He gets noticed on the trail and raved about by the trainer they have him working with as well. He is everything we are breeding for and the first of ours to really prove himself. He's found one of the finest homes a horse could ask for and he is making everybody proud.

Thursday December 6, 2007

2007-12-07T00:21:00.000-07:00

A couple nights ago some coyotes got two of our geese. The last two remaining geese are trying their best to move into the house. They camp out on the front step, and rush the door whenever we come in or out. I can hardly blame them, but they are a bit of a nusence. I will have to see if I can convinced them to live in the chicken house for the winter...

Sunday December 2, 2007

2007-12-02T19:06:00.000-07:00

Change in weather moving in and we have high winds blasting through again. Nothing like the storm a couple weeks ago, but its been rattling the house all day, none-the-less. Temps have moved up to 30, but feels a lot colder because of the wind.

Still, the ranch is in good shape and all the horses are well.

Sunday November 25, 2007

2007-11-25T19:57:00.000-07:00

We've had a few beautiful, sunny days, though its been quite cold. Bellow 0 at night and often in the teens during the day. Yesterday it got up to 30, however, and that was nice. Creeks are freezing up, so I am on ax duty already - going out twice a day to break ice.

Still working out the kinks in the new fencing for Ryder. Yesterday we came out to find him in with his mares (the pasture across from his new fence) and there was no damaged fencing anywhere. All we can think of is that the boy jumped right over the whole thing! I looked more closely and saw that the workers had put up only 3 rails in a few spots (we had asked that this be a 4-rail, 6+ foot fence). I am guessing he jumped at one of those. I will go out tomorrow and affix a fourth rail and we will see how this fence does!

Honey

2007-11-23T14:56:00.000-07:00

We got some really sad news today. Its about Honey, one of our horses that we sold last year. She died suddenly this weekend, leaving a very sad-hearted family behind.

We sold Honey last year to a family with a 5-year-old girl named Makayla. Makayla comes from a family of avid riders and Honey was Makayla's first horse of her own. They adored each other. Makayla got a pink halter, pink saddle, pink brushes and lead ropes all to use only on Honey. She couldn't get enough of riding her or brushing her or walking her.

The only problem they had was that with Honey being very big, and Makayla being very little, they had to wait for Makayla's mother or brothers to come out and saddle Honey every day so she could ride her all around. Well, within the first two weeks of having her, Makayla decided that situation was just not satisfactory.

One day she drug a ladder over to Honey, leaned it up against her side, and proceeded to climb it to saddle and bridle her. Honey stood patiently through the whole process until Makayla climbed up the ladder and into the saddle, kicking the ladder away once she was on. And that was how they did it every day from then on out.

I loved getting updates about the two of them - they were the kind of match I am in this business for.

Makayla's mother called me today to tell me that Honey has died.

She was got sick and the vet said she wouldn't survive the surgery to try and save her, so they had to put her down. She could barely tell me about it through her crying. I asked her how Makayla was and she said, "She doesn't know yet. I don't know how I'm going to tell her."

We are sick at heart for them and for our faithful, loving Honey who gave so much to everyone she knew, and we are sick at heart for the loss of such a perfect, delightful match between a horse and her little girl.

Nov. 19, 2007

2007-11-23T14:49:00.001-07:00

Got a foot of snow. Wasn't quite ready for it, so we are scrambling to do the last winterizing projects now - tying down tarps on hay, picking up tools and brining in irrigation system before it all freezes. Temperatures bellow 0 at night this week, so I think winter is here. All our downed fences are now covered with snow, unfortunately, but it is certainly beautiful.

Nov. 14, 2007

2007-11-23T14:39:00.000-07:00

Big wind-storm took out large tracks of fence in every pasture. Christie staying with her cousin again, Dave trying to manage the ranch on own. Worst wind-storm we've had. Only one pasture survived.

Friday September 28, 2007

2007-09-28T14:25:00.001-06:00

I got home from Iowa Sat. night and Dave left for Chicago early Sunday morning. I spent the week grooming horses, getting the ranch in order for the winter and getting the house cleaned. Yesterday and today I had clients come up to see horses and yesterday I took them on a brief ride. Dave comes in tonight and we get to see eachother for almost the first time in months.

Very glad to be home. Glad the season is winding down and I might be able to get the ranch in order. We are hoping to bring in our hay next week and to finish up winterizing the ranch.

The Fire Diary

2007-09-05T14:23:00.000-06:00

A month ago, 3 days before Michal was to leave after her summer here, I got an early morning call from my Aunt saying that my cousin's husband had died of pneumonia. He was a health, 35 year old man, almost never sick. My cousin and I are close and I immediately went out there to help. (She has is fighting a serious illness and is unable to work. He was her main care-giver.)

I spent a month in Iowa, helping her to fight her way through those first weeks without her husband and start to figure out what her life would look like now. While I was gone, the ranch had all manner of adventure without me. My mother kept a running diary of those adventures and I thought you might like to read them...

THE FIRE DIARIES: by Jancie Springer (revjanicespringer@juno.com)

Monday, August 6, 2007
My nephew (my niece’s husband) died. Who ever heard of a healthy, strapping man of 35 dying of pneumonia? Everyone is stunned. Christie and I fly out the same day. David and family drive up in a couple days. Katy flies out, gets to Denver, her second flight is canceled. She does not make it in time for the funeral, but she is here afterwards for about 24 hours. My nephew Jay, Janelle’s brother, and his wife come in. I do Perry’s funeral. Janelle has a debilitating illness and Perry was her practical and emotional support and care giver. We work hard to keep her going. It is an awful week.

Tuesday, August 14
I fly home Monday, arriving in the early hours of Tuesday morning. Christie stays in Iowa to help Janelle. Paul picks me up and I sleep at their house. Katy and Paul have had an unexpected childcare problem, so I spend Tuesday with them, caring for Lucy and Ella all day. That is very healing.

On the way back to the ranch I see a wildfire from the highway. It is not far from our area. It will become known as the Black Cat fire. Today, I learn, it has burned about 600 acres. When I get back to the ranch with Dave and visiting friends Karen and Aud, their son Alex and his friend Emily, we talk about evacuation plans. There are 30 horses on the land. I put some things in the trunk of my car that I’d want to take out if we evacuated.

Wednesday, August 15
I work at church all day, stop in to see Katy and the girls, head back to the ranch about 6pm. There is a checkpoint at the bottom of our road. The man wearing the sheriff’s badge (actually a search and rescue person I think) tells me we are not in imminent danger, but he needs to tell me about evacuation procedures. He asks, “Does your family have a place to go to? If not, you can come to my house.” I get tears in my eyes at the kindness of this stranger. When I get to the ranch, I tell them all that he said. The presence of the checkpoint implies that the stakes have been raised. We talk about what to do. Christie is the mover and shaker of the horse business, and she is still in Iowa, but she offers direction through many phone calls. We finally decide we must evacuate the horses.

Christie makes calls to friends and clients; they call other people. About 9pm four horse trailers pull up, and about half a dozen folks, some of whom we don’t even know. They and the 6 of us begin rounding up horses. That means walking through large pastures in the dark trying to find the horses. It means putting rope and halter on yearlings that have not been trained or even much handled yet, and so are frightened. It means keeping the babies with their mamas. Some get on the trailers pretty easily. Some run back into the woods. One man, a rodeo rider, amazes us all by lassoing one of the difficult ones; it is just like in the old movies! Finally the 3 trailers, one with 10 horses on it, head down the mountain. The horses will stay in various places for the night. Dave drives some down to our vets. Finally, Dave and Aud and I pack up the last 3 except the stallion and take them down the far side of the mountain to the ranch of a couple from my church. Janet and Bill welcome us as though it were mid afternoon instead of 2:00 am. We get to bed about 3:00.

Thursday, August 16
After 4 hours sleep we are up. Dave, Karen and Aud, Alex and Emily head out by 8 am. Some of the horses have broken through fences and gotten loose and must be moved to better quarters. They head off with the horse trailer to do that, taking the last horse, our stallion, to board at the vets. They also go buy hay and then deliver it to the places that have our horses.

Meanwhile, I am at the ranch staffing the phone and preparing to evacuate if need be.
I go through my cabin again, making sure I have essential things for Luka and me in the trunk of my car. What hard choices! I am supposed to lead a retreat Saturday; I finish preparing for that and put that material and things I need for church Sunday in my trunk. I also call AAA, because Wednesday night in all the confusion with getting the horses out, I lock my keys in my car. Aud leaves a small sledge hammer by my car; if AAA won’t come up and we have to evacuate, I must break a window to get in so I can get my wallet and the stuff in the trunk. However, AAA does come up the mountain and fixes the problem. I talk to Christie several times and make some phone calls for her.

The others come back exhausted about 4pm. We do a few details in preparation for evacuation, but mostly we just talk about doing such things. We are all so tired. We get the information that this is a Class 1 fire (or some phrase like that)—the most dangerous, and the one they put the most resources into. Someone said the 10 worst fires in USA are all in Montana, and this is the top one. We get word that it jumped the highway.

About 9pm an official with a loud speaker drives by. “You have 1/2 hour to get off the hill,” he yells from his truck. “Evacuate!” A neighbor comes to say the Frenchtown side of the mountain (our usual way up and down) is closed; we must go out the other way.

A half hour later, we leave. Dave is driving the good truck. Two of Christie’s cats are in a cage in the truck bed. Dave is pulling the horse trailer; there are 3 goats in it. Next in the procession is Karen driving Aud’s van, Emily and Alex with her. It is full of clothes, photo albums of Christie and Dave, financial records, computers, blankets, towels, a few framed pictures, and so on. I follow in my car; I have 3 dogs with me. Aud drives the old truck; my cabin cat is in a cage in that truck bed.

We get down the mountain as quickly as we can. Another checkpoint: he warns us that he cannot let us back on the road. With tenderness, he wishes us good luck. We drive into Missoula.

Katy and Paul moved to a new house earlier this summer, but have not sold their old one. We settle there. We have water, showers, air conditioning, a fenced yard for the dogs. We have a few dog dishes and two buckets so we take water to the goats and cats and leave them in the vehicles. The dogs come in with us. We don’t have quite enough blankets, but we share around and everyone has something. We make up beds on the floor, settle dogs, shower, and get to bed about midnight. This will be home for a while.

Friday, August 18
We go out for breakfast. Then we take the 3 cats to the humane society nearby. They take a record of each cat and put an id tag around their necks. Then we drive them to the fair grounds, which has been set up as a shelter for all animals that have been evacuated and need a place. More records; id on each cage. Smokey and Bandit get a bigger cage together; Belle has her own. They have food, water, a small blanket. They will be very unhappy cats, but safe. Later while some of us run an errand, the others bring the goats to the same place. Later in the day I go to work at the church to prepare for the retreat tomorrow. Most of the folks are gone when I get there, but 2 part-time staff folks are still there. They give me big hugs, say the staff has been worried about me all day as they heard that Mill Creek had been evacuated. I feel loved. Dave and company need to deal with some of the horses again.

There is a public meeting for all Frenchtown residents. Dave, Karen, Aud and I go. On the way there and back we see the flames, and the ground in places is burned right up to Highway 90 on which we’re driving. It is moving to see some 600 people gather in the school gym with this common desperate concern. I find it interesting to hear the behind the scenes stories of how fighting a fire has to happen. It has now burned about 8,000 acres. After the meeting, we talk to the sheriff who says we might be able to go back to the house Sunday morning for just a couple hours to recover more things, though he can’t promise. We can follow information about the fire on www.inciweb.org. They also give us many phone numbers for information.

Saturday, August 18
I lead an all-day retreat. It goes very well. People fuss over me about the evacuation as well as about Perry’s death. They are all lovely. And they like the retreat! I am glad to have a break from the intensity of things, and leading the retreat feels healing. Meanwhile, the rest of the family are moving horses, going to buy a ton of hay and delivering it to the horses. We make lists of what to recover if we get to return to the ranch.

Although Missoula is surrounded by mountains on all sides, the smoke is so thick that it looks like we live on the prairie: no mountains are visible.

Sunday, August 19, 2007
I go to church. Again, there is so much support and caring for me and also for Janelle.
People are moved by my sermon and how I crafted the service. I am very grateful to have a church to serve, and sad to realize that now there are only 3 Sundays left this year.

Meanwhile, the rest go to the checkpoint, but are not allowed up the mountain. The National Guard is stationed there, and knows nothing about it. We have a quiet afternoon.
Luka is one year old today. Aud and I took the 3 dogs to a newly discovered dog park for her birthday treat. Very happy dogs.

Karen, Aud and I go to the Catholic Church in Frenchtown for supper. They have offered a free spaghetti supper to anyone affected by the fire. Like a good church potluck, it offers great homemade salads and desserts. I feel such gratitude to them, and waves of love for church. A member of one of the fire teams talks to us and is very helpful. She offers to try to get the permission for us to return tomorrow to get things. She is very kind. She’s from Oklahoma or somewhere like that, typical of people arriving from all over the country to help with the Black Cat fire. Thinking of all these people, including the firefighters, working so hard for us, moves me to tears. She tells us that this is still the #1 priority fire in the whole country, and busloads of personnel are arriving daily to help fight it. The fire covers an estimated 8,000 acres and is 10% contained, which means 10% of the fire area is no longer burning. The fire continues to spread, but doesn’t seem to be going in our direction. It was burning at the bottom of our road, but some people in that area were allowed to return to their homes, though they are on one hour evacuation alert. Mill Creek Road has mile markers (the only way to find things on this logging road in the forest). The fire burned some areas up to mile marker 2. Below that are the people who are able to return to their homes, but are on alert. Above mile marker 2 it is still closed.
We live on mile marker 9.

There is no refrigerator in Katy and Paul’s old house, but Katy and Paul have one in their garage they intend to move back there. Dave and Aud go get it. We feel very excited that we can now store food.

Dave goes to a movie to relax. Karen, Aud and I play some cards. We refine the lists of what to try to bring out of the ranch. The woman from the meeting calls at 11pm. She has arranged for us to get to the ranch for a couple hours tomorrow morning. A light rain this evening helped the situation. However, a fire truck will be parked between our homes and the fire. She also tells us that the fire which had only gone up our road as far as mile marker 2 is now burning at mile marker 3 or 4. It is climbing towards the ranch.

Monday, August 20
Dave goes to work; he missed work on Friday. Since he telecommutes, he moves his “office”—a computer—to Katy and Paul’s house (the new one they live in) across town and works from there all day. His cell phone is not working; he lets his boss know he has no phone access, and they must do everything by email.

Karen and Aud, Alex and Emily and I head to the mountain with the truck pulling the horse trailer and with the van. On the way we pass “Incident Base”. It looks like a combination fair grounds and refugee camp. Many pup tents are set up; a lot of yurts: big solid tents equipped with air conditioners, hundreds of cars and buses from many states, people all over. All actual firefighters wear green pants, bright yellow shirts, bright yellow helmets. Along the road we see plumes of smoke, pockets of small flame, trees charred but not burned up. We’ve been hearing about “dozer lines”—there they are: bulldozers tear up all fire fuel (grass, trees) making lines of bare dirt so if the fire gets there, it will not be able to move beyond. The smoke smell is very strong, but that has been true all week even in Missoula.

About a mile up Saddle Mountain Road (which is the other side of our mountain; on our side it is called Mill Creek Road) we meet the National Guard with their jeep and army fatigues. Some of our neighbors arrive too. We wait, but the person who is to give permission for us to pass does not arrive and the Guards know nothing about it. Some of the neighbors get angry. One woman says if no escort/authority comes, she’s going in anyway. Others are angry at those who made the evacuation call, those who decide we can’t get back to our homes. I am angry at their anger, and challenge them. I remind them that the people orchestrating this fire have thousands of people whose needs they must consider; I remind them that the authorities are not our enemy; we are on their side; they are on our side. It is the fire that is our enemy, not the officials. But my words are ignored.
We make phone calls to Michelle, the woman who was so helpful Sunday night and who called us last night. She cuts through the confusion and gives permission for us to enter without an escort. The Guardsmen take down our names and addresses and how many people are going in. We are told to be off the hill by noon (it is after 10 am now). We drive the remaining 7 or 8 miles to the ranch.

We divide up, each with an assignment. Karen goes to my cabin with the list I made. I go in Christie and Dave’s house first alone in the hopes of catching Indigo and Magellen, the remaining 2 housecats. I get Magellen right away; a little later Emily catches Indigo.

I go into Christie’s office to collect all the files for the horse business. I take technology that Dave has given instructions about…electronic equipment that allows them to have computers and phones in their off-grid home. I gather photos and personal keepsakes for Christie. She wants her philosophy books from college. I pick up all the papers sitting on top of the desk, DVDs of her horses. In Dave’s office, Emily and Alex get phone, computers, keyboard, small tv. I find boxes of Dave’s keepsakes, his lego collection, photos of his family on his office wall. Aud loads things in the horse trailer as we find them. Karen returns with my stuff from the cabin and joins others getting some bedding, a few kitchen things, jewelry. Aud opens the big freezer and gets out all the meat we can reasonably carry. At Dave’s instruction, Karen takes pictures of every room in case it is needed for insurance.

I am too busy to feel much. But seeing the chickens, ducks, geese, peacocks roaming around tears at my heart. They seem to me to be lost, confused: where is everyone? They are so beautiful, and if the ranch does burn……....It is painful to remove things, knowing all that remains might be lost. I relive our house fire. I also confess that I am overwhelmed at the thought of putting all this back, though of course I pray that we will have the privilege of putting it all back. But as we quickly pull out items now, contents of drawers and shelves spill; putting things back will be a major job, and will probably fall mostly to me. I am aware that my last 3 weeks here this summer will be spent dealing with the fire one way or another. I seem able to let go of the original plans I had for those weeks.

The ranch is so quiet it is eerie. Quiet and with so little movement, with most of the animals gone. At 10 to noon, we drive away.

When we come to the National Guards, they cross our name off their list. We return to Katy and Paul’s old house. In the afternoon, Aud takes the two cats to the animal shelter; the other 3 and the goats are all doing well. I run errands. We cook supper using our newly acquired (from the ranch) pan, grill, forks.

The temperature has dropped dramatically today, and there is a bit of rain. That is good news for the fire.

There is another public meeting tonight. Dave, Karen, Aud and I go. We had failed to call 2 of our closest neighbors to pass on the word that we had permission to go up the mountain this morning. They are angry at us; Dave and I feel very bad about our oversight. We try to make amends by hooking them up with Michelle, the woman who helped us. She arranges for them to go tomorrow morning. We offer Jarred our horse trailer and truck. His dogs are still up there.

At the meeting, they tell us that the fire is now 12% contained. It has burned about 11,500 acres so far. There are two active fronts that are the most concern. One is Mill Creek where we live: the fire is still in the first few miles of Mill Creek Road, and they are trying to keep it from climbing. They have been short on resources because the west is full of wildfires. It doesn’t matter what the fire is doing; if the planes and dozers and personnel are not available, they can’t do anything about it. However, this is still the #1 priority fire in the country, and more resources are at last arriving. If one of the other fires get worse, they will pull resources from us to go there. The Frenchtown sheriff tells us that his personnel have been put on an emergency work schedule: 12 hour days, 14 days on, 2 off. At each of these public meetings, we learn more about the orchestration of such an event. The fire is burning in 2 counties; that means they run into political issues of authority between the counties; who has the authority to make this decision or that one? Whose jurisdiction are we in? All surrounding towns and cities, including the city of Missoula, send some of their police and firefighters; who is in command of them? Federal, state, county and local governments are involved. There are regional Disaster Relief Team, Incident Management Team, etc. The Red Cross is here, of course.

So far, almost no homes have been lost. Seeing the view from the highway, that seem amazing to me. Charred ground covers all the areas between homes, but around the homes is a very small patch of green. I think the firefighters are amazing.

Tuesday, August 21
Dave goes to work. Jarred comes to pick up our truck and horse trailer. Aud cooks breakfast. We plan to play today…go to bookstores and so on. Karen flies home tomorrow, the others drive out a day or two later. The house, once so empty except for our piles of bedding on the floor, is now full of the boxes and piles that we removed from the ranch. While we’re out today, I plan to send this fire diary to friends and family. We have no internet access now, but using my laptop, a flash drive, and the church or an internet café, we’ll find a way to get to email. On another day, I’ll send the sequel.
Keep us, and all those impacted by the fire, and especially those yellow-shirted folks facing the flames, in your prayers.

(This ends the part I emailed first….but the saga continues.)

More rain this morning! And the first blue sky we’ve seen in many days….all we’ve seen for a long time is smoke.

Dave brings home supper. He grills the best steaks I’ve ever tasted, and brings forth an ice cream cake from Cold Stone Creamery that says “Thank you!” on it. It is for our 4 guests who thought they were coming for a nice relaxing quiet ranch vacation. They have been an incredible help.

We get the news that the evacuation has been lifted for our area after 8pm tonight; however, returning residents must be prepared for a one hour evacuation. That means we could not take back the cats, goats or horses, or many possessions. Given that late hour and the uncertainty of things, we decide to stay in town tonight and see what tomorrow looks like.

Wednesday, August 22
Dave goes to work at Katy and Paul’s. I go to work at the church. The others go to the farm where all our mamas and babies are housed and hang out with them for a while. Then they take Karen to the airport; she has less vacation time than the others and must return home.

Dave stops at the Department of Transportation to get proof of his physical address. His driver’s license only has the PO Box on it, and the national guards are sometimes requiring an actual addressss before they let us up the mountain; they are working, bless them, to keep looters out.

We make supper and then pack, taking only what is needed for a couple days, since we are still on the one hour evac notice.

Our normal route, Mill Creek Road on the Frenchtown side, is open to us for the first time. We get through the checkpoint without trouble. The first 3 miles of the road have been burned; in fact, there are still a few flames and a number of smoke plumes rising up here and there. In some areas, the fire took both sides of the road; in other areas it was confined to the east side. We see some outbuildings burned and collapsed, but no houses lost. The ground is all burned; sometimes the trees are black too, sometimes the lower growth is burned but the treetops are still green. We pass half a dozen fire engines and many of the yellow shirted firefighters. They seem not to be busy at the moment. Sometime after the 3 mile marker, the land is normal again; the fire did not travel farther north in this area. We are thankful.

Aud sees Louie, our huge Great Pyrenees dog who roams around the mountain as he wishes, and so we could not find him when we evacuated. She picks him up. We get home and Louie is happy to see us. The other 3 dogs are so glad to be back; they run with obvious delight. Luka is allowed to run free with the grown up dogs for a while, but then she begins to chase a rooster and so loses her privilege.

Dave reconnects the phone. We bring in the bedding. Luka and I go back to our cabin.
It does not feel welcoming. Besides being cold, it is largely empty: none of the photos and pretty fabric and books that make it cozy. In the water left in my dishpan, I find a drowned mouse. I miss my cat.

Luka and I sleep very well in our own beds.

Thursday, August 23
It’s cold!

Dave goes to work in his own office. Aud mends fences. Alex and Emily help with fences, go for walks, play video games. I do housework, dishes and laundry at Dave and Christie’s house.

After supper I go to the third public meeting. I see a bear along the way. I pass the Incident Base again, and a field of about 5 helicopters. I learn that the fire is 40% contained, and that it hasn’t increased in size (number of acres burned) in 3 days. All evacuations have been lifted, but everyone is on a one hour evacuation alert, which means we do not bring back animals or possessions. Roadblocks are still in place to keep the public off the roads where there’s been fire.

The fire is burning extensively on Charity Peak. There is plenty of fuel for it…trees, thick undergrowth and so on. They do not even try to put out the fire. They set fire to 400 acres around Charity Peak to remove the fuel so it will soon, the hope is, burn itself out. Two crews from Canada, experts in setting fires for this purpose, are here. I learn a lot about wildfires. All week we have seen helicopters flying low over the highway with a bag hanging below the belly of the plane; it is full of water that gets dumped on the fire. Still, water and retardant are only a small part of the effort to put out a wildfire. Most of the energy goes into removing fuel (creating back burns, building dozer lines) so the fire doesn’t spread or so it burns itself out.

I stay at Katy and Paul’s old house again, because I’m taking care of granddaughters first thing in the morning. Aud, Alex and Emily stay there too so they can get an early start for home.

Friday, August 24
The BlackCat fire has been moved off the front page of the newspaper for the first time in 9 or 10 days.

Aud, Alex and Emily leave to return to Michigan.

I take care of Lucy and Ella much of the day, run errands in the afternoon, hang out with the family and do some housecleaning for them in the evening. I stay in town tonight. I hear nothing about the fire. It seems like another life.

Saturday, August 25
I spend the day with Katy and family again.

A phone call brings a new development: Christie’s dog Rajah is quite sick. Dave brings him to the emergency vet. I feel punched in the stomach. Rajah is a special dog, and has twice saved Christie’s life. He is getting old, and we are all ready to let him go when the time comes, but not like this. Not with Christie gone. Not with Rajah, who has been waiting for her almost 3 weeks, the longest he’s ever been separated from her, thinking she is gone and giving up.

When Dave brought Rajah to town, because of the one hour evacuation alert he had to bring with him whatever he had taken back to the ranch: his computer, a few clothes, and Maya, their other dog. Even a trip to the grocery store would require taking everything with us because if evacuation orders came while we were gone, we couldn’t go back.

The paper says the fire is 50% contained.

Sunday, August 26
Rajah is not worse, but not really better. Christie plans to come home at the end of the week; she is trying to decide if she should come earlier. I feel the pain that I haven’t had time to feel since Perry died 3 weeks ago.

I go to church. Every one there continues to be very supportive of the chaos in our lives.

We are still on 1 hour evacuation alert, but I pack up a few things and plan to head up the mountain. However, I learn that Dave must stay in town with Rajah who is still at the emergency vet and must tomorrow be moved to the regular vet. I don’t want to be at the ranch alone under these fire conditions, and I couldn’t safely stay in my own cabin, since there is no phone. I will leave my stuff in Katy and Paul’s old house, and return to their current house to sleep tonight. My spirits are low today. In all these thrown-together boxes of stuff, I can hardly find clothes, or the resources I need for church work this week. Life is chaotic and inefficient. I feel guilty for not being in better spirits, since we haven’t after all lost the ranch to fire.

I go to the church in the early evening, the only place I have easy access to email and a phone. Luke comes with me, sleeps at my feet as I type and talk. I call Dave, but he has no further word on Rajah. I learn that Christie is flying home tomorrow. I return to Katy and Paul’s to sleep.

Monday, August 27
Three weeks since Perry’s death. Christie arrives home today. Rajah is still quite ill, but shows improvement.

The fire remains about the same: 50% contained, just slightly bigger at 11,715 acres. The firefighters are dealing with spot fires: embers that float and land a distance from the fire and start another fire. Even so, danger to our populated areas seems past, and as of 6am this morning, all evacuation restrictions are lifted. We, and our possessions and our 3 dogs and 3 goats and 5 cats and 30 horses, can go home.

Dave and I switch places. He chose to stay in the old house to sleep, and this morning he comes to Katy and Paul’s current house to work. I slept last night in their current house, and this morning I go to the old house to do some church work and sermon prep.

I need to mail some things and make a CD of some church work. There are no supplies here. Even though I have all of this at the cabin, I msut go buy packaging tape, Sharpie marker, CDs, mailing envelopes. Living this way is getting old.

We can go home…but we don’t. Christie and Dave stay in town to be near Rajah; I stay because I must be at church in the morning.

Tuesday, August 28
Christie is very tired and has a cold, but she is hanging in there. She checks on some of the horses. Dave works. This evening they pick up Rajah, who has the vets ok to go home with them and see how it goes, and go back to the mountain.

Life is very confusing. At Katy and Paul’s, I do some church work on my computer. I need my printer, so I drive across town to the old house to find it. I find the printer, but the printer cable got separated; it is in some other box; which one? I can’t find it. I take my computer to Kinko’s to print what I need.

The weather has turned cold. I only brought a couple of warm weather outfits to Katy and Paul’s. I drive across town to the old house to find more appropriate clothes. I go back to Katy and Paul’s to iron them, since they were just stuffed in a box. I’m tired of this.

I prepare to visit someone from church who is very ill. She has asked me to bring communion to her. I go to the old house and hunt through boxes for my communion kit; I don’t know if it got packed or is still at the cabin. I am very tired of this.

I must be at the church again tomorrow, so I stay in town again tonight.

We are overwhelmed at the task of hauling back all the stuff, cleaning the old house in which, for awhile, 6 people and 3 dogs lived, unpacking and putting Christie and Dave’s house back together, putting things back in my cabin, and collecting all the farmed out animals.

Wednesday, August 29
I work at church all day. Then I load as much as will fit in my little Toyota—poor Luka loses most of her back seat.

Christie picks up the 3 goats and the 5 cats. I meet her at the ranch where 6 mama horses and 5 babies (one mama is still pregnant) have been, and I help her get 3 mamas and babies into the horse trailer…easy until one youngster felt independent enough not to care about sticking close to mama. He is a challenge to catch.

We go back up the hill, unload horses. Christie and I head back down to get the remaining mamas and babies. We load them without problem. The moon, big and low and brilliant orange, leads us home. Back at the ranch unloading them is a challenge. We try to get mamas and babies through a gate; other mamas and babies get out of the gate. One baby runs off in the dark to explore the world; his mama, inside the gate, gets frantic. Eventually we get them all where they belong; the full moon is high in the sky before we finish. We go to bed.

Thursday, August 30
I spend much of the day unpacking and putting my cabin back in order. The mice have obviously enjoyed my hospitality in the days the cat has been away. I clean out the unpleasant contents of my cooler which hasn’t been touched in two weeks.

Rajah is still sick, but the vet is hopeful, thinks he will probably recover. She gives him stronger medicine.

Though people and dogs were evacuated for the fire, coyotes weren’t. We realize we have lost about half of our chickens and ducks.

Friday, August 31
There is still stuff to be brought back to Christie and Dave’s house and put away. And many horses are back, but about 10 are still farmed out and need to be retrieved soon.

On my way down the mountain this morning I see a moose! A rare privilege. Has one moved into our neighborhood because of the fires?

I babysit Lucy and Ella today, and bring Lucy home with me for a sleep-over in the cabin. It is delightful.

Late evening, I hear the rain. It rains and rains and rains some more. It is the first significant rain in at least 3 months. It is a wonderful sound.

New report: The BlackCat fire is 95% contained. 11,758 acres burned. The internet site says it is expected to be “completely wrapped up very soon.”

Thanks be to God.
Janice Springer
revjanicespringer@juno.com

The Fun Stories

2007-07-21T00:42:00.001-06:00

If you want the fun stories of this summer (since i am not writing much) check out Dave's blog. He has been writing quite a bit - just short stories that tell his perspective on all the fun adventures we have been having here in the past couple months.

http://montanadave.blogspot.com/

Saturday July 21, 2007

2007-07-21T00:24:00.000-06:00

It looks like this summer will not allow me the leasure to write regular updates at this point. I will fill things in as I can.

We are getting a lot done around the ranch. Some friends (Karen and Aud) and Jarred have gotten a ton of fencing done for us and we should have all of our fences secured or replaced by next winter.

We've had three babies born: Desinty's baby (Prize) is a tiny, delicate, beauful girl with a very strong indipendent streak. We have spent more time trying to teach her to lead than with any other horse. She clearly is smart enough to get it - she has just not decided to trust us enough to let a human control her yet. She is, however, coming along.

Echo's baby (Friday) is a big, loving boy who learned to lead in about half an hour. He is handsome and fine and we think he will be big.

Mariah's baby (name still unknown) is the image of Sahara. She is going to be smart, flashy and wonderfully confident. She isn't scard of anything!

We are expecting Flicka and Sky to have babies this week.

Sahara and Onyx are in training and coming along beautifully. They are both exceptional horses who will be coming home next week for two days with their trainer. I will spend two days riding them and working with the trainer and decide them if I should send them back for another month or finish them myself.

We are cutting down on what we have to do around here - sold most of the goats and are probably going to let go of our last three soon. (In the mean time, we are getting over a gallon of milk a day from one of them and loving it!) We are probably going to give away some of the ducks and geese and just gave away the rabbits. I am serious about making this winter more managable than the last.

Dave and I built me a new tack room which we are quite proud of.

We have had many mares here to breed, despite not advertising this year. We expect a number more through the rest of the summer.

Michal (our summer help from Chicago) is doing wonderfully and making a big difference around here. I am finally managing to get the rest I need and starting to feel better, thanks to her constant help. She is talented with the horses and good at getting work done. We'll miss her when she goes home in Aug.

Tuesday July 3, 2007

2007-07-03T23:12:00.000-06:00

The past couple weeks have been so busy that I have not been able to keep up with writing anything. I have been struggling to get through each day and manage what we have taken on. My energy got so stretched that (as happens when I get overtired) my stomach stopped working right and I have been quite sick for days. Today I finally got to rest a bit and am almost able to eat again.

Here is a glimpse of what these last weeks have been like...

Wednesday june 27: Fence down in Big Barn and the horses got out. They came up on the porch and tore apart everything in my planting area. We haltered Ghost for the first time and taught him to lead and groom, including fly spray. Cowboy and Dancer were worked with. Nefertari and Spirit arrived and Stormy left - put Nef and her baby in with Mamas and babies. Moved Blackie, Little Creek, Breeze and Rose to Middle 20. Bathed Mariah and treated her wound. Loaded Mariah and baby in trailer for trailering lesson. Took Pictures of Mariah.

Monday june 25: Woke up to find that Destiny had just had her baby - a beautiful, black baby girl. We got a stall ready for them, gave shots, checked the filly over and settled them in (Dave picked her up and carried her inside). Did full imprinting treatment with her, with Michal's help. Later Michal did another imprinting session again. Took Georgia (goat) to check a lump and to check health of her udder. Took Mariah and Baby in same trip because Mariah has a lump on her neck. It was an abscess and we had to cut it open, drain it and now need to treat it twice per day until healed. Took them all home, then turned around and came back for Ryder. Got Ryder home and settled in.

These have been typical of the past two weeks. Michal is here and helping wonderfully. Jarred is working on fencing for us. We have one breeding mare here (Noir) and one on the way later in the week. Three babies born, plus Nefertari and her baby are here for a while. And Two more babies due this month, with one later.

My brother's family was here this week and just left this morning - loved having the kids around, but am quite exhausted. My only goal right now is to get enough rest to make it through a bit more of the summer without getting as sick as I did this week.

Friday June 15, 2007

2007-06-15T18:04:00.000-06:00

Michal and Naomi (got here yesterday) started settling in today. Michal (17 year old girl from Chicago) is going to stay the summer and help me out here.

I checked on babies and did ranch up-keep today. Aud has been working on building new fences all week. Karen continues to work, work, work with the horses for me, so that my job is easier.

Karen and Aud moved Chance and Ghost back to their normal pasture with their normal herd - we'll bring them up again to do some intense work once things calm down. They also got pictures of four of the yearlings for me so I could send them out to a perspective client.

I drove Michal and Naomi to town in the afternoon in order for them to go stay with a near-by rabi for the sabbath. Came home and got ready for a couple to come up here to buy some goats.

Thursday June 14, 2007

2007-06-15T17:58:00.000-06:00

Got up and checked on the horses - Karen has been handling the babies for me and they are both doing great. We moved Echo and her little colt to the goat pasture (emptied of goats - let them run free) so they could run around for a bit. Moved Mariah and her's to the Lower Little Barn pasture to stretch their legs.

I went to town to get our guests at the airport, then came back. We immediately put them to work! They cleaned the stalls of the mares and foals as I got some things ready for the vet to come up. Then we all walked down to a far pasture and led Blackie and Stormy back up, while the 5 youngsters in there followed. We let the youngsters hang out in the yard and put Blackie and Stormy in a pen.

The vet got here and ultrasounded Blackie and Stormy. Neither are pregnant (very good - I realized I had them in with the stud colts for a while) but both seem to be cycling and could be bred next month as I planned (at least with stormy - I may not breed Blackie anymore).

The vet then looked at the mommas and babies. All are doing well and Echo is clearly kicking into mother gear. A little worried about Mariah's baby's leg - one is a bit twisted. We will restrict their freedom a bit so they don't run so much until it straightens up.

Turned Chance and Ghost out to big barn pasture today to give them some grazing time. Brought them in during evening.

Long, long, long, long week and day.

Wednesday June 13, 2007

2007-06-15T17:52:00.000-06:00

Moved Mariah at 2am because she was so agitated about being in the Big Barn. But the only other choice was the little barn stall next to Echo, and we are worried enough about her that we don't want to add to her stress by putting another mare in there next to her baby. So Karen and I nailed up curtains between the two stalls at 2am, settled Mariah in and went to bed.

At 8am the foalert system went off and we rushed out for Mariah's birth. She had an easy birth with a beautiful, dark red baby girl with 4 white sox. Tiny little thing with a VERY Arab looking head. We were delighted with all of it. Did the handling, all the medical things and all went well. But we didn't like how Echo was doing. She has been worse and worse at being a mother.

We were suppose to be picking up two guests today at the airport but as I was preparing to leave I heard that they had missed their flight. Had already arranged to go to town and meet with the vet about Echo, so I did that anyway. He sent home some Oxytosen, a hormone we started giving her around 4pm. I ran two other errands and then came home to look that over. Decided to move Echo and her baby down to the Big Barn, since they needed to be alone, in my opinion.

As we started the process of walking them together all the way across the property, Echo started getting frantic about keeping her baby by her. This is good, as all mothers act this way when they first leave the stall with the new baby. We were really pleased to see this. I stayed in the stall with them for a while, giving the Oxytosen periodically, making sure the baby was nursing and watching Echo's actions. It went great - by 9pm I felt we had gotten her past the problem. I think she is going to be a good mom now!

Turned Chance and Ghost out to big barn pasture today to give them some grazing time. Brought them in during evening.

Tuesday June 12, 2007

2007-06-12T12:35:00.000-06:00

At 8:30 this morning, the foalert alarm went off and I shot out of bed. Karen and Aud rushed out just after me and I got to the pasture to find that Echo was having her baby. After last year's hard birth and rejection of the foal, we were all nervous about this one. Also, she showed so few signs that she was ready. I think her vulva didn't stretch as it should have - she had a very hard time pushing the baby out. Karen and I pulled and pulled. Took 15 - 20 minutes. Had a lot of trouble getting the shoulders around her opening. She kept getting up, then going and laying down in the mud, then standing up again. Finally Karen and I were able to both pull and we got the baby out.

Echo immediately started talking to the baby and turning to check it out, even as the feet were still in. That was a very good sign. We cut the bag and tried to keep the baby as warm as we could in the mud-puddle it was in. Once he (its a boy!) was out, we called Dave out and he lifted the baby and carried it to a stall which we quickly prepared for them.

Through the course of the day we stated to worry about her mother instincts. She had episodes of striking and biting at him when he nursed, then other times seemed fine with it. We talked to the vet a bit, but are waiting to see what develops.

By mid-afternoon Mariah's milk was white and she was waxed up. We expect her to foal tonight. We put her in the big barn, but she really didn't want to be there. Are keeping an eye on her now.

Turned Chance and Ghost out to big barn pasture today to give them some grazing time. Brought them in during evening.

Monday June 11, 2007

2007-06-12T12:25:00.000-06:00

Sat. night passed without babies or problems and Sun. morning we went to check Flicka and found that her milk was NOT white. She seemed back to where she should be. I found it very difficult to be gearing up for a baby that may have very little chance of making it. Was exausted and spent a lot of Sunday in bed.

Today (Monday) we took her down to the vet (my vet is back, thank goodness) and had about an hour to wait while he had an emergency call. Went into his office and got some hand soap and a few paper towels, then went around back to the hose he has out there and gave her a bath while we waited. When he got there he checked her and thought she was in good shape. Not at risk. So we loaded her up and were happy to get her home.

Turned Chance and Ghost out to the big barn pasture today, then brought them in before bedtime.

Mariah's milk is starting to turn. Echo is hardly bagged up at all. We put Mariah in a birthing stall for the night.

Saturday June 9, 2007

2007-06-09T21:30:00.000-06:00

Aud worked outside on the fence much of the day, making good progress. The farrier came and put shoes on Flicka and Cami. We moved Chance and Ghost to a pen by the big barn so we could work with them and groomed up Chance. Did some work with the electric shaver to get his winter coat remnants off. He was great.

Kept the little goat kid with a cold in the stall with the heat lamp for some of the day. Gave him antibiotics as well as giving them to Chico, who is also coughing.

Saw that Flicka had milk in her bag and decided to put her with the birthing mothers to keep an eye on her. We have her due date as being in Aug. so we were sure she couldn't be this early, but she sure looks like she's ready.

As we tucked the mares in and checked everyone's milk this evening we found that Flicka's milk is white. This usually means she is going to birth tonight. Karen and I took her down to the vet stocks and installed a foalert transmitter in her. We set up the birth stall and put her in there, gave her warm bran mash and tucked her in. Then I went in and looked at my records of when she gave birth last year to see if it is at all possible that she is ready tonight. The earliest possible date she could have gotten pregnant makes this only 310 days pregnant - far too early. My vet is on vacation, so I called the back-up he had. He told me to get Flicka to town immediately and get an ultrasound done at Blue Mountain clinic. But when I called them they said she was probably aborting right now and there was nothing to do but let her (that's typical of them).

The thing is, she doesn't seem distressed about anything. She seems FINE. She seems normal. I get no energy that there is anything wrong at all. In fact, she doesn't seem particularly ready to brith, either. I have a camera on her and the folert transmitter in. If anything starts I will know it. This may be a long night.

Friday June 8, 2007

2007-06-08T15:55:00.001-06:00

As usual, I was exhausted and hurting after a day babysitting my sister's kids. However, NOT as usual, I was able to stay in bed almost the whole day and rest! Karen and Aud did the feeding and Aud worked all day cutting up firewood and fence poles and preparing the pasture for the new fence. Karen got the birthing box ready and did a number of other things around the ranch. I got up for lunch and a few minutes here and there and mostly spent the day in bed. What a relief!

As we were doing the evening feeding we found that one of the baby goats is sick - looks like a cold. He's weak and having trouble breathing. We gave him penicillin and put him and his sister in a stall with the heat lamp on and lots of grain by themselves.

We also castrated the male baby goat we wanted to castrate.

Cooked dinner around the campfire and relaxed.

Thursday June 7, 2007

2007-06-08T15:52:00.000-06:00

Karen came to town to help me babysit my sister's kids today. Babysat for 9 hours and I am exhausted. Thank goodness I had help!

Aud stayed at the ranch and she and Dave (Dave after work, Aud all day) took down electric fencing, knocked down the old, broken wooden fencing and dropped half a dozen trees that were dead and in danger of falling where we want our new fencing to go. She made a great start on the first pasture we have marked to re-fence this year!

One of the baby ducks is missing. I think my house cat ate him. Don't know if I should lock them up or not.

Wednesday June 6, 2007

2007-06-08T15:50:00.000-06:00

Karen and Aud cleaned the barn up for me a bit today and got a slash pile burning. They did most of the feeding and we walked around and saw all the animals. Karen (a nurse) helped me re-stitch Echo's foal alarm transmitter, as one of my stitches had come loose. She showed me how to do that more effectively.

Tuesday June 5, 2007

2007-06-08T15:48:00.000-06:00

Picked up Karen and Aud at the airport today. They are staying for two weeks and I am very excited to have them here. They're good friends and also a LOT of help around the ranch. Pouring rain all day and in the 50's. Let the mamma duck with her 7 little babies out of their room today - they are really cute zooming around the pond.

Monday June 4, 2007

2007-06-05T06:20:00.001-06:00

Went to town to get vet supplies we need to be ready for the birthing horses. Took a good nap in the afternoon and cleaned the house, fed animals in the evening. In bed early.

Sunday June 3, 2007

2007-06-03T20:59:00.000-06:00

We spent most of the day in town with my sister's family and got back to the ranch at almost nine. I was exhausted and in pain, as I am so often by the end of the day these days. Since my back injury, my energy is lower even that usual for me, and the slightest bit of activity leaves me sore and hurting. I know this is normal and it will take time to heal, but I find this discouraging, none the less.

We fed the goats and the donkeys (they are penned up in a stall right now because they are becoming dangerously fat on all the spring grass - donkeys were made to subsist on desert rations, not these lush pastures). We fed the rabbits and we checked the pregnant mares. Echo's foal alert monitor is partially pulled out and this is going to require a good bit of work on our part to re-sucher. In any case, we hope it will hold until tomorrow (or that if it comes out the alarm it sets off alerts us before the monitor goes dead). For now I need some rest and tomorrow I will go to town to get more suchering materials and implant her monitor again.

A Perfect Evening

2007-06-03T20:39:00.000-06:00

Last night around 9:30 it was still light out as it is out here this time of year, a blissful 70 degrees with a light breeze. The air was full of the fresh, beautiful smell of spring in the mountains. I asked Dave if he wanted to go on a walk and, to my utter surprise, he said he did. We walked our land until after 10, checking on how the drainage was progressing and the grass coming in back in the far pastures. At one point, as the light was just beginning to fade, I looked across the Big Barn Pasture and saw my cat, Smokey, sitting on a log mid-way across the field, watching for our return. Twenty feet behind him on a little bridge that crosses the creek into our yard, sat Magellan and Indigo, two of our other house cats, also marking our progress and awaiting our return.

We made our way back to the house just as the light was beginning to fade, and neither of us was ready for bed. It was Saturday night and all we wanted to do was sit up and enjoy the night air. We decided to drive down to Frenchtown to a bar with an outdoor deck.

Neither of us has really been to bars much since our... well, okay, neither of us really went to barns much during our college days either. In any case, this was a bit of a gamble, as we had no interest in the night-life - only in the night. But we wanted to go out, and we wanted a snack, and we wanted to enjoy the night a while longer before we went to bed. So we drove 20 minutes to town and I read to Dave all the way down (we always have a book going which we are reading aloud together).

We got there to find that the deck was deserted and we had the warm night all to ourselves. We ordered chips and salsa and I had a margarita. We sat for an hour and talked about our day, and the summer, and various little projects we wanted to do around the ranch. We held hands.

This, I think, was a perfect night. The kind we have out here so often during the summer. The sitting around the campfire, or on the porch, or in the hammock gazing up at the star-spangled sky, kind. The kind with peace and contentment and no, no, no rush anywhere at all. And I look forward to many more like it as the summer moves along.

Saturday June 2, 2007

2007-06-02T18:43:00.000-06:00

Got up this morning to wait for the farrier to come shoe some horses. He was three hours late (not uncommon with farriers and vets - you just never know how long a job will take) so Dave and I moved all my tack into my new tack room while we waited. Then we trimmed both donkeys and put shoes on Mariah's front feet. I was so exhausted after that I slept for two hours, but was woken my by the baby ducks. I thought they were hurt - they were hollering - but when I ran to check, they were all fine. We got dinner and are now just waiting for the afternoon to cool off before we go do the evening feeding and a few other chores.

It got above 85 today and at this high altitude, the sun just beats down. Lovely, but by about 2pm it is intensely hot outside until around 7pm, when it cools down a bit. Luckily, out here it stays light till at least 10pm this time of year, so there is time to come in during the intense heat and go back out later.

Friday June 1, 2007

2007-06-01T23:56:00.000-06:00

Ranch work was light today. We did the basics, unloaded 10 bales of straw from the truck (for the birthing stalls) and took it easy. I am discouraged at how worn out I have been lately. Since my accident I can't seem to do any little thing without becoming exhausted.

Thursday May 31, 2007

2007-06-01T23:54:00.000-06:00

Fed horses and checked on mares today. Lock our new mother duck and her 7 brand new ducklings into the greenhouse so they would be safe. Moved a rabbit to a new hutch. Filled bird feeders. Hiked over to a neighbor's for dinner and had bbq chicken and such. Good day.

Wednesday May 30, 2007

2007-05-30T22:57:00.000-06:00

I was exhausted all day today. Am finding that since my back injury I am even more easily tired than usual and what would otherwise be small amounts of work leave me exhausted and hurting.

I went to town to get 10 bales of straw (for the birthing stalls) and the last piece of equipment we needed to try stitching our new Foal Monitoring system into the mares. When I got home Dave and I took the mares over to the vet stocks we made last year and did the procedures. It basically involves stitching (with needle and surgical thread) a plastic transmitter to the mare's vulva (under the tail). This is the first time I have done a medical procedure like this on my own and I was quite pleased with it.

We then spent an hour or so putting up the antennas and setting up the alarm box that the transmitters send a signal to when the birth begins. Then we fed animals, moved the two mares to the birthing pastures and I walked Destiny down to the Back 20 (she has been in a stall all week because of some swelling in her leg).

As we were feeding we found that one of our ducks just hatched out a whole bunch of adorable baby ducks. She has been nesting in the greenhouse that is attached to the house - a safe, warm place. I brought her water and food and locked her in so the cats don't get her ducklings.

For the fifth time this week we saw a coyote in the yard. Earlier in the week we lost a baby goat to the coyotes, and we have also lost an adult goose, we think. We tried to shoot the coyote (the only way we can protect our animals if Louie is not always here) but it ran before we could get the gun up. I wish there was a better way to keep them away. I don't want to hurt them - they are neat animals. But I have to protect my stock and they are getting very brave.

Tuesday May 29, 2007

2007-05-30T22:46:00.000-06:00

I've been quite worn out lately, so I slept in late today. Fed animals, then hiked a mile up to a neighbor's house to ask for help pulling our two trucks and the horse trailer out of the mud we have gotten the ALL stuck in this week. He said he'd come down after work.

We are trying a new Foal Monitoring system to help us be present at births without having to stay up all night for days on end. It requires suchering transmitters to the mares' vulva's. We put these in 2 weeks ago and in both our mares they were destroyed - looks like we put them in too tight. I called the vet and he said he would re-do them if we could get he mares to him tonight, which requires our trailer. I told him I would try to get there once (if) we got the vehicles out of the mud.

Our neighbor, Evan, came down to help about 4:30pm. He had a duelly (very good in mud) and we put chains on all tires but still almost got him stuck trying to pull our Chevy out. He and Dave worked for 2 hours getting the two trucks out of the mud, only to get the Dodge stuck again (we left it - the Chevy is the most important truck right now). Then they worked another hour and a half getting the trailer out, only to find that there was no way to do that except to go right through a large (luckily dead) tree. They got out the chainsaw to cut down the tree, but our big chainsaw got run over by a truck this winter and we only have a small one, which couldn't do the job. They eventually switched to an ax and just chopped the thing down, then drove the trailer out over the stump.

By this time it was far too late to get to the vet. I talked to him and he said he would leave the equipment out for me at his office and I could try to do it myself. So Dave and I went down to town to pick up those supplies, only to find that one (essential) thing was left out of the bag. I will have to go to town again tomorrow to get that last piece, then we will try to stitch these transmitters into the mares ourselves.

Monday May 28, 2007 (Memorial Day)

2007-05-28T22:55:00.000-06:00

Well, we saw a coyote again near the house and this time Louie went after it. But apparently not in time. One of the baby goats is gone and I imagine it was a coyote that took it. I hate that. Will have to keep a closer wrap on my goats. I like letting the animals free-range, but I may need to limit that if we can't get rid of these coyotes.

We took the Dodge down to the barn area to get the Chevy out of the mud and promptly got it stuck as well. The 4-wheel-drive is broken and it couldn't handle the mud without it.

We moved a number of horses and did a number of odd-jobs that needed to be done, but mostly I feel frustrated with the day, since we now have all of our vehicles stuck in the mud and I need to go to town tomorrow. May not be able to.

Mariah and Echo are getting close to their birthing time. Mariah's milk has turned cloudy, though Echo's is still clear.

Sunday May 27, 2007

2007-05-28T22:52:00.001-06:00

We did a bit more work in the tack room today, hanging saddle stands and building the last of the walls. Then we tried to pull the trailer up to the barn so we could unload all the tack we have stored in there. I was careless and tried to pull through wet, soggy mud. Got both the trailer and truck stuck. Arg! Will try to fix that tomorrow.

The goat kids are not nursing both sides on their own so we are doing some milking still, though mostly we let them drink when we can.

Saw a coyote in the yard today but didn't get a shot off after it in time to kill it. I am quite worried about my animals and have decided we need to get these guys - they are getting more and more brave.

Saturday May 26, 2007

2007-05-26T19:21:00.000-06:00

Dave and I got up around 10am today and fed horses, milked the goat and generally got ready for the farrier to come. We puttered on the tack room project till he got here. Then we trimmed 10 horses. As each finished I wormed and vaccinated them and then moved them to their new pastures (we are moving everyone around to give the present pastures a break).

Mariah's bag is starting to come in but Echo's is not.

We saw that the goat's udder was healed and decided to try and get her babies to nurse out of that side as well as the other one (so we don't have to keep milking her every day). Worked great and we are hoping that will allow the babies to get that milk from now on.

Friday May 25, 2007

2007-05-25T23:06:00.000-06:00

After getting up at 6am to milk our goat, I went back to sleep and slept till 10 or so. Dave and I headed down to town and I had a few appointments in town while he worked at my sister's. We met Sarah for dinner and then came home around dark. As we went to the back pasture to feed, we heard yelling and a woman hollered that their truck was stuck and they needed help getting it out. Another town person coming out here to play in the mud who decided that our meadow looked like the best mud they could find and tore into it, not caring that someone might own it and not want it ripped to shreds. We got them unstuck. They commented on how bad they thought it was that there were so many houses up here now - getting to the point where a guy can't even come up here and play with his truck anymore. I thought about finding out where they live and taking our bit, 3/4 ton diesel truck and doing wheelies in their front yard to see if they liked that...but instead we just helped them get unstuck and sent them on their way.

Thursday May 24, 2007

2007-05-25T23:02:00.001-06:00

We had a fabulous visit with our clients today. After getting to sleep at 2am I got up at 6am with Dave to milk our goat, then went back to bed. Got up in time to pick them up in Frenchtown at 10am and they spent the day here. Showed them the horses and they helped me do a fabulous job on grooming Flicka, Cami and Destiny. We made them lunch, then the man, Greg, and their exchange student took our horses out riding while the woman and I went on a hike. By the time they left and Dave and I got home, we were exhausted but feeling good about the day. (The picture is their exchange student riding Flicka (who is very pregnant).

Wednesday May 23, 2007

2007-05-25T22:59:00.000-06:00

I spent the whole day cleaning the house. Spent all of Monday doing laundry and finally finished it today. Trying to get things looking nice for some clients that are coming up tomorrow. (The house has been a bit of a wreck lately - not time to clean).

After work Dave and I worked on straightening the outside of the ranch - putting away piles of junk that have been left out. Our neighbor, Evan, came by and we took a quick break to de-horn the two newest baby goats (YUCK) and then he stayed around to help us with the ranch work. Came back in and stayed up till 2am finishing the inside of the house (it was really very dirty).

Tuesday May 22, 2007

2007-05-25T22:57:00.000-06:00

This evening Dave and I got started building my new tack room. I am very excited about this. One more couple-hour session and it should be done! Goat is doing well - milked her out twice again. Have been getting up at 6am so we can milk her together before Dave has to work. Ugh!

Saturday May 19, 2007

2007-05-21T11:37:00.000-06:00

Dave and I milked the goat twice today and did some ranch work. We baked muffins and sweetbreads and took them down to the Frenchtown firedepartment for their training day (to thank them for their help with my accident). Then we spent a few hours building a goat milking stand out of scraps we have around the ranch. It is 100 times easier to milk her in a stand and we are quite pleased.

Friday May 18, 2007

2007-05-18T23:08:00.000-06:00

Got up and left the ranch by 10:30 AM. Dave helped me load Isabelle into a dog crate and we put her two tiny babies in a cat crate next to her. Took her down to the vet where he looked at her, gave her some meds and then milked her out for me. I will need to milk her out often and give meds once per day. The vet got over 4 cups of milk out of the one side of her udder.

Got Ryder's feet trimmed today. Got home and took care of the feeding, took care of rabbits and goats and baked a bunch of sweet breads and muffins to take to the Frenchtown Fire department tomorrow to thank them for their help during my accident.

Thursday May 17, 2007

2007-05-17T21:26:00.000-06:00

We are a little worried about Isabelle, the goat with the inflamed udder. If she gets an infection in that udder she will get very sick - we are suppose to milk her out many times a day to help the inflammation go down. A bit overwhelmed by that. Its actually somewhat hard work and my back is not taking to it. We worked on it this evening again and will get up before Dave starts work at 7am tomorrow morning to do it again.

Wednesday May 16, 2007

2007-05-16T22:40:00.000-06:00

Today is the first day in a long while when I got good rest. Very little that the animals need right now, as the horses are all eating grass at this point. The newest mama goat had a plug stuck in one of her teats and it had swollen up to 10 times its normal size - we had to milk her out really well. Fluff (the little black chicken) hatched a baby - one out of the whole nest, so far. Dave moved 1000 lbs of grain out of the truck and unloaded our plywood from the trailer (for making the new tack room). I am at that stage where I feel good enough to be wishing I could do more, but not good enough to do anything. Hoping I can keep getting rest anyway.

Tuesday May 15, 2007

2007-05-15T20:37:00.000-06:00

Our white pair of geese hatched out two really fuzzy babies and are strutting around the yard with them. I spent three hours looking for Sahara, who was off wandering the hills, then spent four hours driving her and Onyx to the trainers. They will start their riding training today.

Sunday May 13, 2007

2007-05-15T20:35:00.000-06:00

Our last goat had babies today! A boy and a girl - beautiful. All the animals are doing well. I am struggling - exausted, sore and my stomach problems are flaring. Can't keep food down. Trying to get rest.

Saturday May 12, 2007

2007-05-15T20:33:00.000-06:00

Dave spent over nine hours working with the bobcat. We dumped all the dirt we removed from the padock area in the garden and my garden is now 4 feet high. Not exactly sure what we are going to do about that...

Exausted after all this work. Hoping to get some rest soon.

Friday May 11, 2007

2007-05-15T20:30:00.000-06:00

We rented a bobcat this evening for the weekend. Hoping to get the padock area around the big barn cleaned out - I spent three hours running it and removed over a foot of earth in some areas. It was really quite fun and we are hoping to use this to improve the drainage around that barn.

Thursday May 10, 2007

2007-05-10T23:30:00.000-06:00

I fed and then worked in my office most of the day. Rested some. In the afternoon I went to groom Onyx and after work Dave come to his pen to help me get a few preliminary pictures of him for our sale page. We raced around on the golf cart (aka "The Grampa Mobile"), fed and got back to the house before five. Sarah came over for dinner and a movie. Dave went to bed and I am on my way that direction too.

Wednesday May 9, 2007

2007-05-10T23:28:00.000-06:00

Okay, so much for the recuperating. I fed and took care of horses, but was so worn out I slept most of the day. After Dave was done with work we had to move around a bunch of horses and that ended up being a huge process. Took us two hours and we were both exhausted and frustrated when it was done. We decided to go to town to get dinner.

Tuesday May 8, 2007

2007-05-10T23:24:00.000-06:00

Vet came after noon. Worked with him till late. Did two geldings (Big Red and Corry) and we implanted two mares with my new Foaling alert system. We did shots and gave two fillies an ovulation push (they got in with Ryder but are too young to foal safely). Worked most of the day.

That evening a neighbor came over to help us de-horn our 5 baby goats. Boy, what a nasty process. We started with the paste method, but had to hold this goat for 30 minutes to keep it from rubbing the paste on itself, then tie it for 6 hours to keep it still. That was horrid. So we tried the burning method for the other four and, though I hated it, it was quick and within minutes the goats were romping and playing again. Took about 3 hours total. We made dinner and Sarah and Evan (both neighbors who showed up to help) stayed to eat.

Dave and I were both so sore and exausted from two days of hard work that we fell into bed. We should have the next couple evenings to recouperate!

Monday May 7, 2007

2007-05-10T23:22:00.000-06:00

Dave and I worked after he finished work (at home!!). We spent about 4 hours moving horses, fencing, and putting away over 1000 lbs of grain. A neighbor came by to help us do most of it and that was greatly appreciated. I did very little of the actual work, since I can't do anything heavy with my back yet.

Dave and I caught 4 horses and brought them down to the house for the vet tomorrow.

Sunday May 6, 2007

2007-05-10T23:19:00.000-06:00

Went into town with my mom and the horse trailer early in the day. Picked up my nice and took her to the park so my sister and her husband (and mom) could go look at some houses. Also took her with me to pick up a horse. Drove to Stevensville to get Onyx, a 3-year-old we sold a year ago. His owners have to move out of state and need to sell their horses. We are handling Onyx's sale for them.

Got back and dropped off my niece. Went to pick up Dave and we took Onyx home. Dave is finally home!!

Friday May 4, 2007

2007-05-04T22:30:00.000-06:00

Temps in the mid-high 30's today with lots of heavy snow on and off. I spent the day resting, trying to recoup from doing too much yesterday. Animals are doing well. A coyote came calling, but he dogs sent him packing. I went down to town to pick up the first part of a ton of grain that I ordered a while ago. Picked up my mom to come back up as well - thought I could use a little more help the next couple days. Trying not to over-do it.

Thursday

2007-05-04T10:05:00.000-06:00

Before we could use the tiller I rented we had to get the truck and trailer out of the mud, which was worse than when I got it stuck because we got 6 inches of wet, heavy snow last night and it was still coming down hard this morning. Jarred had to go to a neighbor to borrow a special kind of jack, then spend an hour digging the trailer out just so we could get it unhooked and get the truck free. He called another neighbor who works from home and asked for help getting the trailer out (that neighbor has a truck we thought would pull it free - mine wouldn't). He came over and the two of them spent another hour digging and pulling and getting that free. We have good neighbors up here - he said he was happy to get to play with his truck.

We got the garden tilled and I went to town. I had loaded up 6 chickens to give to a client/friend who recently lost her chickens. As I pulled in I noticed that Nefertari (this was the client who bought Nefertari from me) had a baby by her side. Turned out she had the baby that night (1:43 in the morning) and Kathy (client/friend) got to be there for the whole thing. Beautiful baby of Ryder's.

Called another client while I was in town. She had left me a message and wanted to see Ryder. She said she lived down on Deschamps Lane and I told her that was where Ryder was at the moment - at Western Montana Equine. She was very excited - said she had been drooling over him since he got there. Had seen him every day in their pastures. I introduced them and I think that she will breed to him.

Got home after 10pm. My mom stayed in town to help my sister. Going to see how I do alone for a few days. Dave comes home on Sunday.

Wednesday May 2, 2007

2007-05-02T22:17:00.000-06:00

Destiny is better and came home today. She had a piece of a stick wedged in her ankle. One of the problems with letting the horses roam in pastures with hillsides and woods...

Got home this evening with her and promptly got the trailer stuck in front of the big barn. I forgot that it had been raining for two day up here too and would be too muddy to turn around down there. Arg. My mom walked to the far pasture to feed for me and took a sled to pull the bales (even though there is no snow). Other than that, everything is good here. I am healing quickly and doing remarkably well.

Tuesday May 1, 2007

2007-05-02T21:36:00.000-06:00

Got up today and mom did the feeding. We loaded up a winter's worth of ranch trash, old fencing and such, into the truck (took most of the morning). We planned to go to town for my sister's birthday and spend the night. Jarred was working at the ranch and keeping an eye on things.

As we got ready to leave, we saw that Destiny was limping. We pulled her out and washed up her legs (its been raining and she was splashed with mud). Got her fixed up and found that she has some swelling in her ankle - maybe an abscess. Hooked up the trailer and took her to town. Left her for the vet.

Also arranged for Ryder to do an AI shipment today. The vet did it and he spoke for a while about how impressed he is with Ryder as a stallion. Such good manners, so polite and easy to control. I was really glad to hear such a good report on him!

Monday April 30, 2007

2007-04-30T21:49:00.000-06:00

Great day today. My mom and I worked in the yard, got the yard cleaned up from the winter and all ready for the summer, cleaned up my porches and made everything around the house and yard pretty and neat. I love this place. I am so lucky to live here.

The pastures are growing wonderfully. Another two weeks and we will be feeding off pasture completely.

Mom is still doing the feeding for me and I am enjoying the break.

Sunday April 29, 2007

2007-04-29T21:32:00.000-06:00

My mom is doing all the feeding for me right now. A real treat for me - just having a break is great. And being free of that chore for a week really helps keep my back from hurting.

I puttered in my yard a bit, but took it easy today. Am sore and spent most of the day resting.

I sent my goose-suitor to a new home today. I was quite sad to see him go, but he has attached to me so solidly that he is quite aggressive towards anyone around me. And even when he is not aggressive, he "nips" people all the time. Aggression or not, his "nips" really hurt. He has bitten some kids who come up here regularly and I just couldn't keep him around. But I didn't want anything to happen to him. I found him a good home with a friend who has 3 pet geese. She is great with birds and will keep him as a pet. He may even finally have a mate that is actually a goose!

Sat April 28, 2007

2007-04-29T21:15:00.000-06:00

When I got home from town the other day I realized that all my turkeys and one of my peacocks were gone. I didn't realize it was turkey season or I would have locked up my turkeys, though I am sure my big Tom did not leave my yard. I imagine some hunter saw that big, beautiful bird down here, noticed that no-one was home and shot him. Sometimes I wish we could make this road private. People who don't live up here litter, destroy things and steal things off our land without a thought all the time.

I felt good enough today that my mom was able to help me plant my spring flower gardens around the yard (she did the planting - I am am still restricted in my movements). I love my plants. My mom commented that I have a great love of growing things - horses, goats, plants... I just love to nourish new life and provide a place for it to thrive.

Friday April 27, 2007

2007-04-27T17:32:00.000-06:00

Decided to make my blog private (just open to people I specifically invite). It is fine with me if any of those people share it with others, but for now it occurred to me that it is more about our life here than my business and is not always the face I want to present through my business. I have to figure out what to do about that before I make it public again.

Have been in town for a couple days at my sister's. I am healing well, though I sometimes get frustrated about it. My dad and his wife were a huge help and now my mom is here. Dave comes home a week from Sunday to take over. His job is going great and all the animals here are doing well.

Tuesday April 24, 2007

2007-04-24T21:10:00.000-06:00

Very sore today. Back hurts if I move much at all. Paying for yesterday, I suppose. I took it easy. Fed in the morning, then slept. Went out during the afternoon to fix one more stretch of fence. Couldn't get the chainsaw started, so my dad chopped a tree in half with an ax. Then we fed in the evening and there was a tree down in the road. He had to chop that one down with an ax as well! I didn't know my dad was such a mountain man!

Monday April 23, 2007

2007-04-23T12:29:00.000-06:00

Dad and I got the horses back in and then spent three hours mending the fences around half of their pasture, just to have 6 of them waltz out the other half before we got to it. He did all the lifting. It was hard enough just to walk the pastures with my back, but I managed to help. Slept all afternoon and then went out feeding again, and got the horses in again.

I am sore from the inside out. Going to bed. Will need to start feeding morning and evenings at set times to give these guys a routine. Also will feed a small bit of grain at each meal. Hopefully those things will help keep them around as we get the fencing fixed.

Sunday April 22, 2007

2007-04-23T08:39:00.000-06:00

Got home in the afternoon and all the animals seemed fine. But this evening all the youngsters got out - ten of them. My dad, Ruth and I ended up walking all over (and driving all over) trying to get them back in, but didn't manage it. By the time it was full dark they had headed past the ranch and we just let them go. I am too sore to keep going at this tonight. Tomorrow I am going to have to fix one of my pastures so that it holds the herd. I had hoped to limp by on weak fences until June when I have fencing help, but I can't do that. I am going to have to figure out how to fix these fences with my back as it is. And how to get 10 horses home without being able to ride. That will be tomorrow's work, I suppose.

Saturday April 21, 2007

2007-04-23T08:34:00.000-06:00

Am finding it a bit hard to be at the ranch, since I can do so little. Will head down to town for the night and spend tomorrow with my sister's family. Jarred is taking care of everyone here.

Thursday April 19, 2007

2007-04-20T09:18:00.000-06:00

Got a great birthday present today. Dave got a job and will be able to work from home more than half the time. He will go out to Chicago one week per month and live at home the rest of the time. He starts work on Tuesday. Thank goodness.

Got home for the first time since my accident. Clara (one of the goats) had two babies. My female turkeys are gone, but that's not the end of the world. For the most part, all is well. I need help getting around some, can't keep a fire going since I can't lift the logs and can't take care of the animals, so it is good my Dad and Ruth are here for the week. My neighbor is going to help feed each day.

Wednesday April 18, 2007

2007-04-18T22:05:00.000-06:00

Dave when up to the ranch today to get Ryder and bring him to town. He has to do some AI breeding this week and I usually wait to get the call that the mare is ready and rush him down the mountain for that. Knew we couldn't do that, so we took him to the vet and will leave him there until the AI work is done. May leave him longer as well. I am going to have some family and friends helping me these next few weeks until I can walk normally again, and I don't want anyone else to have to deal with the stallion if he were to get out or something.

Poor Dave got to the ranch, discovered that the house was freezing and had to split wood and build a fire. Then he tied Ryder up and got the trailer ready and Ryder untied himself and went waltzing around the year. With Dave's tendon injury and his ankle in a cast, he had a hard time catching up with him and getting him in the trailer. Then the turkey attacked Ryder and freaked him out. Then Rajah and a neighbor dog followed him to town and he had to put them in the truck and take them with him. Dave finally got him to town and as Ryder jumped out of the trailer he landed on Dave's foot. The whole trip took 5 hours.

I am doing much better today. Able to sit and stand up on my own for the first time. Will head home tomorrow for my birthday!

Had two baby goats born today!

Tuesday April 17, 2007

2007-04-17T19:42:00.000-06:00

On Saturday, my brother-in-law and my 3-year-old niece came up to go horse back riding. We saddled up two horses and my niece rode with me. About 30 minutes into the ride, a few miles back on our mountain, my horse stumbled hard. I pulled her head up to help her regain her balance, but quickly realized that I could not hold onto my niece and hold the reigns up. I dropped the reigns to grab my niece and the horse went down. My niece and I were both thrown over her head.

I locked my niece in my arms and twisted in the air so that I would land on my back with her protected against my stomach. As we hit the ground my arms were thrown open and she was propelled out of them and onto the ground next to me. I still had her feet locked into my hands and Tucked under my body a bit, so she didn't go far. She ended up with a scuff on her helmet and a scrape on her hip, but otherwise unhurt.

I fractured a vertebrae in my back (L3) and though we didn't know exactly what was wrong at the time, it was clear we were not moving me. Miraculously, Dave came along on the golf cart minutes after the fall and he was able to rush back to the house and jump in the car to go get our neighbors, who are EMTs. They called an ambulance and rushed up to start treating me.

It took about an hour to get me ready to move - there were four trucks and an ambulance and over a dozen paramedics. They decided not to try and get me down the road with a back injury and called for a helicopter. Loaded me in and had me in the hospital in 10 minutes.

My fracture is mild, considering. No surgery needed and pain drugs help a lot with the pain. I will need help moving from a sitting, standing and laying position for a few days. Help walking for the next few weeks, maybe month or so. I spend most days on my back right now, but can sit or stand for short periods. Jarred is feeding for us right now, since we have been staying at my sisters until I can handle the ride up our road. I hope to get home by Friday.

All in all, we're doing quite well here. Dave is staying with me until the weekend and my Dad and his wife are coming up for a few weeks. The animals are all well and the horses were not hurt during all this. We will keep everyone posted as things develop.

Friday April 13, 2007

2007-04-13T20:32:00.000-06:00

Pretty normal day with feeding and a little ranch work. Dave had an interview by phone for the Minneapolis situation and it looks good - he's heading back there shortly to meet them in person.

This evening we came home from my sister's to find Georgia, one of our goats, had just given birth to three babies! She wasn't due till May - I imagine that with three inside her she birthed early. They are beautiful and healthy.

Thursday April 12, 2007

2007-04-12T21:17:00.000-06:00

Picked up Dave last night and got home around midnight. We took it easy today. Cleaned the barn, did a little yard work and fed animals. I worked with Sahara, taking her through some Parelli training. She is so smart and quick to learn. Jarred finished removing the greenhouse and garden fence and we are ready to plow that area up. Dave had two job contacts today - two phone interviews and one tomorrow.

Tuesday April 10, 2007

2007-04-10T20:08:00.000-06:00

Fed the animals and Jarred showed up to work for the day. We moved about 2 tons of hay from a pile in front of our barn to various barns that will need hay on and off through the summer months. I groomed and worked with Big Red, Sahara and Rose on leading and manners. Walked Big Red to the far pasture to return him to the other youngsters. Keeping Rose and Sahara in a pen near the house for a bit - they need daily work right now. Worked with them for a few hours then went in to sleep some.

Seeded pastures (3 of them) and got the greenhouse and garden fence torn down. It was rotting and we have decided that more effective in this climate would be window boxes that sit closer to the ground. One of the female turkeys got caught in her fence and badly hurt. We put her down and slaughtered her. She is in the oven now. I had hoped to keep her for breeding, but she was just too badly hurt.

Fixed some downed fences in the Blue Moon pasture. Tired tonight.

Week without Internet - Dave's Job

2007-04-10T20:05:00.000-06:00

Things are not going well with Dave's job situation yet. We moved him out to Minneapolis to work for a firm that hires people out to big companies to do high tech work for them. Our understanding of what we were getting into was different than what is there. They do not have a job for him yet and will not put him on the payroll until they do. So he is still not working. He has begun applying for jobs all over the country again. Had an interview in L.A. yesterday. I feel like we are starting over.

Talked him into taking the train from Minneapolis and coming home until we hear something. No reason for him to be sitting out there when he could be here. He leaves tonight (Tuesday) and will get home Wednesday evening. About a 22 hour drive.

Week without Internet - Death and Crying For Days

2007-04-10T17:33:00.000-06:00

Some aspects of ranch life I will never find easy to take. I do not know why death has to be such a constant companion of nature.

I got a week-old baby goat last week which I tried to get one of my mothers to accept. When they wouldn't, I took her in the house to raise like a puppy. I bought her diapers made for dogs (she never had an accident in the house, once) and I bottle fed her. She romped around the house and followed me all over the ranch. Her name was Rambler and I really adored her. Every afternoon I put her out with the other goats for a few hours so that she got use to being with goats as well as people. Then we'd do back to the house and she would sleep on my lap or explore the house until she got tired, then crawl into the bed I made for her and sleep through the night.

Thursday evening, I went to town and I became so exausted I couldn't figure out where I was or what was going on around me. I got myself to my sister's house and just crashed. Was about as wiped out as I have been in a long time - could barely function. I slept until late and then limped home. I had put Rambler in the goat pasture before I left for town and I checked on her briefly when I returned, then left her there. I didn't have the energy for anything but sleeping. I went to bed.

The next morning I found her dead. I assume she got trampled by the other goats and, without a mother to protect her, couldn't get out of the way. I didn't know that was a risk, but I should have. I have seen it happen before - small things can't get by without protection. I stood there stairing at her and I couldn't believe my little one was dead. I kept begging myself to do something differently, but it was too late. I went back to the house and crawled into bed. I cried all day. I should never have left her out there. I should never have left her out.

Week without Internet - Goat Pastue Improvments

2007-04-10T17:26:00.000-06:00

Jarred and I have been working on some improvements to the goat pasture this week. We build a number of things for the baby goats to play on, including a teater-toter. They jump up there and rock up and down, trying to knock eachtoher off. The youngsters are strong and healthy and a neighbor family has bought them (when they are weaned) to take home as pets.

Week without Internet - Goose

2007-04-10T17:21:00.000-06:00

My male goose has once again settled on me as his mate. He is much more serious about it now, following me everywhere when I am outside. He coos at me, flutters his neck and rubs against me, wooing me in true goose style. He watches the windows of the house, hoping I will come out, often seeing me sitting in the living room or passing by a window and rushes to the house to entice me out. I think he has decided that I am truly the finest mate because what other goose has a mate who makes food appear every time she walks outside? He stands around as I feed the other birds, preening, clearly proud of me.

He also protects me avidly when I am outside. He even walked the 1/4 mile to the far pasture with me, strutting by my side and then getting out ahead of me when we were turning a corner, so he could protect me from anything unexpected that we came across. Rajah, who has spent his life doing just that, kept looking back and I could swear he was shaking his head in disgust. He is not impressed with my suitor's protestations of protection and love (though I've noticed that any time the goose goes after HIM, he tucks his tail and runs, yelping, towards the house.)

Week without Internet - Lost Horses

2007-04-10T17:14:00.000-06:00

Jarred fed for me for about 5 days and when I took back over I counted my horses in the far pasture and came up 3 short. Not unusual in and of itself, since they are getting out regularly. But I can always tell when there are horses out and around the property somewhere (everyone else is always a little excited about the escaped crew being around) and on this day it was clear to me that there were no horses anywhere near-by at all. It soon became clear to me that these three horses were nowhere near by and had not been for many days.

I saddled up Destiny on Easter Sunday and road her for about 3 hours. Explored further back into the hills than I have ever gone. Beautiful ride and really enjoyed it, but saw no sign of my horses. I realized they couldn't be within 5 miles of the ranch or I would have seen them. I was getting ready to start looking in near-by towns. I stopped everyone I met on the road and asked, but no-one had seen them.

Monday night someone came by the ranch and said they had found them. They were 10 miles away, down by the town of Arlee. I hooked up a trailer and went to get them. They had been living it up, having a good old time being wild horses and were quite wild when we got them back. Sahara (my 3 year old Arab-mix) was the leader. The other two just followed her out there. She is a really fabulous horse but needs a challenging life and is a teenage girl, through and through. Just ditched us to go find excitement somewhere. I now have her in a small, secure pen I set up with panels and will start working with her every day. She is perfectly content to stick around if she is getting attention regularly. But I don't think I have a pasture that will hold her otherwise.

Week without Internet - Fencing

2007-04-10T16:53:00.000-06:00

Fencing is the bane of my existence right now. I just have to limp by until I have help and can replace a lot of this old fencing with reliable stuff, but spring is a hard time to do that. I have gone up to the far pasture to feed a half a dozen times in the past few weeks and had to fix fences, round up horses and get everyone back where they belong. I have Ryder and the moms in one of the only secure places on the property, but the youngsters keep finding ways to get out. Lots of fixing fences this week.

Thursday March 29, 2007

2007-03-29T23:00:00.000-06:00

I got a call this morning from the woman who sold us our goats. She had a baby goat she didn't need to keep and wondered if we wanted it, since our pygmy goat's baby did not survive. I didn't feel the woman owed us anything - this is just part of what happens with animals sometimes. She was certainly not obligated to do anything to make it up to us. But she said she wanted to give it to us anyway, and I was very pleased to take it. I drove to her house and picked it up. It is a very beautiful little girl, one week old, and very people friendly. It rode on my lap all the way home.

I am hoping that the pygmy will adopt it, though that will be tricky. For one thing, most mothers reject other animals' babies. For another, the kid is a full-sized goat baby and will have to get down on her knees to nurse out of that mother, since the pygmy is so small. But they seemed comfortable with each-other and I have some hope. I am keeping the in the barn for a week to give them a chance to bond. I will go down tomorrow and see if I can hold the mama and help Rambler (what Dave and I decided to name the little girl) learn to nurse off of her.

On the advice of a couple of people (and my books) I also did one other thing to help the match take. I skinned the dead baby goat and sewed on Velcro straps. Then I strapped her hide to the back of Rambler. That was the first time I have worked with a dead animal (Dave always does the butchering because I just hate that part). But the general consensus is that the match takes better if the new baby smells like the momma's baby, and I was the only one here to do the skinning. So I did.

When I went to feed the horses today, Ryder was in with the youngster's herd (he had broken his fence) and they were all scattered around (they had broken their gait). Turns out I have a three year old and a two year old that are in heat. So Ryder bread them, then chased the geldings in that herd clear out of the pasture (didn't mind the young stud colts, just the young geldings). Ugh. I spent a couple hours fixing fences, then caught all the horses and put them each in their own pastures. Then, as I was leaving (finally) I noticed the mares in Ryder's pasture all wondering out of the other end of the pasture into my neighbor's field - another fence down.

I have this summer blocked off to replace most of my fencing. But it is going to be hard to get by until then. I have help doing it come June and I am hoping I don't have to start this project on my own. But right now Ryder's sex drive is waking up and he is not particularly content to be in a herd of pregnant mares that are not coming into heat. And then he has these young horses coming into heat across the way from him. It is going to be next to impossible to keep them apart. I am going to have to do some major moving around of pastures if I am to get through this spring without unplanned pregnancies, but I so want to let my main pastures grown in well before I put horses on them! I will have to figure all this out in the next couple of days.

In the evening I tried to milk Smudge (the Pygmy goat) so that I might be able to entice Rambler to nurse, but couldn't figure out how. Loaded Rambler and Smudge in the back of my pickup and closed the cover on the bed so they couldn't jump out. Drove a mile down the road to my neighbor's who raise goats. They taught me how to nurse her and I got about 1 baby bottle full out of her (I am saving that for tomorrow - I plan to take a baby goat to town for my sister's daughter to pet, walk and fuss over. She will love feeding it a bottle). I worked on getting the baby to eat, but she wasn't hungry yet, so we will see how that goes again tomorrow.

Wednesday March 28, 2007

2007-03-29T22:38:00.000-06:00

Went out and found that the Pygmy who had the baby die was swollen and infected around her vulva. I took her in the barn and made her a stall up. Washed the floor with bleach, then dried it and put down fresh straw, a bucket of water, a tin of grain and some hay to eat. I then washed her all up and made up a bucket of warm water. I took a bag and tube and flushed her vagina with warm water, then did the same thing with iodine and warm water. I reapeated that, then took s syringe (no needle, of course) and put some first aid cream in there. I am hoping to keep her in the barn and treat her every day until she heals.

Fed all the animals on my own today and then went down to town to meet with a client. Taught her and her husband about birthing and how to give shots to the horse. They are the ones who bought Nefertari and have a baby due May 3rd.

Long day, but good.

2007-03-27T21:42:00.000-06:00

Dave is in Minnesota today and begins his new job tomorrow.

Everything was covered with about 1/2 inch of snow when I woke up today and it snowed all day - ground is wet enough that it doesn't accumulate in wet spots, but it looks pretty.

I fed all the animals today and did a lot of resting.

Tonight I am trying to decide about one of my geese. We have this one male goose who decided for a while to try and woo me for his mate. He was very funny, following me everywhere and preening before me and chasing away any other male goose that got close to me. It was very funny and really quite sweet. Eventually he decided to try to find a goose mate, but he still is very friendly and comes up and coos at me and sits next to me while I pet him. I like him and consider him a friend. But we have a lot of animals on this ranch and I needed to cut down on the number of geese. We chose two mated pairs to keep and decided to slaughter the rest, except for him. We couldn't bring ourselves to slaughter him and so we gave him to a neighbor. He walked the mile back home, however, and is here again. Today he came up talking to me and asking to be petted. I picked him up and put him in a cage so I could give him away to someone he couldn't get home from. But now I'm not sure I want to. With Dave gone I know I will be lonely, and it is the animals that I bond with that really help with that. I kind of want to keep him. But I really wanted to get down to four geese - I feel like that is a manageable number. And it will be hard to keep up with everything on my own. But is one more really a big deal? Need to decide that soon.

Monday March 26, 2007

2007-03-26T18:47:00.000-06:00

Hard day. Went out first thing to check on the goat that is due to have babies and she was lying down with a baby stuck partway out of her. The baby was dead. She couldn't get it out. All labor had stopped.

Didn't know what I could do without hurting the mare, given that she was not having contractions anymore, so I ran to get a neighbor who raises goats. Drove her over here and she helped me remove the baby. The momma is fine and healthy, so that is a relief.

Brushed and got to know Stormy, the new mare. Enjoyed spending time with her.

Spent some time with the goats then took a nap. Jarred fed tonight. I'm worn out and heavy hearted. One of the things I love most about this life is the intensity and that everything that happens has great import - it is often life and death. But the death part is hard. Nature is cruel much of the time and I find that hard to bear. But it is also an intricate part of why I love this life, so in a way it is okay as well.

Sunday March 25, 2007

2007-03-26T02:06:00.000-06:00

It is the middle of the night, and I fell asleep around 10pm, but the dogs woke me up with barking. My body hurts so much that I can't go back to sleep, so I am doing office work until that eases. I feel like I have been run over by a truck - but I also feel like I earned it! I did more work this week (and had better energy) than I have done in a year. I will need to really rest for this next week so that I don't slide backwards, but I am really pleased that I lasted through such an intense week and am still doing as well as I am.

We got up at 6am today and hooked up the trailer. Loaded Nefertari in the pouring rain and went down the mountain the Arlee way, because we didn't think the trailer would make it with the mud down the Frenchtown way. Stopped at my sister and she and her daughter joined us going out for breakfast. Then they went home and we transferred all Dave's stuff into his mom's car. They left for Omaha and Minneapolis. It was hard to say good by.

I took Nefertari to her new home and loaded up the mare we are trading her for (she was a part sale, part trade). Then I came back to town and spent 5 hours doing errands and getting everything I need in town for the next while. I got home around 5pm. Went right to bed.

I woke up around 7pm and had dinner, then started re-organizing my closets and dresser drawers and straightening the house. It looks really good and I always feel better about my life when my space is neat. I am very excited to have some time to myself and about Dave's new job. But its also sad not to have him here. Talked to him on the phone before bed and went to sleep.

Saturday March 23, 2007

2007-03-26T01:59:00.001-06:00

We got up before 10 am and checked on the goats, then started getting Dave packed. Spent half the day gathering everything he needed, then I began packing everything for him. He and I took a break to go do the feeding and we worked on drainage in the middle 20 on the way back, for about 40 minutes. I think we made a difference in the pasture.

He changed the oil in the generator and put more water in the battery bank. That took about an hour. I emptied the truck of all the ranch-related laundry we did in town last week and then began packing his stuff into the truck. I walked down to catch Nefertari, whom we sold and are going to deliver tomorrow and did the rest of the feeding.

We began working on packing his office, the only part not done. But it got to be 6pm and we had to go to town to babysit my sister's kids while she and her husband went out (and to have a last evening together - the kids were asleep most of the time and we got a good dinner and watched a movie.)

We got home after 11pm and continued working on packing the office. Finished that and loaded the last things into the truck. Dave went to bed while I wrote up a contract for Nefertari's sale.

I am exhausted beyond saying. Thank goodness our rush week is over. I can't believe we made it through. Now I can sleep for days!

Oh, and can I just say, thank God for Mothers? Dave's mom has been here all week. She came out to help when she heard how sick we were and I don't know how we could have gotten ready to leave without her. She did so much to get Dave ready and to get the ranch ready for me to handle it myself. I am really grateful to her.

Friday March 23, 2007

2007-03-23T20:59:00.000-06:00

We got a ton done today. It is good that our marathon week of working before Dave leaves is almost over - I am so exhausted my joints and, well, my whole body hurt every time I move. I have got to get some rest soon. I should be able to slow down once Dave is off for Minnesota on Sunday. In the mean time, I think he is almost ready to go and the ranch is almost ready for me to be able to handle it on my own.

Today we got up and were out working by 10. We went down the the barn and sexed our geese so that we could determine for certain that we had two mated pairs and we could slaughter the rest. (Sexing geese involves pinning them down, covering your finger with lube and pushing it into their anus until either a penis or a vulva pops out. Lovely work.)

We killed the first goose and got him ready to slaughter. Then Jared showed up to work and we turned the butchering over to him while Dave and I did other jobs. First I walked out to the field where four of the geese were hanging out and identified our experienced, mated pair for him. We planned to shoot the other two. It was really quite horrible. We shot one with a handgun (because we thought the rifle was overkill) and it would not die. It took four holes in its head and we finally had to chase it down and slit its throat. We were both just sick about it. Making an animal suffer like that was never our intention.

In any case, Dave and I then went to work on the turkey pen while Jarred slaughtered the first two gese. We spread mulch, put up a perch and moved a large, unused shed in for shelter. Put up some better fencing in places and basically got the place ready for the turkeys to move in once the grass seed takes. That took most of the day.

When Jarred got done with the two geese, we got out the rifle for the next one. She was hanging out with our old mated pair (she was their daughter) and we shot her and killed her right away. The really awful part of that was that we should have slaughtered her months ago - as she got old enough to mate, she formed a bond with her father and mother. We didn't realize she was mated to him too. He ignored the other goose we shot, as most will do unless the injured goose is its mate. But this one was different. He saw her go down and rushed to her, spreading his wings wide to shield her from Dave, who was walking over to retrieve her. He kept frantically trying to push her into the water, where she would be safe from him, but she wouldn't move. Oh, it was awful. Next year we slaughter the youngsters before they reach mating age. I can't do that to the geese again.

We wanted to slaughter one more and get ourselves down to 4 geese. But the last one was the big gray one that followed us around for months, trying to bond to us. He has gotten so friendly. I couldn't do it. Neither could Dave. Jarred came to the rescue there and said he would take it home as a pet. So that made me feel better about that.

By the end of the day, we were exhausted beyond belief. Jarred did the feeding for us and Dave and I ran to town for boxes to get him packed tomorrow. He leaves Sunday morning.

Thursday March 22, 2007

2007-03-22T21:39:00.000-06:00

Again we are all exhausted this evening. I cleaned the goat stall that the new baby goats are in and spared the old straw over the turkey pen, in which I am trying to grow grass. Dave slaughtered 3 rabbits, one of which we cooked for supper (absolutely great meat). I brought the last outside rabbit inside to breed her with the buck. Jarred finished cleaning out the goat barn. Dave and I fed. I spent and hour and a half catching Nefertari and walked her, Cairo and Mariah down to the house to show a client. The client really liked Nefertari. We are going to sell her. We groomed up all the horses and took them back to the pasture, then went in for dinner. Exhausted. I am loving having the health to work around here again, but am perhaps pushing a bit too hard.

Here are today's pictures of our goats - less than 24 hours old.