Jack…

Posted on by August 13, 2012

 

I am so sad to say that Jack just passed away awhile ago.  My heart is broken.

I haven’t written about Jack much because we’ve been on pins and needles to see if he would recover from a terrible ordeal that he went through this last few weeks.  It was too sad to write about, and we just kept hoping that he would have just a little more strength in his little body to make it through.

He disappeared about 3 weeks ago, and we hunted high and low for him for days and days.  Always hoping that he would just come walking around a corner of the barn or stroll up with his sweet little meow and want some hugging.  But no, nothing.  We were so afraid that he had gotten hit out front, but no little bodies on the road.  And we walked both sides of the road each morning, looking, not wanting to find him but so worried.  Nothing.

And then late one evening, Jessy found him, weak and thin, filthy dirty, barely able to walk, but he had made it home!  Oh my gosh, we were so happy, yet so worried.

After we cleaned him up and got some food in him, he was so happy, he slept for a whole day in our big dog crate on a pile of baby blankets, purring away.  We thought he had just gotten lost and since he was declawed in the front, it was very hard for him to hunt for anything.

But he wasn’t getting better and we were not sure why…  until we realized that he had two awful abscesses hidden in his fur, on his backside.  Since he was so frail and so weak we hadn’t fussed a lot with him and were so surprised to find them.  One burst and it was so nasty.  We knew it was not good for him, kitties and abscesses are a common thing.  It looked like something had gotten ahold of his backside, near the base of his tail, something with fangs.  Like a big dog or a coyote.  We have those things around here.

We took him in, and got meds and the whole nine yards.  Unfortunately, we could not leave him there for hundreds and more of work, but we did what we could.  It was a 50 50 thing…  if it all drained and stayed clean, it might heal.  If not, the prognosis was not good.  He was bright eyes and eating, drinking, so we took a chance.  He was still our boy and still seemed to want to fight.

But last night, he stopped eating, drinking and he lost control of his limbs, just was  suddenly crashing.  I sat up with him most of the night.  By morning, it was clear that he was in a coma, just silent and leaving us.  We made the decision, and a very hard decision, that his last hours should be here, at his home, in his little blanket nest, with us to take care of him.  I have had to take in many pets for that last ride and it’s not always pleasant.  It’s not a good death.  Not always, and I just couldn’t bare that.

His passing was calm and quiet.  It was just slipping away, and I really don’t think he was in any pain.  He just let go, while I was stroking his little head and back, in a quiet little comfortable nest of his favorite blankets.

Jackie Boy came to us a dropped off, abandoned throw away kitty at the mobile home park.  He was declawed and fixed and starving.  Crying under our car, afraid of everyone.  It took us about a week to befriend him and welcome him into our hearts.  He was such a sweet boy, with his own quirky ways like any cat.  He would hug you with his paws if you snuggle up close with him.  He loved boxes.

Making the decision to bring him to the farm with us was hard, because we were so afraid that he might not adjust.  He was about a 75% indoor cat at that time, but still, we were so worried about the road and the big open space.  Boy, were we wrong!  He LOVED it here.  Oh my gosh… he was everywhere all the time, always following you on chores, he loved the farm.  He welcomed all our critters, never chased the chickens, would manage to get up on top of the barn roof and peer down at you like a vulture!  He slept in the pony barn all winter long with Cody.  Old Cody would let Jack wonder around his feet without a second thought.  Jack loved to sleep next to the chicken brooder lights, he was so good at knowing all the good spots.  He would come inside just for a bit of food and maybe a nap.  He never went near the road, and he was always around.

He’ll be buried out at our little thoughtful place, our little cemetery of loved souls.  We are so sad, it’s hard to put it to words.

 

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Our Meteor Shower Party!

Posted on by August 12, 2012

After a week of getting ready, Windhaven looked fantastic, if I say so myself.  Maggie and her magnificent mowing skills had transformed the slightly wild back regions of the farm into a wonderful viewing area and we had all worked diligently to just rake and pick up and organize the whole place into one tidy little happy party farm!  And of course, the day of the party started out rainy and gloomy.  Overcast.  Not particularly the best forecast for a star gazing event!

But that sort of thing doesn’t stop us.  After all, it would be a bon fire and some picking of good music, snacks and friends.  We knew some folks would show up even as we began to hear from a few folks that were begging out of the  hoopala.  That was fine, we understood.  Our little heaven is a bit of a drive for a lot of our friends and family and well, a rainy wet and gloomy party day is not the most exciting thing after a busy day.

One of the last minute things we did was to put up a few little pennants for our washing line!  It’s a dark green and somewhat low, so we didn’t want our guests smacking into it in the dark!  Of course, my entire posse had to follow me around to make sure I did everything up to Windhaven code.

Cody is giving me helpful advice as to the symmetry of the installation.  He’s very concerned about things like that.

Maggie got the fire all ready and started around five o’ clock, mostly because we were a little worried that some of our wood would be a little too damp!  But she persevered and had a nice fire in no time.  Jessy and I did the last minute touches on snack and drinks on ice.  We didn’t go nuts at all, since this was to be a very informal and casual gathering of friends.  We did, however, spurge on several bags of marshmallows and chocolate covered graham crackers for the festivities!

Jessy was taking pictures with her new little point and shoot camera that she got at a garage sale for $5.00.  She was very pleased with herself and was snapping up pictures like mad.  Until the battery died and it got dark.  So, there are not that many pictures of the whole event!   But that’s okay, we had a lovely time and though there were not a whole lot of people, those folks that did show up got the fun farm treatment!  Tours, lots of critters, a awesome fire display and then we retired out to the pasture to give it a chance.

Our friend Shelly and her son JB came out and brought some friends of theirs too.  And these young ladies were in love with Cody!  They led him all over the middle like a little dog and gave him hugs and kisses, and treats and picked grass for him (because he’s lazy and loves little girl attention like that) and just nearly wore him out.  It’s good for him, he doesn’t get a ton of lead time and even though he has very good pony manners, a little warm up on it all isn’t bad.  I would just let him loose but when we have a lot of visitors, we put everyone away in closed up pastures to keep everyone safe.  Especially because the sheep can be big time mooches and will eat anything offered them!   We did discover that Cody likes marshmallows.  But it takes him about 15 minutes to eat one, since he licks and chews and licks some more at their sticky goodness.  (Don’t worry, he only got a couple!)

When they grew tired of just leading him around, I offered to teach them how to harness a pony, which they seemed to enjoy and paid very good attention to, and then we hooked him up to the little lawn drag and they got to work!  Cody is such a little trooper and after a few lessons on how to lead him carefully and safely around the yard, they got to work and shared the leading trips around the middle for awhile.  Since we had picked up a good deal, there drag load was not huge, but it didn’t matter, they were in pony heaven…  and Cody was pretty good at getting a whole lot of little girl attention!  He finally started yawning and stopping a good deal, I’m sure he was pretty bored with all the walking around.  So we unhooked his harness and after a lot of petting and scratching from his little girls, he retired with the sheep in the dog yard and took a little nap.  It’s hard work being a pony at Windhaven.  I mean, 30 minutes of work once a week?  Shesh…  call out the Humane Society!  Haha…

Still, I was very happy to see him being such a good little guy.  My buddy Bill came out, my music playing farrier, and he said he’s never seen a better pony.  Bill helped me fit the bridle from the harness set to Cody properly, and Cody was so patient through the whole process.  Turns out the bridle from the harness is just a little too tight.  However one of the extra ones in that bag fit just fine.  I think I will take the bit from the smaller harness as it is a much nicer and gentler bit than the one that fits.  Bill also gave Cody a little check and found that his wolf teeth had been removed.  Which he said was a good thing, less likely to cause any difficulty with the bit in his mouth.  I told him that I was planning to build a little hoof trimming stanchion for Cody, so it would be easier on Bill too!  Going to build it good and strong to support my little chunky boy, and make it much easier to do any sort of hoof work.  And if I ever give in and consider a milking goat… well, dual purpose!  Actually I could use it for the sheep as well.  For trimming and for giving worm medicine, or any sort of medical attention!

Okay, I digress.  Sorry.  It’s just that Bill is one of my mentors when it comes to ponies and farming.  He’s got 75 years of experience and I always get excited to talk shop with him.  His approval just makes my day.

Well, after it got good and dark, we bundled up a bunch of chairs and some sleeping bags and blankets and we ambled out to the pasture.  We stopped to visit the pigs, whom were a little surprised to see two-leggers out back in the night.  They are so cute how they make little grunt noises of hello if you grunt to them and the kids had fun with that.  We found the perfect spots and laid out the blankets and set up the two telescopes.  Of course, we waited and watched and waited but the sky was just too cloudy!   Soft little whispy bits were everywhere and the only things we could see were the occasional firefly and a plane going by!

 

However, that didn’t stop the fun.  We laid out there and just talked in the darkness, the kids were trying to tell ghost stories, and then we ended up just laughing about movies and funny things.  At one point we were all startled as Duke, one of our farm kitties, ran out of the weeds at us and we were sure it was a raccoon!  It was a good laugh.  We gave it a good shot and lasted well over an hour but finally, it was apparent, the only meteors we would see would be in our imagination!!!  Drats!!!

 

We had a wonderful evening though, with friends and music and campfires…  it was super relaxing and casual fun.  We love that here at the homestead.  And the best part?  We got so much done this week that the place looks super and we can start working on some new projects!  And relax a bit too!  Enjoy this unseasonably beautiful weather we’re due to have for the next two weeks!!!   Just the high 70’s and low 80’s…  super nice, great for projects like fencing!  And painting!  Going to be a nice couple weeks for sure!!!

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