Message from The Puppet

The Puppet asked me to somehow get this on through to all of you:

Dear Peoples,

I am very sad today because I can not pull names out of my hat.i have been told I must postpone it until Sunday because The Wind took all the electrical currents out of the sky wires.You people live so complicated.I was born a sick and know how to live quietly. I don't like to let my peoples down. I erpologize tooth for any typos here but I'm typing in the dark. I ate a whole bunch of candy since haloreenie got postponed too.

Yours fondly, with a disappointed heart,
Pino The Puppet

When you fall down, you have to get back up

It's been a tough riding season for me and Boone. We had a couple rides into the summer and then we had our accident on June 27th. Since then I've ridden twice, and one ride was aborted because the flies were so horrendous. So on Friday Boone and I ventured out on a beautiful day, and I'm happy to say, no flies.

I have had to admit that the fall and concussion took the wind out of my sails, and played with my head. Boone is a stoic guy, and after we got over our first year together-where he was testing me-and we got some help and good riding buddies-we soared.

So when I got on him the other day I can't say I was scared, but I had thoughts creeping in my head. The day we set out to ride on the accident day, it was beautiful too, and I had a lot of plans for the upcoming day so was thinking of that. I remember lying in the hospital thinking, it was such a nice ride, such a beautiful day...it all happened so fast.

We rode on a trail I've been given permission to ride on and it was all just fine. I decided to go back to basics, doing a lot of deep breathing to get my seat down in the saddle, practicing our stops and starts, figure eights, playing with going over logs...there really was not one glimmer of anything bad about to happen...just like on June 27th.

That's how it plays with your head.

There was a time when I thought that maybe I should just do ground work again, and no more riding. But...I love my rides. Was a ride worth hitting my head again? So I am not sure if I will canter again, alone, not on the open trail. We were cantering when I blacked out, it was the last thing I remember...cantering along and all was well and I remember thinking it was time to slow to a walk as I saw ledge rock on the upcoming path, which is slippery. Each time we came to a ledge rock on our ride last Friday, I took notice, and I'm pretty sure that is what happened, his shoe slipped on it and he went slightly forward and so did I, smack into his neck which explains my busted glasses and bruised nose bridge. The fact I had a very sore inner left thigh, but also had not one scratch on me or no signs I fell on the ground, says to me I slid off, or went off to the left as he was righting himself back up. God, we were lucky in so many ways.

I told Boone on this ride it was good to be on him again, that I had missed him.

I think we will regain our fearless days-but perhaps our rides will be at a walk from now on, I don't know.

And it was a beautiful day.

Happy 17th to Sir Tigger

Today is Sir Tigger's 17th birthday. He and fellow elders in the Cat Suite got a special bunch of cat treats sent by friends of Apifera. Tigger spent over a year at the shelter after his owner passed and he was a favorite of many of the employees there. He's a wonderful, stoic guy, doesn't take any gruff but likes a good scratch, on his terms. Every morning when I enter the cats have their posts, and they all get greeted and petted and held. I always pick Tig up first.

I also want to thank everyone that sent cat food in the past couple weeks! Wow, our delivery box runneth over. I am so grateful! We have enough for a couple months at least and it really helps. I took weights today and was disappointed to see that little Maxine had lost 1/2 pound which is a lot for her tiny size. I think I will have to sit with her while she eats, or even crate her in morning to make sure she is getting all her food. She seems a little depressed to me. Coincidently, The Magnificent Maurice Mittens went up 1/2 pound. Hmmmm.....

IF YOU SENT CAT FOOD, please let me know-not all the boxes had gift tags in them, which is easy to overlook when you order. I know most of you, but let me know so I can be sure to get you on the Meow List for year end surprises.

A donkey at your window

The simple things in life are what I think I will remember in my final moments...I'm not sure, maybe I'm wrong, but it's the simple things-the moments of essence in any day, even the bad ones-that get strung together to make a life of 'notice'. I call it a life of notice because even though I, like anyone, gets wrapped up into daily details of simply staying alive-bills, healthcare, strife, conflict, vacuuming, chores, washing dishes-it's the moments that I notice out of the corner of my eye, or the scents that waft through the air, the white flowers Martyn brought home, the green apples with a tish of red, the donkey as he passes a window-I think that is my real life, all strung together in days.

{"Donkey at Window" now available at shop}

Granny Cat celebrated a bit too much

A post shared by Katherine Dunn / Apifera Farm (@katherinedunnapiferafarm) on Oct 26, 2017 at 9:52am PDT

The Puppet is getting ready to pull a name out of a hat

You still have time to possibly take one of these original pieces home. All you have to do is go to the barn fundraiser and donate $10. Every $10 you put in gets your name on a piece of paper. The Puppet will pull two names out of his hat on late Wednesday, 10/31. I'm not sure if he will be in costume or not.

We have a great opportunity-The J&J Stanley Foundation will match for every dollar we raise up to $10,000. My goal is to put the down payment on the barn in April, with building to begin in June. The entire barn will cost $25,000. Thank you for those who have helped. Please share with your friends too. The new barn will allow us to take in more animals and have better quarantine and hospice areas.

Share their link with friends https://www.gofundme.com/apiferafarm-barn

Granny Cat's Cooking Show!

If Granny's cooking show inspires you, you can visit this page to show your appreciation.

Always in need: canned cat food

Part of keeping this place zipping along is the reality that I will always be asking for help. I try to balance that with sharing stories, art, photos and engaging you all in the beauty of the interactions here at Apifera. Running a 501[c][3] is very different than just asking for hep from time to time. I really appreciate the support from people!

Right now there are many needs, and we also have the barn fundraiser which is ongoing. This is a growing time for us here with our non profit and the barn will open up many new experiences for us...and room for more animals.

But one need that is ongoing, is canned cat food. The elders we adopt out of the shelters are all eating canned food to keep their weights up. Someone was gracious enough to donate a new baby scale so I am tracking weights.

All you have to do is visit our list on Amazon and purchase. I have a variety of priced foods listed-all are fine. They love the chicken and gravy Weruva but it is a bit pricey-so choose what works for you. We are currently using 5 cans a day. It is really helpful to have a month supply on hand so I'm not constantly barking for more, but the cats and I will try to make our pleas for food entertaining in the coming months and years.

At the end of the year, the cats will be sending out a special message they're working on, and one person will also get a print of The Magnificent Maurice Mittens.

Thank you to everyone who helps!

Pino hits the town

Martyn and I took Pino out on a therapy gig down to the nearby village where Opie and I went last week. I've been wanting to get Pino out and finally was able to. He was a hit of course-although they all asked if I brought Opie too.

Pino is a natural at this and was just born this way. I know I've told you all wonderful stories about him, he is almost a mystic in my mind-he senses even more intuitively than many what is going on inside some one's heart. All equines are sensitive to their exterior world, but some just have an additional gene I think-that is my experience in watching animals in the past years. Once a group of women came out to see the farm, I knew none of them but did know one of them had recently suffered a type of stroke and was relearning to speak. Outwardly she looked as healthy as the others. As we got to know one another we were standing in a make shift circle, and I watched out of the corners of my eyes as Pino slowly made his way around the group, sniffing each one, but when he got to the recovering stroke person, he leaned into her a bit.

That is just one of many stories, some others are down right spooky.

So Pino shared himself, methodically and quietly.

Before we came, I had received an email that Ginny had passed this Wednesday. We had just met her a week ago, with our visit with Opie, and I was so very sad she had left us-although she is free of all the earthly entrapment's she needed simply to breathe. I talked to one of the residents today, and Ginny was her friend. It was a brief conversation, but she was very sad for that goodbye. I knew when Opie and I were there that Ginny probably wouldn't be around for a year, but I was anxious to get over there again with Pino. So I was sad that we missed her. I was also told that Opie's visit made her really happy, so I am glad of that. Such simple gestures can leave big impacts on a person's heart. And she left an impact on me as well. You can know someone for all of twenty minutes, but their presence impacts you, their leaving is a void-this is a good thing to remember, isn't it? Make your minutes with others count. I guess if you are genuine, that for me is what I strive for, to be genuine and to be there for the elders we visit for them, not me. Just a day brightener for them.

What is most comical and I tried here to give you a sense of it-when I take Pino out the donkeys understand he is coming back, since it is a routine now, but they do watch as we leave. And when we return, you would have thought we'd been gone for months on an overseas exotic journey. Everyone comes to greet Pino, it is as if they say things in his ears,

"Were there elephants? What was the food like?"

Returning to the barn, the donkeys squeak and bray and Boone hogs the gate.

"PINO! Thank God you are back!"

Birdie makes sure Pino has returned in one piece

"Pino, did you see any elephants where you went?"

A post shared by Katherine Dunn / Apifera Farm (@katherinedunnapiferafarm) on Oct 21, 2017 at 10:16am PDT

Faces I know you love...so do I

White Dog gives you his nose...with love

Little Sylvia Pettini still acts like a bottle baby, yay!

"If I stand very still she won't know I'm in the hay barn"

Opie hits the town again and an old gent makes my heart swoon

We had a beautiful morning with our friends at Wiscasset Green, an assisted living home we've been visiting since spring every couple of weeks. The town of Wiscasset is about 30 minute drive, but this time of year it is so pretty, and the town itself is so charming-a postcard setting.

I try to spend more time visiting versus taking photos. I'd love an assistant for one visit so I could focus on on photography-but, I feel the residents are my priority, not my photos.

Jean had her fingernails painted today, it was so sweet. She and Mary sat on the wicker couch with the blue cushion and they were both dressed in blue. There must be bonus points for this, I told them. Everyone was there today except Slyvia had to leave for an appointment but she got to see Opie just as she was departing.

But when Joe didn't arrive my heart sort of sunk. I finally asked where he was, and to my relief he was on his way down but had gotten consumed in writing a letter. Joe is 85 and really sharp. He lost 'the love of his life' in January, and his son soon after-but he always has a smile on his face and has wonderful stories-but he also asks a lot of questions, and I feel he genuinely cares about Apifera. He always asks me, "What was the best thing that happened this week at the farm?"

Today we talked about children, and if I had any. I said "no" and explained I love kids but made a decision in my earlier life not to have any, because I knew in my heart my personality would not be able to focus enough on being a good mother and felt it would not be fair to the children. Joe said,

"Well, we can be your kids now."

My heart swelled!

{If you like the work we are doing not only helping animals, but bringing them together with elders, please consider a donation at the funding page. All donations are tax deductible.}

I used to float a lot- how 'bout you? A donkey helps.

A post shared by Katherine Dunn / Apifera Farm (@katherinedunnapiferafarm) on Oct 18, 2017 at 8:06am PDT

I'm so lucky to have animals all around me as equalizers, grounders. A long time ago, a city person with a couple of dogs and very little garden, I was taught by someone I still consult with-a healer in my world, a wise sage-that for me and other intuitive types, it's important to remember we are here on this realm, now, not to be floating all around. I did a lot of floating, and can remember it clearly as a child. I especially liked to float in the bathtub, and the car when I was in the back seat. It makes sense, the rhythm of those situations are like a white light of sorts.

I would float off, it was very hard to describe to anyone, and I never did. I just told my healer [in my forties] I would repeat in my head when I was floating, "I'm here, I'm here." She taught me that was the collective me reminding myself that I am in fact here, physically, and this is my place right now, on this stage of Earth. Why would I float? We explored it and of course there are many reasons people might go into this trance like state [for lack of a better term]-to avoid the reality of the current moment, to escape the consequences of something...or to just sort of not be trained or have a skill set to stick around and be in the body. I was the latter.

There is nothing wrong with floating, I do it when I paint in many ways, although it is different. I can make myself float, but I can honestly say it doesn't happen much because I am so connected-physically- to the life I live here on the farm. My healer taught me skills to keep myself grounded-touching the earth, gardening-of course years later I would have a small farm-and touching/grooming animals helps daily. She taught me that if I am going to float, I should do something with it.

As I took a few minutes after cleanup out in the equine area to just sit with them, I remembered all my years of floating. It did make me wonder, what 'good' could I do floating? I guess if it calmed me before making art, or calmed me before having a hard discussion...I don't know, I might have to have a healing session and explore that.

But for now, I just thought you all might like to partake in Pino's morning chew. He chews very slowly and deliberately, a donkey trait, but Pino is by far the most grounded little healer of the herd. And I think he is going to visit some elders Saturday-stay tuned.

Mr. Mittens! You need a job!

This morning I was up early and it was crisp as an apple skin in late autumn. I actually felt cold, but loved it. We had our first minor frost so we know what is coming. It's gorgeous out though. I made the trip down to the village town hall to pay our property taxes. Ouch. More than double what we paid in Oregon...but we have more amenities here. We are doing okay, but a freelancer always is walking up a hill and once the vista is seen and appreciated they can't stop, they have to keep going, sometimes round a bend, sometimes down a small hill, or into a valley, and they just have to focus on looking upward and keeping the headlights ready for fog..because you always come out of fog.

I thought of what my mother had said about something once, that when faced with an unpleasant task, think of a bookend to it...and am sure she would have said this today,

"But if you couldn't pay it, you wouldn't have your land and farm so you can pay it and that's why you have it."

Yep, she's so North Dakotan! As am I in many ways.

And, a lesson I know, but relearn over and over-it is often the thought of having to do something that is worse than getting it done. Taxes are like that.

I came back home and before I ventured down to Brunswick to the skin doctor [I will soon look like a partial Frankenstein again...sigh....I promise not to Instagram it, I'm way to old school for that], I stopped in to visit the elder cats.

"You could help by getting some part time jobs," I told them.

The Magnificent Maurice Mittens looked up with an expression that clearly expressed his opinion of that.

When the trees just dissipate

I did this yesterday, thinking of how the trees are just dissipating before people's eyes out West. It was therapeutic to sit and just draw abstractly, without a desire to create something considered of merit or to be something with a label.

Once again, art making, like holding a donkey or working in Nature, soothed, calmed, and opened up the internal well.

The unthinkable: who would I take if I had to leave?

Benedetto at dusk

Someone shared a story about a Maremma staying behind in the horrible Sonoma fires, with a herd of goats, and they all survived. The couple that fled the fire was able to get one Maremma in the car, but the fires were so fierce they had to flee. They were so relieved to find the other dog was alive, burned, scorched foot pads, but he made it and so did the goats. They will be OK.

The owner said they cried a lot, prayed, and felt horrible that the choice [or was it a choice?] they had to make to leave was a slow and painful death for their beloved animals.

As happy as I was to see the reunion, it just send me into a tailspin. I know in Oregon there was once a fire that had us thinking of evacuation plans. We did not have to do it, but many did, and it all was terrible to process. And with my menagerie of crippled and elder animals, it would be so difficult. At the time we had 30 sheep, we now don't breed anymore and only have five sheep, but back then, I knew I'd probably have to leave the flock and hope for the best. It's unthinkable...the idea of having to feel at midnight without warning...and to have to be forced to make life and death choices.

I'm not sure I could get through what some of these people have to get through. I tend to soak these things in, and perhaps that is why today I'm feeling rather stuck...sad, somewhat unoptimistic, doubting myself. After five minutes on social media today, I'm staying off, and am going to start getting some wood ready for paintings. In my five minutes of checking on some people I know out West, I also noticed there a lot of people thinking it wrong to go on with their business as usual while so many in so many places are suffering. I'm not sure why they think sitting on Facebook and expressing that is any better. But the piling up of so many storms and fires and other tragedies of the past couple weeks, coupled with what for me feels like an implosion of common decency for all people not just a select group...it adds up and that is what I feel, viscerally on social media of late. People are worn out and they are reacting to that tiredness in their own personal style, and some of it is pretty harsh.

I spend quality time with all my animals, some days more so, and today I just did everything extra slowly. I looked into Benedetto's eyes and told him I was so glad he was safe. I held the bunny and thought of all the wildlife, suffering. Took an extra look at our 1760 house and thought of what it be like to watch it burn.

You can be living a good life and still go to the dark. It's called empathy. I will hope for no wind and rain for California...and resolutions for so many all over in distress.

View from Rag Tree looking towards the barns

We will be pushing The Wood back from the barns in time

This is what happens when a one year old goat gets a brainstorm

I heard a lot of hammering, but figured it was the nearby neighbor in his workshop. As the day wore on...something about the sounds just seemed a bit...off.

It has come to light that Opie thought maybe he could help out and get the new barn started. He dragged Pino into it but I'm actually grateful as Pino at least wouldn't let him get Martyn's 12' pruning ladder out. Mrs. Mercey Studly was there too, helping with the nails. Nothing like a 100 year old rat assisting a one year old goat.

Update on the new barn

I got the final bid for the barn and it comes in at $20,000, but that doesn't include the exterior wood and stalls which we will put up ourselves, so probably another $3-5,000.

we are drip by drip getting the job done! Thank you to those of you who have helped. I just sent out a big mailing and if you know someone who love animals and elders, please pass on our fundraiser.

Many companies will also match your donation to certain causes, so please consider asking your company if they might do this.

My goal is to be able to pay the down payment by February which is $6,000. Because of the graciousness of The J & J Stanley Foundation, every dollar donated will be matched up to $10,000-this is so important and wonderful.

Plus, if you donate this month, you might get an original piece of art. But you must donate before 10/31. On that day, The Puppet Will Pull Two Names Out Of His Hat and two donors will get one of my originals.

You can donate to the barn fund at the GoFund site. You can also send checks [let me know they are coming, please] or by going to  the regular funding page on this blog and want it to be for the barn [and possible art] that's OK, I can add your donation to the GoFund site manually [with with your name or anonymously].

It truly takes a village-and I appreciate everyone who has followed me, my art, my farm and animal work all these past 14 years!

When 89 year olds fall for little goats

{Update: one week after this visit, Ginny died. We were so looking forward to our visit this week with her, and so sad we missed a final time with her. She left a big impact on us in a short time-something we should all remember we have the power to do. RIP Ginny, you can breathe free now.}

Her name is Ginny and she is now in love with a goat. And we are in love with her and all of her 89 year old beauty. Her hands are made up of years of lifting children and feeding a family, perhaps cutting flowers or toiling in the garden. But it was the way her face lit up, exploded in smile, that I will remember-and how that made me feel, and most likely her too-for different reasons.

We ventured over to a nearby elder facility, this one in the nearby village of Round Pond. The home was once a ship captain's home from the 1880's and a family lived there. At some point I was told, the family also took in old vets, and eventually it was sold and became an elder care home for six individuals. It now is the residence of six elders.

We started out on their front porch, a long regal one that provides wonderful shade. The residents all clamored out, some in wheelchairs, others with walkers. As I walked up the stairs, one of the residents, who had heard Opie was coming, was so excited, she started yelling,

"The goat is here! He's wicked cute!"

Opie was interested in his new surroundings, and did eventually calm to his normal visiting self. This is normal and he did just fine. The manager asked me if I would mind bringing him in at some point because there was a resident who was not well and could not come out on the porch.

We ventured to her room, and could hear the oxygen and as we entered. She was sitting quietly in her chair, but when she saw Opie, her smile just lit up the room. It was beautiful, I tell you, beautiful. We got closer and she immediately started holding his head and telling him,

"I love you already, I love you."

I got an interior verklempt feeling in my heart and throat. It's a bonus of this life's work.

We visited for some time, and heard a bit about her history. Ginny is originally from Massachusetts and has children and grandchildren and great grand children. She was sharp. Her body just wasn't keeping up with her mind.

She smiled the entire time.

She asked me if we could keep their home on 'our list'.

I told her we lived right down the road and we'd be back.

Her smile was sweet, her hands were beautiful, although I'm sure she would not recognize that.

{If you like the work we are doing with animals and seniors at Apifera, please consider a donation-we are a 501[c][3]}

Conversation of the grumpiest pig

I found the pig watching silently, examining the new morning from her private suite. I can only imagine what The World's Grumpiest But I'm Fine As I Am Pig thinks internally in these moments...

Hrumpf...sun, that's, well alright...but slight humidity.

Trumpf OWEEEOWHrumpf!

Too much sun really, not enough wind...FLIES!

Will sleep and hope for some clouds.

It's Official! Pino Pie Day is returning!

And it is never to early to plan! I hope that I might see some old friends-the even will be in early October a beautiful time of year to visit midcoast Maine. I have created a page on the blog where I will add accommodations and other helpful info to travelers.

October 6, 2018 will be here before you know it!

I got stuck in the barn with The Llama and it was the best morning ever

The morning began with lots of wind and warm air but with a real feel of fall, and the smell of the ocean's cove nearby. It was beautiful. By the time I was almost done with feeding and cleanup in the outer barn, the rains began-down pours is a better way to explain them.

I love being in the barn in the rain. It takes me back to when I was little and I'd go out to my sumac fort in the cool days of autumn, sit with my poodle and just commune with Nature. There is something so comforting and 'safe' about being in the barn with the animals in inclement weather.

The animals take it all in stride. The sheep are not real lovers of rain, nor is Benedetto [although he loves snow and cold]. The llama too usually comes in when it rains, the donkeys and Boone really don't care but they were all inside munching breakfast hay.

After living in Oregon all those years, you might be wondering why I felt I couldn't run back to the house some 300 or so feet away.
I could have, but, I just didn't feel the need to get wet in a warm-but chilly-when-wet day and I had no coat on, or hat. So I sat amongst the sheep and Ben, and Birdie, with the equines right on our side in the other stall. The beautiful rain is much needed and it also meant the winds and rain kept the flies away.

I must have been out there forty minutes, in silence, having my morning equivalent of a church like experience.

Remember this moment, I thought.

I'm here, I thought, I'm getting to have this human experience, of feeling the air and smelling the rains and sea with wet wool mixed in and the smell of the horse near by.

It is moments like these that confirm I am a spirit having a human experience on this realm, and my time here must not be taken lightly.

{If you like the ten years of stories this blog has brought you, please consider a tax deductible donation to our barn fundraiser-so we can help more animals, which will mean...more stories, art and photos.}

A post shared by Katherine Dunn / Apifera Farm (@katherinedunnapiferafarm) on Oct 8, 2017 at 9:27am PDT

The Puppet explains his love of leaf children

The Puppet explains his love of the leaf children {copyright Apifera Farm) #apiferafarm #pinothepuppet #puppetshows #katherinedunnartist

A post shared by Katherine Dunn / Apifera Farm (@katherinedunnapiferafarm) on Oct 6, 2017 at 8:54am PDT

Hurry! OK, it goes through the month....

"Rabbit Watching Prayer Flags" 7" x 7" on wood

These can be yours for as little as $10.

Yep.

Here's how it works.

The Puppet is gathering names. For every $10 you pay, The Puppet will put a slip of paper with your name on it in a hat. All money will be put in the barn fundraiser and will be deductible. The Puppet will pull names out of his hat the last day of October. There will be two names pulled out of his hat, one for each piece. So the more $10's you send the more name slips you get in the hat. And it's for a good thing-a barn to help more Misfits!

Each piece is $7x7", on wood.

When I receive your payment, I will email you with confirmation. I will also add your name [or add your donation anonymously] to the barn fundraiser [and if you don't know already, The J & J Stanley Foundation is matching every dollar we raise up to $10,000].

Ends October 31.

So send Pino and me your 10's! And you can also send checks if you prefer [315 Waldoboro RD, Bremen ME 04551] with a note that it's for the Puppet's hat pulling on October 31.

"Mother and Child on Moonlit Walk" 7" x 7" on wood

When I Enter Heaven

I was minding my own business and....

So you know how it goes around here: I was minding my own business, really I was, up in my studio. I was actually....painting. Now to set the scene, my studio is above the living room which is next to the front deck. I started hearing some movement downstairs, unusual movement. We have had squirrels in the gutters so I thought it was most likely that.

But then it began to sound like someone was dropping bowling balls.

I better investigate this.

Upon arriving downstairs, there was Muddy, and Hughie looking sort of...odd, in the dining room.

I could hear the sounds again. I thought maybe somebody was in our yard and headed for the front door.

And then i saw it, and it was quite the site.

A mischievous twosome greeted me-Earnest and his pal Marcella, the local escape artists. Actually, I know Marcella started it, and when I went to their paddock I saw where she had begun to dig a hole under part of the fence. This allows Earnest to get his nose under-a pig shovel-and push up, under and out.

I have to say, no harm was done, no lady pigs were nearby, thank goodness, and the expression on his face as he was trying to get a hold of a rolling pumpkin made me love him even more.

The two escapees are now locked up in their suite, happily eating pumpkins, until I can get boulder by the fence. If I'm ever in an avalanche, I hope I'm with Marcella and Earnest as I think they can get out of anything.

Now all together now, let's say it: OH EARNEST!

Dear Universe: Why oh why did you make biting flies?

I have never, ever had to deal with biting flies and other insects like what we are faced with here in Maine. I spend a lot of time stringing together expletives when I'm working in the barns. The horse and Old Matilda have been effected the worst.

Last year, Matilda had trouble with the biting flies on her legs. I did my best with sprays, rub ons and such, but eventually had a vet out and we shaved her and gave her antibiotics since she had a slight infection. So this year, in my usual optimistic fashion, I set out to conquer Nature.

I did pretty well until this month. I invested in monthly fly predators-they come each month in the post and I sprinkle them on the major poop piles, and the fly eggs get eaten. I also bought lots of those stinky fly traps that are so gross-they smell like dead animals and attract the flies-and they were full up most of the summer. Next summer I'm trippling the number of those. But then this month arrived and the last hatch of biting flies has just been insane.

I had been keeping up on Matilda's legs-she is the only one of the equines who has issues, I blame it on the fact she is elderly, and she also came out of winter a bit thin which probably made her more of a target, and she is white haired which attracts flies more. While we have gotten her weight up to a good level, this past week I was losing the battle with the flies. I had been scraping off the crud, which is what the vet did last year, and wrapping her legs, and giving her a tablet the vet gave me last year. But it just wasn't helping. The good thing is there was no infection.

So I had my new vet out and we shaved her legs again, and put on these wild and crazy wrappings that are soaked in something, and we have given her a super shot they swear by, versus the pills which take longer to act. She was a real trooper when we worked on her, and Im sure it actually feels good when we get all that crud off.

She is looking pretty styling', I thought.

Next year, we'll be getting an industrial fan which the equines can stand in front of and flies can't fly in wind. I also had to invest in something from the vet to make Boone dopey when the farrier comes. He has never been a bad boy with the farrier but he ABHORS the biting flies, and I can't blame him. My farrier has been so patient, but I want him to be safe, as Boone tries to kick at the flies on his belly.

The vet did tell me the predators help alot too as time goes on, so to keep doing it, and I will. But, between you and me and all the ##+!!###hrumpf flies, I'm ready for them all to be...dead. Little terrorists is what they are.

The vet call was $550. Can you hear the barnyard going wild?

If you are able to make donations, it would be great, and helpful. I have been wanting to have this clinic out but because they are far away, the trip charge alone is $100 so I kept putting it off. But they are really good and I liked this vet a lot. I had her do an overview of our animals which made the bill high, but I need to have a good clinic on board as we go forward. I was spoiled in Oregon with my three vet clinics I worked with. But I was really happy to find a vet too that I connected with and I liked her a lot. Now we have them, and the new cat/dog vet I tried this month too is a keeper.

When you just have to squeeze into the old baby bed

Ah, I know how that is, kind of like really wanting to wear my favorite pants from ten years ago...Hughie still loves to sleep in this baby bed that was actually for Itty Bitty Etta. Always melts my heart.

{We have a barn fundraiser going on - please visit the funding page as we have been given a generous matching donation dollar for dollar up to $10,000.}