Cass was sure it was a monster out to eat her. I jiggled it on the ground in front of her and made her walk toward it. Made it jiggle beside her, then scratched her all over with it. It got even more interesting when I raised EasterBunnyElf over my head. Oh, my! It was a completely different monster now! I turned around and had Cass walk behind me, toward EasterBunnyElf keeping him beside me. I worked my way up to having him twirl around the top of my head while Cass walked along toward the weird thing. When we were done I had my girl walk over the very monster she was sure was going to eat her . Very proud.

True to character, Becca walked right up to EasterBunnyElf and introduced herself!

As we ran up to the fence the last dog was being handed off to a good Samaritan. Though we left empty-handed our hearts were still urging us on… do something. The next day we arrived at the shelter to help in the clean up after the devastating fire. I can’t remember how many days we worked cleaning but I do remember going around to everyone at the television station where we worked taking up a collection. We raised nearly $1,000! That’s pretty empowering. What began as a heart’s pull to “help” turned into our life’s work.

In these 20 years we’ve seen the tides drastically change. Animal shelters are now the place to go. Puppy Stores are still around but attitudes toward them are certainly different. Facebook whirls frantically with rescue groups sharing photos and stories of animals in danger and needing help. Stories of amazing rescues go viral and once what was a lonely rescue road of your own heart’s burden, is now supported by thousands of like-hearted friends. It is a wonderful thing.

Seeing this on Facebook today made me giggle and proud to be the owner of a rescued heart.

I apologize for the out-of-focus pic but I wasn’t quite awake, yet

Jessica, 100 pound Akita Princess

Next up was the barn to check on my big girls. I passed farms with their horses out in blankets. My girls scoff at the very idea! When Cass left Canada nearly 4 years ago, it was 50 BELOW zero! So, for us to be in the 30′s is no big deal. I’m sure she prefers to be chilled rather than sweating her butt off in our summer temps.

It was hovering near 34 degrees @ 8:30am.

One of my worries overnight was whether our water pipes would freeze. We have a well with three pipes placed throughout the barn area and front pasture. I knew the pump would probably be ok since it’s inside the barn. I covered it with tarps to be safe. I also covered the main pipe outside the barn wall but I didn’t do a good enough job. It was frozen.

Hey! There's the ugly hat

I put an extra water trough inside the shed, hoping it wouldn’t freeze and it didn’t. There were hay drippings in the water so I know the girls drank from it. The other 3 troughs were frozen over.

Ice, ice baby...

I must admit, the frost upon the pasture was pretty.

My most northern-blooded gals, were peppy and in great spirits. Their luxurious winter coats are far more insulating than any blanket would be.

The longer winter coat helps trap the body heat against the skin. Also, tiny muscles in the skin raise the hairs, creating tiny air pockets that heighten the insulating effect. Putting a blanket on a horse, flattening these hairs, can actually make them colder than without one.

Becca and Cass may have also been in great spirits because they’re getting a special treat for a few days. I went to the feed store yesterday to get our regular, coastal hay and they were out. A few stores in area have gone out of business so my store is getting swamped with large hay orders. The next truckload comes today but I grabbed a bale of the “good stuff” to get us by. This is a mix of Timothy and Alfalfa, which is too rich for them (and me!) on a regular basis.

Frosty the Fjordhorse aka Cass says, “WhooHoo! Bring on the cold!”

Wonderful moments were cherished this year. Cass & I conquered many fears, the biggest which was actually riding!

Very first time on her back. She acted like we'd been doing so her whole life.

Scottie & I will be celebrating our 20th anniversary this coming April! He’s still my best friend and always makes me laugh, no matter how mad he may make me. 2011 rattled us a few times but we’re both smart enough to see things through and find our loving hearts.

Our beloved Pookie Bros., Frank & Sam, shortly before both passed at 16 years.

We got our dog, Eva, her very own puppy for Christmas. She’s thrilled! It’s been neat watching her drop that serious exterior and play like only cattledogs can play. I guess we can now say you’re official Tesla Mae

The established cowgirls check out the new gal in town.

2012 brings with it endless possibilities. I’m excited to continue my journey with Cass & Becca. It’s up to me to be the herd leader they deserve and I will do that for them. New cowgirl, Tes, will be acclimated to the barn life. I’m counting on her to follow Eva. The barn is where I find my peace in this crazy, terrifying, sometimes sad world.

Mother & daughter sharing some breakfast hay.

Cass always wants to know what I'm doing.

Becca's so cute I can barely stand it!

Cass relaxing and enjoying life.

How can I feel anything other than blessed when I am here?

Becca is looking forward to an exciting New Year!

Everyone, please stay safe tonight. Tomorrow brings with it all the promises of a new day. We have the power to make it what we want. Happy New Year!

Eva waits for Cass to finish so she can check her bowl.

I miss my Dad. He passed away 2 Christmases ago. That sure puts a different spin on my already tender emotions. He loved Christmas! It was his tradition to wait until Christmas Eve to do any shopping. Our big celebration was Christmas Eve so as family would be arriving to begin the festivities, he’d rush in with bags in tow and I’d secretly wrap the gifts. He always got Mom the coolest jewelry. I remember one Christmas he had me wrap up a framed photo of Frank Sinatra, her absolute favorite singer. She was so confused when she opened it then it was revealed he’d bought tickets for his upcoming concert! I used to fuss at him for waiting to shop and making me have to frantically wrap. Wish I could do that for him this afternoon.

My far away family will be gathering today for tasty food and drinks. There’s a new crop of great-grand-babies awaiting Santa who will entertain everyone as they open presents. It will be loud. Kids will scream and laugh. There will be music playing and butts shaking. There may not be dancing into the wee hours as in the past (they’re all kinda old now) but they can still shake those tail feathers, our Momma, too!  Christmas is about family and love. I may not be there with them but I feel them always in my heart.

Santa visited my girls a bit early this year. He brought their favorite cookies, which they haven’t had in a while due to their weight-loss program. He told me Christmas is in your heart, not where you are.

Where else would you hang a horse's stocking?

"I can have them? Really?!"

Sweet Santa made Eva & Cass honorary elves! They fill my heart with Christmas cheer no matter the day, though Eva may not look too happy about doing so…

Guess we can call her Angry Elf

Cass is, of course, Sweet Elf

This is the soundtrack to the Christmases of my youth – we are quite a funky, bluesy family. Enjoy!

One of the most perplexing attitudes I’ve encountered in the “horse world” is that people don’t hold them (sometimes) as dear as we do our dogs and cats. Would you ever think of sending Rover or Fluffy off to the butcher to make a last buck off them instead of “putting them to sleep” when the time comes? I don’t think so. Maybe people think humane euthanasia for a horse is slaughter – it’s not!

Please read the following for the facts – recent legislation affects our horses

I will let my friend Jenna Girman tell you her thoughts on this issue:

“The horse slaughter thing has got me thinking. Would I ever send my horse to slaughter if he was underweight and couldn’t be ridden?? No! I couldn’t even think of that. It’s a horrible thing. Horse slaughter will never get better. If we bring it to the United States it won’t get ‘less cruel’. What will happen is the horse population will grow because people will get money for BREEDING their horses to go to slaughter. It will become a business. Americans don’t want a business in killing animals. Plus, for slaughter, they aren’t going to take the underweight, abused horses that nobody wants. Technically, slaughter is for FOOD, for CONSUMPTION. They don’t want skinny horses. They aren’t going to have any meat on them for food. Instead of letting a skinny, abused horse horse sit in a slaughter yard waiting to get fat for FOOD, why don’t we set up Euthanasia Clinics so that the horses won’t be treated badly before they pass on? They get a shot and can pass with their owners or people that love and care for them, instead of sitting in a feed lot in chaos and being cruelly slaughtered… Slaugh-ter (slaw-ter) noun; 1. the killing or butchering of cattle, sheep, etc, especially for food. 2. the brutal or violent killing of a person. 3. the killing of a great number of people or animals indiscriminately; carnage; the slaughter of war. If that’s the definition of slaughter, how is it ok at all?”

Jenna & her horse, Seri.

Seri was saved from the brutal death at a slaughterhouse. She was one of the lucky ones. You may read Seri’s story.

We’ve been unusually warm for our “winter” and Cass is feeling it’s effects. Poor girl. You can see the sweat in her long coat. I probably need to shave her again but am holding out some hope for a cold front or two.

Look at those faces! I simply adore these girls

Instead of hiring someone, I took things upon myself. Gary (trainer) happens to work for a large outdoor power equipment company. He brought a little something to help me out…

I happen to be severely allergic to grass (as is my horse!). In order to be able to handle the task of mowing 6 acres, I had to prepare.

Gary gave me a quick lesson on actually operating this beast and he kept stressing there was no way I could hurt the mower. It also has an automatic shut off if it doesn’t feel your butt in the seat, that’s nice!

I used to drive our boat all the time when I was a kid and figured it would be kinda the same. The controls sure couldn’t get any more clear… think I’ll be most comfy in between the tortoise and the hare!

It didn’t take very long for me to get the feel of this machine… and I loved it! Who knew I could have so much fun on a lawn tractor?! I hadn’t realized how loud it was going to be but I had to just deal with it for I had no ear plugs handy. As soon as Cass heard the monster mower start rumbling she took off. She was happy to keep her eye on us from a safe distance.

As expected, Becca was very curious. She had gotten in on the lesson when Gary dropped the tractor off to us. Once I started mowing she debated about following me or not…

I revved up and started towards her… she opted for the “or not”! I should be ashamed.

I should also be ashamed for the perverse enjoyment I felt annihilating all the monster fire ant hills but I don’t. Can’t stand those damn things!

This first go-around as a real farm girl, redneck, bush-hogger was liberating. Got the front pasture done in record time and it looks so nice. I had taken my allergy meds beforehand so my nose was ok, too. Maybe we’ll start Pookie Pasture Mowing as a side biz?

YeeHaw! Back pasture get ready… here I come!

Sam awaiting a face to kiss...

Ahhh! There's one. We miss both our Pookie Bros.

This past weekend also happened to be one of our busiest for clients of the entire year! Wouldn’t you know it? I try to schedule a big block of time to be at an event and we have a big work day. So, my day began at 5am to get all my morning walks and feedings done in plenty of time to get to Therese’s shop by 11am. The event we were attending was an Open House for Dogs-Unlimited. She’s expanded her training facility and even has a fenced in agility yard now. Very cool. I got home in plenty of time to get cleaned up and be there to welcome guests. (I had wisely set up my table the day before.)

But, a medical emergency was about to take over. Randolph Pintooth (our old man minpin) was found stuck under our bed in a pool of bloody diarrhea. Aw, man! Not much debate was needed to determine he had to be seen by our vet. I’d been watching him for a few days as his tummy was beginning to show some signs of going thru one of his “episodes”.

Sweet Randy, pic when he was at the shelter last year.

As I feared, he was dehydrated so needed sub-q fluids. His intestines were angry but she didn’t feel any obstructions or masses. He went thru this same thing when we brought him home exactly a year ago. So, we started meds and bought up paper towels to care for the impending messes until his tummy settled. The poor old guy has basically broken back legs that were never fixed. He has scars all over them and he can’t hold his own weight up when he has to poo. He’s ok when it’s pee, just needs a bit of help with the other. We were in for a few rough days but he’s on the mend.

I got to the Open House 2 hours late. I even forgot to take a photo of my table. It was fun to hang with other dog folks and our cattledog, Red Joolz, was in attendance with me. This was her first time out and about to anything like this. We were trying her out as a Pookie Sister. She did great! Other dogs would come right up to her face and she would simply turn calmly away. I could drop her leash and not fear she’d take off or do anything stupid. She’s a cowdog, afterall!

She found a safe vantage spot under the A-Frame.

Since it’s October we all had a Halloween type of theme going. I had dug out a costume and Joolz was kind enough to let me embarrass her by making her wear it. She even shared it with others so they could also get embarrassing photos taken.

Cowdog dressed as a cowgirl, get it?

Joolz absolutely loves people. She gave out lots of hugs and kisses. It’s really not fair to have a dog like Joolz at an event like this. She makes me look like a good dog trainer, when she just came this way. She and her mother (Dixxy Blu) were dumped off in a shelter night drop box a year and a half ago. A note was attached to them that said their names and that “they’re good dogs”. That would be quite an understatement. They’re awesome dogs and I still can’t comprehend someone who obviously cared for them walking away.

Forgiven for the costume.

Erica from Dolly’s Foundation kept trying to sneak Joolz into her truck. She fell hard for our cowgirl, aka Butterfly Spice. We’ve nicknamed all four of our cattledogs in the vein of the Spice Girls. Joolz is our free spirit and peace-loving girl, hence Butterfly Spice. We also have Biker Spice (her mother), Obsessive Spice (Eva the youngster) and Grumpy Spice (another old-timer). Erica has quickly become one of our favorite people, it was nice to just hang out. She’s trying to rescue one of the most misunderstood and feared breeds out there – pitbulls. In a short amount of time she’s made real change happen and saved wonderful dogs in the process. Go to her site and read about Dolly.

Erica getting some Joolz loving!

We also got to meet another impressive youngster – I can say that since I was the elder of the group! Dawn is an exceptionally gifted photographer who works with Dolly’s Foundation. Her photos are spellbinding and have helped generate a lot of attention to the positive pitbull movement.  Being able to capture a moment is priceless and she captures lots! Check out her work and see for yourself, Flyin Fur Pet Photography. While you’re there – buy something

Dawn sets up a shot.

The day started off a bit frantic with Mr. Pintooth but once we got him settled we were able to enjoy the day. It’s refreshing to be around like-minded dog folks. Hopefully, we were all able to drum up a bit of business. Joolz certainly showed she can handle being a Pookie Sistah!

This trek out into the world for my old cat wasn’t just happenstance. He won the “October Pic Of The Month” so we felt it appropriate to get his pic with his pic! He could also choose his own prize. Win-win all around!

We adopted Setzer last year from SCAS. I was there to see my friend, Mary Beth, and heard this pitiful yowling from the cat room. It was really loud. It seemed to get louder and louder as I was walking away. I had to go see what the heck was making all the ruckus and found an old, thought-to-be-blind, declawed, neutered, only-4-teeth-in-his-head, Lynx Point Siamese.

(In his shelter cage.)

He had immediately became a staff favorite and gave morale boosting hugs all around, whenever needed.

Needless to say, I got sucked in. It became my mission to find this old-timer a fantastic home. Thank you, Vickie & Steve Brown for allowing him your upstairs bedroom till that home could be found. We realized after a few weeks the fantastic home this cat needed was ours. The past year with Setzer (named for those 80′s Stray Cats) has been a whirlwind of ups and downs with his health. He actually crashed 3 times, was hospitalized for a week, has almost been euthanized twice, has perplexed our very smart veterinarian and has beaten every odd. When I took him for a check up not too long ago, Dr. Rick thought I was pulling a prank on him by bringing another cat. He couldn’ t believe how great he looked and felt. The old man’s even gained 4 pounds!

This is a magical cat and it’s no surprise he made himself right at home in the store. He even rode around in the car last Christmas to look at lights. Every customer that saw him was amazed he’s 15ish. It was good to tell his story and show adopting seniors is a wonderful thing. Despite being severely allergic to him, we snuggle for naps as often as possible. He must perch himself right on my chest and when I see his front leg go straight out, I know I’m not moving for a while. It’s awesome. I’m not even a “cat person” but I obviously needed this cat as much as he needed me.

(Stephanie consulting w/Setz & Patti making change.)

It takes a confident kitty to be able to relax in such a way. No telling where we’ll show up next!

He waited until he was home to actually play w/his new toys.