This and That

I didnt take the bird photo. But I could have, I had this exact view sitting on my fence last week. He was using my bird feeders as his own personal dinner buffet. (he was NOT eating seeds if you get my drift) So the feeders have remained empty for over a week now. The research I did says to keep them empty and the Cooper's Hawk will move on. I had a talk with him and told him while he was very handsome, to go away! There are plenty of places for him to hunt and I dont want to watch my beautiful birds being slaughtered in my backyard. I havent seen him in a couple of days. If he returns, I am driving to Missouri and borrowing those 32 Turkeys at my friend Pix's place at http://waterloofarms.blogspot.com/ . I bet that would surprise the hell out of Elmer.

A couple of years ago we lost a big ole oak tree in an ice storm. This spot has remained empty for quite a while. It is a dry, hot place in the yard and I didnt know what I wanted to do with it. I have been adding some peat to the soil and finally found earthworms so I decided to plant. (too early I might add for the the flowers) The tree is a Leyland Cypress that I hope does well. I am a huge fan of evergreens. The little plants are called Catmint. I have never planted it before but it is supposed to be drought/sun tolerant. We will see. I love my little turtle. It still needs a bit of work. Dont know if I want to put in a more uniform border or leave it like this. What say you?

The buns are good. We have been fighting problems with Miss Millie. Besides her teeth, she has had some weakness in one of her backlegs. A new vet gave me some Adequan injections to help with inflammation. It supposed to work well on horses so we will see. She is getting a round of Panacur just in case. (you bunny folks are all familiar with the dreaded E.C) Then she had a touch of infection around her vent area. Sheesh, I want my girl to be well. Haven is hanging in there too. He has good days and bad. I think he sticks around just for me. These kids are both past 7 years old and I want them around for a long time.

The local news here did a spot on the rescue. I could not get the video to load no matter how hard I tried. You can watch it here: http://heartlandbunnyblog.blogspot.com/ it was a very nicely done piece.

On another note: Jake's best buddy in the world, his older cousin Gunner is leaving next month to join the Army Rangers. He is a great kid and has been like a brother to Jake. (much more so than his own brother) I am very proud and excited for him but worried too. Please keep him in your thoughts. Young men know no danger.

Happy Spring to everyone and I want to thank Bridget at http://heartofacowgirl.blogspot.com, she donated a gorgeous piece of her jewerly for Heartland's craft fair which sold before it made it to the table. Check out her blog and her work sometime. They are both gorgeous.

Monday Mantra

Its not torn, its art!

The day after tomorrow is the third day of the rest of your life.

George Carlin

Halfway House For Hooligans

Dudley "Demon" Doodlesplunker

He may seem innocent, dont be fooled. After a rash of produce thefts, Dudley was sent to the pea farm where he spent more time on snack breaks than working. He was transferred to a halfway house in an attempt to re-introduce him to society. All efforts have failed.

Millie "The Mouse" Macaronionioni

A nervous and twitchy con. She never sits still for a minute. She paces her cell and has flashbacks from her crime spree.

Haven "Hammerhead" Hornswoggler

Do NOT let the sweet face get to you. This grifter tricked many a person out of their carrots. Notorious for running shell games and was trained by the infamous Keyser Soze.



Tango "The Terror" Tarantula
She is armed and extremely dangerous. Before she was captured she spent her days holding up puppy spa's and demanding pedicures. She made grown men cry and was known for scaring raccoons just for kicks.



Mojo "The Menace" Macanooder
Perhaps the worst of the lot. A voodoo priestess, she used her skills to turn out countless numbers of Zombies. She commands her undead minions to maraud around at night stealing vegetables from hardworking people's gardens.


If you spot any of these criminals on the loose, do not try and apprehend them. Just call their mommy and I will come and get them.

PSSSSST! Dont Tell Millie Mouse

Shoot I think she heard me. My silly girl is off to the vet this evening. Somebunny has been less interested in her food lately and overall not feeling her best. A trip to the vet last week discovered a sore on her tongue and some nasty points on her molars. She is scheduled for a dental tonight. She is going to be mad at momma.

Notice that ear? Mmmmmm, Does that remind anyone of a certain finger people use to express themselves?

Apocalypse.......................NOT.

Pictures of new life in a burned forrest.

I am mostly Agnostic. Not sure if I believe in fate. I do believe in learning lessons and that the earth is a living FORCE. I try not to get political because you can almost never change people's minds unless you change their pocketbooks. One of our resident evangelists at work has decided that the earthquake in Japan is our presidents fault, the lord is punishing us. She sounds exactly like the wackos from that church in Kansas.

Since recorded history (and before, we just dont have it written down from "before") there have been: earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, tornado's, hurricanes,blizzards, mudslides, tsunamis, floods,drought,famine,pestilence and on and on and on. Just because you have never "seen it like this before" means exactly that, YOU have not seen it in your lifetime. But you really have if you start to think about it. Go back and read up from the last 50 years or so and that should confirm it for you.

Frankly, I dont care about the end of the world or my death. Never have. I care about what is happening while I am alive, the kind of person I am. I dont think I am one of the "special" or "chosen" ones that is going to be sucked up to sit on a golden cloud while less special people are destroyed. That kind of arrogance gives me a rash. I dont think the people in Japan that were killed just didnt pick the right deity. The earth moved, that's it, that's all. All it means it that we are small and control is an illusion. Respect your planet a bit folks, it can burp you up like an onion. It is not a punishment, it is a FORCE.

I have my generator if I lose power for a bit, there are always plenty of beans and rice in my pantry. If the end of my world arrives I doubt I will be hungry anyway. I will gently take the breath from my buns and then take mine as well. There you go, there's my disaster plan. Until such time I will LIVE. My world was destroyed when my brother died of cancer. You know its over when you love someone so much you are willing to trade places with them. As time passes you deal but each one of our personal tragedy's is our own end of the world.

I advise you to stop worrying about the apocalypse and see what you can do for your fellow man (or animal) and stop thinking the earth or your god owes you a damn thing. There are a couple of churches predicting the end on May 21, 2011. I believe I will plant a tree that day, it will be here longer than I will anyway. It will give the next generation of gloom and doom a shady place to sit.

Monday Mantra Of Sorts

Daffy by Moonlight

“There are moments when you have to just walk away and cry.”
Lou Angeli





My thoughts and heart go out to the people of Japan.

How Now Brown Cow

No this is not a picture of a cow, its Mojo and Tango being all snuggly. Sometimes Mojee will let me run my finger down the bottom of her foot and sometimes not.

Some people think the country is boring. I dont. On my way to the rescue I see the most beautiful creatures. (and sad sights too) Deer, Turkey, all manner of birds and other critters. My camera is never handy. The turkeys have been hanging out at the toll station. I see them all the time. My dad always told me nothing will whip your ass faster in the woods than a ticked off turkey. I dont know but I believe him so I try not to anger them. But this isnt about turkeys.

I know nothing about cows, nothing at all. I see them all the time in Oklahoma of course. They are very attractive and their eyes are beautiful. We used to have cows in the pasture across the highway. I tried to speak to them once or twice but to no avail. They always ran away. I would wave to them and yell "Hello Moos"! I can only imagine what they were saying about me. But I digress.

I was driving home from the rescue on Monday and around the corner I go and see 6 cows standing in the middle of the highway, uh oh. I pull over, call the highway patrol, spend 10 useless minutes trying to explain where I am and then decide to get the cows out of the road myself. What to do, what to do. If I startle them will they scatter? Hmmmm, dont cows usually huddle together when frightened? Traffic is light but I need to do something.......decide. CRAPADOODLE.

I hop out of the car, make sure the coast is clear and run full force at the cows, clapping my hands and yelling "get out of the highway cows" ( I am assuming they speak english of course, I am praying they understand and dont panic) They didnt panic and they stayed together. In no hurry they strolled across the road into the grass. Nice but as soon as I leave they may wander back. Hmmmm, I can see where they came through the fence maybe I can get them to go back in. So I just stand there talking to them, trying my best to convince them to walk down the hill (carefully of course, they hill was steep and I dont want them to hurt themselves) but they just stared at me. Someone did stop and ask me if they were my cows, no and thanks for your help.

Farmer comes finally with a truck. He honks the horn at the cows and they mosey down the hill. He stays on the side of them and I walk behind them clapping my hands for quite a ways until we get them to the gate. They wander in and farmer shuts the gate. Thanks me for the help, I let him know where the fence is down and he is on his way to repair it. Now, I can add cattle herder or maybe cattle wrangler to my resume? I do wonder if those cows were secretly laughing at me. I think so.

Is it fate or chance that I end up in these situations? Now, that is interesting. I went to see "The Adjustment Bureau". It's all about Fate vs chance. What do you think? Are our paths set from the time we are born? Does every little decision we make determine our path? Tell me what you think.

The Three Faces Of Millie (oh and Monday Mantra)

Mom your a touch slow-witted arent you?

Keep your face always toward the sunshine - and shadows will fall behind you.
Walt Whitman

Addendum to Swerving for Turtles

My blog readers (who are smarter than me anyway)have advised me that I forgot a few kinds of turtle people.

4. People who stop and wait for the turtle to cross

5. People who stop and photograph the turtle

6. People who stop for injured turtles and take them to wildlife rehab

7. People who never notice the turtle to begin with

8. People who creep on turtles and spy on their romantic encounters (ahem, this is my favorite)

9. People who have turtles visit their patio, turtle demands a bite of bacon, poops all over patio and leaves until the next day.

Thank you blogging turtle people! Have a good sunday.

Swerving For Turtles

I have determined in my extensive life of travel, leisure and adventure, (okay I thought of this on the way home from work) that there are 3 kinds of people in this world.

1. The person who sees the turtle in the road and swerves to run over him.

2. The person who sees the turtle in the road and swerves to miss him.

3. The person who stops to move the turtle out of the road.

A Warrior Bunny

Heartland Rabbit Rescue is where I volunteer. Our south warren is where all the adoptable bunnies live, waiting for their forever homes. Waiting to be spoiled, pampered and have the constant attention and adoration they deserve. Most of them will never know that feeling but all of them know safety, kindness, full tummies and get a chance to kick up their heels outside on nice days. They dont worry about being hit, being ignored and hands that hurt.

The north warren is where my heart is. They are the bunnies that will never be adopted. (well almost never, Sprout and Haven were adopted) They get few visitors and quietly live out their lives in large playpens. They get extra treats and green yummies and are normally not spayed or neutered for health reasons. They are Hannah, Snowflake, Kris, Emilio, Merlin, Putter, Charlie Brown, Wesley, and until yesterday there was Pearl.

Pearl came to us last year along with Merlin. She had weepy eyes and a runny nose. Her pretty white fur was covered in urine, a saggy dewlap and a used up body frame led us the believe that she was most likely a bunny used for breeding. She also had never known a kind touch in her entire life. She was a tiger, she bit, she growled, she lunged and slapped. She never stopped that behavior. She had never known love and affection and could only defend herself from the humans that might cause more pain.

A little over a week ago, her eye suddenly developed a bulge, leaked blood and pus. A rush to the vet discovered an abscess behind the eye. There was no other choice but to remove her eye. Pearl left for the bridge yesterday evening. Despite good care, meds and force feeding I believe with all my heart that Pearl decided to leave. Her eye was healing but her soul was damaged beyond repair. There was no telling what was going on in her body. Her little abused uterus could have been filled with cancer. We will never know. I think she decided that all the human contact was just too frightening and she had enough. Better to cross the bridge than have us keep touching her. No matter the attention we showed her, she just couldn't recognize the love we offered.

In the twilight a few days ago she had a little playtime outside. She, for just a minute allowed our director to give her a back rub. She didn't run away, growl or try to bite. I think she made her peace then. She laid down her sword and shield. Pearl is an example to me of how death is not the most horrible thing. Suffering is much more horrible. There are many kinds of abuse in this world. Physical and verbal abuse is what we hear about most. Imagine in your whole life that not one soul ever loved you. Not one soul ever gave you a hug, ever touched you with kindness. That seems the worst fate imaginable to me.

Hug whatever living breathing creature you care about today. Touch them lightly with love and pour it into them. Make them feel safe and wanted. Do it for Pearl.