Farewell to Ginger

Queen Ginger has crossed the Rainbow Bridge.  She lived over 17 years which is a long life span for a goat.  She graced Prairie House with nearly 20 jumping, joyful, entertaining kids in her time here.  Without a doubt Ginger had the best personality of all the goats who have occupied space at Prairie House.  She was an awesome mother, to the point she stole babies from other does and claimed them as her own. 

In her later years, her coat had much less cashmere than in her youth, much the same as my hair is not as lustrous as in the past.  In her last year her joints were obviously stiff on occasion…another thing I can relate to!  Her eyes were bright and her mind was clear until her time to go.  She had lost most of her teeth so she was fed separately from the others and they complained loudly when Ginger was out of the barnyard and allowed to nibble treasures in the yard.  Spring was a great time to be feasting on the young, tender leaves of the crabapple trees.

It seems only fitting that now she is gone, the original Prairie House Saga will come to a close.  This will be the last posting to Prairie House Chronicles while I take a break and ponder life:  its values, its costs, its opportunities and its losses.  Thank you for following the happenings here throughout the years.

I will let you know when life once again brings joy to Prairie House.

Rain! Wonderful rain!

On Thursday and Friday the tri-state region of northwest Kansas, southwest Nebraska, and northeast Colorado saw its first widespread beneficial precipitation event since the middle of January.   Fire danger has been high and frightening.  We had a 300+ acre fire within 5 miles our Prairie House. 

It was wonderful to see the rain falling and making puddles.

The ducks thought it was terrific as well!

Just enjoying some sunshine and taking a bath.  No, he isn't wearing a hat.  He is a crested duck.

Dressed down by a cat.

Apparently Slippers followed me into the shop yesterday after “helping” me gather eggs.  I did not see him in there, but he was obviously resting somewhere.  

Today I had some items to put into storage there and after I opened the door, Slippers scolded me for 3 solid minutes.    As you can se from his scowl, he was not a happy camper.  He told me how terrible he had been treated and continued to harangue me as we walked from the shop to the house.  He entered the house, got a drink of water and is still complaining.  Although I have explained to him it was HIS fault he got left in the shop, he refuses to accept my explanation.  I sure hope he stops griping soon or his next overnight stay might be the barn!

Spring Dance

The three turkeys are dressed up and ready to welcome spring!

Punxsutawney Phil prediction disputed!

Ms. Moscovey duck respectfully disagrees with the groundhog, saying he is a fool.

She knows spring is coming in less than 6 weeks...more like 3.

She started filling her nest with eggs knowing is will be spring before we humans know it:

Days prior to the groundhog's announcement, she started dedicating her time to the incubation process:

The cute little fluffballs are due the first week of March. These were just some of what hatched at Prairie House last year.

Do I know you?

I was with a group of friends the other day and noticed a man at the deli counter who looked like an old acquaintance of mine.  I walked up beside him and put my arm around his shoulders while asking "Are you behaving yourself?"  It was then I realized...I really did NOT know this man--he was not who I originally thought he was.  He looked at me puzzled as he said with some hesitation, "I am".

Not to let my chagrin show to the group, as I removed my arm from his shoulders I told him "Well, you stay out of trouble okay?",  just like I would say to an old friend.  Then I turned and joined my group of friends.  The gentleman finished his order at the deli and went into the dining room to enjoy his sandwich. 

As luck would have it, when I went to pay my bill, no one was at the register so I had to wait a bit for someone to be available.  Guess who was behind me a couple of people back.  You got it!  The mystery man.  He was still looking at me quizzically, undoubtedly trying to figure out when/where we had met before.

He may still be wondering today.  Then again, maybe he wrote it off as being accosted by some unhinged old lady who is obviously senile and he hoped they would get her back into the home soon.

Purple Passion Flower

As I was watering my plants today I discovered this surprise bloom on the Purple Passion Plant.

The White Turkey

Last fall I traded one of the Royal Palm tom turkeys I had for a Broad Breasted white hen turkey.  She fit into the group quite well and in the spring laid a clutch of eggs in a nice nest.  She patiently sat on them until she had about a dozen cute little BRONZE colored turkeys under her wings.  (I suspect she may not have been a purebred as I was told!)  Unfortunately, she lost half of those babies the first night as she took them out into the yard and some got stuck on the wrong side of the fence, couldn't reach their momma to crawl under her for warmth and got too cold overnight.  It was sad to find them the next morning.  Eventually, she lost all of the others as well.  No wonder turkeys have such large broods!

Still determined to be a mother, she again laid a clutch of eggs.  At one time I was sure the coyotes had gotten her as I could never find her in the yard.  Then one day I saw her getting a drink and eating some grain.  She headed back out into the far pasture after getting her fill.  Alas!  I found her nest and it had so many eggs in it I wondered how she could possibly cover them all well enough for them to hatch.  But hatch them she did and another 14 little bronze fuzzy birds appeared.  She kept them together in the barnyard for a couple of days and then each day they wandered farther out.  The last time I saw them they were headed toward the west and did not return that night.  There is a pond over there which I'm sure she thought was a better location than here at Prairie House where it is already crowded with birds.

There are two households to the west of here which is the direction she was headed.  I talked to one of the neighbors a few weeks later and asked her if she had seen the white turkey with the babies; she said she had not.

I saw the neighbor again just the other night while we were both helping out at the food bank.  She said she asked her husband if he had seen the white turkey and he said, "Oh yeah.  The neighbors dogs killed it like they do everything else can get a hold of."  She didn't seem to be very happy with the neighbor's dogs either.

Needless to say I am sad.  I didn't mind so much that she ran away, but I was really hoping she was a survivor and I might see her around again this spring.  Hopefully some of he babies survived.

Thor's buddy Terrible Hank

Meet Terrible Hank.

His name is a misnomer.  He really is a sweetheart.  Just over a year old.  Like Thor, his feet are awfully large for the size of his body.  His tail looks like a feather duster.

Thor

Some of you have asked how Thor is doing.  

He finally stopped growing.  He is tall enough that I can pet his back without bending over.  He heels well but expects to have pats on the back while we walk.  The vet estimates he weighs between 135 and 150 pounds.  When he steps on your foot, it feels a lot more like that larger number.

He has had a couple of encounters with skunks. More than a year apart but each time I discovered he has a defective sense of smell.  He can sniff out a rodent or a freshly laid chicken egg under a pine tree branch but apparently does not grasp how nasty he smells after rousting the skunk.  On the plus side...each time it happened the skunk went away and did not return.

He chases rabbits but apparently only as sport.  Occasionally will roust a chicken just for grins and plays games with his feline siblings.

He is currently still guarding the entire property but has pretty well divided his time between my house and the neighbor's house as the neighbor has better treats.

His worst encounter was with a porcupine.  When I opened the door to see what he was disturbed about I found the porcupine trapped next to the recycle barrels, cats on each barrel growling and Thor in front barking like crazy.  Thor was distracted by me which gave the nasty, scared creature an opportunity to run for a tree.  Unfortunately before escaping Thor took a bite out of him...which left the Porky unhindered and Thor in a great deal of pain.  

Thor will not get into a vehicle (still!).  I managed to get him into the shop where he was given comfort by his buddy, Terrible Hank, shown above.

Fortunately, the vet still thinks he is an awesome dog and is willing to come to the farm when he needs anything.  He is always so excited whenever he has company and really likes his buddy the vet.  It took the full strength of 3 women to hold him still long enough to be sedated but all the quills got pulled out including the ones in the roof of his mouth.  Only cost $65 to have that little adventure taken care of and he was only under the weather for a day before he was back to his frolicking, happy, friendly self.
He is great at protecting his animals here on the farm, hates hawks, runs off coyotes, makes visitors who see him running toward them say "God! I hope that dog is friendly.", and has turned out to be a great addition to the farm.  I think I'll keep him.

Another Old Timer

He will be 17 years old on April 30.

Slippers is another old timer here at Prairie House.

He came to the farm via a rather circuitous route.  His mother was left behind in a very "soon to be mother" way when I purchased the farm.  I felt sorry for her and convinced my Dad she needed to go to his house instead of stay here all alone.

She had 6 kittens a few days later.  They were all different colors and all different personalities.  A couple of them managed to attach themselves to Dad so when the others went to new homes, those two remained behind:  Slippers and Pete.

Both cats were extremely spoiled.  Easter was late in the year in 2000 and Walmart was overly optimistic about egg sales for the season.  Shortly after Easter, eggs were available for purchase at rock bottom prices.  Dad loaded up and the two kittens got eggs and milk every evening at suppertime.  Once the egg supply ran out, he switched to canned food for them.  Every evening they got 1/4 can each before he put them to bed.  Needless to say, both became LARGE cats.  Pete eventually reached 19 pounds; Slippers over 20.

It didn't take long for them to figure out how to sneak into Dad's bedroom...where the comfy sleeping quarters were.  When my siblings and I lived at home, there was NO WAY a cat would be allowed on Mom and Dad's bed.  Time changes things and eventually both cats slept next to him each night.

In Dad's final days, Slippers disappeared.  We thought we would see him lying dead in the alley or in the gutter on one of the streets near Dad's house.  He still had not been found when Dad passed on, so Pete was the only one to come to live at Prairie House. (Pete died last summer.  I filled the vacancy he left with another wonderful kitty: her name is Repete.)

Several weeks later I went to town to check on things at Dad's house and Slippers was sitting on a chair on the porch.  He was no longer 20+ pounds and his rib cage was clearly defined.  I put him in my car and brought him to Prairie House to join his brother (and multiple other step-cats).  He has been hanging out here ever since and gained back all the weight he lost and more.

During his tenure he has provided a great deal of entertainment, not the least of which was the time he got a tin can stuck around his middle which had once again become portly...but that is another story.

It is hard to believe that Ginger is 17 years old and that she has been with me for nearly 16 of those years.  She only has lost all of her teeth except the front ones, so her options for eating are somewhat limited but she keeps hanging in there. 

I have worried about her in the cold weather and don't look forward to finding her once she has crossed the rainbow bridge.  Her fleece has covered her nicely for the winter in spite of her age.  She has survived -20 in the past, but she was much younger then and had kids who needed her.  She has gone from the top of the pecking order to the bottom so obviously she gets extra special attention from Mom.

There are numerous sheltered locations in the barn and I'm sure she has found a way to keep out of the wind.  Hopefully she will make it until Spring when she can once again have fresh greens to eat...although she doesn't complain when she gets grain which she still thinks it a treat...not the sustenance I think it is.

The following is a facebook post from two years ago today:

"Thank you all for your positive energy and prayers. I still have a long way to go but am making forward progress. My Brother, Mom, And Dad weren't kidding about how much it hurts! Docs and majority of nurses have been fantastic. Special love and thanks to my siblings for all their support and love. Wouldn't have made it without them. Also truckloads of thank yous to all my neighbors and friends who are pitching in to care for my creatures."

A lot has changed since then.  I worked hard at therapy and was out of the Rehab Center by January 10.  Recovery at home was uneventful and the 3X weekly visits for continued cardiac rehab went well.  I was so pleased to be nearly finished with those visits...less than 9 to go.

Life doesn't always go as planned and within 5 months after the original heart attack I was once again taken by ambulance to the emergency room.  Two of the bypass grafts had failed and I was having another heart attack!  (LESSON:  DO NOT HAVE A HEART ATTACK WHICH REQUIRES SURGERY ON NEW YEAR'S EVE!)

I was at a hotel/casino in Blackhawk and actually went to my hotel room with more money than I arrived with.  What a great thing!  But once I went to bed, I couldn't get comfortable regardless of what I tried.  I remembered my Dad often sleeping in the chair because he couldn't get comfortable in his bed.  Although sitting in the chair did give me a few hours sleep, by 4AM I called the front desk and asked for some oxygen and perhaps some nitroglycerin.

They arrived at my door with oxygen within what seemed like seconds.  EMTs arrived shortly thereafter.  I told them I was sure I'd be okay if they just gave me some nitro.  The good looking one (could have made my heart flutter even if it wasn't already going haywire!) gave me the pill and started putting electrodes on my chest while stating they have to transport anyone who has been given that drug to a hospital.  He looked at me with a comforting smile and said, "Honey, you would have been going to the hospital anyway because, my dear, you are having a heart attack."  I told him that was impossible because my heart had just been repaired and was supposed to be "good to go for 10 years or so".

The elevator at the hotel was obviously not planned with medical transport in mind.  To say it was crowded with all the EMTs the gurney and the patient would be a gross understatement.

The doctor who treated me at St Anthony's was excellent.  Two stints later and a few days (not weeks!) recovery time and I was back up to being me.  Rehab started over so I had 3 more months of electrodes, treadmills, stationary bikes and stretchy bands.  UGH.  I finished it without having to start over for a third time!

For some reason they still can't get my blood pressure regulated the way they want it, and I have had other health problems since then, but the prognosis seems to be I will be around for a while longer if that beer truck doesn't turn the corner.