Stella Bella Luna STINKS!

I do not know what this stinkin' dog got into this morning, but it was pure nastiness. She stunk! Bad! When I went to put her in her crate before I left to go back to the hospital, I noticed a nasty smell coming from her direction. She must have rolled in something out on the driveway. It really was nasty.

So when I got home, Kansas helped me give Stella, the stinky, a bath. It's nice to have help. Stella was really good and stood still the whole time. Kansas scrubbed and scrubbed and scrubbed some more.

Then poured more water on her.

Then scrubbed some more. Til she was finally clean again!

Jim and Bob had to see what all the fun was about. They are nosy pigs, these 2 boys. And they love water and were probably wondering why they didn't get a bath too. I did put the water hose on them later. They are happy pigs!

And the chicks had to come check out all the commotion too. I had let them all out of their little pen this morning. They finally ventured out a little later. Then followed me right back in to eat their dinner. Happy chickies!

And here's Kansas, drying off the clean doggie. She'll be clean for about 2 hours and 26 minutes. The dog doesn't like being clean. But we are all happy people! Oh, the life of a farm dog.

The cats at Outback Farm

There are 6 cats here at Outback Farm. All live outside, either in the barn or out back, hunting. I've had these cats for years and years. I know the oldest one has to be about 12. And 4 of them my daughter Abby gave us. Her husband is allergic to cats, so she can't have any. So they are all out here.



This is Sybil. I got her from some friends, along with her brother. Abby's friend was wanting a white male cat, so he went to her house. Her ears are all curled up from being outside in the sun. I don't think she can hear. But she's a great cat. She's about 8 years old.

And this is Gilbert. My grand daughter named her. She was brought here by Abby. She found her at her apartment complex when she was a little kitten and couldn't keep her there. I think Gilbert had 2 litters of kittens, then she was spayed. I kept one of her kittens but she just left one day. She about 8 years old too. She loves to hunt and brings home lots of goodies.

This is how these 4 eat. In the cat room up on this old chest freezer. And always in this order too. Gilbert, Andy Oakley, Cosmos and her son Alex. All these here were from Abby. Cosmos is the oldest, around 12 years old. Her son Alex was actually given to my grand daughter Chloe on her 4th birthday. And she will be 14 the 27th of May. So he's 10 years old. And Andy is probably the youngest, around 6 or 7. He is probably the best hunter of the bunch. Nothing is safe around here. Birds, mice, rabbits, squirrels, lizards. They are good cats.

I do have another cat I got from a friend. Her name is Soshe. She's grey and not looking very good right now so didn't take her picture. She has a skin problem I am trying to treat but she hates to have anything put on her. I really don't know how old she is. Maybe close to Cosmos' age.

I really don't like cats. But they are good to help keep the mouse and rat population down. I hate that the birds aren't safe here. I have never fed birds because the cats will kill them. The birds that do make nests here are on their own. There is an old tree out front that I call the bird condo. Holes all up the branches and trunk full of bird's nests. Those are pretty safe up there. And I have 3 blue bird houses in the sheep yard. But generally, cats are not my favorite animals. I tolerate these guys those. Since I've had them all for so long.

Just a little cuteness

Here's Mariah, Whitney and Diana at a week old. I still cannot believe they are all 3 girls. But they are!

News

Well, I sure wish I had not posted about my garden now. After just now watching the evening news, it's so much worse all over this country right now. Goodness, there's flooding, tornadoes, people who's homes have washed away. It's a mess out there. Just a wet mess all over. So I have nothing like I have just seen on tv. I so hope everyone is ok and not flooded where you are. And I am so sorry I am such a whiney butt.

Again

Well, after replanting most of my garden Friday, it's all washed away. Again. It has done nothing but pour here all morning. Even the pond we get when it rains went way over to the middle of the pasture. This is only half the garden. To the left was the Blue Lake green beans. The next was the squash, zucchini and cucumbers. I did rescue some of the zucchini and squash that was washed down to the end. And the heirloom sweet corn and field peas all probably gone. I didn't take a picture of the okra rows but there was a river going down that too. And not only seeds and plants but the soil too. It's so depressing and sad to see this. This is the 2nd time to replant. I have never had to do this before. I just don't get it.

This is the side yard where the rabbits and Cornish Cross meat chicks are. If you look past the grill on the right you can see the wooden shelter where the chicks are. They are ok. The rabbits are way over to the left. They are ok but I moved them up to higher ground. And behind me is the goat pasture. It had a raging river running through it and this is where all this water is coming from. And then the garden is beyond this and where all this water is headed.

Right now, it's stopped raining. But it is coming again. And it's really hot out there too. I just don't know what to do right now. Crying doesn't really help. That's just more water and I really don't want to see more water.

Gary

This is my mom and Gary, just this past Christmas at their house. They met right after my husband and I got married in Oct. 1978. They were married in April '79. And have been together ever since. And I do mean together. They do everything together. They've only been apart when either mom or Gary have had surgery. And once Gary worked 3rd shift. Other than that, together all the time. They moved up here to Ft. Oglethorpe to be closer to me and my family. My brother and sister and all their kids are in Colorado.

Gary has been in the hospital since last Tuesday. In ICU the whole time. He is a very sick man right now. He has had a few good days and they get their hopes up. Then the next day he's back down again. Yesterday mom called and said I needed to get to the hospital fast. It took just a few minutes to change from my dirty farm clothes, jump in the car, turn on the flashers and drove as fast as I possibly could the 25 miles to the hospital. God cleared the road of most cars. And I had to go trough only one red light. But made it in about 30 minutes.

He was hooked up to an oxygen mask, head slightly down, breathing really fast. The nurses were doing all they could for him. They took off the mask so he could cough. He was so congested. He did pull through this, but barely. We just don't know what's going to happen. The doctors have said that when he is able to leave ICU that he'll have to be put in a rahab center. He'll have a very long road ahead of him.

He looks nothing like this right now. The last thing he ate actually was  a meatloaf I made at his request for his birthday the 5th. Nothing since then. And no, it was not the meatloaf that did this. He has a lot of problems mostly due to pneumonia right now. And very low blood pressure, very fast heart rate. It just goes on and on.

They just live a few blocks from this hospital in a really nice neighborhood. Everyone watches out for each other. Their closest neighbors have mowed their yard a few times before. Last week mom mowed the front yard and wouldn't let me do the back. I shouldn't have said anything about it and just done it. But she went home the other night and the back was mowed. Her neighbor Gary had done it. Really nice people.

I worry more about my mom right now. There's been way too many downs than ups. She gets her hopes up one minute to have them thrown to the ground the next. She is able to go home at night. But she's just worn out, sitting or standing most of the day. I have been there too but not like her. She called last night to tell me she was home for the night. She said she was so tired that she had her keys out to open the elevator door! I so hope he gets over this for her. She needs him so much. He does so much for her. And I don't know what she'll do without him.

I love Gary. Although we have had some rough times, I do love him. They have reservations to go out to Colorado in August to see the rest of the family out there. We keep telling him he has to get better so he can drive mom out there. They still have so many things they want to do still. Please say a prayer for Gary. And for my mom. I don't want her to get sick over all this. So far, she's doing really good. She's a very healthy lady. And I love her so much.

Daisy, the city dog

This is my grand dog Daisy. My daughter came out yesterday and brought her. She really loves it out here. There's so much for her to get into here. Cats to chase. Stella to play with. Chickens to chase. Sheep and goats, now that's fun! But the rabbits. Those are her very favorite things to pick on. And she will not leave them alone. She is all around their cage, barking and running. Abby got her out of there once. But back out she went.

                                                 Trying to sneak up on the poor bunnies.

                                     Daisy will never make it in the country on a farm. Not Daisy.

She was plum worn out after all that chasing. She has fun out here. But she loves being back in town. She's a sweetie and my very favorite grand dog.