by the time i put the barn guys to bed at 6pm...even tho it is cooling off, i am still dripping with sweat. i must say i really enjoy the quiet and peacefulness of bedtime (when certain big pigs are not missing)...it gives me a chance to check in with each animal individually and just see how they are doing today.
gideon had us more worried than usual..i fed him on friday night and he did not eat most of his dinner...mo fed him again at breakfast and lunch on saturday and again he did not eat. so i decided to get all of the new stuff out of his feed and go back to what he used to eat and low and behold he ate every bit saturday night and breakfast and dinner again today (i forgot to ask mo if he ate his lunch?)
gideon is just one of those folks who likes what he likes and does not appreciate a lot of change or variety and i am very respectfully careful to not mess around with his food or his appetite...he simply cannot afford NOT to eat all of his meals.
amos the donkey has lice....oh yay, so glad mo found that today..also glad he is not around the other horses, i am assuming the lice for both horses and donkeys are exactly the same...lice are supposedly species specific...and those 2 species are pretty damn close to the same. we de-loused him today and will repeat in 10 days and hopefully he will feel much better...he has been gelded and vaccinated and de-wormed and now de-bugged, hope that is all of the basics for him done now. BUT.....his scrotum is looking swollen today so i will call the vets to check him over again on monday.
ellie was pretty sore tonight..i did not give her the noon pain med...i thought maybe she was far enough away from her recent donkey beating, not to need the extra noon dose any more...apparently i was wrong cuz at bedtime she was REALLY stiff and sore....sorry babe.
saints has finally hired our new staff person....we welcome ryan to the ranks of saints animal caregivers.
i am re-organizing the work assignments to best meet our needs so here are the following changes...
ryan will be the barnyard staff person caring for all of the barnyard animals.
colleen will be moving over to the mp building and caring for the all of the animals there.
renee remains in the house but will be doing a couple of extra things...like all of the meds for both house and mp building and she will be "the person in charge" of ALL of the saints animals when i am working and not on site.
renee knows all of the animals and can work easily in all of the areas and knows the rules and routines for each area too. so she is the one person here mon-fri that everyone (staff and volunteers in every area) should take questions about care or rules/routines to, or to report concerns about the animals to when i am not here...this way nothing gets missed or forgotten or lost. and especially if you notice an animal is not well or you have a suggestion about some kind of change...please report it directly to renee and she will make sure that that it gets passed on to me.
we are trying to simplify and clarify the lines of communication around here.
well..i wonder if i can indulge in a somewhat shallow bath? it is a bit wasteful cuz i did bath last night but i am icky and sweaty and i want one again tonight.
it so sucks to worry about water....i can't wait for the rains in the fall..i wish it was autumn or spring time for the entire year!
The van is a good start for sure Cathie ... Mom can you scour your van please. Put the pics on the office desk. I will grab them this weekend and scan them and then pop them in the mail on monday for cathie ...
but step one: mom find those pics!!!