i wish the gala would just sell out in the first week of ticket sales each year.

so stressful not knowing if the gala is going to sell until the last couple of days. and it is not just about the money (altho it is about the money cuz the vet bills have to be paid)..but it is also about having a full house for our animals who would like to have a full house of folks caring about them....it has got to be great feel good karma to send their way to know so many people actually care.

every year we do hit sell out or close enough that it is ok...but 35/150 tickets still available a week before the event gets me feeling a little bit stressed.

oh well...nothing i can do about it anyway, maybe i should just concentrate on taking care of the animals which is what i can do ok.

bear had a good night, he was quiet and he slept well and this morning some of his panic at being left here has decreased. too bad it is such a crappy, raining day...good for the well....not so great for the farm dog fun in participating in the volunteers weekend warrioring.

the dogs rise to the challenge of wet runs thru the fields but then they want their wet muddy selves back in the house where it is dry....except it ain't so dry because they bring all of the wetness and mud back inside!

except.....for mystic...she just gets wetter and muddier by the hour...she is totally ok with the whole mud swamp puppy thing....eventually she will dry it all off on my bed and my pillows...yay for her.....not so yay for me.

so all of the new switch arounds in the mp room have gone well...but i do need to set up the outside the birds pen again. granny and katie (aka skaters) are going to need their own quiet and predictable home for them to feel safe. i might move gary into there too..i can't quite decide. he is spending too much time outside in the run. i know he likes it out there but it is also because he is too timid and shy to feel safe coming back in. i think three elderly and quiet cats in there will be ok as far as space is concerned..i just have to decide if gary not having the outside run will be something he will really miss.

puff daddy has moved over to the office which makes it easier for people to navigate thru the mp room...no more opening and closing or climbing over xpen barriers which is really good.

the security company came out here yesterday...to install outside security cameras on the property and put a couple of monitering cameras out in the barn (for when horses are sick so i can watch them without dragging my ass out there every hour on the hour...) is estimated to cost about $6000...ouch. plus we really need to put in fire alarms into each building which will cost a few thousand dollars more.

yikes...so i have been thinking on this....perimeter cameras are critical to the animals welfare and so are good fire alarms. the barn monitering system is a nice thing to have but i can haul my lazy ass out there to do hourly checks when needed and that system can be added and installed down the road.

so i think we will just go for the perimeter cameras and the fire alarms...for now...that seems the most financially responsible way to go. and i think i will add on a nightly midnight walk in barn safety check to my bedtime routine just to be safe..i should have been doing this before....don't know why i haven't been, i just never thought to do it before....duh.

vacation day 2 is about to begin and i better get dressed to unload the barn feed from the van into the feed room bins before the volunteers arrive...sucks to be doing it in the rain but the rain is good for the well (and the bank account) so i better not complain.

Newest SAINTS

Bear

and Katie (formerly Skaters)