Rescue Journal

a bit more on the weekend

Carol · Jun. 23, 2014

ok...i was near to dead yesterday after a week of 16-19 hour days. after the open house and bedtime stuff i sat in my computer chair and immediately fell asleep. bad idea..woke up 30 minutes later and could barely move. ran a hot bath and then fell asleep in there. woke up again and gave up and just went to bed until 5 am this morning.then i went and babysat my grandson for a couple of hours, came home and did diddly squat for the rest of the day. i am happy to say, at this particular moment, i am finally feeling somewhat normal again!

that was a long and hard haul, i just do not have the stamina i used to...sucks to be no longer youthful!

anyway..the open house was again a success, from what i heard, it seemed liked most of the visitors enjoyed their time here. our numbers were down a bit (we were competing with 2 other major community events) but there were still close to 300 folks touring thru here. ann tells me the donations from the two day event were about $4200.00 and we are so grateful for this support. it helps us keep going onwards to even more rescue days.

by the end of yesterday on the last tour i did, my filters were not only down but had pretty much disappeared.... i shared the story of the shock and awe of brad pitt's previous 20 pound planet sized testicles removal in great detail..in retrospect, i am sure my tour group totally appreciated hearing all about that bit of saints legendary history...or not.

whatever...it is what it is and it was what it was and an overtired carol is a bit of a looney tunes loose cannon. i should maybe have skipped that very last tour.

the animals dealt very well with the hundreds of visitors...we had our few little biting bastards securely confined so no injuries occurred...yay!

and i just want to say that we have THE. MOST. INCREDIBLE. VOLUNTEERS!!!! the combined accumulation of their hard work and dedication lead us to another great and successful open house weekend...you guys solidly ROCK! and the animals and i are so grateful to each and every one of you!!!

jenn was here snapping photos by the bucketful on saturday and i am sure she will be posting those photo's soon.

great work for the open house everyone...great thanks to all of the visitors too...thank you to everyone who loves saints as much as i do.

maybe the folks who were here this weekend (volunteer and visitor) could post a comment about their most heart warming (or embarrassing) moment..but i bet i win that one with my balls the size of planets talk!) go ahead guys...share!

Comments

dianne

We came for our first visit on Sunday. We were very impressed with the sanctuary and the great volunteers, who made us feel welcome immediately. I knew that it was a house converted into a sanctuary, but I did not realize that it was actually a HOME untill we reached the bedroom, with all the little poochies on the bed! This is actually Carol's home, how wonderful! I made sure to say hello to Carol directly, and offered my sincere appreciation for all she does. I will be sure to spread the word about Saints to everyone I know.

Candy R.

I took a tour on Saturday and have to say that the volunteers that took us around were fantastic. They were patient with the children and the love they have for SAINTS was very obvious. I have been out to SAINTS a few time and always love seeing Mystic and Max, but this year it was Rudy that stole my heart. What a special boy.
Thank you Carol and your extraordinary volunteers! I am also looking forward to the Gala in October and my friend Lorraine and I are only too happy to make baskets for the silent auction.

Shawn

As always, I feel honoured to be part of SAINTS, to be a part of such an amazing place. It is a joy to see it through other peoples' eyes, to see them witness the greatness of the animals and what Carol does. The appreciation and awe is heart warming

laura b

The Saint animals are all so amazing!!! I always feel like a proud parent after Open House weekend. Our crew knows it's their time to shine and their light radiates out to all the visitors. During one of my tours we were standing as a group in the riding ring and then Raven the horse figured he needed more love & attention……so he pushed right thru the middle of the group and then stopped squarely in the middle….perfect now all could surround him and shower him with love(tho I think it was Ray giving the love) Jenn was able right at that moment to catch it on film, check out her photo :-)
Also once again Carol and all the great volunteers…..it lifts the spirit to witness such love and positive energy that gently holds the Saints crew in their hands and hearts……so blessed!

Fiona

I loved spending time with Ginger, she is so funny and so full of energy. Watching her run up and greet strangers with all her grunts and tail swishing like crazy, made me laugh every time. She is so entertaining and comes like a dog when called. Love that little pig! It was also nice spending time with K.O., being able to sit and talk once we were done the barn chores. It was very heartwarming seeing all the people enjoy the animals and hearing all about their stories, it's a very special place.

Curt

I liked a comment I overheard you (Carol) tell some folks. Something like: I would rather impress people not with what I say but from what I don't say, was that it? (may have F-ed it up but, I am sure you know what I am talking about as you said it. Other then that it was a good all around day (I love spending time with the furry kids) Erin you are lucky to have that as a paying job.

Lenore Henry

My heartwarming moment is always at the end of the tour when I visit the Memorial Garden. It is what Saints stands for ..... helping, loving and honouring the animals that were lucky enough to spend their days at Saints loved by so many special people.

shelagh f

short story, two days working outside Roxy bit my pants one
day, bit my leg, not hard, the next,( I was just minding my own
business). Went into the kitchen Sunday, and Roxy started
barking like crazy, Brenda said wasn't that funny she hadn't
barked all day, of course the dog knew I was there. I had to
come back into the kitchen a while later and sort of hid beside
the fridge, and Roxy started up again. She's a pistle, that little
dog

Erin

On my first tour on Sunday I was talking to my group in the bedroom, telling Jeremiah's story. One of my people sat on the bed to rub Theyas belly. Then she absentmindedly reached back and started petting someone else. This someone got up and moved closer to this lady, laid back down and closed her eyes, loving every minute of the loves. I did not tell my group that I personally cannot yet pet Marin like that. Very cool connection between strangers.

Elisabeth

Meeting all the Saints was wonderful, but my favourite moments from our visit on Saturday were watching the little girls (including my 5 year old daughter) playing with the lovely wind chimes and rocks in the memorial garden. Watching them ask to hear the sounds from the chimes they couldn't reach and lovingly see them stroke the smooth rocks made me think how all the animals they were there for would love the attention....

AnnC

I thought it was a great weekend, favourite moments tattooing (spelling?) our little visitors and seeing Oden again, he looks just fantastic!

Penny

Oh Carol - I wouldn't even try to compete with your Brad Pitt planet-sized balls story!! You always manage to make me laugh. As you said, that's the kind of thing that happens at Saints, so why try to hide it. I'm sure your tour group found it fascinating! My 2 year old grandson was enchanted by the animals - his favorites were the cats and the cows. Thank you K.O. for patiently walking us around the barnyard and letting him "meet and greet". It's great for the little ones to meet the barnyard animals especially, it's an opportunity so many of them they don't often get.