Tuesday, February 26, 2008

Distractions... and 18 days :)

In an effort to distract my self from the waddling sheep in my back yard and their impending lambs, here are some random pictures from my life;

This is Chilli. I know, real original huh? I didn't name him, I am his third owner and have been for 7 years now. The first family to have him broke one of his legs. The mother decided the young kids didn't need a chinchilla and sold him to his second owners. They put his home out in the back yard and fed him vegies and fruits off their table. They didn't know what chinchilla dust was. Some might think this is a good life, but if you think about it, chinchillas are a native to (where else?) Chille, South America. Their diet in the wild consists of roots, fruits, leaves, bark, and tubers. In captivity alfalfa, pellets, and hay are their staples (as well as their favorite snack, raisins). So you can see where a diet of just fruit and vegies might not be the best. Chinchillas do not get wet in the wild and because their fur is so dense, if they do get wet it is more likely to kill them than clean them. They are from a naturally arid area so they dont take 'baths' as most animals do. Chilli now lives in my living room with the rest of us and although he is nocturnal, it works out OK. If you have never touched a chinchilla, make a point to go to the nearest pet store, it is a treat :)

Do you remember the Budweiser commercials with the two chameleons, Frank and Louie? This cat's name is Louie, note the spare toes on his front feet. Louie has opposing thumbs. He also has claws between his multiple toes that don't retract. His 'thumbs' don't do much other than help him keep his balance, but it is novel. Louie's mother has twenty seven toes and claws to match, when she decides to jump on your lap, a cringe comes to your face and you hope you have enough clothes on to keep you from being flayed.

This is Jasper. And Zip of course :)
When Jasper came to me he was not in very good shape. His name then was "Jerry Garcia" (ugh), he was skinny, had bald spots on his face and collicked three times within the first week of his life with me. The first time was from drinking too much water at once; when I had picked him up, there was no water bucket/trough anything in his pen. I can't imagine what he drank. Not much of anything obviously. The people that had him at the time had been turned in multiple times for animal abuse but no one ever tried to stop them from getting more animals. Anyway, I had to sell Jasper a few years ago, he was just too much for me in the sadle. On the ground he was the most willing of students and he was so friendly, if I walked through the paddock and stopped suddenly he would run into my back. But in the saddle he had too much energy for me to manage. He went to a young cowboy who fell as deeply in love with Jasper as I had AND he worked hard enough that Jasper didn't have all that extra pent up energy. I miss Jas but I know he is well cared for and is content with his life and a cow rangler.

Here are some pictures I just want to share...


Kujo curled up in a food dish


A couple of the yearling thoroughbreds I used to work with (added after-the-fact note: This was in Georgia; I realized this might not look like a real photo. It is a scan of a photo that has seen better days. I wasn't a photographer as you can tell, I cut off their legs :)


The most magnificent sunset I have ever seen (no, it is not photoshoped)


Jari with a bottle babie


Tad with his first deer

6 comments:

Michelle said...

It was nice to see such a varied selection of photos and tidbits from your life; thanks! Is Tad the son you lost, or the one you still have?

~~Sittin.n.Spinnin said...

Tad is gone from our lives. I always loved that picture, he was so happy. Kevin is the middle child, 17 years old, 6'4" and I think he is still growing :)

Kathy said...

I love the photos, Becky! And thank you for sharing the gems of your life with us. :) I ended up giving my horses away back about '00. It's hard but I know they had good homes with people who could really work them and a horse isn't happy unless they have something to do. I had surgery on a shoulder and had problems getting saddles on without scaring the bejesus out of the girls. It wasn't fair to them.
I like the way you set up the jugs in the previous post. Soon, I'll have to make the boys stay out of the barn and get it prep'd for lambing. We're about 6 weeks away about now. WaHoo!

Kathy said...

And I am so sorry about Tad.

Sharon said...

Thanks for putting a face on Tad for me. Your story makes this mother's heart ache. He sure does look like his momma~

~~Sittin.n.Spinnin said...

Sharon, he was me, in everything but gender.