Wordless Wednesday

Wordless Wednesday

Wordless Wednesday

Working Towards that Ag Exemption

I have a coworker that raises goats. Nigerian dwarf and pygmy, to be exact. She would share pictures of her daughter with these two little bottle babies every week; they were the cutest thing! A bit pricey, as they usually are, but I told her I would be reaching out at some point in the future for one - maybe two. You see, I love goats. I have always wanted a miniature goat I could have as a pet. Low maintenance, easy to handle, and the cutest little weedeater you'll probably ever see. But whenever I asked, Corey would say, “No.” Weird, right? Anyway, I had made up my mind that, at some point, I was going to get a goat. More than likely after I graduated, but it WAS going to happen. 

Well, the week before Easter, my coworker offered me a goat at a deeply discounted price. And who was I to say no to that? So, I told Corey about the discount and asked if we could get some supplies that Friday. Once we assessed the property and planned where I would put the goat, we quickly realized that round 4 of simplifying would need to be moved up to round 2. And so, on Good Friday, we made a trip to our local Tractor Supply to purchase some fencing material. We walked in with the sole purpose of getting JUST what we needed. However, an hour later, we walked out with fencing material, a chicken coop, four baby chicks, and two baby ducks - a few extra ducks for my mother-in-law too.

The next day we woke up, started hauling off the junk, and cleaned up the property. The chicken coop was put together, we set up the goat hutch and then moved the dog kennel. That afternoon we headed to my friend's house to pick out our goat. We decided it had to be a goat we all liked, and there were three to choose from. I already knew which one had my vote, but I wanted Corey and Emery to have a say as well. Thankfully, we all settled on the same one. And well, now we have a baby goat. And while I wanted a cute name like "George" or "Charlie," I was outvoted. So, “Donkey” - think Shrek, was the winner. He's a cute little thing, though. Super affectionate, which was surprising. And follows us around the yard and is already attached to Emery. She’s now asking that we go back and adopt his brother. Which may or may not be an option, I haven’t made up my mind just yet.

We spent a lot of time outdoors that weekend. And it felt so good! Between taking care of the animals, getting chores done, and hauling stuff around, we hardly had time for anything else. We all spent less time on our phones, too - Emery included. And as Easter Sunday came to a close, we sat around the patio table, making plans for more animals in the future and even a garden. Might as well work towards a future Texas Ag Exemption, right? Overall, it was a pretty great weekend, providing a small glimpse of the simpler life we’re hoping to have. And let me just say that I am so ready for it! I’ve officially entered the “farm life” phase of adulthood.

Wordless Wednesday

 

Wordless Wednesday

The Day We Went To The Zoo

Last week I had Good Friday off from work so we decided to head to the Fort Worth Zoo. Now, I’m an animal lover and Emery has been showing such interest in them lately (thanks to Dora & Diego) that I just knew she’d enjoy it! We woke up early to go have breakfast, and then see my mother-in-law before heading up to the city. Once we stopped by we found out that my sister-in-law was off from school so we invited her to join us, and Emery got even more excited for the road trip.

The map I printed out beforehand made the place look huge and a bit daunting. But once we got there I saw that it wasn't as big as I thought it would be. We made our way through the entire zoo in about 4 hours. This includes stopping for pictures, rides, and having lunch. The entire drive Emery kept saying she wanted to see Kangaroo’s and I was really hoping we'd make it to that section before she started to get tired and cranky. Thankfully we had plenty of time to see all of the animals (minus the insects because I just didn’t want to see those) without incident. And true to her three year old word, Em was pretty excited when we finally saw the Kangaroos! They were pretty lazy the entire time though; just lounging about. She still loved it though. She even had a blast watching the penguins and getting to pet a lizard! Overall, it was such a fun visit and Emery keeps asking to go back!

As much fun as we had the animal lover in me was really sad. Some people don’t really get the whole “captivity” thing and don’t notice anything wrong, but we could see the stress coming from some of the animals. The pacing, and swiping at people coming from the White Tiger. The way one of the chimpanzee’s REFUSED to look at humans. He literally did everything with his back turned. Some of the big birds kept swooping down, squawking, and trying “snatch” at people walking underneath the netting. And the coyotes had an area about half the size of my entire house to “run around” in. Like I said, it was a bit sad. But what can one do really? Most of these animals couldn’t be returned to their natural habitats simply because they’ve all been born in captivity. Most wouldn't know how to survive, and some would be shunned.

Holy Bagees, That Stung!

On Monday it got up to 70 degrees and I was so excited to get home and go out for a “test run”. It was a bit windy when I got home but with the time change I knew that the temperature would hold for a few more hours. I felt like I was long overdue for a slow, long distance run. I needed to get out, stretch my legs, and feel the sun on my skin. So once I got there I changed and headed out.

Everything was fine, up until I hit my .5 mile mark. Since the sun was pretty high still I decided to take the longer route home. And that’s when things got interesting. I rounded a corner and saw a dog out in the middle of the road. Now, I’ve encountered this dog before (about a month back), and he actually nipped at my shoe once. That day, I squirted him with water and he ran away. This time he didn't look very threatening at first because he isn't very big, but he was barking up a storm and growling. I just assumed he was being a tough guy. But, I still picked up a rock and opened up my water bottle just in case. I had my headphones in and I kept up my pace. I saw him start circling me, but I kept my eyes ahead. At one point he got a little too close so I kicked in his direction and told him to “get”. He took off behind me back to his house so I assumed I was clear and started to speed up. That’s when I saw another dog coming at me really fast from the left side, and then I felt a bite on my right calf.

As a reflex I kicked back when I felt the sting and the dog let go. But he kept trying to come back at my leg, and the other dog that had caught my attention before was also growling at me. I checked my leg and it didn't look bad at all but I did see some blood so I wiped it away. Then, I went in search of the first big stick I could find. My first thought, in all honesty, was to hit the crap out of that damn dog. But then I realized I needed to tell the owners and see if I could find out any information about the dog (did he actually belong to them, was he vaccinated?). So I made my way up to their fence, stick in hand, and tried to get someone to come out. I was out there hollering for about 3 minutes and no one came out. I knew someone had to be home because cars were parked out front, but either they really couldn't hear me or they were hoping I’d just go away. So, I decided I’d continue my run and then come back to talk to them in my car.

I swung my stick and backed my way down the road before I started off again. Once I got home I told my husband what had happened, and he insisted I call the police. Now, I’m an animal person and I know how bad it sucks to have the cops called on you because your dogs loose. So, I told him I wanted to speak to the owners first. He said he’d come with me so we all loaded up and made our way to the house. When we got there he knocked on the windows and yelled. No one came out. Finally I honked, and started yelling with him and a little girl came out. We asked to speak to her parents and they came out a few seconds later. They claimed the dog belonged to their daughter’s boyfriend. He wasn’t there at the time, because his daughter was in labor. I introduced myself, showed them my leg, and told them I ran by there often. I told them that this was the second time that this dog had come at me, and my husband made some reference about calling the sheriff. That’s when they told me that the dog had his vaccinations and that the dog would be taken care of. I told them we didn’t want any trouble, but if it happened again I’d call animal control. They shook our hands, and took both dogs into their fenced yard.

My husband insisted that I call the police but I felt we had handled the situation. It wasn’t until I was at work the next day that someone asked me “What if he had attacked a child? or What if you had been out running with Emery and he bit her?” So, I called the sheriff and made a report. I let them know we had spoken with the owners, and they immediately knew who I was talking about. Apparently, I’m not the first to complain about their dogs. I told them I didn’t need a sheriff to come out, but I just wanted it on file that I had made the report in case it happened again. They asked if I had gone to the ER, because the owners would be held liable to pay for my visit if I had gone. I told them that I hadn’t since it wasn’t that deep, and my leg was healing so rabies wasn’t an issue. The sheriff told me that if it happened again to call them immediately so they could have animal control pick up the dog.

I honestly don’t want any trouble because this is a small town. We see everyone pretty much every afternoon. But I would feel so bad if that dog got out, bit a kid, and I hadn’t spoken up. So, I feel like I did the right thing. The owner can be angry with me if he feels like it but I’m sure if the roles were reversed they would not have hesitated to call and make a report. The bite wasn't that deep, mainly deep scratches, so it’s healing really fast, and it’s mainly just one big bruise. If I’m on my feet for a long period of time then it swells up a bit, but other than that it’s fine. Since then, I've gone on one run by that house. The dog was outside of the fence but he was tied up. I glad to see that they were serious about making sure he wasn't loose again. I really would have hated to have another conversation with the police.

p.s. I was reading Erica's current post, 

and come to find out bloglovin has my blog listed. 

So, if anyone has that, you can also use that to follow along.

Click here ---->Follow my blog with Bloglovin

Babies and Pets

Oh man...I read this story today, that made me really sad. A couple left their newborn in the room with their family dog for a "second" and the dog killed the baby. Unfortunately, it was my favorite breed that did this.  

Dog Attacks Newborn

I swear things just look worse and worse for these dogs every year. I am a "Proud Pit Bull Mommy". I love Sampson. He was our first "child", and sometimes I feel bad for not having as much time for him as I used to. But, my EMERY comes first! Still, I feel that these dogs get such a bad light cast on them, and I am blaming the owners. Lousy dog ownership.

I do NOT leave Sampson alone with Emery. EVER. In fact, he became an outside dog three month before Emery was born. And my mother won't even leave Brinks (the Boston Terrier) alone with her either. There is a reason for this. Emery is a baby. And no matter how nice or friendly our dogs have been or are, they are still animals. Sampson has been wonderful around other children, and we take him for walks with us when we take Emery out in the stroller. But he's always on a leash. When he was being introduced to children, and to Emery he was always supervised and on a leash. So, this brings me to ask,

WHAT WERE THESE PARENTS THINKING?!?!

I know that we LOVE our pets, but when it comes to our BABIES (& children) we should all start being a bit more careful. More responsible. When we decided to take Sampson I did my research on the breed, and I always took precautions. With ANY dog, you have to be cautious. They lack that control that most of us humans have. I say most because we as humans also have our bad guys out there. If something makes us mad, annoys us, looks at us the wrong way, or smells funny WE can control how we react/act out on this. Animals are a bit different. Their reactions involve being protective, or violent. You can see this with any animal! Even if you have an amazingly well-trained dog, in one second he could just as easily disobey you. They all at one point or another act out, Samp does it when he's annoyed with us (ex: chewing on clothes, jumping on you repeatedly, or ignoring you altogether -- kinda sounds like a teenager--). And that's why I believe that when it comes to CHILDREN and PETS you must be extra careful. No matter what the breed.

It's like I always say, EDUCATE yourselves! I'm not perfect, and I know we all make mistakes, but had these parents been more cautious. Had they taken the "animal instinct" these dogs have, more seriously, they might still have their little one. And this makes me even sadder. This baby only had four days on this Earth. Four days of life, and it was taken away, just like that.

So when it comes to your children, and your pets I'm urging you to read up on the breed and to be careful! Never leave your little ones alone with the pet(s). I'd rather we be too careful than to see this happen again.