So Sunday

This is the very beautiful "Jones".......for adoption!


Cold and frosty this morning...but beautifully blue. I make the trip to the barn and the valley is busy......the quad of horses to my left running their field and the "lonely" pony to my right waiting at the fence....crows in the road making a fuss over a squirrel carcass........a lone black dog walks slowly and deliberately along the side of the road and gives me a glance as I pass by.

I am a little late this morning. I get "that look" from the horses as I pull up the driveway and open the gate. I let the chickens out and they follow me into the barn, hoping for a treat or scraps like I sometimes bring....but not this morning. I give them their regular scratch mix, let the cat out, throw hay and then attend to Bonnie.

We made Bonnie a sling on Friday....Caryn and I. We shopped Walmart for a half hour...not sure what we were looking for..but looking just the same. The goal was to lift Bonnie up where she could stretch her legs and have support for her body. Not an easy task. There are no chicken slings commercially made that we could easily find...........so we ended up with size medium men's briefs.....and a lid to a circular garbage can.
In Walmart.....we were engaged in a conversation while we examined the men's briefs out of the package.....and we got some "strange" looks. You cannot explain in a few seconds that Bonnie is a chicken who needs a sling.....and that yes, her head would extend out the front of the crotch part of the underwear, so she could see......but some people only heard "her"........"head"......."support"......"crotch hole" (IDK...is there a term for that?) Anyway, we laughed, bought the underwear and trash can lid...then left.
We placed the underwear inside the trash can lid ring, rolled the band over the ring, secured it and then started the task of fashioning it for Bonnie. This starts with placing Bonnie in the underwear. Hmmm.....okay, her butt has to have an escape hole, so we cut a hole in the butt....her wings go in the leg holes...the crotch supports her breast and lets her legs dangle....and then, well, her head goes through the crotch hole...the crotch hole had to be enlarged a little to make it comfortable........okay......then we take baling twine and tie three long pieces to the ring/lid........then we suspend Bonnie in the contraption and tie the baling twine to the rafter........voila! Bonnie is suspended over the hay and we build the hay up around her, place her feeders and she is able to eat, flap her wings and seems comfortable. Mission accomplished. The shoer came yesterday, walked through the barn and remarked......"is that a chicken hanging from the rafters?" ummmmmm, yes it is. We still put Bonnie away at night to keep her safe from predators and to sleep with the barn cat.

We were visited by Christine E yesterday and she brought us grain, alf pellets, beet pulp and a wonderful basket! Thank you for your kindness and support Christine.....we appreciate your giving spirit and generosity. Christine saw Bonnie too and agreed that Bonnie seemed happy!

Louie, Church, Beaver, Tarbaby and Winston got their feet trimmed. Tarbaby's feet are not great....his disease is present and active. His feet are sore. It is emotional for us.... we bute him and keep his stall dry, but the disease is in full swing and is not curable. Immune system issue. We continue to do our best for him.

We are pretty certain that the little abandoned mare has a new home. Details to follow.....great home with good people. We are still trying to assist with a Shetland pony mare and a Hackney gelding. The pony mare is green broke, the Hackney gelding is said to "drive".......we have not seen them yet, they are a distance from us. I have asked for pictures and will post them later.

Here it is the week before Christmas already. It will be 2011 in a short while. Wierd, isn't it?

Enjoy your day, I hope you see some sun.

Pony UP fortune for tomorrow:

Fortune smiles at you.