Cattle Shipment

This is Daisy, one of my very favorite cows from my milking days.

Thankfully it wasn't the cow above that was being tortured, but it was a cow non the less. My husband Dewey is a truck driver. Today he calls me upset. He is on the job getting his trailer inspected so it can be approved to go into Canada. He is at the Detroit Michigan Customs. He pulls up to see three men, all are white, one is an older man with a beard. They all have electric cattle prods, and they are repeatedly shocking a cow that could not get up in the trailer, they take turns shocking the cow in the head, neck, shoulders, rear, etc. Basically where ever they can reach with the prods. Unfortunately there is nothing he can do about the situation as he is *on the job*, and would you approach three men with weapons by yourself????

So he does the next best thing, IMO. He calls me with a full description. The truck (a big rig) is white with a stencil of a bull w/horns on the side. It says Matt Johnson Carrier, Farwell Michigan #008 on the side. My husband witnessed this happened for at least 10-15 minutes, they were doing it before he got there, and were still doing it as he was leaving.

So of course this has me VERY angry. So I start calling people, and letting everyone I can think of know what had happened. I called the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, The Ontario and Michigan Animal Abuse Hotlines, US and Canadian Customs, among others. I must have called at least a dozen different numbers and left as many detailed messages as I could. I did get through to a lady in US Customs who took down all my information and said she would do what she could and call me back (we shall see if she does). I got through to another guy with crime reporting or something like that. He took my full statement as well. I hope "something" happens to punish these men.

But I am in Maine....and this did happen in Michigan. I wish my husband hadn't been on the job so he could have searched out someone in customs to file a complaint with, but I think he did good in calling me, and I made a very real attempt to alert the proper people to handle the situation. I just wish I could have done more.

Pretty in Pink

As I've complained about, I'm sick. I'm feeling a lot better now that i've been on the meds a few days...but I'm still battling hot sweats, headaches, and a scratchy throat. To make myself feel better I bought myself some flowers. They are just from the supermarket...but they are very pretty.

sunny spot

So, I am home...sick. I feel better than yesterday, but there is a headache I can't seem to shake. But my hearing is back in my left ear. My voice has seen better days though.The cats did their best to cuddle with me this afternoon while I was lazy and napping on the couch. I got a few good shots of Abner. I love how the light plays off of his fur. He looks so harmless and cute lying there....except for his fangs which are rather large ;). Currently though I have the three basenji's sleeping with me. They are so cute....but camera is out of reach and they would move if I grabbed it.

So I have tomorrow off too.....doctors orders. Its going to be a long few days with nothing to do, but i'm glad I do not have to spend the day in a sweltering office, so that is good. Today there was a TOP CHEF marathon on Bravo, so I basically watched that on and off all day, and I read parts of a book that I bought for Glo, Its called "Manic--a memior" written by Terri Cheney. Its really good, I'm about halfway into it. Glo is going to love it. She wont mind that i've been reading it, and if i'm home and have the time why not do so before my next visit ;). So I will go back to admiring the daffodils and reading that book. Hopefully there will be something good on tv tonight.

Bronchitis and Ear Infections

So I put off going to the doctors three other times now. So today, after being sick since friday, I went to the doctors....and low and behold I have Bronchitis and on top of that a lovely ear infection. Which is why I keep getting sick these last few weeks, but I hate going to the doctor. So under doctors orders, which I am not going to protest to, I get to stay home from work for the rest of the week. Which is good because now I can actually sleep :), and good to get away from the stuffy office for awhile....and with snow on the way tomorrow, I dont have to worry about that yuckiness in the morning. Overall I feel pretty shitty, but I have lots of meds to make me better :).

Little bun bun

SO my darling little girl fell asleep under my chin tonight while i was watching a movie. How cute is that? Then she continued to cuddling and explore under the fleece blanket. I can't believe I found such a wonderful little bird.

It's Easter.....

And I bought myself a little conure so I named her Bunny. She is what is called a Pineapple or a Yellow sided Conure. She is a bit on the small side as far as conures go, but she's a real sweetheart. She's about 6 months old and is very much a baby. But she is so freaking cute!
I lost Giovanni on Friday in a horrible accident with the dogs, they got in the livingroom when he was out, and he flew at them to challenge them. Very stupid on his part, its like he wanted to be a kamakazi or something like that. Unfortunately the dogs thought that was the bestest thing in the world, and gobbled him up in 3 seconds flat. It makes me really sad....but what can I do?? They are hunting dogs afterall. So I got a new little friend, and she will be kept under lock in key with my cockatiel Corky. She is such a love.

And like every good little bird, is obsessed with shiny things :)

housewives of 1955

I don't know about any of you....but this:


would never fly at my house. If you can't read it very well, click on the picture and you can see it larger.

My birds

Daffodils

Daffodils are by far my favorite flower. My Dad always said that it makes me a cheap date because you could get a room full of Daffodils for the price of a dozen roses. I just dont really care much for roses, I find them a bit on the borring side. Daffodils are kinda plan too if you think about it. But there are so many styles and hybrids and colors. But even the simple ones make me happy. So I took some pictures and then had some fun modifying them. So I'm posting a few of my favorites.

The Death Pile

So, the dogs have added a few more things to the death pile. My dogs are pretty much my kids, and they get away with a lot without me getting angry, sad maybe, but not angry. My little girl Tira, has eaten one of my hamsters and one of my birds. Sid has gotten a hamster, a pair of eyeglasses, one of my favorite bras. Daisy has eaten a pair of my favorite sandles that had little pink lobsters on them as well as catching a bird (midflight I might add). Masi is the most notourious, she eats EVERYTHING. Pieces of wood, moulding, cardboard, plastic, soap, lotion, candles, dirt, plants, i mean EVERYTHING!!! I don't even want to think how many bars of soap she's eaten in the last few months.

Most recently added to the "Death Pile" is my little horsey figurine (above). One of the cats must of knocked it off the shelf....and of course Masi found it, and promptly destroyed it without much after thought. The other thing added to the pile where my Dansko's, which i really liked, and havent had for that long. I'm not sure *who* has done the deed, but i'm assuming it was Daisy.
The only one who is pretty good about NOT destroying stuff is bramble.....but he *is* a basenji....so I don't really trust him.
As they are cuddling on the couch....how can you help but love them???

Fun New Socks :)

Today I went shopping at target and bought some socks, arent they cute??? not like you can really see them inside your shoes....but i was happy, they remind me of bumble bees.

"Where are his COOKIES???"

So my sister has a son, who will be two years old in a little less than three months. His name is Chase, and she has a habit of giving him cookies to make him happy. I first noticed this habit at her pre-wedding decorating session. It was here that he began crying and wouldn't stop. So here comes my sister with a bottle of chocolate milk and a handful of cookies. About an hour goes by and he begins to cry again, after a fruitless atempt at finding his cookies she asks the whole room, "Where are his cookies???" To which my mother had found and promptly handed them to my sister. So long story short when I was strolling through Target today I found the shirt above. And I figured it was fitting.

Here are a couple of pictures of Chase wearing his new shirt, and *just* as fitting he (as usual) has non other than COOKIES in his hand. ;)

Argh Cats!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So Will did one of the most disgusting thing he could have done. He was in the livingroom with me and the other kitties playing, and he found a towel I had let the basenjis roll on. (whenever I take a shower I let them roll in the towel, they think its lots of fun). He scratched at it, and me thinking it was a DOG thoguht aww how cute he's going to lay down......UNTIL he started to SHIT ON THE TOWEL!!!!!!!!!!!!! I screamed at him to stop as he began trying to cover it up. As my body finally allowed myself to move, as I had been immobilized by the shock of him doing such a thing, he ran off.

All I can say is THANK GOD for sanitation cycles. I swear if I didnt have such a wonderful washing machine, as it really is wonderful, I would just thrown the towel away it was THAT gross. I did send a picture to my husband......mainly because I needed to show SOMEONE, and I am pretty much living home alone while he is out doing the truck driving thing. But I think that others shouldn't have to witness it....and I deleted it promptly after he recieved it.

I lit a gazillian candles to hide the stench, which unfortunately is dissipitating all to slowly. ARGH!

Dogs that visit work

Ocassionaly we get a dog or two that will come in to work. I love it when they do, mainly because I like dogs a whole lot better than I like people. He was a boxer/american bulldog mix. He had the face shape of a boxer, but the thickness and alover size of the bulldog. He was brindle and white, with one merle looking ear. Half his face was white (that was the side with the merle ear) and the other half was brindle. His mom was doing a great job with him, doing random obediance work with him while she was there. I love to see a dog like that (which a lot of people would steriotype) being a wonderful example of the *breeds*. If only people could distinguish between poorly socialized and trained animals who cause all the issues, and those that are raised correctly.

Of course Its the same old debate...but it has so much relevance to today, so to speak.

Unfortunately days like today make haveing dogs tiring. With a pack of five, sometimes I just want to lock them all away, but of course I can't do that. They are obviously happy to see me, but when I get home from work sometimes I just want to lay down and go to bed. I hate sleeping so much, and feeling the need to sleep all the time. On the other hand they have finally *settled* and are peacefully munching on bones and sleeping on the couch. Times like this I can't imagine not having them around :). Luckily their craziness usually doesn't last long and I'm happy for them to cuddle with. Its definately a rollercoaster. Crazy to lazy, crazy to lazy.

Thats the one thing that makes having cats easier, they just sorta hang out...except when you have psycho cats that attack at a whim, poop on you when they get mad, steal food just as bad as a dog.....get into the trash, eat fuzzy *bite sized pets* (but then again so doesnt one specific little canine), tease the fish, annoy the dogs, run around like lunatics at all hours of the night, attack each other randomly, sometimes on top of you while you are trying to sleep.....need I go on?

I like my cats...Smidge is by far my favorite (as Tira is my favorite of the dogs), I love Kitten, but she's too skittish and allows the *boys* to tease her. Abner has a mean streak...but its been getting better. So that leaves Mr. One Eyed Willy....he is just weird. I don't understand him very well. He is almost like a visitor that will live with us for the rest of his life. He doesn't seem to belong, he doesnt seem to care if he gets attention, or care if the other cats like him. All he cares about is if you feed him every morning, and make sure he has a clean litter box, and fresh water. Last night he played with me with a feather on a stick. He seemed excited for it, but could care less when I stopped. He just ran off to find something else to do. I do wake up to find him on my bed every morning. He wont let the Kitten come up....but she doesnt stand her ground, and stays under the bed or in the closet.....Smidge and Abner get all excited when its time for me to get up, because that means I will feed them soon. Smidge will rub herself all over me. She likes to cuddle. She's a very good kitty.

the birds are good too. Corky is old, ancient really.....I don't think she will live too much longer, but she seems healthy considering the age. Giovanni....well he's just a grumpy bastard...but he does step up to his stick now. I just wish i could break through to him and have him not try to bite me as hard as he can, it sucks!

the lizards and the frog....well they aren't very interactive. The fish are more so then they are. I have to dig up the frog to check to make sure he is still alive...and the lizards just hang out. The rarely eat in front of me anymore...C'est la vie....

but all in all, through all the work it takes to take care of them and make them happy, its well worth it. for the moments like right now with tira and bramble sleeping on my feet, keeping them warm, sid laying next to me, and masi and daisy in a death lock on a stuffed toy, neither moving, neither making a sound, waiting for the other to give in.

Slow Sunny Sunday

So today I woke up really late....but it was great. I needed the sleep. Sometimes I wish that I didn't have to sleep as much as I do. The cats seemed to be happy that I was in bed so late, the dogs however, was definately NOT. So for the most part I let them cuddle on the couch once i got up, and they seemed happy for that. So I am being lazy today and just lounging around. I did do some laundry, so that is good.

kim~

Kate's Funeral

Kate Morgan, wife of Ken morgan, and mother to the wonderful racing basenji known as Dark Skies Morgan's Grace (aka: Gracie). It may seem to be the wrong thing to post as my first installment of my daily journal (hopefully I will be able to continue on with adding to it daily), but it deserves to be spoken of. My good friend Gloria asked me to accompany her to the funeral. I had met Kate and Ken only once before, but knew of their lure coursing exploits as well as the progression of Cancer with Kate, and the shocking Stroke with Ken. I agreed wholeheartedly to go with her. It was in Connecticut.....and of course it was raining. It was a nice funeral. Lots of loving family members and in general was quite nice.....as far as funerals go.

It started off being a typical catholic funeral, incense, chanting, up, down, up down. After that was over (which was quite an experiance for Glo considering she had never witnessed a Catholic funeral) there was a local minister, who just happened to be a close friend of Kate's did a little speech, then her nephew did a speech. It would have been a perfect funeral even if it was ONLY the nephew to speak. He spoke of Kate and how gracious and kind she always was, and he talked about Gracie, their basenji, and how Kate's life revolved around that silly little dog, and how Gracie sat with Kate until the very end.

The interesting thing about Kate's sickness is how Gracie came to be. Gracie was born about 4 years ago, and was a breeding between my own male basenji, Mata Hauri Blockbuster (aka: Bramble) and Glo's Mata Hauri Ambara C-Breeze (aka: Breezy). This litter was planned so that Glo could produce a companion for her ailing mother. She wanted her mom to have a dog to snuggle up with during the long road of sickness. Fortunately her mom has overcome her sickness and enjoys the day to day company of her two basenjis. Lacy, one of the two, just so happens to come from that Bramble/Breezy litter, as does Gracie. So in a way Gracie was born with the expectation of comforting the sickly. She did a wonderful job, staying with her mom till the end, and now has the responsibility of doing the same thing for her dad (who will hopefully be in good health for a long time).

I find that to be a wonderful story. Breezy also became the companion to another sickly lady and laid by her side till the end. Now she is the adoring companion of the remaining spouse, doing just what her daughter will now be doing. I just find it an ironic story.


The ride there and home wasn't bad, even though it was pouring the whole way back. We did stop at Dover and sat in a $6600.00 saddle!!!!! It was the nicest feeling saddle I've ever sat in. Me and Glo must of sat in every single dressage saddle that they had! It was nice, we spent almost two hours looking at horse stuff.....AND we just happened to find her a cream pair of show breeches so she will look better on her very white horse Willoughby :). There was also a $175 pair of GLOVES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!which were also the same color cream, they would have been PERFECT to go with the breeches.....but OMG way to expensive, it was ridiculous.

Anyways, it was a good day, lots of good food, wonderful people, lots of talk of basenjis, ridgebacks, and of course lots of horsey fun. It was a very long day (we left at 6:30 am, and got back at 8pm) but it was worth it. It was nice to see Gracie, and to see that Ken was doing well, even with his wife Kate being newly deceased. He seemed to be thoroughly happy to talk about Gracie, and to meet Bramble, and some of the other basenjis in April. At the lure coursing trails. I'll write about that when the time comes.

till then~