First off, Travis got his salad greens ready to perfection. I posted on-line that we have local produce to sell, and people came!
Actually, we delivered, but we still got a lot of response and many that would like more. Travis just sold out on his second batch and we are not sure if we will have enough for any more. He will be growing a variety of other vegetables and produce next. In the meantime he is slowly fine tuning things. He has his cleaning space and process situated. He ordered a tent/tarp to use at the local farmers market. He has labels for his produce and a separate refrigerator for his produce.
On the inside, I have been having a bit of a breakdown. Can you guess why?
Come on, one guess. Hint...he has a name.
If you guessed Chewy the mini pony, ding ding ding! You are correct.
We have put so much money into him yet his feet are still painful. We bought boots but they were too big. We re-measured and bought smaller boots but they were too small. The same goes for his halters. Mini pony size is too small, yearling is too big. He is exactly like my kids, always somewhere just in the middle of everything. Haha! I guess it keeps them more unique that way.
I finally snapped out of my pity party for him. He is still managing to get around and absolutely hates it when I confine him, so I take that as a good sign of a healthy stubborn will to survive. I made a fund raiser for him to cover some of the cost to get a blood test for him. The blood test will tell us if he needs medication to regulate his insulin levels. I should have already done this but he was newer to me the first time I had him vetted and I didn't think he would require it. However, I can no longer call myself an animal rescuer if I am watching him struggle.
Animal rescue is not for the faint of heart! I was even doubting and questioning myself. Why do I take in such lowly creatures? Always the sickliest ones, the old ones, or the mama's thrown away after giving humans their babies. Should I see if a rescue can take Chewy in and give him better care? How would I know what happens to him?
I really was thinking of ending this effort. I mean all of it. No more rescuing animals! But I can't. What will I do with my extra time? This is what I love to do. This is my calling. It makes no money, but the money needed always seems to appear when we need it most. All we ever need is what we need and we give to others whenever we can. This is the best way I can think of to contribute to the world, even though it may be very small. Taking care of animals is as natural to me as breathing and without them, I would suffocate. I would not want to get out of bed and face a new day each morning. I would have to learn how to live a new life and that makes me sad.
I tried fostering some animals from our local shelter during the past week and a half but I kept them each for about three days. First there was a senior dog named CeCe. Then a litter of four kittens. CeCe didn't get along with our own senior dog (I guess you really can't teach an old dog new tricks) and the kittens required messy hand feedings and developed the runs, which in turn required lots and lots of extra clean-up. They will be fine. I believe the runs came from them eating too much wet canned cat food, but I could not get them to eat the kibbles at all. They also were not crazy about the kitten formula unless it had wet cat food mixed in.
Megan helped a lot but this particular litter were not fun for her because they always had crusty food in their hair, and they were just...messy! We bathed them every night and had to spend a long time drying them. Then they would be staving again and end up going to bed messy anyway. But wait...then we had to clean up all the sticky food from the floor, pick up and shake out towels, and put them in the washing machine. Then sweep and mop the floor. .This litter made us all wonder how have we fostered so many over the years? This was hard!
Since the pony came up with another bout of laminitis, I decided to take the kittens back to the shelter and try fostering again later on down the road sometime. For now, my animals are requiring more care than I can manage. I just thought it would help give Megan something to do during quarantine.
She said she's good.
On a final note, a co-worker from school reached out to me and asked about filming a virtual field trip for the local school age children, on our farm. I think this is a great idea! The kids will get to see the animals, hear all their stories, and learn a lot too.
Then there's the fact that our vacuum cleaner bit the dust, the dishwasher had to replaced, and it has been no easy feat keeping up on home school lessons. Thankfully Trevor has been driving Blake to and from his orchard job and driving animals to and from the shelter for me. He is still applying for jobs and Travis is now back to work at his office.
Never a dull moment around here. Until next time I wish you much light, much love, and many blessings.
Namaste.
Amy Darr
3 Corners Farm
Mosier Oregon, U.S.A.
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