DD 12/1

Good morning and welcome back December!  We have a cold yet sunny start to the day!

Continuing Irie’s story that we started yesterday….

We leave the animals we rescue in the auction house overnight.  For this particular auction, we leave MA around 5am and drive to PA in plenty of time to perform the walk through assessments.  The flip side of this is that we’re not in the best state physically or mentally to drive home after the auction has ended.

This break in proceedings allows us the time to have the vet perform the Coggins Test, the Vet Cert and give a tetanus shot.  Since most people take their purchases home right after the auction, the pens are pretty empty and less frenetic.  We make sure everyone, including animals that are not ours, have access to ample water and hay.  Bringing our own feed with us ensures we start our feed program ASAP!  All grains and legumes are fed soaked as a matter of course to ensure maximum water in take year round! Water intake is key here since it wards off all sorts avoidable issues.

As an aside, whisky is commonly know as the water of life.  If you’d like to be fancy, Uisge Beath is the Scottish Gaelic term!  We’re not fancy so we just use plain old H2O but if we want to be a wee bit fancy, we use hot water in winter!

Up early the next morning to ensure the animals have been fed, watered and hayed.  If they accept a halter, we take them out, in hand, to stretch their legs and get some fresh air.  If they don’t accept a halter easily, we know we’re about to have an interesting morning!  I must admit, I don’t think I can recall a travel day morning that hasn’t been interesting!

Loading the rescues into the trailer does not follow our principles in animal handling.  We need them loaded in the safest, most time efficient manner possible.  We train them to load once we get home but for now, time is of the essence and this saying clearly falls on deaf ears because the animals rarely comply!  This really comes as no surprise given that many have been on the auction circuit for a while and the inside of a trailer holds no comfort or security.  We also rescue animals who probably have only been on a trailer once and that was to travel to auction!  Here we find ourselves in another situation not for the faint hearted!

Irie needs modifications for travel.  We don’t know her well but we know we need to provide an enclosed area with no obstacles.  Fortunately we have a stallion stall on the trailer which means the partition goes all the way down to the floor to create a secure oasis away from other animals and hooves!

Once we’re all safely loaded, the trip home revolves around water stops, hay top ups and reorganizing the animals on the farms!  Eight hours of problem solving, arranging, rearranging and the ripple of excitement caused by bringing home animals that will challenge us is a wonderful way to while the time away!

Irie, with her sight impairment, will be the first animal of her kind that I have worked with.  Lots of learning which, as we all know, is the life force that keeps us moving forward!

DD 11/30

It’s Saturday, feels like Monday, looks like the frost is becoming a regular occurrence!

Here’s a brain dump for you this morning!  May as well share the conundrums, processes and strategies with people who have the opportunity to stop reading and find something else to do!🤣

We’re working with Irie on a twice daily program.  She’s our rather over weight, palomino colored pony.  We rescued her a couple of years ago with no idea about her history.  We noticed her in one of the auction pens looking very agitated and completely lost.  This is not unusual but she seemed to lack the ability to get out of the way of the jostling of the other animals.  On entering the pen to check hip numbers and suitability of the animals contained within, it became apparent that she was of limited sight and had a protector in the form of a very small, determined mule.  To get to her, we needed to get past the mule and we do, contrary to appearances, have a healthy regard for our safety!  We resorted to eyeballing her. We ran through a basic observation , from a distance!

Feet - looked reasonable.

Body condition - poor, filthy, excessive number of burrs knotted through her main and tail.

Temperament - impossible to tell under current circumstances.

Vet concerns - sight issues unknown, cause of loss of sight and potential removal of one or both eyes.  

Rescue risk level - high unless a bidder was interested in a backyard ornament.  If no interest on the auction floor, we would bid.

Impact on ERN - high potential she would stay in sanctuary which impacts space for rescue, feed, vet and hay bills.  These known issues are factored in to our decision making.

The auction started, lots of noise, movement and animals in a high octane environment.  Irie was driven into the ring with all of the animals from her pen.  There was no individual handling.  The bidders bid up to the highest offer, then identified the animal that they wanted to purchase from the hip tag.  The purchase price drops every time an animal is bought.  It quickly became apparent that there was little interest in Irie.  Her mule companion was sold.  We needed a companion animal for her and identified a small donkey.  The prices came down to rescue prices.  Still no interest in Irie.  She did not present well in the ring.  How could she?  Bidding slowed down so we decided to enter the fray.  Janine raised our bid card and we waited to see if anyone would bid us up.  No takers.  We were given our choice of hip tags.  We chose Irie and the mini donkey.  These purchases signaled the end of the easy part of the rescue!

If you have time and the inclination, we can take a wander through our experiences after we took on responsibility for Irie and her donkey companion?

Carlene is doing well although she might disagree.  She has discovered muscles that haven’t been used in a while and she says she is aching in places she never imagined!  That can only be a good thing!

DD 11/29

Another Thanksgiving achieved!  Happy Black Friday to you!  I’m pretty sure Black Friday will mean something very different to you than it does to us.  

Our version involves paddocks and copious amounts of rain!  Ours is costly in many different ways!  Horse shoes have a habit of being sucked off hooves, hay gets wet and dirty because, try as you might some animals just love emptying hay bags!  Chores become a far more time consuming and arduous task.  Wheelbarrow wheels disappear in deep, odious muddy channels.  Thank goodness we’re all over a certain height because I’m sure we’d loose people if they were shorter!  Equines appear to regard mud as a beautifying wonder application for all over body, head and ear use.  This results in very fine airborne particles when the coating actually dries out enough to be brushed out.  We train our equines to accept the shop vac both around the barn and as a grooming tool!

This job is not for the faint of heart, poor weather adverse individuals, schedule orientated persons with a need for a steady eight hours sleep, preferably during night time hours!  This is for the extreme animal lover, outside of the box thinker, ‘drop everything for the herds’ individual.  An ability to disregard the schedule, find another way, go the whole distance and beyond with a healthy ‘devil may care’ attitude to sleep, manicures, helmet/hat hair and finding a pair of boots/shoes that don’t smell of manure is not just required, it’s a necessity.  Not that I’m saying our volunteers are smelly and disheveled but I do know that Janine and I have been out in the civilized world and had to check in with each other regarding the ‘smell-o’ level of our smart (clean) boots!

Let’s just put it out there, the pay is beyond dismal.  The rewards, for the right person, are beyond one’s wildest imagination.  We tick the boxes for contentment, happiness, worthwhile connections, respect with a healthy dose of seeking to bring the best out of our rescues while accommodating them to the highest standards.  We are beyond fortunate to have a volunteer base that brings dedication, calmness, love and a sense of humor.  They have barn clothes, brushes, imagination and grit.  Probably best to decline arm wrestling with a GF volunteer unless you’ve been in training for years!  This groups of people have a common bond, very different skills and have meshed together into a cohesive band of friends.  We are beyond grateful and extremely lucky.

Finally, as Goldy’s Farm, Janine and I deploy the strategy that we keep our herds and flocks to a level that, in an emergency, she and I could manage to maintain to a safe and happy standard, by ourselves over a sustained amount of time. Our team currently care for, five large horses, four mini horses, one draft mule, ten donkeys,  two mini mules, two zebu, nine goats, three dogs, two alpacas, ten sheep, two rabbits, and a flock of chickens that don’t stay still long enough to count!  Wish us luck and no emergencies in our future!

DD 11/28

Good Morning!  Happy Thanksgiving to you all.  We have so much to be thankful for and look forward to sharing with all of Goldy’s Farm.

I took a quick look at the chats this morning to test the temperature!  There’s clearly been some upset which I will tackle privately because I am hurt and concerned on behalf of the poster.  Before I get to that, Goldy’s would like to celebrate the people who create the community.  We all know about our animals and volunteers, our vet, farriers and support people.  What Goldy’s has in abundance is a very unique set of supporters who have carved out niches within the community. Personality abounds, differences aired and resolutions sought.  This approach and input allows for differences of opinion, demands accountability, celebrates success and commiserates when tough times come a calling.  In essence, we all experience what it is to be part of Goldy’s Farm, the good, the bad, the indifferent and the down right obnoxious!  We have all created our own little microcosm where we can engage with others and, hopefully, feel at home!  Some dip in and out, others are regular visitors and some are mainstays.  This is the beauty of accepting that life has ebbs and flows and there is no pressure to be in attendance at a given hour, on a given day for a given amount of time!  Unless you’re working hands on with the animals, they are far less forgiving regarding input time, especially of the food variety!

We have so many people who have naturally created a roll within Goldy’s that, if stripped away, we would struggle to maintain the very community that we hold so dear.  I will not name people because there are so many behind the scenes who spend so much time supporting via email with suggestions, comments and information.  I also would prefer not to cause offense by inadvertently leaving a name out!  On the surface we are held together by our phenomenal information collator, our daily happenings are shared for all by our wonderful and tireless people who have the skills to record and display the daily happenings.  These skills so freely given help keep the community together, involved and thriving.  We cannot thank you enough.

We all have a role to play that can be as simple as being a silent observer, sending a text or commenting regarding a concern.  There’s the people who greet each other at the start and end of the day, such a lovely connection. People choose their level of involvement to suit their personality and lifestyle.  This is the community that you have created, it’s expanding on a daily basis and all at the business end of Goldy’s appreciate and applaud your network of Goldy’s Warriors.

In short, we couldn’t do it without you!  Now you’re wondering why I couldn’t just have said this a few hundred words ago!

Thank you, onwards and upwards with positivity, humor and determination!

Please note, I did not discuss the financial commitment people so generously make to keep Goldy’s moving.  This is greatly appreciated but we wanted to highlight that Goldy’s is a community and a collection of wonderful people who help create our personality and originality!

DD 11/27

What a wonderful Wednesday morning we have here on the farm.  The skies are bright, the rain is holding off until tomorrow and there’s a light coating of frost on the ground.  I will say Janine’s Airstream does look very pretty with a touch of frosting.  I’m sure Janine will disagree!

Carlene, Janine and I were discussing Thanksgiving dinner last night.  It became apparent that the only one going through the rigmarole of brining, basting and roasting was the Scottish contingent.  Scotland doesn’t celebrate Thanksgiving let alone have traditional dishes or recipes passed down through generations!  In fact the most traditional dish for a truly Scottish celebration is haggis, neeps and tatties.  Haggis is considered a dangerous substance and cannot travel internationally and stuffing a sheep stomach with an aromatic mixture of barley, offal, herbs and spices is beyond my capabilities.  Just a touch!  This leaves us with the traditional turkey.  Our policy has always been to absorb and observe the traditions of the country where we are living.  Although this does make for an interesting 4th of July given it’s in celebration of getting rid of the British!

In order to celebrate Thanksgiving in the tradition fashion we deploy our Christmas dinner protocol.  Who doesn’t love Christmas dinner twice in the matter of a month?  The cook!  Anyway we will be making turkey dinner along with the majority of the country and sharing with Janine and Carlene.  Although Carlene did say that the only part of turkey that she likes is the little oval bit which I seem to remember is called the oyster?

Thanksgiving is probably my favorite holiday because it focuses on the positives in life and reminds us just how fortunate we are.  In the same way we are encouraged to look for the helpers, we can always find positives if we choose to identify them.

Given all the set backs and negatives in life, we created Goldy’s Farm to be a welcoming and uplifting place.  An environment of hope, understanding and unity for the animals, volunteers and visitors that we like to take on the road to share our mission with those that can’t come to us.  Our farm community is supported by our virtual community both old and new and together we forge forward with thanks, companionship and tremendous thankfulness.  We are eternally thankful to you all and exceptionally excited for Goldy’s future.  Thank you.

Now all we need is Carlene to get on the program, get to work and the month will fly by!  I’ve seen the PT room.  It’s enormous and looks like lots of fun!

With fondest wishes and gratitude,

All at Goldy’s Farm, biped and quadriped! 

DD 11/26

Typical, we’ve hit a snag early on in proceedings.  SWMBO is out of power!  The charging cable appears not to be in her possession!

Anyway, we’ll just push on with Tuesday in our own way!

Let’s look at the months of December and January through the eyes of Carlene and Janine as we plan, amend plans, assess, re-assess……..  I’m sure you can imagine the situation!  It would  be helpful to have an idea as to the current state of the laundry but that is not to be.  On the upside, when has a mere trifle like the dimensions, structure and repair needs of a building ever held us back?  More importantly is melding Carlene’s visions with Janine’s.  One favors getting in there, rolling equipment down the hill and living, the other wants a purpose developed environment that functions to the best of its ability with no duct tape or bailing twine in sight.  Now the skill here is to marry both sets of needs!

Carlene’s task for the moment is to get her plans on paper for review and development.  She also desperately needs to be giving rehab her full attention because it’s imperative that she is as strong as possible to be as mobile and comfortable as she can in her new environment.  If there’s anyone who can do this, it is Carlene!

Over to the on the farm plans!  

We need the floors completed.  Epoxy is Carlene’s surface of choice.  The bathroom facilities need to be easy access with good working space.  Accommodation for a walker or wheelchair future proofs Carlene’s care at home.  Her wish is to be at home so we are duty bound to prepare for this as best we can. 

Carlene appears to be reversing her stance on cooking so we will need a stove!  Her kitchen requires ease of access so along a wall suits better than a dedicated square shaped U!  We happen to have kitchen units aplenty so we have that covered!

Her personal laundry machines are awaiting transfer to the laundry building where they will slot in to the existing plumbing!  Sounds good in planning, I’m sure reality will challenge us accordingly! 

Carlene will have a bedroom but I’m sure it will suffer the same fate as her current bedroom!  Her bed of choice is her recliner.  Easy in, easy out, comfortable and snuggly with her electric throws.

Heating is always a concern.  The split system will need to be cleaned to ensure it is mold and dust free.  Her pellet stove will be fitted to ensure maximum warmth - it is set at 90 degrees!  We will have space to store the pellets outside of her home which will allow us to order larger quantities to ensure that she is living in a tropical paradise when outside is a frozen tundra!

Currently the facing side of the building looking over at the T and G Tents is a garage door.  Not the most esthetically pleasing or heat retaining.  We plan to have glazed doors replace the rolling door.  This will allow Carlene to have unrestricted access to the great outdoors.  Janine assures me that Carlene will not drive her golf cart straight in to her living room and transfer herself from the cart to the recliner……..  

Most importantly, Carlene will have a dedicated space where the dogs can access outside space when they choose and be back inside with Carlene where they’re happy and contented.

Anyway, lots of ifs and buts, hard work and excitement.

We can’t wait to get at it and create what Carlene needs going forward and beyond.

Can’t imagine we will have much to do in January……..

Just heard from SWMBO and she is arguing with her walker and the biggest, heaviest door she has ever seen!  Sounds like she’s on track and on a mission!  Excellent news!

dd 11/26

Typical, we’ve hit a snag early on in proceedings.  SWMBO is out of power!  The charging cable appears not to be in her possession!

Anyway, we’ll just push on with Tuesday in our own way!

Let’s look at the months of December and January through the eyes of Carlene and Janine as we plan, amend plans, assess, re-assess……..  I’m sure you can imagine the situation!  It would  be helpful to have an idea as to the current state of the laundry but that is not to be.  On the upside, when has a mere trifle like the dimensions, structure and repair needs of a building ever held us back?  More importantly is melding Carlene’s visions with Janine’s.  One favors getting in there, rolling equipment down the hill and living, the other wants a purpose developed environment that functions to the best of its ability with no duct tape or bailing twine in sight.  Now the skill here is to marry both sets of needs!

Carlene’s task for the moment is to get her plans on paper for review and development.  She also desperately needs to be giving rehab her full attention because it’s imperative that she is as strong as possible to be as mobile and comfortable as she can in her new environment.  If there’s anyone who can do this, it is Carlene!

Over to the on the farm plans!  

We need the floors completed.  Epoxy is Carlene’s surface of choice.  The bathroom facilities need to be easy access with good working space.  Accommodation for a walker or wheelchair future proofs Carlene’s care at home.  Her wish is to be at home so we are duty bound to prepare for this as best we can. 

Carlene appears to be reversing her stance on cooking so we will need a stove!  Her kitchen requires ease of access so along a wall suits better than a dedicated square shaped U!  We happen to have kitchen units aplenty so we have that covered!

Her personal laundry machines are awaiting transfer to the laundry building where they will slot in to the existing plumbing!  Sounds good in planning, I’m sure reality will challenge us accordingly! 

Carlene will have a bedroom but I’m sure it will suffer the same fate as her current bedroom!  Her bed of choice is her recliner.  Easy in, easy out, comfortable and snuggly with her electric throws.

Heating is always a concern.  The split system will need to be cleaned to ensure it is mold and dust free.  Her pellet stove will be fitted to ensure maximum warmth - it is set at 90 degrees!  We will have space to store the pellets outside of her home which will allow us to order larger quantities to ensure that she is living in a tropical paradise when outside is a frozen tundra!

Currently the facing side of the building looking over at the T and G Tents is a garage door.  Not the most esthetically pleasing or heat retaining.  We plan to have glazed doors replace the rolling door.  This will allow Carlene to have unrestricted access to the great outdoors.  Janine assures me that Carlene will not drive her golf cart straight in to her living room and transfer herself from the cart to the recliner……..  

Most importantly, Carlene will have a dedicated space where the dogs can access outside space when they choose and be back inside with Carlene where they’re happy and contented.

Anyway, lots of ifs and buts, hard work and excitement.

We can’t wait to get at it and create what Carlene needs going forward and beyond.

Can’t imagine we will have much to do in January……..

Just heard from SWMBO and she is arguing with her walker and the biggest, heaviest door she has ever seen!  Sounds like she’s on track and on a mission!  Excellent news!