Month of Poetry – Cold Worries – #Poem – #MoP14

Going a bit off the grid…’cause baby, it’s cold outside…

COLD WORRIES

 

Temperatures have plummeted.

We’re dealing with great cold.

Digging out and cancelled planes,

How fast it soon grows old.

 

Four-footed friends don’t know from cold.

Our pets go out then come back in.

But livestock are stuck in it.

Much to folks’ chagrin.

 

Not everyone has farm buddies,

Or knows an outside pet.

But on a day like recent days,

It gives me cause to fret.

 

I live in hilly in Texas.

With two pet goats outdoors.

I’ve spent each day worrying.

Neglecting all the chores.

 

It’s hard to keep them bundled.

Can’t bring them both inside.

Housebreaking’s not an option.

It doesn’t work, I’ve tried.

 

Hot oatmeal is delivered with,

Sweet water on the hour.

I wish I had a heated barn.

Only wish I had the power…

 

To keep them warm and cuddly,

Throughout each sub freeze day.

My only prayer when I awake,

Is that they’ll be okay.

–First Draft- Donna L Sadd, all rights reserved

I Dropped Everything for My Dixie

The best laid plans go awry…when someone gets hurt.

Friday was starting out as a beautiful day. The sun was rising and I woke ready to seize the day. I had been struggling for a blog post idea all week, but I got a great idea in the shower and I was good to go.

I could bang out the essay and post it to my blog early, do a big ‘ol bunch of shout out tweets that needed posting, read and comment on a ton of blogs that I follow, and continue to work on my new picture book. (I know the priority should be in reverse order but I’m still grappling with the ‘platform thing.’) I was excited to get to work but first I had to get my ‘farm’ chores out of the way.

The dogs and hubby were fed inside and I was out in the yard feeding, haying and watering the goats and wild birds and suddenly I heard one of my dogs snarl and then a goat cried out! I dropped the hose and ran to the fence to see my goat Dixie scampering into the barn (It’s a dinky 8 x 10 shed but I have visions of grandeur) and two of my dogs, Bella and Star, checking each other over. So, I think no harm, no fowl and finish my front yard chores.

Thank goodness within a few minutes I got into the yard to tidy up the goat’s area to notice that Dixie was still in the barn. They only go in there when it rains or when one is not feeling well. So, I went in to check on her to find that her ear was literally ripped down the middle and dripping blood! Apparently, one of the dogs got spooked and must have caught a tooth on Dixie’s ear tag hole. Poor little Dix.

I sprang into the house, grabbed my first aid kit and called out to my husband for help. Although Dixie is extremely docile and sweet, she is a whopping 200 pounds and I need my hubby to hold her so I can administer care. I doused her wound with Betadine and slopped on Neosporin before running back into the house to call the vet.

From joining two goat groups on Yahoo Groups when I first got the itty-bitty kids three years ago, I learned early on that a goat owner basically has to be the vet because goats aren’t considered valuable and most vets don’t know much about their care. I’m lucky to have a vet who has a goat herd but wouldn’t you know it, he was out of the office and his vet tech knew nothing.

I called Ms. Robin Cotten, a member of ChevonTalk and the owner of Bending Tree Goat Ranch in Tennessee, and got good but strange advice. First, I gave Dix a tetanus shot and then we ‘Crazy Glued’ Dixie’s ear together. Yep, you heard that right. Supposedly they use similar glue on people during surgical procedures. We then kept her quiet at the picnic table and watched her. She appeared to be fine and her ear was together.

Handsome Cowboy’s mom showed up and we sat a while longer with Dix. She was then put back in with the fold with Dot and Daisy.

Look, she was back together in one piece! That was until those darn viper flies showed up, and soon after Dixie twitched her ears to the point where the glue was wrangled off and her ear parts were swaying in the breeze once more.

I had nightmares about my little Dix and although hours had passed I knew we had to try it one more time. This time we put our heads together to come up with a better plan for healing success.

Whala! We crazy glued the pieces of her ears together and then splinted her ear with cardboard panels held in place with rubber bands. She was a little curious about it at first and tried to bite at the cardboard but thank goodness she couldn’t quite reach it. It reminded me of that tendril of hair that I would always try to catch after coming out of the salty ocean. Darn, my mother kept my hair too short, and here I digress.

It seemed that Dixie got immediate relief probably because the flies couldn’t get at the wound and perhaps her ear felt more like her ear again and not open-wound fringed fragments colliding and causing her hurt in each breeze.

It’s Monday and the splint is intact but I won’t know whether the repair worked for a few more days. Her ear isn’t bothering her and I plan to leave it alone to allow her system to heal it as well. I hope to see her again intact soon. Please keep your fingers crossed for my baby girl. (I’m not going to say it out loud but between you and me, this sweet darling doll is my favorite.) So here’s hoping Dixie looks like this again…

By the way, we cut up a Domino’s pizza box for Dixie’s splint and Handsome Cowboy is now calling Dixie “Domino.”  He’s a James Bond freak. So am I but it’s Sean Connery and, if need be, Roger Moore only…okay the new guy’s alright too.  My “Domino Dix” is hopefully on the mend.

I apologize for dropping the ball on my blog, and not shouting out to my Twitter friends; nor did I read and comment on my fellow bloggers’ posts. Progress on my new story is, as they say in NY, fogettaboudit.

Thanks for bearing with me and checking in to read my albeit, late post. Has anyone else out there had a pet emergency where you had to address a problem with your pet on your own? I’d love to hear your stories and I bet everyone else would appreciate it as well. :0)

The Getting To Know Me Post #1 – Meet Some of the Loves of My Life

Hi Gang!

I’m so new to this blogging thingy that I have not posted of late because, quite frankly, I’ve been a CHICKEN! I started the blog because that is what one does, so they say, when one wants to sell a book. My book is LUCCI THE NO SMOOCHIE POOCHIE, a print and eBook young children’s story, but now what?

All of a sudden I thought I had to come up with brilliant adages about the art of writing and the thought of coming across as something I’m not  literally froze me to doing nothing! Gee whiz, I have moments of brilliance but they are few and far between.

I’m new to the writing game but I’m not so new at other things like animal love, cooking, baking and D.I.Y. projects of all sorts. So instead of hiding out being afraid to blog out into the atmosphere, I’m just going to take this one step at a time and put bits and pieces of me out there.

Hopefully, you will bear with me and like my blog and if you’re an animal lover please stick around because I’m absolutely nuts about ’em, live for them and already foresee my posts including them all the time.

Today I’m introducing you to Daisy, Dixie and Dot. They’re my outdoor babies and they will all be turning 3 years old in  March. My hubby Robert and I moved to beautiful Central Texas Hill Country from South Florida almost 4 years ago, and my dream was to have ‘livestock’ which to me meant finally having the chance to raise bigger pets with huge ‘muffers’ to kiss (noses/pusses).

Of yet, we don’t have the space for cows and horses, which could be changing any day now (keep your fingers crossed), so I started off by adopting 3 bottle baby Boer goats. Daisy was a few days short of being 1 month old; Dotty was 2 weeks old and little Dixie was only 10 days old when we made them our own.

When you have “bottle babies” you’ve just signed up for feedings every 3 hours throughout the day, everyday for a good 3 months. I ate, slept and breathed only for my “Goatee Girls.”

That was then; this is now:

My absolute favorite blog is Ree Drummond’s Confessions of a Pioneer Woman . I discovered her on “The View” a thousand years ago when she presented fabulous food, talked about the monumental task of  leaving the ranch to “go to town to stock up on supplies once a month,'” and had a big lovable group of  livestock to smooch (I don’t know whether she has that penchant but I do). I saw myself in her. My life in the country is on a smidgen of the scale but I still relate because I’m a home chef, am married to my own handsome Marlboro man…

have the beginnings of livestock…

and I’ve always loved and had a big ‘ol basset hound in my life!

This is Star, AKA Maybelline, Barbara, Queen of the House…one of the three beautiful barking loves of my life. Stay tuned for the rest of my nutty pack.

Thanks way in advance for sticking with me and enjoy the rest of your week.