Shetland sheep have changed my life and touched my heart. They have brought me joy, adventure and serenity. Follow along as I live each day influenced by memories of my mighty flock of mini sheep ~ aided and abetted by "Bellamica", the English Shepherd,"Sable", my livestock guardian dog and "Hero" the rescue dog that stole my heart! You'll also meet many of the homeless dogs that I rescue and rehome as part of Bluff Country Canine Rescue.
This is the video that I thought I had copied over on Sunday! The one with no talking. Just the sound of the sheep baaing, birds chirping, heavy my breathing and the zoom lens adjusting. Oh yes, and the dogs crunching walnuts!
I love how distinctly the sounds of the birds can be heard!
I had a spectacular day, playing outside with the dogs, yesterday. Jill and BoGo and Cisco just ran and ran and ran! It's as if they are making up for all the time that they spent in cages or shelters or cars. My Bella and Sable have accepted the three rescues as 'part of the family'.
BoGo and Jill have appointments with the veterinarian this morning. Once they've recovered from their surgery, they'll be ready to move into Foster or Forever Homes! As much as it is incredibly difficult to see "one of my babies" leave, I know that the best thing for each of them is to have their own home where they will be loved and can give all the love that their hearts are overflowing with! Plus, then I have room to rescue another dog facing death in a 'shelter'!
I realize that I have not been very consistent at posting on here as of late. Truth be told, I had NO idea how incredibly time consuming setting up and running a canine rescue would be! I did have some idea of how rewarding it would be and I was definitely right about that!
Here's a little video that may give you some idea of how adopting a shelter or rescue dog can change the world for that animal...
If you watched that without getting a tear in your eye
you're a lot tougher than I!
Wouldn't it be wonderful to make a homeless dog's dream come true?
Consider adopting a dog before the year is over. You'll start the New Year with more love than you can imagine!
Did you happen to notice the "Chipin" gadget in the sidebar?
I am SO grateful to everyone that's made a donation to help me help homeless dogs! There are only seven more days left of this fundraiser so if you've been thinking that it might be a worthwhile cause, maybe now is the time for you to pitch in. I realize that not everyone wants ~ or is in a position to have ~ a pet. Perhaps adoption isn't an option for you. You can still make a difference! You can be instrumental in making a lonely dog's dreams come true. Your donation to Bluff Country Canine Rescue helps me to rescue a dog that is scheduled to be euthanized, and give it a second chance at a life where it can experience kindness and love. A life where it can do what dogs do best: shower someone with unconditional love and affection and devotion that isn't found anywhere else but in the heart of a dog.
OK
I hear you.
It's time for this blog to get back to being about sheep & shepherding! You may be happy to know that I just finished a blog specifically for Bluff Country Canine Rescue. Now, I won't have to do all the posts related to rescue on here. If you'd still like to know what's going on in my world of Rescue ~ just follow along on the new blog! I even have a Facebook Page devoted to the world of Canine Rescue! The blog is still a work in progress and I have much more to add but I feel like it's a good start. The new blog will be the "Official Home" of BCCR. Once the initial set up is completed, it shouldn't take up too much of my time ~ just updates on new rescues and promoting dogs that are available for adoption.
(and of course, the never ending plea for money to make it all possible!)
Thank you all for your patience, your encouragement and your contributions. I am truly blessed and...
I was doing a little blog-hopping, while sipping a cup of steaming cappuccino this morning when I came upon Georgia Farm Woman's blog: "Life on a Southern Farm". It features a close up photo of a donkey smiling and the title of the post is: "Saturday Smiles".
Instantly, I had this song swirling through my mind. I drifted back to the nineteen sixties and the drive-in theater on a warm summer evening...
And I'm SMILING!
I'm working on putting a smile on this big guy's face too:
Meet "Cisco"
He's a Pointer cross who was scheduled to be euthanized Monday!
I'm getting forgetful in my old age.
I may have posted this video before. I really can't remember! But I watched it again on UTube and laughed so hard that all the dogs came running and were all concerned that something was wrong because I was laughing so hard that I was choking!
This could be titled: "How NOT to promote dogs looking for adoption"
I swear, I've seen this before (and read the comments from the curmudgeon dog experts) and it still makes me laugh until I'm crying and coughing and almost pee my pants!
I SWEAR, Jethro is almost as bad as that Pit! He's got a tongue as fast as a frog's...
Now that we've all had a good laugh. As we catch our breath and wipe the tears from our eyes and try to convince the animals and people who came into the room to see what the heck was so funny, I'll give you a bit of a breather.
I sought out this video and chose to post it in honor of two cyber friends. Both found solace in the first song, one specifically recommended this version.
For John and Kim (with love in my heart!)
The fundraising campaign (see sidebar) is going well but please don't let it stop! Every single donation helps me to rescue innocent, loving dogs from shelters where they face euthanazia! Imagine how good you'll feel by helping to save a dogs life. Think of all the joy that dog could bring into the life of some individual or family someday. Please "share the love" and make a donation today.
I left my camera at my friend, Jean's, over the weekend so have no lovely fall photos to share. That's why I haven't posted in the past few days. I still don't have my camera but found this Video at "Life With Dogs" and had to share it. Do you realize how BIG my dogs are? Bella's only around fifty pounds but Sable is over one hundred ~ that's a lot of poop!
It's not too much of an issue out here, in the Bluff Country ~ the dogs are pretty good about going out into the pasture to 'take care of business', but if I ever do sell my house and move into town, this may just be better than walking down the street carrying a small garbage bag...
The past couple of days have brought rain and even some strong storms to the Bluff Country.
If you look closely at the upper left corner of this photo (click any image to bigify), you'll see something else that has completely taken over my place.
They may be difficult to see in these photos, but if you stepped out of my house you were likely to be bombarded by...
They were hard to 'capture' with my camera because they move so quickly and blend in with grassy backgrounds but my entire yard was buzzing with them. When they'd bump into the metal siding on the barn, it sounded like someone was throwing ROCKS at it. I swear! These guys were the size of hummingbirds!
KAZILLIONS of them!!!
Apparently, dragonflies migrate. I had no idea. Although, I do know that this dragonfly 'seige' is a yearly occurance in the Bluff Country. There's lot's of information out there, if you're interested...
BELLA says...
"There's a lot of information out there even if you're NOT INTERESTED! All I know is that those puppies were huge. And FAST!!!"
As we prepare for the "Labor Day Weekend" here in the United States,
I hope you'll take a few minutes to listen to this young lady and think about what she has to say. The quality of the video is poor but her words are a plea to each of us...
What if each one of us ~ and all of our family and friends ~ did just ONE thing today, to make this world a better place? It doesn't have to be something big ~ perhaps just picking up a bit of litter along the road or handing a $5 or1$10 gift card to a grocery store to a homeless person. Maybe just say something nice to someone to bring a smile to their face. Instead of fussing while waiting in line at the grocery store checkout, smile and say "Hi" to the people around you. Wish them a nice day! Sure, they'll probably think you're nuts, but I bet they'll smile and be in a better mood. Put your cell phone down for a minute and talk to the people around you! Instead of honking and flipping off the idiot driver going slow in the passing lane, smile and wave at them. Think about it: you're already angry because they're going slow in the passing lane. If you honk your horn and flip them off as you pass them, it just reinforces the anger. Chances are it also ticks the other driver off and now we have TWO angry drivers on the road. But if you smile ~ you'll probably find your anger melting away. You'll certainly brighten the day of the poor soul who probably didn't even realize that they were in your way. Perhaps they'll be more aware of their driving habits after that nice person smiled at them...You may just be the nicest thing to happen to them that day! If you are blessed to have a comfortable home, bills paid, plenty to eat, clothing for your children and even a little extra ~ why not send off a check ~ maybe $10 or $20 to St. Jude's Children's Hospital or the charity of your choice? You may think that $10 or $20 won't make a difference, but how many people live in your town/city? If even half of them donated to a charity it would make a BIG difference. If EVERYONE did something, not just today, or tomorrow, or on Labor Day but EVERY day, just think of what a beginning it would make towards making the world a happier place for our children and grandchildren as well as those that we will never meet, from all corners of this planet.
Those kids and Grandkids are not exempt either! It is our (that means YOUR!) job to teach them. To teach them to do better than we do! To stand up against air/land/water pollution. To protect our environment and the less fortunate amongst us who also share this great planet. To be kind to animals and respectful of other people ~ no matter their differences. To reject foods, beverages, textiles and products that are produced with toxic chemicals and so widely available that we think nothing of putting them in our mouths, on our bodies and in our homes. After all, "everyone does it" and you "don't have time to cook or read labels and certainly can't afford to buy local or organic". How much healthier our children would be if they were taught to see what is really in the products that they use and make an informed decision as to weather they truly want to put that into their body/environment. We warn our children about strangers and inappropriate touch ~ but we don't even bother to mention all of the poisons in the foods that they may eat? It's up to you to teach your children to protect themselves. YOU have to set the example. If you sit down for a meal with your family, perhaps a nice dinner conversation could begin with: "what did you do to make the world a better place today?" Make an effort to keep improving the world in the forefront of our thoughts. If you don't consciously think about it, odds are you will forget about it...
It's not going to just "go away" because we ignore it. Sure, you doing one thing a day won't make a bit of a difference. But you doing one thing a day may inspire someone else to do one thing a day and they may inspire someone else...It has to begin somewhere.
Are you willing to make a difference?
If you can think of something (big or small) that YOU could do to make the world a little bit better, please share it in the comments section. I'd love to see what you come up with. I also suspect that each person that actually follows through with this challenge will actually feel better about them self as an added bonus. What have we got to lose? It doesn't cost anything to smile, or pick up a piece of garbage, or give a hug or thank a teacher or wish a stranger a happy day....
I try to keep my cancer related discussions to my CaringBridge site but I don't seem to be able to embed a video there. The link to this video was posted on the Breast Cancer Yahoo Group that I'm a member of. Since I've already done a 'sheepy' post today, I thought it would be OK to share the video.
I think it's awesome:
There are lots of organizations looking for the CURE for breast cancer. The Army of Women is different. We're looking for the CAUSE. So that we can prevent breast cancer from occurring in our daughters or granddaughters. The Army of Women is looking for any woman of any age or ethnicity, with or without breast cancer, who might be willing to participate in studies that will help researchers learn what causes breast cancer to develop.
Please check out the Army of Women website and see if this could be something that you (or somebody you know) might be interested in participating in...
I tried posting this on my Caring Bridge Site but it wouldn't let me embed the video.
Not too sure that I like the voice (or perhaps the 'type' of music) but I love the words and the meaning behind them. I would love to hear someone with a 'softer' voice sing it. Or someone like Chris Daughtry. I have a friend who is also battling breast cancer and she's feeling kind of down. This made me think of her so I emailed her the link...
