Rescue Journal

shall we dance?

Carol  ·  Aug. 11, 2010

saints bedtime dance is a symphony of movement.

you come home from work, say hi to frodo and go straight into the house to drop off your keys and change your shoes. you say hi to everyone in the main part of the house and clean up the floors. you take a moment to blog because the animals like to see you sit down before you leave them again.

you stay away from the big dog rooms (why do i still call it that when it is filled with little ones?)..you do not want to get those guys thinking you are staying or you won't be able to get out the door without half of them..they are fast little buggers.

out to the barn yards...check the chickens and ducks and make sure they are all well and still have food/water. you take a moment to count any rats and see if you know them or if they are new. you stop at chewie's pen and let him out to bomb around the back yard..(bailey is still in the house and didn't sneak out because i stayed away from the dog rooms so i don't need to worry about him somehow getting the goat.!)

you look around the fields and barn yards to see where everyone is so you can plan how you are going to proceed. tonight it was perfect...gideon and the sheep were in the upper field, the goats and carl were all in the riding ring, the other horses, cows and ziggy were down below.
you close all of the gates to keep everyone where they are.
you check on the pigs..herman and ellie are both asleep in their stalls...you shut herman in to.

then you start feeding. first the goats and carl get their grain, chewie goes back to his pen for dinner too. while they are eating, you put out the hay.
suddenly you spy a little donkey at the gate so you grab him and let him into the barn. ziggy helps you...ok, he doesn't help but he keeps you company.

you cut all of the apples and toss some out the door to gideon and ziggy (come on..they are dying..they can have some.)
then you feed the pigs. next you move gideon into his stall and the sheep into theirs...you feed them all. lahanie sticks his head in the barn window to see what is going on..oh yay, the horses are here. you grab lahanie and czar get them in and feed them too. next you get the hay for the barn and hand that out. you give ziggy his dinner, lock everyones gates and doors.

the cows are waiting..em is licking her lips. you grab their feed bowls and take them into the riding ring and place them in a row on the ground...the goats dive in but you are quick and open the gates and the cows move in and the goats go back to their hay.

pick up the bowls...put the hay wheelbarrow away...check all of the gates, say goodnight, see you guys tomorrow and leave.

you meet up with frodo at the front farm gate..you pick him up and take him to the trailer and give him his dinner, say goodnight and lock him in.
then you head into the bunny room...check all of those guys, get doris and yoshi out for a pee. feed the medical room cats and make sure everyone looks ok..(barney is so lovely!)
you bring back in doris and yoshi and you feed them their dinner too. turn off the lights, say goodnight and lock the doors.

you then check on the aviary birds and make sure they have food and water. you let reggie outside to pee. you clean up any mess and feed lucky and dusty and put reg's dinner in his room. reggie gets brought back in, dusty and lucky get let out. you pop in the check on the feline leukemia cats and say hello...if their canned food is all gone..you give them more.

you lock the doors, turn off the lights and say good night to everyone.

NOW you brave the big dog rooms....you open the sliding door and a bunch of screaming somebodies rush out, you grab the mop and clean up any messes and then head for my room...you just get the hell out of the way when you open that gate..out they all charge. while they are all peeing and pooping outside on the grass, you clean up what they did inside before you got there.

bailey just gets 5 minutes..enough time to pee and poop and he is brought back in...he can't hang out there freely til the goats wander over to their barn for the night.

then you come back into the main house...say hi to everyone and clean up all of the mess they made while you were out. you send them all out to the yard..let them in when they want, and then send perdy out next. you pop in on the back room cats and tell them you'll be back later with their food. then you grab a handful of cookies a cup of milk and blog about the saints bedtime dance.

it is a circle of me moving from one area, one group of animals to another. it is not just about doing the bedtime tasks..it is about touching them and talking to them too...it takes a couple of hours for the dance, start to finish...it is a nice dance...when you are done, it feels pretty good.

then you think about dinner...tonight, it is cheese and crackers (i bought a nice cheese ball on the way home) and you wish tula was here to steal some.

sleeping saints
Photobucket
PhotobucketPhotobucket
PhotobucketPhotobucket
PhotobucketPhotobucket
PhotobucketPhotobucket

Comments

maria

poor baby,,, but you know for the first time in many years he was loved,,,

Carol

hi maria...brutus was euthanized about a week ago.....he was really a lovely, lovely cat, i wish we could have done more for him and longer too..i do think he was content with what he found here (nice people, soft beds and good food!)
funny you should ask today..i was thinking about him on my home tonight....so very many years lost to him of the simple things he so enjoyed.

maria

hows the old black cat we gave you? what is his name now and are there any pics? maria

marie bellemare

this was beautiful to read Carol... I am amazed at all the work but so deeply touched of all the love... what a feeling it must be Carol when you put yourself to bed after...

Carol

i never even saw zoe today..where were you???

and i am thankful too that nicole gave monty both of his injections!!!!

Meghann

Yup! I think that all the up close, hands-on time with animals is the highlight of their week. :) Al was a huge hit, as was Chewie.

And yes - thanks Renee and Ryan for all your cleaning!!!! The place looked great.

Carol

did they have fun and enjoy themselves?
if so, that's all that counts...but a big thx to renee and ryan for the high speed cleaning before they got here!

Meghann

Carol - I just wanted to thank you again for letting the kids ccome for a visit. It really means a lot, to them and to me.

Liana

Just like kids. they are all peeking at you when they are supposed to be sleeping. Adorable.
And yes Carol that sounds like an amazing ritual.I do believe you are 1 in a million..

Carol

to be perfectly honest shannon,,the bedtime routine is not that hard really...sometimes i wish i did not have to go out every night and do it all (because i am inherently lazy) but once i get started, it ticks along nicely, one thing to another...and before you know it, it is all done.

what is really funny is...with paper shit...i am so disorganized (aka..read uninterested)...but when i am doing my real work (aka..read work i find interesting/valuable)...i can get it done pretty efficiently so i can goof around a bit with them while i do it....i do think the work is enjoyable and fun simply because the animals are enjoyable and fun too.

ask me to count beans or waste my time goofing with paper for a couple of hours every night and i will shoot myself tho.

Shannon

That is an amazing feedtime saga! I thought coming home to my 7 demanding animals was a challenge - you are an amazing woman Carol and I thankyou so much for doing everything you do. It must get exhausting sometimes! The Tula comment broke my heart. The blog isn't quite the same without her:(

roff

It's a ballet, that's what it is! Thanks for the wonderful description.

(Did you ever picture yourself in a tutu?)