sunday ponderings

Thanks, folks. Yes, it must have been Chewie and Gilbert. It was very interesting to watch them.

Lol.. Let me correct you Carol

" humans think when they whack us in the knees that it freaking well hurts!


We don't think it.. we know it as a cold hard fact..with the emphasis on hard.

hi adam..that was probably chewie and gilbert the goats..that is how they play..whacking others with their freaking rock like heads. other goats like it...humans think when they whack us in the knees that it freaking well hurts!

So Sunday, I am preparing to leave & I slip Al & Jessy back into the yard, while Tammy has the job of putting the red whirling devil back into the house, normally I would go into the house & have a short visit with those that don’t venture out to the barn but I was a bit short of time… as I leave I run into Carol who is also preparing to leave & she says to me… Al & Jessy are locked out cuz the doggy door has been closed already… So I almost left those 2 locked outside… Whew!!!

I am driving home pondering the day & it’s going ons... when my thoughts are drawn to Angus. Angus was a barn dog on Sunday, he hung out snoozing in the sun & joining me on my dog walk breaks..which is when I noticed he is quite an independent fellow, both times on my way back to the barn..Angus stopped on the hill & decided to hang there & catch some rays. I kept my eye on him and when I went to dump a wheel barrow..I’d look over & there he was sitting on the hill, face towards the sun..enjoying the warmth. I love this dog.

Suddenly I think… did Angus make it back into the house.. I was sure he did… but I wasn’t pawsitive . I call Carol & ask her “ did you actually lay your eyes on Angus when you left the house… No Sorry. I pull a U-turn cuz I know I have to be 100% pawsitive & drive back to SAINTS … and now the real purpose of this post…


It was so unbelievably peaceful & quiet I had to pinch myself to ensure I hadn’t fallen asleep & was dreaming this whole thing.. I snuck in the front gate… no one barked.. Bibi asleep on a Kuranda in the outside run didn’t even open his eyes… I softly open the gate to the big dog area.. no one barks… I slowly open the sliding door.. no one barks.. I tip-toe through the big room over to Carol’s room and slip open the gate .. no one barks. I am relishing in the sight of a dozen little dogs standing on the bed or around the room, eyes looking at me & wagging their tails..and no one is barking. I spot Angus right away, he gets up to greet me & I reach down to touch him & tell him I love him. I give a few brief pets & Kisses & make it back to opening the sliding door… when someone realized what was up & a few dogs barked.. but only a couple & for a very brief period. The calmness that was there…what a feeling it gave me inside… a bit surreal & absolutely one of the best feelings I have ever experienced.


Then when I made my way back to my car… I notice Crap.. did I leave the feedroom door open OMG I did !!! The feedroom is behind a locked gate..however when you are dealing with the lousy digestive system of Equines… you need to double & triple your safety measures… So perhaps the nagging in my brain was not about Angus… but the Feed room door. In any case…all was well that ended well & I will always remember my afternoon at SAINTS when it seemed like the whole world stood still.

Happened to walk by your place today. And saw one big one, and one little one, butting heads. Seemed the big one was teaching the little one how to fight.

I wonder, are those sheep? or goats? Or?

i did put a disclaimer letting folks know they were purchasing the book at cost and directing them to the website if they would like to make a donation.

but here is my reasoning on this...

from a practical point of view...if we add on a profit point margin..we have to open a new paypal account to take the extra funds back from blurb,,paypal gets a cut, blurb has a cost for this service too, we then have to pay taxes and declare income because we just became a business selling a product. if we sell them ourselves..which we can..then we have to take orders,submit printing orders, mail them out, paying shipping and handling from blurp and then again when we send them on to the purchaser, we are responsible to replace lost of damaged books..the list of headaches goes on.. i think we will probably sell about 100 copies at best, realisticaally...we won't be losing out on much profit. (but 100 of us will each have a book with 177+ beautiful photo's of the saints animals!)

also..realistically..who is going to buy the book? i am, the staff and volunteers probably are...some of the blog readers might as well as some of our friends and supporters. these are all important people to us and to the animals...they all support and help us in many ways already. i think the book should be a gift at cost to them for taking care of us so well!

and finally..the animals. i can't use them in the book and exploit their pictures and stories for intentional profit (even if it is a good cause.) their lives and stories are of so much personal value to them (and to us) it seems disrespectful to have a dollar point attached to their book about them. they wouldn't charge anyone who wanted to read and share in their stories. the book is really an inadequate gift of my love for them for being such wonderous creatures. and as a bonus... maybe if someone reads it..they will look at senior and special needs homeless animals a little bit differently..like maybe they might want to adopt one or two too from their local shelter!

and then there is the personal side of this...i am not a writer..i am just someone who writes. i don't need the burden of my own expectations that if we are going to earn profits on the book..my end of it (the writing end) better be good enough for a real book...because it isn't. i did the best i could with shelleys help but i am not a professional writer.

so..there are legal/administrative issues..there are moral issues...and there are personal issues...and all of the issues disappear if folks just order what they want directly from blurb at cost!

admit it..i am pretty damn freaking smart!

I cant wait for the book and hope it will provide some funds for saints after all your hard work.I will enjoy it and then ask at my vet clinic if they will put it on their waiting room table so fellow pet lovers can see the good work you all do at saints.

Katie broke my heart.

Must respectfully disagree with your pricing decision for the book! Cover costs, of course. But there should be a margin in the price that goes to support Saints. As a fundraising vehicle, I think that would make the whole cost a charitable donation, but I would defer to an accountant on this point. Yes, that makes it more expensive to buy. But ... YES ... that puts money in the coffers for the animals. And I think that is what it is all about and why people will buy the book. (Trust me, they will!)
And I'm looking forward to it!

Gilbert actually RAN today from one end of his pen to the other end just to get a Tim Bit. He loves his Tim Bits. Oddly Chewy doesn't like them at all. I would have done a better job grooming Gilbert if Chewy hadn't been trying to head butt my knees out from under me. This morning I saw that the goats had dumped their water bucket in the night. I immediately filled it and the three of them drank it right down. I refilled it before we headed out for the day. Maybe we will have to look at securing their bucket the same as Ziggy's is secured.