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Serenity Animal Farm

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Clanton, AL
Serenity Animal Farm

Serenity Animal Farm is a 501 (c)(3) non profit animal rescue organization.

01/27/2025

Hello Farm Friends! I hope everyone survived the coldest weather that I can remember ever being in. Yes, it was brutally cold. As much time as I spent working outside with animals, bedding animals, re-bedding animals, breaking ice in the water troughs, and feeding, it’s a miracle I’m not missing three fingers or three toes due to frostbite.

This week I wanted to tell you about one of our farm friends, since he won’t mind me telling this. His name is Bobby Lee. I’ve known Bobby Lee and worked with him for several years now and honestly can’t remember what his last name is. I just remember it had a few “i’s” and “z’s” in it and I couldn’t spell it even if I heard it.

I bring this up because I’m sure everyone of us has a friend like Bobby Lee, that is a certified, petrified, and bonafied, “know it all”. However, he didn’t used to be a know it all. I remember him telling the story of quitting high school and having to go back and getting a GED later on just to get a job. For those of you who don’t know what a GED is, GED stands for General Educational Development. It's a series of tests that demonstrate a person's ability to perform at a high school level. Passing the GED earns the test-taker a high school equivalency credential, which can be used in place of a traditional high school diploma. This should tell you all you need to know about Bobby Lee, but that’s not the rest of the story.

The invention of the cell phone and “google” made Bobby Lee a pure genius. There is nothing he doesn’t know, once he looks it up on “google”. If you refute or question something he says, he will show it to you on google. I remember one time he was at the farm, and I was telling him about the Emus, how an Emu can’t walk backwards, how they must rotate 180 degrees, to get back where they came from. Before I knew it, he had his cell phone out faster than a speeding bullet, and Bobby Lee shouting “Google, can emus walk backwards”. Google responded telling him Emu’s cannot walk backwards. Every time I would tell him something he would have to verify it with Ms. Google. I don’t know if he believes anything anyone tells him because he even does this at work. Someone told him the first aid kits at work used to contain salt tablets, but Osha made them quit putting them in the first aid kits. Faster than the blink of an eye, Bobby Lee whips out his cell phone and hollers, “Google, why did Osha take salt tablets out of the first aid kits”. Google responded because of the potential health risks associated with their use, including the possibility of causing stomach irritation, raising blood pressure, and exacerbating existing medical conditions like kidney issues, especially if taken incorrectly. Let me tell you it gets pretty annoying listening to Bobby Lee verifying every single fact, statement, or opinion in a conversation by asking Ms. Google for an answer. He believes everything she tells him. And yes, I have told him how annoying it is but it’s a habit with him now, so he continues doing it. As such we nicknamed him “Google Lee”. Now everyone calls him “Google Lee” instead of “Bobby Lee”. He eats this up like a can of kraut, and has become accustomed to his nick name.

To make a long story short, Google Lee called me the other day. He asked if he could swing by and help me feed. Never to turn down help on the farm, especially someone that can tote a bale of hay, I said sure thing come on over buddy.

He helped me feed a little while, but I made sure not to say anything he might verify on google. I grabbed a metal rod out of the Polaris and he asked, “what’s that for”? I told him, “I use this here rod to break that there ice on top of that there water trough”. He said let me do it, “I know how”. I asked him, “since when have you ever broken up the ice in an animal water trough?”. “Never”, he said, “but I saw it done on a google video somewhere in Wisconsin, they were breaking the ice for the cows to drink, only they used an axe”. I agreed to let him give it a go and said “ok, here you are” and handed him the metal rod.

I watched as he stuck the metal rod through the fence and grabbed it. He pecked at the ice a few hits, whap, whap, whap. The ice didn’t break. I said, “you have to hit it harder, the ice is several inches thick”. This time he had two hands on the rod and gave it a good whap. Then another good whap. I heard it when he finally broke the ice. As he was breaking it up more, he missed the hard ice and jammed the rod into the trough. Did it stop there, nope. That rod hit the bottom of the water trough and went straight through to the ground making a hole in the trough. It knocked a piece of the trough off and all the water that wasn’t frozen below the ice, came pouring out onto the ground. I turned and watched the water gushing out of a 50 gallon trough pour onto the ground. He said, “now what do I do”. I said jokingly, “did they not tell you what to do on google when you break a hole in a water trough?” I literally was waiting for him “to ask google what to do in this situation”. He didn’t. I was shocked he didn’t ask Ms. Google. I told him just let it drain, there is nothing you can do but help me go get another trough and get some water from the lake. Then I told him don’t worry about it, that I’ve had that happen to me before. It’s just part of ice breaking and can happen to anyone so easily in cold weather and frozen troughs. That he is not the first person this has happened to, especially with all the ice that is broken each winter by all the farmers across the country. I told him that’s why I have extra water troughs. You just have to be careful and learn when you hit the ice to not go to the bottom of the trough. He understood.

We finished the day and replaced the broken trough. We dipped some water from the lake and filled the trough since all our water hoses are still frozen. I showed him by example, how to do it without driving the rod though the trough. Then I let Google Lee break the ice on the last two water troughs and he did a good job and didn’t break another trough.

When he got ready to go he apologized about the trough. I said thank you, but you don’t have to apologize. I told him don’t worry about it one single bit, because it can happen to anyone. Like I said I’ve done it before myself. It’s just part of winter farm life. Besides that I can use the broken trough as a dog bed. We had a good laugh about it, and I told him we will both remember this day years from now.

Before he left, I told him, “I have a question for you, but you can’t look it up on google. Next time you come back you can tell me your answer”. He said “ok, you’ve got a deal”. I asked him, how come everything tastes like chicken. People that have eaten rats, squirrel, pigeons, alligator, and what not, always says it tastes like chicken. My question to you when you come back is “how come chicken eggs don’t taste like chicken?”

He smiled and waved as he drove off. I’d bet a dollar to a donut, the minute he hits the gravel road and gets out of sight, he was asking Ms. Google for the answer. I know he just can’t help himself. Bless his heart.

Farm life isn’t something that can be taught in a textbook or by a video. It is something that has to experienced first-hand to understand its pure beauty, it’s learning lessons, it’s adventures, and its memories. Farming is hope and the world needs more hope.

01/24/2025

Hello Farm Friends. It’s been so cold everywhere across this great country of ours these past few weeks. So cold, that I haven’t been able to get warm in what seems like a month. Its miserable on the animals and we are in survival mode trying to keep everyone from freezing.

It’s so cold they even got snow in Gulf Shores, Alabama, the southernmost town in Alabama. Yup, who would have ever thought that. Snow on the beach. Gulf Shores used to be located on the Gulf of Mexico. A man on the television the other night told me that the name of the gulf has changed. I stood up and stared at the television and said “What? Really?” He said “Yup, Gulf Shores is now located on the Gulf of America”. I said, “but Ms. Baker, my 10th grade geography teacher told me it was the Gulf of Mexico”. I just stood there shaking my head in disbelief. I have a hard enough time with the English language as it is but with all these name changes I can’t keep up, yet alone understand.

My first issue with the English language was as a young boy on the farm. We had cows and I learned all about them, but it was sure enough confusing for a young boy. My dad taught me all about them. He was smart. First, he taught me things like male cows were called bulls, female cows are called heifers, and all of them are called cows. As I got a little older, I learned a little bit more about cows. Like a bull is an in-tact male, a steer is a no-tact male, a heifer is a young female cow that has not had a calf, and a cow is a female cow that has had at least one calf. Later on came the names of sire cow or dam cow. A sire cow is a father bull listed in breeding records. A dam cow is a mother cow listed in breeding records. I had a different meaning than my dad did for a “dam cow”. To me every cow that got out of the fence and was on walk-about was a “dam cow”. I’ve spent my entire life from childhood to adulthood chasing cows that got out and getting them back in their pens. It was so bad when I was growing up on the farm my dad tacked up “Open Range” signs all around the farm. Apparently, he read somewhere that if you tack up “open range” signs means you are entering an area where livestock may roam free which allegedly relieved the landowner from any liability for the livestock. I remember him trying to explain it to me when I was just a kid. He told me about something called open range laws. He told me that with the signs tacked up and our cows go on someone else’s property and gobble up their corn crop we are not responsible. He told me that the open range law said if the neighbor don’t want our cows roaming on his land he has to build a fence to keep them out. He said it’s called the open range doctrine. He was smart. I didn’t know what a doctrine was, but I asked him, “you mean if our cows get out and go next door and eat up Mr. Johnson’s corn patch slap up, we are not responsible for his corn because we have a sign up? He said “yup”. Then I said, “that old rusty sign means Mr. Johnson has to build his own fence to keep our cows out of his corn patch”. He said, “yup, that’s the law”. I knew English was hard to understand when an old sign with just two words meant all that. As a kid, I wondered if there was a sign I could make that would protect me from getting in trouble if I didn’t get my homework done. Show it to the teacher. A sign saying why my homework was not done and that she could not send me to the principal’s office.

Then, when I started driving, or learning to drive the old farm truck, when I was around ten years old, English really got confusing. I remember jumping up in the truck seat feeling I was ten foot tall as I grabbed the wheel and looked out over the hood. He said, as he pointed to the big wheel, “this is the steering wheel, this is how you steer the truck”. “Steer”, I said, “I thought a steer was a male cow with no-tact?” That’s when he looks at me and said “words have several meaning in the English language”. “How can that be, a word just means what it is”, I said. For the next ten minutes my dad looked at me and gave me examples. He was smart. He said the old hound dog on the porch barks, his sound is called a bark, but that old apple tree in the front yard is covered in bark. He went on to say there is a current in the creek that flows below the barn, yet something up to date is also called current. Then he moved to tools. He said we have a crosscut saw in the garage we use to saw a tree down. If I look out in the pig pen and see the pigs, I can tell you that I saw them. I was totally confused. Then he said some words have several meanings. He went on to say the word second. He said a second is a period of time, 1/60th of a minute. Your timex watch has a second hand going round and round. Yet when we listen to the Yankees play baseball, there is a second base and a second baseman playing second base. Then at dinner and you want more food, you ask for seconds.

Now you know when I use words you have never heard before, made up words in my posts, where they originated from. I use the word “s***t or s***ting” a lot, like you should have seen that animal s***t under that fence or that animal was s***ting across the pasture. Why? Because I learned when I was ten years old words can have several meaning or that they mean something different to everyone. A simple word is more powerful than any of the marvel comic superheroes combined. Words have power, so use them wisely.

I hope that the trees will have “leaves” on them in the spring, and I hope this post “leaves” you thinking about words, especially kind words, because today is national compliment day, but I will “leave” for now and go get warm by the fire. Stay warm my friends and be sure to compliment someone today!

01/18/2025

Hello Farm Friends. Someone recently asked me where do I get the things I write about weekly. I told them I just try and share some things about what life is like here on the farm with the animals and us. As such, I never know what will happen next to tell you about. This is the reason there is no regularity to when something gets posted on our farm page.

Last week it was sure enough cold. I was bundled up pretty good since I was driving the food wagon around during feeding. Produce has slowed to an absolute crawl so it’s only hay and grain being fed. We did have a few apples left and I’ve been giving them to some of the animals as a treat.

I stopped the feed wagon to feed an area. The area I just passed was the donkeys. They came running up to the fence as I passed and were standing there braying. They were hollering for a treat. I had a few apples left, so I walked back up the road with a few apples for them.

I was standing outside their pen cutting up apples with my pocket knife. I had just fed each of them a piece of an apple. It was still mighty cold and there was a slight cold breeze in the air. The donkeys were just standing there slowly chewing their apple.

All of a sudden they quickly turned to scatter. They saw something I didn’t see. It was like they saw the ghost of donkey’s past carrying a big brier slythe blade coming to get them or a big monster standing behind me. They jumped, but before they could get turned around a big limb came crashing down to the ground and hit right next to where I was standing. It scattered limbs and wood pieces everywhere. A few of them hit me as I quickly jumped to get out of the way of the crashing limbs. I even dropped my pocket knife and apples in the commotion. With all the clothes I had on to stay warm I was slower than usual getting out of the way, and getting back up, after I thumped the ground trying quickly move out of the way. I didn't break anything but it sure bruised my pride when I thumped the ground I may have even bounced a time or two. Several layers of clothes kept me from getting hurt when i fell down. It had already hit the ground before I started to run. I never heard a crack or anything, no warning. It just crashed to the ground right next to me. I don’t know if the donkeys had a sixth sense or saw it falling but they had a second or two before it hit the ground.

If I had been standing a foot to the right it would have killed me or sure enough seriously injured me. It was that close, a big old limb and several branches.

I picked up the apple pieces I dropped and found my pocket knife. I tried calling the donkeys back for the rest of the apples. They had run about 40 feet and were standing there staring at me. They weren’t having any part of that and didn’t come anywhere near the fence. I looked at the tree to see if anything else was about to fall. The tree looked solid with no other dead limbs. The branch that fell was about thirty feet up the tree.

After I moved the limb and branches out of the road, it slowly dawned on me how close I really came to getting pulverized.

I could envision the headlines in the news. Local man flattened to smithereens when big limb crashed on him while feeding his donkeys.

I was lucky, real lucky that someone was looking out for me that day. It was only by the grace of God that the big limb didn’t come crashing down on top of my head.

The bottom line is this. We don’t know what’s going to happen today or tomorrow in our lives. So do the best you can do with what abilities God gave you whether they are good, bad or indifferent. Make the best of every situation and always be kind. Laugh more. Smile more. Love more. Live for today and don’t leave any regrets behind as you travel in your path of life.

01/13/2025

Hello Farm Friends. I hope everyone survived this cold and snowy weather. Snow only makes an appearance in our neck of the woods, the deep south of Alabama, about every ten years or so. When it does it slows things to a crawl and most businesses shut completely down. The only people outside working are farmers, because animals have to be fed, no matter how cold, snowy, or wet it is.

We woke up at 430 am Friday morning to let the dogs out to a front yard covered in a majestic white blanket of snow. The dogs tried to do an about face when they saw the snow and felt the 20-degree weather. It took perseverance, and a straw broom, to get them all out of the house. Seems they didn’t want any part of the cold, so I had to persuade them.

Shortly thereafter, it started to rain and “poof”, all that beautiful snow just slap disappeared and was gone by daylight. It rained until late afternoon before it quit, and we could get outside and feed and check on the animals.

Now let me tell you, I don’t do good hemmed up in the house. I have to be outside doing something. Since it was freezing rain outside that wasn’t happening today.

First, I decided to make some homemade soup. I got the "good" crockpot out. The other one, our daily use crockpot, we use to cook “parts” in. Things like pig parts and cow parts for the farm dogs. Speaking of “parts”, I have a question. Every time we get a batch of “chitterlings, it says plain as day stamped on the box, “Cleaned Chitterlings”. Question, do they even sell chitterlings that “are not cleaned?” Just curious.

I filled the good crockpot with some stuff we had lying around. Before you knew it, that old crockpot was simmering, filled with potatoes, onions, carrots, corn, celery, pinto beans, and an old freezer burnt roast. I’d been saving that old roast for a spell just to make a batch of soup out of when it turned cold. Today was the day.

Next, we decided to play a game of monopoly with the dogs. How did this go? Let’s just say, not too good. Why? Rufus dog cheats, Buddy dog lies, Gracie dog and me kept falling asleep, and you have to keep explaining the rules to Archie dog. We used dog milk bones instead of money. Angel dog was the banker, but she kept eating everyone’s bones. Scooter dog got mad because he couldn’t play this round. He wanted to be the banker. I really don’t know who won since we finally quit when we were out of milk bones for money.

Now there is a good, logical reason, I kept falling asleep. See, when it gets cold, like real cold, below freezing cold, we fill the house with animals. Mainly dogs.

Last week I was at the feed store and ran into an old farm friend. She asked me “how many dogs do you have now?” I told her and her response was, “I run a dog rescue and don’t even have that many dogs”. Seriously, I don’t rightly know how we ended up with so many dogs but we did.

Even though we have dog houses everywhere filled with hay, and water troughs with blankets and heat lamps throughout the porch, we still bring the dogs in that want to come inside. This has been going on and off for the last several weeks during this cold snap.

About half way through the night one of the dogs wants to go outside to do their business and wakes me up. I jump out of bed and holler “Let’s go, everyone outside”. All the dogs, except Buddy dog, leap up, run outside and take care of business. In a minute or two everyone is back inside. Buddy dog plays possum and plays dead, hoping I don’t see him. He thinks sometimes he is invisible and prays I don't see him lying there. He don’t want to go outside nary a bit. I have to carry him to the steps and point him in the right direction. Only then will he run outside and take care of his business.

Over the last few nights, Mr. Cooper, the parrot bird, has watched me get up out of bed and holler “Let’s go, everyone outside” and watch the dogs head to the door, one by one. He’s watched me stand at the door waiting for them all to return back to the door and run inside and reclaim their warm spot.

Last night everyone settled down and was sound asleep by 10:00. Around 11:00, I heard that crazy bird holler “Outside”. Every dog but Buddy dog leapt up and ran to the door causing me to get up and let them out. Then Cooper bird would just sit there and laugh, ha ha ha. I told him he would have to quit this mess and go to sleep. Sure enough, every 30-40 minutes he would do it again and scream “Outside”. Here we would go again with dogs piling towards the door. After the third time I had a good talking with him and told him to quit and go to sleep. I could tell he was having a ball rousting the dogs up. So I took a blanket and threw over his cage thinking he would just go to sleep. Oh no he didn’t, 30 minutes later he started hollering “Outside”again, and I had to get up again and let the dogs out. One time I opened the door and two dogs ran inside from where I forgot to let them back in from the last time I let them out. I wasn’t getting any sleep whatsoever. By 3 am I was sound asleep on the couch in the other room. If I wouldn’t have gone to the couch, I wouldn’t have gotten any sleep at all.

At 430 when I got up, I went and hollered “outside” and the dogs didn’t pay me no mind. They just laid there. Cooper bird had cried wolf too many times during the night. It took the straw broom persuader to let them know I meant business. I figured since I’m up anyway, let’s take the blanket off the bird cage. I yanked the blanket off the bird’s cage. Wouldn’t you know it, but he was sound asleep. If you listened carefully you could hear him mumbling something. He’s the only bird I ever had that talks in his sleep.
Please be kind to everyone and everything. Remember, even one kind word to someone can warm a cold winter.

01/07/2025

Hello Farm Friends! Can you say laugh out loud. I can because I do it all the time. It’s just living the farm life that makes one laugh.

About a month ago, a farm friend offered to help clean the inside animal cages with me. We do this each week, usually on Sundays. We spent several hours cleaning cages and re-bedding them. I carried them outside one by one and we cleaned them. She never came inside the house during her first visit. While there, she told me her and her husband own a house cleaning service and she would like to come back and give me a "free" house cleaning for the holidays. I didn’t quite know what to think about this but figured I’d give it a go. The house sure enough could probably use a good dusting, so I agreed. I can’t remember the last time I dusted, maybe during Covid. It’s been so long ago I can’t even remember, Lol.

She scheduled a day to come by and give it a go. She and an employee showed up to give the house a good cleaning. How did that go? Let’s just say not too good.

Since she was here last month the weather has turned cooler and colder. Which means that the smaller tortoises have been moved inside the house for the winter. It is what it is and a few shots of fabreeze every now and then and you won’t even know they are there. They are bedded in hay since it gives them something to munch on if they get hungry. As such, there is hay tracked all over the house. I try and keep it swept up but there are always pieces I missed,

Sure enough and like clockwork her and a employee showed up dressed to clean with buckets filled with all kinds of cleaners. She walks through the house with her helper as I show them the house. I figure they’re going to flip a coin or maybe even wrestle and see who gets to clean the animal room. I know immediately neither one wants that room when I showed it to them.

The first question she asks me is “where do you keep your vacuum”? I replied, “don’t cleaning people bring their own vacuums”? She replied, “No, we use the customers vacuum”. I replied, “I hate to pop your bubble, but I don’t own a vacuum”. She politely asked, “you don’t own a vacuum. Without a vacuum how do you clean up things on the floor?” I told her “to look over there leaning against the wall. I use that there broom and that there dustpan. I just sweep everything up”. I think this took her back and she didn’t know what to do.

Last I saw her, her and her helper were walking out the door to their car. I heard one of them mumbling something about…he don’t even own a vacuum. Bless her heart. That was several weeks ago and I have not heard from her since. I guess my free house cleaning certificate for the holidays probably expired by now.

We all march to a different drummer. We are all unique and different in our own special ways. Nobody is the same as everyone else. I happen to take pride in the fact I developed this unique being from a variety of factors, including genetics, my environment, and life’s experiences. I say those caused this uniqueness but if the truth were to be known, it’s probably more of being hit in the head with a rock when I was a kid, but that’s a story for another day.

I didn’t have the heart to tell her when my mother visited a few years ago I actually owned a vacuum. My mother chased down a lizard with it and sucked that ole lizard up right off the floor. It got caught in the be**er bar and burned the vacuum slap up because it scared her and she was afraid to go near it. I just never replaced it. Been meaning too for a few years now but never got around to it. I did use that old broken vacuum as a door stop for several months but finally got rid of it for some odd reason.

I guess I will plan on giving the house a good dusting myself. Who knows, I may find some of the stuff that I have been missing for a while.

We love only what we understand, and we will understand only what we are taught.

To me the best things in life that matter are “rescued”. My carpet may not be pristine, and my shelves may be a little bit dusty, but in the big scheme of things, only the animal’s well-being actually matter to me. And if I’m happy with all the animals, who actually cares what my carpet looks like, that is besides the cleaning lady and her helper.

Remember the old adage, if you’re cold, your animals are cold. As the temperatures drop into the teens this week, please consider your animals. Make sure they have a good shelter from the wind and fresh bedding to survive this bitter cold or bring them inside if you can. Do what you can to make their lives better.

01/01/2025

Hello Farm Friends! Here it is 2025..This year for us was bittersweet with a variety of personal problems we faced this past year. I have prayed this year will be better. With that in mind, here is how our New Years Day went. With cold weather nipping at our heels and colder weather moving in by this weekend it was time to winterize a few things. The first thing on the agenda was to take the faucet protectors off at the house and wrap the faucet with rags. Then put the faucet protectors back on. After we finished three at the house it was time to start feeding.. When we did I noticed Bradley dog was not with us. This was odd because he never misses going with us to feed. After an hour or so I was worried so I went back up to the house to find him. He was there sure enough. He just stood there smiling at me. When I saw what he had done I had a good laugh. Ole Mr. Bradley dog has chewed the styrofoam faucet protectors slap off the house faucets. Not only did he enjoy the first one he chewed all three of them off the house faucets to bits. Styrofoam pieces were scattered around the yard. You could tell he sure enough had a good time by the pieces scattered around the house. Nothing like having a big puppy around. They can find more mischief to get into than a barrel full of monkeys. He could have quit after one but oh no. He circled the house and got all three of them. For that hour or so he had him a grand old time chewing them up. Nothing a pile of rags and a good old roll of duct tape can't fix. I can see already this year is going to be a doozy. Hang onto your hats folks because I can already tell it's going to be a bumpy ride! Here's to new beginnings and endless possibilities.

12/31/2024

Hello Farm Friends! Have you ever had a hair-raising experience? One that literally scares the bejesus out of you. That's what happened to me the other morning here on the farm.

It was 4 am in the morning. It was cold outside. It was dark outside. I was snuggled in bed trying to stay warm. I was lying on my side all curled up wrapped in a warm blanket. It was peaceful and I was sound asleep. Suddenly I felt something walk up my leg then stop. I opened an eye and froze dead still. I could see the couch with the soft glow of the night light. Both dogs were sound asleep on the couch. I could see Ms. Stella dog curled up in the dog bed. Was this a dream I thought or was my mind playing tricks on me. Did I really feel something. Then it moved again. It took one step on my leg. I froze deathly still laying there in bed. I dared not move a muscle for fear the grim reaper would sn**ch me up and cart me off. I could not figure out if it really was a dream or not being semi-conscious from sleep. Then it took another step on my leg. I was petrified not knowing what to do. It was real. My mind darted all over the place trying to figure out what was walking on me. It wasn't a dog because I could see them sleeping on the couch with my good eye. Surely it wasn't a tortoise because I don't think they could get up on the bed. I thought it might be a big rat that somehow got into the house and climbed up on the bed. I was afraid to lean up and look. I was afraid it might chomp its teeth into me if I startled it. I could envision getting a rabies shot and making the evening news. It moved another step on my leg. It was slowly moving up my leg. The hair on the back of my head was standing up now. I had to do something before it was up by my face. Just as I was going to lean up to see what it was, it said "good morning" real loud. I jumped up and shot out of that bed faster than buckshot out of a shotgun. I think I also screamed like a girl as I did. It happened so fast I truly don't remember. When I did all the dogs woke up barking. It immediately became a three-ring circus. As I ran and flipped the light on to see what it was, the dogs were running around the room howling. Standing right there smack dab on the bed stood Mr. Cooper, the big blue and gold McCaw Parrot. He was just standing there smiling at me. While I was trying to regain my composure, ole Mr. Cooper looked at me calm as a cucumber and said "good morning" again. I told him good morning back and that he scared the be-jeepers out of me. I was scared as a rabbit that jumped into a fox hole. I asked him what were you thinking. I'm just glad a dog didn't jump up and get him in all the excitement. He must have jumped down off his cage onto the bed while I slept. Apparently, he just wanted to help me start my day and welcome me with a good morning. Judging by the amount of duke on the blanket he had been there for a while. I quickly settled the dogs down by putting them outside. The way I screamed and sailed out of bed the dogs went ballistic barking. I picked up Mr. Cooper and put him back on his cage. I think I was still shaking as I put him up on his cage. So much for sleeping to 5 am. I sn**ched up the blankets and put them in the washing machine. Nothing like having to do a tub of laundry at 4 in the morning because of a morning bird. It’s a weird feeling to wake up with something walking up your leg. I did learn a valuable life lesson after this experience. That is to shut Mr. Cooper's cage door at night from now on so he can't do it again. He had never jumped down on the bed at night before, but with animals I've learned anything is possible. Always expect the unexpected. What a way to start the day! I will admit he would actually make a good alarm clock standing on you saying “good morning”. It sure woke me up.

John Wayne said, “Courage is being scared to death, and saddling up anyway”.

I was scared to death by a talking bird at 4 in the morning. The only difference is I high ball it out of there as fast as my legs can carry me instead of saddling up. My motto is, if you can’t beat fear just try and out run it best you can. I'm one of those people who you see in the scary movies. A train is barreling down the track and someone yells "monster". I'm the guy you see that slings the train door open and jumps off the train. Tomorrow we welcome in a new year, 2025. I’m sure it will be full of things here on the farm I can’t even imagine at this point, in dealing with all sorts of animals. Happy New Year to all of you from all of us "down on the farm".

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Hello farm friends! Have you ever given your furry friend a treat and watched them trot off and bury it? One of our newest rescue dogs, Ms. Angel, has her masters degree in hiding and burying her treats. We have watched her bury dog treats, bones, pieces of bread, and even dog toys. One of our other dogs, Mr. Bear, a chocolate labrador, can set a land speed record chewing and eating a rawhide chew. There is nothing left to hide with him. If there was a dog contest on how fast a dog can chew up a rawhide and eat it, Mr. Bear would be a grand national champion. Others, like Ms. Angel, prefer to hide them instead of eating them. Have you ever wondered why some dogs do this? This behavior goes way, way, back to when dogs were actually wild. When they had extra meat they would bury the leftovers so they could come back later and have a second meal. Today's domestic dog behavior originated from their ancestors. They bury their treasures to keep them safe. Domestic dogs may bury anything they consider valuable, not just things they eat. Ms. Angel will push a plush toy under the couch cushions to safeguard it. If she catches you watching her, she will immediately remove it and go find another hiding place she thinks you don’t know about. It is hilarious watching her keeping an eye on you while hiding something. Recently we had a bag of extra large rawhide treats. Every dog got one. After lying around a few hours chewing on them, the dogs abandoned them around the yard. I think their jaws were sore from chewing on them. This is a fact. How do I know? On days they get big rawhides they don’t bark at night. That’s because they have sore jaws. Lol. Ms. Angel went around and absconded with all the abandoned rawhide treats she could find. Every time she came in the house she had someone else’s rawhide treat hanging out of her mouth. When no one was looking she hid them one by one under a chair that was covered with a blanket. After a few days, I decided to look un