summer solstice, a new star in our constellation, and a very long night

We were very busy on the longest day of the year. We finally met the stellar young miniature donkey Redford, who will be coming to join our family in a few short months. He is a lovely red sorrel with a white star, and very loving and quiet compared to the bold, take-charge Rafer Johnson. (who is also very loving, but Rafer has a more insistent personality, I think)

We have photos, but so many that I haven't had a moment to sort through them. I'll post one as soon as I can.

We were lucky enough to meet several other young donkeys, including one born only 24 hours earlier. All I can say is, never ever go visit donkeys if you don't want your own herd! They are simply adorable and will steal your heart given about 10 seconds. If we had more acres we would have come home owning not only Redford, but three others to boot. What a herd that would be!

Upon return home Rafer Johnson seemed to know we'd been visiting other donkeys, because he turned on the "I am the most loving donkey in the universe and here, let me show you just how many hugs I can give!" He has been all over me and daughter since we got back. I explained to him that Redford is very special and will be a good friend to us all, but that of course Rafer is the first donkey and the one who stole our hearts first.

The longest day turned into quite a long night for us as well. At her evening feed, Salina had a choke episode. We had a very brief and easily resolved choke episode with Cody a year ago, and thus knew what to do in the moment. However, it became obvious that Salina's was not clearing, so we called the vet, who had us monitor for 30 more minutes just to be sure, and then she headed on over.

At one a.m. Sunday morning Salina was sedated in the barn aisle with a tube all the way to the opening of her stomach, which is where the blockage was. It cleared instantly when the tube touched it. Salina was thankfully very calm during the entire ordeal, from beginning to end. Rafer became a little agitated, so I took him back to visit the geldings in the field while Salina was totally "out" and getting the tubing done. As she woke up, I brought him back, and he helped her wake up the rest of the way. Thank goodness for wonderful vets and for miniature donkeys who are as loyal and loving as can be to their human and equine family.

Salina is now having both feed and hay soaked, and I've split her two feed meals into four to reduce the amount going in at one time. I'll probably leave her off the black oil sunflower seeds, but will have to replace those calories with something different. I'll be researching that over the next few days. Her teeth were just checked and were great, so we're assuming this was just one of those bizarre things that happened.

It was a relief to see though that her usual easy demeanor with vet procedures is intact.

Update, for anyone interested in dietary horse stuff: I'll be adding in Max-E-Glo stabilized rice bran meal in place of the black oil sunflower seeds. It will soak well, add the extra fat and calories, and give her lots of good Vit. E and antioxidants. She's gobbling down the soaked hay, and the geldings seem to think it's some kind of treat. They keep grabbing mouthfuls of it as I pass by with her tub.

And Keil Bay is turning into a roping man this week. Every morning he's been taking a lead rope off the hook outside his stall and twirling it in the air while I get breakfasts ready. What a crew!

little gifts at the week's end

In the wee hours of the morning, 1-2 inches of rain.

Happy horses and a donkey full of hugs.

A floral paradise outside my front porch. Petunias, trumpet vines, roses, butterfly bushes, wild muscadine, pokeweed, dandelions, Queen Anne's lace, morning glories.

A charm of finches by the front walk today, who flew up into the sweet gum tree as I went to get the mail, and then followed me down the driveway, flying and chirping from tree to tree.

An exciting new health care partner for humans and horses. More on this in 4-6 weeks.

new favorite fly spray

Quick tip: I've been using Nature's Defense last summer and again this one, and found we were having to reapply it several times a day. A friend recommended Espree, and I ordered a gallon of the concentrate b/c she's pretty picky and if she was touting this new product I trusted it would work.

We finished out our Nature's Defense concentrate and mixed up the first batch of Espree yesterday evening. It smells wonderful, and has a very soft "feel" to it. It's the first spray, even among the natural ones we've used, that I haven't minded putting in my bare hands and rubbing on horses' bellies and faces.

This morning when it was time for grooming, tick checks, and spraying, the horses lined up. Salina stood in the barn aisle waiting for her turn, and at one point went and touched the Espree spray bottle with her nose. Keil Bay refused to budge from his stall door, rubbing his neck against the top of the door. Cody went and stood at the gate to the small barnyard. They wanted their Espree!

The flies are not landing on the areas that have been sprayed. Salina went out in her paddock to graze (which she won't do if any biting insects are after her) and even out in the sunny barnyard, the green biting flies did not land on Keil Bay once I had sprayed him.

It's early to say I'm completely sold on this, but thus far, I'm very pleased and wanted to pass it on. Here's the blurb from the place I bought it:

Praised by horse owners, this all-purpose fly repellent combined with natural coat conditioners and sunscreens is incredibly effective. Espree's all natural non-irritating horse spray will aid in the control of flies, mosquitoes, gnats and other insects. Luxurious coat conditioners solve insect related skin problems. This gentle yet effective spray concentrate contains Citronella, Eucalyptus, and Cedarwood in a combination of Aloe and Mineral Oil that conditions the coat. Aloe Herbal fly repellent also contains a natural sunscreen.

charmed by a charm of goldfinches

As I drove into our driveway on my way back from the feed store this afternoon, a charm of goldfinches flew up like a cloud of butterflies (with UFO capabilities, in their quick up and down motion) and then arched up to the top of an oak tree in the front field.

I was completely charmed. I've certainly seen goldfinches many times - they have always shown up when I plant echinacea - but normally I see them one or two at the time. Today it was a charm of goldfinches. And I am delighted to be able to use that term - charm of goldfinches - in a sentence.

I spent an hour or so unloading stuff into the barn, sponged off horses with their fly spray, and did the bit of mucking there was to do. Then I came bouncing inside to read about goldfinches in Ted Andrews' Animal-Speak.

My goodness!

Black and yellow are the colors of the archangel Auriel... oversees the activity of nature spirits -- the fairies, elves, and devas... the presence of goldfinches usually indicates an awakening to the activities of those beings that are normally relegated to the realm of fiction... awakening to that which is normally hidden from view.

Goldfinches like border areas.. the 'Tween Places. Goldfinches are rarely silent, a reminder that Nature is speaking to us constantly.

The goldfinch has an undulating flight pattern... can be used in visualization to help loosen the subtle energies of the aura and facilitate leaving the body... also reflects the ability of the goldfinch to lead us to the inner and outer realms, from human to Faerie, from physical to spiritual.

What a lovely way thing to come home to - I am triply charmed.

full moon's walk to the labyrinth

It was such an amazing walk down today I am popping in to share it!

On the first portion of the path, there are newly blooming sunflowers that have come up from some undigested black oil sunflower seeds I give the horses. They are in a row, as if planted there on purpose, and as busy as I am, without the time to garden, I view them as gifts.

A few steps from the sunflowers, I looked down and saw a beautiful box turtle digging a hole. It was the same kind of turtle whose empty shell we found the day we first looked at this house and property, and the then owners allowed us to take the shell home with us. We still have it on our nature shelf.

The turtle symbolizes an invitation to enjoy the blessings of both heaven and earth, and also longevity. I gently moved this box turtle off the path, so she wouldn't be in the way of the wheelbarrow. By the time we came back up, she had disappeared.

Further along the path today, in the dusky early evening forest, a branch had fallen and landed in the shape of Kano, the rune of opening and renewed clarity. It often heralds the beginning of a venture, the morning of an activity or project.

As my daughter and I came out to the labyrinth itself, she reminded me that she had heard the crow down there just minutes before. I have continued to see just one crow on a daily basis, and one morning earlier this week, when I walked down with the wheelbarrow, I found the crow literally walking the labyrinth.

As she was telling me about hearing the crow, I looked up and spotted a large doe on the crest of the hill watching us. Deer often call us to new adventures, and if you've ever come across a deer that bounds away, you probably felt the slight urge to follow. She was in the open, and we were pushing the squeaky wheelbarrow and not at all being quiet. The doe stood and watched us for several minutes, as we walked all the way down to the end and formed the next few feet of the labyrinth with our load.

Just as I tipped the wheelbarrow, my daughter exclaimed "Look - it's a crow feather!" The doe bounded away in giant leaps, spanning the distance from clearing to wood line in only a few strides. I looked down and there was a gorgeous black crow's feather, in the middle of the very end of the path, behind us. That we had managed to wheel and step past it without crushing it made it all the more special.

We brought it up, and listened to the horses blowing in the field as they grazed.

I hope everyone is enjoying similarly exciting summertime journeys.

An added note on Wednesday morning: if you are reading this today, notice that the Word of the Day is labyrinthine! What a perfect synchronicity.