i posted a few and am going out tomorrow a.m. and will take more of the "largeness" of the paradise.....

i love the new pictures............camels????????!!!!!!!!!!

[wi_fighter]

Where are these taken? You mention the "new place" but I don't know where that is.

i have camels!!

shirley, in order to get my certification for the nursing program, i have to take a month of extra schooling and then i have to work for six months in Oklahoma to become certified and it all concerns being licensed to administer psych meds. soooooooooo, i have to stay in Oklahoma for awhile. Austin has to wait..i can make tons more money after getting all this extra certification. Texas has a reciprocal agreement with Oklahoma.

old, old friends have an animal refuge ranch and they asked me to live there. i am going to move. it has tons of guesthouses and acres and acres of wilderness. there are llamas, camels, elk, deer, donkeys (minis and large) a donkey/zebra cross (pic coming), armadillos, foxes, coyotes, wildcats, etc. i get to care for the ones that come up to eat cattle feed. and i will check the guesthouses for mice and such. no one likes to empty the traps, so i volunteered.

i will have a loft, in the huge barn/garage bldg for my crafts/jewelry/photography work. it's unbelievable.

they put wire all around the big animal corral so my dogs would have a huge area to be safe in. there is a house for the cats to sleep in at night. the only time the animals will be inside with me is in the loft/barn/garage. the house is too pristine and fragile for large dogs and cat hair.

the cats will be outside when i'm there. there is a huge yard for the house that the dogs can also use. BUT the elk can step over the 4 foot high fence. soooooooooooooooo. we'll see how we handle all of that.

i imagine that i'll sleep in the loft alot. it is as nice as the house, but not as fussy.

i'm incredibly blessed. no rent, no utilities...BUT no phone. no cell signal either. don't know what we're going to do on that one. phone line is $600 a mile. and there are many, many miles that they would have to go. guess i'll get homing pigeons.

there is a negative that i'll deal with. rattlesnakes and copperheads. first we will clean up every leaf and brushpile that is close to the house and in the big corral. stella and bella will be watched closely when they play outside.

my vet gave me injectable steroids to administer immediately if a dog or cat gets bitten. cats never get bitten. they are too smart. dogs sniff at snakes and get bitten on the nose/face/legs. a dog would die only if it got into a nest of rattlesnakes and received more than three or four bites.

there are copperheads all over and John has killed really large rattlesnakes in front yard. so every leaf and every piece of brush will be gone! anti-venom only has a shelf-life of three weeks and is too expensive for me to buy. steroids work. my dogs have been bitten by copperheads and water moccasins and he said that that helps build up an immunity to any other local venom. soooooooooo, this will be an adventure.

[wi_fighter]

No phone?! Ack!

Don't forget there's always drums and smoke signals too.

I'm waiting on a djembe that I ordered off eBay. Darn PayPal cash transfer took until today to clear.

drums would be fun! i had not thought of that! i must ask some of my indian friends here for help on that. (what is a djembe?)

[Azalysa]

Looks like you've got quite an adventure ahead of you Being a "city girl" I've only seen some of those animals (particularly camels) in the zoo. That's really cool to have such a variety roaming around.

You're a brave woman to empty the mouse traps. I know it has to be done, but I feel sorry for those poor lil mouses.

Ohhh, I forgot to say earlier that I'm sooo glad fayedy is home!!!!

Hmmm...was going to say something else but short-term memory loss kicked in - bah.

Thank you for posting the photos!!

[wi_fighter]

A djembe is an African hand drum. Hey, maybe you should get one. Might make the camels happy.

while inside guesthouse today, emptying mousetraps, i heard a banging outside. Clyde had broken into the dog food in my truck bed and was eating it! Clyde needs camel balls and chains. and yesterday i thumped Curley on the nose because he was too close to me and he growled at me! i think i do need a drum!

[Azalysa]

djembe *nods*

[bipolar_bear]

love the pictures. What an adventure

there's more pics. i'll do them tomorrow night. wild turkeys!

[wi_fighter]

With that menagerie, I'm surprised he doesn't have emus.

Those elk must have some really long legs to be able to step over a 4' fence.

i wonder if coyotes would eat emus? and elk have very long legs. and huge horns. i must be

[bebop]

wow you are a wonderful photographer

it's what rows my boat, beats my drum, makes my music, etc. thank you!!