Perhaps Not Texas Toad

Our ADORABLE bufos are back; every summer they bless us; great caution needed walking around at night! dogs or cats who try to nibble them end up with hugely foamy mouths for about an hour! Ours do NOT harm our animals; they foam for awhile but always are fine after that, and they NEVER bother the toads again!

Years ago, i was told these were Texas Toads, but now that i'm researching on the internet, i am thinking they are most likely a Woodhouse's Toad.....


We have a little ceramic toad on our water feature, and from time to time our toads like to visit....




Here is how big ours get.... they are SO adorable, and very chilly to the touch as are all amphibians.... so soft and funny, i really love them!








Check out this face!!!! No wonder it was easy for the princess to kiss the frog!!!

The Lesson From The 4 Worms

What a fun story!!!!! Been around awhile, but probably worth telling again!!

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Four Worms and a lesson to be learned:

A minister decided that a visual demonstration would add emphasis to his Sunday sermon.

Four worms were placed into four separate jars.

The first worm was put into a container of alcohol. The second worm was put into a container of cigarette smoke. The third worm was put into a container of chocolate syrup. The fourth worm was put into a container of good clean soil.

At the conclusion of the sermon, the Minister reported the following results:

The first worm in alcohol -Dead.

The second worm in cigarette smoke - Dead

Third worm in chocolate syrup -Dead

Fourth worm in good clean soil -Alive.

So the Minister asked the congregation -What did you learn from this demonstration?

Maxine was sitting in the back, quickly raised her hand and said,

'As long as you drink, smoke and eat chocolate, you won't have worms!'

That pretty much ended the service!

Trying Something New!

I must admit, i'm am totally enjoying Facebook! I think of it as a big campfire, where good friends gather 'round to share stories and life, to pray for one another, to learn and just plain enjoy! And where lots of NEW friends show up to be blessed too!

BUT the time spent there, along with other internet business obligations, has kept me from blogging here daily, something i have really wanted to do... maybe i can transfer my Facebook info over here, i'll give it a try!!

BLESSINGS on your day!!!!! annie

Coyote Chorus, Patterson, & Solo

I LOVE spring snow in northern New Mexico!! No matter how stormy, blizzardy, or wet it gets, within a day or two it's back to sunny spring, and within another couple of days, dusty..... Little Solo (well, he was 9 mo. old yesterday....) had a great layer of snowy icing in the morning, but by this afternoon -- dry and fluffy!

A few weeks ago we had a 10'' snow on Friday, and by Sunday it was, indeed, dusty. amazing........

Princess Leia, Solo, & Pluma look so majestic in the deep snow, and they do love it!


OK, back to the coyotes, dogs, and Solo....... Since the mud was drying out so fast, i decided to take Solo for a little walk/run, and a chance to munch on some weeds. How i wish i could take the big girls out too, but they only run off....

So we were having a wonderful time soaking up the sun when 3 large coyotes started singing a very loud chorus about 1/3 mile away, on the hill east of our neighbor's. Immediately Patterson and Zahdy started barking and running their direction. Zahdy turned back after a few seconds, but i could see Patterson STREAKING as fast as he could run toward the coyote group.... when he was about 3/4 of the way there, the coyotes took off toward the NNW, with Patterson in hot pursuit. Meanwhile, Solo looked a bit fearful and trotted back toward the safety of the barn. Once there, he looked at me as i walked back up the road, took a big drink from the Mirafount, and then came galloping back toward me. He has THE most adorable expression on his face as he melts my heart and asks for a treat...... He was happy to return to his corral.....

DOGGIE ALERT -- with the sound on, your canine crew may go nuts as do ours!!
CLICK HERE FOR COYOTE CHORUS VIDEO

Zahdy and i had been back in the house a few minutes when Patterson came running thur the doggie door, panting like mad.... 15 minutes later he's still panting! i bet he ran a couple of miles showing the coyotes whose territory this really is!

Boy do i love our little critter family!!!

Patterson drinking from the Mirafount where Solo was earlier....

Another Yak Adventure

Ever feel as if there is no time to get everything done, much less update blogs and stories? That's what happens when one has critters galore!!!!



WELL, that's what happened to me on Monday......and here it is, Wed, and i'm just getting to the story........

A week ago, Inky went to live with his new family, Kelly & her mini Angus, plus Lilly the mini mare. Solo went with, just to ease Inky's transition to his new home.

There was a lot of jump and banging and trying to get out of the trailer, and then the stall, but soon all were settled in..... Inky and Lilly started sniffing and kissing right away!! Here's a cute movie-- Inky Meets the cattle and kisses Lilly!!



Inky is wondering WHERE am i and WHERE is my MAMA???? Weaned from that glorious, rich yak milk.....such a shock! Solo settled right in---good food, good treats, happy humans, what more could a baby yak want?

Sunday evening and it was time to bring Solo home and leave Inky with his new family. Sadly, the battery on my camera was ''exhausted'' and i did not get to record Solo RACING all over Kelly's yard, and getting Lilly racing too! Finally he was tired and jumped into the trailer (going for the grain....he eats his daily ration in his good friend, the trailer!!!)

Tom and i did some new chain arrangements back at the yak corral, being sure they were more secure than ever.....

Next morning, excited to hear Solo's little greeting grunts, i went to do chores... HA, where were the yak??? As it turns out, the chain had impeded the latch and the gate somehow opened.... drove all over, no yak.......but Tom went down by the river with his truck, and here they came, out of the bosque.

Took all day, but i finally got Solo to follow me about 1/2 mile, and here he is, Solo Following Water Bucket home!!

THEN to get the girls back....... they had the house in sight, but then walked next door smelling the good water in their horse tank... i had to get on Chico and go for them; boy did they give us a run for our money! Leia wanted to come home, but Pluma decided to RACE the other direction..... they were tired and thirsty, little tongues nearly hanging to the ground so to speak..... wish someone had taken a better movie, it was quite the race, Herding Yak Mamas!!
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Here are some fun videos and websites, enjoy!!!!!

Took all day, but long and short of it, all are home safe and sound. Figured that if we could trap a Wild Buffalo Herd and Wild Cattle, domesticated yak should not be a problem!!

VERY special thanks to Dana Walden for putting together this terrific video memory of this sweet event!!!! we were sad that he missed out on all that rich yak milk, but what a way to get him to trust us!!! Enjoy his Solo's Last Bottle HERE!

Comet Lulin

HURRAH, another comet visiting our little corner of the universe!! Said to be visible by the naked eye, but i needed binocs to see it..... BIG fuzzy ball with a green tint, FABULOUS!!!!!!! It should be visible for the next couple of days, tho today is the closest..

Read more about Comet Lulin on Universe Today and NASA!!

1996---Comet Hyakutake arrived and BLEW US AWAY!!!!!!! it was HUGE & GORGEOUS and totally amazing.........


This comet made such an impact on my life that i wrote a story about it.... Personal Comet Story.

The Joys of an Outdoor Office!!!

Are you ever stuck indoors on the most glorious of days, wanting to be outside where the air is fresh, the birds are singing, and the branches are rustling in the breeze? I am SO THANKFUL to live in an area of the country where we can have outdoor living rooms, outdoor offices, outdoor bedrooms..... BLESSED BEYOND MEASURE!!!!

As the temperature approaches 70, it's out we go and out to stay! Hurrah February, no bugs yet, so we don't even have to zip up the screen tent! And my darling hubby Tom has made our wireless internet reach all corners of our Oasis, so no worries there either!!!

I think i'll go take a few photos to post here! Sadly, my camera came out of my pocket on a galloping ride a couple of weeks ago, and when i found it a day later it had a big spot somewhere inside.... oh well, better than nothing for now!!!



VIEW FROM MY OUTDOOR OFFICE IN THE SUMMERTIME