Our Critters

You'll have to make do with cell phone quality pictures as I have not yet found the transfer cables for my good cameras in all of our unpacking havoc.

Without further ado:

Arwen and Saffron, a mom/daughter pair of donkeys.

Arwen on the left, whose birthday is April 27 2014 and Saffron on the Right, birthday unknown

Gwyn and the donkeys settling in together.

Grey Tabby is Ford Prefect and Black and White tuxedo fatcat is Velociraptor

Gwyn checks out the digs

And of course, the kidlet Kaylee, on her birthday, after wishing her pets a good morning, still in pajamas.

What's in a name?

I have it on good authority, from the one person whose been out to the new house at night so far, that there are Fireflies at Firefly Ranch.

I had hoped, but this is even better! There are many, many layers of reasoning to the name I had picked out, and that we have a literal interpretation now makes it even better!

Animals and humans will take up residence tomorrow, stay tuned!

Can you feel it? Our origin story begins!!

I received free straw for the donkeys so I got that stacked. On my to-do list is cleaning out the old hay from under these pallets. 

Inspecting for adding a fence charger to electrify it

Garden! The strawberries are abundant, but we will need to tame it some...

I've decided, this will henceforth be known as Firefly Mountain

From here I can survey my domain!

Wet area of the pasture due to a drainage stream. I have plans for this spot... muahahah

The drainage pipe that feeds into the pasture and through the backyard.

Moving Day draws ever closer!

We've searched for a new home, made an offer, signed all the paperwork, all that's left now is the keys in our hand! We're anxiously awaiting the go ahead to move in (which doesn't even depend on the sellers, it depends on the seller's seller!!)

Either way, I'm very excited. We should have keys before July and I have a potential new addition to announce for Firefly Ranch! During a hoof trim I mentioned to the farrier that I was searching for companion animals for my mare. The farrier mentioned that one of his clients was looking to rehome a Jennet and her year old jenny foal.

I called the client today and drove out to look at the donkeys.

They are super cute and very friendly if mud covered and shaggy but that's nothing a little one on one grooming time wouldn't solve.

So now I'm on the hunt for names. I can temporarily board them at the same place as Gwyn or I can wait until we can move things in before picking them up, the family doesn't mind. Gwyn is in for a surprise!

The family also had a fainting goat!

Baby is the one without a halter, Mom is in the back. 

They are very friendly and gentle.

And muddy! 

Equipment Purchases

On Friday we picked up a 2015 Silverado 1500. It's a 3 year lease but for the time being it's all the truck we need and the price is hard to beat per month for our budget!

Today we went to look at a horse trailer. I'd found it on craigslist for an amazing price and brought a cashier's check just in case. Sure enough, it was a great trailer and we decided to bring it home! 

The trailer is a 2009 Eclipse, 2h straight load with dressing room. It's roomy, which is great for Gwyn. I can even lie down in the dressing room, which is a good back up for cold and wet camping at endurance rides!

The seller had put this set up of wood to hold hay bales in place so they wouldn't slide into the horses. And if you tie the horses, they can't eat at it. Genius! It's removable too.

Nice long stalls. I can't touch the ceiling when I stand inside.

Good floor. It's been stored inside and is no longer used since their daughter went off to college.

The center divider is removable

Tie rings and the lock to hold the dutch doors in back open.

Lots of hooks. The wooden bit is a whip holder!

Spare tire and an almost 3 year old

Mirror

I noticed a tiny bit of water coming in at the door when I tested out laying down but I plan to keep an eye on it for now.

We are now the proud owners of the Rochester Rd property in Dryden! Closing was today and it went smoothly!  Our last house purchase was from a bank so there wasn't much in the way of socialization at closing, unlike today! The current owners were there. I really like them. They're staying in the area and I'm likely to use Sara as a trainer for Gwyn to smooth out some edges.

I finished off today with a trip to the car dealership to check out and price Sierra 1500s. There's a deal going on now for 0% apr.  But when I came home (sans truck) and we priced out a base 2500 Silverado... there wasn't much difference in price and I'd get the features I really want, rather than the super expensive top of the line 1500. And with a 2500 I have some wiggle room with which trailer we end up buying.

So truck and trailer are next! It seems like we'll be ordering a 2500 soon!

April 27 arrival of Gwyn to Michigan!

Here's the video from Gwyn arriving from Washington at Hummingbird Equestrian, our temporary home until we can move into the new property! I finally uploaded the video!


Thank you Nationwide Horse Transport for once again bringing my best 4 legged friend to me from across the country. You did an amazing job again!