On the Homefront: Meet Minnie and Pearl!

Minnie the mother donkey is on the left, and Pearl her daughter is on the right.

I have been meaning to introduce the latest addition to our animal family, but I adopted Minnie and Pearl just a week before my dog Ruby's health began to decline so it has taken me a while to get to this post.  I got this mother-daughter bonded pair of spotted donkeys from a donkey rescue called The Longears Safehouse, which is near the small town of Estancia to the east of Albuquerque.  After my horse Nick passed away in December, I knew that I would most likely not be riding any longer because of joint issues, so I had no need for a riding horse.  I had been thinking about getting donkeys but wanted to make sure they would have a place to go if something happened to me, as I am getting on in years.  The donkey rescue will take donkeys back if you can no longer care for them - in fact, it is in the contract you sign when you adopt from them.  Even though Minnie is twenty years old and Pearl is about sixteen, donkeys can live a long time, even into their forties, so it is a relief to me to know they will always have a home even if they outlive me.  I also feel good about the fact that I can provide loving care to two donkeys that have been shuffled around to various owners over the years and really needed a more secure environment where they will hopefully be able to live for most if not all of their lives.

It has been fun getting to know these girls - Minnie, the mother donkey, is the more outgoing of the two and settled in quite quickly.  Pearl is a bit more aloof and it took her a while to get used to me, but she finally seems to trust me and is becoming much easier to approach and handle.  They are both good about being groomed and letting me clean their feet, and did well in the trailer ride over to our property.  They will be getting a visit from my farrier soon, and I was told that they are used to getting their feet trimmed so should be good with the farrier as well.  Other than being a bit pushy at feeding time they are very easy to handle, and I think we will get on well together.

By the way, if you know of anyone in the New Mexico area who would like to adopt donkeys and has adequate facilities to do so, I highly recommend The Longears Safehouse as the place to go.  The donkeys are not adopted out until they receive proper veterinary and hoof care, and have also undergone basic training for handling and any behavior issues.  Maybe the new owners of the HGTV Smart Home 2023 would like to welcome a couple of rescue donkeys into their lives as well (if they are properly zoned, that is)!

This 'n That Thursdays: HGTV Smart Home 2023 is in Santa Fe!

This year's HGTV Smart Home 2023 is located in Santa Fe, New Mexico, my current home town!  The sweepstakes entry period began on April 18th and is open until June 9th.  Viewers can tune in to the one-hour special HGTV Smart Home 2023 on Friday, April 28th, at 7 p.m. ET on HGTV and HGTV GO, and also on discovery+ the same day.  Check out the website link to see all videos and photos of the beautiful finished home.

The views from this home are lovely, a lot like the ones we have at our house.  We have a 360 degree view of the mountain ranges surrounding the Santa Fe area, with the Sangre de Cristo mountains to our north, the Jemez to the distant northwest, the Cerrillos hills to our nearby west, the Ortiz mountains to the south, and the Sandias in the distance behind them, while to our east the topography flattens out to gently undulating hills of pinon-juniper woodlands).  I wonder if this home has similar panoramic views - I do not know its exact location, but the few images with background vistas suggests that it does.

The fully furnished three-bedroom, three-and-a-half bathroom home is about 3,095 square feet in size and sits on nearly two acres of land.  The amenities that come with this state of the art home include a brand new all-electric Mercedes-Benz EQE Sedan, $100,000 in cash, an outdoor kitchen, a plunge pool, and a fire pit.  I think my favorite space, though, is the rooftop deck, complete with a spiral staircase for access and a mechanized dumbwaiter for transporting items from the kitchen to the roof.

I adore spiral staircases!

Just look at those stunning views!

Our house has a flat roof just like this Smart Home - maybe some day we can add a rooftop deck with spiral staircase too!  In the coming days I hope to create posts highlighting some of our personal favorite things about Santa Fe.  In the mean time, I will certainly be entering to win this house - even if we don't keep it, I would love to visit the location (easily done since we are probably pretty close!).  Good luck to all who enter the sweepstakes!

On the Homefront: Remembering Ruby (2007-2023)

Ruby when she was four years old.

I think this is the hardest post I have ever had to write.  All of my animals have been special, but Ruby was the dog that chose us, and she showed her gratitude to us for taking her in all of her life.  She first came in to our lives early one morning when I was out walking the two rescue Dalmatians, Diamond and Gia, that we had adopted the previous year.  Ruby came out of nowhere and started to follow us.  The two Dalmatians were not happy and Ruby kept her distance, but she stayed with us for the whole walk, even though I kept encouraging her to go home.  When we got to our property and she followed us down the driveway, I finally turned to her and said "Okay girl, I will take care of you."  As if she understood, Ruby came up to the house and settled on the outside door mat as if relieved to finally have a place where she was welcomed.  I gave her food and water, and later took her to the vet where she was treated for ectoparasites and given a thorough examination.

Initially she was found to be underweight but healthy, and they were not sure if she was spayed.  About a week later we found out she was not, and scheduled her for the operation.  The day before that date, her right eye began to swell shut.  A quick return trip to the vet revealed a cracked back molar that was so infected the right side of her face was beginning to swell.  She was started on antibiotics and the next day in addition to being spayed she had the broken tooth removed.

Ruby with her Dalmatian sisters, Gia (left) and Diamond (right), and my husband.

From that day forward she began to thrive.  She gained weight and her lackluster coat became softer and shinier.  I initially thought she was a low-energy dog, but her lack of energy was obviously due to the tooth infection, because as soon as that healed her high-energy terrier nature emerged.  We decided she was a mix of the two most common dog breeds in rural Georgia, the pit bull terrier and the "feist", the local name for a rat terrier.  It was a joy to watch this dog run - she had the rat terrier ability to bound into the air and literally hang there for a while to look around before landing again.  While she was overly energetic around other dogs and could be a bit quarrelsome with them when she became older, Ruby loved every person she ever met.  I have never known a dog to be so trusting of people, and this despite the fact that she was probably not treated well by people before she found us.

Ruby with Madison.

Ruby was very attached to me and never forgot that I was the one who rescued her.  She would do anything for me, and rarely did anything that I did not approve of.  She loved riding in the car with me, even if it was only to the vet.  She was 12 years old when we moved from Georgia to New Mexico and had never been on a cross-country car ride before, but she and our other dog Madison did surprisingly well.  I waited until October to move, assuming that the weather would be cooler and make travel easier, only to end up driving for over four days in the hottest October I have ever endured (over 100 degrees for the first three days) in a car with very inefficient air conditioning.  I was so proud of my girls - they traveled so well, and even rode an elevator for the first time without a problem!

 

 

 

Ruby in her favorite room in our New Mexico house - the kitchen!

Once we arrived in New Mexico, both dogs had to learn to adapt to the very different environment, learning to avoid walking on spiny plants and confronting coyotes, getting used to all of the unpacking and rearrangement of belongings, and then enduring life during the pandemic.  Ruby had a few health issues after we got here, including having a malignant tumor successfully removed from her elbow and getting her digestive issues under control (she had picked up Clostridium perfringens in Georgia, which infects the intestinal tract and cannot be eliminated, only kept under control by lifelong low-dose antibiotics).  Even so, she was remarkably healthy for an old dog, although eventually her arthritic elbow got so bad that she could no longer go for long walks.  I had her on a daily routine that she loved and tried never to vary it, which really helped her live a stress-free and comfortable life that she loved.

My husband took this photo in 2021 - just two old gals snoozing on the sofa together.

Only recently did her health begin to decline significantly.  The last few months she had several bouts of pancreatitis due to a compromised liver, and she was not able to recover from the last bout.  Letting her go was so hard, but I knew it was time, and the vet hospital did an excellent job making her last moments comfortable.  My husband and I were there to support her, and we made sure she knew she was loved and was resting peacefully before we let her go.

One of the last photos I took of my beloved girl.

It has taken me days to write this rather rambling tribute to my wonderful, beautiful, beloved Ruby.  I still miss her so much, and even now cannot stop grieving every day.  There is a big hole in my life without my Ruby to fill it, but I will be forever grateful to have had her with me for 15 of her 16 years.  I will never forget you, my sweetest girl, and I hope that one day I will be with you again.

 

I love this photo of my Ruby - it is one of the few that I have showing her in alert mode with her tail up and ears perked.