Error

Last night's blog said Thrift Store would be open Mon 11-5 Oops! Closed Mondays.
Also, a word from our friend Barbara Ely at Back At The Ranch in Paradise. They are NOT closing, just liquidating kid's clothing and boots and all footware. They are expanding Carhartt wear for men and women. Stop by and see them at 6194 Skyway in Paradise. Barb and Katy are great supporters of the horse world. Tell them Home At Last says Hi. Check them out on FaceBook.

ENOUGH

The rain has finally gone and done it. It has rained one drop too many. ENOUGH! There is mud every where. There are puddles in the rocks. You can't take a step without sliding . You can't breathe without inhaling water. The Lake looks lovely. YOU CAN STOP NOW, RAIN. It's supposed to rain into next week. We are going to give the horses water wings and turn them loose.
Feisty, Patches and Honey find ways to entertain themselves rain or shine.

At the Thrift Shop Helen and Toby do the office work. We took some beautiful items to the store today, where we met Kelly, and daughter Allison, from Dr Darling's office. Karen the volunteer was there, too. Come on in. There is a lot of really good "stuff."

This was taken last week when we could see the sky. I put it here as a reminder that the rain will go away someday and there will be sunshine. We live in a beautiful area. This is about 5 miles down the road from us. Kim is adjusting very well to his new surroundings, the herd and the endless rain. He knows the tractor means food and he has explored every inch of his big area. He has eaten with Pearl and Jet and today with Lady Bug. He's a very nice boy.The Sanctuary will be closed for the next three Sundays- rain, family business and a little trip.

The Thrift Store hours are changing to Mon-Fri 11-5 Sat 10-5 Sundays 12-4. Closed Mon.

611 Walnut Chico

Thank you to our special angels, Carla G, Mary R and Lin C. They are faithful donors and we love them.

Thank you, also, to all those who bring donations to the store and who shop there.

A New Leprechaun

Here are some pictures from the store. Butterscotch is at the door to welcome you. We need Western tack and furniture. When you Spring clean, don't forget us. 611 Walnut Chico
Tues-Sat 10-4 Sun 12-4 Closed Mondays.

You can find almost everything at Home At Last Thrift and Gift. And it smells good, too.

The Thrift Shop is always a happy place to be. Come on by. Tell your friends and family.

Today was a little chilly and before we started the day we turned on the heater. Patches thinks that toasting his feet and napping in front of the heater is the greatest.

Feisty found that the microwave provided the best nap place.

We had many chores to do today. We had a load for the dump and had to go for a trailer load of hay, but first we hooked up the horse trailer and set off.

Lake Oroville is filling. In fact they had to release some water today. Just where in the world are we going?

It was off to Look Ahead Vet Services to get a new family member.

Who is this boy? It's Kim, a 17 year old Tennessee Walking Horse who was surrendered to HorsePlus. He has a knee injury and his owner could no longer care for him. He is not rideable, but should have a good quality of life for years to come.

Hey!! Where am I ?

When we took the trailer down to the lower well, the herd scattered. All except Tucker who came at a gallop to see who was new. Tucker is one charismatic mule. Tucker wanted Kim to feel welcome.

Then Smoke came to say Hi.

Smoke and Kim

The boys have a meeting. Kim, Tucker and Smoke have a gallop together.

Kim is a beautiful boy. He is our St Patty Day's leprechaun. He was standing alone tonight, not too sure of the big herd. I took hay in to him and he came right up to me. He knew the hay was for him. We'll watch and hope that he settles in. If not, we'll move him to a different herd. It sometimes takes a few days to get used to things.
Thank you Ursula C and Ruth C for your continued support. You are important part of Home At Last.
More rain tonight. The horses are soooooo cranky. They all would like a few warm days in the sunshine without the slippery, slimely, gooey nasty mud and without flies.

Short Blog

Too busy to sit still.

More rain due. Every one is cranky!!!!!

The Thrift Store is great, but can use more Western tack and good usable furniture. Start cleaning and sharing, please.

Going to get hay today after going to the dump.

Happy St Patty's Day.

Lesson From The Chickens

It was a philosophical sort of day. What did I learn from the chickens? See the end of the blog for the answer.
Worked at the Fire Safe Council office for a while. They have a great chipper program. I help with the 6th grade fire safe program.

The donkeys lined up on the usually sunny side of the house this morning, but there was no sunshine to warm their fuzzy little bodies. The sun played peek-a-boo all day, but it never got warm. Lots of rain due all week.

Many of the horses were out in the yard all day. Bucky may look like a pony to you, but he knows better. He's a Thoroughbred!!! He took off with Rico and Pedro at a dead run. Sometimes he followed them, but sometimes he got out in front and led the race. This happened several times, especially when I tried to put them away. Last night he spent the night in the stalls with them, but tonight he was too wound up to be contained. Aaron trimmed his hooves on Sat and he can really move without any discomfort.

I'm going to start taking my critters' wisdom more seriously. Yesterday the chickens were celebrating- all of them. One of them laid an egg and everyone sang about it. Made me think we should be more like chickens. Let's be glad and joyful for others' successes. Let's sing and crow and make a big deal out of every day events. Yep. I'm going to be more like the chickens.Home At Last has many very special friends. I'll sing and crow about two of them tonight. Eileen G and Sharon D. Thank you, wonderful ladies, for the support you give.
Going to the Thrift Store tomorrow. Come by and say hi. Buy some things, too. Spring is almost here. Clean out those drawers, cupboards, closets, garages and tack rooms and bring useable things to us. We can use almost everything but mattresses, cribs and child car seats.

FaceBook- Donna Kyle

http://homeatlastsanctuary.webs.com

Here's an easy way to save money for the sanctuary. Make a blessing jar and every time you are grateful or thankful for something put in a quarter or a dollar. Fill your jars and then bring it to Home At Last.

Sun and No Pictures

A glorious day today for us, but a horrendous day for those in the earthquake area. Love and prayers to everyone.

After morning chores, Jim had an appointment with a friend in Chico and I had the whole day to putter around the house. I didn't take pictures because I didn't think you'd care to see dishes, laundry, mopped floors, etc.

We let out all the horses except Quest and Bobbie who were mightily insulted at having to eat tons of food in a nice stall and turnout.

When I was putting horses away Maven and Cliff Claven Raven were sitting on Quest's back pulling out tufts of hair. He seemed to be enjoying the attention. The ravens have been residents here for over a year. They make the most delightful clacking castanet sounds with their beaks. They travel in a pair and are always together.

Tomorrow Jim and I are supposed to be on KZFR 90.1 from 3-5. Haven't heard from the station this week, but we'll show up and see if they still want us. We'll be talking about the Sanctuary, the Thrift Store and lots of other things equine.

More rain is due and we will put the rest of the horses in tomorrow. We have not been able to get the promised roofing material because of muddy roads. By next winter we should have several new sheds.

Maggie B loves the new feeding regimen. I feed the calves some grain, then hold the bucket with grain and rice bran for her. She only has three chewing teeth, so she doesn't get much nutrition from hay. She likes that she can take as long as she wants to eat. We do this morning and night.

After any tragedy we need to be so grateful for each and every day. We need to celebrate the goodness around us. We need to appreciate the people who make our lives good. We need to be alive at the moment and do the very best we can.

Rainy Thursday

The sunlight on the hills this morning was deceptive. Even though we fed both morning and evening without rain, the entire rest of the day was soaking.

There are some days when a guy just doesn't want to get out of bed. Go ahead, Mac, and snuggle in. It's too rainy to do anything else, anyway.

Where ever there is water, there is Patches- dishes, laundry, baths. He truly enjoys being wet and playing in all sorts of water activities. We don't have a pool, but I bet he'd swim if we did. He has jumped in the tub with us several times.

Dr. Darling says Patches is a dog in cat's clothing. We call him our Labricat. Besides playing in the water, he plays fetch. He'll get his toy and drop it at our feet, then retrieve it when the toy is thrown. Sometimes it goes on for 10 minutes. What a guy. And boy, does he have a BIG belly.

After dinner guests are hoping for more.

Jonathan is so cute.

More of the afterdinner crowd looking for goodies. Maggie B has been losing weight because the calves are real piggies. I have added rice bran to her grain and hold the bucket for her until she finishes.Thank you AR Mc for your donation in memory of a friend. What a nice way to remember someone special.

Thank you Deb B for your donation of goodies.

Our vet bill arrived-$1,766.09. Can anyone help with this? Thank you.

Website http://homeatlastsanctuary.webs.com

It was supposed to be OK weatherwise until late this afternoon, but the clouds didn't listen. We had a real downpour for a long time.

Enough clouds. Enough rain. The dogs, cats horses and people are getting cranky.

We were glad for the sun where ever we could find it.

Emily Christmas Cactus decided Irene was so pretty that she would bloom, too. We needed some brightness in a dreary day.

The sky was beautiful just before dark. Supposed to be nice tomorrow, then rain, rain rain!!. I guess the mud puddles will rule the world. At least, the frogs are happy.

The morning started slowly with Princess and Patches snuggling while Honey is off looking for food.

Feisty is asleep on the chair inside while Keecha watches donkeys from the back deck. You can see things for the Thrift Store on the coffee table.

Mac looks charming wearing the tablecloth as a headdress.

In between the time Jim took the morning pictures and I took the evening ones, he got a load of hay from Lyle Livingston and I went to work at the Thrift Shop.

What a great time we have there. Lots of friends stopped to visit and to shop. Jane from Capay is a new friend and great supporter. Thanks, Jane. Then Christina from Sunshine Sanctuary in Los Molinos and her friend MaryAnn came in. We got our first mules and Kiger mustang from Christina. She really was the start of Home At Last. Thanks, Christina. Then Cathy came in to shop. It had been quite a while since we had visited. We had the best talk and she shared some wisdom-You can't change someone's mind if you tell them they are wrong. Love it. Thanks, Cathy. There were many other shoppers, too.

Volunteer Adrienne was there, too. What a beautiful young woman. We love our volunteers.

A huge thank you to the Board members who give so much time to Home At Last.

Please, check our website http://homeatlastsanctuary.webs.com

You can check the Thrift Store on FaceBook Home At Last Thrift and Gift and http://www.homeatlastthrift.com

If you have questions or comments you can email me at homeatlastsanctuary@gmail.com

The Store can use more donations. Folks have said they will clean out their tackrooms and bring us tack. We sure can use some Western tack. Bring it on in.

There is so much to see. Come and and shop.

When we go into the garage and start filling feed buckets the yard fills with hungry critters.

It gets crowded out the back door at mealtime.

A mule, a donkey and a pony. Life just doesn't get any better.

It's Official!

It's official! We are tired of the rain and mud. Sunshine and mildly warm days will be welcome. Last night's rain left everything extra gooey and slippery.

The skies were almost clear for a while.

This morning Bobbie, Moon Dancer and Frankie got to be out. Lil Buck and Frankie played for quite a while until Frankie realized his Moon wasn't with him.

Frankie is one of the well loved horses whose owner was very careful about where he would live. He had a stifle injury and had been cared for for years. He had two cancerous tumors on his neck- one wrapped around his carotid artery and one around the jugular vein. Dr Darling removed the tumors and Frankie is doing great! His wounds finally healed when the flies went away. He's an Oldenburg. He is a proud but loving boy. He loves his Moon Dancer.

Hey, Moon Dancer, where are you?

There's Moon. Now life is good again.

The Christmas cactus named Irene has decided to put on a Spring show. She knows we need a splash of color around here. More rain supposedly on the way. Maybe if we all go outside and blow real hard, we can push the clouds away. The plan for tomorrow is that Jim will get another 92 bales of hay-one week's worth- and I will go to the Thrift Store from 12-3. Come on by and say Hi.

Thank you Lisa A for your donation and get well soon.

Congratulations to Ammar for being the volunteer of the month at the Thrift Store.