Finally, Friday

What would life be without the beauty of nature, or critters, or friends and family, or kindness or.......?

Poor thin Tess was moved to the back yard today. Tomorrow I am going to put her in the barn with Callie and see if I can't get some meat on their skinny bodies. If you remember last fall we had a horrible siege of strangles. Both Tess and Callie had it and they have been unable to gain back the weight they lost. Dr Darling feels that their internal organs have been compromised. We'll see if we can't help them with intensive care.

At first Tess missed Amira and Marnie, but when the grain came out she left them in a flash. Tonight our chameleon pony Bucky was a Thoroughbred. He and Teddy spend a lot of time together. Before I got the camera Teddy and Juan mule were standing head to head with Bucky between them, his tail towards their heads. He didn't know if he was a mule or a horse.

All the critters who are in the back yard are compatible. You never know who will be with whom. Honey cat is announcing that it is dinner time. Where's the fish??? AnnaBelle is telling Jimmy about her good people friends are raising money for her surgery. Will you help AnnaBelle?
While we were out today we saw a terrible accident and it reminded us how short and special life can be. Be good to others. Be good to yourself. Be kind to others. Be kind to yourself. Make your life worthwhile.

We welcome each morning and rejoice each evening. We have made it another day. Our backs may be sore but our hearts are happy. All the critters are safe and sound. We have good friends of all species and life is good. The little frogs have stopped singing. The tadpoles are almost all grown up. But Home At Last is a safe sanctuary for them, too. This little guy was perched way up on this plant. AnnaBelle says Thanks to Ursula and Walt C, Ruth C and Eileen G for their support of her upcoming surgery. Meet Chad, a retired therapeutic riding horse. He's about 25 with a bad back (like most of us) and really poor teeth. He was with the front herd and Tess for a while, but seemed a little stand-offish, so we put him in the back yard with the party animals. He's much happier now. He can hang with the guys, Frankie, Jimmy, Teddy and Juan or be cool with the girls Rosie, Moon Dancer and AnnaBelle. He seems to like the long ears, too and the ponies are fine, so the back yard is his. Isn't he a beauty? Here are the old, torn, ripped, bedraggled fly masks awaiting their fate. Can I really do it? Can I throw them away??? There they are in the trash. Whew!! I feel much better. Only rechecked them twice to make sure they were really goners.
This week-end I'll start on the blankets and maybe, just maybe, get the correct side of the garage cleaned so Jim can do some sawing.
If any of you need a barn or building call our good friend and supporter Dallas Harreld at www.barnconsultants.com. They have been so good to us. Give Dallas a call at 916-300-6589 and tell him thanks for being generous with Home At Last.
Check us out on Facebook under Donna Kyle or our website http://homeatlastsanctuary.webs.com
Don't forget about AnnaBelle and her upcoming surgery.

Peaceful Tuesday

This is the garden's harvest from this morning.
Today was a peaceful, quiet day with a visit from our good friends from HorsePlus. Thank you, Tawnee, for helping fold clothes. Isn't it great to have a friend who just fits your life?
HorsePlus is raising money to buy our tractor so we can use the money for special horse needs. Check their blog and FaceBook to read all about it.
Tomorrow I'm going to the Thrift Store to drop off items. Stop by and say Hi. There are lots of good school items there.

I was way off last night when I said AnnaBelle's surgery was $1000.00 It will be more than $3000.00 . Isn't she a cutie? Won't you help her, please? Dunny, Dancing Drum and Star are always ready to say Hi and to eat. These are three happy faces that greet us each morning and evening. Star is a Tennessee Walking Horse with equine MS. He wasn't supposed to live more than a couple of months, but he's been with us for two years.

Dancing Drum is a Thoroughbred mare who was raced, used as a broodmare, then thrown away. She takes care of her boys.

Dunny is a wonderful young Quarter Horse who has juvenile cataracts. His mother foundered when she was carrying him. He has the cutest, most friendly attitude. Everyone is his friend. Sugar, Maggie, Gracie and Jonathan like to eat all day. Though Maggie and Jonathan are thin they are still enjoying life. Sugar is not thin and really enjoys life. Little Gracie is getting very old. Her back legs are getting wobbly, but she's still a happy girl. After cleaning the garage yesterday so Jim could get to his saws (though I put everything on the wrong side and he still couldn't get to his tools) I realized I am a hoarder.

A hoarder is someone who cannot say no to an item and keeps unneeded items. I hoard fly masks. I have old, holey, torn masks that just might come in handy sometime. Maybe I could use the velcro from one. Maybe I could use the soft fluff from another. Maybe I could sew the torn eye parts. Or maybe, just maybe I can throw them away. Thanks to all who sent lovely new masks. I'll do it!!!!! Tomorrow the multitude of useless masks will go in the trash. I'll even take a picture of my cure.

Next I'll work on my obessions with torn, ragged and unusable horse blankets.

Hurray!! Pictures

Hurray!! Pictures!!
Home At Last is back in the picture business. Now if I could only get the printer and computer to talk I'd be a happy computer user.
Jim just said, "It's almost bedtime and we just got up- 16 hours ago."
The garden has outdone itself this year.

The sunflowers have been spectacular. This is AnnaBelle who has a cleft palate. We are currently trying to raise $1000.00 to pay for her surgery. The cleft is clear to the back of her throat and is open to the esophagus, the trachea and her nasal passage. It is a miracle that she has survive for so long. Can you help us help AnnaBelle?

She can choke at any time. She could ,also, get food in her lungs and get pneumonia. She is a sweet girl and deserves to have a great quality of life.

AnnaBelle and our new boy, Jimmy, have become close friends. Don't they make a sweet couple? Teddy is one of our new boys. He's a big, beautiful Thoroughbred. He likes to investigate everything.

Teddy has made a lot of friends since coming to Home At Last. Amira and Marnie watch as he nibbles some hay. Frankie and Teddy enjoy an evening play. Rosie watches her boys and wonders if boys are the same world wide. Yes, they are Rosie. Come on, Teddy. Just one more romp. Please!!!!!! It's been a busy day, as always. Time for bed.

We, along with Patches, wish you sweet dreams.

Some People

Some people are wonderful. We have super volunteers who give all they have to help us. Sweet Mallory who is going onto the 6th grade just brought more money that she has earned and raised to help with AnnaBelle's surgery. Her folks are teaching her great life lessons. Tina, Leah and Carly work hard at making Home At Last a success. Laura is a dedicated friend and volunteer who is always there for us. Christeen, Carolyn, Loren, Harley and Bill are our newest volunteers and are proving to be invaluable. Helen and Ron run a Thrift Store for the benefit of Home At Last. Our Board serves without compensation and give their time, money and energy to us.
Friends give support and kind words. FaceBook friends have been most generous. Our vet and farrier are dedicated to the critters here. Our family has been right there for us always. We have sponsors who faithfully donate to the horses. We have folks who send donations to the Thrift Store.
Tractor Supply Company is most supportive. Folks who pass give generously because they care about the animals. Spaulding Flies and Wilson's Worms make our life so much easier. Our foster families provide great homes for some of the horses.
Home Tech Charter School has been very generous with their time, talents and their class projects have given us much needed funds.
We want to thank each person who has sent good wishes, money, items and have spent time and energy helping us. If I failed to mention you, I'm sorry but here is a big THANK YOU for you.
Once in while we have some people who just don't get it. Tonight at 8 PM a couple opened our closed gate, came in and were reaching through the electric fence to pet the horses. It was feeding time and fingers could look like food( Is that where finger food came from?) Any way they had no respect for the closed gate, no respect for the fact that the horses were hungry and no respect for our time. They wanted to know if we sold or rented out horses. NO and NO!!
Other people seem to think we are here for their convenience. Our time means nothing to them. We try to be gracious when we have visitors, but honestly, folks, having 70 equines takes most of our time. If you have an appointment please be on time. Please, realize the sanctuary exists for the animals first and foremost. We are not an attraction for your kids to go racing around.
Once we had a woman drop off her preteen at 9:30AM in the rain. The poor child had no coat, no food and no idea what to do. Of course, no one could be reached by phone. At 4:30, grandma came to get her and was quite upset when we told her we didn't do child care.
Enough ranting. Today I paid to have more picture storage so tomorrow we should have pictures. Today we also went to another estate sale to get items for the Thrift Store. Robert Ulrich and Judy Briscow are so good to us. They always let us have the items that didn't sell. Thank you. Aaron and Amy helped us pick them up.
We love what we do and we love most of the people we come in contact with. We appreciate the efforts others make. We value what folks do when they help others. We truly believe that each person becomes better by serving something other than self.

Thurs Again

Even though this post is first in line it is second for tonight.
There are some very special ladies who had a birthday and asked their friends to donate to Home At Last instead of buying gifts. Thank you to the birthday gals Sue Holt and Sue Bilodeau and to their guests Kathleen McFarren, Susan Taylor, and Lynn Hutfield. What a wonderful and thoughtful thing to do. You are Home At Last angels. Now come and see us, so we can thank you in person.
Information on voting tomorrow for Home At Last to win a Toyota. Toyota chose 500 non-profits to participate. Voting goes on for 100 days. Each non-profit competes with 4 others on a particular day. The one who gets the most votes for that day WINS!!!! There will be 100 winners.
Go to https://www.facebook.com/toyota?sk=app 192385320793841
Please, vote. Have all your friends and family vote. Heck, even ask your enemies to vote. Thank you. Allow the application to interact with your profile then you can decide between Home At Last and 4 other non-profits. I think that's all for tonight.

Thursday Already, I Think

Finally!! A few quiet moments to blog. Tomorrow is the day to vote for Home At Last winning a Toyota. Will try to figure out how to get it here so you can vote for us.
Our newest family member is Chad, a beautiful buckskin from a therapeutic riding organization. Check them out at http://horseplayriding.org. Debra brought Chad out and now Chad and Tess are inseparable. Tess is still on our watch list, but maybe having a horse of her own will help her gain weight.
We have been so busy with every day and not so every day chores.
Our volunteer Sunday was great. We have two new volunteers. Welcome Christeen and Carolyn. Glad to see Harley, Loren, Bill, Tina, Leah, Carly, Jess and Mallory. (Mallory worked all summer and gave her earnings to the sanctuary. Thank you, Mallory. You are one special 6th grader) We washed one pony Little Dog at his foster home, cleaned stalls and ate some yummy lunch. Thanks Su and Jerry.
Had another frustrating round with the DMV. Hey, guys, all I want to do is register the truck Jim bought to help us haul hay. 1 1/2 hours of an 18month old poking me while Mom said Be nice. She was a cute little girl, but I didn't go there to baby-sit while mom visited. Then no help. Bought the truck two days too soon for the DMV's approval. They wouldn't answer my questions either, again. I've now spent a total of almost 5 hours with them. I think some changes need to be made. Even if they would just post a sign that says We Don't Answer Questions. That would save a lot of folks a lot of time. Oh well. Will try again Friday.
Sat is our day to take Teddy to Tractor Supply Store in Oroville. If you want to buy a raffle ticket for the bucket of goodies from TSC it is only $5.00. We'll be there from 10-2. It is there Pet Appreciation Week and they have all kinds of good things there- prizes, too, I'm told.
Sunday we pick up more items from an estate sale. Robert and Judy are so good to us. They let us have whatever is not sold to go to the Thrift Store. We are good to them because we haul away everything- even trash. Works out for everyone.
Check out HorsePlus Humane Society's blog. They want to buy a tractor from us with money going to help with AnnaBelle's surgery. We can use all the help we can get. This is a life threatening situation for AnnaBelle. Her cleft palate is so large that Dr Darling could feel her trachea, esophagus and the opening to her nose. It is amazing that she hasn't choked to death or gotten pneumonia from food going into those openings. Can you help us?
Because we take horses who have been seized we don't write much about them for their own protection. It doesn't mean we don't love them and aren't proud of them, it is for safety reasons. We do have some and they are doing well. If you are willing to help sponsor one of them, please, let us know.
530-514-1439
Check our website http://homeatlastsanctuary.webs.com
Does anyone know how I can get pictures on our blog without having to pay?
Made zucchini bread today. Mmmmm. We were good. Just one slice with cream cheese, then into the freezer for another time. All day the bread has been calling, Eat me. Eat me.
All the critters are enjoying the slightly cooler weather. The delta breeze from Sacramento has reached us and we are only in the 80's. They are stretched out in the sun, warming their old bones. Must be sauna like to them. A few are in the barn or under the shade of the trees, tail swishing and grooming one another.
We feed at 7:45 PM when the sun is no longer blazing. By the time we get in it is almost 9 and we are exhausted. What is easy in the AM is a lot harder at night. Getting old? Maybe.
If you want to get in touch with us by email here is our address homeatlastsanctuary@gmail.com.
Our mailingaddress is Home At Last POBox 4129 Yankee Hill CA 95965
Love to hear from you.