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At one time, Dick and I were very active in Kiwanis and met so many wonderful people. I am a Past-President of the Kiwanis Club of Chino Hills (CA) and Kiwanis Club of Upland. Dick was the Lt. Gov. of Division 15 (encompassed clubs in the Inland Empire area of CA). When we moved to Tennessee, we left behind some terrific Kiwanis friends. Well, Kiwanis just had their International Convention in Nashville (June 25th-June 28th). We had several Kiwanians come out to the farm to visit and see our animals. What a Fun Day!!!

Well, everyone loved our newborn Miniature Donkey, “Buttons”. I hitched up Macy Lee to the easy entry cart and she is just learning to pull. But she really enjoyed showing off in front of our friends. Macy Lee is quite the “Ham”.

It was great to see old friends who work so hard to make thier communities a better place to live!

Technorati Tags: Chino Hills Kiwanis, Division 15, Kiwanis, Kiwanis International Convention, Miniature Donkeys, Upland Kiwanis

Just a month ago, our new Spotted Junior Herdsire, KKR Sroke of Midnight arrived from Texas. This little guy was so woolly!  Over the Memorial Day weekend, we spent countless hours removing his long, beautiful hair. Look at the Before and After photos!!!!

BEFORE:

AFTER:

Technorati Tags: baby donkey, baby miniature donkey, KKR Miniature Donkeys, Miniature Donkeys

By: Katrina

Farm life brings the euphoria and delight of having a precious newborn enter our life, as well as the grief with the unfortunate loss of life. This week, we experienced both. On May 5, we welcomed our beautiful “Buttons” into the world, who is as wonderful as we anticipated. Sadly, we lost Cobra’s Angel and her long-awaited baby. We are truly heart-broken, but cherish the time that we had beautiful Angel in our lives.  We want to thank Dr. Nathanial Wright and his associates at Tennessee Equine Hospital.  Angel is now at home resting with the Lord.

Technorati Tags: angel, birth, cobra's angel, death, farm life, Tennessee Equine Hospital

By Richard:

Below is a video of our newest little one. He does not yet have a name but was born on May 5, 2009. Katrina will soon be putting up all the vital statistics on this little love bug very soon . We will also be posting some good photos of him as soon as the rain stops. In the meantime check out the video.

Technorati Tags: baby miniature donkey, photo, video

By: Richard

Did you ever play Marco Polo in the swimming pool as a kid? You know; you close your eyes and yell “Marco” and the other kids yell back “Polo” and you try to find them. Well today I played “Marco Polo” in the barn but it was really “Louise Meow”. I also kept my eyes open even if it was an unfair advantage.

Let me explain. I went out to the barn this morning to feed the little miniature donkeys. The first thing I usually do is encounter Thelma and Louise, the barn cats. Thelma is usually just returning from a night of hunting in the woods behind the barn and Louise is usually just waking up from a night of restful sleep in the hay loft. On this morning Thelma greeted me in the grain room with a meow and then another and another. This was unlike her and there was no Louise. I really didn’t think much about it until I went out into the stall area and heard more meows.

These were obviously coming from Louise and sounded somewhat distant so I figured she was up in the hay loft and would soon be down to say hello and get a little loving. As I fed animals she still did not come around but kept meowing. Now I had to figure out what was wrong.

I would yell out “Louise” and a “Meow” would echo back. I kept yelling “Louise” as I walked through the barn. The “Meow” would get louder and then quieter. As the banter continued I began to hone in on the allusive meow.

Then I found it. The “Meow” was coming from the tack room. I opened the door and out sprang Louise. She meoooooowed and ran for the grain room and some breakfast!

We have had a hectic couple of days around here, which you will read about soon, and Katrina had accidentally locked Louise in the tack room when she was turning off the water to the stalls the night before.

All is well and Louise and I have a new game to play.

Technorati Tags: lost cat, marco polo, thelma and louise

By: Richard

Katrina and I recently expanded our animal empire by two. It all began this winter when my animal loving wife went to the barn to feed the precious little miniature donkeys. She opened one of the plastic bins we keep grain in and out jumped a barn mouse!

In her words it was more like a 10 pound rat and it went for her throat but she was able to wrestle it off only with the aid of a nearby shovel. My guess is that her screams hurt its ears so bad it ran for the field and never returned.

The Tractor Seat is Louise’s favorite spot in the barn.

Well, it makes no difference which side of the story you believe we agreed we needed to get a couple of barn cats to keep the mice population in line. After all we purchase grain to feed our animals and not the entire population of mice in Rutherford County.

With the assistance of Katrina’s sister, Valerie, we added two new little kittens to the barn. They are named Thelma and Louise.  They are terrific. Thelma is a real hunter and daily places her catch from the night before in the barn in plain site so we can’t possibly miss it. Bird feathers and mice body parts are now part of our barn decor. Although Thelma is loving and purrs as soon as she is picked up her joy in life is doing what we asked of her, hunting.

Thelma with a full stomach!

Now, Louise is a different cat. She is more of a lover than a hunter. I have yet to see her so much as bat at a fly. She prefers to sleep and be petted. When she sees Katrina or I approach the barn she starts meowing and running after us. She wants to be picked up and purrs as soon as we stop to pick her up. When we do, she just melts into our arms and purrs louder.

Even if she never catches a mouse she has a home for ever. In fact I have told Katrina I think we should swap her out for Lucile our house cat from hell. Louise would be a wonderful house cat and Lucile could use a reality check that living in the barn would deliver.

I never have to worry about the Tractor Seat being dirty, Louise keeps it neat as a pin!

Technorati Tags: barn cat, bird, mice, mouse, thelma and louise

We have just added a new Junior Herdsire to our Farm, KKR Stroke of Midnight. “Stroker” is out of Sunset Acres Rowdy Yates (a producer of multiple ADMS Champions) and Heavenly Sydney (a beautiful, drafty brown and white jennet). This little guy is just a “doll” and should blend very well with our jennets. Thank you Kathy Loudamy, We just love this little guy.

More information on Stroker is on our “Jack” page.

Technorati Tags: herd sire, jack, kathy loudamy, kkr miniature donkey, miniature donkey, sunset acres rowdy yates

Many of you who know we are located in Murfreesboro, TN have called and emailed about our well being. Our town was hit by a disastrous tornado today that left many homeless and several dead. Our property and animals were spared of any damage but just a short distance away there is major devastation.

I was at my desk; looked out my window and saw the tornado pass by just a short distance away. It is Mother Nature at her worst.

This home was located just around the corner from a property we own. Ours suffered only minor damage.

This is the remains of a company’s office building that I have done consulting work with in the past.

Please say a prayer for those that were not so lucky.

What appears to be a pile of scrap metal in this photo is actually a number of semi trailers blown into a pile. Look carefully at the right side of the photo and you can make out some of the more complete trailers.

The National Weather Service said the tornado tore a 23.5-mile path through Murfreesboro and packed winds as high as 165 mph. The width of the storm was a half-mile, and it was on the ground for 36 minutes.

Technorati Tags: Murfreesboro, Tornado

By: Richard

Just found this on YouTube and couldn’t resist. It is just too good. Now, if we can just get one of the miniature donkeys to strut to a Four Seasons or Beatles song we might be able to retire! I’m headed to the barn with my boom box now!! Where is Macy Lee? She has attitude.

Technorati Tags: bird, miniature donkey, ray charles

By: Katrina

A Xoloitzcuintlil, or Xolo for short (pronounced Sho-Lo) is a hairless breed of dog from Mexico. I really love interesting breeds of horses, dogs, etc; and this is pretty unique.

The breed comes in three sizes: the Miniature, Intermediate and Standard. The one in the photo is a Miniature, Karmen, shown by my mother, Barbara Hamilton. Karman is a World Champion and has Championships in 11 different countries.

History

The Xolo is native to Mexico, Central and South America and the Caribbean. Archaeological evidence shows that the breed existed in the New World for more than 3,500 years. Their value in ancient native cultures is evidenced by their frequent appearance in the art and artifacts produced by the Colima, Aztec and Toltec civilizations in Mexico.

Xolos were considered sacred dogs by the Aztecs because they believed the dogs were needed by their masters’ souls to help them safely through the underworld. The Aztecs also raised the breed for their meat. 16th Century Spanish accounts tell of large numbers of dogs being served at banquets.

When Columbus arrived in the Caribbean in 1492 his journal entries noted the presence of strange hairless dogs. Subsequently, Xolos were transported back to Europe.

Xolos were among the first breeds recorded by the American Kennel Club. The first AKC registered Xolo was in 1887. The first AKC champion was in 1940. In 1959 the Xolo was dropped from the AKC studbook due to the breed’s scarcity and perceived extinction.

As of 1/1/09, the breed has just been introduced into the Miscellaneous Group at AKC dog shows, with exhibitors working towards full AKC recognition in the near future.

Technorati Tags: AKC, American Kennel Club, Aztec, Barbara Hamilton, Mexican Hairless, Xolo, Xoloitzcuintle