By: Katrina

You often hear stories about family members reconnecting after many years. It just happened to me!

When my step-daughter and her husband moved to Tennessee, they went to the local shelter to adopt a dog. They were given the name and phone number of a local veterinarian that offered low cost spay and neuter services. It turns out that the veterinarian that vaccinated and spayed their new puppy is my cousin, Jana.

The last time I saw Jana, was in California (just north of San Diego) and I was 10 years old. THAT WAS MANY YEARS AGO!!!!!! As I child, I visited their mini ranch which was filled with dogs, cats and horses, including a Missouri Fox Trotter. That was the last I saw of Jana because her family moved away to Bend, OR .

Being a “blood” relative, of course, Jana would have to love animals. Well she does! Jana and her husband recently moved to Tennessee started up a small animal veterinary practice (Anderson Vet Clinic, Christiana, TN) just north of Shelbyville and raise and show Tennessee Walking Horses.

Dick and I recently watched Jana and her daughter Hannah showing at the International Grand Championship for Pleasure and Colts in Murfreesboro, TN. They walked away with a large assortment of ribbons.

Wow, I look forward to reconnecting with a long, lost relative!!!!

Technorati Tags: Lost relative, tennessee walking horse, veterinarian

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

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

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

Katrina and I recently visited the Florida Everglades and had a wonderful time. We were not surprised that there were no miniature donkeys but we were surprised that the area looked nothing like the image we had in our minds. There was no bayou like you see in and around New Orleans, no tropical jungle like you might find in Mexico or else where in the tropics, and there was not even a lot of water.

We visited in February which is a good month to get out of the cold up north and it is the time of year that there are a lot of birds in the Everglades. However, it is also the dry season in southern Florida. That is good from a visitors standpoint but it means that the Everglades are very dry and will be nearly completely dry in just a few weeks.

This year is dryer than usual which means the alligators are very much out in the open. Here are just a few of our photos. We know they aren’t miniature donkeys but if you love animals you should enjoy these images anyway.

Let’s start out with a couple of Love Birds, feathered……

….and not feathered!

Pelican looking for a meal, he found one just seconds later.

How many Pelicans do you see sitting in the tree? There are 3.

The Dolphins were more interested in feeding than entertaining.

This place next to the doc looks just like a movie set.

Mr. Turtle takes a sun bath.

Look closely for the bird.

Ok, here are some alligators. These are babies and only 6″ to 12″ long.

You can see mommy alligator just off to the left and babies on the rock. She will lay eggs with 40 or so hatching. Only 6 to 8 will likely reach a year old.

If you look closely you can see a couple of babies crawling on their mom’s back near her rear leg.

Not everything in the Everglades is camouflaged.

Look closely and you can see the baby bird just to the right of mom.

This is as much water as you will see in the Everglades in the winter. This was taken on a boat headed out into the Gulf of Mexico. You will find a few lakes or ponds in the area that will also resemble this. Most are only inches deep.

This is the most common site we saw in the Everglades whether we were in the north end or south end. During the summer (the wet season) this should be full of water but there will be few birds around and the alligators will be in the water.

This site was astonishing. Each of these alligators is 6′ long or longer! There are even more outside of the picture.

This bird just finished diving into the water for a meal and must now sit in the sun for a half hour to dry its feathers before it can fly again. Some birds have an oily coating on their feathers so they can fly immediately after coming out of the water but not this bird.

Pretty flower but can you find the butterfly?

Technorati Tags: alligator, bird, everglades, florida, miniature donkey, turtule

Very shortly we will begin to offer a new feature on our site. We will be doing reviews of certain products and providing our opinions of how well they work or how useful they may be. We already have a few things lined up and we are very excited about sharing this with you.

If you have any products that you have been wondering about and would like us to take a look at send us an email with the name and description of the item. If it is within our ability to obtain the product we will then post the results right here for you to consider.

Email your suggestions to richard@legendaryfarms.com or katrina@legendaryfarms.com.

Technorati Tags: help, product review, questions

The following is the philosophy of recently deceased Charles Schulz, the creator of the ‘Peanuts’ comic strip.

You don’t have to actually answer the questions.

Just read straight through, and you’ll get the point.

1. Name the five wealthiest people in the world.

2. Name the last five Heisman trophy winners.

3. Name the last five winners of the Miss America pageant.

4. Name ten people who have won the Nobel or Pulitzer Prize.

5. Name the last half dozen Academy Award winners for best actor and actress.

6. Name the last decade’s worth of World Series winners.

How did you do?

The point is , none of us remember the headliners of yesterday.

These are no second-rate achievers.

They are the best in their fields.

But the applause dies..

Awards tarnish.

Achievements are forgotten.

Accolades and certificates are buried with their owners.

Here’s another quiz. See how you do on this one:

1. List a few teachers who aided your journey through school.

2. Name three friends who have helped you through a difficult time.

3. Name five people who have taught you something worthwhile.

4. Think of a few people who have made you feel appreciated and special!!

5. Think of five people you enjoy spending time with.

Easier?

The lesson:

The people who make a difference in your life are not the ones with the most credentials..

the most money…or the most awards.

They simply are the ones who care the most.

Technorati Tags: animals, charles schulz, comic strip, friends, peanuts, snoopy