bayhorsedesigns.com Blog

On Monday June 28th we laid our brave little man to rest.  He had fought a long hard fight, but in the end his body gave out before his spirit.  As I write this today, three days later, it is still difficult to think of not seeing him again.  He came to us a skinny, abused, neglected, sick and fearful Jack Russell.  When we took him to the vet he told us to not get too attached to the poor old guy, he didn’t think he would be around for long… 3.5 years later! We did get weight on him although that was a tough task as his system would shut down every once in a while and tell him not to eat… boy that was a chore, going thru everything in the house that a dog can eat and trying to get his system “jump started”.  We had lots of issues of getting the right pain medicines so he would not throw up all the food I finally got down him.  There were many bouts with “poopy-pants”.  With all his back issues he had a hard time staying up during his ‘business’ and would sometimes fall down while going… thus the “poopy-pants”, I am afraid he did not think the cleaning up process was very dignified but he let me do it.  I was the only one that he would let pet or hold and even sometimes that was not the case.  Forget trying to get medicine down without hiding it inhis food!  And the long going love affair with our BOY black lab mix Ozzy.  Poor Ozzy was literally hounded by this love sick little Jack, not to mention getting peed on frequently too!  (yes, Concho was a full blown boy as the vets did not think he could survive the surgery.)  Oh and all the ‘marking’ in the house when the neighbor dog, Marla would come to visit.  And trying to eat the cat when Concho could still see.  Yep, always under my feet, wanting in my lap, a constant battle to get him to eat, making sure he didn’t fall off the furniture, going and getting him when he got lost, washing off “poopy-pants”, carrying him everywhere when he got completely blind, holding him up so he could ‘do his business’, putting his squeaky tennis ball in his mouth because he couldn’t find it, watching him joyfully squeak away… man, I miss the little pain in the butt!  Seriously, I do.  This is got to be the hardest loss of a pet I have ever had.  But I know in my heart it was time, he told me.  On Sunday June 27th we sat on the living room floor, him in my lap, me crying uncontrollably, I just wanted to make him better, but I just couldn’t anymore.  And he told me he was ready to go.  He laid in my lap, rubbed his face on me, snuggled into my arms and let me know it was okay.  I had done what I could and he had lived a much better life in the last 3.5 years than he probably ever had. He had many warm soft beds to sleep in, he never went without his choice of food and treats, he had more toys than most children, he was never cold and never in pain.  He had given us many laughs, memories to last a lifetime and all the love he was capable of giving.  He let my husband know it was time too… near the end Concho would still try to nip at John when he came close to me or if he tried to pet him.  When Concho would get lost somewhere and I was busy John would pick him up and carry him to where I was, with Concho snarling and snapping the whole time.  The day we drove to the vet I held Concho in my lap and John drove, when we got there John came over to my side to help me out, John asked to carry Concho in to the vets… this was John’s time to say good-bye and Concho must have known.  He settled into John’s arms and did not growl, snarl or snap.  He sat there quietly, as we sat waiting for the vet John was saying his goodbyes and Concho rubbed against Johns shoulder, as John kissed him on the head.  It was just what they both needed. 

I can see him now, running with all the other Jacks, playing with his squeaky ball and chasing a few cats all pain-free.  We were blessed he came into our lives and he will be deeply missed.   

Concho June 27th 2010

I can not just say “so sorry for no new updates lately”… I mean SHEEESH!!! Do you see the last post date!  Oh my goodness, I do not even want to try and give an explanation why… there is no excuse except how incredibly busy I have been in the last few months.  I guess even that is no real excuse… because everyone that knows John and I know we are ALWAYS BUSY!!!!  A quick run down would be:  my mom came to stay with us from Oct 16th until Feb 17th.  We all worked together on MANY projects while she was here (dog house, mounting block, trotting poles, garden shed, garden boxes, a temporary greenhouse, workbenches and shelves for shop, made a potting bench and lots more smaller projects) plus painting, crafts, sewing and mom’s favorite… shopping!  I continued to work at the Hippotherapy Program, ride my horses when I could, decorate for the holidays, take stuff down from the holidays, plan the 2010 Garden Extraordinaire, etc, etc, etc….   So maybe you get the idea?  Of course everyone that I know has very busy lives as well.  How do we do it all?  Why does time seem to go by so much faster now than when we were younger?  Does anyone else feel that we will never get everything accomplished in our lifetimes that we want too???  I have so many things I want to tell all of you about!  The business partners at Hippotherapy Program I work for are dividing and conquering!  I will soon be working for “Four Point Equestrian Center”, basically I am going to go work for Debbie, who along with her husband, is starting their very own Hippotherapy Center!  It has been so exciting to see the great things happening in their lives right now.  I am thrilled to be a part of it all.  My horses are doing great and I am loving every minute of my ride time, especially now that the weather is getting so NICE!  (except for the New Mexico Spring winds, YUCK!)  I am finally able to advance my own Dressage Training with lessons from a local trainer, Chief is looking and feeling great!  I have some painting projects on the studio table, and have signed on as a vendor for this years Hammers and Hooves Horse Fair June 12th and 13th in Edgewood!  (more info to come on that, I am honored to be able to participate and look forward to it.)  And I have been working extra hard at a bigger and better garden this year!  So far I have several varieties of lettuce, spinach, radishes, beets, three types of onions, sugar snap peas, sweet peas, three types of potatoes, carrots, basil, thyme, cilantro, tarragon, oregano, curled parsley, Italian parsley, rosemary, two types of strawberries, jalapeno and two types of sunflowers in the garden and growing.  It has been a tremendous amount of work but WOW is it cool to see the new sprouts poking thru the moist earth!  I love to sit out there and just be still, try to take in all the smells, sounds and sights.  I think I am getting pretty addicted to gardening! 

Well, speaking of time, it is getting late and I still have some things to get done before heading to bed and it is an early day at work tomorrow. 

I know better than to say I promise to update soon… so I will say I promise to try and be better with my “time management” so that I am able to keep current updates on our adventures here at the farm! 

Thanks for stopping by! 

Me and my two shadows!

Well we delivered the dog house to Carolyn’s on Sunday Nov 8th.  It was a hit!  It might take Tucson a few days to adjust to hanging out in his new house, but I bet pretty soon it will be hard to get him out of there!

Loading up the dog house for delivery

Here is the dog house all settled into Carolyn’s backyard.   The older dog, Zion, went on in right away and checked out the new digs.  Tucson was a bit unsure but Carolyn says she has been feeding him some treats inside the dog house and he is getting used to the fancy accommodations.

Our friend Carolyn recently adopted a wonderful dog from Best Friends Sanctuary out in Utah named Tucson.  She asked if John could whip together a simple dog house for him… she had found these dog house plans on the Internet and since John had bought her dads table saw from her a few months back she could not put it together herself as she had no way to cut it out easily…  Plus, my mom is here visiting us for three months and it sounded like a great project for her to help out with.  So, John and Mom got to work on October 24th 2009… We have plans of finishing the ’simple dog house’ this week and delivering it to her on Saturday night.  But it is looking so great that I can no longer keep it from all of you!  But don’t tell Carolyn the pics are up, we want the ’simple little dog house’ to be a big surprise for her and Tucson!

It has insulated floor, walls and roof!  (insulated and lined with an inner plywood wall even!) Oh and the roof can be easily taken off for cleaning inside or more likely to add that wall to wall bedding that I bet will be going in!

Yeah the look on my face pretty much explains why I am not being asked to really help out on this project… Sheesh, can a person not even ask if it’s level? square? big enough? 

Ozzy was the official model for test fits.

Two Jacks and a Lab wide!  That should be big enough for Tucson.

ALMOST FINISHED!   here it is as it sets in the garage right now… porch is on just needs a few final touches and a paint job and it is ready to be delivered!

I will update with completed pictures and hopefully the delivery by this coming Sunday!  Gee sure hope Tucson likes his new home… I think Zion (Carolyn’s other dog) may decide to move in to the new house himself!

WOW was it really that long ago??  Hard to believe it has been nearly three months since our whirlwind tour trip out to New York.   We had a fun call from John’s dad and step mom (Jack and Nancy) this evening that reminded us of our trip.  I found a few pictures I would like to share with you…

Jack has this wonderful old trusty 1958 Model 440 John Deere sitting back in the woods that John could hardly wait to test drive!  Yep, runs like brand new!

I of course found this handy phone that Jack had installed way back in the woods… you never know when you need to catch up on the latest gossip back home.

Home Sweet NY Home!  Can’t wait to come back and visit!!! Absolutely beautiful!

The two Mowins Brothers watching over the grub… (John and Jeffery)

This family picture just says it all doesn’t it?  Is it obvious we were at a party??? Notice the size of her drinkin’ glass? A girl after my own heart.

(Jack, Jeffery, John and Jeanne)