Well around here, the Great Pyrenees, Sauveur wakes us all up when the sun comes up. But this morning it was 4:00, still dark. Since I could not go back to sleep, I decided to fix my glasses. The darn arm kept falling off, along with the lens popping out, was a bit of a hassle. It is pretty much a drag to have your glasses lens pop out when you are feeding 14 pigs X 4 hooves.... Anyway I got my jewelry making box out, sat in bed and began working. Kittens are no help when you are using light gold wire. I am working away and I hear a tap, tap, tap kind of "feet" hitting the floor coming up the hallway. I had left the den door open to outside so the dogs could go in and out. ok here is FeeFee the white turkey coming to visit. She must have been lonely out there in the dark...I just look at her, shake my head and roll my eyes and keep working, well until Elsa the brat white kitten with a blue eye and gold eye, decided to pounce on the jewelry container. She knocked it off the bed to the floor. I knew without looking, it was upside down.. If you do bead work, then you know all the tiny little things that are in your kit. As soon as i lifted the tackle box, FeeFee swoops, well hops over to check out the shiney, wonderful "seeds." I am scooping as fast as I can and get it all picked up before she got too many. Thank goodness my fancy ones are in containers. Back up to sit in the bed, having to move fat Basset Hound Kirby out of my spot. What is that all about anyway? As soon as I get up from my chair or bed someone leaves their perfectly good spot and gets into mine? Finally got my glasses fixed.Managed to super glue the lens in and only two fingers glued together. One cat had something stuck to his foot.... FeeFee meanwhile has jumped on the foot of my bed and is watching the kittens wrestle. I watch awhile then fall asleep. About three hours later I am woke up by a very large pink tongue to my face. Sauvey, who has been swimming, wanted to give me a kiss. I look down at my bed, I have 5 kittens,two Bassets hounds and a white turkey sleeping on my bed. FeeFee was happy on the foot of my bed, laying there with her head tucked under her wing. No FeeFee has never pottied in the house. One thing I have added is socializing this tiny little Lhasa Apso. She bit my friend twice, so sucker me offered to bring her to Eden. She allows me to pick her up, brush her and pet her. Well this one day, my daughter was visiting. My daughter Raini has the most wonderful laugh, and is very tickled by the antics of the animals. LIttle one, the lhasa Apso, ran into the house from the dog door. She scooted behind the temporary curtain I put up with clothspins to keep the sun out. In trying to get away from me, the curtain is slowly, methodically being pulled down, one cloths pin popping off at a time. At the same time LIttle one is turning and twisting herself tragically tangling herself up in the curtain! Meanwhile my darling 30 year old daughter is cracking up and cannot get control of herself,I am doing my best to get the dog out without getting bit, as she gets herself in a worse mess! Finally Little one pops out and runs back out the doggy door. I decided that was enough "socializing" for one day. It was a cool morning the other day so I had the den door open again. I had a nice screen. But a big red pig decided she wanted in so she not so carefully pulled it off. She did the same thing with the chrome strip on my pick up. She knows the feed is in the cab and probably planned to disassemble her way in.. Anyway one of the llamas, LlamaYama/Handsome decided to wander in and snoop. Llamas do not potty in the house, they are very careful and move with grace. I decided this was my opportunity to shear him, so shutting the door behind him, sealed his fate. I, of course could not find my grooming scissors. So decided to use my hair cutting scissors. Now these are very small but sharp scissors. Unfortunately for me, it took me twice as long and two blisters to shear him. But he was so good. He kept making long hums, but stood still with out being tied and never stepped on my bare feet. I, as usual, was unprepared for the process. Brushed my Handsome guy, made sure his wool was all even.Got him all wiped down. He looked so beautifullly groomed. His white was like a newborn white lamb, his brown just light and chocolate. I let him out the door and he promptly pranced away like a deer, then ran throwing his head with glee from being lighter, cooler and then ran directly under the sprinkler, then rolled in the dirt.... Being a large size muscular woman, I think health. So my one bad dessert is I mix marshmallows after being melted, with krispie rice cereal. Just eating it from the bowl with a spoon. Well made the mistake of buying a cheaper brand of krispies. It was almost like crunching glass. Not liking to waste anything,I had the bright idea to feed it to the dogs. I have 7. Well as most dog lovers know, we have our dogs eating off spoons...well at least some dogs. Sauveur was not quite sure of the program. If you know what a Great Pyrenees is, it is one dog you don't want to have sticky stuff even close to it. Picture the fluffiest white St. Bernard you can, slobber boxes included. Sauvey got the blob of krispie mix alright, but was not too sure of it and it stuck to his chin then sorta made its way to his chest. Now why did I not stop here? I had 4 and a half Bassets with ears that were decorated with sticky krispies, an English Bulldog with it stuck to her feet. The half Basset is also half Lhasa Apso. His body is Basset, head is Lhasa and hair is Lhasa. May I add, he is stubborn, pretends to not hear, ad does flat Basset....only Basset lovers will understand that. Should I mention the pot bellied pig Luster? Luster is a pro at spoons. He did not miss a krispie and wanted more and more. So much for eating like a pig!! Well it is time to head outside and water everyone down and feed them.By now the pigs know I won't spray their faces so they promptly turn their well rounded rotundo bums to me and enjoy every drop of cold well water spray on them! I love to feed them, they mill around me and gripe and cuss at me to hurry up,Muddy, huge pot bellied pig (also known as "potted pigs" by a friends mom) will be taking love nips at my calves, leaving globs of slobber. Dogs will be chasing invisible trespassers, cats will be darting back and fourth, the big white horse Chief will either have his head in the feed bag or picking it up when my back is turned and dumping it out.... The llamas will be right in my face, and reaching their long wooly necks around me to get a first bite of feed. Goats will be stomping on my toes and jumping on my bare legs with their pointy sharp hooves! So the day goes at Eden, no wonder I am getting so many grey hairs, but always wear rosey cheeks and a smile... love,debilyn of Potter's Eden in Oregon

Wow!

What a great story of a day in Potter's Eden.  Thanks for sharing.....you are some kinda good writer deb..... so vividly can i see your wonderful world filled with animals!

Thanks, again!

David

debilyn, I so enjoy your posts and the antics of your zoo. I'd absolutely love it. I was thinking while reading, that you should print your posts and keep them in a book/folder. What a wonderful gift they would be to hand down to your daughter someday. She could read them to your grandchildren and grandchildren could read it to their children. That'd be soooo cool!!! I'd love to hear about how my Grandmother spent her days on the farm. Keep em coming and thanks for taking the time. Christy

Hello Debilyn,

You probably know how much yours post meant to me today since it took my mind far away from my current situation today :) I had a talk show on last night with they actor from the Bad News Bears and he talked about how he gave the heimlich maneuver to his pot belly pig and saved his life. Jay Leno ask him if the pig gave the universal sign first LOL. I was glad to hear that you did not have a nice dress on that day and that it was not a day where it rained either. :) Maybe I need more animals here to keep busy, but the room is already about ready to ring my neck hearing about the kitten LOL. I guess a black cat and a kitten are enough for me. Thanks again for being such a great support to me since the first day I joined this site. your friend in recovery, cdb,,keep the stories coming. :)

You should write a book Debilyn, really, a children's book with proceeds going to your farm.  I really think it would sell...

You are  gifted writer, your stories are amusing and keep my attention the entire time.  You have a vivid writing style that helps me "see" the scenes.

How wonderful to have a devoted family of animals who give you (and us through your writings) such joy and pleasure to watch their antics.

Thanks SO much for sharing and keep the stories coming...what a positive and encouraging post to read about the wonderful life you have created for yourself...

Isabela

Debilyn,

I loved that story of a typical day at your farm.....that was cute and it made me forget my troubles for a few minutes.  I am a big animal lover myself, even though at present I only have my one kitty- someday I would like two kitties and at least one dog, since I haven't had a dog in over 20 years.  Your turkey sounds extremely tame, that is amazing.  Animals have a serene way about them and it calms us down (also lowers blood pressure) and also it is fun to have them around because they are full of joy and constant amusement.  Thanks for sharing your lovely little stories with us all.

What a great story!!!!  I just got the call from my A that he is at the bar with a friend instead of being at home so I thought my day was ruined and here you are with your wonderful Eden story.   It sounds like paradise - I'm a big animal lover - especially dogs so your dog/krispie part was especially humorous to me.

 

Thank you for sharing!!!!

Ahh...Debilyn, you're a sly one, getting us so involved with Eden's family.  We do forget, for a moment the heaviness in our hearts. Thank you, so much.  I am blessed with 2 white toy poodles, who are the apple of my eye.

Some days when I'm so discouraged by my lack of progress, I think of you and the serenity you've found amidst the disease.

Your prior post, about the evening with your A....I feel that "soul mate" thing with my A..or I used too.  That's part of what keeps me hanging on.  But I'm not sure it will ever return.  He's pretty much an empty shell right  now.

I attended my bro-in-law's funeral Wed.  I remembered my sister's last husband's funeral, 6 years ago.  My A had been sober for 9 1/2 years at the time. En route from funeral to burial, my A and I were holding hands in the truck, and telling each other how fortunate we were that we had such a great love affair.  That was about 2 hours before our first granddaughter was born.  Less than a year later, we lost so much when he started drinking again.

I need to regain myself, through the program, before I go any further worrying about whether or not there's anything left to save.

Again, thank you for your wonderful posts.  I agree you should write a book...get a little help from FeeFee.

((((((((((((((Debilyn)))))))))))))))

G