threw a shoe........ :(

 THIS is not a good sign... a shoe, that is NOT on a horse... oh o .... I noticed on Wedsnesday that Mr. Duke was stepping just a little differently, and upon close inspection, he was missing one of his shoes. No farrier likes to hear that his shoes have come off, but ya know... it happens. The good thing is, we found it laying out in the pasture, which means Ben can pop it back on for us and we don't have to buy a new shoe.

What I can't figure out is how he tweaked it so badly, this thing is bent!!! Duke's hoof is fine, so the shoe didn't rip any hoof off... but Ben is certainly going to have to put this one in the fire and get it back into shape!!!! 

We put a call in for Ben and he was able to come out the next day. Abbie was so happy to be able to watch Duke "get his shoes on".... (and she wanted to be sure he got them on the right feet... just like she does!!!)

Ben had us back in business in no time, and even did a double check on all the other shoes. He's not sure how Duke "did it" either, but guesses he might have just caught it on the edge of a rock... which could be, because we do have some rocks out in the pasture. Either way... all is well....

Ah.. my guinea birds!!! Funny how much I love these creatures.. I never get to pet them or pick them up, but I just love having them around. These are the only three we have left from last year... but as you know we bought a bunch of new keets....

And since they have out grown our small inside "pen".. it was time to move them outside. So, Ed and I set up a new area for them. I can't tell you how many times we have moved these dog kennel panels to make up all kinds of pens for different animals. Ed thought we might need to put a top on it, but since they are 6 feet tall, and these little guys are just beginning to try their wings, I thought we could wait....

Well, I was wrong. Later that evening, Iheard the big birds having a fit, so we go down to the barn, and sure enough... all the little birds have flown the coop. Since it was dark and we had no idea where to look, we decided to see what happened in the morning. The next day, seven of the twelve returned... and then our neighbor found one bird in his garage, so we brought him back home. To date we still have just the eight..what has happened to the other four, goodness knows. But these guys are staying fairly close to home and roost on top of the pen at night, so I have given up and decided to let them do what they wish. The big guineas haven't bothered them, and maybe one day here they will become one flock. Guineas can be hard to keep, but since they have done so well in the "bug department".. I plan on keeping them around for a while.