Tag Archives: cats

Homestead and Garden

Meanwhile Back at The Ranch: Life is TWO Good

If you asked me if I liked even or odd numbers, I would say “odd.”  There is something about the numbers one, three, and five that intrigue me.  You would never know this fact based on what’s going on out here at the ranch.

Cats: When we moved to the country in 2004 we brought along our two cats.  Of course, back then we were “city” people, and I won’t even begin to tell you the exorbitant amount of money that was spent on each of them.  A third cat eventually joined the group but died of an unknown illness.  Really, I insisted on an autopsy…of a cat…and the findings were indeterminate.  We were left with two.

Horses: Our Mustang, Jet, came to live with us because our neighbors had one too many horses.  We were clueless new horse owners, but our friends are very experienced and have followed through on their promise to guide us in the right direction.  “The right direction” included buying a horse friend for Jet.  Roxy came to live with us just a few months after Jet’s arrival.  It was great fun watching them get to know each other while they lived in the midst of all the goats.

Cats….again: Last summer my husband brought home two three week old kittens who had lost their mother.  He claimed we needed barn cats.  Here’s a little secret….we didn’t have a barn.  We nursed them along and let them stay in the garage with a heat lamp during this cold winter.  They are our outside cats.  They enjoy bird watching and hopping in my car when I am late for work. Continue reading Meanwhile Back at The Ranch: Life is TWO Good →

Homestead and Garden

Meanwhile Back at the Ranch: Pay it Forward

3 Comments

By Julie Allgyer

Julie and Mae
Julie & Mae

It has happened more than once.  A cold, wet, tweenage dog shivering on a stranger’s front porch. Who knows what goes through people’s minds as they toss the last of the litter out of their vehicle?

But what if it really isn’t that way?  What if the puppy owner is deliberately placing a dog on the porch of a stranger to Pay It Forward?

Mae joined our team as a walk-on in May of 2008.

Early one morning, I noticed something odd through the satellite windows at the front door … a scary feeling out in the middle of the country at 6AM.  I calmed my fears, smoothed my linen skirt, and opened the door.  A muddy puppy.  Hmmm.

Pay it Forward.

With three indoor cats already on the roster, we decided that Mae needed to be an outside dog.  However, she quickly worked her way into our hearts and into our home.

Over the past three years my “free” dog has cost me countless holes in blankets, a door, the window trim (she broke out of a locked kennel) and most recently a car radio.  But even as I sit here wearing shorts with part of the back pocket torn off, preparing to put on pajamas with one strap chewed in half, I can’t help but love this dog.

Tarantula
"Mom look at the SPIDER DOG!"

Mae went through a ten-week obedience class and barely passed…but she passed and she has the certificate to prove it.  She proudly donned a tarantula costume during the March of Dogs to benefit the Hardeman County Humane Society.  She performed flawlessly in the Christmas parade with eleven other rescued dogs.

A complete stranger gifted me the best dog anyone could ever hope to own.  I hope that I prove to her daily that my life has been changed for the better since her arrival.

Pay it Forward.

Last Friday my husband brought home two three-week old kittens that had lost their mother.  Within twenty-four hours they had a new mom…and it wasn’t me.

(Click photo below to see video of Mae mothering our baby kittens.)

Pay it Forward.