The Tale of Three-Legged-Sam

Yes... I missed our morning chat this past Friday.
I was AWOL.


We had out-of-town guests for a few days and along with that we had
our little Mackenzie for an overnight stay.


I got spread a little thin...and blogging was sacrificed.
But we had a lovely weekend...visiting, playing, and also partying.
(Hubbs' work Christmas party was Saturday night.  It is one of
my few nights each year that I get to get all gussied up.
Would it surprise you if I told you that as I sat in the car on the way to the party,
in my dress and heels and sparkly earrings, 
I realized that I had forgotten to work on my fingernails
and still had a good amount of barn dirt beneath them.
You can take the girl off the farm....but you can't take the farm off the girl!)

By Sunday morning life was almost back to normal.
Except... 

The Tale of Three Legged Sam

Our farmhouse sits on top of a hill... one of the higher points on the farm.
The southeast side of the house is bordered by what I call "The Holler".


A fairly steep embankment eventually runs down into the lowest portion of the farm.
(Interestingly, this is the old stagecoach winter route from long ago... I am told.)

Old stagecoach trail...through the center of those two tall trees.....

It was early in the morning...the sun was just bringing a slight glow to the eastern sky.
Hubbs opened the front door and let the dogs out... potty time.
For some reason, Sam and Annie went running down into The Holler 
and quite a commotion ensued.
There was barking and yipping and a cry of pain on top of that.
One call brought Annie running back to the house, obviously scared.
Two calls, three....and still no Sam.

With that Hubbs said to me..."I think we may have lost Sammie."
It sounded like a large predator might have gotten the best of our fearless hunter.

Five minutes later Sammie appeared ...collarless...limping...
a bite on his right front leg beneath the shoulder.


Hubbs examined him and could find no bony trauma, but there was lots of what we medical people call crepitation (a sort of crackly sound beneath the skin...indicative of some sort of trauma.)
And how he managed to lose his collar....we'll never know.

Later in the morning his leg began to bleed.
We called Dr. Becky and she suggested some antibiotics which we quickly began.


We'll never know what Sam had a tussle with...
and with time his leg will heal.

Perhaps this will teach him to choose his opponents a little more wisely!
After all... he is no spring chicken anymore...
no, for now he's just Three-Legged-Sam!


Last evening we washed eggs (a weekly chore.)
As you can see... Ivy has dubbed herself
"Protector of Eggs".


What is it about cats and boxes?



Comments

daisy g said…
Oh, poor Sammy. Glad it wasn't worse.
Your little Pink Fairy looks mighty cold.
Sounds like a full weekend.
Enjoy your week!
Louise Stopford said…
Hope Sam makes a speedy recovery. It's awful when are pets are injured or ill (thank goodness you have Dr. Becky to hand). Love the photo's of Ivy and it is so true about cats and boxes. We have an old cardboard box in the living room, looks awful, but the cats love it! Kind regards.
jaz@octoberfarm said…
poor sammy! i hope he heels soon. 3 years later and teddy still holds her front paw up when not moving. i have no idea what's wrong with it.
colleen said…
Poor Sam. He looks so sad. He was just trying to be protector of the farm. Sounds like the rest of the weekend was fun. Kind of funny about the nails, tho!!
This N That said…
I'm glad Sammy escaped with minor injuries. Hopefully he will be OK in time. That's a little scary. Sounds like a busy weekend. A fun one I'm sure enjoy your week. Getting cold!
Candice said…
Sam and Annie were lucky. Our small community with small acreage has been having visits by coyotes lately. A pack of 5 were seen during the day sniffing the fence of our neighbors nose-to-nose with their two big dogs. On Saturday, my husband saw a coyote traveling across the back of our property. Since these two sightings, we take a flashlight out to check the fence line of our backyard before turning the 3 dogs loose to do their business in the early morning or late evening. Our little chihuahua mix would be a tasty morsel for a hungry coyote who would have no trouble jumping over our 4-ft fence. I would hope our two larger dogs would scare them off.
Have a great week, Bev!
Anonymous said…
Oh Bev, I howled when I read about your fingernails!! We've all done something similar and can relate! I don't know how you all do it, being surrounded by potential predators of your animals. Skunks, porcupines, bears, coyotes, OH MY! You farm folks are a brave and hearty lot, and meet your catastrophes with calmness. I love that about you.

Cats and boxes - a love affair that never ends. We have boxes as beds all over the house. They do sleep in a few of the fluffy beds we've bought for them, but love the boxes more. Cats. :)
Hope Sammy heals quickly!
Karla from Coal City
Kathy said…
So happy that Sam was not more badly injured. I don't have any animals in my life right now and that close-up of his face is almost too much for me! Love that dog!
Poor Sam! He was defending the farm!
Junebug said…
Oh I hate that sound of an injured animal. I'll never forget the sound of Jazi when a racoon had her pinned to the ground. I'm so glad Sammie will heal!

When grand kids are involved, all is forgiven!! The world can stand still when they are around!

Enjoy your week!
Jacky said…
Oh poor Sam! For a minute there I thought he may have actually had to loose a leg! Thank goodness it will heal. Sending prayers.
Unknown said…
Hmmmm . . . Maybe time to set up the camera down in the holler to see what's hanging around there.
diane way up north said…
Oh my goodness....so glad you didn't lose your Sammy. How scary! Hope whatever it was, doesn't come around too often....or that your dogs stay away from it. Glad you had a nice but busy weekend...missed your blog on Friday. Sounds like you were gussied up for that party, except for the nails of course. Enjoy this busy month!!!
Lynne said…
So now I know . . .
Poor Sammie . . .
May the antibiotics do their thing!