The Mistake of Asking For a Little Peace and Quiet

It's 10:00 PM Thursday night...

and I am sitting here at my computer for the first bit of "down time" that I have had all day,

as a beautiful full moon hangs in a warm summer night sky.

Don't be fooled by that peaceful full moon outside.

It's been an evening that was less than peaceful!

It started after dinner, when Hubbs (aka Muppy) volunteered to take Tyler to the

pirate ship for a little play time...giving me a little time to clean up the kitchen

and commune with my animals.

I decided that a trip to the donkey yard might be just the peaceful thing that I needed.

(Five year olds can exhaust you just by the fact that they spend the entire day

talking to you!...and I mean incessantly.)

I was sitting there with Chloe and Daphne in a mutual grooming session...

you know...

you start by scratching one of them and they in turn scratch the other,

who then decides that perhaps you need a little scratching (nibbling) as well.

So, while you are sitting there in a donkey love fest,

you have to be aware of where everyone's mouth (teeth) happen to be at 

every moment.

Donkey grooming feels an awful lot like a rather hard pinch!

I was just getting to the point when I thought I would go find the boys,

when Tyler came running into the barn calling for me...

with a rather important story to tell.

Muppy quickly condensed the story.

Annie and Oakley had collided head-to-head in a rather exuberant game of fetch,

and Annie came out on the losing end...

her nose ripped open by Oakley's teeth (accidentally.)

(Here is where I must offer the obligatory warning....

the following pictures are very graphic!)

We immediately headed up to Dr. Becky's (Hubbs' sister and our farm vet).

Of course with all of the excitement, the turkeys felt obligated to follow us.

Hubbs called them the EMT's....Emergency Medical Turkeys!

Into Dr. Becky's garage we went...

trying to get Annie in, while keeping this fellow out.

Dr. Becky quickly gave Annie sedation 

checked the damage (as Tyler chatted on and on about what had happened),

and set about to stitch her nose back together.

Several sutures later, her nose looked a little more normal.

Once the sedation was reversed, we headed home again.

My "down time" was anything but relaxing.

But then...that's sort of how life is...

it's best to always expect the unexpected!

Many thanks to our friends Jim and Kathy for taking care of closing up the animals

while we tended to our wounded pup!

(You guys are the best!)

We will be watching Annie very closely for the next few days and giving her

prophylactic antibiotics.

Updates to follow.