made the donks new masks today! I really like the tan color better than the grey on the old masks!

Just got pics of Pauliann sporting her fly boots I made!! Looks like they fit great!

I made myself a little spreadsheet for my garden. Each page is for one plant(s), I have a binder I'll keep them all in sorted by types : veggies, herbs, flowers etc.  I also have layout drawings & designs.  But I wanted to share my sheet with everyone else. 
https://spreadsheets.google.com/spreadsheet/pub?hl=en_US&hl=en_US&key=0AqEPd0yf7ZFEdGYwZGtjbkZvUEdOWjByQmYwbkN6LXc&output=html

A gal I know through a rescue requested a pair of fly boots for one of the rescues, Pauliann. The flies really eat her legs up. The same thing happens with Daisy, really only on her front legs.

So i made a donkey sized pair of fly boots!  Most horse fly wraps only come in one size 'horse' size. LOL and the cheaper ones are probably made of a fabric that can be torn easily.  the cheaper ones look like that 'no see um' mosquito netting. I had that stuff on Daisy's fly mask, and it didn't hold up.

the more expensive ones use good fabric, but I've heard they sag after awhile.  I got Daisy some used 'good' ones, and they're nice, but they're just too big for her, and I can see where the sagging comes into play. I knew the boots had to fit well, I also decided to add boning to give them stiffness so they'll never sag.

This is what I came up with!

I orginally got thise mesh for my first round of fly masks, but I realized when it was delivered that it was too tight of a weave. And I had an entire roll of it!! LOL. So it sat around for quite some time.  I made a dog hammock bed of a large portion of it. Now it'll be fly boots!

To learn more about Pauliann, visit http://hithger.org/hithger.aspx

are HUGE!!

Wanted to share some pics of my ride this weekend with Rocky. we were stuck in some major donkey glue!! but after a long while i got him to go - I had Daisy with us too - first time ever ponying!! I got some pointers from Rocky's old owners on how he 'operates' and the male donk mentality, so I'm looking forward to trying some of their tips on the next ride.

Been busy!! Still doing p90x, but I've discovered to make it so I can sustain working out, I take the weekends off. I know not very p90x of me, but I need a break!!

Planted lots of cucumbers this weekend! I broke down and put some stuff in the ground since I don't have enough dirt to get them all in a box. It least I have a nice weedblocker though!! It was really easy to make the holes, a couple stabs with the garden shovel and you end up with a nice round hole in the cardboard ( pull back the straw first). Got about eight plants in. So hopefully I'll be knee deep in cucumbers!! then PICKLES!! NOM!!

I picked up some fun new stuff @ the garden store. I got myself a bag of Roots ORganic dirt - I love this stuff!!http://www.aurorainnovations.org/soil.html
I really feel like this soil has greatly improved my beds! right now I'm mixing the roots with some off brand 'normal' potting soil, I need to use it up, it isn't organic but I'm not going to throw it out lol. So I take some of the roots, some of the other stuff and put it in a bucket. I dig the hole & put the dirt in the bucket. I mix it all together, put my plant in and refill. I dump the excess out in one of my beds I'm trying to 'fill'. 

The other AWESOME thing I got was some dried sea kelp!! http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00064SYSU/ref=olp_product_details?ie=UTF8&me=&seller=

I've always heard about how good it is - since it has tons of micronutrients, I went with the dried because it was a bit more potent than the liquid they had and seemed less messy, plus the price was right. i CANNOT wait to see how this helps my plants! I might even put some in the giant sprayer ( the kind you attach to the hose) and give my 'lawn' a dousing. I'm not really pro lawn, but there is a very small section I'd like to keep green just for the dogs - it's about 25' x 15'. LOL the rest of it can die and turn brown.

I also picked up an organic insecticide called Azatrol. It's OMRI Listed Organic ( and derived from Neem oil), so I decided to try it. the earwigs have going to town on my peppers and well everything else!! So sad to see my beautiful sunflowers ( no flowers yet) get eaten up. I'm pretty sure it's earwigs. so ya we'lll see how this stuff works, i did  a light spraying this weekend. we'll see what happens.

I started some pumpkins and corn, big pumpkins too. lol maybe I'll have a giant jack o' lantern for halloween!!I had one little corn plant that sprouted ( remember I'm using a lot of old seeds!) so I planted him in the tall box where the squash/artichokes/sunflowers are, I also put in the last three sunflowers that were still in the seed trays. It's crazy to see how much their container size affects them, the ones in the planter box are almost 3' tall, the ones left in the trays are only bout 8" tall. I figured I may as well stick 'em in the ground. My best friend's sister in law gave me an artichoke plant when I picked up my tiller ( yay for donk hay soon!) so I added another one to the box. yay for artichokes! Love those things. so tasty.

oh another note - when I was planting cucumbers I was averaging 8-10 earthworms PER hole and the hole was about 8" deep and 4" wide ( if that!)