When we moved here in 2003, we had 2 cats and one mixed breed mutt. Driving 700 miles with the cats in carriers and the mutt in the back seat of our extended cab F250 is something we never want to do again. But they are family and now the family has grown...

Index Mia Lil Chit The Horses The Goats And other "things" and those we will always love

Mia is the newest member of our family arriving the first week of January '08 to ring in the new year! She came from the Henry County Animal Shelter and was about 5 months old at the time. Our cat Lil Chit intimidated her in the beginning, but they have become great friends. They sleep and eat together and play tag or hide-n-seek inside the house. Mia has lots of energy and loves to play fetch with whatever toy is available. When she is done, she snuggles up and...SNORES! In this picture she is trying to fathom the flakes coming out of the sky (Mia, we don't see these often here either!) We think we'll keep her! :)

Lil Chit was rescued at 5 weeks old in Indiana (1999?) when visiting relatives or she may have been put down. There were too many cats where she came from. She got her name from being sassy, biting, chewing and generally not being loveable at all as a kitten. We had to have her de-clawed up front to save our skin. She has come around and now loves to sleep snuggled against my arm, while I'm on the computer. She is more of a house cat and adventures out only to be with her best friend "Lucky" or when we push her out the door.

Junior

Carmel

For more information on Junior, Carmel and all things Horsey, see The Horse Page

Junior and Carmel's colt "Tequila" - 21 June 2006
Junior and Carmel's filly "Snipper" - 27 March 2005

It took a while to clear areas of the pasture, but the weeds and privet came back almost as fast. We were told a couple of goats would take care of that problem. So along came 2 nanny Boar goats (Kudsu and Privet), named after their favorite problem plants they like to eat. Our dear neighbor then offered us a Pygmy billy goat we named Kavey as he reminds us of a cave man. We now have 4 "kids" from both in early 2005. We never dreamed we would own goats and the thought of them multiplying was a bit overwhelming! We also had to put an electric fence around the perimeter of the pasture to keep them in. They really do help control weeds and have fun personalities, so we think we'll keep them!

Kudsu's Babies or Privit's Babies

The property has plenty of wildlife. We can sit on any of our porches or deck and watch the squirrels, rabbits and deer come and go.

Then there are those unwanted critters! Fire Ants...there are millions in each pile and plenty of piles. We put out the Fire Ant Killer, but they just build new mounds somewhere else. We also run across scorpions. These are the first I've seen. Warren (our son)found one down by the pond and I have found a few under a pile of bricks, rocks, brush, etc.

Then there are those other critters that crawl on the ground. This includes the salamanders, toad lizards, etc. Lil Chit loves to play with them and bite their tails off. These really don't bother me until she brings them in the house and let's them loose. The snakes I can do without! Besides, snakes and horses do not get along well. Those species we have found on the property so far are shown below. Note these are not the actual snakes, just representative pictures of them.

Copperhead (Poisonous)	Black Rat Snake	Eastern King Snake
Green Snake	Red Bellied Water Snake	Ring Neck Snake
Brown Water Snake	Common Garter Snake	Black Racer Snake