First Official Website Post

November 5, 2019

Good Evening Everyone,

Welcome to our website!! This is SO exciting. It will be a bit more of a blog format for now as we work on the true website. 

I’m so pleased to be writing to you again and apologize for the long delay in between updates.  It definitely hasn’t been from a lack of events. ;)  This is a bit lengthy, but I wanted to catch you up on everything, so I hope you enjoy.

Ridge 2 River received its 501c3 non-profit status, which we are super excited about! I continue to work on the next steps of getting it officially up and running. It will take time, but is so exciting to have progress. 

The most exciting news first, we have 2 new members to our family! We have a new little kitty that technically lives with the goats in their barn, but he has made himself quite comfortable all around our property. He was about 3 months old, we are guessing, when we got him. It was my last weekend flying for the season, Labor Day, so Eric and I decided to meet for dinner Monday night on my way home after the full weekend. We met at one of our favorite restaurants, Yodelin, in Leavenworth. As we walked in shortly before closing our friend working mentioned there was a stray kitty on the back patio that had been hanging out and if we caught him, we could keep him. So, it began. We ordered our usual & headed out back to try to find this kitty. There he was being chased around by 3 young kids, running from under one table to another escaping their little hands. Also being sure he wasn’t running to a table with a dog under it as well, since it is a dog friendly location. He was used to being fed treats and would get just close enough for that, but no one had been able to hold him or catch him. They had even set up a live trap and hadn’t been able to catch him. It wasn’t the worst living space for a little kitty, but Winter was around the corner and there was nowhere warm and safe for him to go and the restaurant was in the middle of town so there were a fair number of cars and other predators around. So after about 45 min. of trying to lure him in close enough to catch, I knew we only had one chance, we knew we had to try something different. So, I found something to play with and was laying under one of the tables playing with him as Eric very, very slowly snuck up on the other side of the table and pinned him to the ground with his hand and picked him up. Eric started yelling at me, because he wanted my jacket to wrap him in, but instead I grabbed the kitty and immediately regretted my decision. He was scratching, biting and howling at us. He was so scared and upset. I knew if I let go of him he would be gone forever and I knew it all was in his best interest in the long run, so I just took the pain. Eric ripped off his flannel and wrapped him up in it and then he sat quietly on my lap. Then, the next question, how are we going to get him home? We both had a car there. So, the guy with the live trap let us borrow it and we put him in there for a safe ride home. It was getting pretty late by the time we got home, but had some leftover litter from Pearl, a big crate, some snuggly blankets and made him a nice little house and put him in with the goaties. Amazingly it didn’t take long. Within a week I was able to not only pet him, but hold him. After the first day anytime Tulips or I were in the barn he would start purring….he has one big motor for such a little guy. I scheduled his first vet appointment for his vaccinations and didn’t quite know what we were in for, but turned out he laid on my lap and purred the whole time…while getting injections, nose drops etc. It was unbelievable. A week later he was scheduled for his spay. Yes, spay. This whole time I was convinced he was a girl. Yes, I had looked and didn’t see any male genatalia and was pretty certain of it, until the vet called to let me know the neuter went really well and that in fact our little kitty was a boy! Who knew, such small parts and they are really far back there and quite hidden. Anyhow, Thank goodness the vet tech decided to double check before they moved in for the shave! Yodi, short for Yodelin, has turned out to be one of the coolest cats I know. Besides the fact that he is pretty needy, which you can’t help but laugh. He will follow us around like the dogs. He wants to be held almost all the time. (that’s not an exaggeration) As soon as you touch him, the purring begins. If you don’t pick him up, he will jump from the ground and latch himself like Velcro to you and walk up the side of you to your arms or shoulders. He also likes to ride around in the front of my jacket like a little roo & today he rode in the wheel barrow too. He can get anywhere, is definitely a hunter, and can fend himself off from the other cats and Luna. He and Maya have become besties and she can’t wait each day to go see him. She will climb up into his loft and lay by him and steal his food. They run and play and cuddle and venture together multiple times a day. It is adorable. If we aren’t around we’ve caught him a few times hanging out with the deer. We are pretty sure he loves his new home and we are so happy to have him here with us. 

Our other new family member is Maddy, a precious little girl dog that my mom rescued. Maddy is estimated to be about 9 months old or so and has had a rough little beginning to her life. She had a family but was running across the street and got hit by a car. Turns out the family said they wouldn’t be able to pay for any of her medical care, so therefore the vet wasn’t able to provide care. So, the family turned her over to the Humane Society. The Humane Society did an evaluation and planned to amputate one or both of her back legs….which could have potentially led to euthanasia. We are unsure, but luckily our vet was keeping in contact with the HS and when they found out the plan, they asked the HS if they could take custody of her because they knew amputation wasn’t necessary. The Humane Society was happy to hand her over to the vet and they immediately started treatment, and she was now a clinic dog. In the beginning it was a nice place to recover and be safe, but it was hard at nights when she was left in a kennel and was terrified and stressed all night, so much that they couldn’t leave her alone anymore. She hated kennels and being left alone at all. She was so scared she would drool excessively, bark continuously and end up injuring herself trying to get out. So, she would go home with different staff members each night/weekend and spend days in the office trying to heal. They wanted to find her a great home, but with the care and attention she needed, it turned out not to be easy. Mom had mentioned for a long time she wanted a dog, but It just hadn’t happened, I’m not sure she was super excited about Maddy either, until she met her. As many of you may know, as soon as you go “meet”an animal or “just look” it often ends up in a new family member and for Mom a new best friend/little girl. They are inseparable. Maddy is spoiled rotten and Mom is as happy as can be with her new little buddy she can take everywhere with her. Maddy girl still has a bit of a long road ahead of her with two smashed back paws, and couple broken toes, but she has sure come a long way and you wouldn’t ever know what she’s been through with her cheery spirit and love for everyone. She truly is a sweetheart. I don’t think Mom ever left her side for the first month or so she had her and now Maddy is content laying on the couch or sleeping on the bed while Mom is gone doing her thing. 

The only unfortunate part to this is we lost our animal sitter. Anytime Eric or I wanted to do something or go on vacation, Mom was our go-to. She would always willingly and excitedly come stay and take amazing care of all our animals. And and added bonus, our house was always spick-n-span when we got home. As most of you know Luna is not super accepting of dogs in her territory or anywhere around her really.  We are hoping someday her and Maddy will coexist, but it will most likely be a while. So, I have been on a search for a new animal caretaker/housesitter for when we want to go out of town. This was difficult at first, knowing it would be quite challenging to find someone that I trusted and did as good of a job as mom did, but turns out there have been many positives that have happened in turn. I have had the opportunity to talk with community members about the Sanctuary and they all seem quite excited about it. Eric and I have welcomed a few new friends to our circle as well through the process, we have had a lot of interest and found a couple folks that seem to be a good fit. I have already started training one young girl who is quite excited about it. So as they say, “blessing in disguise”… “things seem to work out for the best ”….the “silver lining”….“meant to be.” We will miss having Mom here, but love the home she has been able to give Maddy and the love Maddy has been able to bring Mom. It is well worth it! 

We have already had a couple nights where the low has been in the teens, so the goats and pigs are new proud owners of coats! Well, the pigs are not so proud….we are still working on them just keeping them on and not throwing a fit about it. But, the goats have seemed to take to them fairly well, perhaps it could have been those cold nights they had them on and were snug in their barn. The pigs get so cold and will refuse to even come out of their heated house some days to use the bathroom or get fresh air, so I was hopeful that coats would encourage them to venture out in the Winter…..but we have some work to do there. I found a lovely lady in NY that will make coats made to order. Insulated, easy clean, waterproof, not expensive, very well done and you even get to pick your own color! 

Everyone else is doing well. Eric continues to work diligently on rehabbing his knee. He had a follow-up appointment last Friday and the Dr. was again pleased and impressed with his progress. It is still sore daily for him, especially days he is really active on it or works it out, but overall he has made huge progress and if you are wondering….Yes, he will be skiing this Winter. “Not an option,” he says. The Dr. has agreed to get him a brace and he doesn’t need an  appointment again until January. The doc just recommended waiting as long as he could to ski, which we all know, will be day 1 of snowfall. ;) 

Maya, our little adventurer, was sprayed by a skunk a few weeks back and more recently healed from a coyote bite. For such a sweet mellow girl she sure thinks she’s tough with the wildlife. She loves coming with me morning and evening when I feed and clean, and usually she is such a good girl, but once in a while she sneaks away just enough to get herself into some trouble. So now she spends a lot of time in the goat yard, which she doesn’t mind one bit because if Yodi isn’t in there, she plays with Chino or lies and looks out on the canyon keeping tabs on and control of everything….mostly with her high pitched bark. 

We continue to be busy preparing for the Winter season. Eric and our friend, Stu, (thanks you 2!) chopped a few chords of wood for the stove and Eric and I started stacking it today. Lots to do, but we are getting there. The sunny days are a huge help! It’s been a beautiful Fall and I am back to teaching for the year as well. I teach for a non-profit, the Educated Choices Program. www.educatedchoicesprogram.org We focus on the food we eat every day and how our food choices effect our Health, the Environment and Animals. I love the program and the teaching, it is a nice change from flying in the summer. A new documentary that is out on Netflix, ‘The Game Changers’, has a lot of similar information that we talk about in the classroom. I highly recommend watching it. ;) 

We want to thank all of you who have come to visit. We love having you. We are looking forward to a busy November with more friends and family visiting! I hope to write more consistently in the future. Thank you again for all your continued love, support, & encouragement. 

~Namaste