Maddie and Spree

I lost my precious Maddie on November 22, 2011. She stopped eating and rapidly lost weight. She was tired, and she let me know it was time by laying her beautiful face in my lap and looking into my eyes. She is buried beneath a palmetto tree behind my friend Anna's barn with Anna and Cal's sidekicks, Nicolas and Hobbes.

On November 29, 2011, only a week later, my angel pony Spree began to colic and did not snap out of it. She had a seizure, and I made the hard decision to let her join Maddie (and Missy, Buffy, Ollie, Faye, Thunderkitty, Scooter, Kit, and her best buddies Abby and Abbey Road) in the land of greener pastures.

Moving to SC

In October I moved to South Carolina from my beloved Kentucky, leaving the Bluegrass for the Lowcountry. Moving 20 animals cross-country is no small task. It took several trips, but we made it... The first trip took place on October 14, 2011. My trusty sidekick, Madison, and I hit the road with 6 cats in carriers (Max, Maizie, Izzy, Sissy, Lily, and Jetta) meowing away in the backseat. My 2 Thoroughbreds, Cruise Control and Singing Breeze, rode along in the 2-horse trailer as we wound our way up and down the mountains between Knoxville and Asheville. Nerve-wracking at best. Thank goodness for Maddie- with that little beagle mix riding shotgun, I could go anywhere! We arrived in the dark and found our new rented farm. Overgrown and not at all clean as promised, it was a place to unload after 13 hours on the road. Maddie and I camped out on an air mattress, which the cats promptly punctured, and we were back on the road after a few hours of sleep.

We made it back to KY and slept again before loading the 6 barn cats (Lucy, Oprah, Peaches, Clara, Squirrelly, and Catfish) into their carriers in the trailer dressing room. (Yes, I learned the hard way on trip #1 that 13 hours of meowing can drive you nuts!) Next came Spree, my 38 year old pony, who traveled in style in the 2 horse, box-stall style. Maddie's greyhound sisters, Dixie and Rainy, hopped into the backseat of the truck. My Ewok-lookalike rescued stray, Mini, cuddled into a blanket below Maddie's shotgun seat in the floorboards. Following my truck and trailer was my dad in the Uhaul. I convinced him that Henry, my Shepherd mix, would be a great traveling companion. Henry jumped out the driver's side window before we made it out of the driveway from Cornerstone Farm in Ky (oops!), so Dad and I had to have a chat about how far he could roll down the windows....It's always something!!!

We embarked on another 13-plus hour drive, stopping once for an impromptu birthday dinner for me once we survived the mountain portion. My 36th birthday had just ended when we rolled up the drive to my SC farm. All 20 animals made it in one piece...even Maddie and Spree, my sickly geriatric kids. My little family was all together again. : )

Welcome to my Ark! : )

Welcome to Erin's Ark, a blog about the many animals I am blessed and lucky enough to work with daily! I will start by introducing my own four-legged "kids".... Stay tuned!