By Daron: My blog spot is much less interesting than this one so I'm posting my Saturday's events here. 2 workers from Kruger (the company putting in the satellite equip for our new internet) are in town with a company car which happens to be 4WD so the 3 of us took off down the 61 mile dirt road across the Arizona Strip to Toroweep which is a secluded and barely accessible rim of the Grand Canyon. It turned out to be way better than the more touristy North Rim. You could actually just walk off the edge and fall all the way to the bottom! I had to take it easy on the risky stuff since Zeena was with me. Check out these pics, Amazing!!

SweetHeart, The Burro



So yesterday I am hanging out with our elderhostel group in the horse area. The ladies in the group are excited to muck, brush, and love on the horses. Only a few horses like being groomed so we headed over to the Donkeys, Burros and Mules. Jennifer, the horse manager, warns us that SweetHeart likes to tug on clothing and hats. How cute! SweetHeart has beautiful big ears (the photo doesn't do her justice) and soft soft fur. So eventually all the ladies head over to another burro and I am alone with SweetHeart. I push her nose away from my new white sweater that she has been eyeing and feel her soft fuzzy lips on my hand. So I let her lip my fingers. Her lips are big and soft and funny feeling. "Oh, you are so sweet, don't you have any teeth?" I ask. Next thing I know she has bit down on my finger. Luckily it was bent and sideways so I wasn't in danger of losing it (hopefully). So here I sit, the Humane Educator, the one who WARNS others not to do stupid things, "Don't put your fingers through the fence" "Watch the body language of animals" blah blah blah. Here I sit with my finger in the Burro's mouth trying to CASUALLY pry it out of SWEETHEARTS mouth. Talking doesn't seem to work, enticing her with the glove doesn't seem to work, not even offering her up my brand new white sweater! Eventually, I pried my finger out. No blood just some big ol indentions in my skin and a near heart attack. I could only picture myself walking to the group with a bloody nub! Yikes, that would be soooo embarrasing. A dog might not sound so wimpy, Even a pig but a burro, A cute Doe eyed burro. The kind of burro that took Jesus and Mary across the desert... Well, all is well my finger is intact and physically looks as normal as my other fingers but on the inside it feels a bit foolish!

A Raise, Firewood, Basketball! Daron is in Heaven.

Daron got a raise the other day at work, we got a truck load of firewood from one of my coworkers and Basketball season has started. Daron is a happy man! The leaves are falling from the trees and there is a wonderful smell of woodburning stoves filling the air. My parents will be here in two weeks just in time for my birthday and Darons family will be here in about 6 weeks to go skiing!

My new boots. That is not real fur! Unfortunately, they do have some leather on them. Ideally, I would like to get away from buying leather. Baby steps...

The Sanctuary is absolutely beautiful in the fall. All the leaves are changing colors, the deer are starting to migrate down from the mountains, and the air has a crisp clean feel to it. It has been far too long since I have felt the first sting of cool morning air or smelled fireplaces heating up houses. These photos were taken during the Art Retreat by one of the attendees. I don't have any good photos of all the yellow and orange leaves because I am usually driving when I see them! The turkeys like to hang out in the horse pasture by the old barn. That barn was part of the movie set to "one little indian" an old disney movie. We left the barn up for the horses and because it looks really cool. The turkeys must know we only serve vegetarian food here at the sanctuary because there are ALOT of turkeys around. The photo with the Yurts (pronounced URTS or ERTS) is the area we call Little Lebanon. The Yurts house the cats and the dog shelters are in the background. The Yurts were used as animal hospitals during the Katrina rescue. Enjoy!

My Parents return from their Cruise


Brian and Mary set out on a seven day cruise with their buddies Jack and Jolynn.
They had a great time. As you can see they worked on their tan, went to shows, dined on fabulous food and visited the beaches. They are planning to visit us in Utah in the middle of November. Daron, Rodeo, Zeena and I are anxiously awaiting their arrival!!!

Sepi my favorite Moluccan Cockatoo







Yep, That's Sepi alright! The group settled into sketching Friday morning at Feathered Friends. No one was sketching Sepi so he yelled "Pretty Bird" "Hello" "I'm a pretty bird" along with a few screams. I got the hint (ha ha) and went over to his cage. "Sepi would it be okay if I sketched you?" Quiet and coy was his only response. As if he was saying "Who ME?" His caregiver Al brought him out and set him on a rock in front of me. So for about 30 minutes I sketched and more and more participants gathered round and more and more of us encouraged him to dance and sing and sure enough he did. Amazingly enough it took alot of coaxing. (If we all turned our backs and walked away he would of responded much quicker!) Anyhow, a girl in the class has a photo of me showing Sepi the sketch I did of him and he actually turned his head to the side (his eyes are on the side of his head) and looked at it, moved closer and touched it with his beak. I went ahead and let him grab the corner of the book knowing full well that these birds rip apart phone books for fun! He took two gentle nibbles on the paper and moved on. The photos show various stages of Sepi fluffing his feathers, bobbing his head up and down sideways and spreading his wings.

ART FOR THE ANIMALS WORKSHOP

Well, I have spent the past week in an Art Workshop at Best Friends. It was wonderful. We sketched cats the first day, dogs the second, horses/pigs the third, bunnies the fourth and birds the fifth day. The afternoons were spent at one of the artists house/studio. Wow, I now have 4 new artist friends here in Kanab. Really good artist. I discovered I can sketch cats, bunnies, horses pretty good. Dogs are an entirely different story. Not so good at dogs or birds but I am working on it! It is probably that I like them the best and really want to capture their essence. I experienced two things I haven't done before - print making and ceramics. Very cool.

Monday and Tuesday were overcast and cold - winter jacket weather. Wednesday - Friday were t-shirt and shorts weather!

This is EGG-actly what I am talking about!!!!

How cool is it to have fresh eggs. Daron gets them from a lady on the reservation. YUMMY. Of course, the first thing I said when I opened them is I want to paint a room that green color...

Fall Party on our New Old Table



Our Girls WhINE Night was crashed by Daron and Bill. I guess girl talk is exciting after all. Although by the look on their faces they don't look too thrilled! Marissa and Gabriella made it and "Ella" as we call her was very very good. Our friends Laura, Renee, and Kathi didn't let the "boys" bother them. ha ha.


The most exciting part of the night was using my new old table. I have been wanting an old beat up dining room table with "history" for about 8 years. They are hard to find. Actually, let me rephrase that "They are hard to find at a cheap price." Anyhow, I was talking to the "dog whisperer" who has been here 20 years and who just moved into his new house on the property. A few weeks later he asked if I was still in the market for a table. He had a wooden table in his old trailer that he was going to throw out. It was from an old western movie set. It has a stamp "Fox Film Studios" underneath and a small metal tag on its side. YES I WANTED IT. Whoo hoo. So, you can see the table in the photo. I need to clean it up a bit but I like the worn look. Oh, he also said that the gum underneath the table was there before he got it. He left it because you never know whos it might be. Just think he said "The actors were sitting around and the director yelled "Action" and John Wayne, Paul Newman, or Clint Eastwood had to quickly stick his gum under the table. Yes, I am convinced it is one of those three :)

Best Friends Makes the CBS Evening News!!!!

This week, viewers are sending Steve to welcome 300 refugees to America — all from the recent conflict in Lebanon, all four-legged. How'd they get here and who's taking them? Steve will find out.

Watch Friday's CBS Evening News with Katie Couric to see Steve's report.

How Cute Is My SISTER????






Lil' Lisa, as Daron calls her, has been getting along just fine in her new house in Kentucky. She lives in Louisville to be exact. You pronounce it like Lew l ville. So don't embarrass yourself by saying Lew Us Ville. That is a big no no and makes you look like a dork. Hate to say it but it is true. Anyhow, this is her photo and the cute gal next to her is her friend Jill. Jill is cute and pretty but not as fabulously gorgeous as my sister. I am biased I know but if you want to remain my friend you will agree.

HOW CUTE IS MY HUSBAND?







So it is a beautiful fall day, BEAUTIFUL and I am driving home thinking what perfect weather to take fall photos with the doggies. Daron comes home and takes a few shots of Rodeo and me. Rodeo couldn't sit still and I pray I look better in real life than I do in photos. Anyhow, Daron was looking very handsome in his fall colors so I asked him to pose for some photos. Whatch out Paris and Milan we have the new IT guy in Kanab, yes K-A-N-A-B Youtaw. I love love love the one of Rodeo and Daron and Zeena and Daron! Who's the cutest dog ever?

Lebanon Compound
Best Friends and BETA staff and volunteers arrived safely in Las Vegas at approximately 1:00 a.m. PST with 295 cats and dogs. They arrived at Best Friends Animal Sanctuary as I was pulling into work this morning! From my office you can see into the lower canyon where we set up a temporary quarantine shelter for the dogs and cats. You can hear the excited barks from the dogs. They are thrilled that thier long journey is over and probably pretty excited to relax in Angels Canyon far far away from the war zone. I will keep you updated on their progress or you can check in at http://network.bestfriends.org for up to the minute news. Also, if ANYONE see's an article in thier newspaper or hears anything on the news please let me know. Thanks Everyone!!! Oh, many might ask why go so far out of the way to rescue these animals in Lebanon when Best Friends gets 500 request a week to take an animal. We network all over the country to try and get those 500 request the training, help, contacts they need in order to solve their problem. A big reason we are helping the Lebanon animals is as much for the animals as it is for the rescuers. From what I remember from past conversations there were 4 ladies running the shelter. They were doing their best but were running into many obstacles. Aside from shelters being destroyed by war they ran out of kitten food and unlike the U.S. you can't just run to PetCo and pick up more! In fact, we helped them contact neighboring countries (not cities COUNTRIES!) and no one had kitten food. So we sent two people who check 175 pounds of baggage. You guessed it, all kitten food.

I took a photo of the Best Friends Welcome Center for Karen. It is really pretty. I also took a photo of the shooting range that I drive by on the way to the sanctuary. I am sure they aren't practicing to shoot anyone or any animal. (this is what I tell myself!) I also added photos of my friend Marissa and her 8 week old Gabriella and two dogs we have at Best Friends from Iran. They are sweet and pretty well trained!

Hello everyone, I am back. Last week was very busy. I was able to attend one of our workshops - the Dog Behavior and Training Workshop. Fun. I am posting photos of the instructor Sherry Woodard and in the background Ethan - Ethan was one of the rescuers during Katrina. He got a first hand lesson in dealing with all sorts of dogs - scared, tired, aggressive, etc.

Party in the kitchen?

Why is it that whenever you have people over they congregate in the kitchen? It is the most unattractive area in the house yet EVERYONE ends up there. Here are two of my favorite couples from work (yes, they all work for BF) One couple is from Chicago and one is from Dallas! How can you go wrong with that! Notice Rodeo is the center of attention - of course!

Saltydogcreations is back up!!!

It is not 100% but it is off to a good start. The best part is the icon that Daron and I came up with. See for yourself. Visit the site - the link should be on the right hand side. Please bear with me it is not finished yet!

Our Guest Volunteer at Humane Ed.


I have always loved Catahoula dogs. They have a beautiful speckeled coat. We have a regular volunteer that comes down from Salt Lake with his dog Max. Max is a Catahoula. Max is a talker. I love Max. He is also great with the other office dogs - Oscar, Zeety, Binika, Clover, and spotty the cat. Yes, we have more animals than people in our office. We have two guinie pigs and sometimes my boss Cathie will bring two of her four dogs and sometimes I bring Rodeo... Ah, the joy of being an animal person and working at an animal sanctuary.