Managing one website is fun; managing six is work even if they all are WordPress sites.  I’m not doing it for a living, but sometimes it feels like a job–a twelve hour job.

I love the artistic part of the job or even the blogging.  I also enjoy behind the scenes dealing with widgets, add-ons, etc. until it gets over whelming in volume or complication.  I don’t like repetitive crap and I don’t like to spend hours and hours studying something and still not know how to fix the problem.

I just finished adding a plug-in called “Link-Checker” to the SLO NightWriters’ website and then it told me that there were  seventeen bad links.  How long have they been not working?  I’ve fixed thirteen so far and decided to take a break.

Gotta go and upgrade all the sites now.

I never thought I’d be looking for another horse.  When you’ve had the best, how do you think about something less than the best.  The truth is I don’t want another horse–I want Finn.  I can’t have Finn, anymore.  Our majestic horse, Finn McCool, was euthanized a week ago.

Finn was a chestnut colored, fourteen hundred, fifty pound, seventeen hand, Irish warm blood. He was seventeen years old and extremely well trained in jumping and dressage. He was once a lesson horse and my husband, Roland, took him trail riding.  He was a dream horse for two people, in their fifties, learning to ride.

His previous owner, Carrie McPherson Kimmel, sold him to us after we leased him for a year.  Finn wasn’t quite good enough in dressage to take Carrie to the Olympics, so he became ours three years ago.

He loved the beach and didn’t want to go back to the trailer when you tried to turn him around on the sand. He was purrfect, except he couldn’t purr.  I gave him scraps from the juicer; it was a funny site seeing a huge horse lick my hands.  We both loved it, though. 

Finn had many friends, some with two legs and some with four legs.  He was an unusual horse, both in stature and demeanor.  He was admired by all.  HEAVEN CAN WAIT, a rescue organization dedicated their newsletter to Finn McCool and I’ve included the dedication below:  (Thank you Ramey Zamora.)

HEAVEN CAN WAIT NEWSLETTER – July 2010

This edition of the HCW Newsletter is dedicated to the memory of Finn McCool, a big hearted big horse owned by a good friend and supporter of Heaven Can Wait.  Finn suffered a torn diaphragm diagnosed through surgery on June 25^th — the damage was too much to save this great 18 year old.  Our hearts are with his owner, and that’s where Finn’s heart is, too.  Thanks for years of beloved companionship.

Finn McCool, by Roland Hinkle

Your kindness continues to inspire us.

You can visit their site at:  http://www.heaven-can-wait.net/site/

Roland wrote a explaination of how Finn died for the people at our barn and I’ve included it below:

Sadly, we lost Finn Friday night June 25.  After looking distressed that morning, Dr. Osborne saw him at the barn.  When he hadn’t improved in the afternoon, we took him to Alamo Pintado.  Additional tests at Alamo indicated exploratory surgery.

Dr. Judy discovered a tear in Finn’s diaphragm that let his liver and intestines migrate into the chest cavity (a diaphragmatic hernia).   All of his colon and much of his intestine had died from the  compromised blood supply.

The damage was too great to save him and he was euthanized on the operating table. 

Dr. Judy commented that the tear was the largest he had seen and most horses wouldn’t have been standing with the damage he saw.  Finn had walked into the clinic and later to the surgery prep room on his own.

He was Finn to the end!  

Here’s a photo of Roland and Finn jumping.  Finn had jumped many times before and much higher, but it was Roland’s first jump.

The two most special memories I have of him are when he trusted me enough to roll and when I trusted him enough to lean forward and let him take a jump with me on his back.  Although, I’m leaving Finn’s trust behind I’m taking my trust and the love of a great horse with me.   

Warrior Cats Forbiden Couples – Everytime We Touch

Video:  Tigerfire12

What is a Father?

Wikipedia says, “Most fathers are naturally protective, supportive, and responsible…”  Well that lets the male contributor to my gene pool off the hook for Father’s Day.

According to Wikipedia, “The Father-child relationship is the defining factor of the fatherhood role in life.”  I agree and I owe a debt to the man that stepped in to provide that “fatherhood role”—my Uncle Bob.  Without him, I don’t know where I would be now.

Uncle Bob held my hand and wiped my tears when I fell down.  He made me feel safe and cherished.  He walked me down the aisle when I got married and so much more.

Happy Father’s Day Uncle Bob!

Dog Pack Attacks Gator In Florida.

At times nature can be cruel, but there is also a raw beauty, and even a certain justice manifested within that cruelty. The alligator, one of the oldest and ultimate predators, normally considered the “apex predator”, can still fall victim to implemented ‘team work’ strategy, made possible due to the tight knit social structure and “survival of the pack mentality” bred into the canines.

See the remarkable photograph below courtesy of Nature Magazine.

Note that the Alpha dog has a muzzle hold on the gator preventing it from breathing, while another dog has a hold on the tail to keep it from thrashing.  The third dog attacks the soft underbelly of the gator.

Not for the squeamish…

Laughter is good for the soul. Have a Great Day!

Later Gator!!!!

He’s very sweet, likes to take a bath with me and loves to kiss.  However, his favorite thing is to draw blood on my arms, legs and neck.  I am covered with bites and scratches.

I love my writing partners, Christine Taylor and Jim Leonard.  However, I felt something was missing in my writing and that I needed more help than my partners could give me so I made a big decision.  I have taken on an additional partner. 

His name is Dac and I think he will be a good listener and hopefully he will inspire and create many works of art. 

I hope my partners like him and feel he is a good match for me and for the group.  I talked with Jim about our new partner, but I haven’t discussed it yet with Christine.  I’m a little worried what Christine will think. 

We have photos of all the kritiquekritics.com partners, so I have included a photos of Dac.

Just look at the size of his ears; don’t you think he will be an excellent listener?

Just look at that mouth; he’s going to be an amazing storyteller.

With a writing instrument that unique, I think he will create a masterpiece.

Dac, short for Dac’l is itching to get started with his first story.  When I was emailing the vice president of SLO NightWriters, Dac couldn’t help but put in his 4 cents (he likes 4′s, not 2′s).

He’s already written his first poem:

Poly-

Dac-

tyl

am

I.

by Dac’l Hinkle

I’ve wanted a polydactyl for more than thirty years.  I finally have the chance to get a one.  There is a litter of polydactyls being cared for by Feline Network.  Feline Network is the group that helped alter all my feral cats.  I donate each year to this group because I believe in what they are doing.  If you can help them or you just want to visit their website, click on their name above.

Polydactyl cat

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A polydactyl cat is a cat with a congenital physical anomaly, with more than usual number of toes on one or more of its paws as a result of a cat body type genetic mutation. In animals including humans, polydactyly (or polydactylism, also known as hyperdactyly) is the anatomical abnormality of having more than the usual number of digits on the hands or feet.

Normal cats have five toes on each front paw and four toes on each hind paw. Polydactyl cats may have as many as seven digits on front and/or hind paws, and various combinations of anywhere from four to seven are common, although each of the front and rear paws are typically the same. Polydactyly is most commonly found on the front paws only, with polydactyly of all four paws being less common. It is rare for a cat to have polydactyl hind paws only.

The true polydactyly – commonly called mitten foot, mitten cat or thumb cat condition – is a congenital abnormality, genetically inherited as an autosomal dominant trait of the Pd gene with incomplete penetrance. This type of polydactyly is not life-threatening and usually not even debilitating to a cat. Some polydactyl kittens initially have more difficulty in learning to walk than normal animals. However in some cases polydactyly appears to improve the dexterity of the animal. For example, a common variation with six toes on the front paws, with two opposing digits on each (comparable in use to human thumbs), enables the cat to learn and perform feats of manual dexterity generally not observed in non-polydactyl cats, such as opening latches or catching objects with a single paw.

I love big cats and little tiny baby kittens, too.   When my niece was little and our family had a litter of kittens (the mother cat had the kittens).  We called them “Tiny Babies” so my niece would understand that she needed to be careful with the kittens.  My niece grew up to love all animals.

lil baby cat found

Video:  ccube85

Shio Feeding: Round II

Video: cheesesux

Baby Kitten drinking from the bottle

Video:  shalladorecats

I’ve been busy over the last three months and especially overwhelmed the last month.  I’ve been working on a website and a new Facebook for SLO NightWriters.

I didn’t create either site.  I made changes/additions to the website that Aaron Kondziela built and I’ve just started adding photos to the Facebook site that Natalie Borgardt created.  I also linked the sites.

I’ve learn a lot, but I am not in Aaron’s or Natalie’s league.