My doctor says I hurt my neck from stress. I think it may have been the way I slept or pilates. I don’t know. It still hurts a bit but I’m on good muscle relaxers and anti-inflammatories and have some fun exercises to do. :-)

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I spent the weekend housesitting at my parents’ mini-ranch. I call it a mini-ranch because it’s only 2 1/2 acres. While that is bigger than most city people will ever have, it’s rather small for rural areas.

I also call it a mini-ranch because they have miniature animals. :-)

They have horses…well, shetland ponies. Cookie and her daughter, Princes Moki (who has one beautiful blue eye) are the sweetest animals. They talked to me all weekend. Moki is barely a year old and is sassy as heck. She lets you know what she thinks of you right away. She can be sweet to one person and the next, she tries to kick. She’s funny though. She has a really cute personality. Cookie is the vocal one. She will talk and talk. She called out to me often while I was working in the yard this weekend.

My parents also have pigs. They have two potbellies. One is Trixie who was a rescue. The previous owners never cut her hooves, filed her teeth, or really took care of her. Consequently, the quick in her hooves has grown out and now her hooves can only be cut back so far. It is rather sad because the hooves are incredibly long and it’s hard for her to walk. The vet has come out and tried to do what he can but he says there is very little more we can do. She also loses her hair at the end of every summer and so she becomes bald and looks a bit scary. She’s a doll, though, and is very shy. Hohokam, on the other hand, is a little terror. He’s not even a year old, has blue eyes, and terrorizes everyone. My mom got him when he was 4 weeks old. He was very sickly and the breeder wanted someone who would take care of him. Let me tell you, this little portly thing is not sickly anymore. He delights in making Trixie squeal, loves to chase the dogs, and even likes to chase people. He doesn’t bite but it can be intimidating for a little black pig to come tearing towards you at high speeds.

Also on the mini-ranch, my parents have 3 rescue greyhounds, Kia, Leeza, and AppropriatLee (Lee for short). These dogs are astounding. There is nothing more beautiful than watching them run at full speed.

We used to breed beagles and bassetts but found that we had a hard time selling them because we fell in love. Consequently, there are 5 beagles (Dakota – who is mine, Coalie, Arizona Charlie, Sandra, and Bridget Bardot) and 3 bassetts (Rusty Lowrider, Harley, and Pancho) baying at everything and being complete joys. These dogs are the most loveable perpetual 2-year-olds that I’ve ever seen.

I felt a bit like the pied-piper this weekend. I had a pig, a dog, and a horse following me all of the time.

It was kind of fun. :-)