Squirrels and Semen

Weird, long, great, squirrel-y day!

My Equine Industries class took a
rode trip to the elusive
Newberg, OR to visit
a Kentucky Derby Winner!

His name is Grindstone
and he is a beautiful stallion.
We also got to witness
the semen collection routine
of another great stallion
they stand.
He produced over a billion
sperm cells in
one go. We got to look
at it under the microscope.
Awesome.For the latter half of my day,
I helped out at
the wildlife rehab.

I went in to the squirrel
enclosure
and was viciously attacked!Just kidding...
This little guy was
quite friendly.hehe

Trail Extravaganza

This last weekend,
my friend Shauna and
I went to a
trail extravaganza
at the Oregon Horse Center.

I had no idea what to expect,
but it was awesome.
Horse and rider had to navigate
hills and valleys, rocks and timber,
and a 30 foot long pool!

It was so elaborate,
AND THERE WERE MULES!
You can never go wrong with mules.

Man, that is a huge mule.

The riders had to walk around that fake mule,
and it was probably the obstacle most missed.
The horses just didn't like that mule.

Yes, that is a waterfall in the back corner.

This is me with a large boot.

Wildlife

I am volunteering
at a wildlife rehabilitation
center.
I took some pictures of

the cuteness.

Baby Robins

Little gosling

Little gosling stretching

Lots and lots of baby ducks

Baby raccoon

Meat

My class went to

a meat processing center

this week.
I was a little
scared, but it
was actually not
bad.

This is where they actually
"knock" the animals
and bleed them out.
Next, they are hooked onto the ceiling track,
which goes throughout the entire building.
I was really surprised
how clean it was.

Afterward,
my class talked
about the fact that it
didn't smell...well,
except for when we
were in the smoker.

I will definitely
be continuing my
vegetarian ways
but I like that
the process is
humane and
a USDA inspector is
always on site.

My Favorites

My favorites of
2010...

Kitchen Gadget
Straw Dispenser

Magazine
Interview

Mouthwash
ACT Anticavity for Kids

Book
Karen Robards "Bait"

Food
Annie's Mac and Cheese

Decorative Accent
Candle

I chose the items on this list
for two reasons:
they are awesome
and
they were sitting
on my kitchen table.

My brother is

turning 30...
I scanned some cute
baby photos.

Goat Dairy

Yesterday, I went to

scope out a job
that was being offered at
a goat dairy in Logsden, OR.

It was so cool.
Unfortunately, I couldn't
accept the position because it
is too far away...
BUT
I was there for
like 4 hours helping with the
milking process and
I learned so much.

This is the milking parlor.
It holds 12 goats.
They currently milk 58 total,
so we did 5 cycles.

Before and after they milk, they clean the udder
and put iodine on (that is the brown on the floor).
Some goats were super good milkers
and other wouldn't even let you touch
their teats.

All and all, I would love to work at a
goat dairy some day, it was
just too far (80 minutes away).