Random Snapshots of Our Big-Little World (part 3)

Nothing excites me more than the day I become "The Goat Lady"...! 

This is my future!

Only, I will be The Goat Lady with One Hundred Acres and a Yurt!

I CAN'T WAIT!

*wink*

ABOVE: I never read this book? 

I just liked the image! 

I will have to check it out one day!

https://www.amazon.com/Goat-Lady-Jane-Bregoli/dp/0884483096

BELOW: Ahhhh...my favorite scent in the world!
Not really...
but one of them! 

*wink* 

I was torn between "Dirt" or "Tomato"...?

My favorite shoes EVER! 

I wore these beauties until the sole fell off of them! 

I miss them! 

*sniff-sniff*

Oh, Mo...my best friend in the world...forever! 

I did not deserve your loyalty! 

I miss you horribly...R.I.P

I have not been the same without you...

Mo was a Wolf Dog! 

In the ABOVE photo, he had been recently shaved! 

His fur was so thick..., especially around his neck! 

His Mother was 1/2 wolf-1/2 husky mix, and his Father was Chow! 

He and I were connected in a very special way...

he could read my mind! 

I trained him to obey by hand-signals...not words! 

Every once in a while, Mo would walk off and howl...

reminding himself of where he came from! 

He was a true gift from the Gods...

Maybe I will be blessed enough to find his spirit again...?

Mo and I lived in my car together once, for several months while deciding where we were going to set up homestead! Kayla and Tripp had moved to B'ham...Tripp was to start a special school for Autism and Kayla wanted to change things up a bit by living with her Dad! At that time, her Dad had his shit together, and she and I talked about her moving to B'ham (which she was excited about)...so it seemed like a good idea at that time! So, I was kidless and didn't know what to do with myself! It was just Mo and I...travelling around visiting family and old friends! We eventually settled in Waverly Alabama in an old farmhouse that did not have heat nor a/c! We camped there for a year! Absolutely had the time of my life! I lived in complete silence and borderline isolation! I was at one with myself...the first time ever! But I was young and grew lonely for affection as young people do, so after a year of pioneer life, Mo and I moved back to Florida! That's when I met Coopers Dad...

the rest is history...

Fast forward 5 years...

BELOW: Mo was staying with my friend Tim out in rural Camp Hill while Cooper and I were in Atlanta. We were moving to the big city and I needed a couple of months to settle in and come up with a pet deposit so Mo could live with us! During that time, some good for nothing ASSHOLE ran over my dog! Mo crawled all the way back to Tim's house where he died!

FUCK ME!

I got a phone call...

It's Tim...

Tim said he had some bad news...

I said, "Mo is dead"...

Tim said, "Yes...I am sorry Leigh..."

I asked Tim if he had buried him yet...

"No"...

I am in Atlanta...

I told him I would be there in 2 hours and asked if he had a shovel...

"Yes"...

I get to Tim's and there is my dog...

my best friend...

laying there...

dead...

"Where's the shovel...?"

"In the shed"...

I get the shovel and I looked at it noticing that the tip of the blade was curled up...

no digging with THAT shovel...not in Alabama red clay!!!

"Do you have another shovel. Tim?"

"No"

"What else do you have?"

I looked around and the only thing I found was a mason hammer, 

like this one...

 (image not mine)

I began to chisel...

I pounded that clay...

BAM, BAM, BAM!

While scooping the dirt out with my hands...

I thought about how I failed my dog...

I thought about how I wanted to find the person who killed my dog...

I thought about nothing...

I thought about crying, but I didnt...not yet...

Tim came over to check on me...

"Leigh, you know...we could build a fire...?"

I said, "Tim, this dog was my friend for 5 years...the least I can do is dig a hole for him..."

It took me 4 hours (non-stop) to dig a hole big enough to bury Mo...

I wanted to beat the sunset...

I didn't want to leave him any longer than he already had been...

I wanted to set his spirit free.

I laid him into the ground...

Covered him with dirt...

Then...

When I couldn't see Mo anymore, 

I howled...like he used to do...

That's when I cried.

ABOVE: Mo's Grave...

XO

BELOW: Our family portrait painted... 

(re-painted as our family grew) 

by Kayla Jo (my daughter)...

The original painting was of
Me (age 33), Kayla (age 10), Tripp (age 7), and Mo...

Then, a couple of years after Cooper was born, Kayla (age 16/17) painted him along with "Lion", 

Cooper's favorite toy...

In 2014 Kayla painted Keen and Zipp along with "Blue Bear",
Zipp's favorite toy...

I will post a photo of the revised family portrait in the near future,,,

BELOW: My friend, The Luna Moth...always nearby...*smile*

BELOW: A 10-pound bass I caught at a small pond in LaFayette, Alabama...the pond is now called, "The Lady's Pond"...HeeHee!
I pissed off a couple of "Gents" when I caught this big boy!
*wink*

THE FISH STORY:

Yeah, I know...but you can't post a photo of a fish that big and not tell the story behind it! 

I had gone fishing with my (now) Ex-husband and a friend of his on my Ex's family property! I decided to fish on the other end of the pond from where the guys were fishing; eating blackberries from the bushes along my way! I threw in my line, a 4-pound test line, and waited! I felt a tug...I started to reel in, and I was thinking I had snagged a root! But the root was moving and my rod was bending...this was a fish...a BIG fish! So, I started reeling him in! We had been catching brim all day, so I was not expecting a fish that size! I assumed I had caught a bass, but we had never caught a bass that big in that pond...so I wasn't really sure what I had caught! Then, I saw him as he reached the bank and he was BIG, and I was FREAKING! That fish was way too big for the line I was using...
the only thing going through my mind was the fear of losing that big ass fish and no one EVER believing me!
And...
that was EXACTLY what happened!
lol!
Shit!
Once the fish reached the bank he started to roll and, SNAP...
my line broke! Fish was gone...
and the guys thought I was full of crap when I told them about it! 

Yep! 

The next morning I decided to go to the exact spot that I had fished the day before...I was on an "impossible" mission to catch that big fish AGAIN! I threw in my line...the same 4-pound test line (we had no other line with us)...and waited! I felt a tug...like the day before! I was thinking that there was absolutely NO WAY I could hook the same big ass fish TWICE! But I did! HaHa! I reeled him in...he reached the bank and began to roll...just like he did the day before! There was NO WAY I was going to lose that fish TWICE! So what did I do? I jumped in the pond and I grabbed him by the mouth! I pulled him out of the water and I held him up in the air like 

Rafiki did with Simba in The Lion King...

(not my photo-lifted off internet)

That was when I heard,
OH MY GOD
coming from the other end of the pond where the guys were fishing!
I carried that fish by the mouth all the way around the pond to where our camp was...
dropping him 100 times (heavy as heck) along the way...
lol...
it was AWESOME! 

I was using a worm, "Tequilla Sunrise"...with a BB!!! *wink*

BELOW: Preparing Thanksgiving stuffing...what? 

Turkeys need love too! Muah hahaha! 

Sorry...that was bad! 

Real bad...

HeeHee!