A couple of posts ago I offered to let my readers spend some of my money.  A few took me up on it but it seems not everyone saw the offer.  In the post titled “Animal Lovers Unite” at   http://grumpyoldtrucker.com/animal-lovers-unite I offered to donate a dollar to  TexAltaRescue for every positive comment made on that post before the end of August 2010.

Now some of you may have thought a dollar wasn’t worth your while, but let’s look at it this way.  If posting a comment took you three minutes it would be like earning $20 an hour.  If you accomplished it in two minutes it would be like earning $30 an hour.  Has anyone offered to pay those kind of wages recently.

I know, I can hear you saying, “It doesn’t do me any good.”  Well of course it does you good.  That is if you care about the well-being of animals at all.  Just think, if just fifty of my readers post a comment to that article and cause me to donate $50, that means over a months worth of hay for a horse this winter, or enough to feed all 50 cats on the farm for a week, or all 14 dogs for about 2 weeks.

So you see when you add things up, a couple of minutes effort on your part can go a long way to ease the burden at TexAltaRescue.  Of course, more is better too, and if you’re inclined to be even more helpful, donations are gratefully accepted of any size from anyone.

In case you missed the instructions for contributing here they are again:

Thanks to the internet It’s now easier than ever to make a donation. Either through your online banking or via PayPal you can send donations to:  texaltarescue@gmail.com care of Rose Salyers.

Or if you have questions or comments you can direct them to that email address as well.  I know some people prefer not to use their credit card online so just send an email to the email address above and Rose will be happy to provide you with her regular mailing address.

I promised in the last article that we would start to feature some real life rescue stories from TexAltaRescue, the animal rescue mission run by my sister Rose and her Texan husband Bill.

This first rescue story happened about 6 years ago and involves a practical joke gone somewhat awry.

It seems a neighbor of Bill and Rose’s was about to celebrate a birthday. We’re not told what age he was but we can assume from the ensuing events that he was not a young man. The man was an avid hunter and apparently so were the friends/relatives who decided it would be neat to rib him a little about his age.

They acquired a goat from somewhere and tied him out in the gentleman’s front yard with a sign around his neck which read “Happy Birthday You Old Goat!” When the man stepped out his door that morning to see what all the commotion was about, the goat took one look at him and immediately broke the rope and took off for the high country.

It was a Saturday when Rose and Bill discovered the goat hiding in the woods behind their farm they tied him up and proceeded to try to find out who owned him. It was Monday before they finally tracked down the practical jokers who said they had been out with the gun all weekend trying to track the animal down. Their intention was simply to find him and shoot him as it was obvious the birthday boy had no desire to own a goat.

“If you want him you can keep him.” they told Rose, “Otherwise we’ll come over and shoot him.”

Needless to say he is still alive and well and living in Paradise at TexAltaRescue. Given the name Starsky he can thank his lucky stars he came to the right section of woods during his great escape or his story would have definitely had a sadder ending.

Starsky is a Spanish Goat who now pretty much thinks he’s a horse, since he bunks up for the winter with the stallions. In the summer he spends long blissful days tied in the long grass thinking happy goat thoughts.

If you are interested in becoming a foster sponsor for Starsky it costs approximately $60 a year for his upkeep. Of course he only requires grass and water in the summer with the occasional treat, but does need hay throughout the winter. That only averages out to $5 a month folks. n return for your sponsorship you’ll get a progress report and an updated picture up to 3 times a year.  In addition, if you like, your name or choice of name can appear on Starsky’s page on the TexaltaRescue website for the duration of your sponsorship.

To sponsor Starsky for a year simply send $60 to texaltarescue@gmail.com either through PayPal or via your online banking. If you’d rather send a check or money order make it payable to Rose Salyers and mark it Starsky Foster Sponsor. Email Rose at the address above and she will supply you with her postal address.

As mentioned in a previous post Marilyn and I made it out to Alberta at the beginning of July. One of the many highlights of our trip was a chance to visit with my sister Rose and her husband Bill, the Texan. Among his many talents Bill played drums in bands for years and is a very entertaining magician. Check out his website at http://wackyworldofmagic.com

From a very early age Rose was an animal lover. She got her first cat at age 3 and her first horse at 8. Heck I think she may even have had a horse before she got a bicycle. For as long as I can remember Rose has been a rescuer of animals. She was forever bringing home the birds with broken wings and every critter that looked like it hadn’t eaten in days.

Old habits die hard I guess because Rose is still an animal rescuer, only on a much larger scale. Bill and Rose live on a small farm near Spirit River, Alberta and have made it a haven for every abandoned, abused, unloved or unwanted animal in a hundred mile radius and beyond. Often people just want to dispose of an animal because they’re no longer convenient.

Now Rose also raises and trains horses of her own but at the time of our visit the list of livestock included: 32 horses, 14 dogs, 50+ cats, 4 guinea pigs, a rabbit, 4 doves, 2 cockatiels, 5 budgies, 31 chickens, and a Spanish goat.
Bill travels 80 kms each way to his job at a building supply store in Grande Prairie. Rose works night shifts in a nursing home, cleans a bank 5 days a week, does upholstery work at home and still finds time to take care of the daily chores. Just feeding and watering that many animals alone is a big job.
To my knowledge Bill and Rose have never asked for financial assistance to provide for feed, fencing, or veterinarian bills. To make matters worse they lost their home to fire a couple of years ago with no insurance and are still recovering from that.
Now if you have a dog or cat to feed you’ve likely noticed how much it costs to feed them. Try multiplying that cost by one of the numbers above and you’ll begin to grasp the enormity of the problem. Add to that the shortage of rain in Northern Alberta this year has adversely affected pasture and hay supplies. Being a farm boy myself nobody has to spell out the implications of that to me.
As usual there are people willing to criticize the rescue efforts. Few seem inclined to offer help in any way, or even an encouraging word in support.

Bill and Rose have dubbed their operation TexAlta Rescue and I know some of you animal lovers out there would like to be involved in their heroic efforts.
The best way you can do that is make a donation to the cause of whatever size you can manage.

Thanks to the internet It’s now easier than ever to make a donation. Either through your online banking or via PayPal you can send donations to:

texaltarescue@gmail.com care of Rose Salyers.

Or if you have questions or comments you can direct them to that email address as well.
You can make a difference with even a small donation to this humanitarian effort. In the months ahead I will be following up with articles about some of the individual rescued animals and their stories. Stay tuned.

We are also talking over the idea of offering to let folks foster individual animals for a month or a year.  More details on that in a later post.

To put my money where my mouth is I will make a $1 donation in your name for each positive comment to this post between now and the end of August 2010.  (One per person please.)

Those of you who have visited my blog in the past will likely notice the brand new header.  This is now the official logo for the Grumpy Old Trucker.  It took a while to get around to it, but Mrs. Grumpy and I are quite pleased with the results.

We’re so pleased as a matter of fact, that I’ve set up the Grumpy Old Trucker T-Shirt Shoppe to offer others a chance to put their grumpiness on display.  So far there is only a single design choice available but more will be added over time.  If anyone has a suggestion for  humorous sayings to go with the Logo please leave it in a comment.

Click Photo to Visit our Online Store

Not only will my readers be able to acquire a Grumpy Old Trucker T-shirt, apron or mouse pad but you’ll also be able to come up with your own designs as well , then view them right on your computer before placing an order.

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Once again I have been far too lax about posting to this blog.  Maybe I can beg off with the excuse that I’ve been out gathering new material.  Anybody buy that?

Well it’s partly true.  Marilyn and I decided that in order to afford a holiday this year and spend some time together we would have to combine business with pleasure.  So on the 21st of June she threw her kit bag in the truck with mine and we headed off on our great summer getaway.

Hartland Covered Bridge

First stop Florenceville, NB where Marilyn met some of the Fastrax office staff for the first time, including the lady who was in charge of my orientation, and my dispatcher.  From there we went to Grand Falls where we picked up a load of frozen pizzas destined for Portage la Prairie, Manitoba. (Marilyn says “Don’t forget the garlic fingers”).

Northern Ontario

Marilyn kept the camera clicking all across New Brunswick, Quebec, and Northern Ontario into Manitoba.  Sure glad we got the 16 GB memory stick.  Of course, the wildlife I’ve seen on previous trips decided not to appear this time, but she did manage to snag a lot of scenery and at least one deer.

After delivering our load in Portage we had time to visit the Fort la Reine Museum, and she was able to get many interesting photos.  It just so happened that they were holding  Heritage Day celebrations and we had the opportunity to sample cinnamon rolls baked in an authentic outdoor clay oven.  A little burnt on top but tasty nonetheless.

Covered Wagon Fort la Reine Museum

After spending the morning at the museum we picked up our load at McCain’s and headed west for Edmonton.  With a bit of time to spare we stopped in at Ste. Rose du Lac, Manitoba for a visit with my aunt and uncle.  We enjoyed a delicious supper and a nice visit which included a couple of cousins of mine and their families.

We arrived in Edmonton Sunday evening and met up with a whole herd of family at the Yellowhead Truckstop.  My brother and his wife and one of their sons, two cousins and their husbands, and a nephew with his wife and children whom we had never met before as they came on the scene after we last left Alberta 23 years ago.  Sure doesn’t seem that long.

We delivered our load in Edmonton early Monday morning then dropped the trailer in the yard, and with the companies kind permission headed off bobtail for the north country.  First stop Grande Prairie where we had a nice visit with an old family friend and his recent bride and adopted son.

Come and get it!

Then, on to Spirit River to spend a few days on the farm with my sister and her husband.  First on the agenda was supper at a niece’s home in Wanham where we met her family for the first time, as well as another niece and her family and a nephew now 19 whom we had never met due to our move back to Nova Scotia.  A total of 13 of us at table including three grand nephews and one grand niece.

On Wednesday we accepted an invitation to the home of another cousin of mine on their farm near Woking.  Her husband had build an outdoor brick oven and we enjoyed a feast of home made pizza cooked to perfection in five minutes flat.  Since he had built it some distance from the house and at the bottom of a hill, he also got his exercise between pizzas.  It’s not every day one gets pizza delivered by scoop shovel, but it was delicious nonetheless.

Pizza on a shovel

Thursday morning, Canada Day, saw us bidding a sad farewell and starting on our return to Edmonton to go back to work.  A short visit in Wanham to allow the young ones a visit inside the truck and get a couple of treats to remember us by and then on the road again.  We stopped for a visit and supper with a cousin and her husband in Spruce Grove then on to the truck stop in Edmonton to await a load assignment in the morning.

More of our working holiday adventures to come ,and more details of our farm visit for you animal lovers out there.