Where Mutts are appreciated

Muddy Mutts ACRES

Cocoa is a rescue from a dog pound. She is the happiest dog we ever had. She is always so glad to see us. When we brought her home, she literally was skin and bones; her hip bones were very visible. Only two months old and she trembled at the sight of a belt, but it wasn’t long before she learned to trust us. To our delight she turned out to be part coyote. 

 

Jeffery, the stray cat, showed up at porch starving to death howling for attention. At first when we fed him, we thought he was growling. It turned out that he was just purring really loud. He was a great mouser.

Feel free to leave us a message: CFernCook@muddymuttsacres.com

 

An acquaintance had taken in a stray dog that was pregnant. When the litter came, there were six pups that all looked alike, like Collie pups. They were all cute; it was very hard to pick just one. Lady was pretty much just a random pick of the bunch. Lady’s natural talent was being gentle when someone wanted to hug her. So, we put her to work as a certified therapy dog. She is now retired.

Zena and Gato were once feral cats. A friend had been feeding a pregnant cat that lived under the office building where she worked. I volunteered to take one of the kittens, but ended up with two. After all the kittens were caught and found homes, the mother was spayed. We knew nothing about taming feral cats, but soon learned. A key point to taming feral kittens is they must be under three months old. Everyday we cornered them and petted them whether they liked it or not. Leather gloves were worn for our own safety. It took close to a month to tame them enough to have them move from the garage to inside the house.

 

We consider our property to be a welcome spot for wildlife. We have a bird feeder and squirrel feeder and are in the process of making part of the back acreage a wildlife refuge. We started planting bushes and trees that are both food and cover. Last year we planted serviceberries and mulberry trees. This spring we are putting in some native tall grasses. It is a work in progress. We get flooded every spring and a few geese and a crane stop by for a few days.

 

We have five laying hens and one rooster. We have had chickens for several years, but we still find them fascinating. The rooster lets the hens eat first and gets upset if they squawk when we pick one of them up. They love dandelion flowers and greens. The chicken coop was once an industrial rabbitry where the previous owners raised rabbits for labs. We changed that to an animal friendly environment. We gutted the cages inside so they have room to run and stretch their wings. We also built a fenced-in area where they can go outside and still be protected from wild predators. They get leftover fruits & veggies and bread. So they get excited when they see us because it is treat time. 

 

We are also mutts, no pedigrees here. We are from America’s melting pot. Our heritage is a little of this and little of that. We first met in grade school and married very young. We moved up our wedding because the apartment I was living in with my grandma didn’t allow pets. It was either move or get rid of the dog. So my grandma wouldn’t get evicted, I got married early and took my little dog with me. It was inevitable that we ended up the way we did, huge animal lovers.

We will be sharing more of our own animal rescue stories in the future. We are interested in hearing your rescue stories, adoption stories, stray animal rescues, animal rights victories, etc. We would like to be able to share some of your animal stories on our site.

Available Now

“South Dakota Way” is categorized as an inspirational romance story.  It is, but that is only a part of the story.  It is a story about starting over and conquering personal fears.  It is about becoming a part of the community and it also offers a glimpse into the diversity that South Dakota has to offer.

As you will soon see, all of my stories will have animals in them as a back story.  See part of the first chapter below.

“South Dakota Way” ISBN 1-60474-726-9 is now available at the following well known locations:

 Publish America, Barnes & Noble, Books A Million, and Borders

 

 

 

 

 

Carol’s life has been turned upside down the last few years. Newly divorced and a new graduate, she moves across country to start life over. Brahma, South Dakota is where her new place of employment is. This town appears to be as deserted as the nearby Badlands. The western culture and Indian reservations of the area open up a whole new world to her. The best part of her new job is meeting Ed Fraser. He is a very eligible bachelor, but his days as a bachelor are over the moment he meets Carol. Carol thinks her life is complicated enough without having to juggle a new relationship too. But maybe Ed is the best thing that could happen to her. 

Chapter One

New Beginnings

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

     The long grueling drive across country is almost over.  Exhaustion and boredom has taken its toll; Carol’s subconscious has had plenty of time to dwell on all her imperfections.  As she drives through the desolate countryside of South Dakota, she sets herself up for an anxiety attack. This has become way too easy since she has gone out on her own.

    The same old argument creeps up. What was I thinking, coming out here in the middle of nowhere, no friends or family for support and starting a new career? A lot of people still don’t like women pastors, especially divorced women. That’s two strikes against me. Maybe I should’ve picked something else for a career. When people find out I can’t be a saint…

     The solitary road sign pointing to Brahma breaks her destructive train of thought, Brahma 45 miles. Well, am here, might as well give it my best shot. State highway 83 takes her straight through the middle of Brahma. Turning onto the main road that leads to town, her first impression in not a pleasing one. The town resembles a scene from a 1950’s sci-fi series of a dusty, deserted ghost town. A sign points to a business district, but that must have been put up years ago. The only thriving business in the area is the truck stop back on Interstate 90. The residential area seems just as deserted; the only signs of life are a couple of stray dogs that run across the road.

     Carol pulls up to her new place of business, the Brahma Community Church. The outside of the church looks like another abandon building, the wood siding is bare except for a few spots of peeling paint that is still clinging to the wood. Carol tries the

front doors, but they’re locked. Walking around to the back, she sees the sidewalk that leads to an equally deteriorating parsonage. A wood frame house that has a blue tarp tied across the roof and a yard that is a mixture of sand and weeds.

   Trying the back door of the church, Carol finds the door unlocked. Once she steps inside she hears the high-pitched voices of children playing coming from the basement. Following the voices, she walks down the steps into a large room filled with toys, miniature tables and chairs, and a room full of rowdy children.

The children stop playing to stare at the stranger that has walked in. They don’t see many strangers in this part of the country.

     A short, slightly overweight woman walks up to Carol and asks, “Can I help you?”

     “I hope so. The sign out front says this is the Brahma Community Church. I’m supposed to start to work here as the new pastor.” Carol is surprised to see so many children when the town appears to be deserted. “Is this some sort of preschool?”

     “This is the area Headstart. Are you Miss Jacobson?”

     “I’m sorry.” Carol reaches out her hand to introduce herself properly. “I’m Carol Jacobson.”

     In mutual politeness, she returns the courtesy. “I’m Nancy Anderson, the Headstart teacher. Welcome to Brahma, Miss Jacobson.”

     “If you don’t mind me asking, do you go to church here?”

     “When I can.”

     “So what else do they have going on here besides Headstart?” Carol winks at a shy little girl hiding behind Mrs. Anderson, who peeks out from behind her legs every few seconds.

     “A lot happens here. The whole town uses this building for one thing or another. It’s used like a community center since the town never built one. They have the town meetings here, the local AA meets here. I don’t know if the boy scouts are going to meet here this year or not. And of course, Headstart rents the basement out.” Mrs. Anderson glances at the clock behind her. “When my assistant gets back I can show you around the church.”

     “Is there a phone here I could use?” Carol fishes for a slip of paper in the front pocket of her jeans. “I need to call Ed Fraser.”

     “Sure, you’ll like Ed; he’s a good guy. He’s been holding the church together since the last pastor left. If you want, you can use the phone in your office. Just go back up the stairs, into the sanctuary and the first door on your right will be your office.” Mrs. Anderson grabs a little boy by the arm as he tries to run by and wipes his nose. “These kids always have a runny nose, no matter what the weather is.”

     “They’re some cute kids you have here.” Carol winks again at the girl hiding behind Mrs. Anderson. The little girl ducks her head back behind Mrs. Anderson making Carol grin remembering how she use to be a shy little girl. “I guess I’ll go try to call this guy. Thanks for your help.”

     The first thing she notices when she arrives upstairs is the inside of the church is not as depressing as the outside of the church. The sanctuary appears to have been painted recently an off white and the pews have new beige cushions to coordinate with the fresh paint. The large windows give the sanctuary a lot of light, making the interior seem bright and inviting.

     Her new office is only a ten by ten room, with a built-in bookcase and a large wooden desk. The two corner windows let in plenty of light and give her a view of her new home, with all of its flaws in plain view.

     Carol pulls out the old wooden chair and gets a feel of her new office. Opening the top drawer on the right side of the desk, she snoops for anything that she can find that will give her some information about what she has gotten herself into. The drawer is filled with old church bulletins and a ring of keys. Leaning back

she swings the chair around and props her feet on the corner of the desk and folds her hands behind her head and comments out loud, “I think this office will do.”

     A sudden knock on the door makes Carol jump straight up, slamming her feet on the floor for balance. Mumbling, “Come in,” while trying to regain her composure.

     Mrs. Anderson pokes her head around the doorway. “You ready for that tour?”

     “You bet. I’ve got a million questions I’m dying to ask. Do you mind?”

     “Go ahead, ask away. I’ll answer as many as I can.” Mrs. Anderson waits by the door for Carol to join her.

     Carol gently runs her hand along the wood grain of the built-in bookcase. “When was this church built?”

     “1888, it’s one of the oldest buildings in the area. It was the first church built in the county. It was the Brahma Lutheran Church but since the town doesn’t have another church the members voted to change it to a non-denominational church.” Mrs. Anderson stops behind the larger, intricately carved wooden

podium. “Of course, this is the sanctuary.”

     Carol picks the hymnals lying on the podium and causally thumbs through the book. “Why did the last pastor leave?” She puts the hymnal back down and follows behind Mrs. Anderson.

     “Well, he didn’t take kindly to us changing it to a nondenominational church. Pastor Johnston decided it would be better if he left. He wasn’t a very compassionate man; he would have made a better accountant than a pastor. Come on down to the basement, I’ll show you where the cleaning supplies are.” Mrs. Anderson leads the way to the stairs.

     Stopping at the bottom of the staircase, Carol asks. “Did you like him?”

     “He was Ok, I guess. But I don’t come to church because I like the pastor. Besides this is the only church for miles around.”

     “What kind of people come to this church?”

     “Mostly older women. What we need is to get the kids interested in this church. It wouldn’t hurt to get some more men in here either.” Mrs. Anderson jokingly winks at Carol.

     “Maybe it would help if we put up a mirrored disco ball in the middle of the sanctuary and have some strobe lights.” Carol hums and does a few disco steps. “Maybe if we tried playing some of the church hymns to a rap beat it would shake things up.”

     “Yeah, you go girl.” Playing along, Mrs. Anderson joins in with a few dance steps as she opens a closet door built under the staircase. “This closet holds all the cleaning stuff we have. I want to put a hasp and padlock on it to keep the children out of here, if you don’t mind?”

     “Sure, just let me know where the key is.” Carol wonders if the rest of the church members will be as open minded as Mrs. Anderson is.

     As they walk back towards the Headstart class she points across the hall, “This is the only bathroom here. It’s small, only has one toilet, it gets kind of busy with all the kids down here.” As they stand at the doorway for the Headstart classroom, all the kids yell in unison, “Hello Mrs. Anderson.”

     “When we’re around the children, please call me Mrs. Anderson. I think its better that way.”

     “Ok… What time do your classes start?”

     “I have one class in the morning and one class in the afternoon. So, I’m here from about eight to four-thirty. This is about all there is to the church. Do you have a key to the parsonage?” Mrs. Anderson leads the way back to the steps.

     “No.” Carol leans against the banister. The railing gives way from the weight; startled, she abruptly straightens up. “I guess we need to fix this railing.”

     “Yeah, there are a few things around here that need fixing up. We’ve been lucky so far that all repairs are just minor.” Mrs. Anderson knocks on the wooden banister. “The keys to the house are in your desk. Did you want me to show you the parsonage too?”

     “Nah, I think I can do that on my own. Thanks. Is it alright if I call you Nancy when the kids aren’t around?”

     “Sure. Let me know if you need anything. Nice meeting you, Carol. I hope you like it here.” Nancy walks back to her class.

Muddy Mutts ACRES

Reviewed by Chad

South Dakota Way is a great story about new beginnings and second chances in life. Carol Jacobson is newly divorced and a recent graduate, she moves across the country to Brahma, South Dakota, where her new place of employment is located at, moving to South Dakota opens up a whole new world for Carol.

The characters are refreshing and realistic; the dialogue is crisp and entertaining. The chemistry between Carol and Ed is completely believable and enduring, a great intertwining story.

South Dakota Way is so compelling; I enjoyed the whole story a lot. The author is a fresh face in the business and I for one hope she is around for a very long time, with wonderful stories like this one here!

C. Fern Cook writes romance, and the welfare and proper care of animals (a subject dear to Fern’s heart), with insight and compassion, this novel is one worth buying and to recommend it to all of your friends and family.

ISBN 10: 1-60474-726-9
ISBN 13: 978-1-60474-726-3

Inspirational Romance Christian Fiction Romance Animal Story Stories

Please visit our artist friend’s website:

 

www.danawarryck.com