AN APPEAL FOR HELP

 

BELLE’S BACK 40

Kelly got her Yoga times mixed up this morning & headed out about 8:45 for a 9 o'clock class.  She was back about half an hour later after realizing the class didn't start until 10:30 on Tuesday mornings.  Lost her incentive to go back again so we decided to take a drive over to Belle Starr's & help her a bit more with some computer stuff.  Belle was hoping to get her website back up & running but despite Kelly's best efforts, Belles treasured site has been erased from her website carriers site & is not retrievable.

Belle is such a caring person with a heart of gold.  Her love & care of stray animals is well known in these parts.  Her determination & spirit is to be envied & admired by all who meet her & Belle goes out of her way to help the homeless & downtrodden.  And therefore.........therein lies a sad problem.  It is these very people who have most often taken advantage of Belle's kindness & caring.  Her trusting nature has led to her house being ransacked by a 'person' while she was in the hospital with a broken hip.  Equipment has been stolen from her property by people she befriended & she is a constant target of internet scams & flim flam artists. 

  

As we talked with Belle this morning it was apparent she was in pain from her broken hip back in August.  A second fall has injured a knee but this 82 year old independent lady won't let any of that daunt her & is reluctant & afraid about returning to hospital.  She still struggles to get her wheelchair & scooter out the door & down to her John Deere gator tractor.  Belle can't ride her horses anymore but she can still drive her John Deere down to the corral to see them.  Belle’s spirit is not going to let something as trivial as a broken hip & injured knee stop her.  She has had a young fellow helping her on the ranch the last while but he's moving on this week.  Thad travels in a travel trailer but he's headed east to do some fishing.  Belle took in another homeless person a few days ago to help with the horses but after meeting this fellow to-day I'm not to optimistic about that working out.  Belle & the ranch are in desperate need of a 'responsible' person or persons to help, whether it be short term or long term!!  She really needs a trusting person to step in & take a leading hand at getting the ranch back in shape!!

 

As Kelly & I drove back to the rig this afternoon we were both saddened by Belles circumstances & felt helpless in not knowing how to help her.  Belle is in need of medical attention & her house & ranch are in need of repair.  All the animals are doing OK right now but hooves need to be trimmed, manes combed, etc.  Fences need repair & corrals need to be strengthened.  Some electrical work in the house is much needed & some plumbing repairs to some outside RV sites are needed.  A general clean up would go a long way into an overall improvement for both Belle, the animals, & the ranch.

 

So, I appeal to my fellow RV'ers/Bloggers/Friends & Boondockers out there.  If your in the area or know of anyone who can stop in & help this lady I ask you all to spread the word.  Belle has 2 workable RV sites plus acres of boondocking land & it's free for anyone to stay there & help Belle out if they can.  Water the many miniature donkeys, hay to the horses, feed for the geese, pheasants, & peacocks.  Belle's dogs are all friendly critters & wagging tails greet all visitors.  If you love animals, there are plenty of critters here to love you:))

 

Kelly & I are not members of any RV clubs or have an abundance of RV friends but the thought occurred to me this afternoon about some of the clubs like the Escapees who have a lot of people functions & rallies.  I know they have a boondocker division for example & I wondered if they had any 'special rallies' where they gather to do good deeds for unfortunate people.  Thought how a club rally at Belles ranch would be be a good idea for everybody.  She has the room, she has a great personality, she has facilities in place, & she's only a 10 minute drive from beautiful Bisbee & 20 minutes from Douglas & it's big box stores.  Belle would love nothing better than to get out around a campfire again with a bunch of great people, play her beloved western music, & spin her favorite tales of old Nashville friends from her music days.  

Belle's property has ATV & hiking trails leading into the mountains as well & she has Hughes net Wifi on the property.  I see the possibility here for a win/win situation for both RV folks & Belle Starr.  And, like I said before, if any of our readers, fellow bloggers, friends, & RV folks can help or know of anyone who would be interested in helping this grand old gal of the wild west we'd sure appreciate hearing from you.  For obvious reasons I'm not going to post Belle's email address so just email Kelly & I here at the Bayfield Bunch.  

I will include the link to my post about BELLE STARR a couple weeks ago & in that blog you will find more links to Belle & her Silverado ranch.  Wouldn't it be great to gather a bunch of folks to-gether sometime in March maybe for a big get to-gether at Belle's ranch:))  Ideas & opinions would be greatly appreciated.......... AL.

All photos to-day are from Belle's place:))

(click on photos to enlarge)

GROANER'S CORNER:((  One Sunday morning, a mother went in to wake her son and tell him it was time to get ready for church, to which he replied, "I'm not going.""Why not?" she asked."I'll give you two good reasons," he said. "One, they don't like me, and two, I don't like them."His mother replied, "I'll give YOU two good reasons why YOU SHOULD go to church. (1) You're 59 years old, and (2) you're the pastor!"

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The only thing better than right now will someday be the memories of right now....AL.