Playing Catch Up...

Chores, chores, chores. Rain and mud and overgrown pastures. Way too many rain days and not enough daylight to get things done.

The horses are doing fine. The teenagers are, well, teenagers. The husband is still here after 20 years. I'm trying to figure out all the logistics of horses.

The good news is that it's July and the sun is shining and the weather forecast looks good for the next few days. Hopefully hay season isn't a bust and the economy will begin to pick up more.

Just in case you are in the area and want something to do next weekend, check out this new blog site. They were featured in the Message for the Week and the Eagle Times over the last two weeks... This is a barn I volunteer at and they are doing wonderful things.

www.horsepartnersvt.blogspot.com

Kate Adams is a wonderful lady with a great mission and a great program. It's not like I don't have enough to do without volunteering at another barn, but after seeing what her mission is and what she is doing, I'm sold. I like being around Kate and working with her and her horses. And the kids love the program. It's a wonderful thing. Stop by and visit and see for yourself!

:)

Growing Webbed Feet!

I'm slogging through the ankle deep mud, trying to keep shoes on my guys, and hoping that the sky is going to clear up any day not. Not - according to the weather forecast. The chickens need to be ducks in this weather.

SO, pending warmer weather and sunshine, I'll have more to tell you, other than just trying to keep ahead of chores and water overload and not enjoying the outside :(

Remember the Skinny Quarter Horse?

Remember the skinny quarter horse that we picked up - along with the black mare - earlier this spring? Well, after a couple of doses of worming medicine and his feet being trimmed, along with LOTS of groceries and some TLC grooming, here he is just two weeks ago... isn't it amazing that just FEEDING a horse will help it look lots better? He's going to be a great horse for the grandma and grandkids to ride - so we have been told. We're going to let grandma find out, in a few months, after he has gained a little more weight - he still has a ways to go.
The black mare was NOT pregnant - just loaded with worms and I'm supposed to go visit her in the next week or two, so will show you updated pictures.

Doesn't he look great? And the Police did go to their residence and all the other horses are out of there. Don't quite know all the details, but according to friends and neighbors, they were supposively 'bankrupting' the owners with their feed bills. Hmmm... seems like they were finally getting the feedings they needed and deserved!

Friday, Friday, Thank God It's Friday!

Well, long time, no see. The chickens are getting big, as well as the turkeys - my nephew is no longer worried about what everyone is going to eat (another story!) and the kids and horses are still alive. The husband and I just celebrated 20 years of marriage and I have my jobs, but a few less teeth. (I had two teeth pulled Wednesday and have been quite out of the normal routine).

Hoping to catch up this weekend and have some pictures to show you, along with a few more tales to tell.

Hope everyone has wonderful plans for this weekend...

:)

Waiting for Dull and Routine

Sigh. The funeral is over. A new washing machine was brought in. The teenagers are still being teenagers. Ohy, vey. The garden is almost planted. The chickens and turkeys are growing. The pool was set up and is filling with water. I'm waiting for dull and routine. School is almost over. The new ride broken down. The world continues to turn. The sun is still shining.

Summer is almost here. :)

Thou Shalt Not Whine - NOT

Ok, first for a short whine fest. Yeah, yeah, I know - Mom's 11th commandment is thou shalt not whine. Ok. Works for the kids, but what if you're the Mom that made the rule? Guess that means I can bend it a little.

The washer died. The freezer went kaput. The dryer is gimping on it's last leg. My father's funeral is Saturday. The teenage girls are stretching their boundaries and giving us more gray hairs. It rained almost all last week. The garage couldn't fix the truck because it wouldn't NOT start for them. We asked the oldest daughter to spread her wings and fly. I went for a ride on Elias and found that we aren't matched and now I'm trying to rehome him. I'm waking up with me teeth hurting because I'm grinding them so hard. (The tooth I broke in half last October is killing me... ) I woke up with a huge cold sore on my bottom and top lip this morning. I'm stressed to the max.

Ok. Sigh. Done.

Anyways, we are getting a new fridge, calling in the repair man for the washer and my husband is trying out a new ride as his is finally falling apart.

The ride with Elias wasn't a total wreck, but just really made clear to me that his idea of a ride and my idea of a ride aren't even on the same planet, maybe not even in the same universe.

The mare left on Sunday. It was a sadness and a blessing. She will be missed. But she is going to a wonderful farm in Maine where she will become part of a regular schedule and be ridden and used by a lady who loves her.

Elias is missing his mare. His first reason for not wanting to leave the barn. He is barn sour, to a small degree. He did go, without too much of a fuss, but really, really wanted to get back. My friend Lxxx went out with me on her mare, and we went around the back pasture a few times. He was doing well, but feeling VERY good and wanted to GO! So we walked around out back and he started getting a little antsy about going back to the barn. When I put on the brakes, he was trying to convince me that he wanted to GO! So we turned around to go back around the woods. Then he wanted to trot. After a couple of paces, he tried slipping into a canter. When I pulled him back to a walk, he got a little light in the front end and my heart really started thumping. I put him on a tight left rein and turned him in a circle, with his head almost to my knee. He only turned once before he stopped and looked at me, questioning, "Why can't we GO!!!?" I got off. My knees were shaking. He is 16.3 hands. HE is TALL.

So, to let him know that he couldn't act up and get his way, I led him down the hill into the gravel pit, walked around down there a little bit (where we were going to RIDE) and then had him walk up the hill behind me. He had his best ground manners on. He walked the whole way with his nose on my shoulder and didn't crowd me or push me or do circles around me.

I was upset and I was crying. I just wanted a horse that would go out for a quiet walk. He needs a job. When I turned him back out in the pasture, he was cantering around in circles and figure 8's and had a wonderful head set and a perfect extended, floating trot. He needs a job. He wants to work every day. He wants to go, and go, and go.

So, if you know anyone who is looking for a work partner, he is sane, sound and can do lessons, flat work and jumping. He has shoes on all 4 and I have his papers. (And yes, I talked to Cxxxxxxxx, his old mom, who told me she was unable to take him back and I could place him in a good home.) :( Sigh. He is a gentle giant. A true, sweet soul.

So, when we got back to the house, since we had only rode for about 15 minutes, I rode up with Lxxx to her house and rode Mr. Reliable. Mr. Old Steady Eddy who is almost (may be) 30. The quarter horse gelding that I love. That I should have taken instead of Elias. Live and learn. We went for a wonderful 2 hour trail ride, walking along paths in the woods, next to the stream, through the field (with a few cantering steps thrown in for good measure) and then back home. It was a wonderful confidence builder.

NOPE! Please don't email or call. I am NOT looking for a horse. I still have Buddy and the ponies. Elias isn't gone yet. And I'm going to be very, very, very picky about what I take next. Maybe I won't take another until Buddy is gone.

Going to bed as the day tomorrow is going to be long and I need to catch up on some sleep I have been missing. Maybe this weekend I'll get in another ride on Buddy. He seems to be doing better and not lame or limping in the morning. Think old age is catching up to him, too. He's 29 this spring....

oh, where, oh, where does all the time go???

Time is such a fleeting commodity. I have my day all planned out, then someone throws in a money wrench and I'm set back hours, if not days, in my quest to get the things done that I need to do.

I'm on the hopes that as soon as school gets out the sports schedules will slow down and some of the chores that I need to do are going to be delegated to my teenage daughters.

The washer died. The freezer kicked the bucket. The dryer is acting up. The mare was picked up this weekend :) and the baby chicks are making a huge mess every day. It's surprising how much work 8 tiny beings can create!

So, I did go for a ride this weekend. It didn't start off so well, but finished great. I'll write more later today if I can find the time before I fall asleep in front of the computer. Sigh. Just not enough energy.

I also started mowing my mother's 1 square acre lawn. My father used to do it, but since he has passed away, she needed someone else. It's 16, 682 steps (according to the pedometer) and I do it in two days, a couple of hours each time.

So, today is my day off - except for the usual chores and picking up the girls and meeting a friend of mine for a late lunch. Groan. All I want to do is go back to bed.

Oh, well. Onward and forward. Keeping one foot moving in front of the other.