May 2021

Happy Mother's Day!

Hope all you mother-types have had a wonderful day!!  


INDYAPP:
 Glad you got your tooth fixed!  I hate teeth problems.  


Donnie and James, the new neighbor,  worked hard all weekend on the fencing.  Unfortunately only about half of the first stretch got done.  That part looks good!  I suspect there will be a lot of fencing in our foreseeable weekend future.  The part that got done is between our yard and the neighbor's.  The fencing in the pasture didn't get touched.   Luckily we have those round pen panels set up, so unless their mare can jump a 6 foot fence, it shouldn't be a problem with keeping her out of our field.


We did have an unfortunate incident on Friday.  Two of our cute little hens got killed by something right in our arena!  This happened in the middle of the afternoon in broad daylight.  The hens would hang out around the barn area scratching for whatever chickens are scratching for and were incredibly tame.  They did start life in our bathroom for several weeks.  I suspect the hens watched a fox walk right up to them and never thought it would hurt them.   Our dog walks by them all the time.  We found about half of one hen and only feathers from the other.   Poor chickies.  The remainder of the flock are now locked in the dome and their house 24 hours a day.  We've never had chickens attacked by anything but a hawk during daylight, but we found some small doggy looking tracks in the arena near the hens.  The woods are nearby and the foxes are probably raising babies. We tossed the remains of the hen over the fence and Donnie said it had disappeared the next day.  They may as well finish the meal.  

Other than that,  we are fine.    Donnie doesn't feel quite retired, this weekend he feels mostly tired!

Oh boy, it seems Bobby Baffort is in deep doo doo. Hope it isn't true................

How much is a picogram? The definition I found said it is one trillionth of a gram. Maybe because I don't want to believe it, I don't think he did it. He knows the rules and knows he is likely to get caught. I would hope he's smart enough to not try to cheat. How hard would it be to contaminate a sample with that tiny amount if somebody wanted to do damage to Baffert?

This morning's entertainment was the replacement of a power pole right beside my driveway. It took them about 2 hours to get it done. They have all kinds of neat equipment to make the job more efficient. It was fun to watch.

My tooth is all fixed and good as new.

I worked on stringing one strand of hot wire and it took me all weekend. Saturday I spent a lot of time trying to get the chain saw running. It was working fine, until I got too close to the ground and got a bunch of sand on the chain. Chain saws don't like dirt. I gave up and used the high power weedwacker to cut down the vines that were in the way. Sunday I tore the chainsaw apart and got it all cleaned up and running again. While I was at it I changed the chain. It was amazing how well it worked with a sharp chain. If anyone would have seen me they would have laughed. I had it all tore apart with owners manual in front of me trying to get it back together. Those diagrams aren't all they are cracked up to be. I then got all the small trees out of the fence line. While I was putting up the new insulators (77) Tiberius had to lean on the fence and "show" me how he gets in the field. Brat! I got the one strand up and electrified. I wish I would have been there when Tiberius discovered it. I think one hot strand will be all I will need. I still need to do the other side of the field. Tiberius isn't too interested in getting out of the field, only into it.

Indy, a whole lot of years ago I saw a horse do a back flip when he touched a hot wire for the first time. He wasn't hurt at all, so it was funny.

Medina Spirit and Concert Tour will be running in the Preakness on Saturday. Baffert said that it is possible that an ointment for dermatitis had the drug in it that showed up in the test. Both horses will be tested before the race and closely monitored. Baffert is trying to be as open and transparent and cooperative as possible.

"In a statement from Bob Baffert via his attorney, Baffert admitted Medina Spirit was treated for weeks with an ointment that contained the banned substance Betamethasone. With the admission, it seems a likely the second post-race split sample test will come back positive. That would disqualify Medina Spirit from the Kentucky Derby, pending appeal, and install Mandaloun as the winner. No bet payouts would change. The last time a Kentucky Derby winner was dethroned for a prohibited substance was Dancer’s Image in 1968. So much for the staff member on cough medicine peeing on hay excuse from Monday".

I C&P'd this from racing info................

Say, where is everybody?

I had sent some information about Medina Spirit to my cousin who has worked for a vet for more than 45 years. She asked her boss about how much it would take to show up on a test. The vet is a race horse lover too. She said just a groom having some on his hand would be enough to show up in the test.
The vet office sells all kinds of stuff for dogs' ears and other skin problems all the time. It is a very common drug.
I hope Churchill will have some common sense about this and let the race stand as is.

I would think Bobby Baffort is wildly trying to rest/sleep.  I could never play the racing game as my anxiety
would literally kill me.  Anyhow, I just pray for a safe race tomorrow.  I don't think being the quarterback
chasing a win for the Super Bowl would be as stressful.  Maybe it's because I love horses more than
football.  I'm sure when they all go to the gate my heart will really pound........if you hear it, it's your
imagination.  

To the gate..................here we go..................

Fresh horses definitely have an advantage over the ones who ran in the Derby. I never gave Rombauer a second thought. I guess that's why Triple Crown winners are so few and far between.
Everybody got to the wire safely.

I am glad the race ended safely. Too bad about the scandal.

Ivan and I had a very nice ride yesterday at Pandapas. For some reason, he was super mellow and decided chowing down on the sprigs of grass on the trail would be fun. He has never tried to eat on the trail much before and I had fed him just before we left, so he shouldn't have been very hungry. Anyway, he was in mosey mode and didn't try to stay far in front of the other two geldings, just was happy to munch and walk along. I don't know where this Ivan came from.... I let him eat the grass. He was happy, I was happy. He jumped on the trailer like he owned it and came home happy. Strange Ivan. I didn't drug him, .

We worked all day on outside things, had lunch at a park, and did more work in the barn. It was such a pretty day. Donnie may be cutting hay next week if the forecast weather holds.

It is shame about the scandal but is over for me at least..............I will say, though, that all horses weren't
racing under the same condition. I would think that the rule would be to all race under the same conditions.
I realize this has come up many times. It's just my opinion and I don't even own a race horse. There you have it.

I hope you can mow hay, ARK. That smells so good.

Everyone have a great evening...................

Graymare, I sort of agree about fresh horses racing against the ones that have had recent hard efforts. A few years ago, California Chtome's owner made a big stink about it. It didn't get him anywhere.
It does take a really tough, fast horse to get the Triple Crown.
Since Medina Spirit didn't win the Preakness, I hope the Derby controversy will just fade away.

In this area we don't have any hay even close to being ready to cut.

Ark, it sounds like a very pleasant leisurely ride.

Hope TRUDY is OK...............

I was thinking about Trudy too. And Beech, and CB.

Did you see that Baffert is temporarily suspended from racing or stabling horses at any of the three New York tracks?

No, I hadn't heard.............somebody is out to get him..........can Medina go to the Belmont?

And Rose, too..........maybe they will check in..............

Nope. Medina Spirit will not be at the Belmont, and Charlaton won't be in one of the other races that day. I haven't seen how long the suspension will last. I guess it means Belmont, Aquaduct, and maybe Saratoga.

Too bad about the horse scandals this year. I would hope it was an accident, but since Baffert was penalized 5 times in recent years, it doesn't look too innocent for him.


Donnie mowed the lower hayfield today. We are supposed to have a stretch of hot and dry weather for the next few days. We hope to bale it on Saturday.

While he was mowing, I was washing Areion and Trinket. There is a whole lot less horse to wash with Trinket compared to Areion! I am exhausted! Neither had had a bath since last summer and needed winter grubbiness to be removed. Daisy got a partial wash a couple of days ago, but I was too tired to wash her today. Ivan, the usual mud puppy, actually looks pretty clean! The vets are coming tomorrow for shots and Coggins. I want to use new pix for Areion's Coggins' papers, she changes colors so fast. Thus the bath today. Now that she is almost completely white, that shouldn't be a future problem.

Poor Ivan, all three of our mares are in heat and the two new mares next door are in heat. It is a heat fest. All mare eyes are on Ivan, who can't do much about their issues. And the hills are alive with the sound of mare squeals.....

Immediate arrival of summer happened yesterday. After weeks of 60s, it was 85° yesterday, and will be like that for the next week at least. That's good because it will warm up the lake water.

I was running an errand and saw a field of hay that had been cut. So, the hay is farther along than I thought it was.

Hey guys.  Thanks for thinking about me.  Just been really busy.  Haven't been having much computer time lately. 

Had to replant our corn, it was too cold and the seeds didn't germinate. Painted the living room.  WHEW what a job that was, just taking everything down was quite a job, it still isn't back to normal. waiting on the curtain at the dry cleaners before we can put the furniture back into place and all the pictures on the walls.  I may just leave some of them packed away.

Busy at church, our lead pastor is retiring and everyone is in a tizzy.   Big celebration at church this Sunday.  We certainly will miss Pastor Arlie.  He has been the pastor at our church for 40 years.  We started a new Bible study on the book of Revelation.  WOW...

A couple friends had operations and need extra care.  Taking Catie for her surgery check up on Monday.Granddaughter Sami got hurt again and will be having extensive surgery on June 10th to try to repair her knee.  That poor kid, she is always hurt.

PA is sort of open.  It was wonderful grocery shopping without a mask.  I could see the food on the shelves without looking thru foggy glasses. 

Our A/C unit wasn't working, so we had to have that worked on this week.  Now that the weather has changed didn't want to be without A/C mainly for George & Ace with their breathing problems.

Ace is struggling more and more with each passing day.  Just keeping him as comfortable as possible until the dreaded day arrives.  He is too old for surgery, he wouldn't survive the trauma.  He turns 12 in July.

Stay safe and healthy everyone.  I'll try to check in more often.  

It's good to hear from you, Trudy. Indiana is mostly open. It's up to individual businesses what they choose to do about masks, but most are gladly doing without them.
Is your AC the mini-split you got a few years ago? So far, my AC is still working, but I expect it to give up any year now. I was looking at doing the mini-split as a replacement.

We are going to do touch-up stain on my deck on Monday, so I was pressure washing it today. That went well, although it seems to take my machine a while to build up pressure. Once it's up, it works well.
I bought two metal hoses from QVC. (I was REALLY bored with TV and tuned in to QVC to see what they were selling.) It was a two hose deal, 50 feet each. I can't believe how light weight they are, and that they just do NOT kink. I am pleased with the purchase. Amazon sells them too.
I sort of coiled up the old ones that didn't have any leaks, but they would kink too easily. I put them out by the end of the driveway with a free sign on them. They weren't there an hour before somebody picked them up.

I just love having a neighborhood handyman. He can and will do all the things that need to be done that I can't do. I gladly pay him to do it, and he charges less than most others would.

Ellen: Yes we have the ductless A/C units. They are wonderful and worth every penny. In this old farm house it is impossible to have ducts so the ductless units work for us. Extra heat in the winter and cool in the summer. They keep the heating oil costs down in the winter. We love them. We have 5 units that run off of 2 outdoor units. Plus no more noisy window A/C units, they run quiet and efficiently. We had a small leak in one of the central outdoor units and the Freon leaked out. It's all fixed and we are cool again just in time for 90 degree days.

Have a blessed day everyone.

Thanks, Trudy.  That is just the kind of information I wanted.


Handyman Kent came this morning to recoat my deck with stain. Part of it had really soaked in the stain last year and was looking rather dry. It really looks pretty and shiny now. After all the work done last year, it didn't take very long to do it this morning.

Hello all,

I've been unplugged for the past 2 weeks. It was wonderful, but now it's time to get back into the swing of things.
I set myself a goal of getting at least one project done a day and made myself accountable by writing what I got done on the calendar. Not all of the projects were big, just needed to be done. One day's project was to move hay from the mow to the hay stall. In doing so I uncovered a litter of raccoons in the hay mow. They are a little bigger than my full grown cat. I worked around them so as not to disturb their nest. I don't like them around, but not so much that I'm going to relocate them either. Momma must have decided to try and move them because I discovered one of them in Sophie's stall on Friday, but I heard the others still up in the mow. I think they're probably big enough that it's hard for her to drag them around. She's got about 2 weeks to relocate them because by then I will have to move the rest of the hay out of the loft and make sure it's clean and ready to go for this year's hay.

Indy, I am a list maker. I write down all the jobs that need to be done, big and little. It gives me an unreasonable amount of satisfaction to cross them off the list.