JUNE 2022

June 2022 !




Since this week marks the Jubilee Year of Queen Elizabeth II,  a nice photo of her with some of her horses seemed appropriate.  Seventy years is a long time.  

Happy Birthday,  RICK!!  

I hope June goes well for all.

BEECH, it's great to see you here. Ha, a marshmallow shooter sounds great...........LOL. Hope you carpal tunnels
heal well and you can get bak soon to wood workng. I always enjoy your stories so if there is a book
I would like to order one. How're things in York? Do you get over there a lot. Summer is beautiful in Maine.
Enjoy.

I love any stories about the Queen............and her horses.

Everyone have a good day.............

Shooting marshmallows sounds like a lot of fun.  LOL

I have been a fan of Queen Elizabeth most of my life.  All I needed to know was that she loved horses.  She passed that love on to Princess Anne, and Anne to her daughter Zara.

A 50 cent raise in gas to $4.90 today.

Oh, ARK, terrific pictures! How do you ever find them?

I join with those happy horsies in wishing RICK the happiest of birthdays!

And am I reading too much in if I say that that image of the smiling queen, now aged and diminished in both stature and strength but nevertheless not just standing between but holding two perfectly matched horses, suggests her lifelong commitment to quiet restraint in balancing power? (Or to the appearance thereof?)

I hope we get to see the Jubilee events because nobody carries off ceremony with greater perfection than the British. Comforting to me to have the highest of standards still adhered to in an otherwise wildly corrupt and unstable time. (I don't ask if this alone justifies continued support of the monarchy itself.)

But what else would I say! I'm an Anglophile! More so as I'm ageing: by genetics, by training (all that English Lit!), by entertainment. I watch, in addition to Midsomer Murders, Escape to the Country, at least half a dozen narrowboaters and another half-dozen mudlarkers, QI, and Would I Lie To You, among others. I recommend that last, btw, as a pick-me-up. It never fails to make me laugh.

ARK, I should've said that the crossbow shoots marshmallows, not at them! 50 feet, maybe. I can't wait!

GM I did go to York last week to put flowers on the family grave. But I always have mixed feelings there now because all has changed so much, and friends gone. Crowds and traffic lights! I fled back to the woods. You're right, though. Maine here is beautiful now. Our leaves arrived only some three weeks ago, making all green and fresh. My two lilac bushes flowered this year for the first time in the 16 years I've been here -- just a few flowers, arriving early and now gone by. Lilies of the Valley now flowering. I feel, am, privileged.

BEECH:
 I suspected you weren't using marshmallows as targets, LOL.   That would be some pretty good shooting at 50 feet if you got one!  I hope you take pix,  I'd like to see your crossbow in action!
 I find pix everywhere, sometimes people send me some, but mostly if I see one I like, I yank it off the internet.  Anything with the Queen in it with her horses is a good one! Did I tell you that I was in London the day Prince William was born?  Yep.  I was with a bunch of teachers on a tour.  When we heard the baby was born, we took a taxi to the hospital where he was born and saw Prince Charles come out the door to a cheering crowd!  (And did my camera work.....no.  All I got were blurs.)   Fun time!  The entire country was excited and happy.

Here is a photo I snagged today.  It doesn't have a horse, but I think it is a wonderful photo.





We put up 132 bales of hay into our hay building today. Upper field done, lower field awaits. No rest for the wicked...unless it rains.

I did get to see a little bit of the jubilee this morning. It was great to see the queen standing out on the balcony with her family. She looked so happy to see all that was going on. Louie was being a typical little boy waving at all the airplanes that flew over.
70 years is a long time to be on the throne. I was 7 years old when she was crowned, and I do remember it.

You wore me out ARK........I'm tired too!

The Queen is still lovely........I'm following the Jubilee also..............

Everyone have a great evening and pray for USA...........

ARK The old queen greeting herself when young? Clever, clever!

Kudos to you and Donnie for the haying! I can close my eyes and take myself back to that sweet smell of new-mown hay. An enduring tie to the natural world. Awfully glad to have had that experience, miss it now.

And what a good memory to bring back from England! I think your presence there at William's birth must have contributed to his turning out so well!

Are the storms coming up from the south missing you?


Oh, ELLEN, I was 15! My mother was a fan and added to her collection of bone-china cups and saucers one commemorating that date, so it was memorialized in our house.

I think that photo of the Queen shaking hands with herself was very clever also............she's showing sincere success and
heart felt congratulations on a job well done.............and I think a thank you to England for it all.

I've seen some mighty nice hay lying in the fields the last couple of days. If we don't get any rain there will be a lot of the good stuff.
With the gas prices being what they are, I can only guess at what a bale of good hay will cost.

I like that picture of the queen shaking hands with herself too. What a neat idea for a photo shop picture.

The Royal Ascot starts on June 14th and lasts through the 18th. NBC sports has been covering it the last few years. I wonder if the queen will make it to any of the races this year. 2020 was the first one she missed in 75 years.

I thought the photo of the queen shaking her younger self's hand was very clever, too.   I wonder if she has seen it?  

BEECH:
 Okay,  I will take credit for Wils turning out so well, LOL.   It was an exciting thing to see in person.  The timing just turned out great for us on that trip.   When Prince Charles stepped out of the door of the hospital after William's birth, the crowd went wild with cheers, the noise was tremendous.    One woman hopped over the police barrier and ran up to him and hugged him.   I had Donnie's new 35 mm camera that I barely knew how to work.  The only clear photo I got was of someone's upraised hands in front of me holding their camera up high for a photo.  

 We are getting some thunderstorms from that system coming up from the south,  but they will be gone in a couple of hours.  For whatever reason, the clouds seem to part and the rain mostly goes around us.  We got some rain this afternoon at dusk, and more this evening, but not as much as those in neighboring counties.

GRAYMARE:
 Donnie and I have been slugs all day.  Our burst of energy to get that hay in yesterday wiped us out today.  So we went down to clean the barn a little late this morning.  We turned out the horses and I walked into the feed/tack stall.  I told Donnie something had knocked down a couple of things off the shelves.  He looked up and said it was probably that snake....   ..... Yep, there it was looking down at me.   I honestly don't hold grudges against snakes, but do not want them near me, or above me looking down at me.  I left the area way faster than I came in.  This began our mission to catch the snake.  Donnie wanted me to hold a bucket with a lid up close to it while he poked it with a hooked stick to get it to go in.  As soon as it moved I shrieked and threw the bucket and ran.  I am a snake coward.  Donnie grabbed the bucket with one hand, the stick with his other hand, while standing on my tack trunk.  He got hold of the snake on the stick, but the darn thing slithered down to the floor and under the table I had piled with horsey stuff.   Everything got thrown out the door as we tried to find that snake.  While doing that,  Donnie found ANOTHER snake in a down spout pipe laying on the shelf.  That one got put into the lidded bucket and we continued tearing the room apart.  Finally he found the snake and got it into another lidded bucket.  The feed/tack room was a shambles.  We spent three hours cleaning up, throwing things away and organizing that room.  Donnie hauled the snakes away to a wooded area a couple of miles away.   So much for a restful day.    I wanted to sort thru that stuff anyway.....  Snakes are good at inspiring work.     One snake was 3 feet long, the other was 5 feet long,  both were blacksnakes.  I think we interrupted a romantic snake retreat.  

 

Holy guacamole................that would scare me, too. We used to have snakes here, too, Never a rattler,
just big snakes that ate mice and big bugs. Now, with the subdivisions they are all gone.

I guess the Queen did not feel well today so she is resting.

On with home projects here.........

God bless and prayers for the USA.......and Ukraine.

You can keep your snakes ARK. I can't say I'm afraid of them, but then again the only ones around here are little garter snakes. Kind of hard to be afraid of something that is maybe 18 inches long and maybe the size of my ring finger. Not too sure how I would react to one 3 foot long, let alone 5. Yikes!

I don't remember if I mentioned this, but a few weeks ago the vet came out for spring shots and we determined that Tiberius has a spot of cancer under his tail. The vet has this little gizmo that looks alot like a big fat pen. This pen shoots liquid nitrogen. Tiberius was sedated and the cancer spot was frozen. Yesterday the vet came out for a follow up, it is healing nicely, but he discovered when he went to use the pen, the cartridge was empty and he didn't have a back up so he couldn't freeze it again. Instead he again sedated Tiberius and injected the lesion multiple times with what amounted to a chemotherapy treatment. T DID NOT like that. This morning after I fed and was letting him out of the barn, he was a bit slow going back outside so I reached out and patted him on the butt to move him along. Tiberius slowly lifted his hind leg and very slowly kind of mimed kicking out at me. I was dumbfounded. He has never threatened to kick before. I didn't know whether to discipline him for lifting his foot at me or laugh because he did it in such slow motion. I gave him the benefit of the doubt and told him not to worry I wasn't going to be poking his bumhole with a needle today and shooed him out the door.

The queen does not want to be seen in a wheelchair, so she didn't attend. Sadly, she is rather frail now.

I am slightly damp but wearing a big smile. The jet ski got some exercise. There is quite a bit of wind and some white caps on the lakes, so bumping into those waves sprayed water all over. (still smiling)
On one of the channels there is a nice new restaurant with outdoor seating that overlooks the water. There was a cute little boy who was waving at me very enthusiastically. Of course, I waved back.

We have very few snakes around here. Once in a great while I will see a tiny little black snake but they never stay visible very long.

INDYAPP:
 Poor Tiberious,  I am so sorry about that cancer.  My mare, Kazi, had those, too.  I suspect her final colic was caused by an internal cancer, but she didn't have a necropsy done.  Her cancerous lumps were mostly invisible, but some could be seen as lumps under the skin.    Is Tiberious gray?  I didn't remember him as a gray.  They say 80% of grays eventually develop cancers, but not all are fatal.    Since all my horses, except Daisy, are grays, I sort of cringe at the word cancer....   I hope Tiberious's lumps are cured by the meds.
 I would ignore that slow rising foot this time, too.   If it is slow, I think they are considering their options, but not commited to it.   A warning.  I have seen my mares do it towards other horses, but  I yell at them if they do it while I am nearby.  No fist fights while the hand that feeds them is nearby.  


So on a happier note,  here is a nice drawing by a British cartoon artist of Queen Elizabeth:

As one article stated from an interview with the two head grooms from the Queen's stables........ When asked
what makes her so different from others is her passion for horses . It also stated that she gave Charles
one of her best brood mares as a wedding present. During the reception she went to a window
where she could see the mare and stood with Camilla's ex-husband to view the mare. A real class act for
sure.......a real lady. And as stated, she puts the great in Great Britain.

This morning, I saw a clip of little Louie in the cathedral. He was being a complete pain in the A&&. His mother was doing her best to squelch his rudeness, but to little avail. He was being a normal youngest kid doing his best to get away with stuff when he knew she couldn't do much about it. LOL He finally crossed his arms in a disgusted pose and pouted.
That little piece of video will haunt him the rest of his life.

Tiberius is not gray but he does have a lot of white. The skin under his tail and around his anus where the cancer is located is naturally very pink. (He carries his tail elevated and off the the side a lot. In the summer I have to keep sunscreen on his bum to keep him from getting sunburnt)

Monster pulled his shoe off again. This time he took a good portion of the hoof wall with it. I don't know why he is pulling shoes all of a sudden. I didn't think the farrier was going to be able to put a shoe back on, but he did. I told him to bring his magic wand and he was able to to perform magic. He has to wear shoes because he has ultra thin soles and hoof walls. He has been on a biotin supplement for many years. I've been told that Thoroughbreds are notorious for bad feet and that is what I am blaming it on as he is half Thoroughbred.

Indy, been there done that with TB feet. It takes a really good farrier to keep them shod and sound.

$5.25 per gallon.

I hope everyone is enjoying some great weather or me time and that is all that is keeping everyone away. I don't have anything exciting to report other than some great weather the last couple of days. Unfortunately, I've been stuck inside at work and not able to take advantage of it like I would like. I did take some time last night to pull some grass that was trying to grow in my flower bed. I find it very relaxing digging around in the dirt.

I had to take my brush hog into the tractor doctor on Saturday and of course it didn't go as planned. The plan was to use a small flat bed trailer that I have that the bed tilts and it has a winch on the front end. Only problem was the bed didn't want to tilt. I haven't had to tilt it for any reason for who knows how long. Well, evidently when the tilt isn't used it freezes up. I ended up having to use a jack to jack up the bed, drop the bush hog at the lowered end of the trailer the winch it forward like planned. Then I ended up jumping on the front of the bed to get it to go the rest of the way down so the bed could be locked in place. Took me 2 hours for what should have been a 30 - 45 minute project. Oh well, got the bush hog to the tractor doctor and they used a fork lift to just pick it up and put it where they wanted it. Time to break out the WD 40 and loosen up that hinge. While I was at the tractor store I drooled over the display tractors and may have talked myself into biting the bullet and getting a new one. Price and finance he quoted me are guaranteed thru June. Hmm. must think on this.

INDY, I would go ahead and buy new, finance it, and use it while you're young and strong.  If you can, borrow against
your little farm and claim it on your taxes..............at least look into it.  I'm saying that not knowing what
cost for your tractor would be.  Don't compromise yourself................

It's getting hotter here for a week or so.............110 on Saturday & Sunday.  6-10 % humidity...........

Nothing new here.  I have 2 friends in the hospital........one with pneumonia, one with vertigo and can't
even walk.  CT scan is clear...........they will get her up today. She might have to go to rehab for
recovery as she lives alone..........we'll see what the doctors say.

God bless and pray for USA and Ukraine................

Indy, I second what Graymare said. Get a new tractor. Enjoy having something to work with that is reliable.
What color will it be?

It's raining here this afternoon. So far, June has been very mild, almost chilly. That's going to change next week when the heat hits. I hope most farmers have this cut of hay in the barns. They've had some good weather to do it.

(DONNA posted! But in the wrong place, so I am copying her post and putting it into JUNE 2022. I don't want anyone missing her post!
Ark)





Thursday Morning

Good Morning All,

I haven't been in here for a few weeks but getting the house cleaning done was first thing on my to do list. FINALLY got the last of it done on Monday and now I can relax for a while and enjoy the warm weather (whenever it arrives).

ELLEN, I got a message from a Beth Bruegger, don't know if she is a friend of Susans or relative, saying that she had passed and how I happened. I had messaged Bryna the first of May to see how her Mom was as we hadn't had any emails from her for a long time. At that time she was going home the next day from rehab. Bryna said she would let me know how she was doing but I didn't hear anything from her and it was a shock to see the message from Beth. God love her, she has gone through the ringer for a very long time between Bryna as a teen and Mike with his health issues. I always think of her just as we met her, honey blonde hair coiffed in her french roll, makeup up and styling in her clothes. She was beautiful and funny and added a lot of humour to our reunion in KC. That was such a fun time, as you know,  and will always be one of the highlights in my lifetime. She is with the rest of the FOOPS that have passed and I'm sure they are all trading stories. HT is keeping them all in line, lol.

Raining and not a nice morning here. Supposed to clear up later today and then we will have a few days of sun. Yesterday was a year since I had Tommy Girl put down. I think of her every day and hope that Tracey is finally friends with her, she didn't like her here on earth, Smile When I see the price of hay, feed and all the rest that is going up and up, I'm glad that I don't have that expense any more BUT I miss the horse.

ARK, I would have been in the next county if I found a snake in the shed, never mind looking down at me from a shelf!!!! Not a fan of the things and we don't have any that bite!

I didn't watch any of the Jubilee, hockey was usually on tv and that is where I would be. Elizabeth has always been a favourite of mine since I was a little girl. She and Margaret would be in every news reel at the theatres with their ponies and of course that endeared me to them. I have followed her throughout her life and marvelled at her stamina and grace. I did watch The Crown and loved it. It certainly gave me a different view of the rest of the Royals, Philip and Charles especially. (I'm thinking she is going to die on the throne as she doesn't want to see Camilla be addressed by whatever title she will have, won't be Queen Camilla for sure.) Of course, I'm Canadian, she is the head of the Commonwealth which makes her my Queen.

Well, guess there is nothing more going on here. Must get my day going.

You all have a good one. ELLEN, don't fall off that seadoo.

DONNA