April 2013

Happy April 2013....at last!

Hopefully Spring will find us now that we are into April. Our March came in like a lion, roared the entire month like a lion, then on the last weekend turned into a lamb. Let's hope April will be kinder than March was. We still have traces of snow in the shaded areas.

We had a very nice Easter at home, although ran out and had a late lunch in town and found some Candy Corn for Ivan's training treats. That's not easy to find at this time of the year! And we celebrated April by worming all the horses, not their idea of fun.

Shedding season has begun in earnest. I spent a lot of time trying to get horse hair off my tongue after brushing the beasts this weekend.

tis the season for shedding, I don't envy you Ark, although I love to brush horses I think u have 6 of them to do thats a lot of hair you might need a mask to keep from getting hair in your mouth and nose,

Happy April 1. Hopefully nobody gets made a "Fool" of. I hope everyone had a very Happy Easter. Started off the morning before sunrise with a light shower and ended at sunset with the sun shining through the clouds and light sprinkles. Just enough rain to qualify for raining on Easter Sunday. The rest of the day was beautiful.

I never did figure out how to get the trailer lights working. So far I have the right turn signal and that's it. Bill's son works at a place that makes cargo trailers and he nows the basics. He'll come over sometime and see if he can figure out what is going on, otherwise I need to take it to an expert. pfffttt. Why can't things ever be simple?

It was warm enought that I gave Tiberius' hind end a bath yesterday. I ran out of Probiotics about two weeks ago and his diarrea is back. ewww.. I keep his tail braided and wrapped so it doesn't get disgusting. It has also grown like mad over the winter. It touches the ground now when it's loose.

Well I am home .... can't believe how much snow is sitting around here ..... as in LOTS!!!!! Hope it warms up enough to get it gone ... feels like March out there.

Hope everyone had a great Easter.

A TRUE (seriously) SNOOP report on Rick...and this ain't no April Fool's Joke, either.

You may / may not know that Rick's Dad was Farm Mgr. at the Children's Home in Winston-Salem, NC for 40 years (1927 - 1967). That, obviously, is where Rick grew up and his farm background comes from.

As LONG as Rick could remember, the Children's Home has had 'homecoming' on Easter Monday...kids that were at the Home would come back as well as old staff members (like his Dad, etc.). It was a given event for Easter Monday as this day has been an official holiday in NC forever.

What Rick failed to realize is that several years ago, the 'official holiday' was dropped and that "Good Friday" was recognized instead. (NC. was / is kinda weird at times!!) At any rate, Rick got up this morning and got all dolled / gussied up and went to the Children's Home campus for Homecoming as he hadn't been there in a few years. He was looking forward to seeing some folks...and hoping to see a few 'special' folk as well.

Long story made short...Homecoming has been held first weekend in MAY for quite a few years. At any rate, he got to visit with the (temp.) CEO of the place who was a childhood friend from the Home...caught up on a bit of gossip...etc. Rick left several 8x10 B/W photos from activities that his Dad had been involved in at the Home. Also got his name on the mailing list / email also...so maybe, JUST MAYBE he will get the proper dates and can attend the Homecoming this year.!!

The JOKE was on RICK for sure, but it really was NO joke to him!!

Love to all...Snoop & Rick who is hiding in embarrassment!!

Yeah, but the good news is that RICK went early, he can still make this year's event. My luck I would have gone after it had already been held.

well I wanted to up date you on Clara's trip from Idaho back to Texas, they got a late start on Friday the first thing happened is the motor home ran out of gas Harry was looking at the wrong gage, then later on the same day they got stopped by the cops for the tail lights out on the horse trailer, Clara talked the cop out of the ticket and was told to get off the road for the night, things were going slow but o.k untill yesterday when the motor home broke down long story short they ended up leaving it behind for scrap, in the meantime they had to rent a u-haul truck and transfer the stuff from the motor home to the u-haul and hook up the horse trailer, they later stopped for the night and when they woke they had two flats on the horse trailer, they put air in them went to a tire place to find out that it was the rims that were leaking not the tires 70 dollars later and they are finaly back on the road again just past Las Vegas Clara asked me to ask any one who finds the voodoo doll to please take out the pins as this trip has been one big pain in the A$$, Clara will call me tomorrow when they get to Arizona

Happy April. Yesterday was our 20 year anniversary of living on our farm. WOW where did 20 years go? I was thinking back to when we bought this place with the broken windows, no furnace, a bathroom that had a tub I wouldn't even bath my dog in.

CB: OMG girl...you live in the state of Murphy's Law. If it can happen , it will happen to you guys.

ARK: Hope you are OK after your catapulting experience. OUCH...

INDY APP: Hope you can get your truck fixed without too much expense and trouble. That electrical stuff can drive ya nuts. Good job on the trailer training.

The count down is on for the big 40th birthday party for son Kevin. Saturday is the big day. So much to get done before Saturday gets here. That kid better appreciate this birthday party. 40 people is a lot of people even for this big old farm house. If I thought that many people would say "yes, we will come", I would have booked the Potts Grove Fire Hall. I'm praying for NO rain this weekend.

Have a great week everyone.
Love & prayers for all..

It's finally beginning to look just a little bit more like spring. The perma gloom has dissipated and given way to more sunshine. The lake isn't freezing at night anymore.

WOW.

http://news.yahoo.com/lightbox/elephant-fights-off-hyenas-to-save-baby-slideshow/elephant-fighting-off-hyenas-photo--704095293.html

Mother Anythings are mean characters to deal with, no matter what is attacking.

Any more word from CB? Are they back home yet?

Ellen
I am glad you are getting a bit of spring. We were supposed to get an inch of rain on Friday. Instead we got 6 inches of snow today, totally unpredicted.

My riding lesson got cancelled at the last minute when it suddenly started sleeting and snowing. It was supposed to be 50 degrees.

Rick
Your photo arrived again as alphabet soup. You need to send it as a jpeg or gif. Try, try again!

Donnie got a new cellphone at work and it doesn't work here at home. I hope they fix it. We have no computer access now, just my Kindle.

Clara and Harry got home early wednesday, they had to unload the animals and get them settled in and get the u-haul unloaded to get it back so they didn't have to pay for another day I think that she probably having trouble getting on the site it happens to me every month and sometimes takes a day or two to get logged in, so I am sure she will post as soon as she can,

whewwwww...let me back in today!
Thanks Dawn for keeping folks updated!

We hauled two very thin horses home with us, one is my pally appy mare I had given my GS, he gave her back to me....but she has lost a lot of weight, and one a rescue gelding, 10 yr. old black and white Paint...who is a sweetie, but he needs groceries badly...I know Im a glutton for punishment...but it had to be done.
The Beast curled up and died on us in the middle of NOWHERE...was going to cost 800 and upwards to have it towed into Las Vegas....we signed it over to a fellow who has to get it moved off the side of the roadway. We rented a uhaul and took the stuff we had in the MH and loaded into uhaul. We had to go into the closest small town and get water for the horses, the town was 37 miles one way. Luckily we had the car with us. Vegas was 140 miles away. Back on the road again, and we had two flat tires on the horse trailer in Vegas....tire store said it was the rims, they could order them...we took the car and ran around and found two rims, got tires back on and off we went....I lost hubby in Phoenix when he had a blowout of one of those tires! grrrrrrr....and when we got home and got the animals settled...we wanted nothing more than a hot shower, and the water heater wouldn't work! double grrrrr! There are pics of the horses we hauled back on facebook if you can see them there. We also hauled four bottle baby goats back with us. It was quite the trip again...but all is well, the horses and goats are doing fine and we finally got water heater fixed and had those hot showers, so its a new day at the rancho!

I may be off line for a few weeks tho...we now need to play catchup on our bills....I'll talk to Dawn and she will keep me updated. Renting uhauls in the middle of nowhere is very expensive! It was 600 more than a quote I got before we left Mt. home...when I checked into it and was thinking of doing it...the Beast looked pretty sad then...uhaul was 1231! So Ill be back if I go...and y'all stay safe and have fun...hope everyone gets spring soon! Sweet Dreams y'all.

CB, we're glad your home and safe. I hope you can work things out so you don't have to leave us. But of course, we understand putting priorities in order.

CB .. Glad you are finally home ... hope you don't have to make that trip again and can settle in and enjoy your new place ...... hope we see you back pdq, but understand the priorities. Feed those horses and enjoy your new place.

CB
Don't leave us! We've been with you thru outragiously cold winters, scortching hot summers, terrible health issues, puppies, moves to MO, back to ID, more puppies, trips to NV, wild fires, vehicle malfunctions, more vehicle malfunctions, run-ins with odd characters, horse and dog problems, a few more puppies, and finally retirement in Texas. We all want to see you living happily ever after in your retirement!
Go to a free wi-fi spot and check in with us, please. Or use a library computer. Just don't leave us......sniff.....


Trudy
Did you get any snow this week? The six inches we unexpectedly got Thursday mostly melted off Friday. We are left with patches in the shade. Weird weather week. Spring may finally arrive this coming week.

Donnie and I went to a restored movie theatre last night and watched Casa Blanca. It is located in our county seat, Pulaski, and was originally opened in 1911. We had a nice time.

Beech
Happy Birthday!! Hope you are having fun today!!

Today is Areion's 4th birthday. Our baby has grown up...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BEECH have a great day whatever you do

Beech, have you pulled the scooters out of winter storage yet? I haven't been on mine yet, but probably will in the next couple of days.

CB we'll miss you. Come back ASAP.

I had a very busy weekend. On top of normal weekend chores of laundry, grocery, general pick up of house etc. had Bill's grandaughter and her family (husband, 8 yr and 3 yr old) stop by to visit with the horses. The three yr old got red cowgirl boots for her birthday and wouldn't let up on going to visit Thunder and Tiberius so they did Saturday afternoon. Only problem was they showed up just as Bill and his son (granddaughter's father) showed up to see if son could fix my trailer light problem. And on top of that Bill and Aaron arrived just as my brother was leaving after coming over to get a truck load of compost for his garden. I never have company and Saturday that's all I had. So I'm doing the horsey show and tell while the guys are checking out the trailer. The guys determine that it is the plug itself on the trailer that is the issue so I run out to Auto Zone to get a new plug and the family all visits. I get back and just as granddaughter and family is about to leave, farrier shows up. Oh wow, says 8 yr old, can we stay and watch? So now I'm running interfearance between kids and farrier and handling the horses, who fortunately are all real good about being trimmed. Jerry the farrier is really good about explaining what he is doing to the little boy who is asking a zillion questions and wanting to help. Hand him tools etc. By the end of four horses the kids were getting bored and the three year old needed a nap. Aaron and Bill had given up on the horse trailer for the day. Ended up everyone leaving at once. And that was just Saturday.

Sunday was a little better, looking for replacement lights for the running lights for the trailer that I can't find but know I have. Ended up cleaning out and reorganizing closet that they should have been in. Aaron came back and figured out what wires he had crossed when he put the new plug on the day before and now trailer lights are all working. Well except for the couple of running lights that need replacing that I can't find. Fortunately that's easy enough to do once I find the @#$ lights. Finished the day by running to Walmart to get a couple of things and ended up in the line from hell. People in front of me had a lot of grocerys and the cashier was ssssllllloooowwww. Come to find out she forgot her glasses and couldn't see well. My turn came and my last item was a sub sandwich that for some reason wouldn't scan and because she didn't have her glasses cashier couldn't read the bar code. I told her I would try and come to find out she couldn't read the numbers because they were printed over "Distributed by WalMart...." so she had to get her book out to look up the code and of course she couldn't read that very well either. Will trying to look up one code, ended up ringing up a wrong code for $11.50 that she then had to reverse out. While all of this was taking place a lady behind me was ranting and raving about wanting a memeber of management because she got lousy service back in the photography department. She was dropping the F Bomb every other word and calling the person a B.etc. I so wanted to interrupt her rant and ask if it was really necessary to say F#$% every other word. I would not have been as tolerant as that Manager was.

Phones are starting to ring so time to go to work. Everyone have a great day.

Beech Happy happy birthday a bit late! Hope it was a great one!

Indy, I have to laff, sounds like you had one of MY days!

ARK, I will be back .....and I'll miss y'all...but I like to have power and hay more than my puter, ifn' ya know what I mean....we'll be back on our feet next month I'm sure....and I will live thru this...Ikeep telling myself that anyway!

so just in case I lose the puter...y'all stay safe and play hard and enjoy Spring.

Hubby is busy building new fences, and I am busy bottle feeding four goats, and playing with the new baby Buttercup...she is a livewire! and so strong for her age! We got a halter and short lead on her. And then, I am brushing the new skinny guy and gal I brought back with me...theya re gaining weight already and look better, but oh my, its gonna be awhile before they look like they should. The gelding is a sweetheart tho, and the mare just needs her trust in people again. I am really p'oed at my daughter and grandson right now....but I am putting that frustration into the care of these two horses, and the new baby and all the other critters....and that helps. My dogs were soooo glad to see me.

Jessi has to see a neurologist now for her concussion she got from Mama pony...please HUM for her to make a complete recovery with this so it doesn't mess with her military career. thanks y'all.

Hot here yesterday...whew....next year we will probably be traveling in the summer months...escape the heat....so some of ya's may see us!

take care and sweet dreams!

where did everyone go?

Hot days...whew....ok, I guess I'm complainin now! double whew! Mid 90s came up fast! and very HOT! Havn't had a chance to get my blood use to warmer temps after being in cold for 2 weeks...LOL but will get use to it...gotz to!

Horses are doing fine, even the skinny dude...picking up ever so slightly and is really friendly. Harry shed his mule out yesteday....it was like a dense wool...we don't have much experience with mules...but she absolutely loved being brushed and was clamoring over the other two horses in with her to get her more than fair share! that muleytude pays off sometimes!

feel like its the dog days of summer here already....feelin' lazy...

Moved the bottle baby goats into their daytime pen...at night they will go into the horse trailer to be safe. They are growing lil piglets! They each slurp down a 20 oz bottle of milk every feeding!



eatin' us out of house and home... and NOISY! everytime they see us they go off...

Dang it's quiet here.

CB, some day I'm going to get me a baby goat just to experience it growing up. I don't know what I'd do with it after it grew up, add to my pasture pet population I guess. The neighbor next door has one sheep. When it Baaas I want to spray it with WD 40. Too bad we can't share our weather. I'd take some of your sunshine and heat and you could have some of my overcast skies. While it is warming up here, it's not Spring yet.

I'm still at work so not much to report. I better get back to what I'm suppose to be doing before I get caught goofing off.

Later!

That's me... an alien! Been a while, I know!

Hope everyone is doing well, and that you'll catch me up on your lives. Here it's painting ceilings and bathroom, halls, all the trim, etc. and changing lighting on the main floor. I'm off work for a month so it's a great time to get stuff done.

My horse has been lame for a while, vet couldn't really find anything, but rest and bute seems to have helped and I think I'll try lungeing him tomorrow to see what he looks like at a trot. Maybe we can get out for some gently riding where it's not too squishy so the mud isn't pulling at him (it's very wet land where he lives) The unopened road sounds like a good option.

Gotta run right now, be back