October 2013

Awww, poor Graymare, having to eat all those Tootsie Rolls. I didn't have any trick or treaters either, so I've had to make the sacrifice and eat some extra Rice Crispie treats. (I LOVE them.) I hope the little owl comes early tomorrow so that there will still be some left when she comes.  

Happy Halloween!!!

We didn't have any trick or treaters either....unfortunately, I forgot to buy candy.  We usually buy something yummy and then eat it  .  No treats for us!

I had a really nice lesson on Ivan today.  He was Mr. Mellow, despite the howling wind and leaves flying around.  Then Areion had her lesson with Lori and did great!  Lori says she can't believe how fast Areion has gone from being a goofy youngster into being very serious about her lessons and working hard.  She didn't give any problems with anything today, other than spooking while being lunged when our grey striped barncat, Giles, scared her.  Giles hung around scaring Areion several times, he seemed to love his power over an animal 100 times his size.  He even hissed at  her!     Normally, I don't think the cat would have bothered Areion, but with the wind howling and Giles jumping suddenly onto the fence next to her, Areion spooked nicely.  Lori rode her after that and cantered  her all over the arena with no problems.

Then I got on Areion!  Lori said I should have no problems, so the first thing Areion did was nearly jump out from under me when Giles showed up again.   After that, all went well and I got to trot Areion for the first time.   She has a BIG trot!  I rode her for about ten minutes.  A FUN ten minutes!

 


We are off to KY tomorrow morning to take Annie to our sister's house. We'll be at the KY Horse Park on Saturday watching them in a 15K race and looking around at the Horse Park. See you all Sunday!

We had our hayride kids last night .... it always goes rain or shine. Last night was pretty damp and chilly, so not as many kids. The number of kids also varies through the years as kids grow up and new ones arrive ..... I am not as familiar with them these days as I used to be ..... They were pretty quiet and just got their goodies and went back to the rack .... Think they were just cold and wanted to be done ..... gave them plenty of goodies though ......

Day 14 ... first part!!

Day 14 … a day of “firsts”

SNOOP writes:  Miss Carol had us up at 7:00 AM and scurried around making sure Rick was up and dressed.  We dined fashionably well on the last of our peanut butter and jelly for breakfast.  We were on our way by 8:20.  Miss Carol had a big package to mail home.  That was her “fabrics” she had purchased and also a jacket she hadn’t needed so far.  We found a combination grocery store / post office nearby.  Rick and I stayed in the car while she took care of that business.  Miss Carol says she was “distracted” when she got back to the car and she opened the door to the car next to ours.  That was a big surprise when she realized the man sitting in the car was NOT Rick. That was a BIG LAUGH for Rick and me as we were watching her do this.  The other man sure looked surprised, but he laughed also. His car was the same color as ours!!

Rick writing now:  I have NO COMMENT (additionally)  to make on what Snoop writes above  He tends to always tell the “unvarnished truth” about such things.  Tat is HIS story and he is sticking to it!!

We drove on into the city of Malmo, Sweden and only got “mildly” lost trying to find the car rental office to turn in the car.  A couple of wrong turns were made, but we finally located the office and were able to turn in the car.  Fortunately, the car rental office was a block away from the central train station.

Now this was a “first” for us … a European train ride.  Carol has ridden trains here in USA a few times, but this was a true first time experience for me other than some touristy thing a time or two.  Our ultimate destination was the small Danish island of Aero and would require three trains and a ferry to get there.  A  “helper / information” lady at the train station helped us get our tickets after we explained what we needed. We assumed she had tickets printed for all three trains, but found out when the conductor on train #2  asked for our tickets that we had only paid for the train from Malmo, Sweden to Copenhagen, Denmark.  She was able to print out the necessary tickets for the 2nd and 3rd trains.  She was very pleasant to deal with and very helpful.  We were both pleasantly surprised by the cleanliness of the station and the trains and by how comfortable / roomy the seats were.  If only airlines had seats this comfortable.  There was NOT a first class setting … we were riding “coach.”  Our luggage was a questionable thing until a fellow passenger pointed out that the large pieces would fit between the seats where the seats faced forward and backwards (back to back).  The two small pieces easily fit in overhead racks. Our times between trains was not very long, but we found people (typically fellow passengers) that were helpful in each station to get us to the right track.  This was really a delightful and pleasant experience.

There is a 10 - 12 mile wide body of water between Denmark and Sweden.  Prior to July 2000, that would have required a ferry ride.  Way back in the early 1990’s an agreement was reached to build a bridge between Copenhagen and Malmo.  This ended up being the Oresund Bridge (and tunnel) that was quite a feat for that part of Northern Europe.  Here, you’ll find some information about the bridge and tunnel that I found interesting:  http://goscandinavia.about.com/od/denmar1/qt/oresundbridge.htm  Now from my commercial truck driving career, I’ve been across a few high bridges and through too many toll booths to even think about, but this short video takes you through the booth and across the bridge.  Remember, we were on a train, and our perspective was a bit different as the two tracks are below the road surface:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1aj8lBniLtw  The train was a lot quieter than I expected, but there was enough clickety - clack sound to lull me to nap for a bit.

Svendborg, Denmark was where we were to catch the ferry and it was a bit of a “walk” to get to the dock … especially pulling our luggage behind us over cobblestone streets and sidewalks. We wish that we had had more time to explore this old town, but tlugging around luggage for a couple hours was just not reasonable.  I sat by the dock and enjoyed lovely weather and watched a small boat come in and leave and became a people watcher until I closed my eyes for another short nap.  Carol ventured off for a short time exploring and looking for postcards.  Svendborg is an old place compared with America.  Read about it here:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Svendborg  And you’ll find more photos to look at here than what all we / Carol were able to see.  The colorful old building in the top row on the right end was across the street from where I was sitting: https://www.google.com/search?q=svendborg&client=firefox-a&hs=Cwi&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=aCN0UvWzKtPNsQTyuICgBA&ved=0CDwQsAQ&biw=1280&bih=579  Again, we were impressed with the cleanliness of the town and there was no “fishy” odor about the dock.

I really can’t find any website that has good information or a picture of the ferryboat from Svendborg to Aeroskobing.  So lets just say it got us there in an hour 15 minutes and was ;ess than 5 minutes off from published schedules.  I know … I timed it!!  There was a comfortable waiting area / cafe on the top deck and we had a large table for  6 - 8 people to ourselves.  I got a sandwich, coffee and a tart and Carol had something similar.

We’ll continue this in a second part….

Speaking of candy....has anyone tried the white chocolate candy corn flavored m & m's....oh YUMMMMMMMMMMMMM

Thanks Ellen and Graymare....I will hold jessi down and get her to do it so I can watch....I do better if I can see it done....after all these years I feel pretty dumb...but I use it for keeping up with y'all and family and I'm as happy as a pig in a poke most of the times.....sometimes not....when it won't let me post! But oh well....

Can't believe this is nov....the weather here has been tank top and shorts weather after about 9 a.m. It has been getting chilly early in the mornings tho. But the rest of the day is great! Luvin it! 

Went to buy groceries today, I think everything in the store has gone up in price....and then the folks on food stamps are being cut back...wow...crazy world! 

Had a great ride today....we went around another loop in our neighborhood, turned into a five hour ride...but it was a nice day and enjoyed it a lot. When we got back Harry rode Stormy the appy palomino mare....she is doing really good. Some rides around the place and then to the State Park. Beautiful day and we all had a great ride....and are totally exhausted, but a nice exhaustive! LOL

CB, that sounds like a really nice way to spend a Saturday afternoon.

Ark, when will you start riding Areion without Lori? She looks like she's about ready for that.

Pocket Tazer Stun Gun, a great gift for the wife.

A guy purchased his lovely wife a pocket Tazer for their anniversary and here is his story:

Last weekend I saw something at Larry's Pistol & Pawn Shop that sparked my interest. The occasion was our 15th anniversary and I was looking for a little something extra for my wife Julie. What I came across was a 100,000-volt, pocket/purse-sized Tazer.

The effects of the Tazer were supposed to be short lived, with no long term adverse affect on your assailant, allowing her adequate time to retreat to safety...??

WAY TOO COOL! Long story short, I bought the device and brought it home... I loaded two AAA batteries in the darn thing and pushed the button. Nothing! I was disappointed. I learned, however, that if I pushed the button and pressed it against a metal surface at the same time, I'd get the blue arc of electricity darting back and forth between the prongs.

AWESOME!!! Unfortunately, I have yet to explain to Julie what that burn spot is on the face of her microwave.

Okay, so I was home alone with this new toy, thinking to myself that it couldn't be all that bad with only two AAA batteries, right?

There I sat in my recliner, my cat Gracie looking on intently (trusting little soul) while I was reading the directions and thinking that I really needed to try this thing out on a flesh & blood moving target.

I must admit I thought about zapping Gracie (for a fraction of a second) and then thought better of it. She is such a sweet cat. But, if I was going to give this thing to my wife to protect herself against a mugger, I did want some assurance that it would work as advertised.

Am I wrong?

So, there I sat in a pair of shorts and a tank top with my reading glasses perched delicately on the bridge of my nose, directions in one hand, and Tazer in another.

The directions said that:

a one-second burst would shock and disorient your assailant;

a two-second burst was supposed to cause muscle spasms and a major loss of bodily control; and

a three-second burst would purportedly make your assailant flop on the ground like a fish out of water.

Any burst longer than three seconds would be wasting the batteries.

All the while I'm looking at this little device measuring about 5" long, less than 3/4 inch in circumference (loaded with two itsy, bitsy AAA batteries); pretty cute really, and thinking to myself, 'no possible way!'

What happened next is almost beyond description, but I'll do my best.

I'm sitting there alone, Gracie looking on with her head cocked to one side so as to say, 'Don't do it stupid,' reasoning that a one second burst from such a tiny lil ole thing couldn't hurt all that bad.. I decided to give myself a one second burst just for heck of it.

I touched the prongs to my naked thigh, pushed the button, and...

HOLY MOTHER OF GOD. WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION. WHAT THE... !!!

I'm pretty sure Hulk Hogan ran in through the side door, picked me up in the recliner, then body slammed us both on the carpet, over and over and over again. I vaguely recall waking up on my side in the fetal position, with tears in my eyes, body soaking wet, both nipples on fire, testicles nowhere to be found, with my left arm tucked under my body in the oddest position, and tingling in my legs! The cat was making meowing sounds I had never heard before, clinging to a picture frame hanging above the fireplace, obviously in an attempt to avoid getting slammed by my body flopping all over the living room.

Note:
If you ever feel compelled to 'mug' yourself with a Tazer, one note of caution:

There is NO such thing as a one second burst when you zap yourself! You will not let go of that thing until it is dislodged from your hand by a violent thrashing about on the floor!
A three second burst would be considered conservative!

A minute or so later (I can't be sure, as time was a relative thing at that point), I collected my wits (what little I had left), sat up and surveyed the landscape.

My bent reading glasses were on the mantel of the fireplace.
· The recliner was upside down and about 8 feet or so from where it originally was.
· My triceps, right thigh and both nipples were still twitching..
· My face felt like it had been shot up with Novocain, and my bottom lip weighed 88 lbs.
· I had no control over the drooling.
· Apparently I had crapped in my shorts, but was too numb to know for sure, and my sense of smell was gone.
· I saw a faint smoke cloud above my head, which I believe came from my hair.
I'm still looking for my testicles and I'm offering a significant reward for their safe return!

PS: My wife can't stop laughing about my experience, loved the gift and now regularly threatens me with it!

If you think education is difficult, try being stupid!!!!

      

     Love it!

Day 14 … 2nd part

Let’s start with this wikipedia site about Aero Island and some about Aeroskobing (the village).  Also … towards the bottom of this article, you’ll see some photos of the ferries.  You’ll need to at least skim well down into the article to learn more of the history, etc. of the island and this village. Our ferry was the 2nd (from L to R) one and we sat by the “group” of windows near the front:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ærø  First thing to do after arriving and getting on shore was to find out where “home” was and to get rid of these suitcases.  As usual, Carol had done a great job of planning and had a little map handy with our walking route to the B & B that would be home for a spell.  It was about 15 - 20 minutes of walking on paved sidewalks and then 1 block of cobblestone street and we were at Toldbudhus.  This was in town on the corner of a couple narrow, cobblestone streets.  We were in a separate building from the main one seen on the left side of the big photo in this site:  http://www.kayak.com/Aeroskobing-Hotels-Toldbodhus-Bed-Breakfast.615651.ksp  What is not stated in the little write up is that we had a “private bath”, but that was in an annex off the main house.  We were in the “garden house” and they provided nice terry cloth bathrobes and slippers to put on if you needed to get up in the middle of the night.  Also, there was lighting you could turn on for crossing the garden after dark.  The garden and this separate house was behind a locked privacy fence and we felt very safe, secure and comfortable.

This site will give you some pictures of the town ... and ALSO a picture of the church and its interior that we would see the next day while on our bike ride:  http://www.google.com/search?q=danish+isle+of+aero&client=safari&sa=X&rls=en&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&ei=qMV2UobWI83jsASY1ICIBA&ved=0CFUQsAQ&biw=1282&bih=599  We learned that Aeroskobing’s old charm was protected by law and that the exteriors of the buildings were to remain “old” in keeping with its 1700’s and older appearance.  We felt perfectly safe walking around the village and looking at the homes and old buildings.  We practically had the town to ourselves as this was just immediately after the end of the tourist season.  A CHARMING village and Carol had her camera up to her eye ‘most’ of the time!! Lol!

We wandered and wondered our way around the village and finally decided to find something to eat for dinner.  We got lucky and found Addi’s.  Considering the high pricing of meals that we had come to expect, this was actually a very moderate priced place with a delicious looking menu.  I had wiener schnitzel, garden peas and chunky potatoes.  Carol dined on haddock with noodles and spinach covered in a creamy sauce.  A very good meal served in a very nice restaurant by very nice folk:  http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=da&u=http://www.restaurant-addis-aeroe.dk/&prev=/search%3Fq%3Drestaurant%2Baddis%2B%25C3%25A6r%25C3%25B8sk%25C3%25B8bing%26client%3Dsafari%26rls%3Den

After dinner, we “casually strolled” back to the B & B that was just 3 blocks away.  We were tired, NOT hungry, and ready to call it an early evening.  We’ll take up the adventure again tomorrow. Here is a video that will serve somewhat as a bit of a pictorial review of what is covered above and a preview of tomorrow:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=epAgSVzMaoQ

GRAYMARE:
I loved the story!  I took my shoes off and grabbed an electric fence once, just sure it wasn't working and wanting to prove it to Donnie.   He still brings that up.
How is your friend doing? I hope she is okay....

RICK:
Nice sounding dinner during your day's journey!  


Well I am back from KY. Short trip, but kind of nice to get away. November snuck up on me, sorry about not changing the page before I left. I don't mind looking at that unicorn, though.

Go to:
https://horsefriends.forumotion.com/t26-november-2013#3136

or go to Basket and click on November 2013

This thread is officially closed!