August 2014

After a couple of warmer days, neighbor and I went for a swim this evening. It was still a little too chilly to want to be there very long.

Ark, good luck!


We. may have to wait until we sell this place to. move. unless we find a place that will go va we plan on going to missouri for brothers birthday and look at a few places while we r there.....

Have a great weekend y'all.

Ark, good luck!


We. may have to wait until we sell this place to. move. unless we find a place that will go va  we plan on going to missouri for brothers birthday and look at a few places while we r there.....

Have a great weekend y'all.

Thanks for all your prayers for Heather, she seems to be doing well. She is a tough cookie (like her dad) and was at the grocery store on Friday when I talked to her. She has no choice but to get on her feet quickly, her so called mother won't help her and with 3 kids, hubby, 2 cats and a dog (who went into separation anxiety when she was in the hospital) who depend on her, she is up and running. I told her get in the car, drive up here and just hang out for a week. We will know more in 4 weeks when she goes back to the surgeon, praying she doesn't need that second operation.

Thanks again, I knew we could count on your guys for lots of prayers.

Love & prayers for all..

Trudy, it's good to hear that Heather is doing well. I hope she'll take you up on your offer for her to come hang out with you for a while.

A neighbor couple and I went to church on a boat this morning. The Lily Pad II is a dinner cruise boat. They use it to hold boat in church services. People can get on the boat, it cruises out to where it anchors in front of a hotel. Boats from all over the lake come and anchor around it. With the good sound system, everybody can hear. This morning there were about 75 or 80 boats. It's a neat way to go to church.

TRUDY
What a woman Heather is!!   I am amazed when someone who just had heart surgery just goes back to normal living right away. Hopefully she won't need that second surgery.

ELLEN
What a fun way to go to church! You have the most interesting neighborhood!  

CB
I hope you brother is doing well. I would need to live near trees and grass. We lived in Colorado, near Denver, for a year after college and I really missed green. There was a drought going on and everything was grey or brown.


Rainy, rainy weekend here. We definitely need it, but it sure puts a glitch in our outdoor plans. And it is downright chilly, only in the 60s. This is August?

I may just do the 12mile introductory ride instead of the 28 mile one in a couple of weeks. Ivan and I have not been getting any miles in, just arena rides. We are not in good enough shape.... or at least I am not... 12 miles ought to tire me out enough without totally doing me in. This summer has been a strange one.  

Buck the carpenter has been doing wonderful things to our house. One good thing about having a truck run into our house has been getting work done all over the house that we put off. He is plastering the bathroom that needed it and finished working on trim on the roof. Lots of small odds and ends are being finished.  

Ark, it's rare that something unexpectedly good comes out of something unexpectedly bad. It must be nice to get all those little things done. Can't wait to see pictures of you new wall.

TRUDY,           It's great to read Heather is doing well.  I sure hope she doesn't have to have the second surgery, also.

ARK, it's raining here, also.  I'm in the mountains, cool, and really pleasant.  I can hear a horse carrying on calling for it's buddy….I love hearing the horses talk to one another and then another calls back from somewhere across the range.  Your upcoming ride sounds fun, when is it?

ELLEN, your boat church service sounds really nice.  Is it on your lake or did you have to go to another lake?  We have Cowboy Church up here and many are on horses……

CB, how is Jesse?  You must be getting close to selling your puppies……

We're going to a pastor ordination service in a bit.  The church sits in the pines in a perfect setting.

Prayers for ALL…..God bless.

GM, WE HAVE COWBOYCHURCH here also, they have a lot of horse events going on, that's where Bailey was mutton bustin at. I love the casual attire, jeans and boots or try to outdo the other gal in herdiamond studded flipflops!

I still have all 4 pups, my 2 buyers couldn't do it and I'm so attached to them now....it may be a date with the vet for neutering soon....

Jessi is doing great, still running every day, 10 miles every morning...one would do me in....no morning sickness....she will sail thru fine. she always did anything she set her mind to she just sailed thru doing great. I told her she was having twins and she mustered up a finger for me! lil snot!

Hot here....doggies r inside for their afternoon 6 hour siesta....they r happy mutts.

Ark, I jumped the gun on the good luck...so it will be there when u need it, lol

Graymare, the boat in church is on another lake about 9 miles from here. It's a MUCH bigger lake that can handle a 70 foot dinner cruise boat. They seem to keep it busy doing private parties, so going to church is about the only way I'll ever get on it.

It's good to hear that Jesse is doing so well with her pregnancy. Puppies are great, but new grandbabies are better.   

Still raining and just chilly enough so I can't figure out what to wear. We hauled Kazi and Daisy to VA Tech this afternoon for pedicures. They decided Daisy did have an abscess in that rear foot, which is fine now. However she is also officially laminitic in all four feet, but is much better now. She has lost 90 pounds and needs to lose another 150. Kazi has lost 60 pounds and needs to lose another 60. Both horses think I starve them to death.   I really dislike having them hungry, but Nibble nets and slow feeder haynets don't slow their eating enough. I have to measure out their every bite. We have seen Kazi stand on her hind legs nearly straight up to eat leaves out of overhanging trees. She is very resourceful.


It stopped raining as we pulled into the driveway. My barn lot is a mucky mess after three or four days of rain. The hayfields are happier, though.

I sent in the deposit for the upcoming endurance ride. I signed up for the 28 mile ride, but can change it to the 12 mile introductory ride if I want. The ride is on August 23rd.....only 12 days!!   

It's so very very sad that one who made so many millions happy, couldn't make himself happy. Goodbye, Robin Williams.

RICK: Groan!!

Me: Groan. I messed my back up again. Boo Hiss. I can stand. I can sit. But getting from one position to the other can be a challenge. My Chiro closed his doors and moved to California so I have to get around and meet the new guy he sold his practice to and see if I like him. I've been seeing Dr. Ted for more than 15 years. I had him all trained how to fix me. Now I have to start all over.

Here is a link to a cute cartoon. I especially like it as my farrier is coming today to trim and reset shoes.
http://www.theideaoforder.com/

Researchers for the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority found over 200 dead crows near greater Boston recently, and there was concern that they may have died from Avian Flu.
A Bird Pathologist examined the remains of all the crows, and, to everyone's relief, confirmed the problem was definitely NOT Avian Flu.
The cause of death appeared to be vehicular impacts.

However, during the detailed analysis it was noted that varying colors of paints appeared on the bird's beaks and claws.
By analyzing these paint residues it was determined that 98% of the crows had been killed by impact with trucks, while only 2% were killed by an impact with a car.

MTA then hired an Ornithological Behaviorist to determine if there was a cause for the disproportionate percentages of truck kills versus car kills.

The Ornithological Behaviorist very quickly concluded the cause:
When crows eat road kill, they always have a look-out crow in a nearby tree to warn of impending danger.
They discovered that while all the lookout crows could shout "Cah", not a single one could shout "Truck."

ELLEN....True story...I hit a buzzard one time in the tail feathers. Vulture started flying "with" the road instead of flying off to one side. Surprising to me...no damage to front of truck.

Buzzards must speak with the same Boston accent as the crows.   

Ark, are you riding and riding and riding to get ready for your ride?

Cute pix and jokes!!  

Ellen
 It has finally stopped raining.  We sure needed it, but it went on for days.
 I am not riding enough, but did have a very nice ride yesterday during my lesson.  Ivan and I trotted quite a bit while learning to make smooth corners.  He did great, was a perfect horsey, while I continued to forget to lower my hands, turn my body slightly in the correct correction, stop pulling on the outside rein so much or some other silly thing.  It is amazing how much Ivan puts up with sometimes!  We finally got our act together toward the end of the lesson.

Areion was very mellow, too.  I suspect not having Albert, the gelding, around this week helped both horses' moods.

I am going to do the 12 mile ride this time.  I don't think we have gotten enough miles in this summer to do the 28 mile one and have me able to walk for a week afterward. 

You'll probably enjoy the 12 miles a lot more than you would have the 28 mile, since you'll know you won't be so tired at the end of it.

I agree Rick.

Ark ... I think you will enjoy the shorter ride a lot more ..... not so tired and not pushing when you aren't in great condition yet. Have a great ride.......

Eli today…………..

That colt almost glows.  Just gorgeous!

In the past, I've taken an easy way out to fix those little vacuum sealed pork tenderloins.  Roll them in Italian salad dressing, brown, and bake for 40 minutes.
Today, I tried something just a little bit different.  I brined them for a few hours, then rubbed on a mixture of salt, pepper, onion powder, garlic powder, thyme, marjoram, chili powder, and brown brown sugar.  Then I put them on the grill for about 35 minutes until they were just barely done.  Fit for a KING!  Still super easy and soooo good!  The fresh from the garden home grown tomato was a perfect side dish.
I am soooo full!

How tall is that fence behind Eli? He's really getting to be a big boy, too.