November 2015

GRAYMARE
 My lesson went well, thanks!  We had  a lovely warm sunny afternoon after all the rain from the night before.  The arena was soggy, but usable.  Areion is fairly rambunctious while being warmed up on the ground.  She pulls all sorts of tricks and Lori patiently keeps her moving.  Strangely, once Areion is under saddle, she gets right to work with no shenanigans.  She is finally catching on to going into the correct lead on the side she has had so much trouble with.  She did it correctly twice in a row and Lori rewarded her by getting off and letting me ride Areion.  I don't exactly stress Areion much, we just walk and trot.  Areion is a fun ride.  My hip joints and weird thigh muscle seem to be adapting to her, no pain while riding at all!

 Ivan and I worked on lots of things.  He was in a sweet mood and was very willing to try anything.  While Lori was riding Areion, I sat on Ivan bareback.  That was all the warm up he seemed to need, no rambunctiousness in him before his ride.  It is so nice he has reached that stage in life, or level of training, that  He doesn't have to have that pre-ride warm up so much.

 Anyway, I had lots of fun during my lesson!

 Donnie and Buck closed in the last exposed wall where the heatpump ducting was in the kitchen while I played with horses!  You cannot imagine how wonderful it is to see the last of that mess!  The gutter man came by and will be installing the gutters soon, too.  The barn has had gutters for years, the house has not.

 I think today is the last day we will have Buck for awhile, he has more jobs than he has time to do.

Yay ARK! ssounds like you have a lot to be thankful for this thanksgiving! 2 wonderful steeds and your house back to normal. I find my back and hips feel better if I'm sitting a wider horse....if I try to ride harrys rocket horse, its just a no go...cinnamon is better, but tank being built like a tank is ahhhhh so nice. sandy is built like tank so I'm hoping.......she is so gentle on the ground working with her, I'm waiting patiently before se nding her to trainer when harry is healed so we can continue her without a time lapse.

GM, I looked here for any bulldog rescues and couldn't find any. st. louis has a bulldog rescue......I will check today on maricopa shelter....

Sunny with frost this morning, a bit brrrrrrrey.....

I can't tell yas how happy I am about the camper test drive....woohooooooo. pulledit like nuthin was there. The man who made it is a master machinist who worked for the rairoad for 30 years. his workshop is bigger than his house and I saw harry drool when getting a tour of it.....poor harry he just has a wittle shop.....

This guy came to have breakfast on the bugs in the ash trees.

ELLEN, give Woody a peck for me...........what a cutie............

Drat, my posts keep going somewhere!

We got snow last night, weatherman wrong again!

Hubby got the doxie condo done in the nick of time and the doxies made good use of it. they love being part of the inside with us. the condo has four boxes in it with cushions...they love it. they are tenacious stubborn lil cuddle bugs.

Have a good weekend y'all.

Sign me snowblind and shiverin in my flipflops...time to dig out the winter gear!

ELLEN
 That is a beautiful picture!  Is that the large woodpecker?  We have different sizes.  Neat birds!  I don't know how they keep from knocking themselves unconscious.  

CB
 Oh, no!  Not SNOW!  I am so not ready to face snow.  We were 70° on Thursday and it has gotten colder ever sense.  Tomorrow's high is predicted at 39°.  No snow, thankfully.  Stay warm!!  Congrats on the new camper!


We may have the carpenter back on Tuesday and Wednesday this coming week.  He hung the doors on two closets yesterday and trimmed them out.  I was outside and didn't know he did that.  Looks nice.  We have lots of not huge jobs for him to do.  We are going to paint the tv room wall  and finish the carpet tiles next to the new window tomorrow. Then the crash wall will be finished!!!

Ark, I think he is a Downy Woodpecker, not a small bird. He's probably close to 10 inches long, beak to tail.

I know you will be sooo glad to finally have everything all fixed up and done. Sometimes it seems to take such a long time to do the finishing touches.

We did have snow today. It started about 8:30 this morning and continued all day, and is still coming. With the light snow and the ground not being frozen, there isn't much accumulation. The high today was 33, going down to 14 tonight. BIG change from the last few days.

My toes r cold, time for the heavy socks....brrrrrr......our snow melted....that's a plus!

We have finches and cardinals and occasional blue jay and bluebirdss....seen some smaller woodpeckers very vibrantly colored.....

My doxies love their condo.

Cleaned, laundry, vacuum and cleaned bathrooms, just have to clean the kitchen.....I don't want to come home to a messy house.....and I don't want pet sitter to see it messy either....

Well, stay warm foops and foopettes.....we need to hear from our male foops!

Hey CB, get your sox & boots! Too cold. I HATE my feet cold so they get cold when you say you're out in flip flops............

ARK, how wonderful to have your new room in time for the holidays.

ELLEN, BRRRRRR. Sounds like cold nights. Hopefully your snow moves on.

We're going to get a new floor in our family room. We treat that room like local restaurant so we have coffee spills, food spills, etc. The carpeting was/is old and is simply shot so we are getting tile. We have two worn paths one into the room and one to the exercise bike. We should have tiled that 15 yrs ago but we didn't. Anyhow, the work is getting done the 30th so it will be done for the holidays. I sure didn't want to get going next week as I don't want the mess for Thanksgiving. I will start tearing up everything on Sat the 28th, move the furniture the 29th and on Monday the tile comes. LOL. Putting everything back and re doing the room will take me a week or so.................the thought wears me out.........

Anyhow, it's exciting. CB, sounds like you're leaving on your trip so have a SUPER time. And, please, keep your feet warm & dry............

Ark, sounds like you will have a finished house! woohoo! mine still needs a lot....this first year has gone by fast! we will get our floors this next year and something else on the walls.....takes time for sure.

GM I promise I will wear shoes! I still can't wear my shoe on my injured toes....that darn toe bends in an arch and shoes rub it....but I can wear a sock with the shoe they gave me to wear......and yep we leave tuesday morning early driving to ft. hood tx and staying the night in fam camp on base and. then on wednesday when kyle gets off we will drive on to san angelo and stay at jessis for a few days, or the state park. we r afraid their male dane whois all male and odie patotie won't get along, so we may go to state park and campout. my dogs r very content to sit in the car and wait for us, behave super. if its too hot we leave car run with the ac on. they r so use to going in the car with us, a second home.

Going to bed with a good book and get cozy! cuppa tea and a book and a nice warm blankie....ahhhhhhhh....I feel thankful....a warm bed, food, my animals, and guess I can't forget the hubby....and foops and foopettes, too.....and warm socks! lol

Oh Ellen, so sorry I missed out on your Birthday Celebration, please celebrate for a few more days, many hugs and a belated Happiest ever Birthday to you. CB, you are going to have a wonderful trip and a great Thanksgiving, such a wonderful Holiday. Fun, fun, fun! CB it seems like an appropriate slogan for us Foops, like a pair of warm socks! DIANE, won't it be great to have your home completed, all repaired and buttoned up for the winter season. Seems like both horsies are settled quite nicely, makes riding a lot more enjoyable I know. GM, I'm thinking about trading my hardwood floors for a laminate or tile slabs which look like wood. Having 5 doggies in and out have taken the finish off the hardwood and since they have been here since 1962 not sure they can stand being sanded and finished again. I will see.

We are hoping to get Robin's Haffie mare, Willow, here by sometime this week or early next week at the latest. Willow will be boarded here with Essie until Robin checks out some places close to her. That will give her some bonding time with Essie since they will be riding buddies. Essie has gained some much needed weight and looks soooo much better, and she has maintained her sunny and happy disposition. The pasture with the burr bush(es) has been closed off until it can be mowed down. The Gypsies were getting the burrs too, and of course both them and the Paso have super long and thick manes, forelocks and tails and Willow will too. Hey all, I had supper with a gentleman trucker Thursday evening, we chatted, laughed and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves, sure hoping he gets to re-retire very soon, he sure needs and deserves to. I'm still doing rescue/transport stuff, took a senior Beagle boy up to Fayetteville yesterday and I'm taking a bull terrier female pup to Myrtle Beach today. Next weekend will take 6 dogs up to Fayetteville for the first leg. Then I'll be off for a couple weeks from transport because I will be pet sitting Chris's 11 dogs while she works in NJ!

I thought I had dogs! but she wins! mine all have doggie doors and play yards. we didn't get the race track done yet, but that will be a project for after healing. my life has been doing things in the bh and stuff that will wait for ah!.....

Ill bet Robin is getting excited! need pics!

Well today is pack wheel bearings and pack camper....give all dogs a bath, toenail trims to those who need it.

Tomorrow is farrier in the morning and dr. appts in afternoon......

And y'all know what tuesday is! woohoot! I love road trips! I will love seeing all grand daughters....and jessi and kyle, joey not so much! but he comes with the package deal.

Oh CB, you cannot even imagine! The smallest of Chris's dogs is 60+ pounds, biggest 120 and about 10 lbs underweight! Lab/Shep mixes X2, Lab Dane X X1, cattle dog X X1, lab spaniel X X1, 2 pitties, 1 lab (special boy and not overly bright), 1 walker hound mix, and 2 bloodhounds. They have a doggie door and are in and out all day, except for the division of several who can cause problems sometimes. 2 hours in the morning a 2 hours in the evening when all is going well.

My crew is bad enuf, hers sounds big and boisterous. mine are smaller and tenacious lil chits!

Well, back to packing I guess...got to geterdun....

Been a quiet but busy day here at the el rancho....have to go thru some pictures to take for jessi to make copies.

Later tater tots...

Wow, Rose! That's a lot of dog tonnage. Feeding them must cost a fortune.

Neighbors took me out for a delayed birthday lunch and then back to one couple's home for cake and ice cream. Later we watched the Colts win.
Then I came home and watched the NASCAR race. I was disappointed that Jeff didn't win. Rose, are you a Kyle Busch fan yet? I'm not a fan, but I think maybe he has mellowed out a little bit since his big accident at Daytona.
I'm looking forward to seeing how Kyle Larson does next year. That kid is going to be good, as is Eric Jones. I hope Chase Elliot will continue the winning ways in the 24.

ELLEN, I am not and prob will never be a KB fan, although to give the devil his due, his attitude has improved some WHEN he is winning! We shall see what kind of Champion he is. I really wanted either Jeff or Martin to win, def not Kyle or Kevin, Kevin has a sucky attitude also. Looks like Willow will be picked up Friday in PA and brought here either Sat or Sun. ROBIN is beside herself excited! I think she has found the perfect boarding place, only 3 miles from her house, but not till January so Essie and Willow will have a month bonding in a huge pasture and a huge roundbale of coastal, free choice, and grain 2X daily! I'm going out to walk Essie's pasture to make durn sure there aren't any possible burrs around, don't think there are. Gonna pick up grain and dogfood while I'm out, saving time for when I'm petsitting next 2 weeks and being super busy. It seems we are starting our "cold to me" season, freezing last night and tonight also, covered my roses and strawberries and blueberry bush. The good part is maybe the temps will kill off the darn mosquitoes which have been absolutely horrible since the flooding (think helicopter size), mean and evil! Gotta get moving, lots to do!

Rose, did you see the Xfinity race on Saturday? I thought Kyle Larson was a really classy guy when he didn't do a winner's burn out, leaving that to Chris Beuscher, the new champion. I think he's going to be a good driver and good representative for NASCAR.
Yeah. I wanted Jeff to win yesterday too. Did you see the ponies his kids were given a couple of weeks ago? I think I heard that his wife does ride, so maybe the ponies will get used.

I totally agree, Kyle Larson proved himself a class act! Giving Chris Beuscher the respect and homage he was due! I also want Chase to follow Jeff in being a gentleman and a 24 to be proud of! Of course I saw those ponies Jeff was given, sure are lucky ponies and I hope the children will love and enjoy them, I suspect that it was checked out whether they would be welcome gifts, before they were presented, I certainly hope so!

Rose, I agree with you, it was probably set up ahead of time., I saw one really brief clip of the ponies in the aisle of a barn, with the kids on one side of them, and Jeff on the other.
You're right about Chase seeming to be a good kid too. There are several young drivers that will be fun to watch for a few years.
I'm sorry that Michael Waltrip will not have a team next year. I read a little bit about it, and the guy who was putting up the money just got tired of spending money and not getting much back.

Ellen, I really, really like Mikey and am so sorry he won't have a team anymore. He is such a nice person, but I do understand the financial part. Would love to know what happened between him and Junior. They really seemed like good friends, but Junior used to be friends with Tony too???? I think Tony really suffered mentally from that accident in the Sprint car and the death accident and he has never got the drive back and doubt he ever will. I sure do miss his brazen attitude and don't think either Danica or Harvick have got what it takes, even Harvick's championship. Not a Kurt Busch fan either, but sure like him better then Kyle. Nascar is sorta like a really fast soap opera!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! But one I really enjoy! Walked Essie's pasture today, no burrs thankfully! And I bought the grain for the next month or so today and will take it to the barn tomorrow. Got enough apples for Essie, just gotta get Willow some carrots since that's her treat of choice!

Rose, I think you're right about Tony. I think that accident took the heart out of him. It wasn't his fault, but I'm sure he has relived that everyday since then, thinking what he might have been able to do differently. He has announced that next year will be his last. He'll retire a year from now. He's never done as well since he's had his own team. Kevin has done better than Tony has. I'm not sure what's going on with Danica. Either she doesn't have the will to keep her foot down, or isn't able to tell them what her car needs to make it faster.
Now, we are stuck waiting until February for the next season to start all over again.

Has anybody been watching Dancing With The Stars? Did you see Bindi's freestyle tonight?

I watched the voice. new farrier came and my babies were so good for him, even new mare sandie.....he did wonder if she is pg tho....ack....I've been thinking maaaaybe.....

Leaving early, nite all.

On thr road again....da da da da deeeeeeeee

Cold this morning .....I. jnust want to be there already.....

Later taterss.

ELLEN
 I just added you to a conversation on Facebook.  Lots of foops are there.  You should receive a message.....

Busy day here.  Donnie and Buck finished blowing insulation into the roof.  There was a section that didn't get done earlier.  Buck's last day for awhile is tomorrow.

I decided not to do Turkey for Thanksgiving.  I am baking a chicken.