February 2021

ROSE, if your weather forecast is anything like ours, you're not going to be riding 2-3 times a week for at least another week.

ELLEN, my first thought when I read your description of the guy on the lake was that he probably handed his buddy a beer as he said "Here, watch this..." but Rose beat me to it.

I'm personally not a fan of all the snow, but my horses seem to like it. I've had to yell at them a couple of times as I'm walking amongst them to feed to knock it off as they jump and fart around. I got to use the little farm tractor with the bucket on it that I bought this summer for the first time on snow. I discovered I have a learning curve to overcome to get the knack of it. My neighbor who has a slightly larger tractor took pity on me and came over and gave me a couple of tips. I did so much better after he came over. We're to get another 3 inches or so so I'll get to practice.

I went to the farm store that is going out of business on my lunch to see if they had any horse feed left. I got the last 4 bags of the 2 types of feed I use. My car now has 400 lbs in the back. At least I shouldn't get stuck. I'll have to use the tractor to take the feed back to the barn as my car will never make it back there. I only cleared the front drive way. I need to stop going to the farm store. The first time I went besides the horse feed I came out with an extra tarp and fencing supplies. This time I came out with feed, 2 heavy duty ratchet straps and a set of sheets.

Indy, one more day of this cold. Mid 30s tomorrow will seem like a heat wave.

Yesterday, I got the second round of vaccine. I'm good to go - anywhere. So far, no side effects at all. Not even a sore arm.

Today was really nice outside................about 70, sunny, breezy, quiet. Perfect for
sitting outside reading. We sat there while horses grazed. It was perfect.

Does everyone have Zoom except for me? It seems to be the new connection
for several.

I"ve got to talk to my neighbor to see what goes on in schools. As far as I know
they go to school two days and online two days.............. the news reports the school
age kids are missing a lot and many are failing here in Arizona. Many parents are trying to expand
learning. How come all think they are the experts? I get tired of listening on the news.

Since I'm reading a good book, I guess I'm lucky. I know how.

Shoer comes in the morning to trim.............

That's all for today.........

Prayers for ALL............

The kids in this immediate area are very fortunate in that our schools have been open all year. There have been some snow days that are e-learning days. Their teachers put assignments online for the to complete. However, it is apparent that not all the kids bother to do them. Scarlett and Lilah do their assignments because Mommy sees to it that they do. But she told me that the last snow day, only 7 kids in Lilah's class did the assignments.
An out of state cousin was talking about her granddaughter has always been ahead of the standards. She lagged behind during the shutdown, but is regaining now that her schools are open again.
There are going to be a lot of delayed consequences of kids not being in school for a year.

Yesterday, the temperature got up to 35° and snow started melting. If the predictions are accurate, there will be a lot of snow melted this week. I don't mind the snow too much, but I'll be glad to see blue water again.

GRAYMARE:  No, you are not the only person who doesn't do Zoom or FaceBook or any of those things.  I can't be bothered with it.  It drives my kids and grand kids crazy but too bad.  If you want to talk to me call me on the phone.  I'm old and cranky and that's that.  LOL

Our schools are so crazy here in PA.  Grand daughter Bailee's school had a 2 hour delay on a virtual schooling day, then they had a early dismissal.  Who does that???  It drives the parents crazy.  They don't give anyone much notice so they can go to work and find a sitter.  What a giant mess.  I'm glad I'm old and don't have to deal with that nightmare.

We received more snow yesterday. 4" of the lovely white stuff.  My neighbor has decided he is not plowing anymore, he will just lock in his 4 X 4 and drive thru it.  Can't say that I blame him.  We are at that point too and decided there is no where we need to go.  A perk of being retired.  

Stay safe & healthy...

I don't do Zoom either. Don't need it. Don't want it.

I think Donnie may do Zoom for some of his conference calls for work. I am not sure, I am not invited....thankfully! I don't do Zoom, wouldn't even know where to start to do it.

I do FaceBook, but control it so much that I only get stuff about horses, cats, eagles, and family/friends for the most part. If someone gets too political for my tastes, they get blocked from posting on my page. I am sick of politics in general. I have blocked a lot of relatives. I am not sure if they know it or not, though. Don't care much, either. Donnie and I have a ton load of cousins whose political lives don't match ours.

We had a very pretty day here today! It was windy, actually it was howling, but the sun was shining and it was in the 50s. Tomorrow will be even better, maybe up to 60! I want to ride Ivan tomorrow in the arena. I have only been on that horse twice since Jan. 1, and those were not long rides. It's either freezing, icy or muddy this year.

We hauled Areion and Daisy to the vet school to get their tootsies trimmed. Daisy did not want to get on the trailer. She is usually the easiest to load, but not today. It was very windy, that may have had something to do with it, or she might have decided to just be a pain since we didn't want to be late. It took about 20 minutes to get her on the trailer. Areion was a bit freaked because Daisy was being such a pill, but she got on quickly. They behaved getting their trims, thankfully, and Areion lost 25 pounds since she was there last. Only 175 pounds more to go....sigh... But at least she is going in the right direction.

Donnie was supposed to get his vaccine at work tomorrow, but was cancelled because of shipments being delayed because of the weather. We were already signed up for the state health department shots when his company called him for one, then cancelled. Luckily, I hadn't cancelled his shot from the health department yet. We are supposed to get it next Tuesday. I hope we don't both get cancelled for next week's shot. I would like it over with.

One of Donnie's cousin's husband just was diagnosed with Covid and is in the hospital. He has lung problems and lots of pneumonia issues, so he could be in for a bad time. Three people who work where Donnie does have died of it. It seems to hit all ages. It's a sad situation that this has gotten so bad.

So that's the news from here. The good, the bad, and the unfortunate.

I'm not an expert with Zoom by any means, but I do have to use it fairly frequently for work. For those of us working from the office we have to take a weekly CoVid test where we have to use Zoom so that we can be watched spit in a tube that we have to UPS in. How would you like to be that person who watches people spit in a tube all day?

Elkhart city schools have been either virtual or a hybrid. The hybrid kids go to school 2 days a week and e-learn 2 days. I'm not sure what they're suppose to be doing on that 5th day. I have a co-worker who has a kindergartner. He's in school Mondays and Wednesdays so Mom comes in the office on those days and he's home the rest so Mom works from home 3 days. The school board voted last night that beginning March 8 all the hybrid kids will start school 4 days a week. I guess Fridays are still at home. Doesn't make any sense to me. The smaller community school where the great niece goes to school has been at school for 5 days since August except for November when there was an outbreak and everyone went virtual for two weeks then they were off two weeks for winter break.

I saw my first Robin on Monday!! Spring is coming!! Today is the 3rd day in a row the temps have been above freezing. We have slush everywhere. I'm going to have to get around and fix fence that broke during the big snow now that it is warming up so the horses have a larger pen to scatter their poop in. Oh the poop! It's amazing how much poop 4 horses produce in a day. You don't notice it when they have a big field to do their business in. LOL Sparkle Kitty the Barn turned House Kitty does not appear to want to become a barn kitty again now that it has warmed up some. I guess I'll see what she thinks when it warms up enough to dry out.

Happy Birthday ARK.....................eat cake & fudge...........and a good happy
dinner.

Indy, I'll have to start watching more closely to see a robin. It is nice to hear the birds singing in the mornings when I got outside.
My driveway is now clear of snow and ice, and my sidewalk is gradually clearing too. It's so pleasant to step outside and not have to think about where it might be slick.

Happy, happy Birthday dear Diane, and many happy returns of the day!
Hugs all around, more later!

The day is nearly over, but Ark, I hope you had a wonderful day filled with fudge.  

Trudy, do you have any way of contacting CB to see if she is okay?

Thank you all.  I had a very nice birthday.  It was much better than last year's when Donnie had just had surgery on his knee and he wasn't in a dancing state of being.  This year we still aren't exactly dancing, but did go out for a nice breakfast, he helped me with the barn work,  and he cooked dinner after I rode Ivan in the arena.  The weather was fabulous, 66 degrees, sunny beyond belief and little wind.   A low key birthday, but nice.  We had a chocolate rum cake from the Tortuga Islands with vanilla ice cream and he put a candle on my piece.  

I hadn't ridden Ivan all month, the weather has been cold, snowy, icy, muddy, and miserable all month.  I think Ivan enjoyed our ride as much as I did.  



Birthday ride.

Ivan and Areion were a bit distracted while I was riding Ivan.  They kept staring over at the neighbor house that has been for sale, auctioned, re-auctioned, fixed up, and apparently sold again.  There was a horse trailer in the driveway being unloaded of boxes into the house.  I don't know if these people have a horse, but they did have the use of a horse trailer.  It was pulled by a black truck and there was a fancy Lexus car there, too.  Hmmmmm.....  It's funny how my horses can spot a horse trailer.

GRAYMARE:
 I saw a CB post on FaceBook yesterday replying to F'Lessa...Karen.  CB is apparently on a liquid diet for the past 6 months.  I don't know why that is,  where she is,  or how Harry is doing.  But CB is alive anyway.  She has apparently lost quite a bit of weight and craves hamburgers that are not pureed.

It may snow here on Friday.  yippee.  Not.

It was good to read CB is OK..............I'm sure she is not feeling well. She'll be back
at some point I hope.

We are having old friends over today so we will have a great lunch about 1:00 P.
We will eat from beginning to end.

ARK, great pics.............hope you get good neighbors next door. Glad you had a good birthday.

Everyone have a great day!!!

Happy Belated Birthday Diane.  How wonderful you had a birthday ride.  

ELLEN:  Sorry I don't have any way to contact CB.  It was good to hear she is still hanging onto life even if she is on a liquid diet.

We had our little Tea Party on Thursday, it was nice to get all dressed up and act like fancy ladies.  LOL  My kitchen received the cleaning and redecorating of a lifetime.  I now remember why I don't have very many fancy parties.  Next party on the patio in the springtime.  The weather was great for the tea party so we took a outside photo, it was 42 degrees and felt like springtime to us girls.  God smiled on us old girls.  

We had snow again this morning, just when we were getting to see some grass.  Ace & I were bummed to see white ground.

Trudy, it looks like you all had a great time.

We got rain, yes, RAIN last night. It washed away some of the snow, but there is still plenty left. It will take several more days to melt all of it.

Ark, did you succeed in doing the 100 miles of riding last year? Will you try that again this year?

Graymare, have a great time visiting with your friends today.

TRUDY:
Wow, what a fun looking party!! I went to a tea party once, it was fun. Cute hats! Ace is so funny, .


ELLEN:
Actually I did finish those 100 mile contests. I did two of them, but both with Ivan. I ended up walking, on my feet, not Ivan's, for about half of both contests. You could ride, walk or bike or combine them. I originally wanted to do the second one with Areion, but that never happened. I finished up sometime in early December. Cool metals on ribbons! I will have to take a photo of them.
This year I am doing a different type of contest. It is just the number of rides you take, not the mileage. I have until the end of 2021 to do 100 rides. I usually ride much more in Jan and Feb, but this year has been so muddy/icy/snowy that I only have three rides in so far. I will have to get busy. This is more of an incentive to ride type activity. If you ride two different horses on the same day, it counts for two rides, so if I get Areion going, it will go faster.

GRAYMARE:
I don't know why CB doesn't check in here. If she can get to FaceBook, she should be able to get here.
Donnie met the new neighbors this afternoon. He said they look to be mid-30s and will be bringing a couple of "Ponies" with them. I think they meant horses, but Donnie wasn't sure. So my horses will be very interested in the new neighbors, they have never had horse neighbors before. He said they seemed very pleasant.



It actually snowed this morning. It didn't last long, then just rained. It will be raining 2 to 3 inches until Monday. Mud is so much fun....

Ark, congratulations on completing the contest. Good luck with the next one.

ELLEN:
Thanks. I got in a short ride last night, so am now up to 4 for the year.


Time to change the calendar: go to:

https://horsefriends.forumotion.com/t115-march-2021#13323

or click on Basket and then March 2021.

Spring is coming!