APRIL 2023

I just called my friend in the hospital to say HAPPY EASTER and she was really happy.  Her friend
from Texas drove all the way up to see her.  That's a real friend.  She was/is thrilled.  She has a
check up with her surgeon on Tuesday.

We spent the day getting ready for Easter dinner......Roast, carrots, green beans, salad, pie, rolls,
enough to kill us.  My two friends aren't coming...........they're too shy to come over.  They
are widows also but I think they don't like to celebrate holidays anymore. I don't really know.
why.  

I'll talk to my entire family tomorrow so that will be great.

You all have a wonderful Easter............

Hugs to all.

In the morning, I'll make a sugar cream pie and then going to Ohio to visit with my cousins.  
HAPPY EASTER TO ALL

HAPPY EASTER DAY to all.

Happy Easter!!




We picked up Annie in WV yesterday and are already in Annie-land here.  She helped clean the barn, which was nice.  We've been watching The Mandalorian with her.  On the way home yesterday we stopped at an overlook of the New River Gorge Bridge.  We've been across that bridge a gazillion times, but I didn't realize that was the 1200 foot high bridge that people occasionally bungie jump off of.  They just made the area a new National Park last summer.   The New River Gorge river is the same river that we live about 2 miles away from.  

Perfect picture ARK & ANNIE.............have a great time together..........

Ark, Barnwood Builders talked about that bridge on one of their shows. They were rebuilding a log cabin not too far away.

Lovely picture ARK.

The smell is fading. I was able to open the front and back barn doors yesterday and have the wind blow through and that helped tremendously. I spent the weekend pulling vines off the box wire fence by the road. then raking along the road and then finally pulling the roots up and the small trash trees that were on the road side of the fence with the tractor. Next I have to work on pulling up the roots of the vines and the trash trees that are on the pasture side of the fence with the tractor and put down more weed killer. In the past all I could do was cut back the vines and apply weed killer, but now that I have a tractor with some umph I'm going to try and eliminate the problem. I've tried different weed killers over the years, some work better than others, but none have actually permanently killed the vines. I guess I'll see what happens this time. Saturday when I was cutting last years vines off the fence Tiberius and Sophie both had to come see what I was doing and help. Tiberius were especially helpful when the new neighbor across the street came over to chat. He's doing everything he knows he's not suppose to do like chewing on my clothes, invading my space, and in general being a brat. I think he knew I wouldn't smack him in front of a city person. Can't have them thinking I abuse my animals now can I. As soon as she left, so did he.

INDYAPP:
Nope, don't slap the horse in front of non-horsey people. They might get you arrested! They never think that one horse can kick the daylights out of another horse and they both walk off friends. A people slap might kill the horse.


We did NOTHING on Sunday. We relaxed, watched the tube a bit, took care of creature comforts, and that was it. We didn't go anywhere or do anything beyond the most needed. It was kind of nice.

Those do-nothing days are nice.

Too many city people have zero understanding of animals. That's why they seem to think it's perfectly okay to walk right up to a buffalo to pet it. Or to a moose. They are completely surprised that the animal sees them as a threat and will attack.

Happy Easter a little late. Church was wonderful on Easter morning.

Things have been soooo busy here. Getting the 6 new windows installed in the farm house. They sent us a IDIOT to do the job that we had to remove from our property when he started shouting and calling George names, and reschedule things with normal guys. I heard shouting and went outside to see this guy yelling at George. The windows are in and working great. We can actually see outside now that those old storm windows and old window/doors are gone.

Still waiting on the floor guys, they are so backed up, can't get employees who will actually work. So sad.
My son has been trying to hire someone to help out at his pizza shop for months, finally after a whole lot of prayers a older woman (63) older to him....walked in and asked for a job said she had a dream she should get a job at the pizza shop. HOOORRAYYY One less thing to worry about.

Warmer weather is trying to arrive here in PA...so tired of being cold every morning. It was 29 yesterday. Gonna be in the high 60's this week.

Blessings to everyone...

We are having a bit of summer.    People are starting mow their yards now.  Mine got fertilized yesterday.  I'll probably mow for the first time in a few days.  It's nice to walk outside without dreading the cold.

This evening, my neighbors invited me to go out for a ride on their pontoon. It was a completely beautiful ride. The weather was perfect. The topper was seeing a bald eagle sitting in the top of a tree.

And it's Spring in Northern Indiana again. I think it got up into the low 80's on Saturday. I spent the morning finishing up pulling up the roots of the vines and the small trees that were on the pasture side of the fence by the road. Everything is raked and ready for the weed killer to be put down. Sunday the temps dropped into the 40's and was dreary and overcast. And last night we got a dusting of snow. Last week was a tease and now we have the typical weather for this time of year.

The horses are shedding like mad. It is now the time of year that wearing chapstick is not a good idea.

Indy, I agree it was rather disappointing to wake up to cold dreary weather this morning.
Everything had started to bloom and colors had begun to appear in the trees and flowers. My tulips are blooming now. About 60 or 70 years ago, my mother planted some tulips. Those must have been some sturdy bulbs. They continue to come up and bloom every year, even though the flowers are miniature sized.

It was a cooler and windy day today after some nice warm days. We have a fire hazard warning for tomorrow because of the wind and low humidity. That hasn't happened in a while. After all the rain we've had, it's hard to believe there is such a warning for right now.


Wednesday we are going to a minor league baseball game in Salem, Va, with Annie. We'll have baseball park food for lunch. Supposedly the wind will die down by then and it will be in the 70s. After we get home, I am going to hand walk Areion in the arena for a mile. It is the start of this year's Virtual Tevis Ride challenge of 100 miles in 100 days. Areion is signed up to do it with me. So it will be a long day for me on Wednesday!

Maybe you can think of baseball park food as energy food that will get you through the first mile.

We have a minor league baseball team close by. It's the South Bend Cubs, a division of the Chicago Cubs. Our office gets 4 season tickets each year and then sends out an e-mail to our clients letting them know they can call in an request a game. It's first come first served and the clients really like going. If no one requests the tickets for a game, then the Cubs lets us trade them in for a later game so none go to waste. This will probably be the last year we get to do this as now that we are part of a much larger corporation there are a lot of hoops we have to jump through to get approval to do it.

I put my round pen back together. I had appropriated one of the metal sections for another purpose over the winter. Poor Sophie is going to have to be put on dry lot to control her laminitis now that the green grass is really coming on. The round pen is her dry lot.

The Salem Red Sox minor league team is affiliated with the Boston Red Sox.   They have a nice stadium, it should be fun.  Donnie and I went once several years ago and had a good time.  The tickets were on sale for the daytime game we are going to, just $10 each.  Not bad for a fun day!  Free would have been nice, though...      The weather is predicted to be sunny and 77 degrees on Wednesday.    




Salem Red Sox in Salem, VA

Ark, how was the game?

ELLEN:
 The game was really fun.  The home team won 5-2, so the crowd of a gazillion kids was very happy.  Donnie and Annie went to get us some drinks at the beginning of the 5th inning while I stayed behind.  The score at that time was 1-1. While they were off trying to find venders, the teams came to life and got all the runs to win the game, including a homerun.  Donnie and Annie missed most of the best action, but still had a good time.  There were hundreds of school kids from all over, so there was a good sized crowd.   We got sunburned and are slugs today, but we did have a good time yesterday!




Areion and I started our 100 mile journey with the Virtual Tevis Cup challenge yesterday evening.  We hand walked the first mile.  She was good except for one little spook, which I never figured out where that came from.  Then she got back to walking with me again with no problem.  One mile down,  ONLY 99 more to go....

Looks like fun, Ark.
Now, tomorrow Areion gets to walk you.

ARK, you and Areion both look very determined. Enjoy your time with each other.

I rode Areion for a mile in our arena yesterday evening!  I feel like I am 5 years old and riding a bike with training wheels.  I don't have Areion's cues and my balance quite right.  But my sweet mare was patient and acted like good training wheels, she didn't do anything wrong and kept me on top.  She doesn't seem to mind the new bit and didn't struggle with that.  Ivan knows what I want when I think it,  Areion and I are going to have to develop that skill.   She was very good.  Two miles down,  98 to go....

Hooray Ark! Maybe 2 miles next time.

ARK:  Way to go girl.  Ride on for the rest of us horseless Foops.

Not much new here in PA.  Crazy weather.  George has been mowing the grass already.  Keeps him busy and outta my hair.  

My freind Sharon's little 5 year old granddaughter Paisley is learning to be a barrel racer.  Had her first rodeo last week.  She manged to get thru the pattern without falling off her horse and stayed on course.  She is so proud of herself..and she had to change horses the day before the rodeo, her horse hurt his leg.
She is going to be a tough barrel racer, she has the cowgirl ride on spirit.

Have a great weekend everyone...

Trudy, I love seeing those spunky little girls riding barrels.  They often do pretty well since they don't weigh much.
Just now saw the picture. That looks like just the right horse for that cute little girl. 


For those of you keeping Jamie in your prayers, she will have surgery on May 3rd.  They will remove both breasts and possibly put in implants.  It will depend on whether there is enough healthy skin to cover them.  She will start chemo about the same time.  
She has always been very thin and flat chested, so it is understandable that she would like some enhancement.

Awwww, Trudy, she is darling.........nnice horse too. I remember when Isiah took little Jamie around the barrels
with her at 4 yrs old actually riding him. Way too cute. It's a blessing to see for sure.

Prayers for Jamie for sure.........May 3 will be a big day, for sure. She's doing very well so far.
It's a lot to take in when first told of the diagnosis.........

ARK, just keep up the good work and pretty soon it's finished..............just hang in there. I loved
the pictures of the ball game.

Everyone have a great evening.