April 2013

That's me... an alien! Been a while, I know!

Hope everyone is doing well, and that you'll catch me up on your lives. Here it's painting ceilings and bathroom, halls, all the trim, etc. and changing lighting on the main floor. I'm off work for a month so it's a great time to get stuff done.

My horse has been lame for a while, vet couldn't really find anything, but rest and bute seems to have helped and I think I'll try lungeing him tomorrow to see what he looks like at a trot. Maybe we can get out for some gently riding where it's not too squishy so the mud isn't pulling at him (it's very wet land where he lives) The unopened road sounds like a good option.

Gotta run right now, be back

HEY NANCY! It's always good to see you checking in. With some time off, maybe you'll be here more often. I do hope you horse is sound now and ready to go back to work.

Good morning...WHEW it has been busy here after the BIG party, now it's the clean up and try to get things back to normal. The party was a blast. Kevin was soooooooooo happy. I think 35 people were here, it was a little crowded, but we worked it out. Everyone was on their best behavior, even Kev's mother and step dad showed up and acted civil. No fights among the family members who just don't get along, but managed to suck it up and all get along. Even the weather cooperated.

ARK: Nope, no snow here but we had winds and cold temps. Yesterday it was 70. WHEW too hot too soon. Poor Ace was panting on our walks, we are just not ready for 70 after 23. Crazy weather.

CB: AWWWWWWW girl we are going to miss you, but taking care of your animals & bills come first. Another nightmare trip for your guys I don't know how you handle all that stress, I'd be a basket case. Prayers going up for Jessi, hope she is OK.

INDY APP: WOW what a weekend you had...I don't know why people act so rude in stores.

I had a tough morning yesterday. One of the feral cats had 5 kittens the other day, when I went to the pole barn there were 2 dead kittens and 3 half kittens...eewwwwww they had cannibalized the kittens. I had to pick up pieces of kittens and fight off one half grown feral kitten who was claiming the left over pieces. Darn feral cats.

Today our neighbor is brining up a bunch of furniture to store in our hayloft for his daughter, so I better get breakfast on the go and build up some strength for furniture moving.

Love & prayers for all...

Tired of constantly being broke & stuck in an unhappy marriage, a young husband decided to solve both problems by taking out a large insurance policy on his wife with himself as the beneficiary, and then arranging to have her killed.
A 'friend of a friend' put him in touch with a nefarious dark-side underworld figure who went by the name of 'Artie.' Artie explained to the husband that his going price for snuffing out a spouse was $5,000.

The husband said he was willing to pay that amount, but that he wouldn't have any cash on hand until he could collect his wife's insurance money. Artie insisted on being paid at least something up front, so the man opened his wallet, displaying the single dollar bill that rested inside. Artie sighed, rolled his eyes, & reluctantly agreed to accept the dollar as down payment for the dirty deed.

A few days later, Artie followed the man's wife to the local Super Wal-Mart store. There, he surprised her in the produce department & proceeded to strangle her with his gloved hands. As the poor unsuspecting woman drew her last breath & slumped to the floor, the manager of the produce department stumbled unexpectedly onto the murder scene. Unwilling to leave any living witnesses behind, ol' Artie had no choice but to strangle the produce manager as well.

However, unknown to Artie, the entire proceedings were captured by the hidden security cameras & observed by the store's security guard, who immediately called the police. Artie was caught and arrested before he could even leave the store.

Under intense questioning at the police station, Artie revealed the whole sordid plan, including his unusual financial arrangements with the hapless husband who was also quickly arrested.

The next day in the newspaper, the headline declared...






(You're going to hate me for this...)










'ARTIE CHOKES 2 for $1.00 @ WAL-MART!'


Oh, quit groaning! I don't write this stuff; I receive it from my warped friends and then send it on to you.

Bad, ELLEN! Really bad, LOL.

Indyapp
wow! Your weekend was exhausting! That is how I usually have company, too. None for a long time and then every one I know shows up on the same day.

Nancy Lee
Hiya!! Good to see you! I have forgotten your new horse's name and breed. Please tell us again. Did your farrier check him for white line disease? That is usually what Kazi or the ponies get in mucky conditions. I spend a fair amount of time keeping their feet out of mud.

Trudy
I am glad the party went well! You had a busy weekend, too! Really sorry to hear about those poor kittens....

Ivan and had a busy few days, too. We have ridden four of the past five days. He has just gotten better each day! Today we cantered in the
arena.....WooHoo!!...We slow trotted right into a slow canter. The curves didn't bother like I thought they would and Ivan slowed back to a trot instantly when I asked. We did good.

Yesterday Areion was napping in the arena next to the roundpen. She rolled over and stuck her legs under the roundpen panel. She didn't panic and laid there stuck until I got to her. I unpinned the panel from its neighbor, and tried to pull the panel back away from her. Her legs weighted it down and I could barely move it. Then Areion realized she was stuck and started thrashing to get out of the panel. Luckily it is smooth metal and she could move it since it was unpinned. She scraped the hair about 3 inches in two places on one leg, but got out otherwise unhurt. It was lucky she didn't panic until I crossed the arena and unpinned the panel.

82 degrees here today. Hot. Nothing left of our six inch snow from last Thursday. The shaded areas melted off yesterday.

I don't remember if I've said anything about an ongoing project, but I've been working on cleaning / sorting 'my corner' of the basement. Involved in that has been several detours off into other minor 'sub-projects'. For example, I got into my Mother's poetry and spend several days just reading and sorting and recording her work (typing) into my computer.

Today...I started work on a file cabinet drawer of old Grange records, programs, etc. I found ANOTHER short poem (I think it is funny) Mom wrote. She didn't have a title on this little piece, but I'm going to call it...

AN ODE TO A CLOTHES PIN

I think that I shall never see

A clothes pin looking good to me.

A pin whose biting mouth is pressed

Against a night shirt's dripping breast;

A pin that holds up in the breeze

A billowing pair of BVD's;

A pin that may in these days snare

Such scanty bits of underwear

And dries tea towels in endless flocks

And intimately lives with soggy socks.

Any fool may soil his duds

But those like me must toil in suds.

GMA 1908 - 1984

ELLEN.... groan!!!

TRUDY, sorry you had to go through that, and those poor kitties. How awful. On the other hand, really nice to hear how well the party went off!

ARK, thanks! Nice to see you. The vet could only figure out that it is in the shoulder, probably just some muscle or something else soft, but fortunately seems much better. No chance to lunge him today, but will check tomorrow. Gotta strip his stall tomorrow and then lunge. If it doesn't precipitate ice, as they are forecasting, that is. Oh yes, his name is Peter and he is a TB, about 17 hands or so. He tends to be pretty thin, but is putting on some weight.

Glad to hear that Aerion was such a calm girl while trapped. Makes for much less injury. Whew!

INDY APP, you had quite the weekend. Hope you're all back to normal now.

RICK, that is some really nice poetry work! And a great wry sense of humour too. I think I would have really liked your mother!

Nancy...Reading / typing/copying her poetry was a unique and fun experience for me. As a friend (another web site) told me, it was an "adventure of discovery", I truly feel closer to my Mom NOW than I did when she was still living. There was a 'side' to her I did NOT know existed and a 'depth' to her that I never knew about. Mom and I had a good visit while I wrote her poems into the computer.

Hope all is well in your corner of Foopville...its been very warm...almost what you would want to call HOT. And to think that just a week ago, we had cold rain/sleet and 17 flakes of snow to fall here. I've been in shorts this week and love it!!

My love to all...Rick

How nice, RICK. I love to hear this from you. I have been told there is no separation between those who have gone on, and those of us who haven't yet. It gives a whole new perspective on our relationships. I'm glad you are enjoying this opportunity with your mother.

Now we know where Rick gets his penchant for poetry. That's really sweet, Rick.

Rick
I love you mother's poem!! She was very talented.

Nancy Lee
I hope Peter is all better soon! Maybe he slipped in the mud. I worry about that here a lot. We had a long muddy winter. Are you still working at the same place? A month off sounds very nice!

Storms are headed this way overnight. yikes...

This is obviously NOT another poem by my Mother...but I found this recorded in her handwriting in a small notebook. Enjoy the laugh (if you so desire) cause it sure gave me one!!
===============================================

Richard (storming in the house and in a very EMPHATIC tone) (I was 12, at the time): "If I had my way, there'd be a LOT of changes made around here."

Mom...who was busy preparing lunch said NOTHING!

Rick...repeated the statement

Mom...still NO reply!!

Rick...3rd time repeating the EMPHATIC statement.

Mom (very calmly): "Such as?"

Rick..."Yes, indeed....if I had MY way....."

Mom (still very calm)..."Such as?"

Rick...after a brief pause and rather meekly..."Off hand....I can't think of a thing"
==================================================================

Now FOOPS...I KNOW this sounds/reads like something our/your little SNOOP buddy would love to tell on me, but it IS the UNVARNISHED TRUTH....and I'm very serious about the truthfulness of the above.!! I do remember that happening!!

Love to all...Rick

Now, we also know where Rick got his sense of humor.

Rick
I bet you were a cute 12 year old, LOL. It is wonderful you have found your mother's writings!
Oh, and I meant to congratulate you for being a bit early for your reunion the other day!....:-)


Kazi and Ivan went to Va Tech for pedicures and shots yesterday. Ivan also got his teeth floated. The poor boy was so scared of that noisy place with all sorts of loud machinery, strange horses neighing, a huge floor fan blowing right at him, and lots of people scurrying around trying to talk over the noise. He shivered and sweated from nerves, but never did anything wrong while strange people grabbed his feet, gave him shots, and generally poked and prodded him all over. Finally they gave him a sedative so they could float his teeth and then he no longer cared what was going on around him. He really worked hard at being brave before that shot. . Kazi had a great time, it's old hat to her. She seems to enjoy these trips. Ivan practically jumped back on his trailer to go home.

He gets the day off today to recover, then if he is feeling okay, we are going for a ride at Pandapas Pond Park tomorrow.

I am sick to death of this weather ... looks like a really nasty winter day out there!!!! I don't think it will ever end ... the long forecast show just more of the same!!!!

oh boy CAROL, I bet you wished you had stayed in AZ a while longer, huh? I would gladly share my sunshine with you if I could, its going to be in the 90's here the next four days....a bit warm for my liking...but I'll get thru it!

10 a.m. found us riding the trails at the state park today, and we had a really nice ride. We saw one deer on the trails, and hubby rode Rocky for his first outing, and he did pretty darn good, he spooked once and tried to bite Cinnamon is she got too close! but other than that he was a good boy, after a few more outings I'll give him a whirl! Hubby said he thought Rocky was jealous of me being on Cinnamon and not him, and Rocky shook his head up and down on cue! just like he understood and agreed! LOL silly horse. Jessi rode ol Nikki and ponyed her Maximus along, and Joey rode King, and we were almost back to their trailer when King spooked at something at our trailer and jumped to the side, made Joey scramble to remain seated! Don't know what made him do it, he is usually pretty levelheaded. Jessi got on Max and rode him around for the very first time today...she's sat on him but never moved before....he'll be two in May and is 15.3 already and growing more. By the time he is 3 he'll be on the trails and totally broken. He has such a great personality and is so willing to please.

Hubby got on the scrawny Paint gelding today also...he did good too. He paws or strikes out in front of him, which got nipped in the bud today for his first lesson! The wind was blowing really good, so we only worked a short time with him.

Just a great ride and a great day...now I feel like someone whopped my arse and I think its time for a nappy poo....

Carol
my sincere sympathy about your weather! I didn't think spring would ever get here either. It has finally arrived,it was beautiful today, 70 And sunny with only a light breeze. I hope your weather improves quickly. Spring was late here, we are juat now getting daffodils.

CB
You had a good day!!! I am very happy you are finally having fun!

I had a very good day, too. Ivan and I had a wonderful ride, the best trail ride in at least a year. We rode on a wooded trail with one friend. Ivan was so calm and never took a wrong step. He led the way most of the time and didn't mind at all. When we trotted,he did the speed I wanted and slowed to a walk instantly when I asked. My friend,who has seen Ivan at his worst, kept asking where I got a horse that looked just like Ivan, LOL. He was wonderful today. All our riding lessons have really made a difference.

ARK, that is great! I'm glad you are getting to enjoy Ivan and the trails. I know I'm enjoying being back in the saddle when I get the chance to go off! Its a good feeling! Makes one tired as heck afterwards...specially with the heat starting here...but it is a GOOD tired!

Wish I could share my temps here with y'all....it s a bit too warm already for me...I needed to get use to this a bit more slowly...but yeah like that was gonna happen...NOT!

Well, one more goaty feeding and then a nap...we feed every five hours...its like having a newborn in the house! except for these babies we have to stumble outside to feed them! Earlier this year we had lots of skunks around but no so much right now, thank goodness, I woldn't want to startle one out there in the dark!

Sweet Dreams y'all.

Hey, Olman here ----



Quick, CB ask Harry and tell me the highlites of how do you do dry lotting one's horse. How long do you keep em away from that "green grass". They are looking kinda nasty at me now.

We took a couple (old old and double old) friends out for his 83 birhday the other after noon. Gosh this age group is nice. We both can get around a little and local bar's food was good (enough) : waitress a very young talent made a hit and produced the best "Happy Birthday song" ever---I want her singing the National Anthem on tv sometime. Yep, I tipped.

Like everyone else I've been busy, busy, busy. Spring isn't quite here yet although yesterday afternoon was nice. Over the weekend I bought and spread 50 pounds of pasture seed. I've been babying my pasture for about three years now. Hopefully all this work will pay off soon. I also got the final touches done to the horse trailer so I can, and did, hook up and take it for a test drive. It hasn't been used in probably 5 years. Everything checked out so loaded up Thunder and Tiberius and took them for a short ride. Tiberius hauled like a pro. Yea Rah! I consider this past weekend to be a success.

The phones are already starting to ring with last minute tax issues. Everyone have a Happy April 15!

Indyapp, I'll bet you are busy right now, stay calm and collected!
Those babies/young horses sure surprise us sometimes, don't they? I love it when they can trust us to do anything with them. Glad you got your trailer up and going so you can get going!

OL Man, Harry wants to know the reason for dry lot for your horses? R you trying to grow pasture, or have you reseeded and keeping them off or are you always going to dry lot and control their feedings? If its the reseeding, you'll have to ask someone who has done that, cuz when we dry lot fed ours, we didn't have pasture at all. We fed hay and some grain year round all the time in Idaho and basically we do that here, there is some grass in the runs, but they munch it down real quick like!
Birthday party sounds like fun! Iam so terrible at remembering anyones birthday, was it yours? Inquiring minds want to know! Glad you had a good time whozevers it was!

Harry, my horse has long hooves. Last year hoof doc trimmed and ok. This year long hoofs again and of course I am worry about founder. I still don't know all i do not know and every one seems to think green spring grass makes for founder auto! Guy that trims is also good friend and have no problem but want to sound like I know something.

It sure is great to of all the worries to worry that a horse is getting too much to eat!!!!! I am lucky in that I have winter hay left over and looks like will take hay off pasture this summer----the mare seems to kick off the long toes and gives her opinions on trimming from a distance.

Once again, the meanness of some so-called humans is exposed. Big prayers for all those who were in the wrong place at the wrong time.

I agree Ellen, but its not meaness, it is a sickness and desire to bring recognition to theirselves by hurting others. I hope they catch who is responsible and I hope they come down to a shootout, and our side blows them out of the water so to speak so there doesn't have to be a expensive trial! I don't relish of paying for this idiot(s) food and medical for the next 30-40 years while they sit in prison...grrrrrr....

Guess y'all know how I feel about it, huh?

We joined the Senior Center in town today, they have low priced computer classes...we will be taking those.

Harrys' doc appt went well, he's lost some weight and his BP is normal and he is happy! The meds are working..yessss!

Whoever did today's bombing in Boston doesn't seem to be as sophisticated or financed as well otherwise it would have been much worse.

On a happier note, check out this video. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FbH3N5VJzBE

OL Man, its true the rich springtime grass can and will founder a horse, you have to limit how much time they are on it and build up slowly....like in ten minute increments at the most. Maybe you can get your friend to trim your horse every 10-12 weeks at the longest period out...and keep those hooves looking good, there are all kinds of padding stuff, like gels, and wider shoes that can help foundered feet now or soft soles. ARK may be able to give ya some info on that. This is my opinion, don't put the horse out on grass in the morning..it may be old wives tale, but they say the dew on the grass shoots has a chemical reaction and can make founder easier to happen. I have read this in my manuals:don't give grass clippings to your horse either as the chemical breakdown of the drying grass can cause probs with colic and founder. So I guess thekey here is to extend the time he is on the grass very slowly by a few minutes a day, and I probably wouldn't let a horse on grass more than a few hours a day at most even after you have built up to it....they just don't know when to quit eating that good stuff and even being use to it could cause problems. It depends on what they are use to also...so there are several answers to this question as hubby says! Maybe google it and see what others say about it and take a poll on here, lots of good horsey folks here and we all have ideas or have learned about things, pick their brains for answers!