March 2014

Ellen .... I enjoyed the show tonight and was totally blown away by Derek and the double amputee skier. If anybody can get going (and he did tonight) it will be a wonderful thing for her. Enjoyed to rest too ... some more, some less but will see as the season goes on .... a couple of pretty cocky youngsters... lol

MAKS....           

That pretty well expresses your thoughts on the matter, Trudy.     

Maks must be quite a hunka-hunka burning love   .


I took my cat, Kumquat, to the vet today. She has to have her teeth worked on, she broke off a tooth and needs them cleaned, too. We think she probably hit her tooth jumping off the pantry closet when she caught that mouse a few weeks ago. It was about an eight foot drop to the tile floor for her. Anyway, she didn't appreciate the drive to and from the vet in Blacksburg, she howled the entire way. She hasn't been eating well, and it now seems obvious why.

Friday the horses get their spring shots. It's the week of the year that the vets love coming here....$$$$    I am only getting Coggins for Ivan and Areion this year. I usually get all the horses' Coggins done, but none are going anywhere this year except Ivan and Areion.

I sent in my official registration for the AERC endurance ride on April 12th in South Carolina today. I am now obligated to go.   

ARK, where in South Carolina is the ride?

Ellen, how do you feel after your fall? hope you aren't too sore.

Queit day here today.....hubby worked outside in the wind all day on his tool shed he is building. I don't do very long out in the wind.....It was sustained winds of 39 mph...with gusts higher than that. But it was 89 degrees today! WARM!

Not much going on...but that's ok, ..makes up for the days that we have too much excitin' stuff going on!

Sweet Dreams Y'all.

CB, thanks for asking. I'm perfectly fine. If anybody had seen the fall, they wouldn't have even had time to yell 'timber'.   

Trudy, you can have Maks. I'll take Derek.   

CB
The ride is in the Sand Hills forest, about 3 1/2 hours from here. I think it is an hour or so below where RICK lives.

ELLEN
If there had been ice on your path, you could have started a new Olympic sport! Sort of like riding that Curling stone....  

  Ark, that is a really funny image. That bag would have dragged me all the way across their driveway, ending at a pile of bags of potting soil.

NANCY LEE is SO READY for spring that she had a party on her porch/deck and posted this pic. on Facebook!!

ELLEN: OK that plan works for me. I have always had a thing for the bad boys. LOL I told George, Maks is the only man I would run away from home with. Needless to say he isn't a fan of Maks, but me and daughter Missy just love that bad boy.  

GRAYMARE: Eli sounds like so much fun, Nothing like a foal and their antics to keep ya laughing. He is so darn cute.

I went to a chocolate party last Sunday, Anyone hear of a chocolate party? It was fun with lots of yummy chocolate stuff to eat. Can you imagine a kitchen full of women all hopped up on chocolate????    It was a blast and very LOUD...and I won 10% off my order

Busy day here today. The local Amish store is having a chicken sale, so we get 40 pounds of chicken boneless, skinless breast that has to be cut up and packed in food saver bags. It sure saves us a lot of cash over the grocery store prices. Tonight is the big Lenten Seafood Buffet at our favorite restaurant The Pine Barn Inn. They only have it at Lent and it is a wonderful buffet, a little pricey but ya gotta treat yourself once in awhile.

Have a great Friday.
Love & prayers for all...

Trudy, I have a Foodsaver too. LOVE that thing. I can buy in larger quantities and repackage into smaller amounts that I can use for one or two meals.

TRUDY:
Yum! A chocolate party sounds great! Never heard of one. What kind of chocolate did they sell?


RICK:
The dog needs to write instructions on how to give a wild barn cat a shot. Our cat, Giles, didn't appreciate it much today.


It was Coggins and shots day here. Ivan and Areion got Coggins, shots, and strangles vaccine, the other horses just got shots. Virginia has finally got a 6 month health certificate passport so the horse can cross state lines without having a vet out each time. Ivan got one of those since he will be going to SC next month and might go to other out of state events this summer. The passports are good over most of the southeastern states.

Ivan didn't like the cute female vet students. They would look like they were sneaking up on him, so he basically freaked out over them. I had to take his temperature and the vet in charge did the bloodtest and shots with no problems. Ivan just can't tolerate someone who looks like they want to take a chunk out of his hide. The girls did great with Giles, the barncat, though.

After today's vet bills, no chocolate parties for me for awhile.....  

Ark, I've been nibbling on some really great chocolate that I got last week when I went to get my hair cut. There is a little company in Hagerstown, IN that makes the BEST chocolate - all kinds. Abbotts has been there for years and years and years. They have some they call break-ups. It seems to come from a sheet of chocolate that might be close to 2 inches thick, and appears to have been dropped to make it break into smaller pieces. I like all their chocolates, but the milk chocolate is my favorite. It sure isn't cheap, but is a really nice treat now and then.
They make some great caramels too, but those are outrageously expensive, so I pass on those.

I hope those two girls will learn more about how to work around horses before they graduate.

ELLEN:
 Yum, that sounds like good chocolate!  I just heard on NPR radio's "People's Pharmacy"  last week about how good dark chocolate is for a person's blood pressure and cholesterol...(and my own personal happiness!).  Seems it lowers the first two items when eaten in moderation and when the cocoa is 70 percent or more.  Works for me!   

 I hope those girls figure out horse/human body language, too.  The girl Ivan freaked over headed right for his rear end (with a thermometer in hand) while intently looking at his rump and slightly bent over.  Ivan will turn his hiney away every time, and in this case he tried to get away from her.  The girl was amazed when Ivan let me take his temp with no problems.  Had I bent forward while looking at his hiney, he would have turned away from me, too.  I had a farrier for awhile who would do the same thing when heading for Ivan's back feet.  I had to remind him repeatedly not to start stooping down while moving  towards Ivan's back end. Ivan thinks the predator has finally arrived to eat him when that happens.  

 Areion was very lovable and funny while getting her shots and Coggins.  The girls loved her.  I was teasing Areion's lips with mint flavored breathsavers, so Areion wasn't paying the least bit of attention to the girls' activities.   She loves those mints and was doing her best to get into the mint package, but the girls thought she was behaving   .  

 Trinket was the hit of the day.  The girls wanted to ponynap her.

Areion's new Coggins' photos:

ARK: The chocolate party was selling Dove Chocolate. They have amazingly yummmyyy items. Being a sweet lover, that is just the kind of party I should stay away from.    I enjoyed the free samples waaayyyy too much. Of course, one party spawns another party, so I'll be off to another one at the end of the month.  

Amazing how much Areion has changed. She is beautiful. Hope those vet assistants learn how to approach a horse, they are going to get a hard lesson from a horse who doesn't like the predator stance..

ELLEN: I LOVE my Food Saver, it sure makes filling the freezer easy when bargains on food items are on sale at the market. We have had one for years. When George worked out of town I would package dinners for him so all he had to do was heat and eat.

Keep thinking Spring, it can't hide forever.  

Trudy, I had one of the original Foodsavers that had to go through it's whole cycle before it would seal. I kept hoping it would wear out so I could get a new one that you can seal whenever you want. Last year, the 12 year old one finally gave up and I got one of the newer ones. Just love it. I can store and freeze softer things without smashing them. I hope this one lasts as long as the first one did.
Do you make the bags bigger than they need to be so you can use them over and over? And do you turn them inside out and put them in the dishwasher?

Dawn had this thought posted on Facebook. I thought it ought to be shared here also.

SVET had this posted on Facebook...

Life


Life is like a journey on a train...with its stations...with changes of routes...and with accidents! At birth we boarded the train and met our parents, and we believe they will always travel on our side.
However, at some station our parents will step down from the train, leaving us on this journey alone.
As time goes by, other people will board the train; and they will be significant i.e. our siblings, friends, children, and even the love of our life.
Many will step down and leave a permanent vacuum. Others will go so unnoticed that we don't realize that they vacated their seats!
This train ride will be full of joy, sorrow, fantasy, expectations, hellos, goodbyes, and farewells.
Success consists of having a good relationship with all passengers...requiring that we give the best of ourselves.
The mystery to everyone is: We do not know at which station we ourselves will step down. So, we must live in the best way - love, forgive, and offer the best of who we are.
It is important to do this because when the time comes for us to step down and leave our seat empty -- we should leave behind beautiful memories for those who will continue to travel on the train of life.

I wish you a joyful journey for the coming year on the train of life. Reap success and give lots of love.
More importantly, thank God for the journey!
Lastly, I thank you for being one of the passengers on my train!   

Rose, did you see the race today? I really thought Jeff might have a shot at it until Jimmy lost that tire. I hope Kyle Larson will continue to play well with the big boys and take the brat out of a few, like he did yesterday.

Ark, I think that "picture" must have been "taken" here near my house. It's back down to the teens tonight. And this is going to last until Thursday. yippee

Here in florida it is warm, cloudy, and a chance for rain at any time, I now keep my scooter on my car at all times so at a moment's notice I can be off and running, I keep it covered all the time to protect it from rain I have not had to charge it yet the batteries have a long life I can go 26 miles on a charge
but come summer I will have to keep it in the house because of the humidity will ruin it.