August 2015

Accckkkkk, that's too much susy homemaker stuff for me at one time!

Guys still working on plumbing.... me, sittin at home...watchin reruns of hart to hart..

Goody goody...boredom.....rainy and dark out there....dreary, humid uckkkkkkk

Yeah I have summertime cabin fever...I'm going to have to do something about that...but have been hangin close in case chris comes for the minis...want them out of here.

CB, I am NOT into rubbing and scrubbing any more than I have to. I'll use whatever I can to make it easier. Soaking those racks in the tub makes it a cinch to clean them, and the soap in the tub leaves you with a clean tub too.
I hope she comes to get the minis SOON.

Oh anymore I just really have to work at cleaning anything. that does sound easier, just hate the thought. of doing it. blahhhhh....
I hope so too.
I cleaned my cars all 4 today, cleaned trash and half empty water bottles, flyers....where does it all come from. I'm one of those folks that only throw food items out of my car...everything else goes into the back seat for clean out day.

I picked up pieces of hay string and gave all animals fresh cool water....started dinner, did some laundry and I am just beat....where do th9se lil short hay strings come from...tada, I know! from my husband cutting them to use somewhere! and then he drops the not needed part

POURING. I was going to hike anyhow, but too much lightening, so here I am for now. Now it's stopping already.......that's the mountains..............still windy but rain is stopping. Whew, sure didn't want to consider cleaning the oven.

I'm hoping for good news that Chris has taken her mini's............

We're going to fire up the grill and do sev steaks that we got on the
2 for 1 sale................we'll cook them all and then return them to the freezer for daily use. So, prob after a little hike we will cook.

We had a nice late Sat afternoon gather here and had so many goodies we didn't have dinner last night............I did chicken wings in hot sauce, friend had shrimp cocktail, another tamales w green chiles and cream cheese (holy cow, REALLY good)huge crockpot of cheese dip w red & green chiles, huge sack of corn chips and our make shift Jimmy B for mixing the margaritas...................we listened to everything Jimmy Buffet for our party........none of us can dance but had a ball pretending. LOL, line dancing to Jimmy B right here in Margaritavillle. Tn of fun for a bunch of old codgers. Hatch chilis are ready so we put them in everything. We can make a party out of anything..............

Church staring at the mountains today was nice..............reconfirmation of peace watching elk munch mountain grass.

Everyone have a good day.........God bless. Prayers for ALL.

Gm, nothing better for me than churchin the forest or by horseback.
Chris called told me she was coming at 930...didnt ask, just told. she was 45 minutes late, took 4 of them to catch those cute lil minis....loaded them and the new one proceded to kick the other two against the side of the trailer, had it rockin good! the older guy told his grandsons to take the kicker and stick him in the back of trailer with the carts, shafts, harness and all of chriss stuff, a chair, clothes, shoes....ewwww....I wonder what that mess was like when they got to where they were going. nary a dollar to cover anything....and they were off....write it off to bad experience.....she said toodayshe is renting an apartment in buffalo....not nearly far enuf from us harry says.

We packed a lunch and drove around the lake enjoying the day. tomorrow back to work and finish bros plumbing....its gettin there. slowly....

So that's my day....

I have to tell you a funny, my brother dozed off in his lawn chair and my big baby of a pack goat got out and went to check skee out, stuck his face right up to his and bro woke up to a goat licking his beard! lol. I would have paid to see that!....my pack goat is 200 lbs and he is a tall one..he could freak someone out!

I am back on my computer!   Hurray!  Donnie has installed Linux and done away with Windows.  Now I have to learn how to use it, but it shouldn't be as crazy as it was before.  I have lost a bunch of bookmarks...again...but I will get by.

My ride was cancelled Friday because it was supposed to rain.  It didn't, at least here.  It did rain in Blacksburg where Donnie works and Lori lives.  It was nice and  cool here, it would have been a good time for a ride.  So instead, today Donnie and I trailered Ivan about a quarter of a mile away from our property on the gravel road that the back side of our land runs along, Neck Creek Road.  Ivan didn't know where he was and that one good yell would have had his mare herd yelling back.  We unloaded him and I rode Ivan down the road all by myself.  Ivan was so good!  We had a nice walk/trot ride.  He was alert, but not a bit spooky.  Only two small cars passed us on the road and they were both very polite and slowed down.  Ivan didn't care.  This is the first time I have ridden on Neck Creek Road, although I have wanted to since we bought this property.  It is busier during the week, but Sunday morning it is a fairly quiet road.  Anyway, it wasn't a long ride, just 2 1/4 miles,  but it was a very good one.  We turned back when we came to the hardtop.  It was so much more fun than I thought it would be!








The eventual plan is to ride Ivan off the property, but I wanted to see how he would be on the road without him worrying where his mares were. It worked pretty good! I wore the safety vest in case he left me in the dirt, but didn't need it, he was really good....and the vest was very hot.

CB:
Congrats on getting rid of the ponies. That must be a relief. How far away is Buffalo?

GRAYMARE:
Funny story! You have such a nice social scene!

INDYAPP:
Sorry about the tack problem. Hopefully you can find that piece you need. I need to get Zippy's harness restitched. He probably won't be using it, but it would be nice to have it in saleable condition. It broke in the middle of a crowded parade. Half the harness wasn't attached to the shafts. I had to jump out of the cart and wrangle a quick fix in front of the most crowded part of the parade route.....

SUNNY
Are you getting any swimming in? A pool sounds very nice right now.

TRUDY:
I meant to send condolences for your cousin's wife. I hope he is doing okay. 68 just doesn't sound that old anymore....

ELLEN:
People clean ovens? It is a good thing ours has the built in cleaning cycle or it would probably never get cleaned. I need a maid...or a keeper...

CB...............that's a Disney movie moment! "The Afternoon With Two Goats"..............WAY funny. I'll bet your brother woke up FAST.

Glad the mini's got gone before the one hurt Harry's knee. On with your happy farm CB............

Nice afternoon & evening here........BBQ'd the sale steaks, some now in freezer. MMMMMMM, good dinner............

Later gang....................

ARK. We posted about the same time...........what a great day for you.
The bottom pic should be in a magazine......really pretty. BIG CONGRATS.

Ark, Graymare is right. That last photo looks like a postcard. I'm glad you had such a nice ride.

GRAYMARE and ELLEN:
 Thank you very much!  Donnie does take nice pictures sometimes, and we are fortunate to live in a pretty place.  From the intersection, our property runs 1500 feet along Neck Creek Road.  Our only flat field is along that road.  


Oh, I forgot to tell you.....Sunday after the ride, Donnie and I went to Christiansburg to go to that Tractor Supply.  When we were leaving I went down Donnie's check list of essentials:  Phone, wallet, water, butt....and then asked if I needed to bring my purse " No", says he.   So we went to lunch, and Tractor Supply.  Donnie's leg was really bothering him.  I told him I would drive home so he wouldn't have to keep using it to drive and said I had better be careful since I didn't bring my purse, or driver's license.  Five miles down the road and around the curve was a roadblock with at least 8 cops stopping traffic in both directions.  It wasn't there when we went thru before .... ...Donnie was quietly wondering if we could switch seats.  Not with 8 cops watching.... I am going to get a ticket for sure.    A very handsome young cop said they were doing license checks and could he see my license." No," says I.... " For the first time in my life I am driving without one because my husband's leg was hurting  and I told him I would drive him home." Donnie held up his barefooted leg.    On the side of the road were five or six cars pulled over.  I am so doomed.  The cute young cop smiled and said he would let me pass today.  It pays to be a grey haired old lady with a barefooted husband sometimes.  
So on Donnie's essential items check list goes:  my purse.


Lesson rained out this evening, it is pouring.  We are planning on going to the New River Trail with Ivan and Areion on either Thursday or Friday.

No fair, ARK, u r having way too much fun and excitement! has Donnie checked into those injections, man, they really do help a lot...worth a try.

We found some very sweet smelling grass hay tonight for 2.50 a bale, got a bale to see if the horses ate it...we will know by morning as it was almost dark when we got home .

I made corned beef and cabbage for dinner....yummy stuff.

Guys still working on hot water heater in bros motor home....getting it done bit by bit....not much excitement here....pretty duh days....

Sweet dreams y'all

CB, hope the m home gets done soon. I'm sure the guys are tired.

ARK, lucky we didn't have to send you cookies in the clink. Pretty funny, actually. Hope you get your trail ride this week ARK.

This afternoon was odd. Sunny and nice, then cloudy & rain, sunny again.
Then bang, cloudy, big winds and temp dropped about 25 degrees in about 30 minutes. Now chilly but nice.........40 degrees.

Drones..............gads, I don't know a lot about them but they are interfering w fire fighting here in the west. They are interfering with the flight tankers dropping retardant on the fires. I can't get over that people are willing to go to that length to get a right up front or in it picture. What some people won't do to be the big shot. These were not news media drones, just people with drones. No regulations whatsoever...........
Something wrong with me? I don't get it but it's apparent there will soon people getting killed over them............

Two Sundays ago, we were on the boat for Boat-In church. At the end of the service, some guy on a pontoon had a small drone that he was flying around our boat. He wasn't doing anything harmful, but he's just an example that those things are going to be everywhere.
They are causing more than a little concern around airports. Senator Chuck Schumer has a very good idea. They can easily be programmed at the factory to not allow them to go more than 500 feet high, and not let them go within two miles of an airport. Sadly, that will be necessary because we have way too many people with no common sense at all.

ELLEN, I predict drones will become a big problem regarding airplanes and personal privacy. I seriously don't know much about them, etc., just what they can do as explained on the news and how they were detrimental to fighting the huge fires going on out here in the west.

A couple of weeks ago, a guy shot one out of the sky with his shotgun. It was hovering over his backyard while his daughters were in the yard. Needless to say, he got in some trouble, but I don't think it was too serious. I didn't hear if they found the drone owner.

I heard about that one, his daughtere were in the pool....I agree with the guy....invasion of privacy and protect his kids. I think they should have a serial number like a car or gun to be traced to owner when they buy them and hold them responsible for spying on private homes or businesses.

Okay. I admit it. I'm whining. This has not been my most stellar day.
The construction company came to mark where the grinder pumps for the new sewer system will go. As in most projects like this one, somebody has screwed up big time and they didn't communicate to the company the proper locations for the pumps. They had mine completely wrong, and even in a place where it wouldn't even work for my house.
After they called the engineer, he arrived on the scene and realized that it was definitely wrong and would have to be changed. Not a particularly big deal - I think. I won't believe it's right until it's done.
Then, I went into town to retrieve an external flash unit for an old camera that I gave away. The woman at the shop was going to buy it if it worked for her equipment. It didn't, but she hadn't bothered to call me. Naturally, it wasn't at the shop. I'll have to go back another day to get it.
My cellphone battery life has really dwindled over the past week or so, probably due to some obscure update that is eating the battery. After talking to the cell company with no good results, and to the phone manufacturer, with no good results, I took it to the cell service store where I talked with a very nice young man who said that it could all be cured with a complete reset of the phone. After spending a couple of hours backing up everything, and resetting the phone, the phone is now different than it was before (again, not right), and it didn't solve the battery problem. The next step is to take it back where I bought it.
While I was waiting the hour for the phone to reset, I took the car to where I bought the tires and had an alignment done a year ago. It's pulling to the left and needs to be tweaked a bit. They worked it into their schedule and were almost done with it when their computer went goofy and it was going to take another hour to get it reset and then do the car. So, I decided I'd wait until another day. Drove the short distance to pick up the phone, and then right back to the tire place because the pulling to the left was much worse than before.
I didn't realize the place closed at 6:00, but they took it back in anyway and tried to fix it. No luck. They still couldn't get their computer to get things set up right. They at least put it back where it was to start with and I made another appointment for tomorrow. (I was sorry I made them stay late.)
So, at the end of the day, pump in the wrong place, no flash unit, phone not fixed, and car not fixed.
Okay. I get it. It's not the end of the world and there are so many problems worse than mine. Maybe tomorrow will be better.
The good part is that it was a beautiful day.

ELLEN
What a frustrating day you had! Tomorrow can only be better....I hope!! At least you got home safely....


I rode Areion today, the first time since my hip incident back in the winter. She was very good. During her lesson with Lori, she even managed to get the correct lead in the direction she has had issues. She and Ivan were both extremely mellow today. I forgot Ivan's bridle in the house and was two lazy to go back up that hill a third time, so rode him in a rope halter with Areion's reins. He did great! I think he likes having less and less on his face.

Trail ride got cancelled until Sunday. We are taking both horses to Pandapas Pond instead of the New River Trail. It will be Areion's first trail ride there.

Oh brother, ELLEN. The big one is the well pump. I sure hope it won't be an issue. What a mess. The other two are just products of our computer world..............computers sure are miraculous. NOT. The technology is good, the effects bad for daily life sometimes. Hope today is better.

Give me a good horse any day!

ARK, have fun Sunday.........

Well, I finally got the car realigned. It is somewhat better, but still don't think it's right.
The pump is the new grinder pump for the new sewer system that is being constructed around this whole area around the lakes, not my well pump. Crossing fingers, my well pump is good.
The state in all of it's infinite wisdom decided that we needed to have a sewer system instead of the septic systems that work perfectly well in the houses that are above the water level. The cause of all the trouble are the houses built down on the same level as the water, or only a foot above it. 702 channel houses built on 42 acres of channels. They were built on what was swamp when we came up here 62 years ago. In today's world, building there would have never been permitted.
The only effect on me will be a $70 sewer bill every month that I've never had before. I'm trying not to be cranky about it since it's going to happen whether or not I'm cranky. Does a nap cure cranky?

Yes, in my infinate wisdom a nap sure as he!! helps.

You sound like my hubby woeking on bros old deceptid motor home. everything worked in it....well sh*t nothing worked, not the wiring for electrical, not the plumbing, not the ac, not the fridge, not the stove...and the power steering went out on way here and he blew 2 tires on it....and oh yes the roof leaks.
And then my dodge pu broke down moving his stuff up here...778.00 ikes.....and I had to fight for a week to keep Demon alive....and Iits been too hot and way tooooo humid....ugh...

Ok, my whining is over....know exactly how ya feel. these changing zoning laws or restriction that keep changing....ya never know what will change next. here if you have 5 acres or more there is no zoning or county rules....

Well, I'm watching the fire in idaho and oregon...its a big one. hope things go well and no one loses much and firemen stay safe. hope animals stay safe also

ELLEN & CB.......if a nap isn't enough eat fudge!!!

Demon has an appt at vet to be castrated...we have decided this will be the last kids born here..so we don't need a buck. he will become our second pack goat. he's a regular spoiled stinker...won't leave u alone at all....the 6 does we have r all bred...but after this batch of kids they won't have anymore. we will buy some babies , a group of them each early spring, feed them for 3 months and resell. we also want to get a couple calves and raise them and resell. bottle calves are 450.00 and at 8 months bring around 2000. our does and pack goats will run the 10 acres with the horses to help with weed control. usually you need to bottle feed a kid but demon is such a character and follows me everywhere..and he was not bottle fed...but from the day I had to pull him out I knew he was going to have personality.

This next spring we want to travel and visit alaska and points inbetween and then we will come home and start raising our goats, calves, and turkeys, guineas, and peacocks.
I guess we will be old enuf to settle down.....lol

Finally, after a weekend to celebrate a 3 year old's birthday that included a trip to the store where I got the phone, things seem to be okay again. Got the alignment on the car working better; the phone is working right again; and I'll call the camera shop BEFORE I go back to town to pick up the flash unit.
I'm not cranky anymore.

Looks like everyone is gone..................

Things are in gear here................great weather, green forests and meadows, fall winds................of course, it's 8500 ft.....................

I need to find a summer heaven too, this humidity is awful this summer. we r seriously looking for our lil slice of coolness for summer months...whewwwwww. everyone says its been bad this year, well of course, we moved in!

I mean you come inside just drenched....clothes sticking to you...ugh...

We r on a tiny camper search to pull behind our dodge journey....I've been searching the internet but any ideas will be helpful if anyone runs across something. under 1000 lbs. even have been thinking of popups and motorcycle campers for 2 persons......

Bro got a new fridge for his camper and ordered a tankless water heater...its coming along....slowly.....nothing worked in that old thing....wiring was gone, plumbing gone, no fridge, no ac, no hot water heater, no carpeting, leaks and had to put in support beams to hold ceiling up....they r virtually rebuilding this piece of chit. poor hubby. I will be so glad for it to be livable, just to have our lives back.