May 2012 !!!

On this day in PREhistory...40 years ago...I started saying "Yes, dear" on a full time basis. McDonalds, Burger King, or Arbys??

Rick

EILEEN:
That was too funny! I keep waiting to bark like a dog or quack like a duck, but so far so good...


ELLEN:
I'd love to have a Kindle Fire, but can't justify it since I haven't even had my Kindle for a year yet. I guess I'll have to wait for a decent computer connection....sigh....and wait.....

RICK:
Happy Anniversary to you and Carol!! Now tell us which appliance you bought her this year!


CB:
It is sure not cool here. I am about to melt and have to go outside and paint the garage in a few minutes. I am dawdling on the computer....


We took Ivan to a little horse show yesterday nearby. He was much better emotionally, away from home, than he has been for weeks. We only got a ribbon in the halter class, none in the riding classes, but he never got scared or shivered or shook over anything. And there was a lot to be nervous about, especially the crazy little Hackney carts going by him. He kept a watchful eye on them, but never spooked. He still thinks he is supposed to race any horse nearby if he is moving, so I had a hard time controlling his speed in the English pleasure classes (walk/trot) that we entered. I think he has delusions of being a racehorse. But anyway, he did much better than the past few weeks and we were happy with him overall. My instructor, Lori, went with us and was extremely helpful and then gave Ivan a lesson on walking and trotting all over the fairgrounds after the last class.

No appliances...may have to re-roof the house though.

Rick

Progress was made Ark ... just have to be careful not to throw too much at him at a time. The only way to get over the racing thing is to ride in the ring with a group so he gets used to be passed. We also do a leap frog thing on the trail so they get used to being any place in the line. This is NOT just a training thing ... we do this on a regular basis since we all tend to be creatures of habit .... hahahaha and then one day we announce that we will be doing it different ... horse says .. oops I don't think so.....

Icky weather here today ... very hot and very humid. So, I am inside. We haven't decided what to do about dinner, but we won't be cooking it here!!!!!

CB .. glad you and yours are all safe from those fires. BE CAREFUL ...

Happy Anniversary Rick and Carol.

ARK, does your English bridle have a noseband or figure 8...I found that to work great on my small quarter horse...a bit more control. But its progress....no steps backward!

It's windy here today and only in the 60's...graduation was inside, too windy outside....and it was very nice!
WoW...he has graduated...I'm gettin old!

ONLY got a ribbon? That was a BLUE ribbon. Anywhere I've ever been, that means first place! Good for you! And Ivan!

Rick, happy 40 years of "yes dear"... you must have house train quite easily or you would have been in the dog house by now. lol What ever it is that you are doing...keep doing it.

Ark, don't lose faith girl...Rome was not built in a day. I can visualize your walls plastered with ribbons of every description and color...go girl...one step at a time you know.

I am a little late but HAPPY ANIVERSARY and hope you both have many many more 40 years that is quite special these days congratulation

Thanks ELLEN....

CAROL:
Today a friend called up and wanted to bring her little Rocky MTN mare and a new friend and her TWH mare over to play around in our arena. Ivan and his mares watched these interlopers from their enclosure and after a while, I brought Ivan over to see how he would do with outsiders in his arena. Last time this happened he freaked out and never collected his braincells back. Those were mostly geldings and more of them and Ivan didn't like them near Daisy. This time we kept Daisy away from the two mares and Ivan didn't mind them being in his arena at all. I am not completely sure if Ivan didn't mind mares, but hated geldings, or if just keeping Daisy away from the action is what improved his behavior. He was very good and did everything I asked. He's such a puzzle.

While I was goofing off with horse friends, Donnie was painting the garage. Yesterday we started painting it, got a wall and a half done and discovered we were using the very same color we dislike that is on the house. We got the color names mixed up. We kept thinking it would darken as it dried. It didn't. We is stupid painters.... Today we used the right color and got most of it done, just the trim left to do now. Next we are going to paint the house using the same darker color. We will not get the paint name mixed up again....really. Anyway, the Smurf blue garage is now a more tasteful dark tan.

talk about horses doing strange things....I was taking the Palomino mare, Stormy, up to Jaemis' for some work...and Hubby was trying to load her...stubborn thing....she just stood there...and said NO...I tried circles, grain, put another horse in front...butt rope, but I wasn't strong enuf to do that...I tried the buggy whip, on the hocks....nuthin! Finally I told harry to go get a drink and let me have her...we stood at the back of the trailer...and i explained to her, " well, ya really have him pissed off now..he wants to see you in a can of alpo and he wants Bubba to enjoy you to the max, you have to make a choice here, either get in and go get some more training, or get drug in and go to the auction and end up dogfood"...she looked at me and squealed, and jumped right in the dang trailer. Now you tell me they can't understand what we say! When we got to Jaemis' she unloaded like a lil lady should..and went into the pen...she is is for some lesson learning with her and some much needed respect my space teaching...but I really think she will make a good mare.
We got to tear the bedroom apart today, went thru dresser drawers, moved everything...no sign of the snaky poos....thank goodness. We also took a load of trash to the dumpsters, and went to the grocery store, and packed some more stuff in the Beast.
Next weekend, we get new tires on the horse trailer and the Chevy truck and get some hay in...another busy day..but needs to be done.

Hope everyone had a great weekend.

happy anniversary Rick and Carole...hope it was a great one!

Appy where are you? Did you zip on by me? Hope your vacation was a fun restufl one! and you had a safe journey.

Sunny, hope you got enuf rain to put the fire out down your way.
TP/did the storm hit you at all?

That is interesting Ark ... think I would have given him a lot of atta boys and then gone to get Daisy to see IF that is the trigger. It would be good to know that. It might be!!!! If so, then you might want to deal with it all in a different way because it is a different problem for him. You will get there....... Good for you that you thought of the Daisy issue. ((( )))

SNOOP: I just got here with a short story on ME. It happened on our trip when I slipped out one night and I was in a pub. Had a few of the "apple ciders" ...I noticed two quite large women by the bar. They both had strong accents so I asked, "Hey, are you two ladies from Scotland?"

One of them chirped: "It's WALES you crazy idiot!"

So, I immediately apologized and said ...,"Sorry, are you two whales from Scotland?"

That's the last thing I remember.

Ark, only you would down play a blue ribbon... Ivan is a lucky horse to be owned by you.

Weather here does not know what it wants to do. Rain one day hotter than hell the next. Hoping it stays dry so my brother can mow the lawn tomorrow. Then the brush hog guy is coming the first of next week. Cross your fingers that the weather holds.

Happy 40 years together Rick. That is a very good job you two have done.

Snoop==== you good guy, thank you for the "picker upper" as I call it.

CB:
Sounds like you are pretty good at horse whispering . That mare was sure inspired to get on that trailer! Maybe you should try talking to those snakes!

SUNNY:
Get any rain off of Beryl?

CAROL:
Good idea....If Donnie hadn't been painting the garage, I would have had him come down and handle Daisy while those mares were in the arena with Ivan. Since I was escaping the paint job, I didn't want to bother him. He did come down later after I had put Ivan up and showed the ladies how Daisy does ground work, but Ivan was in with Kazi and Areion then. How's Ice and the heat? It was scorching hot here today again. I am so sunburned.

KATHI:
Thanks, but Ivan might not agree with you today . I didn't ride him in our lesson today, Lori did. She really had him looking great! She worked on bending him and getting control of his shoulder. My lack of control with him apparently has some to do with my lack of control over his shoulder movements. If Ivan had done with me what he did with Lori today, we might have gotten a ribbon for our riding and not just for his prettiness . He looked fabulous. Lori worked his hiney off!

So while Ivan was learning to be a good horse, I was learning to ride Daisy. What fun! She is so tall, the view is wonderful from on top of her . It was really hot and Daisy was exceptionally lazy, so it was a good day for me to ride her. She is like driving an old Impala after driving a souped up sports car named Ivan. With Ivan I can be fairly assured he won't run us into anything. I had to be careful not to run Daisy into the fence, she goes where you point her. I got a few gaited steps off and on, but so far haven't figured out her second speed too well. She was very good today. It's the longest I have ever been on her. Friday we are hauling her and Ivan somewhere with an arena to train them away from home.

Speaking of Lori, she won her week in the professional division on ACTHA's America's Favorite Trail Horse competition! Thanks to any of you who voted for her! She will compete again at the end of the contest against the other winners of their weeks. Hope she wins!

RICK:
Bad, really bad!

OL'MAN:
Hey! Good to see you! What have you been up to?

Mizz CB
That was one heck of a burn

I got a really late start on Monday, had to haul on by. Was glad to see that burn stopped short of your place. For the rest of you, it was a good big fast grass burn, and it got to just the other side of the highway from CB's place. That has got to have been one smoky spook!

My instrument cluster crapped out 70 miles from Colorado. Truck working just fine, but I haven't a clue about things like how fast, how much gas left, oil pressure, coolant temp, etc. Truck is already at Ford for diagnosis, I am pretty sure I am not going to like the prognosis. Wires pulled and dead fuses already being ruled out as a cause. I WAS going to go play in Palisade for a bit (hey, only two years now I have been trying to get a half day to look around there...) but instead picked a nonspeeding car and proceeded on down the road to home, and the Ford dealer.

I checked yesterday... no schedule change of any significance. 50 miles out from Colorado, the cell range.... sigh. They didn't even wait till I made it back to Colorado this time. 8 am show time for work. I will find out what's up tomorrow, but if they need me for the Aspen airport office, then the person whose day it normally is still sick. and the first alternate hasn't been cleared by the doc to come back to work. I think it is just going to have to wait until tomorrow however, laundry and shuteye have priority

AP
rain, snow, sun and broken stuff, sigh

Appy, sorry ya had to fly on by...was looking forward to more time to visit, and yes that was one smoky scaring burn..we could see the flames from the house even tho I'm in a hole here...

ARK: I talked to the snakes too, but it was more in the form of screams and jumping up and down in place type thing...and then grabbing my round point shovel and doing my best to obliterate 'em!

Beautiful day today...can't complain...I took the puppies outside for the first time in their lil play yard pen...they didn't seem to really like it much! They have the waggeness tails I've ever seen on babies...I have a male and female red sable long hairs, and a brown and white piebald female long hair...that was the itty bitty one...who is doing fine. GS Kyle came over today and looked into their box, and she was the one that growled and barked at him! LOL

Well, I do believe I'm calling it a night..sweet dreams y'all.

SNOOP here with the REAL TRUTH (UNVARNISHED, of course) about RICK & CAROL. This is what you might call a "back story" to their recent 40 year marriage mark.

This happen a few years ago when RICK, who is normally a mild-mannered man, got tired of being "bossed" around by his wife, Carol, so he went to a psychiatrist.

The psychiatrist told RICK he needed to build his self-esteem, and so gave him a small book on assertiveness, which he read on the way home.

He had finished the book by the time he reached home.

RICK stormed into the house, walked up to CAROL and Pointing a finger in her face, he said, "From now on, I want you to know that I am the MAN of this house, and my word is LAW! I want you to prepare me a gourmet meal tonight, and when I'm finished eating my meal, I expect a sumptuous dessert afterward. Then, after dinner, you're going to draw me my bath so I can relax. And when I'm finished with my bath, guess who's going to dress me and comb my hair?"

"The funeral director," said CAROL."

....and THAT is the reason he said 40 years of saying "Yes, Dear." when he made that posting about his anniversary.

SNOOP...just setting the record straight!!

Ark, we are getting on and off rain storms hard and fast they last from 10 min. to 30 min. but we are still having rain we need it though, it hasbeen raining on and off since Saturday, we did not get hit hard like Jacksonville didand points north into Georgia they lost power, we just got the edge which was fine by me as long as we got rain.

Been a really busy last couple of weeks, only now got back to catch up on all everyone's news.
CB - That fire sounded AWFUL, I would be absolutely terrified, hate fire. And having to leave some of the horses for a return trip must have been the worst thing. Thank goodness no one got hurt. Makes me thankful for Ireland's wet weather when I read that.

Ark - I've been really interested to read about your adventures with Ivan! But even in the little time since I've rejoined you all here and read about you and him, you do seem to have made a lot of progress. I often think you have to look back sometimes, to see how far on you have got.

My own busy couple of weeks were because of TREC. A couple of friends and myself organised an Orienteering training day/competition for some of the new riders last week. We got 7 pairs entered. Starting point was a Pub (Rick will know what a Pub is ), where everyone could park and we could have food after. Well.... we planned a really nice simple route, drew out the route on the map which each pair copies carefully, with arrrows for directions, and off they went. So how did 2 pairs manage to get lost??? We reckon they must have been too busy chattering with each other and missed some of the turns. Thank goodness for checkpoints and mobile phones - we were able to talk one pair back, via a very busy main road, , and we had to take a trailer out to pick up the other exhausted pair! Think it'll be a while before we do another one, WE need to recover!

Then just this last weekend, Zaristo and myself, with a friend and her horse, did a full One Day competition ourselves. We had a great time, thankfully didn't get lost, now THAT would have been embarrasing considering! It was really hot (for Ireland) but the horses coped well, ate and drank at checkpoints. And we did fine and got placed.
Come Monday, I could hardly move after 3 hours in the saddle the day before. Just about feeling OK by now!

This weekend I'm off to watch Cross-Country Day at a 3-day Event (International) near here. Zara Phillips is riding (British Queen's granddaughter) as well as some of the world's top Event riders so that should be thrilling to see. I'm not sure if anyone from the USA is riding - when I get the programme I'll let you all know.

Silverdancer, is Zara Princess Anne's daughter? Princess Anne was one tough rider. I know she had the best training and horses, but nobody can buy 'guts'.

New Rules for Secret service


The Secret Service issued new rules of conduct for agents Friday.
They can no longer get drunk, procure hookers or go to strip bars.
The rules say that from now on, if agents feel compelled to engage in such behavior,
They can run for public office like everyone else.


Aaaaawww

Ol'MAN...that sadly seems to be the truth anymore. And to think that years ago I was in DC attending a luncheon function and got to shake hands with SENATOR John Edwards from NC. At the time, I really liked the guy. Now...he's just another sleazy EX-politician. It's a sad, sad world today...where have our TRUE STATESMEN gone??

On a BRIGHTER NOTE...Carol is into doing her scrapbook now and I can start on my "report" about our WALES/ENGLAND trip. There will even be a "pub story" or three included. I'll probably start tomorrow nite or next day.

Got 48 bales of good grass hay in the barn today...gonna get another 48 tomorrow and that should keep one horse fed until next year.

Love to all...Rick

Hi Ellen - Yes, Zara Phillips is Princess Anne's daughter, and she's a really gutsy rider, just like her mother was. I've heard her interviewed on TV and she seems very down-to-earth and 'normal'!

Today I checked the start list for the Tattersalls Three Day Event this weekend - and there is ONE rider from the USA, so I shall give him a special cheer as he gallops by. His name is Logan Rawlings and he's competing in one of the 3* (top) classes, against Zara Phillips. His horses are called Jaybee Star Celebrity and Watch It.
Does anyone on here know anything about him?

I must say it'll be nice for a change to go along to a competition and just have fun watching it all, not organising or competing! A group of us plan to meet up to walk around the cross country fences watching as all the riders come through. No doubt we'll be spending some time at the water complex - always a source of great entertainment.

Long ago, a very casual acquaintence talked about having met Princess Anne at an event. She was "just another competing rider" and enjoyed talking about the horses and event like everybody else.

Well...its been EXACTLY (to within 15 minutes time) one year since I last smoked a cigarette. You might say I'm possibly a bit closer to quitting.

Rick