Another Beautiful Day

Today was another gorgeous day out. I wish I could ride so badly, but I'm still walking like Quasimodo, so riding was out. I woke up at 6am, just on my own, ready to go, which was sort of odd since I couldn't get to sleep until well after 1--the sciatica was really being annoying last night.

It was nice to get up early, though, so I could get quite a bit done. I got water hauled for the horses and the house. It took 4 loads to get the house cistern filled as I had let it get quite empty since driving hurt so much the last couple of weeks. I got the garage swept and moved the jukebox that my landlord had left over to the side so I can get my new car parked in there when I get it picked up.

Oh, didn't I tell you? I got a commuter car!! I go pick it up Friday, which is my birthday, so it will be a really cool day. It's not exactly new, but it's new to me :) I believe it looks something like this car (I haven't seen it in person yet).

It's a 2001 Honda Civic Ex Sedan. I will be saving almost $300 per month in gas costs alone, not to mention saving wear and tear on my truck and the 17" tires that have really been killing my budget (100 miles a day eats up tires more than you would ever think).

Anyway, I go pick up my car this week and I can't wait. It's going to help out with my budget so much. I'm still planning on getting a second job (which is harder to get hired for than I ever would have thought--no one wants to work around a regular 8-5 schedule--grrr!!!), but this is really going to help out in so many ways.

Back to today, I was able to get my truck cleaned out really well, too, and get the Coq Au Vin made. I took the bacon grease and poured it over the dog's food and they absolutely loved it tonight. I still need to taste the Coq Au Vin and see how it turned out. The Vin part was really good, though--had a glass of Pinot Noir and immediatel sacked out on the couch. I'm such a lightweight!

I got my coupons clipped for the week and picked up my mail. In it, I got my Purina challenge. If you belong to APHA, you should have gotten a coupon for $12 off any bag of their feed. If you sign up for the Purina challenge, you get a coupon for buy 8 bags of feed, get 2 free! Then once you complete the challenge, you get another coupon for $15 off 10 bags of feed. Definitely worth signing up for as I feed Equine Junior and Omelene 200.

Another exiting day on the funny farm comes to a close! Hope your weekend was as relaxing and enjoyable as mine was!

Travel'n Partner

Today was a GREAT day. I wasn't expecting to do much at all, but I ended up being quite busy! I did run to the store and got a load of water and on the way back home I got a call from my hay guy that he was cutting the alfalfa today. I hadn't planned on getting any hay until next paycheck, but he said I could pay him next week, so I set out towards Butler to pick up a load of alfalfa.

And I brought my travel'n buddy along....



It was such a gorgeous day out and we buzzed down the country roads and got there in no time.



The field was all ready, so I turned into the lanes and started loading up the alfalfa.


Too bad Sophie can't drive the truck for me....

Soon we were heading back home to unload the hay. I was tired, sweaty, and covered in itchy hay, but Sophie was her always loyal self and kept me company on the way back home.

I got the hay unloaded into the shed. The alfalfa, along with the prairie hay (thanks to Rhodes Paint Horses) is making a nice little start for what we'll need for the winter.

I'm gonna need more pallets....

Then my neighbor let me know that she is going to trade in her truck (the cash for clunkers deal) and she had a full tank of gas, so I got some free gas and hauled as much water as I could with her truck tonight. Of course Sophie joins me, once again.

She thinks it's her job to keep tabs on me, which is a good thing. You never know what kind of shenanegans I'd get into without her.

Finally, I found out tonight I'll get to renew my lease this winter without any issues. I am so happy--this will be the first time I've stayed longer than a year in one place for a long time. I can start putting in some permanent fencing so when Eddie comes home he can have his own pasture. Now all I have to do is work hard to eventually buy it. I love it out here. I'm estatic!!!

The Circus is in Town!

And it seems here to stay!

Texas Town Aids Stranded Russian Circus

Leave it to the Texans--the world could learn a thing or two from this:

1. BBQ solves everything

2. Even if #1 isn't completely true, add a round of beers and it will cinch that right up

на дом

Rough translation: back home--please forgive me if you know Russian. My ex would be all over that. My married name could have been Begerski. Thank goodness for Americanization.

Anywho, I picked up grain and had to move fence chargers around because one of my old ones pooped out on me, may it rest in pieces. I decided I might as well move everyone around so I can get JJ's weight back up. He's still snotty and swollen (this is the longest strain of strangles ever), but he's eating well and perky so time to throw the feed in him and get him looking good again! So Laramie took Paula's turnout, JJ took Laramie's (she just doesn't eat the grass down much at all, so he'll mow it down well for me), and Paula went out into what will soon be Eddie's pasture when he gets home. Bambi, Fabian, and Patience are all together in the middle pasture. My reason for telling you this boring tidbit of information? There is a point, I promise....

At feeding time, Fabian was scared of Patience and she took his grain.

Fabian was born in April. Patience was born in February.

April of 2008 and February of 2009.

Think about that....

I guess when I gelded Fabian I really did take his balls. Poor kid!!!

The Evening's Sampler

Work is gearing up into our busy season, which means lots of meetings, so I got home a bit late by the time I stopped and got Samson the biggest bag of dog food I could find (sure hope it lasts him the weekend :) Anyway, by the time I got home, I just wanted peace, and of course I can always find that at home, with my animals. I feel so truly blessed to have this lovely place with horses and dogs who I adore.

So, being the lazy bum that I am, all I did was take the curry, brush, and camera out with me and gave everyone a good rubdown, and took a few snapshots along the way.

The girls....


All I have to do is watch them graze peacefully in the setting sun, and I can feel my heart slow down, my breath deepen, and all becomes right with the world...

Yes, that is Empress in the foreground. I say goodbye to this amazing, grand lady Monday morning. I don't have the talent to articulate how much she's given to me in the short time I've had her. Selfishly I don't want to let her go--I will miss her terribly, but she's let me know, in her own way, that she's ready. I've turned her out to live with the girls, graze on fresh, green grass, eat alfalfa and grain for the rest of her days (something I've not done before due to her lameness), but I've decided to put her on pain meds and let her really enjoy her final days.

Her back is finally almost completely filled in, but unfortunately her feet can no longer bear her weight, so while she's looking almost completely recovered, she'll never truly be a recovered horse. She's as good as she'll ever get from this point on, so she'll be sent off on a high note, with a full stomach, surrounded by her buddies, before the heat and her added weight start causing her to go into another downward spiral.

Doesn't her coat just glow? She has the prettiest, softest coat....

Then the kids (Fabian and Bambi) came moseying on up, looking for their dinner.

JJ was standing near the fence, waiting his turn for attention. He's so demanding (and spoiled, which is not the least bit my fault at all... I won't admit to it and you can't make me)!

He needs sooooo much more weight. He's such an awkward teenager. Laramie and him will be getting power pacs--MUST get power pacs soon! JJ's coat could be looking so much better, so I'm pretty sure that while he's gone through a rotation of wormer, he needs that extra boost to get really cleaned out and fully utilize his feed.

Then Sophie comes running around the corner and these two start in on it....again. The show they put on cracks me up everytime....

And after a couple of short, playful bursts, JJ says enough.

Well, ok....one more....

Laramie spotted some deer in the distance. I tried to get a picture, but my camera sucks. It's not its fault. It was never meant to do these things I ask it to. It tries, and it often exceeds my expectations, but it's a $120 little pocket Sony, so as hard as it tries, it just wasn't able to capture the deer. I do believe you can imagine them from Laramie's expression, though.... Just use your imagination.

Laramie is gaining better than JJ, but I'm still not really happy--her coat is better but not good enough, as well, so power pac for this girlie girl, too.

Notice her mane? Yeah... maybe better not to... I've pulled...and shortened...and pulled...and shortened...and pulled.... Like the rest of her, still a long ways to go (but I KNOW we'll get there--I just love her and we are going to have a blast in September--I KNOW it! :)

Of course I have to include a picture of Paula.

She's been Empress's pasture buddy and therefore has shared her diet. After Monday, she'll be pumped up on a high-calorie diet to get enough weight on her to begin her training. She doesn't look bad, by any means, but if we're working, she'll need those extra calories.

Plus, it gives me a good excuse to spoil her some more. Poor Paula will loose another pasture friend. She gets so attached to other horses that I do worry about her. She's the only foal I ever weaned that after 4 months of not seeing their momma at all immediately remembered her when I put them back in together. She has an amazing memory, which makes her easy to train, but then it's harder on her than the others, I think, to lose her friends.

Last, but not least, Hope. She's not mine, but I really like her. She's so very easy on the eyes.

I've got to get this picture into photoshop and play around with it--there is so much to try here, with Hope being so photogenic and all the color and glow...Even as it is, straight out of my cheap little camera, I really like this picture. But then again, if it has a horse in it, I'm bound to like any picture. :)

Redneck Bale Moving

I'm still working on getting the videos of Paula being a butt (literally) up, but I thought I'd share my little adventure in bale moving without the proper equipment.... Thanks so much to Rhodes Paint Horses for donating a bale of grass hay for Empress! The problem was, getting it over here.... My roundbale mover is still out in the middle of Kansas (waiting on a trailer ride out here), and I don't have a flatbed trailer, so I had this bright idea to just stick it in the back of my truck and I'd somehow pull it out.

Well, the bale was a LOT bigger than any of us thought!!


A LOT BIGGER!!!

My first task was to get it into the pasture, which I don't have proper gates for yet. It was a tight squeeze but I got it in there!

I then backed it up to the tree--about the biggest tree out in this pasture area. I was hoping it was going to be big enough....

The dogs were too scared to get out of the truck. I don't blame them!

So I got a rope around the bale...

And got a tow chain around the tree and tied that onto the rope. I had no idea what would give first: the rope, the chain, the tree, my truck, or would the bale simply slide off? Oh, so many things to go wrong here....

Empress was laying down not too far away. She didn't seem too concerned.

Fabian, Bambi, and Hope were lined up to watch the impending disaster. Fabian couldn't stand to look directly at the train wreck waiting to happen....

Paula had high-tailed it out of there... (sidenote, why is it that these boys have to hang their weiners out everytime they see a camera? Completely inappropriate LOL)

I get into the truck and start slowly moving the truck away from the tree, wondering what will happen. Empress is still not concerned at all....

And it WORKED! The bale moved! See, Empress knew all along....

Problem, though....

Oh well, I just had to cut apart my rope. I got pretty lucky that's all I lost! This was the only thing of note on my truck--just some leftover hay!

Got the rope and twine all cut off and Empress woke up and went over to check it out...and eat. All ends well on this episode of Redneck Bale Moving!! Get Er Done!!!