Equine Epiphanies...

Fibro Funk

2012-01-21T05:50:00.000-06:00

I'm cranky. Maybe I should say I'm CRANKY. So much so, that I've given DH a pretty good run for his money the past two weeks. For those of you who don't know, I often refer to him as "Tall, Dark and Grumpy" (and yes, to his face too; he knows he's a grouch and sometimes will even admit it *laugh*). I've been in a snit since shortly after my last post. No idea why, really, other than I am just sick and tired of being sick and tired (and had no desire to inflict my crabby, whiny, annoying self on the rest of you *grin*). Aren't you grateful? A frantic schedule and some wild weather patterns have been wreaking havoc on the Fibromyalgia (and boy does everything hurt x10 + Ugh). My latest and greatest autoimmune accomplishment has been to suddenly develop all of the symptoms of Sjogrens Syndrome but without having the actual disease. Aren't I just gifted? Too bad, that, as I am fairly certain had I scored one more disease I would be eligible for a free set of steak knives (please pardon the sarcasm - I seem to have it in abundance this week ;o)

Sjogrens is what sidelined what's-her-name (tennis chick) at the height of her career. It causes your immune system to attack the moisture-producing glands in your body and dries up everything. And I mean everything. Remember my spotting scare not long ago? Apparently that's what caused that little issue. Just to add to the adventure (oops, more sarcasm), it also causes extreme dry mouth, dry eyes and dry skin. I've never had dry mouth before this - not to this degree anyway. Actually, I've had more trouble with drooling in my sleep than anything (and don'tcha just hate waking up to a puddle on your pillow?) Blech. How about waking up in the middle of the night with your tongue hurting like crazy because it's stuck fast to your teeth (had to literally pull it off and it left a blister - eeeew). Welcome to the superweird world of autoimmune. Did I mention my mouth was closed? Sheesh. So now we're taking a new drug to generate saliva (whoopie) and using Biotene's gel stuff before bed which has helped somewhat. And of course the eyes are all nice and gritty too, so we've added two different kinds of eye drops umtpeen times a day. Well. The blessing in that one is that I don't need a new pair of glasses. I was having trouble seeing, and assumed (ha-ha-ha she never learns) that it was because my vision had changed. I was really worried I'd have to buy a new pair of glasses (and with bifocals, that tends to be a real pain in the checkbook). So that's good news anyway.

You know what? I think I am in desperate need of some serious horse therapy. Maybe I'll borrow a phrase from "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?" and phone a friend. I could use a lifeline right about now (okay, probably more like a good swift kick in the pants but that's just a matter of semantics. Ha. ;o) I think I'm just going to drag you all (er, y'all) into horse therapy with me by virtue of a couple of my favorite photos from posts gone by that always make me smile. Ready? Here goes...
First up is Champ making good use of a homemade water pik:

Shadow giving DD a bath after their nap (maternally speaking, this horse is a hen):

I don't know what Rina said, but Bella definitely looks appalled:

And let's not forget the great snoozefest of 2011 which always makes me smile:

Shadow's hilarious "rump rotation routine" (precedes rolling on his other side). He looks like an equine eggplant here, but don't tell him I said so ;o)

Okay, I feel ever so much better now. Do you? I'll be back again next week - like I'm supposed to do - in a much better frame of mind. 'Kay? Have a big horsey hug and a wonderful week!

Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious!

2012-01-02T06:50:00.000-06:00

There are presents, and there are Presents, and then there is T-H-E P-R-E-S-E-N-T. One that SO overwhelms, you just can't quite figure out what to say outside of quoting Mary Poppins, that is. *grin* DD really got me this year; just wait until you see what she made for me! First, though, you should know that the apple didn't fall far from the tree at all; the little stinker. Sometimes anticipation can be every bit as much fun as the actual event; in this case Christmas. Over the years I have entertained myself (and others) by making up fun things for the kids to do at gift giving times. From numbering and color coding presents to treasure maps and silly poems full of clues, I've tried to make birthdays and holidays both fun and memorable for them no matter the gift. Well. DD, it seems, is a chip off the old block[head]. *laugh*. I would like to share some of that lovely anticipation with you too, if that's okay. Ready? Let's have some fun...
I noticed a large number of small white (unmarked) envelopes scattered all over our living room Christmas morning. DD, wearing an ear-to-ear grin, shrugged her shoulders and said that was something for later. When later arrived, she handed me a large manilla envelope containing a strangely shaped piece of wood, and the following note:

After collecting the envelopes (26 in all), I opened them and spread out the contents on a stool. Each one contained a small piece of paper with a word on one side and a number on the other, and a final strip instructing me to ask DD for [yet another] envelope:

She handed me another large manilla envelope that had a series of lines and numbers which corresponded with the paper strips I'd just opened:

Once I'd matched up all of the numbers, it would tell me what to do next. Honestly, where does she get this stuff?? As if I didn't know. *laugh*

Other than accidentally whacking the "o" off of into, I had to give her two thumbs WAY up on the fun and sneaky scale ;o) Oh, and the little house is the small storage shed (the big one being one of our many fantasies at this point). So, we all went be-bopping out to the shed. I opened the door, and....CRIED.

Although I was expecting something made from wood - she's in the woodworking program at college where she is making wonderful use of the talent that the Lord has blessed her with - I was definitely not expecting it on the scale of what I got. A full blown hand made 38 drawer scrapbook paper storage cabinet that is almost as tall as I am....Isn't it phenomenal?

We had to take the drawers out to move it into my craft room/office. I was (still am, actually ;o) totally blown away by the remarkable job she did:

Dang. Girl's got some talent, doesn't she? Guess who's sporting an ear-to-ear grin now? :-D <-- See? I had a field day putting labels on each drawer before sorting and filing away all of my 12x12 papers. Woo!

I saved the last two paper drawers for my rubber stamps, which had enough room to lay them all out nicely - no more digging through a box (boo yeah! ;o)

She even put four larger drawers at the bottom, which were perfect for storing my other paper crafty things (like embossing, wood burning, etc.). She did confide that after about drawer #15, it got rather tedious. *laugh* I hope you all had a very Merry Christmas; you know I sure did ;o) For those of you who would like some inspiration for sneaky gift giving, feel free to borrow some of my ideas from this lens: Making Those Memorable Moments.

May you have a wonderful week, and a blessed New Year!

Sick as a dog: Well, make that a frog

2011-12-19T06:35:00.001-06:00

Remember my trip to the walk-in clinic for a shot and some antibiotics the weekend before last? Well, my "little" sinus infection just rolled right over that stuff (laughed at it actually). By Monday my voice was down to a croak and my temperature up to a bad joke. I wound up going to my regular doctor for stronger antibiotics and missing two days of work (he ordered me to stay home). Approximately ten days and 2,364 tissues later, I am finally starting to feel better. Yeesh. I suppose the blessing is I only managed to ruin my birthday and not Christmas (wouldn't that have been a bummer? ;o) Please accept my apologies for not responding to comments left on the last post (you all know that is not my standard M.O.). We're now out for the Christmas break (and anyone that thinks teachers and faculty are "lucky" to have such great vacations I can only say it is soooo earned). School dismissed early Friday, and after peeling a bajillion hyperactive elementarians off the ceiling to board the buses [or get in cars], we all went home to stare at the wall; too fried to do anything else. Hopefully, I can play some major catch up this week starting with a tree (and I'd better get a move on, don't you think? *rolls eyes*).

I did get a chance to catch up on some movies I wanted to watch; most of which I'd discovered in sale bins over the past few months. Since I was temporarily relegated to couch detail, it was as good a time as any to play catch up. I made one $15.49 splurge on the movie "Tangled", have you seen it? My interest was [big surprise] in the horse Maximus, who, in my opinion, totally made the movie. I had to turn it off a couple of times because I was laughing so hard it was causing me to cough like crazy. Although we have a Maximus (a.k.a. Mad Max) he was nothing like our boy at all. No, the Maximus in the movie was a dead ringer for none other than our Bella. Mad face and all. DD and I decided that this movie was a total case of art imitating life; and have our suspicions that Bella may have acted as an outside Hollywood consultant regarding Maximus's character.
Allow me to clarify via photographic evidence. First, Exhibit A:

And now, I offer you Exhibit B:

Need I say more?
As always, thanks for reading this far ;o) Have a blessed week everyone, and be sure to remember the real reason for the Christmas season: Jesus.

Unsolved mystery and dredging ancient history

2011-12-11T05:46:00.001-06:00

First things first; my biopsy came back clear which is kind of weird (but in a happy way :o) For those of you wondering why cancer was suspected - aside from my BC history, that is - it was due to an unexpected blast from that five year distant past: Auntie Flo. Author's Note: For those of you who are mystified by the preceding statement, please feel free to skip this paragraph. To the rest of you, I will only say that Auntie Flo boarded the chemotherapy bus five long years ago and left town. I was, however, kept quite busy entertaining her decendants (namely Holly Hotflash and Nelly Nightsweat). Well. Imagine my surprise when Aunt Flo suddenly showed up out of the blue and distinctly UNinvited (talk about three being a crowd - yeesh). All I can say is I sure hope she's not planning to stick around...five years of Holly and Nelly are more than enough for me already.

Although I am thankful to have dodged a bullet with the Big C, I got whacked between the eyes with a different C; namely "The Crud". I have a whopping sinus/chest infection that has turned me into a hacking tissue wadding machine and utter waste of space this weekend. I spent Saturday morning at the walk-in clinic for hypo to the hip (joy) and a trio of medicines. I am sitting here totally bleary eyed trying to focus when my head is giving every indication there may be a large explosion in the very near future. I kind of thought this picture of Taya summed it up pretty well. Believe it or not, this was her response when I told her we were not putting hay out until after supper. Isn't that a hoot? Sometimes it's eerie how animals just seem to do things that appear to be in direct response to you; have you noticed it? Just the other day I asked Max if he was being a good boy and he shook his head vigorously. Coincidence? Possibly. But truer "words"? Probably not. *grin*
I have to tell you about the last little piece of storage space in my office/craft room. My note card stash is rather large (the clearance queen had a hey day - or two - there ;o) and they just didn't seem to fit anywhere all together. I had one little space left next to my desk that was 12" x 24" so I thought I'd see if I could find some kind of little shelf unit or something to stick there that would hopefully hold all my cards. I found an absolutely perfect solution, and you are not going to believe what it was... An old videotape cabinet! Isn't that a riot? DD and I ran up to the mission store last month and I was poking around to see what they had that might work when I stumbled across this cabinet. Would you believe it measured exactly 12" x 24"? What are the odds? Not too bad for 17 bucks, eh? Check out the inside; it's perfect:

That's all for now; my head is just too heavy to hold up anymore (or should I say "eddy bore"?) That's about what I sound like at the moment - ugh. Oh! I do have just one more thing...the tags. Ready? Congratulations to Dreaming! If you'll email me your address (and real name ;o) I'll get these in the mail to you in the next year or so. Sometimes I'm a little slow. Well, okay maybe a lot. *laugh* Have a blessed week everyone, and don't forget the real reason for the season!

Never a dull moment - who has time?

2011-12-04T05:17:00.001-06:00

Well, it's here; December (and eek). Are you ready? Believe it or not, I'm almost there, which is quite bizarre (but in a really good way). *grin* I even got to cross "Endometrial Biopsy" off my bucket list, although I can't say I remember actually putting that one on there ;o) Seems there might be cancer in there somewhere; dunno. The results are due back on the 22nd so we shall see (either way, God is awesome). Although the hospital must have gotten the green memo about paper (it was down to half a tree), they must have missed the part about the plastic as I got one bracelet the day before surgery for my anesthesia appointment and another the day of (couldn't we just use one and save the planet guys?) I have to say, though, that what never fails to make my right eye twitch is the sticker on the antibacterial soap they give you to wash with before surgery (next photo). Does this label scare anyone besides me?

The fact that there's a warning on there means that someone, somewhere along the line, actually drank the soap instead of washing with it (eeeew!) Boggles the mind, doesn't it? Blech.

I think (I think, I think) I may have just discovered the source of Shadow's colic. It seems to be stress-related. He had another, milder case yesterday morning and while we were strolling around the pasture looking for poopin-spiration (post mineral oil dose) I noticed something that definitely didn't belong in one of the sandy patches. While DH is our resident hunter, I was pretty sure I had this particular puzzle solved all by my lonesome (although I did take a picture and show it to him just to verify my suspicions). The hoof print the arrow is pointing to is Max's, which should give you an idea of the size (although Max's feet are on the small side). Can you guess what they are?

Here's a closer look:

There's a copse on the other side of the fence(s) at the top right corner of the pasture, which is where I'd bet the owner of these foot prints originated. I'm guessing those new little sprigs of green stuff you can see popping up in the photo - otherwise known as winter rye grass - provided the motivation behind the invasion. Looks like Champ and Max aren't the only ones capable of midnight raids around here (and over two fences no less - wow). Should make for an interesting winter, eh?

I have a tag fetish. Aside from the whole color-coordinated wrapping paper thing- doesn't everyone? - I love to play with the gift tags every year. Can't seem to help myself (and I don'wanna either, so there ;o) Since I have yet to put my hands on my favorite program - the Creative Lettering SuperCombo - I'm having to wing it this year. I had previously downloaded the font "Angel" from daFont's website (awesome place), but didn't like that particular font for whole words. It did, however, look fabulous used for first initial only tags. Aren't they fun? A heart punch rescued from a clearance pile someplace was the perfect place for the string. Looks pretty cute on scrapbook paper too, doesn't it? It didn't show in the photo, but (in keeping with my obsession) there is a narrow green outline around the letters which matches the green string. Since I only made these for this photo and it doesn't match anyone's initials around here (I was playing; I'm sure that shocks you ;o) how about I give them away? If you'd like the L-O-V-E tags, just leave a comment about this post and I'll choose the winner from the list of commenters. Follow the blog or fan us and comment and I'll toss your name in the random hat twice (just be sure to tell me what else you did please). Yay! From today until Saturday night - fair enough? It's gonna be a beautiful day...

Have a blessed week and a wonderful day everyone!

Thanksgiving: Not just for the day

2011-11-25T06:33:00.001-06:00

I hope y'all (er, you all) had a wonderful Thanksgiving Day (and to my friends outside the US, a good old fashioned fantabulous weekend). I wore myself out on Wednesday and Thursday in a flurry of activity and I guess I'm a little slow to bounce back. I had a marvelous day though ;o) You know, between the cancer and all of my other medical misadventures, I have found myself becoming increasingly more thankful for the many blessings in my life every day; not just once a year. I'm thankful for many things that I never even used to consider, or even acknowledge. You know; the small stuff. I will admit to being disappointed in myself (well, okay maybe more like disgusted, ashamed, annoyed, etc. *rolls eyes*) that it took all those doggone medical misadventures to make me see things clearly: with a grateful spirit first and a jaded heart last. I can count it a blessing as well, that the Lord allowed a slow learner like myself such a large learning curve (otherwise known as the refining process). I readily admit that I needed a LOT of refining, and I'm pretty sure I'm nowhere near soup yet either. *grin*

It is for those many misadventures that I find myself in the odd position of being thankful beyond measure to God for allowing me to suffer them. Yeah, I said it: Thank you Lord for my cancer and other medical maladies (and - in case you're wondering - I'm completely sober ;o) Am I nuts? Nope, just finally figured out that "my world" is much improved for having had them. So many things I would not have taken the time for before; now I do. A phone call, a visit, a note, or even a small hand-made gift for friend or family. I would have thought about it of course, maybe even mean to, but I would have missed the opportunity because of a busy schedule and excused myself because there just wasn't enough time. So many little things that I never thought of before; now I do. I did not truly appreciate being blessed with excellent health - why would I? I'd never been seriously ill. I'm sorry it took the loss of that health for me to even notice. Never once did I give thanks that I could walk - why would I? After all, my legs have always taken me wherever I wished to go (at a very rapid pace). Too bad I had to lose the use of them for awhile to realize I should be thankful for them (and you'd better believe I am now - even in their reduced capacity ;o) Hard lessons, yes, but I will remain thankful for them anyway and continue to work at [and pray away on] my Christian self. I'll work harder on making the time and taking the time too, which probably means I'll be late for more stuff (but don't worry; it'll be for a good cause ;o)
I'm sure most of you have read the poem by Red Foley called, "Lord Forgive Me When I Whine" (here). I'm embarrassed to admit that when it came through my inbox waaay back when, I read it and thought, "Wow, we should all have that perspective" before forwarding it to several friends and then forgetting all about it. If you haven't heard of it, it is quite moving and reflects that "attitude of gratitude" we should all aspire to. Several years ago I began starting my days with a thankful prayer for another day/another chance and the request that I might be a blessing to someone that day. It took a little while, but these days that is usually the first waking thought of my mornings, followed by my daily ritual: a cup of green tea with a big blop of honey (Lipton's Blueberry Pomegranate today - yum!), and a chapter in my daily devotional (this year's on my Kindle). The pumpkin candle is, of course, optional. *laugh* That is my Thanksgiving prayer for each of you; that you approach every day you're given with a smile on your face and thanksgiving in your heart - even when you are less than sure that's how you feel inside (it's the effort that counts, after all, and eventually you'll find yourself much happier for it ;o)
Shadow had a terrible bout of colic last night, which left me more than a bit scrambled this morning. Over the course of two hours I gave him two doses of mineral oil, which generated four rounds of poo (not to mention we walked about 650 miles around - and around and around - the pasture). Although each "pit stop" seemed to make him feel better initially, he reverted to miserable a short time later. I did get this shot of the moon during one of our rest stops/intermissions. Thought it was neat, although a full one would have been nice considering the amount of tripping yours truly did bumbling around out there in the pitch dark pasture (and yes I had a flashlight, but that doesn't always help when you have G2 incorporated into your DNA - aka the Graceless Gene ;o) After almost three hours, we ended up giving him a shot of Banamine which we rarely do anymore (it's always my last choice as it is not really good for him). We finally left him when he was resting comfortably, and DD made several trips back out to the pasture before bed to check on him. He was, I am very ~~happy~~ thankful *grin* to report, right back to his sassy self this morning. And what a glorious morning it is...

Isn't that cloud formation awesome? Looks just like frosting, which reminds me of something I find a total piece of cake to be thankful for... Dessert. Oh my, that was bad ;o)

The cake on the left is pumpkin spice (Mom's favorite) and the one on the right is carrot which is DH's favorite (from scratch, of course). Dad's favorite is chocolate, which he'll have at Christmas. The clay basket holds a mixture of candy corn and peanuts, which is unbelievably yummy for those of you who like the taste of Payday candy bars. Yikes! I'd better run...before I'm late for church (again ;o) No worries though; it's for a good cause, right?
I didn't get to the rest of the photos from the fair - stay tuned for them though! As always, thank you for reading this far and have a blessed week everyone!

Well, well, well...Methinks Fall finally fell (coffee and a donut post)

2011-11-10T06:18:00.003-06:00

Some of you may remember last year's post from the fair - with DD utterly captivated by Woodworking Dude and his impressive (albeit alarming ;o) skill with a hunk of wood and a chainsaw (here). Guess what? It's that time again! The temperatures have started dropping and the trees are finally turning, as they always seem to do in conjunction with the fair. I was SO happy to see the tigers come back this year; Mr. Wambold seems to not only care deeply for his own animals, but also the preservation of the species. This is Pearl; a white tiger with beautiful blue eyes. Isn't she absolutely gorgeous? His show is a cross between circus-style entertainment and an educational program. One thing I really appreciate is his food-based rewards, but then you all know I am a firm believer in treats (as long as the trainee can "handle" it, that is). Oh-oh-oh Wait! You guys have to see this photo...

The only thing better than a happy accident [imho] is a prayerful on purpose (yeah, I felt a little silly but I did it anyway). I spotted this hawk perched atop one of the posts as we worked on the fence the other day (and moron that one later - seriously ;o) I sent DD down to the house to get my camera and asked the Lord if He would maybe keep him (her?) perched there until she got back with it. Now, for those of you questioning whether or not there was really any Divine intervention involved here I should like to note that DD walks slower than a three-legged lame turtle and had quite a bit of distance to traverse (we were near the top of the pasture, so she had to go about the length of two football fields for there and back). As you can see he was still there, gorgeous backdrop and all (for which I gave thanks and praise; Woo! ;o)

Okay, back to the fair here. I was very excited to see this billboard as we entered the grounds. Of course we had to stop and watch the show, which had just begun. Most of the photos I took were awful - between the floodlights set up around the perimeter and the motion of the horses, virtually every shot was an out of focus disaster. Raspberries. I did manage to get a decent photo of the Arabian she had, performing the Obesience (inset below) as he remained still for a moment. The demonstration was conducted by a renowned dressage trainer who entered the ring on a breathtaking Freesian stallion. While the lady was lovely and had a brilliant patter, I winced when I saw the expression of discomfort and excessive foaming at the mouth of her stallion. It smacked of Rollkur; he was otherwise magnificent.

For those of you unfamiliar with the term "Rollkur", it is also referred to as "Hyperflexion" and is used by some as a training method. Definitely not my cup of tea; but pretty easily recognized. Aside from an exaggerated head position (with the head tucked in to the Nth degree) the horse will also drool and/or foam at the mouth a LOT, as the unnatural head position renders him unable to swallow properly.
Although his head was not all the way down to the Nth degree, it appeared to be well past the point of comfort. Frothy white foam was rapidly collecting on his mouth and dripping from his lips in long ribbons. It spattered the ground, his chest and

his legs, so I'm thinking that if it wasn't from Rollkur, then he had some MAJOR teething issues ;o) In short, if I did not know much about equine body language - and don't misunderstand me; I don't know all that much - I would have loved every minute of it. As it was, it seemed to me that although the horses and ponies did their jobs fairly well, much of it was under protest (quickly squelched) and they just did not seem to enjoy themselves very much. I had a really tough time getting past that. I think the tigers had a lot more fun, to be honest - which is kind of weird if you think about it. *grin* I snapped a [only slightly fuzzy] shot of these two little mutineers; they popped out of the ring, turned their backs and announced they were "all done". Ha. Bet?

Speaking of fun, right after the tigers (and yes I know I'm all over the place here *grin*) was a dog act with a woman I assumed was Mrs. Wambold. Now that was fabulous! She had a tiny truckload full of four-legged ping pong balls (disguised as terriers) that were just adorable. Pretty sure she said they were all shelter dogs. They looked like little furry bullets as they shot out of the truck, performed their trick with wriggling enthusiasm, and then zipped right back into the truck. It was quite a marked difference coming from the horse demonstration; everybody just looked so doggone (ha) happy to be there. I love the inset picture of her hugging the dog (not the best of shots; but definitely a winner in the smile category). The dog was rubbing his head all over hers in delight, and she was hugging him and laughing like a loon (it was great ;o) I don't know if it was a new trick or what, but they both appeared to be ecstatic with the result. Here is the photo of the trick he did that prompted the hug; he's the one on the top of the tube and there was a second dog darting back and forth through the tube:

Living in the South, I can appreciate the fact (rule?) that all things can and must be fried; BUT - fried Kool Aid? Really? Anybody besides me find this rather disturbing? Not to mention disgusting. Our hospital actually serves fried everything in the cafeteria. I had a really hard time wrapping my brain around that one when I first ate in there, but then I realized they were probably just drumming up some new business. I passed on the Kool-Aid, and opted instead for a *cough*cough* healthier snack: the funnel cake. Hey, whaddaya want? This IS the fair, after all...mmmmm - Yummeh ;o)
I stopped a time or two to gaze at the moon which looked really cool; glowing mysteriously, though shrouded somewhat by the clouds. I was torn somewhere between alarmed and amused to note that it was full. Kind of redundant considering the weirdos that were already out of the woodwork and wandering the fairgrounds. Yikes. I got a picture for you though (of the moon, that is, not the weirdos ;o) The white dot to the right is a star; isn't that neat?
The highlight of our visit was a trip to the Blacksmith, but I think that and the remaining photos I have to share will have to be a topic for next time considering I missed my Sunday evening deadline - BIG time (and raspberries to that :oP
Would you like to know WHY I missed my deadline? To say this has been a wild week is definitely an understatement. How about we make it a fun little guessing game? (I just love those!) We'll call it "What's wrong with this picture?" I'll even give you a hint (though regular followers and friends are probably already laughing). Below is a photo [taken after I secured the perimeter, of course] of one of the boys at O'Dark-Thirty showing how my week began. I dashed outside amid sounds of mass hysteria and thundering hooves (and me still in my jammies *rolls eyes*).

And next we have a photo depicting that same young man's line of thinking a short time later (I speak Blockhead in addition to Southernese):
"Hot DAWG that was some fun! Crazy biped done locked me in this here stall tho. Hmph. Well. Ya know, long as I'mah stuck in here I may as well open that [snickers] horse-proof gate jes' sittin' right thar. Hah! Got it. Dang ahm havin' me some FUN tuh-day... Whaa-hoooo! *snort*..."

Standing on the patio shivering and grinding my teeth, I reverted to an all-too-familiar refrain:
"MAAAAAAAAAAAAX!"
And finally, congratulations goes to... "Clancy" for winning last week's giveaway - I'll be sending her a print of "Misty's Twilight". *Applause*Applause* Yay for you! ('bout time you won something girl ;o) As always, many thanks for reading my ramblings, and have a blessed Thanksgiving week everyone!

November? Really? Are you sure?

2011-11-05T07:21:00.000-05:00

Anybody besides me feel like they have entered a time warp? Geez - where in the heck did October go? Wait I know...it went *POOF!* Sometimes I am quite alarmed by the speed of the days going by; I can't help but wonder how much faster they can go since time passes more quickly as you age. Scary stuff indeed; so we're just not even gonna go there (how's that for a coping strategy? Ha.) Hopefully, the rest of you are not as freaked out about the fact that Thanksgiving is hurtling towards us at the speed of light with Christmas right behind (and eek ;o) I love this autumn photo. It was actually taken last year, but I never did get around to posting it. Remember the tragic accident that befell my old camera? This was right after I got the new one; I was experimenting very early in the morning (hence the mist) with some of the fancy-schmancy photo settings on my new toy (if you weren't here then or want a refresher, you can read all about that particular tale of woe and its happy ending here and here). They are - if it matters - two of my favorite posts (is it tacky to say that? Oh well, I can be tacky ;o)

Since we're there (at tacky) we'll just throw in some shameless self-promotion too and offer up a link to one of my Squidoo lenses. I did one for a non-profit challenge awhile back, and although we lost, it has some of my favorite ideas and recipes. I am always looking for new Fall/Thanksgiving recipes so I thought maybe some of you might be interested in them too (including the silly little turkey in the photo). The lens has a little of everything, so don't worry if you're not a genius in the kitchen (me either ;o) There are "real" recipes as well for those of you who like confectionery challenges; like a scrumptious white chocolate cake complete with cooked frosting. It's called Treats for the Tall and the Small if you'd like to pop on over and visit me in the kitchen - but don't forget to come back!

Look at this photo I took of Shadow the other night; isn't it wild? Sometimes I just can't take in all of God's handiwork; nor can I quite seem to capture its magnificence through the lens of the camera (not for lack of trying though, is it? ;o) We've had some unbelievable skies over the past week or so; I've probably taken a hundred pictures or more. Last Sunday evening was phenomenal. I made the mad dash back indoors to grab the camera, and when I came panting back up the hill I let out a "Holy cow!" (a favorite phrase *laugh*) at the spectacular range of colors splashed across the sky. I guess it was a little louder than I'd intended, as Shadow made a beeline across the pasture to see what all the fuss was about and this is what I got. Would you like to see a few more? Maybe we should have another giveaway (an itty bitty one this time). And DAISY? If you and your mom are reading this, I'm still waiting for your address from the last giveaway (unless you don't want it).
Rules? Simply leave me a comment telling me which one of the following sky shots is your favorite and I'll pick the name from my commenters next weekend (I'll shoot for Friday night) and announce the winner Saturday or Sunday. If you like my Autumn tree (the first pic), you are welcome to choose that one instead. The winner will receive a 3x5 or 4x6 print (your call) of the photo you liked best. I'll take the date stamp off first though; these came pretty much straight out of the camera. Sound good? Well allrighty then, here we go...
I named this one "Daydreams", because it was reminiscent of my childhood and those long afternoons spent laying in the grass gazing at the clouds in a brilliant blue summer sky;

Wasn't sure what to call this one; "Misty's Twilight" was all I could think of (and meh). If you have any suggestions, I'd be happy to have them.

This one is "Twilight's Dawning". Doesn't it look more like a sunrise than sunset? If you look carefully at the colors, you can tell it is actually the setting sun;

Here is "Heaven's Purl" (did you know that purl is also a synonym for swirl, in addition to a knitting stitch? I didn't; I just learned that - yay ;o)

One more and I think we're good...Um, let's see. How about this one? It's one of my favorites. I added a piece of scripture to it from Isaiah 60:1 because it seemed to fit perfectly:

Holy cow! I can't believe I actually finished my post on time (and I'm not even late for anything *grin*). Have a blessed week everyone!

Hey Hay Dude! You are SO wrong.

2011-10-30T16:37:00.000-05:00

Whether you have horses or not, I'm pretty sure all of you will relate to this one way or another. We spent a large portion of the past week shopping for hay (yes, you read that correctly). We are down to the last three rolls from the hay we purchased in July. Sadly, our little corner of the state is running a close second to Texas with this terrible drought (so we've gone through far more hay than planned). In any case, the man we bought the hay from lives right up the road - literally (in Southernese "right up the road" can be anywhere from a couple of miles to: gosh I hope you packed a lunch ;o) Anyway, when we told him we would need about 30 more rolls to get us through the winter, he said he'd be glad to put us down for that (he was trying to presell as much as he could) and he would give us a call as soon as he made the next cutting. He and his wife own a local business and have a very good reputation in the area, so it was a huge load off my mind that we wouldn't have to worry about hay this winter.

DH drove by the field earlier this month and noticed that they were in the process of cutting it. I called our new best friend (herein anonymously referred to as "Hay Dude") and he assured me that he had not forgotten about us and would call me back in a day or two as soon as they had finished in the field. He mentioned that someone had already stopped by with a flatbed wanted to buy the entire field, which caused my heart to thump painfully. Thankfully, he told the man that he could not sell it all because he had already promised some of it to two other customers. Relieved that he was not going to go back on his word, I thanked him profusely and we hung up. Well. After several days passed without a word, I got twitchy and called him back. Uh-oh; voice mail. I left a message. When a few more days went by without a word, I began to get this terrible sinking feeling. You know the one? I called again and this time left a slightly panicked message, even though I had already surmised what had happened. Sure enough, he finally called me back a day later full of apologies and explained that the man with the flatbed had returned and offered him enough money that he just couldn't turn it down. Sold him the whole field. Surely I could understand (um, no dude, actually I don't; you shafted us). So here we are with temperatures dropping rapidly and without any winter store. I think (I hope, I hope) we may have found someone else. The hay is more expensive than what we would have gotten now that winter is looming large, but that's how it goes with supply and demand. Now the only thing left to do is to repent all of the very ugly thoughts I have had about Hay Dude. This is one of those things that makes it hard to remember I'm supposed to be a Christian. Workin' on that forgiveness thing. Since he's supposed to be a Christian too - and don't even get me started on that part - I can't help but wonder if it means there's a free slap in there for me somewhere (I mean wouldn't "turn the other cheek" mean I'd get to take another whack at him?). Okay, I'm sorry. I forgot I was supposed to be repentent here; the whole thing just really frosts my cookies, is all. I'm slowly working my way toward forgiveness; but since I still have the overwhelming urge to haul off and slug him, I may have a little ways to go yet...*sigh*

I spent more time than I care to admit yesterday, paintstakingly reinstalling all of the bazillion fonts back on my PC. I suppose I should go ahead and confess: I have a font fettish (it's just terrible :o) I love them! If you remember the sunrise maze book I made for my friend (this post), you may have noticed that each of the quotes was done in a different font. I love little touches like that; it makes things just a little more special - you know what I mean? Anyway, I'm sure all of you know about DaFont (here). They have fonts for just about any occasion you can imagine and they are grouped categorically, which is great. Some of the names are funny and some alarming. I got a kick out of "Girls Are Weird" (which I'd already had), and laughed out loud when I found the new follow up font of "BoyzRGross". Somebody's got a good sense of humor. *grin* Now I just have to find my Creative Lettering CDs which are AWOL. Bet most of you know about that, too (here).

One of the things you may not know about, however, is a marvelous little program called Font Wrangler. If you are a Fontophile (and yes, I just made that up ;o) you'll love it. You can print out this handy-dandy little reference list of all the fonts - complete with typeface sample - that are on your computer in alphabetical order. Now I have a pretty good idea of most of the fonts in my system, but when you have over 500 of them (and eek! Do I really have THAT many???) it's hard to remember the name of every single font. Most of the time, I use this little printed list when searching for inspiration and/or the appropriate font for a specific task. It's really been a lifesaver, though, when I am hot and heavy into a creative bender and have the perfect - but nameless - typeface pop into my head. For me, it's far easier to grab and scan this printed list than it is to try to scroll through every one of the fonts on my computer. You can download a free trial (which is what I did for the second time yesterday after I'd finished reinstalling all the fonts) through Cnet here if you're interested.

Well, I finally caved one day last week, and threw my camera in the car before heading to work. It has been killing me every morning to head east and see God's glorious handiwork in the sky over and over again; and me without my camera. I just couldn't stand it any more. Although I left extra early to compensate, I was (of course) late for work. It was the second church steeple that got me. I did manage to get some wonderful photos to share with you though, would you like to see them? These are straight out of my camera; I haven't even erased the date stamp yet.

Here's the first church steeple; it was just before the sun crossed the horizon and the sky was absolutely unbelievable (isn't it beautiful?)

Below is the second church steeple, after the sun broke the horizon. It's kind of weird that the blue stayed almost exactly the same, but the rest is dramatically different. This is the shot that made me officially late, but you can see why I just HAD to stop, can't you?

I think I will add some scripture to either this one (or the first one) from Isaiah 60:1 "...and the Glory of the Lord is risen upon you."

The last one I shot on my way home; it's a field of cotton. I used the poster setting on the camera which adds a slightly surreal quality to it. Although I really miss the first snow each time winter rolls around, I've decided to look at it from another perspective. I'm entitling this one "A Southern Snowfall" (or something like that - ideas anyone? :o) This is as close to snow as this misplaced Yankee is going to get, I think.

That's all for this week; 'cause now I'm late for church. *slaps head* Have a blessed week everyone!

Git 'er Done (doggone it)

2011-10-24T05:38:00.000-05:00

Have you ever noticed that the more balls you toss in the air the more likely it is that things will go amiss? Invariably those that fall (which is usually way more than half) seem to bonk you squarely on top of the head before crashing to the ground - or at least they do me. This post will likely be a day late, as I am now having technical difficulties with my monitor; which is now sporadically cutting off (arrgh!). It's kind of hard to finish a post when you can't see what you're doing. *sigh* While we are making progress of a sort with some things, NOthing seems to be going above the speed of sloth (the tree one; that moves like one foot every three hours *rolls eyes*). DH and our favorite volunteer Mr. Ron managed to finish framing out the restroom last week and get the outside walls up. Although DH has declared it "ready to use", I've opted to be a bit picky about it and wait until he actually hooks up the water (and puts up a DOOR! ;o) The pipe you see sticking up out of the concrete by the outside wall will be where we put the sink. I figure we'll be washing up and using the sink a whole lot more than we'll need the rest room, so it seemed prudent to place it on the outside where it's easier to access. Don't you think?

Somehow, in the next month or so I am going to give it my best to get a large number of "unfinished projects" completed. They seem to be everywhere. The prayer shawl on the right is finally finished; it's for a friend that had a stroke and is now wheelchair bound. Now I just have to figure out how to get it to her on the sly. The next thing I need to finish is the little angel I posted last week (you know, the one for the giveaway? Sheesh). Some days I just want to do the mad scientist routine; barricade myself in the house, rip out the phone, turn off the TV and run around like a crazy person in a frenzy of activity until I can GET-IT-ALL-DONE. I don't know about you, but I seem to have trouble with constant interruptions. Then of course, I forget what I was doing and go off and start on something else; just pitiful. Meh :oP Last week's big distraction was sponsored by Pleurisy (yep, really). It has been three weeks since Walk-In doc gave me the all clear (he did say if it didn't go away to go see my regular doctor) and it has been getting steadily worse instead of better (breathing has become quite an interesting challenge). My regular doctor took another xray (which was still clear), then gave me a whopping dose of steroids through the hip (and oh goody, a shot) on Tuesday, but things were no better by the follow up on Thursday (and they should have been). Happily (?) I already had my regular checkup scheduled with the Rheumatologist for Monday (today), so we'll see what he says. It is not viral, and since the steroid didn't work, he cannot treat the pleurisy until someone figures out its cause. Whoopee. In the meantime, just call me Wheezy. Wait. Maybe we should make that "Wheeza" after Shirley McLaine in Steel Magnolias (this IS the South, after all...Ha ;o)

Now to the moment you have been waiting for (unless of course you skipped straight to this part; and how rude is that? *laugh*). And the winner is... Daisy. Woo! *Applause*Applause* Congratulations! If you will give me a bit of patience and your mailing address, I'll finish up my your unfinished BC angel and get it out to you as quickly as I can. Thank you so much to everyone who left a comment (you know how much I love them!) That's it for now. Except for yesterday's sunrise, which was gorgeous:

Have a blessed week everyone!

In the pink (well, mostly)

2011-10-18T05:43:00.000-05:00

I'm baaaack! I cannot believe it has taken me over an entire week to get everything technologically reassembled but it has been quite the adventure, let me tell you. Sometimes, even when you are careful you can get got - and boy did I ever. Check out my lovely error message to the left. *rolls eyes* "This should never happen", Ha. Yeah, tell me about it. Seems Firefox had some sort of a hiccup and Trend Micro was scrambling over some heinous new Rootkit virus (and leave it to me to get the latest and greatest there *sigh*). Managed to not only sneak past my antivirus protection, it also disabled the antivirus software without shutting it down; it still appeared to be working fine right there in my taskbar. Put the word out to fellow nasties (the Guard Online Virus winning in the "Most Obnoxious" category) and they were all partying hardy on my hard drive. Grr. Two days going back and forth with Trend Micro's tech support and the final answer was "you have to do a system restore". Now, system restore is supposed (key word there) to let you go back to a specific time; as in say, a month or two or three before your computer was infected. You are not supposed to lose any files that were saved prior to that point. Uh-huh. So you say...

Well color me paranoid, but I asked DH for a portable hard drive just in case (happy birthday, Merry Christmas, yadda yadda to me) ;oP Office Depot had this nice little Western Digital drive - that is only slightly larger than my cell phone - on sale for $89.95 that holds a TB (and holy cow!). Pretty nifty little gizmo, isn't it? I spent the large part of a day manually copying more than 20,000 files; 23,421 to be precise. You should never use the automated system backup when a virus is present as it will backup the virus right along with everything else on your hard drive. The portable drive turned out to be a good call, as Windows never even bothered to ask me to what point I wished to restore my system; it just wiped everything out and sent me clear back to the original factory settings. Do you know how many updates there were to Windows between 2006 and now? I'll give you a hint: it was more than 200 plus two ginormous service packs. That took another two days of updating and rebooting (and geez whatta pain!) I am [I think/I hope] in the clear and back up and running, although I have an awful lot left to do. I'll give a big thumbs up to Malwarebytes who was able to actually tell me I had a Rootkit virus about a nanosecond before the virus shut it down. Great shareware program, if you're interested in running a free scan click here.
As I'm sure you've noticed, I have turned the blog pink for this month. I'm happy to say that this is a whole lot earlier than last year when I spent what seemed like half the month trying to figure out how to change the header ;o) I'll add that the new format is definitely easier to navigate (note: No bad words were uttered in the updating of this header. *laugh* I'm also happy to say that I am going to try <--operative word there) to have two giveaways this month. The first will be a couple of hand made (by moi) pink ribbon items that you can keep for yourself or share with a friend (or family ;o) This crocheted angel is still on my pinning board and missing the pink ribbon, but here 'tis:

I will be poking around in my stash to see what other little goodies I can find to tuck in there and let you know when I do the next post. To enter the giveaway, just leave a comment. Preferably something nice; like how much you missed my ~~smart mouth~~ regular post last week (ha). That's all; it's been complicated enough around here recently ;o) Giveaway will run through Saturday, October 22nd and the winner will be announced in next weekend's post (Sunday).
My craft table is now 90% complete, and 100% useable - WOO! I have one last series of shelves for the front and we could really use a coat of paint, but other than that I am done (and thank goodness!) Want to see?

I added a shelf along the back that ran the entire length of the counter top to accommodate my scrap booking cubes. I had to make it slightly raised to allow for the counter top's thickness. Even though the table will be 3 feet deep, the cubes would have eaten up 14 inches, and I'm a space hog (I wanted every square inch I could get for my creative benders *grin*).

While I still have to put on another coat of paint (this is primer), I didn't bother to paint the top as it won't show. Below picture is where we are right now; I just have that last set of shelves to install (by the arrow). The wire rack intruding rudely into the photo on the left will ultimately go in the Epic Farms room (when we finally have one ;o)

I love those organizer cubes! I've been buying about one a year for the past few years (when they went on sale for half price after Christmas) and had just enough to go the distance - yay!
One last thing. Ann, Ann are you listening? This is [for the record] completely your fault *laugh* for being such a crafty bad influence... I just couldn't stand it anymore, so for the first project on my craft table I made a Maze Book. Click here to visit Ann's post (but don't forget to come back!)

Some great two sided paper let me resolve a pet peeve - how to tell the back [L] from the front [R] - without detracting from the charm of the book :o) A friend who was having a pretty tough week was also having a birthday, so I thought this might lift her spirits a little. She loves sunrises and sunsets (and those of you who've been here for a bit know how addicted I am to those sky shots *grin*) so I thought I'd use a few of them to try and brighten her day:

Some relevant quotes typed in a fancy font, yellow and orange reversible paper to match my sunny theme (I'm just a teensy bit OCD ;o) then put it all together and...TaDaaaa! What do you think?

Gosh that was kind of a lot; sorry. It has been awhile though, and what's a chatterbox to do after all? *laugh* Have a blessed week everyone - I missed you!

It is and it isn't

2011-10-09T14:15:00.000-05:00

Welllll, my next post will have to wait until (if and when) I can get a nasty little virus cleaned off of my computer. Technically this is my next post, but since it isn't what I'd planned to talk about (at all) I'm not counting it. Rotton little virus managed to get past PCcillin which is a pretty good anti-virus program; and make a mess out of my hard drive. Got the "blue screen of death" a few times too which almost gave me heart failure. Somebody's idea of funny (and wish I knew who, as I'd be more than happy to give them a free slap *scowl*). Since it's a replicator, I've turned my computer off until I can figure out how to get rid of it (it's already compromised my CDrom drive, so I can't just pop a CD in with another anti-virus program to get it. *sigh* I'm going to try using a flash drive this afternoon to see if that works. Hope so (I miss my 'puter *sniffle*).

I have a really hard time typing on DH's laptop for any length of time, and (being idiotically optimistic) I'm hoping that I'll be able to get back to my own computer soon. Hopefully I'll be back on here before you know it. Just thought to let you all know I wasn't dead. *grin*

Have a blessed week everyone!

- Jen

Dominos and Doctors

2011-10-02T16:14:00.001-05:00

I'll start by making profuse apologies to everyone for my delay in posting the giveaway results (not to mention my delay in actually doing it :oP Although I did indeed "nod off like grandma" Friday night, I also spent the late afternoon/early evening hours in a quasi-catatonic state. You see we had a reward day Friday for close to 300 students. Translation? Basically, everyone over 5 and a half feet tall got punished ;o) I spent far more time than was wise standing out in the blazing hot sun Friday afternoon maintaining order at one of the activities (I was waiting for someone to come relieve me, which they didn't). I finally managed to find someone to fill in as things were beginning to fade in and out. Not good.

There is a health-related line that I try so very hard never to cross. Having an autoimmune issue (Dermatomyositis) means that I am stuck with a pathetic immune system and am far more susceptible to medical issues than most folks. I know where the line is, and most of the time I can get pretty close while remaining on the safe side. Sometimes, though, circumstances give me a little push and I wind up on the wrong side. This causes a domino effect of things going wrong one after the other. Most annoying. Ordinarily, when I've overdone it, I fix it by going to bed super early and getting plenty of rest the next day, but Saturday was yard sale day. I wasn't about to miss the chance to raise a little money for church and Epic Farms, so I sucked it up and shot out the door at 5:15a.m. to set up.

While moving a table with DD, my back suddenly twinged (okay, TWINGED) on the right side underneath my shoulder blade. Nuts. We set the table up, and I snarled at myself for whatever it was I did this time (sometimes it's too much to keep up with, you know?). Well, I woke up this morning feeling like dirt and unable to draw a full breath (uh-oh) with both the right and left sides of my back hurting. I spent half of today at the walk in clinic (always such a joy :oP was x-rayed to check for Pleurisy, had a blood count, got a shot (which I took) and some pain meds (which I did not). The doctor told me that if the pain does not go away after a few days I may need to have a bone scan done (to make sure the Big C has not pulled off a sneak attack on the old ribcage). There's a happy thought, right? Personally, I think I'd much prefer the pulled muscle behind Door #1.

So now that I've finally finished splainin' my tardy self (hee), I'll get to the drawing. I only ended up with three entries (if there were more, they forgot to come back and leave a comment because comments and GoodSearch supporters were where I got the names). Congratulations to Bethkay! Please email me your address, and I'll pop your goodies in the mail as soon as I can (yay for you! :o)

Hopefully you won't forget that October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month (I'm definitely aware, as you well know *laugh*). Please say a prayer for all of the women [and men too] who are out there fighting this awful disease. I'm trying to hurry and finish working on an extra special little giveaway for you this month. Hopefully, this one will go the way I'd like it to and in a timely manner. I guess you never know though, right? *rolls eyes* Have a blessed week everyone!

Woodworking woes? Oh, say it isn't so!

2011-09-25T19:55:00.000-05:00

But first things first:

PLEASE don't forget about the giveaway! I've figured out GoodSearch (and it's powered by Yahoo so it's a "regular" search engine - hooray!) To enter the giveaway this week - or just help us out - join us on GoodSearch. If you entered last week, doing this means you'll have your name in the hat two times (yay). Simply select Epic Farms as your charity and download the toolbar or the plug in (it adds GoodSearch to your existing search box if you don't want another toolbar). Be sure to set GoodSearch as your default search engine, and voila! you are helping us out every time you search the internet. GoodSearch donates a penny to us with each search you make, and you can follow our progress. You can even track your own progress and see how much money you've raised for us (pretty cool, eh?) We're up to a whopping .84c right now. Obviously we could use quite a bit of help. *laugh* And if you shop online, there are tons of coupons for all kinds of stores through GoodShop (same site).
Even better? When you shop through GoodShop and have Epic Farms selected as your charity, the store will make a donation to us too. Hot diggity dog! Is that awesome or what?!? This is a numbers thing, so please ask everyone you can to use the search engine under Epic Farms. As you can see on their page, the big well-known charities are raking in thousands in donations. But even just 100 people searching for us generates around $700 in donations a year. To an itty-bitty charity like Epic Farms, that's HUGE. Boo-yeah. Plus, it's a great way to enable people that can't afford to donate to help a good cause. Should I say that about us [good cause] or is that tacky?
Well anyway, it's a piece of cake (a nice, big frosty one ;o) Yum.

I'm just sure that I will be glad to have my office done and monster craft table completed to use for all my creative benders. As a matter of fact, I know I will. But right now I am tired of wood, of flooring, and paint. Definitely the paint. Painting stinks (literally). I opted to paint outside on our "almost patio", which is probably why we got some rain (hooray!). *laugh* Had I known that was all it would take, I would have found something to paint outside weeks ago. Because I'm building in sections and pieces, I ended up having to number all of them so I could keep them straight. Here are just a few I laid out on the table to paint (didn't I tell you I could complicate anything? ;o)

The back piece is the only really long piece (below). I thought it might be prudent to have some serious support on the back side since my scrapbooking cubes will be back there (and they are pretty heavy). The black on the bottom (above) is felt; I am SO not messing up that brand new floor!

DD used the router on the 2x4's for me (between that and the paint, I hope to cut down on the cheesiness factor - like the word "stud" which is stamped all over everywhere ;o) Whaddaya expect on a poverty stricken budget, right? I guess these are the ones that were not worthy of becoming Christmas trees (says DFIR in the little triangle, which I assume means "Douglas Fir"). Weird. We have, as you can see from the photo below, made a spectacular mess. I am distinctly UNexcited about cleaning this up... particularly since I seem to have misplaced the doggone dustpan. *sigh*

I'm getting there...but it's taking FOREVER. Swept up all the stupid sawdust with a broom and piece of cardboard; not the way to go. Had dust wafting everywhere and sneezed my head off. Oy. I've figured out that I am currently on Phase IX* [9] of my Monster Craft Table project. Here's the rundown:

Phase I: A great big home made craft table. This is going to be SO awesome; I can't wait to get started! *bounce*bounce*bounce*

Phase II: Hmm. Okay, this is a little harder than I thought. Why doesn't everything fit right on the plans?? Nuts. I need to get some more wood.

Phase III: Ai!! My checkbook! How can cheap lumber be so expensive?? Okay, okay, I just know this will all be worth it in the end. *whimper*

Phase IV: Mid-project clean up. I had it, I know I had it...where the heck did it go?? There's sawdust everywhere and I can't find the screws I dropped all over the floor - whatta mess! Where's that doggone dustpan? Raspberries. Found it... right after I finished cleaning it up by hand. ARRGH!

Phase V: Start marking and/or assembling section pieces. This was NOT supposed to be this much of a pain in the patootie. *scowling*

Phase VI: Why did I ever start this?? Remind me to NEVER do this again.

Phase VII: I hate painting. Now I need more paint. Who knew that particleboard could suck down an entire pint of primer for two measly shelves?? Geez! *bangs head on partially completed table*

Phase VIII: Changed name from Monster Craft Table to Project from Hades. Personal remarks withheld due to "G" Rating on blog. *snarl*

I am here-->*Phase IX: Painting, painting, painting. I hate painting. Not enough hours in the day. Hallooo...what's with the stupid brush? Have you never heard of spray paint you ninny? Why do I not think of these things until AFTER?!? *slaps forehead*

Phase X: Lug remaining pieces into the office/craft room for assembly. Hit all walls enroute with long back piece. Drop on toe. Stomp around to locate craft supplies stashed and stacked all over the house to put them in their [finally finished] new home. Solemnly swear NEVER to do this again. Ever. Idiot.

Phase XI: Admire finished project <--apologize for swearing (using the "P" word). Renew vow to never do this again (better yet, recite as litany). Shake head at massive self-inflicted stupidity. Post photos to blog as proof that the nightmare is finally OVER. :oP

Well, that's where I've stopped work this morning; painting. Not to worry, there LOTS more left to do...Meh. Thanks so much for visiting, and have a very blessed week.
And don't forget to enter the giveaway - or just join us on GoodSearch - we really need your help!

It's a glorious day for a giveaway

2011-09-18T09:07:00.000-05:00

Read carefully ('cause you will never see this again)

I got to wash dishes yesterday!! I'm soooo excited! Woo-Hoo! We have a sink We have a sink We have a sink. An amazing one with a handle, and running water and everything. What joy! Happy-happy-happy :o) Sorry, couldn't help myself...YAY! Okay, I'm done. *laugh* Have you ever noticed how often we take things for granted? If you haven't, it's probably because you have been unusually blessed with all things functional. I mean, I never really considered how handy legs were for taking you where you wanted to go until mine didn't work anymore (and talk about your attitude adjustments, right? ;o) Same thing with the kitchen sink; just one of those things that you don't really pay attention to until it's out of order. Then it'll make you crazy. A week and a half doesn't sound like a long time, but it sure did feel like forever to me. As much as I absolutely detest washing dishes, I could not wait to scrub something... and how wrong is that??. Pretty darn wrong if you ask me.

I don't know about the weather where you live, but here it's still dry as a bone. Looked like Texas was finally getting rain; at least in some places. Could you please send it our way when you've finished with it? This has been a super strange year for weather, don't you think? I mean chunks of the country are all but under water, with massive droughts burning up other parts (literally). Outside of a winter frost, I'm mostly sure that grass is not supposed to have a crunch factor. Sounds like potato chips in our pasture. Taya came down to supper the other day with what looked like a tumbleweed wannabe stuck to the end of her tail. Geez. Looks like it's time to bang [trim] her tail anyway; it's dragging the ground and collecting stuff. Meh.

We signed up for GoodSearch, and were approved the week before last. That was supposed to be my grand plan for the giveaway - to ask you to help us by using it as your default search - but I just didn't have time to get there and figure it all out. Rats. *sigh* So we're going with Plan B (which I came up with about 37 seconds ago - Ha). Visit just one - or more than one to be entered more than once - of my lenses on Squidoo and leave a comment there, like it, blog it, tweet it, tell a friend, call your mom, or post a link to your Facebook page and then come back and tell me which one you visited, what you liked, and where you shared it. Participants will be pulled from the blog comments here, so if you visit multiple lenses don't forget to list them all! This is not nearly as complicated as I just made it sound. *scratching head* Huh. I don't know why that sounds like a lot, 'cause it isn't. Okay, well, hmm. Anyway, there should be something to interest everyone here (I hope :o)

Since I'm kind of into everything, my topics are pretty much all over the place. Life is short, what can I say? *grin* Ready? Okey-doke, here goes...

1.Horsey folks might be interested in Equine Body Language (here);

2.Hookers (bwah-ha-ha-ha) might like the lens on crochet (here);

3.Scrapbookers might like to try heritage scrapbooking (here); OR if you are just starting to scrapbook or like handy tips (4.go here);

5.Cooks can get some unique ideas for fall treats (here);

6.Readers might like our kid-friendly summer reading list lens (here);

7.Dry humor lovers might get a giggle out of my ConnieCrankpot lens (here);

8.Family historians may like my genealogy lens (here);

9.Parents with nosey kids (like mine) can get some sneaky and fun gift-giving ideas (here);

10.Curious about parenting a deaf child? Visit my Momography lens (here);

Hopefully, you found at least one lens up there that interested you enough to visit...That's 10 different lenses to choose from. If you didn't or would like to see a complete list of all my Squidoo lenses and what each one is about, you can go here. So what are the giveaway goodies, you ask? I went for some smaller items this time, because I almost had apoplexy when I paid the postage from the last giveaway (heavy stuff at just under $9-yikes!). *laugh* Sooo, how about a cute little canine zipper pull, a fun pair of felines for your footies (knee-hi's), a pretty pair of sparkly handmade dangles just in time for fall, and (because I always get carried away) a $10 gift card for PetSmart. Here's a look-see:

Don't forget to come back and leave a comment. Just tell me which lens(es) you visited and where you shared it!

Drawing will be on Friday, September 30th so you have almost two weeks to do this; until 8p.m. CST Friday (unless I doze off like grandma on the sofa again, in which case you'll have until about 3a.m. CST the next morning). The winner will be announced in that weekend's post (on whichever day I get it done ;o) Good luck!

In the meantime, guess what DD and I have finally gotten around to working on again...(pray for us, will you? ;o) I've manage to unearth (okay, shovel out) the last corner in my office/craft room to do the rest of flooring - remember the banquet table that was buried under a ton of craft supplies (right behind the paper avalanche - here). I have just a few more vinyl tiles left to do and then we can finish up the work on my craft table. A helpful hint for anyone that plans to lay vinyl tile: spray adhesive. It will keep the tiles from sliding or shifting while they set. Sure wish I had known about that when I did the kitchen floor way back when. There are a couple of small gaps between some of the tiles near the stove where DH walked across the floor too soon. The tiles shifted and then stuck fast. The gaps constantly trap dirt and drive me nutso. Hopefully I'll have finished photos of this project by the next post, because that will mean we got it DONE! Here's a shot of the plans (the salvaged and pretty countertop from the Habitat store is visible underneath)...I know it looks like the whole room on the graph paper, but that's actually just my monster craft table. Trust me, I can complicate anything. *grin*

Since I like to start the day with a smile (I try anyway), I thought I'd share this one from yesterday:

I've got to say Bella makes the BEST yawning faces. Megaweird, at the very least. Wouldn't you agree? Here's hoping it gave you a smile, and maybe a giggle as well. Have a blessed week every one!

Insanity is everywhere...

2011-09-12T04:52:00.000-05:00

Including the kitchen sink. ARRGH!

Ever have one of those days? How about weeks? You know the kind I mean: The ones where just about everything you pick up flies out of your hands like it's a slimy bar of soap (and if it's heavy enough to qualify, the rule states it's gotta land on the toes... Yeesh :o\ Well I'm just so there. Even the garbage can has had it in for me this week. Everything I've tried to put in the trash has been thrown away twice; it's like there's a force field over it or something. Stick to the hand and/or pop off to the left; fake right; whatever it takes to land on the floor. I've had enough birthdays - I call 'em the annual moving of the ground, since it seems to get farther (further?) away every year - that it's gotten a lot trickier to bend over and pick all that darn stuff up. Looong way down there. Umpf. Last Saturday, while I was at the grocery store, DD burned a pot of Ramen Noodles (thank you FaceBook) and decided to dump them down the drain; never do this. The garbage disposal does not cut them up, as they simply bend around the blades and remain whole. If you're lucky, they'll go straight out through the pipes. If, however, you are us, they will fuse to the pipe en mass and become a big sticky blob just past where the water exits the house; thus backing up your sink quite thoroughly on both sides. Lovely. The plunger and Liquid Plumber had no effect (and we have to be careful there, as we have a septic tank). DH eventually got it unclogged; it took him 3 days amid his overcrowded work schedule to find the problem and fix it (it had to be done by running something down somewhere from the roof).

While working to resolve the clog, we discovered that the mixer on my lovely waterfall faucet (the 3 pipe thingamajig in the photo which gives water to the spigot) had a small hole in the hot water side and was leaking behind the sink. No way to patch it either. Joy. Whatever it started out as (probably a pinhole) was not noticeable when the faucet was installed, but obviously grew larger over time. No idea. Because we use mostly cold water, there wasn't enough of a leak to be noticeable. DH went all over town trying to find a replacement part, and I looked online, but no dice; it was discontinued. The good news? Delta faucets come with a lifetime warranty (they'll replace the faucet for free). All you need to do is send them a copy of the owner's manual and a photo of the faucet in your sink. The bad news? The filing part of my office/ craft room was (is) still a total disaster area and the owner's manual was buried in one of about 500 different file piles somewhere in this house; not kidding. *head thuds on desk* That tri-folded piece of paper was suddenly worth about $250 (the cost of a new faucet). Let the hunt begin. Oy.

I found it I found it I found it!! And it only took me 3 days. *rolls eyes* Whew! I am eternally grateful to our plumber pal, who talked us into coughing up what we considered a small fortune to put in Delta faucets way back when. The customer service guy I talked to was super nice and told me to email a copy of the manual's front page along with a photo of the sink. Hopefully, we'll have a new faucet within a few days - I sure do miss my kitchen sink! It's already been a week, and unbelievably annoying to be without. Ask me how many pointless trips I've made to the kitchen sink to wash my hands only to snarl at the spigot, turn around, and stomp off to the bathroom. (I'm a creature of habit :o) So, now that I've said all that, hopefully you will understand why this is all I have for a post this week. I have done nothing but go to work, feed the horses, and stand by to help DH under the sink. Then it was off on a 3 day "treasure" hunt to try to find that stupid piece of paper leaving me no time to do my planned post or figure out the giveaway doggone it. *sigh* Would you believe it turned out to be in a dining room pile underneath a large stack of prescription receipts? Yep, medical stuff. Definitely the first place I shoulda looked for a faucet manual *rolls eyes*.
I did take a picture of this um, "horse ad" for you. It was on the board at the Farm Center and Jeffers - highlighted no less (wow). I'm thinking it really stresses the need to study your spelling words in elementary school, although I will say that it definitely captured my attention. What do you think?

Oh my. Have a blessed week everyone!

Lumps, bumps and down in the dumps

2011-09-04T11:29:00.003-05:00

I bought the cutest horse stamp the other day from Getting Hooked on Etsy. Since it's me saying this, I'm sure all of you know that means she has great prices in addition to wonderful items. She hand carves her stamps, which I think is absolutely awesome. I thought the funky shape would make it slightly awkward to use, but it actually made it easier. Girl knows her stuff. *grin* She has giveaways on her blog, also called Getting Hooked, (for those of you who like to win free stuff - Woot!) For some reason, even though I don't drink coffee, I just love the cute little coffee grinder stamp she made (here). Maybe it's because I'm an antique junkie and have an old coffee grinder as a cookbook bookend in my kitchen. Please be sure to visit her shop to see all of her wonderful stamps and don't forget the blog (you can tell her I sent ya ;o)

I don't think I've actually blogged this, (though I know we have a blurb on our home page) but Lady has something called Sarcoids. These are non-cancerous growths that can cause a variety of annoying problems and are fairly common in gray horses. Lady's Sarcoids are Nodular, and pretty tough to spot amongst the freckles (I only found hers because I run my hands over the horse's bodies on a regular basis). While we have some fairly effective, very expensive medicine (Xxterra $75/oz) to treat them, it's on standby in the event another one ruptures (it took the better part of a year to get the one on her tummy under control - it ruptured on its own). The reason the vet suggested we monitor is because if we medicate prematurely it will cause a rupture (and instigate a medical version of world war III). She's up to 5 of them, but they are all small and don't seem to bother her in any way.
You can see in the photo below how hard the one on the left is to see; it's just visible above my thumb. The one on the right is basically unnoticeable; even with my finger right there:

In addition to Sarcoids, gray horses are also subject to something much more troublesome: Melanomas. According to experts (people lots smarter than me) approximately 80% of gray horses - particularly Arabians - will develop Melanomas after the age of 15. Peachy. I've been watching Lady carefully over the past several years (she's 20), and found the first dreaded Melanoma under her tail the other day. [photo inset] It's not very big (maybe 1/4") so I suspect it hasn't been there very long. Unfortunately, I also noticed several more small, but suspicious looking, bumps underneath her tail (oval on the right and small circle on the upper left).
Although melanoma is not deadly in horses like it is in people, it is still a very big problem as they can multiply quickly and often grow out of control, causing considerable misery for the horse. If you're really curious, you can search images for "equine melanomas", but only if you have a strong stomach (some of the photos are terrible to see). Lady was an awfully good girl, standing still (at liberty) for me to inspect the underside of her tail and take some photos to share. I was sure to give her lots of praise and a treat after, and had the (belated) presence of mind to hope that my neighbors were not outside. Pretty sure the sight of me holding Lady's tail in the air with one hand and a camera with the other - all up in her *ahem* personal space - while praising her lavishly would have worried them considerably. Oh my.
Upon closer inspection, I found that she actually had quite a few larger lumps along the hairline of her tail too. To be honest, I felt them before I saw them. Oh dear. I took several photos but never could get the right angle for them to show up so you could see. Tough to spot, but I circled some of them for you:

So now we need to decide what to we're going to do about it. There are a number of options available, most (of course) pretty costly except for the "do nothing" one (which I am not going to go with). I suggested a biopsy - even though I know what it is - since I'm not a vet but DH seems to think my diagnosis was good enough to act on (again I say I'm not a vet). We're still debating. It seems, even that initial step [biopsy] comes with a risk. Depending on who you ask, attempting to biopsy and/or remove a melanoma can release the cancer and cause it to spread rapidly. EEK. I know this can happen with people from my own cancer (if memory serves, it's called "epithelial seeding of the cells"). I'll Google it later. Anyway, my hope right now is to find the balance between responsible horse ownership, proper [halfway affordable] treatment, and minimal suffering on Lady's part. I am researching our options to see what the best course of action is for all of us.
My regular readers (non-horsey but still much loved ;o) may wish to skip this part, as I am going to list our treatment options to help anyone else out there faced with this decision:
1. Oil Therapy - Frankincense oil, applied directly, has been shown to reduce melanomas. Looked like a fairly inexpensive proactive approach while we are trying to figure out our next move. I ordered some this morning for $15.74 (including shipping) from Edens Garden (here). I'll letcha know.
2. Biopsy/Surgical removal - May (or may not) resolve this particular melanoma, but comes at the risk of triggering more and/or causing metastases. Factor in, too, that Lady has all those others popping up along the hairline. To try to remove them all would probably turn her tail into swiss cheese. Meh.
3. Cimetidine - A tumor shrinking medication also used for ulcers. Lots cheaper than other options, but often stops working after a period of time which would bring us right back to the point we are now. Not sure if there are negative results (like colic) from reducing digestive acids unnecessarily. Anybody know?
4. Laser therapy - This is not available around here; we'd have to haul her up to Auburn for treatment. Not just this time, but again and again as tumors pop up and become troublesome (probably not the best plan financially).
5. Radiation - See answer to #4.
6. Gene Therapy - Cool, but not available yet (they're working on it though!) Probably way out of our price range anyway.
7. Nublada's Formula - at Earth Angel's Herbs (here). Found a couple of positive comments off site, but not a whole lot of info out there. It's unclear how much it costs: the site has $129 for a 2 month supply, but doesn't show shipping. The 4 month supply appears to be $199. Thoughts anyone?
8. Robert McDowell's Herbal Treatments - A two fold internal/external approach (which appeals) to treatment using Bach-based flower remedies (which also appeals). Pricey at $112 for the internal treatment (5 weeks worth) and $23.50 for a melanoma ointment (here), but probably less dangerous than surgery (and likely around the same cost involved). It would also potentially address any and all melanomas instead of one at a time. Since it's in Australia, the shipping is outrageous (looks to be between $20 and $30 - ouch). I did find a pretty good amount of positive info on this stuff (off site) some of which sounds too good to be true - that's a worry. Anybody out there familiar with him?
**If you're reading this, Clancy - do you know anything about McDowell and his herbal treatments? I don't know if he's near you or not down under, but maybe you can ask around your barn. Would you mind?**
Seems Sarabear had some technical difficulties with her fly mask yesterday. *giggle* Doesn't she look cute?

I didn't forget about the giveaway, either. I'm going to post it next time. I'm waiting for a very special task to come through - we've signed up for "GoodSearch" (we're just waiting for their approval - Woo! :o) For those of you unfamiliar, it's a search engine that donates to charity each time you search for something; I'm hoping this will generate a little bit of money coming in anyway (it's a numbers thing, so the more the merrier!) Can you guess who popped up to see what Lady dropped in the water trough over there? Yep, Charity. She's finally stopped spending so much time at the bottom of the tank and is back to zipping around full time with Faith II and Hope II. I'll try to get a shot of those two; they have grown quite a bit since you last saw them :o)
I guess that just about wraps it up for now. Wondering about the "down in the dumps" part? Well, that would be me. Seems I have Shingles (again), and they are in my eye (again). *sigh*. This is why I am publishing my weekly post this Sunday morning instead of sitting in church. I had all these plans for working with Max and taking videos too doggone it, and they are out the window for now. Raspberries to that.
Thankfully, I know just what to do in such a situation. I'm going to take my medicine, slap on some more Calamine and pout. Good thing I'm fully prepared for a nice sulkfest:

Well whaddaya want? It was right there next to the Pharmacy :o) Have a blessed day everyone!

Tandem Random(ness)

2011-08-27T11:29:00.001-05:00

Random Thoughts and Photos

Well, I survived the first full week of school. I'm pretty sure there should be some sort of fanfare, but I'm just too pooped to whoop *laugh*. Sixth grade is exhausting: it's nothing but Go-Go-Go all day long over an eyeball crossing amount of stuff (gotta find that groove in the new schedule ;o) The weather here has gone back up into triple digits - we're hoping it's the last gasp of summer or something, because ick. Praying for all those in the path of the storm, including some of our family (an uncle and cousins). Mighty scary stuff. Hope all of you are in a safe place. I thought you'd get a kick out of the hay sculpture; apparently we have some creative geniuses bopping around out there in the pasture (it's the Moo Crew's hay roll). They've either got Halloween on the brain or [more likely] our resident hoovenile delinquent and escape artist Mad Max is staging a non-verbal protest over being under so much increased supervision. Big brother is watching you...Ha.
This next photo is for Grace, who asked about Sara's ability to see through the fly mask (this post). I was kind of curious how things looked through there myself, so I took two shots of Taya (sneaking grass in the visitor walkway). It was a little awkward trying to hold the mask properly and take a picture of Taya at the same time, but I think you get the idea. It's clearer than I thought it would be, to be honest (kudos to Farnam and the SuperMask II):

I did a double take when I saw Cinnamon in the pasture sporting a rather unusual passenger awhile back. I can't believe I had enough time to make a mad dash for the camera, but I did ;o) He flew off before I could get any closer though. Rats. I've seen them parked on cows periodically, but never on a horse. I wonder if he's playing connect the dots...

I found this cool little bird's nest that was actually lined with hair from someone's tail; looks like it's from Rina or Sarbear (red and black). Isn't that wild? Ha. Well yeah silly, it literally is isn't it? ;o)

I have to tell you a funny; because it's just too good to keep to myself ;o) The planets must have lined up, and congress been in complete accord because DH finally had a day to do some more work on the "outhouse". Our favorite volunteer [Mr. Ron] was here to help and they had pulled off all the siding and were framing up the walls. DH asked Ron to check the dimensions of the patio door (our current tack/feed room) because it was wide enough to accommodate a wheelchair, but he couldn't remember if it was supposed to be 34" or 36" wide. DH held the 2x4s in place while Ron looked around for a tape measure (the doorway was only a few feet away from where they were working). Spotting a tape laying just inside the door by the feed buckets, Ron grabbed it and quickly pulled it across the opening.

He stood there, looking down at the tape for a long minute without saying a word. Now most of you know that measuring the width of a door is not exactly rocket science, but after waiting what seemed to be far too much time for so simple a task DH finally said, "Well?? What is it?" Ron tilted his head, squinted slightly at the reading and said, "I'm not sure exactly what this means, but according to the tape this doorway is nine hands wide." *giggle* Poor Ron; he'd picked up my horse tape (1 hand = 4 inches). Good thing the man has a great sense of humor because it cracked us all up. You gotta admit they do look exactly the same until you actually pull the tape out, that is....Here's a progress picture for you. You can see the *ahem* doorway on the left-hand side of the photo:

Random Drawing

We ended up with only three entries, which should probably hurt my feelings; it makes for awesome odds though. *laugh* I suppose I'll just have to try again next week with something that interests you more (so be ready :o) I'm not making them too hard, am I?

Congratulations to Susan! I'm hoping you're here reading this, but I'll send you an email just in case you're not.

Still trying to coordinate schedules with DD and the weather (too hot!) to get some video clips and pictures of Max. With the insanity of a new school year, I haven't worked with him at all over the last two weeks (Ack!) Hopefully he hasn't forgotten what we've done so far...you never know.

Rina and I were delighted to learn that the phrase "fist bump" has been added to the dictionary and is now official. Somehow, we have gotten into the habit of doing this each morning and afternoon at feeding time as I walk past her stall. The first time was an accident (I was closing her door and we "bumped"). I laughed and said, "fist bump!" Since the horses understand the power of positive laughter (because sometimes it means, do it again and you might get a treat ;o) she did indeed do it again. It wasn't long before I was walking by and Rina was popping her nose out for a fist bump on a regular basis. Sometimes you just take your entertainment wherever you find it *grin*. Have a blessed week everyone!

Fly Mask Fashionistas (picture happy post :o)

2011-08-19T05:22:00.001-05:00

Don't forget the back to school giveaway!

If you haven't already entered, you can toss your name in the hat by adding our fundraising widget (top left) to your blog, page, or forehead (still kidding), follow us here and like us on Facebook (top right), or tweet your favorite post. Donations count for two entries ('cause we need 'em :o) Drawing will be on Friday, August 26 and the winner will be announced on that weekend's post. A special thank you to "The Old Geezer" <--not my choice of words) for getting us to 100 followers - Woo! Definitely worth checking out (love "The Green Thing" post). In case anyone is wondering, I did not finish my office before school started, but I did get a little closer. Meh :oP We still have to construct my ginormous craft table; it's going to [hopefully] be a masterpiece. I'll letcha know. *grin*

Sarabear has had some trouble recently with her eyes. They were kind of goopy, puffy,and very watery and even with the fly sprays the gnats were making her crazy. She started rubbing her eyes on the wood around the stalls which was, in turn, causing me to develop a nervous twitch in my own eye. I just knew she was going to poke her eye out, get a splinter, or something. Eeek. We decided to try a fly mask, although I admit I had some doubts as to whether or not she'd actually wear it. Sara had been sent to a very abusive trainer early in life - not by us - for the halter show ring; she's an Anglo-Arab. Whatever he did, and that's all I know is it was a male trainer, caused her to be extremely head shy and she is still very afraid of having her ears touched. We're working on it :o)
Instead of starting with the mask right away, I let her see it first and then just hung it on the stall and put her halter on because I wanted to start with success (above photo). Then I took the halter back off and asked Sara if we could try the fly mask (after we gave it a good snuffle or two of course):

This is where a real relationship is invaluable. You can see that we are "outside", so Sara is free to leave. This means there is absolutely no pressure on her, other than what she is willing to accept. The other girls are still in their stalls (this was right after supper) so there is no one to bother us. In addition to the greed factor [treats], the horses genuinely seem to want my attention and approval, which just blows me away with stuff like this. When I lifted the mask to put it on, Sara said she wasn't ready (Photo below L) by raising her head high [fear] and flicking her ears back and forth [uncertainty]. I dropped it back down so she could think about it a bit more (below R).

Right here is often the point where horses and humans part company (at least for me). The internal urge to just "show" her it's no big thing by putting it on is huge and I have to fight it every stinkin' time. We just want to go ahead and do it so they will see that it's not a bad thing at all. Horses don't work that way, though. It's a thousand times better in the long run to let them decide on their own when they are ready, and they really will tell you provided you have good communication going between you (you'll see it with Rina further down). In reality, it takes far less time to drop it down and give Sara another minute than it would to chase her head around anyway (or worse, cause her to stress to escalate to the point she leaves). That extra minute was all she needed - what a good girl Sarabear. You stylin' it now sistafriend! *laugh*
Since DD was available for a bit to shoot a few more pictures after Sara, I was curious to see how the other girls would react to the mask; they were still in their stalls. I asked Rina if she wanted to try it on...She gave it a good sniff (below L), then said "nuh-uh" by pulling her head back partway into her stall (R):
I'll add that I am sure I could have gone into her stall and gotten her to put it on, but I opted to go with the flow and move on to Taya (you'll see why in a minute ;o)

Taya was curious too, and happy to let me put it on her. Good job Taya!

Bella had about the same reaction as Taya - ummm...ok - What a good girl!

Now, here's the part that really fascinates me. After I let everyone out, guess who came marching back up to me and wanted to try on the fly mask? Yep, it was Rina. Is that cool or what? Horses are just too awesome for words sometimes (and yes, I was so tickled with her request and willingness to put the mask on that I let out a happy little whoop and clapped for her...forgot I wasn't at elementary school [work] just then. HaHa. Silly me, I know. ;oD

Miscreant Max and I have started our home school lessons; otherwise we couldn't have played around for the camera here - he would have broken my nose for sure. It took me two solid weeks before I was able to give him a reward. Not kidding. Sometimes you need a magnifying glass and an awful lot of time to find that one positive thing. He'd do something that mostly passed for "good" (Max has a sliding scale ;o) and then immediately do something completely obnoxious and render me unable to give him a reward. It was making me crazed.
We have had several chats about broken stall boards (one of umpteen patches visible in the photos), picking fights, spatial relationships, (you can see in the photo above he's not much on that stuff) crawling under fences, climbing up the stall wall (literally), general obnoxiousness, attentiveness, and just trying to behave a little better overall. Max has come to the conclusion that being a good boy is not nearly as awful as he thought it was going to be, so he is going to try his very very bestest to do it more often and stay out of trouble...

Have a blessed week everyone, and a wonderful back to school experience this year! Kids too ;o)

We're currently under destruction

2011-08-13T06:14:00.001-05:00

I'll just bet you thought that was a typo, didn't you? Ha; 'fraid not. DH's hours have gone back up at work, so while I'm waiting for him to find the time to finish our visitor area (I am SO not a builder or plumber). I decided to address my office/craft room's current decor of Early American Hoarder to something a little more efficient by replacing the floor and moving some things around. I managed to talk DH into ponying up enough money to replace the floor and buy some track shelving for the closet so my computer was unplugged for several days as a result (hence my absence and the tardiness of this post). I found a long piece of painted plywood for $3 at the Habitat Store that was nice and thick and perfect to host my printers. Some cheap 2x4's (DD hit 'em with the router for me) and a leftover laminate shelf netted me a nice long printer table (below left) with lots of storage space underneath for less than $10. Boo-Yeah! To little Miss T.L. - you see where the cute ceramic snail you gave me is, don't you? Right there next to my calendar :o)

Although I'm making progress, I'm currently alternating between snarling at those idiotic tiles and kicking myself for not having started this about a month ago (back to work next week - ack!) The idea that started out as Jen's little office makeover fantasy has morphed into a death by vinyl flooring tragedy (yeesh - what the heck was I thinking?!?). I have made a spectacular mess; one so colossal I'm betting even #1 son, slob extraordinaire, would be duly impressed. I did find the top of my desk, which I haven't seen for a couple of years. You know how you have those "catch all" drawers in the kitchen? Well, my office was the catch all for an alarming amount of stuff. File piles, craft piles, scrapbook piles, medical paper piles, piles, piles, piles...miles of piles *sigh*. One of my piles - a ginormous towering one - avalanched the other day (which is what set off this re-organizational bender), and I found myself just sort of sitting there looking at it with absolutely NO intention of picking it all up. I'm now praying I can finish before school starts next week.

Last week things got a little heated around here (literally). Temperatures shot back up into the triple digits, with heat indices (isn't that a weird plural?) creeping up as high as 110 - blech. The horses are, of course, sweating like crazy (ha, me too!) I do love to see Rina's coat in the summer sun though - it shimmers and shines and the tip of her mane turns a fiery red, which is supercool. As much as I don't want to go back to school/work this year (and how awful is that? ;o) I am ready for fall temps. It occurred to me the other day that this is the first summer since 2005 that I have not had either surgical procedures or really big medical issues. Can you believe that? Woot! I'm tickled BC survivor pink to be even semi-productive. How about you? Are you ready for fall? I walked outside to feed the other morning and got a good look at the sweltering sky and thought I was someplace else on a desert safari; look how unbelievably hazy it was (this is straight out of the camera, too. Wow.)

Since we are headed back to school all over the country, maybe we can have a little giveaway to brighten things up a bit. A lovely little hodgepodge of goodies just in time for fall. Let's see what we can find around here...Aha!

How about this cute little tote that was donated to us by a teacher friend, an awesome horsey book cover, a horse story, and a totally cute little "School Buds" photo frame from the Second Chance Thrift Shop. I might even find another little item or two to tuck inside. I'm going to try really hard to visit the Second Chance periodically and see what kind of ~~trouble~~ things I can find over there to use for giveaways. I love doing them - it's like Christmas *grin*. All of the shop's proceeds go to the local animal shelter and their items are very inexpensive, so I figure that's just about perfect all the way around.
To enter, you can add our new fund raising widget to your sidebar, web page, or forehead (kidding). It comes in many different formats (just replace the old one if you added it the last time - it's expired), you can follow us here and like us on Facebook, or you can tweet this (or another) post. Leave a comment letting me know what you did and I'll put your name in the hat. If you do more than one of these, I'll enter you more than once. Donations will count for two entries each. Sound okay? Winner will be chosen on the 26th of August, and announced in that weekend's post. Thanks so much for helping us out, and good luck!

On Friday, I was invited to visit some fourth graders at a local school to talk about horses. Because it was during science, we talked about teeth and bones and hooves and vision and all kinds of cool stuff. Since no one fell asleep - if they did, they didn't snore - or threw anything, I think it went okay. I ended up speaking to three different classes and about 60 kids. I had a great time and although it's been awhile, fourth grade definitely still rocks. I told the kids I had to go back to school next week and mentioned that I was in the fifth grade last year. One of the girls looked me up and down and gave me an "I don't think so lady" look that made me laugh (although she was too polite to say it out loud) and another asked me if I was a teacher. I explained that I was an interpreter for a deaf student and got a collective Ohhhh ;o) I guess most of them paid pretty good attention to what we talked about because they did a bang up job answering all the questions I asked them at the end...

Speaking of school, Mad Max has recently been enrolled in a home school program - albeit belatedly - and I'll have some photos and progress reports for you in the next week or two (I hope). I haven't figured out how to take pictures of myself and Max working yet *laugh* so I'm at the mercy of DD's schedule. When you consider where we're starting, he's got lots of room for improvement. Max is quite possibly the most obnoxious horse I've ever met and needs work on absolutely everything. He does not stand still at all, but dances around in your space (for which he has no respect) and gets up in your face ducking and dodging the whole time because he knows it's annoying. He's like a bull in a china shop, and it's been quite a challenge trying to find something (anything!) to reward him for. I've got bruises all over the place from him dancing around and knocking into me. The other horses bite him, kick him and run him off constantly because he's such a pain in the posterior. It'll be interesting to see what happens (I feel like I'm about to partake in a cliff diving lesson, go alligator wrestling or some other ridiculously dangerous endeavor ;o) I'll let you know how it goes; or maybe I should say IF it goes *laugh*. Have a blessed week everyone!

Forget the dogs: The Horse Days of Summer

2011-08-02T05:42:00.000-05:00

You can tell that it's almost over; the days are flying by so fast I can't get a ride in edgewise around here. I did finally make it back to my friend Sandy's house (this post and this post) for the long-awaited trail ride. She had babies everywhere, including this handsome [and unexpected] little fella. Seems the people she bought his mom from sold her because she was not fulfilling her duties as a broodmare. After a few months, Sandy contacted them and asked if they were sure she was not bred because she appeared pregnant; they were absolutely positive. No way. Imagine Sandy's surprise when she walked outside one fine day to find this little guy had arrived during the night (not to mention the previous owners, who were most unhappy with the news they missed a baby - oops *laugh*).
Since his daddy is a Tennessee Walker and his mom an Appaloosa, that makes Nicodemus here a Walkaloosa (and no, I did not make that up). There is even a registry for that particular cross (here). Too bad he didn't get any markings from mom though; you can just spot (haha) her pretty polka-dotted derriere behind baby. DD coaxed him near enough for a scratch or two:

I took lots of pictures to share with you; Isabella and Jackie Chan's baby is due this October and I want to go back for another visit. I've never seen a baby donkey before. I'm trying to talk DH into going with me this time (then I can stay lots later and it won't matter if I zonk out on the way home *grin*). This is Jackie in the photo on the right - isn't he cute? I just love that little face :o)

Below is a photo of Jackie and Isabella:

Seems like everywhere I looked there were little ones running around. Shrek and Fiona had two little bitty pea hens (peacock babies), which I don't think I've ever seen before, have you?:

You know after looking at the one on the right (in mid march) a couple of times, I must say I suddenly felt considerably better about the big honking U-boats attached to my ankles (little booger has got some feet - *giggle*).

I heard rumors of a foal snatching epidemic in the pasture; seems Nico's mom was not the only one who wanted him. Sandy said he didn't appear overly concerned about who mom was exactly until it was time for lunch (then he got rather picky ;o) Looks like the pasture wasn't the only place experiencing parental pilferage. Does this look right to you? Besides the blur, I mean:

I don't know if Sandy loves to read as much as I do or not, but I did notice she kept this beautiful pair of bookends in her backyard (I dubbed them Frick and Frack ;o):
I took a little video and some stills and slapped it all together below in case any of you wanted to go with us on the trail. Have to say I love that little white spot on Dotty's ear. She is blind in her right eye, which is why she turns her whole head to the right to look around periodically. And yes I cleaned my lens when I got home - had no idea how dirty it was until I hit that little patch of sunlight (yikes! :o)

Happy Trails from Jen on Vimeo.

The best surprise of all? Wait until you see what Sandy has hanging around her backyard. She said there are about eight of them living in that tree - Awesome!

Hummingbirds have to be the hardest thing I've ever tried to photograph. Those little knockers are QUICK!
Well that's all for this week. I hope you enjoyed your visit as much as I did. I think we were all pretty tuckered out by the end of the day...

Have a blessed week everyone! Be sure to smile at somebody somewhere (just because you can ;o)

Ludicrous Laws and the Walking Wounded

2011-07-26T13:28:00.000-05:00

MY APOLOGIES for the tardiness of this post. I ran smack into the brick wall of my own limitations this week and am still reeling from the impact *laugh*

Did you know (some random levity here) that in Wilbur, Washington it is against the law for a person to ride down the street on an ugly horse? For those of you who are saying ooo-kaaaay and now looking sideways at the screen, I'll go one better:
In Marshalltown, Iowa it is illegal for horses to eat fire hydrants. I'm sure that fire hydrants everywhere will rest easily now that they are no longer in danger of being consumed by equines. Wow. Of course Champ did eat that stray golf ball that one time (thankfully, he spit it back out). Hmmmm. Well. I ordered a Scholastic Book entitled, "World's Dumbest Laws" and have to agree they are pretty much right up there with the Darwin Awards.
For you dog lovers: You can not take a French poodle to an opera house in Chicago (no culture for you, Fifi).
Oh, and let's not forget the cats: In International Falls, Minnesota, it is illegal for a cat to chase a dog up a telephone pole. I am sure that these laws came with some kind of convoluted rationale, but I for one do NOT wish to know the specifics (because it really scares me).
Champ hurt his leg this week; he seems to have pulled or strained one of the ligaments in his [lower] right fore. Since he was fine the night before and hobbled his way down for breakfast, I'm not clear on exactly what he did. Too much frolic in the field perhaps? Dunno. We bought a ColdFlex wrap from Jeffers, which looked like a pretty cool (ha) thing at first. Sadly, it did NOT hold up worth a flip, so we ended up going back for a "real" ice wrap (pic further down). As you can see, he didn't seem to have any trouble downing his medicine (a mild analgesic) either. I'm betting it was the watermelon that came with it *laugh*. Thankfully, he has put himself on stall rest for the most part. I thought about locking him in, but when you take a horse that was on 24 hour turn out (and used to being able to come and go as he pleases) and stick him in a stall for an extended period of time, that can get kind of dicey.
We did some hosing [of the leg] too, and discovered that the spray nozzle can double as a ginormous waterpik. Seems our boy thought he needed a good flossing:

We got some more wraps and Absorbine gel - the wraps help the liniment to penetrate more deeply. The bottle of liniment we had on hand was so doggone old it had pretty much lost its zing. I think the last time we needed any liniment was around 2006; we're mostly dents and dings around here (no strains). Anybody besides me think that stuff smells exactly like "Freshen Up" gum? - I kept taking little side trips down memory lane to my Sunday school class [waaay back] when a friend gave me a piece of that stuff for the first time ;o) Funny. In case you didn't know, our sense of smell is the strongest sense we possess in triggering memories (a random edumacational fact for ya there ;o)

Champ has discovered room service, which he thinks is pretty great. Shadow kept him company, and helped him eat his hay (for some reason this made me think of visiting a family member in the hospital and sampling the Jell-O, etc. on their supper tray *laugh*).

After three days of alternately icing and applying liniment like a crazy person, Champ's leg seems to be much improved (thank goodness, as I'm worn out!) We're still keeping a very close eye on him and applying the liniment regularly, but hopefully it's a sign he's well on the mend. I definitely like the EZ ice leg wrap a WHOLE lot better than the less expensive Coldflex (waste of money there). Shadow has turned out to be a decent babysitter, and keeps pretty good tabs on Champ. DD was out of town all weekend (Baptist Conference for the Deaf in Florida), so it was a good thing I had Shadow to help me by watching me run in and out and up and down with ice, liniment and bandages, water and hay (he supervised in DD's absence and said all my running around wore him out).

I came within a hair of canceling with Champ hurt and DD gone, but with the liability insurance looming large I went ahead and set up a table at the Twilight Pageant last Saturday (they raise money for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society) hoping to sell a few things. I'm thinking the amount of work involved to get everything together, manning the table all day, plus the loading and unloading of all the things I took to sell (including tables and chairs) was definitely not worth the $25 we made. Oh well; it was a thought, right? ;o)

I think that's probably enough of me for now (I need a nap) *laugh*. I do have two more photos to share though. There was an Elwood sighting this morning:

And a really unusual looking sunrise with lots of haze (this is straight out of the camera, too). My apologies for the security light that's marring the shot; I couldn't get him to move *grin*.

Have a blessed week everyone! What's left of it anyway;o)

A Week at Warp Speed

2011-07-18T11:19:00.000-05:00

I can't believe Monday's here...I didn't make my Saturday/Sunday deadline either *sigh*. It has been quite the busy week this week, and happily I have spent almost all of it outside. I did manage to finish our little Epic Farms sign and snap a picture of it for you. It's parked on top of some ADA specs. Although we are not a public facility, we wanted to make sure that we could get our restroom and sink measurements as close as we could to allow wheelchair access. I have a friend at church that does this for a living, and she came out last week to look over the almost restroom and gave us a thumbs up - yay!. Who knows? As medically-challenged as I am sometimes it might ultimately be me who needs the access (although I sure hope not!)

This might sound strange, but I found the neatest little trick the other day. Growing up in the North, my mom always saved the bread bags for us to put on over our socks and jeans before we put our boots on or went ice skating (keeps those tootsies nice and dry :o) We were blessed (thank you Lord!!) with some fabulous rain last week (the non-destructive kind for the first time in a looonnong time). All that wet and mud is great except when it comes to the feet. My muckity-mucks bit the dust awhile back (new pair is "on the list"), so I've been wearing my Earth Boots instead. I really hate soggy socks though, even when it's not cold outside. The bread bag was definitely too much, but you know what? I discovered that sticking my foot in a folding sandwich bag before putting my boots on works like a charm. Isn't that funny?
After years of missed opportunities, I have FINALLY gotten some decent shots of Shadow's little rolling routine. He will not (for reasons only he knows) roll all the way over like everyone else does. Maybe next time I'll be smart enough to turn on the video so you can see it live and in person (well, in equine anyway ;o), it never fails to make me laugh.
First, we lay down and prepare to do Side A:

I missed the shot of the actual roll on this side as Champ, who I'd just dismounted, decided to poke me with his very big nose).
Next, we sit up and prepare for rotation:

Front feet marching, rear end wiggling, we scooch and squirm and maneuver ourselves around to roll on Side B:

Side B; ready?

Commence rolling:

Woo!

And then we shake it allllll off; whatever "it" might be (in this case bits of grass :o)

"And that's how I roll", says Shadow ;o) Have a blessed week everyone!

Hay-Hay-Hay It's Giveaway Day!

2011-07-10T18:58:00.001-05:00

Complete with fireworks and fish tales...

Well we started the Fourth with a bang all right, although it wasn't exactly the kind we were expecting. Thankfully, we were running in and out checking on the horses so our home grown "Old Faithful" didn't spew for too long. Gotta love those exploding hoses. NOT :oP I hope everyone's Fourth was happy and healthy out there. Firework shows here were almost canceled because of the drought; the heavy rain we got last week and then again the night before the Fourth saved the fireworks display. Meh.
I don't think I told you, but shortly after Larry, Moe and Curly's untimely demise (this post) someone discovered that we had a drive through sushi restaurant on the premises and were serving up fish on the go. First it was Faith; she vanished mysteriously without a trace one afternoon. Two days later I was still puzzling over Faith's disappearance, when I noticed that Hope was nowhere to be found. Now it was just Charity all by her lonesome in there. I may have never figured it out except that as I sat by the tank a day or two later (watching Charity and scratching my head), a large stealthy shadow passed directly overhead. Charity flipped out and frantically tried to hide herself in the silt on the bottom of the tank. Seriously? A hawk? Well isn't that just SPECIAL. Can you not go eat random pond fish or something else that doesn't have a name attached to it dude? Ugh....
Poor Charity; she has been like this day in and day out since she lost her little finned friends. Sitting with her head up against the side of the tank looking miserable. Sounds ridiculous I guess, but this photo is a variation of the theme. She has been this way every day; parked at the bottom of the tank, tail drooping and not moving other than to relocate to the other side of the tank and be sad over there. According to experts (lots of people who are way smarter than me ;o) the happier a fish is, the more they swim around (this post). Apparently fish get lonely and depressed just as we do. This left me with a bit of a dilemma. While I hated to see her moping about, I was less than thrilled at the prospect of continuously feeding Joe Predator. I thought I'd probably better figure out a way to protect the fish first.
I thought we might try one of those fake owls, but since they range between $25 and $30 that was going to have to wait (insurance first). Turns out I didn't have to. I was asking my dad if they worked, and he mentioned that he had an extra one just sitting in his garage. Hot diggity dog! We're extending the courtesy of nomenclature to inanimate resin objects this week, and I've opted to name her "Grimble" after one of the characters in the first book of the Guardians of Ga'Hoole series; the only one I've read thus far (it's a children's book). Hey, I work in an elementary school, remember? ;o) Did you know that you are supposed to move the fake owls every other day or so? If you don't the birds can figure out they're fake. I thought that was interesting (and don'tcha just learn all kinds of cool stuff via Professor Google?). Anyway, in case I forget - which is extremely likely - I've put a small silver disk on the post opposite as shiny is supposed to deter birds as well (here's hoping it works!) Then it was back to the fish store to find Charity some new friends - hang in there chickie, company's coming!

You know, if I hadn't watched it with my own eyes, I probably wouldn't have believed it. After seeing Charity just sit at the bottom of the tank day after day I wondered what she would do when she got her new friends. We got no reaction when DD put the bag in the water to acclimate them; she remained motionless at the bottom of the tank. But when we let them out? She popped right off the bottom and started swimming around all over the place. Although I had the camera right there in my hot little hands, I was so interested in Charity's reaction, I forgot to video the actual release (duh). I did shoot a little over a minute for you right afterward though. It cracks me up to watch Charity swim; her pectoral fins seem disproportionately small in comparison to her chunkymonkey shape. She's an Oranda Goldfish and looks like a weeble gone wild or something. Right after the 40 second mark, she swims over and plants one on Hope. Do you think she read my last post on kissing? Too funny.

We ended our week with a bang too (or at least an Arrgh!). Max, our resident problem child, decided that the grass looked a bit greener on the other side of the fence and snuck out. Seems we had a short somewhere, and although the box was happily ticking away the fence was no longer working. I have no idea how he knows these things, but he does. If only he would use his powers for good *sigh*. He didn't go far, just right outside the fence, and was munching away with poor Shadow all in a tizzy on our side. I sent DD to grab the other lunge whip so we could fan out to keep him from going the wrong way while trying to get him to go back in the same way he got out so we could find it (like this clip). I'll admit, had I watched our little drama unfold on someone else, I would have found the whole thing hysterically funny.
DD, wanting to turn Max back toward me, thought she could just flick the whip at him instead of holding it straight out to the side like I asked her. I saw what she was planning to do and tried to stop her. You know how your brain suddenly screams *Warning*Warning*Train wreck!*Train wreck!* sometimes? Well, waving your arms frantically and yelling "NOOOOOOO" doesn't do a whole lot with a deaf kid that's not looking at you. I tried to run, but factoring in the muscle disease, arthritis and bursitis, the result was kind of a Hop-A-Long Cassidy meets Quasimodo sprint. Not pretty, and waaaay too slow. *sigh* Max shied at the whip, shot around her (in the wrong direction) and ran into another neighbor's yard leaving the area all together and headed straight toward the road. This was entirely too much for Shadow, who collapsed in a distraught puddle by the fence. Oy. Thankfully, Max didn't go far before he realized he was Leaving Home. He slammed on brakes and executed an immediate 180; one that any cutting horse would have been proud of. Since he was all but trying to crawl in my pocket when he got back, I guess it scared him too. While I didn't get a picture of Shadow's initial "swoon" (don't know what else to call it, and we are in the South after all ;o) I did get a shot of his second episode, this time when he collapsed in relief after it was over. Poor Shadow; all that trauma by proxy. I think it wore him out....

Well, I suppose since you read through all that, I should get to the giveaway part of the program. Thank you SO much to everyone who participated, and a very special thank you goes to "Clancy" for her wonderful support and for so generously kicking off the fundraiser. Thank you so very, very much!! Ready? Here we go...Congratulations Grace! If you will send me your mailing address, I'll pop this in the mail to you as soon as I can (it requires a trip to the post office, so it may take me a day or two to get there).
Have a blessed week everyone, and smile (it's better for your face ;o)

The Mighty Muzzle

2011-07-02T12:02:00.002-05:00

Is one amazing muscle...
** PLEASE Don't forget our giveaway! (click here for info) **

It's funny. I googled muzzle and muscle and got hundreds of sites and articles talking about anatomy and/or how wonderfully soft a horse's muzzle is (and it is ;o) but I was surprised that there was little to no additional information about it. Why, you ask? Because that cute little kissable thing is COOL. I never thought much beyond the softness either; until Bella, that is. I walked outside one afternoon to see her with her nose poked down into a sandy area and her head [just barely] moving strangely about. Puzzled, I went to see what on earth she was doing. Would you believe she was twirling a small piece of rope around in the sand with the tip of her muzzle? [Photo inset is Bella's "teacup" muzzle in my mini-mixing bowl; she's eating the leftover shredded carrots from a carrot cake I made. This post].

Standing there (mouth open like a ninny) I stared rather stupidly at her as she continued playing with the rope. In amazement, I looked at all the patterns she had already made in the sand; wow. Shaking my head and laughing I pondered the obvious; Bella was bored and had found something interesting to do to entertain herself. Sometimes I think we should change her name to Cerebella *grin*. Again I say wow.
It's been awhile, but I took a couple of videos of Max and Bella one afternoon (I was sitting on Shadow; I'm tall, but not that tall). I was curious to see their muzzles in action as they grazed. Bella is definitely the more industrious of the two. The efficiency of the whole process is what blows me away. Max used both nose and lower lip to help the closely cropped grass stand up (I want to say it was shot at the very beginning of spring). Bella used hers like a whisk broom to brush away the pine needles and sand in the soil, leaving the grass better exposed.
Check it out:

The Mighty Muzzle from Jen on Vimeo.

Last week in a discussion group I belong to there was a raging debate about whether or not it was a good idea to kiss a horse on the muzzle. Opinions were split about 50/50 until someone said something somewhere that annoyed someone else and the "discussion" group disintegrated into a major dogpile/nah-nah thing that gave the rest of us a whopping headache. It made me think of what my mom used to tell my brother and I when we started sniping at each other, "Fight nicely children." (hee). It also reminded me why I so rarely post anything to a group and why I don't talk to most horse people around here; they tend to be opinionated to the Nth degree, and if you don't fall in with their line of thinking you're an idiot (and they are all too happy to tell you so - eek :o) Apparently, you guys are going to get my thoughts on this subject - whether you want them or not *laugh*. Ready? Here goes...

The Art of Kissing an Equine

Strange as it may sound, we have worked very hard on perfecting this particular trick. Before we get to the pictures below I would like to say a few things:
1. Bella is the only one of our horses I feel comfortable letting kiss a visitor (with their permission of course);
2. She is not allowed to kiss without the [target specific] cue;
3. Although William [first kid photo below] beat her to the punch, Bella always "kisses" her target and promptly withdraws for her treat. Her kiss consists of a light touch with the very tip of her nose. No contact, no treat. The rules are pretty simple and she understands them well [second kid photo below].
4. She is not allowed to step too far into anyone's personal space; as you can see by the space between her chest and the rails [second kid photo] she understands and respects this too.

Every once in awhile, Bella will make slightly firmer contact when both she and the kissee (haha) lean forward at the same time. Other than that, she is wonderfully consistent. Happily, I was able to put this trick to the acid test by asking her to kiss DH before we moved on to friends and visitors. While Bella is not aggressive toward DH, she does not like him, as he thinks it's funny to come up and put his arm around me when we're working and say "My person" (remember the jealous tart comment from this post?) It makes her mad. She had no compunction whatsoever about kissing DH though; it was all about the treat (she's a professional ;o)
My only regret over our recent visitors was that I did not have anyone standing there with a video camera while I was taking stills. William, being a kid and all, is pretty short and initially Bella could not "find" him. She had her upper lip stretched out as far as she could and was literally patting the air with the end of her nose in search of her target (she looked like a cartoon - it was hilarious). He had to step up on the bottom rail to get his kiss. Above photo: Bella loves to rest her chin in my hand while we "talk". Mostly about how smart she is ;o)

William was not the slightest bit shy about kissing Bella. He popped right up on that bottom rail and planted one on her.

Mmmwwah!

Keira, on the other hand, changed her mind at the last minute (she's still all puckered up though ;o) You can see what a good girl Bella is, in that she is not plastered up against the side of the stall crowding Keira's space even though she is doing her level best to do what I asked her. I gotta say I just love the photo; isn't it a hoot?

Must. Make. Contact. Strrrrretch....

For my crafty friends, I worked on the chairs (here) and this small sign that will go outside next to the door of the "Epic Farms Room". I'm not quite finished playing *ahem* working on it:

For our donors, I made up and delivered 10 care packages to a local hospital for the Sickle Cell kids (because I know exactly how boring it is to be stuck to an IV pole for hours on end ;o) I'm now working on another batch for the Twilight/Lymphoma and cancer kids in our area. I will add that the only thing I'm going to stamp for awhile after I finish this batch is my foot. Ugh.*laugh*.

I did have to stop somewhere during the week to have a chat with my itty bitty stalker. We discussed exactly why the pasture was off limits, and the fact that sometimes size DOES most definitely matter. Understand, peanut? ;o)

Speaking of a 50/50 split, look at this weird photo I took of the sky the other day. A storm was coming in; isn't that wild? Too bad the wire is in there though. I can take it out, but I'm not skilled enough to do it where you can't tell (I'd make a mess of it). And it would probably take me a week to do it, too ;o)

As always, thanks so much for reading this far and have yourself a wonderful week. The rotten ones are way too much trouble ;o)