To My Beloved

You know what's amazing? When I act like a snot, or when I don't do anything all day long, or when I forget something really important, or when I argue about something stupid, or when I am selfish and put you last, and I look up and there you are…still. I look into your eyes, and there it is…love.
There's very little in this life more amazing then knowing you are loved unconditionally and totally. It doesn’t happen in a week, a month, a year or ten years. It takes a really, really long time for a man to prove to a woman that there is nothing she could do to change the way he feels about her.  That he’s there for better or worse. That he’s got her back. That he’s never going to leave.
Because we all doubt. We all wonder. Am I good enough? Will this last? Does he really love me?
Some men are never able to do it.  But you did.  I’m not sure when it happened…but some time ago, that last little bit of insecurity disappeared. That last, deep down, almost subconscious fear has evaporated into thin air and all I feel now is trust, love and Us. 
Everything else on earth is monumentally unimportant to me compared to the fact that you love me.
Happy 27th Anniversary, Beloved.

First Lope

Had a great riding lesson on Cindy and Grinch today at Brad Palmer’s place.  Grinch had been fussy about his bit, which had never happened before so we put a halter on him and he rode just fine.  (Going to have his teeth looked at this week.)  So after Brad rode him for awhile, Claire walked and trotted him through the pole pattern.  At the end of the last two runs he broke into an easy lope.  I got the first one on video.  It was Claire’s first lope on the Grinch!

While Claire rode the Grinch, Brad gave Cindy a little attitude adjustment.  Out of shape and lazy equals one stubborn pony!

And Along Came Buttercup!

A friend of ours took in a stray.  They tried to find her a home.  They even asked us if we wanted her but our standard answer was given – NO! Months go by and our friends find out they have to move to another state. It was coming down to moving day and they still hadn’t found a home for the dog and they definitely couldn’t take her all the way to New York State with them in the car, so I said I’d ask Ted if we could just take the dog for them and continue looking for a new home for her. 

He said yes. 

That was his first mistake! 

Sorry Ted! 

Do you really think we are not going to keep this dog? 

This is Buttercup!

 

Here she is with Lucky! They are like twins!

One leash, two mutts!

   Lucky’s ears are a lot longer then Buttercup’s.  Buttercup’s legs are a little longer then Lucky’s.  Lucky’s got the saggy, Bassett hound eyes and Buttercup doesn’t.  Lucky doesn’t have brown and Buttercup does.   But that’s pretty much it.  They are very close to the same size in weight, height and length.  They are clearly both part beagle.  Lucky may have Bassett in her.  Buttercup is probably part Dachshund.

And they both love to follow their noses!

They get along great!

Really, Ted?

I don’t think so!

Thank you to the Kendrick family for rescuing this cutie pie,  and getting her dewormed, vaccinated and spayed.  As long as she gets along with Lucky, doesn’t escape and kill all our ducks and doesn’t bark too much at night, I think Ted is out voted!

 

But for the record…there will only ever be one Lucky for ClaireAnna.

First Trail Ride Together!

ClaireAnna and Grinch had a great lesson today with their trainer, Brad Palmer.  He took them on their first trail ride together.  Dayna got to come along since she had just finished her lesson and was already saddled!  It is the first time Claire has been on the Grinch outside of a round pen or arena.  Brad says, “Grinch was solid as a rock.  No issues at all.”  They crossed a road, saw a car, crossed water and were followed by dogs.  ClaireAnna said, “That was AWESOME!”  Grinch will now be Claire’s main trail mount!  I’m so proud of both of them!  She’s yet to lope him.  That will be their next goal!
    

ClaireAnna and Brad

Rickie and Ichie

A couple of weeks ago, Ted surprised the girls with new kittens which is really weird since he hates cats.  Claire named hers “Rickie” (from TedRICK.) Kate named hers Icharus from some dumb book she’s reading.  We call him Ichie (rhymes with Ricky) for short.  They were tiny scrawny things and have barely grown since we got them.  They are brothers.

Ichie and Rickie

Rickie

 

Ichie

  Ichie and Rickie 

Rickie

Ichie

Post Script: Saddly, Ichie failed to thrive for unknown reasons and had to be euthanized a month or so after this post was made.

An Early Morning on the Farm

Every year we have to move what ever square bales we have left over from last year out of the hay barn in preparation for the new year’s batch.  There won’t be many this year due to the drought.  Never the less, we have to clear the space for them. 

We got started early to avoid the heat and moved about 200 bales from the hay barn into the horse barn.  We are very blessed just to have these 200 bales left from last year’s cutting.  They will help to make up our deficit for this year.  Ted and I have vowed to never sell another bale of hay as long as we live! LOL  Sorry, folks, but I really don’t think he’s kidding!

 

It’s stacked on both sides.

And even some in a stall at the other end.

 

Here’s my favorite resting chair! No chicken poop! 

(See previous blog post on the new Chicken coop!)

 

And my halter racks! No chicken poop!

I LOVE my horse barn! Especially when it’s full of hay!

So, while we’re unloading hay, a guy comes onto the farm looking for his dog, which we tell him we have not seen.  As he turns around to go, he drives right off the road into a drainage ditch and gets stuck. 

Ted and his tractor pulled him out. 

When we finished our morning job, we went home and did this!

Lessons Learned From a Lamb

Here are some of the things I learned today while trying to clip my first ever wool lamb.

When the weather forecast is 111 degrees actual temperature, you worry about the well being of your animals.

When you are worried about the well being of your animals, it is difficult to sleep.

When a friend agrees to swap a goat kid for a wool lamb, back out at the last minute! Don’t do it!

Don’t procrastinate: When your wool lamb is small and the weather starts to get hot and the wool isn’t all that long, SHEER IT!

6:30 A.M. is as good a time as any to sheer a lamb.

It’s not easy to get a 100 lb. reluctant lamb up onto the stand by yourself. But you can.



You can not sheer a lamb with a $10 hair clippers from Dollar General, although it will shave a goat quite nicely.



This is how far I got with the clippers when it quit cutting all together.

A 20 year old pair of Pampered Chef kitchen sheers (here to fore known as “the barn sheers”) works great to sheer a wool lamb!



Wow! Look at me go!

Lambs don’t like to be shorn. They are very noisy about it.

Lambs bleed. Sorry Mr. Tumnus.

Horses don’t help at all when sheering a lamb.

Go away Woodrow!

The lamb will eventually shut up and stand still.



Using a kitchen sheers to sheer a wool lamb by hand will cause pain in the shoulder, forearm, wrist, thumb and hand and irritate your carpel tunnel.



A right handed person CAN operate a scissors with her left hand. Just go a little slower. I clipped most of Tumnus’ left side with my left hand.

Go away, Woodrow!

If you feel like giving up and you don’t think you can finish the job, just keep trying. Stick to it. Slow and steady wins the race. You can do it.



God made some really cool stuff! Do you KNOW how thick lambs wool is? Do you think God knows how many wool fibers are on each lamb? I clipped off 2-3 inches in length. Most of the wool left on him is still about an inch long. The fresh, clean wool is amazingly soft, bright golden yellow (from the corn I feed him?) and greasy! What an amazing creation!

Go away, Woodrow!!!

Horses never listen.

One lamb has a LOT of wool!

Lambs are the opposite of people. They are covered with wool all over their bodies EXCEPT their armpits. Seriously! There is a giant spot right under each front arm that is completely hairless! Who knew?

It takes a little over an hour to clip about 80% of the wool off of a large lamb by hand with a Pampered Chef kitchen sheers by yourself.

Lambs really have a LOT of wool!

Pretty is as pretty does. Mr. Tumnus may look hideous, but he will feel much cooler today and I will be able to sleep in tomorrow!

(p.s. I do care about his pride. Later this week, I will get ahold of a decent pair of clippers and make him all beautiful!)