Naughty Girl

I was so glad that Katie was here to take a picture of a real two armed hug around her neck. In two weeks and one day. She just relaxes and leans into me.

I tried really had today to get on her other side but nothing doing. I was scratching and rubbing her neck on both sides, she dropped her head lower and lower until her nose was even with my thigh. She was trying to rub on me but I moved away a bit and she kept trying to rub on my leg and she bit me. A big bite. I have a large bite shaped bruise on my thigh. I don't think she meant to hurt me I think she was doing a horse thing and going to scratch my leg. Horses do that with their teeth to one another. I jumped back and yelled and waved my arms and told her that was bad and I left her to think about it and came to the house to look at my leg. We will get back at it tomorrow but I will watch her mouth for sure.

Katie working with Liberty. She just needs reminding of all those things she learned with Tyler. Such a good horse.

The two mamas. Fancy had 5 babies too so there are 10 babies in that same nest. The mama's just stay there cuddled up together. I have never seen anything like it. Has anyone else seen that?

I went and got my hair cut this evening. I sure like it and my head feels 10 pounds lighter. Now to see if I can make it look nice like this on my own. Just could not stand the headache causing long hair. Braiding it was my aim but just could not stand it. Bob is worrying that it won't help my headaches and my hair will be gone. They will go though, every time I get my hair about that long the headaches start.

If any of you are not on Facebook and see the Nikki wants to have a photo challenge. A photo a day for the month of May. The first word is sign. I know what I am going to photograph. Not telling either. LOL. I will post it tomorrow.

Hope your First day of May is an awesome day.

Blessings.

Kitties kitties everywhere

This is what Bob found when he went to the barn this morning. There are five babies cuddled under all that fluff. This is Fluffy.
These are Fluffy's babies.

And this is what we found this evening. These two sisters were dumped off here when they could barely toddle. Now they have babies in the same nest. Have never seen anything like it. Bob went to water the donks and wanted to check on Fluffy and her gang and this is what he found. Fancy is the smaller of the two and her babies are in there too. Is that not a picture?

We had our Mustang Club meeting tonight. A very good meeting. Anyone want to make a donation of a saddle for high point. I got made fun of by Bob for thinking so big. Maybe a belt buckle or a breast collar. Anything really. I am so encouraged that everyone is pitching in and wants to help. YaY all of you.,

Remember tonight and tomorrow night are the end of my give away. I will give the winner Saturday the 1st. Thanks to all who have commented. And Thanks to everyone who read this little gabfest and don't comment. I know you are there because I see the count rising.

Sage was good today. Andrea and Laura came to visit her and she is not overly fond of visitors. Most days it is just she and I and that is what she is used to. Mary is coming on Monday to visit so she had better get used to it. Katie is coming out to work horses tomorrow so she will be putzing around and that will be good for her.l

Thats it for today.

Blessings.

Wind, wind go away and take the grey skies with you

A nasty very cool day outside and I am still fighting this miserable headache. Did do some laundry and stuff like that. I had intended to get out and spade up my raised garden boxes but that didn't happen. I did not feel like it nor did I want to do it in the wind and rain.

I did go spend time with Sage today. We didn't really do anything much different but I did scratch and scratch her. Under her chin and under her mane are her sweet spots. She just drops her head and leans into me. Today I stood with my forehead on her neck for quite a while and she just let me. I could use the stick on her other side if I stayed standing on her left side. I could reach under her neck and scratch her shoulder and neck on that side too but she won't let me stand over there. She is learning to give to the rope pretty well but I wouldn't say she was leading just yet. She is more relaxed when I am handling her this past 2 weeks (tomorrow) than Rusty is after 2 years. Rusty would no more let me rest my head against her than fly.

You can't tell that I love my horse can you? I just knew that was my horse the first glance I had of her. Some time I will blog about my dream before we ever went to Burns. I am not big on going by dreams but...........................

Tomorrow evening is our Mustang Horse Club meeting. We will be planning Mustang Days the end of June. I really like that group of people.

My headache and I are off to bed.

Blessings

It rained buckets

My beautiful girl. I did not get to do much with her today because it rained buckets and then more. Her pen was a muddy mess. I did walk in and touch her without the stick and petted her cheek. She just turned her head to me and relaxed. Almost a hug from her. I can't even tell you how wonderful that feels to me.

These pictures are all from my new camera. Of course the battery and cards and charger all had to be purchased too. It will take some getting used to but I love it.

The rest of the pictures are mostly cow pictures.

All but this one. This is Buggy sitting on the goat house roof.
Supper. Snickers and Candy. Snickers has such a feminine little face.

Amos having his supper too. Annie is a good mom. Quite a contrast in color huh?

Snickers just up from a nap.

I had to look a while to find her. She was laying so quietly where her mom had left her.

Some how got two of the same pictures here. This is Lizzie. She is probably a month out from having her baby.

Amos watching me. He is a little skittish.

A long day. I have struggled with a headache for several days. I let my hair down this evening and it let up. I wanted it to grow so I could braid it but don't think it can happen. Tried before but it didn't work then either. Makes me sad.

Went shopping today for some clothes that I wanted for my trip and a new wallet. Now I am off to bed.

Blessings

Contest

Don't forget the drawing on Saturday morning. The more often you comment, the more often you are entered. Nice little box of goodies. Don't forget. Friday is the 30th. The last day.

Lea

Pictureless

Darn, it seems the days I accomplish the most with Sage, no one is around to take a picture. #l - I walked up to her and picked up the rope with no stick first rubbing her hip. She just let me walk up and pick the rope up right up by her chin. #2 And the biggest wahoooooooooo so far with her. I was rubbing her neck and reaching under her neck to rub the other side, that in itself was great BUT I tried touching her face and I rubbed all over her face. Clear up between her eyes and all down over her nose and across the lips. She just stood there. I wish I had a picture but don't. I think I could have almost really hugged her but did not want to push her too far. She is giving to the rope much better too. I cried when she let me rub her face like that. She really trusts me. When I was scratching her neck she sighed and just leaned into me. A wonderful day.

Not much else going on. After working all weekend and being tired out last night today I had to do house stuff. Did lay down and take a little nap. Felt good.

Snickers and Amos are doing well. Two more calves due one of these days. Lizzie is a first calf heifer and we bought her pregnant so no idea. Spot should not be too much longer. She never bags up much in advance. Bob is at the livestock auction to see if he can get another calf to put on Candy. She will feel any that come along and wants to eat. She has enough milk for three I think. She has enough dairy in her to produce a lot of milk.

A warm day, no rain but that is supposed to come tomorrow. Take care..........................

Blessings.

We are blessed with Wind

Today's blog is going to be more pictures than words. I worked today and I am bushed and have to get up early for another day at the horse show.

Does this cow not look like she is ready to have her baby. I thought her udder might pop.

When we woke up this morning this is what we found. Snickers is her name. Her mom's name is Candy. Appropriate name for baby right? I thought so.

Snickers and Candy. She wanted to go back to eating the afterbirth which was gagging me but I know that is what they do.

This is Yang. Kind of the barn. He was laying there in the sun and just looked like he wanted his picture taken.

Our egg gather for the day. We need to start selling some. We could not possibly eat that many eggs.

Today when I got home I changed my clothes and went down to have a time with Sage. The wind was blowing 40 mph so it was not the best day. She let me run her though. The wind was blowing stuff around so she was not as relaxed.

This old hen is Lucky. She is blind in one eye and crippled on one leg. She has survived three dog attacks or coyote or some kind of critter attacks. The last was dogs. I caught them. Bob says she is the only chicken he knows that will have a proper funeral when she dies.

Petting under her neck. She was a little more relaxed there but it was not a day to really do too much with her.

One of the little hens that Tracey gave me last summer. She lays blue eggs. Shes very friendly too. We have to keep her wings clipped though because she does not want to stay in the chicken pen if we don't.

Just having a nice conversation.

Not a good picture but this little guy is Amos. He came when we bought his mother Annie.

Mr. Cockadoodle Doo = King of the chicken pen. He is very nice and likes to be petted.

That's it from around Calico Acres Farm today and yesterday.

Got some really bad news today about my camera. It is not repairable. A couple of years ago someone and I can't remember the circumstance, spilled lemonade on my camera. The next day I took it to Huppins and their fixit man said he cleaned it and it would be OK. Well it was not cleaned inside and it deteriorated. It would cost almost 400.00 to try and fix it and he could not guarantee it. I can get a new body, brand new with a guarantee for 420.00. So Bob told me to go over on Tuesday and get the new one. I will never go to Huppins again. I am not telling anyone else what to do, I just am not.

Off to bed, off to work in the AM.

Blessings.

A great day

My neighbor Shannon's goat had a baby yesterday. She was so sweet. When we returned her trailer that we had borrowed, she asked me if I wanted to see her newest babies. She had 3 but this one wanted to be held.
The Johnny Jump Ups have started blooming. Love them. That whole corner by the porch is purple with them. There will be yellow ones soon. They always bloom just a little later for some reason.

Sage and I having a discussion. She is giving to the rope very nicely in to a small area. Love it. She gets a little excited with someone walks up to the pen. She had been doing it well on a loose rope until Bob walked up to take the picture.

She was so relaxed. She chewed and sighed and just relaxed. I kept telling her I wanted to hug her neck but I knew she wasn't ready. I went up her neck to the halter before I quit. She is more relaxed every day when I work with her. I only do about 20 minutes 3x a day or sometimes 4. She has just about quit wigging out when I go in to work with her or to put her hay in the feeder. She just watches me. All this in one week. It excites me to even think about it.

My mother died 16 years ago today. I miss her every day. She lived in Tennessee her last few years and I called her about every day. I still think I need to call Mama and tell her........... . It also is our oldest granddaughter Deanna's birthday. She lives in Maryland and I don't hear from her very often but she knows I love her and her two boys. They were our first two great grandchildren.

It rained and was icky when I woke up but by noon the sun began to shine and it turned out to be a beautiful day. Not so warm but sunshiney and that is important to me.

Blessings.

A Much Better Day

This morning just as I was waking up I hear a bird call. We had not seen any quail for quite a long time. I got up and looked out the window and there he sat. This picture and the next one were taken through the screen. I love their calls.
He sat there talking to another one somewhere for quite a while. I love the quail. We always had a lot of them around until we got cats in the barn.

I was holding on to the rope and Sage is stomping her foot. She does that when she doesn't like what I am doing. If I put a little more pressure on the rope she goes straight up.

Lindy and Rusty. I leave Lindy standing in the mud for about half an hour before I put her in the round pen. Just worked Rusty a little bit. Tried to walk her over a tarp. It didn't work. I tried backing her on it and she backed fine until her back feet hit the tarp and then she bolted. So we just walked back and forth beside it. Then I let her go.

I had a baseball cap on this morning and she did not like it at all. She didn't even like me close to her. This afternoon I didn't have it on and she was a sweetheart. She let me pet and scratch. I did have the rope in my right hand along with the stick.

This is about as low on her side as she wants me to go. Gets a little yantzy so at the moment, just getting used to my hand is most important.

I got up on her neck a little under her mane. She was so relaxed there and was not in her safe corner. This evening we worked on the rope a little and she is getting much much better and I scratched her back a little.

I was supposed to have a gal come by today to see her and how I work with her and she was going to hand walk Lindy for me but she called at the last minute and was not coming because she had a fierce headache. I have not seen her since she was in Middle School and now she has graduated from college. She is going to try Friday morning.

Our early summer weather went away during the night and it dropped about 20 degrees from yesterday. It was supposed to rain all day but it just misted a little. That was OK with me. I got to do a lot more with the horses.

Bob bought a couple of Galloway cows, one with a pure white calf and the other cow will calf before too long. They are cute little fuzzy cattle.

Blessings.

Regression

There was no one around to take pictures when I worked with Sage today and maybe that was a good thing. She decided that she was not going to do what I wanted today. I touched her briefly but she said no, not today and bolted away. So when I could touch her and not have her run away, I went to using a rope and tossing it on to her back and over her neck. That did not seem to bother her too much. Tomorrow is another day and she hasn't been here a week so I won't get upset about it. I want to be able to hug her neck. Not too soon though it appears. She did like the stick today but, only if I stayed at the end of it.

I put Lindy out in the round pen today. I wish Katie and Cameron had put their stuff away though. It all didn't seem to bother her but it will Rusty if I get a chance to work with her soon. She has gotten about a week off and that is not a good thing.

Went to Big R today and got Jasper's wormer and 8 way shot and some salt. I have a hard time coming out of there with just what I went after. So much horse stuff and farm stuff and western clothes and boots. I did today though. Went to Dairy Queen and had ice cream and came home. I hope I don't have to go anywhere tomorrow.

Blessings.

Tiring Day

Here she gets a real scratch and back rub. Didn't even have to hold the rope. I still have to start out with the little stick but then its OK. She even relaxed better today.

Working up the stick at first. Then can rub her. I did get up under her mane a little to rub but she got pretty nervous about that. Tomorrow we will try again.

She still gets nervous when you first walk in but goes in her circle and stands in the same place. This is her favorite side. She won't let me get close enough to rub the other side. Time and patience. Mustangs will teach you that.

Bob asked me to go to the livestock auction today and see if I could find some deals on some smaller steers to raise. We have orders for meat and have none coming. I did find one. He is small but they said he was crippled. That would not hurt meat but I could not see where he was crippled. When we got him home he bounced around the little field with no sign of lameness. We got a really good deal on him. Cattle went very high if you were a buyer. It was a tiring day to sit there. I wanted to be home to work more with Sage and to work outside. This was the warmest day of the year so far. Close to 80.

Blessings.

I touched her

I did it. I touched her on day three. I started out rubbing her with an old driving whip.

I just got shorter and shorter and then I was scratching her with my hand. Wahoo. She relaxed when I had the stick. She likes the itching. She knew it was my hand, she was watching me.

This was the first time. She gets upset with noises. One time I accidentally hit the fence with the stick and she did a slam bang around the pen. Scared Bob but I knew I was OK. Tomorrow I will use a shorter stick.
She gives to the rope with her head. Haven't got her to take a step yet. At least not a real step.

I am holding the rope just below the snap. She was a little nervous but stood there.

Lindy and Raven getting acquainted at the hitch rail. Raven did not like Lindy too much. They made me giggle. Lindy gets so sick and tired of being in the stall. She still is lame. She and Sage talk back and forth.

It was a gorgeous day today. I know it won't last BUT am enjoying it while its here. Katie came out. She wanted me to ride with her but I just didn't feel like riding. Just wanted to relax, work with Sage and sit in the sun. So that is what I did.

Blessings

A beautiful day

We are going to be gone this evening so I am doing my blog earlier than usual.

I started with the bamboo pole today. Started out sitting on the fence but once I got to scratching her with he end of the pole she stopped and just stood there. Then in about an hour I went back and went in the pen with her with it. She doesn't mind at all from this side. In fact she liked it and I could get clear up behind her ears with it. The other side is not so acceptable but she stood there for as long as she could and then went away/
Oh but that felt so good. A ton of hair came off scratching her. When my arms got tired Bob took over and got her rope out of her mane. Tom tied it in her mane. I guess so it would not get hooked on anything in the trailer. Tom is the head guy at the corrals in Burns. I was please what we accomplished today. End of day 2.

We keep fish in the water trough for the horses and the cows. They get really big. I think there are five in each tank. Never feed them, the eat stuff in the tank.

I was picking up stuff in the back yard to put in the fire and found these lovely little "Spring Beauties" blooming under all the tumble weeds and stuff. They are just sweet.

So that has been my day. Katie was coming out but she got a job instead. Better for her. I think that may mess up our plans for the adoption up near Colville and some other things but hey, she needed the job bad. I knew there was one out there for her.

Hope your Saturday was wonderful.