Sunday

We are home safe and sound. My pictures are still in both cameras. That is a job for tomorrow. I am tired, have a headache and want to crawl in bed.

Had a wonderful blessing today when Barbara from Serenity Gate came to the fairgrounds and we got to physically meet each other, not just via our blogs. She and her husband came and met Bob and I and we had a wonderful chat. Our husbands have alot in common.

The road home was clear but we were extremely thankful we did not have to come home until later in the day. There for 3 or 4' drifts along l95 at the top of the Lewiston Hill and toward Uniontown and Colton. They had graded the roads and they were dry but it would not have been fun earlier in the day.

Thought we might have a new baby calf by the time we got home but Katie got a little ahead of herself telling us. Spot is about ready but don't think its eminant. Don't know about Candy, will have to wait and see. The horses are all just hunky dorey. Katie and her dad took good care of them. Dixie gets mad at me though when her routine gets changed - like I am not there. She would not let me pet her face in the stall this evening. Pepper and Ditto were glad to see me though.

More tomorrow. Have a good Monday.

Thursday

Not much to write about today. Just an ordinary day in life of an older, tired Lea. Just have not been able to get back up to par since the weekend. Am weary.

We had our Mustang Club meeting tonight and it was OK. We keep working on Mustang Days. Andrea showed us the belt buckles that will be the high point awards for both Mustangs and the Open classes. They are very pretty.

Our horses are all shedding like mad. Ditto the old goof ball rolls every day when I put her out. In the deepest ugliest mud she can find. And of course you all know she is mostly white. The others go out to where it is sandy and there is no mud. Not the white horse of course.

I will be turning my computer off tonight until Sunday night or Monday AM depending on when we get home Sunday. We are headed to Lewiston to the Outdoor Show. Our Backcountry club is helping out. Sunday Bob is judging (one of the judges) a Dutch Oven Cooking contest. I am entering some photos in the photo contest. I have to frame them in the morning. Was too tired and got frustrated this evening. I hope to see Barbara from Serenity Gate there. In Lewiston.

I am seeing crosseyed so best say : Have a good weekend.

Wednesday

Sorry about yesterday. We went to a friend's home for dinner. She is Grandma Jean to about everyone that knows her. She is especially dear to us. We stayed longer than we had planned and I was really tired when we got home so just fell into bed.

Yesterday should have been my Thankful Tuesday so I am going to do it today. Today I am going to highlight our youngest son Tom. I am very thankful for him and his family. We adopted Tom and carried him out of the Maricopa Country Hospital in Phoenix, AZ. He was 5 days old. He was a sweet little bundle from day one and still is sweet. He was a wild boy from the day he could get around. I think he was 11 months old when he climbed to the top of our upright piano and jumped off. He did not hurt himself. He climbed, jumped, ran anything else he tried he did. When he was five he broke his leg and after 4 weeks they put a walking cast on it. The first week I think he had 3 new casts. One he waded in a mudpuddle and it melted, and the second two he brok the knee so he would ride his big wheel. He is a very caring man. He plays with his kids like he played when he was little. They ride 4 wheelers, they ride bikes, they climb trees - you name it, they do it. His 2 boys are Ryan and Seth and his daughter is Sheya. She is so like him it cracks me up. Tom has been worrying about his job but he is in management so he hopes it will hold out. Christy works for Quest in customer service. He has been a joy to us since we first had him placed in our arms. He has a problem with being adopted but there is nothing I can do about that. We don't have a problem nor do his brothers and sisters. Tom is my treasure of the week.

Katie came and worked with Abby quite a bit today. I was so glad to see her doing it. I think she is just overwhelmed with life at the moment. She loaded and unloaded Abby in the trailer and gave her a vigorous grooming. Abby loves her and would do just about anything Katie asked of her. Love to see that.

I have been reading lots of entrys on the Wild Horse and Burro Yahoo site this evening. Several of the horses that went home from Albany are sick with Rhino and colds. That is way too bad.

I don't think I have mentioned that I saw my friend Jaci in Albany. She had her yearlings stalled next to me in Reno last summer and we got to be good friends with her and also her mother Peggy. She is from Lagrand, Oregon. Her cousin is Matt Zimmerman who had a mustang and competed. He was in the top 10 but don't remember just where he finished. Jaci is finishing up her degree in Ag Business at Corvallis. It was good to see her.

Our horses enjoyed the sunshine today. At one point I looked out and they were all laying down in the sunshine and relaxing. They looked so cute all out there in a row.

Have a wonderful Thursday and if you are in the area, come to our Mustang Meeting tomorrow evening at 6.

Monday

A very laid back day. Just wanted to sleep. The entire weekend caught up with me. I didn't even get my laundry all done today. In the middle of the afternoon I had to take the white truck to Bob at work and bring the car home. I mistakenly thought he was going to start driving it to work and I would have my car back - wrong. The first week of April he will start driving it. He has to make some deliveries all over eastern WA.

Went down to put the horses out this morning and Pepper and Ditto seemed glad to see me but Dixie was mad at me. She did not want me to touch her. She really gave me a dirty look. It was funny actually. We are going to get straw for bedding. Bob is looking for some. He did not like the wood chips from the guy over on Hayford Rd. They are wood chips not shavings and he thought they were not good for bedding in stalls. So, straw it is. We can't seem to find shavings except in bales and that is too expensive.

Thursday is our monthly Mustang Club meeting at Perkins in the Spokane Valley. Hope we have a good turn out at 6. Its always fun and we are planning Mustang Days. Does anyone have any ideas? We want to plan a campout and ride. We have a date of the first weekend in May but I don't know if that is going to work or not.

Hope you have a good Tuesday.

I am home

This is my best picture. It is taken out the windshield of my car in a downpour of rain. I was going to stop and stretch my legs, however, I did not need a shower so I just took some pictures. I found a hard lesson. I need to take my big camera. None of my arena pictures are worth putting here. I was so disappointed. Do go to Andrea's blog Mustang Saga though and look at hers.

Had a good time. It did not start out well and I ended up having to get a room by myself. Debby's friend did not enjoy being there nor enjoyed me as a roomate. Without going into it, it was just better for me to get a room. Then Debby and I both got some sleep. I felt bad because I wanted to take Nikki and didn't and now I am having guilty feelings. For both of us.

Oh well, thats gone and I did have an OK time. Saw lots of fun things and gorgeous horses. At the stallion parade Saturday evening before Craig Cameron's Extreme Cowboy Race, there were three horses that really impressed me. In fact I was opened mouthed watching them at liberty. Made my heart beat double time. One was a large Friesen stallion that they showed at liberty and her was a high level dressage horse. Oh my oh my, the next was Apollo - a Shire with long white feathers on his legs. He stood 18 hands and was mammoth. When he cantered down the arena the earth shook. He was awesome and my favorite of all was a Sport Horse which was a 1/2 Friesan and half one of the German horses. He had a mane probably 3 feet long. He had a floating trot that made him look like he was flying. Watching him move made me catch my breath.

I was not too impressed with the Mustang Challenge judges but it was the same thing in Reno with AQHA judges. They don't know mustangs. The in hand course was good. Some did really well and some did not. Tracey did not do the best but objectively speaking I do not think she needed to be 23rd. They liked Steve Holt under saddle better. I think she did better than 12th. but I may be just a hair prejedice.

The winning horse - Andrea has his name and his horses name was Mustang Sally. His time in the arena in the finals was absolutely breathtaking. He got 9's and 10's from the judges. If Tracey didn't win I was hoping Corrine Eisner from Burns would but she got 3rd. or 4th. She is such a remarkable young woman.

After the finals and the mustangs were all adopted. Only 2 went for minimum bids. That was really awesome. The high priced horse went for $5,000. I cried when a young lady with a horse named Candace who wanted to adopt her horse but the bid got too high and 2 or 3 people in the audience stepped up and donated 500.00 to help her adopt her horse. She was sobbing and so were alot of people in the audience. Several people took their horses home including Tracey and Steve Holt. She also took home Flicka - a little black mare that she did not ride. She didn't do much with her - she found out she was pregnant right after she got the horse and that really hindered her. So Tracey adopted her and when she is ready will be selling her.

THEN there was the RACE. I never saw people ride that hard and fast before. They had to make a lap around the arena as fast as they could go. Craig Cameron said speed with control but there were times that control seemed a little far away. One big black Tennessee Walker stud got out of control and nearly ran over one of the judges who is wheel chair bound. I think every one about swallowed their tongues on that one. Once they made the lap they had 4 jumps to go over, then do roll backs along the fence. They they had to pull a heavy log the width of the arena. So far it wasn't too complicated but then they had to back thru a U about 2 panels long and 2 panels wide. There were 2 sets of panels, so the aisle way to back in was barely wide enough for the horse to get thru. Then to the square and do a turn around or spin and then canter around poles in a clover leaf switching leads of course. the next was fun to watch, they had to dismount ground tie the horse and crawl thru a blue plastic barrell. then over a tarp and a bridge and another lap - fast - to a trailer - load their horse and then run on foot back to the square. The fastest time was 4:06.

I am blathering on but it was good. Debby and I got to know each other better, spent some time with Tracey and Katie and Mike, and some time with Andrea and John and met Kristi. That was all good. I am glad to be home and will be glad to sleep in my own bed tonight. I bought a couple of books. After I read the one I may be giving it away here. Keep your eye out.

Have a good Monday, I intend to be lazy.

Hurray I leave tomorrow AM

Have been fluttering around all day getting organized and the house organized for me to be gone four days. Did the chores this AM and again this evening. Bob was in Yakima delivering some stuff for the census bureau and giveing some instruction to that office. So when he got home I cleaned the car out and loaded it. All I have to put in is me and the bag with my cosmetics ect in and I am out of here.

I don't have a lap top so you all will have to wait until I get back to hear anything. We will be an Econolodge in Albany.

Would someone explain to me what Twitter is? Andrea of Mustang Saga is going to use it to keep her blog up to date and I have been hearing about it but I don't have a clue.

Gave my ponies all a kiss goodby and got hair in my mouth. Oh well, I really love them and Bob will take as good care of them as I would have. He won't kiss them though - hug maybe but not kiss.

Have a great rest of the week.

Tuesday

I went and did some shopping today for things I will need in Albany like shampoo ect. I was just about out. Picked up some groceries I forgot the other day and found a pretty red sweater for $3.00. Was pretty proud of myself. I also got some goodies to snack on in the car.

I called in our ad for the Mustang Club meeting on March 26th. The exchange is good coverage for us. We are planning a campout and ride the first weekend in May near Odessa at Lakeview Ranch which is where the BLM adoption was last spring. It is a fun place to ride. You don't have to ride a mustang to come join us.

Not much of horse activity again today. I was going to go out and do some things and when I looked out it was snowing again. I think it was grauple. I spelled it wrong yesterday. Whatever the spelling, the ground was white and then the wind was blowing so I stayed inside.

I think I am ready to leave Thursday bright and early. Bob has to go out of town tomorrow so my idea of keeping the car and he driving the small truck is not going to work. So I will have to clean it up and load it after he gets home tomorrow. I am excited.

I am going to make my Thankful day on Tuesday. So today I am thankful for our daughter Nicolette Or better known as Nikki. She has been a special daughter since she was itty bitty. When she was a year old she weighed about 14 pounds and and talked like an adult. She was about 14 months old and in the grocery cart while I was shopping and this very large man walked by. I mean a 50" waist large man. Before I could stop her she reached out and socked him in the belly and said "Hi there fat man." I was humiliated and told him, I don't know whose kid she is. He and I both laughed. She went to a private kindergarten and walked with her friend Jack. They loved inseperable and when he did not go to first grade with her she was devestated. She was a very obedient complient little girl. She started out at Rogers High School but began begging us to go to Northwest Christian. She was old enough to drive and got a job to help pay the tuitition. She and I went to Honolulu for her high school graduation. It was a delightful good time. A couple of years later she married Carmen and he had a son and they had 6 more. She is a great mother and keeps a nice home. She works part time and is facing some medical challenges. She is a great blessing to us and we are very thankful the Lord saw fit to loan her to us.

Have a great Wednesday.