Thankful Tuesday

An interesting day. My ugly porch is all framed in. Found a way it won't actually bug me forever and that is big windows and window boxes. Don't think that is too much to ask do you?

We have added to our critter family this evening about 6:30 in the middle of a hair storm. Spot had her calf out in the middle of the field with the hair falling. I felt so awful for her but she could have gone into the little barn. No way, right out in the middle of everything. Bob and I had been in a shed waiting and watching but she knew we were there and was very nervous so we just came to the house. She has had several calves so it wasn't like it was her first. She did good. We did not get close enough to tell bull or heifer but it is a good sized black calf. Pictures tomorrow.

The horses got fed today but not much else. It is so ugly out. They would have thought they were pegasus today with the wind blowing the way it is.

Today I am thankful for out first born, Steven. Steven is a very talented man. He got hurt last year on Fathers Day. He was after wood and somehow got his foot caught while a friend was pulling the log and it twisted the bone in half. He has not worked since. At least not at a regular job. He is kind of like his dad. He will do anything to make some money except things up high. He and heights don't mix. He is the one who is framing in our front porch, and then went on to frame in the bathroom in the barn. Thursday he will be back go do some other things his dad asked him to do. He was a good baby. He weighed 8 pounds when he was born and we had a hard time getting him here. He was active and curious as a little boy. He grew up and married Debbie who had 2 little ones when they married and they did not have others. He is a grandpa to 2 boys who live in Maryland. I don't always love his lifestyle but I do love my boy.

Have a great Wednesday.

Tuesday

Steptoe Butte

Along side the road outside of either Colton or Uniontown on Hiway 195. Am so glad the hiway had been graded before we went through.
Our Back Country Horsemen's exhibit. We took second place with it. Bernie Lionberger took most of the pictures.

A local Lewiston vet during the cold starting clinic. It was Saturday morning. It rained hard in the afternoon and night and the arena was like a giant lake so they had to cancel the finals on Sunday morning. This young horse was an appaloosa. She was not to excited about being there or being started. By the end of the hour and a half he had sat on her but she was getting ready to buck.

I thought I had uploaded a couple of other pictures but apparently didn't. There was a small bay AQHA that the lady worked with. I think she would have done anything Nichole wanted her to. Then there was the roan QH/Thoroughbred. She bucked and ran when he first went in the arena but gentled right down. He put a halter on her and got the saddle on her then did all the gentling stuff and by the end of an hour and a half, he had walked in the 60' round pen, trotted and loped both ways. He did beautiful. I don't know the trainers name - Dan or Don someone.

Today was a catch up day. Our son came out and started our front porch. I don't like it but Bob does. I could be really aggrevated about it but it wouldn't do any good.

It was so cold today but the sun was shining. That made it better. It is supposed to snow again tonight. Isn't it just hunky dory that we now have the snowiest winter EVER. EVER I say. See I had a reason to grump about it.

Hope you have a great Tuesday.

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.