Sunday and I am home

I had a great visit this past weekend, no only with Janet that I stayed with but didn't take a picture and my cousins who I had that seen for over 30 some years. Donna lives in Eatonville and Cindy lives in Auburn. We had breakfast at Applebees just S of Puyallup and had a great visit. It was sooooo good to see them. Don't know why we had lost track of each other. We have the advent of Facebook to thank for getting back together. They have one sister and 2 brothers that its been forever since I have seen too.
Our bench outside Applebees. An unsuspecting guy walking by got conned into taking our picture. Thank you young man, whoever you are.

He took two pictures. Appreciated it a lot. You never know when you are going out to eat who is going to accost you.

My mountain fix. I grew up looking at that view. And I still love it.

Primroses in the flower bed outside Applebee's. They are such a pretty gold.

The clinic I attended was OK. I thought it was too long and she may be a wonderful judge of big shows but she is a name dropper and the names of the world shows she has judged. That did not really impress me a whole lot. It was way more applicable if you are a judge but I am a steward and she does not work with stewards so much of it was a little on the boring side. I only have to do it every 3 years though so it was tolerable. I was blessed to have somewhere to stay because some had to stay 2 nights in a motel for a one day clinic.

Janet and I had a really good visit. She cooked some great food. And we ate it.

I felt really bad that Nikki and Carmen were over this weekend and I only got to see them about half an hour before I left on Friday. They did not come out today, they took Carmen's mother back to Colfax. She has been visiting up here I think. Then then went home from there. Even though Carmen still does not have a job some things are looking up for them. They have been this way for long enough there are some programs they can get I guess. I hope so. They came to see Nathaniel. He is almost 3 months old and Carmen had not seen him yet. I am glad
they got to come.

My sister and brother in law got back last night I think from their Paradise adventure. I can't wait to hear all about it. I do hope their weather is nice so its not too much of a culture shock for them.

I had an uneventful drive home and that is always a good thing.

Thinking Thursday

A snowy day, a rainy day, a cold day, a windy day, Take your pick of one or all of the above. Rusty got out of any training today and I go a lot done inside the house. That needed to be done too. Bob has to work Saturday so we are not taking stuff to the Tack Swap because he would not be home in time to go collect the money. Oh well, we will have a yard sale and sell it then.

I was going to post some old pictures on my thinking day but forgot about it until just a bit ago so will have to start that another Thursday. Instead of that, I am going to post a poem at the end of the blog that I found in my book - Quotable Horse Lover.

I leave in the morning for Puyallup. I am going to go to a clinic that is required by Washington State Horsemen, Licensed Official committee. I am a licensed Show Steward. It is all day Saturday. I am staying Friday night and Saturday night with a longtime friend. I will visit Bobs brother and wife for a while Friday afternoon and Sunday morning I hope to meet my cousins for breakfast someplace. I will call Donna tomorrow.

I may or may not be posting anything until Sunday when I get home. Hope your weekend is wonderful.

I on my horse, and Love on me, doth try

Our horsemanships, while by strange work I prove

A horseman to my horse, a horse to Love,

And now man's wrongs in me, poor beats!decry. The reins wherewith my rider doth me tie

Are humbled thoughts, which bit of reverence move

Curb'd-in with fear, but with gilt bosse above

Of hope, which makes it seem fair to the eye:

The wand is will;thou,Fancy saddle art,

Girt fast by Memory; and while I spur

My horse, he spurs with sharp desire my heart.

He sits me fast however I do stir,

And now hath made me to his hand so right,

That in the manage myself take delight.

Sir Philip Sidney, "Astrophel and Stella," Sonnet IL

Its Wednesday

Rusty in the trailer with the divider closed after another battle. She is so strong willed. She is not afraid. If she were I would not keep pressing but she is just stubborn and wants to win. She leads OK as long as she agrees where we are going. Otherwise it is brakes on and feet planted hard. The only answer I have come up with is to turn her and back her up to where I want to go. It is a getting to be a pain. I am beginning to wonder what I need to do different with her. Some things just don't change. I will be gone this weekend and I told Bob he had to work with her and see what he can do with her.

This is Big Red. He will go home this weekend. A farrier is coming to work on his feet Saturday morning. They are really awful. Hes very friendly.

Other than work with Rusty it was a so so day. Bought groceries, put them all away and worked on some craft stuff. I need to clear off the dining room table before I leave on Friday. I have several projects going. One thing I did today was put a cover on an ugly old notebook that my Washington State Horsemen rule book would fit in. I could have sewn it but did it with fabric modgepodge and ribbon. No one will have another like it. I was going to buy one but Walmart didn't have any the right size and I discovered this one amidst the mess in the back room

but it needed something on the cover besides advertising so now it does.

Had a frustrating evening. Now I like company but not tonight. I made a good dinner which is not always the case. We fix what we want, it works for us but tonight I fried chicken, mashed potatoes, gravy and steamed broccoli. Well the neighbors showed up just as we were getting ready to eat. Didn't have enough for more people so we just ignored it. They stayed quite a while and the broccoli was mushy and everything else was cold. Grrrrrrr. Oh well, they are nice folks and had no idea.

Life goes on and I am tired. See you tomorrow.

Thankful Tuesday

The awful dark sky that we had today. A little sun but not even a little warm. I think our high was 38.
Spring is just a little over a week away. Is this not a sign of spring? There were dozens of them in the yard today. I told they they were going to freeze their little feet off. They didn't seem to listen.

I am much better today. The bruises keep appearing but are not hurting so much. Nothing broken and that was a big deal. We have the helicopter rescue insurance and one of the thoughts that went through my head was OMG I am going to have to ride in a helicopter and that scared me spitless. I was so glad I just rode the rest of the ride on a muddy horse.

I worked with Rusty this afternoon. She was a stinker again. She did let me work with her leg and spray the Shreiners on it. It is healing up beautiful. She did not want to do much of anything else though except follow me around. She leads well if she feels like it or otherwise she backs where I want her to go. She would not go into the trailer. It is in a different place. I worked about 3/4 of an hour before she went in. In and out, in and out and finally in to stand. She is a handful.

I thought sure I would hear about Sage yesterday or today. Maybe tomorrow. I want her here so bad.

I am thankful today for being unhurt in an accident that could have broken several bones. Although it was icky to be in, I am thankful for the mud that cushioned my crash. My friend Ramona said Pepper must have had a moment of Spring Madness. I agree. He really is a good horse.

A cold Monday

No photos today. I barely went out the door. My body aches and have places on my body that are colors that should not appear on the human body. Black/blue/purple and shades of all three. Somehow my left hand is puffed up but its really nothing serious. It will all be gone in a few days and I will feel better tomorrow.

After being in the near 60's for a couple of days, it was cold today. In the low 40's. When I went to put the horses out this morning I just wore a sweatshirt. I about froze so this evening I put my heavy barn coat on. Spring is coming though. Grass is coming up. As I was raking up around here on Saturday there was green grass sprouting under the winter stuff.

Tomorrow on my list of must do's is to get my old saddle cleaned up to take to the tack swap this weekend. Rather Bob take, I will be in Puyallup at a clinic. I love the tack swap and always enjoy being there even if I don't buy anything. It seems to always be the start of the horse season here.

Nothing outside today, just was not up to it but feel like it or not tomorrow I must get back to Rusty. We have a horse in the round pen for a neighborhood guy so I will have to do other things. That's OK. The horse in the RP is an almost 17 hand Tennessee Walker that John got for free. He is huge (the horse) -like in tall, not very wide. He is sweet. When I fed him this evening all he wanted to do was to be loved on. His owner was disabled and could not care for him. I think he is used to lots of loving on. I love horses like that. Raven is out lover. The others like it but she won't leave you alone if your are in the pasture. She just wants a lot of attention. Red seems that way. Hes about 15 I think.

I hope to hear from Burns tomorrow. I am so anxious to get Sage here. ANXIOUS I say.

A day of surprises - not so good

Today we went for a ride with the Back Country Horsemen. It was a beautiful day. There were about 30 of us. A real surprise. Lots of mules on the ride. Am glad our horses don't came.

Pepper is always towards the tail. He wasn't too far back today but far enough the leaders had made a loop in front of us.

I was kind of in the middle at this point.

Now to the surprise. Not fun I can assure you. About half way into the ride there was a seep pond over the trail. Pepper goes through water without a problem. Well, not this time. He went in just fine. About half way across he dropped and was going to lay down. I got wet on one leg but got his pulled back to his feet. THEN he just flopped down on the other side and tossed me face first into the very cold, very muddy water. Physically I was not hurt, have lots of black and blue spots on my thighs and my left side but nothing serious. However, I was really embarrassed. I had to crawl, literally on my hands and knees out of the water. I could not get on to my feet. Pepper ran off, he new he was in very deep, I mean very deep doodoo. A nice man helped me to my feet, and out of the pond. Bob got back to me at that point. I was really starting to shiver. He began stripping my clothes. I kept grabbing them, what was going to do out in the middle of no where with no clothes. I got down to my undies, he put his jacket on me. My friend Marilyn, bless her heart had on two pair of pants and she gave me her outside pair and helped me get them on. I was shivering pretty good by that point. She also had on two pair of socks. They dried the inside of my boots with my shirt and I put on her socks.

Someone returned my horse, he had broken my favorite reins. Wiped the mud on my saddle, Bob tied my wet jeans, t shirt, sweatshirt and vest behind his saddle and off we went to finish the ride. I was pretty done by the time we got back. One good thing, my cell phone was in my vent pocket zipped in and it is OK but my small camera was on my wrist and it got drowned. It is dead, full of water. I did get the card out of it though and it is OK, that is where the pictures came through. I feel so bad because my sister got it for me a couple of years ago and I loved it. I love my big camera but I could take this one in my pocket places its difficult to take the big one.

While I was recovering, my sister called from Maui. I didn't talk to her. Bob had my phone in his pocket. She said they were having fun and it was beautiful. I would sure rather been there than crawling around in a giant mud puddle.

Lots of great people though that were concerned and stood around with their backs turned. I didn't care. Just had to get warm.

That is my word today WARM.

Sunshine and Saturday

These boys played off and on all afternoon. It was fun to watch them. I had trouble getting a picture because the lens kept focusing on the trees or the fence. Finally got an angle that worked. They are really good friends.
Wanna dance?

Oh, shes over there taking pictures. We had better behave.

Liberty laying in the sun this morning.

Oliver hanging out where the sun shone best for him. I took a picture of his broke off horn but it didn't work. It looks good now. He is shedding. See all the bunches of white hair. He rubs it off with his remaining horn.

Wrangler enjoying the sun this morning too. I put Pepper into the pen with him and the silly guy went over and made Wrangler get up. Naughty boy.

It was a great day, not only did we get along of stuff outside cleaned up and burned but we got some chores done that needed doing. Katie and Cameron came out and rode. She groomed a couple of the horses for me. Hair flying all over. She will come Monday and do stalls.

I worked on Rusty for about two hours today and she was awesome. I took my little stool and put it down beside her and she let me get up on it and lay over her. She was not tied anywhere, just had the lead rope in my hand. Put her in and out of the trailer a couple of times. Bob went and got some Shreiners for her leg. That is good stuff. Kind of spendy but it works good. She is beginning to get some proud flesh growing and that will not only heal her leg but stop that from growing. I led her all over, around things, over things and after we sprayed her leg we put her back in the trailer and put the divider in place. I tied her outside like I would any horse and then we cleaned out the tack room and did stuff around the trailer. She just stood there. After about half an hour I turned her out. It was a successful day with her. Soon, very soon we will put a saddle on her. I hope she does not remember bucking off one last year.

It was almost 60 today, same is predicted for tomorrow. Then snow by midweek. Freaky? Yes of course. But it is March in the northwest.