Friday

I got a new card reader so I can get the pictures off my camera. Hurrah.

Bob got home and I had Pepper all saddled for him to work with Rusty. I had done ground work with her earlier. She wasn't too excited about it but she will get used to it.

She did not like Bob being above her like that. So he will need to do this really often. Or, I will. I want to tell him how to do it but he won't like that. We do things quite differently and Rusty is used to me. At first she did not like me but now she is used to how I do things and its Bob she is leary of.

These are my spurs. Bob is hooking them up to the leathers as I write this. I hope they are enough for him to know I mean business. I don't want to carry a switch but that is the next step. He absolutely has decided he does not have to mind me. I rode today and it was enjoyable
as long as he was behaving. I tried riding bareback but he knew I could not make him mind so I came back and put my saddle on. I like to ride bareback some of the time. Not today though.

I told him he was still a butt head. I need to really clean up my saddle. I did not know it was still so muddy.

Gonzaga won their basket ball game tonight. Guess they play Syracuse tomorrow. GO ZAGS.

Thinking Thursday

Since I can't get pictures off my camera until I go tomorrow and get a card reader, I went through my folders and selected 6 pictures from the "past."

This one is of our bathroom mirror. This is what I found on the mirror when I came home from the hospital after I had my little stroke a few years ago. It blessed me so much I have left it there. Tom did it.
This is Candy the cow and her tongue. She loves bread and would stand on her head for a slice of it. She is due to have her baby any day now. She had twins the last time. Hope not again. That was scary. They both grew up fine though and she raised three others besides.

Bob and our grandson Isaac puffing up marshmallows in the microwave. That is something they do whenever the kids are here. The little boys and their Grandpa have a good time seeing how large they can make them. I told them if they exploded them, they get to clean it up.

Our good friend Gene Bruce working on a project we were involved in on the Escure Ranch building some corrals and stuff. It is a great place to go and ride out from in the fall and spring. Pretty hot and a problem of rattle snakes in the summer. So, we don't ride there then.

Isaac and Grandpa with Pepper. He is a good little cowboy and not much afraid of anything. He has such a good time with the horses when they come and stick around for a while.

A fun place to go and watch. The Sandpoint Draft Horse and Mule show. These large draft mules were really quite awesome. We had such a good time that day. It was sunny and warm that day.

It was a pretty day here today. I worked with Rusty this afternoon but she didn't know we were working. I tied her up and brushed her mane and tail out and they are so pretty. I treated her leg. And she let me lift one of her hind legs and I held it a few seconds. I hugged around her neck from the off side and she turned her head around like she was hugging me. I got so excited but just stood there quietly. Then I lead her to the front yard and let her much on grass. Later, I took a couple of treats down and for the very first time, I said the very first time, she came up to me at the fence and let me give them to her. So, we are making progress. She is ready to put a saddle on but I can't lift any of them up without heaving them so it will have to wait until Bob is going to be home. In the meantime, just keep working at her trust.

I was sure Sage would be here this week but I am sure they are all involved in the Horse Affair in Albany this weekend so I know it won't be. I have bought and paid for her but its like I don't really have her. I can not wait to get started with her.

Wednesday

Well, ....................................... My card reader died today. So until I can get another there aren't going to be any pictures. I am sorry but nothing I can do about it. Dang nab it anyway.

I worked with Rusty a long time today and she was really quite good. So when she was so good I took her and I sat on a pile of tires and let her eat nice fresh green grass. She seemed to like it a lot.

I went down to tend the baby chicks today and four of them were dead. That is why I hate tiny baby chicks. They die so easily. The other six seem fine. The new hens are hiding out in the hen house. Could not entice them out at all today. Bob better find a market for the eggs.

I was in town running errands today and I went to Will Rogers (if you're not from here he is a tack dealer in his mid 90's and has anything you want). I got a pair of bright blue spurs to ride Pepper with. Had to get stirrup straps too. I wanted pink or purple but he was sold out so got blue. A certain black horse better get used to them. they are bumper spurs, no rowels.

Have a good evening.

Thankful Tuesday

Isn't her tail beautiful? I got it all brushed out today. She really just stood there and let me until I moved to the off side and then she had a little snit. I just kept at it though and with the aid of Cowboy Magic I got it all brushed out pretty. She was a little nervous about me working back there but stood and let me.

Earlier though we had a little near catastrophe. She pulled away from me and ran right out the driveway and down the middle of the road. I was horrified. Our road is pretty busy sometimes especially that time of the day. Fortunately, a guy on a motorcycle came down the road and saw her and herded her right back to our driveway and I caught her. I don't know what possessed her but that's what she did. I led her back over to the trailer where I was trying to tie her up when something jumped up and was going to eat her (at least that is what she thought). She was good the rest of the day.

Bob is gone this evening to get some chickens. I didn't think we needed any more laying hens but I was glad to hear we got a dozen baby roosters for fryers.

Today I am thankful for the warm weather, the sunshine, and coat less days. I am not so naive as to think we are over cold weather but we are edging that way. I am thankful for the green grass that is sprouting and the little buds on the trees where leaves will be. I am thankful we can leave the front door open and a little of the storm door .

My word for the day is sunshine.

Monday

The two mares with the long manes. Rusty did not much like standing there with another horse and Amelia didn't like Rusty being there. They managed to work it out OK. They both got wormed today, in fact, they all but Cody got wormed today. When his mom comes she can do that. We had to run Yuma down and Bob had to rope him to get him wormed but now all of ours are done for now. The shots should be here this week and then we will have those to give. I order them out of the Heartland Vet Supply catalog.

That was about my day although Katie did most of the worming. Bob and I finished this evening and then went to Wally World to get a clock and a few groceries. Now to bed. Hopefully to sleep better than either of us did last night.

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