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.

Gropple?

The picture is the rainbow yesterday. As much as I am tired of snow, it covered up a multitude of junk. We will get it all cleaned up sometime or the other. Today we had what they call gropple. It looked like hail to me but it was soft.

Not much horsey stuff today. I went and got my hair trimmed and tried to get my stuff together to leave on Thursday. I thought my perm was giving up but with it trimmed up, presto, its back. My young Kim does such a nice job keeping me looking nice.

Hip hip hooray - our Kiyanna went home from the hospital today. Finally. she did just fine off of oxygen for 24 hrs. They are not to take her out in public places for a month. She will be a month old on Friday. Bless her little bitty heart and her mama and daddy.

Bob feels awful today. He did go to work though and had to drive to Naches and back. He is already in bed. Like most men he would not take off work and go to the doctor. Grrrrrrr. He is sleeping in the guest room so as not to expose me any more than necessary.

Have a good Tuesday.

A very windy day

Boy howdy did the wind blow. Thought the roof was going but of course it didn't. Not even close, just scared me. Bob worked in the barn with Tom and Joel all afternoon and it sounded like a wind tunnel. They got most of the loft up. Thought the bathroom was a this winter project but no such luck.

We had a little excitement this morning. I was cuddled down in bed. I knew we were not going to go to church because of Bob's cold and I had visions of sleeping in until I felt like getting up. Well when I heard Bob walking into the kitchen and into our room I knew something was wrong. You know that certain walk. Well Rusty was out in the pasture with the other horses and they were running and had run thru 2 electric fences. He thought they might be headed back to Oregon or something. Linda and I had this discussion when we met last week about not letting the horses out together too soon. Today was too soon for Rusty. Bob tends to panic and I usually am the calm one. He fed the horses that were supposed to be out there and of course they came right up and would not let Rusty close. Good kids. I took Rusty's hay and walked out towards her. She left but not too far. When she started my way I backed up a little and then she went back out. You could just see her thinking Free or Food, Free or Food. when she got a little closer I went thru her gate and put her hay in her feeder and we just backed off. Food won of course and she went in. Bob bolted over the fence and closed her gate and all was well.

The other horses knew better than to go thru the fences. We got them all back up and everyone was calm the rest of the day. I wondered what she would do if she got out. Now I know. Somehow she got a panel loose and pushed it open. They are all safely back together now. We learned a long time ago that calm works best. Bob just has to be reminded sometimes. You can't herd them very well like you can cows.

Bob just got an order for a hitching rail. He makes really good ones. They are metal. I saw some folks at the tack swap that we had not seen for a while and they ordered one. They said they are going to get their mustangs ready for Mustang Days. They don't want to be a part of our club and had not heard from them in a long time. Was glad I ran into them.

Other than that, it was a lazy day. I got a wonderful picture of a full rainbow. I have not put it on the computer yet. Will try to get it uploaded here tomorrow. Rainbows remind me of all the promises of God. Have a good Monday.

Saturday

I think I should have named this Lea and her meanderings. Seem to get off the horse track. My only excuse is this time of the year I don't get out and do much with them EXCEPT look at them out my kitchen and Dining room windows. That makes me happy.

I did well at the tack swap. I made 154.00 with stuff. I did sell 2 pair of my boots which helped immensly. I went from 3 plastic crates to one. I was very pleased with myself. I think Bob was shocked. He didn't think I would sell much. Neener neener. Katie got some nice show clothes for a very reasonable price and she also got a nice show pad that will be very pretty on Abby. Shannon picked me up and drove then she got a driving harness. I really hope it will fit her mule. I did not find a fly mask for Pepper so will order one from a catalog. I found one that was for a 6/900 pound Arabian and that definately would not work for a Mustang head.

Bob has a terrible cold. I feel like I am coming down with it. I will not be sick, I won't, I won't. I am leaving thursday cold or not. I have been so vigilant to avoid it all winter and then it comes home to get me. LOL. I may not get up tomorrow, well I probably will Chrissy and Wendy are coming out for me to teach them to knit. I have not done it for years so this might be interesting. Tom is coming out to help his dad and I don't think he dad wants help tomorrow. He feels awful.

Have a wonderful Sunday.