Wednesday, June 30, 2010

Day Lilies

J's Aunt Gail had a wonderful July 4th family picnic last year at her home. I admired her beautiful flowers, particularly the many varieties of day lilies that she had. When we left Gail and Jerry went around with a shovel and dug up lots to share with us. Here are a few that are blooming now.



Day lilies are amazing in that they can be transplanted any time as long as you can dig in the ground. These all have done beautifully. Thank you Gail for the flowers.

Monday, June 28, 2010

E's District Show Results 2010

E had a calmer day than V did.
She did fuss considerably about having to do Showmanship but she ended up winning the class. She is convinced Pep is scared of strangers in hats and that is why she won't stand when the judge walks up. However, this judge wasn't wearing a hat and Pep did stand still. E did a great job showing her.
Next, she was a one horse wrecking crew for the trail class. She did manage to get the mail out of the box but didn't get it closed back all of the way.
She picked up the bucket and got it to the second barrel but didn't set it down well and it fell off. Then there were elevated poles to walk across and she knocked them all down. She stepped on all of the ground poles, made it thru the cones to halt without stepping on anything and even side passed. The L back then got stepped all over and E dropped the rain coat when she tried to hang it back. She finished strong with a 360 in a box and didn't step on anything there. Amazingly, she placed 5th.
She did well in her other classes, maybe a little fast at the jog but got all of her leads with only minor breaks. She placed 2nd in western pleasure, 4th in equitation and make the final cut out of 24 in go-as-you-please but didn't place.
As soon as she finished showing the real fun began.

Sunday, June 27, 2010

V's District Show Results 2010

V had an up and down day, literally, yesterday. In order to show at the State 4-H show in September, Virginia 4-Her's have to qualify by showing their horse at a district show. But they also have to have already declared the horse by filling out paperwork by May 1st. We didn't get Hank in time to declare him so V will be taking Jessica to the State Show.
She only showed her in Showmanship and got 5th. Jessica then had to patiently wait at the trailer for the rest of the show. By the way, we left the house at 7 am and got back at 10 pm.
V was really wanting to show Hank to see what he could do. As far as I can tell this was the first show or event of this kind that he has ever been to.
He had some moments of brilliance. His trot when he's doing right has so much suspension that all of his feet will be off the ground at once. (this is unusual at the trot where diagonal legs will be in contact with the ground while the other pair is extending) Even more unusual is for me to have gotten two pictures of this.
Unfortunately, his other moments out shown his brilliance. In his first class the second way of the ring he picked up the wrong lead. V thinks she tried to correct it but he bucked and kicked his back legs out while twisting in the air. This caused her to lose her stirrups and over the next two strides he pulled her off balance by tossing his head.
This pulled her down on his neck where she valiantly hung on for at least six more strides. ( but he was on the correct lead now). She finally had to let go and fall off. She wasn't hurt and was able to get back on and finish the class. She then complained that I should have kept filming instead of running into the ring to help. J had to go the the trailer for the next two classes which were much less eventful. He had been peeking out from behind a car during the first class. V did get 5th in equitation out of 7. It looks like Hank still needs a lot of work but he definitely has a lot of potential.

Friday, June 25, 2010

Almost Ready

The garden has really been growing. Several things are almost ready.
Looks like there will be plenty of zucchini.
The four cabbage plants are making nice heads.
Several peppers are coming along.
And of course there is broccoli.
Looks like we will have some fresh vegetables to take to the beach soon.

Wednesday, June 23, 2010

Work

I normally don't blog about work but I just have to about this one. An owner brought in a basset hound that had had two puppies, the last one born 2 1/2 hours before the visit. (normal time between puppies is 15-30 min.) Radiographs showed 3 more puppies. I said I needed to give her some oxytocin to help the uterus contract and if that didn't work I would need to do a c-section. His comment "so your going to induce labor." No, she is already in labor, note the 2 puppies already here. The oxytocin worked for 2 more puppies but the last one just wouldn't come out. After 4 more shots and 1 1/2 hours I said it was time for a c-section. The brilliant owner asks "can't you just abort the puppy so we can avoid surgery?" The c-section was a success and I couldn't get them out of the door fast enough.

Tuesday, June 22, 2010

Painted Barrels

E decided part of Pep's concerns in Trail Class are that our barrels are not as bright as the ones at the shows.
Therefore, E decided to "pep" them up a bit.


After a base coat of white she then took off decorating with florescent yellow and pink spray paint. These things are now clearly visible from at least half a mile. She hasn't had a chance to test Pep out on them yet but they certainly have brightened up the ring.

Saturday, June 19, 2010

Broccoli Harvest

Need I say more. see http://4rranch.blogspot.com/2009/06/garden-disappointment.html

Friday, June 18, 2010

Jumping

I got to watch V ride Hank yesterday.
He is doing very well for her.
She tried out the new jumps on him. As long as she could keep him steered toward the jump, he would go over it.
The jumps are only set at 20 inches so far. This is the height of the jumps for the beginner class at the show we might take him to. So far so good.

Thursday, June 17, 2010

Vandalism

Vandals worked on our mailbox a few days ago. On my way to work Monday I found the mail box beat up and laying over on the ground.
Granted, it was not much of a mailbox to begin with but this beating might be its last.
J got it propped back up but it still won't close right. I guess he'll be getting a new one for Father's Day. I don't understand what kind of enjoyment someone gets out of vandalizing a mailbox.

Tuesday, June 15, 2010

Company

We found two girls at the R reunion that love horses but have never even touched one before. Luckily, they were staying somewhat near by and were able to come over today to ride.

They each got a short lesson, how to sit, hold the reins, stop and turn. We lead them some and worked off the lounge line some.
Then we turned them loose. They rode Pep and Hank. Trotting on Hank didn't work out too well (too bouncy) so the girls traded so both could trot on Pep (much smoother).

I think they really enjoyed the evening.
And the horses behaved well too.




Sunday, June 13, 2010

Garden

It rained nearly 1 1/2 inches yesterday.
The garden looks like it grew overnight.Despite the goats getting in the yard and enjoying the salad bar, it looks like we will actually have broccoli this year.
This is the first time I have tried peas. It looks like they are doing well.
I even planted a hill of zucchini. Taking into account all of the horror stories, I limited it to 3 plants in one hill. Maybe I'll be able to make zucchini fritters like Grandma's.

Friday, June 11, 2010

Awards

V and E cleaned up at their awards ceremonies.
V lettered in track, received Highest Average in Biology, Highest Average in Algebra II, Precise Calculations and Superior Achievement in Dual-Credit Accounting, and Highest GPA in Keyboarding Applications, and was on the A-B Honor Roll.
E was Most Valuable in Track, Perfect scores in Reading, Pre-Algebra, and Civics SOLs, Highest Achievement in Reading, Highest Class Average in Science, and A-B Honor Roll.
We are very proud of our girls.

Tuesday, June 8, 2010

Flower Day

Looks like it has been awhile since I posted any flower pictures. It seems like everything is coming and going so fast I can't keep up with the pics.
I finally got my clematis to grow on my sculpture (with a little help from some twine).
The lamb's ear from C are doing well. Maybe a little too well. I have been having to pull some up to keep it from spreading too far.
Looks like a good year for my rambling rose from Grandma's house.
The blooms on my hydrangea aren't very big but there sure are a lot of them.

Saturday, June 5, 2010

Homemade Jumps

When I rode Hank this morning I decided to try and jump him over the little cinder block jump I have in the ring. First I had the blocks laying on the side and he just took that in stride, no need to jump. So I turned the blocks up on end with the pole on top. This made about a 20 inch jump. He trotted right to it never hesitated and jumped very smoothly with no excitement afterwards. We trotted over the jump several times with no problems. It was a little too wet to canter. Because of his wonderful attitude I decided to make some real jumps.
Of course I can't go out and buy anything new. I dug through some scrap lumber piles and came up with 3 good posts.
I used some oak board pieces left over from a fencing project for the base and hinges for the pole supports. Now I just need to get E to paint them for me I we'll be ready to go.

Friday, June 4, 2010

Cattle Working

We finally got the last group of cattle worked today. J thought it was very hot and humid. I got to stand in the shade of the chute cover so it wasn't too bad for me. He also committed that poop was covering the ground but where there wasn't poop the cows were slinging it with their tails.

The calves are sired by a half angus/simmental bull and a pure bred angus bull.
My arm got a little tired getting the chute opened up. It does work good catching them however.
We celebrated being done by going out to dinner tonight. The cattle celebrated on new pasture.

Thursday, June 3, 2010

Bees

In preparation for the total breakdown of society and the economy, we now have a hive of bees.
A neighbor had an extra swarm and brought them by at 6:30 this morning.
I think they look very cute in the corner of the yard.
Now we just need some chickens and a Jersey cow. I am not, however, converting all of our money to gold.
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