30 Foot Pole

Today Joe wanted me to help him with a more permanent water gap to replace the string of barb wire he had put up after the flood.

It involved cutting down a locust tree to get a 30 foot long pole, dragging it 3/4 of a mile behind the truck, 

then pulling it by hand down the hill and to the creek.

From there, Joe had to put on his waders to get the pole to span the creek.

With a lot of tugging, pulling and hefting, we were able to get it into place.  Thankfully, the Y posts from the previous water gap were still in place.

The tricky part was getting the cattle panel hung while standing in chest deep water.

 But we prevailed.  Joe was very proud of the results. 

Surprise Horse Show Contestant

Saturday was a big day.  We took Otoelene to a horse show for Sadie to show.  This is the same show she went to last month but not with Otoelene.  Otoelene was a little lame, but I had given her some pain meds the night before and morning of the show.  It was enough to get though the few classes she was entering.  I was even able to enjoy riding her around in the arena for about 30 minutes before the show started.

This time Allie, Mike, Virginia and Joe all came too.   Unlike me at a show, both Allie and Sadie wanted to eat right before the stick horse class. 

Isabelle wasn’t there but Sadie showed Allie what to do. 

Allie’s horse had a little bucking fit, but she stayed on.  

And then the big surprise! Allie’s third time on a horse was at the show.  She was begging so much to ride that Virginia decided that she could do the lead line and Sadie would do the judged lead line.  During Allie’s class, I lead and Virginia walked next to her.  Allie kept telling Virginia to “get out of here”.  

Allie was very excited about her ribbon.

Then it was Sadie’s turn for the judged lead line.  

I let her hold the reins and she was able to stop and turn Otoelene pretty much by herself.

She did great and ended up 2nd out of 3.  The judge told her she needed to work on keeping her heels down. 

After a quick tack change Sadie went back in for Juvenile Stock Horse Halter.

I didn’t even tell her to stand straight, she just did that on her own.

We had a disappointing 4th place finish.  Virginia thought the judge placed the class more on showmanship than conformation.  But it really didn’t matter to Sadie at all. 

She was already making plans for the next show.

Then there was more eating back at the trailer before we loaded up to come home. 

It must have been a tiring morning, because they both fell asleep on the way back to the house.

Back at the house, Sadie wanted to put on my fancy cowgirl shirt.  It was mine when I was a little girl.  Sadie thinks she will be able to where it to the show next year.

But for now, it was good to have while cuddling bunnies.

 

Aurora Borealis

With all of the hype on facebook about the northern lights being visible in our area, I put on my ski pants and coat after dark and went outside to take a look. 

I could see with my eyeballs that there was a little different tint to the sky. But the colors really showed up in the pictures from my iPhone. 

There was definitely a demarcation between regular sky and tinted sky. 

Molly came running and barking until I spoke to her. Then she laid down for her picture to be taken. 

It was a lot of fun trying to get good pictures. 

I love how the stars showed up too. 

Looking to the south was a different story. No purple and pink tints that way. 

I think this was my favorite.  Maybe I will walk a different direction tonight if it is still visible. 

 

The Day After

The morning after Emily’s wedding Virginia said Sadie and Allie were reliving the event.  They even asked to go back to Emily’s wedding.  Since family were still in town, we had them come here for Sunday afternoon.  Not the same as the wedding but it is all I could offer. 

Matt’s girlfriend Zuly had never been to a farm.  We had plenty for her to do.  Zuly fed Lucy while Allie petted her. 

And you can’t visit here without riding a horse if you want.  After some instruction and being lead around a couple of time, Zuly was ready to go solo.  She even got Otoelene to trot.

Sadie didn’t pass up an opportunity to ride.  She was much more balanced trotting on the lunge line this time. 

Allie was ready for her second ride.  Sadie let her borrow her helmet but told Allie she needed to get her own for Christmas.

Then Sadie even wanted to lead Otoelene with Allie riding.  I had to help get her started, but Sadie did it all after that.

I think she did a great job.

Then can you guess what we had after supper?  S’mores over the fire pit! 

 I think a good time was had by all.

Whirlwind Weekend

There has been a lot going on lately. The fence rebuilding has been going well. It is nice to have the professionals on site. Joe and Mike have been busy cutting the trees off the fences. And then most importantly, Emily got married!

I had to work half a day Friday then made it to the rehearsal. 

The rehearsal dinner was delightful. 

Then the big day. Emily was a beautiful bride. Her and Keiran had also done all of the planning themselves. 

The only job I had was to get these flowers on the cake. 

I have never done this before but I thought it was presentable. 

The venue held 70. Sixty nine showed  up. 

Keiran and Emily made a lovely couple. 

After dinner there was dancing. Sadie and Allie were a hit. They were the sweetest flower girls and had the best time dancing. Virginia said this morning they were recreating the wedding and wanted to go back.  I was too busy to take many pictures so I will post more as others send them.  We are thrilled to have a new son in law. 

 

Devine Intervention

With so much fence washed out or flattened, there wasn’t any barrier left between our cattle and the main road.  Joe and I put up a temporary electric fence and waited for the water to go down.  

Yesterday, Joe was able to call the majority of them across the river and up to higher ground. 

Then help arrived today.

Joe had called a fence builder a couple of months ago to get on the list to build some new fence.  The fence builder called Saturday to say he was ready to come.  Joe asked if it was coincidence or Devine intervention.  I picked Devine intervention.   

We are very thankful that our only damage was to fences and fields.  We have lost stockpiled pasture but still have hay.

And our wonderful son in law Mike has been a Godsend with a chainsaw.   

13 I set My rainbow in the cloud, and it shall be for the sign of the covenant between Me and the earth. 14 It shall be, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the rainbow shall be seen in the cloud; 15 and I will remember My covenant which isbetween Me and you and every living creature of all flesh; the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh. 16 The rainbow shall be in the cloud, and I will look on it to remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth.” 17 And God said to Noah, “This is the sign of the covenant which I have established between Me and all flesh that is on the earth.”

I do hope that at least the ticks might have gotten washed away.
 

Devastation

No power no phone no water no internet since Friday. Over 10 inches of rain, wind gusts of 60 mph. If the flood didn’t get it a tree fell on it.  Scores of trees uprooted, hundreds of feet of fence washed out or flattened. Mike and Virginia have been a great help. And a friend showed up today with a generator. 

It will take days, weeks, months to clean up everything. But it will never look the same.  We are blessed that no one was hurt and there was no damage to and buildings. 

More later when we get power back.