Roof Repairs

Yet another piece of tin blew up on the roof of the old barn.  

 J took the opportunity before they were calling for rain to do some repairs.   (yes, we got some rain, finally after 2 months! )

 This involved scavenging a different piece of tin, cutting the bent piece off and fitting the new into place then nailing it down.  All of this was accompanied by the appropriate language too.

 But since this was going on  on the other side of the barn J had to keep reminding me to pay attention to him and not the horses.

After the new piece was in place J went around the rest of the roof tacking down more spots.  The whole thing needs a new roof but getting anyone here to work on anything is next to impossible.  Everyone seems to want to build new stuff but no one wants to repair the old.

Sunday Ride

I've had time to ride Otoelene but J hasn't been on Brother in about 3 weeks.  Sunday was so nice it would have been a shame to let it pass without a ride.

  J was a little worried about how Brother would act so he started out free lunging him in the barn.

 And surprisingly, Brother listened very well.

 After some warming up under saddle in the barn we headed out for a loop around the gravel road.

 Brother was acting great but did a silly jump at a round bale of hay so as punishment J rode him on down into the field where he had piled up a bunch of wood.

 Brother usually hates seeing cut wood and normally spooks at it but with this pile he acted more like he wanted to climb on top.

 I loped on ahead and got this beautiful view when I tuned back around.

One final training trip up a steep hill and Brother and J completed a nice Sunday afternoon ride.

Getting Better

Our new little still no name horse is getting better about being caught.  She usually comes up to me now and if trying to avoid me just walks away instead of throwing her tail over her back and taking off. 

 In the barn lot there is nothing it eat other than the grain we feed twice a day and the square bale grass hay we put out for her.  She loves her grain now but isn't too thrilled about the hay.

 So I have started turning her out some in the riding ring to graze.  There isn't much there either (or anywhere for that matter)  but it is still more than the barn lot.

She has been such a sweet heart, not really jumpy or spooky.  

She was pretty unperturbed about all of the attention she got on Thanksgiving when everyone walked to the barn to see her.  
As for a name, the breeder usually has a theme for each foal crop.  This year 2 were born on tax day so they were named Otoe's Revenue and Otoe's Income.   I'm thinking for her registered name to stick with the theme and maybe go for Otoe's Asset.  As for a barn name E is voting for Gretchen or Gretel.  I like Glitter but J said if he ended up wanting to ride her he didn't really want to be calling her Glitter.  So you can see we are still working on it.

Another Escape Attempt

I know where there is a trampoline for sale, cheap.  And no, this is not a "Bad For Sale Picture."

Yes, E's trampoline made another escape from its pen on Sunday.  J's has continued with his refusal to touch it.  So that left me and E to try to turn it back over and corral it again.  With the help of a rope and the 4-wheeler we were successful and the trampoline surprisingly sustained very little damage (nothing permanent)  It also, miraculously, didn't damage anything else.  But really, make an offer.

Bad, Bad, Bad For Sale Picture.

This one almost defies words, but I will try.

Slight moth damage, who are they trying to fool.  It looks more like a Tasmanian Devil got a hold of it than a moth did.  And that is a very unfortunate stain behind the dog that may or may not be still living.

This one is just too fun.  

Late Wrangler Can Paint Update

Sister C and I attended the Cherokee Heights Arts Festival last weekend.  I was peddling my stock pile of Wrangler paintings and C had some fascinating hand painted eggs she was testing out on the public.  But the major focus was visiting sister A.  We had a great visit but a disappointing sale.

I thought my new display worked out well.

And don't tell E but I borrowed her show hat to draw some attention to the horse theme.

C's eggs were a conversation piece but this apparently was not the forum for sales.

There was a good bit a traffic all day.  I managed to place 6 paintings in new homes and a couple of people that bought paintings last year told me how much they enjoyed them.  

One irritation was when this man with his dog sat down in front of out booth blocking the entrance for 30 minutes.  There was a band across the road  so I guess he thought it was a good place to enjoy the music.

And we got a visit from Santa.  He was talking about his busy schedule and looking forward to a rest on December 25th. 

There was a man interviewing the participants and he suckered me into talking to him.  I'm at 13:20.  

She's Here, She's Here

As promised, we have a new addition to the farm.   We bought Otoelene's full sister Monday.  We would have brought her home sooner but she wasn't halter broke and they had a little trouble catching her. 

 But after a week, they had her leading great and she loaded right on the trailer without any hesitation.

 As soon as the other horses realized that another horse was on the trailer, they were right there to greet her.

 Isn't that the cutest little nose sticking out?

 She is only 7 months old so we will have to feed her grain this winter.  That means she will most likely stay separated from the other horses, for now anyway.

So much to learn and so much fun to be had, can't wait to get started.   Any name suggestions?

Emma

We lost Emma this weekend from a sudden illness.  We don't know how old she was but this was her home for almost 10 years.  I had almost fallen into the trap of getting the children a puppy for Christmas.  But at the last minute I came to my senses and decided to just wait.  The right dog would come along I thought. 

 Emma showed up at the clinic as a humane society spay.  I didn't even see her until she was on the table ready for surgery.  Then, when I did the post op check the next morning I thought, "wow, this is a sweet dog and about the size and type of dog we were wanting."  I took her home to try her out and she was perfect.

She was a beautiful dog inside and out. 

She was a perfect angel whenever I took her to career day. 

She was the official greeter for anything that showed up on a trailer. 

 She loved meeting everyone.

 She made friends with all the animals on the farm both big

and small.

She didn't fetch or herd but she was a terrific doorbell and she never dug a hole or chewed on anything she wasn't suppose to. 

She played with everyone. 

When Bumble and Bea showed up she was an instant friend.

 Even when they were triple her size she was still the boss. 

 And when Kit Kat arrived he had a guardian,

 playmate,

 and companion.

 

We have talked a little bit about getting another dog. 

But J said, "you only get one good one." 

  Emma shows up in the corner of a lot of my photos,

but she made it into my favorite family photo,

 And she is center stage in our hearts.