Three Things

And the three things are.... 

Draper's seroma came back the next day.  I have given her 3 weeks off.  Now the seroma is just a hard knot of scar tissue.  I hope it continues to resolve and remodel back to a normal shape.  But because she wasn't ever favoring it and it was getting smaller, I decided to do a little light riding with her last night. 

I thought she did super.

 Then today, J suggested a trail ride.  Well, I'm all in on that.

 I was surprised to see this wild lily.  After this one I did see a couple more.

 There were some strange rock formations.

 We also tried a couple of new trails we had never been on.  It was an adventure not knowing where they would end up.  We didn't get lost, but we ended up riding for 5 hours.  It was a beautiful day with mild temperatures and low humidity.   Plus, the horses were very well behaved.

 Then I had this awesome purchase at the Surplus Store yesterday.  I had been looking for a wide brim hat but everything around here was just cheap and ill fitting.

I was in the Surplus Store and decided to check out the hats while I was there, and found this beauty.  The website (HERE) says it is handwoven palm and sells for $39.99.  I got it for $3.  The tag said $5 but I had only taken $3 in with me.  When the cashier asked if I was ready to check out I said I needed to go the the car and get more money unless she would take $3 for it.  Sure, no problem.  Loving my new purchase.

In Bloom At The 4Rs

We have really had a good season with plenty of rain so far.  It was starting to dry out a bit but in the last 2 days we have had 2 1/2 inches.  I took these pictures before the rain.

 The Stargazer lily has a wonderful scent too.

 I have a large assortment of day lilies, this is about half of the varieties.

And several patches of gladiolus are outdoing themselves.

Coupon Saturday #30

 No scenarios to report but some news to watch out for in the future. 

There are lots of memes going around about Dollar General. 

 Looks like there is already one on Mars.

 Bob Ross painted a happy one on every corner.

And Area 51 is just going to be a Dollar General warehouse. 

 Then there is this at the crossroads in my community.  We have an elementary school, post office, gas station/convenience store, car mechanic, used car lot, volunteer fire department, and an insurance agent office.  That is pretty much it for the community.  Oh, there is a feedlot that everyone complains about the stench from.  (it is pretty bad sometimes)

But now we will be right up there with Mars.  A Dollar General is going up.  They have already started breaking ground.  J joked that maybe he could get a job there stocking shelves.  I said, "no way, you need to be a cashier and take all my coupons!"  This could get dangerous.

Repurposed Tractor Seat

Well, technically, not a tractor but a horse drawn threshing machine.  But I have been eyeing it for the last 30 years.  Whenever I have mentioned it, J would say the bolts were too rusty and we would need something to cut it off.  So the last time I was over there, I checked it again, and discovered that the wood and bit of metal it was attached to were rotten and I just tore it off. 

 Next came figuring out how to mount it on something.

 I was cleaning out a barn we are trying to get torn down (for the last 5 years) and saw this tire rim.

Worked prefect if you don't want to actually sit down.   It is just not quite heavy enough with the angle of the seat.  Maybe if I bury it or stake it to the ground somehow.  Now I have to find a place to put it.

Good Ride Company

Without an endurance ride to be training for, J usually only goes riding with me when we haul somewhere for a trail ride. 

 So I was pleasantly surprised when he said he would ride with me Sunday around the farm.

 Jessica only took about 20 minutes of lounging this time before she got all her anger issues under control. 

 We rode around a lot of the farm and went to check on some new cattle J bought last week. 

 It was a good thing, because one of the calves had gotten out.  J got it back without too much fanfare.

 It was a nice ride without having to haul anywhere.  I always enjoy some good company. 

Then, as usual, Jessica had to scrub off all evidence of being ridden.

What's A Seroma?

The technical definition is a pocket of serum underneath the skin that usually develops after surgery. 

 The not so technical is a big swelling like a water balloon on Draper's shoulder for no apparent reason.  I went to catch her last week for the farrier to reset her shoes, and found this big thing.  It was swollen down to her knee, but not causing any lameness. 

 I was pretty sure it was a seroma, I didn't see any punctures and it wasn't painful like an abscess would be.  I gave her the week off to see how it would progress.  Well, it looked the same but the rest of the swelling down to the knee was gone.  So it was time to take action.

 I clipped and scrubbed the area and tapped it with an 18 gauge needle.   I didn't measure the amount that came out but it was a good 200+ cc's.

It's is flat again for the time being, but may reform.  Hopefully, if it does it will be smaller.  I have had to drain some on dogs up to 3 times before they finally went away, but once is more the norm.   This one probably occurred after some type of trauma, maybe she ran into something out in the field or got kicked by one of the other horses.  Too bad they can't tell us what happened.

Oregon Trip Pictures #6

Looks like I am really milking this trip for lots of blog posts, and we still are not in Oregon yet.  After a night in Boise, we headed out to the Morley Nelson Snake River Birds of Prey National Conservation Area.

 We actually saw quite a few raptors on the drive there.

 We didn't have much of a plan once we got there.  But we were fortunate enough to run into someone that was waiting on a friend.  He told us about the hiking trails and how to find them.   We crossed over the river at this power plant.

 There was a museum inside which if you are interested in machinery  would have been entrolling, but that was not our focus.

 The view from the bridge however, was captivating.

 We did see lots of birds, but my camera is not very well suited for that type of photography, so I stuck to the view and flowers. 

 There was an interesting informational sign describing a flood 14,500 years ago that carved out the area and left boulders lying around.

 E said I didn't need to try to get something in the foreground in every shot, but I think it's more artistic.

 A very enjoyable hike with lots of different flowers.

And a togetherie at Dedication Point.

The No Trail Ride

We rent 150 acres from a neighbor.  Less than 50 acres of that is open.  The rest is covered in woods, autumn olive, rose bushes and blackberry vines.  We are not allowed to overwinter any livestock there, so we round them up in the early winter and turn more out in the spring.  J has always sent cow/calf pairs.  But this year he decided to change things up and send replacement heifers.  It seemed like a good idea but for some reason they just won't stay together.  Earlier this week J was missing 1 out of 22.  The next morning he could only find 12.  He spent 3 hours checking line fence and neighboring fields, nothing.   I said I would ride Otoelene around and see if I could come up with anything.  Otoelene was a champ.  We rode through tall grass, steep woods, and open brambles.  Then we got into the border between the woods and the open area.  This was choked with rose bushes and autumn olives (a brushy type invasive tree).  There was no trail and no riding through the mess.  I finally just got off and lead her until the woods opened up more. 

 Then I found this, a trail cam in the middle of the woods in a small clearing.

Then there was this bait feeder hanging from a tree,

and a nearby tree stand.  I am pretty sure baiting deer and then shooting them is illegal.  I have no idea who's stand this even is.  On the way back out we had to cross over down fence and push through more rose bushes, blackberry vines and honeysuckle all matted together.  Otoelene saw the opening but only got part way before the rose bushes stopped her.  I dismounted again, stomped everything down and lead her out to the open.  Two hours of riding and I never found the other 10 animals.  But they were all there the next day.   There is not telling what's going on in there.

Oregon Trip Pictures #5

Picking up where we left off, E and I spent the night in Idaho Falls.  It was rainy and overcast but we had a nice view from our hotel. 

 There was a river park right outside that we visited the next morning.

 I found a bench that I really wanted.

 Then it was on the find The Craters Of the Moon.

 The driving was always interesting with unexpected views around nearly every turn.

One of the roads E's map had us take was like driving across moon craters.

 Craters of the Moon is a National Monument and preserve in the Snake River Plain, still in Idaho.

 I posted some pictures during the trip already that were on my Ipad, but here are a few other things that I only had on my camera.

 The cinder garden was a surprise.

 There was a large cinder hill to climb but the view from the top was totally worth every step.

 It was stunning for 360 degrees.

 E even let me take a togetherie, I think I am getting better at these.

 I thought it was interesting that the park service was admitting to a mistake.  It always worries me when the government wants to change or improve something.  There are always unintended consequences to our actions.

One person's ugly is another person's interesting.

 I found after the fact, that one of my pictures had a strong resemblance to the official poster.   The picture above is untouched.

E has started collecting posters from some of the parks she goes too but she didn't want this one.  Maybe I should make my own poster.

These were from an app called Watercolor Effect.  I really like playing with it. If you are ever near Craters of the Moon, I highly suggest visiting, 5 Stars!