My Christmas Gift to You

Our church played this video Sunday morning.  It touched me.  I just had to share!

Buddy Sour

No, that's not Buddy... that's buddy... as in pal, friend, amigo.  Although Buddy was Nekoda's buddy, now that he's gone, Maggie is the one she can't be without.  

Horse people know the term 'buddy sour' very well.  It's when your horse gets so attached to another, it acts like an idiot when you separate them.  If you're not a horse person, here is a video that demonstrates it very well:  (have your sound on)

 

I often take Nekoda out to the front pasture while Maggie is finishing up her meal.  By the time I get back with Maggie, Nekoda has usually worked up a pretty good lather  One day I left Maggie in the back field the entire afternoon.  By the time I brought Nekoda back to the barn she was gray!  When horses sweat - just like people - they get salty, and Nekoda was covered with salty swirls that day.

I had my camera in my pocket today when I took Nekoda to the front pasture.  She's fine while Sadie and I stand there talking to her, but when we start to leave... well, you've seen it now.  When she was hanging over the fence calling, she was facing the barn where Maggie was still eating.  She'll stop to graze a little, and then go right back to running and calling to her friend. 

I decided to throw in a couple more video clips.  This one is me walking Maggie down to the front pasture.  We swing by the goats to say hello.  I can't resist the opportunity to get those babies posted here.  You can hear Nekoda whinnying in the background...

I love this one with Maggie's shadow walking down the driveway.  We came around the trees and found Nekoda getting her daily back-scratching...

A similar term is 'barn sour'.  Some lazy horses (like mine) do little to nothing but hang around the barn all day or in the pasture grazing.  Then when you try to ride them away from their favorite spot, they don't want to budge!  Some horses will go so far, and then turn around and gallop back to the barn!  Those horses can be dangerous.  Fortunately, mine don't do that, but they do sometimes get stubborn about going past an imaginary line in the drive.

I hope you enjoyed my videos.

Exciting News!

For those of you that follow my friend Anne's blogs...  (a.k.a. chicamom85)  Sassy Sasha the Lovable Shih Tzu, Comfort Food Warms Your Soul, and/or My Husband, Love and Soul Mate is on Kidney Dialysis I just heard the most fabulous news:

Her husband has received a new kidney!  The surgery went well.  Please pray that there will be no problems with rejection or infection.

On a sad note...  Anne's mother passed away this morning.  This has to be a terribly emotional time for her.  Remember her family in prayer at this time of loss.

Thank you.

To Everything... Part 2

You've heard the old adage... 'They come in threes.'  Well, they did come in twos.  I hope there are no more...

 

No sooner had our grief for Buddy eased to

bearable, than Mr J noticed Oreo wasn't acting right.

(Oreo got his name from the

big white 'O' on his belly.

As he grew, it became

more of a 'C'.)

Normally, Oreo is the leader of the pack; but on this day, the others were in the pasture while Oreo was standing alone behind their house.  That never happens!

Goats have a tight herd.  Even when Elvis played the loner, he was never more than 15 feet from the others.  When the leader takes off for the woods, the others will stop drinking to follow.  That's just their nature.

Oreo developed respiratory symptoms.  I injected him with antibiotics for a few days, and those symptoms improved, but Oreo didn't.  He grew weaker.  We've been told that goats are a lot like chickens... when you notice they're sick, it's usually too late.   That's proven true.  We started with six goats.  Lost one.  Gained another.  Lost two in one year.  Now Oreo.

Oreo was probably Mr J's favorite goat.

He had a funny personality...

always first to investigate 

current happenings.

(Whenever Sadie entered the gate,

the others would hide behind Oreo,

leaving him to determine the danger.)

This past Sunday, two-and-a-half weeks after we buried Buddy, we buried Oreo.

His grave is next to Willie's.

Rest in peace, Oreo.  We miss you!

To Everything There Is A Season

...and this has been a season of goodbyes.  I resisted writing this post, but I knew I couldn't write about anything else until I got this out.  

You all know how much I love Maggie Mae, and how much concern I have over her age-related issues.  (Newbies:  She's a 30+ yr old thoroughbred.)  Lately, I've worried about her eye sight.   Her cataracts are growing and I don't know how she will react to near blindness.  Friends have assured me that I have things in place to help her feel secure even without the sense of sight.  I hope so.  I've battled her weight issue... it's been hard keep her at a healthy weight.  She can't chew well, so I make her a mash.  I finally started mixing my own recipe that seemed to get over a hurdle with her metabolism.  She has finally started to regain muscle mass.  Even though her physical condition is better than it was a year ago , I still planned in my mind the things I would do when it was 'her time'.

I vowed to never again part with Maggie Mae.  She will be here until the end.  That means that I needed a plan in place to take care of the inevitable.  I already had someone volunteer to dig the hole and help take care of the burial.  I'm not gloomy... just practical.  I had no idea that I would make that call so soon.  I was especially taken aback by the fact that it wasn't Maggie...

September 11.  That date has significance to most of us.  Now it has more to me... 

Everything was fine that day.  We were in a drought, so the horses were really enjoying all the daily pasture time.  I called them in for 'brunch' (my horses are on 2nd shift) and the three of them eagerly came.  Buddy and Nekoda ate in the stalls, while Maggie stood in the aisle for her mash.  Maggie is slow to finish her meal.  I was busy inside the house when Mr J asked me if I wanted him to let the horses out...

Returning, Mr J said, "You need to look at Buddy.  He's really sick."  

I don't want to rehash all the details here... the wound is still too fresh.  I will share that we had two vets come out and misdiagnose him.  When I finally took him to an equine hospital on Tuesday afternoon, it was too late.  They tried their best, but it was one of the worst cases of choke he'd ever seen.  He told me to take Buddy home and pray.  The doctor assured me he wasn't in any pain, but by the next day he would start to suffer.  If I didn't get a miracle that night, Buddy had an 'appointment' the next noon.

That evening I watched the sunset from Buddy's favorite pasture.  I sat in the grass beside him and prayed for a miracle that didn't come.  We buried him at noon on Wednesday.  

Rest in peace, Buddy, dear friend.

No matter how much

our hearts were broken,

no one grieved as much as Nekoda.

She looked for him for days.

To be continued...

Two Wolves... food for thought

I don't know who wrote this to give credit...  It came to me in an e-mail today, and I thought it was worthy of sharing. 

           One evening an old Cherokee told his grandson about a battle that goes on inside people.  
           He said, "My son, the battle is between two wolves inside us all.

"One is Evil - It is anger, envy, jealousy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego.

"The other is God - It is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion and faith."

The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather: 

"Which wolf wins?"

 The old Cherokee simply replied,

           "The one you feed."

 

 

Thanks friends for hanging with me during my extended break.  I will be returning very soon.  Don't forget about the giveaway!  I didn't...,

Oceanic Blog-A-Thon 2010

That's right... it's time for Oceanic Blog-A-Thon 2010, hosted by Crazy Cris over at Here and There and Everywhere, in celebration of World Oceans Day.

Actually, World Oceans Day was June 8th, but better late than never!  Being tied up in the real world, I didn't hear about it early enough to work on a post, but here's a link to last year's post.  I reread it and found it still very relevant.  Cris has lots of new posts for this year, so hop on over and check it out!

With the events unfolding in the Gulf, what better time than now to explore and reflect on this vast watery world.  I would like to wish you all Happy World Oceans Day, but lately, when I think about the oceans, I get really sad...

A Quick Note on Mother's Day

I know it's not Mother's Day... but since I've been so busy with the new baby, I'm a tad bit behind.  (OK, tad means a very small amount... so I'm more than a tad behind.)  Anyway, before it turns into winter again, I wanted to share my Mother's Day flowers with you!

The gorgeous lilies in the back are from my daughter Jen.  I planted them by the kids' swing set.  They wanted a flower garden in front of their club house, so that is the start.

The bouquet in front is my favorite!   Sorry, Jen, but you've been outdone again by Lexi.  Ever since we've lived here, Lexi has picked wild flowers to bring to me.  I was always afraid she'd end up with a weird rash, but so far so good.  She always takes such care to choose which flowers go in her arrangements.   Sometimes her arrangements are symmetrical, sometimes not. She usually tries to find a big variety of hues, but right now, yellow is her favorite color.  She decided on some tall, airy ones for the back-side, with shorter bright ones for the front...  and a touch of lavender for punch!  I think she has a talent for floral arrangements.

I remember picking wildflowers along the road for my mom, but mostly we brought her those bright yellow ones that appeared in the lawn.  Did any of you do that?

Time for Grandkids

Just thought I'd post a few recent pics of the new grandson with my youngest granddaughter.

Although Brady adores his cousin Melody, he refuses to smile for the camera.  No matter how funny something is, when the camera comes out, the expression goes serious!  Mommy said he got that from Daddy; he hates the camera, too.

Brady had fun squirming around on Melody's lap.  Good thing it's a big chair.  She's only three years older, so he's a lap-full for her.

Just like big people, it melted her heart when he smiled at her. 

This is my favorite shot:

Seems they both really love to watch Dora!

...and each other.  

I simply must brag on the intelligence of Melody's older sister Grace.  Gracie is five and just finishing kindergarten.  I was trying to trick her last week, but couldn't because she's so smart!  She told me that she's not really smart.  I said, "Yes, you are very smart.  I bet you know the capital of Mars."  She asked, "Is capital the big or the little letter?"  I said, "The big ones."  "Oh, then 'M'."  Now, is that genius or what?

Thank you, Tioga!

You may call it OCD, but I've been tracking what states and countries have visited my blogs.  It's an obsession.  I posted about it back in November, when I was visited by Bydgoszcz, Poland.  That day, I passed a thousand cities.

As of today, I've been visited by over sixteen-hundred cities around the world.  That amazes me!  Blogging has made the world a much smaller place... more like a neighborhood.

It used to feel like this...

 Now, it feels more like this...

I had a goal to be visited by all 50 states.  Delaware, North Dakota, and Rhode Island were the last holdouts... until this week.  Yep, all three showed up on my visitor widget.

So thank you, whoever you are, for visiting me today from Tioga, a city way up in the northwest corner of North Dakota.  Tioga is the Iroquois Indian name for Peaceful Valley.  My life is complete.

Not Enough Thyme!

How do you like my new title graphic?  Time is short these days, so I don't have much to spend on a picture. All the items in the collage are from photos I took here on the farm (except for the clothes line.) 

Speaking of time...  I have some lemon thyme in my front garden, but I don't know if it's edible.  Mr J and I had to make a trip to the feed store this morning, so on the way back we stopped at a small nursery to see what kinds of shrubs and herbs they had.  I spotted some lemon thyme that was solid green and edible.  On the same table with the other herbs was the green and yellow variety of lemon thyme that I have.  It did not say anything about being edible.  If it wasn't raining, I'd get a picture of it.  Maybe someone in Blogville knows.  But it is raining and dark, so...  if you don't hear from me anymore, you'll know it's NOT edible!

Last year I told you about planting onion chives off the bedroom deck where we built the new steps...  I love sitting on the steps and munching away, but I forget about the fresh chives when I'm cooking!  I do want to expand the herb garden, so today I bought a couple more perennials...

  On the left is Pineapple Sage, and on the right is peppermint.  The sage tastes exactly like pineapple.  It should make an exciting addition to a stir-fry.  I have an addiction to Altoids Peppermints.  I think I can pass them up now.  Just a pinch off this plant gives you nice peppermint breath that lasts!  I hope they spread fast... I can see me chopping them down to the ground in no thyme!  LOL

I'm not much into annuals.  I like plants that stay year after year and spread.  I had some rhubarb in one flower bed, but something dug it up.  I'll try a different spot next time.  We're also going to plant some asparagus.  It is a lovely garden perennial, but gets much too large to  place where the herbs are going.  I will place it out in the lawn and build a new garden around it.  I think it will look good placed between Mr J's new plants...

Mr J picked up these two varieties of lavender... English and Munstead.  I think they would look splendid framing the asparagus, and would make an ideal garden spot for the windmill.  The windmill was damaged by the hurricane that blew through the mid-west a year-and-a-half ago, and has been in storage ever since.  Sounds like we've got another spring project.

I need to visit my bloggy friends!  Brady is keeping me away for awhile, but I'll try to get around to you all this week during his nap times.  Wish me luck.

so far...

I've had fun going through my photo files trying to pick some for a collage.  As you can see, I have a little trouble making decisions.  I guess I kinda overdid it.  I have some ideas of how it'll end up, but I didn't have much time to work on it.  Let me know which shots you like, and any ideas you have.

Here's a shot of my weeping cherry:

Spring has sprung!

I do love winter, but this winter was long enough.  I've started weeding my gardens... not making much progress, but I've got a very good reason...

Yes, this is the guy that has kept me from blogging.  It's his fault I haven't had my giveaway!  But he's just so doggone cute...

Brady comes to see me every morning at seven, and stays all day until his ride comes.  We sing, we play with a cow.  We watch Spongebob.  We eat, we nap.  We laugh, we cry.  The hours pass quickly.  I think I'm in love.

I have been trying to capture a smiling face, but Brady doesn't like cameras.  He puts on his 'glassy-eyed' look and stares at his shoulder each time I try to snap a cute shot.  Or...

...he moves.  I have a lot of blurry shots.  Even the camera that freezes the galloping horses is no match for Brady!

Brady does let me go out sometimes...

I caught Sadie and Chubs having fun in the weeping cherry branches.

I have some good news to share...  Sadie lost almost 10 pounds!  Daddy has a hard time holding back the treats, but, now that she's made some progress, he's ready to stick to the diet, too!

I have managed to leave the farm a couple of times...

...like the night we went to see Dani (G #1) in South Pacific.  She's a nut for musicals.  Dani passed up trying out for the fall play because it wasn't a musical! She wasn't crazy about this one, but she went out for it anyway.

I think she looks cute in her military uniform.  It makes my heart just a little bit heavy to think about how grown up she is...

OK, I just had to post one more...

Brady is starting to settle into a schedule.  Soon I hope to be announcing that giveaway!  Stay tuned.

Now, I'll leave you with a couple of shots of my lovely river birch.

Me me meme....

OK, I've been gone a bit.  It's going to take a little while for me and the new grandson to get in sync.  He leaves me little time through the day to get things done, so I end up using my internet time to do laundry!

I haven't forgotten about the contest... It will happen!  But for now, Crazy Cris over at Here and There and Everywhere has tagged me.  I don't usually spend time on these, but now it's a chance to post without skipping the load of whites...

Cris' instructions were to open the tenth folder and post the first picture.  Oh, let's just see where that takes us...

My 10th folder is titled 'my scrap book' and is for things I've scanned.  Some are old photos, some special cards.  There's the lock of hair from my daughter's first haircut...

That folder has folders, so I went with the first one.  It is titled 'Jenny & kids' and is for things relating to my daughter and her four girls.  The first picture was this card:

This was the very first 

Valentine's Day card 

I got from my granddaughters.

 It was really signed by them...  Well, I think Danielle might have signed for her little sis.

Yeah, it's my birthday too.

Might as well show you the lock of hair, too.

The tape wasn't yellow back then, but the hair was. 

 Actually, it was a beautiful strawberry blonde.  

It's straightened out a little over the years, 

but she's still my little curly top!

A Quick Update...

 I've been MIA again...  Last week I had a very sick granddaughter here for some TLC.  Today I started babysitting my new grandson, and also have the kindergarten girl for a few days.  And I still haven't started my taxes!  So don't be surprised if you don't read comments from me for a few days... or a couple of weeks!

I thought I'd take a minute to post a couple of pics to show you what I've been up to in my 'spare' time...

A while back, I shared my  drawing of a TV table I wanted Mr J to build.  Well, here's the almost finished product:

 

I'm really pleased with the way it turned out.  It's the first piece of furniture that Mr J has built.  I('m already planning the next.)  I still have some detail work to do...  The trim has carved detail that I am going to paint to make it stand out.  Of course, whenever I get around to that I'll post a pic.  

As you can see, it holds a lot of the kids' toys and games.  Videos fit nicely on the bottom shelf behind the wood boxes.  I found them at Michael's and painted them to match.   Now I have a handy place to keep my cameras, batteries and PC cables.  Plus, I finally have a little more space to display some of my  handmade gifts from the grandkids!

I bought two slipcovers last week... one for my FIL's ugly worn recliner and one for my over-sized, over-stuffed chair.  So I stripped the ottoman that matched the chair...

I've had it for almost 20 years!  It was due for a change.  It had a muted print with a pleated skirt.  When we moved the TV, we balanced it on here for a few minutes and now it leans to one side.  I'm going to take it apart and replace the uprights with a beefier size, but less of them.  I'm going to add a solid bottom and keep it open for handy storage for magazines or games.  It will be painted off-white to match the TV table.  The cushion will be covered in denim or tooled leather.  Haven't decided yet.  I'm thinking denim since I have two rectangular ottomans under the front windows that will be the tooled leather.  (I'm not a 'matched set' kind of person.  I prefer eclectic.)

Well, it's after midnight. the baby comes at seven, and the farrier is scheduled to come at eleven.  I think I'd better go, but first I'll share a video of the boys experiencing a bit of spring fever...

G'night all!

Did someone say drawing?

No, not that kind of drawing!

It's this kind of drawing!

Be sure to stay tuned.

 

You'll want to get your name in here...

for this..

I'm still working on the details, but...  

I'm celebrating that 

I finished the task of combining 

Essays & Blahwg!

And I'm celebrating  my recent anniversaries...

One Year at Blogger

My 100th Post

My 400th Post

I'm so geared up that I think I'll even feature the contest on my writer's blog!

Tell me what you think...

I'm going to come up with a new title graphic, or at least a tweaked one.

I'm thinking of a collage title pic... maybe showing all the different critters and the farm.  Or maybe change the title pic on a regular basis, spotlighting different areas of my farm  and non-farm life.  Or perhaps go with an aerial view of my little chunk of Heaven.

What kind of title do you think would best fit my newly combined blog?

Tada! Finis!

The transition is complete!  I have finished merging my two blogs and setting up the new format.

Sorry if I clogged your dashboard yesterday.  I don't know if all the posts showed up there or not.  I imported all my posts from the old Blahwg! location.  Now, when I'm rich and famous, and you want to research my life, you need only look in one place!  ROFL

I also completed my tabs.  I just finished up 'The Humans' tab a few minutes ago.  My tabs will take visitors through a tour of how we got here, all the various critters (except the llama), and introduce the family.

I really enjoyed setting up the family page.  I spent some time looking through photos and reminiscing...  My, how the girls have grown!  We have so many memories built here on this ground.  Perhaps some of those stories will be the subject of future posts.  Maybe I'll even tell you about the llama...

20 Things I've Learned by Living with Old People

1. You catch a cold through your feet.
2. You need only wash the inside of bowls.
3. Everything taste better rolled in corn meal and fried.
4. Your doctor doesn't need to know all your personal stuff.
5. You should only wear short sleeves from May 1st through the end of August.
6. If your toe hurts, you are considered sick.
7. It doesn't matter who it belongs to... Do what you want.  You're old.
8. People love to hear old stories about another person's former work place.
9. Every chair should be accompanied by a waste basket lined with a plastic grocery bag.
10. If the TV is too loud to have a conversation, talk LOUDER!
11. Deny doing something while you're doing it.  Who's going to challenge you?
12. People do not have germs unless they are very sick.
13. Any bill received must be paid within twenty-four hours.
14. If there is an empty spot in the fridge or pantry, it must immediately be filled.
15. Paper napkins can be used over and over again.
16. If you own a computer, people all over the world can see you naked.
17. Your checkbook should not show how much money you have in the bank.
18. If they say it on TV, it must be true.
19. You should not drive while it's cold.
20. Never, and I mean NEVER, go outside with open pores.

In Honor of St Paddy's Day

Well, this is a farm blog, so let's start with a farm joke...

A Texan rancher comes to Ireland and meets a Kerry farmer.
The Texan says : "Takes me a whole day to drive from one side of my ranch to the other."
The Kerry farmer says: "Ah sure, I know, sir. We have tractors like that over here too."

And now for a more serious note...

Marla, over at Butts and Ashes, has requested help for her daughter-in-law.  Amy is raising money for the fight against breast cancer, the disease that took her mother.  You can find the story, as well as find out how to help, by clicking HERE.

Progress...

Well, as you can see, there is a new title on the page and tabs across the top!  Whoopee!  Some of them actually have stuff attached!  I'm getting there.

If you also follow my farm blog, as a few of you do, all my future posts will be on this blog.  It will soon look more like the farm blog, too.  Blawgh! will still be around for awhile... it will take some time for me to transfer everything over.  (I will keep my writer's blog separate.)

The farm, cats & dog tabs are mostly complete.  I'll be working on the others in my spare time this week... so be patient! 

Let me know what you think about the tabs. I can't find any way to post to a 2nd tab or I'd keep the farm stuff separate.  If you know of a way, tell me about it.  I'll never figure it out on my own!

I'm one of those people that doesn't like too many choices.  I'm not entirely crazy about any of the backgrounds here at blogger, but I'm going with them for now.  I'll add my own later.


I've tried a few and thought I'd ask you guys what you like best.  If you use blogger in draft, you can look at them for yourself.  My favorites are the field and blue sky under the nature tab, this one with the wood planks, the quilt under the hobbies tab, and the jelly beans, which has nothing to do with the farm.


So tell me which you like... the cornfield, the wood or the quilt.

Construction Zone

Pretty in pink?  If you don't like the pink flowers, don't fret... they're temporary.  I have been deleting and moving elements in preparation for merging this blog with my farm blog, and was just playing around with backgrounds.  For you manly visitors, the permanent background might be barbed wire...

or some rugged barn...

but definitely no pink flowers!  Well, at least not many.

One day soon (relative term) when you visit here, 

you'll see a new title and graphics.  

It will be called, blawhg!  Life On and Off the Farm.  Eventually (a better term for me) there will be additional tabs and lots of really cool stuff!  When I'm all finished, I will be giving away a brand new car!  

OK, that's not true...  but I might just have a small giveaway!

Stay tuned for the new look.  (Sorry about the car thing...)

One Week Ago

I could finally see my front walk again.

   We don't clean snow from it.  Everyone uses the side door.

I

The big drift on the front porch was quickly shrinking.

We could even see the bottom of the chairs!

It's gone now... every bit of it.  The last few days, I've been running around town in a T-shirt and sandals.  The grass in the new pasture is looking like a green carpet.  Where the grass is thin, the mud has become a problem.  The horses are getting antsy to run, but the ground is too wet.

As much as I love spring and fall, I miss the snow.  I hate the thought of summer being so close.  In my perfect world, the temperature never gets above sixty, unless I want to swim.  And it doesn't get dark until I get tired.  But this world is pretty good...

I was THERE!

I'm having a bit of a problem in Blogville...  many of my comments are being eaten.

I've been running around catching up with many of you the last few days.  I like to leave comments at least once in a while so you know I'm reading your posts, but it's giving me grief!  Blogger keeps logging me out and asking me to chose a profile.  Then my comment vanishes into cyberspace!

I went back to a few today, and sure enough, the comments are gone.  I haven't changed any settings, so I don't know what was causing it. It seems to be working now, but I don't have time to go back to all of you and leave a note.  Just know that I was there.

Ride Along One More Time...

Mom wanted to go to WalMart tonight...  I told her that if I could get out of the driveway, I'd take her.  All this melting has made for some icy slush.  Boy do I miss my Tahoe 4x4!



Coming home, even more had melted, but it was starting to refreeze...



Don't worry...  I didn't crash.  The video just blinked.  I made it safely to the house.

More Snow

The view from the living room...

How about a cookout?

 

Check out the way the ice formed on this fence rope...

Never too deep for Sadie!

 

And we had more after this!

Right now my car is stuck about 300 feet from the garage!  It's in a dip, so... uphill on ice both ways!  

Tomorrow I'll lug some of the horses loose salt down there.  Wish me luck...

Who's Been Sleeping in My Bed?

Little Bear doesn't like sleeping in the barn with her brother, two sons and a daughter.  She's more of a loner.  So when the weather is bad, like say over a foot of snow, she stays in the garage.  Yeah, right...

She was pretty comfy until little Miss I-Can't-Hold-Still-For-More-Than-Three-Seconds laid down beside her!  Oh well... it is Sadie's bed.