The Funeral

 I was able to watch Berlica cleaning stalls this morning on the foaling camera and Mike moving the mares out. We both were up by 5:00 am but the breakfast at this hotel didn't open until 7:00 am so we had to figure out a way to waste time for a couple hours. Last night Mark was either too hot or too cold. If the heat was on he was too hot but when it turned off he was too cold. I finally took the hair dryer and turned that on by his feet until the sheets were nice and warm then turned the thermostat down and that worked. When he went down to the front desk to pay he explained the thermostat worked but overshot the correct temperature. (set on 70 it would blow hot air until it reached 73) The desk person told him they would give him extra points as compensation. Lee booked the room for us so those points will go to him. Mark didn't want anything, he just wanted the receptionist to know it should probably be looked at and refigured. At 7:00 am we walked down to the restaurant. Mark ordered a egg white wrap and I ordered the traditional breakfast which was 2 eggs, sausage and toast. It also came with potatoes and a couple slices of cantaloupe. 

Mark enjoyed the wrap and the potatoes. I enjoyed the eggs, sausage and cantaloupe but didn't care for the potatoes or the dry toast. It was cold when it came, the butter came with it but since the toast was cold it did not melt in. I rarely if ever eat potatoes for breakfast, especially if they have green peppers and red onions mixed in. We both ordered water as coffee was free in the lobby area and I just brought a cup in from that. The bill came to $35.00 but that included the tax and the tip. Pricy for breakfast but it is in the Chicago area and everything cost more there. We got to the funeral home right at 9:30 am. Sarah and David were already there in the parking lot with Zion, Eden and River. I think someone from Kim's church had arranged coffee, fruit and some sweet bread for us in the lower level. This funeral home was unique in that this room had fun antique toys for the children.

Rhoda, Lee, Zeke, Iris and Philip arrived next.

By the time Kim, her son Tim and her brother John arrived that room was getting crowded. It wasn't too long before the visitation started. The funeral was very well attended. Kim was pleased and surprised with how many of her friends came. After the funeral we were all invited to her church for lunch. When we left the funeral home there was a protest going on with people shouting at each other and waving flags. There seemed to be 3 sets of people, those for Israel, those for the Palestinians, and those wearing rainbows and all of them were screaming hateful things at each other. Shame on them and in public! What would their parents think? 

Lunch 

The lunch at Bethal was very nice. After lunch was the long drive home. As soon as we unloaded I changed and went out to the barn to check on Rosalie and her filly. Some of our guests from the barn came walking over to see them.

I did a quick check then drove to Aldi to picked up the food for Sunday's meal. When I got back the stalls were given a good cleaning and new bedding added. This evening Blueberry was brought in first. 

She is due April 16th She has the routine down. She comes in her stall and goes right for the grain bucket. While she is busy eating her grain Rosalie and the filly are brought in.

the filly nursed but within minutes laid down in the fresh thick straw to take a nap. She was still sound asleep when I got back to the house.

In 24 hours it is obvious she has gained weight. She is doing very well and so is Rosalie.

 

Trip to Wheaton

 I went back out a little after 6:00 am to start moving the mares. After getting Blueberry out into Raven's old paddock and Rosalie and her new filly in the indoor arena the stalls were cleaned and all the wet and manure removed from both stalls finishing by 7:00 am. I took the two pictures below before going back to the house. 

I had a half an hour to shower, dress, cook and eat breakfast. Thankfully we had packed last night. We were on the road by 7:30 am. It was about a 3 hour drive to the cemetery in Wheaton, IL. We met Kim, Tim, the funeral director and Bruce, the pastor at the grave site. They had 4 chairs set up for us in front of Jon's casket. Bruce said a few words, read a few Scriptures and then together we said the Lord's prayer. From there we drove to Kim's church and visited until 1:00 pm catching up on Tim and Allie's news and talking to Kim about future plans. At 1:00 pm we drove to Texas Roadhouse for a late lunch. That was surprisingly good and not so loud that we couldn't visit. We left at 3:00 pm to drive to our hotel, checked in and I promptly laid down and fell sound asleep. We are staying at the Holiday Inn Express in Carol Stream which is about 8 miles away from the funeral home. Tomorrow the funeral home is holding the visitation and funeral service.  After the service we will leave for Kim's church where they will have a lunch prepared. It is still hard to believe Jon is gone. 

This evening Berlica cleaned the indoor arena. Mike put the mares back in the stalls as there is rain coming and it is going to be a COLD rain. I don't have a camera in the indoor arena so am glad that I could see Rosalie and her filly now that they are back in the stall. She seems to be doing fine. I watched her take a nap, get up, nurse a long while then urinate. That went on so long it was obvious she is getting plenty of liquid. She was curious about the water bucket and I watched her stick her nose in that,

She decided she liked her mom's warm milk much better and went right over to nurse.

I am thankful, so relieved and thankful. 

ALL IS WELL

 We are THRILLED to announce. Rosalie had an uneventful delivery of a perfect baby girl this morning at 3:02 am. 

By 3:40 am the filly was able to stand on her own. She took a while to figure out where the milk bar was but by 4:00 am she had latched and was nursing.

Her cord was doused in iodine, she was not happy with that but already found out people give her scratches and that feels good.

The placenta is now delivered and I've watched this filly lay down and get back up by herself go right over and nurse. Both stalls are cleaned and as soon as it is light outside Blueberry will be taken outside  to Raven's old paddock.  ALL IS WELL!  I'm so thankful for a safe delivery and a healthy filly. 

Rosalie Is Waxing

 I am pleased to announce we have waxing. Rosalie was checked early this morning and both teats had big clumps of wax on them. After our walk Mark was given a good breakfast to give him the energy he was going to need today.

We had lots of chores lined up. Rosalie was taken into the stall, given some grain and a good grooming so I could take all the burrs out of her forelock, mane, tail and feather (Friesian's have what is called feather, thick curly hair on their lower legs around their hooves). Her front legs were full of burrs. She must have walked right into a cocklebur bush. The pictures below were taken after her grooming. 

Once she was back in the field with Blueberry I went to the foaling apartment to make sure it was ready for company. I swept up 6 Asian beetles. I'm glad there were only 6 but will need to check again tomorrow morning. Then it as time to work on the construction mess in the barn as we have guests coming in on Saturday. Sarah, Kari and Rebekah were there with their children plus Sarah brought Israel and Elisabet too.  The kids were helpful today. They showed me the flaw of having the basketball game in direct line of the lights. Together they worked to move that game in a better place.

Sarah helped me get the light fixture back in place. After returning Diane's ladder (we needed two ladders to get the light fixture back up) Mark needed my help to remove the log splitter so he could get the wood wagon over to Joan's to for emptying.

The wood wagon was full. 

Once the tractor was hooked up that was taken to Joan's

Mackenson, Berlica and Mark emptied that wagon then moved it back to load the pile below.

It took them less than an hour to unload, load and unload the second load. The wood wagon was taken back to the barn and Mark went to work on the next job. He needed the skid steer for this one.

We had so much rain Wednesday that the driveway going down the hill needed to be repaired. He used both the skid steer and his shovel and got that done.

While he was doing that I finished all of the laundry and got the house cleaned. We still had one more job to do at the barn and that was to get the gym floor swept and cleaned. We both went over to finish that and got done just before 5:00 pm. Rhonda made us a dinner tonight.  Spark delivered that shortly after we walked in the door.

A wonderful comfort meal of roast beef, with carrots, potatoes, onions and mushrooms in a wonderful sauce served with bread and fresh fruit for dessert. 

After supper I went out to bring the mares in. We have rain predicted and with Rosalie waxing they will both spend the night in the stall. I have them on the foaling camera.

Above is Blueberry and below is Rosalie.

Both are standing quietly, they both have plenty of hay and water and I ran out one more time tonight to clean up any manure. We need to leave pretty early tomorrow so I will need to go out early to move them into the indoor arena and get the stalls ready for tomorrow night. I've hired Berlica to clean the arena and move the mares back into the stalls. Then if no babies on Saturday morning move them back into the indoor.  We have packed our suitcase and will be ready to leave for Wheaton where Jon's burial is going to be held as soon as I have the stalls prepared in the morning.

Family Night

 We had storms during the night. Lots of lightning and thunder but not a lot of rain. I went out early to check the mares in the indoor arena and was surprised at how little was on the ground. What we got pretty much soaked in. The mares were turned out and the arena cleaned before going back inside to get ready for our walk. Not that I needed to put on fancy clothes or anything but I needed to wash up and get shoes on instead of boots. We all walked today and had much to arrange. Joan, Diane and Spark are going to Jon's funeral. Ruth will stay back with mom. Rachel is on high alert for the pending delivery of Jessica's baby as she will need to keep Ruby. Mark and I will leave early on Friday but will need to put the mares back in the indoor before leaving as the weather is predicted to be cold and rainy. Berlica will clean the indoor on Friday evening and again on Saturday morning. We should be home by Saturday late afternoon.  We stopped in at mom's after the walk but she was still sound asleep. Amy brought daffodils over to brighten the house. 

She picked them from her yard. Mark and I left after breakfast for Sam's club to order the pizza for tonight and pick up the salad stuff, cuties, ice cream sandwiches, paper goods and water for tonight. It was pouring rain when we came out to load the car. Thankfully Sam's has a good loading area out of the rain. We drove straight to the fellowship hall to put the water and salad stuff in the fridge and the ice cream sandwiches in the freezer. We also picked up coffee and rye bread for mom at Sam's and dropped that off on our way home. Diane was still with mom just making her lunch. We got quite a bit of rain this afternoon. Our rain gauge is broken so not sure how much but had some deep puddles. I checked on the mares. The picture below is Blueberry and you can see Evan in the background top left.

He loves it when the mares are in this pasture. He loves watching them and if they go out of sight he calls to them. Rosalie is pictured below. Her back had been cleaned off with the rain but she is still a little muddy on her sides. 

I pulled some colostrum to check but it is still clear so tonight they will be left out on pasture. The rain is now over and the weather has moderated. I had about a half an hour so took the golf cart over to the barn and got the 3 bathrooms cleaned, the big windows between the gym and living room and some of the kitchen floor. Tomorrow that needs to be finished as it is rented out on Saturday and there wont be anytime on Friday to clean before we need to leave. Mark and I left at 4:15 pm for the fellowship hall. Joan, Berlica and Mackenson arrived at 4:45 pm and in just a few short minutes we had tables and chairs set up for 100 people. We only fed around 90. Fedi spoke tonight for family night giving a little bit of his history and a little how hard it was to go back into the very prison he was held when he tried to escape Romania. This time not as an inmate but as a preacher spreading the Good News. 

 

Where's the Warmup

 BRR it was cold this morning on our walk. We all wore winter coats. Jon's funeral is Saturday so when we got to Rachel's house we stopped to discus changing mom's work day to next Saturday as a lot of us are going to the funeral. Mom and I left for the Berean office and by the time we arrived everyone was already hard at work. Kathy opened a letter today that was wrapped in toilet paper. She wasn't sure if she should take it out of the envelope or not. She got brave and carefully slipped it out of the toilet paper, saying, "At least it doesn't look used."

It was another request letter. We are not sure why it was wrapped in toilet paper.

I was busy this morning and didn't think to take any other pictures but we had a good crew helping this morning. Marvin told us after all these years of marriage, he finally got Gail in a joke on this April 1st JOKE day. Gail got up first and was in her chair when Marvin came out of the bathroom exclaiming, "Gail, the toilet is smoking!" Of course she had to check it out. Yep, that toilet WAS smoking. Marvin showed us the picture and we all laughed and laughed. It was so good that I thought I would tray it on Mark. He caught on right away it must be an April 1st joke but at least he came to see how that toilet could be smoking. Mine doesn't look as good as Marvin's but close.

After that he decided I needed to help him work. He and Mackenson were going to be splitting the last of those huge oak logs so Mark drove the tractor over while I took the golf cart. A gander came out from the bank trying to lure us away from the goose nest in the retention pond.

Mark parked the tractor then rode back with me.

It was around 1:00 pm and just was still so cold. The wind was biting through our winter coats. I went to work getting the indoor arena ready for the mares tonight. We are expecting a cold rain to start and more rain with storms tomorrow. Both Blueberry and Rosalie's udders had gotten bigger since yesterday so we are not going to take a chance on either of them delivering outside. Once the bunk bed lumber was roped off the water tank was given a good scrubbing and filled it half way with fresh water.

The mares were down toward the bottom of the cabin field. Rosalie started coming up to meet me sporting her new fashion look of burrs in her forelock. 

They were turned out in the mare pasture and went running over to scream at Evan.

They were taken to the indoor and let loose. I decided to watch them just to make sure they wouldn't get into anything.

They went right to the square bales and started eating off of them. Those need to be saved for the stalls so I wrapped a tarp around them and the put some old straw bales on top. We shall see tomorrow if that worked. Below they are looking out the door at the stallions.

They soon were pretty relaxed resting by the door.

Rosalie came walking towards me and I could see that baby bump on both of her sides.

Mike came to get the waterer in Raven's old paddock turned back on. Hopefully it will warm up soon and that paddock can be used.  Below is Rosalie's udder tonight.

The mares needed to be moved out when Mark brought the tractor back but later when it started getting dark both were put back in the indoor and both settled right down. We had used the golf cart to transfer some of the split wood from today. Mark and Mackenson finished splitting all of the big oak logs. Below I have finished stacking the wood from the golf cart and just had to take a few pictures of those impressive piles of logs.

The wood shed is almost full for next winter but if we don't get a warm up soon I just may be burning some this spring.