Power Out

 I slept great and Mark even got up before me.  I went out early to grain the horses and check the mares. Evan was locked in his paddock so I could put the 2 Thoroughbred mares, Holly and Curlin in the mare pasture to see if they would be interested in visiting him. 

They were not, they were more interested in grazing than going over to greet Evan.

Both of these mares were brought in from Middle Grove 19 days ago. We brought them in to breed and they have not come into season. Neither has Valerie or Tessa. I'll need to call Hoerr vet clinic to get ultrasounds on all of them to find out why. Right after the walk Joan needed to run some errands so I stayed with mom. Mom was telling me about the flowers Sarah, Joan's daughter planted out in the front.  Joan had taken mom out to see them and she wanted me to see them too. They really are beautiful.

Mackenson was out mowing while I was looking at the flowers.

While I was at mom's Mark moved a bale in for the 2 Thoroughbred mares. I checked the bale, it is from last year but still has a lot of green and still smells great. 

The mares were still at the farthest area away from Evan so were put back in their paddock.

That left the field open for Bulu and her colt to graze.

Holly and Curlin were fascinated with the colt and tried to go over the gate.

They started running and bucking in the paddock.

The sun came out and that was pretty strong. Bulu's colt is too young to be out in the hot sun so they weren't left out very long.

They were put in the stall. I got my painting clothes on and went to finish the bathroom ceilings. Now we really are done with the painting until the doors and trim arrives. Next I was working on putting down more rubber tiles in the stall barn aisle when Braelyn and Anna arrived to clean the apartment. Anna took the laundry home with her while Braelyn stayed to clean. I went down to the house to start on dishes when the electricity went out. Just then the apartment booked for today but the computers were down as we had no electricity. I took the golf cart up to the apartment to see if Braelyn was getting done but she was frustrated. She was trying to sweep up dog hair from the last guests and of course the vacuum wouldn't work, no lights so she couldn't see the hair very well. David Sauder called about then to ask if we had power. I called Anna to see if the power outage was affecting their house and was kind of relieved to find it was, thankfully it was not just our neighborhood.  Anna had been trying to dry the comforter of the apartment bed so brought it over here to hang to dry then went up to help Braelyn. Mark took up the battery generator so they could use the vacuum and had lights but not long after the power came back on. The dryer was used to dry the comforter. Anna and Braelyn got the apartment done and all was well. The airbnb guest for today thought they would arrive by 6:00 pm so I had plenty of time to get the comforter dried and back on the bed. The weather turned cloudy and we got a few sprinkles of rain so Bulu and her colt were taken back outside. Supper tonight was shrimp stir fry with Chinese noodles. 

For the Berean office tomorrow I baked a blueberry cake. That is now cooling and will be put in the fridge as soon as it is cool enough. This evening Mark and I watched Jeff Waibel give a message in Silverton, Oregon. This was such a good message for anyone that is struggling with sadness. To watch click HERE. 

Rizzy Scare

 I could hear the coffee maker finishing that delicious caffeinated brew and was glad to climb out of bed for that first cup. As we were leaving early this morning for church I asked Mark if he would come out to help bring Bulu and her colt inside. He was glad to help and even brought the cat food along to feed the cat at the same time. The cat was up on top of the stalls watching him as he was coming down the aisle with her food. 

I took the time to take a few pictures of Bulu's colt as he was trying to use his leg to scratch an itch on his face.

Rizzy had followed me out to the barn and was peeking through the crack of the door watching.

She loves to follow me around and loves to chase rabbits and birds. 

We left at 7:45 am for church. Mark dropped me off then drove to Schnuks to pick up the 13 dozen donuts we ordered from there. The sandwiches had been delivered and were in the fridge. I went to work washing the vegetables and slicing the cucumbers when I heard someone at the kitchen door. It was Faith, Mackenson, Berlica and Ruth. Then a bit later Rhoda and Lee arrived with Iris and Zeke and maybe 5 minutes later Sarah and Nolan arrived with Zion, Eden and River. Everyone went right to work. When Mark arrived with the donuts we were able to put the trays together then cover them with plastic wrap to keep them fresh.  Bob and Jill arrived to start the coffee. Check out the size of that coffee filter. 

Below are a few of my helpers.

Lunch went well, we had plenty of sandwiches, plenty of donuts but ran out of cuties and potato chips. After everyone had their fill we had 8 of the fried crescent donuts left, a dozen Bismarks, 6 chocolate donuts, 3 of the small bags of fruit snacks, very few vegetables were left, plenty of cookies and brownies and a tub full of the sandwiches. Craig Stickling had the morning message but I didn't get to hear it as we were busy. I'll forsure want to watch that later. Tim Roecker had the afternoon message but we were busy cleaning up so I didn't get to hear that one either. Lee and Nolan helped Mark with vacuuming the floor while I loaded the car and cleaned up the kitchen area.  Hopefully I'll have time tomorrow to just sit and listen to both. 24 of the sandwiches were made into sliders and baked for Sunday supper. We also served some of the cold sandwiches, the last of the vegetables, strawberries and a nice big salad. After supper we celebrated Iris' 7th birthday with an ice cream cake from Dairy Queen.

After the party the kids blew up balloons and played with those in the bouncy house.

Dan and Susan came over and not long after we noticed it was raining on one side of the barn but the sun was shining on the other side. A rainbow had developed right outside the South barn door. The kids could run right through it. Not the best pictures of the rainbow, we were standing in the doorway trying to stay out of the rain.

Dan and Susan took Nancy home this evening. The kids came inside to work on some crafts as it was muddy out.

Once the kids left for home I took the golf cart over to the house and realized Rizzy wasn't in the house. I called for her but she didn't come, then drove over to check if she was still by mom's house. She had been at the playground with the kids. She wasn't there either I stopped in at mom's and Berlica told me she saw Rizzy following Sarah and Nolan's van down the drive. OH NO that meant she was trying to follow them home. I started driving down Hanna City Glasford road on the golf cart calling and whistling but she wasn't answering. About then I started praying, Israel would be heart broken if I lost her. I turned around near Phil and Anna's house and started home still calling when a blue car came around the corner, slowed down and a man asked, "are you looking for a little dog?"  His name is Dean Hauk and he found her in the middle of the road. He stopped his car, called and she jumped right in.

I was relieved tears started wetting my eyes and I could only say over and over, "thank you, thank you for stopping, thank you for saving her from getting hit, thank you SO much!" 

He told me he called Stephanie's number to let her know he had her, then took a picture of her with his phone and sent that by text to Stephanie but she didn't respond.  David and Stephanie are now in Mexico and their phones do not work. Once they get back in the states they will get the message so I too  will leave a message that she is here and safe.  I'm just so relieved.

Swimming With Cookie and Missy

 I went out early this morning to check on Bulu's colt as he spent the night outside last night. He had made himself comfortable in the straw. 

We had a cloud come down and settle on the farm. 

It started just as a mist but when the fog became thick I could feel droplets of water. The spiderwebs which usually don't show at all were covered with the tiny droplets of water making each very visible.

I made breakfast pretty quickly then Mark and I drove to Sam's club to pick up the supplies for church lunch tomorrow. From there we drove to church to drop off the supplies and set the tables, then over to Aldi to pick up bananas and bread and butter pickles. The bananas at Aldi were much nicer than Sam's and no one else seems to carry bread and butter pickles. As soon as we got home Mark helped bring Bulu and her colt inside for the day. It was already getting hot and they are much more comfortable inside under the fan.

Once they were settled I left for mom's. Today was Janelle's birthday party at the lake and Joan wanted to help celebrate with the family. Mom and I watched as they played volleyball until all were so hot then went swimming. Berlica brought over Missy and Cookie to also go swimming so they could take turns learning to swim with the horses.

Mom and I went out on the deck for about one minute, it was just too hot and went right back in to the air conditioned house. Tonight Joan took mom over to her house where they grilled hamburgers and the party continued. Mark came up to the barn when it was time to move Bulu and her colt back outside. He is learning to stay with her. He has a lot of energy and was running circles around her tonight while she ate her grain.

Rizzy heard kids in the field and took off to find them. I think she was hoping it might be her boy Israel and her girl Elisabet but instead it was Berlica with her friends.

Bulu's stall was cleaned and made ready for tomorrow. We will need to move them into the stall early as we need to leave for church before 8:00 am tomorrow. I still needed to drive to the cabin to feed Sheena and her filly as Mike and Diane are in Morris, MN with Spark and Rhonda and the group from Gulf Shores. 

Today was an easy relaxing day. 

Bulu Delivers

 I had such a nice surprise this morning. Bulu had delivered a nice dark bay tall colt. The colt was already up and nursing well. Bulu and Titus were left outside last night as I have been putting them inside during the heat of the day. It was a nice night, no rain and not cold. Titus was staying away from them and Bulu was protective, keeping him near the bottom of the paddock. She had also already delivered the placenta. I moved Titus into the middle paddock with  Missy and Cookie then tried to bring Bulu inside but that didn't go well. The colt was not following yet as he was just a few hours old. They were left in the paddock until I could ask Joan for help when we were on the walk. She led Bulu and I brought the colt right behind her and into the stall. He is a strong fellow and knew exactly where to find the milk. 

Love that nursing sound!

Joan and Heather left but I filled water buckets and the hay feeder then put iodine on his cord. At 8:30 am I went over to mom's to show her pictures and videos of the colt and stayed there for a couple hours while Joan and Heather went grocery shopping. Heather and Sean left for a wedding after lunch. It was nice that they came for a visit this week. At home we had a couple repair men from the siding company come fix the siding above our bathroom wall. They finished that in just a few minutes and when we got the bill were so happy. There was no charge as it was still under warranty from when we had the siding put on. Mark spent the afternoon cutting the rubber tiles for the floor and fitting them to the new wall in the upstairs. He was glad to quit for his supper date tonight. He went to a steakhouse with one of our sons. I needed to move a bale in for Valiant. That is a little tricky when doing it by myself but got the job done. Next the mares were teased. None of them are showing. Last I went to the stall barn to refill water buckets clean up the one pile of manure Bulu left, refill her hay and give her a scoop of grain. The colt is doing great. The picture below was taken this evening. Check out his tail! He for sure inherited his sire's hair. This is a very long tail on a newborn.

This colt is for sale $4500.00. He can be reserved with a deposit of $1000.00 with balance of $3500.00 due at weaning and pick up in November. He is going to look and move like one of those expensive European warmbloods and is going to be superstar! On the way back to the house I stopped to give Valerie and Tessa some attention.

I'll be heading back up to the stalls tonight and will see if Mark will come help me move them out of the stall into a paddock for the night. 

Fun Summer

 Heading to the barn this morning I noticed the sail boat and Mike's truck still parked at the cabin. I thought Mike and Diane were leaving early for Minnesota but with the boat and truck still here thought they must have decided to leave a little later. I went up to try to start the generator on the motorhome and when it wouldn't even try to start called Cumming's Inc in Bloomington. The soonest they could see it is July 10th and the motorhome is supposed to be leaving for Montana on July 5th. Not a good situation.  Ruth sent a message she was going to be late for the walk as they were moving chickens. I think she has 50 hens so that takes a while. Joan and Heather arrived. We were surprised that Diane didn't show up. She called a bit later to let us know they were on their way to Minnesota. They had left early and then had some problems with the solar panels on the boat so turned around, dropped off the boat and truck and just drove their Prius. We stopped at the motorhome to check out the generator problem. 

Joan found it was low on oil then googled that and found when the generator is low on oil the safety clicks in and the generator won't start. 

She brought over oil, and now it runs. We kept it running for about an hour and as it didn't shut off we think it was an easy fix. I did not call Cummings back to cancel just in case we have any other trouble with it. My big job today was to take the truck to Goodfield to load the final pallet of the wood ceiling tiles for the barn. Thankfully Levi and Abram came to help as Dan had cut his thumb so I was VERY thankful for his boy's help.

They had the truck loaded in 15 minutes. After driving it home and backing into the indoor arena I went to unload the truck but couldn't get the tail gate down. I had to climb into the bed of the truck, lift each box, lean it on the side of the bed, climb back down and then unload the heavy box of tiles. It took a while but I was able to get all 24 boxes unloaded and stacked on a pallet. I was SO glad to walk into the airconditioned house and grab a cold bottle of water out of the fridge then collapse into a chair. David sent back the picture below.

They had left their cute Oklahoma hotel for Alamogordo, NM and only had a few hours to go. The kids were playing Guess Who. We were glad for the update.  Sarah sent the picture as they were on their way to hot St. Louis for the Cub's vs Cardinals game.

She wrote later that the true hero of the day was the battery operated fan they were able to bring into the park.

I guess it was worth it when the Cubs won this game but it was awfully hot here I can't imagine how hot it must have been in St. Louis. Anna sent the video below of Kensley's grand slam. 

She got the game ball.

The kids are sure having a fun summer!

It was much to hot to cook and Mark wanted a cob salad from Gils so that is where we went for supper tonight. 

I think he likes all that blue cheese crumbles they spread on that salad. Sure don't know why anyone wants to eat moldy cheese. It was so much he asked for a lid and took at least half of those crumbles home. We also ordered onion rings to take over to mom's for their dinner. Mom really likes those.

IT IS BULU

 It IS Bulu  and not Aiken. This morning early I went out to get some pictures to compare then looked up the day Mike brought the horse. Below is Bulu the day he dropped her off. 

Notice those 2 white back anklets.

Below is this morning's pictures of her face and those 2 back white anklets.

It is NOT Aiken who is also pictured the day Mike brought her. this picture does not show her legs but believe me when I say she doesn't have any white on those legs.

She is somewhere at Middle Grove with the herd and obviously must have lost the pregnancy during the winter as Bulu was the only mare obviously pregnant there. It finally makes sense why this mare was not bagging up, she isn't even due until July 5th! Ugh all those days and nights of cleaning stalls and keeping her on the monitor. I changed the website this morning before heading out for our walk. Today on the walk we saw 2 great blue herons flying around the lake and finally landing in a tree across. They must be a nesting pair and if so this is the first time we have had that. We stopped at Diane's to check out the sailboat now that it is finished. The sail is removed, solar installed and the cabin made into a nice but small living area with kitchen, bathroom and sleeping room for 2.

She could actually sleep 4 more if they were children up under the front of the boat.

Today was going to be a clean the house day. I started on the dishes and had just finished those when Dan asked if I could bring the truck to pick up the last pallet of wood ceiling tiles. I had not yet emptied the truck for the pallet from yesterday so went out to the barn to do that job. I'm not sure what each box weighs but they are not light. I was able to finish the job by 9:30 am.

I went in to cool off when I got a message about a lady wanting to check out the barn for her wedding in 2026. I went over there to clean up the kitchen and living area and ended up cleaning out the closet removing all the camping supplies and taking them to the stall barn. We had a lot of camp chairs and hot dog forks but have never used them at the barn. I was throwing some garbage away when mom saw me and asked if I could come over. I was glad to take a break and cool down. Her house is nice and cool right now. While visiting with mom, Joan called to ask if I would take the motorhome down to FS to fill the propane tank. It was supposed to go out at 3:00 pm today. The man renting it last week brought it back just before noon so as soon as I was able I drove it down to fill it then parked it up in the circle drive, turned on the generator so I could run the air conditioner and got that cleaned up ready for the man coming to take it at 3:00 pm. It was so hot outside I decided to move it to the barn and plug it in so the air conditioner would cool it down before he arrived. When he arrived I showed him how to run things, unplugged it, turned the generator back on and he drove away with that running and both the roof air and the dash air on high. A nice long cold shower felt great. We left for church at 6:00 pm. Caleb Plattner had the message tonight on Genesis 19 and 20. To watch that click HERE. After church we saw Chelise and she was carrying her own back pack. She is so tiny it was amazing to see, although at one point she lost her balance and went backward. 

We joined the huge group at Culvers for supper after church. The man who rented the motorhome today called and left a couple messages that the generator had stopped working and an error code was flashing. We didn't get the message as our phones were on silent. I called him 3 times but each time just got his answering machine. Joan finally was able to reach him. He told her he was going to return the motorhome tonight as they had to have air conditioning. He rented it through rv share so Joan contacted that company to request he gets a refund. It is after 10:00 pm and the motorhome still isn't back so not sure what is going to happen but I can't stay up any longer to wait.