Grandma's Work Day Gift

 We had a storm come through last night which cooled the air down. The morning was almost cool when doing chores.  It was my turn to be with mom early so as soon as the horses were done I headed over.  Today was the big Mother's Day Gift we give mom each year but this year we had it 6 days after Mother's Day. The work day was supposed to start at 8:00 am but in this family if you are not early you may be considered late. The family members started arriving before 8:00 am. Below grandma is sitting on the front porch watching the work getting done.

Below are a few pictures.

If you would like to see the rest of the pictures from the work day click HERE. The dog kennel was repaired, the broken trampoline taken apart and the new one put up, the weeding was done, new mulch put down and raked, the gutters were cleaned out, the lake was cleaned up with the debris cleaned up and thrown away, the trees growing up on the dam were cut down, the garage was cleaned out, mom's car was detailed and much much more.  It is amazing how much can be accomplished in a few hours with so many willing workers from 4 years old on up. Below is a short video of the morning.

I was supposed to stay until 5:00 pm tonight at mom's but Joan's daughter Sarah came early.  A Baltimore Oriel arrived and knocked on the sliding glass door of the deck (he really was pecking the door) to let us know there was no orange peel with grape jelly out. Sarah put it out and the bird came right back to eat.

We played a game while mom rested then I left to get some updated pictures and a video of Soul's colt for a lady interested in him. He really has nice movement.

He is just 3 weeks old.

When putting Soul away I noticed Dakota showing. She was teased in front of Valiant then taken over to the breeding stand and covered.  Valiant was a little worried about being kicked but she stood well.

Emily brought a family over to try out Sangria and she did so well they are going to come next weekend to take her home for a trial. 

I will be sad to see this mare leave as she has been my own personal riding mare. That is what happens when we get old, we start downsizing even when it hurts.

Ruth brought Nancy to the work day and Karin grilled steak for dinner so Nancy enjoyed the work day, the pizza party and finally the steak dinner. Tatiana and her colt were left out all day and since it is such a nice evening they will stay out all night. That will make tomorrow morning a little easier.

Peoria Cooperative Academy Picnic

 No walk again this morning. With Diane gone the rest of us don't feel the need. We all get enough exercise without it. Instead I was up at the barn cleaning stalls while it was still cool enough to do so. The apartment was made ready for the guests coming in today and the indoor arena cleaned before heading down to make breakfast for Mark. Right after breakfast I left for TSC to pick up the fly spray and new sprayer then to Kroger to pick up onions for our meal tonight which was liver and onions.  I got home right around 9:00 am, hooked up the horse trailer and headed for Middle Grove to pick up Madiera.  From there I went straight to Hoerr Vet clinic to get Madiera's blood drawn for her new Coggins test.  I didn't think to take any pictures at Middle Grove as I was in a hurry and only stopped and took the picture below after Madiera was loaded back in the trailer at the vet clinic.  

I was due at mom's at 1:00 pm.  Madiera was put in with Jury in the far paddock.

Madiera isn't due until June 7th but may be going to another barn to foal out. We have someone coming to look at her on Monday. They are hoping to purchase her foal and want the entire experience of foaling her out and handling the foal from birth on. I still had time to check out the auction site on Hanna City Glasford road. I heard they had a lot of horse stuff but we just don't need much of that anymore. 

When I got to mom's the coop picnic was in full swing. There were cars and people everywhere. It was so hot out that the cold lake water felt good. There were people playing volley ball, swimming, fishing, boating, playing on the playground, sitting around tables and visiting and just really enjoying the day.

Below is a short video of some of the lake activity taken from mom's deck.

Mom had a better day today,  she enjoyed the liver and onions we had for supper and also the hot biscuits. We had a quiet evening. Mark saw my car had been parked over at the playground and brought my car and Karin's car up to mom's house as rain was predicted.  I left mom's at 8:30 pm once she was in bed and the storm hit right after that.  During the storm the thermometer dropped dramatically from our high of 93 down to 76. 

Check out the headline from the New York Times:

"Biden Administration Cancels Drilling Sales in Alaska and Gulf of Mexico" 

 Do you want to know what the reason for canceling according to this liberal newspaper?

A spokeswoman for the Interior Department, Melissa Schwartz, said in a statement that the Cook Inlet lease sale would not proceed because of a “lack of industry interest.”

What an absolute LIE! Gas is now $4.69a gallon at the cheapest places here in the Peoria IL area. Any guess on how high can we go? We can't trust the government and we certainly can't trust the media.  We the people that have to drive to work for a living are in BIG TROUBLE when our government is on such a destructive path. WHY are they doing this on PURPOSE? With diesel fuel at an all time high of $5.29 a gallon here every semi truck driver owner hauling and farmer trying to farm are really concerned. Well we should be too. No wonder food prices are so high.  

Pumping Out the Tanks

 I went out early to let Tatiana and Jury in the big field. In the picture below they came right away when called. 

Her colt was running around having fun so when Jury went into the barn I didn't let Tatiana follow her and took this short video.

Jury is now a day over due and still not bagged up. She was put in the short shelter paddock next to Rocky. He is by himself until he heals from his brain operation. (the gelding) The flies have hatched and were bothering the horses today. I went down to the house to get the concentrated fly spray I keep under the kitchen sink and was shocked that it was gone.  I searched everywhere I could think of but no fly spray so I got on line and ordered that along with a gallon size pump sprayer. We find this works well to spray down the horses. The people came this morning to pump out ours and Joan's sceptic tanks today.  This was interesting, I had never seen it done before.  They first had to find the tank. Once it was located brought shovels and started digging.

Once the tank was found the cap with the handle needed to be found and dug out.

They used a different tool to make sure it was loose all the way around before lifting it out.

When the tank lid was off it was obvious that I was doing laundry. 

They used another tool which was like a big mixer to churn up the bottom of the tank. No picture of that but the next job was to put the hose in and start the pumping.

Of course I needed to make a video of this fascinating process.

They finished up here and posed for a picture before leaving for Joan's house.

If you live out this way and need this service I highly recommend CW Septic Service. They did a good job and didn't even complain when they had to find the tank first.  I finished the laundry, went up to the 5th wheel and finished a bit of cleaning, put Tatiana and her colt in the indoor to keep him out of the sun then went down to the house to get ready to leave for John Hoerr's visitation.  Mark left work early and we left at 3:15 pm to drive to church. Since we arrived before the 4:00 pm start time we only had to wait a short time before they opened up the line.  I needed to be back at mom's house by 5:00 pm so we were pleased we were able to go through the line and got out by 4:15 pm. When we got home Mackenson was by the side of our drive vomiting. That poor kid was mowing and got over heated. We brought him into the house had him lay down and gave him water to drink. It was another terribly hot day with the temps into the 90s again.  Mackenson was using the push mower while the others were using the riding mowers. Amy came tonight to with rhubarb crisp for our dessert.  We were thrilled when she stayed for dinner. Mom wasn't feeling well tonight and right after dinner wanted to lay down. She said she just felt weak. After about a half hour she felt well enough that we could get her up and ready for bed. 

 

Feels Like 103 Degrees

 Yesterday was hot but today even hotter. We had a high of 94 degrees with a heat index of 103. Much to hot for black horses.  We will have a high water bill this month. The horses were brought into the indoor arena and hosed off a couple times each.  Tatiana and her colt were left outside all night last night as I knew they would be inside all day today.  This morning before the walk I took a few pictures of Tatiana and her 3 day old colt before bringing them inside.

Tatiana has the mega hair and if kept braided it just continues to grow.  I don't have time to keep it braided so her mane has been thinned out and trimmed by tangles and branches but her tail is still thick and drags the ground.  

Jury's official due date is today and she is still not bagged up. She spent some time rolling though so I think she is getting the foal in position.

Jury was given a good hosing today to get all that ground in dirt off. We shall see what she looks like tomorrow morning. Below both are grazing in the field and even her colt was tasting the grass.

He also has a very long tail for a 3 day old colt so he probably inherited that mega hair gene.

On the walk Joey and Ellie passed us on the 4 wheeler on their way to Mike's. 

Diane is now on her way to Gulf Shores so Mike hired these two to help with putting up a new fence in the cabin field so we can move the riding horses over.  By 9:30 am the mares were brought inside. I went to work cleaning the 5th wheel trailer. I also ordered the white tape both the 4 inch wide and the 6 inch wide for repairing the side. I will also need to do a little repair on the roof. Where the antenna cranks up I now have a leak.  Ralph and Jamie dropped off Dakota around noon. Dr. Hoerr was coming today to geld Rocky and do coggins so we added her to the ultrasound list. They would like to breed her to Valiant but we wanted to find out where she is in her cycle.  Dr. Hoerr wasn't able to arrive until around 4:00 pm. I had Dakota, Sally and Irish in the stalls but he wanted to start with Rocky since the gelding takes the longest. Rocky was very good about leading into the stall and stood well for the sedation shot. Below Dr. Hoerr is laying him down.

Once he was out cold he was flipped up on his back and after washing the area well the procedure started.

That went well. Dr. Hoerr went in the apartment to cool off a bit while I went to get Sangria for her Coggins test. Sangria, Irish's colt and Sally all got their blood drawn for a new Coggins. Irish's colt was so good for that. He let me halter him with no problem and stood well.  Below is after I took the halter off.

Then came the ultrasounds.  Sally was done first and I was really surprised to find her open.  I have not seen her come back in season so expected her to be pregnant. She was taken off our list.  Dakota came next. She had a big follicle of 38 mm but did not act like she is in season. Dr. Hoerr gave her a shot of prostaglandin and she should be ready to cover in 2 to 3 days.  Irish had an older CL but only had some small follicles. He left me a shot of prostaglandin to give her in a week. By the time he left we were both exhausted and overheated. Walking back down to the house I noticed the second pair of geese had hatched out goslings. We had 6 goslings with the first pair and 4 with the second. 

Mark had just gotten home and he also was exhausted by the time I walked into the house. Working outside in this heat just wore us both out. As it was after 6:00 pm we just watched church online. Craig Stickling had the message. It is still 88 degrees outside and already after 8:30 pm.  Thankfully tomorrow is not supposed to be quite so hot. 

Over 90

The horses were let out early this morning while it was still cool. I only walked one round so I could get the Berean mail from the Peoria post office and still make it to Berean in plenty of time.  Kathy brought the dessert so I didn't need to worry about having anything prepared. If you would like to read about our morning there click HERE. I was home by 12:30 pm and went straight out to put Tatiana, her colt and Jury inside.  It was already too hot for that new foal.  New foals can get over heated very quickly.  This one was fine, Tatiana was smart enough to keep him in the shade. They were put in and I would have hosed them off but I needed to be at mom's by 1:00 pm to relieve Beth so just made sure they had plenty of water then left. Poor Beth had quite a time this morning with mom. She was by herself when mom needed some help. She called Rachel but Rachel was in Morton, she called Joan but Joan was also in Morton garage saleing. Joan called Anna but Anna was not home and wouldn't be home until 11:00 am.  When I walked in Beth said, "well we are both still alive."  Of course she had to tell us all about it. I think next Tuesday we have a different plan. Beth is still going to take that shift but Karin will leave a bit later and I'll come earlier. At 3:00 pm mom and I left for the Peoria Cooperative Academy's presentation of A Spring Celebration of Music.  We arrived with 15 minutes before the start time.  Julie, her son Boone, Hannah and Jacob came over to talk to mom before the start.

The first group up was the Joyful Messengers. They are directed by Larissa Steffen who is expecting twins and is 34 weeks along. Larissa is Phil Witzig's daughter and must have inherited his love of music. Those kids did wonderful. Julie and Chad's daughter Mercy sings in this group. She is in the top row 4th from the right.

The next group was the Cantate. Berlica, Joan's daughter and two of Julie's

 daughters Emma and Livie sing in. I forgot to take a picture of this group but don't worry I videoed every song and that can be enjoyed in full a little farther down. The chorale sang next Joan's daughter Faith and Marie's son Justin are part of. We knew a lot of these singers.  

The Jazz ensemble sang then the chorale came back up to finish with 2 more songs.  Watch the video below to enjoy the entire concert.  Mom and I certainly enjoyed it.

After the concert many people came over to talk to mom. Julie's girls came over too.

We talked about the concert and how good the kids did almost all the way home.  Diane was on duty tonight and brought supper over.  I was home by 6:00 pm and quickly heated up some left overs for our supper. It was still 91 degrees outside so I waited until 7:30 pm to turn Tatiana, her colt and Jury back out. They will spend the night out in the field tonight then will be brought back inside tomorrow before the heat of the day. This heat is supposed to last a couple more days before we get more normal temperatures.  Crazy how just a few days ago we were using the wood burner. 

End of School Concert

 Summer arrived today. We had a high of 84 degrees and bright sunshine. At 8:45 am I picked up Gertie and Anna for the drive to Farmington school where the end of school concert was going to happen. I should have worn a hat the concert was all all morning long with Braelyn's class going last. When the first group got up I was looking at this cute little red headed girl thinking she sure looks familiar when I realized that must be Annie Meister, Tom and Tarah's daughter.

It turned out Tarah was sitting right next to Anna. Then looked over and saw Rhonda.

I was wondering why would Rhonda be here when I realized Jacob and Andi's boys now go to this school. I think this is Charlie.

I think it is Max in the picture below.

And the one in the middle in the picture below may or may not be another one of Tom and Tarah's boys. 

Kensley had to stop on the way up to the risers to talk to the boy behind her.

Each class performed a few songs. Taegan was on the top row of her class.

Braelyn was one row down and on the far left in the picture below.

The wind was blowing her hair around.

I recorded a song for each of their classes. The wind was strong, canceling out the sound of the songs and the sun was so bright I couldn't see the kids in the view finder very well so the video isn't the best.

We got home after noon. I had enough time to scarf down a piece of chicken and still make it to mom's house by 1:00 pm. Joey and Ellie were working on the potholes on the drive.

They were using mom's Kubota to haul bags of cold patch and pounding it in. There is gravel ordered and will be spread on top. 

Mom was just finishing lunch and wanted to sit out on the deck. We sat a while but the wind was blowing and gusting so hard we couldn't keep hats on and I had already had way to much sun.  Rhonda was here planting flowers. 

Mark brought home a sweeper for the barn. As soon as I got done at mom's he showed me how it worked. It isn't too hard to push and does a good job on the dust.

I let Tatiana and Jury out on the big field before going in and making supper.

Jury is looking huge but still not bagged up.  Tatiana and her colt were content to stay in the shade under a tree.

After supper I went back to mom's for about an hour then brought them inside for the night. 

I was marveling at his nice straight legs once in the barn. 

The lady in line for Tatiana's foal really wants to wait for a filly. Diane thought we should tell her that this colt identifies as a filly as he is always hanging around the mares.  (bad joke) I've sent a text to the next person in line but haven't yet heard from him. 

I've not yet caught up on my sleep from staying up most of Saturday night and will head to bed early tonight.