Paying the Bills

 Our walk lasted extra long this morning, We walked first to Joan's house then to the barns but when we reached Mike's new barn stopped to see the improvements.  Diane told us she helped Mike all day on that yesterday. They put up almost all of the siding.

He even hung the deer head he shot while bow hunting with Andrew.

When we reached Spark's house John and Spark were outside talking. We were all sharing fun memories of living with mom these last almost 5 years. Ruth shared, the Sunday before mom died she was outside at the campfire and asked Diane, "where is Mike?" Diane replied, he is working on his barn. Mom came back quick with, "he is probably trying to figure out what else to buy for it."  then she started laughing and had all of us laughing too. Ruth stepped back to take the picture below.

We are all so grateful for the parents we had and how they raised us. It really was hard to leave that impromptu meeting.

We usually get back around 8:30 am but today we visited so long Mark cooked his own breakfast. Right after breakfast I went to the foaling apartment to start flipping that. We have new guests coming in this afternoon. All of the bedding there was taken to the new barn to wash and dry so I could work on the living area floor while the machines were going. Sarah worked on a pregnancy announcement for Perfect Penny.

When the foaling apartment was done I pulled hair from Sapphire for the dna test then drove to the post office to mail it. It was raining and I didn't want the envelope to get wet and ruin the dna.

We had a nice gentle rain that most of the time was just coming down as a sprinkle. I worked most of the day organizing the pantry and closets in the new barn while doing laundry. At 4:00 pm I took the golf cart over to Joan's to meet a man renting a camper for the weekend. That went well, he is a repeat renter so knew all the steps.

The Gypsy registry told me they would refund the $215.00 I sent in to register Izzy but it hasn't arrived yet. That was sent by paypal and was supposed to be returned by paypal. I sent a reminder to the registry. We got our electric bills and water bills today and they were both really high. We had 3 or 4 days of overflowing water on one of the automatic waterers so I knew the water bill would be high and it was $255.31. The electric bill, even though we have solar at the farm house was $222.10 and the electric for the barn was $375.49. That was the only bill that went down. Last month it was $690. It wasn't rented as much this month. I'm thankful the airbnb's are renting as much as they are, they are paying the bills around here.

Closing Day

 Spark joined us on the walk today with a shiner.

He remarked, "After 51 years of marriage you would think I would to learn to stop talking back", and then we heard the rest of the story. He was working and the wrench slipped off and his forehead ended up hitting metal and the metal won. Rhonda wasn't even there.. It started raining just as we finished the walk. Sarah arrived with her girls during the rain and gave them a vaulting lesson on Jewel. 

 After breakfast Mark came with me to the barn to help. He used the hand held sweeper to go around the edges of the gym while I worked on bathrooms. He left around 9:30 am but I kept cleaning until 11:30 am then came in to clean up before we needed to leave to pick up Spark. Today was the closing on mom's house. We picked up Spark and drove to Vital Title where Fedi's sister Czilla helped us with all the paper work. There was a lot of paper work. We didn't arrive home until around 2:30 pm. Sarah sent a text that two foals were out. It was Tessa's filly and Harli's colt. They escaped through a downed board. Sarah fixed that and then got the two foals in with grain.  Her girls were getting ready to go on a trail ride.

When they got back we hooked Penny up to the cart.

Sarah tried her out first and she did well so Zion was next and then when we saw Penny was perfect Eden and River joined her.

We skipped supper as tonight after church we went to Culvers. We left for church at 6:00 pm, picked up Berlica and Mackenson at 6:05 and made it to church by 6:35 pm.  Dave Beutel had the message on Proverbs 25 and John 19.  Click HERE to watch that. We drove to Culvers and had a nice ending to our evening eating and fellowshipping with the others who came. 

Izzy Found Deceased

 I had leg cramps during the night, bad ones, enough that I wasn't very rested when it was time to get up. We had a funny walk this morning. One of my sisters was telling us a true story that just happened. I won't say which sister but her husband sold a horse and the buyer came with cash. As the banks were closed she decided to put it in their fireproof box they use for important papers and it locks but when she found the box it was open and the key was missing. She looked and looked but could not find the key. She went on amazon typed in the fireproof box and found she could order new keys for it. I think she said they sent 3 keys for around $10.00. The keys came, she was thrilled with they worked but now she had 2 extra keys. She was wondering where to put these extra keys, looked around her house thinking where would be a good place to hide them, thought she figured out the perfect place, went to put those 2 extra keys there and found 2 OTHER keys. When they bought the fireproof box, it came with 3 keys so she hid those extra keys and forgot about them.  Now she has 5 keys for the box. The moral of the story is when we get old and lose something just look for a good hiding place and more than likely your lost will be found! The rest of us all laughed. I quit the walk early as I wanted to stop at Sam's club to pick up a dessert for the Berean volunteers this morning. We had a very good morning together. After our prayer Marvin told us a story about a teacher he has known for years. She is Jewish and has been amazed at his life. So amazed, that she asked him to write a biography of his life and send it to her. She doesn't believe in Jesus. Marvin asked us to pray for her, she is now elderly and really does need to know the truth. Her name is Judy and I'm asking anyone reading this to stop now and just pray that Judy's eye's could be open to the truth. Our LORD hears the prayers of HIS people.                                                            There were 11 volunteers this morning at that office. Below are a few pictures. 

I got to the Hanna City post office to drop off the mail when Mike and Diane showed up there. I told them as soon as I dropped off the car I was taking my truck out to Middle Grove to keep searching for Izzy. Sarah and her girls were here. They had cleaned up our house then were getting the horses ready to go trail riding. Today Zion was the leader riding Missy, River rode Penny and Eden rode Jewel. 

She took the video below of the girls and their ponies.

I drove the truck all the way back to the big lake and started hiking along the steep edge just in case she had rolled down into the bushes at the edge of the lake or into a ravine. I just kept hiking and searching each clump of trees and each ravine. When I reached the ridge near the top the horses saw me so I parked the truck and walked to them hoping they would leave the truck alone.

Cookie and Lily were grazing together near the watering hole at the top.

The rest came at a trot from the trees to surround the truck.

Above is three year old Thalia followed by Madiera and behind her Rosalie. Below is Oliver.

Shadow is far left,  Blueberry in the middle and Rosalie and Rosaleigh right.

I kept walking, through those woods behind the horses still checking ravines when I found Izzy's body. She was laying flat out next to a tree in a little clearing up near the top. The ground had not been disturbed around her which made me believe she had probably been struck by lightning. We had storm after storm come through with so much lightning. It was a relief to know she wasn't stuck somewhere suffering. I hiked back to the truck and it was completely surrounded.

Trying to drive out I had to keep honking the horn. They weren't in a hurry to let me leave. I sent texts to the family to let them know she was found. When I got home I contacted the registry to let them know I had found her and she was dead. They agreed to refund the $215.00 I spent to get her registered. The LORD gives and the LORD takes away, blessed by the name of the LORD. 

Now I have some website work to do.

WE LOST Izzy

Our guests at the farm house left early so I was able to get that ready for the guests coming in today by 8:45 am, that is all except the laundry. That was taken to the new barn to wash. Once that was going I went back to cook breakfast for Mark. Right after breakfast Mark and I were moving a bale in to the mare paddock when our guests in the foaling apartment left. That meant the cleaning could be started there. The beds were made, the towels taken over to the new barn to join the laundry from the farm house. I am so thankful I have enough towels and sheets to flip both places. By 10:30 am both of those places were ready for the next guests coming in today. Mike called just as I was getting ready to hook up the stock trailer for the trip to Middle Grove. I explained to Mike I was bringing out Rosaleigh as her colt needed to be weaned and wanted to pick up Izzy and Dancer. I asked him to use his 4 wheeler to bring both of those mares to the gate. He called back with very bad news. He could not find Izzy. I made it out by 11:00 am, although I had to slow down for turkeys crossing the road. Then drove back to the big field as the herd was there but no Izzy. Mike had already put a halter on Dancer then spent the rest of the time until I arrived searching. Below is Lily, the very first Friesian and really the start of it all. She is 24 years old and looks amazing for her age.

The first thing we do when we drive up and get out of the truck is to halter and tie Oliver. He is usually the first one to the trailer and is stands quietly until we are done. Below is Oliver and one of the Thoroughbred mares.

Below is Dancer and Rosalie

Dancer was led over to the trailer. Since we couldn't find Izzy Mike haltered Denver. Denver is by Valiant out of Bulu and at 15 months old already quite tall.

The horses were loaded and I headed back to Hanna City. I had to stop for more turkeys, this time they were crossing the road on the other side.

When I got back Dancer and Denver were put in the short shelter paddock. About then Sarah arrived with Zion and Iris, Rhoda arrived a few minutes later. The girls got the ponies out of the paddock and tied them up. Sarah and Rhoda helped tack them up and soon they were ready to load and leave.

As Rosaleigh's colt is now without a mama I put up two more buckets and the horses were grained. Harli has a bucket, Tessa has a bucket and the 3 foals all share the middle bucket.

Right after that I left to pick up Israel and Elisabet and head back out to Middle Grove to start searching for Izzy. When we arrived Berlica and Joan were just coming back from searching. Israel went on the 4 wheeler with Diane while Elisabet and Berlica went searching on the other 4 wheeler. I hiked up and down into the deep woods where the 4 wheelers cant go. At one point we crawled through the fence and followed an almost dry creek bed because we thought we smelled something dead but there was no hoof tracts only deer tracks and the smell wasn't strong enough. I really thought we would find her dead body and I don't know if I'm relieved because we didn't. Mike called the Fulton County Sheriff's office to report a missing horse. It doesn't make sense that we can't find her. We finally quit the search so Berlica could take Israel and Elisabet out on the Solar Coaster to search the shoreline of the lake.

After hours of searching if Izzy is dead she hasn't been dead enough to stink and draw in the vultures. I only know she would never leave the herd. She sticks out with her spots so is usually very easy to see at Middle Grove.

The lake had a big group swimming and boating. Joan and her daughter Sarah took one of the canoes out fishing and caught enough for supper. Diane took one of the kayaks out. A lot of the men were out on the pontoon boat while the kids swam off the dock.

All of Spark's family were there, all of Joan's family, John and some of his family were there and then of course there was us. There were 4 wheelers and dirt bikes all being used. 

At 5:00 pm we had to quit and go to Farmington High School to pick up Braelyn from practice. David and Stephanie were here when we got back to the house. Braelyn and Taegan came over for a bit. Sarah and Rhoda were back from Jubilee and had Denver in the round pen. They had a wonderful time exploring the trails at Jubilee. Iris told me, "I wish I could go EVERY DAY!" 

If you would like to see the rest of the pictures from the ride click HERE.

They didn't work with Denver very long. Below Rhoda is taking him back to the paddock.

What a crazy day. 

Wonderful Day

 Today was amazing. Even before leaving for church as I got a couple phone calls of family coming in from Missouri to come for Sunday dinner. We left for church at 9:00 am and were happy to see we had guests from Tremont. David had the morning message and after listening and learning could only say, "WOW." To watch that click HERE. I'll have to watch it again, there is just so much in this lesson. Gregg Rumbold had the afternoon message on Genesis 3 and 1 John 2. Click HERE to watch that. Nancy came home with us after church. Rhoda and Sarah were out working with the horses and had new riders today. Tom brought his kids all the way from Missouri to ride. His red headed daughter Anni really really wanted to ride a horse and today was the day. Now she really really really WANTS a horse. Sorry Tom and Tarah! I was most pleased with Harli today. Both Rhoda and Sarah rode her. She is just doing amazing under saddle. Rhoda even asked her to step up on the pedestal. 

Below is a short video of this evenings training session.

We had a big group for supper tonight as tonight is the annual 14th Halo contests. Ruth's boys and Rachel's boys had it all set up in the barn. 

As Tom AND Tim came with their children, John and Beth also showed up. It was like a big family reunion!

The video was taken after supper and after John and Beth left.

Nancy was given some golf cart rides this evening before Rhoda and Lee took her home. Joan took the motorhome to Middle Grove as her family are camping out there tonight. Ruth and Fedi also went and so did Mike and Diane and Spark and Rhonda. The weather had cooled down and is great for camping. Today really was a wonderful day.

Registrations

 Another really hot day, not sure how hot but in the 90s again, at one point the car was reading over 103 degrees. Braelyn had some friends spend the night at the farmhouse last night. Philip asked them, "are you sure you want to stay there?  You know John the ghost lives right next door, in fact that is why they moved out." Braelyn said at first they were terrified and wanted all the curtains shut and all the doors locked. It didn't take long for them to get comfortable and by morning told Anna as she was driving them home it was the best nights sleep they can remember. The house reminded them of their grandmother's house and they loved going there.  Yep, it is really old. As it was booked for tonight Braelyn helped get it flipped. I was SO glad for air conditioning. The man buying Tessa's filly asked for a new video today but since it was so hot I took a very short video outside of her trotting then inside to cool off. 

Next Rhoda wanted me to send Jozsef pictures of the East door of the barn. That has had a problem leaking. Those were taken and sent by text to him. He is now in business for himself and working as a handyman and he IS very handy. I'm not going to give anyone his information yet though, otherwise he will get too backed up to do our small job. About that time a message came through from someone asking to see the motorhome. They were from Lake Camelot so just a few minutes away. I was taking the golf cart over to plug it in and turn on the air when Diane and Joan showed up walking. They were left in the dust until after I got the motorhome ready. We were still talking when the people showed up and somehow knew we were sisters. After they left it was time to work on registrations. I was able to get Izzy registered on-line for $215.00. They will send a the dna paper by mail but it is paid for. Next was to order the DNA My Horse. That could also be done on line and I could pay by credit card. This is supposed to tell us what breed other than Friesian Sapphire has. She sure looks like a purebred.

Supposedly she is 7/8ths Friesian so we need to know if that is true and what the other 1/8th is.  The next job was to download the Gypsian book of the Friesian Heritage Horse International registry and fill out all of that paper work. I also had to make copies of Harli, his dam's papers to send along with it. The last two done were a little more simple, Tessa's filly and Rosaleigh's colt. I didn't finish with all of that paper work until almost 1:30 pm. It is very time consuming and expensive. For the 3 foals the cost was $315.00. I spent almost $600.00 while sitting inside. I left at 1:50 pm to drive to Sarah's house. She and Nolan were invited to a wedding and needed to leave by 2:15 pm. The girls and I had a ball building forts and staying on cushions away from lava in their living room. Those girls were jumping machines.

When they finally quit they were exhausted.

After resting a bit they got their shoes on and we drove to Sam's club to pick up the food for tomorrow supper. We have a big group coming. Rachel is cooking 2 large pork roasts to add to the dinner. Before leaving Sam's we stopped at their little café and each ordered a slice of pizza and a slushy. That came to 11:00 and was a bargain. We brought it home so we could put the food away at our house then Mark could join us for supper. Those slices were huge. We drove back to Sarah and Nolan's house. Zion's job was to let all of the dogs out. Right now they have 3 mama dogs in the house. Rilla has 5 puppies, Bailey has 3 puppies and Fiona just has 1. Each mama dogs goes out by herself and once she does her business comes running back to the door and then runs to her puppies. It is a good system. Sarah and Nolan got home around 7:30 pm from the wedding. It was an outdoor wedding and the reception was held in a barn with no air-conditioning. I'm sure glad I wasn't invited.

Horsemeister's Sapphire

 Luna just doesn't fit this new mare of ours. Today Rhoda and Sarah must have showed up very early to work with her and decided her new name is Horsemeister's Sapphire and we will call her Fire. She has a lot of holes in her training. She does not respect our space (typical Friesian) but we must teach her to do this. They are big horses and don't understand how much room they take up. She leads ok but does not like her back legs handled. The girls did some really amazing work with her before taking a break for pictures. Introducing Sapphire: 

We will get some better action shots later. Once Fire was put away they brought out Tessa and her filly. The pictures on the website of Tessa were taken when she was only 2 years old. We really needed to update those. Plus Zion was here with her flowers and dress so of course we needed a photo shoot.

She had to stand on a chair for some of those pictures and her filly was very curious about what was happening and just had to come check it out.

While all of this was going on I had the other kids with me while I worked on the farm house. The men that stayed the last 5 nights left it nice. I had garbage to empty, bedding to strip and lots of towels to wash. Those were all hauled over to the barn washer as that one is new and has a short cycle on it. When Zion was done she came down and the kids loved the curtains in the bedroom. 

They decided to put on a play. Here it is below with zero practice.

While I was finishing up the farm house it booked for Saturday and Sunday night. I had blocked it off for tonight as Braelyn and her friends are staying the night but now I'll need to kick them out around noon and get it ready for the next group coming in. When I got back to our house Mark was busy washing the car.

It was very dusty and the cameras were letting Mark know they needed to be cleaned. It is funny how often the car contacts us. Mark calls the car Fred and at least once a day Fred sends me a text. 

It was another extremely hot day. The high was again 96 degrees with a heat index of 110. We just can't work outside. I was very glad to be working on laundry all day in an airconditioned building. Now I'm logging off here and will go to work on the website.