Big Sunday

 I was up by 5:45 am and after downing one good cup of coffee I started doing the work I should have done on Saturday but was just too tired. The bathroom was cleaned, the kitchen was given a stove job (the stove along with everything else in the kitchen really needed cleaning) and the floors were swept and mopped. It really is good to have company even if that company is family and coming on Sunday. At 8:30 am breakfast was cooked then it was time to get ready for church. Today Joan brought mom to church but then her whole family needed to leave around 10:30 am as Aubry was getting baptized at Summit Church. Joan said there were 50 baptisms there today. Craig Stickling had our morning service on Jonathan, David, King Saul and then Saul who became Paul. Click HERE to watch that. David had the afternoon service on Peter's answer. Click HERE to watch that, I promise you WILL learn something new by watching this message. After church Israel rode with Mark who followed us to mom's house. Joan wasn't yet back so Mark stayed with mom while I drove the Tesla over to the foaling apartment to turn the lights on and make sure there were no Asian beetles or stink bugs on the floor. I was glad the guest wasn't there yet, I found 2 stink bugs dead on the floor and about 8 of the Asian beetles. She is staying for 4 nights so hopefully no more get in while she is here. When I got back to mom's house Joan was just pulling in. Sarah and Nolan had arrived along with David and Stephanie. Israel was glad to show all the girls the car light show. David was here to work on taxes and I went to work on the vegetables. I cut up 8 peppers and 4 onions. As I was cutting the onions Jake Gerst arrived. I explained I wasn't weeping because I was so glad to see him, it was the onions.  Mark did the grilling tonight and I have to say the meal was excellent. Ruth dropped off a big salad from Rebekah. Rebekah and Brian served lunch today in Roanoke and the salad was left from lunch. That went perfect with the chicken and vegetables Mark grilled. Joan dropped off a brand new vegetable tray with two kinds of dip which also went well. We also had plenty of other foods. We had a big group for dinner, every family came plus a couple of other families but we had plenty of food and even had some left over. After dinner we celebrated Braelyn and Eden's birthdays. 

Below are a few pictures taken after dinner.

The gym was well used today as was the game room. 

Joan brought over bags of toys and clothes from Sherry. The kids thought it was Christmas and all who wanted got to choose things to take home. Rhoda and Lee took Nancy home and I left shortly after that. Tomorrow I will worry about cleaning up the barn. The barn was WELL used tonight, it seemed like a hundred kids but prebaby more like 60 people came. I'm tired this evening. 

Time Change

 I went out early this morning to check the rain gauge as I heard it raining during the night. We got a full inch of rain through all of those storms yesterday and during the night.

Mark picked up Mackenson and those two went to the all church cleaning. 

Faith had her first wedding shower this morning in Tremont, IL so Joan needed to leave by 9:00 am. I went over early to hear all about the potluck last night. Mom really enjoyed having company. This morning Israel had his Derby race day. His derby car came in 2nd. 

David sent a video of the actual race but I can't seem to share it here.  Joan came home this afternoon with a big bouquet of flowers from Randy and Kathy. They sent them home with Joan for mom with a nice thankyou card from when they stayed down in mom's condo this winter.

Below Joan is reading the card to her.

When I got home from mom's the sheets I had ordered a couple days ago from Target had arrived. They were washed, dried, folded and taken up to the apartment.

It has been years since I bought new sheets for the foaling apartment and some of those were really wearing out. We have a guest moving in tomorrow for 4 nights but when she moves out some wedding guests are moving right in so we will need the extra sheets to flip the apartment. My next job was to head over to the barn to sweep up any stray lady bugs (Asian beetles) that found their way inside. We have Kensley's end of year basketball celebration at the barn tonight. They ended their 5th grade season 26 wins and 1 loss. It really was an amazing season and her team was such a fun team to watch. As I was sweeping Gertie and Dennis arrived with a couple guests from Taylor, Mo. We had a nice visit. After they left I finished the barn then went home to think about cleaning here at our house but just couldn't make myself do any more work. I just don't have the energy since that long sickness. The 12 chicken breasts were cut up, drizzled with olive oil and covered with parmesan cheese for tomorrow's dinner.

Mark will grill that tomorrow along with the peppers and onions as we are going to have a nice warm Sunday.

Israel bought a bat at one of the second hand stores in Chili, posted it on Facebook market place and sold it for $70.00. He is trying to earn enough money to buy some kind of switch for one of his games and this will really help. Smart kid to know to buy the bat in the first place. It must have been really special. 

As tomorrow is the time change and it is already almost 9:00 pm making it really 10:00 pm we must go to bed now. Hopefully I'll get up early enough to clean up the kitchen it is just too late now and I have no more energy.

Our Inspiration

 Joan needed to leave this morning around 8:15 am for Co-op but when I arrived just after 8:00 am she was still reading to Mackenson and Berlica. Mom was still in bed still sleeping. Mom's house looked amazing. Mom told me later this morning that Joan stayed up until 2:00 am to finish all of the cleaning. Today she is hosting potluck at mom's house and wanted to make sure it was perfect. No wonder mom slept in, if she was still awake waiting for Joan to finish cleaning! The rain started this morning and soon was just pouring down with lightning and thunder. The sky cleared up around noon and the sun almost came out. By 1:00 pm the sun was out so Rachel took mom out on the deck to enjoy the sunshine.

Israel came to help grandpa this afternoon. They trimmed saplings off the dams, Israel cleaned up the lake by pulling trash from the winter out of the lake and throwing it up on the dam for Mark to load unto the golf cart.

I was shocked at how much they were able to get out of the lake.

It filled the golf cart. Most of it was thrown in the dumpster but anything of value, like the life jackets and buckets were taken to the cabinets under mom's deck.

The next job was to move 3 bales in. Evan, Valiant and the middle paddock all needed a bale. Israel kept the weanlings busy at one end while Mark moved the bale into the other shelter.

After the skid steer was put away, Israel drove the golf cart over to Joan's house to plug it in. Mark followed him with his new car and then had the car drive Israel home. Kind of fun having the car do the work. It wasn't long after they left that the next storm arrived. This one dropped the temperature dramatically and the cold icy WET wind was freezing. 

I was so glad all of the outside work that needed to be done was able to be done in the few hours between storms. Kathy sent a VERY nice text about Nancy. She really is our special favorite sister and we aren't the only one that are inspired by her.

The Bradly Epworth church is using the barn again this evening. Today Sarah asked to borrow a cane. They were going to be acting out the book of Esther for the kids Bible study and they needed props to make it more fun for the kids. 

Grace

Today there was no reason to drive or go anywhere. It was a good day to stay home and get the laundry done. Not just the laundry but a pan of chicken soup was made for our lunch then chicken salad for our supper. The rotisserie chicken bought yesterday was put to good use. Both Evan and Valiant will need a new round bale tomorrow. Joan sent the message that mom was fine today. Not sure what was going on yesterday but glad she is ok today. Ruth sent a picture of Grace, her new mare she bought yesterday. She took her straight to Dr. Hoerr's to have her teeth floated and Dr. Hoerr explained that Grace is in her 20s. Ruth feels Grace is perfect for her grandchildren. Below Dexter is pretty pleased to be riding her.

I think Grace will enjoy living the rest of her life there. 

Day Late

 We got home from the fellowship hall after our bedtime and I went straight to bed so this is actually Wednesday's post. I needed to go to Sam's club early to pick up more supplies for the barn and foaling apartment. We were out of paper towels, toilet paper and tall kitchen bags. On the way over to the barn there were balloons stuck in Evan's pasture. 

Don't know where they came from but we are celebrating 2 birthdays on Sunday so they were taken into the barn with the paper towels and toilet paper.

Of course I bought more than just those items at Sam's. I decided on chicken breasts for Sunday dinner so pick up 6 pounds then also picked up 2 rotisserie chickens, one for our house and one for Joan's house. Joan needed to leave by noon today for play practice and was glad for the chicken. The kids were able to cut off chicken, add it to the mashed potatoes Joan had already had cooked and take it along for their lunch. Dan was at mom's when I arrived so we went over a few more of the wedding plans. Mom wasn't feeling well today and was not comfortable in the recliner. When Aunt Jinnie called mom was telling her it was bedtime (it was 2:00 pm). Joan made it home at 5:15 pm giving the kids 15 minutes to get ready for church. I made it home with just 5 minutes to get ready and we were on our way to pick up Berlica and Mackenson. Tonight's family night was held at the fellowship hall and the Spanish church put on the meal for all of us gringos. It really was delicious.

Joan sent a message about then that mom was not feeling well and more than likely running a fever. She was in bed by 6:00 pm. No wonder she wanted to go to bed early. Maddie gave a talk tonight on her mission experience. It was not recorded and not on line. We were thankful to hear her experiences and the fellowship hall was packed. 

Rain

 I drove to Casey's at 7:00 am to pick up a dozen donuts for the Berean volunteers today as I didn't have time to bake anything yesterday. At 8:00 am mom was ready to go. The wheel chair van was dead, turned out the parking lights had been left on. Joan pulled mom's charger out and within minutes we were ready to leave for the Berean office. We had a lot of mail and were pretty short of volunteers. Thankfully Vonnie was able to handle processing all of the Bible studies while Kathy read all of the request letters. Marvin was back and had a backlog of work from his vacation. We had one request coming in that no one could read the name, somehow someway Marvin found where he was incarcerated and found the correct spelling and this prisoner was sent a Bible today. We had 21 Bible requests and over 100 studies and letters come in so were really busy. Mom was kept busy with stamping the return address on envelopes. As soon as she had a pile ready, Skip would apply the postage and Vonnie would apply the labels. No pictures, I never thought to take any as I was busy on the computer. Shirl left a gift for us at the Berean office. More candles.

I had used the last of the candles from Diane so these were a very welcomed gift. We made it to the Hanna City post office around noon. I had someone coming to pick up a sold weanling today at 12:30 pm so really needed to be home. As soon as mom was back in her house I went straight home to change. Dreamer was pulled out and given a quick groom. 

The other 4 weanlings were quite jealous when Dreamer was the only foal taken out.

Just because I wanted to make sure she would load I put her in the stock trailer, then took her out the side door and then 3 more times just asked her to jump in the trailer through the side door. I was thrilled she would jump right in then wait for me to ask her to come back out. I was pretty sure we would have no problem loading into the customer's trailer.

The people coming to pick her up brought a HUGE 7 horse slant load trailer with a ramp. Dreamer took one look at the ramp and refused to step on it. After working for over an hour I recommended just delivering her. Brought the stock trailer over and she jumped right in. I had hoped to have enough time to run to the dmv in Pekin to get new stickers for the campers, motorhomes and truck but it was already 2:45 pm by the time I got back from delivering Dreamer. I was needed at mom's by 4:30 pm so decided to go anyway. When I arrived a thunderstorm arrived at the same time with a big clap of thunder as I ran for the door. The Pekin dmv wasn't very crowded and by 3:25 I was on the way back home. It started hailing by the time I reached route 24.

I was quite chilled by the time I made it home. Mark was given all of the new registration stickers and I left for mom's house. Joan wanted to go to Vickie Martin's visitation. Vickie and her husband were always so kind to her children when they were in Eureka and Joan felt it was important to go. We are currently having a thunderstorm. Yesterday Mark got 50 pounds of red clover seed spread and today we have rain. Perfect timing! I am thankful for the rain. 

WE just got news our VRBO rental for the week of March 28th, to April 4th was cancelled. No excuse given just cancelled. Crazy that VRBO can do that this close to our trip. 

Long Day

 Dan and Susan came today, Sophia's wedding is coming right up and they had much to check out. I plugged in the lift for Dan as he wanted to use that for decorations but he ended up putting water in the batteries and thought we may need to replace the batteries. He was able to use the lift. I was at mom's today while Joan went first to the dentist then when she got back she got the retention dam weeds burned off and this evening was the co-op meeting. A long day.

Sunday Supper

 Mark spent most of the night out in the car last night. I noticed he had forgotten to take the blanket I had ready for him and he forgot his pillow. He came in around 4:00 am and crawled into bed. The car kept him warm enough but bed was much more comfortable. This morning he brought everything back inside and as he now says, "I know it can be done if needed."  We plan on taking this car to Gulf Shores the end of March so nice to know we can make a bed in the back and at least one of us sleep while the other pretends to drive. We won't be in a hurry for sure as we will need to find plenty of charging stations along the way. I had wrapped 3 of the roasts well in aluminum foil last night and by 5:45 am all 3 of those were in the oven at 2:25 F Joan made it back from Florida so Mark didn't need to take any extra people to church. I stayed home as I'm still coughing but each day even that get's better. I was able to watch on-line and this morning we had a visitor, Ty Taufer from Goodfield had the morning message. Click HERE to watch that. Tim Roecker had the afternoon message on Esther 6 and 7 click HERE to listen to that. After the last message the meat was unwrapped, covered with sweet baby ray's bbq sauce and put under the broiler for 5 minutes. Those were then sliced and put in the crockpot on warm. The meat juices had been drained into a pan and the carrots were cooked in that. The potatoes were added once those were done cooking. The bread was banquettes from Aldi that were sliced and sautéed in butter then put in a crock pot.  I baked an apple cake for the dessert which would be served with ice cream. There were plenty of cuties and bananas for the fruit. We had a pretty large group for Sunday dinner. Mark left right after supper to go to hymn sing at the Fellowship Hall. I didn't think to take pictures before dinner but had to take the picture below of Caroline, Rhonda's great grand daughters.

The volley ball players arrived after supper and while they played the kids played in the bouncy house.

I was one of the first to leave. My energy level still isn't quite up to par but for sure am getting stronger. 

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           

Sampler

 Each night gets better, less violent coughing makes for a better night's sleep, this time only waking about 5 times during the night. Yesterday was such a nice warm day it was a little disappointing to have temperatures of below freezing this morning. Mark didn't want to start a fire as he said it was supposed to warm up into the 40s so once he went out I brought wood in and started the wood burner. The house was chilled. He spent the morning working on his new car. He bought window shades and covered all of the windows today, brought over a mattress that fit in the back, asked for a sheet and by the time he finished he explained he was going to sleep in the car tonight. It is currently 32 degrees out. He says the car will keep him comfortable. We shall see. I left at 1:40 pm to pick up Braelyn for her volleyball games at Louisville Slugger.  Below is just a sampler of one of her games. I watched her play 4 games.

She played the entire game each time, I think she was the only setter today.  Diane was here when I got home. She was taking with Mark about Quicken. She will be going back to Gulf Shores next week. Joan is on her way home from Florida where she went as soon as she flew home from Gulf Shores last night. Berlica needed a ride home and Mark was willing to go pick her up. Marvin and Gale brought all of Ruth and Fedi's luggage along with mom's supplies home from Gulf Shores. I'm still coughing so will watch church on-line tomorrow.

Coggins Tests

 Mark came up with me to pull Disco and Dreamer out of the weanling paddock and help load them into the stock trailer at 7:00 am. The vet appointment to get their blood drawn wasn't until 8:15 am but I wasn't sure how long it would take to load them. Below Mark is leading them to the trailer. 

Disco is in the lead. He has an amazing tail and is going to be really beautiful. 

Mark held the stock door open while I lead Disco in first. He only hesitated a little before jumping in after me. Dreamer decided the step up into the trailer was just too much. It looked like she was measuring it over and over and each time thinking there is no way I can climb up that high. It took a bit but I finally convinced her it wasn't that hard and up she went. They were both tied at the front for the trip to Morton. I arrived  there at 8:00 am, went in to fill out the paper work and pay the bill ($88.00) for 2 Coggins test then went out to wait. Dr. C followed me out and was ready first to take the pictures. Each foal has to have a head shot then a full body taken on each side. Dreamer was first. When Dr. C stepped into the trailer for the blood draw she asked if they were good with needles. She was told they have never been stuck with a needle but it won't be a problem. Both didn't even flinch or move a muscle while the blood was drawn. They were such good weanlings. I took the picture below before leaving for home.

We were back on the road heading for home at 8:15 am. When we got home instead of taking them out of the trailer I decided to feed them their grain IN the trailer and brought in a bucket for them to share.

Disco was sure happy about that. When they finished he took a while to unload. A couple times started to step down but just wasn't sure about it finally very carefully he stepped all the way down then out. He is such a thinker. Dreamer just jumped out not at all concerned coming out of the trailer. I'll needed to work with her on loading again tomorrow. The apartment booked so that was given a quick once over to make sure no ladybugs or stinkbugs found a way inside, the heat turned on and the lights turned out. The guests are coming to watch their daughter play in a college basketball game tomorrow. It was just beautiful outside today and both Mark and I spent time outside. He went around the drives with a rake and shovel moving any gravel off the sides and back onto the drives from plowing this winter.  I finally hauled a chair out onto the patio to just sit and enjoy the almost 70 degrees. We had salad for supper. I made a big tuna salad some of which was put on my plate, Mark decided to wait on the tuna salad until it cooled down in the fridge.

Above is Mark's plate and below is mine.

Dinner was good! Bradley Epworth church uses the barn on Friday nights for a couple hours. Sarah sent back the picture below: 

What a good group!

They usually leave by 8:30 pm and we have just now heard the cars leaving so the outdoor parking light will be turned back off. Hard to see the stars with that bright light on. 

Obnoxious Sounds

 It wasn't a very good night again, not because of aches and pains or even fever shivering but the coughing is still violent, loud and long. Once it starts I almost have to get up. I remember looking out the living room window around 2:00 am wondering, "why is the sky so light?" Later I realized it was snowing and we had at least an inch of snow on the ground when we got up. I went over to the barn with the exact nails needed, got the step threshold fixed then looked around for any ladybugs and found a few. The guests arrived and let me know quickly they really liked the place. They must have been looking out the South side upstairs bedroom window because they asked if they could walk down to the lake. I explained the lake is off limits. Laundry was started here at the house. Sarah brought Israel right after school today to work for grandpa. They organized the indoor arena, cleaned off one of my white tables Mark had borrowed a couple years ago to organize tools and Israel scrubbed that. They also got lots of other stuff done. Israel set Mark's new car up with internet and they spent some time learning all what this car can do. I was in the shower and had just soaped up my hair when Mark interrupted the shower and said Mike might need stitches. He had hit is head on the yanmar bucket and gouged a cut into his head. He had come walking over with blood pouring down his face. Diane was gone and he couldn't see how bad it was. After getting the soap out of my hair and finishing the shower some bandages, sterile water and some sterile sponges were found. Mike came back to the house where I cleaned it up then just put a bandage over it. It is a y shaped cut but not too deep and will heal. At 3:45 pm Mark, Israel and I left for Sarah and Nolan's house. When we arrived Nolan was hard at work building a play house for his girls under their steps.  The outside walls around the house are white board perfect for little girls that love to color on walls.

The little house was suprisingly roomy and even included a window.

They will have a lot of fun decorating it, putting in plush carpet, pillows shelves for books and lots of washable markers that can be stored inside so won't get lost. I'm amazed at Sarah and Nolan's imagination to come up with something so cute and yet very practical. The girls were upstairs playing with the puppies.

We couldn't stay as David was meeting us at the Mexican restaurant in Chillicothe for dinner tonight. One of the things Israel changed on the car was each time the blinker was turned on, instead of making a clicking noise the car would make of the sound of someone expelling gas very loudly making the most obnoxious sounds. We just had to laugh and laugh and laugh. They decided to play a trick on David and have him ride with Mark while I drove David's car home and had fun making this plan while we drove. They kept the secret of the sound all the way through supper. The food was delicious. For our group of 5 we just split 2 chicken fajita meals.

As I wasn't in the car I didn't see David's reaction but I bet he laughed. Hoerr vet clinic set up the appointment tomorrow morning early for Dreamer and Disco's coggins. The truck is already hooked up to the horse trailer and Mark is willing to help. We will go out around 7:00 am tomorrow to halter and load. My last load of laundry is almost ready to go into the washer. The dishwasher was filled with the dirty dishes and started and as soon as I get that last load going I'm going too. Straight to bed!

Almost Normal

 I awoke and knew the fever had broken and was able to drink my first GOOD cup of coffee in 6 days. This morning the car was taken up to feed the weanlings, the golf cart had a flat. From there I went straight to the barn. There are guests coming in from Summit Church at 9:00 am tomorrow and I had not cleaned the barn since before going to Gulf Shores. The welcome barn sign had been pulled off the wall by that Spartan solar guy that left without paying the bill. When I picked it up to hang it, dropped it and it broke in 6 pieces. I thought of repairing it but too many little broken pieces so just threw it away. The picture below only shows the 2 larger pieces, the wooden frame part and the windmill attachments are not pictured.

That guy also left these drinks in the fridge.

Maybe he decided he shouldn't have to pay because of leaving all of those expensive drinks. Fedi was the only one in the family that would admit to drinking them and even then he said maybe 1 every few weeks. He came and got them tonight. I got the kitchen swept then went into the gym to search for ladybugs and organize the sports toys. Those really needed organizing.  

Sarah told me she needed to take her kids home early on Sunday but would come back to help clean up on Monday. I was pretty sure the adults sent the kids in to clean up their mess then didn't check their job. Maybe I need to post pictures on the wall how we like to keep things organized. Volley balls go in the blue carrier, the dodge balls go in the first rack. The bases and whiffle ball bats go between the volleyball and dodge balls with the whiffle balls on the first shelf (there is a rack the bats go in attached to the dodgeball rack. The footballs go on the 2nd shelf of the dodgeball rack. The second rack holds the basket balls and the roller blades. On the side of that rack are where the 8 pickleball paddles hang and the pickleballs.

I have one repair I'll need to make in the morning and that is take a hammer and a few nails and nail down the stair threshold. 

This afternoon Dreamer was de-wormed with a half of tube of Quest Plus. She was so good, she came right to the gate. I had asked Mike to put a halter on her earlier just in case she tries to back away as I'm still pretty weak. She was tied and didn't fight that or the de-wormer at all. When I drove back up to see about moving a bale in all of the weanlings were laying down except Dreamer.

Mark came up to help move the bale in. Mike came over to work with Roseberry. She was walking quietly  up and down our stairs.

It is good for the weanlings to learn how to navigate steps incase they ended up with an owner like me. When I was young and mom was gone we walked Blaze up our stairs and into the house at Pleasant Home. We thought it was cool to ride Blaze into kitchen hall door, going through the kitchen, going through the hallway, then the study, the living room, through the dining room and into the playroom and back to the kitchen. We could all take turns riding that loop. For some reason mom didn't really like us doing that. I'm still coughing and can't really talk so didn't go to church tonight. Gregg Rumbold had the message on Colossians 4 tonight to watch that click HERE. He told an unbelievable story of I think it was Heather's uncle that this happened to. They stopped at a fast food restaurant, ordered food and a hot cup of coffee. Bent his head to pray and was aware of someone watching him. He had the prayer and when he raised his head the man watching him pray immediately used his own cup of hot coffee and threw it into his face. Talk about being persecuted for your faith. What an awful thing to do to someone and what a terrible thing to happen to him.

I'm thankful to be feeling better but sure hope this cough leaves soon and it would be nice to be able to talk again. Sheesh I should be glad the fever's gone and I can walk without fainting. Will I ever stop complaining!

Alive

 Nights are hard, sleep is interrupted every few minutes by intense coughing, the chills from the fevers has me wrapping myself in the electric blanket on high until the coughing forces my body to sit up and then I move the the recliner and put the heating pad on high. Each morning I think today will be better. Yesterday I decided to get dressed for the first time since Thursday. That took so much effort that I had to sleep all morning. I'm struggling to sit at the computer desk and even right now while typing feel like I'd better lay down before I faint. I am alive just not living. Yesterday we had a family come out to see Madiera's filly. They would like to buy her but I need to get her over to Dr. Hoerr's for an Coggins test and can't imagine trying to drive. The website needs work but my brain isn't working well enough to make changes. For the first time since last Wednesday I was able to eat some solid food. Mark went to Kroger and brought home bananas and I was able to eat one. Later had a bowl of chicken soup . I was able to take the golf cart up to grain the weanlings but what an effort. Maybe tomorrow I'll be stronger

The Flu Strikes

 The pictures and video were all taken on Thursday. In the afternoon of that day I became sick with the flu. Thursday started with Mark helping me load Rosalie and Valerie for their vet appointment. Neither one looked pregnant and they were confirmed in foal last year. We arrived about 15 minutes early and waited inside. Dr. Hoerr had a new picture up of Psalm 23.

Mark was very helpful. He led Rosalie up to the clinic then I switched and took Rosalie and gave him Valerie while Rosalie was put in the stocks. Once she was in I had him stand next to Valerie while Dr. Hoerr did Rosalie's ultrasound.

Rosalie is in the blue halter while Valerie is in the purple halter. Rosalie was open, just like I thought. I wasn't sure how Valerie would go into the stocks but she followed me right in. She also is open. Disappointing but nothing to be done except bring them in for breeding in April or May.  I really was pleased with how well behaved both mares were.. Mark led Rosalie to the trailer while I took Valerie, they both just stepped into the trailer and once they were loaded I went back in to pay.  Now I will need to fix the website. Mark was dropped off at home then I went right to Middle Grove to drop off the mares. When I arrived I regretted taking Mark home first. The herd was napping at the gate. I wasn't sure if I would have enough time to open the gate and pull in before they all came running. The video below proves I got the job done.

Mike wanted Roseberry home to work with her so she was haltered and led into the trailer and tied. I should have brought Bulu's colt home, he came right up to me. He still needs to be registered, He has been at Middle Grove and I had forgotten to pull hair for the registry. Should have done that but was starting to feel chilled. 

About then I got a message that I should bring Dreamer home, Dreamer is Madiera's filly by Valiant born Sept 9th, 2025 and more than ready to be weaned. She came right up to me but didn't stand well for haltering so instead I just walked Madiera into the trailer and Dreamer followed. Madiera was then unloaded. The herd was still at the gate so instead of trying to get out I took the trailer to the far field then put the halter on Dreamer. After waiting about 20 minutes I drove back to the gate. The herd was about half way up the hill which gave me enough time to open the gate and drive out. Roseberry and Dreamer were put in the paddock with the other weanlings. Dreamer was tied as I wanted to make sure she remembered that. 

She will be looking for her mama but no calling yet. The others just settled down to graze.

I worked a little with Dreamer asking her to go forward a step at a time but soon thought I think I'm going to faint. I was glad the golf cart was up and took that back to the house then for the rest of Thursday and all of Friday could only sit moaning. I hadn't had anything to eat since Culvers on Wednesday night so thought I would try some oatmeal but I held the bowl, and just by smelling that started vomiting. After another miserable night this morning I'm starting to feel better and even drank a cup of coffee.