Very Good Day

 Another storm moved in last night and dropped another inch of rain. This is getting crazy, our round pen is now under water. When we drove out of our drive I happened to look to the left and saw a tree down across the dam drive going to Rachel's house.

She and David were not going to be on time for church unless they left with a chain saw in their car. We didn't see it until we left at 9:00 am so they didn't get much notice. When we left for church it was a beautiful sunny morning but when we left church to come home we could see storm clouds in the West, right where we live and sure enough it started raining not long after we got home. We really did enjoy church though, David Beutel had the morning message, click HERE if you would like to watch that. Rick Kaisner had the afternoon message on the statement of faith. Click HERE to watch that. We took Nancy home after church and sent Karin a message that Nancy would be at our house for her tea time. I was supposed to drive our guests to the airport leaving at 2:00 pm but their plane got delayed. I drove over to visit with them. Sarah and Nolan's family were there working with Harli and her colt. Braelyn was also there. She came to clean the apartment but since the guests couldn't move out I blocked that off for the night. Braelyn will clean tomorrow morning. Early this morning I had 2 crockpots of potroast, carrots and potatoes cooking on low. Those were taken over to the barn along with the watermelon. Cate and Nicole wanted some horsemeister shirts so I gave them one for each of them and one for Cate's husband. When I picked them up at 3:30 pm to take them to the airport they were wearing their shirts. They will be advertising for us all the way to Maine. They enjoyed their stay and we enjoyed meeting them. I stopped at Aldi before going home to pick up ice cream and cookies for our dessert tonight as I didn't have time to bake. We had a good group for supper and thoroughly enjoyed visiting after supper. Nancy stayed for supper, Spark and Rhonda, Mike and Diane, Ken and Amy along with our children and grandchildren all ate and we still had leftovers. Either I cooked too much or maybe it didn't taste good but Mark thought it was delicious so I think I probably just cooked more than needed.  After supper Rhoda and Sarah took Tessa and her filly out to get some updated pictures of the filly for the website. She is 2 months and a week old now and is fantastic! 

I had a tough time deciding which ones to post on the website.  They did not get good action shots as the round pen was flooded. It started raining again and we couldn't believe how hard it was raining after supper. The ground is so soft now as it is completely saturated with well over 8 inches of rain. Our big news here was Elijah came and cemented the pipe going into the house. That will stop the rain and mud from coming into the mechanical room. A very good day!

Basilea Sold

 Wow did we ever have the storms during the night. It kept raining until around 10:00 am and by the time it stopped we had another 3.5 inches. 

We have had 7 inches of rain since Thursday! The lake is quite high and the beach has shrunk. I HAD to do laundry today as both of my Sunday shirts needed washing. A load was hauled over to the barn and started before 8:00 am. We still have no propane so all laundry is now being done there. While the machines were running the barn was given a quick going over as I thought our guests coming today to look at Basilea were going to need a place to stay. Next I ran up to the apartment and turned the lights on and the aircondition down and by that time it was time to leave for the airport. I expected two older ladies but the 2 girls that walked up to the car looked like college students. I was really surprised to find, Cate, the lady wanting to look at Basilea had 7 children. They both look a lot younger than they were. When I told them that both of the airbnb's had booked and they would have to sleep in the barn, Cate, exclaimed, "but I booked one!" I was expecting a Ben in the foaling apartment and 6 guys in the farm house so asked, "who ARE you?" She explained it was booked in her husbands name. Rhoda and Sarah were here when we got to the farm. They were busy tacking up horses. The trails were much too muddy and slippery after 7 inches of rain so they were only going to use the round pen and outdoor arena. I left for TSC to pick up a Prestige 5 way vaccine for Basilea and when I got back both Cate had already ridden Basilea then she and her friend Nicole had gone to the Warehouse for some lunch. Rhoda and Sarah had already put the horses away and had Harli and her colt out. This colt is just so adorable.

He really does enjoy attention from the kids. Zion not only is teaching him to lead, she is also asking him to bend his neck to each side when asked and he is learning to pick up his feet.

When Cate and Nichole got back from lunch they were shown how to give Basilea her vaccines and how to de-worm a horse then all of the paper work was signed and Basilea is now hers.

The shipper is picking her up Monday morning. 

Joan was having a work day at her house, all of her children, their spouses and grandchildren came today and gave her this as a gift. It was amazing how much they were able to accomplish. After that was over Bill and Bethany's children got to come do vaulting with Berlica.

Sarah had Joshua and Zion practice jumping their ponies. Joshua was riding Missy and Zion riding Penny.

Everyone is really enjoying the horses and even though we had all that rain the outdoor arena and round pen were still usable. It really warms my heart to see so many kids having so much fun here. 

Basilea's PPE

 We had storm after storm come through during the night. The lightning actually woke us up, the constant bright flashes. There was no walk this morning as Joan and Diane went to the Cameron lane garage sales. Berlica stopped in to grab the advanced vaulting surcingle and just about the time they were ready to start the heavens opened and the rain poured down hitting the tin roof with a resounding thunder like a ROAR.

Poor River had to hold her ears.  I was amazed at how well Jewel did with the noise. There has been so much rain the last 2 days that water started flowing into the indoor arena. The rain slowed down and stopped for just enough time for a fun trail ride. This ride ALL 3 of Sarah's girls got to go. Berlica led the ride on Jury, 8 year old Zion rode Basilea, 7 year old Eden rode Jewel and 5 year old River rode Penny. They found huge trees down on the trails. The horses had to find a way through them and did pretty well. Mike tried working on some of them but it was just too muddy today. You can see the trees down on the video below of the trail ride.

They got back before the rain but Sarah wanted Zion to have a chance to practice the rising trot in the round pen and they got rained on.

As soon as they took the saddle off of Basilea she was loaded into the stock trailer and I was on my way to Hoerr Vet Clinic for her pre purchase exam. The clinic was swamped, so busy that we didn't get our turn until close to 1:00 pm. Below Dr. Hoerr is checking her over.

All that went fine until it was time for the flexion test. He looked over at me and I could see the doubt in his eyes when he asked, "can you run?"  I started laughing, when ever Joan runs in front of Diane or me we call her a show-off. There wasn't anyone else so run I did.  I got back from after the first leg and Dr. Hoerr says, "ok do it again and this time I'll watch the horse."  That was a joke as I was obviously lame! By the 4th leg my replacement hips were feeling it. I don't think I will choose to run again for awhile. I had to stop for gas on the way home as the truck was running on empty. 

Well not quite I think the tank must be a little larger than 30 gallons. Around 4:00 pm Mark came with me to help move a new bale in for the last paddock. From there we drove into Bartonville for supper at the diner. He had soup and salad, I had liver and onions. We got home and checked the rain gauge. It was the same as yesterday.

Another almost 2 inches and now at 8:40 pm it is raining again and more storms are predicted. The fields are saturated, the paddocks are muddy but there is nothing to be done but thank God for this life giving liquid.

Basilea passed her ppe and her new owner is flying in tomorrow morning from Maine to meet her. She has already scheduled transport for Monday.

Harli's Colt SOLD

 On the first round of our walk today, Faline came running out of the woods at Joan's house.

Her grandson's Joshua and William had just finished feeding her the bottle. On the second round Joan stopped us to see what is in the picture below.

It looks like just a pump and a shed but look closer at the side of the shed. 

The spider web was actually attached to a branch off the tree and suspended in mid air with a couple of strands going to the ground. That poor little spider must have worked all night on such a big web and the storm that arrived a couple hours later completely destroyed it. 

We stopped at Mike's to watch him use the leaf blower on Roseberry and Shadow. He had saddled Roseberry, then took them out first on the 4 wheeler.

Berlica and Sarah were getting ready for a big trail ride. This time they were going to take 7 horses. 

They rode, pictured from left to right, Sally, Missy, Jewel, Jury, Basilea, Penny and Rosalie. Mike led the group on Sally and Berlica was last to make sure all of the children would be safe. The kids that rode from left to right were Joshua, Eden, Zion, Lilly, and William and all of them came back safe and sound. I'm so thankful for quiet horses. After their ride they had a vaulting session. Lilly got a chance to vault.

Just as everyone was finishing up, the thunder started booming and the wind started blowing and soon the rain came down hard so hard and so fast the mechanical room started flooding. Mark came running up for help. He need towels and something to stuff around a pipe. The video shows first the flooding then where it was coming from and finally the almost fix.

He used some tire plugs to stuff around the pipe. The water was also coming in through the basement door. The patio was flooded and seeping inside.

By the time the rain stopped we had an inch and 3/4ths.

More is expected tonight so Mark dumped the rain gauge out.  When things dried up, Joan took Joshua and William out to teach them how to sail.

They were loving that and didn't want to stop. Below is a video of just some of their fun.

They would have stayed out longer but Joan needed to get on the mowers. Mackenson used the push behind, Berlica used a riding mower and so did Joan. I think they got all of the mowing done before supper time. They left then to clean the shop. Sarah arrived with the new child English stirrup leathers so Zion could practice the rising trot on Penny. She is getting it.

While they were there we brought Harli and her colt out. It was a good time to teach Zion how to left the colt's legs and to teach the colt how to lift his leg. Zion is going to be a horse trainer when she grows up. She is 8 years old now but already has a big start helping grandma train the foals.

The lady that bought one of Lily's colt's by Valiant 10 years ago made the decision to buy Harli's colt and mailed the deposit check today. Now comes the hard part for her, she needs to come up with a name for him. 

He looks so cuddly Zion can't help but give him a hug. I think his new owner is going to love him but he won't leave until weaning in November. Sarah sent the message that they will need to start using the professional vaulting surcingle now that the girls are doing the doubles and triples. I had it in a dresser drawer but we needed a tub to store it in at the barn. Mark found one but it was too small. Sarah brought the perfect size.

It not only fits the surcingle and the girth, it also fits the two thick pads for the girth.

We will haul that out to the barn tomorrow. Tomorrow morning I need to fill the gas tank to the truck, hook up the stock and haul Basilea in for her pre purchase examine. Her buyer is flying into town on Saturday and Dr. Hoerr agreed to do the ppe if I could bring her to their office tomorrow at 10:00 am. The buyer knows she is 18 years old, she just wants to know as much as she can about her before hauling her to their home in Maine. 

Horse Fun

 I was sitting on my chair that faces the front yard reading when I glanced out the window to see a man with a gun run past. I opened the front door to see if he was yelling something like, "the British are coming" but all was quiet. After walking around the house I see the man standing at the lake staring into the bank with the gun pointed and figured out pretty quickly it must be David going after a muskrat.  I went over to the barn early as Berlica and Sarah were getting 4 horses ready for a trail ride. Today Berlica was taking out Joshua, Zion and Eden. Below they are getting ready to tack up.

Berlica rode Basilea, Joshua rode Missy, Eden rode Jewel and Zion rode Penny. Diane and I walked over to Joan's, she was just getting a bottle ready. She steps outside and calls then Faline comes out of the woods at a run.

Joan has an ear tag on her in hopes it will stop a hunter from shooting her this fall. If Faline survives it will be really neat to be able to identify her from all the other does that we see wandering the trails.As we were walking Mike arrived with his 4 wheeler taking Roseberry and Shadow around the farm.

Of course they stopped to say hello to Tessa and her filly.

The trail ride was a success. Sarah sent back the video.

After the trail ride Sarah gave them all some pointers on riding.

Zion got a lesson on Basilea.

We could see the storm coming from the West. The horses were put away and we all made it into the cars before the rain. The video below is of the clouds scurrying across the sky before the storm arrived.

This storm dumped an inch of rain in a couple hours. We had a little break but soon it started sprinkling and that kept up most of the day. We were really glad for the rain EXCEPT..the propane man came to hook up the propane and it was too muddy. Now we have to wait another week before we get propane.  Since it was raining I got all 3 books read that Iris gave me on Sunday. We left for church at 6:00 pm. Gregg Rumbold had the message on 1st John 2 click HERE if you would like to watch that.  After church we joined the group at Culvers for a late supper. Now it is time to sleep.

Berean Day

 I woke up and thought, "today is Berean day" and had to smile. We really enjoy enjoy going and working with the best of the best! Ruth and Fedi are still out camping in their new truck camper and enjoying Niagara Falls so is not here to walk with us. She IS sending back pictures and videos.

Diane, Joan and I walked and on our way to the barn ran into Berlica riding Basilea and Zion riding Penny.

They were heading down to the trails.

It is wonderful that Sarah and Nolan live so close to us. Sarah is bringing Zion out to ride before the day gets too hot to do anything. I only walked one round so I could leave by 8:00 am for the Berean office.  Sarah sent the picture below of them coming across the field to the barn after the trails.

We had a decent amount of mail today and was glad for everyone that came. Kristen came again but we were most thankful that Bruce came. He is the best at the postage machine. We had studies come back from Jackson, MI for more postage. Marvin weighed them on his scale and the were all right at 1ounce but when he put them on the postage machine scale each was slightly over 1 ounce and I mean very slightly.  It was Sharon that came up with the best idea.

If you guessed cut some of the paper off on the studies, you guessed right. Why didn't the rest of us think of that. We all had to laugh.

Marvin has a paper cutter so he brought that out and all going to Jackson, MI got the sides trimmed, just a tiny bit but that put it under the ounce. All of those got sent back plus all going out today to that prison got trimmed. We were busy today. Skip had to leave for Sam's to buy more paper and more envelopes. Amazing how often that happens. He got back in plenty of time to help with the Bibles.  I left there and went straight to Meisters to drop off studies for grading then to the Hanna City post office to drop off all the mail going out today. When I got home it was really hot and humid. Too hot to work outside so instead I read a book finishing that around 4:30 pm. Sarah sent back pictures of her working with Harli. Her colt learned what fly spray, lead ropes and plastic bags taste like, and what his mom looks like when carrying a tarp.

The tarp didn't bother him at all. The video below shows the fly spray taste.

 Last night Mike brought Missy and 3 weanlings home from Middle Grove so moved Jewel, Rosalie and Missy here. When Sarah got here Rosalie and Jewel were out grazing and Sarah reported all of the gates were shut. Those 2 mares know where the break in the fence is in the pond pasture and we don't. They are sneaky and only get out when no one is around so this afternoon. They were put in with Penny in the shelter next to Valiant. They are the bosses of the herd and Penny needs to learn she is NOT a boss so hopefully those 2 mares will teach her to submit. Penny has all the other mares here scared of her.  Mark came to help move in 4 bales. The middle paddock got a bale, Rosaleigh and Tessa's paddock got a bale, The short shelter paddock got a bale and Evan's paddock got a bale. 

By the time the last bale was moved in we were both really hot and sweaty. It was 89 degrees out and very humid. We were hoping for rain but each storm seems to pass us by. Maybe tonight we will get a good shower. Spark and Rhonda came by for a visit. I gave him a really nice letter that came in for the Berean board. It really was a good day.

Horse-In-Around

Almost the entire day was spent with the horses. Diane shocked us by showing up for the walk. Their trip to Gulf Shores didn't happen. The plane was delayed and then delayed again so they just canceled. When we got close to the barn we had to slow down to let Berlica riding Sally and Joshua riding Jewel go in front. They were taking these 2 horses over to join Jury and Penny. 

William ended riding Jewel, Joshua rode Penny and Zion rode Jury on that trail ride. Joshua told us later it was a blast. When they got back, Rhoda had arrived with Iris and Zeke. She worked with Berlica and Basilea in the outdoor arena while the kids all took turns on the other horses.

Next she worked with Zion on Jury and had her canter her in both directions.

After that was the second trail ride of the day. We were short a pony for Eden so Eden got to go on this ride with Rhoda on Jury, Berlica riding Basilea, Zion riding Jewel and Iris riding Penny.

After the ride, Sarah wanted to try an English saddle on Penny. We need to buy a shorter girth but the saddle fits Penny and Zion.

The horses were all hosed off then the girls got into their vaulting uniforms for a vaulting practice.

They STILL weren't done, Harli and her colt were taken out. Sarah has been working with Harli in the mornings and some of the video below is of Harli's colt playing with the plastic bag and tarp as Sarah was trying to work with his mom. After vaulting, Rhoda got Harli out while Zion, Iris and Berlica worked with her colt in the round pen. AT the end of the video below he really enjoyed his shower even drinking from the hose.

Rhoda wanted to stick Harli before putting her away. She sticks right at 14.2 hands.

While that was happening her colt had to go check out Zeke.

Finally all the horses were put away and everyone went swimming. We adults kind of crashed sitting in chairs with our feet in the water watching the kids play. It really was a fun and very productive day with all the training happening. We have a lady flying in from Maine on Saturday morning to look at Basilea. We will pick her up at the airport, she will fly out Sunday afternoon. Right after that lady bought her ticket another buyer said he could come tomorrow with the cash but since she had already bought her ticket he will need to wait until after Saturday and if Basilea is still available then he can come.