Where's the Leak

 We were up at 5:00 am. The rest of the laundry for the barn was folded and taken over just before our walk. We did one round then went in mom's house to keep cleaning out drawers. We found so many pictures. There was one of mom when she was working at Baer green house. It was so well done Ruth thought maybe she was in some kind of advertisement. That one we hung up on the wall. I quit by 8:30, cooked breakfast then went over to get the cleaning done on the barn. I have someone coming at 6:00 pm tomorrow so needed to finish that today. I had just finished when Sarah sent a text that she was going to be working with Izzy. I didn't even drop off the mop and cleaning supplies at the house instead went straight to the round pen. 

Izzy was doing very well. She was hosed off when finished, fly sprayed then left in the outdoor arena to graze while I put supplies away.  Our airbnb guests asked if they could pet the foals so Rosaleigh and her colt were brought into a stall as was Star and her filly. I was putting a halter on Rosaleigh's colt when Sarah asked if Berlica could take Zion riding. I explained I would be there in about 5 minutes to check girths. The halters were put on both foals before I drove over on the golf cart. Mike was going to take them out but wanted a helmet for Zion's friend. Those were in the indoor arena and very dusty. Five of them were grabbed, hosed off and taken over. Below Zion is already up on Jewel while Berlica was on Rosalie.

Mike rode Dancer and I took Lilly on the golf cart for the first round.

They went first to the outdoor arena.

We followed the horses and took the video below.

The second round Zion rode on the golf cart while Lilly rode on Jewel.

I didn't take as long of a video with the second ride as we were behind them on the trails.

When the horses were put away we took Berlica home then went straight to the barn to meet our guests and show them the foals. Rosaleigh's colt stands right in the doorway glad for all of the attention. Star's filly had to be caught but once she was caught she stood nicely for them to pet. They were left in the stalls while I went down to the house to make supper for Mark. After supper we put a couple bales in before moving the mares back into the paddock.

The middle paddock also got a bale. Mark went over at 6:00 pm to meet the water company guy. There is a leak somewhere at mom's or between mom's and Sparks and that is very discouraging. There is no sign of a leak, no water coming out of the ground but the meter is for sure showing a leak. Mark has been researching on Youtube how to find leaks. I needed to move the two mares and foals back out and clean those stalls. It is now 8:00 pm and I'm ready to quit for the day. It was a good productive day and I am thankful.

Sunday School Picnic

 Since I was horsein around yesterday there was a few things that needed to be cleaned and yes I worked on Sunday. It wasn't real work, just things that should have been done yesterday.  The dishes, starting the laundry, and taking the garbage over. I still had plenty of time for reading as I was up before 5:00 am. We left for church a few minutes after 9:00 am. David had the morning message about the transfiguration. I learn so much when listening to him. He really is a gifted teacher. Click HERE to watch that message. Today was the last day of Sunday school before the summer break. Nancy was pretty excited about her paper. Joan left at noon for Morton as they were having baptisms. Diane took Nancy for the afternoon and took her home after church so she could try on shoes. Craig Stickling had the afternoon message on John 15 abiding in the vine. click HERE to watch that.  This afternoon was the Sunday school picnic so as soon as Joan got home from Morton she picked up Nancy and took her there. Nancy won second place in the watermelon eating contest. 

Sarah, Joan's daughter took the pictures. I did not make it to the picnic. At the end of the picnic they give everyone water balloons and have a water balloon fight. Nancy and Joan had quite a contest. 

Nancy laughed and laughed. She is going to sleep good tonight.

Stephanie sent the video and pictures below of some of the after supper activities. 

A fun time was had by all. 

 Sarah and Nolan came here after church, Sarah took Izzy into the round pen. She really did very well, we are hoping to make a perfect child's trail pony out of her. There is a big group at the playground and beach this afternoon and evening. I've been sitting around reading while waiting for the machines to finish then getting the next one started. I really can't call it work as there is very little labor involved. It was a big group that stayed at the barn Friday and Saturday so have lots of sheets and towels. Tomorrow that will be cleaned. Braelyn came for dinner tonight and after dinner helped get the beds made at the barn. I was very thankful for her help. 

Exceptional Saturday

 I slept in until 6:00 am as today is Saturday and there were no pressing jobs. After breakfast I went back to work on the upstairs, cleaning out closets. I found this cross stich Evie Stoller gave to us for our wedding. It is under glass so is in perfect condition. That brought so many memories we had with Evie's family.

I quit around 10:00 am, cleaned up, went up to the truck to grab a couple chairs then asked Mark if he wanted to go with me to the Christian Center to watch Zion, Iris, and Eden play in a softball game. He decided not to go but I left at 10:15 and made it there before the game started. 

Eden was up at bat.

She got a hit and ran to first base.

Iris was up at bat and she also got a hit and ran to first.

Zion also got a hit and ran to first. Everytime these girls were up to bat they got a hit.

Below is a short video of just a bit of the game I didn't get a video of Eden hitting the ball so she is not in this video.

I went to Aldi on the way home and bought over $100 worth of groceries. We were out of a lot of needed food. Ruth had ridden Grace over early this morning and put her in with our mares. When I got back from Aldi she had Grace in the lake cooling off.

Diane and Joan were busy filling up rafts for the lake. We used the golf cart to fill them at Diane's then run them over to mom's.

Rebekah and her children are camping this weekend at mom's so Mike took them all out on a trail ride. Rebekah rode double with Blair. Riley rode Grace, Jordan rode Jewel, Berlica rode Rosalie and Mike rode Sally. Below they are getting tacked up.

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

Below is a short video of just some of their ride going down to the trails. 

Ruth and I followed on the golf cart with Walter and Micah, her dog and the dog Rebekah brought. We thought we were taking a short cut going up the hill but ran over a log and got the golf cart hung up on the log. We had to walk the rest of the way up the hill. By the time we got to the top the horses were long gone. They rode over to the fields, ended up at the outdoor arena and enjoyed some canter time in that before coming back. Mike and Diane took the 4 wheeler down to the stuck golf cart and pulled it out. Just in time as I was supposed to give my airbnb guests a tour and introduce them to the horses. On my way up, Spark and Rhonda showed up with Barb and 2 cousins. I'm pretty sure they have at least 200 first cousins all over America. I think I heard Jude, was from California.

They were introduced to the horses first and once they left the guests got their tour. We ended up at the cabin field where they both fell in love with Rosalie.

As soon as I took them back Mark and I drove to Gils Supper Club for dinner. We split a cobb salad.

After supper we went to the playground where Ruth had a nice fire going. We really had an exceptional Saturday!

She had her camper all set up for Rebekah's family tonight.

I had a lot of pictures to go through, Mark is already in bed and I'll be joining him momentarily. 

Empty Trailer

 I was up at 5:00 am and went over to do last minute cleaning at the barn. I had just come back when Mark came in from feeding the cat to let me know Sarah and the girls were already here. The girls were so excited about going to look for a pony that they came early. We left with the truck and trailer, picked up Rhoda and Iris at Busy Corner in Goodfield and drove to Arcola, IL to attend the big horse auction. That place was packed. We arrived a couple hours early so watched the horses warm up in the big outdoor arena. We made our way to the indoor around 11:20 am and found seats on the risers. The mini ponies went first. We were not looking for a mini but were shocked at the prices. Some of them sold for $3500.00, a lot of them were more than $2000.00. We were hoping to buy a bigger pony for the girls. Rhoda picked out one she thought might go too much but was exactly what we wanted. We were just shocked when it brought $22,000.00. The next one brought $23,000.00. The highest was $32,000.00. ALL of them were much higher than we would pay. We must be living in the past. 

It was really hot in the arena and we decided to go buy some ice cream. They were offering root beer floats for $4.00.

That hit the spot. The soda was ice cold and poured onto the cold ice cream it was creamy delicious and satisfying and helped cool us down. There was one Friesian mare listed that didn't have any information. I wanted to stay to see what she would go for. She was way down the list and when they brought her out announced she was a Friesian cross and had no papers. She was not well trained but I bid $6000.00 for her. Only one other lady was bidding against me. When she bid $6500.00 I let her have her. She was SO happy, she went running to follow the mare.  It was fun to see how excited she was to get her very first Friesian. The Gypsy geldings brought big bucks.

They also sold 3 or 4 Gypsy stallions. Those sold well. We didn't stay to watch the last 30 horses as it was getting late and we had a 2.5 hour trip to get home. We left there at 5:30 pm, stopped for gas and ate some dinner at the fast food restaurant located at the gas station. We dropped off Rhoda and Iris around 7:30 pm at Busy Corner then finally headed home making it here about 8:45 pm. We are all tired and a little sad to come home with an empty trailer.