It was pretty chilly when we awoke with only 46 degrees outside. The horses like this weather, it keeps the flies down and they are much more comfortable than when it is hot. They DO have fur coats you know. Today was Mark's last day to be quarantined for Covid. I went to church but just made sure to wear a mask the entire time there. Mike Kaisner had the morning message on the 1st and 4th pillar while David had the afternoon message on the 2nd and 3rd pillars of our AC Church. IT will be downloaded and posted here tomorrow. At lunch we had the special retirement party for David and Kathy Obergfel.
The video below is a little long as I wanted to make sure to get it all.
After church 4 of the families made it to our dinner. Only Ben and Taunya's family didn't come but they are on their way to Gulf Shores for a vacation now that school is out. Rhoda and Lee were first to arrive with Iris and Zeke. Lee brought in Zeke while Rhoda took Iris for a walk to see all the horses. Nolan arrived with Zion, Sarah stayed home with Eden and River. Phil and Anna arrived with Braelyn, Taegan and Kensley and David and Stephanie arrived with Israel and Elisabet. Our dinner of haystacks went over well as did the brownies for dessert. After the dinner the kids all made their way to the playground. The evening was cool but not windy and when the sun came out it was perfect for volleyball. The grandkids, kids, parents and grandparents all had a good time visiting. Even mom came out with her scooter and enjoyed watching the games. Below are a few pictures.
The video below is just some of the activities of the evening.
We so much enjoy Sunday's from the time we awake until we collapse in bed after telling each other "It was good, they all seemed to be enjoy themselves". It really is a blessing to be able to serve both at church and at home.
I had another morning of working while hearing the rumblings of thunder. Tatiana was teased and covered by Valiant and by the time I got in from the rest of the chores the rain started. I was expecting a lady from Iowa around 9:30 am and the family coming for Sangria around 10:00 am but at 9:15 am both sent a text they would be here in 15 minutes. Since we are having haystacks for Sunday's supper I was working on browning 10 pounds of hamburger and was just finishing the first batch when the texts came in. I turned off the stove and went straight out to get Sangria out of the paddock and just let her graze in the yard while Tatiana and her colt were brought inside and a halter put on her 13 day old colt. He did very well for that but I wanted to find a short lead rope to attach and found an old one that I just cut short. They came within minutes of each other. I left Wendy in with Tatiana and went out to meet the family for Sangria. She loaded up calmly and once at her new home they sent the picture below to Rhoda who sent it to me of Sangria with her new girl.
Wendy was pleased with Tatiana's colt and put down the deposit for him so once she left he was marked sold on the website.
I also decided on Valeriana for Lily's filly's name. This is a flower that is very much like Queen Anne's Lace and Lily is the queen around here. As she is Valiant's daughter I believed it fit the best. We will probably call her Valerie. Below is a picture of the flower she is named after.
The rain started up again so I went back to the house to finish browning the hamburger. Mark got all the tomato plants planted. Mike moved the riding horses over to the cabin field and took the video below of them so excited to be back.
He has Sally, Missy, Cookie and Rocky there. When they go out on trail rides we will have Rocky brought over here if he throws a fit. Ralph picked up Dakota which means I now have room to bring back Rosaleigh who is due June 7th but usually delivers early. My Rosalie, Soul and Lily are still not showing signs of coming in season. I would like to get them sonagrammed before taking them out so will call the clinic and see if I can haul in for those. I needed to be at mom's at 5:00 pm with dinner. When I arrived there was a good game going on at the table.
It was a beautiful morning, sunny and cool. I walked to the dumpster but no one else arrived so walked over to the barn and took a picture of where the new gravel needs to be spread. We have about 4 inches to build up the drive so we can move the equipment into the barn easier.
The grass is so green right now. Our beautiful morning started building storm clouds in the West so I snapped the picture below then got busy. This was taken standing at the new barn looking over to the pond pasture.
A perfect day to get the deworming done. Before heading up to feed the cat and check the horses the dewormers were pulled out and lists were made. Some of the mares cannot have the Quest Plus and the other dewormer used today was Strongid. Jury was the hardest I had to be patient with her and keep the tube against her cheek for quite a while before she finally let me get it in her mouth and squirt it in. She was given Strongid. The other mares given Strongid were Soul, Rosalie, Lily and Tatiana. Irish was given Quest Plus since she is not yet pregnant. Sally and Sangria were also given Quest Plus. Sangria is tall and gets her head up pretty high but I was careful to get it squirted WAY back into her mouth and I don't know how she did it but the next thing I know is it all came flying out of her mouth like a big goober and landed on my chest. That dewormer is so expensive I was able to scoop it up with my fingers and stuffed it right back in her mouth this time holding her head up and mouth shut so she couldn't spit it out. For the first time I can remember I was glad to be a little chubby and according to the heart surgeon, "well endowed". Usually if a horse spits out the dewormer it ends up on the ground and can't be used. But because of my build, the entire amount was easily scooped up off my shirt. Of course that meant I had to go in and change before bringing Dakota out to tease. She was not very interested but winked a couple of times but when I brought Valiant up to mount she swung her rear end at him and tried to kick. I was amazed at how quickly Valiant gets out of the way. I needed to quit outside work then the storm rolled in with lightning thunder and rain. I still have 3 more to deworm Missy, Cookie and Rocky and have their dewormers labeled and ready to go for tomorrow morning. Dakota was marked out and her owners sent a text. She will be picked up tomorrow. Sangria is also getting picked up tomorrow. Around 9:30 am a lady is coming to check out Tatiana's colt so they will be brought inside as the forecast is for rain. I needed to be at mom's at 11:00 am to relieve Joan. Mom had a good afternoon and evening. John and Beth arrived and stayed for a wile before heading to Gil's for supper. Once mom was in bed I left for home. Mark had 2 of the tomato plants planted and was anxious to show me the treasures that came in today. He bought with his own money a new kind of automatice waterer.
I am impressed with how easy it should be to repair. If we like how it performs I'll start saving to buy a few more. He had also ordered me a brand new rain coat. What a nice gift.
We had a beautiful peaceful misty morning. Lily headed down to the pond to get a drink and 3 foals followed her. I didn't think to take a picture until she had left the pond and was heading up toward the drive grazing as she meandered. It was so peaceful with the birds singing I took a short video.
Soon both of the other mares joined their foals and Lily.
I took a couple pictures of Lily's filly for the website.
Rosalie came down but stopped and talked to Valiant a bit. I thought she may be coming into season which I didn't want to see but nope she just wanted to say hi.
I checked on Jury then came down and made breakfast for Mark before heading to Sam's Club and Aldi. We really needed groceries. I found 3 nice Better Boy Tomato plants and paid almost $8.00 for all 3 plants.
After all the groceries were put away it was time to tease mares and work with foals. Rosalie was brought up first. It is 20 days since her last cover so I really didn't want her to show and instead she screamed and struck out with an emphatic "NO!" Next up was Soul, also at 20 days and she too emphatically exclaimed to Valiant, "I hate you." These mares are so funny, when they are in they won't leave the stallions alone but when they are not they are quick to pin their ears, squeal, and strike out. Lily was last, it has been only 17 days since her last cover so probably too soon to tease. She predictively said no also. Lily and her filly were taken into the barn so the filly could get a haltering and tying lesson. She was really easy this time, she remembered and stood when the rope was around her neck.
I really need a flower name for her and it needs to start with either a T, U or V. It looks like I have the option of Tulip or Violet but not sure I like either for her. The buyer of Soul's colt sent the signed contract by email but the deposit check by snail mail. I'm sure they really did send the check but won't mark him sold yet. I'll just need to explain he is more than likely sold. He was brought in next for a haltering tying lesson. He wasn't quite as easy, he didn't want the rope on him so once he was haltered guess what he got. Lots of rope time with it draped on top, under, around and even on his legs.
Below he is looking over as if to ask, "how much longer do I need to stand here?"
While tied I also put my hands all over him, even on his belly and between his legs. He needs to accept being touched everywhere. He did pretty well after the initial start.
After they were put away Tatiana was brought out, teased and covered by Valiant then they were put in the new barn field for some grazing time.
All was going well until she got full and went over to visit her dad, Evan.
There is no electric fence back there and didn't want him to accidently break the gate so she lost her grazing privileges in that field. Walking back I stopped to pull a weed. This weed had a beautiful yellow flower but it doesn't belong in a horse pasture.
Tatiana and her colt were put in the far paddock with the back gate opened to the pond pasture. Lily and her filly came in to join her thinking I may have treats. This is the first time Tatiana has been with the other mares and foal since she gave birth May 8th so I had to stay and watch. All went well and now all 4 mares with foals are in the pond pasture together. The mare paddock needed a new round bale and that always goes better with 2 people so I hiked down to the house to see if Mark would help with that. I was thanking him and he replied, "It only takes a few minutes". That is true if one has help, if I was doing it by myself each mare would need to be tied or moved so the gate could be left open then once done each mare untied or brought back. He saved me at least 15 minutes. These purple flowers are blooming by our house. I have no idea what they are, Mark bought over 100 bulbs, gave some away and planted a lot by our house and these are what came up. He planted all kinds of bulbs and these are the only kind that didn't get eaten by the moles.
Later this afternoon DLM showed up with another load of gravel. This year we are for sure their best customer. He is going to bring another load tomorrow. We have to build up the west side of the ground against the barn so we can drive the equipment inside.
It was a good combination and I will try that dish again at mom's. Mark really enjoyed it and I think mom and Karin would like it too. After supper we went to work on the garden.
Above Mark is bringing 3 boxes we will fill with good aged horse manure for the tomato plants. Below he is finishing up loosing the dirt after I dug out the sod.
And below we are resting. All that stuff to the left of the picture is the hydroponic stuff we took out of the basement. He is putting it together in the yard and we will be planting vegetables in that once it is up and running.
He is for sure over Covid and his quarantine will be up soon. He has been very productive these last few days working from home. He decided this week has been so productive that he should start working from home 3 days a week say Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. The big news this evening was Israel made an outside the park GRAND SLAM at his ball game today. David caught it on video.
It didn't rain last night. That meant I had to clean up the indoor arena for no reason at all. Both mares were anxious to get outside and enjoyed the field this morning. After they were put out Dakota was teased and covered. Walking by the middle paddock Irish and her colt were eating on the outside of the shelter while Lily and her filly were eating on the inside of the shelter.
I'm very thankful we have put up good fine stemmed nutritious hay last year. The mares are doing well on it. It started raining after our walk so it was a good day to do some extra chores like wash the living room windows both inside and out. That also meant sweeping off the porch and once the windows were clean the front door needed a good scrubbing. I'm very thankful most of the time that I don't see the dirt and it doesn't bother me but we are hosting potluck in NINE days so now I have to actually LOOK for dirt. The people coming to pick up Madiera had a flat on their horse trailer so I loaded her up in mine. My only problem was not having enough gas to get there. Last time I drove the truck and trailer gas was $4.39 a gallon and I just couldn't see spending that so decided to wait until I needed the truck again hoping gas prices would fall. BOY did I ever get that wrong. Gas in Hanna City is $4.89.9 a gallon. I didn't quite put 10 gallons in. I quit pumping when the bill was $48.00. That was enough to drive her over and drop her off and get back again. Hopefully I can make what little gas is left in the tank last until the dems get voted out of office. Later they sent the picture below of the girl that is going to end up with her foal, she had just untangled and brushed out Madiera's mane.
After parking the horse trailer I loaded the golf cart charger in the car and took off for Congerville. The man repairing the golf cart needs the charger also. Thankfully our Prius gets 43 miles per gallon and that 70 mile round trip could be made on just under 2 gallons of gas instead of of the 7.5 it would have taken in the truck. Of course the next trip would be with the truck and horse trailer to bring home the golf cart so I'd better plan on putting another $50.00 worth of gas in it before taking off. It was late afternoon when I finally got all the driving done today. We are having a nice evening and Jury is still not bagged up enough to worry about her delivering today so has been left out tonight. It looks like Soul's colt is sold. The people buying him are mailing the deposit check and will get it out tomorrow. I won't mark him sold though until the deposit is in hand.
The Peoria Cooperative Academy is putting on the musical Pride and Prejudice tomorrow at 2:00 pm and again Friday at 7:00 pm.
ALL are invited and they have really done an amazing job with this. If you liked the book and liked the movie you will love the musical. Besides that Faith is in it.
We didn't go to church tonight as Mark is still in quarantine but watched live on Facebook. Gregg Rumbold had the message on 1st Timothy 4.
Mark got up early and by 6:00 am he was out weed whacking the barns, then took a apart the swing on the front porch and hauled that over to the dumpster before coming in for a big breakfast. I'd say he is for sure on the mend. Thankfully this new variant seems to be quite mild. More like a bad cold. We both stayed home today but both of us were productive. I got Tatiana teased and covered, the barns cleaned up the new harnesses put away a bale moved in to the middle paddock and by this evening put both Jury and Madiera inside the indoor arena. We have rain moving in around midnight and I don't want them delivering outside in the rain. Madiera is now bagging up but not waxing. Jury at 6 days over due has started to bag up but still not where her udder needs to be. Tomorrow we have a family coming to pick up Madiera. We have not sold Madiera but this family would like to purchase her foal and want the opportunity to be there when the foal is born. They are a local family and I met them so agreed. I took the pictures below when I went out to tease around 7:00 am. As soon as I walked out the door the perfume of locust flowers hit me. They have a delightful sweet odor. The trees are white with blossoms.
That is Rosalie and her mother Lily in that shelter chowing away. Lily's filly is laying down so we can't see her in the picture.
The iris plants are also blossoming.
The people that did the septic tank and field for the new barn arrived with a skid steer to smooth out the area. They will come one more time. It can't be done all at once as there is settling around the tank.
This evening I walked up to put Madiera and Jury away and walked to the back of the barn first to check out the work Mark did on the big holes. They both look good.
My goal is to move the 5th wheel camper back behind the big barn and try to airbnb it but first it needs some repair. We have the parts in, now just to get moving on it. I also have 1 pipe under the kitchen sink that needs to be replaced but will need to take a mirror to see which one as the hole is on the back side. On the way back to the house I stopped to take a picture of Soul who happened to have 2 foals with her. These two colts play together constantly.
Irish was still in the middle paddock but her colt wasn't at all worried about being away from her.
It was surprisingly cool this morning as I headed up to check mares. Lily and Soul were standing in the shelter and both foals were laying under their feet.
I walked up to them and the most they did was to pop their heads up. They were much too comfortable to actually get up.
Dakota was teased and covered by Valiant. Then I headed for the dumpster for the walk. The locust trees are blooming and filling their air with their wonderful perfume. There isn't much good about a locust tree with their poison thorns but in the spring they redeem themselves.
On the walk today Joan showed us her special project. Her daughter Sarah is a wildlife rehabilitator so they know exactly what to do.
The owlet was found at Middle Grove on the ground. It must have fallen out of the dead tree during the wind storm. No adult was by it and for sure it wouldn't survive without help. Joan started by feeding him/her minnows but the owlet was really hungry and it isn't easy to catch enough minnows so Joan caught a big bass and just cut it into pieces. We finished our walk. I left to pick up the Berean mail. Mark just wasn't feeling well so made an appointment at Walgreens to get the covid test and sure enough he is positive. Since we share a bed I'm assuming I may also get it but maybe not. So far so good. I sent a message to Bill the Berean director that the mail would be just dropped off a the office but I probably shouldn't come. I also let my siblings know so they could cover my shift at mom's. If I do end up being sick I sure don't want to be known as a grandma killer. We had a beautiful day, the sunshine felt wonderful.
