Saturday Work

 We weren't in a big hurry this morning to get moving. It was really cold. After breakfast we both wore coats when we drove the truck over to Joan's to move the camper over. This is the camper we are posting for sale. 

I have a couple coming tomorrow after church to check it out. I also made a short video of the inside for the ad posted on Facebook marketplace.

It is a great design, a small camper that fits a family and doesn't take a gas guzzling truck to pull. The dry weight is only 3740 pounds. Israel arrived to help with splitting firewood and then clearing an old campsite. I went to Sam's club to buy the food for Sunday supper. We will be having hamburgers, brats, all beef nitrate free hotdogs for the meats. When I got back I put both of the 50 pound bags of grain on my golf cart and drove that over to the stall barn to dump into the 2 garbage cans in the tack stall.

Went to throw the bags away and saw a broken halter in the garbage can.

Pulled out the halter, found a heavy duty zip tie in Mark's garage, took the halter home and fixed it.

We are always so short of large halters. Mark ended up working in the other barn so I went to help Israel. We cleared the path of thorn bushes and set up chairs for the devotion in the woods tomorrow.

Israel needed to be home by 3:00 pm so we quit working at 2:00 pm, brought everything back to the house and left for Chillicothe. After dropping him off I just drove straight home. I still needed to bake the 2 desserts for supper tomorrow. As soon as those were in the oven baking, I left for Sarah's to let puppies out.

Sarah and Nolan have a beautiful large yard. I stopped to admire what they have done and just had to take pictures. Below is their garden area.

Beyond the garden is the kids monkey bar climbing structure and trampoline. Their firepit looks well used with a beautiful view of the pond.

They put in a lighted fountain in the pond. They even have a cool water slide and beach.

Below is a close up of the fountain.  

Tonight the light was green. The last time I was there it was blue.

I got home before the cakes had finished baking. Once they were out of the oven and cooling I went back to put the puppies back inside the house. This evening after the cake and brownies had cooled the cake was iced.

The Gulf Shores group made it down safely. Diane found one of mom's paintings she painted when she was in her favorite place, made a plaque for it and hung it in her condo.

In case you can't read what the plaque says below is a closeup.

Pretty neat to have that as a remembrance. We all know where Rachel and Karin get their artistic ability. It sure didn't come from dad. Ruth, Joan and I got more of dad's genes, we don't know what matches. One of us is smart enough to compensate by only buying outfits that go together but the other two just don't seem to care. 

Go South

 We had a tree fall across the main drive last night.

Ruth arrived and had to park on Diane's drive.Mark went back to get his chain saw. Spark drove up just as Mark was finished cutting it up and he helped Diane, Ruth and Mark get it off the road. 

We stopped at Joan's, she and Diane made the arrangements for later today as they are driving down to Gulf Shores this evening, leaving around 7:00 pm and driving through the night. They will have a full car on the way down as Faith gets to go too. She will leave her car at the Belleville airport then drive down with them but fly home as the rest are staying for a couple weeks. My plan for the day was to move a camper over but that actually never happened. I drove over first to get the foaling apartment ready for guests coming in and saw that Rhoda and Sarah were here working with the 2 new ponies. As it was really cold and windy the grand children came over to our house to play but I went back to watch the girls work the horses. Rhoda was teaching Gypsy, the paint mare to bow. That took a while but she was making progress, they decided that they should try her out on the trails as she was advertised that she crossed water. She wasn't perfect but Rhoda took it slow and she did cross ok.

We stopped by the lake to take a few nice pictures for the website. Sarah took the two pictures below. Her phone camera is much better than mine.

Below is the trail ride.

When they finished the trail ride they asked Gypsy to step up onto the pedestal.

Below is a video of the pedestal.

She was a little sweaty as she was nervous going on the trails by herself but cooled down quickly.

I finished the apartment then went over to check on the grandchildren. They were having a blast in the basement.

Rhoda and Sarah worked with Stardust next.

Below is Stardust on the trails.

I brought the girls over before they put Stardust away so they could each ride her if they wanted.

Above is  Zeke and below is River.

Zion was riding her and Rhoda asked her if she wanted to try the bow with Stardust.

Iris wanted to try next.

Sarah took all of the kids to her house so they could let out the puppies and play with them. As Rhoda was going to work with Merlin and Lucy I ran back to the house to get the de-wormers. Dancer was de-wormed with Quest Plus. Tessa and Harli were de-wormed with Ivermectin as they are both pregnant and I split a Quest Plus between Lucy and Merlin.  We took Merlin and Harli out to graze in the outdoor. Merlin sure showed off, he was so glad to get out and run.

 We brought Tessa and Lucy out next.

Lucy is SO impressive!

Our guests in the barn asked if we had a fire pit. Mark went to get the wood and I got the firepit, hosed it down and took it with the golf cart over to the barn.

Mark and I left for TSC when I got back. He wanted to buy a watering can.

I just bought 2 more bags of grain. It was raining when we got out of TSC and I'm sure those guests will not be starting a fire but who knows, maybe tomorrow. They sent another message asking if they could ride the horses. No matter how many times I post on the airbnb ads that we do not allow horseback riding they still ask. On the way back we got stuck in traffic and ended up stopping at Taco Johns for supper. We each ordered a taco salad.

We did not take any home, it was good and we had skipped lunch. Maybe tomorrow I can move the camper over. It really was a long busy COLD day. As Diane said this morning, "it's the perfect time to go South!"

More Basketball Games

 About 15 minutes before our walk I went into the barn to just check things and realized I had forgotten to clean out the fridge and freezer. The fridge just needed to be wiped up but the freezer still had some ice cream in it. That was all taken home and then we walked. After the walk it was time to clean our house and get all of the laundry done. I listened to David in Wilcox on AC Central while cleaning. He sure had the gift of teaching. Mark worked on the old golf cart in the back garage. He is determined to get that done as Mackenson would like it. We both worked through lunch so decide to have a late lunch at the Bartonville diner then stop at Aldi for a few items for Sunday. We were getting ready to leave when I remembered I hadn't pulled hair from Harli and sent it in with the payment of $65.00.  I don't remember doing that with Irish our other Gypsy but must have. They cannot get Merlin's registration papers back until Harli is dna'd. I took the golf cart over and pulled a bunch from her mane. That was folded in the identifying paper and mailed with the check on our way to the diner. I took a picture of the envelope and sent it to the lady that is working on the registry so she knows it is on the way.  Mark and I shared a walleye dinner, we each got a salad and we both had enough. Aldi is just a few blocks from the diner and we only needed milk, bread, 2 cake mixes, 2 brownies mixes and 3 dozen eggs. We had just enough time to put the groceries away before heading to Farmington school to watch the 7th grade team and then the 8th grade team play. The teams they were playing were from Peoria Heights. That team had some talent but didn't play well as a team and both games ended up a blowout so both girls didn't get a lot of playing time. I think Kensley had 17 points but she played in both the 7th and 8th grade while Taegan had 23 points. Below is some of Kensley's game.

Some of Taegan's game is posted below.

Valerie's First Ride

Anna from Western Hearts is training Valerie for us. Below is her first solo ride. Valerie is coming along well and we are thrilled.

Cleaning Day

 I overslept again and because of that I am back on coffee. Amazing how much brighter and nicer the morning is with that first cup. It really does wonders for my energy level and attitude. Mark is really glad to not have to live with a crabby cranky nothing is right kind of wife. We picked up Spark today on our way to Joan's house. 

When we reached Spark's house we had to admire his pretty blue tractor and he told us all about it.

He bought it believing the engine was bad but the repair man he took it to saw within a few minutes that the engine was good it was the fuel injector. He had them change all the fluids and the bill was much less than he thought he was going to pay. We made the comment before mom died all of us out here were sharing her Kubota but now we there are 4 of that size tractor out here. Rachel and David bought mom's, Mike found one that even though it is old it is hardly used, and Mark has 2, his big one and his little one but of all of them Spark's is the prettiest as we like that color blue. This morning all of the arrangements were made for the jr Bible class coming Sunday afternoon. Rachel and David will use their tractor and hay rack to gives hay rack rides. Mark will be in charge of bringing over dry wood to get the campfire going then will grill the hamburgers, brats and hot dogs and I'll work on the rest of the meal. Diane and Joan will be in Gulf shores. Right after breakfast I went to work on the new barn and spent 5 hours cleaning making sure it is ready for the guests coming tomorrow. The farrier sent a text that he would be here around 2:15 pm. That gave me just enough time to finish the barn then head over to get the ponies out. they both had a full set of shoes on.

We don't want shoes on our horses and was glad Tyler could fit us in to get them pulled. Each of the grand daughters Zion, Iris, Eden and River want the shoes so this time they each get two.

I lined them all up on Mark's trailer so they could pick the ones they wanted.

Mark wanted to leave at 5:30 pm tonight as he wanted to stop at the hardware store before church. That didn't take an extra half hour so we were the only ones in the parking lot for a while. Caleb Plattner had the message tonight. If you would like to watch that click HERE.  Our David gave greetings from Wilcox, AZ and only then did I find out where they were this weekend. We knew they were in Arizona but his name didn't come up on AC Central so thought they must be at a small church that doesn't have the AC Central. Well at Wilcox they didn't know how to spell his name so some guy named David Seigal spoke there both morning and afternoon.  Tomorrow I'll have time to listen but Stephanie said the morning one is in Spanish and the afternoon one is in English. I'm posting them here. The morning message does have the English translation click HERE to watch that. Click HERE if you would like to watch the afternoon message.

Busy Tuesday

 I was so worried I wouldn't wake up in time this morning I awoke at 3:30 am then decided I'd better stay up as if I went back to sleep I just might over sleep. I needed to be at Sarah and Nolan's house by 6:20 am. I was there at 6:18 am. Sarah was in Ohio getting a dog bred and Nolan needed to leave for work by then. He had put all of the puppies outside at 5:00 am. When the girls awoke we needed to bring them all in. Those puppies are being crate trained. 

Once they were all in their crates, fed and watered we left for our house where breakfast was made. I left then for the walk while they enjoyed breakfast. Beth surprised us and came on the walk and when we got to Sparks house he also joined us. We stood at Joan's visiting for a while as 6 of us siblings were together. After the walk the girls went with me to help move a round bale in for Harli. When we got there Tessa's filly was out and over by Harli and Merlin. At that point Tessa and her filly were moved in with them. Zion opened the gate and kept the horses from running out while I moved the bale in.

Then it came time to tease Gypsy but Gypsy had lost her halter and ran from me when she saw me carrying one into the paddock. We moved Stardust, formally named SnickerDoodle into the outdoor arena and then Gypsy stood well for the halter. She does not like to be alone. She was taken over to Valiant and teased. She is now out of season, we only got one cover on her so hope she settles.  Meanhile Stardust (named for the galaxy of stars on her body) was having fun running around the arena.

She is such a nice pony she comes running for the gate when the children arrive.

I took a couple of pictures of Gypsy for the website.

As the mares are no longer using the mare pasture Evan was turned out to graze on his pasture but he was more concerned that the mares were no longer next to him and kept running back into his paddock and staring at them across the yard.

From there we went into the barn. I was putting away the new goblets and glasses Diane found while shopping on the Spoon River drive.

The girls had a lot of fun in the gym with the hula-hoops.

At 11:30 am we went back to Sarah and Nolan's house to put the puppies back outside. They are doing so well with their potty training. Everyone of them went once they were out in the yard. They were given food and water. Nolan arrived home around 1:00 pm so I left to go home. We had the water softener repair man coming and he showed up at 3:00 pm. He found the problem and has ordered the part. At 3:45 pm we left for Farmington school to watch Kensley and Taegan play. Tonight's games were against Dunlap, the 7th graders had no problem winning their game but the 8th grade game was a nail biter. They won the game 21 to 19. It was a defensive battle the whole game. I took video of the entire games. Below is the 7th grade game.

The 8th grade game is posted below.

Having Fun Yet

 I overslept again. I'm getting lazy in my old age. I had a dentist appointment at 10:00 am and because of the hip replacements and open heart surgery have to take antibiotics a couple hours before and I couldn't find the medicine. It was found but only after pulling every pill bottle out of the shelves of the pantry and the closet in the bathroom. Joan borrowed the truck today to take all of the copper wire Mackenson  cleaned up for scrap. He has a wire stripper and that is his new job. He gets wire from an electrical company in Morton, Joan takes it home, Mackenson strips it and organizes it by size then they haul it in, take the money back to the electrical company and they pay him 15% for the work. They gave him another big box of wire to strip. It is the perfect job for him. It is nice at the dentist office. The chair lays back and I almost fall asleep while my teeth get cleaned. No cavities but then I didn't expect any. I haven't had one of those for years. My phone went off just as everything was done and that turned out to be from Airbnb. Guests booked the farm house starting today for the next week. As soon as I got home I took the mop over to the farm house to mop all of the floors and dust. I sent a message to the booker that the house was ready for them at 1:00 pm and they arrived shortly after. My next job was to take a picture of the roof of the camper we have for sale and send the picture to the couple interested in coming to see it.

She wanted to make sure the roof vents were in good shape. The couple interested live in Normal, IL and will make a trip down sometime this week. 

We called off Berean for tomorrow, today is a federal holiday and we couldn't get the mail. That will give me time tomorrow to work on the barn as we have guests moving in on Thursday. This evening after supper I was relaxing in my rocker recliner when a text came through from my guests in the farm house telling me there was a horse out. I was sure it was Merlin but they sent me a picture and it was Harli. That stinker she saw me coming with the golf cart and took off at a gallop into the big field with Merlin following. I grabbed a bucket of grain, put it on the golf cart and went after them. Merlin saw the bucket and came right away, Harli decided it was more fun to be free then eat the grain so I just looped a lead rope around Merlin's neck and led him into the indoor arena. Harli realized he was gone started galloping around the yards screaming for him. It was getting really dark and the lights were not on in the barn so she couldn't find him. He finally called, she came running into the barn, I grabbed her halter and hooked her up then put them in the paddock next to Valiant's so I could figure out how she got out. I drove the golf cart in the mare pasture with the lights on and could not find a fence down then realized Tessa and her filly were missing. It is really hard to find a black horse at night. At least Harli was easy to find.  I was driving around the pasture looking for them and discovered a wide open gate. The gate between Evan's paddock and the mare paddock. I drove out of the field through that gate, locked it behind me and found Tessa and Lucy standing on the drive with my 3 guests, perfectly content to be petted. They were walked into the mare paddock but the automatic waterer was over running badly so instead I locked them in the mare pasture. I got the water to stop running then called Mike. He will fix it in the morning. Tomorrow I will have to put in a bale in the paddock next to Valiant, put Tessa and Lucy in their with Harli and Merlin then let Evan out into his pasture so a bale can be put in his paddock. When I was finally done with everything I thanked my guests for letting me know and wished them good night. I got back to the house after 8:00 pm. Sometimes it isn't fun to own horses.

TWO Ponies!

 I ran over to the stall barn early this morning and noticed the truck and trailer were already gone. I only found out later that Nolan had picked it up the night before, filled the tank in the truck then took it to their house. Rhoda and Iris spent the night at Sarah's house. They left for Waverly Iowa at 3:30 am to pick up Snicker Doodle. Mark and I picked up Rhonda for church and made it there by 9:30 am. It really was good to be in church today. We sure have a special, wonderful church family. Mike Kaisner had the morning message on Isaiah 40 and John 1. Click HERE if you would like to watch that. Rachel and David along with Jon and Kim served lunch today and that was really delicious. They had hot ham and cheese sandwiches. Nancy LOVED that. Gabe Stickling had the afternoon message on Obadiah. Click HERE if you would like to watch that. After church I quickly changed then drove over to the farm to meet Snicker Doodle. I was shocked to find Sarah and Rhoda brought back TWO ponies. They ended up buying Snicker Doodle then bid on one more, a paint pony named Gypsy and won her also.  Gypsy is 13 years old and is 14.1 hands. She was listed as broke to ride so Rhoda got on her first to try her out. Below is a video of Rhoda riding Gypsy.

She was obedient and did everything asked. She is also in season so after talking it over decided to breed her to Evan. Mike and Diane pulled up right then so Mike helped with that. Next Rhoda tried out Snicker Doodle and she did so well that all of the grand daughters took turns riding her.

Zion even led her friend around on her.

After that of course Zion had to ride her again.

Below is a video of Rhoda riding her first then Zion and Iris.

The horses were put away in time for dinner at the barn. Spark and Rhonda along with Mike and Diane joined us and later Joan brought Nancy over. We had a good time visiting after dinner. Berlica brought a bunch of hula-hoops over and Zion got pretty good at that.

The kids all wanted to go back and ride Snicker Doodle again. Diane, Nancy, Joan and I were on the golf cart going over when we had to stop and let the Sauder Hay Rack Ride go by first. They had the right-of-way and they were a lot bigger than the golf cart.

Oh the traffic in this neighborhood! Joan left to build a campfire so after the horses we made our way back to the playground and told stories around the fire.

Sarah and Josh arrived, they had been to Banner Marsh kayaking and Sarah shared a couple pictures she took. There were so many birds but the most unusual were the white pelicans. We just do not see them at our place.

There were also a lot of swans but she didn't share that picture. She took the picture below of the sunset over the water.

We had a pretty sunset here too but hers was really special. We old folks were the last to leave the fire. Spark, Rhonda and Joan helped move the chairs back but we just left the fire burning. It is safe, there is no wind tonight. Today was another really special Sunday. I'm so thankful to live here among lots of family in such a beautiful place.

Snicker Doodle

 I was not in a rush to get up this morning as there is no walk on Saturdays. Diane had gone shopping on the Spoon River drive and found 10 chairs for sale for $1.00 a chair. We need them at the playground and around the fire so I told her to buy them all and I would come pick them up as she was driving the Prius.

We are pretty thrilled to get them, they are all in good shape and should last if once the weather turns cold we store them inside.  I was on my way home with them when the lady coming to see the barn for her wedding next year sent a text that she was at the barn waiting. I was exactly 2 minutes away. I explained to her the barn is set up for family reunions but we are willing to do weddings IF the renter will do all the work. In other words they will need to cover all of the sports equipment themselves. The only thing I am willing to do is to take down the volleyball net. She was thrilled with the place and said they could easily do that. About then the guests in the foaling apartment sent a message that they had left the apartment so after breakfast I drove the golf cart over to get it ready for the guests coming in at noon today. They had left it in very good condition. The sheets and towels were brought to the barn to wash. I had not quite finished when the guests in the farm house left. Those towels and sheets were also brought over to the barn. The next guests for the foaling apartment arrived before I finished the farm house.  At 11:00 am the family arrived that are going to replace the motorhome roof and do all of the repairs. They are from Bushnell, IL and have a 5 star rating for camper and motorhome repairs. They showed us the product they use and it comes with a lifetime guarantee from any leaks. They have amazing service as they drove it to their repair shop in Bushnell. Below the husband is driving the motorhome away while the wife drives their car. They had 2 children and the older one went in the motorhome.

The guarantee transfers if we sell the motorhome. I'm pretty thrilled with that as if I was buying a motorhome I would want one that is guaranteed not to leak.

Rhoda and Sarah watched the Waverly sale on-line and ended up buying a 13.3 hand 4 year old pony mare well broke to ride. She does laterals, sidepasses and has a very balanced canter. I took the stock trailer off of the truck and hooked up the 2 horse trailer.

They will leave in the morning to pick her up as the sale was closing in a hour and the drive is 3 hours.

I finished the laundry and finished cleaning the farm house late this afternoon. Berlica came by on Jury.

I told her about the new pony and she is really excited too. The pony is named Snicker Doodle and she is an appaloosa/paint cross. She has 4 white stockings some Appaloosa markings and a white tail.

She is the perfect size for Zion, Iris, Eden and River. These grand daughters want to show next year and now they don't have to wait their turn as long.