2 Trips to Middle Grove

 Joan, Ruth and I walked. Diane and Mike are now at Gulf Shores for a couple weeks. When we got to Joan's house Faline came running out of the woods and up to Joan who had some left over watermelon. Faline loves watermelon.

That silly doe followed us today on the walk all the way to the indoor arena. We stopped there as I wanted Joan and Ruth to help me hook the stock trailer up to the truck. After the walk Mark came with me to Mike and Diane's to help load Sally, Dancer and Denver. They were taken out to Middle Grove. The video below is once they were let out of the trailer. They were glad to go straight up the hill to find and join the herd.

On the way home I called D & H Camper Repair to see if I could bring in the motorhome. They are backed up but told me I could bring it in Oct 12th between 8:30 am and 11:00 am. There was traffic on the drive going back and forth between houses. David was hauling equipment with his Kubota and Spark, Rhonda and Tarah were walking so of course Spark had to stop to visit with David.

Rhoda and Sarah were here with the girls. They were working with Harli and as long as the stock trailer was hooked up to the truck Rhoda decided to give Harli and Merlin a loading lesson. Harli was doing so well they decided it was time to take her on a trail ride. Zion rode Penny in front so all Harli had to do was follow. 

Merlin had a lot of fun exploring everything.

We were all thrilled with how Harli behaved. She is really going to be a nice steady pony. When they got back and those horses were put away, Rhoda took out Sapphire for some ground work.

She saddled and bridled her then did some round pen reasoning with her. After removing the saddle she was loaded, unloaded then lead to her paddock.

Rhoda decided it was time for Sapphire to join the herd and learn herd manners. She was taken out to Middle Grove with Missy and while there I picked up Dancer. Below is the video of that trip out.

On the way back to Hanna City I called Hoerr vet clinic to see if I could get Dancer in for an ultrasound. The soonest I could was Monday morning the 21st of September. After parking the truck and trailer the motorhome was unplugged and driven inside. The ad was removed and I won't advertise it until it is repaired. While we were all horse-in around Mark was changing oil in tractors. Below he is changing it in the Kubota. 

He also got the small Kubota oil changed.

The rotisserie chicken from Sam's club was deboned and chicken salad made which we will have for supper tonight. I'm pretty tired so will go to bed early tonight. 

Another Wonderful Sunday

 I went over early to check Jury's eye. It was much better, the swelling was down and she was opening it fine. I took a picture and sent it to Rhoda after treating it. 

We picked up Rhonda for church this morning as Spark went to the jail. When Mark let us out in the parking lot Rhonda mentioned we should have church outside today, the weather was exceptionally mice. Mike Kaisner had the morning message and said the very same thing when he got up to the pulpit. His message was on Psalm 116 and 2 Corinthians 4. Click HERE if you would like to watch that. Caleb Plattner had the afternoon message. We are starting on the minor prophets study and he spoke on Amos chapters 1 and 2. Click HERE if you would like to watch that. After church as soon as I changed I went over to put the slide out on the motorhome as we had someone coming to look at it. Sarah was there with Berlica and they were tacking up 4 horses for a trail ride.

Joan took Nancy home to her house and Nancy got to feed crackers to Faline, who came running out of the woods for a treat.

Rhoda arrived to work with Sapphire. Today she saddled her.

Sarah sent the video below.

After supper all of the little girls went to the barn to do vaulting. Rhoda and Sarah helped with that.

Left to right back row is Elisabet, Eden, Iris, Riley, and Blair, upside down hanging in front is Zion.

As the weather was cool Jewel wanted to do more trotting so Rhoda ended up having her stand for some of the tricks. Berlica came and also helped. We had a good evening with lots of fun things to do. Joan brought Nancy over and let Nancy play basketball with her, she even made a basket. Rhoda and Lee took Nancy home tonight. Another wonderful Sunday.

Sweet Dreams

 I was having a wonderful dream and a song was running through my dreams when I awoke this morning. I found the song on youtube and want to share it here. The refrain "I know YOU are able and I know YOU can but even if YOU don't my hope is YOU alone. 

My dream was about a big revival in Peoria! What a wonderful way to wake up. I really don't know when I heard this song, it might have been years ago and was so thankful to hear it in my dreams. Last night before going to bed I had asked for good dreams. What an amazing answer! To think HE cares enough to send that to this old failing creature (me). A big heron was on the swimming lily pad this morning but by the time I slipped out the door it flew off towards Joan's beach to hunt.

I had plenty of energy to finish the barn before 9:00 am. Today's guest at the barn was supposed to be a small intimate wedding. They asked if they could come early to set up for their wedding.  I blocked off last night and told them they could arrive by 9:00 am.  After making sure all was well with the barn I drove to Sam's club to pick up the food for Sunday's meal. We will have chicken skewers with onions and peppers. Mark will grill tomorrow so once home the chicken was cut up, drizzled with olive oil then covered with parmesan cheese. That was put in the downstairs fridge then peppers were cleaned cut into chunks, drizzled with olive oil and parmesan cheese.

Sarah was here with the girls. Sarah was going to go on the trail ride but Jury's eye was swollen and weeping. I took some medicine over, tried looking in her eye but couldn't see anything. It may just be scratched. The girls went on the trail ride by themselves.

Zion got her helmet caught in a branch with thorns on it so. Sarah took the golf cart down and a branch clipper. The girls rode the horses back down to show her where the branch was. Sarah cleared more than that branch. There were brambles on either side of the trail that needed clearing. When they came back Sarah brought Tessa out to the round pen. Her filly decided she didn't want to follow her mom and was showing off to the other horses.

She was bouncing around, below all 4 hooves are off the ground.

She really is spectacular!

Sarah was teaching Zion how to desensitize Tessa. In the video below I'm not sure if she is training Tessa or Zion. Even Eden and River helped some.

That small intimate wedding turned out to be HUGE. There are SO many cars and trucks and they have music playing that goes boom boom boom. We really can't hear it unless we step outside. I sure hope it isn't bothering the neighbors. A request came in for a lady to hold her wedding here in March 2027, I said NO. No more weddings. This is the second time I was told it would be small and both times it was huge. I guess I don't know the definition of small. Maybe in their minds 200 is small. Berlica stopped by with some lead ropes they made.

These were a trial. The won't work as a lead rope, they will be too rough on the hands if the horse pulls away but will work as ties. I sent her with the red lead rope which is made of soft cotton to see if Joan can find that to use instead of the hard rope. This evening the desserts were made for tomorrow. 

I have just finished icing the cake and sprinkled some powdered sugar on the brownies. Mark is already in bed and I will be heading their shortly. 

Growing AGAIN

 We had a good walk this morning but only did one round as Joan has co-op and does not walk on Fridays. I went right to the barn to strip beds and start laundry then over to the farm house to strip those beds and gather the towels, instead of quitting then I decided to do some cleaning. The guests left everything nice but of course the bathrooms had to be done. The laundry was all brought over to the barn as that machine is so fast and only then did I go in to make breakfast for Mark. Rhoda had arrived with Iris, Zeke and Sarah's three Zion, Eden and River and they were going to go on a trail ride all by themselves. I walked out of the house just as they were coming down the lane. 

Rachel was just taking some of her grandchildren over to see the foals. 

We didn't follow them down the trail, just waited for them at the top, then had them stop for a picture.

Because they were doing so well we decided to lead the way with the golf cart and take then on a longer ride finishing at the outdoor arena where Rhoda worked with them. The video just shows a bit of the trail ride.

When Sarah arrived she took over working with the children while Rhoda brought Sapphire out to work on her manners. Sapphire did not know how to lead and would rush through gates and run over people. Today we saw a huge improvement.

While Rhoda was taking Sapphire back, Sarah was bringing Harli out. Today Zion rode Harli at a trot while Rhoda worked with Merlin her colt on leading.

Last out was Tessa and her filly by Valiant her owner named Lucy. We needed updated pictures of Lucy for the website. Of course I will send them to her owner.

Below is the video of Lucy.

Zion helped with the training of Tessa.

It is important for the mare to accept someone over her so Rhoda had Zion climb up and put her leg over her. Lucy, Tessa's filly was bored and went to play with the bag.

Before putting Tessa away Rhoda had her carry the tarp then ended on a good note.

When River and Zeke came out of the barn they were covered in mud and dust. They had been playing in the water and mixing the dust into mud.

When everyone left I went back to work cleaning and finished the farm house but not the barn. I went back to the house at 4:00 pm so Mark and I could drop off Bible studies at the post office I had finished grading earlier before the post office closed. From there we drove to Meisters to drop off another check then to Texas Road House for dinner. I had skipped lunch and was craving meat. The meal was delicious. Mark paid so I don't know what it cost but we both got the 6 inch sirloin, sweet potato and salad. 

That really was delicious. Now for the news of the day!  The Meister family is expecting identical TWINS

Big sister, Eden, who is not quite a year old is going to have to share mommy and daddy. AND Spark and Rhonda are expecting their very first great grand son! Their great grand daughter Caroline will have so much fun with a baby brother. The twins will be 100 and 101 of the greats and the great great will be number 2. The family keeps growing!

Paying the Bills

 Our walk lasted extra long this morning, We walked first to Joan's house then to the barns but when we reached Mike's new barn stopped to see the improvements.  Diane told us she helped Mike all day on that yesterday. They put up almost all of the siding.

He even hung the deer head he shot while bow hunting with Andrew.

When we reached Spark's house John and Spark were outside talking. We were all sharing fun memories of living with mom these last almost 5 years. Ruth shared, the Sunday before mom died she was outside at the campfire and asked Diane, "where is Mike?" Diane replied, he is working on his barn. Mom came back quick with, "he is probably trying to figure out what else to buy for it."  then she started laughing and had all of us laughing too. Ruth stepped back to take the picture below.

We are all so grateful for the parents we had and how they raised us. It really was hard to leave that impromptu meeting.

We usually get back around 8:30 am but today we visited so long Mark cooked his own breakfast. Right after breakfast I went to the foaling apartment to start flipping that. We have new guests coming in this afternoon. All of the bedding there was taken to the new barn to wash and dry so I could work on the living area floor while the machines were going. Sarah worked on a pregnancy announcement for Perfect Penny.

When the foaling apartment was done I pulled hair from Sapphire for the dna test then drove to the post office to mail it. It was raining and I didn't want the envelope to get wet and ruin the dna.

We had a nice gentle rain that most of the time was just coming down as a sprinkle. I worked most of the day organizing the pantry and closets in the new barn while doing laundry. At 4:00 pm I took the golf cart over to Joan's to meet a man renting a camper for the weekend. That went well, he is a repeat renter so knew all the steps.

The Gypsy registry told me they would refund the $215.00 I sent in to register Izzy but it hasn't arrived yet. That was sent by paypal and was supposed to be returned by paypal. I sent a reminder to the registry. We got our electric bills and water bills today and they were both really high. We had 3 or 4 days of overflowing water on one of the automatic waterers so I knew the water bill would be high and it was $255.31. The electric bill, even though we have solar at the farm house was $222.10 and the electric for the barn was $375.49. That was the only bill that went down. Last month it was $690. It wasn't rented as much this month. I'm thankful the airbnb's are renting as much as they are, they are paying the bills around here.

Closing Day

 Spark joined us on the walk today with a shiner.

He remarked, "After 51 years of marriage you would think I would to learn to stop talking back", and then we heard the rest of the story. He was working and the wrench slipped off and his forehead ended up hitting metal and the metal won. Rhonda wasn't even there.. It started raining just as we finished the walk. Sarah arrived with her girls during the rain and gave them a vaulting lesson on Jewel. 

 After breakfast Mark came with me to the barn to help. He used the hand held sweeper to go around the edges of the gym while I worked on bathrooms. He left around 9:30 am but I kept cleaning until 11:30 am then came in to clean up before we needed to leave to pick up Spark. Today was the closing on mom's house. We picked up Spark and drove to Vital Title where Fedi's sister Czilla helped us with all the paper work. There was a lot of paper work. We didn't arrive home until around 2:30 pm. Sarah sent a text that two foals were out. It was Tessa's filly and Harli's colt. They escaped through a downed board. Sarah fixed that and then got the two foals in with grain.  Her girls were getting ready to go on a trail ride.

When they got back we hooked Penny up to the cart.

Sarah tried her out first and she did well so Zion was next and then when we saw Penny was perfect Eden and River joined her.

We skipped supper as tonight after church we went to Culvers. We left for church at 6:00 pm, picked up Berlica and Mackenson at 6:05 and made it to church by 6:35 pm.  Dave Beutel had the message on Proverbs 25 and John 19.  Click HERE to watch that. We drove to Culvers and had a nice ending to our evening eating and fellowshipping with the others who came. 

Izzy Found Deceased

 I had leg cramps during the night, bad ones, enough that I wasn't very rested when it was time to get up. We had a funny walk this morning. One of my sisters was telling us a true story that just happened. I won't say which sister but her husband sold a horse and the buyer came with cash. As the banks were closed she decided to put it in their fireproof box they use for important papers and it locks but when she found the box it was open and the key was missing. She looked and looked but could not find the key. She went on amazon typed in the fireproof box and found she could order new keys for it. I think she said they sent 3 keys for around $10.00. The keys came, she was thrilled with they worked but now she had 2 extra keys. She was wondering where to put these extra keys, looked around her house thinking where would be a good place to hide them, thought she figured out the perfect place, went to put those 2 extra keys there and found 2 OTHER keys. When they bought the fireproof box, it came with 3 keys so she hid those extra keys and forgot about them.  Now she has 5 keys for the box. The moral of the story is when we get old and lose something just look for a good hiding place and more than likely your lost will be found! The rest of us all laughed. I quit the walk early as I wanted to stop at Sam's club to pick up a dessert for the Berean volunteers this morning. We had a very good morning together. After our prayer Marvin told us a story about a teacher he has known for years. She is Jewish and has been amazed at his life. So amazed, that she asked him to write a biography of his life and send it to her. She doesn't believe in Jesus. Marvin asked us to pray for her, she is now elderly and really does need to know the truth. Her name is Judy and I'm asking anyone reading this to stop now and just pray that Judy's eye's could be open to the truth. Our LORD hears the prayers of HIS people.                                                            There were 11 volunteers this morning at that office. Below are a few pictures. 

I got to the Hanna City post office to drop off the mail when Mike and Diane showed up there. I told them as soon as I dropped off the car I was taking my truck out to Middle Grove to keep searching for Izzy. Sarah and her girls were here. They had cleaned up our house then were getting the horses ready to go trail riding. Today Zion was the leader riding Missy, River rode Penny and Eden rode Jewel. 

She took the video below of the girls and their ponies.

I drove the truck all the way back to the big lake and started hiking along the steep edge just in case she had rolled down into the bushes at the edge of the lake or into a ravine. I just kept hiking and searching each clump of trees and each ravine. When I reached the ridge near the top the horses saw me so I parked the truck and walked to them hoping they would leave the truck alone.

Cookie and Lily were grazing together near the watering hole at the top.

The rest came at a trot from the trees to surround the truck.

Above is three year old Thalia followed by Madiera and behind her Rosalie. Below is Oliver.

Shadow is far left,  Blueberry in the middle and Rosalie and Rosaleigh right.

I kept walking, through those woods behind the horses still checking ravines when I found Izzy's body. She was laying flat out next to a tree in a little clearing up near the top. The ground had not been disturbed around her which made me believe she had probably been struck by lightning. We had storm after storm come through with so much lightning. It was a relief to know she wasn't stuck somewhere suffering. I hiked back to the truck and it was completely surrounded.

Trying to drive out I had to keep honking the horn. They weren't in a hurry to let me leave. I sent texts to the family to let them know she was found. When I got home I contacted the registry to let them know I had found her and she was dead. They agreed to refund the $215.00 I spent to get her registered. The LORD gives and the LORD takes away, blessed by the name of the LORD. 

Now I have some website work to do.