Berean Work

We had a light day at Berean as in not too much mail. Above is the main letter opener, Eva Jean Schaefer just getting ready to start opening. This week is really an easy day, last week there were over 300 studies alone that came in and many Bible request. Pictured below is just today's mail.

Aunt Bernie came in for some coats. She heard of a family that had no winter coats and surprisingly a skid of winter coats came in.

We never know what is going to show up in the warehouse but somehow always find a way to distribute whatever comes to exactly who ever needs it most. God's ways are amazing! The warehouse will be stuffed full one week and a few days later completely empty. Today the warehouse is about average.

Spark came in to find stuff for Uncle Ed. Sometimes it isn't easy sorting through the donations. Besides the Bible study program and the jail ministries, Berean Prison ministry gives away literally TONS of food and other necessities each month.

We try to finish up by noon, then meet the guys for lunch at Denny's. We always tease Eva Jean that she works for food. She puts in about 20 hours a week for the meal below and we are only talking ONE meal a week. I think she needs a raise, like maybe 2 meals a week?

After lunch it was time to work on credit card applications, today is the last day some of the specials like 36 months same as cash were offered. While there some of the bills due the first of the month were paid and mailed out.
At the farm Steven was going to check Izadora, worm Aragon with Quest then move them over to the big paddock. Mike stopped in at Meister's to pick up the angle iron Philip had ready for our new shelter. We are having a very productive day after our hard start this morning.

Comment from Tabatha

Thanks so much for the fieldtrip, the girls talked about it all the way home, we spent 7 hrs driving today and it was worth it, thanks for your hospitality!! The girls are talking about getting jobs and how long it would take them to buy a Raven filly LOL, we may not live that long, we would love to come stay in the cabin and trail ride with you guys sometime. So glad you like the name Grayson. Hope to talk to you soon! Thanks Tabatha

Tabatha and 2 of her daughters were our Indiana guests on Sunday. Amazing to think they had to drive 7 hours to see Raven and the mares.

We got a late start this morning and barely had time to check all the horses before the walk. The 2 boys were standing outside the shelter and Raven was in but on the walk Raven was out and the 2 boys were in. At least they are sharing, just not all at the same time. Sandy is still not showing any sign of coming in and Izadora hasn't been moved over yet so didn't get checked. Rachel, Sandy's owner was consulted about the length of Sandy's seasons just to make sure we didn't miss her the weekend of the parade. I felt better when Rachel said they were at least 4 days long and more than likely 5 days.
It is starting to sleet and the temperature is hovering around 30 degrees, just is a typical gray miserable November day! Just maybe if the cold sticks around we won't have so much mud brought into the house. With all the rain these last few days the back hall has not just the rug but 3 towels to help catch the mud before it gets dragged into the kitchen. So glad December 1st is tomorrow, maybe the sun will SHINE.
Now it's time to head down to work.

No, No Nutcracker

The Nutcracker on horseback is sold out for December 4th. I'm sure everyone is very relieved, they won't have to go to Chicago and sit on a horse for an hour watching the nutcracker or worse according to Justin!
This gives us a free day, December 4th to have a WORK DAY! Hooray.. We decided to rent an auger for the skid steer, the bent one just didn't do the job last time. The post are already here, just have to order lumber for the shelters. Greg Reed is hired to put them up and will be ready to work for us next week.
After the walk today Steven had the trailer hooked up to his truck and we took off for Middle Grove. The horses were in the second valley and didn't come running like we expected, we needed to hike in but at least they were in sight and not at the far end of 80 acres. We had no problem loading, in fact Jewel had to be chased out of the trailer first, then Knight, Ciera and Ayanna decided to get in and check out the trailer. Everytime we wanted to load a horse we had to get one out first. Why oh why are these horses always wanting to go for a ride? We brought back Velvet, Caden, Java, Valiant and Evan and left 11 still out there. They are looking great and there is still plenty of grass for them. I wanted to bring in Wynne, she doesn't look pregnant and is due March 23rd, but had no room in the trailer. Sure hope she didn't lose her baby.
Back at the farm, Evan and Valiant were dewormed with Quest, then introduced to Raven. This went well and the three of them will share a paddock for a week or two. Both boys are very subservient, being with the herd gave them great manners.
Raven bullied them around a bit but soon stopped and when Steven left they were all sharing the hay. Steven cleaned the breeding shed paddock, put down road mix in front and a new hay bale. Rachel's mare Sandy and her filly, who is in for breeding, were put on the small side making room on the big side for Izadora and her colt as she still needs to be bred.
Steven stayed to power wash the skid steer, while I took off for home and business. December 12th is the all church caroling and all the places still needed to be called to make sure we can bring a big group for caroling.

Job 39

Hast thou given the horse strength? has thou clothed his neck with thunder? The glory of his nostrils is terrible. He paweth in the valley, and rejoiceth in his strength; he goeth on to meet the armed men. He swalloweth the ground with fierceness and rage: neither believeth he that it is the sound of the trumpet.
Today Fred Funk had the morning service and opened to Job 39. I can picture Raven, his arched neck clothed with the thunder of his thick mane. His distended nostrils as he screams at the mares when he is showing off, the no fear and fierceness as he pounds the ground with his strong hooves. Isn't it amazing how God describes the horse.
We were blessed to have Craig Stickling give the afternoon service. He gave us another view of Judas, one we don't usually think of. Instead of thinking only of the betrayal, we heard how disappointed Judas was that the man he thought was to be king, to scatter the Romans out of Israel was instead telling people to love their enemy. And Peter, Craig got choked up speaking of Peter, how after denying Christ the third time the look he got from Jesus. Do we get that look? Every time Craig speaks we are convicted.
We barely made it home when our Indiana guest pulled up. They didn't realize about the time change. They gave me time to change and off to the farm we went.
Steven called as we were driving, Izadora's colt tried to go under the gate and got stuck. This time at least the gate could be opened. The mares were brought out and Jenis is lame on her left front. Her fetlock was a little swollen, no heat but she is definitely sore on it. Mike and Steven were busy working on installing the automatic waterer for the yearling paddock. Tomorrow the boys come back!
We finished up at the farm and headed to Bridlewood to visit Autumn and the barn horses. There was a group of men here installing a shelter for the lower arena so it can be used as an all weather turn out. Great idea!
Our guests left and the next group came. Rhoda, Ben, Taunya and Addyson along with Tom Kellenberger came over to play with Rhoda's new game.
Ben and Tom were really into the game.

They all took off and left Addyson with us, they are picking up Old Chicago Thai pizza for dinner.
Our Indiana guests sent me a text on Izadora's colt, what about the name Grayson? It kind of makes sense, Tarzan's name was Lord Grayson, Tarzan could swing through the air and escape about any trap. This boy sure tries to escape his paddocks by crawling under gates, he hasn't yet learned to jump OVER them.

Friesian Fieldtrip

We have a family coming this afternoon to meet our Friesians. The mother first called about Indy but then asked if she could bring her children for a field trip. Just wish it was warmer out but we will make do, hopefully they will all dress warm. We usually schedule field trips in the summer so the groups can enjoy the place. There will be no swimming, boating, fishing or riding today!
Karin and Steven's invention is saving so much hay. We put 2 bales in, one 11 days ago and one 9 days ago, both are only about half gone and with very little waste. This is with 7 horses eating on them. Jenis, Ylse, Sanna, Izadora, Aragon are all big eaters, Indy is also eating quite a bit although she is still nursing and Izadora's little one is mostly nursing. If we could get 2 more shelters up for when the herd comes back from Middle Grove the clean up and savings on hay would be amazing.
Below is the video of only SOME of the herd at Middle Grove taken in the summer. We are down to 16 horses at that farm with 5 to come back tomorrow morning. Steven is going to help bring home Evan, Valiant, Velvet, Caden and Java.

The horses come back from their vacation spot well muscled, well fed, and full of burrs in the fall but even with the burrs it is so worth while sending them. They are herd socialized, very fit and sure footed from running up and down steep hills and swimming in the lakes.

Spark's Heart

Rhonda took Spark into Proctor Hospital, he had been having chest pains for a week and a half. They rolled him in for an angiogram around noon and we are still waiting to hear the results.
Mark and I took a quick trip out to the farm. Steven was there and had cleaned out the paddocks, we thought he was having his family Thanksgiving today but it was actually yesterday. Steven was hand walking Sanna when we pulled up. We came to put in a round bale for Ribbon but he had already done that.
Izadora was pulled out for teasing, still no sign of her coming in. She was wormed with Quest since we had her out and she is not yet in foal. Raven was then taken over to Sandy where again he had no luck, still no sign of Sandy being in. Raven was the other horse at the farm wormed with Quest. The only other horse that should have been done but didn't think of it was Aragon. All the rest are either pregnant or too young to use that wormer on. One Quest was brought home for Autumn and I'll get her done later.
Mark is busy building a fire and as soon as it warms up in the living room I'll be lying in front of the fire taking a long awaited NAP.
Just got word about Spark, the email below is from Diane:
Hi Everyone,
Sparky is o.k. His main artery was 99% blocked and they were able to put a stint in. He should be able to come home tomorrow.
Thanks for the prayers,
Diane

What she didn't say in the email but told me on the phone that Spark was very close to having a massive heart attack. It is amazing what doctors can do without invasive surgery.

Battery Charger

A trip to Sams for a new battery charger was on our list of things to do today. Our old charger burned up on Thursday. It was probably 16 years old, and was a Christmas give I bought for Mark one year, the Ferguson tractor needed the charger in cold weather so this was one of those gifts I needed really bad but looked good to give to Mark.
We also picked up more fruit, paper towels, Dawn dishwashing soap and bleach.
Our neighbor called about borrowing the twitch, her neighbor's mare's leg needs bandaging and it keeps biting the owner. They would like to try to twitch the mare for the next time they need to bandage her.
It is sunny but cold today, right now only 30 degrees, and even though I don't want to go out in the cold, I'll force myself to clean Autumn's paddock, good exercise after feasting for 2 days in a row.

More Company

The kids all came back for lunch and had just started eating when the next company showed up. Tim Dreste and his 4 girls came to see the house. Tim spent many weekends here when he was growing up. He wanted to show his girls part of his childhood. Addyson saw his little girl just her age and wouldn't leave the poor girl alone.
She was so thrilled to have a playmate her size.

After a few minutes they were doing everything together. Addyson was showing her how to give Emma back rubs.

Tim's oldest daughter Samantha was a true dog lover. She cuddled Emma, played with Darcy and just loved on both dogs.

Addyson wasn't too sure she wanted to share her toys but was fascinated that they all loved riding the rocking horse, Elizabeth is on the horse and Emma (Tim's daughter) was waiting for her turn in the picture below.

Phil, Anna, Ben and Taunya decided to take off for East Peoria but put Addyson down for a nap first and will pick her up later. Sarah left for house sitting.
Mark went out to split wood when one of the chunks got stuck in the splitter, Tim went out to help. The tractor is our old Ferguson, Mark brought home the metal dryer vent, hooked it up to the exhaust pipe of the tractor to keep fumes away. I thought it was a marvelous invention which worked great, notice the smoke coming out of it.

David and Stephanie showed up to pack and head out to Indiana to spend another Thanksgiving with some of Stephanie's family. Tim Dreste loaded up his kids and left around the same time and all of a sudden the house went from very full and noisy to completely silent. We still have Addyson here taking a nap but the sound of silence may wake her up she has been sleeping through a ROAR of the sound of kids playing.

Nap Time

After breakfast Jon and Kim left for home, I ran out to water Autumn and found such a nice surprise, someone had already filled the tank and placed a tank heater in, Autumn had plenty of ice free water. THANK YOU to who ever took care of her. The kids decided to all go to Riverplex for pickup basketball games and left Addyson with us. Our car stranded us at church yesterday with a dead battery so Mark tried charging the battery yesterday but it is just too old which means today he is busy taking the old battery out and replacing it with a new one.
Addyson saw the dogs taking a nap and decided she would be comfortable right between them.

But then she felt like Emma was too close and started pushing until Emma finally rolled away and gave her more room. This is one fearless little girl.

And FINALLY she feels comfortable!

Yesterday David interpreted a phone call from a man wanting 4 of our horses. After giving him all the information on each horse the man told him he would call us back either Tuesday afternoon or Wednesday to tell us when he would be able to come up from Dallas Texas to look at them, then today another call from a man interested in one of those 4. I've decided who ever actually comes with cash in hand gets the horse and no more will I hold a horse for someone that has not put money down. Too many times we turn someone down when the first buyer tells us the check is in the mail but then it never comes. By the time the second buyer is informed the horse is still available, they usually have purchased from someone else.
The other good news is supposedly the refund should be here from the Northern IL Horse Fest within 5 days. They have owed us $460.00 since the cancellation in August. The refund has been promised and promised but never arrives. Hopefully this time they are telling us the truth. It would be nice to have the money in time for Christmas.

Thanksgiving Day

We had 21 people for our big meal yesterday and in the busyness of the day the camera was not taken out for pictures until later. No pictures of our 20 pound turkey (that cooked a little dry)good thing the gravy was good and plentiful, no pictures of the stuffing being scooped out of the caverns of the turkey, none of the sweet potatoes casserole or the wonderful salad from Jenny, the 20 pounds of snow white fluffy mashed potatoes mounding over the two huge bowls, the green beans, and corn from Diane, the rolls and cinnamon bread from Stephanie no pictures of the vegetable tray that never made it to the table from Anna, too good to snack on while waiting, none at all from our massive amount of food for the feast. The pies alone should have had at least one picture, there were 11 pies perhaps just a tad to many for our 21 people. Of course all of this food had to last for the entire day as we sat down to eat at 1:15pm. A big pot of wild rice and turkey soup finished up the day. Soup will taste good after a day of feasting. The soup is on the porch in the 21 degree weather and will be brought out today.
We have so much to be thankful for. The morning was spent in church where our elder Tim Funk had the message. The most important thanks of the day went to our Lord and Savior, How thankful we are that He provided a way of salvation for us.
Our family is a close second, each and every one so loved. Our country that allows us the freedom to worship is the third. Our thanks should have gone on for hours but of course the food awaited!
The Small Sceggel family will grow by one more soon, Jon and Kim came along with the news that Tim, their son had just become engaged. The wedding will probably be in Louisville, KY where her large family is from.
Rhoda shocked us all by coming home with a huge box that contained a (horrors)tv. The boys worked on hooking it up and the kids played games in the living room. It was pretty funny to watch. Even Nancy got in on the act, it was a great way to work off some of our excess feasting.



Tate, Jenny and Billy's boy found a quiet place to play with his cars and trucks.

The kids took off for the evening then sent a text that they would all be here for breakfast and what time should that be? We decided 8:30am would be a good time so sooner or later the cooking will need to start again. I LOVE MY FAMILY!

Famous Daves

The house was clean, the laundry done, all the sheets changed when Ben, Taunya and Addyson came over to tell us all the kids were meeting at Famous Daves for dinner at 6:00pm and we were invited. No cooking sounded GREAT. We had an hour to kill and Addyson helped the time just fly by. She decided she was tired and wanted a comfortable place to sit. She chose DARCY.

She decided to play peek-a-boo with Darcy.

Darcy is so patient with Addyson.

All 11 of us got to the restaurant about the same time and the wait was 45 minutes. We had a great time visiting and watching Addyson dancing and playing with a man that had a laser pointer.

While we were waiting who should walk in but Eva Jean Schaefer. She had just gotten off work from Bergners and was meeting a friend for dinner. Famous Dave's is not my favorite restaurant but they have a wonderful chicken and wild rice soup, that along with a salad was plenty. After dinner we met back here for chocolate pie.
Rhoda has decided we should have a TV and most of the evening was spent going over the pros and cons while the boys searched the internet for a good buy and tried to make a decision on which one should be purchased. Each time the kids would find one they thought would be right, we would hear Mark groaning in the back ground. This would set off laughter so of course the prices got more and more outlandish. Mark would start groaning about someone would want to steal a tv and we probably shouldn't have one in this neighborhood and it would probably use a lot of electricity. It was all in good fun and who knows we may just step into the 21st century.

Email from Amy

So the masses are anxiously awaiting - did you or did you not find the bat??
Amy

P.S. My Sarah says she knows exactly how you feel! They've caught about 6 bats in their house. BUT she says YOU didn't have a 10 year old yelling bat facts at you while you're trying to catch the things!!

I can just picture Michael Taylor telling his folks every detail as they are desperately trying to get a bat out of their house!

AND No we have not found any sign of the bat. We are sure, just as we sit down to our formal Thanksgiving dinner with all of our guests the bat will come out and go swooping around the dining room. Either that or die somewhere in the house and start really stinking just about the time dinner is ready.
On a good note, all the shopping is done, the last of the pies are in the oven, the house is almost clean and there is only one load of laundry left!

Monica's Eisis

Monica Fritzenmeier's new purebred Friesian filly. She is a yearling by Mintse and is a half sister to Evan. She has a VERY thick mane and tail. Congratulations MONICA wishing you many happy years with your sweet Eisis (Isis)

Brrrr

What a cold day to stand outside on the loading dock talking on the phone. The cell phones don't work well in our office but do ring. As soon as they ring either Eva Jean or I must step out onto the loading dock. Well my cell phone rang 3 times and the office phone rang 4 times. We had a much bigger pile of mail to sort through and between the extra work, the boxes of Spanish Bibles processed for Florida and phone calls we were late getting to lunch. Eva Jean then surprised me with an early Christmas gift.

Thanks Eva Jean, My first Christmas decoration of the 2010 year!
Willie Hofstetter brought back 10 boxes of Bibles all wrapped and ready to process around 2:30pm and once they were loaded it was time to get the dreaded shopping done. Aldi was the only one on the list today where $97.00 was spent, most of it on ingredients for the 'big meal', although other staples were also purchased.
Dinner tonight was an easy build your own taco, had to do that, there was ground beef that needed using plus the avocado's were ripe!

Bake, Cook, Clean

Right after work today I will be SHOPPING. We must have enough food not just for the big Thanksgiving dinner, but breakfasts and dinner meals for our overnight guests until Sunday. I love having the family gather around the table. This year is our small year, we are only having 20. This year mom and Karin are heading down to the gulf coast to join Ruth and Fedi's family. Somehow that just doesn't seem fair.
Ruth bought a nice big turkey for only 59 cents a pound, she has it in her freezer which means I must leave early for the walk today to pick it up before the travelers leave.
It's COLD today, only 29 degrees right now, yesterday we had a record 73 degrees and we were blessed enough to be able to spend a lot of the time outdoors getting last minute chores done. In the afternoon the rain started and came down in buckets. There were tornado watches out for most of the state. Now all the feeders at the farm must be dumped and hopefully the ice won't be that thick.
Raven will be led over to Sandy and Izadora for teasing. We wanted to breed Izadora late this year which was a good thing, we somehow got too busy to check her earlier. Hopefully both mares will still cycle.

Worse

Finally got brave enough to attempt to catch the bat. First the dogs had to be locked up in the hallway so they don't get in the way. Down the basement to come up with supplies where I found a big screen that could be held in front of the bat in case it tries to swoop around, put on a winter coat including the hood so it can't get caught in my hair, found a curtain for the netting material and placed it on a broom. Below are the tools that were assembled.

As the ceilings are 9 feet high, very carefully pulled up a chair,quietly sneak up on the bat, push the broom with the curtain onto it, wrap the curtain around the bat, go to step off the chair forgetting how high it was and drop the curtain. Quickly the curtain is pushed around so the bat cannot escape except for some reason I can't see the bat through the curtain. After a careful closer look I realize the curtain is EMPTY! My first thought was the bat must have fallen into the sink. There are some coffee cups and a few plates in the sink and it takes courage to look into them but they are all empty, then the floor is searched and no bat. All of a sudden the thought comes into my mind it must be ON ME! I run to the mirror and don't see anything, the zipper on the stifling winter coat is stuck and I'm frantically trying to remove it. When it is finally off there is still no sign of the bat. Do you know what's worse than a bat looking down while cooking? It's KNOWING there is a BAT in the KITCHEN but not knowing WHERE IT IS!! Time to finish the apartment and move out except Now we'll never be able to sell this house. Both dogs have had their rabies shots so they were let into the kitchen to see if they can find it but no luck.

Bubbles & Bats

Cooking breakfast while talking on the phone and happen to look up.

This is NOT something I EVER want to see in the kitchen. This is the 3rd bat in 2 years that made it into the house, I think we have a problem and need to call an expert! Not even sure what kind of expert we need. One that seals all cracks in a very old house, or one that exterminates bats? Bats eat mosquitoes but at this point I think I'd rather have the mosquitoes. Having a bat looking down on one while cooking is not a pleasant experience. All the kitchen doors are closed until I get brave enough to try to knock it down off the curtain and throw it outside.
The other really yucky thing this morning was Emma. She is one of the best bubble blowers when she thinks food is coming. Our only experience with drooling Mastiff's was Darcy and she is a dry mouth. I thought all those bad things said about drooling were exaggerated until we acquired Emma. She can be so gross! Look closely to see bubbles on each side of her mouth.

And a little closer picture just in case the bubbles are not clear enough.

Sandy Not IN

The drive to the farm was during pouring rain but once the farm was reached it stopped. Sandy was brought over to Raven where she allowed him to sniff her but then walked away not interested. She was then backed into him to see if she would show but instead she started mule kicking.
Our walk was dry but just as we finished it started sprinkling. We three sisters stayed a few more minutes talking but soon had to quit to get out of the rain. I'm so thankful for the support of my sisters and so very blessed to have 7 of them! Mom told us about Nancy's visit yesterday, now my sister Nancy caught encephalitis when she was 2 and a half years old which caused permanent brain damage. Nancy lives in a group home over in Morton, IL but once a week one of us usually brings her home or to church for a visit. Yesterday was Ruth's turn and mom took her after church for dinner. Mom was saying the prayer before eating Thanking God for the food and for Nancy's visit when Nancy interrupts and says, "tell Him about how I help in the kitchen." We all broke out laughing and we needed a laugh today.

Sandy In

Steven thinks Sandy is now in and should be covered today. I'll see if Rachel can help after the walk this morning. Rhoda is looking at a section D 3 year old Welsh Cob gelding as a training project. He is a liver chestnut with 4 whites. He wouldn't be good for Pony Club for over a year, a horse or pony must be 5 years old for that but after owning our Ranger, a section B Welsh Cob she has always wanted a Section D. We should find out soon if her offer has been accepted. His brother sold for $22,000.00! That is not a misprint, $22,000.00 for a PONY? This one is already 15 hands but as he is coming into his 4th year he probably won't grow much more, maybe an inch or 2.
We were wondering how long our nice weather could last, it is still a nice and warm 59degrees RIGHT NOW but big clouds are rolling in from the southwest so perhaps we will get dumped on today, glad the paddocks were all cleaned over the weekend Thanks to Steven.

Wynne's Sire

Wynne's previous owner emailed to let me know I had the WRONG pictures up of Wynne's sire. Her papers were brought out and checked, yep, I guess there are 2 Wopkes. Wynne's sire is Wopke Fan De Slachtedyk. Not only did the owners (Excalibur Breeding Center) give permission, this is what was sent: Thank you feel free to use anything on there you need.
Most Friesian owners are GLAD to share pictures, Why not get the free publicity!

Check out his amazing amount of feathers, now we know where Wynne get's her beautiful thick curly FEATHERS!

A Special thank you to Timmy Johnson "that Friesian guy" of the Excalibur Breeding Center for allowing me to post pictures of Wynne's sire.

Jail Services

The doors at the Peoria County Jail lock at 8:00am, the choir needed to be ready to walk in by 7:45am, the crowd in the entry way was amazingly friendly but subdued. It took 2 groups to pack into the small double locked entry way but once we were all able to make our way into the gym there were already a group of ladies waiting. We had 3 services, the first one is for the ladies and the next 2 are for the men. Willis Ehnle had all three services and all three were different but absolutely lead by the Spirit. The Peoria Choir sang at all three services starting each one with the song, Days of Elijah. When we started the part There is no God like Jehovah, there is no God like Jehovah truly the room filled with the Holy Spirit so much that goosebumps broke out on our arms and the Awesomeness of the presence of God in that jail room was something to behold! At the last service Spark asked Wayne if we could sing Alpha and Omega There were no words to describe the atmosphere then, Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord God Almighty! picture standing around the throne singing praises and knowing God is pleased, feel his almighty presence in the room and know we are not worthy. How blessed the choir was to be able to visit the jail this morning.
Hard to come back to earth after that visit. We got to church before the morning service ended. Afternoon service was Ken Hoerr, he isn't as loud or dramatic as Willis but sure gets the point of repentance across. He opened to Acts and even though we know the story well of Paul's shipwreck, Ken brought out how detailed Luke was when he wrote the book of Acts, how Luke accurately described the storm, the wreck, and the saving of the men. Then Ken told us about the time he and Darlene as new Christians were in a hurricane at a Howard Johnson motel in Florida, their room was on the second floor and the roof was being torn off, water gushing in and yet they were safe in a closet and at peace throughout the storm even thought they didn't know if they would live or die.
After church Autumn's paddock needed cleaning, it didn't get done yesterday, just too busy. Rhoda schooled her bareback while the cleaning was done. She and Autumn make a beautiful pair as they are cantering around the arena. Autumn is getting her trot canter departs within a couple of strides and looking good.
Mark and I took off for Riverplex for some relaxing swimming exercise and of course a good soak in the hot tub. Ahhhh!

The Parade

Mark wanted to split wood today which meant the tractor had to be hooked up to the splitter. Felt kind of bad leaving him with such a huge pile.

Around 9:40 everything was loaded and it was off to the farm to groom horses for the parade. Steven was cleaning the paddocks and had the mares out grazing, of course it is such a pretty picture the camera had to be brought out. Rebekah Davidovics showed up just in time to go buy 10 gallons of diesel fuel for the skid steer.

Izadora's colt saw Ebby coming and just had to jump up to check out what that mop of a thing could be.

The mares were brought in for grooming before loading. Sue Martin and Rebekah were great help getting them clean and shiny. Then it was off to Chillicothe for the Christmas parade.
Sue had Sanna looking good, Sanna is such a great mare, she is impressive with her large size yet so gentle. One lady came up and asked if she was a Clydesdale!

Below are Rebekah on Ribbon and Rhoda on Jenis and Sue on Sanna waiting for the start signal.


We watched 44 exhibitors go by before our group, it was a huge parade and we were starting to feel it would never end.




We were so proud of Indy, this is her second parade and was a pro! She likes the attention.

Steven and I drove back to the trailers to wait for the girls, when they got back we asked them to stay on for a few more pictures.



Rhoda and Monica took their mares by the river for some pretty shots. Rhoda had to show off Jenis' rear.



The time was flying by, the horses needed to be loaded and hauled back, by the time we reached the farm the sun starting to set. The horses unloaded, the saddles and bridles are all in a jumble stuffed into the wheelbarrow and pushed into the arena. The trailer backed in and unhooked time for HOME. A special thanks today for all of Steven's help. He arrived early enough to completely clean all the paddocks. He used his monster truck to pull 5 horses in our 4 horse trailer, then had to drive me home as Rhoda had my car.
More pictures of the parade were placed on the website on the friesian fun page.