Bathing Angelica

The man buying Angelica, Indy's filly by Evan was suppose to be here at 3:00 pm to pick her up. We had over an inch of rain and Angelica was muddy. Thankfully we have our portable instant hot water heater. She was taken into the indoor arena and given a bath and to think this is the last day of November and it was a cold 35 degrees outside.  After the bath she was taken into the insulated stall area with the warming lights turned on to dry off. My do we have it nice! In the past we would struggle with buckets of warm water and rags trying to get the foals ready for shipment and come in freezing.
Adara, Zalena's filly was brought inside for the afternoon to keep Angelica company. The two boys, Titan, Ribbon's colt and Arturo, Marika's colt were left out in the weanling paddock and were glad to be there. At 1:30 a text came through that the buyer was not coming, there was a problem with the trailer. He is going to drive here tomorrow to pay for her then Emily will deliver her on Friday afternoon. I'm still not going to mark her sold until the cash is in hand.

That means Angelica needs to be kept clean for another 2 days. The best way to do this was just turn Adara and Angelica out in the indoor arena for the night. Mark's car was kicked out of the barn so this could be accomplished. We really do need a bigger garage since cars should be put in a garage and not in a barn. Right? If no one needs the indoor I'll leave them there for the day tomorrow.
Karin went to Middle Grove to check on Easter Lilly and work horses. I haven't heard anything so all must be well.
Mark drove to church tonight. David Obergfel had the service reading the first two chapter of Malachi and then 1st Peter tying both together. Are we giving the best?
David Sauder posted this video Sarah took 7 years ago of Darcy attacking the back packs. At the end is Emma as a puppy.

Welcoming Joseph Pike Brenner

Tara and Jay are thrilled to announce the birth of their big baby boy Joseph Pike Brenner born at 6:10 pm.

He is a whopping 9 pounds 5 ounces and 20 inches long. He is welcomed home by his 4 sisters and 1 brother. Congratulations to his parents Tara and Jay and grandparents Spark and Rhonda. 

We had a good walk today, hearing all about Joan's trip to Haiti and Diane's trip to Gulf Shores. I quit after 1 round to pick up the Berean mail. To read about our day there click HERE. We worked until after 2:00 pm and when I walked out of the office was pleasantly surprised at how nice it was outside. The sun was shining and it was a warm 58 degrees this 29th day of November. As soon as I got home Titan and Marika's colt were taken out of the stall and put in with Adara and Angelica. They were happy to be outside. Easter Lilly was loaded up and taken to Middle Grove where she will spend a month learning to be part of a herd. The short video below was taken as she was meeting the horses.

Karin and Larissa were out there working with the mares. It was such a beautiful day.

Below is Anna, Anna is the first mare due in 2017. She is due March 18th but already looks huge.

 She was checked for twins at 18 days, hopefully the vet didn't miss one. Notice in the picture below how she sticks out on both sides.

 I will need to bring her in next month to watch her. I'm not sure which mare is looking over at the lake in the picture below. I wasn't close enough to tell.

 left to right below is Hadassah, Galena and Marika. Galena stays attached to Marika like glue.

 Below is Whitney heading down to the lake for a drink. 

 Hadassah was following Whitney. 

 Missy is behind Rosalie. If there is a foal out at Middle Grove, Missy will be close by. This mare loves foals but has never had one of her own as Missy is in too great of demand as a riding horse . Maybe we will breed her in 2017 so she can have her own foal.

 I liked the lighting in the picture below.

To see the rest of the pictures taken there click HERE. 

Jewel's Filly Leaves For Texas

Today was busy. Right after the foals were fed the car was driven to Meister's and 4 boxes of copy paper loaded up for Berean. Stephanie met me there with Israel and Elisabet. She had a meeting at Methodist so these two grandkids were taken back to the farm. Now it wasn't exactly a fun day outside for Israel. Lighting was flashing, thunder was rumbling and then came the sound of hail hitting the metal roof on the barns. The monitor was on so we could watch the 2 colts in the stall but the noise level was so high with the hail we had to turn off the sound. We opened the patio door to let some of the ice come in the house. Israel wanted to keep it to show his mom, not quite realizing it was going to melt. After the storm I ran outside and scooped up a handful to put in the freezer to show Stephanie when she arrived to pick up the kids. Israel couldn't wait to show her.
Right after they were picked up I had to leave for my dentist appointment in Pekin. I'm ashamed to say it has been a few years since I was at the dentist. There is a reason for that. It was a rule that people with artificial joints need to take a high dose of antibiotic before any dental work. I don't like to take any medicine so kept putting it off. Diane's new dentist told her it was no longer necessary and that's good enough for me. They found a cavity so I have to go back on Wednesday afternoon to get that filled. The shipper called as I was walking into the dentist office at 11:00 am that he would be here around 4:00 pm to pick up Jewel's filly. After getting my teeth checked and all polished up shiny I ran to Big R to pick up 14 bags of grain then Aldi for groceries. It was still raining when I bought the grain, raining when the grain was unloaded and raining when the groceries were brought inside. Jewel's filly was put in a stall to dry off. The shipper arrived around 3:40, the filly loaded up like a pro and she was on her way.
This evening was spent cooking and baking for tomorrow's meal at Berean. Mark always enjoys sampling my creations.
Now for an email that came in and MUST be shared:
Dear Judy,
I have to say as an experienced horse person and having been around many MANY Friesians, yours are pretty spectacular. To be honest,  I've always been a fan of the Percheron (I've owned Windermere mares) and never have really been too fond of the friesian. I always found them to be rather lazy and shorter than my desire. But yours...... wow. And I don't say that lightly... but WOW. 
I'm very VERY interested in purchasing a riding horse from you, the bigger and wider the better (I have balance issues and find I have much better balance on a WIDE back rather than a thoroughbred build). 
If you have two for sale (one of which would need to be beginner/husband safe) let's talk two.... possibly one of your 2016 foals as well depending on my daughters interest in halter showing and riding. The idea (if she is interested) of her raising and growing with a foal would be fantastic. They can grow up together and then the bond would truly be one that would be unbreakable. 
I loved as well that you trained your horses in dressage and use them in true dressage, that is to say in medieval movements. Dressage was originally meant  as a combat training and seeing it used in medieval shows is wonderful! I would plan on using it in shows but also because of my unique situation could be life saving. Where we are and where we go can sometimes be easy... but weather it's riding in the mountains or riding downtown for coffee it can sometimes be interrupted by a coyote or a bear and teaching a horse those moves can actually save your life if used properly. Fake medieval fighting can usually scare off the wild beasts where other horses will just run which will entice the wild beasts. If I purchase horses from you will they come with a few lessons in how to make them do these beautiful movements and how to ride them? I'm a pretty basic English rider (w/t/c/ jump). 
I'm truly looking for our FOREVER horses] but I must say after seeing your horses move and pictures I was emotionally moved. Their presence is overwhelming. Im a ride every day while my kids in school, type of person. An all winter and all seasons except rain type of rider.... are these those types of horses? Would they like that?? What's their mileage like? Could I put 20 miles on them a day? 10 or 15? Hopefully at least 10 because if the hounds don't get 10 a day they're high strung at home and I'm getting tired of footing it so I would love to ride it lol. 
Would you be willing to do a price deal on more than 1? 
How does it work, do I come there and you ride them and show me the horses or am I allowed to interact or try out the ones I'm interested in? Can the foals be ponied with the mares? Do you by chance have any geldings? I also saw a Percheron who looked remarkably like a shire (she was spectacular) with all her feathering.... what's she like? 
I'm used to very big horses (18+h Percherons and 17+h thoroughbreds and Spanish Normans), I have found that my balance affects them much less so I'm still ok if we jump and I'm off balance. I have seen some friesians that have beautiful wide, apple butts, and some that look like dainty thoroughbreds. Is there a way to know which one a foal will become? Are your horses for only very experienced well trained riders? I have no classical training.... I'm ok at posting but I grew up running around on 19h foxhunters so I've learned to hold on and just trust the horse with most things... that's kind of what I need- a best friend.  
I just realized this email is going on and on... I apologize, this is such a huge purchase for us... and I have so many questions. Thank you for taking the time to read through all this muck and I would appreciate any thoughts you may have. You really have special horses....... just wow.
Sincerely 
Julia

The Palace

This morning Rick Kaisner was visiting from Chicago and opened up to Esther. By the time he was finished we felt we were IN the palace with Esther and King Ahasuerus. We didn't just get one chapter we got the entire story and the subplot of wicked Hammond. This afternoon Mike opened up to Jonah and again we got the entire book from the beginning to the end. Both Esther and Jonah were asked to do something, Esther was reminded she was made queen for such a time as this, while Jonah was told to go to Nineveh but ran, then spent 3 days repenting during those 3 awful days and nights inside the belly of a fish. He did go to that huge city and preached but did not want to see the city saved. God reminded him there were over 600,000 people that could not tell their left hand from their right hand plus much cattle that would all be destroyed if they were not told and did not repent. Those must have been innocent children if they couldn't discern their left from their right hands and those children would have had parents. Exactly how huge was this city?
After church Mark got a fire going and took advantage of the new couch to read in the warm room.

Phil and Anna brought the girls over this evening while they played volley ball. We enjoyed having them. A big pot of chicken and wild rice soup was made for supper. We are having a cold rain this evening and soup hit the spot. The last trip up to the barn to take care of the 2 colts was made at 8:30 pm. This time I took the car and drove it right into the barn to stay dry. They are eating and drinking well and with this weather I'm very glad they are inside.

Sunny Saturday

The morning started with a lot of fog, so much that it was almost spooky outside with gray mists and icy grass. After breakfast Karin worked Marika's colt in the arena. He is so smart he learned very quickly to turn and face her. He is such a sweet colt who already stands well for haltering and is leading pretty well. I took a few pictures and a video to update the website now that he is weaned.

Next out was Titan, Ribbon's orphaned colt. He has been depressed these last couple days so has been inside. He still isn't back to how he was before Ribbon died but is getting better. At least he ran around a bit today.

Last Karin brought out Easter Lilly. This was the 3rd day in a row she worked with her and each day Karin has seen improvement. Yesterday when Karin was riding, Easter Lilly would not go forward and bucked when Karin asked. Today she did one little hop but this training session was much better with Easter Lilly going forward when asked.

Easter Lilly is still in season so was covered by Valiant then put back in the paddock. We decided not to take her to Middle Grove until we know she is out.
The sun finally burned off the fog and it was perfect weather to work outside. Mark walked around checking fences and had to fix a few. We got the log splitter off and the road grader on the tractor so he could grade our driveways. Next came cleaning out the garage. Winter will be here soon and the car needs to be kept in the garage. Mark's golf cart was taken up to the barn, the parts cart loaded onto the skid steer and parked outside. Ralph and Jamie are going to take that home. My golf cart is now stored in the right side of the garage leaving the left side for the car. Mark will need to park his car up in the barn. Later the stock trailer was cleaned out so Mark and I could take it to Sam's club to pick up our new couch. We got to Sam's just before dark and the 2 of us got the couch loaded into the horse trailer but there was no way the 2 of us could get it out. Luckily Phil, Anna, and Anna's brother Ash came over to help unload it. We put it together and of course had to try it out. This couch is pretty snazzy, it has recliners on either end and an outlet to plug stuff in plus a couple of UBS ports hidden in one of the arms. It is made of a very good quality leather so should outlast the 2 of us. Best of all I have a place to lay down for a nap next to the wood burner. Life is GOOD!
The vacationers are all coming home and sent this last picture:

Another Saturday

It feels like we just finished a fun filled Saturday and yet there is another one scheduled for tomorrow. This Thanksgiving Holiday messes with the mind. Our company left around 10:00 am for their trip home to Elgin, IL. It is always good seeing Mark's brother Jon and his wife Kim. We enjoyed Kim's moist,  home baked pumpkin bread for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
Karin came over early to work Easter Lilly. Today she rode her and honestly was disappointed. Easter Lilly doesn't know what leg aids are at all and did not want to go forward. It makes sense if she was just used as a therapy horse being led around. Easter Lilly was teased and showed so was covered by Valiant then put back in the paddock. She will be teased again tomorrow, hopefully she will be out and we can take her to Middle Grove tomorrow. After she was put away we loaded up Jewel, Rosalie and Rosalie's filly to take them back to Middle Grove.
We had an uneventful trip to Middle Grove and when we pulled up about half of the herd was out grazing on the hill side and came galloping up to see who we were bringing.

The camera was turned to video to try to capture the thundering of hooves as they came galloping down the hill, but by the time I finally figured out which button was the video it was too late. Our only geldings, Mika and Ripper were the first to arrive.

We decided to bring Marika's 5 month old colt home for weaning and to be a companion to Titan as Jewel's filly will be leaving for Texas soon. Karin went into the field and put a halter on Marika but when I let Jewel loose, the herd took off galloping up the hill taking Marika's colt with them. We waited hoping he would come back but when he didn't we started hiking up the hill. At the top of the ridge we could see them way off in the distance. Karin decided to lead Marika while I went back to the truck and trailer and drove that in. By the time I got to the big hill she had Marika and her colt at the bottom waiting. They were loaded up without a problem. At home we were very pleased at how quietly the colt walked into the barn and into a stall. He is an independent fellow. Titan was put in with him and they were given Titan's milky grain. Marika's colt started chowing down too. He has called a few times but the 2 colts are doing very well together.
The family down in Gulf Shores are having a wonderful time. The weather is sunny and warm, in the mid 70's all week. They took the Herman boat out fishing and came back with quite a catch.

 Below is Ruth playing with Jordan, her only grandson.

 Below is Riley, Ruth's only grand daughter.

 Below is the Turkey Bowl football game. This was a game that was played every year at Pleasant Home on Baer but lately has been moved to Gulf Shores as most of the family seems to head down there any chance they can. 

Rachel and Jessica took the kayak out on the lagoon. 

Mom had delicious hot turkey soup waiting when we got home from Middle Grove which was perfect for our damp cold weather here in Illinois. Mark had a terrible job today, power washing the skid steer tracks and then washing down the tractor before putting the power washer away for the winter. He came in pretty cold but warmed up quickly as we had a hot fire going in the fireplace. Phil, Anna, Braelyn, Taegan, Kensley, Dan, Susan, Levi, Abram, Karin, Mark and I all went to mom's for another day after thanksgiving dinner. For some reason those leftovers taste even better the second day.  We were going to head over to Rachel's hot tub to warm up but by the time we finished up the turkey we were all too lazy so Karin brought out the game, mom Phil, Anna and I joined her in playing a rousing funny game of Mexican Train. Karin won tonight.

Our Thanksgiving

This post is being written a day late as we stayed up WAY too late visiting with family.
We are blessed! Having our church doors open on Thanksgiving to be able to go and thank God on Thanksgiving, sit under the sound of His Word, sing His praises all with fellow believers is about the best way ever to start Thanksgiving morning.
Right after church though it is always a rush to get the last minute foods prepared and hot for our main meal at 1:00 pm.
Our meal was almost as good as the fellowship of the day. No one was in a hurry to leave the table. Later Chad took his daughters over to see the horses and pet Titan. Chad and Julie have one daughter named Emma that is animal crazy. Emma kept asking if we could go over to see the horses so I was glad when Chad offered to take them. When they got back to mom's Emma and her sister Livy were having a good time playing with Studly, Ebby and Miss Molly when I mentioned that we have a dog named Emma that couldn't be here. Karin piped in with, "Emma, that's who you were named for." (not true) of course that meant Emma and her sister Livy had to come see our Emma and Darcy. They were a little shocked at how big the dogs were but were brave enough to give them treats and ask both dogs to do their tricks. Since none of my grand children were here I was thankful to have 3 of Beth's here.
Karin pulled Easter Lilly out and worked her a short time but by that time it was too dark to get any good pictures. The session went well.
After the little ones left we brought out the Mexican train game and spent the evening laughing and playing. We all went to be with very grateful and thankful hearts. What a great God we serve.

Preparing for Thanksgiving

This is the off year for the Meister Thanksgiving, meaning small. Actually the smallest Thanksgiving I, in all my 61 years can remember. We have only 15 people coming. It seems the new gathering place for Thanksgiving in our extended family will be Gulf Shores in future years. This year there are at least 7 of the families there. Rachel posted the picture below of the 2:00 pm football game on the fun schedule:

Rebekah posted the picture below of the fishing and then of course eating at one of the restaurants near the beach across from Souvenir City.

They had a short video posted of Justin Herman pulling in a fish but I wasn't able to share that. 

Mike and Diane are there now working on their condo so Ebby has been staying over here with us. Today on the walk she found a deer leg to carry around.

She was so proud of this bone that she even growled at Miss Molly who had no desire to even touch that stinky thing. Emma could hardly stand that Ebby had this prize and lay down close just staring, hoping and dare I say praying Ebby would forget about the leg and walk away but alas that was wishful thinking. Ebby dragged it home with her and for the first time since Mike and Diane left she is staying home. She doesn't want to share such a prize and would not be allowed to bring it in this house anyway.
Right after the walk I drove to Hoerr Vet clinic in Morton, IL to pick up Jewel's filly's coggins and health certificate for her trip down to Texas. She will be leaving Monday or Tuesday next week. Just so happens Walmart is a couple blocks from the vet clinic so that is the store that got my business today. Lots of good ingredients for baking pies and cooking delicious dishes for tomorrow. As soon as the groceries were unloaded the oven was turned on and the pies started. By the time mom called to report the turkey was done, most of the cooking over here was finished too. With so few people coming only 5 pies were baked. Mom baked an apple pie while I baked 3 pumpkin and 1 pecan. The potatoes were peeled and placed in salted water until tomorrow when they will be mashed. The sweet potatoes baked, then peeled and mashed with butter and a little salt in a casserole dish. Tomorrow that can be just put in the oven to warm. I took a bunch of the food that didn't need refrigeration over to mom's and just had to take a picture of  the turkey. Mom makes the very best:

 Mom does not have a recipe for stuffing, she just adds lots of ingredients and each year it is fantastic. The dining room table is set for the 12 adults coming and the small table is set for the 3 children. 

Sarah and Nolan made it down to Dallas, TX with Ben and Taunya's kids in the middle of the night. Jack woke up this morning saw the pool, ran outside in his pjs and jumped in. The pool is not heated and was around 51 degrees. He didn't even care. Taunya posted the picture below taken later, after Jack got his swim suit on.

I can see we will need to visit them a lot this winter. Mark came home tonight and after all that cooking and baking there was nothing prepared for dinner. Not only that I didn't want to even think of cooking dinner. Thankfully Mark likes tuna fish, a can was opened fancied up and dumped on a salad. He was happy and so was I. Today was a cold rainy day again. Titan, Ribbon's orphaned colt and Jewel's filly were brought inside for the day and will be left in the stall until morning. We can't take a chance on Titan getting sick. The stall was cleaned again tonight, water buckets filled and more grain given. While I was working he manured and urinated so I'm sure he is getting enough. Lots to be thankful for.  I'm heading to bed now because before church I still need to get a few last minutes of cleaning in. 

Easter Lilly is IN

Addyson and Jack woke up happy again. As I left to head out to feed both were told, "I'm going out to feed, if you have any problem just open the door and yell and I come right back."  After feeding, breakfast was cooked and we settled down to play.   Emily came back from taking care of Sarah Reinhard's menagerie (Joan, Sarah and Hannah are in Haiti) and Easter Lilly needed to be teased and covered so again I told Addyson and Jack that I was heading outside. Jack pipes up, "I know what to do, just open the door and yell." Smart kid! We brought Easter Lilly out and didn't even get to the stand before she was showing. For a maiden mare she stood for Valiant like a pro. Since it is so late in the year and we will not have any more mares to cover the decision was made to let Easter Lilly be Valiant's companion. She was turned out first into the field then Valiant was brought in and let loose. He was so thrilled to have his own mare again.

Easter Lilly was so thrilled to be in the field she jumped for joy before taking off at a gallop. This is a heavy 16.3 hand draft mare and we were amazed at how high she gets off the ground. 

Emily and I stood there gawking at her movement as it was so unexpected.

 Notice in the picture below how all 4 hooves are off the ground. 

A foal out of Easter Lilly by Valiant is going to be tall and have amazing movement and of course as it will be a Valiant baby it will be so very sweet. Valiant is such a King around here. 

The 2 horses had a ball galloping around the field. 

Eliza was watching the race. She is looking so much better and has gained almost all of her weight back. She obviously wasn't too impressed with the show.

Joan posted the picture below of her with some of her Haiti 'sons' and writes: I was laughing so hard because of the sunglasses. I told them it looks like these sons of mine are a gang!!

Sarah, Joan's daughter posted the rest of these pictures. Haiti is a disaster since the hurricane.

Diane sent the pictures below of her townhome in Gulf Shores. The place looks like a disaster:

Above is the kitchen and below is the living room. 

Diane is taking this week to remodel. She is opening up the kitchen to make it spacious and usable. She will need to post updated pictures after it is done. 

Rachel sent the picture below:

They are having very nice weather there unlike us here. Tonight it is raining a cold rain, splashing down in big cold drops.

At noon today Addyson and Jack were taken to Sarah and Nolan's house. They left for Dallas, TX shortly after the kids were dropped off. I had to drive to Eureka hospital for the dermatologist appointment to have my cheek looked at. I thought this was just for evaluation but instead the can of liquid nitrogen was brought out and sprayed all over my face. I guess there were a lot of areas that needed treatment. At first the person doing the spraying says, "this is going to sting" the next sentence is, "this is going to burn" and the last statement was, "your face is going to feel as if it is on fire." It did. Oh well it is certainly better than getting skin cancer. 

Winter Is Here

It was the coldest morning of this season so far with temperatures in the teens and a full killing frost. The horses will need to come off the pasture here but today I had grandchildren to play with so that will wait. Addyson and Jack woke up happy and stayed happy all day. Emily came down at 10:00 so I could take Jewel's filly to the vet for her coggins test and Indy's filly for her microchip. That went well except when I opened the door to the vet's office a big ewe came right in with me. She must have been a bottle fed baby and just wanted to be with people. There is something right about a ewe walking into the vet's office.
As it was cold and I had grandchildren the outside work was done quickly and a few things skipped. Easter Lilly did not get teased. I'll have to do that tomorrow. Karin worked with her on Sunday and she is not at all ready for the vaulting kids, she will need to be retrained as that is quite different than the therapy work she was doing.
Addyson and Jack are now in bed and I'm heading there soon.
And now to make everyone here in the cold midwest dissatisfied with our lot in life. Rachel posted the picture below stating: This is how all Mondays should be..

Not a cloud in the ski and a nearly empty beach. Jessica may not be there but her Princess is sure enjoying her stay. Princess Leia is enjoying digging in the sand.