Bethany

Mom gave me a scare this morning. At the time the walk was suppose to start her house was dark. I knocked and no one answered. I called and no one answered, not even a bark from Molly. It was only when I was walking down the hall to her bedroom did Molly come out barking loudly. Mom sat up and exclaimed she had over slept. She was not able to fall asleep until after 2:00 am, no wonder she overslept. We started the walk without and and as soon as she was dressed she joined in. On the second round we had to give Mark a hand. He needed muscle help and got it with Joan, Diane and Sarah. I'm still no help with the muscle part. Thankful the women around here are strong and willing.
Today is exactly 4 weeks since open heart surgery and the much anticipated day that driving is now allowed. I really put on the miles. First going to Aldi for much needed groceries, then to Sam's Club to order pizza for the Berean workers. From there to Bereans to share the pizza. I regret I forgot to bring the camera but that was sure a sight for sore eyes. Every parking place was full, the office was also full of volunteers all working hard and getting everything done. After lunch and once the kitchen was cleaned up I drove Eva Jean to Skylines to drop her off and the intermediate studies for Gertrude then from there over to Sarah and Nolan's house to see their room addition and check up on Zion. Sarah weighed Zion while I was there and she has gained another 2 ounces. After that I was going to drive home but then realized the new trailer title was in my purse so decided to drive to the DMV to get the title in my name and get a license plate for it. That place, the last day of the month, was packed. The parking lot was full to overflowing. The line stretched around and around then all the way to the bathroom. It probably isn't ever a good idea to show up at the place the last day of the month. Thankfully the line for new license plates wasn't that long.
When I finally made it home just before supper time, Karin was here working horses. I walked up and watched for a bit but was too cold and too tired to stay outside, so ended up heading back down to the house to rest on the couch. Karin stopped in before leaving explaining the horses are getting too fat and the girths are not going to fit them much longer. We will need to purchase some new bigger girths. Karin was given the ok to buy 4 more girths.
A text came in from one of our past customers, they would like to purchase Bethany and will come next week to pick her up.

I'm not going to mark her sold until the money is in-hand and Bethany is picked up but I'm pretty sure they will come for her. They are excited about owning her. Rhoda was sent a text that she will need to make another trip to Middle Grove to pick her up.
This evening Anna brought the girls over so they could trick or treat in our neighborhood.

Their costumes were so cute and they were pretty excited about filling their bags with candy. Taunya sent the pictures below of her 4 ready to head out trick or treating down in Texas.

 Above is baby Abe, below is Jack

 Above is Jace and below is Addyson

 I wonder what size candy bars are given out there since all things are bigger in Texas, 

Stephanie sent the picture below of Israel stating, he wants to be just like Uncle Nolan. 

Poor Elisabet was expected to go trick or treating as herself. Stephanie didn't even send a picture of her.  We think they should have dressed her up as the rabbit Israel was hunting. 

Sarah and Nolan sent the picture below of Zion.

She was 4 weeks old yesterday.

Mark and I took the left over fruit and candy over to Joan's house, rang the bell and when the kids came running up the stairs and opened the door we both exclaimed "Trick or Treat". Hannah took one look at us and said, "That's the scariest costumes we have seen all night!" 

From there Mark and I drove to mom's for a visit. Ruth was there and she and mom were reading old diaries of past vacations. It was warm and cozy in her house with her gas heater. Mark got a fire going strong in the wood burner tonight and the heat feels wonderful. It is cold this evening. 

A FULL Day

Jamie picked me up after the walk and took me to breakfast at the Hog Trough. It was nice to get out and even nicer to eat food I didn't have to cook or clean up afterward. We got back to the house about 10:00 am just in time to meet Rhoda. Today Rhoda was going to ride Rosaleigh, the one we call, "one of the young punks". She was taken to the round pen.

She was not well behaved. She did not like Rhoda asking her to trot and tried to buck her off. Rhoda stopped it after just 1 buck and made that mare trot. I'm always glad that Rhoda can stop the bad behavior right away. She ended on a good note.

Next to be worked was Roxanne's colt by Evan named Dublin. Dublin needed to be brought into a stall, haltered, tied and groomed before heading out to the round pen for leading instructions.

 He did very well and when Rhoda took his halter off he ran right over to get a snack. This colt can bend. 

Luke let Bo out and he right away ran to his girlfriend Ruby.  Bo is the sire of Ruby's puppies. Like Rhoda says, "these are the first and LAST litter of Pugapoos Ruby will ever have. Of course maybe She and Lee will change their mind now that her puppies ended up really cute. 

By this time it was after lunch so Rhoda and I went in to warm up with some soup. The weather was only in the low 40s and the wind was fierce. Karin arrived after work and also had to warm up with a bowl of soup. After we were sufficiently warmed and ready to go back out to work we tromped back up to the barn to start moving in bales. Three of the paddocks needed new bales. Evan's, the middle paddock and Roxanne and Rosaleigh's paddock. The next job was to cover Easter Lilly with Valiant. That was a successful cover. Karin and Rhoda decided to take Rosaleigh out on the 'death trails' to see if she would improve on Saturday's ride.

 Karin needed to leave as it was getting dark and she had a long drive ahead to get home, but Rhoda wanted to ride Rosalie a bit so offered to untack.  

Mark came home from work and wanted soup for dinner. Good thing there isn't much else in the house. Tomorrow I will drive for the first time since the surgery and will hit a couple of grocery stores. Mom called and wanted company this evening so Joan, Sarah, Diane, Ruth and I all went over to play games with mom. We had a good time.

Birthday Parties

This was mom and my first Sunday back to church and we got to stay all day. Last week didn't count as it was only half a day and I only got to sit through 1 message. What an amazing day to come back. Greg Rumbold had the first service and Dave Obergfel had the second. I HIGHLY recommend getting on the AC Central and listening to both messages. The Holy Spirit was coming right out of both of those Brother's mouths. Both mom and I looked at each other and mouthed "WOW".
Listening on line is ok but there is NOTHING like being there. The lunch fellowship is the 3rd service of the day. That didn't come from me, I heard Craig speak on the 3rd service when he was having the message in Denver. I'm so very thankful for Peoria.
This afternoon I was out checking waterers and snapped the pictures below. Envy was busy checking me out hoping to see the grain bucket. That's Darla in the back ground.

Sangria had her head in the hay bale while Serenity napped in the comfortable hay.

Darla is the most vocal foal on the place. She was talking to me in the picture below:

Easter Lilly came in season today. Karin and Nolan were going to work together to have Valiant cover her but by the time Nolan got out there Valiant had the job done.

We decided as soon as Easter Lilly is confirmed in foal she will be placed for sale as a 2/1 package with LIVE FOAL GUARANTEE for only $5000.00. The foal is worth that but we want a good home for Easter Lilly. It isn't her fault we don't need any big riding horses or more foals for 2018. We aren't going to be giving her away, we know what the foal is worth but if interested in purchasing her we will need to know where she is going, do you have other horses, are you on good terms with your vet and do you have enough hay. This mare eats a lot. 

After church Karin had a trail ride scheduled. She used Rosalie, Ayanna, Indy and Oksana. It was cold but all had fun.

 Karin rode Rosalie, Nolan rode Oksana, Tyler rode Ayana and his wife Samantha rode Indy. 

As soon as they got back we left for Phil and Anna's. This evening we celebrated the birthdays of 5 year old Taegan and 3 year old Kensley. Below we are singing Happy Birthday to them

 Kensley trying to blow out her candles.

 Taegan opening her card. 

 Kensley's card had a dog on it, Kensley loves all animals. 

 Elisabet

 Israel

 Baby Zion

Opening the 'big gift'

 Sarah found the doll house and everything that goes in it at a garage sale.

 Everyone had fun playing with that. 

 The volley ball players left for the gym in Hanna City. Now that the weather has turned bad they must play inside.

Showing Foals

Another damp cold windy morning that really didn't improve the rest of the day. I was able to get the graining done by myself this morning. First time since open heart surgery. I'm thankful for each time another job can be accomplished. Two of the bale feeders were also pulled out. Tomorrow we will need to put in new bales but today the horses will clean up the left overs. Sangria and Serenity love laying down in that as soon as the bale feeder is out. They love that soft comfortable bed. Sangria is smart, not only is it comfortable, she can eat without any effort and nibbles away.
Anni showed up first this morning. She was pulling out Ayanna but asked, Just to be sure, "is this Ayanna?" It was and Anni was told how to identify her more easily. Anni is going to be riding Ayanna in the spring show and wanted to try taking her out on the trails by herself. Below Anni is coming back with Ayanna after a VERY successful trail ride. Chewy and Studley followed them on the ride and had a ball. Notice Anni's face, it really was that cold out.

Jessica let those adorable pug puppies out right about that time. They are learning to go outside to potty. Jessica is doing such a great job with these puppies. I think all of them are leaving for their new homes next week. 

Karin and Kayla came over at 9:00 am to help with getting the foals ready to show. We had a lady coming from 5 hours away and she wanted to see Envy and Darla. Below Darla is following Oksana into the barn. 

 Karin put a halter on Darla and Kayla was given a brush and told to make her pretty. 

Meanwhile Anni took Ayanna out to the outdoor arena for a few pictures. 

 Anni knows the cue to ask Ayanna for a bow. These two are a good match. 

The next foal brought in was Envy. Chewy, Anni's dog was curious about this small horse but Envy just ignored him. 

 Envy went right over to the window to see what was happening outside.  At 3 months old she is tall enough to easily look out. 

 Below Kayla is grooming up Indy

 Karin tied Envy, picked up all her hooves and got her groomed up to show. 

 We went inside for some lunch. Stephanie (the lady wanting to see the fillies) arrived about 1:00 pm. We showed her each filly then took them outside one at a time so she could see them move. Once they were put away Rhoda brought Evan out and did he ever show off. Evan is the sire of both of these fillies. It was so cold we had snow hitting us every once in a while in the face. We just didn't stay out that long. Stephanie also looked at Valiant then started her long drive home. Karin, Nolan, Rhoda and Lee decided to go trail riding and pony young Rosaleigh over the 'death trails' Below they are just heading out. I was much to cold to stick around taking pictures so just snapped this one as they were leaving.

 Sarah brought their dog Arrieta and her 3 puppies. They were very content to lay in their bed by the fire. 

To see the individual puppy pictures click HERE. 

The trail riders made it back pretty frozen but said all the horses did great. Rosaleigh jumped the creek instead of plowing through it but at least she was exposed to lots of new things. My next job was to pick any tomatoes still on the vines. We are expecting a hard freeze tonight. The tomatoes were brought in, cleaned up and wrapped. This should give us at least a couple more weeks of garden tomatoes. 

Mark went out to put a new headlight on the truck and made it back just about the time we were suppose to leave for the Skyline Benefit at the Fellowship Hall. Mom was called to tell her we were going to be a few minutes late picking her up. We had a good time but both of us ended up buying way more than we planned at the auction. Oh well, it was a good meal, good time and a fun auction.