Sale Pending

What a change in our weather this morning. I went out to feed without gloves and regretted that decision. The feed buckets all needed to be dumped from the rain last night and ice was already forming on all of them.  Right after the feeding I started loading the car with the Berean meal only to find the car was dead. The golf cart was taken up to the barn to grab the van. Thankful that still had gas in it. We had a lot of mail to process at the Berean office. If you would like to read about our day there click HERE.
I got home late afternoon, unloaded the van and checked my email to find Brandee, the lady that bought Ribbon's last foal would like to purchase Rosalie.

She won't actually be sold though until she is sonagrammed in foal. I'm pretty thrilled with this, Brandee loves her horses and takes very good care of them.  Her son fell in love with Rosalie at the IL Horse fair last year so this is a dream come true for that family too.
The more than 50 family members in Gulf Shores are having a great time and wonderful weather. Rachel posted the picture below of the beach patrol watching the football game.

More than likely they are camped out there waiting for a white haired lady to try sneaking her dog unto the beach (according to Taunya).

57 Degrees the END of DECEMBER!

After a good night sleep I was feeling much more energetic and had second thoughts about selling the horses. Why 2020 is just a couple days away and February is a short month. The time will fly and soon it will be foaling season. Indy is due March 18th and will need to come home in a month. She is our tallest purebred Friesian mare at 16.3 hands. She is a fun ride, has a balanced canter and can gallop with the best. Below she is WINNING the race.

Oksana will come home the same time as Indy as she is due just two days later March 20th.  Oksana is such a character, she has to check everything out, loves to carry things around in her mouth and will empty all of the garbage cans in the arena just for the fun of it.

 Oksana is very baroque, check out the width of her back end!

It was warm this morning and stayed warm all day. On the way home from church the car thermometer was reading 57 degrees. Rain was predicted again tonight. Feeding horses this morning all the buckets had to be dumped. We got a lot of rain yesterday and now it is raining hard again at 8:00 pm. Phil and Anna came over after church with the girls. We had fun first making and baking cookies. 

 Then icing and decorating them for our dessert after supper. 

We all had a good time.  The family down in Gulf Shores all look like they are having a great time using Karin's fun schedule. Lots of football and volley ball. Rachel posted a couple videos of the fun schedule.

Selling OUT?

Did we do much today? Nope not much, it rained all day. The horses were fed and the laundry finished. Mark swept out the van and took all the stuff left over to Phil and Anna's house. The girls were very glad to see him. 
I was really tired this morning so tired that I placed 15 of our amazing brood mares and the two stallions for sale with the bonus of if someone wants them all I will sell all 15 plus the 2 stallions and throw in the 4 horse Exiss trailer and the 2003 Ford truck for $250,000.00 All of the mares are on listed on for sale page of our website with the prices. The two stallions each have their own page on the website.
The mares for sale are Indy born July 4th, 2010 bred to Evan due March 18th, 2020, Oksana born June 16th, 2012 bred to Evan due March 20th, 2020, Rosaleigh born April 6th, 2013 will be bred to Evan in the spring, Roxanne born March 30th, 2013 bred to Evan dueJune 5th, 2020, Tatiana born June 29th, 2014 bred to Valiant due July 13th, 2020, Wicktoria born July 7th, 2007 bred to Evan due May 26th, 2020, Zalena born May 25th, 1999 bred to Evan due May 15th, 2020, Ayanna born March 21st, 2010 will be bred to Evan Spring 2020, Rosalie born Feb 18th, 2013 will be bred to Evan spring 2020, Madiera born June 18th, 2006 bred to Evan due June 20th, 2020, Irish born May 5th, 2016 bred to Valiant due May 1st, 2020, Galena July 2006 bred to Valiant due July 1st, 2020, Soul April 17th 2005 bred to Evan due April 13th, 2020,  Jewel born April 30th, 2008 bred to Evan due June 15th, 2020, and Lola born May 10th, 2008 bred to Valiant due April 13th, 2020.
They are all proven brood mares except Irish who is expecting her first foal in May 1st, 2020.
The 2 stallions are: Evan born June 26th, 2009 trick trained to bow, sit, lay down and has amazing movement which he throws in his foals PLUS he throws the mega hair. Valiant was born July 7th, 2009 is also trick trained to bow, sit, lay down and throws sweet LARGE foals with very good movement.
This is a very good opportunity for someone wanting to get into the Friesian business. These mares and stallions were all hand picked or bred here at Horsemeister and ALL have amazing training thanks to Karin. Check them out at www.horsemeister.com

Made It Home

We started the long trip home exactly at 2:00 am and drove until 7:00 am when we stopped at a Waffle House for breakfast, filled our bellies and the van with gas (gas from the gas station right next door not gas from our bellies).
Phil drove for the next 9 hours stopping once more for gas and one emergency bathroom stop which happened just as we reached Tremont, IL just a half hour from home. Not to bad when traveling with 3 little girls. Anna made sandwiches and passed out those with oranges and chips while we were driving for lunch. We pulled in exactly at 4:00 pm, it was sunny and still 40 degrees. Emma was so excited to see us. She was given her Christmas bone and for the next hour spent time hiding it, then picking it back up walking around with it in her mouth while whining then hiding it somewhere else. She is such a funny dog.
I ran out to feed the horses then just unloaded, did a little laundry, unpacked and will be heading for bed shortly. Glad to be home but already missing the group in Gulf Shores.  Rachel and David made it down to Gulf Shores today so we probably passed them on the trip home.

The Day After Christmas

Mark and I woke up late, almost 6:00 am and after downing a cup of coffee left for Walmart. Mark was dropped off at the trail head of some of the amazing trails at Gulf Shores State Park while I went in for some bargains.  That may have been a mistake but I didn't realize that until after I had the half off Christmas supplies already in the cart. The store was packed and I stood in line for over 10 minutes to buy a 6 ft artificial Christmas tree for $11.00 plus lights and ornaments all at half price. I also bought the girls each a game which was marked down to $3.00.  Everyone was up by the time I got back and breakfast was finished by 8:00 am. Below the girls are playing with their games.

 I was at the beach walking with Diane by 8:30 am. After the walk we crashed at her pool enjoying the sunshine. The kids played on the beach for quite a while then joined us at the pool which was not heated. The swims were short. 

 Most of Beth's grandchildren joined us and all of a sudden the place was packed. 

 Joan made it down around lunch time and Berlica came over to join in the fun.

 We walked to Bahama Bob's and brought back lunch for hungry children. After lunch all the children headed over to Beth's heated pool. I walked over to mom's and visited with the Christensens which made it down the same time as Joan. The kids were playing slap ball. 

 Bill and Bethany arrived and of course we all had to check out their indoor-outdoor pool and the 2 massive hot tubs.

 We left at supper time and walked over to Pier 33 for some special treats then dropped off Phil, Anna and the girls while Mark and I drove to Pizza hut and picked up supper. We have been busy cleaning the condo and hauling anything left good over to mom's condo. The girls had their showers and are playing quietly while Anna gets the upstairs cleaned.

If you would like to see the rest of the pictures from today click HERE. 

We are leaving early in the morning, hopefully around 2:00 am. Phil and Mark have been busy packing the van and we are all just about ready for bed, just waiting for the laundry to finish.

Christmas In Gulf Shores

We awoke to a beautiful morning and the day was just fantastic from the sunrise to late into the night. We decorated gingerbread houses, played in the waves, enjoyed the beach, watched the dolphins fishing right close to the shore, watched the pelicans diving for fish, swam in the heated pool, had an amazing Christmas dinner featuring elk, deer, tuna steaks and lots of shrimp along with lots of other foods then played games until late.

We listened on line to the Christmas service in Peoria while sitting on the beach. 

Around 3:00 pm the Hermans took the boat out with a big sign wishing all on the beach a merry Christmas.

We had Christmas dinner at the Hermans and that was delicious. We enjoyed the fire after dinnner.

To see all the rest of the pictures from today click HERE. 

Busted

Mom, Diane, Molly and I left her condo for the beach at 6:50 am and had just crossed the line from the condo dune to the beach when the cop car pulled up and immediately notified mom that Molly was NOT allowed on the beach and not only that she didn't even have a leash on.  We think someone told them that mom was breaking the law at that time each morning as the officer seemed to be waiting for her to show up.  Another lady went over to talk the officer distracting him by telling him only does mom pick up after her dog she even cleans up the beach that other dogs leave.  Instead of standing there arguing we used that time to quickly pick up Molly and head back to mom's condo so at least mom didn't get one of those very expensive tickets.  We ended up walking Molly over to where mom's condo association has a dedicated yard for walking dogs. They even supply the doggie bags. Beth came out to visit us while we were waiting for Molly to finish.
It was warmer this morning but still no sunshine. Philip left to go deep sea fishing on the Herman's boat and even though the Gulf looked much calmer here it was very rough out at sea and the fishing was terrible. Sarah and Hannah also went and brought lunch which almost every enjoyed, at least those that weren't sick. The girls didn't care that the sun was not out and still went swimming.

 Tess and Takoa came walking up the beach looking for shells so we headed down to Mom's condo to join the group there. 

 Diane's neighbor had their 13 month old baby out all dressed up for Christmas.

 To see the rest of the pictures of this darling baby girl click HERE. 

The kids played until lunch time then headed over to Beth's condo to swim in the heated pool and enjoy the hot tub.

Kensley was cold and tired so she was taken back, given a hot bath and lunch instead of going to the pool.  If you would like to see the rest of the pictures from the beach time click HERE. The sun came out around 2:00 pm so all of us adults headed back out to the beach and stayed there until it started to get chilly around 3:30 pm. The sun felt wonderful!
Everyone came back hungry and tired. Phil and Anna left for date night. We ate dinner here then went over to Mike and Diane's condo for dessert and games.  Taegan and Kensley were both sleeping so Mark stayed back.  We SHOULD have made Braelyn stay back too! She ended up SMEARING us, winning by a lot. We told her she is way to young to play from now on as this game is just for adults. She knew that wasn't true and was thrilled with the win. She can't wait to play again.
A nice text came in from the lady that bought Ayanna's 2018 colt by Evan and it included both a video and a picture. The video couldn't be transferred it was too low of resolution but the picture can.

Monday in Gulf Shores

Beth, Hannah, mom, Molly and I walked this morning on the beach. The sand was still packed from the rain yesterday which made for easy walking. We walked to the public beach and back. I returned to make breakfast for Mark and I then everyone headed out, Phil and Anna's family to Souvenir City to buy some beach toys.

When they got back they headed to the beach while Mark went out for a long walk. I cleaned up a bit then headed to the beach. It was still cold but not as cold as yesterday.

If you would like to see the rest of the pictures from the beach click HERE. 

Mark got back from his walk and came to the beach just as I was heading in to go shopping.

I met mom, Sarah and Hannah at Walmart. Somehow mom's cart ended up with a bag of Doritos and my cart ended up with pancake syrup at check out. Mom thought I must have put the chips in her cart but I was very sure that someone else had done that and added pancake syrup to mine. I was pretty sure I knew how the items got added and had a choice of 2. Knowing their mother it is evident that the apple doesn't fall too far from the tree. Phil and Anna took the girls over to Herman's to play with all the kids there in the heated pool this afternoon. For dinner tonight we went to The Original Oyster House.

After dinner we went to mom's for cookies and ice cream for dessert.

We played games there and mom smeared us all. A very nice message came in from the people that bought Jewel's 2016 filly by Evan.  She writes: Hi Judy, I thought you might like a current picture of Riata (Jewel's 2016 filly). She is doing great under saddle, and we are getting ready for some training level dressage shows this spring. Have a Merry Christmas!

ALWAYS wonderful to get updates from happy customers. We still have Jewel's 2019 colt available. He really is JUST AS NICE!

Sunday at Gulf Shores

This is yesterday's blog as I was still too tired to upload any of the pictures taken. Early Sunday morning the girls just had to go out on the beach. It was just sprinkling rain but still much to cold to swim. I still had a few things to do and walked out as they reached the water. They had the entire beach to themselves.

Kensley waded out just a little too deep and a wave knocked her down. She laughed!

 Braelyn also waded out but was careful not to get knocked down.

 Braelyn and Taegan had fun letting the waves chase them.

 Phil took Kensley back to the condo to get changed into warm dry clothes. 

 The girls played a little longer then Anna took a picture and we all headed back inside.

At 10:00 am Mark and I joined mom, Hannah, Sarah, and Diane for church. We listened on line as David Obergfel had the message then mom passed out Christmas cookies. We walked back to the condo in the rain. Around 2:00 pm we all headed over to Beth's condo to use the hot tub and heated pool.

 Mark and I walked back to Ben and Taunya's condo but the girls were still playing. The sun came out just as we were walking and of course I needed to snap a couple pictures for proof.

A lot of Beth's grandchildren came about then so Anna let the girls play in the pool with them the rest of the afternoon and a lot of the evening. Mark and I went over to Mom's to play games. When we got back they were playing games here so we joined in.

We went to bed a little later. Tonight I'll update about today.