Middle Grove Monday

 I left the house around 7:30 pm to head to the Peoria post office to pick up the Berean mail. Sam's club was the next stop to pick up a 38 pound bag of cat food plus a cheese cake and blue berries for the Berean office.  From there I drove straight to the Berean office to drop off the mail and the dessert. Meister's were there working on the duct system. 

They had a ladder in the bathroom to get up into the attack.

I left before the job was finished so we may have some clean up to do tomorrow.  From there I drove to Peoria tire to drop off the flat snow tire. Eddie met me as I pulled in so I told him I would pick it up tomorrow either before Berean if we have time or after.  By this time the weather was warming up nice, already 44 degrees outside so I decided to make the trip out to Middle Grove to check on the mares.  It is a long drive from the North of Peoria to Middle Grove.  The gas alarm went off before I reached Hanna City but gas there was $3.90 a gallon so I figured I could easily get to Farmington where gas is usually cheaper. It was by ONE CENT. Talk about highway robbery.  I didn't bother stopping in Farmington. By the time I made it to Middle Grove it was 46 degrees and sunny. My sweat shirt was all that was needed. The horses were at the far south end of the property. All look well but for sure Rosalie is not pregnant. I didn't recognize her at first and thought she was one of the purebred mares coming up open, she came right up for attention and when I checked her mane it was long and Rosalie usually rubs hers off. Maybe she is maturing enough to stop rubbing her mane off. We will bring her in when we bring in Iris and get her bred to Evan for 2023. I would also like to keep her here this year to get some riding done on her. She is a fun ride, is good on trails and has a nice canter. 

The rest all are obviously all still pregnant.  Irish now is the first mare due and she isn't due until April 6th so will be left out for a few more weeks.

Last year if Iris would have had a filly I would have kept the foal as that filly would be able to be bred to Evan but she had a colt. This year I'm feeling too old to keep a young one. Crazy the difference between 66 years old and 67. Why I would be 70 by the time the filly would be old enough to breed if she has one this year. Soul is the next mare due on April 16th.

The mares were all just drowsing in the sunshine.

The cat was fed when I finally made it home from Middle Grove. She was hungry and very glad for the meal.  The cat food was secured well in a garbage can with a locking lid. Anna got the apartment cleaned up. The family left a very nice review: Great place, host was super great with communication ahead of arrival. Perfect place away from the hustle and bustle of Peoria but still close enough to go do the city things. Apartment was spotless upon arrival. “Staying here was amazing, the kids loved it and asked that everytime I come visit to stay here again. They have also named the apartment as "The Ranch"”

I headed over to mom's about 4:45 pm with the meal.  Joan was still there helping the kids with school. They are trying to work ahead as tomorrow is Bev's visitation and Wednesday is the funeral. 

I was showing mom the pictures this evening and mentioned Sangria has really aged, she will be 22 and doesn't look near as good as she did last year. Mom came back quickly with, "well MOST of us don't look as good as last year!"  She certainly had us laughing. If you would like to see the rest of the pictures from this trip to Middle Grove click HERE.  We had supper a little late. Ruth came over to relieve me at 6:30 pm.  Diane is on her way home and reported at least the weather is now nice. It is, it was 55 and sunny but this is not going to be feeling like Gulf Shores. Check out the ice on the lake in the picture below. This was taken around 5:00 pm. The ice is causing a nice cold breeze to keep it cool on mom's deck.

Galena's Girl

 A text came today from the lady who bought Galena last year. It's a GIRL! 

We are thrilled for both Galena and her owner. Such a beautifully marked filly. Our day started with the coffee wars.  Mark got up at 3:00 am and started the coffee. By the time I got up at 5:30 am the pot was already half empty AND no longer hot. To keep peace in this house we will need to buy another coffee pot so each evening I can make 2 half pots of coffee. That way Mark can start his pot when ever he wants and mine will be ready at 5:15 am, strong and hot.  This truly is first world problem. Can't we all just get along. I was laughing as I typed this.  We left at 9:00 am drove over to mom's and picked up mom and Aunt Jinnie for church.  Mark drove mom's car. We had another wonderful day in church. Gregg Rumbold had the first service. Lunch was served by the Bible class and included brats, hot dogs, hot cheesy noodles, broccoli salad and all kinds of home baked sweets. David had the afternoon service on Psalm 68.

After church Ruth met us at mom's and helped get mom back into the house.  The thermometer was reading 46 degrees with bright sunshine. Mom and Aunt Jinnie spent some time out on the deck on the swing.

After dropping off mom and Aunt Jinnie after church we had just gotten home and walked inside when a car pulled up with a group of people wanting to look at Rockaway.  I led him out to the field and let him go to show off his movement. He had fun galloping around the field bucking and when I opened the back gate ran right back inside where he belonged.  I'm not sure how interested they were but told me they would like to think about it. I said good by and headed in to get supper going.  We had a delicious supper tonight. Mark grilled parmesan coated chicken pieces and when they were almost done brought them inside and put them in the crock pot on low to finish while he took the vegetables out to grill. Those were green, red, yellow and orange peppers, plus 3 large onions all of which had been coated with olive oil and parmesan cheese then grilled.  While mark was grilling I was using the air fryer to fry 25 egg rolls. We also had a big salad and the chicken pot pie.  Anna brought lots of goodies, her mom and dad served lunch today at Morton. There was plenty of food and it all tasted good. There is even enough for dinner at mom's tomorrow. Once the food was put away and the table cleared the crafts were brought out. 

Below are a few pictures.

To see the rest of the pictures click HERE. Every one left by 8:00 pm. I did a load of dishes then sat down to work on posting pictures of tonight. Mark went to bed, after all he has been up since 3:00 am stealing coffee. 

The Tapping

 Mark started the coffee maker at 4:30 am and that meant I had to be up and guarding the coffee maker at 4:45 am or Mark might steal a cup taking all the good strong stuff and leaving me the weak coffee. At 5:30 am he was ready to start bringing in wood for the day. It is still pitch dark out at that time so I was a little surprised and turned on the outdoor lights for him. He made it all the way to the wood shed before coming back and sheepishly explaining, I forgot it was still dark out and need a lantern. We both had a good laugh at that. That's what happens when one wakes to early.  Breakfast was served after the wood was brought in. At 7:00 am I headed up to the barn apartment to turn up the heat and turn on the lights before coming down to get ready to head over to mom's house.  Mom had a restless night, waking up at midnight. Karin thinks it was because she didn't drink enough yesterday, gave her a glass of water which she drank then slept the rest of the night. Today we made a special effort to make sure she drinks more. She also got some walking in and leg exercises.  Aunt Jinnie has been helping with those. Mom had a good lunch then got settled on her chair around 12:45 pm so I left to start working on the supper meal. Sarah took the afternoon and Ruth took the evening but I told them I would bring supper. Tonight we had paprika chicken served over white rice with green beans cooked in chicken stock and a big salad with bacon bits (left over from breakfast) a hard boiled egg, grated cheddar cheese, sunflower seeds served with either poppy seed dressing or blue cheese.  All was delicious. Both mom and aunt Jinnie gave me the recipe. For dessert we had vanilla ice cream.  During dinner a text came in from a man wanting to come see Rockaway tomorrow after church. We left mom's at 6:20 pm just as it was getting dark. Mark led Sally into the indoor arena, Rockaway followed and from the indoor arena we took them into the stall barn and both were given some grain. After putting the halter on Rockaway both were led back to the paddock. I was pleased Rockaway led well but then we were following Sally.  I went back to feed the cat only to find the garbage can the cat food was in was knocked to the ground, the bag was torn apart, the other garbage can (the one with garbage in it) was also knocked over and garbage was strewn all over the stall.  There was no cat food left. I hiked back down to the house and got a can of sardines to feed the poor cat today and she will get another can of that or tuna tomorrow as there is no way to pick up cat food until Monday.

That cat is much to valuable around here to go without food.

I think a raccoon got in the barn and caused the mess. The side door of the barn has been frozen open and I usually keep the stall door shut but didn't think about shutting it as we no longer have any grain in there. Monday after buying another bag will need to figure out how to keep the bad critters out. 

Jozsef went to David and Stephanie's today to tap their maple trees.  This is such a good learning experience for all of the kids.

It takes 40 gallons of sap to make 1 gallon of maple syrup. Within a few minutes of setting the tap the bucket already had a couple inches.

This evening the peppers for tomorrow's meal were washed and cut up then put in a gallon sized bag and put back in the fridge.

Tomorrow they will be coated with extra virgin olive oil then covered with parmesan cheese before grilling. The dishes were done and it is now 8:00 pm. I am so ready for bed.

Saying Good-Bys

 I made it over to mom's by 7:45 am and mom was already up and sitting at the table waiting for breakfast. Bill and Bethany's family came by around 9:00 am to say good by. They were heading home today but stopped first here and then were heading to grandma Bev's to say a final good by. Grandma Bev has been on hospice and we got word today she was failing.  I'm really glad Bill and Bethany came in time. She was such a wonderful loving person to the Reinhard family these last 2 years and all of them came to love and respect her.  Aunt Jinnie had mom doing leg exercises today and mom was determined.  These older sisters really know how to inspire the younger ones. Mark got home from work about the same time Karin arrived back so I left to get some things done on the farm.  We needed to get a new bale moved in for Sally and Rockaway's paddock. 

Below Mark is putting it on the feeder. We usually removed the net wrap but not on this bale as we don't have a shelter for the bale and the net wrap keeps a lot of the rain out of the hay making it last longer. Notice Rockaway standing far right waiting patiently for Mark to move the skid steer out of the paddock?

As soon as Mark was gone both Sally and Rockaway came over to start eating.  Sally is 15.3 hands tall and is in front of Rockaway in the picture below. It actually shows how tall this coming yearling is. 

After the skid steer was put away I left for Sam's Club to pick up items needed at mom's house today plus the chicken breasts, peppers and onions for Sunday's dinner. I drove home through a snow squall and made it back to mom's at 4:30 pm. Spark and Rhonda were going to be there at 5:00 pm with supper so I left to go home and make Mark supper. We had taco's tonight and they were delicious. The wood burner was started right after supper. It is really cold again today and since I was gone all day the house was cool.  We have a guest coming in tomorrow for the barn apartment so before heading to mom's in the morning I will need to run up to the apartment, turn the heat on and make sure it is really.  I'll need to head to bed in a few minutes as tomorrow will be a busy day.

Canada Bank Run

 Yesterday Trudeau declared the Emergency act would continue but today he did a quick about face now declaring the emergency is over. Those truckers are crushed. Well perhaps the 'real' reason is what has been happening at 5 major banks in Canada. All 5 went down at the same time and stayed down for hours. It is not surprising, if millions of Canadians no longer believe their money is secure. 

Rebel News reports: “Canada’s largest banks are all offline. Royal Bank, BMO Bank of Montreal, CIBC Bank… What could cause all three to crash on the same day?” The answer, of course, is a classic bank run as the people of Canada rush to pull their deposits out of the country’s banks before the government steals all their money. The dynamic duo of Trudeau and Freeland, in less than 30 days, has managed to reveal to the people of Canada that not only is their government a terrorist authoritarian regime, but that all their life savings and business assets can and will be looted by that same government without notice, for almost any reason whatsoever.  So ARE Freedom truckers crushed?  If anything this actually is very revealing on government overreach.  This small fringe minority that truly is millions strong have inspired the world.  Tamara Lich, one of the convoy organizers has been jailed and denied bale on charges of counselling to commit mischief.  They are not saying she committed mischief, just that she counselled others to "Hold the LINE!" Tamara has NO criminal record and yet is so dangerous she will have to stay in jail until her trial.  This really is outrageous and I can't believe this is happening in Canada.  The other awful news is that Russia has invaded Ukraine. We are praying for the people there. How awful that this is happening.  Jesus said, "And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. . . . For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. . . . All these are the beginning of sorrows"

We had another cold day. I got lots of cleaning done in the house.  Mackenson and Mark brought in lots of wood then took a pickup load over to Joan's for her wood burners. It started snowing this morning just enough to cover the ground but this evening we are getting a mixture of snow and sleet making everything slippery. For dinner tonight Mark used the air fryer and fried fish, fries and asparagus. He is having fun trying different foods. I didn't care for the fries as he added garlic but the fish and asparagus was delicious.   

AC Central Events

 Brr it was really cold this morning. Mark got the fire going early. I'm sure glad we got those bales moved in yesterday. Today was work at home day, general cleaning and laundry. I had AC Central on while working and today instead of listening to sermons I went on Events, listening first to Fred Witzig on How Did We Get the Bible and when that was done listening to Jeff Waibel on How to Teach/Preach on Controversial topics. Both were really good. Below is a younger picture of Evan playing in the snow that came up on my memories. He is only 2 years old in this picture so we must have had a lot of snow that year.  .

Mark brought home chicken from Kroger for our dinner. It was too cold to want to work outside so he found work to do on his computer. We left for church at 6:15 pm.  Craig Stickling had the message reading first from Proverbs and then the last chapter of Acts. After church we all stuck around visiting. Bethany came today from Bluffton. Bill is out of town for a few days so she drove here with the 4 kids. 

Elisabet and Stephanie were also there so after church Elisabet and I strung some letters and numbers together. 

It is always good to be with our church family.  

Moving 3

 I picked up Aunt Jinnie at 8:00 am this morning to head down to the Peoria post office to pick up Berean mail and still make it to the Berean office before 9:00 am. We made it but not by much. We had a very good morning there. If you would like to read about that click HERE. On the way home from that office we drove straight to the Hanna City post office to drop off the Bibles being mailed out today. Aunt Jinnie was dropped off at mom's house then I headed home. The wind had changed and was now coming from the north dropping the temperature into the 20s. Mark made it home by 4:00 pm which just barely gave us enough time to get the 3 bales moved in before my next job.  None of the horses were out of hay but I would rather keep lots of hay in front of them for this next cold spell. We did  Dancer and Sheena's paddock first. I had given them some grain on the other side of the shelter so they weren't tempted to run out while the gate was open as the bale was being put in. Their bale was huge. They were happy to start eating right away.

Next was Valiant's bale.

The last bale moved was Evan's bale.

With the warmer weather, rain and snow melt these last few days the drives are quite muddy but by the time we were moving the bales the wind was blowing hard and the thermometer was down to 20 degrees the ground was freezing quickly. The ground wasn't the only thing freezing, even with gloves on my fingers were frozen by the time we finished the job. Once the ground freezes solid which should be tomorrow I'll need to move one more bale in for Rockaway and Sally's paddock. I was due at mom's by 5:00 pm and still needed to cook supper.  Mark used the air fryer to fry up egg rolls. The rotisserie chicken purchased yesterday was deboned and added to a rice and vegetable dish to make a chicken casserole. A big salad was put together next and all of that was served with rolls and butter. For dessert we had blueberries drenched in French vanilla cream. We had a quiet evening at mom's. Karin put on a cute movie for us to watch and by the time that was over mom was ready to go to bed. Mark had the fire going and the house is warm inside but outside it feels like 7 degrees and there are snowflakes being blown around in the wind. Check out the video below if you want a little news from Canada. Just a nice interview with 2 people who are being persecuted. 

Remembering Fun Practices

 Mark wanted to stock up on wood as we will be getting another cold spell Tuesday night.  Below he is bringing a load from the wood shed to the door where he hands it off to me for stacking.

It is a good system and we work well together.

Another warm day and now most of the snow is gone but the mud is back. The drives are getting very muddy and pot holes are showing up. The cars are now splattered with mud as we go back and forth from our house to mom's house.  Three of the paddocks will need a bale tomorrow.  With that cold spell we went through more hay they usual. Karin sent a list of needed items at mom's. I went to 2 different stores to get the groceries as Aldi had some of the items needed and Sam's had the rest. I could not get the Berean mail, it is Presidents day which is a holiday and the post office was closed. Will have to leave early tomorrow morning to get the mail and get it to the Berean office by 9:00 am. When I got back from shopping I made a batch of peanut butter cookies. While making them I remembered why I don't like to bake. As I was moving one batch from the top shelf to the middle shelf, it tipped and half of the cookies fell onto the floor of the oven with some going into the bottom crack of the oven door. What a mess, I had to finish baking the cookies still on the sheet but couldn't get some of the smashed off the floor of the oven so of course those burnt and stunk up the house. Next week I BUY the Berean treat. After all the cookies were baked the oven needed a cleaning before heading over to mom's at 5:00 pm. While they were cooking I listened then downloaded Jeff Waibel's message Sunday morning in the Bloomington church.  It is WELL worth listening to.

Six years ago today we were holding a dress rehearsal here at the Horsemeister farm for the IL Horse Fair.  I remember Rebekah telling the pirates there should be no smiling, just angry pirate faces during the fight scenes but we were all laughing both at the riders and the fight scenes.

If you would like to see the rest of those pictures from that day click HERE. Mom was really tired today. Sunday's are always exhausting. Right after supper she wanted a whirlpool and stayed in there for an hour and went from that straight to bed.  

Sunday's Sun Catchers

 It was warm when we awoke, already 30 degrees.  Joan needed us to take Mackenson to church today as she had a full car load. That full car load got much fuller on the way home. I was driving and had just started up the hill on Smithville after turning off Cameron when the car started making noise. Mark was sure we had a flat but I needed to get up to the top of the hill before pulling over. Sure enough the back snow tire was really flat. I called Joan who had left church after us and asked her which way she was coming home from church and it turned out she was less than a minute behind us. We crammed 7 people and mom's big wheel chair in mom's little car. We were about 3 miles from home so once Joan dropped us off we changed out of our Sunday clothes, Mark picked up one of our regular tires, his power tools and we headed back to change the tire.

Having the right tool for the job makes for an easy quick change and I was back on the road within 10 minutes. The snow tire is loaded in my car. I'll drop it off at Riekers on Tuesday and see if it can be fixed. We were missing a few people for our Sunday dinner. David and Stephanie's family are out of town, Ben was on call and Addyson and Jack stayed with him. We still had a house full. After dinner the crafts were taken out. Today we worked on sun catchers.

If you would like to see the rest of the pictures from this evening click HERE. Below is a short video of their work.

Amy stopped in tonight to drop off food for mom's house and a gift for Baby Zeke. He is a month old and gets lots of love when he is with his cousins.

Once all the kids left it didn't take long for Mark to head to bed and I will be following shortly. 

 

Praise HIM In EVERY Breath

 It was really cold this morning and never made it out of the teens today.  Not much snow melt, thankful for all the shoveling done yesterday.  The horses enjoyed the snow.  

Ruth took the morning shift, Sarah Reinhard took the afternoon and I took the evening. As I was on for the evening the meal was mine to make. We started with Anna's special dip and chips. The dip is made with an entire avocado, queso cheese, salsa and sour cream. Our next course was oxtail soup. The left over baked potatoes were fried up with some bacon, the bacon was added to the salad and the left over steak was heated up then cut into bite size portions. We all had plenty to eat. Mom was tired today. She did some walking but more resting. She seemed a little more confused but is always agreeable and funny. We did a lot of laughing. The pork loin for tomorrow's meal was taken out of the freezer this morning. We will serve that will mashed potatoes, gravy, green beans, salad and for dessert brownie bites and ice cream. Rhoda posted new pictures of Zeke. He is a month old now and so cute.

In closing I read something of worth, believe it or not on Facebook. We really DO praise HIM with each and every breath.

There was a moment when Moses had the nerve to ask God what his name is. God was gracious enough to answer, and the name he gave is recorded in the original Hebrew as YHWH.

Over time we’ve arbitrarily added an “a” and an “e” in there to get YaHWeH, presumably because we have a preference for vowels.

But scholars and Rabi’s have noted that the letters YHWH represent breathing sounds, or aspirated consonants. When pronounced without intervening vowels, it actually sounds like breathing.

YH (inhale): WH (exhale).

So a baby’s first cry, his first breath, speaks the name of God.

A deep sigh calls His name – or a groan or gasp that is too heavy for mere words.

Even an atheist would speak His name, unaware that their very breathe is giving constant acknowledgment to God.

Likewise, a person leaves this earth with their last breath, when God’s name is no longer filing their lungs.

So when I can’t utter anything else, is my cry calling out His name?

Being alive means I speak His name constantly.

So, is it heard the loudest when I’m the quietest?

In sadness, we breathe heavy sighs.

In joy, our lungs feel almost like they will burst.

In fear we hold our breath and have to be told to breathe slowly to help us calm down.

When we’re about to do something hard, we take a deep breath to find our courage.

When I think about it, breathing is giving him praise. Even in the hardest moments!

This is so beautiful and fills me with emotion every time I grasp the thought. God chose to give himself a name that we can’t help but speak every moment we’re alive.

All of us, always, everywhere.

Waking, sleeping, breathing, with the name of God on our lips.

written by - Sandra Thurman Caporale from the Memorial Church of Christ in Houston.