Cold Last Day of April

 Rosaleigh was checked on just as it became light enough to see. The other Rosalie came over to greet her. She is not due for 15 more days and no sign of waxing so was left outside for the day.  Below are our 2 mares with the same name but different spelling. Big Rosalie is Lily's daughter born Feb 18th, 2013 and was the last Raven daughter out of Lily as Raven died in 2012.

The pregnant Rosaleigh we got as a 2 year old also born in 2013 but her birthdate was April 6th and her sire was the magnificent Othello de Berthonval owned by Friesian of Majesty. Big Rosalie makes her looks small but she actually stands 16.1. Lily was also out grazing in the pond pasture this morning with her filly Zinnia.

The 6 pounds of hamburger was browned this morning, then drained and put in the fridge for after church.  We left at 9:15 am and had a wonderful day in church. David has the first message the video isn't up yet but if you would like to watch and listen to that click HERE.   Craig Stickling had the second service click HERE to watch and listen to that. Both were thought provoking and worth listening to.  After church the kids and grandkids came for dinner. Elisabet was in the process of losing her second front tooth. It was turned 180 degrees and still hanging on. It looked so funny we had to take a picture of that tooth.

*the tooth came out later this evening*
The spaghetti meat sauce was really good, I added the browned hamburger, oregano, salt and pepper along with some garlic to the prego sauce. The 2 pounds of spaghetti noodles were almost not enough but at the end of the meal there was still some left. That was swerved with cottage cheese, mozzarella cheese and parmesan cheese. We also had a big salad and French bread and for dessert gooey brownies with vanilla ice cream. After dinner the wind was blowing and spitting rain at us so all of the fun was held inside. Zion, Eden and Elisabet came with me to check on Rosaleigh.

It was definitely warmer in the barn.

Below is a video of some of the evening.

It was a cold last day of April so we were thankful for the barn. We are sure ready for warmer weather.

 

So SAD

Well Oksana was found dead this morning and unfortunately her death was not as peaceful as Indy's. There are days that you wish you could have a do-over even if it had the same ending.  Oksana died of colic, a horrible death for her. Mike and Diane found her body less than 200 yards from Indy's body and it is pretty sure they both died on the same night.  Indy's death was written about on yesterday's blog before we knew that Oksana was also gone. The ground around Oksana was terribly churned up. Oh how I grieve for her. If ONLY, if only I had gone out one day earlier. When we discovered Roxanne colicking she was taken to Hoerr vet clinic and kept comfortable until it was obvious that he couldn't keep her comfortable then she was humanly put down.  I would have done that for Oksana in a heart beat. Now for the record we have never had a horse colic at Middle Grove before Oksana. There is abundant grass, many many acres so the horses graze while moving, they never go without food but there is always a first in this horse business and colic is something the Friesian breed seems to be prone to. These mares were both wonderful. They both loved people, they were both born here and became amazing performance horses. They were both Raven daughters and we will truly miss them. Indy was born the 4th of July 2010. We celebrated her birth and knew she was special from the moment she stood up. Below she is just a few hours old.

In November of 2010 she was able to perform in her very first parade with her mama.

and she went on from that first performance to perform year after year at the IL Horse Fair in front of thousands. Her most famous was her performances in the Pirates of the Caribbean.

She enjoyed going to trail rides, camping, and local shows.

Oksana was also born here June 16th,  2012 out of Eliza by Raven.

She was another one we knew would be special and special she was. Below she is pictured at 2 years of age out at Middle Grove.

She was not yet quite 3 when she was in her first performance at the IL Horse Fair with Emily.

She was taught to joust after Ribbon died and even that didn't faze her.

Oksana was also the horse used for mom for her last long trail ride. She was so steady and willing and loved going out on the trails. We could always count on her to keep her rider safe. Oh how we will miss both of these mares. I thank our Lord Jesus for the opportunity to take care of them for their entire lives. To lose both on the same day is just devastating but again we know the Lord gives and the Lord takes as HE sees fit. Blessed be HIS name. 

We LOST Indy

 We lost Indy. Indy was at Middle Grove with the herd, we went out this evening to pick up Indy and Rosaleigh, Indy to be bred and Rosaleigh to come home to deliver. When we arrived both Indy and Oksana were missing so we thought they must be off grazing together.  Rosaleigh was haltered and taken down to the trailer then Mike and Diane took the jeep and started searching for the two missing horses, while I took Rosaleigh home. Indy was found in the round pen laying on her side dead. No sign of struggle. Oksana is still missing. They thought they heard her whinny but just couldn't find her. It is now too dark to keep looking. Mike went to get the excavator to bury Indy and tomorrow morning early they will start the search again. The picture below was taken of the other 5 mares still out there after Rosaleigh was in the trailer. These 5 followed us all the way down to the gate. Indy was one of our very special purebred Friesian mares we raised here. She was a fun ride and so impressive at 16.3 hands. We will really miss her. 

That was the worst news, hopefully tomorrow they can find Oksana and we pray she is fine. It is just strange she isn't with the herd. Our day started early.  I needed to move a round bale in for the weanlings. As my guests in the apartment were more than likely still sleeping I took the bale the long way around the barn and put it in while the weanlings were eating their grain. As soon as the gate was shut Valerie and Indy's colt ran to check out the hay while Tessa finished up the grain. That is her back in the picture below.

I needed to leave for the meeting with the hip surgeon to schedule a hip replacement and that is now scheduled for June 6th. It will be done at Proctor as an out patient. From there I went straight to mom's to relieve Diane so she could go to a few garage sales and while at mom's more appointments were scheduled all for tests to make sure I can have the surgery. It was so nice and warm out on the deck we decided to eat lunch out there. Even Molly enjoyed that.

When Karin got home I drove up to the barn to meet our guests and introduced them to the horses.

Valiant is always a favorite.

My next job was to drive to the DMV in Pekin, to transfer the camper title into my name. That always seems to be such an easy job but for some reason the state makes it hard. They wanted people to download some kind of square thing on a picture then set an appointment but when I told them I just needed to transfer a title they let me walk in.  The number R364 was given to me and R362 was called just then so I thought it would be a quick wait but nope. They started in the A's and it was a good 20 minutes before they got back to the R's. My number was finally called, the paper work filled out and then the lady sent me to the long line for stickers.  Another long wait only this one standing. When I finally got up there I was told I owed $180.00. I was sure that must be a mistake but was told, no the transfer fee is now up to $155.00 and the sticker fee is $25.00 since it will need to be renewed in December. On the way home I picked up 2 Greek Gyro's for our dinner and arrived home just before Mark. He had picked up potato salad from Kroger so that was added to our meal. After dinner we went back out to move two more bales. One for Tatiana and Irish's paddock.

The mares wait patiently while that is placed. Lily and Rosalie's paddock was next. Below is Rosalie waiting for Mark to finish.

Both Lily and Rosalie went right up to start eating on this bale.

Jewel was given her sulfa.

By this time it was almost 6:30 pm. Mark helped hook the truck up to the trailer and I was on the way to Middle Grove arriving by 7:15 pm. Mike and Diane brought the jeep down to the gate, picked me up to go find the horses and the rest of that story is the story I started for today's blog.

On the way home the sun was setting behind me so I snapped a a picture in my side mirror.

I got the bad news about Indy as I was pulling into our drive. Rosaleigh was put in the barn for the night, she will need to be cleaned up tomorrow. What a loss for us but God knew what we were going to find when we got there, He wasn't wringing His hands wondering what we are going to do. We will continue to praise and thank Him for letting us have Indy for her 13 years. He gives, He takes and His name be praised! 

 

Another Raccoon

 Another cold morning in the 30s but the day warmed up nicely with abundant sunshine. The mares were let out on the fields early this morning.  Our walk got interrupted a bit, there was a raccoon trying to claw its way into mom's house up by the roof. Joan put a trap out last night and this morning noticed the trap was sprung. Sure enough she caught that raccoon. That was loaded on to the golf cart and taken to her house. 

After the walk she drove it to a state park across the river and let it go. It was my turn to be at mom's this morning. Today we watched the Journey of Nattie Gann. About a girl and a wolf during the depression. Amy arrived right after lunch with a wonderful dessert. She made a rhubarb crumble out of the rhubarb she picked this morning and it was still warm. That was served with  vanilla ice cream. It was delicious. She brought a huge pan full so I took some home for Mark as that is one of his favorite desserts.  There is more left at mom's if anyone wants to stop by and try it. Amy said to share.  When I got home AC Central was turned on and I was pleased to see a message from Jeff Waibel. IF you would like to watch it click HERE. He is back from his sabbatical and going to do 9 messages on the cross. I checked my bank balance on line and found a charge of $488.39 to a pottery store that had come through just a few minutes before. I called CEFCU to report it and was put on hold about 3 minutes then transferred and on hold again for another 10 minutes.  It was done by someone in South Carolina. CEFCU put a hold on my account and the cards will need to be changed. Thankful I checked that account today. 

Mark got home from work and went mushroom hunting and just found one that had been ran over by the mower and all dried out. Not worth cooking on that one.  He was given left over pot roast for supper tonight.  I took one more trip up to the barn this evening to give Jewel her meds. Tomorrow should be the last day I will need to do that as her owner is coming on Saturday to pick her up. Sometime tomorrow or Saturday I need to pick up Rosaleigh before she delivers.

She is due May 15th and almost always delivers 2 weeks early. Last year I arrived to pick her up and discovered she had just delivered. IT took me hours to wait until the filly was standing then nursed and then get them both down to the trailer. It is much easier if I pick her up before she delivers.

Surprise

 I awoke during the night because it was cold in the house. The clock on the stove was blinking 1:38 am. Realizing the electricity went off during the night the coffee maker was set to 1:38 am and programed to make the coffee by 5:00 am, walked into the bedroom to see it was really only 11:30 pm. The electric blanket was turned back on and back into the kitchen to change the clock on the stove and the clock on the coffee maker. Just before 4:00 am Irish was checked on and no foal. At 6:30 am I went out and there was Irish with a big stocky colt that was already up and nursing.  She wanted outside so they were turned out into the big field so I could get a few pictures for the website. 

He doesn't look like a newborn. I left them out, came back to the house, made breakfast for Mark and still made it in time to meet Diane and Ruth for the walk. Rachel was with mom today but needed to leave by 8:45 am so I went over then to relieve her.  Mom and I visited Sicily. These travel flogs are almost like being there. While at mom's a phone call came from the man that bought Irish's colt last year, he wants to buy this colt and will come with the deposit this weekend. Rachel was back by 10:00 am and by then Irish was ready to come inside. She still had the placenta partially hanging so was put in the barn so I could keep watch on her.  The apartment was given a quick once over for the guests coming in today. Irish was taken back out at 3:00 pm and by 3:30 pm the placenta was delivered. That was picked up and buried in the manure pile and the indoor arena cleaned up.  Tatiana was teased and is still in her foal heat so was covered by Valiant. The last horse job before heading in for a shower was to give Jewel her sulfa.  She didn't stand very well for that today and I got some smeared on her lips but got the bulk of the 30 ccs.

Mark and I left for church at 6:15 pm. Mike Kaisner had the message, if you would like to watch and listen to that click HERE. After church a lot of us went to Culvers to celebrate Sarah's birthday. 

Busy Tuesday

 It wasn't near as cold this morning but still cold enough to want to wear a winter coat. Irish was turned out then Tatiana and her filly. The mares settled right down to graze, the filly first ran over by Irish then grazed for a bit then ran back to her mom.  

Foal watching is fun! I had to quit to get to the meeting place in time to walk.  Joan had some news. They had to rescue 4 more baby raccoons. This rescue was not in our area and not even in our county and was kind of a sad story. A raccoon was stuck inside the walls of a house. They got the raccoon out drove it to a state park miles away only to realize 3 and a half hours later that raccoon was back. They were able to hire an exterminator. By living in the walls of the house the raccoon was considered nuisance animal and one must have a permit to dispose of that animal.  Well only a few hours after the raccoon was disposed of and off the property did the home owner hear crying. There were 4 baby raccoons trapped inside the wall.  Joan was called, Faith was able to crawl between the wall studs and rescue the babies.  Joan and her daughters now have 8 baby raccoons to feed every three hours. The new ones are much younger, maybe only a week or so old. 

The home owners around here are wondering just where these will be released when they are old enough. NOT HERE!  They really are cute and cuddly at this age. I left for Berean after the first round.  We had a good morning there but even at that office there was a critter problem. This one was very tiny. A baby mouse had somehow gotten into the sink.

IF you would like to read about our morning there click HERE. Mark sent a text with the picture below that our freezer had been delivered. He didn't know but I was planning on picking up the beef we ordered today instead of tomorrow so that was perfect timing.

I left Berean as soon as the Bibles and studies were loaded into the car and went right to Peoria Tire and Vulcanizing to replace the last snow tire on the Prius. We had to buy a new tire as the old one could not be fixed.  That was done by 11:20 am which gave me time to drop the Bibles off at the Hanna City post office then run home, get the snow tire out of the back of the car, load 2 coolers into the car, move the freezer to a place out of the way of the painters then headed to Goodfield Elementary for grandparents day. Jace and Abe were glad to see me and even more glad to see their grandpa Ron.

Below is a video of their short program.

They showed us their artwork and their classrooms.

We even got to see their mom's classroom.

Ron took the boys home, I left for Eureka to pick up the beef we had ordered from one of our neighbors. That was loaded into the car and I was home by 4:00 pm. The car was driven right into the barn, backed up to the freezer and the freezer filled. Of course there was a lot of hamburger. I was trying to keep most of that on the left hand side. 

I fit it all in except 2 small packages of roasts.

Mark was home by the time I finished and brought the key over to lock it. We sure don't want that lid left open!  This evening Tatiana needed to be covered by Valiant and Irish needed to be put inside as she is now waxing.  Mark took Irish while I took Tatiana. She was tied to the breeding stand but before I could bring Valiant over I had to removed some big sticks of thorns all caught up in her tail. That was much harder than expected. Valiant had lost his halter again and this time I couldn't find it in the paddock so had to go get him a new one. The filly was put in the paddock in front of the breeding stand and Mark was making sure she wouldn't try to get out. She was content to just watch. The cover went well. Mark let Valiant graze while I put Tatiana and her filly away. It was really nice to have that second pair of hands.  The last job of the evening was to give Jewel her 30 ccs of sulfa. She has no sign of infection and is feeling well. I think she can probably go home by the end of this week.  

Tom came and put the new fresh water intake on the 5th wheel. That will make my life much easier. No more filling that fresh water tank every other day. 

Heavy Frost

 Our thermometer was only reading 26 degrees this morning. There was such a heavy frost that the grass was crunchy.  Irish was put out first as she was in the indoor arena for the night.  The ice made the grass look blue.

Next Tatiana and her filly were brought over from their paddock to join Irish in this field. Tatiana's filly is a week old today and Tatiana is now in her foal heat so she went right over to Evan to show.  Irish ran between them to keep her and her filly safe.

They soon settled down to graze. Notice the right hand corner, the color of the grass changed from blue to green where the sun hit. Pretty cool. Check out the picture below, the sun had lit up the redbud tree along with the shed but the grass was still in the shadow keeping the blue color.

I left to meet Diane, Ruth and Joan for our walk. After the walk instead of leaving right away for the post office I listened to Fred Witzig who gave the Sunday morning message in Washington.   That was well worth listening to and if you would like to hear it click HERE. AC Central has a new format and we now have an easy way to share sermons that aren't videoed. Fred read first in 1st Kings 21 where Ahab humbled himself and God forgave him. I never liked that part, Ahab was SO evil I didn't think he should be forgiven, why he sacrificed his own son to Molech, and yet today I was thankful. Since God was willing to forgive Ahab He will surely have mercy for any of us who ask for forgiveness including me.  I made it to the Peoria post office around 10:00 am then went straight to Berean to drop off the mail. Anna called to tell me Lily's filly was outside the fence so I went straight home. Lily was taken out, the filly was glad to nurse and while she was nursing I pulled out some of her tail hair for the registry. They were then take out to the field to graze so I could get a few pictures of her for the website as she is now 25 days old.

She is going to be fantastic. She was born silver so should end up non fading black. She will also be tall and have great movement. She is 75% Friesian 25% Warmblood but will look 100% Friesian AND if you have always wanted a Friesian without spending the huge bucks for one she can be yours in 4 months for only $6000.00. She is named Zinnia and settled down for a nap while Lily was grazing.

They were put away so I could run to the bank to pick up some cash. Ruth brought loaves of Steven's fresh baked walnut raisin bred this morning and I had no cash to pay him. We ate some for our breakfast and it is SO good. Steven charges $5.00 a loaf and his loaves are a good size and delicious. Faith and Mackenson arrived to mow. Faith uses the grasshopper and Mackeson uses the push mower for the hills. 

This evening after work Mike brought his 4 wheeler over to help give Indy's colt a leading lesson. He worked with him first by asking him to give to pressure and turn when asked. 

The 4 wheeler works perfect for that and it didn't take long for the colt to learn he had to keep up to release the pressure. The colt was curious and willing to learn as Mike got on.

I went behind with the golf cart to video.

He learned to follow and trot. We ended on a good note, he was given treats of some handfuls of grain and grass and was happy by the time he was put away.  My next job was to give Jewel her sulfa then check Irish's udder. Tonight there was a little clear colostrum on one of her teats. She is getting closer. She was put in the indoor for the night. Mark came walking up with my pitchfork and once that was put away we took the golf cart into the field to check out the sunset. The sun was still up a ways but was being covered quickly with clouds.

We are expecting rain tonight. All of the mares were locked off the pastures.