Thankful

 For some reason it was hard to wake up this morning. Probably too excited about those new truck tires. Mark needed breakfast early as he was driving to a meeting in Bloomington that started at 8:00 am. Again I only did one round of walk as I needed to pick up mom and Aunt Jinnie for Bereans. We pulled out at 8:15 and into the Berean parking lot by 8:45 am only to find 7 cars were already parked and volunteers were already busy.

Below is a short video of some of our morning there.

We stopped at the Hanna City post office on the way home to drop off the Bibles and studies going out today. When we turned into the drive the utility people were working on taking down tree limbs up our driveway.

When Karin got home I left to let Lily, her colt, Rosalie and Rosalie out to graze for the first time in about 4 days. 

Below is a short video of Lily's colt. Cookie was not let out to graze, she kept calling for him so he kept running over to see why she wasn't coming. Cookie will founder on spring grass so she can't be let out to graze as much.

Valiant was staring at the colt as he was running in the paddock.

Rosaleigh was teased first and she is still saying no. Big Rosalie was teased next and she is still in so was covered by Evan then put back out to graze. These 3 mares and the colt will be left out for the night. When I got back into the house the 16 pounds of ground beef, 16 cups of shredded cheddar cheese, 8 cups of quick oatmeal, 8 cups of chopped and diced onion, 16 teaspoons of salt, 16 eggs and  12 cups of milk were all mixed up. I had to mix it in 2 batches. The first batch was done At 4:30 when Anna dropped off Braelyn. Braelyn needed to be at Limestone high school for practice at 5:00 pm as Anna had to take the other 2 girls to two different practices.  Berlica was busy mowing when I got home. Mark wanted help pushing the really old golf cart into the back garage. After that was done as I was walking back to the house I took the picture of Berlica mowing.

I was able to get the second batch of meat loaf mixed up before picking up Braelyn from practice. That is now in the fridge.

Tomorrow that will be covered with the sauce and baked for Family night.

Braelyn was taken to McDonalds for a late supper.

Berlica was still mowing when I got back the second time. That mower has such good bright lights she AND Mackenson were mowing in the dark.

I'm so very thankful we live here, so many willing to help when help is needed. 

Fancy Truck Tires

 On our walk this morning Joan happened to look down at the perfect time to pick up a crawdaddy.

This was near mom's garage so not sure why it left the lake to go visiting. Joan threw it back in the lake making that long walk was for nothing. I quit after 1 round as today the truck had an appointment at East Peoria Tire for brand new tires. I've been needing new tires and have been saving for them but each time I had enough money saved up something else needed the money worse.  The truck also got an oil change. Check out those amazing new tires. Mike Rieker had stopped in and must have told them what kind was needed as the last tires he sold me looked just like these. If interested in seeing those and reading the story about that gift click HERE. Those tires were purchased in 2016 and NEVER stranded me. 

When I drove up our drive I had to stop to let the geese pair cross the driveway. This pair has 6 goslings.

I really am thrilled with the tires. For sure I won't be getting stuck at Middle Grove while hauling the stock trailer.  I had to show Diane and even Diane said, "those really are nice tires"  I feel most blessed! While talking to her I remembered we needed to call Hoerr Vet clinic to schedule sonagrams. Mike will need to bring back Sheena as it is now 3 weeks since she was in season. Tatiana needs to be sonagrammed as she is still saying no and it has been 25 days since her last cover. Mike wants Dancer and Blueberry sonagrammed too. That is now scheduled for Thursday morning at 8:30 am and we will haul the mares in to the clinic.  Diane is serving the Wednesday family night dinner with me and went to Sam's today to pick up the bottled water, the salad ingredients,  desserts and the cheddar cheese I need for the meat loaf. That should be a nice meal and all are invited. The dinner starts at 6:00 pm. I shopped at Aldi's and was able to get the brown sugar needed for the meat loaf topping sauce. 

 Last week Aldi was out of brown sugar. Mike was working on the automatic waterer in the breeding shed and needed the water turned off. 

When that was up and running Irish and Tatiana were moved in there to eat down some of the grass. 

Mark needed a little bit of help putting the mats back on the golf cart when I got back and as soon as that was done we had to take it for a spin. It isn't as fast as the old one but this one has lights and a horn and the speed is acceptable especially for grand children.

Mike came over on his 4 wheeler with Blueberry in tow and had to check out the golf cart.

Blueberry is such a tall mare. 

He took Blueberry out to the field then stopped to pick up Dancer and I grabbed Mika and those 3 were taken back over to the cabin field.

Diane was busy mowing the little cabin yard she keeps fenced off for her airbnb guests but was using their huge mower to do it. 

Spark and Rhonda's grand daughter came this evening with a group to play volley ball at the new barn. 

Over Abundance of Rain

 We had such storms during the night that our weather radio kept going off. The rain was pounding down tonight.  When we woke up, went outside and checked there was 3 inches of rain in the rain gauge. 

Each flower on the redbud tree had a drop of rain hanging off the bottom like a jewel.

I really should have gotten the better camera to show the glory. We had 2 inches yesterday so that is 5 inches of rain and everything is really soaked. The overflow of the pond was shooting out the water so hard like a fountain. There was too many leaves to get a picture. The Iris plants are blooming beautifully.

We picked up Rhonda for church and pulled in the parking lot right after Joan. Kathy brought Nancy and she was so very glad to see Joan. Nancy had to tell everyone at lunch that Joan was her teacher. Caleb Plattner had the morning message click HERE to watch that. Mike Kaisner had the afternoon message click HERE to watch that. We had a good afternoon. Mike brought over Dancer and Blueberry to tease. 

Mike brought all the cabin horses over as he needed to fix the gate. He decided to do some training with Blueberry and Dancer.

We had pot roast with potatoes and carrots for dinner tonight served with salad and just baked biscuits. 

After dinner came the fun. The little ones went out to play on the trampoline.

They came in tired enough to cuddle on the couch.

The baby corner was busy today. Rebekah brought her 5 day old Mikah.

We also had Lucy and Quinton.

We got to take turns holding Mikah.

Volley ball didn't go on too long tonight. They were missing players and at one point were playing 3 on 3. Joan took Nancy with her to the singing at 5 Points Washington then home. It was another very good day. We are expecting heavy rain to start in 33 more minutes according to Mark but not sure any of the fields can hold more water. Sure hope the weather radio stays silent tonight. 

Saturday

 We had 2 inches of rain yesterday and during the night. We even lost electricity for a short while. 

The Iris plant started blooming.

At 8:10 our visitors from Forrest arrived to return a couple items to the barn and see the farm. Below they are visiting with Mike and Diane.

They left at 9:00 am to continue their trip to Iowa. I was due at mom's. Karin left a little early. Mom had a wren family move into her log cabin birdhouse. I watched as the wren flew in and out and finally landed on the roof.

Mom was watching a movie while I was watching the bird so ignore the sound.

After lunch we went out on the deck to enjoy the warmth. Philip had his girls out fishing.

We were able to see the goose family with their 5 goslings swim across over to Joan's beach. When Karin arrived I left to tease mares. Lily was covered first by Valiant then Rosalie by Evan. Lily and her colt were put in the outdoor arena so I could get a few updated pictures for the website. This colt has the typical big movement. 

Today he had the zoomies.

Mark was working on installing the lithium battery on the golf cart.

At 5:10 pm Diane, Ruth and I met over at mom's to take mom and Aunt Jinnie to the community sing at the fellowship hall. That was well attended. 

We enjoyed it but when it came time to leave we ran into some problems. Ruth went out to start the van while I brought mom out in the wheel chair. Ruth started the van got out and a gust of wind slammed the door shut and when that happened all of the doors were locked. We called Joan to see if she knew if we had a second set but she didn't know and recommended I call Spark. He didn't know so I called Karin. She could not find a set. Ruth called Fedi and triple A and which ever arrived first to get the door open would win. Meanwhile Ruth and I helped mom into Diane's van. Diane had to put the seats up. Mike had the back loaded with 2 sacks of 80 pound each cement that had to be moved. Ruth was able to move the cement to make room for mom's wheel chair and we made it home.

Ruth stayed at the fellowship hall to wait for Fedi and if he wasn't able to get the van doors open then triple A. We do not know when she finally made it home but it was sure a late night for us.

Rainy Day

 Rain was predicted to start early but it didn't start until just after our walk. When we were walking across the dam we saw the geese family with their 5 newly hatched goslings. 

As we finished the walk Diane asked if she could have some good black dirt. Mark knew were there was a pile of well composted manure so took the small Kubota, scooped up and drove it over just as the rain started.

Today was a good day to read so the second book the kids gave me for my birthday was taken out and read. I was able to get the electric throw going so was nice and toasty when reading. Mark came in wet and cold. It was only 39 degrees outside and that rain felt like it was freezing. He was quick to get out of his wet clothes but when he went out later for another task came back with another set of wet clothes. We have two campers that have to have recall repairs done and the nearest repair shop willing to do the job is about a hundred miles away. They gave us a repair date of May 14th at 9:00 am and unfortunately that just happens to be a Tuesday. Bummer I will need to skip Berean that day. On Monday Nancy has a cardiologist appointment but it is the same time as Mackenson has a dentist appointment so Joan sent out a text and quickly each of us, Diane, Ruth and I responded with we could take her. At the end of that conversation Ruth was chosen to go with her. When the rain slowed down to a trickle I left for Aldi to pick up food for the Sunday dinner and some ingredients needed for the Wednesday meal at the fellowship hall. One of the needed items was brown sugar and Aldi had none. I'll have to go to a different store to pick that up on Monday. As I was getting ready to load the groceries into the car I heard someone yelling "hey lady can we have your cart" Since mine wasn't empty I thought they must have been yelling at someone else but when I turned around saw Mike and Diane across the parking lot. I yelled back, "No way you're getting this cart." but just then another lady thought they must have been yelling at her and she quickly gave them her cart and didn't even want the quarter back. The lady standing next to the car next to mine was looking rather shocked that I would yell that. I had to explain it was my sister and brother in law and I was joking. Karin invited us for dinner tonight and was serving BahamaBob Burgers. Mark offered to do the grilling. When I arrived Karin had the salad's made and had the lazy Susan out on the table.

Rhonda stopped in to drop off some goodies as we were waiting for the meat. We enjoyed the meal and the fellowship. It is warmer tonight than it has been all day. No teasing happened at all but since they were all teased yesterday and the only two in covered that could be skipped today. Mike sent the video below of the horses in the cabin field enjoying the brisk weather.

Mike teased both Blueberry (the tall dark bay mare) and Dancer, the bay mare yesterday and neither were in season. A couple beautiful pictures came in from Tyler, who bought Dalia 9 years ago. Dalia is an Evan daughter out of Star, a Tennessee Walker mare. She just had her 5th foal and the owner is so thrilled with her he wanted to send pictures.

Amazing how much she looks like a purebred Friesian. Evan sure does throw himself. This is Dalia right before we sold her.