3 For 3

 This morning the mares weren't let out until 7:00 am. Madiera's colt was bouncy today. He is 6 days old and just didn't seem to be able to keep all 4 hooves on the ground. 

Just Diane, Joan and I walked as Ruth left early to go to garage sales in Goodfield with Rebekah. Diane came dressed for Jim Funk's funeral as she is in charge of the meal. We all quit after one round. I needed to make a quick trip to Sam's club as I want to serve grilled parmesan chicken kabobs with peppers and onions on Sunday and had no chicken. Fresh chicken breasts were about $3.00 a pound but I could by a 10 pound bag of frozen for $2.40 a pound so bought the frozen. I also bought ingredients to make a lunch tray.

This was chicken salad croissants with a side of peppers and fruit enough for around 8 hungry people. The fruit was strawberries, cherries and grapes. For the dessert a key lime pie and crumb cake bars were added to fill out the lunch. That was loaded in the truck in an insulated container with ice and delivered at 11:30 am.  Mark and Mackenson had been busy finishing taking down all the trees along side of the garage and had a big pile for the dumpster.

They helped take the 2 horse trailer off the truck and attach the stock trailer.

Mike and Hunter arrived at 10:45 am to help load the 3 mares going to the vet clinic. Lea and Rosalie were put in the front of the stock trailer while Blueberry was put by herself in the back. 

I arrived right on time but Dr. Hoerr was busy with another client so ended up needing to wait for an hour. The horses were just left in the stock trailer.  I heard bleating and in the fenced back yard were all the lambs I saw being born when I was at the clinic. 

They are growing well and all seemed very friendly.

While waiting I brought Rosalie out the side door and tied her to that side of the trailer. When it was my turn I brought Lea out and lead her to the clinic door but she refused to go in until Chris came out to help. We really need to work on this mare's manners. Of course it didn't help that Dr. Hoerr had been doing autopsies on 3 dead chickens by that door. A farmer in the area asked for this as a lot of his flock was dying. 

Dr. Hoerr pointed out the problem. The intestines had lots of little areas of bleeding and I think he said it was caused by Coccidiosis a parasitic disease of the intestinal tract of chickens caused by the coccidian protozoa and is spread from bird to bird by contact with infected feces. Good to know in case we ever get chickens again.  Getting back to Lea I was THRILLED to see she is still pregnant from when we bred her last fall to Evan. Lea is just over 6 months along and is due Oct 25th. 

She is just such a big mare she hides her pregnancy well. As Dr. Hoerr moved the ultrasound wand we could see different parts of the foal.

Lea was taken to the trailer and tied where Rosalie had been waiting patiently. Rosalie was much better at leading in even though those chickens were still at the doorway.

Dr. Hoerr declared her pregnant very quickly.

Rosalie was also bred to Evan and is due April 10th, 2025. I snapped the picture below of Lea standing tied at the trailer while Rosalie was having her ultrasound.

Rosalie was just put in the side door of the trailer and tied so Blueberry could come out the back. As long as Lea could see Rosalie or Blueberry she was fine to stand quietly.

Blueberry is such a tall long mare she barely fit in the stocks. It didn't help that she put her head off to the side then then scrunched up.

Blueberry was also declared pregnant. We had 3 out of 3!

Blueberry was bred to Valiant and is due April 15th, 2025. Since all 3 are pregnant instead of taking them back to Hanna City I drove out to Middle Grove, a 50 mile one way trip. Mike and Hunter were there working. They had Titus haltered and ready to be loaded. They helped get the 3 mares out of the trailer. Below are a few pictures.

Above is Rosalie heading to the round pen ready to greet Valerie her full sister who was in the round pen. Mike had her haltered so Titus would load easier. Below is Lea heading over to the herd.

Below are Jury and Sangria. Jury sticks with Sangria like a burr to a saddle pad. 

Jury was bred to Valiant and is not due until July 16th. Below Thalia found her mother Lea.

Below are 4 of Mike's Thoroughbred mares, 3 clumped together (the bay mares) then off to the right is Tatiana who was bred to Valiant and is due March 14th, 2025. Behind her is Blueberry. To the very left is Thalia trying to keep up with her mom Lea.

Mike led Valerie into the trailer, tied her then came back to help us with Titus. I held the back door open then when Titus wouldn't step in I got a lead rope, Mike took one end, I took the other and we didn't have to do much more than put it behind him when Titus stepped in with Hunter. After Hunter tied up Titus, Valerie was led out the side door. Both Valerie and Tessa came and stood next to that side door to keep Titus company.

Below are Valerie and Tessa. They were asked to move off before I drove away.

On the way home I had to stop for gas, $110.00 worth of gas for the truck.

Hard to conserve cash when the truck needs gas but we can't run this business without the truck.

Once home Titus was left in the trailer while Mark helped move a bale in the short shelter. Berlica had been here mowing paddocks under Mark's supervision. Mark moved the bale while I unloaded Titus.

About then the apartment guests came back so I explained that this new horse was a young stallion and the kids needed to be careful around him. They have 5 boys from age 4 to 14 and wanted to play on the hay bales. I told them when they got tired of that they could go play in the gym. It was almost 4:00 pm and I had not had anything to eat or drink since breakfast. I made two chicken salad sandwiches and served those with chips and cherries and 2 pieces of left over crumb cake. Mark told me Taunya was here with the kids swimming but by the time we ate and I got over to mom's to see them they had already left for home. I sat down to read but only read a few chapters then fell asleep waking with just enough time to write this and then head to bed. 

Phone Problems

 Jewel, Madiera and her colt were put out early this morning. Something we think must have stung Jewel in her rear end as all of a sudden she took off cantering and swinging her tail between her legs then even kicking out. We have never seen her act this way. 

She settled down after the last kick out and started grazing. It was not flies, Madiera was not swishing her tail at all.

They were left out while I went on the walk with Diane, Ruth and Joan. We stopped at the foaling apartment first to check out the new vanity then at Diane's to check out her new flooring.

Both the wood and the carpet are new. We all agreed it looked very nice. Diane also showed us her new mower. All of us oood and awwwd over that, zero turn and small enough to fit in tight places.

When we reached the dam one of the goose families was heading out grazing on the shore but all quickly reached the lake before we arrived. 

Rachel and David had one dock fixed up and in the water.

Mark was working in the water heater of the mini max when we reached Joan's house.

That turned out to be a loose wire. The people renting it were coming today to pick it up today.

Mark and Mackenson worked on taking down more trees growing up against the garage. Berlica mowed here and at the new barn. Once the tree work was done Mackenson used the push mower on the hill and tight spots. It all looks so nice now. 

The fly traps came today, all 12 of them. Six of them were prepared and hung and as I was hanging them I found a refillable fly trap so came inside and ordered the bait refills. I may as well keep these going all summer. They really do help with the fly population. 

My guests coming in today are a family of 7 and won't be here until 9:00 pm. The lights were left on for them. On the way back to the house from turning on the lights I noticed my goose family with their 6 goslings. Those goslings are really at the ugly stage right now but all are growing well.

I need more salt blocks here. I moved the two I have into the other paddocks and will keep moving them around until I get back to TSC to buy more.  This evening Jewel's udder was checked but it is really not filling yet.  Madiera's colt came up to visit when I got to the fenceline. For the first time I noticed he has a few white hairs in the middle of his forehead. Funny I never saw that before.

He really is doing well. The mares have a lot of pasture to graze in but all came running up into the paddock when they heard the golf cart.

Tomorrow Rosalie, Blueberry and Lea go in to the vet clinic for preg checks. If they are pregnant I'll drive them right out to Middle Grove. I feel pretty good that Blueberry and  Rosalie are pregnant but Lea who was bred last November just doesn't look pregnant to me. If she isn't maybe Dr. Hoerr can tell me if she is close to ovulating. My phone is really causing some problems. It has been going straight to voicemail not letting any phone calls go through. I had to switch the texting messages over to google messages as I couldn't answer anyone and just now after restarting the phone for the 4th time a bunch of text messages came through. I don't have bluetooth on nor do I have airplane mode on. It doesn't even show me that I missed call. 

Yard Ornaments

While putting Madiera, her colt and Jewel out to graze on this beautiful morning with the cool fresh air and hearing the birds singing, I just had to sit praise our Creator who created such beauty.

Of course I took a few pictures. Jewel's udder is still not filling. She isn't due until June 10th but always delivers early. Surely that udder will start to fill soon.

Madiera's colt learned to eat grass today and thought it was delicious.

I really am thankful to live here. Diane and Mike stayed at Middle Grove last night so Diane did not come on the walk. Ruth and Joan did and this morning it was all about yard ornaments. We didn't notice anything strange until we walked up to the foaling apartment and there was a sink sitting out by the front door.

Strange but not that strange as it had been pulled off the wall. It was when we got to Mike and Diane's that we were wondering if there must be something about the plumbing in the neighborhood. Check what was outside THEIR front door.

At this point we were thinking Diane won the award for the most unusual until we got to Rachel's house. She had huge plastic squares all over her front yard.

The story of Rachel's is they are repairing their dock and the story with the toilets at Diane's house is they are getting new flooring laid. Crazy that all of this is happening at the same day. Right after the walk Ruth was going to move her camper home but Mark wanted to use the skid steer to pull it out of the woods. That didn't work well, Ruth's truck worked perfect. Deb Hoerr came to check out the barn for the Waibel reunion at the same time and was gone by the time I got back from the camper. I left then with the 2 horse trailer for Middle Grove. Diane and Mike met me at the gate with Dancer and Mika. They were loaded and brought home. Diane came with me as Mike wanted to stay and mow out there. Dancer and Mika were unloaded at the cabin. When I got back Madiera and Jewel were put back in their paddock. Evan was locked in his then the other mares let out back. 

Those silly mares have to go check out Evan each time.  I'm trying to tease Lea and she doesn't seem to be showing so was watching them. Since I don't think she is pregnant I finally just called the vet clinic to bring in 3 for ultrasounds. I can come on Friday at 11:30 am. Lea is terrible in the trailer but I really want to get her pregnant. Rosalie and Blueberry are far enough along to see if they settled. Anna was here and had just delivered the vanity for the apartment so now we have a sink and a big box to take to the dumpster tomorrow.

Mark wanted to wait until it is emptied before putting anything big in it. Mark and Mackenson were hard at work cutting down the saplings and trees growing up around the garage. There was a bird nest in one of the trees coming down with 4 baby birds in it. I took that to Joan so they could finish raising them. I really don't know why that mama bird built a nest so low to the ground. Our cat would eat them if they were left. 

 Joan has the mini max camper going out this week. As this one is different from the other 4 we needed to go over the instructions.

After showing her how to set up and take down the table and checking out the screens and privacy curtains in each of windows I almost changed my mind on selling it. This camper really is quality made throughout and perfect for a couple or a single person. It is well laid out with a good amount of storage for such a small camper. Joan made sure the fridge was working with propane, battery and electricity. Then checked out the 2 burner stove which works with the propane. The water heater was what she was working on when I left. That is both electric and propane. A load of bigger gravel was delivered over by the dam. Mark wants to make waterbars going down the trails to stop the erosion. 

He used some of that today to fill pot holes and some to cover the new culvert.

Phil and Anna came after work today and installed the new vanity in the foaling apartment bathroom. It looks great. 

That accident was a blessing in disguise. Now I have some storage and the sink is itself is bigger. This is what I would have chosen when we first built the apartment.

Tonight church was held at the fellowship hall as the parking lot at church is being repaired. Mike Kaisner had the message. Afterwards we were served root beer floats. The sun was just setting on our way home so the picture below was taken from the moving car.

Another day is gone and my heart overflows with thankfulness to the One who gave us this day.

Harvesting Honey

 We got another half inch of rain last night during the 2 storms that came through. I was glad Madiera and her colt were safe inside. They were put out around 7:00 am and then I went to work cleaning the stall.  Madiera is teaching her colt to move to the corner of the stall to manure as both of them had that all piled up in the northeast corner of the stall. Too bad they can't figure out to do the same with urine. I had a lot of sodden hay to dig out and grabbed the pitch fork for that. 

We had a good walk and talk this morning, sharing fun stories of the weekend. Ruth, Joan and I stopped in to visit with mom right after. She decided not to go to Berean as Monday was a holiday she was sure there wouldn't be much mail.  Karin had 2 drawings she was working on. The first is Blair with her new baby brother Micah and the second is Walter.

Only 5 of us showed up to work at the Berean office.

Today is Skip's birthday so we celebrated with a chocolate and a carrot cake for our break.

Chip ( think it was him) brought his huge sprayer and was spraying the field next to the Berean office.

That was amazing to see how many rows could be sprayed so quickly.

We were easily able to get everything done by 11:00 am.  The mail was dropped off at the Hanna City post office before going home. While at Berean Tim sent a message he was not going to be able to repair the sink. Anna was called, she and Phil offered to work on it tonight. Mark was called to turn the water off in the apartment. When I got back Anna already had the sink back on the wall but not yet hooked up.

Mark and Mackenson worked on removing a huge fallen tree off the hay field. He used the chain saw to cut the limbs into usable sections then he and Mackenson piled them on the skid steer bucket.  Mark used that skid steer to move the logs over by the other pile for splitting. Mark said if anyone wants wood for the winter they are welcome to have any of this. He had Berlica come to start mowing the pond pasture but when she ran out of fuel, he got more diesel then mowed himself. Those weeds behind him are so tall it takes a long time for that small bush hog to get it down.

I left then for TSC to buy bedding and grain. I knew I could fit 12 bags of bedding and 2 bags of grain in the prius so told the check out lady what I wanted then went to look at the chicks. All of their chicks were marked down to just $1.00 each. I was SO tempted to buy a bunch but couldn't figure out who would want them. I'll ask tomorrow on the walk and if anyone wants them will go again tomorrow. The 2 ladies that brought the grain and bedding out where shocked when I told them it is the Prius. I had to assure them strongly it WILL all fit, I promise it will all fit and it did.

11 bags fit in the back. I put the hundred pounds of grain in the front along with one bag of bedding. I mentioned that they did such a good job of packing maybe I should go in and buy 8 more bags for the back seat. You should have seen their faces! I had to explain I was just kidding. Once home, 3 bags were put in 2 of the foaling stalls and 4 put in the last one. The last 2 were put on a pallet. Mark arrived as I was unloading and brought over a new pallet.

The grain was taken to the feed stall.

I was so pleased to have the bedding I went right to work on the stalls. 

Each stall has a section of hay and straw for a foal to lay down in, and the rest of the stall the pelleted bedding. Above is the stall I cleaned this morning, below is the second foaling stall and below that is the 3rd. 

Notice the cat up by the board going across the stall watching.

That board is there if we need to hang fluids for a foal. We loop it over that board and it can hang easily. The cat walks across that to get to the aisle.

This afternoon Joan decided to open the bee tree hive at Spark's house. Oh my was that hive huge. She and Berlica came dressed for the job.

I thought it would be safe standing quietly by the back of the barn. That worked for a while until Joan got those bees really mad then they started coming at both Berlica and me and we got stung.

Berlica went back to her house to get a better hat. After getting stung in the arm, leg and twice in the head I went home to get better protection finding a sheer curtain, a hat to hold the curtain off my body and wearing a rain coat. When I got back Berlica was gone, she was done getting stung. I was able to video more as Joan was searching for the queen but soon the bees started flying hard into the curtain determined to sting. Enough was enough and I left for home. Later I found out Joan got stung on her wrists, shoulder and the worst was right on her chin. She was able to fill 2 boxes with the brood (baby bees) and many bees were hovering or going in those boxes. She does not know if she has the queen in one of the boxes but will go back tonight to see if the bees are moving. The log the hive is in is well over 5 feet long and hollowed out. She didn't have to cut much of the log to get into the hive but was not able to finish cleaning it out today. She has a lot more cutting to do. Below is the video I was able to take before chickening out and quitting. 

When I got back to our house there was the geese pair out grazing in the pond pasture with their growing goslings.

The clouds last night were rimmed with color.

Another good productive day!