Super Sunny Saturday

It was kind of chilly when we awoke with temps in the teens but after a warm breakfast of blue berry pancakes, sausage and eggs it had warmed up into the 30s. I drove to Sam's for groceries while Mark worked on filling the wood shed. Of course I helped with that when back and between the two of us we filled the shed and still have a lot of split wood left.  Karin, Kayla and Magda were here working with Valiant. By the time I got up to the barn they were finished with Valiant and Magda was taking him back to the paddock.

Evan was brought inside next and did he ever show off today. 

 Magda had a good time riding him and thankfully no bucking under saddle. Of course Karin rode him first to make sure he would behave.

Studly always enjoys coming to the barn and has to smell everything. He was sure he could smell a cat today and spent a lot of time searching the barn for that cat. 

Evan was put away so Haddasah and Jenis could come in for a good roll and run.

 Rhoda arrived with Taegan, Kensley and Rizzy.

 After playing with the dogs they took a long hike then Rhoda pulled out Jenis for them to ride. 

 If you would like to see the rest of the horse pictures click HERE. After Jenis was put away it was almost time for supper. We drove the 4 miles to Gills Supper Club and that restaurant (the only open restaurant in Hanna City) was packed. We were seated at 5:00 pm but didn't get our food until after 6:00 pm. That gave us lots of time to visit.

Rhoda has now left for home. It was a super sunny Saturday and we are all tired from working or playing outside. Tomorrow is suppose to be just as nice. 

Plenty

The tree with all the split wood underneath has been good exercise. Each day I've been packing it into the wood shed. Tomorrow Mark and I will work together and finish the job.

We will have plenty of wood for the rest of this winter AND next winter. 

Mike went to Middle Grove today to move in bales before they leave for their vacation. I'll be moving in 4 or 5 bales before we leave for Texas.  Sarah sold another puppy today. This time it was Rose, another female Whoodle puppy.

There are STILL 4 left of puppies out of Maddie's litter of 10 if interested in one of these adorable puppies.

Puppy UPdates

Check out this video of Zion counting Nikki's puppies. She ALMOST gets it right.

There are still 3 of these puppies still available, one female and 2 males.  These puppies are AKC registered moyen size (20-25 pounds around 19 inches tall) purebred Poodle puppies.  The other video today is Ruby playing with her 4 Cavapoo puppies. Ruby's puppies are all spoken for.

There is just something adorable about puppies.
Two more of the Whoodle puppies have now been reserved. The male Sarah is calling Branson will be going to Micah and Laura's family.

 and the female puppy Sarah is calling Sybil is going to the Peter's family.

Mike hauled hay today for the horses at Middle Grove. We have 24 bales left out there but still plenty here at the Hanna City farm so if we have to we can haul from here.

Today the organizing the Horsemeister horse show was started. Amy is willing to bring her mini's and Jamie is going to be bringing her Raven daughter Myrcchedes and her Valiant daughter Legacy. Both are just beautiful.  Our tentative plan is to have people arrive at the playground for fun and games any time during the day, a picnic around 4:00 pm with the entertainment of the horse show starting around 6:00 pm.  The date for this is Saturday July 18th, so SAVE the DATE if you are interested in coming. We will be providing the meat and table service. If you want to come for the picnic bring a dish to share. You may want to bring swim suits and fishing poles (fishing is all catch and release) there will be volley ball games and of course pony rides.  We are sure hoping for a good turnout. The riders, handlers, and horses will be working hard to bring a very entertaining show. 

The Lion in the Neighborhood

It was cold this morning but we did not need the ice tracks. We walked much longer and much farther than we have been walking since it was so much easier. The ground was frozen so not any mud. It will be frozen again tomorrow as it never made it above freezing today and by morning will be in the teens with zero or below zero wind chills.
Kensley came for a couple hours today and had to show off her roman riding skills.

 Dan and Diesel arrived just as Kensley was picked up. Diesel was wearing his lion costume. He really does look like we have a lion in the neighborhood when Dan brings him over. 

 Even when he took it off Emma wasn't too happy. Check out that disgusted looking face as she checks him out. She is just not use to looking UP to another dog. 

 Mark and I had a special job today. We got to go to Sarah and Nolan's house to stay with Zion and Eden while they went to their volley ball game.

They ended up winning and not just tonight by winning tonight they won the entire league.  They still have the tournament to play so we may get to watch the girls again.

Is She or Isn't She

Ice tracks were still needed this morning for our walk and that makes the walk difficult. One must keep eyes to the ground in order not to trip or slip. I left after the first round for the Berean office. If you would like to read about our morning there click HERE. Right after Berean I took off for Middle Grove to check udders. There are STILL some mares that I just can't tell if they are pregnant or not.   Last week I thought Rosaleigh must be pregnant as I noticed the Friesian with the mane on the left side of her neck. This week I noticed Roxanne's mane no longer lies on the right side of her neck but now it is on the left side and Roxanne IS pregnant so IS Rosaleigh pregnant or Isn't she? Below is a picture of Rosaleigh's belly.

In the picture above it looks like she may be but in the picture below she does not look pregnant.

If she is pregnant she is not due until June 22nd. Irish who I thought last week may not be pregnant as I didn't see her from the front is obviously pregnant. She was bred to Valiant and is due May 1st.

Soul was another I am not sure of and didn't get right in front of her to check if she sticks out both sides. 

 If Soul is pregnant she is due April 13th. I think she is by looking at the picture below.

The last question was Galena. If Galena is still pregnant she would be due July 1st. 

I really can't tell if Galena is or not. She will be brought home in April and checked.

After checking the udders on Indy and Oksana I started checking the other horses and realized I hadn't seen Missy in the group. As the herd almost always stays together it is always a worry when there is a horse missing. I started climbing the hills to see if she could be seen in the distance.

She was no where in sight. At that point I went back to the herd to see I had missed her and sure enough she was behind a hay bale.

IF you would like to see the rest of the pictures from this trip to Middle Grove click HERE. I left for home around 3:00 pm and when I arrived heard what sounded like a waterfall. The melting snow from our sunny 40 degree day had the pond overflow shooting out water higher than my head. 

I hiked down to get some better pictures.

The creeks are flowing fast and furious. 

Longing For Spring

The ice tracks were needed this morning on our walk and during the walk the sky started spitting at us. By the time we quit our walk it was more than a few drops.  Today was grocery shopping day heading to Peoria to visit an Aldi store and then to Sam's club and got wet running from the parking lot to the store both times.  As soon as I got home and the groceries were put away the oven was turned on and a pumpkin dump cake was mixed up and baked.  When that was taken out of the oven I drove to Diane's office to balance the Horsemeister check book. She found a $600.00 mistake and that gave us $600.00 extra dollars.  My hand writing is so awful that my 4's look like 9s and vice versa and for some reason a 1 looked like a 7.  I'm sure glad Diane is still willing to help or in this case DO all the work.  Tomorrow afternoon the sun is suppose to burn off the dense fog that is predicted for the morning and if that happens I need to head to Middle Grove to check the udders on Indy and Oksana.  Tori was the mare that surprised me when I went to Middle Grove last week. She was looking pretty pregnant.  She isn't due until May 26th

Rhoda loves riding Tori and believes that Tori will be our next Jenis. She is a solid fun ride.

Looking at these pictures makes me start to long for spring, new foals, green grass and warm sunshine. 

Sunday Afternoon

fog, church, sunshine, horse back riding epic snow ball fight, dinner for 25, games all today.
We looked out side to see fog arriving coming from the south. We could still see Valiant and his paddock in the picture below but that didn't last long.

 The fog soon reached our house. The picture below is looking north.

 On our drive to church the fog became so thick we could hardly see as we were coming in to Hanna City.

 The picture below was on the interstate. Crazy thick fog.

 The sun was out and it was a mild 40 degrees by the time we got out of church. Israel came home from church with us so as soon as we were changed we headed right out to the barn. There was a big fat black cat sitting on the hay bales.  We don't know who the cat belongs to but cats are welcome here. 

 Karin and Magda were here working with Valiant so Israel got to ride Valiant. 

 From there we headed to mom's house where a snowball fight was taking place. Israel joined right in.

 Dinner was served at 4:30 pm. There were 25 for that meal so everyone just had to find a place to sit and mom's  house held them all.

 Joan and Heather did most of the clean up. Below Berlica is asking her mom to show her how to check some pictures.

 After dinner we played games. The kids worked on mom's puzzle. This is the puzzle that Beth had made from mom's Christmas card and this time all the pieces are here.

 Phil and Anna's girls are showing great grandma their Horsemeister shirts. 

If interested in the rest of the pictures from today click HERE.

We were finally able to pick a date for the Horsemeister Horse Show.  Saturday July 18th works the best for most of the children that want to be in this show. Put that date on the calendar if interested in coming to see the different Horsemeister horses and their handlers.  We will have an afternoon show with a picnic after and all are invited.