Brrr

June 13th and it is COLD outside. The windows were left open all night and what a delight to snuggle under our down comforter. The only problem with that was Emma had a miserable night and every time she wanted outside I had to get out of the warmth and stumble around in the cold. The puppies must be making Emma uncomfortable. She was up 4 times during the night asking to go outside. We are not sure on our puppy count down if we are to start counting from the first time she was bred or the last time. If anyone has this information please share it with us as there are 5 days between the first and last cover and the gestation is only 63 days.
Our next big function is senior high girls came this coming Saturday. Karin is going to be out of town and won't be able to help. We must come up with 3 replacements for her. Weird how it takes 3 people to replace one really important bossy (and I mean that in a nice way)one. Karin has been the person in charge of the horse riding for the camps for the last 3 years. What will we do without her?
Our news is Mark didn't have to wear causal pants to church. He went to Penny's and picked out some new black pants. They even match his suit coat and were only $29.00. While he was there he also bought a new long sleeved white shirt. He is now all set for church. His suit pants never did show up but there are a few more boxes and bags to organize yet in the big back room.
Sanna was called in for her grain this morning and she is still very sore on her left front where Dr. Hoerr dug out an abscess. That hoof needs to be soaked in Epsom salts at least 3 times today. She is such a grand old girl, and so fertile, pregnant at 22, and taking on the first cover each time. Her filly this year is beautiful, we really need to get new pictures of her soon. She still needs a name.

Dalia In

Up by 5:00am to a beautiful morning. The barn was swept and horses grained all before 6:00am. Raven was brought out to tease Airiah who is now out and Kim's mares. Kim's BIG mare would not let the bay near the gate which meant Raven had to be put back in his paddock and the bay taken to him. She was not in. Kay's Arabian mare was brought out next, when she had her sonagram on Friday, Dr. Hoerr thought she would be ovulate in 48 hours but she had already ovulated and no longer in. Kay was called to let her know the mare could be picked up. Kay wants to bring her back here for her ultrasound, we will have Eliza and Airiah done at the same time to share the farm call. Mike helped put Raven's splint back on then Mark and I left for Princeville for the day. It was amazing how connected we are there with 2 daughters-in-law from Princeville we felt right at home. The fellowship was just wonderful, reconnecting with many of the brethren from the past. When we were ready to take off for home, Taunya's mom gave us a special gift of her delicious home baked apple pie.
We pulled up after 6:00pm to find Chuck Altic delivering another load of hay. He was paid for 28 bales. Mark moved in a few of the old bales into paddocks then stacked the rest.
Jarad Plattner came over to check Raven's brace, actually Raven had it on all day and he feels there is some improvement. Dalia was in season and even with the brace on he was able to cover her with no problem. What a great day!

Camp Pictures

Above are random pictures of the horses at junior high girls camp. There were around 130 campers plus the counselor and workers. Every function at the Herman Lake in Norris, IL had lines, LONG LINES. We know with the horses we were not able to finish and at least 20 girls that wanted to ride didn't get the opportunity. We were so busy we never got a chance to see how their new blob did but we could sure hear the screams all the way across the 30 acre lake. The lake is extensively managed by Herman Pond Managment and actually grows trophy size bass, trout, perch, stripers and lots of other fish all HUGE. The Herman boys have their fish eating out of ones hands, mouths and when one is caught with a pole, it is a fight for the ages, NO one forgets pulling up one of these monsters. Nate Herman has many pictures and videos on his blog, check them out, just one click away.
By the time the trailer pulled in to the Middle Grove farm, all the horses left there were waiting for Mika, Bunni and Sally at the gate.
It took 2 separate pictures to get the ones all lined up.
I barely had time to shower then meet Mark at Meisters for our anniversary dinner, then Bach Fest. Even though I was tired, the music was heavenly.

Girls Camp

This morning Airiah was covered before getting started on chores. There was much to do before loading for camp. Rachel and Diane helped load Sunny, Sandy, Paris, and Larry and off to Norris we drove. the horses unloaded then with Karins help, off to Middle Grove to pick up Mika,
bunni, and Sally. Mika and Bunni were glad to go but Sally decided that was not for her and took off running. It took about 20 minutes to catch her but we still made it back to Norris in plenty of time to take the horses on the trial run. Sally ended up spooking and Jarad fell off meaning another trial had to be done. Thankfully the second run was perfect,as the campers started arriving and from that point on we never had a break. We finished at 3:45pm, took the first group back to Middle Grove, then back to Norris for the remaining horses. All went smoothly due to the great helpers Karin lined up. Melinda and Sue from Rainbow riders were great help along with Ruth,Sophia, and Carrie. Mark and I are heading to Bach festival for our anniversary and for some reason he thinks I should take a shower first.

Sanna and Cindy In Foal

Somehow Ebby OR it could be Heidi found this brand new baby deer and dragged it up to mom's house. There was no way Ebby could carry THIS around. Joan offered to bury it, poor thing.
I never was able to get back online to finish yesterdays blog. Sarah came in late because they couldn't get the barn lights on. She was told where the breaker was but she accidentally turned off of electricity. This shut off the computer and lost the information. Then this morning every ones electricity went out. Dr. Hoerr was scheduled for sonograms good thing Mike brought over a generator. We are pleased to announce both Sanna and Cindy are in foal. Kay's mare was sonagramed to find out where she is in this season. She is probably within 48 hours of ovulating. Dr. Hoerr sedated and twitched her and she still kicked at Raven. He left a shot for Sunday, the next time she needs to be covered. A trip in to the shop had to be done for the next trip out.
Lily and Wynnie and both of their fillies were loaded at 2:00pm and off we went for Quincy, IL. Wynnie, Kenzie and Kiera were a birthday gift for a very special lady. I stopped the truck and trailer when we were less than ten minutes away, groomed the horses and put big red bows on the three she was getting. When I pulled up to the barn I asked for Jill and told her she had a special delivery. She saw the truck and when the horses were unloaded asked, Are these Raven babies? Pretty cool, by looking at the Horsemeister name she knew they were Raven foals. Jill was a very happy birthday lady, she was really having trouble comprehending this gift, this huge gift!
The weather was awful on the way home. All traffic had to pull to the side of the road the rain was coming down so hard. By the time we were able to start driving a beautiful rainbow stretching from the west to the east came out, God's promise He will never flood the Earth again.
I drove straight to Princeville, IL and picked up Airiah, Eliza, and Dalia from Dr.Calhoun. All of their teeth are now done. It was a good thing we did Airiahs, she still had wolf teeth.
I made it back to the farm by 10:00pm. Airiah was unloaded, then put in the pasture behind Ravens, she immediately backs into him and he starts going over the fence. Whoops, she is still in season and had to be moved. She was put in with the pregnant mares until tomorrow. The other two were put in the pasture, hope they all behave tonight, I'm exhausted!
Hopefully the pictures from today can be uploaded tomorrow.

It's Here

Eliza, Airiah, and Dalia were taken to Princeville, IL to the equine dentist. They are staying at Dr. Calhoun’s farm overnight as their appointment is tomorrow. While they were being dropped off the apartment water softener was being installed. They also fixed the hot water for the shower and gave us a bit more flow out of the shower head. This may work living here after all
An appointment was made with Hoerr Vet clinic also for tomorrow. We are first on the job list meaning Dr. Hoerr should show up here around 9:30am. We need to have Kay’s Arabian mare sonagramed as she is now in season. Sanna and Cindy will also be ultrasounded and hopefully in foal. This way we can share the farm call with Kay.
Sarah leaves for Jamaica tonight and showed up to pack, weigh her luggage, do some laundry, and get her passport. She plugged in her phone then must have left it. It rang around 11:00pm then started beeping for a message. We could not figure out where the beeping was coming from not knowing her phone was plugged into a corner outlet, then some clothes dropped on top.
The guys from Plattner Orthopedic showed up around 5:00pm with Raven’s new brace. Raven stood very still while they were putting it on but then was afraid to walk. We walked him over to a mare in season so he would forget about it and forget about it he did. The brace was left on for a couple of hours, then removed for the night. Tomorrow morning Mike will help get it back on. Wonder what Dr. Hoerr will think of this? The pictures below show the story.





As I was trying to upload pictures late tonight, Emma lets out a soft bark but then is quiet, the next thing that happens gives me the creeps, actually scared me, a touch on my shoulder, I turn around and there is Sarah Reinhard,

Surprise

There was a big surprise on our walk today, AMY drove all the way from Tremont, IL to join us. Now if only Beth and Karin had come, just seems we can't get everyone there on the same day. Rebekah took the picture for us. Below Joan was trying to save some baby redwing blackbirds from Ebby but the camera was pulled out a bit too late, Joan was asked if she would bend down and pretend she was saving them just for the camera, yeah right!
After the walk, Amy helped with a few of the chores that should be done before breakfast around here. The mares were teased, the outside Arabian is now coming in but the only mare ready for cover was Airiah. I was very glad Amy was there to help, Amy needed to remind Airiah to stand still for the job. Poor Poppy, Amy's dog, she was sure Raven was doing something wrong, came up behind to let him know, Raven jumps off Airiah and kicked her. Poppy ran under Amy's car until that mean old stallion was put away.
We had a very nice breakfast, Amy brought sweet ripe cantaloupe and Bing cherries to go with our kiwi, sausage, eggs, toast and coffee. It was all just plain delicious.
Emma had to show off her puppy belly, 20 days and counting.

The water softener is now being installed and the instant hot water heater is in the process of adjusting, just maybe we will get to take a hot shower soon. Amy had to drop Poppy off at the vet, Raven caught her in the mouth and fractured her back tooth and it must be extracted.

SLOW Internet

It took all day but finally was able to connect onto the internet. We had a good turnout for the walk today, 6 of mom's daughters were in attendance. Now if we could just get Karin and Amy to drive here by 7:25 life would almost be complete. No one wanted to stop talking so continued here in the barn over breakfast. Now just for the record, Tim didn't walk, he came over to help Mike get Airiah covered then stayed to eat. As Airiah is a maiden mare, the first time with live cover it is better if there is at least 2 handlers. Tim said it didn't go as smooth as usual, the Arabian mare in the breeding paddock kept screaming at them the entire time. He was finally ready to come in to eat just about the time all the food was done.

Besides the brilliant colors the meal was delicious.
The eggs are free range brown eggs making them a brilliant orange, bright yellow pineapple, which was not yet on this plate, dark blue blueberries, green kiwi, orange melon, multigrain toast with black berry jam, sausage, fresh squeezed orange juice and of course a fresh pot of hot coffee.
Mom and I were the only one that stayed for a second cup of coffee, the rest of these strange people didn't even want ONE cup of coffee and took off for work shortly after breakfast.
Today the staining of the doors were finished. It took about 35 minutes each side of 5 doors. I stopped for a bit to watch some of the vaulting practice then invited them in for ice cream. It was SO hot ice cream hit the spot. The girls liked it mixed with peanut butter and milk.
They all took off for the lake when done, could hardly wait to jump in the refreshing cool water. I finished the doors by 5:00pm. We left for church a bit late but still made it on time.
This internet is really bad. The lady that we rented the vacation home emailed pictures of the cottage and none of them will load. Just typing this update I've been kicked off 3 times.

cats vs snakes

Eva Jean was late to work this morning, about 2 minutes late, the picture was snapped as she was driving into the shop FAST. We may dock her pay, she works for food so maybe 2 minutes late means she can’t order coffee. We had a lot of mail, too much to finish in the 3 hours allotted. Eva Jean took a lot of the work home, she will be working for hours to finish the studies in time to deliver them to Jerry and Maria Hoerr.
When we brought the walkers in to show how much organizing we were getting done on the back room, Rachel asks if that is a fake snake.Nope, we don’t have any fake snakes. This one was a lot smaller than the snake a couple of days ago. The snakes must be doing a good job with the mice, we haven’t seen any sign of mouse infestation. Rachel thinks we should keep cats instead but snakes don't need a litter box, don't leave dead rodent bodies around, are much cleaner and don’t have kittens, although cats are MUCH nicer to look at.
The Arabian mare is now here but not in season. Eliza is out but Airiah is in. Hopefully Mike can help get her covered tomorrow. She is a maiden mare at 3 years old and may not stand as well as a more experienced mare. There are now 4 outside mares here and none of them in season. They are being teased everyday, we don’t want to take a chance on missing them.
The Middle Grove hay was being cut yesterday and today. With this heat it should be dry enough to bale tomorrow. We have hired Steven to move round bales from there to here. These will be the grass hay but it is fine stemmed brome grass mixed with clover and the horses do well with it.

Plattner Orthopedics

Barb Plattner sent these pictures of Raven's knee brace in the making at the Plattner Orthopedics lab. I thought they were amazing and so appreciate her taking the time to do this. THANKS BARB.
Below is Jarad Plattner applying the casting material over the plastic.

Jarad Plattner and Patrick West working together in the lab.

Patrick West bending the stainless steel brace.

Tony Plattner marking the brace.

This is an amazing project and we are so hopeful it will help Raven. He deserves the best and the Plattner Orthopedic company IS THE BEST!

Twins

Darcy did not move all night last night. She was so exhausted that Mark actually helped her up this morning but that didn’t stop her today. She was anxious to go on the walk and jumped in both lakes this morning.
The snow cone machine and cotton candy machine along with all supplies to run them were dropped off at the Skyline Home, then a quick trip to Walmart to return the bun toner shoes. That was a bit embarrassing, they asked why they were being returned and had to be told I just didn’t know what they were.
A visit to Meister Brothers was next on the list to try to find out why studies from the Topeka Kansas jail were returned. The best part about the day was the trip to the library. I was able to check out 7 books, some by Terri Blackstock and the rest by Karen Kingsbury.
Rhoda and Monica showed up in the afternoon to work Eliza and Cindy. Eliza is such a big mare we think she and Monica are a great fit. Perhaps at the next horsefair, Rebekah will ride Ylse and Monica can take Eliza.
Just after the girls left for the trail ride, Steven took off taking Mika, Bunni and Sally back to Middle Grove. He needed to pick up Lily and her filly for their trip on Friday. Rhoda had asked to borrow the trailer to go to Jubilee but it was well over 90 making it easy to change their minds and take the horses swimming here.
Mom and I went to VBS together, the phone started vibrating but was ignored until it was over. The first phone call was from Beth the owner of Grace the Andalusian mare Raven covered a month ago. She had bad news, Grace is carrying TWINS and her vet was unsure of what to do. This is a real problem for mares, they are not designed to carry twins, usually one or both die and if the foals survive there is a good chance the mom will die.
A couple of emails came with pictures I really wanted to see but was only able to download the one. The rest must wait until tomorrow at the shop where we have cable. The picture below was taken at Plattner Orthopedics. They are working on the brace for Raven's knee.
I'm sure the rest of the pictures are just as interesting.
Airiah's owner also sent pictures of her before she came to us, I just have to be patient and wait for tomorrow for those also.

First of the Youth Groups

Above is Aubrey, she came prepared for rain after eating in the rain yesterday. Today was the first of the youth groups and camps of the summer. Karin organized this one, there were 8 horses to go out in each group and she had 4 groups. Karin was on the horses taking them out for hours while we enjoyed visiting and eating her food. We were even too lazy to get up and take pictures, just took this one from sitting at the picnic table as the group went by.
Joan invited people over for a birthday party for her 2 grand daughters Ava and Aubrey and her daughter Bethany's 16th birthday. Emma found a special friend, Aubrey was hand feeding her, sticking her little hand all the way inside her mouth. Of course Emma thought she was just the most wonderful little girl.
Once it started getting dark, Michelle and Dave Kellenburger loaded up their kids and started to leave, they had to be waved down, when we realized they were leaving their oldest daughter, the horse crazy one behind.
The weather turned out wonderful for Karin's group and a good time was had by all.

Darcy is Happy

Once we arrived home from church we saw a marked difference in Darcy's attitude from the past week. Now some people think dogs don't get depressed, well Darcy has been one very depressed Mastiff. Today she greeted us at the door all happy, followed me to the playground, greeted the 20 plus kids there, went swimming in the big lake, then tried to catch fish, trotted over to Diane's swimming pond and had a great time splashing around, tried to jump up onto the diving board and fell off backward. Even then she wasn't done. While I was at the cabin helping kids on horses, she went back to the pond and started playing with the toys. Unfortunately one of the toys she took was one of the guests boogie board. She didn't want to give it back and no one there was willing to try to take it from her. Trying to get her to leave the lake was not easy, her collar came off and down she wanted to run again. The collar had to be tightened enough that I was afraid she wouldn't be able to breath. She is now at my side asking to go back out swimming.
Raven got to check all the mares and only Eliza is in, she was not covered yesterday as even Raven gets a day off here and there. Today it was back to work for him. The 3 outside mares will need a new bale tomorrow, plus we will need to put a bale in the breeding shed for the Arabian mare coming. After the tremendous amount of rain this morning it is nice to see the sun.
The morning sermon was on spending too much time in the kitchen. I couldn't agree more, we are to be more like Mary than Martha. Although I always feel Martha got a bad rap, she is doing all the work and only wanted a bit of help.
Church is such a blessed sanctuary, how thankful I am that God gave us this day of rest, He gave us our church where we can hear the truth, sing together songs of worship and have wonderful fellowship. How COULD anyone willingly give this up?

Raven's Knee

We awoke to the rumbling of thunder and the roar of rain, the first thought that arrives in my mind was oh no not again. We have not been able to cut the hay and would love to finish cleaning the paddocks. Yesterday afternoon Mark and I put up shelves in the back room and started making progress on organizing things. I was thrilled when Sarah and the grandkids, all three of them, came over yesterday along with their parents and it was great to be able to stop working and so good to see them all. While we were visiting a van pulled up, I thought it must be Plattner Orthopedics but instead it was a lady wanting to bring her black Arabian mare in for breeding Monday. She wanted to see what babies we had on the place also. We MUST put this mare in the breeding shed, there is NO WHERE else to put her, all paddocks are full now. Perhaps we can divide it again and put her in the front, that part is cleaned out. By the time she was ready to leave it was past time to make the salad for the big graduation party over at the playground. Rachel went through 20 pizza's then ordered 3 more from Caseys. She had a huge crowd, the picture below is just a few of the guests before the rain started.
There was no cash in my purse meaning checks must be written for the graduation cards...except there were no more checks in the checkbook. After looking for the box of extra checks and not finding them, I gave up and decided to just stop at the money center and give the cards out today in church. I also owe Karin $40.00 for the snow cone syrup.
Plattner Orthopedics arrived during the party, this time not just Tony Plattner came but the other boss, Jarad Plattner came and the 2 of them worked on fitting Raven so they could make the next part of the brace.


Tony is marking where to remove some of the brace below. I thought it was amazing how this man who usually works on humans knew exactly what to do for Raven. Raven was pretty funny when he tried to walk on it. The final product will be jointed.
Raven was given the day off yesterday. Eliza was still in but didn't need to be covered. Hopefully tomorrow she will be out. Karin and Mike worked on the the trails and reported they are cleared and ready, even the 'death trail.'
We currently have 8 horses of the starting line-up in the cabin field learning to get along for the youth group coming today. Sure hope the weather clears for Karin's sake. Horses for this group are: Mika, Bunni, Sally, Paris, Cindy, Sandy, Sunny and Larry.
Mark and I are going to head in to Peoria early and stop at the shop. Too bad the shop doesn't have a shower, I'm going to try to wash my hair in the kitchen sink. We still don't have hot water for the shower and very little water pressure.

First Saturday

What is normal? This is the first regular Saturday living at the farm and we are not quite sure how this is suppose to work. We were up at 5:00am, fed Raven, checked on the mares, cleaned the barn aisle, Mark finished the weed whacking then started the mowing, stopped for breakfast starring free range chicken eggs Rhonda gave us then cleaned up the inside while Mark finished mowing. At 9:00am we started to realize at Pleasant Home there was ALWAYS more inside work and ALWAYS more outside work. I guess if we look hard enough we could find more to do. Today Tony Plattner of Plattner orthopedics is coming to try on Raven's new brace. In the afternoon Rachel and Joan are hosting us all for a graduation party for Logan and Caleb, Steven, Sarah and a birthday party for Bethany and Tim.
Mark would like to start organizing the big back room but next week is soon enough for that in my opinion.

Rat Catcher

Both dogs went on our walk this morning. This picture is to prove to Rhoda that we do give Darcy some exercise.
After work it was off to VERLO’s to pick out a futon for the office room. Diane agreed to meet me there at 4:00pm as I have no taste. Actually Diane picked the same mattress, the same frame and the same covering as I did, so perhaps my taste isn’t as bad as it use to be.
Steven and Karin were at the farm when we arrived, Steven had Eliza out, teaching her to lunge while Karin worked a bit with Airiah teaching her to back up with the bit in her mouth. Eliza is still in season and was covered before putting her away. The camera was taken out to snap a few pictures of Airiah, there are so few available for the website.
Mark took out the week wacker, then called for me to come see the rat catcher. At first I wasn’t sure what he was talking about, then happened to look down.
The snake was behind the door, then climbed up onto the wood to check out the bucket in hopes there would be a mouse inside. Mike was called and asked if he would grab the lead rope on the shelf, he went for the rope until he realized it was a snake, then jumped.
The funniest story today was the shoes that were purchased. I haven’t been in a store to buy shoes for a long time we usually just order them online. We don't have any way to watch television so we are not up on ads. My good tennis shoes were lost in the move and there were only my very bad barn shoes left. So into Walmart I go to try on tennis shoes a bit embarrassed at how bad my old shoes looked. There were some very weird looking soles on the shoe I found in my size but I thought this must be the new way to get good sole support. They were purchased and put on as soon as I reached the car. When I met Diane at VERLO’S I showed her how weird they were and how hard they were to walk in. Billy and Jenny came over tonight to see the apartment and explained these tennis shoes are to help tone up buttocks. So forget good support on tendons, I’m going for the toned up rear.

Cleaning

I thought this tiny little humble abode should be an easy clean. The morning was spent hauling anything extra out of it and into the back room of the barn. We just do not have room for some of the items brought over. By the time things were in some sort of order the morning was gone and work waited at Meisters. The best part about working there is WiFi. Once the UPS work was finished it was time to work on uploading pictures on the website, checking email, online banking and even facebook was visited.
Below is a picture of Airiah's sire Pilgrim 336.

He was such a wonderful FHANA approved Friesian stallion. I'm sure his owners were very sad at his passing.
Then a few of the swimming pictures needed to be posted. One can barely see that Rhoda is on Cindy, Kim on Jenis and Amanda on Ylse. They are in DEEP water.

Rhoda switched with Kim in the picture below. Kim wanted her turn on Cindy.

Today would be a great day for a swim, the weather is suppose to hit 92 degrees. The air was turned on before leaving the farm today.
Mike moved a round bale in at the cabin field. Tomorrow we will take the Friesians out of that field and put in the starting line-up for the groups coming Saturday and Sunday. The Friesians will go back into the new pastures. Mike worked on the fencing and believes it is now secure.

Checks in Checks out

Where should I start, perhaps early when the sun was just starting to color the clouds in the East with purples and pinks. The morning seemed glorious and we were thankful to start the day from our new little abode. Raven had been left in the field all night and he was more than ready to come in for his breakfast. He was taken over to the mares and still the only one in season is Eliza. By 7:15am the dark clouds started to roll in, a light drizzle started and by walking time thunder was rolling in the background with the rain coming down harder. This meant no walking but the car was driven over to mom’s to ask if I could take a shower and use her washing machine. Not only was she glad to lend both she cooked a great breakfast. While I was enjoying that, Greg Reed showed up to work on the apartment. He is an amazing worker, recessing the medicine chest along with a bunch of other work. The apartment now has a working dish washer, clothes washer, and dryer. Steve LaFont of Home Comfort showed up a bit after 10:00am to give us an estimate on insulating the stall area. We will use the sale of Lily’s filly to pay for that. This job is one we feel is necessary ever since we lost Jenis’ filly last year to heat exhaustion. While he was busy figuring out how to do all that was needed, I ran to the bank and deposited the first of the month checks and those should have been done yesterday. Almost the account was overdrawn. Mark paid the property taxes and they CLEARED in ONE day. The website was worked on but didn’t have time to publish any of the pictures at the shop, Mark needed help with online ordering the credit card supplies. After lunch we headed to Pleasant Hill School to pick up the snow cone machine they borrowed for their fun day. Karin needs the machine for the youth group coming on Sunday and Rachel is having a graduation picnic at the playground on Saturday so we will use both the cotton candy machine and the snow cone machine for those. The Skyline home wants to borrow both for next Thursday. Karin picked up more snow cone syrup in Galesburg today, I think we have enough cotton candy sugar for all three functions. I made it back to the farm before the cable guy showed. He is putting in a drop wire and work order for the farm house. Perhaps we will have cable internet in a couple of weeks. Steven Marchal was busy working in the barn, he helped get Eliza covered and also helped put in a new bale for Raven. Wait until Karin sees what he accomplished. She has vaulting tomorrow, we can’t wait for her reaction. Even Mark was impressed by the work done today. The rain came down most of the day, the door to the office was left open for Greg Reed and now we have flies, lots of flies.

Commuter Van

Ruth picked us up for church tonight, stopping first to pick up Diane and mom. Rebekah also came along in the van. What a great way to get to church, we didn't even fight over who got to sit next to the window until on the way home. We had one extra on the way home. Kristin came with us to pick up Joan and Tim's van for tomorrow. The Reinhard's arrive in Chicago tomorrow evening and Rodney and Kristin are taking the van to pick them up.
We were having such a great time visiting Ruth drove us through McDonalds for hot fudge sundaes. We were arguing about who gets to pay this trip and handing Ruth credit cards when Diane throws Ruth a twenty and exclaims "Charging $7.00 at McDonalds is a new low!" Ruth had to show Diane how the restaurant actually prefers the cards, much less hassle than cash.
We had a guest waiting for us when we arrived back at the office. Amy Koch drove all the way out to Hanna City for a visit bringing gifts. She really came to check on Emma and Darcy.
Tomorrow we should be getting internet, at least to the farm house. The sink is suppose to be hooked up AND the insulation people are coming from Home Comfort to give us an estimate on insulating the stall area and the garage. Sarah sold an eventing vest on ebay that must be shipped tomorrow morning right after the walk AND the bank MUST be visited, the first of the month bills were paid but didn't get the checks deposited.

God Knows

We have no way of knowing what the day will bring but we can take comfort God knows and not only knows what will happen, He KNEW all along.
Early this morning I stepped on a piece of wood with 2 nails lying on the kitchen/living room floor. I couldn't figure out what Mark had been trying to make with it thinking this must be a left over part from last night when he fixed the stall door Evan broke. A bit later Mark sees the part and tells me that had rat poison on it, 2 huge chunks, it had been in the closet behind the air conditioner. Not knowing which dog ate the poison, both were loaded into the car and off we went to the vet clinic. As we got near Hanna City I happened to look at the gas gauge and it is below E. Pulled into Fast Stop whipped out my purse, tried to grab my wallet and there is NO wallet in the purse. Now the car is below E, no wallet, no cash, sick dogs but... turns out Mike is in the next aisle filling up his truck, I now owe him $25.00. This is small town living, don't think it would happen in Peoria. They were waiting for us at the vet clinic, both dogs were weighed, Darcy is 184 pounds and Emma 144 pounds, the dogs were taken back to the runs and I was free to go. Once back at the farm, Mom is busy staining our doors and helped hook the truck and trailer up. Dr. Hoerr's filly was loaded to take back to Morton, IL when I see Paris in with Raven. We didn't want her bred but today will be written down so just in case she comes up pregnant at least we will know the day. After the filly was dropped it was time to head to Bridlewood to pick up Rhoda's mare DaMita and all the tack left there. It really was kind of sad to realize we are now completely moved out and won't be back. On the way home, Rhoda called to report we almost lost Emma. She had a bad reaction to the vitamin K shot, went into shock and started convulsing, went limp then lost control of bodily functions and wet. They were able to save her life by giving her steroids.
Steven offered to take Izadora, DaMita, and Dalia out to Middle Grove and bring back Mika and the way the day was going, he was taken up on his offer. I headed down to Meisters to pay the first of the month bills and make deposits. The lap top was taken down so the website could be updated but ran out of time before that was able to happen, perhaps tomorrow that can be done. When it came time to pick up the dogs, there is Darcy on a delux bed in the receptionists area. They said she was quite a conversation piece today. I could hear Emma whining in the back. They are both on vitamin K pills, 5 a day for Darcy and 4 a day for Emma. Rhoda will have Emma sonagramed next week to see if the puppies are ok.
We decided against the expensive couch, Mark is looking at the more reasonable futon for the office. Thank goodness we have church tonight!