Update Editing

This afternoon I drove to Middle Grove to get some updated pictures. The evening was spent editing and placing the pictures on the website. Below are a few starting with Ayanna and ending with Zalena.

Ayanna above Bonnie below

Clair above Cookie and Missy below

Cor Arianna above and Ella below

Eliza above and Hadassah below

Helen above and Holly below

Indy above and Jewel below

Killian above and Lily with Mika below

Lola above, Lilypony below

Mytross above and Olivia (Jewel's filly) below

Paris with Mika and Lily above, Prissy below:

Ribbon above and Sally below:

Ylse above and Zalena with Ylse below. Zalena is wearing the halter.

A few pictures of the herd spread out were also taken:

After dinner Steven arrived to work Valiant and Evan in the outdoor lighted arena and of course instead of working on the website I had to watch them. Those boys are poetry in motion!

Before the Walk

I started for the meeting place early this and snapped these pictures with my phone camera. After hearing how good the pictures are off one of these high end phones, I can't say I'm impressed with the quality. Guess I'll go back to carrying a camera. The first was from the back of the yard looking toward the house. The three foals were all lined up eating but they are so far away they just look like 3 black bumps.

Yesterday the other pasture was opened up for the boys and this was the next shot taken from the meeting place (dumpster) looking North West.

The sun was out but not up far enough to light up the fields. Emma was the first to come running up with a prize this morning.

I didn't realize how easy it is to get a picture of her until we tried to get a picture of Ebby with her prize. That dog runs in circles so proud of what she is carrying. She wouldn't stop for a picture she was sure we would take it away from her once stationary.

Ciera is not leaving today, the shippers got held up and will be here either Saturday or Sunday. I may as well head in to work, there is plenty of that waiting.

Baby Backpack

I along with Rhoda, Rachel, David Sr, David Jr, Jessica, Amy, Mike, Diane and Caleb are leaving for Haiti a week from Saturday. Diane got a list from Joan of what she needs from the states, that is what she needs that she cannot get in Haiti. There are 2 items still need to be found and packed. A backpack to carry a baby in and a meat scale that will weigh up to 25 pounds of meat. Anyone out there have either of these and want to donate please contact any of us going. We will be glad to pick it up. Last night Steven worked both boys in the outdoor arena under the lights. They both did great. We have had great working weather all except how quickly the sun disappears and the day turns dark. So thankful for the arena lights Meister Electric installed last year. Ciera is suppose to leave today but I haven't heard yet from the shippers. They may have been delayed. She needs a good bath but will have to settle for a good grooming.

Fabulous Foals

Just as soon as the day started to lighten Mark was ready to work. He hooked up the cart to the lawn mower and started cleaning up pastures and paddocks getting the burn pile going strong. It was a perfect morning for a fire, no wind at all. The moon was hanging low in the western sky shining like a big orange lantern the neighbors might have hung in a tree. The picture below was taken this morning about 6:45am and yes it really is the moon peeking through the trees.

After the walk, it was time to do something with the weanlings. The buyers for Eliza's filly and Sandy's colt both asked for updated pictures. Oksana T was haltered first. I was so proud of her, she led quietly over to the barn, stood well for grooming, even the cleaning of her curly long feather, walked into the stall and was perfectly behaved. There was no calling, no pawing, no panic at all. She was taken outside and tied for a few pictures before taking some action shots. What a sweet face!

She had some fun galloping around the paddock.

She was having fun coming and going.

She was put back and Onyx, Sandy's colt was pulled out. He was better at standing quietly while putting the halter on but Oksana was better at leading. He too was good for grooming and stood quietly tied.

Below is my favorite picture taken today of either foal. It is Onyx and he looks fabulous!

The owners were emailed pictures then a bunch of pictures were placed on facebook. They are just too good not to share. For dinner tonight we will have turkey salad and then the dogs get the rest of the turkey.

Comedian

It was 18 degrees outside when we arose from our warm comfortable bed and by the time we left for work it had dropped to 16 degrees. We needed layers to survive the walk today and the wind wasn't even blowing. I'm sure later in the year we will be glad for 18 degrees and no wind but today it felt freezing. Eva Jean and I had a big load of studies to process, she had to take most of them home to finish as we ran out of time. Dan met us at Denny's for lunch and we decided to rent the Old School Center for New Years Eve and New Years Day for anyone wanting to come celebrate the demise of 2012 and the birth of 2013. The party will start after church on the 31st (probably around 9:00pm) quit around 1:00am and start back up the next day with movies and football in the theater room, football for those brave enough to play outside out on the football field, volley ball and basketball in the 2 gymnasiums. There was no choir tonight so Diane invited us to come over and watch the tape she had of the Christian comedian Chonda (sp). This lady gave a talk at the civic center and a bunch of ladies went including Diane, she bought the tape to share with the rest of us out at this compound. Mom, Spark, Rhonda, Rachel, Ruth, Anni, Ryan, Mike, Diane, Mark and I really enjoyed this. Diane made a delicious nacho dip, pizza, and popcorn, while others supplied brownies and scotcheroos.

Below is Rhonda watching and listening while she works on doll blankets.

The video was hilarious, this lady has us laughing most of the evening although you would never know to look at the picture below:

That must have been snapped during one of the more serious topics.

Jewel's Filly Sold

The deposit was called in today for Jewel's filly now named Olivia which works out well since Eliza's filly's owner named her Oksana T. She has now been marked sold. The man that wanted to come look at her on Dec 18th missed out, but we won't hold a horse without a deposit. I was trying to find his phone number to tell him not to come but didn't save it, hopefully he calls before the 18th. Ciera needed to be hauled to the vet office today to have her stitches removed and her health certificate for travel picked up. She is leaving for Colorado on Thursday Lord willing. I really want to get new pictures of the 3 foals here being weaned, they are so cute but need help moving them from their paddock into the outdoor arena. That may have to wait until next week when Rhoda gets home from Florida. Time was spent today on building a new webpage for the website. It is posted on the front of the index page (the first page that pops up) I'm not saying what is new on that page but if you find it and want to book mention you found it by reading the blog and I will take 5% off of the first 10 people that book.

Confusing Conversation

Yesterday before church we were standing around the foyer visiting when one of the older ladies, Mardell, asked, "You have a new baby coming?" I replied, "not until March, the first ones are due in March." When she asked, "what are you hoping for?" the answer came back immediately, "they better be all black, well either that or spotted." Seeing her shocked face I thought she must not know what spotted means. I was telling her spotted would be either black and white or brown and white. By this time Mardell is really looking confused and finally she asks, "are you talking about an animal?" Poor Mardell, she was asking about a human grand baby, she had heard Ben and Taunya were expecting. I've got to stop assuming baby means foal.

Welcome Company

Bill Schick was our visiting minister today in church coming all the way from Mexico. We were blessed to have him speak at both the morning and the afternoon service. The phone was left at home today and when we arrived home there were messages, very welcome messages. One was from Amy Koch asking if she could bring some dinner over. When she arrived she brought enough to vegetable beef soup to feed at least 20 people along with all the wonderful fixins to make a nice meal. Diane was called to see if the Honeggers would join us for dinner but her daughter-in-law Rachel brought dinner over to them and she had already invited mom. We decided to combine the 2 dinners and all eat at Diane's. Below is Amy's special beef soup combined with Rachel's special recipe of venison loaf, salad and Amy's rolls. Since I didn't have the camera with me the phone was pulled out and a few pictures snapped.

Rachel also made squash soupl. Rachel's venison loaf was so delicious we all want the recipe, now we just need to get the guys to go shoot us a deer. Below is Rachel with her very colorful meal including the squash soup.

Just in case one cannot see how pretty this meal is a close up was taken of the food.

For dessert Amy brought over cherry pie a la Mode along with mom's pumpkin pie, whip cream and pecan pie. We enjoyed the dinner as much as the visiting after. Once home I had to figure out how to get the pictures off the phone and onto the computer. It only took 10-15 minutes to figure it out. Either I'm getting smarter on this electronic stuff or they are dumbing phone cameras down. The weather was still nice and I needed a bale moved into the middle paddock so Mark spent about an hour scraping the paddock first. If the weather holds we may get a few more cleaned out before winter hits. The other email that came today almost brought tears to my eyes. I've posted it below: Hi Judy, I wanted to send you a picture of Jenis, a Raven daughter born March 28th 2010. I bought her from Beth Ulrici and I can't tell you what a wonderful filly she is. She is so calm like a horse I have never seen. She drives and I'm looking forward to riding her in a few more months. I have been on her back and she could care less. I was sadden when I heard of Raven's passing. What wonderful qualities he passed on to his babies. I was born in Rockford Ill. and the third oldest from eleven children, how funny is that as I read you are too. My grandson loves to visit and spend time with the horses. Enjoy the pictures,Nancy Yankus

The Number is 30

This morning was Rudy Hoerr's funeral at church. The burial was Swan Lake Cemetery, not ours meaning we singers had to get in the procession line. The air force was there to fold the flag then play the most beautiful rendering of TAPS I've ever heard. This funeral took a while but the sun was shining and it is Saturday, no hurry to get back to work. Once home and changed Missy and Cookie were taken out to Middle Grove. Mike took them across the fields to find the other horses while I turned the truck and trailer around. It was a neat sight to see the herd coming like a wave over the rolling hills to meet the 2 new mares. The number of horses out there is now 30. Once home, Steven was working Evan and I was going to run get the camera when Mark came out needing some help on the fence line. That is so impressive, he is probably about 30 posts from being done with the entire 30 acres. We loaded wood into the wagon, started back and ran out of gas so had to walk all the way back. It was really cold with a stiff breeze and the temperature just above the freezing mark. The foals were grained then I headed in to warm up and start decorating the farm house for Christmas. Kind of fun to have a house to decorate. Below are the Christmas lights around the family room window, on the mantle, an end table centerpiece in the livingroom and the stairwell.

I like lights! Ben, Taunya, their children and Rhoda flew to Naples, Florida early this morning. Sarah is coming home from Florida while Ruth, Fedi and their children and Karin are driving back from Gulf Shores, Alabama. They should be pulling up here around 6:00am tomorrow morning. We are praying for traveling mercies for all the travelers.

Cozy

The day was started with a picture of the sun breaking through the early morning clouds to light up the trees to the north almost as if they were on fire and will end with a picture of our fire softly glowing in the hearth, or in our case the wood burning stove.

Feeling the cozy warmth radiating out it is hard to leave the chair to prepare for bed. Sitting here staring at the fire and remembering Thankgivings past and present. From a young child growing up on Baer, the preparing for company, the wonderful fragrances floating through the air of mom's fantastic cooking, the anticipation of the big meal, the wonderful times we had with family and friends. Then the mind fast forwards through the years until this year. I know I was blessed with wonderful parents, always a roof over our heads, always clothes to wear and always enough food to feed the army (literally). The generous hospitality shown by our parents is a legacy I pray we can continue. What an amazing example they gave us of how we are to live our lives. Sometimes all that is so easy to take for granted. Mark spent the day working here clearing the fence line and digging holes. I on the other hand did next to nothing once all our company left. The kindle was pulled out and books were read and a few left overs heated up when hunger tickled the brain.

The Real Announcement Picture

The morning is cold and windy, fall is making a quick exit to allow for winter to arrive here at the farm. The sun was trying hard to clear the clouds and just for a moment broke through lighting up the North like a fire. This picture was snapped just a few minutes ago and now the view is gone.

Thanksgiving Dinner

Church today was a wonderful reminder of what to be thankful for and who to thank. Tim Funk had the service. After church the Sceggel family, all of us but 3 out of the entire United States came here. Missing were Sarah, Tim and Allie. We had a true feast of food and fellowship. Below are a few pictures of the evening after dinner, the hosts were too busy to pull the camera out during but the kids were just too cute. Below is the second to the newest Sceggel Taegan Rae.

She is second to the newest because the newest now has not yet been born. Ben and Taunya announced they are expecting in June. We are thrilled for them, Addyson and Jack will have a new sibling. Below is Addyson's reaction to the news she might have to share her princess stuff. (not really)

The dogs were confined to the bedroom for the evening.

But they got a great dinner after most of the guests left. Ben, Taunya, Addyson and Jack are spending the night at the apartment, while Jon & Kim are staying here at the farm house with us. Breakfast tomorrow will be served at 8:30am. Anyone that wants to make the drive out to Hanna City tomorrow morning stop in, we have lots of goodies to serve (and they are not all leftovers either).

So Thankful

Thanksgiving morning I am so thankful that God created me to be a morning person. Diane checked on mom last night around 11:30pm, mom was up and reading. She is feeling much better (of course she is on drugs) and by 6:45am she is ready to get up and make herself some breakfast. All items (getting the turkey prepared and in the oven, peeling 10 pounds of potatoes, 2 loads of laundry, clean up here from yesterday, preparing the sweet potato casserole, finishing slicing mom's turkey from yesterday and washing her pans, breakfast dishes, cleaning 2 stalls, and moving mares) are done on my to do list so some upstairs farm house pictures were taken. Below is the stairwell, the chip is still visible but I don't have time to sand and stain that.

Looking down the hall into the upstairs bathroom through the small pocket door.

A few views of the bathroom:

Bedroom number 1, notice how well the 4 poster bed goes with the dresser.

And finally bedroom number 2, we still need a headboard for this bed, notice the white wall where we took some of this bedroom to be able to have a shower.

Just a few more things to finish up and we are ready to leave for church. So much to be thankful for on this Thanksgiving Day.

Mom's Accident

The day sure didn't go as planned. Most everything was done by 2:00pm, just a bit more cleaning needed on the apartment when mom came over wanting to try out either Missy or Cookie. Not knowing the mares well, Missy was chosen, according to Rhoda she is the one most likely to behave. Well behave she didn't. Mom asked for a trot and Missy bucked so high she hurled mom into the air, over her head and onto the sand. She was thrown a good 5 feet into the air and when one is 80 years old to be slammed into the ground even if it is sand can do some major damage. Mom had her wind knocked out and couldn't speak, I'm panicking the dogs were circling trying to figure out why she was laying on the ground. Missy was too close to her head for comfort so was pulled to the end of the arena and tied. By the time I ran back mom was up on her hands and knees vomiting while still trying to catch her breath. At that point mom was told to lay still, the horse ran back and thrown in the paddock and the car driven into the arena. She was claiming to be ok but still not able to catch her breath. There were guests coming at 2:30pm to see the Friesians, they were called to ask them not to come and off we went to St. Francis arriving shortly after 3:00pm. The very first thing they do to mom is tell her to lay flat and put a neck brace on her. She kept telling them "I can't breath laying flat, do you have to follow the rules when they don't make sense?" Finally they listened and raised the cart enough for her to catch her breath. While waiting for a trauma room to open they ran an EKG on her which was fine. Wearing the hospital gown laying on a cart with a neck brace on, her gray hair a mess from the fall, her sandy jeans on and filthy tennis shoes sticking out under the gown, she is being wheeled into the trauma room when the nurse takes one look at her and says, "wrong room, we are waiting for the horse back accident." I'm sure she was expecting someone years younger but I said, "this really is the horseback accident, she just doesn't look her age." Just too bad the camera was left at home! An IV was put in and blood drawn then came the emergency room doctor, mom is complaining about the neck brace, he asks her to sit up and she thinks he has agreed to get rid of the neck brace (she didn't have her hearing aids in) and rips off the neck brace throwing it to the side. The doctor's eyes open wide then stops checking her heart and starts asking her to move her head. Mom kept telling him "my head is fine, my neck is FINE, it's just my ribs that hurt, that and I can't breath." A chest x-ray was ordered and thankfully that showed no broken bones. Next came the belly ultrasound which showed no internal bleeding. Mom was all ready to go home at that point except she was still having trouble breathing when the emergency room doctor insisted on calling in the trauma team. That meant another few hours of waiting and when they came in they ordered a pelvic x-ray. They told her if that was clear she could go home. That actually didn't take too long but waiting for the doctor to read it must have taken hours. We arrived home after 8:00pm and mom went straight to bed. Thank goodness she had already cooked a 20 pound turkey, cleaned my kitchen, baked 4 pies and made enough stuffing for tomorrow.

Beds We have Beds

At Berean this morning we were not able to pick up the mail which gave us time to mail out the huge list of Bibles that had accumulated the last 2 weeks. Between Eva Jean and I we took 2 trips to the post office so the car wasn't overloaded. After lunch a trip first to Kroger to pick up a turkey then to TSC to purchase grain for the weanlings then it was time to work here. After the turkey was put in the apartment fridge and the grain unloaded, all of the drapes and curtains were taken down and washed. The drapery rings came today so as soon as the curtains and drapes were washed they were hung back up. Mark brought home boxes tonight, lots of boxes. The small kitchen table and 2 chairs arrived and were assembled before dinner, then the bed bases were put together after dinner. Rachel brought over delicious turkey soup and home baked pumpkin pie which really hit the spot, we didn't want to waste time cooking when so much needed to be done. Both were delicious! We had to build a box spring upstairs in the bedroom for the 4 poster bed and just had to put the frame up for the second bedroom. The new sheets were washed and the bed made we are now ready for company. Tomorrow everything here that is going to get done must be finished before 2:30pm, we have a lady that wants to come see the Friesians and she wants to go to Middle Grove. Steven is going to bring them out. Missy and Cookie will be taken out as long as we are heading that way. That will put us at 30 horses out there. We also purchased another 20 round bales of hay located in Middle Grove, the farmer is going to haul them the 2 miles over if and when we need them. That gives us 33 good quality round bales in Middle Grove and 88 here. With the grass still thick and green we should easily make it through the winter. Karin dropped off Studly this afternoon, she is heading to Gulf Shores with Ruth's family. Studly must have gone over to mom's, we haven't seen him yet, I'm sure we will see him in the morning. Steven arrived to work the boys and reported both were really good. They look so amazing under saddle.

Norovirus Outbreak

At the emergency room the doctor that came in to talk to Rhoda explained to us this is the Norovirus, (think cruise ship) striking all over Peoria. We couldn't imagine how this virus was spreading throughout our family until reading up on it. via aerosolization of the virus and subsequent contamination of surfaces, so yes it is spread through the air bummer! Last night after getting Rhoda settled on the couch and Mark on the bed I had a late supper then went to bed waking at 1:00am desperate to reach the bathroom. The vomiting went on so long towels were put down in the bathroom to lay on. Once the first episode was finished, the garbage can was taken next to the bed but there really was no reason for that, the dry heaves went on for hours. Waking this morning the mouth and tongue are craving water but the stomach won't tolerate anything. A water bottle was kept by the bed for small sips to try to relieve the dryness. Rachel was sent a text asking if they would care for Ciera, she did one better and sent over coke also. By 1:00pm the extreme nausea had passed. At least it only lasted 12 hours. Hoerr vet clinic needed to be visited for an Exceed shot for Ciera, her last one, then Rhoda was driven home. We are feeling pretty wiped out and won't start getting ready for our Thanksgiving company until tomorrow.