Playing With Grands

I left the house this morning at 6:00 am to meet Stephanie at Meisters so I could have Israel and Elisabet for the day. They were good helpers, helping me feed all the horses then grooming Indy and Oksana.

 When Kensley arrived we started video taping their trips down the drives

then hauling the kids and the toys back up on the golf cart. 

Mark's gravel pile is a wonderful toy.

We decided to go on an adventure so Israel needed to find a sharp stick just in case a bear would chase us. 

When Anna picked up Kensley I took Elisabet and Israel to the McDonalds in Bartonville.

We played there for a bit before picking up Mark. We took Israel and Elisabet home then drove to Sarah and Nolan's house to play with Zion and Eden.

Nolan had just cleaned the puppy house and the Poodle pups and Whoodle pups were still outside in a playpen. 

Eden came crawling to meet us.

Zion was showing us some of her tumbling moves.

If you would like to see the rest of the pictures from today click HERE. We had a long but very fun day. Indy and Oksana are spending the night inside tonight. Indy was much more bagged up. Oksana is starting to bag up and wouldn't need to be inside but Indy is much more relaxed if she is.

Jammed Packed

Today was extremely busy but everything on my list got done.  Our walk was loud this morning with Diane home from Key West, me home from Texas, Ruth home from her out of town class, and Joan home from Bluffton. We all had so much to talk about and not enough time to get it all in.  Ruth had to drop out first as she had to get to work, then mom, then me as I had to get to the Berean office. If you would like to read about our busy day there click HERE. As soon as I got home and changed into my barn clothes Jenis was loaded up and off I drove to drop her off at Middle Grove and pick up Oksana. Jenis was so glad to get back and took off at a run to find the herd.

 The herd came running in all directions to meet her. That is Jenis in the middle.  

 Rosaleigh is pictured below. I think she is for sure looking pregnant. She was bred to Evan and is due June 22nd if I'm right.

 Below is a picture of our two Rosalie/Rosaleighs  They were both born in 2013 but Lily's daughter Rosalie is pushing 17 hands or more and the other Rosaleigh is probably only around 16.1. Rosalie will be brought home toward the end of this month with her sister Ayanna so both can be bred to Evan. 

 The wind was really blowing Galena's hair around. I still can't tell if she is pregnant or not.  I have to call Hoerr Vet clinic in the morning to get a coggins done on Tatiana's filly from 2019 as her owner is picking her up in a couple weeks and might bring Galena home to be checked at that time. 

 Oksana was led to the trailer but I turned around and snapped the picture below before we got to the hill.  

 If you would like to see the rest of the pictures from that trip to Middle Grove click HERE. 

Oksana was put in the middle paddock with Indy. 

Her udder is still pretty flat. She isn't due until March 20th and usually does not go early.  Indy, pictured below is due March 18th and she usually delivers just a few days early. Her udder is growing but she is still not waxing. 

 Once the horses were settled in and the trailer backed into place it was time for some house work. Specifically laundry and dishes then supper started. 

All Sold

This morning after our walk mom went in to grab a plate she thought I left but the plate does not match my dishes. Did anyone leave this plate at mom's house?  She would like to find the owner.

After the walk I drove to Meister Brothers to pay the first of the month bills then Ivy, Sarah and Nolan's Poodle was taken home. Of course I had to go in and play with Zion and the puppies.

Puppy news is amazing. ALL puppies are now SOLD. Of course they won't be leaving for a few more weeks.  From Sarah's house I drove to Aldi for groceries. From there it was home to work on the Romania news letters on the Berean Blog. Fedi sent updates he received from the Romanian Berean Volunteers for the past 6 months. I was able to get 2 of the months published. Click HERE for the link to the December 2019 news letter and click HERE for the link to the January 2020 news letter.
Anna and Kensley stopped in for a short while and Anna gave me an update on the place here while I was in Texas. At 1:00 pm I had to run back to Meister's to meet with Skip to sign up for my new health insurance. Next month I will be on Medicare so that and the supplemental insurance of Humana will be saving the company $1300.00 EACH and EVERY month.  The cost to insure me alone was outrageous since Obamacare took effect.
We had nice day but not quite as warm as Sunday with a high of only 49 degrees but the sunshine felt wonderful. Right now though we are a mud farm.  The mud is soupy with all the ice and snow melt. Indy was checked and still no waxing so I will leave her out again tonight. She is much happier being with the other horses. I ran out of time today to pick up Oksana and will try to get her picked up tomorrow after Berean if all goes well. Then both mares will be stalled at night and both will be content in the barn with a companion.  I need to get those foaling cameras up and running SOON.
I started looking for news on the Corona virus and found a blogger who wrote about his trip to China to adopt he and his wife's daughter and wrote a very interesting post about the Corona Virus. He titles this, The Birth of a Virus.  Just click on that title to read. It is long but worth the time.

Our Trip to Texas

We left this morning just before 5:00 am and made it home just before 5:00 pm.  We had a wonderful time with the Texas Sceggels. When we arrived on Friday evening they were so happy to meet their new puppy Rosie.

We visited a while then jumped in the hot tub and that made us so relaxed that we went to bed a little early. That was a good thing as Ben was up by 5:00 am with coffee for us. We all went to a local restaurant for breakfast. After breakfast Ben and Taunya took us on a 3 mile hike to a big park.

 The geese below are very protective. Those boys were teasing them and the gander would run them off each time. 

 These two pair got in a fight, the pair nearest the lake were claiming this area and were determined to run off the intruders. 

 The gander started out running at them hissing and honking all the way then took off flying at them.

 He had those intruders on the run. 

There were 18 turtles all lined up on this log with 4 more turtles in the water waiting to climb on. 

If you click on the picture you may be able to count them all. When we got back to the house it was 75 degrees and sunny. I was glad to take a nap by the pool in the sunshine. 

 Ben and Mark made dinner for us.

 After dinner Ben took us to the State Farm buildings where he works. This place is massive with many buildings and much to see. We walk around then stopped in a Nestle store for cookies and hot chocolate. 

 and then took the hot chocolate out to the fountains. 

 Ben's office is on the 12th floor (there are only 13 floors) His is the window on the 12th floor that looks orange. He said the sun comes in so bright they put paper over the window and it looks like the 3 floors lower than his in the same area did the same thing. The sun really is bright in Texas. 

The picture below is of a bull sitting on top of a crescent moon with the real crescent moon shining above. 

When we got back from that trip it was time for baths and bed. We were up around 4:30 am this morning and started our 12 hour trip home. IF you would like to see the rest of the pictures from our weekend click HERE. We stopped for gas just once but stopped in Lincoln, IL so Mark could grab some dinner at Culvers. There was a bus load of basketball players eating there. A group of these girls are Sigma Gamma Rho sorority.

Their mascot just happens to be a Poodle so they needed pictures.

As soon  as I got home Indy was checked. She is not waxing so was allowed outside for the first time since Friday morning. She was so glad to be back in with Hadassah. The indoor arena cleaned up, the horses grained then inside to start unloading. Mark left for hymn sing but there was just too much to do here for me and I can't sing anymore anyway.