Terrible Smell

Stumbling down the stairs this morning BEFORE my coffee and the farther down the stairs I go the worse the smell is. Open the kitchen door to let Emma out and the smell slams into my nose. It smells like sick dog manure. First job is to let the dogs out, then start hunting. Sure enough in the far corner of the playroom is splashes of black runny piles. Poor Emma, it must have come out in an explosion, it splashed up on the wall and up on a chair leg. We think she must have gotten into the garbage where there were plates of leftover chunks of Sarah's chocolate birthday cake. Two rolls of paper towel were almost enough for the main pile, then it was the mop and BLEACH, lots of bleach. By the time Mark comes down he can only smell bleach, the floor and chair are sparkling. Did I tell him I just felt like mopping the floor? Oh no, Emma is his dog too, I politely asked him, just a little loud to quick take the garbage out. Now I hardly have time for my coffee.

Rhoda & the Dogs

Rhoda and her 'daughter' on mothers day! What would mom say?

Emma wanted to know what was going on and had to get into the shot also.

Sarah's Birthday, Mothers Day

Taunya's parents and 2 of her brothers and Anna's parents along with 2 of her brothers came to Peoria today and the girls cooked the dinner. It was wonderful plenty of flavorful foods, starring seasoned grilled steak done to perfection, sweet and sour baked chicken breast, party potatoes, vegetables, and fluffy biscuits with butter and black raspberry preserves. They didn't let us do ANY thing, no cooking, no cleanup and we were not even allowed to help in the kitchen. The guys put the tables up and set the table. We thought it was the best Mother's Day we have ever celebrated.


THANK YOU Taunya, Anna, Rhoda and Sarah!!!Once dinner was over we celebrated Sarah's 20th birthday. Addyson was sitting on Sarah's lap when she was opening her cards and was fascinated with the money. Hard to believe our youngest daughter is now 20 years old. Addyson thought money is a great gift. This girl knows what's important. She was grabbing the cash and handing it to anyone with their hand out.

Auction & Grandma's Work Day

Up at 4:30am and on my way to Arthur, IL for the Amish auction shortly after 5:00am. We do not need any horses, this was a tack run and a very successful one at that. We were desperate for halters. We bought 45 halters, 25 at $5.00 each and 20 at $5.50 each. In the past we have been able to get them for under $4.00 but before I even got in the bidding they were at $4.50. I've hung some at the cabin, some in the stall barn, some in the arena, and some I took home and will put them away until we are again out. We will see how long these last. They are actually our favorite kind, large enough to fit the Friesians plus light weight enough to be a safety halter and with a throat latch clip.
Mom's Mother Day gift was a work day scheduled today from 9:00am to noon. I made it just in time for lunch but there were so many good workers that I wasn't missed on the work end. David, our oldest told me they had finished the list over an hour before I drove up. Mom bought pizza for the group. It was terribly windy and cold, the bonfire felt wonderful. Here are some of the workers waiting for the prayer which Spark had so he got to go first. It didn't take long for those pizza boxes to empty, nothing like being out in the cold to work up an appetite.
Mark finished up by cleaning the skid steer while I went to Sams for groceries. I'm bringing a vegetable to the choir picnic tonight along with blueberry muffins. Of course I started typing this as I was cooking the carrots and had to run when something smelled like it was burning. Yep, they are burnt and can't be used. I've thrown together a salad in it's place.
Our Choir picnic was at Bob and Myrna Hoerr's house. It was well attended and we finished up with about an hour of singing. It was an enjoyable evening but no one stepped forward to take charge next year.

Our Wonderful Skid Steer

The girls borrowed Ruth's van yesterday for their trip to Chicago leaving Ruth Sarah's car so this morning it was to the gas station first to fill up Ruth's van, return it, and take Sarah's car to the farm.
Jackie, Heather's mare was covered this morning right around 7:00am just before the deluge of rain started. She didn't stand very well and may be going out. The rain was coming down so hard, when it was time to leave, the car wipers could not keep up. It is a good thing there are rumble strips before stop signs nowadays. Steven Marchal was called to cancel our trip out to Middle Grove to pick up Clara and son. No sense in tromping around 80 acres in the rain calling horses.
Once back at Bridlewood the call came that the skid steer was on the way. My paddock needed scraping in the worst way. Instead of helping me at Middle Grove Steven came to Bridlewood to help. The skid steer was almost out of diesel fuel, I emptied our two red cans of gas into the tractor, loaded them up in Sarah's trunk and drove to the Clark gas station. Pop the trunk and start to put diesel in the first red plastic can when the pump shuts off giving only 40 cents worth of diesel. After trying a second time it was into the gas station, wait in line and then the manager tells me I have the wrong color, I need yellow. Turns out he cannot sell me diesel in a red can, off to Apollo gas station where I know there is diesel for sale, except I can't get my credit card to work. After walking into the station and finding out they won't accept my credit card because of too frequent of use it was back to try again and again it wouldn't work. The manager of that station wanted to come out to help but I declined his offer, there was no way I was going to let him see me putting diesel in a red can, I don't know where there are any other nearby gas stations that sell diesel. After 3 trips inside I was finally able to get 10 gallons.
It didn't take very long to get the job done with good equipment. Kind of wish we had 2 skid steers, one for Bridlewood and one for the Horsemeister farm. But I guess that would make me lazy.
Mark showed up for lunch then as long as the skid steer was here he went out to remove a stump.
The stump is huge and even the picture below doesn't show how heavy it is.
The stump is now on the burn pile and Jacob Meister was called to have the skid steer taken out to the farm. After dinner Mark and I worked on the garden and the back pasture. We flattened some of the crevasses, got rid of lots of weeds, and spread lots of manure. We worked until it was too dark to see. Now once the grass grows up Amy can mow.

Impressive Filly

Have you ever watched a foal and KNOW without a doubt that foal is special. I have and been right each time. Once Raven was done with his grain, Big Sally and her filly were up at the gate so were taken over to Raven for a visit. Sally is still not in her foal heat, but while I'm watching the shenanigans between Raven and Sally, the filly comes quietly over for some attention. She is HUGE, gentle, black, has great movement, has fantastic uphill conformation, and is OH SO SWEET. This girl needs a name and I need to get Rachel over for pictures. This filly is one I am so tempted to keep and yet know we just can't keep them all. Today at the farm, Heather's mare Jackie is still very heavily in season and was covered. We need to get our hay cut, it is very ready but with rain on the way we keep putting it off. We are looking for about 20 good quality alfalfa grass round bales from last year, if anyone out there has any for sale please contact us. Clara and her colt must be brought in from Middle Grove, they are leaving for Idaho May 15th, and we need to get their health papers drawn. Mike and Diane have left for Texas to pick up their new truck so I'll probably borrow their old truck to get them. Mine still doesn't have the 4 wheel drive fixed.

Levi Meister and the DANCE

Below is Dan and Susan's youngest son at his preschool program. They never saw him dance like this, he never practiced like this and they had no idea he was going to steal the show.. Levi is the boy in the blue shirt in the back row, he is usually not a ham, in fact Dan and Susan have a hard time getting him to perform. The video is bouncing a bit as the person running the camera could not keep from laughing. After watching, I can see why. The kid has the GROOVES MOVES! You will need to watch it a couple of times as the first time you will just see Levi, the second time watching pay attention to the other children. They are in AWE of him and instead of dancing are turning and watching Levi.

Fresh Milk

Rhoda and Lisa were back from Jubilee by 11:30am so I hurried home from work, loaded up Sophie and took off for Forrest with 2 gallon sized wide brim jars. Emily promised that she would give me some fresh milk from her cow she is milking twice a day. Emily's cow is actually a beef cow that is a great milker. Now that the calf is weaned she is giving almost 4 gallons of milk a day and rich milk it is. The top 4th of the jar is RICH HEAVY CREAM! I can hardly wait for morning to put some in my coffee. How I've missed the heavy cream from my Jersey cow. Sophie was a little nervous at Emily's house but that will soon change. She was introduced to goats, the cow and lots of kids.
Once home from Forrest, Sangria was picked up from Bridlewood and taken back out to the farm. Steven told me she was in season and covered yesterday but today she wasn't really showing anything.
Karin helped fix the side door latch on the trailer, pretty embarrassing how I needed help from her. I'm struggling, pushing as hard as I can to bend the metal, when Karin says, "why don't you just push down." of course the latch fell right into place.
Dropped off 5 dozen brown eggs at mom's and was driving home when the repair man for Concession Specialist called to tell me the cotton candy machine is fixed and the bill is only $389.00. I'm glad I was sitting down. Then it was time to head to Walmart for much needed groceries and dinner. Pulled in home at 5:00pm, threw dinner on the table, ate, showered and left for church at 6:30pm, right on time.
After church Sarah reminded us that McDonald's have $1.00 hot fudge sundaes so we took a small detour. hmmm delicious...

Dogs in America

This morning I went to sign my Dogs up for welfare. At first the lady said, "Dogs are not eligible to draw welfare". So I explained to her that my Dogs are mixed in color, unemployed, lazy, can't speak English and have no clue who their Daddys are. They expect me to feed them, provide them with housing and medical care, and feel guilty because they are dogs.
So she looked in her policy book to see what it takes to qualify. My Dogs get their first checks Friday.
This is a great country.
At the farm this morning, Bunni was moved in with Velvet, Big Sally and her still to be named filly were taken over to Raven but she still hates him no foal heat yet, then they were moved in with the herd. Big Sally is more than ready to get back to her herd. I really enjoy watching the dynamics of the mares with their foals. This morning Caden and Ayanna were sound asleep huddled up together next to a round bale while Paris was in the back field and Lily up with Jenis in a shelter. Caden wakes up, stretches, and then looks around for his mom, when he can't find her, he starts running through the paddocks into the field, back into the paddocks calling. Paris just ignores him, he runs over wakes up Ayanna, she stretches, calls to her mom, Lily, Lily calls back to let her know where she is so Ayanna quietly walks over to her mom. During the walk on the first farm loop Caden still has not found Paris so we start to get worried but she was just in the field quietly eating ignoring him. Eventually Paris let him know where she was, I think she just wanted a little peace and quiet.
Rachel picked up Sandy's pneumabort shot so the 2 of us cut the walk a little short and gave it to her. I got a good look at Shadow while there, he is so friendly and going to be magnificent. He is the shiny blue black under his foal coat, and he has an abundance of feathers. He is very well mannered, leads, ties and stands for grooming, Rachel has done a great job with him. She has him for sale and someone will get a bargain, she is only asking $3500.00.

A Colt is Born, Wynne In Foal

Dr. Hoerr called and wanted to come early to do the sonagrams. I was still at work but Steven Marchal was at the farm and offered to help. Thank goodness for good help! While on the phone, Dr. Hoerr told me the first of his 4 mares he artificially inseminated delivered a colt. The dam is a 13 hand Hackney pony mare again proving the mare determines the size. I'll drive over to Morton this week and get some pictures of the little guy.
Our good news is that Wynne is in foal to Raven and so is Kesha's mare, Sophie. Wynne is due March 24th, 2011 while Sophie is due March 26th, 2011.
While Dr. Hoerr was at the farm, he is talking to me on the phone when the bee swarm went by heading across the field. The next thing I heard was "Look at that, it must be honeybees!" He went on to tell me there was a huge cloud of bees flying across the field. He kept exclaiming "I can't believe how huge this swarm is, I've never seen one this big!" I'm sorry I missed it but glad we have so many honeybees around for pollination.
Emily Ricketts has been contacted about Sophie and Sophie will be taken over to her when she is ready for her.

Mike and Karin went to Middle Grove and rode Izadora and Mika and both were wonderful. They did not get the hair pulled from Clara's colt so I'll have to take a trip out for that.
Steven got Jackie covered so I don't need to go out to the farm but then he turned the mares out for grazing and Sangria came running over obviously in season. It had been a couple of hours so Sangria was covered also. Steven told me that Raven had no problem with getting them both done in such a short amount of time. Tomorrow we will give him a day off unless Big Sally comes in.

Wynne & Sophie

Today we find out if Wynne and Sophie are pregnant. If Sophie is in foal she will leave for Forrest, IL for training with Emily. Wynne is now being trained by Steven. Ralph and Jamie called that there was a huge hornet nest with thousands of them flying around. They told us they called the exterminator. Right away Rachel was called and asked to go over and check that they weren't honeybees swarming as that's what it sounded like on the phone. David, Rachel husband was on his way over anyway to use the tractor, by the time he got there he could not find the exterminator so thought it must be taken care of. Then Ralph called that the exterminator told him they were hornets too high up in the tree and he would not be able to help. So last night Mark and I drove back to the farm. Well we get there, check the tree and cannot find any nest, only a few honeybees still way up in the pine tree behind the garage. Even though we did not see the swarm, we are sure they were honeybees and are so thankful that the not very well informed exterminator could not kill them. Honeybees are so valuable and scarce right now the last thing we humans need to be doing is killing them when they are swarming. While there, Raven was walked over to check Wynne, she is obviously not in. Then Big Sally, again VERY obviously not in, then Sophie and Ribbon. The only mare in season is Jackie, Heathers mare and she was covered in the morning. So home for an early bedtime we drove.

Jackie In

Jackie and Raven were calling to each other this morning so once the walk was over she was taken out and brought over to him and yes she was in. This cover was a little tricky, Jackie doesn't tie which if there are 2 people it is easy but with only me working there was some juggling to do to get the job accomplished. Jackie stood very well which made it all a little easier.
Ylse and Samantha need a new round bale, I squared baled them this morning then gave them some grain. Big Sally came running over to get some also. Bunni was back behind the pond grazing, I could see she was still big so didn't tromp through the mud to check her. All the other mares were easy to check. Velvet is HUGE, Jenis and Autumn take the best spots and were lying down in the shelter, Ribbon was standing at Big Sally's gate looking longingly at her round bale. We are keeping Duke in Sally's paddock, the only one secure enough to keep the little Houdini in. Once over to the cabin I noticed Evan and Wynne had their halters off. Hoping Mike took them off and put them away we put them on for the video and should have removed them, they are the 'good' halters and were only to be used for shows but we are so short of halters and for the video we wanted them to look nice. Diane has someone staying in the cabin for a couple of days so I didn't go in to look.
Rachel took this picture of an eagle flying over the farm pond. I actually saw 2 eagles there and was hoping they would nest but they flew away and haven't been seen since.
Monica Fritzenmeier took a trip to MI yesterday and brought home a very special purebred Friesian filly.
Her name is Danika and her sire is the TALL approved stallion Nanning. Danika has fantastic papers, the mares in the pedigree are Star or Model save one. Monica plans on breeding her to Raven in a couple of years. Monica's mom told me when Monica was looking for a filly she was talking to a lot of Friesian people. When she mentioned she wanted to breed to Raven they told her she wouldn't go wrong. Raven has the reputation, even in the Friesian world, of throwing very correct foals with wonderful dispositions.
THAT MADE MY DAY, no WEEK, no YEAR!!!

Lily Out Savanna Still In

Steven Marchal went to the farm this morning to help out. Lily was checked, Friday she was in and covered, but today she is already out. Lily is so fertile she probably took with the one cover but we will check her again in 18 days. He noticed that Savanna is still in but she was covered yesterday. He brought Big Sally over as the filly is now a week old but Sally is not yet in her foal heat. Last time Sally didn't come into her foal heat until her colt was 10 days old. Jackie, Heather's mare was more interested in Raven today so she may be starting to come in. Steven then brought Aragon over from the cabin for a girl coming to take a look at him but the girl was a no show. Mike was called to see if he would take Aragon back to the cabin.
We are taking it easy today. Church was wonderful as always and now we are home reading. The floor needing some mopping, Emma at 7 months old is now having her first heat and dripping blood spots on the tile. Sure not ready for this.

Job Well Done

This is a BIG thank you to all the choir members that helped put on the 39th annual benefit dinner. It went well, the food was probably the best meal ever, the tables looked lovely and there were so many hands helping we were done and home by 10:10pm. Mark and I are very thankful to everyone that stayed to help clean up. It was a long day but so worth it.
Too tired to write, heading to bed.

Email from Melissa

This is a nice big TB mare, would make a great cross with Raven. Some one should snap this girl up. The email below explains about her.
We adopted Dreamy off the race track when she was 2. She is 7 now. She is about 17 hands tall. Beautiful but spirited. I am not an experienced rider and have only ridden her a few times. She is too much horse for me, but she has been a companion to our gelded Thoroughbred since 2005. I have not wanted to split them up. We also have a gelded paint now that we’ve had since he was a colt. So you can see we have our hands full.
The horses have a good life, they don’t have to do much and have plenty of room to move around, but the expense of keeping 3 horses is starting to wear on me. I’m hoping Dreamy would make a good brood mare for someone, or that someone with experience could bring the best out in her. She has a smooth gait, and learns quickly, but her size has always scared me.
She’s had her Coggins 11/09. I was hoping to get $500 for her. But I’m more interested in finding her a good home. If you are interested, please let me know.
Melissa Cox (rvnuts@glastel.net)

Savanna Again

Out to the farm early, Wynne needed to be checked and good news, NO sign there of her being in season. Her sonagram is Tuesday. Savanna is still in season and covered but didn't stand as well so she is probably going out. Jackie still hates Raven, I thought yesterday she was a little more interested at least enough to come out of her shed and kick at him but today she sniffed him, then ran away.
Lily should be covered tomorrow morning. No new baby from Velvet yet. She is huge and looks miserable. Big Sally should be coming into her foal heat tomorrow. Bunni, due in 2 days is not very bagged up and her milk is still very clear. She went late last time so will probably go late again. Mike is going to Middle Grove to pull hair from Clara's colt so he can be registered. The new owner is picking them up early June and we need to send in his papers. She has named him Raven's Zephyros. He is such a cutie.
Now it's time to start on the pies.

Benefit Preparations

What a day. Mark and I are now at home and pretty exhausted... but... the Fellowship hall is BEAUTIFUL! There were many volunteers and all were willing. Even Spark and Dan got in on the action. My pie crusts are all baked and ready, the strawberries are bought and in the fridge. The pies will look good and hopefully taste better than they look. I made 6 pie crusts and will probably have enough strawberries to fill all 6 so will have 2 for home.
At the farm, Steven had all the boys haltered and tied and when I drove up, there was Wynne all saddled up and Steven sitting on her. She was very well behaved. Steven also worked with Aragon picking up all 4 feet. He is a very nice colt but has not shed his VERY thick fuzzy bleached brown winter foal coat. We had someone ask for updated pictures but with the huge storm that came through and the finishing jobs still waiting at the Fellowship Hall we did not get back out to the farm. There are a couple of people coming Sunday afternoon to see him. They actually wanted to come tomorrow but with the big dinner I had to tell them no. Sure was hoping he would start shedding out, he is a rich black underneath all that hair.
Steven checked Lily and as she is in season he had Raven cover her. He also checked Velvet's milk, she looks farther along than Bunni even though Bunni is due May 3rd and Velvet May 19th. Savanna did not come out to greet Raven so we believe she is out of season and we will start counting her days. Tomorrow is Wynne's 18th day from the last day she was bred and she will need to be walked over to Raven. Jackie the bay mare showed a little more interest in Raven today so she may also be coming in.

One of Three

Mike called early this morning that he heard horses neighing by the cabin, jumped up and there was Raven. He grabbed a halter, walked him back over and found his gate down, so tied him up to put the gate back up. Bunni comes wandering up and starts pestering Raven. Bunni must be near delivery and I'll try to get out there later this morning to test her milk. The last time she delivered, she was anxious and wanted Grace with her. We are not sure how she got out but it isn't unusual for a mare close to delivery to try to find a quiet place to deliver. Lilo, Lily's dam was always finding a way to get out when she was almost ready, the worst was she would take the herd with her. I had her at Bridlewood and for 3 nights in a row was awakened by the clip clop of hooves on the road. Jump out of bed, throw on boots, run to the barn to grab a bucket and start calling. Each time she had found another way out, either knocking down a gate, breaking a board or just climbing through. Once she had the baby she was content. It made me realize when a horse is determined to escape they probably will.
Yesterday during the school visit I was telling the group about Friesian history. I told them how there were only THREE purebred Friesian stallions left in the world and before I could finish the story, one of the mom's exclaimed, "amazing and to think you have one of them!"
This morning there is no walking, I have an appointment with my cousin Mary Ellen. She is heading down to Gulf shores and I need to give her the condo keys and her snorkel equipment. Then it is time to shop for strawberries, enough for 5 pies (4 for the benefit dinner and 1 for us)and food for Sarah to take on her trip to agape fest.

Eureka Country School

Once the horses were fed and Sandy's mare covered, Jenis, Lily, Ayanna, Sangria, Big Sally and her filly were all let out into the field for some grazing. They had to do some running and showing off, it is such a beautiful sight. After our walk, mom cooked a wonderful breakfast, so delicious, it was hard to get to work but work was waiting. The barn was swept, the stalls cleaned and the three mares with foals were moved inside so the school kids coming would be able to pet them without getting muddy. I was so thankful for Rebekah Davidovics. She showed up at 9:00am, tacked up Duke, groomed Ribbon, picked up anything left in the arena. The cotton candy machine (Spark and Dan's) was set up at the playground, then it was time to sit for a couple of minutes while we waited for the 3 van loads of kids, parents and teachers. Mike and Diane's dog Ebby was the hit of the day. She saw the kids coming ran so excited and they all got a turn to hold her. She followed them back to the barn and played with them while they were waiting in line for pony rides. What a joke trying to make cotton candy in the 35-45 mile an hour wind gusts. There was fairy floss floating all over the playground. It was snowing cotton candy.
The school kids needed to leave by 11:00am, they were headed to the Peoria zoo. Rebekah helped clean up then moved all the mares and foals back where they belonged.
Then it was time to set up the Fellowship Hall. I'm very sore today, those tables and chairs are HEAVY. Thank goodness Anna, Phil's wife came and helped. Mark and I would STILL be there working without her help. Instead we were done in an hour. KFC was picked up for dinner, then it was off to GFS for cream and sugar for the big dinner. $50.00 worth of cream and sugar. There will be left overs but they can always be used at our house later.
Steven Marchal is heading out to the farm tomorrow morning and will check if Lily is in season, then work with Aragon a bit. There is a girl coming to look at him on Sunday.

The Business of Raven

There were 3 phone calls yesterday on Big Sally. Two people wanted to trade and the third was a man that bought a yearling Friesian stud colt and is looking for some mares to buy for his business. He thought Sally was a purebred Friesian but also wanted to ask how we got into the business and strategies for his yearling. He told me how expensive the Friesian fillies and mares are so he was going to buy a bunch of TB and Standardbred mares to cross with their yearling. They can be picked up sometimes for just a few hundred dollars or sometimes even free if they are lame. My answer was this is really not a good idea. I told him he really wants the best quality mare possible. After all most of our business is return customers, word of mouth or because someone saw a Raven foal out competing. A Raven foal has such a good disposition, beauty, height, and movement, when they are taken out in public they are NOTICED. Once a business starts putting out junk horses they will be OUT OF BUSINESS quickly. The cost of keeping a mare is the same whether she is quality or junk.
My day will be very busy. This morning a couple of classes from a school in Eureka are coming over to see the farm, play with the babies and ride. Then Mark and I need to get the tables set up in the Fellowship Hall for the Benefit dinner. HUGE job, Anna has kindly offered to come help. At 7:15pm we need to be back at the Fellowship Hall for our final recording.