November?

We would never know this is April, the weather is cold and gray with spatters of rain. If it wasn't for the green grass coming up we would think this was a typical November day.
After dinner we took a load out to the farm. Mark emptied the truck while I cleaned stalls and teased Wynne. If she doesn't come in soon we will spend the money for a sonagram. We will start teasing Lily soon.
Sanna was very bagged up this afternoon but no calcium is showing up on the mare predictor test. By the time Sanna and Sangria were turned out the sun peeked out for just a bit. They were glad to get out on the pasture. While we were unloading we noticed a huge snake skin.

It must have come out of hibernation and shed. This snake must have been really fat, probably the abundance of mice for food. We don't mind snakes, they really help with the rodent problem.
By the time we were ready to leave the farm both Sanna and Sangria had come back on their own into their stalls. The are finally figuring out it is much more comfortable inside than out on a day like today.
Mom called to give us an update on the 9 month old baby boy Michelle and Dave are adopting. Sally, Greg's sister arranged for this adoption. She has now placed 6 dogs and 1 human child. We will learn more tomorrow. They should be back in Peoria tomorrow afternoon. It was a nightmare trip getting down to New Orleans and back because of the extreme weather conditions at the airports.
Rhoda came home for the evening and looked for a Mastiff stud for Emma now in her third season. Emma was measured and she is 28 inches at the shoulders and weighs 144 pounds so easily makes the minimum requirements for breeding. We found one breeder in Tremont, IL with a nice Mastiff named Tank, but the owner is not sure she wants to stud him out.

Sanna Pending

Well it wasn't easy to drag ourselves out of bed this morning. If it wasn't for the dogs asking politely, or perhaps not so politely, with their cold noses in our faces, to be let outside both of us would have stayed put for at least another few minutes. Still both Sangria who is officially due today and Sanna who is due in May were locked in stalls and needed to be cared for. They were both very glad to see us coming with food! Silly mares want out but there is such a cold rain still coming down they were left in. Sanna is bagged up and actually had some waxing so she will be tested tonight. Sangria is as flat as a pancake. She did the same thing 2 years ago, just didn't bag up until the baby came so we are not concerned. I don't know whether she will be tested today she went a week late last time.
Knight was out again and instead of walking through the rain to put him in we just left him out.
Mark worked on cleaning out the hay stall so he can start storing boxes of tools we are moving.
As small as the apartment is I'm still taking my popcorn machine, snowcone machine and cotton candy machine. I always wanted to be a carney and with these three machines I have a good start. In my mind they are the most important pieces of equipment to move, now for some reason Mark doesn't think that, he wants me to take the kitchen items like our mixmaster and all the pots and pans.

Ready for Potluck

This morning it was rush back from the walk and start cleaning as fast as possible. The washer and dryer were suppose to be delivered between 8:00am and noon, then the cable guy was suppose to be here between 1:00pm and 5:00pm and the potluck guests were to arrive at 6:00pm. I was just not sure how this would work out but somehow it all did.
Lowes was delivering the machines and they were great, they called as they left Peoria. Mom was asked if she could go meet the truck and it was a good thing she did. Lowes parked at Ralph and Jamies and started unloading. Mom had to run down the lane in the rain to tell them to stop and show them where to bring them.
Now I didn't have anyone to wait for the cable people for the first couple of hours so tried calling them but no luck. This meant someone MUST be at the farm waiting. The potatoes were peeled and placed in salt water to hold, then the pork loin roast was put in the oven around 12:45 at a low 220 degrees and off to the farm getting there at 1:03pm. Felt pretty secure that even if they showed up at 1:00pm they would not have left at 1:03pm surely there would be a 5 minute grace period. While there Sangria was put back in the barn out of the rain. She had let herself out and was standing in a driving rain with the temps in the 40s brrrr. Sanna was the smart one, she went into her stall and was napping quietly.
Once the mares were cared for my car was parked at the top of the hill with a good view of the road and my book taken out. Karin relieved me at 3:45pm and she stayed watching until 5:40pm and no one from the cable company showed up. This was so disappointing to everyone out at the Meister compound. It doesn't make sense to us why the cable company would not want to service that neighborhood. There are 7 houses all ready to sign up and we know the cable runs right past the drive.
Everyone of our guests showed up on time or early. Dinner was great, by the time we were finished there was no food left.

We had 14 people around the table. We had such a great time it was a while before we retreated to the living room and then our company asked to see the dogs. Emma and Darcy were brought down to meet our guests, did a few tricks then Darcy laid down in the middle of the living room and took a nap. This would have been fine except she started snoring. We really had a great time visiting with everyone. This will be our last official rotating potluck at Pleasant Home. We are leaving the table for the Waibels as there is no way to fit it in the small apartment and besides that it fits perfectly in the dining room here.

Birthday so Party all DAY

What a surprise this morning after the first loop of the walk mom invites me to breakfast. Once I walk in the house I see the table is set for 7 people with mom's GOOD china.

Mom, Diane and Rachel finished cooking the delicious breakfast while I just sat.

Besides the perfectly done crisp bacon, the savory sausage, the farm fresh eggs, toast and cinnamon rolls, mom even peeled fresh red ripe tomatoes. The food was absolutely delicious but the conversation even better. How I love my family!
Once that was over it was time for work. Dalia was brought in to Bridlewood for the video. That was funny, Rhoda brought Darcy and Emma out, Cathie showed up with Tulia, her dog and Poppy, Amy's dog and they are running around the arena during the taping. I was actually shocked at how quiet Dalia was. Below is a brief video of her, this is the first time she has been here, she must wonder what in the world IS THIS PLACE.

Once done, Dalia was taken back and the chores which were not done because of the birthday surprise were finished, it was off to Sam's club for the potluck groceries and the all important dog food.
Barely had time to unload before we needed to leave for Ben and Taunya's for the big party. Ben planned on grilling hamburgers out on his deck. The smoke was thick as the ground beef started dripping onto the charcoal. The next thing we hear is the smoke alarm, first in Ben's house then in the house behind Ben's. Then we start to hear sirens. Not just one fire engine showed up, 2 fire engines and an ambulance all pull into the neighborhood.

After all the excitement was over we sat down for another wonderful meal.
Finally it was time for Addyson to blow out her candles and open her presents. She got some dress up high heels and we were laughing so hard at her attempts to run in them.


Left for home at 8:30 and made it by 9:10pm. We are both tired, too much partying!

Dalia

This morning the truck will be taken out to the farm and Dalia brought in to Bridlewood for a video. Rhoda has agreed to ride her for the video and Philip has agreed to bring the camera back this morning.
We will be on a tight schedule so hopefully this will go as planned. Rhoda and Sarah are taking off for Bloomington, IL for sister day at Taunya's. We are heading to Ben and Taunya's tonight to celebrate Addyson's 2nd birthday. Today is not her birthday but it she is too young to know we are cheating on the day.
Sam's MUST be visited today. We are hosting potluck tomorrow and will have 13 people around our table. This is the last potluck I will hold at Pleasant Home so I want it nice.
Mom is coming to help and bringing vegetables. Our guests are Howard and Nancy, Herb and Nancy, Eva Jean, Irma, Jill and Frank, Bill, and Rich. The etiquette books say never to have 13 people but the table will fit 13 comfortably. I'm going to miss this table and yes in some ways I'm going to miss Pleasant Home but living at the farm will be GREAT!

Disgusting!

Mom had a fall on our walk yesterday a hard fall, so hard the thud was audible from a distance. She said she was fine, just landed on her side and face. Her lip was cut and bleeding but she finished the walk and said she was fine.
So her ribs are sore this morning but she was the first again to be ready for the walk. When Mike walked up he told her she needed to take up skateboarding as anyone that can fall that hard and is ok would be a great skateboarder. Mom quickly replies, "No, I tried that once, went down a hill and fell and decided that wasn't for me." Now I can just see my 79 year old mother flying down the hills on a skateboard. Any other old lady we may question their sanity but mom is up to try anything. She is an amazing women.
There were no dead animals found on the walk today, Heidi and Ebby must have quit patrolling the roads. Ebby just had to find something disgusting, afterall she is a lapdog and loves to sleep on Mike's pillow. This morning she found a great big fresh pile of warm steaming horse manure to dig into.

Every night before bedtime this poor sweet little puppy gets a bath. Yesterdays bath just didn't cut the awful smell and Mike ended up using Lysol on her and when that didn't work Ebby was banned to the garage for the night.

Sunshine

Such a beautiful day, bright sunshine and low 70s, a perfect spring day. Steven got to the farm early, let all the mares out to graze and started cleaning paddocks. What a blessing he has been to the Horsemeister farm this year. He also moved in a new bale in the kids paddock and one in the boys paddock. Sanna is starting to bag up and that was cause for worry until Steven tested her milk. The result of the testing showed there was no cause for alarm, the calcium level didn't show at all. She is not due for a month but we would feel comfortable if she would hold off for a couple weeks.
Work today didn't seem to be hard until Eva Jean started opening the mail. Somehow that pile just grew and grew. We were late getting to lunch and after lunch needed to head to the post office to buy 1200 more first class stamps. Then back down to Berean to keep entering the letters.
The weather was so beautiful as soon as possible I headed out to the farm. Diane invited me over for a refreshing glass of ice tea out on her deck. We started visiting and somehow the time just flew from 2:30pm to 5:00pm. How that happens is a mystery. Before heading home to make dinner Sanna needed to be called in.
Choir tonight was different. Denny Virkler came to record some Zion Harps songs. We were pretty tired by the time we finished. Crystal and Kathleen prepared a wonderful lunch again starring my favorite vegetable pizza!

The rest of the evening was spent eating and visiting and visiting and eating.

Sophie Had a Filly

ANOTHER RAVEN filly born last night. Sophie's owner emailed this:
She's beautiful and strong and big.We'll send pictures soon. The vet just left because Sophie doesn't have much, if any, milk He gave her some shots andsuggested some minimal supplement for the foal and hopes her milk will kick in. She seems to have some colostrum but there is so little that he gave the filly a bottle of prepared colostrum just in case. She's nursing but we can't tell how much she's getting because her bag is as shrunken and flat as an unpregnant mare. We'll keep you posted. I'm just glad she's here and both are healthy. All the best, Berta

Anyone out there have this happen? The only mare we were ever concerned about was Sangria as she doesn't start to bag up until just before the foal is born but once the foal is on the ground there is plenty.
Hopefully Berta will send updates with pictures.

Xena Princess Warrior

An email came today with a couple of horse pictures. Just glancing at them my first thought was Rachel must have been taking pictures of the boys, Evan and Valiant. But then a closer look reveals it is HER FILLY Xena. This filly looks so much like a purebred Friesian filly. The Sauder's named her Xena Princess Warrior, she is such a spitfire but also a royal princess to go along with her spirit.

A mere $3000.00 will get you THIS PRIZE as Xena is for sale and now ready to be weaned. She leads, loads and has a brand new up to date coggins. That is an unbelievable price for a quality black RAVEN daughter and she comes with 30 days of training from Steven Marchal AND a reduced stud fee of $500.00 to EVAN at age 3. Talk about a way to actually make money on horses, Her first foal will more than pay for Xena.

Like Father Like Son

Arrived at the farm before 7:00am and see this:

This is Duke's son, Knight who belongs to the Reinhards. One of the reasons we sold Duke was he would not stay inside the fences. Knight feels that he must take his dad's place, you know the place that drives us crazy! These ponies, if they can't find a way under the fence they just jump over the fence. He was left loose while the chores were done. When I reached the meeting place at the dumpster there was only mom using her few remaining bendovers trying to clean up the storm damage from last night.
As we were heading past Sparks a red headed woodpecker landed and started his knocking noise. My camera isn't the best for clear wildlife pictures it does much better with the dead animals Ebby drags around.
With Diane, Rachel and mom's help the flooring has been picked out for the office. We rented the samples of laminate from Lowes and as soon as they are returned we can get our $50.00 back.
Today the laundry that didn't get finished over the weekend, like washing the sheets, was finally finished and it was off to walmart for some much needed groceries. This was so necessary we were ALMOST out of coffee. Mark and I are hosting potluck on Friday and still need to come up with a menue. The dogs will need food soon which means a trip to Sams, perhaps tomorrow I'll look around Sams and see if anything looks good.
One more trip to the farm will need to be made today. Sanna will need to be put away for the night, she was left out to graze for the day.

Ron Kipfer

Ron Kipfer from Bluffton country was in Peoria today. We are always so glad to see him. He had a few stories that were true and funny. The first was of his grandson. He was just a little guy of maybe 4 years old when he ran into a table and got a cut near his eye. When grandpa Ron asked his daughter about it he was told this story. He ran into the table and was crying, I tried to comfort him and asked him if we should ask Jesus to come heal the owie and was told NO, I asked again, let's pray and ask Jesus to help with the pain and again was told no. By this time Ron's daughter was thinking what is the matter with my son, Why would he not want to pray so I finally asked him, "honey why don't you want us to ask Jesus to heal your owie?" "Mom" he replies, "Jesus lives in my heart, I don't want him to come out just to look at my little owie." Ahh the faith of a child!
The second story actually started when Ron said there was something he was convicted about. He stopped, then told the story of the girl that started coming to Bluffton Country. This girl had never been to any church and had lived a pretty rough life. She heard the minister talk about being convicted, she heard others in the congregation talk of being convicted and finally asked someone, "just what is it with this church? Why have they all gone to jail?"
We walked out of afternoon church and couldn't believe how hot it was outside. On the way home from church our car thermometer was reading 89 degrees.
We decided to pick up 5 pizzas from Sams club and take them to the lake at 5:00pm before the scheduled 6:00pm volley ball started up. The group that showed up was larger than last week. The wind was blowing pretty hard so Diane opened up her house for the meal. Mom very discretely slips a bill into my hand to help pay for the pizza, I look at the bill and see it is a HUNDRED! "mom, the pizza didn't even cost that much" she was told, but she said no she wanted to help. I finally asked her if she was aware of what she had given me then showed her the bill. She was SHOCKED, she thought she was giving me a twenty. The camera was left back at the house so no pictures but it really was a hundred dollar bill Spark gave her to help pay for gas for their drive home from Gulf Shores yesterday. The kids finished eating and headed over to the volley ball court while Mark and I drove over to the farm. The mares were let out and Sanna's leg hosed before we started on the real reason we were there. Lily's paddock needed a new round bale, the middle paddock needed one and Raven's paddock needed one. With Mark's help that went quickly. He worked on the lighting at the apartment while I headed over to the playground to watch the volley ball and visit with the many family members there. The games were entertaining to watch, the volleys went on for minutes at a time, the kids rarely let the ball hit the ground and the slams were awesome but the returns even more impressive. And we use to think we were good! The mares needed to be put away and Rebekah helped with that before tacking Larry up for the ride home. Sanna was stalled as there are strong storms predicted tonight.
After volley ball Rachel brought over a couple of guitars and the praise singing started. Mark and I needed to get Nancy back to Morton as it was already after 8:00pm but we hated to leave. The singing and the evening sky was just beautiful.
The storms have now started with the distant sound of thunder and the roar of the wind driven rain.

Sangria Scare

My phone was left inside on the charger while I was outside enjoying the beautiful warm sunny day when Mark brings the phone to me saying someone has been trying to call you. There were 4 missed calls meaning emergency. Sangria decided to roll, got too close to the fence and was cast (stuck) with her head through the railings and her legs through the gate. Ralph finally called Mike, Mike called Rachel and Rachel and David ran over to help Ralph pull her away from the fence. By the time I arrived all was fine but they were a little concerned she may have hurt her back leg. She was taken out, hosed down to clean the mud off and taken out into the field to watch her move. Of course with Sangria the first thing she does is ROLL.

She is SO huge, the baby is due April 16th but she is not at all bagged up.
Even upright the baby is sticking out on both sides.

She wasn't content in the field by herself, Sanna was let out with her but Sangria took off running and ran straight to Lily's paddock asking if Lily could come out too. How can I turn a pregnant mare down? Wynne and Lily with their fillies were also let out. The camera was taken out for some pictures. Below is Wynne and Kenzie.
Kenzie was so funny, she also flopped down and had a good roll. The picture below should be titled, Help, I've fallen and can't get up!

That Kenzie is such a show off. She is special and knows it.

I started putting horses back when Rhoda and Karin drove up with Dalia and Bunni. They spent the afternoon at Jubilee State Park trail riding. Karin gave a very nice report on Dalia. They really enjoyed their afternoon, both mares were well behaved on the trails. They loaded nicely and unloaded nicely.

The only problem with Dalia, Karin feels, is she will never be a beginner horse. Her movement is HUGE. Her trot has so much suspension a beginner will not be able to sit it. Karin had Rhoda ride her so she could watch how she moved. Dalia's Hanoverian sire Landkoenig really throws the huge dressage movement and Dalia inherited it. She is a nice mare it is almost a shame to breed her, she should be in full time dressage training. She could easily go up the levels.

New Addyson Video

Mark came along this morning, he to work on the electrical plates in the apartment while the horses were fed, Sanna's wound cared for and Wynne & Dalia teased. The only mare in season is Izadora and we keep telling her NO. She needs to gain a lot more weight before we consider breeding her again. She just gives her all to her foals and loses weight until they are weaned. The man wanting to come down tomorrow to see Lily's filly was called to tell him not to come as the filly is now sold. He was so disappointed! In this business it really is the first person willing to put down the deposit is the winner. He may be coming down to look at Izadora's colt but they really wanted a filly.
Ben put a new Addyson video up and we couldn't wait to see it. She is so funny the girls and I had to watch it twice.

Rhoda came home with a special gift for Emma, a new COACH collar. One of the vet's she worked with bought it for her. WOW, our dogs are now high class and can live in high society!
Trying to get a picture of this very special collar wasn't easy. Emma kept sticking her nose in the camera and fogging it up.

Our second try wasn't much better but at least one can see the collar.

And just in case you can't read it we had to get a close up.

SOLD!

Wynne, Kenzie and Keira are now sold. More later but they will be going to a fantastic home!

Co-Incindent?

One of the small worries about moving out to the farm is there is no cable internet service. In the horse business the internet service is very important, in fact there would be no Horsemeister, Inc. If it wasn't for cable internet so this is something I've been worried about. Finally thought, "this is stupid, I should just pray about this."
A phone call came today from Comcast and thinking Mark must have called to see what was available I explained to the man on the phone what we wanted. Comcast does not service Hanna City but the salesman kept wanting to sign us up for a bundle. I'm not too bright but finally figured out that this was just a sales call but at least I got a phone number of Mediacom which services Hanna City and Glasford. Now Diane and Rachel have both tried to get cable internet and were both told "nope it can't be done in that area". Mark was given the number, he called it tonight and is explaining to the person that answered the phone what we want, the man that answers the phone gets the supervisor she gets on the phone, Mark tells her that we want it back at the Horsemeister office. That person replies "I know exactly where that is, I bought a horse from you." It was Sue Martin on the phone and she was the person that bought Sanna's filly.
NOW What a small world, and what a coincident to call the night she is at work and have HER be the supervisor that night and the one to get on the phone. She will do her best to get us cable internet. She is sending someone out on the 15th, between 1:00 and 5:00. Any of you lake people interested in cable internet let me know so the tech that shows up can be shown all properties interested.

Tyden & Shaeya

Today was Shaeya's lucky day. Tyden her brother got to come along for the ride and also enjoyed the day but not like Shaeya. Now Shaeya is not my grand daughter, she is Beth's grand daughter but really should belong to ME. Shaeya is a TRUE horse lover. She is going to be a horse trainer, cowgirl, owner and anything else there is to do with horses. Karin and Rebekah with Shaeya and Tyden's help brought in Bunni and Sally, tacked them up and rode double on a nice long trail ride riding all the way to Rebekah's house. Karin told how when they arrived back at the barn Shaeya brought the mares into the stalls, helped untack them, grained them, and groomed them. Tyden was more impressed with the change in Karen's car, her car ash tray is stuffed full of change. Tyden told Karin that they would come work for her every Saturday at the barn, then she could pay him out of all the money she has in her car. It was a great day for a ride and the mares were well behaved. These 2 mares were not bred back as they, along with Paris are in such demand as riding horses.
Karin has put out an email about horse camping at Wolf Creek State Park and the response coming back is YES a lot of the family wants to come. We are planning on the last weekend in July. This is at Lake Shelbyville and Dan will bring a boat for wake boarding.
Last year we camped at a horse campground in Farmington, IA. We took 10 horses and later realized that of the 10 horses that got to come represented 10 different breeds. Below is the video of that trip.

This year we will be missing quite of few of our regulars. Duke is sold, Sangria and Wynne will have a foal by their side so won't go.

Huffing & Puffing

Arrived at the farm early enough to take care of Sanna's wound and tease Wynne & Dalia before meeting Ruth, Rebekah, and Rachel for the walk. Now there is a real blessing when Ruth attends the walk, she can usually slow Rachel down a bit. Rachel and Rebekah are just walking along in front of us at such a fast pace that Ruth and I could hardly visit trying to keep up. We are huffing and puffing and the other 2 look like they are leisurely strolling. It may have looked like that but Ruth can attest that looks are deceiving, those two were booking it. We finished both loops before 8:00am.
Mark had the car loaded with light fixtures that all needed to be unloaded before heading home.
We received over an inch of rain last night in Hanna City. We are grateful even if now we are dealing with mud. The grass is growing and the fields are turning green. If the Middle Grove farm received the same amount those fields should take off quickly. Gary Unsicker planted orchard grass on top of the Middle Grove alfalfa field to help with the weeds, all that field needed was a good drenching rain and a bit of warmth.

Mocha

By the time I arrived at the farm, Steven had the breeding shelter cleaned out and a new base of road mix put down in preparation of breeding season. He also had the small paddock cleaned up with road mix placed up against the shed to help with the drainage. The rain started coming down steady so Lily & Keira and Wynne & Kenzie were moved into stalls so the man coming to look at them could do so without getting soaked. We decided as long as we had time we would bring in Ayanna and Indy for some grain and grooming. Our company walked in while they were getting worked over. He really liked both fillies and was having a hard time deciding what should be done. He told us he would have an answer by Saturday as Sunday we have someone else coming down to look at Keira.
On the way home we were delayed by an accident. It must have happened right before we got to airport road as the ambulances had not yet arrived. While we were waiting to be waved on the first response vehicle arrived, 4 firemen got out and started figuring out how to get the driver out of the pickup.


Amy brought her mini Mocha over to stay for a week while they are in Gulf Shores. Meanwhile Taunya brought Addyson over for sister day and we have a match made in heaven or perhaps a match made at Bridlewood. This was one happy little girl. It was not a nice day, cold and spitting a bit of rain and we could not convince her even though she was shivering, to get off the pony.



Addyson LOVES Mocha. Thanks Amy for bringing her in to Bridlewood for the week. Just maybe I'll get to see more of Addyson this week because of Mocha being here.

Kenzie Keira

Kenzie and Keira will be shown today to a man looking for a couple of Friesian foals for a special birthday surprise. He is coming up around 1:00pm, hope the rain holds off, it is suppose to start this afternoon and as much as we need the rain it is easier to show off the foals when we can turn them loose in the field.
Sunday afternoon another person wants to come down from Chicago to look at Keira, if she ends up selling they will need to be called to cancel.
All is going well at the farm except neither mare we are teasing is showing any signs of coming in. We need to get these mares covered to open up room for the outside mares that are booked for May.
Sanna's cut is healing well, she has now been off bute for 48 hours and is walking very well. She is still on Sulpha and will continue that for another week.
Sangria is not bagged up, she is due April 16th but usually goes a bit late. IF she has a colt it is pretty much sold, there is more than one person wanting a colt out of her by Raven so the first one to come up with the money will win. Too bad one wasn't interested in a filly.

Earl the Speaker

Peoria was blessed tonight to have Earl Ringger from Gridley, IL come speak on end time prophecies and he had everyone sitting on the edge of the seat, um bench.
Just think it was predicted 2500 years ago that Israel would be scattered and their land desolate but they would be brought back and be a nation in one day and the desert would bloom as a rose and now Israel is either the top or near the top exporter of ROSES! That was just one of the amazing facts Earl brought to us. This is a sermon that must be downloaded so we can listen to it again.
A text came from Jamie that Kenzie was out of her paddock trying to get back in to be with Wynne. This is the second time this has happened. She lays down to sleep too close to the gate, then rolls the wrong way to get up and finds herself on the outside. We will need to figure out how to either lower the gate or put up a barrier there.
Mark ordered the washer and dryer today for the apartment, now all of our appliances are ordered and he is working on the light fixtures. We MUST finish this SOON.
This afternoon the Post Office approved new Berean business reply envelope was emailed to Wayne Printing and 10,000 of the ordered. The other job that was put off until today was the renewing of my drivers license. That's always a treat, sitting in the crowded room watching people take the test and then argue when they fail, the many people getting frustrated by the long lines then the fun reaction of a kid that just received his first license.