Mystery Sink

 First thing this morning Jewel was put in the outdoor arena then Madiera and her colt put in the far paddock.

Once they were comfortable Jewel was brought over and put in with them.  Jewel was very non threatening and soon both mares were sharing the shelter with the colt sound asleep in the hay. 

Once I was sure they would be fine Rosalie, Rosaleigh, Lea and Irish were let out into the pasture.

They had to run over to greet Evan then settled down to graze.  I locked them in the pasture then opened the gate to their paddock so a new bale could be put in later.  I left then with the clean sheets to make up the king bed in the barn. I had just finished when I heard Ruth's van pull up. We usually don't walk on holidays but since she was there I joined her. So did Steven who was camping out here. When we reached the retention dam there was a big turtle sunning himself on a log.

Joan was surprised when we arrived but joined us. When we reached Rachel's there was Samantha and Lucy. They along with Tyler had spent the night in a tent in Rachel's meadow.

A bunch of the revelers from last night spent the night at Rachel's and she had a houseful. The guys played pickleball late into the night (after 1:00 am) while the ladies with their babies crashed at Rachel's. She was busy making breakfast. 

After the walk a bale was moved in to the mare paddock and within an hour those mares wanted back in.

Silly mares. Valiant was put out in the outdoor arena so he could graze and Evan was let out in the back pasture now that the mares were in.

Phil and Anna arrived to repair the gutter of the indoor arena the ice knocked down last winter. The lift started right up and Phil drove it out between the buildings. It was shocking how fast they got the 72 feet of gutter back up.

They had it finished by the time I finished cleaning stalls. Phil drove the lift over to Joan's. Mark and Joan cleared out an area in her shed to store it in for the summer. Next came the mowing. Mark worked first on trails then Berlica mowed the mare pasture.

About then the airbnb guest staying in the foaling apartment sent the picture below.

He claimed his daughter was just washing her hands when the sink suddenly fell off the wall. He also claimed his daughter was scraped and bruised. As they were still there I took the golf cart up and asked to see the scrapes and bruises. There were none, not a single scrape or bruise, not even a red spot where it supposedly hit her and when I asked to see any blood the dad admitted there was none. The sink had actually been torn off the walk breaking one pipe and bending the two hooked to the water. That sink was professionally installed by Meister plumbing and was solid. How it came crashing down on a little girl washing her hands is a real mystery.  The story just didn't add up. Oh well I guess we must expect breakage with guests, I just thought it might be the dishes or maybe even the furniture. Tim Meister was called and will be here tomorrow around 3:00 pm to hopefully fix it up as the next guests are coming on Thursday.  Joan took some furniture to Sarah's but was having a camper brought back so asked if I would meet them. Just about then David sent the message that Israel's championship game was going to be played at 3:30 pm at Keller school. We were hoping the camper people would come before so we could go but that didn't happen. David sent the picture below:

Israel's team WON!

About 4:30 pm Joan realized they were coming tomorrow for the camper not today. Mark was out working on the car when I realized we could hear thunder. I took the golf cart up to put Madiera and her colt in the stalls but by the time I got up to the barn the rain started. I got them in before the hard rain started and ended up staying in the barn until it slowed way down. The rain came pounding down, slamming hard on the metal roof so loud it sounded like hail but it wasn't. 

Driving Lessons

 We were both up early. Madiera had finished both of her water buckets during the night so the water buckets were filled first thing. She drank a little out of one bucket but really wasn't thirsty so more than likely had just finished them. Both were topped off and another wheel barrow load of hay brought in. Her stall wasn't too hard to clean. I took the picture below before heading back to the house.

He is doing well. Mark and I left at 8:40 am to drive to Morton and pick up Nancy for church.  She was very happy to see us and ready to go. Church was amazing. Craig Stickling had the morning message and it was a Memorial message like I've never heard before speaking on David and Goliath. Click HERE to watch that.  David had the afternoon message and this was another one of those messages that needs to be listened to more than once. Click HERE to watch that. After church we drove to Sam's club to order 4 pizzas for our Sunday dinner tonight and also picked up water softening salt as we were out of that. When we got home and after changing out of my Sunday clothes I went up to the barn to take Madiera and her colt out to the outdoor arena for the first time. 

He got a chance to learn to use those long legs. Below is his first canter.

They were put back in the stall after it was cleaned and refilled with water and hay. After washing up the food was taken to the barn and the pizza kept warm until the kids arrived. Taunya was a little late but had a wonderful excuse. Addyson drove all the way here safely. Amazing that we now have a grand daughter old enough to drive. Below are a few pictures of before dinner.

After dinner we all headed out to the playground or the lake.

As Addyson is now driving the 'real' car it was time to teach 13 year old Jack how to drive the golf cart. Below is his driving lesson.

The horses were all curious about the new driver.

When Jack got done Rhoda decided she needed to teach Jace how to drive too. Below is Jace's first driving lesson.

Taunya now has THREE drivers!  The boys did great. We were sitting at the playground after the lessons visiting when Zeke decided he needed to get down and dirty by putting his head in the sand.

What IS it with little boys?

Below are Ben and Taunya's boys playing volleyball. 

Rhoda and Lee took Nancy home tonight. Rhoda sent the video below and we can't help but laugh with her. 

As tomorrow is a holiday no one was in a hurry to leave. After we left the next group arrived to play pickleball. They have both courts going strong. The pickleball players were some of the same volleyball players earlier. I can remember those days of playing all afternoon, evening and late into the night but those days are long gone. Now it is really amazing if we stay up until 10:00 pm. 

Camping

 Right after Madiera's early morning foaling of her colt I got a message from the guests in the foaling apartment asking for some medicine. I took up what I had but it wasn't what she needed. Thankfully I could send one of the room mates to Kroger to buy what she needed. Lea was teased and she is still saying no.  Madiera's stall was cleaned, 2 buckets of water filled and a wheel barrow full of hay put in before I left to pick up mom. We stopped at Smithville church where a man was making kettle corn. We bought a bag to take with us and the man gave me a new Testament. When I explained I was a believer and have plenty of Bibles, he told me to take it anyway and give it to someone then said, "I'm a Gideon."  My immediate response was, "I'm a Berean and give out Bibles too, we are on the same team." Today we went to Middle Grove to join the campers who stayed last night. Ruth, Joan and Diane.  Spark and Rhonda came out today as did their daughter Kari and her family and Jacob and his family. Then Phil and Anna came, Tim Meister came with his boys and by the time all of us were there that quiet peaceful campsite became crowded. 

Ruth gave mom her antigravity chair for the afternoon. Mom was comfortable and Ruth's dog enjoyed laying at her feet which gave mom a leg rest.

Fishing was great. Everyone that fished caught fish. 

Charlie showed me his cast and there was Taegan's name on it. They are in the same class at school.

Tim was helping Spark with the commode in his camper.

Tim and Spark got the solar panel tracking with the sun. It was nice to have electricity to plug in our phones.

Joan even had her motorhome plugged in to that. Joan cooked mom and I fish for lunch. She caught the fish this morning, cleaned it and cooked it over the fire in butter with a little garlic, salt and pepper. It was delicious.

Ruth found a tick on her dog so had Diane check her hair too.

To see the rest of the pictures from Middle Grove click HERE.

Dancer was taken to Pablo's covered then Mika and Dancer were brought to Middle Grove. Below Mike and Berlica are crossing the lake on Mika and Dancer.

Dancer is Berlica's new favorite horse. She really did wonderful on the trails and water crossings.

Below is a short video of just a bit of the group camping at Middle Grove.

Mom and I left at suppertime, called in an order to Bees then picked it up on the way home and ate with Karin and Mark at mom's house. The food was a little disappointing but we were hungry enough we gulped it down. I stopped at the barn on the way back to the house to start cleaning it except it was still occupied. I was sure they had only booked for one night so checked and yes that had only booked for one night and were supposed to leave by 10:00 am. I was able to reach the airbnb renter, he had made a mistake when booking only 1 night, he needed 2. He was able to book it for tonight but it took at least an hour on the phone talking to airbnb support to get that accomplished.  My guests in the foaling apartment were thrilled to see Madiera's new colt. They were able to feel that new born baby coat and feed the mom carrots. Mark needed help getting the bush hog mower on the small Kubota. Between the 2 of us we got that on. Why is that job so hard?  Really some smart person should figure out a quick connect for the power take off and patent it. I know we would be glad to buy it. Madiera's stall was cleaned for the night, two water buckets filled,  more hay dumped and the colt handled. His cord is nice and dry. He really is doing great and I am thankful. 

Madiera's Colt by Valiant

We are thrilled to announce the birth of this big stocky Warlander colt born early this morning. His dam is our purebred Andalusian mare Madiera and his sire is our Friesian stallion Valiant. This colt will be TALL. 

Below is a short video of him nursing. 

We are so thankful for a safe birth and a healthy foal.

Jewel's

 We woke up to storm warnings but the rain held off. Lily and her colt were let out to graze in the big field. The grass is almost as tall as the colt.

Lily went up to greet the other mares while the colt came to check out the golf cart.

It was cool out and they were brought to the outdoor arena so I could get a video of the colt. He will be 3 months old in a week.

They were left there while I did a quick sweep of the foaling apartment for the airbnb guests coming in today. As I still had 10 minutes before the walk started I drove the golf cart over to the barn and put all the chairs down for the guests coming in for that facility. When I walked out of the barn there was a group of walkers just waiting. Joan shared that she was going to try to get the bees out of the fallen log and if successful of getting the queen in the bee box the others would follow. Then she could harvest the honey. She is not going to keep these bees but give them to Craig and Jackie as she only wants 2 hives. I was busy today so didn't hear if she was successful or not. Mark got a lot of weed whacking done this morning. Mike came over to start on the plumbing box for the paddocks and foaling apartment.

He ran into a problem with the size of the pipes and had to go into town to buy more supplies. When he got back he was able to replace all of the bad parts with new parts.

By 1:00 pm we had water back in the foaling apartment and not too much longer water to each paddock. Each now has a convenient shut off so if we get a leak we don't have to shut off all of the waterers.

When we came inside there was a sparrow in the wood burner. He was pecking on the window but when I opened the wood burner door he would not fly out. Instead he stood there watching then finally jumped down.

He flew into the laundry area, I just left the door opened then went back out to work. When we came back inside the sparrow was gone so he must have figured out on his own to fly out of the door.  Pablo sent a message asking us to bring Dancer by 4:00 pm today. Mike and Diane were on their way to a hardware store but turned around and headed back home. I grabbed a lead rope and brought Dancer over to tease. She is still in. She loaded up well and Mike and Diane were on their way by 3:45 pm. It was another successful cover but Mike got kicked in the arm by the stallion. Not bad enough to do any damage it was a glancing blow. Our stallions are well behaved but not all are like ours. Pablo wants to get one more cover on her. Another storm came through this evening. On the walk Joan, Ruth and Diane all made plans to go camping at Middle Grove tonight. I'm not sure if the weather changed their minds on going. All of the guests have arrived. The foaling apartment guests are here for a wedding but wanted a tour of the place and wanted to meet the horses. Some of the barn guests came around 2:00pm unloaded then left and another car load came at 3:30pm and then left. They all came back around 8:00pm but were just happy to enjoy the building after spending the day in Peoria. We have someone wanting Jewel's foal and will put down a deposit as soon as the foal is safely born and healthy.  Both Jewel and Madiera's udder were checked this evening. Madiera's is getting tight but no waxing. Jewel is a little fuller. We still have time.

Dancer Covered

 We had a really cool morning, only 54 degrees. The horses loved that. They handle the cold much better than the heat. Lily and her colt were turned out early before teasing mares. 

Our walk was pleasant, it warmed up with the sun and no coats or sweat shirts were needed. After the walk and after breakfast I went out to work on the campsite. I had someone book it through hipcamp and they will be coming in June. My first job was to open the big back doors open of the indoor arena.

One side opened easily but the other side I had to dig out.

Once that was dug out and would open I got the skid steer and moved some gravel bringing a load over from the other barn. By the time I was finished I was happy with how it looked. 

After that was finished Mark and I went to work on the East and South side of Evan's paddock. Evan was very curious and kept Mark company checking all of his work.

Mark brought mom's Kubota over with the bush hog attached so I could start mowing.

He then finished Evan's paddock by himself as I was no longer needed to hold boards. The mowing went well for both of Evan's pastures.

When I started on the mare pasture not so well. I had 4 rounds done when the back wheel of the mower fell off. Mark had left to get diesel fuel to fill the Kubota and when he got back came down to the pasture to put the wheel back on. This job needed two people, one to use the hydraulic lift on the Kubota to lift the mower and the other to position the wheel under in the right spot. Once that was done I drove it back to mom's shed and parked it so Mark could get a new pin to hold it on. 

Below he is taking the golf cart with the diesel to fill the Kubota.

It was getting late so we quit outside work for the day. We ate an early dinner as we skipped lunch. I would say we had earlybirds but really Mark grilled hamburgers for our dinner. At 4:30 pm we both went up to the barn to help load Dancer. Mike was taking her to Pablo's to be bred to his Friesian stallion. We followed just in case things got complicated. Mike had strict orders to be home by 5:45 pm so he and Diane could attend Irelyn's graduation in Washington IL and just in case things didn't go well, he could take our car back and we would drive Dancer back in the truck and trailer. Pablo was waiting for us when we arrived.

Dancer was tied in their arena.

Pablo brought his stallion out.

Below the stallion is checking out Dancer.

All went well. Pablo would like us to bring her back tomorrow night at the same time.

Pablo had a two month old colt on the property from this stallion so of course we needed to go admire him.

He was sweet and really nice. He is already sold. We left then for home and easily made it before the 5:45 pm deadline. It was a beautiful day to work outside and both Mark and I feel like we got a lot accomplished.