Little Red House Barn

It only took two weeks - I can't believe a couple of old folks can get something finished that fast, and, I use the term "couple" quite loosely.  I really only did enough to be able to claim that I actually helped.  I did a few helpful things like holding boards when Bill was putting up the rafters, holding boards when he was putting on the barge rafters, holding boards when he was nailing on the fence rails.  You get the picture - I'm REALLY GOOD at holding boards. 

The other stuff, I'm more of an "oral" builder - I can talk a good story but actually doing it - not so much!!  BUT, my husband seems to think that my help as "invaluable" so that works for me.  Oh, yes, and I did put the blue tape around the little windows in the feed room door so that he wouldn't slop paint all over the glass.

So, now my Pretty Girl has a place to eat and get in out of the weather.  Unfortunately, her very FIRST introduction to her new stall was - go in, find food, get bit by fire ants, come out, stomp a bit, go back in, try another mouthful, get bit some more.  Man!!! This is the pits!!!!  I mean, the bits!!!!!  Unbeknowingly, my frugal husband decided to use some mulch material he'd had piled in the back yard for bedding.  I had become the new home of a colony of fire ants, and they DID NOT appreciate a horse tromping around on their new digs.  But after a liberal dousing of bug spray - the bedding and the horse, the fire ants are no more.  Just to be on the safe side, said husband cleared out all of the mulch and substituted pine shavings that come in a nice sterile package down at C.J.'s.  Pretty Girl seems to have forgotten all about the ants because the stall is working out just fine and it almost looks like she may have slept in it last night.

So, the little red barn is all finished.  The feed room lacks a few shelves, and moving the stuff in there, but for all practical purposes, we will consider this project "a wrap"!

Whatta Week and it's only Thursday!!

As you can tell - this blog was written a couple years ago now.  I actually started it, and then never  got it posted.  I was hoping it would stay in the proper sequence seeing that I started writing it way back when, but, alas, it didn't so just bear in mind, this was written back first part of June in 2010.  

Happy Memorial Day - a little late, but still in the proper week.  Before I get started, let me just say that I am getting VERY tired of dial-up internet service. Now, I know that I should be thankful that we have any internet service at all considering the rural area we live in, BUT, we DO and we have been promised high speed internet for the past 2 1/2 years now.  YEARS, mind you, not months, Years!!!  The towers are up, the guts are being installed, but we've been hearing that for at least a year and a half, so my question is::  Where the heck is our high speed service?  Can someone -- anyone tell us when it will be available.  At least, that would give us something to go on.  Two months ago I was told by the office that stuff was being installed at that time but it would probably be 2 or 3 months yet.  THAT was 2 or 3 months ago.  WHERE IS IT????

Of course, I realize that those of you reading the above can't do a blooming thing about it, but somehow I feel better just getting that off my chest.
Now, for the "whatta week" stuff.

I started out Monday (Memorial Day) preparing for the colonoscopy on Tuesday that I have been trying to avoid for the past 10 years or so.  I finally convinced myself that having the test would probably be a good thing (smile) so there I was Monday drinking a gallon of GoLytely.  Doesn't the name just get you?  Give me a break - GoLytely.  Hardly!!!!  After the first 30 - 45 minutes of drinking that stuff, you are doing anything but going lytely.  Soooooooooo, I got the process started.  Just prior to the first siege, I thought to myself, "you know, it would probably be really smart to wear something a little protective, just in case this starts with a "bang" and getting to the bathroom is not an option at that time."  So, I went and put on one of Ma's big old panty Depends that she wore some when she was living here.  And, sure enough, about 15 minutes after THAT wise decision, the show was on the road - so to speak.  Actually, the show was in the Depends, but you get the picture.  So, after spending the next 45 minutes to an hour holed up in the restroom, drinking more GoLytely to continue the process, I decided that if I continued wearing a Depends, I could probably navigate to the kitchen and back and not have an "accident".  So, that's what I did the rest of the afternoon.  I felt like a "big old person in a diaper" but it worked.  As the flushing continued, the Depends did its job and I stayed high and dry.  What a deal.  I was sitting at the computer drinking GoLytely, and getting rid of it all at the same time.  About two glasses was all that little panty could hold, so "off with the old and on with the new".  Think I went through 5 or 6 of the things, but it sure beat the heck out of sitting in the bathroom for 4 hours.  And, that's really your only choice unless you want to have major cleanup duty when all is finished.

Believe me, the actual test was NOTHING like the warm-up.  They put me to sleep, and before I had time to wonder when they were going to get started, I was waking up in recovery - all finished.  That was definitely the easy part.  The joy of it all is I get to do it again in three years.  Yippity-do!!!

So much for that.  THAT was the beginning of my week.  Then, Wednesday, Bill went to see the folks who bought my Blaze last fall as we are selling our remaining two horses and thougtht they might be interested.  When he got there, the man told him that he'd had to put Blaze down.  He was playing with the other horse and got his leg tangled up in a corral panel.  Broke the leg and tore up ligaments and muscles and everything.  I felt so bad, and felt bad for the owner as well.  He was about in tears telling Bill about it.  He really loved that horse about as much as I did, I guess.  Sure was sad to hear that.
Here's my best picture of that pretty fella.

AND, today, we've got someone coming to get the last two horses.  Bill just doesn't trust Shadow enough to be comfortable riding her, and so if he doesn't ride, I don't either.  Much as we like both the horses, they just cost too much to keep and feed and shoe and worm and etc. when you aren't riding anymore.  I wish we'd have never gotten them when we were out of horses before, but this is the last time we'll go through this.  I can't take HAVING to get rid of them.  I really was all right selling Blaze, but I don't really want to sell Domino.  I haven't had enough riding time with him.  But, that's the way it goes sometimes.

This was my Domino.  He was really beautiful and I think we
would have done well together, but, alas, he had a foot problem
and ended up limping much of the time.  The vet said he'd probably work OK for a kid to ride but not a grownup - at least not much.  Never work for trail riding.  So, he's gone,

Now, perhaps, I'll actually get this posted!!!

Horses

Here's another blog that I started about 2 years ago, and apparently never finished.  So, read it with summer 2010 in mind.  :)

All gone!  No more horses!  No more nuzzling noses looking for treats!  No more horsey smell greeting us when we go to the barn.  No more manure to spread.  No more flies to deal with.  No more rides.  No more sore butts.  No more saddling, unsaddling, brushing, currying, shoeing, worming, feeding.  No more four-legged friends greeting you with excited whinnies when you FINALLY get there to feed them.  Yep!  The last two horses are gone.
Now that I read this, it's kinda sad.  It does look pretty empty down in the pasture when we go there to fish, but it was time.  We found them a good home - they were bought together, and I think they'll be happy where they went.  So, the barn stands empty, the grass keeps growing in the pasture, and our season of horse ownership has come to an end.  I almost wish someone had a horse or two we could board for them just to have them down there again.  :)

Other than that - it's been a hot bugger of a summer so far, and I'm prone to stay indoors most of the time if at all possible. I do get out in the garden to pick squash and peppers and lettuce, etc. but try to do that in a hurry-up-and-get-back-in-the-AC fashion.  The only time I want to really deal with the heat is fishing.  Or, swimming would be good, but haven't gone any around here.  I guess we really need to find a good swimming hole someplace close.  I had such a good time when our kids rented a houseboat on Lake Ouachita a couple years ago.  I could have stayed there the whole week with them instead of just the one day.  The water was like bath water, and I really hated to get out of it.  What a blast flying down the slide and splooshing into that beautiful, clean, deep, warm water.  Do you think I liked it???  Oh YEAH!!!!!!

Cookie's fixing to get a bath today as soon as my one piano student gets here and we finish her lesson.  They should have been here already but guess they are on the way.  In fact I hear them now so will finish this later.

And, I now realize that I never did "finish this later" so I'm just going to finish it now and post!

I'm finished!!!!!!  LOL

Togetherness!!

Bill and I will be married 37 years next Saturday.  Hard to believe, I know, but it's the truth.  We got married one week after my birthday in 1975.  And, my Dad thought we'd never last.  Actually the day that I brought Bill home to meet the folks, Daddy had gone to town to get fortified with a couple of beers before the "big meet"! 
 Guess he was really concerned with what I had brought home to the farm.

Anyway, THAT'S not what this is really about.  We were talking about the new little horse barn tonight at supper, and though he's doing the lion's share, no, make that elephant's share of the work, I did manage to get my hot little hands on a few boards, so that I can actually say, "I-eee haelped!"    Sometimes, just one other pair of hands makes all the difference, sooooo, that's where I come in!!! 

I said something tonight like, "You know, we've done a lot of projects together in the 37 years we've been married."  Some good, some not so good. BUT, the one that we always both think of when we're reminiscing about those projects is the time we brought the Franklin cast iron stove up the back stairs of the store when we were living above it.  Now, that stove was one heavy piece of work.  Bill chained it to a sled he'd built out of 2 x 4s.  Kind of a skid.  THEN, he attached a heavy wire cable to the front of the skid.  Brought the cable up the steps, over the porch floor and back down to the trailer hitch on our '75 Monte Carlo. 

AND, then the fun began.  Yours truly was driving the Monte Carlo while the big man was going to try to keep the stove upright.  No small task when you are trying to drag a stove up steep staircase.  All the while praying that the cable didn't snap, I started sloooooowwwwllllyyy, so very sllllloooooowwwwlllly pull that Franklin Stove that held 24" wood up the stairs. 

God was with us.  The cable didn't snap, the stove didn't tip over and fall on Bill, and I didn't drive the car through the south fence even though that was looking like a distinct possibility.  AND, we got the stove into the upstairs living room.  AND, then, after all that drama, we probably only used it once or twice, because it flat out cooked us out of the area.  Didn't know it could put out that much heat!!!  

Why we didn't have camcorders and digital cameras back then I don't know.  This definitely was movie worthy, but, alas, all we have are the memories and the re-tellings.  And I believe the story gets better each time.  :)

More next time.

Another Year Gone

How does this happen?  It seems like every time I get inspired to post a blog, I look at the last one and a year + or - has slipped by.  I don't know where it went.  It was here not that long ago, and, now it's gone.

Many things have happened this year I guess.  More probably in the last 4 weeks, but lots of good stuff nonetheless.  For starters, my 73, almost 74, year old husband worked on a cattle ranch most of last summer building fences, clearing stuff, putting up stuff, feeding cows, doing the hay thing, etc.  Every night he came home with not a dry thread of cloth on his body.  He lost weight, was getting pretty thin-looking, but like he said, "If I was ever gonna die from a heart attack, I think I would have already done it!"  Guess he's a pretty tough old buzzard for sure.

Then we had a wonderful visit with our daughter and her husband when they came up last fall.  Been a while since they'd been here, so it was so good to see them.  They motorcycled up one weekend, and then came again in a vehicle.  Easier to carry stuff that way and a granddaughter and her boyfriend came along so that made the visit extra special.

Then, if that wasn't enough, my nephew and his family from Wisconsin came down the week after Christmas for several days.  What a great time we had, and I think they did too.  We made music, played on the pond, and just had a lot of fun.

Here's a picture of the kids in the Pedalo on the pond.  They sure had a blast!!

And, now we've got horses again.  We bought one for me to ride - a beautiful boy.  I named him Chance because I kinda figured he was my "last chance" to ride again.  I've been NOT ready for a couple years now, but somehow the "horse-bug" has bitten me yet again.  HOWEVER, my last Chance turned out to NOT be the horse for me.  After a friend who can ride anything she gets on, and our granddaughter, Lacie, rode him, I was warned in no uncertain terms to "never get on that horse.  Never, EVER!!!!"  Too much horse for me.  And, I tended to agree.  He's a big fella - over 16 hands, and has a bit more spunk than I want to deal with.  I think Bill will be able to ride him, but "not I," said the duck! 

Chance and Bill - March 2012

Bill looks a lot more comfortable on Chance than I ever would.

So----------------- last week we bought my Pretty Girl.  We found her over at Big Cedar and I believe we are soul mates.  She is 15 years old, been there, done that, stands still, neck reins, stops, goes, and comes when I go toward her with a piece of apple or a treat.  Hey!  I'm not against a little bribery.  Whatever works.  :) 

Pretty Girl - April, 2012

This is my birthday present this year - a beautiful horse and brand new saddle.  What could be better.  As soon as she gets new shoes, we're heading for the trails.  LOL

So, that's what's been happening this year so far.  And, our poor little Cookie has a bladder infection, or kidney stones or something.  I feel so sorry for her.  She feels like she has to go potty ALL the time.  So, she's in panties with a pad for the time being.  Just because she has to go all the time, doesn't mean she's going to be going here in the house.  These little pads that Mom left in her dresser drawer have come in VERY handy.  Half a pad and little girl panties and Cookie is good to go.  And I mean that literally.

Cookie in her "panties"

So, perhaps I won't wait another year to write again.  I'm sure there will be many more horse-related stories coming so will try to do a bit better this year.