Weekend Plans

Tomorrow we have to go get "The Money Pit" from the other place she's been for the past month and bring her home. We will be putting her in a pen we made by breaking the round pen apart so she can share space next to Christopher's Roany pony. Her cut is healing but is much better. She still needs to be kept in a separate pen that is drier then the mud in the pasture for a while though.

Christopher may also be over some time this weekend for another ride. We will have to haul a bit of hay this weekend.  I also need to get over to the Home Depot and get some better soil for the raised bed gardens I'm going to add this year. 

I'm also hoping that the weather stays really nice for the weekend but I do think we have another storm floating in soon. Starting next week I will have more time for riding, gardening and even working on my knit and crochet projects because I finally quit my second job. No more 12 hour days 3 days out of the week. I liked the job helping teach people to learn to read and to learn to speak English, but the hours are a killer and I really didn't have much time to really work with the horses. For a while after Hobo's death I did loose interest in the horses temporarily, but with Dream Girl hitting three this year and ready to start riding, I've got a sudden and strong desire to start riding and specifically HER!  So I'm making time for the horses and for me again. 

more snow

Yep we got another snow storm I'm really sick of snow. There was a wreck  somewhere out near our house on I-40 and I was out playing with the camera taking weird photos of the lights. The second photo is looking back east from our house at a very LONG line of vehicles stuck on the interstate because of the wreck.

New Projects

This red shawl is worked in crochet. It's a simple double crochet the entire way, but the yarn itself makes the beautiful patterns in it. I've got it almost finished and I really like the way the yarn worked up for this one.

My current knitting project is a  lacy shawl. I had a couple different types of yarns that needed some thing else to make them look awesome.  I started with this verigated cotton yarn from Ironstone Yarns. It's an eye lash type yarn and it's not easy to crochet with so I decided to put it on the knifty knitter and combine it with

this yarn that I got in a box of yarns in an E-bay auction. 

 

And I found a really lacy pattern in this pattern book

and this is the result so far for the shawl. 

I'm really having fun with this knifty knitter loom. Much more fun then I'm having with the knitting needles. I'm about ready to get rid of all the knitting needles and just keep these knitting looms for anything I want to knit. I"m thinking about getting a very fine gauge loom so that I can learn to knit socks. I crocheted a pair of socks and they took forever with that tiny yarn and single crochet.

Today's the Day!

 

 

Christopher has been ready for a horse for a long time. Today  he got his first ride on his very own pony. 

 

First momma had to brush out Roany  and then test out how she was going to act for riding. 

 

Then on goes the helmet while momma is saddling Roany.

 

 

 

Mom is a bit nervous, but  Christopher got the hang of it really quick.

 

  

  

 

Then Uncle Keith brought out the toy cap pistol. He wants Christopher to be his riding partner at the mounted shooting events. Maybe one day if momma will let him he'll get to tag along.

Anyway that's been my morning here watching my nephew having fun on his new pony.

Annaology

Rules: YOU! Yes, you, reading this. You’re tagged. Now that you know more about me than you ever wanted to know, play the game, it’s fun! Let others know a little more about yourself, re post this as your name followed by “ology.”

FOODOLOGY:

What is your salad dressing of choice? Ranch

What is your favorite sit-down restaurant? Red Lobster

What is your favorite fast food restaurant? Hate Fast food

What food could you eat every day for two weeks and not get sick of? Apples

What are your pizza toppings of choice? Ham and Pineapple or Pepperoni, onions and mushrooms

How many televisions are in your house? 1

What color cell phone do you have? Green

BIOLOGY:

Are you right-handed or left-handed? Right.

Have you ever had anything removed from your body? Yes

What is the last heavy item you lifted?  Horse Feed

Have you ever been knocked unconscious? Yes

Have you ever fainted? No

BULLCRAPOLOGY:

If it were possible, would you want to know the day you were going to die? No.

If you could change your name, what would you change it to? Wouldn't change it I like my name.

How many pairs of flip flops/thongs do you own? None I hate those things

Last person you talked to? Keith

FAVORITOLOGY:

Season? Summer

Holiday? St. Patrick's Day

Day of the week? Friday

Month? July

Colour? Green

Drink? Tea

Alcoholic? Margarita

CURRENTOLOGY:

Missing someone? Yes

What are you listening to? Closing Ceramonies of the Olympics

What are you watching? Closing Ceramonies of the Olympics

Worrying about? Not much at the moment
What’s the last movie you saw? At the cinema - Seabiscuit. At home - Harry Potter- Order of the Phoenix

Do you smile often? Yea I think so

If you could change your eye color what would it be? Green's the perfect color so no need to change them.

What’s on your wish list for your birthday?

What are you watching? Closing Ceramonies of the Olympics

Worrying about? Not much at the moment
What’s the last movie you saw? At the cinema - Seabiscuit. At home - Harry Potter- Order of the Phoenix

Do you smile often? Yea I think so

If you could change your eye color what would it be? Green's the perfect color so no need to change them.

What’s on your wish list for your birthday? A greenhouse

Can you do a chin-up? Yes

Does the future make you more nervous or excited? Neither

Have you been in a car wreck? Yes, a bunch

Have you caused a car wreck? No

Do you have an accent? Nope

Last time you cried? Don't remember

Plans tonight? not much but work on my crochet

Have you ever felt like you hit rock bottom? No.

Name three things you bought yesterday? A car load of groceries and a new hair cut

 
Have you met someone who changed your life? Yes several people

For the better or worse? Better

How did you bring in the New Year? Went to sleep early and didn't do much

Would you go back in time if you were given the chance? I probably would, yes

What songs do you sing in the shower? Nothing

Have you held hands with someone today? No

Who was the last person you took a picture of? Don't remember the last time I took a photo of a human but the dog and the horses and the elk have all walked into my camera range.

Are most of the friends in your life new or old? Relatively new friends since my moving here 12 years ago.

Do you like pulpy orange juice? Yes! love pulpy juice

Last time you ate peanut butter and jelly? Never I don't like my peanut Butter with Jelly or jam. I eat peanut butter with honey or with Miracle whip.

 
What were you doing at 12 a.m. last night? Sleeping

What was the first thing you thought of when you woke up? Is it snowing again?

New addition sort of

My nephew Christopher is getting his first pony! I had a hand in getting it for him by telling my sister about this mare at the vet clinic that was up for sale for the cost of the vet bill. She was a bit dehydrated and had not had her feet trimmed in like 8 months and was basically a case of owner neglect. But she's not in excessively bad shape just needs a hoof trim and a few good groceries.

She's coming to stay at my house temporarily until my sisters friend gets a stall ready. I'm going to pick her up from the vet on Wednesday and bring her here, then next weekend Christopher and my sister are going to try and come over for a short ride.

Topper Update

Well as much as I complain about " The Money Pit" being accident prone, she's never done something like this!!

 

This horse is named Amigo and he's still alive and being treated for his injuries. The Equestrian Vagabond  posted all about Amigo's accident and his struggles to recover. His owner has gone to great expenses to help this brave horse survive.  If you have a desire to donate a bit to help pay his vet bills, The Equestrian Vagabond  has all the details in the post. 

I don't think I'll complain to much about Topper's injuries as much any more.. And on that note, her latest injury is healing up very well. If it was not so muddy and snowy here this week, I'd almost be ready to take off the bandage and let it finish healing on it's own. But even in her  new location, they have quite a bit of mud and muck and it shouldn't be that dirty yet.  So at least she's doing very well. 

The rest of the horses are shedding like it's already summer. Just touching Baby Girl results in large clumps of loose hair. We still have up to a foot of snow on the ground and these critters are dropping hair like it's hot outside. 

Another Snow day

Today has been a horrible blustery snow day, so I've been working on knit and crochet projects. I finally found a neat hat pattern to  make a matching hat for the scarf I made earlier on the Knifty Knitter. So now I have a matching set. The pattern in the hat does not show up as well with this fluffy yarn, but it's enough to show a little and make a nice hat.

I also finished crocheting a new hat for myself. I really like that little brim because it works so well to keep the rain and snow off my glasses. I've been wearing it when I go out in the snow to re-wrap Topper's  leg. She is doing much better and that wound should heal up well.

I also finished off a crochet dish cloth. This is a really pretty yarn called Gumdrops from Peaches and Cream. I picked it up on sale at the Wal-Mart for .75 cents per skein. There were just a few skeins on sale and in this color there were only two available. I got both and I'll be making a matching pot holder to go along with the dish cloth.

I also finished off a few of the other projects I was working on in my last post about my crochet.  The pink and purple triangle shawl is finished and will be the right size for a young girl.

I also made a really nice stew today. It was a quick, easy and hearty meal for such a nasty day.  I added in dehydrated sweet peas from last summers garden along with an onion, a can of mushrooms, a couple russet potatos, a bag of frozen carrots and one sweet potato, one can of beef broth and two cans of water and the mushroom can full of lentils. With all that stuff I did add a tiny bit of beef but not much as I'm trying to get Keith to eat healthier without so much meat.

A horse turd by any other name is still a horse turd

You may have heard people celebrating lately that NAIS (National Animal ID System) has been dropped by the USDA.  People are happy that there will not be an NAIS System. Unfortunately all the USDA did was change the name to Animal Disease Traceablity Network (ADTN). The USDA states that they have put to much tax payer money into the program to scrap it completely so they are renaming it and keep going on in the same manner. They spent 142 Million dollars on a program that was hated and opposed by horse owners and livestock ranchers all across the country. They can't let that money go to waste even though the money they wasted was on a totally unconstitutional program that violated MULTIPLE constitutional rights of US citizens. 

As an article in the Texas Farm Bureau shows here they intend to keep portions of the old NAIS. 

"Using some of the elements from the existing NAIS system is crucial, USDA reported in its question and answer compilation about the new traceability program.

"Considering the significant investment of taxpayer money, it would be irresponsible to completely disregard all elements of NAIS," Edgar said."

 

They continue to force register individuals into the programs. All horse owners who got coggins test for your horse within the last year were AUTOMATICALLY registered into NAIS maybe even with out your knowledge or approval.  Remember NAIS was a VOLUNTARY program and yet individuals have been force registered for years. The State of Idaho force registered all ranchers and cattlemen who renewed their brand applications.

Horse owners don't think you will get out of this new program. The new approach is directed at interstate commerce. That means if you sell a horse across the state lines you would be required to be linked into the new system. There is also speculation that interstate commerce could be interpreted as horse shows, horse racing, and competitions designed to increase the value of your horse for breeding or sales purposes. That means any competitions that you enter outside of your home state could lead to you being enrolled in the new ADTN. If you own a stallion and ship semen for breeding you are conducting interstate commerce and as such could be subjected to the new ADTN. 

For more information on the new program see the following links

USDA 

Medical News 

Environment News 

The Horse

Pig Progress 

California Farm Bureau 

Food Safety News

A neat giveaway! and other news

Adventures in Self Reliance Blog has a neat give away for a fire starter. I love these kinds of things because I'm out in the nearby National Forest a lot on my rides. These fire starters are great to have in case you get stuck or a little off course and need to stay out over night. They are easier to carry then matches and you don't have to worry about a fire starter getting wet like the matches.

Adventures Blog is full of other great articles and information so drop by over there and check it out.

In other news, Topper's cut is doing well. I've ordered some special wraps for her and I'm getting a hoof boot to cover the whole deal. Still trying to keep the wound clean and dry so that it doesn't get infected. 

It appears that I've so far successfully been able to keep what ever critter away from the chicken pen. I haven't had another dead chicken since Saturday. 

I'm FINALLY able to see bare dirt!!!! We still have a lot of snow, but I see bare ground and I'm really happy about that. Unfortunately the weeks weather forecast includes another chance for snow this weekend. GRRR!!! I really can't wait for spring so I can start working in the garden. I still have almost a foot of snow in the garden, so I'm only still in the planning stages for the year.