tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-44887542030459408582024-03-20T05:17:52.819-05:00D²C RanchThe Chronicles of a girl who's "gone country, back to her roots."d2cmomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12287137241607094194noreply@blogger.comBlogger86125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4488754203045940858.post-31221562314933725702011-02-27T17:55:00.004-06:002011-02-28T19:58:06.024-06:00Women's Boerne Ranch Ride<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhK_ZEPcosib4NTXQBumPyQc_CRPMIj7b0Jbr6sKEQwct3aIR6h6bbgp53_ev12ATp3akWKOtC0Rl_1tvfaoV-u3nDeZBgxCmFsRL4SXaT5BqPugszZown2-59_H7X3HCj8I6WlDIUCiNQ/s1600/boerne+gate.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhK_ZEPcosib4NTXQBumPyQc_CRPMIj7b0Jbr6sKEQwct3aIR6h6bbgp53_ev12ATp3akWKOtC0Rl_1tvfaoV-u3nDeZBgxCmFsRL4SXaT5BqPugszZown2-59_H7X3HCj8I6WlDIUCiNQ/s320/boerne+gate.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5578924900656103650" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:lucida grande;">Ladies, I am really excited and ready to get to Boerne to ride in "Equestrian Fantasy Land." Thank you for the internet detour to get more information. Now I can post as much as I want.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:lucida grande;">Please go </span><a style="font-family: lucida grande;" href="http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&source=s_d&saddr=Temple,+TX&daddr=32005+Interstate+10+West,+Boerne,+TX+78006&hl=en&geocode=FXqF2gEdwqoy-imlkhSXb0JFhjFkyzaZBi5MLw%3BFccRxgEdq8sd-g&gl=us&mra=ls&sll=29.757895,-98.710613&sspn=0.008308,0.013797&ie=UTF8&z=8">google maps. </a><span style="font-family:lucida grande;">This is a map to the nursery next door, but the driveway beside the nursery with the rock pillars and automated gate is the entrance to the ranch. When we get there, Kyla and I will tie balloons to the entrance.<br /><br /></span><br /></span><span style=";font-family:lucida grande;font-size:100%;" >You may spend a lot of time out camping with your horses, but here is what I have found necessary:<br /></span>Water and feed bins for your horses<br />Double the necessary feed<br />Horse gear (saddles, tack, etc)<br /><br />Fire starter logs (HEB Jumbo logs work best)<br />Toilet paper and paper towel (one roll each)<br />Paper plates, cups, plastic utensils<br />Trash bags and zip lock bags<br /><br />Blankets, bedding, air mattress, sleeping bags, etc<br />Towels and washrags<br />Warm weather/cold weather clothing<br />Long sleeve shirts for protection from the sun and brush<br />Warm weather/cold weather night clothes<br />House shoes<br />Sun screen, aloe, allergy and pain meds, first aid kit<br /><br />Breakfast and lunch to go<br />Water/drinks<br /><span style=";font-family:lucida grande;font-size:100%;" ><span style=";font-family:lucida grande;font-size:100%;" ><br />I wanted to talk with everyone today about meals and transportation, but I didn't get to visit with many of you. I wanted to see if everyone has a ride and if anyone has room for a 4-wheeler, or can take their 4-wheeler.</span><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style=";font-family:lucida grande;font-size:100%;" ><br /><br />Also, we are not planning on taking supper food with us from Bremond, but if you want to cook something special, feel free to take it or you can buy it there. We are 5 miles from HEB and Wal-Mart.</span><br /></span> </span>d2cmomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12287137241607094194noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4488754203045940858.post-74254197318422911322010-02-22T12:39:00.002-06:002010-02-22T13:44:21.176-06:00Extreme Cowboy Racethis winter has been crazy! We've had So much rain that riding has been difficult. About the time I get my horse together on a beautiful day, The ground's too swampy to ride or something comes up.<br /><br />So to Summarize the winter so far, We got rid of the donkey, all the goats are gone, and the cat died. We hare a New dog (probably why the cat's dead). She's a 1 yr old great dane. In exchange for the donkey, I got 3 saddles. One fits my daughter, one is busted, and the other fits me mostly. I sent it to a saddle shop to get the length of the stirrup fender fixed. I have been doing some riding with a friend. She's encouraging me to expand my riding horizons. I am now trotting on a regular basis and cantering some. I don't carter a lot because I seem to lose my stirrups when I try. My church friends have diagnosed the problem. The stirrups are too low. I can't shorten them because they are as short as they will go. That's why the new saddle is at the shop.<br /><br /> The Extreme Cowboy Race was hosted by my church. My friend designed it and several of the church members helped build the course. It was a pretty good course. we had a creek crossing , natural log jumps, a bridge, moguls, and a reining pattern in the arena. There was also a cowboy curtain and the pony to put in the pen. I helped work the event Saturday (I had to handoff the pony) and after the event, we played. I went through the course, convincing Koda to cross the creek, climb up and over the bridge, and doing all the other obstacles.<br /><br /> Sunday, someone sponsored me to compete in the Novice event. I competed against 7 other people, 3 ranch hands, a ranchers daughter, o drill team member, an experienced trail rider and a 7 yr old with his riding instructor walking beside him. I would say he was the only other true novice. I placed 8th out of 8. I tried hard and had fun. I know there's a lot I still need to learn, but my confidence and abilities have improved so much. I was dumbfounded with how far we've Come. Last year, I would have taken as much time loading the horse in the trader as I did running (trotting) the whole course.I don't think I could have gotten her through the cowboy curtain last year. I have an amazing horse, and she'll be perfect when I learn how to ride. :)d2cmomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12287137241607094194noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4488754203045940858.post-56424796548850124302009-12-13T18:37:00.003-06:002009-12-13T19:52:31.641-06:00The STINKerOur house stinks. Man does it stink. Here's why (and I have to back up and give you a little history).<br /><br />The weekend before Thanksgiving, my in-laws were in town and we discovered a stray dog. It's a blue Australian cattle dog and my father-in-law fed it. It never left. He's really a happy go-lucky dog. He's always excited to see us, jumping up and down, tail-waggin' kinda happy. We set up a dog bed in our garage (which cannot be closed - the door's busted). He's free to come and go, preferably go.<br /> So we're watching a Christmas movie this afternoon, around 3pm, and he starts barking. We ignored him a while, and soon realized that it was more than just boredom. Hubby got up and looked out the window and said something like "O crap, don't go outside." He stood there and watched, getting our (My kid's and my) curiosity up. We 'ran' to the window to see what was the matter. The dog was very concerned with something in the far corner of the garage. After a while, I saw a very large skunk! about 5 feet from the door. The dog decided to remind it that it was leaving. The skunk said "bite me" and lifted its tail to give him access. Uggghh! Did you know that skunk spray is yellowish-green. It went outside the garage and my husband, not thinking, <span style="font-style: italic;">opened the door </span>and went out after it. Luckily, we have a side door out of the garage that he could go through to go shoot the skunk. The smell swarmed into the house. Uggghhhh!<br /><br />Hubby shot it (we have a great suspicion that he's rabid) and I went out with my gun to help. Hubby's gun has a bad set of sights. I got 3 shots out. The 1st shot missed. I hit him with my second. I thought he would be dead (hubby hit him a few times also) but he was still getting up, so I shot a 3rd time. He quit moving. <br /><br />We tried to call the game warden. You know they don't answer on Sundays? Then the sheriff. The sheriff's deputy called back and said in essence, that he wanted nothing to do with this stinky mess. I thought that the county was supposed to be notified of rabid creatures. We buried him about a foot from where he died. <br /><br />After burying him, we went for a walk in the pasture. It was getting dark so we weren't going far. We got to the pond pasture and stopped. The rabid skunk isn't the only new varmint to our property. We've lived here for almost 4 years and haven't seen even one little piggy. There is a large section of our pasture that has been shredded. In addition to their rooting around and tearing up several square yards, they have wallowed out a large deal of the pasture. The area torn up is larger than my house. Fortunately they can get under the fence and didn't bother tearing that up.<br /><br />I'm sorry I haven't been posting news about the ranch and my riding. There has been very little to talk about and I have been really busy with school. I'll tell you soon about my trail ride and saddle issues.d2cmomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12287137241607094194noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4488754203045940858.post-81208565621430534952009-09-23T20:41:00.002-05:002009-09-23T21:43:39.404-05:00Way, Completely, and Totally off topic!I just got an update on my sister and her doctor's visit. Thank you for praying for a resolution for this. God has allowed the doctors to find that Tanya has MS before the symptoms are too far along. The doctors were happy that they were able to catch it this early. Right now, they are planning to treat the MS symptoms with injections. These will not cure her or stop the disease but will slow the progression. We now have a hard road ahead. The doctors believe that even though she has caught the disease early, she will still eventually have to go on disability.<br /><br />This means that one day, Tanya will need to quit her job. Someone will need to take care of her. She is not married and has no prospects. She's in her 30's and my dad is in his 60's. If it takes 15 years for her disease to progress, I may be taking care of my dad and my sis at the same time.<br /><br /> In addition, this also now means that I have two immediate family members that have been diagnosed with MS. My mom was diagnosed when I was 1. She was 28. and she was 48 when she died. I am now 32 and my sister is 34. Since my mom had MS, I had a 1 in 40 chance of getting it. If my sis was a twin, I would have a 1 in 4 chance of getting it. She's not a twin, but I think my chances are now going to be between the two. My sis's doc said it isn't more than 1 in 40. <br /><br />I also am very concerned about my daughter. She now has 2 close blood relatives that have MS. <br /><br />I am not looking for sympathy. I am asking for people who pray to say a prayer now and then for my sis and for our family. I also just wanted to be able to verbalize this somewhere besides my family and torturing the poor souls at church about it.<br /><br />Back on to ranch business. I'm still trying to get rid of the donkey (anyone want it?). I'm still riding at least 1 time a week, usually on Sundays and/or Thursdays. We have finally had a good amount of rain. Our rain gauge has been full several times. I have not had to fill the horse tank lately. It has kept full from the rain. Of course, the horse now has a touch of thrush (but what horse in central Texas doesn't right now?) On the plus side, I went out to give her a carrot, and she RAN to the fence to visit with me. And, my kid's riding again. Every time I have ridden lately, so has she.d2cmomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12287137241607094194noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4488754203045940858.post-36600384501431120292009-08-27T22:28:00.002-05:002009-08-27T23:05:21.854-05:00Wow!<p class="mobile-photo"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyhYjy3fOcH6XCGOzLHTP8OUP7gj9zpauG7f7yfZrCYiX33FnzEtu-HX24bboG9q7ojgrpTa8KRDlts2fu4mBU83vRzDtQ_xpEv39iXIKkUVqSICaPsZQWxJ1DdZmR4qP_B2KN1s9P48A/s1600-h/IMAG0031-718232.jpg"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyhYjy3fOcH6XCGOzLHTP8OUP7gj9zpauG7f7yfZrCYiX33FnzEtu-HX24bboG9q7ojgrpTa8KRDlts2fu4mBU83vRzDtQ_xpEv39iXIKkUVqSICaPsZQWxJ1DdZmR4qP_B2KN1s9P48A/s320/IMAG0031-718232.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5374851430431171826" border="0" /></a></p><span style="font-weight: normal;font-family:Arial;font-size:10;" >First I want to ask, does anyone know what the stuff on my window in the picture is? I think I've seen it in a dream before, but that was a long time ago. Whatever it is left 1 mm of water in our fence measuring cup. Weird.<br /><br />Anyway, if you didn't notice by my lack of blog posts, school started. Between gone until 5:30 pm at the earliest, the kids band practice, our homework, and so on, i have not had time to ride or posts blogs. Not to mention, school's started so our home internet goes down!<br /><br />I'll try to catch up on everything this weekend.</span>d2cmomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12287137241607094194noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4488754203045940858.post-84130873194122452802009-08-18T21:24:00.002-05:002009-08-18T21:54:21.295-05:00Day 5...KindaI did say that Monday would cause an issue with riding. There it was. I predicted it. I left the house at 7 am-ish. We had all kinds of meetings with for the first day of teacher inservice. I got kind of concerned when they said that I had a math department meeting at 2, another one with a principal at 3, and another with our new "instructional coach" after the principal's meeting. They told us at 4 that the coach was in another meeting until 4 so she would be late - should be there about 4:10 or so. Understand that I have an hour drive, and my kid's in band until 7 and hubby's an hour another direction at an eye appointment at 6. The coach and algebra lead talked at us until 5:45 when I asked if we could continue the discussion tomorrow, that I HAD to go. When I got to the school to get my kid at almost 7, it started raining. I thought it might rain at my house 2 miles away, so I dodn't get the horse out. No such luck with the rain, and my chance to ride was gone.<br /><br />That was then. Today, I got home at 6 and called to Koda. She came to the fence! So I got her out and brushed her down. I let her graze in the front yard until it was time to get the kid. I tied her in the pasture and didn't really want to ride when I got back. I sucked it up and rode on though. I just rode down the road 1/2 mile and back. I didn't feel like arguing with the bullito (little bull). It was dark when I put her back in the pasture. I took the halter off and she started to walk away, but I grabbed her mane and she hung out a few minutes and let me scratch her all over.<br /><br />So my week of riding isn't going too well. I didn't get the ride on day 5, but I rode today. I guess if I ride on Wednesday and Thursday, I could maybe fudge the rules a little.<br /><br />Gotta go, have school work to do.<br />Enjoy your rides.d2cmomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12287137241607094194noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4488754203045940858.post-73407846693310503612009-08-16T22:57:00.004-05:002009-08-16T23:25:21.700-05:00Day 4Success! I rode before church today. The church's ranch rodeo team was practicing in the arena, so I went across the creekbed into the "obstacle course." There are trees and limbs down everywhere there, spooks - you know those scary vines that hang down, and dips and turns. Not to mention the deep creekbed that you have to cross to get there. It's a good 45 degree angle on one side and a little steeper on the other. Koda's doing great! No hesitation over the logs and trees, walked down the creek sides, and was relaxed enough to munch tall grass bits she could reach without stretching.<br /><br />At church, my hubby preached his first sermon. He is working towards getting a preaching license. <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCwWEHoIFLbkGlMrch7lh2Na9kdmgsM6HRY41EgY-ZlOzecqRbX5qlcQ50pR83iPWaXHcZC8griZGupsIjP6V5ESug53z7jfu9KpFgnIH0GDrY-r-_cHkzNcxuQI1fNShSQ32oRw8hVVE/s1600-h/1stMessage.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 261px; height: 352px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCwWEHoIFLbkGlMrch7lh2Na9kdmgsM6HRY41EgY-ZlOzecqRbX5qlcQ50pR83iPWaXHcZC8griZGupsIjP6V5ESug53z7jfu9KpFgnIH0GDrY-r-_cHkzNcxuQI1fNShSQ32oRw8hVVE/s320/1stMessage.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5370781833821724130" border="0" /></a>I am proud of him. His sermon was called <a href="http://commongroundcowboychurch.org/podgen/?p">"When you Pray..."</a> and is on the internet on our church's website. The church voted today to sponsor us in the licensing process.<br /><br />Because hubby was preaching, My dad and Hubby's parents came to town for the church service. They stayed after for dinner and then my kid and I left (we had an 'eat and run') for a back to school party at our church's sponsor church. There was a ton of activities for the kids and one of my best friends came from near San Antonio (a 2.5 hour drive) to bring her kid. Her's and mine went camp together and this was a 'reunion' for those who went. After the games, devotional, door prizes and dinner, the kids went swimming. We got home about 9:45.<br /><br />Now, it's off to bed. I have to (excuse my language:) work (sorry for that) tomorrow! Good night ya'll .d2cmomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12287137241607094194noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4488754203045940858.post-86569179541526326882009-08-15T22:24:00.005-05:002009-08-16T23:26:49.691-05:00Day 3 of 7Ok, so I am trying this week of rides again. I am on day 3. Thursday, I rode at Bible study. Yesterday, our church had a playday and I was on horse most of the evening. I did not participate in the events, but did mostly stay on her from about 6:30-9:30. Today, I saddled up and rode in the pasture a little, took a break for dinner, then rode down the road to the end of the pasture and back. I started at 7 pm and finished after sunset. <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBIxXyuelA23mY46GW9xIp-Q_GQEKkrmEt8z5v7YNKIJUkEZGSySR0sl2ryqcJKyUk3clMLEtuTUZ_4ipab0Qnnm27Gb2_iZ9om1eQT-ml3ROv2FV8tZdwpwzpqKSz7ZDTz-lsXBefIwQ/s1600-h/IMAG0027.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBIxXyuelA23mY46GW9xIp-Q_GQEKkrmEt8z5v7YNKIJUkEZGSySR0sl2ryqcJKyUk3clMLEtuTUZ_4ipab0Qnnm27Gb2_iZ9om1eQT-ml3ROv2FV8tZdwpwzpqKSz7ZDTz-lsXBefIwQ/s320/IMAG0027.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5370403921950565618" border="0" /></a>I have been doing various riding situations. This is good for Koda and me. Tomorrow, I am taking her and riding before church. That's a morning ride, where I have only been doing evening rides. I think I may have her go into the other field. The tricky part will be starting Monday. I begin the work year again. I will be gone from 7 am to at least 5 pm. At least the kids won't be back until next week.<br /><br />By the way. Update on the fish experiment. Both fish were alive and feisty yesterday. I can't say that they have made any improvement on the algae. A friend asked what I am feeding them. Hehe. I am feeding them algae. They have enough of that, I don't believe that I need to add to it.d2cmomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12287137241607094194noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4488754203045940858.post-5165113607611205982009-08-13T22:06:00.004-05:002009-08-14T00:54:59.444-05:00Oh what a ...<span style="font-size:180%;">MARE!</span> <br />Koda was all mare and trying to be alpha today. And I think she might have won in the feed pen, except that she didn't get any feed. I locked her out of the feed pen because she was being SO disrespectful to me. I loaded her up at 4:30 for the 7pm Bible study. I had a family meeting in town at a local hamburger joint before the Bible study, so I wanted to make sure that I was ready.<br />Anyway...Koda was in the trailer from 4:30 until about 7:15 and most of that time she was waiting impatiently in the trailer. She was kicking the snot out of the side of the trailer when we walked out of the hamburger joint. We had to make another stop by the school to pick up our kid from band. At the school, Koda was still agitated and was completely covered in sweat, so I let her loose in the big section of the trailer. That didn't work. Then I pulled her out and brushed her down, trying to calm her some. I think it worked a little.<br />When we got to the church she started prancing in half-circles where she was tied. She continued her attitude a little when I started to ride, then majorly disrespected me at the house. She was pushing past me and moving when I tried to get her back hoof. On the way back to the pasture she was trying to bowl over me and was in my personal bubble. Of course, I did have a scoop of feed in my hand. Since Koda kept getting in my space, I kept pushing her back. She finally got annoyed and ran in to the main part of the pasture. I locked her out of the feed pen so she can't get to that feed. I figure that if she's got the energy to have attitude, she doesn't need grain. She's not lacking in food.<br /><br />While at the Bible study, I noticed that there were some cattle roaming free on the open church pasture. I asked our arena team leader about it and he said that after the Bible study, he was going to pen them in the arena and load them in his trailer. He got distracted so us ladies decided to do it. So Kyla, Jolita, and I herded them in. I really enjoy doing this type of work with Koda and prefer it to the arena events. I would love to learn how to work cattle with Koda, and be able to put that knowledge to use. With no cattle of my own, and our leasee not "needing help", I don't get any practice doing that work.<br /><br />On the plus side, I made a beautiful cake today for a 12 yr old's birthday I modeled it off of this cake on the Wilton website. The girl told me she wanted flowers connected with an ivy. She wanted bright pink and deep blue and purple.<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaP4msRamhSG_7GNqYZV5E3b_hak0VoKSuwhUkukk75LhG_I6CqynuHgmYPBALhfpBlsfpeKyOMtuUL3Z1gtycQp503_gB0W8qth7MKk7j0ioS4lW4pOut99SA5xfX8Z03wwatnvel_II/s1600-h/katelyns+cake.jpeg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 237px; height: 237px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaP4msRamhSG_7GNqYZV5E3b_hak0VoKSuwhUkukk75LhG_I6CqynuHgmYPBALhfpBlsfpeKyOMtuUL3Z1gtycQp503_gB0W8qth7MKk7j0ioS4lW4pOut99SA5xfX8Z03wwatnvel_II/s320/katelyns+cake.jpeg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5369692348980399058" border="0" /></a>She got this cake:<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiW3jnmuKAc82vVFNqjj0GCYk6fY9L8o0VV0bNL9nvMnkjrKWrsSdDdia8Cq49hXdxNloE5yKdCAlLn9mywUyATlXkaVwHiLiabQxUHBoMAFOsKgjkj83jRWceiZT0zCM8mMIKuDYfewV0/s1600-h/IMAG0025.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 297px; height: 220px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiW3jnmuKAc82vVFNqjj0GCYk6fY9L8o0VV0bNL9nvMnkjrKWrsSdDdia8Cq49hXdxNloE5yKdCAlLn9mywUyATlXkaVwHiLiabQxUHBoMAFOsKgjkj83jRWceiZT0zCM8mMIKuDYfewV0/s320/IMAG0025.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5369692357701642466" border="0" /></a> She loved it and it was gone immediately.<br />Chop, chop, chomp, goodbye!d2cmomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12287137241607094194noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4488754203045940858.post-74286860838164742402009-08-09T19:45:00.004-05:002009-08-09T20:31:45.592-05:00Weekend happenin'sWe went to the Youth Rodeo hosted by our sponsor church. I was late getting home from my dad's house so we were late to the rodeo. It started at 7:30 and we didn't get there until around 8 or 8:30, just as the straight barrels were finishing. I think we completely missed the clover leaf barrels. They then had all the normal competitions for rodeos. We watched the straight poles first<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPZfR1S_U-bbXPzfAo2aTe0PF07Zq4TkNqppDkIqJeopAXgGXbo6vmsJ8yulWxt27XLByx9bULeSNi9NMt0fc4CQJbYqP1IMNnOSWY6fZMONlR4fPPenw3aAZTjIlOjfdaWYMVebvObi0/s1600-h/poles.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPZfR1S_U-bbXPzfAo2aTe0PF07Zq4TkNqppDkIqJeopAXgGXbo6vmsJ8yulWxt27XLByx9bULeSNi9NMt0fc4CQJbYqP1IMNnOSWY6fZMONlR4fPPenw3aAZTjIlOjfdaWYMVebvObi0/s320/poles.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5368135485927103538" border="0" /></a>The kids did well. I was proud of one girl who took her time and got her horsemanship and the pattern correctly instead of rushing and knocking poles over.<br /><br />After the poles was goat tying. The goats are tied in the arena and the kids ride in, flip the goat and tie two of the legs. I think I need to learn this so I can deal with our goats better.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgx6RkK7pVOGyQ30QAj0yS3_mVh4c6FHsDD3x1nMatDPPRb_MIZ2T8XOda4Wrp2ovM8G__a8bzXbzZskHmbD572rOjvHzbawOYSytcHAkoo4SaDdeXyF9cVbGKESmbyrPlfIv02idhAN0/s1600-h/goat+tying.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 315px; height: 236px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgx6RkK7pVOGyQ30QAj0yS3_mVh4c6FHsDD3x1nMatDPPRb_MIZ2T8XOda4Wrp2ovM8G__a8bzXbzZskHmbD572rOjvHzbawOYSytcHAkoo4SaDdeXyF9cVbGKESmbyrPlfIv02idhAN0/s320/goat+tying.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5368135488068517730" border="0" /></a><br />This gentleman was the time flagger. He parked his horse there, and never once looked in the stands. Just stared down the fenceline at the end of the arena.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkFmpHFhTwijDEgggGdlGqDkMtMaFQileJPQzTK0lE0PPEx_NXtPZqQ3yeURtmU2ow04HH6Jb44B_TK9mV4zFxFzh5b8HhrMa773_PGOoU-VR1qnL0yIPL6Tm0HtjMqYgDoKHc53qhlIw/s1600-h/flagger.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkFmpHFhTwijDEgggGdlGqDkMtMaFQileJPQzTK0lE0PPEx_NXtPZqQ3yeURtmU2ow04HH6Jb44B_TK9mV4zFxFzh5b8HhrMa773_PGOoU-VR1qnL0yIPL6Tm0HtjMqYgDoKHc53qhlIw/s320/flagger.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5368135480853649634" border="0" /></a>He was judging the calf-roping. They had break-away and tie-down roping. I think this picture is the tie-down, but I'm not sure.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZJ0LbOS4RSmFsOXb0qZhy0TWZkDft1OQIpQVrUZ_WcZfaI7EHcAwm5HfgkbqorBEbn2tNL5N5EJSW_jl8EyYpDE_VmKZJNUmH27t7JTOQQtej70Cam2p6mFV7_pYwY9_OhLLK9l2c4mM/s1600-h/calf+roping.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZJ0LbOS4RSmFsOXb0qZhy0TWZkDft1OQIpQVrUZ_WcZfaI7EHcAwm5HfgkbqorBEbn2tNL5N5EJSW_jl8EyYpDE_VmKZJNUmH27t7JTOQQtej70Cam2p6mFV7_pYwY9_OhLLK9l2c4mM/s320/calf+roping.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5368135478603589074" border="0" /></a>They also had calf ribbon roping. The girl stands at a starting point and waits. They release the calf, and the boy ropes the calf. The girl starts running when the horse breaks through the line and after the boy has a hand on the calf, pulls the red ribbon off the tail. I can figure most rodeo events, but the reason behind making a girl run for the ribbon is beyond me.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg07TUmWETUuAV61fktXN7CxS7TVPMKtsQgua7QmPpcTCDqdgxjAglCQmfXqQYZNp4F-pKvrS47w7kacqRsuBsy8gePXFOFHdrUVc_wJGp9nDjC1dGmoR3MPa7zkg8ZDdZN5Og5sjaebgo/s1600-h/ribbon+roping.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg07TUmWETUuAV61fktXN7CxS7TVPMKtsQgua7QmPpcTCDqdgxjAglCQmfXqQYZNp4F-pKvrS47w7kacqRsuBsy8gePXFOFHdrUVc_wJGp9nDjC1dGmoR3MPa7zkg8ZDdZN5Og5sjaebgo/s320/ribbon+roping.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5368135472802771170" border="0" /></a><br />We got home around 12:30 that night. I got up Saturday and make a "blueberry buckle" for us to take to the workday our church was having. We helped paint old tin sheets with polyurithane and sheetrock the upstairs rooms.<br /><br />Hubby had a men's night at the church last night and their menu included steak and baked potatoes. I couldn't find anyone to hang out with, so I decided girl's night out was a great alternative. We went out to Red Lobster and the movies. Yummy fun.<br /><br />Today was church and not much else. We've been especially lazy today. And so much for riding every day. That kinda bit the dust. Oh well, I'll leave you with our beautiful sunset with a wonderful shadow in front. Koda was enjoying the buffet in our front yard on Tuesday after my ride.<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgD-A-8KwLCZHb3fv3gScIiavAUtnUkKid4Dy04LJngEhn6VcMI6LIO1JgINWpv4mDBwwxzSYhK5DXPBwb5umnigu-vEoOlPhScaIyp4jNld2uNHM5hKPpuo2tIyTkVYOVhlEAw2YOWAWc/s1600-h/Koda+sunset.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 292px; height: 214px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgD-A-8KwLCZHb3fv3gScIiavAUtnUkKid4Dy04LJngEhn6VcMI6LIO1JgINWpv4mDBwwxzSYhK5DXPBwb5umnigu-vEoOlPhScaIyp4jNld2uNHM5hKPpuo2tIyTkVYOVhlEAw2YOWAWc/s320/Koda+sunset.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5368141200346023410" border="0" /></a>d2cmomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12287137241607094194noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4488754203045940858.post-24435874463057322952009-08-07T18:53:00.002-05:002009-08-07T18:58:55.631-05:00As I feared...I didn't ride today, but I went to the church arena and rode yesterday, I am feeling more confident in a trot and Koda is going longer. We are also getting the ability to turn at a trot. <br /><br />When I checked last night, we still had two fishies sitting on the walls in our horse trough.<br /><br />It's off to the rodeo for us - just spectators. See ya later.d2cmomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12287137241607094194noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4488754203045940858.post-80217549979141463692009-08-05T23:01:00.003-05:002009-08-05T23:44:01.873-05:00New farm experiment and more...Or could be called "Fish, Fish, and Life"<br /><br />So the first "fish" is about the Health care bill #3200 and the White House's latest response to America's outcry. Check out these websites:<br />http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/Facts-Are-Stubborn-Things/<br />http://energycommerce.house.gov/Press_111/20090714/aahca.pdf<br />http://www.gachristianalliance.org/action.htm<br /><br />I feel like this could be a repeat of the Mccarthy Communist Hearings in the mid-50s. The White House recently asked Americans to report to the government any "fishy" e-mails or other information that they hear including the email address and/or contact information of the "mis-informants". So the first link is where the White House makes the request. The second and third are links to a copy of the bill (may not be current) and a response by the Georgia Christian Alliance. Maybe I should report myself. I DON'T want THIS bill to pass. There has to be a different way. I am not smart enough to know it though. It may have something to do with the churches stepping in. One of my issues with this bill is that I don't live in a socialist country and don't want to convert.<br /><br />____________<br /><br />Now off the soapbox, so to speak, and on to the second fish. We have started a ranch experiment. I picked up 2 algea eaters and placed them in the horse trough. We want to see if that will help us in the quest for cleaner water and a healthier horse.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7V8mOfmvWMFSP2Z4r2lb_XgMGIyn8hVuwer4_8s2uBhmrhfHbUBE5omcfbHsZqBQG6aX4avKeTbULeWGguf-mcnAlKCpdvYxFTIJl91hY7AND1Fowzk1WouP7ktXfBARObsoMm7zRXFs/s1600-h/algea+eater.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 233px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7V8mOfmvWMFSP2Z4r2lb_XgMGIyn8hVuwer4_8s2uBhmrhfHbUBE5omcfbHsZqBQG6aX4avKeTbULeWGguf-mcnAlKCpdvYxFTIJl91hY7AND1Fowzk1WouP7ktXfBARObsoMm7zRXFs/s320/algea+eater.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5366700963421313234" border="0" /></a> We were told that the chlorine in our tapwater would kill the fish. I don't know if that's true or not. We'll find out.<br /><br />Then the final subject, "Life." I REALLY want to ride for 7 days in a row. However, today I left the house early with my MIL and went to Bryan- an hour drive. I didn't get home until after 1. It was HOT. When it finally cooled off, I was at church and didn't get home until after dark. There went the ride. Oh well, Friday was gonna be bad anyway.d2cmomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12287137241607094194noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4488754203045940858.post-52452129577584919072009-08-04T22:24:00.004-05:002009-08-04T23:47:31.943-05:00Week of rides, day 1I challenged you to ride everyday this week. I'm going to do it too. Sunday was supposed to be my first day of riding, but I got distracted yesterday when I went to pick up my kid from band practice. I didn't get home until 1 am this morning. :)<br /><br />Anyway, today I waited until my mother-in-law and niece came down from Ft. Worth. They didn't get here until after 6:30. I chated with my MIL for a little while then invited my niece to go to the pasture with me. She received the keys to the 4-wheeler and I rode my sweet mare. We started riding at around 7:15 and rode for an hour just wanderin' around.<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvepQUs0NvguyQ9Eq2hcAzZp-c2wgNoaR-H3rOg_J_ngIXgbs2OyCGdeaPJcTPQuHjR6h2EDGxR5dc4jyqA4mZLVlTdHA8RBIykfOAUjI1JZa76S4be38vZ3jtg9sKYoW-Bk1vMi9fpoo/s1600-h/IMAG0006.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvepQUs0NvguyQ9Eq2hcAzZp-c2wgNoaR-H3rOg_J_ngIXgbs2OyCGdeaPJcTPQuHjR6h2EDGxR5dc4jyqA4mZLVlTdHA8RBIykfOAUjI1JZa76S4be38vZ3jtg9sKYoW-Bk1vMi9fpoo/s320/IMAG0006.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5366322592253644290" border="0" /></a><br />I couldn't keep up with her. <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicswzHXkHyw9s8NEdH73cCC73lns0Ah7bPo3W-ZLBxx85FpY17hKRCVBpmkpMrhjvi_286shLhcYkMJpKZhDSAVsE_oy4yourFd2cN49oTATWYiVlzcKOZDL9Wlf3c8Dhu_vMXikxauFI/s1600-h/IMAG0007.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicswzHXkHyw9s8NEdH73cCC73lns0Ah7bPo3W-ZLBxx85FpY17hKRCVBpmkpMrhjvi_286shLhcYkMJpKZhDSAVsE_oy4yourFd2cN49oTATWYiVlzcKOZDL9Wlf3c8Dhu_vMXikxauFI/s320/IMAG0007.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5366322598561165986" border="0" /></a>I don't like to ride Koda faster than a trot in any part of the pasture and faster than a walk through most of the pasture. We have a lot of holes in the pasture from the cattle and the burrowing critters. I rode around the fence-line to make sure the year's rains have not ruined any fences.<br /><br />I went into our hay pasture to walk around there and a very curious cow (the white one) started following me in.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjS7HChJ1HACa187wIzAL5XkMqk5jQpuzZAqbFI59yEiKXGHqxvbgyrGvEQ79gSVTxOI5kfzC-OBVQhUqgd95D9Vgwr8BdH98HOY4ZG7PZo7sTVsqtHM-rtI_l8Rat9bdFjJUNFgBFe14U/s1600-h/IMAG0010.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjS7HChJ1HACa187wIzAL5XkMqk5jQpuzZAqbFI59yEiKXGHqxvbgyrGvEQ79gSVTxOI5kfzC-OBVQhUqgd95D9Vgwr8BdH98HOY4ZG7PZo7sTVsqtHM-rtI_l8Rat9bdFjJUNFgBFe14U/s320/IMAG0010.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5366326835488704562" border="0" /></a>It followed me a couple of times and was so cute. It wasn't sure whether to be scared of us or to follow the different herd creatures.<br /><br />I then had to go around and visit with the cattle. Here is SOME BULL. <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMJ8zS4jobL9dfbHRteqiRlkEb_7RYfBAP08UwdynOKt2-tuFwqSL19e-PpZBEVVp7Uy8ZaaCsRU2q3rgrBcWz5EeqSjIANpPYQ9umMS-j7q1mYJmFvGKKOZdHo-b5XrkXaOAF4EgQxgc/s1600-h/IMAG0011.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMJ8zS4jobL9dfbHRteqiRlkEb_7RYfBAP08UwdynOKt2-tuFwqSL19e-PpZBEVVp7Uy8ZaaCsRU2q3rgrBcWz5EeqSjIANpPYQ9umMS-j7q1mYJmFvGKKOZdHo-b5XrkXaOAF4EgQxgc/s320/IMAG0011.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5366326839249758450" border="0" /></a> He's big, but has no horns. Some of the cows have horns. I wonder if he has a mental complex about that? <br /><br />This momma has hoof rot. <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXbP7Mmntpx1KzCXmRnCiJfMorxw5QoMlX0olDRLTKB9E0GYCqVWeRYitPiwxJgigzwh4Hi91WXGG475nqLT3eDEv6uZ3APxKu5w5AP1IRP1WG8uTcjXqeMOXSUz_ne2hMRzJwVHjsqXk/s1600-h/IMAG0009.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXbP7Mmntpx1KzCXmRnCiJfMorxw5QoMlX0olDRLTKB9E0GYCqVWeRYitPiwxJgigzwh4Hi91WXGG475nqLT3eDEv6uZ3APxKu5w5AP1IRP1WG8uTcjXqeMOXSUz_ne2hMRzJwVHjsqXk/s320/IMAG0009.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5366322607307357730" border="0" /></a>She's confined to a small working pen to receive special TLC. I checked to make sure she had water. I figured she did, the guy that leases our pasture takes good care of his cattle. That momma has a suckling baby that is also stuck in prison since mom is. <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlX6XubSls_PzOBsobd9rMRP9YaH-4VK4uTg2W4JWIWWaok14Q3QeNw_rbIcdNqjrv6qFCypgtoC3RJ87kAtG-UlVj2GvDB_DEObPauU4SCUcdcKR1PJr0QWJXNm-CO6NsF6FVFjWetQs/s1600-h/IMAG0008.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlX6XubSls_PzOBsobd9rMRP9YaH-4VK4uTg2W4JWIWWaok14Q3QeNw_rbIcdNqjrv6qFCypgtoC3RJ87kAtG-UlVj2GvDB_DEObPauU4SCUcdcKR1PJr0QWJXNm-CO6NsF6FVFjWetQs/s320/IMAG0008.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5366322604189045394" border="0" /></a><br />The youngest member of our herd was not sure at all about the strange creatures in the pasture. It kept trotting away from us. We have a few cows about to domino (have babies). I enjoy watching the babies play and run. They have such large ears compared to the rest of their bodies and their tails pop up really high. <span style="text-decoration: underline;"></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGdjs8Pb9BkrtJ9yXHQI8E1r-sBSi2lILq_kc2KB7vcHDuPQKHWNMcmZmeF3gWcmmrrRbsaGynZwlth2UTsRet9FfJhGbcSs5GcFVdAj6_haa_bSzjXpbbmg_yfPaIt708klybiczFFm0/s1600-h/IMAG0012.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGdjs8Pb9BkrtJ9yXHQI8E1r-sBSi2lILq_kc2KB7vcHDuPQKHWNMcmZmeF3gWcmmrrRbsaGynZwlth2UTsRet9FfJhGbcSs5GcFVdAj6_haa_bSzjXpbbmg_yfPaIt708klybiczFFm0/s320/IMAG0012.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5366326846639066642" border="0" /></a> When done with the ride, I took Koda back to the house and hosed her off. I tied her in the yard to mow, I mean eat, some of the grass and try to let her dry some before she rolled. Unfortunately, I didn't watch her and she rolled anyway. Our ride ended up about an hour long. <br /><br />So how's your riding?d2cmomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12287137241607094194noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4488754203045940858.post-17399081080033013262009-08-02T19:13:00.002-05:002009-08-02T19:42:50.528-05:00My driveway has a leak!I went to church this morning about 7 miles from my house. At the church, it sprinkled some, but there was a BIG puddle at the front end of the driveway. My only logical conclusion is that there is a leak in the driveway. That's especially considering that we have only been receiving thunder, lightning, and promises that the next day the rain would go around us, again. I guess that the other option is that we possibly did get rain! woohoo!<br /><br />I rode Koda today after church while Hubby had a meeting to attend. We did a little in the arena, but mostly I wanted to ride around the property and just have fun. I feel I am required to work in the arena, but if I do free riding, I can have fun and work at the same time. <br /><br />The temperature here is a very chilling 85°. I think that I might have to pull out the parka! I love it!I may go ride again here in a little bit. Problem is, my sis is here and I don't let many people ride my horse. Not that I don't trust them with her, but I don't trust Koda with the other people. <br /><br />Alright people. Challenge time. Ride EVERY day this week and post about it here, or post on your blog and give me your blog address.d2cmomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12287137241607094194noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4488754203045940858.post-83612830105899105342009-07-30T23:24:00.002-05:002009-07-30T23:49:02.202-05:00RAINAfter 2 months of practically no rain, we got almost 2 inches of rain this morning. There's nothing like waking up to the sound of rain on our metal roof. I slept in until 10 this morning to the nice sound of rain.<br /><br />At the "Riding through the Bible" study tonight, I was the only one to bring a horse. There were 18 people there. One has had surgery on his shoulder, one had knee replacement surgery. The rest just don't ride or didn't bring a horse. It's so lonely riding by myself. Everyone in this area already has an agenda or routine with their horses so I end up riding alone. It's really hard being the new kid on the block. It's just too bad that I've been here for 4 years. Isn't that a nice pity party?d2cmomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12287137241607094194noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4488754203045940858.post-12217773796472352952009-07-26T20:47:00.002-05:002009-07-26T22:37:33.081-05:00The month in reviewAfter the July 4th parade, I spent another week not riding for a total of 2 weeks. Since then, I have ridden many days. I try to ride every Thursday at the least, and want to try to ride every day but some days I wasn't able. <br /><br />The kid went to camp the 3rd week of July. It was a cowboy camp where they are only allowed to ride horse during the camp free time between 3 and 6. Remember what state we live in? 3pm in Texas is the hottest part of the day and it was 100+ degrees outside. No riding for them.<br /><br />I rode Koda in the pasture on that Sunday, She rolled in the pond. She's getting good at the rolling with me thing. This makes twice now. The first time was in the church arena. That one hurt! She had her hooves trimmed on that Monday.<br /><br />One of my best friends came up the Thursday evening before our kids came back from camp. She brought her kids' horses with her. We rode horse that night at our church arena, then went to the house. We put a beautiful paint gelding in the pasture with Koda. We had to tie their other horse, a mare, inside a small working pen. They were worried that she would either get pregnant from the Jack donkey we still have or get spooked by a vast open pasture and hurt herself.<br /><br />She was fine but Koda and the gelding got in a fight. We think that the fight was over food. When we went out to get them, they were buddy-buddy in the back-end of the pasture conspiring how to keep from working. Koda ended up with 2 nasty cuts and 1 not-as-bad cut on her side. Two of the cuts were obviously from a shod hoof. The third was a round sore the size of a silver dollar right where the back skirt of the saddle sits. We were supposed to ride on Friday morning at the church and Saturday at a Trail ride and parade in a local town. No ride for her. <br /><br />For the trail ride, I borrowed a friend's (different friend) horse and of course, I had to do a test ride. We rode Friday night heading out from her house around 8:45 and got back close to 10pm. Though it wasn't my horse, we had fun! This week I went to help the original horse friend move. I didn't get to ride very much, but there was Thursday.<br /><br />We still have the dumb donkey and the goat has not had babies, but our new kitten is earning her keep. She caught a mouse today and, after playing with her food, disposed of it properly. ;)d2cmomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12287137241607094194noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4488754203045940858.post-1134061449275458982009-07-04T11:44:00.002-05:002009-07-04T11:54:33.825-05:00July 4th!!I want to say "Thanks" to all the soldiers who are currently fighting to keep us free.<br /><br /> 233 years ago, several brilliant men got together and signed the Declaration of Independence, naming us a free country. Right now, our country's freedom is in danger, yet, we still have brilliant men and women working hard to protect our freedom. For those of us who are not in the military, our job is to support those who are and to express our desire for morals and safety to the government. Don't forget the country was founded on the "by the people, for the people" principle. Don't forget to call them if needed and vote when it's time.<br /><br />By the way. The 4th of July parade was on a float instead of horseback. Man that stinks. Horseback is the way to go!!!d2cmomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12287137241607094194noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4488754203045940858.post-11038358332672680402009-07-02T21:48:00.002-05:002009-07-02T21:58:30.224-05:00Riding BanDue to serious leg issues, I have been banned from riding horse for a little while. :(<br />Hopefully I will get to ride in the July 4th parade. If not, I'll ride in the float. The sad thing is that Sunday, when I rode Koda, she had a swollen leg. I haven't even been able to go out this week to check on her. I am waddling short distances only. Daughter says I look like a penguin, just need to hold my hands out.<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2UXoblc6GH-VVc94jVpuMLM-AR51mzE5mvUPEvO_1yKwQoFc41nlpVI5kUEjt_5396m55-rqsnl_lQhViJsIpUzyeMToDjSQ5vNqoJ9fMtlyJnDfAVPPxsEALK-m0tT1lFlF8sWO1ND4/s1600-h/penguin.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 252px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2UXoblc6GH-VVc94jVpuMLM-AR51mzE5mvUPEvO_1yKwQoFc41nlpVI5kUEjt_5396m55-rqsnl_lQhViJsIpUzyeMToDjSQ5vNqoJ9fMtlyJnDfAVPPxsEALK-m0tT1lFlF8sWO1ND4/s320/penguin.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5354062729293334834" border="0" /></a>d2cmomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12287137241607094194noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4488754203045940858.post-47125945623420490922009-06-28T23:28:00.003-05:002009-06-29T01:03:24.180-05:00Very Busy Weekend<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWtbhPcjnqTvlQA7TG5shdVp6hOqxZ-5enM_xc0rO4c3AGQXNEYdDN9ulgd-FisNkFZDz7PDzQHzGCIxiToV3wbb_Rp7-_ub1-PxH1WmYM1ma-vUw4sIzhUlhyphenhyphenae9-wRxbj1usehICf-0/s1600-h/IM000750.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWtbhPcjnqTvlQA7TG5shdVp6hOqxZ-5enM_xc0rO4c3AGQXNEYdDN9ulgd-FisNkFZDz7PDzQHzGCIxiToV3wbb_Rp7-_ub1-PxH1WmYM1ma-vUw4sIzhUlhyphenhyphenae9-wRxbj1usehICf-0/s320/IM000750.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5352624924848821346" border="0" /></a><br />As is always true, the last weekend in June is very busy. My daughter's birthday is the 26th and our town has their annual festival called Polski Dzien (Polish Day). Our church has been a big part of the parade the last 2 years but I'll talk about that in a little while.<br /><br />So we start the week Monday night at the church. I took Koda and rode while hubby had a meeting. Two friends also took their horse and we rode a mini trail ride. Just north of our church building the church owns a RV park, and on the other side of that, there is a dry (right now) creek bed and then another field. We crossed down in the creekbed, then went in the shaded field. There were some tree limbs down and so I took Koda over them. The most fun was when we went over the one with about a 10 inch diameter and a foot off the ground. Koda walks over large limbs on her front end and hops over with her back legs.<br /><br />Next was CLEANING for 2 days for the party. We had to totally rearrange a couple of rooms since the kid got new furniture. We got rid of the "office" and made it more of a "study/guest room." We put the kid's old twin size bed in there so when guests come, there's a bed for them.<br /><br />Then on Thursday, the real craziness began. We drove out to Temple (about an hour away) to pick up one of my kid's best friends for the b-day party.<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcClr175jxE0Fb9ZIczjydtt7yHrQpGyUk3ChLysvR0bWBKh0IxJpW20Lj74u8wg_xODX5OZpTBVLs5WEeqFpuJ9lF0I6d2Uoajy6rKhv2SwQHW-26LSrXcCiBtGxc_QvunsaPsOuZtjE/s1600-h/IM000729.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcClr175jxE0Fb9ZIczjydtt7yHrQpGyUk3ChLysvR0bWBKh0IxJpW20Lj74u8wg_xODX5OZpTBVLs5WEeqFpuJ9lF0I6d2Uoajy6rKhv2SwQHW-26LSrXcCiBtGxc_QvunsaPsOuZtjE/s320/IM000729.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5352625965586758898" border="0" /></a> Of course, that meant the horse trailer so I could get friend's 2 horses. I decided we should be back home by noon to settle the horses and girls, finish cleaning, and getting ready for party. The cake was made Wednesday evening. (I'll post about the cake later.) The other partiers arrived between 3 and 3:30 and soon we headed to Waco (another hour drive) for the bowling part of the party. After driving to several restaurants, <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbi2fsFENdoV57W8Z3gO_52TLmzq_I9u32gNr_JvGIoHQSPZvlwgYwZQ7wCFlEWCWzNv05301SznCXQ8qm3KoTZanyPzv7tMB4i_I26kmp-09o5o8apfWID-FxMGpIl8mT1g4d7EDL_40/s1600-h/IM000754.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbi2fsFENdoV57W8Z3gO_52TLmzq_I9u32gNr_JvGIoHQSPZvlwgYwZQ7wCFlEWCWzNv05301SznCXQ8qm3KoTZanyPzv7tMB4i_I26kmp-09o5o8apfWID-FxMGpIl8mT1g4d7EDL_40/s320/IM000754.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5352624928189514018" border="0" /></a>we finally ate at Pizza Hut and then bowled. <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2XN_waRCQ7Renf7PJElwVAiW04evSheGbqUok2jIwbxnr3WhERWheOV6J9Bn_DIdBaCZBrrjUTYhrlzldfG2UFYfKb3WLswC7a4OBdvF1G8zG_NcAJVQ05kHUKPRpyQ8E7gjhOWS2D28/s1600-h/IM000759.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2XN_waRCQ7Renf7PJElwVAiW04evSheGbqUok2jIwbxnr3WhERWheOV6J9Bn_DIdBaCZBrrjUTYhrlzldfG2UFYfKb3WLswC7a4OBdvF1G8zG_NcAJVQ05kHUKPRpyQ8E7gjhOWS2D28/s320/IM000759.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5352624934650716498" border="0" /></a>After bowling, was a Walmart trip for our movie feature (we only had 5 pre-teen girls with us). The movie has yet to be seen.<br /><br />Friday, I woke the girls up at about 10 and they went 4-wheelin'. Well, we have one 4-wheeler so my girl rode with a friend and the friends took turns. The girl who brought her horse rode that instead of the ATV. The 3 extra girls left and hubby and I headed into town to begin working the Polish Day BBQ cookoff activity. Hubby and a church friend set up then traded off watch night and work at the BBQ pit. I helped them some then while they were working, I took the girls to the arena to ride and then my kid's friend and I rode the parade route so our horses could be familiar with the road and some of the extra noise like motorcycles, loud music, and loud drunk people walking around.<br /><br />Saturday was parade day. I have NO pictures. :( It was very hot, but Koda was fairly good. She still thinks she has to run through a parade. The kid rode the four wheeler again and her friend rode her horse beside me. Hubby worked on the BBQ stuff. My dad came down to see us ride and missed both my kid and me! How that happened I'll never know. We finished the parade, hosed off the horses and pastured them. We then went back to town and worked the church booth. I took the kids home when mine started getting too hot then hung out with my hubby and our friend at the BBQ pit.<br /><br />We took the friend and her 2 horses home today. With them went one of the 2 donkeys. On our way home, I called the Monday riding buddies and we went riding in my pasture. It was about 8:40 when we headed out, so it was so close to dark when we came in. My kid was worried about me riding in the snakey pasture. It was sweet.<br /><br />That's all for now.d2cmomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12287137241607094194noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4488754203045940858.post-12548229883674663392009-06-17T08:58:00.002-05:002009-06-17T09:30:53.088-05:00The dogs and goatsWe bought 3 female goats when our one momma died. One of the females, the oldest, had already had a baby, which we brought with her as the third female. The other female was young, but old enough to breed. We quickly lost the oldest goat so now we have just 3. 2 young females and a young male. IT appears that the older of our 2 females is pregnant. We are expecting to have babies the middle of July. That will be perfect for county fair next year. <div><br /></div><div>We also have een struggling with our dogs. I miss my Samson. We think instead of Lab and Rottweiler, he may have been Geat Dane and Rottweiler. I saw some Great Danes the other day and fell in love with their BIG heads. Since he died, we have had lots of trouble with Tama, our pure bred rottie. She went into a depression. All she would do is lay around (she was fairly fat) and she quit eating. We have had a time trying to get her back on track. We thought that in addition to the depression, she was allergic to the food we had switched to. She started losing hair and biting her feet. We tried several different treatments, starting with gioing back to a healthier food. We were giving her treatments for hot spots for her itching and nothing was working. We finally took her to the vet. This was about the same time our puppy started showing the same symptoms. We discovered that she had picked up mange. So now, a month after the vet, Tama has spunk, she had lost about 25 pounds during the non-working treatments, and she's got her appetite back and does more than just sit and scratch. They smell better too. </div>d2cmomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12287137241607094194noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4488754203045940858.post-21626187997395545852009-06-15T23:02:00.004-05:002009-06-16T00:23:33.582-05:00My first summer updateIt's one week and two days since high school graduation. Already we have done a lot and nothing at all. Our church has a new Bible study they started. It's called "Walk through the Bible" and is held in the church arena. Before and after the Bible study, we are able to ride our horse in the arena. Of course, I also ride on some Sundays and Mondays when they aren't promoting the arena portion of the property. The advantage is that there are others there to ride as well. So I want to attend the Bible study but have not been able to attend but one time. That was the Thursday BEFORE graduation.<br /><br />The weekend of graduation, the church had a Tractor Pull. <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTGt1bMgvWvygUTUqL0OFdguhiMiNa8d6dyuTV1E8tnXYkk6Yak-x_4ADkxVSHcaZH78Kc0XunKXwuzhqIrhFYkr0xUNIxPTyU9soue7Hf6_PeShnkK67tGwE-ryzspTtylyZirs24uA4/s1600-h/DSCF2712.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTGt1bMgvWvygUTUqL0OFdguhiMiNa8d6dyuTV1E8tnXYkk6Yak-x_4ADkxVSHcaZH78Kc0XunKXwuzhqIrhFYkr0xUNIxPTyU9soue7Hf6_PeShnkK67tGwE-ryzspTtylyZirs24uA4/s320/DSCF2712.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5347782890131367138" border="0" /></a>If you've never attended one of those, I would suggest you attend one. I don't know that I would be interested in going every week, but when my church hosts it should be ok. We invited my Dad to come watch and he came over Friday. He also returned my kiddo who spent the week with him while I finished school for the year.<br /><br />The first week of summer was spent kinda relaxing, kinda cleaning house. The kid got a new (to her) bedroom set. This required that she CLEAN her room. We have now removed 2 lawn garbage bags and 3 boxes (1 large) of junk that she doesn't need want anymore. We have to have the house clean by the 25th for the kid's b'day party.<br /><br />Thursday, we loaded up the horse, dogs, and kid and went to my dad's. My sis fed us our birthday shrimp dinner. My birthday was in May and Dad's was June 1st. We hung out and chatted on Thursday night and I cleaned his house on Friday - all day Friday. After it was clean, we decided to get the horses out (my 4 legged and his 6 wheeled). My dad has been wanting to ride Koda for a while. We brushed her down and saddled her up. I always lunge her before I ride and started to do so that night and she decided that since it's rodeo weekend in a nearby town, she'd celebrate. She started bucking and rearing and running out of the lunge. I finally calmed her down. She did the crazy routine at his house last time we were there and I didn't ride her because of it. This time I was not going to let her get away with it. I took her into dad's smallest pasture and rode her around a little.<br /><br />We had a birthday party to work (we do sound for our church) on Saturday. (Saturday was a very popular day for events...2 birthday parties planned, a family reunion, and a parade and rodeo). After the party, we went home and waited until it was cool. The kid and I went to the rodeo and hung out.<br /><br />Sunday, Hubby's parents came over and picked up the kid to go home with them. We had lunch and shipped them off. They were coming in from the reunion and were hauling a camper trailer and a boat. They also were carrying 4 dogs. It made quite a show when they pulled in to the church parking lot. The dogs got loose and ran around and into the church.<br /><br />Today, I worked on shredding old bills and then we had a meeting at the church. I couldn't let the evening trip to the church go to waste, so I took Koda up to practice riding in the arena. That was interesting. We did some turn work around some traffic cones and then worked on establishing a cruise control on her trot. I also want to start working on side passing.<br /><br />I'll post about the goats and dogs tomorrow. Meanwhile, I'm enjoying not having many requirements.d2cmomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12287137241607094194noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4488754203045940858.post-77740268455773716052009-05-21T13:41:00.002-05:002009-05-21T13:42:57.297-05:00Please hurry SummerOk, so I know I posted that it's coming and here and all but if that's so, why am I still at school???? Nothing much else is happening except trying to survive 2 more weeks.d2cmomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12287137241607094194noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4488754203045940858.post-14149031255784625162009-05-12T13:24:00.002-05:002009-05-12T13:26:38.331-05:00Summer's coming...(Well the holiday part, the weather's already here.)<br /><br />Only 3 weeks and 3 days of school left!!! Summer's almost here!d2cmomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12287137241607094194noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4488754203045940858.post-4599729732830867722009-05-10T21:35:00.004-05:002009-05-10T22:08:11.674-05:00Wow, summer's here!!!I took Koda to church to ride today and, after church and lunch, I went out to groom her and start to ride. It was at that time that I decided that 91 degrees (according to our local school's marque) and humid was too hot to ride. There went the ride. Our church is starting a Bible study on Thursdays at 7 pm through the summer. I think this is a GREAT alternative to Midday riding during the summer.<br />One of the local news stations said that these were our actual numbers for the temp today. This does not include our humidity at 65%. Ouch!, I'm melting! <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsZUA9WUUoIvy_gBE8-aPRtW1LQdcaN8B3xmZuCRxPdYiTA6ayghZk-q6wPJRZDtRMtT-ctzm3GZKFv_JCZ8CAsK-HZW4spbz38VCqbLexS9fasB16ytbhJkSGZ5Bg7Nv1qYzQmwz1JBQ/s1600-h/almanac.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 218px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsZUA9WUUoIvy_gBE8-aPRtW1LQdcaN8B3xmZuCRxPdYiTA6ayghZk-q6wPJRZDtRMtT-ctzm3GZKFv_JCZ8CAsK-HZW4spbz38VCqbLexS9fasB16ytbhJkSGZ5Bg7Nv1qYzQmwz1JBQ/s320/almanac.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5334396613049491394" border="0" /></a><br /><img src="file:///C:/DOCUME%7E1/ADMINI%7E1.CAL/LOCALS%7E1/Temp/moz-screenshot.jpg" alt="" />d2cmomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12287137241607094194noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4488754203045940858.post-7372095337923253962009-05-07T18:42:00.007-05:002009-05-07T20:11:56.310-05:00Unwelcome GuestsMy daughter's puppy is having trouble behaving in the house. She is over 7 months old and still uses the restroom in the house. I took her outside at around 11:30 pm. Hubby started to follow me out and said "Oh, Crap!" and went back in the house. He saw a snake right by the garage door - the one that opens to the house. We started to chase it around the garage and finally caught it. I was moving stuff around with a garden rake and<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicRjTf_683EghSSUY9BPc5l-q2o18Onm6wpAEiWs8-nKXMD6Z81f5RrCeRczKIwCJ5WnFVcX1813OZxHFeKFpZ5D3xtVShOrG7yL4IFWgpzx2v73yoR-lKoyOghRb73IdzBoXRGO7ncXw/s1600-h/snake+jar+1.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicRjTf_683EghSSUY9BPc5l-q2o18Onm6wpAEiWs8-nKXMD6Z81f5RrCeRczKIwCJ5WnFVcX1813OZxHFeKFpZ5D3xtVShOrG7yL4IFWgpzx2v73yoR-lKoyOghRb73IdzBoXRGO7ncXw/s320/snake+jar+1.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5333243861771091506" border="0" /></a> Hubby had 2 machetes he was hunting with. When we finally caught it, I was holding it still with the rake and Hubby started hacking. When it quit trying to get away, we moved it into the open and Made sure it was dead. I told hubby NOT to chop it's head off. I wanted to take it to school for the science teachers. They told me that it's a bull snake - good for killing rats and mice. <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1HybfKZC1f1shhvT4g3lfO8X4mJd1Iys57dbK7yw0yneKfsVKJg4-ZHvMozi1ooloU5HiEMEnlRSG_Tq3i4Ijl0NJ4GdqPqOfEdlBmjfM2HDx79yQ537_W4ifW9GnrcKDlJuJN6efPFE/s1600-h/snake+jar+2.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1HybfKZC1f1shhvT4g3lfO8X4mJd1Iys57dbK7yw0yneKfsVKJg4-ZHvMozi1ooloU5HiEMEnlRSG_Tq3i4Ijl0NJ4GdqPqOfEdlBmjfM2HDx79yQ537_W4ifW9GnrcKDlJuJN6efPFE/s320/snake+jar+2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5333254310457250466" border="0" /></a>They were VERY upset that I killed it. :( The arrow points to his head.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br />So today my hubby called while I was tutoring and said he found another one. Sent me this pic. <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_60hz_ty8smfin568Q1F5YWX1XsCEkX4smGDhpZZD9FW94LptGpQ8dAq9pVvmEUw-foA6NpBvSe6gFSelciTNcKvHGglS-4ERtV8Cw6XFC6Q6aJHu_k-EFuVE1htDNntwqCAcKPO45Yo/s1600-h/snake+2.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_60hz_ty8smfin568Q1F5YWX1XsCEkX4smGDhpZZD9FW94LptGpQ8dAq9pVvmEUw-foA6NpBvSe6gFSelciTNcKvHGglS-4ERtV8Cw6XFC6Q6aJHu_k-EFuVE1htDNntwqCAcKPO45Yo/s320/snake+2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5333247378144303602" border="0" /></a>I told him I wanted that one in the feed shed. I have a nice dinner in there for him. Bon Appetit, snakey. It must be spring. Many varieties of wildlife are popping up around our house.d2cmomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12287137241607094194noreply@blogger.com1