Ides of March

     In Roman times the expression "Ides of March" did not necessarily evoke a dark mood, it was simply the standard way of saying "March 15",  although it may have originally  been referring to the day of the full moon.  Surely such a fanciful expression must signify something more than merely
                                                     another day of the year... or is it just
another exotic-sounding term with a mundane meaning?  (infoplease.com)  Actually, it is my nephew Travis' birthday.  Ides was a day in the Roman calendar that marked the approximate middle of the month, but Ides of March was specifically best known as the day Julius Caesar was killed in 44 B.C.  These days, March 15 means that spring is just around the corner, St. Patrick's Day is two days away, and it's time for "March Madness." (huffingtonpost.com)  This year, it also follows on the heals of Mardi Gras, which was later than usual.

      This morning Britney and Daniel were both up early so she could take him to Decatur.  When she had gone into work Monday, they told her that her position had been terminated due to lack of funding and was regretfully sent home. So, now she is available to help us out more around here until she heads to Guatemala.  Daniel called in the evening to report that he had safely made it to Fort McCoy in Wisconsin.  Another cold gloomy day with continued school work overshadowing me made it tough to feel very excited about life.  I wish that my mood wasn't so dependent on the weather. Maybe the sun will come out tomorrow.


     Back to last week, starting with last Tuesday, (3/8)... I was still fighting fatigue brought on by the busy weekend at the fair.  I felt chilled, achey, rundown and unmotivated.  The cold, cloudy, rainy weather did not help matters what so ever.  I had given Amiga a day of rest Monday, but decided she deserved and needed another one.  (And so did I)
                                                     I tried to get caught up on school
work once I got home from school,
but again went to bed early not accomplishing as much as needed.








     Wednesday was a "late start day" which meant early start for all us teachers.  I needed to head out extra early.  Joe had agreed to do morning chores, so I was on the road by 6am.  I had a riding lesson when I got home.  Marj went over much of what had been done in the clinic which I
                                                      really needed to review in order to 

remember it all. As you can see from the above and below pictures, our older pasture grass still needs to green up. 



There are a lot of leaves collected by the pine trees as well.

  Once home from my lesson Wednesday night, I was finally able to get the remainder of my school week planned. (No time like the present.) 

     Thursday I was observed by a student teacher from Japan. (Just 12 hours before the tsunami  was to hit his country)  We did a classification Lab and then power point with notes. Once home, I went for a nice ride, bareback.  It was cold and I did not want to spend ton's of time tacking up or on ground work.  We got along great.  I mostly had Amiga walk. 
Before heading out on Amiga, I opened the gate to the back pasture for Sir Loin.  He is running towards me to get out on the "good" grass.  Notice there is still some snow from the huge drift we had out by the tracks.  In the second photo, the cats have followed me out to see what I am up to.

     While riding, I also worked on stops and backs and had Amiga do some occasional gaiting.  I rode in our side pasture and over at Becks.  I even had Amiga go through the water way with over a foot deep of water.  I still was too tired to work very late, so was in bed early once again.   
     Here you can see that the new grass is not very green but the water in the ditch is deeper than it looks.  At least the round pen is drying out.

     Friday was a glorious morning with the sunrise, warm sunshine, birds singing, and promise of a two day weekend.  Brother and Missy were enjoying basking in the sunshine.

The two of them even like to frolic some. 

     I took Amiga over to Marj's to ride with her and Courtney in the late afternoon. I worked with Amiga for about 2 hours.  Marj also helped me a lot....which was so nice of her, and above and beyond the call of trainer duty.  She also helped Courtney with Zorro a bunch.  Part of the time we were working with Amiga, we let her go as fast as she wanted, to let off steam and help her relax.  She can really move when she wants (although she never cantered) and it did help her relax.  It was also an exciting ride.  I was so glad to see when I took off the saddle, that there were no marks from it anywhere on her.  It really fits her well.  It also did a great job of holding me in place on her back. Once home, I was able to get some desk work done in the evening because Dan had gone to Courtney's and Joe was in route to St. Louis to pick up Britney. 
     In this series of photos, Brother is loving on Kaysha.  But then Missy moves in, making the dog a bit nervous. 

 Kaysha finally yawns to relieve some anxiety.

      Saturday morning I decided to ride after chores because the forecast was for it to get really windy.  I started in the round pen wanting to "turn Amiga loose" giving her all the rein she wanted and just let her go in the direction and speed she wanted.  She mostly walked, gaited some, but stopped a couple of times.  It was still a bit muddy, so I didn't stay in the round pen too long.  I rode in our large side pasture and then over to Becks.  Out along I-70 I bumped Amiga up into a faster gait and then she ended up going into a canter....it was pretty smooth, but man did she pick up speed quickly.  It seemed as if she was just going to go faster and faster and I started worrying about getting her slowed down, so I tried, and she did not respond.  Not wanting to throw her off balance or pull on her face, I took her into a turn. (But ended up pulling back on the reins too much...rats)  It is so hard to be light with a 1000 lb. animal going full speed ahead. She slowed to a walk during our second full circle. Then she walked relaxed with her head down most of the rest of the ride.  I guess she had gotten it (extra energy and/or anxiety) out of her system.  After my ride, I took some photos, showing my rock garden now with lots of drive-way gravel in it.  The Lilies are still pushing up through the mess.  The chickens have invaded my flower beds as well, digging and pecking at edibles.

   
       I settled in at my desk to hit the books hard.  With the cold gloomy weather and Joe and Britney napping (they hadn't gotten home until 2:30am) I decided to follow suit.

     Speaking of suits....Dan got out his uniforms before going to Courtney's, in preparation for a family photo shoot.  And guess who moved right in?  Camo Kitty.

     Mid afternoon, we went into town where Courtney, Mike and Daniel met up with us and we had our family portrait and other pictures taken.  Everyone was such a good sport about it.  I wanted to get these taken before Daniel and Britney both headed off to their future destinations. I took some pictures of the process, including the one of Britney and Dan at the beginning of this Blog post, while our photographer friend worked.  But I can't wait to share the real thing with everyone once we see the proofs and get some of them printed. We went to a Chinese Buffet after wards to thank the "kids" for their cooperation.

     Sunday I was scrambling because I realized the weekend was half over and I had barely made a dent in school work.  It didn't help that I had lost an hour of time as well.  I did get a bunch done before Church.  But after Church our neighbor Lisa called inviting me to join her at Moraine View for a little trail ride.  The school work was going to have to be put on hold again.  We went on a short but enjoyable one hour ride.  It was still rather chilly and I was surprised at how muddy it was but we had fun chatting, riding, and sight-seeing.  The birds are really starting to migrate through and we saw several wild turkeys and a few deer.  Notice my new saddle?

    
     By the time I got back, put everything away, did chores, and got cleaned up...it was time for a late dinner.  And as it has been going recently, I was so tired and sleepy, that I went to bed at 8pm.

     Monday I woke up at 2am (had 6 hours of sleep...enough for me) so got up and worked diligently and productively for 4 hours.  Morning chores are later now that the sun is an hour behind time.  I would rather have more light in the morning than at night, but nobody
asked me.

There continues to be a flurry of activity on our deck each day.









Being mostly ready for school I hit the road early to get to school to get some xeroxing done.  By the time I got home, I had to have a nap (2 hours worth)  Being behind on school work meant I was also behind on this blog post.  I love this last picture.

The two barn cats on a mission, probably off to go hunting.

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