What The World Needs Now

             Is Love, Sweet Love.
Dan taking a picture of a group of fellow soldiers.
It is always good to catch glimpses of him on the 236th Facebook post.
     The news of increased hostility in Afghanistan weighed heavy on me throughout the week.  I just keep praying for Daniel's safety along with all the other soldiers over there.  The ensuing attacks have put pressure on already strained U.S.-Afghan relations at a time when the United States is working to reduce troop levels and transition security as part of its plan to withdraw by 2014.
     Early last week angry protests broke out and shock rippled through Afghanistan as accounts emerged that NATO personnel at Bagram Air Base had burned an undisclosed number of Korans.  A NATO spokesman said the books had been gathered at a detention facility and inadvertently sent for incineration.
     The violence escalated Sat Feb. 25. In one attack, two American soldiers were shot dead inside the Interior Ministry building in Kabul, and NATO responded by immediately pulling all its advisers out of Afghan ministries in Kabul.

     Cathy posted this picture and thought:  Why can't everybody just love each other?  I say "Amen."

     I was up early for chores Saturday after a late night out, but then took an early morning nap.  I got all my lesson plans done and then headed to Marj's with Roni.  I had to put Joe in charge of Abbey who had thrown up 5 times in that many hours.  There was the handle part of a plastic bag missing which I am sure she ate.  (She has done this on quite a few occasions.) I was concerned that this time it had caused a log jam so to speak. 

     I was so thankful to be able to groom Roni and ride inside out of the cold air and wind.  I really enjoyed my work with him.  We are reconnecting and he is doing much better.  There are always little problems and things to work on, but I had fun on him today.
     After dinner Abbey attacked and chased me up stairs.  I was glad to see she was feeling better and back to her old self. 

     Sunday was an absolutely beautiful day with the exception of the wind... and that just blew it. Ha ha ha. The brutal 30 mph squall was a force not to be reckoned with.  I made a quick trip to school to grab my flash drive and fill water jugs between working in the nursery and second service.  Once home I couldn't decide what to do about going for a ride.  It just wasn't nice enough out.  So I started laundry, finished up school work, and did some house work. I also e-mailed Marj asking if I could come ride in her arena again. 

     Courtney and Mike showed up just about the time I was headed out.  Hercules is checking out Mike's ride in the photo above while many of the flock are seeking shelter from the wind by the bales of straw we were drying out.  The bales had been in front of the kitchen window. 
     We got the horses in and I brushed while Courtney did hooves.  She is working on Amiga (lt) and Roni (rt).

Missy came over to see what Mike was doing.
   



  But soon lost interest, realizing it did not involve food for her.

I was getting ready to ride Roni as Courtney headed out to the round pen to work with Zorro.

     Then Joe came out to say Marj called inviting me over.   I loaded up gear and had Mike hold the trailer door while I loaded Roni and headed off. 

     I did ground work with Roni and then rode him around in the indoor arena.  He did well again.  Marj came out and decided to join me.  She got Arbolada ready and then we headed outside because the wind had died down considerably.  Roni got in a hurry quite a few times, but I was able to get him to relax and slow back down.  It helped him having another horse with us.  And I really enjoyed Marj's company.

     Monday Monday- What can I say... school, dentist to have a cavity filled, a little shopping and house work, and then Growth Group Pot Luck.

     This is not an action shot, Brother was actually sitting on the post like this for several minutes.

     Tuesday I had finished my usual late lunch just as our house guests (Ralph and Kurt) arrived.  They were much earlier than expected, but that was okay.  We enjoyed showing them the farm and sitting and conversing.  I did take time out from visiting to work and ride Roni. He did pretty well.  I even rode him around the perimeter of our property.  For dinner, Kurt treated us to Roma Ralph's Pizza from LeRoy.  I splurged and enjoyed a beer, something I never do mid-week.  We had thunderstorms during the night which made Kaysha quite nervous but our guests seemed to sleep okay.

      I always dump out and hang this white bucket on the pump handle every night, and then fill it up the following morning for all of the poultry.  Wednesday morning it was 2/3rds full from the rain off the corn crib roof.  As I looked around at all the water and new mud, I heard our first Red Wing Blackbird of the season.  The rising sun seemed to cause the wind to pick up but to also drove the remaining clouds away.  I kept the horses in the barn until just before leaving for school, to give the ground more time to dry up.  Then I just kept them in the paddock.  It was a balmy 59 degrees when I got home, but the winds were 34mph.  I ate a leisurely lunch and then loaded up and went down the road to my riding lesson.  Roni wasn't as cooperative, but did okay.  He still needs to learn to take the bit, and I need to tighten the reins.  

      When arriving home Thursday, I noticed this cow "pie" in the middle of our front yard, and the bird bath and landscape lights out of place.  It immediately dawn on me that I had not latched the one barn door during morning chores.  I had planned to go back and hook it after collecting the empty feed buckets.  After Amiga's "escape" I have tried to be much more careful.  I quickly made a loop around the house, looking for the cows and noticing hoof prints everywhere.  Soon I discovered that they were both where they belonged, fat and happy and chewing their cuds.  Well, the story came out later... that before lunch, the
State Police called Joe to tell him the

cows were out on the highway.  They had gotten Babe back but where too afraid of Frankie.  I had prayed on the way to school in the morning that Joe's day at work would be more exciting for him.  This was not what I had in mind.  I am now questioning whether I should even own any livestock.  Thank God no people or animals were hurt and nothing was damaged.  A big thanks to our State Police as well.
                                                         Our farrier was due to arrive at
2:30, so after cow hunting, I ate a quick lunch, changed clothes and went to bring the horses in.  Each of them came right into their stall, no halters needed.  They must have thought it was for an early dinner.  I gave them a little bit of hay and brushed each of them.  Then took Roni out to the round pen to work him until time for his hoof trimming.  Loren called to say he was running late, so I saddled Roni up and rode for 30 min.  I need to really think about keeping the reins tighter to stay connected (with him on the bit).  He "fought" me part of the time, nosing out or up, and complied part of the time, holding the bit and following cues.   

      Today's forecast was for midday and afternoon thunder storms, so I left Amiga's stall gate open and gave the horses access to just the paddock.  Several storm systems had passed through while I was at school and another was brewing when I got home.  And just as I expected, Amiga and Zorro were in Amiga's stall and Roni was standing nearby outside in the wind and rain. They are not very nice to him.
                                                         Some chickens had taken shelter in
the hay in the barn, as did the barn cats, but my presence disturbed them all from their resting place.  After getting each horse in its correct stall, I came in to eat lunch and finish this blog post. 
   


     Even though this post is about love... it is time to take all the Valentine decorations off the little holiday tree.

       I am setting off to do that right now.  I'll be decorating it for the up coming festive event, St. Patrick's Day, and it's picture will be coming in next week's Blog post.