Villhauer's Farm Blessings: August 2011

As I transition from summer vacation back to the new school year, I need to once again put on my teaching hat. Although, I realize, that it has
been on all along. We all teach when

we instruct our children or demonstrate a skill or give advice to others. And we each wear many hats within one day as wife, mother, daughter, sister, niece, cousin, aunt or even grandma. We put on different hats with different relationships. But we also wear different hats with the same person as we counsel a friend, do business with them, teach them, console them, or have fun with them. According to the article "The Many Hats We Wear" ~by Rev. Lucinda Schersing, DD, our hats are not just job related, but also encompass that of creativity, child-like qualities, worry and sorrow, compassion, etc. All the time we Christians need to remember we are wearing the hat of Christ like love, while sometimes circumstances or other people are trying to knock it off.

Last Saturday I got busy working out in the yard. I needed to get away from my computer, feel productive, and get my mind off Roni. We were supposed to get rain in the afternoon, so I thought I should do outside work first. I helped Joe with putting railing on each side of the deck steps so the dog chain wouldn't keep catching on the corners. The flower bed was a big mess so I tackled the weeds with gusto. I trimmed the rose bush, moved the chicken wire (which keeps them out), added edging bricks, put down Preen (a good weed prevention and fertilizer I had on hand), and planted flower bulbs (which have been sitting around since last fall). Then I added 3 bags of old mulch that have also been lying around for over a year.

I love wearing my gardener's hat.

Mid morning Andy came to look at our broken drain tile, and it was then that we received a blow to our budget. Come to find out, several more tile
have broken. There is a line of holes along the

water way. Digging the water way deeper than we wanted or needed, but to help out our neighbor's water problem, was probably not the best idea. We also believe that all the heavy equipment rolling over it to do the excavation caused the cave in. Now we have to replace the whole tile system in the South pasture, or we will have the same problem in the North pasture. It is so disheartening. I try to keep it all in perspective and remember to be thankful for our health, daily bread, home and farmland, along with a ton of other blessings.

We tried putting Amiga and Zorro together in one grazing pen. Joe did it out of necessity to begin with, and they were so happy together, that I decided to leave it that way. I took several photos of them enjoying this new freedom. I think horses wear different hats too.

Once again, we never got any rain. I just don't get it, it seems to rain all around us. We did have some neat looking clouds early evening that I tried
to capture on film, two I have posted later in

this blog. As you can see in the bottom photo, our yard is scorched. The grass under the trees isn't quite as bad, but we desperately need rain.

Sunday was a new day, with a new beginning, bringing new blessings. Marj decided to lowered her price on Roni to what Joe and I can afford. She felt that Roni and I were meant for each other and needed to be together. I knew I was moping around, but didn't realize that back at Marj's, Roni also seemed to miss me. It is hard to explain the attachment and bond that can occur between horse and rider. (Any of you with horses or dogs probably get it.) Roni and I definitely have that connection.

     Taken from TODAY.com   by Scott Stump:
Hawkeye, a labrador retriever, was pictured lying by Navy SEAL Jon Tumilson’s casket in a heart-wrenching image taken at the funeral service in Tumilson’s hometown of Rockford, Iowa. Tumilson was one of 30 American troops, including 22 Navy SEALs, who were killed when a Taliban insurgent shot down a Chinook helicopter with a rocket-propelled grenade on Aug. 6.   Hawkeye was such a huge part of Tumilson’s life that Tumilson’s family followed the dog down the aisle as they entered the service. Hawkeye walked up to the casket at the beginning of the service and then dropped down with a heaving sigh as about 1,500 mourners witnessed a dog accompanying his master until the end. Like a fellow soldier on a battlefield, his loyal dog refused to leave him behind.

     Ronii and I are no where near as connected as this man and dog. However, not many people can easily or comfortably ride Roni. He needs a special touch and I guess I have that, as does Marj. And because she sees this, and is so compassionate and generous, she has made it possible for Roni and I to be together. I am so humbled by her gracious and selfless act of love.

I had mixed feelings about the new decision. I didn't want to be standing in God's way of his will for me, and I knew our finances, time, and resources would be stretched. But at the same time I was dancing with joy and happiness. I couldn't believe that Roni was actually going to be mine, to enjoy and care for. Different emotional hats were flying off and on my head.

I went about tasks with a new energy and an urgency. I knew once Roni came here to make this his for-ever home, I would not have as much time. So I busied myself (and recruited Joe) to getting some jobs done. I can't even remember what all we did... but I stayed busy all day and squeezed school work into the night.

I think cows wear a few different hats too, but usually they have on their ornery one, especially Norman. Here we are adding better fencing around the little weeping willow tree. If you click on the picture to the left, you can see the damage Norman has done to it.

Here it is all fenced and safe, hopefully. This new, make shift fence is intended to be enough to keep the cow boys out and away from the little willow tree. I have been taking buckets of water to it all summer, so the grass around it is more lush.

Monday afternoon I thought I was loosing my mind. Norman was in his little calf pen (with the chain link gate open) mooing for food when I came back to the barn from taking Zorro out front. I let him out into the paddock through the wood gate and kept wondering how he had gotten in the barn. I couldn't believe I had left him there all morning while at school.

The chickens enjoying a snack from the kitchen compost bucket.

I went to Wellgreen Farm to help Richard out for a couple of hours because Marj was unavailable. They were having some of the horses checked and worked on for dental care. Roni went first and did very well. He had one canine that was quite long because it does not occlude with another tooth, but the vet didn't think it would cause problems with the bit in his mouth. I held several horse heads and tongues and asked several questions. (wearing my Biology student hat)

Tuesday- the good thing about chasing a cow around for 40 min during morning chores, is that my tea is extra strong by the time I come in because it has been steeping the whole time. Norman's second escape also confirmed by suspicion from yesterday, so I felt I was not going senile. Somehow he is getting out. And then, just before leaving for school, I saw it with my own eyes. Just like Sir Loin had done in early spring, he stepped right through the elecro-braid into the side pasture.

Joe found time to come home mid morning to move Norman from the side pasture back into the paddock with Frankie and Sir Loin. Then he mowed all around the fence line because some of the weeds were up to the electro braid and probably weakening the charge. (Norman wearing his ornery, fugitive, escapee cow hat)
Me wearing my calf wrangler hat.... which is a cowboy hat I believe.

Around noon Tuesday, we finally got some much needed and over due rain. It came in spurts as 2 different storms passed through the area. Not only did the rain soften the ground and green things up, but it also cooled the air down.

Wednesday the temperatures hit 94 degrees again. It was hard to believe summer weather was back so quickly. I busied myself with school work as soon as I got home, hoping I would have time for horses later, but a fatigue came over me and I had to take a nap...for 2 hours. I got very sweaty doing an extra good job of cleaning stalls. Then Courtney arrived and we messed around with the horses for a while. I walked Amiga after dinner once the air had cooled off and couldn't even stay up until 10 pm, so school work would have to wait.

      The "baby" chickens still stay together as a group. The black one on the bench is a rooster, the other three are hens.

     Thursday I was up by 4:30, feeling I had had enough sleep. The school day went well. Amiga had messed up her stall gate and hurt her neck in the process, so I had to fix her owies while Joe fixed the gate. Then he put on his golf hat and hit the greens while I put on my riding helmet and went to Wellgreen Farm to work with Roni, who seemed pretty low energy, kind of like I was feeling. It only got up to 86 today, but still seemed plenty warm. Amiga and Zorro continue to grazed together in 1 larger grazing pen, enjoying each others company. When we brought them back in after dinner, Amiga's neck had swelled a fair amount. We headed to LeRoy to hear the Biscuits and Gravy Band at the fall festival. There was a big crowed with lots of rides and games. We enjoyed ice cream and the band, but headed home in less than an hour to met Courtney who came out to look at Amiga. We decided her neck was bruised and she was obviously in pain. She did not like us to touch it. I gave her a Bute hoping it would look and feel better by morning.

     This morning I headed out to the barn as usual, only today I had Amiga's neck on my mind. It was no worse, but still pretty swollen, so I gave her another Bute. The tile diggers then

arrived and got started on that mess out in the back pasture.

The tile guys were gone by the time I got home from school. The photo below is looking north and the one on the right is looking south.

Luckily there are clean, unbroken tile at both ends to tie into. Now there is 300 feet to be dug between them and new pipe to be put in.

This afternoon I cleaned the big turtle pool for the ducks. Leo (the turtle) is now at school. I also watered all the outdoor potted plants, flowers, and new transplants. Down at Wellgreen Farm I worked with Roni. We went outside part of the time because Natalie was giving a riding lesson in the indoor arena. Roni did very well, and I quit early like yesterday to reward him for his great efforts. Amiga's neck was much better, but I decided to give her another day off from walking and light ground work, because her neck was still pretty tender.

Because the back pasture is off limits to the cow boys, we let them go out on the side pasture. Boy did they think this alfalfa was tasty. You can see how well it has greened up and re-grown since we bailed it two weeks ago. We are going to need to limit the grazing time out here, and I am thinking a third cutting might be possible.

Betty had to come out and see what I was up to, so I clicked her picture while I was at it.
Grilled hot dogs were enjoyed in the picnic shelter and a bit later a fire was also a nice, cool evening activity.

Somewhat like Joseph wore a coat of many colors, we wear many hats of different shapes, sizes, textures and functions. In the article I referred to at the start of this post, the Rev. Lucinda Schersing ends by asking "What does your hat look like? Is it well balanced so that a gust from the Winds of Surprise will not knock it off? Do you change your hat often? There is nothing so forlorn as a hat that is battered and rumpled because it has become unbalanced from being worn too long or a hat that simply sat on the shelf, unworn."
When I Googled Christian hats, this verse -> was found on one of them.
I have to make a point to wear this hat regularly.
.

If wishes were horses
then Holly would Buy.
Get it? Ha ha ha.

Trying to come up with a possible way to buy Roni
has consumed way to much
of my time and energy this
past week.

And school work has zapped me of any reserve.

Last Friday's trek to school was frustrating and extremely unproductive. Part of it was me, but part of it was due to, well, bad technology and poorly run building procedures. I brought home groceries and it wasn't long until Mark and his help started bailing and bringing in hay. I was too busy to get photos because it was just Joe and I putting it up to begin with. I put the bails on the conveyor going up to the loft and he took them off and stacked them. A neighbor and a friend showed up a bit later... which was so nice.

Hay men- cooling off and reflecting on farm life.

We ended up with almost 170 bails... and it is really good alfalfa hay. Once finished, a beer was enjoyed by all and then it was off to Wellgreen Farm to help Marj and Richard with their hay, putting up about another 200 bails.

We were glad the rain had held off Friday afternoon, but when I got up Sat. morning, I was disappointed to see yet again, that we hadn't gotten any that had been predicted. I spent the day over at Moraine View,
trail riding with Marj and a bunch from the barn.
I went out three different times with Roni,

probably riding for almost five hours. He is such a fun horse to ride. He did get overly excited a few times and we tried different things to work on calming him down. Marj and I traded horses for a while so she could work with Roni and see how best to continue with our training.
In the photo to the right, Roni is standing tied to the pick line. You can see the Expedition and trailer in the background.
In the photo below, we are getting organized and ready to ride. Seven of us went out the first time.

We got a big thunder storm with hail at about 4pm. All the horses were on the pick line at the time and just turned their rears to the wind, rain and hail. It cleared and was done for the night by 5 pm, so we were able to
enjoy dinner and a campfire.

We hang bags of hay from the pick line and the horses can eat till it's gone. We also bring around buckets of water.

In the photo below, Roni is enjoying some of our new hay.

At 8:30 pm, Marj, Dani, and I went for a moon light ride. It was too wet and dark in the woods, so we went out to a newly mowed meadow and had fun maneuvering and working the horses. It was nearly 11pm by the time I got Roni settled in back home. I think he was really glad to be back where he could relax and rest for the night. I was relieved to see Brother show up, after being gone for over 24 hours.

Joe came with me when I went back out to Moraine View at 10 am Sunday. We enjoyed breakfast while relaxing around the morning campfire. Joe went for a jog and kayaking while Richard, Marj and I went for another nice trail ride. Roni did so much better. It is amazing to see how much and how quickly he improves.

Using the picnic bench to mount up so as not to stress Roni's back. It is also better for the saddle stirrup straps.

Our small group is ready to ride.
Marj, Richard, and myself.

Off Roni and I go on a great adventure together. We had a blast zipping through the woods, so much fun and such a neat horse.

I returned home mid day (without Roni) and proceeded to get a bunch done around here in an effort to get my mind off Roni. A flood of emotions washed over me as I thought "I may never see this horse again". Marj had a prospective buyer, and planned to fine tune the training I have been helping with so that he would sell. All I could think about was how much I would miss Roni and if he was going to have a good home. I so wanted to buy him, but it just wasn't doable financially. Not knowing what I would do with myself for my "horse fix", I was really depressed. I knew I really needed to work with Amiga more (everything but riding her) but it's just not as satisfying as a good ride on a good horse. I had plenty of school work
to keep me busy, but I couldn't concentrate.

So, Kaysha got a much needed bath because she had rolled in cow manure. Later I brushed her for nearly half an hour. I messed with a feeder in the chicken coop, wall fencing in Zorro's stall, and other mundane tasks... mixing chicken feed, filling horse and cattle feed bins, cleaning water buckets, etc.

Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday I was completely consumed by school work, spending 7, 11, and 10 hours there respectively. I had cried and prayed all the way to school Monday in regards to Roni, having read an e-mail from Marj about how well he had done with her Sunday afternoon. I knew I had passed up an opportunity to buy a very nice horse and felt certain he would sell. I can't recall the last time I have wanted something for myself so badly. (maybe 2 years ago before Onyx, my first horse) A gamut of emotions poured out to God and I was ashamed by my selfish desires. My wanting Roni isn't just because he is so fun to ride, but also because I have truly fallen in love with this horse. As I pulled into the parking lot at school, I felt spent but ready for the new task at hand. Having my mind on school related tasks and problems helped me forget about Roni.

I love this picture of him, peeking around the post. Isn't he cute?

When I stopped for a late lunch break at school and caught up on e-mails, I read one from Marj saying that she was thinking of keeping Roni because he was doing so well and could be used in lessons and leased out to intermediate riders. A peace and joy came over me, feeling this was Gods answer to my morning prayer. Roni would still be at Marj's, not for me to have, but to be able to see, ride and share with others.

Joe bringing Amiga in from her grazing pen. She is very cute too.

Becks had it's big show on Wednesday so I went out and got these pictures Tuesday evening.

All of this farm equipment is quite impressive...and I am sure extremely expensive. I do not know how farmers can possibly make ends meat. or is it meet? Kaysha was a good sport during our walk, posing for each photo.

Joe fixed dinner Wednesday night and we sat in the picnic shelter to eat and watch the sun set. It was a nice evening and a good dinner, even though the barn cats were on the prowl as well as was Abbey.

Thursday I was at school, a more normal, six hour day. The students were only in class for ten minutes. I had to scoot home for a lesson at Marj's. I started on Vinnie but then we switched and I got to ride Roni. In just 4 days of not riding him, I felt we were a little out of sink at first, but then we both relaxed and worked well together near the end. It was so good to see and ride him again, especially now that he is working so much better under saddle. Marj and I had a good heart to heart talk and the possibility of buying Roni was discussed. We both really wanted to make it work.

The barn swallow babies have left the nest I had filmed last week. This is another nest in the barn with newly hatched and noisy babies. The barn cats are always on the prowl trying to find a way to get the babies.

We had our first full day of school with students in the classroom today. I am quite pleased with the three classes I have. The temperature has climbed back up and it was very warm by the time I got home from school. After many e-mails back and forth with Marj today and tonight, we came to the conclusion that the selling/buying of Roni would not be possible. It was disheartening and emotional for both of us but apparent that it was not in God's plan for me to buy Roni. I think we are both at peace with how it has worked out, yet each a bit disappointed. Maybe some day we will need that third stall that Joe and I worked so hard on building this summer.

The cow boys eating out in the back pasture.

Britney and Daniel communicate by Facebook and e-mail, and are both doing well. Britney accompanied Dra. Sara at the national hospital in Chimaltenango, on a night shift from 4pm-8am last Friday night. They didn't get any emergency calls through the night, so were able to sleep from 11pm-6am. Britney was able to work in the NICU with a bunch of cute babies... she bottle fed the septic babies who are nearly fully recovered.

Photo- Cute little septic no-name, 13 days old.

Britney was in Orthopedic trauma in the National Hospital in Chimaltenango with Dra. Martinez on Thursday. She was gowned up and got hands on experience in the operating room. The Dr. kept saying “Come on Britney! Don’t be shy!” and she would just grab Britney's hands and place them right on the bone they were mending back together.

Britney even got to do the external sutures!

This is a pretty amazing photo taken earlier.
It is one of a C-section Britney was able to watch. Look closely and you can see a little hand and foot.

Dan is doing well. He made a power point and taught an OPSEC class (Department of Defense Operational Security Operations). Here is a video about OPSEC if you are interested.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VEFN8mm5hko

Dan's unit was under attack by 2 rockets tonight, which caused a big fire. Thankfully no one was injured but it was a long sleepless night for Dan and the rest of the soldiers. Can't give you any details here. Please keep him and all the others in your prayers.