Our Blessed Savior
Riding Horses
My Loving Husband
Our Beautiful Children
Fantastic Friends
Garden Produce
Walking The Dog
Hard Sweaty Work
Lying In The Sun
A Cat In My Lap
IMing With Britney
Winning At "Words"
"A day in the life of Marj." I spent the whole day with her, which was wonderful, and busy. I started out taking notes at a meeting she had with her contractor. Then I came home, loaded Roni (had to wake Dan up to get his help) and drove back over to Marj's for a lesson. We started with a trailering lesson. It went great, and I think he will load with just me now, and if not, I know what to do to get him to. It never ceases to amaze me at how well Marj works with horses. Then she basically gave Josh and I a lesson. She was showing him how to give a lesson while working with Roni and I. She is teaching him to work with gaited horses. I re-learned several things I had been forgetting to do, and felt much better about what to do in the future. Then, leaving Roni in one of the stalls, we were off to meet the
realtor. We spent a good part of the
day looking at two really nice but quite different properties. Once back, Josh and Marj had to get ready for an over-nighter coming with 10 polo horses. I loaded Roni (without help), took him home, fed the horses and cows, and then went back to Marj's. I jumped right in helping her and Josh get the stalls ready, and just as we finished up, the truck pulled in. I helped lead horses to stalls as they unloaded them and got them settled in for the night. I ended my day with Marj, enjoying a relaxing beverage while sitting in her lovely home, savoring some down time together. Then, she was off to get ingredients for frying catfish, and I went home to see 
what my "boys" were up to.Joe had driven Dan to Wapella to pick up a 1986 El Camino Dan had bought. Dan said he had always wanted one... and I was thinking "yeah right." But as soon as he drove up the drive, I remembered my boy who's favorite match box car was a navy blue El Camino. And I recalled the several times he had pointed one out while we were driving down the road and said
"I want one of those when I grow up."
It is a very distinct
car, because it is kind of half truck. There is none other like it (as
far as I know). I was happy for Dan because he was so excited. But now our place looks like a used car lot.
Tuesday was a gorgeous day out, but I missed most of it because I worked here on the front porch, at my computer, to write last week's blog. I did do my daily chores, cook dinner, get flea medicine on all three cats, among other things... but it was basically a "do nothing" day.
Wednesday was an equally beautiful fall day, so I made a point to not
dally here, and went out to work and ride Amiga. I took her for an
hour, at a walk, all over here and at Becks. She is really doing
great. I spent two hours painting and actually saw Tiny come out from
under the corn crib momentarily for a quick drink and bite to eat. Got
the window and barn trim above it all done... "ta da!" Then I had some down time reading. 
Since the "boys" were going to be gone for dinner, I ate early (snacked really) and then went for a 2 hour ride on Roni. We explored some new "trails." After crossing the wooden bridge on the farm lane, I continued north. We had to slip around a 50 yard end of a bean field, going through tall weeds, but then there was a wide water way I took the rest of the way north to the road Marj lives on. We rode up to her place, turned
down Brian's road and came home.
I did stops, goes, walks, trots and canter with a whoa at
each speed. I had Roni back up, stand still for several minutes, and do
some turns where there was room. For the most part he did fairly well
with all of this, after spending extra time "practicing" many things.
Abbey decided to break in Dan's new car while he was at work.For some reason I woke before 5am Thursday and couldn't get back to sleep. So I got up to savor the wonderful fall weather. It is so nice to be able to enjoy the days of fall, unlike ever before because of teaching.
I took Roni to Moraine View with minimal
loading issues at start or finish. We saw lots of deer and squirrels. I rode Roni for almost three hours out there. I took to heart an
article I had recently read "Long Rides, Wet Saddle Pads and
Concentrated Training" by Clinton Anderson. It said it is good to
really work your horse and bring them back wet. So I did. Roni gets
better the more I ride him. When we went past the pond, I took this photo on the left, as a comparison to what it looked like just before the end of the drought, seen to the right. 
I don't know why it is so low, unless there has been a break in the damn somewhere. Like the malfunction of half the electrical sites at the camp ground which have never been fixed, I suspect this will not be repaired either, due to lack of funding. I hate to see this little pond go. Roni got
washed off once back at the camp
ground, and was given
some grazing time while he dried off. Later in the day, I ran into LeRoy to a tack shop to have two grazing muzzles repaired, get some can foam spray at True Value, buy some groceries at the IGA and pick up Dan who left his El Camino at Hutch's.
Looking out the kitchen window during dinner prep, I watched the horses in the paddock playing "Ring Around The Rosie". They were using the grain bins, and going at a gallop. What fun they were having in the breezy, cool fall evening... and they were fun to watch... but I worried they might get hurt.
I was slow to go outside Friday because the cold house and crisp fall air during morning chores caused my brain to think it was too cold out. I did get some photos of the sunrise.
It was actually a gorgeous fall day. I spent a good part of the
afternoon almost completely cleaning out the stalls, stripping them down to the dirt
floor. I also sprayed foam around both barn windows. And, we got good news that Mike had accepted a job offer at State Farm.
Joe got home from work early and filled the stalls with fresh, clean
shavings. He also helped me put pivoting trim on the new barn window, so I can remove the window for added ventilation
on hot summer days.Joe and I were outside by 9am Saturday, hitting the jobs hard and working up a sweat. It wasn't that hot out, but with the sun and exertion, we got warm. There was mowing, cleaning up dirty straw and hay, and tending to the burn pile. I cleaned all the boards from construction out of the barn and raked and swept up all the dust and old hay.
The fun job I was excited to get done was moving the "bridge" and big
log from the front pasture to out back to my riding trail. The added obstacles increase the
interest and fun for me and challenge for the horses. 
I rode Amiga for 40 minutes and Roni for a little over an hour. Amiga
was much calmer and more willing to maneuver over the obstacles than
Roni was. I rode Roni east, following the tracks to the next road. I
rode around a neighbors lake, took the road to 150, and followed it
home. Roni does great along the road, cause he is used to traffic. 
Joe
mulched around the birch tree in the paddock while I was enjoying
riding. Tiny was out with the chickens all day. I spotted a wild cat
going
under the corn crib, so knew why Tiny was not under there, but with the
flock. We savored an early dinner (steak a la Frankie) so Joe could get in a nap before
hitting a long work night. I didn't make it to early Church this morning, so Wal-Mart was extra crowded by the time I got there after second service. Dan had gone to Valencia's after work last night, and they arrived home as I was putting away groceries. Then I started cooking spaghetti sauce. I went out to the garden to get fresh basil, parsley and tomatoes, and I used three pounds of ground beef thanks to Frankie.
Courtney and Mike joined us for a mid-afternoon Sunday dinner. Unfortunately, Joe was still at work (since 11pm Saturday night) so we ate without him. 
I wanted to see how Amiga would handle with a different rider and while I rode Roni... so Courtney was a willing guinea pig. We started slow and easy in the round pen. Amiga's stop was not as good as usual and she got more excited with Courtney at the helm than she does with me. But we felt comfortable enough to go on a little "trail" ride around the farm and over at Becks. All and all, I would say it was quite successful. Amiga improved after Courtney adjusted her hand position on the rein, and they both got used to each other. I was just delighting in the moment of a mother and daughter ride, and seeing Amiga's rehab (from her lameness) going so well.
Babe actually came trotting in for tonight's feeding. The best I have seen her move in over three weeks. It is so good to see her improve so much... another thing to be happy
for. There is so much in life to savor. The list at the start of this blog is just a few I have taken pleasure in this week. The multitude of blessings I enjoy goes on and on. My life is so rich. 
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