The Three "Rs"

     As spring unfolds, so does our desire to plant flowers, vegetables, shrubs and trees.  Our increased enjoyment of God's creation heightens our awareness of it and our longing to care for it.  This week is comprised of two days that pay special tribute to our Earth and awake significant attention to taking good care of it.

     (Replacement, Reduction and Refinement)  While looking for a 3 "Rs" image, I came across a number of other 3 "R" acronyms.  This one on animal research, that guides the ethical use of animals in science, especially caught my eye.  I think these 3 "Rs" should also be applied to pet care, animal husbandry, and any practice involving the use of animals.

     (Release, Refresh, Reacquaint) Before noon last Friday, I let the horses out of the barn, after being stuck inside for 30 hours.  They were so glad to get out and be together.  They wanted to race from the paddock, but decided slipping on mud was a bit risky, so they kind of skated/shuffled out to the pasture instead.  I went out to the water way to remove debris (mostly corn stalks and husks) that were wrapped around the bottom rope of the electro- braid and were pulling it down under the water.


    
     Roni had come over to see what I was doing, (click on photo to enlarge) but when I slipped and almost fell in the water, I screamed, which sent Roni back to join the other two.


     Look at all the debris washed up at the "flood" level.  This is all from the corn field on the north side of US 150.  Not sure how best to take care of this mess.




     When I got back from capitalizing on the use of McDonald's internet, I let Stew go out with the horses.  He was drawn towards them, but kept a safe distance.  I was waiting for the sun to come out and warm things up so Kabob could go out to be with Stew.  We got news that Babe weighed in at 1,140 pounds, about as much as Chuck. 

     (Recover, Relate, Revive)  Joe and I went out to a pub Friday night to listen to a band, grab a bite to eat, and enjoy time together.  When we got in the car to come home, there was snow all over the windshield.  The ground was too warm, so it didn't stick there, but it was still annoying.

     Saturday morning I was relieved to have Brother come to me when I called for him.  He had been missing the last three days and I was concerned his route home might have been flooded, or worse yet he could have been swept away by a current. 





     I let Brother in on the front porch to rest and visit.  Abbey was not so sure this was a good idea.

 
     Joe set off for St. Louis before 8am to play in an old farts (55 and older) poker tournament over the weekend.  The sun was shining but it was still quite cold, so I got productive inside, while the horses enjoyed sunning.

     It was warm enough after lunch to let Kabob out in the paddock with Stew.

     Stew was cautious as he approached Bob.

 







     Bob just kept exploring and looking around.




     He quickly found the water tub and got a drink.  Then he tried to jump up on the steps.


     (Rise, Retreat, Retake)  There was soon a game of "King Of The Mountain" (steps).
















(Run, Romp, Rally)  Bob then tried getting Stew to play "Catch Me If You Can".














































     While the cows were getting acquainted, I went out to the south end of the water way to clean up more debris that was hanging on the fence line.  I hadn't noticed it the day before.  

       I took the manure rake with me to pull the junk off the line like I had done Friday.  I also used it to help me keep my balance.

    





     This end of the water flow (down stream) was a little deeper.  Notice it is almost up to the top of my boot.  Just after I took this photo, I couldn't get my boot unstuck from the bottom mud, and had to really lean forward to free it.  Well, I leaned the top of the boot under water, and it quickly filled up.  Nuts!

     Before going in to change out of my wet boot, sock, and pants, I walked out back to see what it looked like on the other side of the tracks at Becks.  Water was flowing through the culvert and away from our farm.
 




     But there was also quite a bit of water trapped on my riding path by the tracks.












     I used the 2:00 bottle to lure Bob back into the calf pen in the barn. 

     (Round-up, Ride, Reflect)  Next I went out to retrieve Roni.  Brother came over to see what I was up to.



     Brother quickly got bored and decided to nap in the sun, on the tack room floor of the trailer.






     Missy was content to bask in the sun,
on the back end of the trailer...












...until Brother came over to play.



     Once Roni was tacked, I asked him to stand quietly on a lose lead line.  It worked for quite awhile, until he decided to eat.  




     I proceeded with Roni to the round pen and worked there on the ground and then under saddle.  Next I rode him around the front pasture.




     The ground was really wet, so I took Roni down Brian's road.  We worked on stops and goes and some neck reining.  Below is a view of Marj's place, 2 miles away.  Brian's drive is on the right at the top of the hill.












     Heading back home, you can see it was partly cloudy.  The trees on the horizon, to the right, are ours.  Because Roni likes to rush home, I asked him to stop, back, and stand quietly several times.  I could tell when he finally gave up on getting home and started listening and relaxing.


     Then we went over to Becks.  I stayed at the top of the ridge along the railroad tracks where they don't mow so our hoof dents wouldn't be on their lane.  We went slow and easy because there are some holes and I wanted relaxation from Roni. 



     I let Roni drink from a few puddles and even graze a few minutes while we were returning home... again trying to get him to realize we weren't in a big hurry to get back... although the wind was making me feel kind of cold.

     Brother greeted us at the chicken coop as we arrived home.  But we weren't done yet...
I took Roni to the round pen and worked on his gaiting.  I kept him moving at a slow gait, going in large and smaller circles as we changed directions.  I even got him to do this using more of a neck rein.  I was so happy with how
                                         hard he tried for me and how well he did.

     The Replex closed at 5pm, so I took Kaysha for an evening walk.  It was nippy out but I didn't feel too bad because I had bundled up.  I stayed clear of the water way and had to avoid the low spots that were quite soggy.



     Wow!  Did I ever amount to nothing on Sunday.  I didn't go to Church and I never changed out of my PJs/sweat suit.  I was having some digestive issues and it was cold out, even though the sun was shining.  The wind was the biggest deterrent. 

     I did do all the daily chores and a few weekly jobs.  I had also noticed that the willow tree in the back pasture was really leaning again.  If you enlarge the photo below, you can kind of see it.  You can also see how much the water way has dried up.




     I went out with recycled baling twine to tie up the tree.  I removed a lot of the old rotten hemp twine that had been use.  The artificial twine lasts so much longer than the other rope like stuff.

Stew came to see what I was doing.

     Dan dropped by the house to get his mail.  He was on his way home from a three day training weekend in Indiana.

     He looked good, except the back of his neck was pretty sun burned.  I interrogated him as best as a mom can.  I didn't get much information, except he was at Camp Atterbury, were he had landed, home from Afghanistan, exactly a year ago.  Also he said he won best marksman again. 

     Late Sunday evening I got news from Joe that he had won a nice sum of money.  He was one of four left in the tournament of 169 players.  Because it was getting late and they were getting tired of playing, they decided to declare a 4 way tie.  Joe's friend (and car pool buddy) who had been waiting for Joe, had entered a second tournament.  He was doing quite well, so Joe was going to be detained in St. Louis for the night.  As it turned out, his friend played all day Monday.

     Earth Day Monday started with Water Lilies and then walking, after first doing morning chores.  Then I spent much of the morning sitting on the front porch reading horse training articles and my Bible.

     At one point I went out to get a photo of the chickens resting under a pine tree.


     Well, as soon as they heard the front door open, they all came running towards me.

  


     Of course Hercules had to come see what all the commotion was about.


     I went shopping before my 1:30   Dr. appointment since I was in town.  Once I got groceries unpacked back at home, I went out to "play". 

     I let Kabob out into the paddock again.  He did more exploring and discovered the hot fence was something to stay away from.


     I had an enjoyable ride on Roni.  We went down Baker's lane and across the cornfield along the creek.  When we turned for home he really started rushing again.  It took quite awhile to slow him down and get him to relax.  


     I let Roni graze with a long lead line while I cleaned stalls and rounded up Kabob.  Kabob was playing "hard to get" when I tried to move him back into his pen.



     Brother was dust bathing with a chicken.







     I had to quickly cook the ham and sausage I had bought and then went to our Growth Group "breakfast" Pot Luck.  Joe didn't get home until 11pm.

(River, Run, Rampant)  Officials in Peoria said the Illinois River finally crested Tuesday at 29.35 feet, reaching a 70-year record high.
Flooded downtown historic Peoria - Photo by Brian Erwin  

     Rain was in the forecast so I was out planting flowers before 10am.  I really wanted to get some planted before the rain.  I put in 28 flowers, including my two pots of Marigolds.

     I put Dianthus around each Red Bud in the rock garden where I had removed the Mums.



     I had to do some weeding to clear each of these areas out.  Vinca is the purple flowering vine seen here.





     I finished up while it was sprinkling and even got the stalls cleaned before the heavy rains hit.  Then it was indoors to work on this Blog. 

     Brian's cat had shown up in the morning, so midday I dropped it off while headed to the Replex.  I worked out for almost two hours, including stretching, and was exhausted when I got home.  No cooking and watching a movie with Joe ended the day.

     A few snow crystals while driving to Water Lilies Wednesday was almost too depressing.  As usual, the talk and exercise brightened my day.  It was cold, windy, and rainy... so I walked a little more than normal on the indoor track.

     (Rest, Relax, Recover)  I was really tired for some reason, so took it easy... played and worked at my computer, read, napped and watched TV.  I did take a walk around the place once the sun kind of came out.  The chickens and turkey have trampled my Iris, so I put up fencing, but didn't have enough. 

     I also noticed that the weeds have the upper hand in several of my beds.  Dandelions are the worst.
 










     My rock garden will look better once I finish weeding and the flowers fill out.  I had let Kabob out before I took my walk, but I got cold and so did he so it didn't last long.  He preferred the heat lamp and wind break to the spotty sunshine and mud.  After dinner, Joe and I watched Survivor.


     This Tom cat showed up Wednesday and was still hanging around Thursday morning.  He looks a lot like Abbey.












     The sun light is deceiving because the air was still quite cold.  I was trying to get our silhouette, but Tom was not very cooperative.  This was the best I could do.

     





       It ended up being a lazy day.  The wind had really picked up and I just wasn't game for getting battered by its forces.  And, I still thought it was cold, because of the wind chill. 

     (Retire, Relocate, Relax)  I spent all morning looking at housing possibilities while also playing Words With Friends.  I thought if I could find the perfect spot and house at one of the two communities we are trying to decide on in Tennesse, that would cinch the decision for us.  I didn't really accomplish much, causing me to feel very unproductive, so Abbey's attitude below, kind of matched mine.
    
     I kept the horses in the paddock until 10:00 to limit their green grass intake.  They didn't even run out to the pasture when I opened the gate, but started grazing immediately.

     The wind finally slowed down in the afternoon and I went out to clean stalls etc. I used the tractor to pile up the two manure piles and scooped poop in the yard to get ready to mow, which ended up getting put on hold.  I also walked the outside of our perimeter fence to pick up trash and then started on stick clean up in the yard.  I even had to water all the new transplants because they were looking quite dry.

     Courtney came out to work with Zorro, which was a pleasant surprise.  So I decided to join her and work with Amiga.




     Courtney groomed Zorro while I worked with Amiga in the round pen.



     I had Amiga walk and gait in both directions, wanting her to work in a relaxed frame and calm mind set.



     She didn't do bad, but was actually trotting instead of gaiting Courtney said.

     We also thought she looked smooth or balanced at both speeds, and did not appear like she had leg issues.  I appreciated Amiga's efforts.  She has always been a sweet heart.




     Courtney and Zorro switched places with Amiga and I.  He paused to poop before getting started.

   

     She worked on having him "join up" which means after you send them, then you turn and they are to follow you.


     Zorro is like a little puppy, sometimes an ornery, distracted one.


     Courtney had Zorro move at different gaits or speeds. 



     He didn't really gait or trot.  He would move both left legs and then both right legs at the same time.





     It was hard to tell if Zorro had any lameness or not because he wasn't real coordinated with his leg work.  Sometimes it would look pretty good, other times he seemed off.

     I included a lot of photos of the two of them here, because I took a ton and couldn't decided which I liked best.

     Friday was Arbor Day.  I didn't have any trees to plant, but still had
flowers to put in the ground.







     I love that Brother usually greets me when I go outside.  Tom cat was still hanging around so both our black barn cats were a little edgy.

     Following Water Lilies and walking, I came home and worked on this Blog.  I got disgusted with the blogger program because it would not let me down load any photos, even after numerous tries.  So I went and read my Bible on the front porch with Brother.  I got so sleepy, I came back in and took a long nap. At least the program worked by the time I tried again.

     The chicken egg production had slowed during the cold weather, but has picked back up.  These are today's finds.  I am not sure why the one is so small.  It is not one of Tiny's, since she is no longer here, and it is even smaller than her's were.

(Reduce, Reuse, Recycle)   Abbey loves to play in the packing paper that comes in the numerous boxes Daniel gets shipped here.  She reuses it before we recycle it.


     She also reduces kitty litter by going outside, instead of the liter box, whenever possible.  And she is


recycling her wastes to the soil, left photo.  Remember the dust hole the chicken had dug to bath in before all the rain came?  Well Abbey decided to reuse the mud hole for other purposes.

    I used Bob's 2pm bottle to lure him back into his pen from the paddock.  I stayed out and cleaned stalls.  Then I worked at picking up sticks for quite sometime while Joe was mowing the fence line with the tractor.





     Next I mowed all of the yard around the house using the riding mower.


     Above the horses wait to come in for dinner.  Zorro came over to see me.  To the right you can see that I haven't gotten the vegetable garden planted yet and it has some weeds that need pulling.  Joe was off to play more poker with the boys so I hung out here and finished this blog.  Just a few minutes ago I got the fire below going, to burn all the sticks. 

     I had  removed most of the pile of sticks to start the fire and have been feeding them in as it burns.

     Now for some popcorn and beer, out at the fire till it burns down.  Then I'll move to in front of the TV till I am ready to go to bed.