Oops! Winter!

Yesterday brought some surprises.  It had rained most of the night; was 41 degrees when we opened the kitchen at 6:30 am.  By 7:00 the rain had turned to snow and guests started heading out right after breakfast to beat the roads.  Good thing Mrs. Mom and DH got out ahead of the storm; they might have decided to get 'snowed in', not that we would have minded.  We had such a great time with them and the BrownEyedCowGirls here this weekend.  By the way DH, we had 23 degrees and 5 new inches of snow by evening feeding time.  We could be in trouble again (from the local animal rights people) because our horses again have inches of snow on their backs, and ice dred-locks - but not a shiver among them.  In fact, they are doing the normal racing madly and slipping in the muck (somewhat like school kids in the season's first real snowfall).  They must be trying out their new feet!

Thanks again for working on our guys' feet-teaching us what to look for and how to start our trims.  Will be anxiously awaiting more lessons.  I went over the videos GunDiva did and was very happy to see how well some of them came out.  I was also delighted to see Meg and Jesse cavorting around the meadow in one of the videos.  It's so good for Jesse to learn that its OK to have fun at faster speeds.  I've kept her on such a tight rein when it comes to moving out, that I love to see her be able to experience the fun of it.  Thanks so much to both Meg and Mrs. Mom for 'exercising' my mustangs.  Any time any of you want to come back and ride, you may use them...and I can get pretty picky about who gets to take them out!

I can hardly wait for more stories to come out about the ride....HINT, HINT.
Juanita

Equine Pedicures, the "Cast" of Characters

"Barefoot farrier"---Turns out the HORSES are the barefoot ones, not the farriers.  Huh, who knew.

Sorry y'all, no pictures of the people who attended.  Upon blog examination, they all appear to be camera shy. By the time I thought to hang a paper bag over Mrs. Mom's head so we could get some shots of her working on a horse, they were done.  Darn.  May be just a well, though, our horses might just lose it if someone with a bag over their head were to walk up to them.  Might be a fun future blog...

Mrs. Mom and DH ("Dear Husband" or "Richard Cranium", depending on the moment) arrived first from "Oh HorseFeathers".  DH is not a small man.  "Don't be a total jerk, Bill, he will eat your lunch." was the first thing to go through my mind.  I hadn't realized just how big he was until I saw him holding a horse's leg up to trim it, lift the horse a couple feet off the ground, and set the standing leg down on his foot, probably to have it at a better angle to work on.  Well, that is what it LOOKED like.  Until his eyes bugged out, and the look on his face said "Do I kill this nice ladies horse now, or just wait for it to hop back OFF my now broken foot."  I was truly impressed.  No "words of power" came boiling out.  By the time I could look at him again, all I could say was "Buddy, I won't even laugh WITH you on that one."

As I said, Mrs Mom is camera shy, so no pics of her.  Your loss (she's purdy cute).  She had a gentle, quiet way around the horses, and didn't show off by lifting the horse off the ground as she worked.

We also had a mother daughter team from "Brown Eyed Cowgirls" come for the impromptu clinic.  The daughter had mastered the teenage art of "rolling your eyes til you hear the click when mom says something painfully obvious", and she made fast and close friends with our neighbors new puppy, Ingrid (a German Shepard female).  Again, no pics, and again, your loss.

GunDiva, RockCrallingChef, Juanita and I were also in attendance.  There are pics of us throughout this blog, as we have no pride.

Well, things are getting busy here at the lodge, so other information will have to wait a bit.

Bill

Equine Pedicure Specialist

This weekend we have a mini clinic going on with our special guest from Oh HorseFeathers & Related Twisted "Tails", Mrs. Mom.  She is an accomplished barefoot farrier.  I think she is nuts.  I always wear boots around horses.  It HURTS when they step on you.

We will keep you informed.

Bill

Recipe of the Month: Broccoli Cheese Soup

Broccoli Cheese Soup (with Bacon)
*Make gravy using 3 c. hot water
1 c. cool water
1 ½ c gravy mix (we use Morrison's Peppered Gravy mix from Sam's Club)
Set aside.
Finely chop 16 oz. frozen broccoli (or steamed fresh).
Cut 4 slices bacon into ½” pieces; cook in 4 qt. Dutch oven until crisp. Remove bacon. (Vegetarian option: forget the bacon and saute onion in butter/margarine)
Cook 1 med. onion, chopped, in grease until crisp-tender.
Stir in gravy + 2c shredded or cubed processed American cheese until cheese is melted.
Stir in broccoli and bacon.
Stir in ½-1 c. chicken broth until desired consistency.
Salt & pepper to taste. Heat to serving temperature.

*optional gravy substitute:
1/4 c margarine melted
½ c flour
½ t salt
Blend together with whisk.
Add 4 c. milk (1 1/3 c. dry milk + 4 c. water) all at once & cook quickly until mixture thickens & bubbles. Remove from heat.

We Play "Touch"

After our ride today, Ranger decided that he was going to teach me his game, "Touch".

Ranger:  "I touch.  You give treat." 

"No.  No.  You don't understand.  I touch.  You give treat."

GunDiva: "You touch.  I give kiss."

Ranger:  *blink* *blink*

23

Happy anniversary, Juanita.  Best decision I ever made and probably one of your worst, but I love it!

Snow #1

This morning we woke up to our first snow of the season.

We are horse sitting Compass's  horse Eli, who hails from Arizona.  I'm not sure but I think this may be his first snow.

                        I'm thinking he blames me for this mess.

Ah well, muddy and morose... he's a big boy.  He'll get over it.
 

Bill

Estes' Take on Dressage

There's the piaffe, where the horse "dances" in place.  We call it the Estes Two-step.

There's passage, where the horse "dances" while moving.  We call it the Estes Parade March.






And then according to Bill there's the pissmeoff in which Estes has to be lead home.

**Disclaimer: the beautiful horse in the video is one I found on youtube.**

GunDiva

To My Friends at Ford

To my friends at Ford Motor Company-

 Thank you for making sure I have a truck I can keep FOREVER.   One of my previous ads can be found HERE.

My latest Craigslist ad as posted in the Dearborn Michigan area (home offices of Ford)-

As posted yesterday (sure to be flagged soon...)

2004 F350 flatbed 6.0 L diesel

Here's the deal.  I've been trying to sell this truck for a year now, but every time I take out my hand full of receipts to show the $12,000.00 in engine work done on the diesel engine, folks look at me like I sprouted a 2nd head, get back in their car, and drive away.  I finally grabbed one by the arm, and asked him why he was leaving.  He said "That's just not normal.  You shouldn't be putting that much into a diesel."  I told him "Ford says it's ok." and he slapped my hand away and drove off shouting "Then sell it to one of THEM!"  Great idea!  So I am posting it here in Denver and in Dearborn.

It's a 2004 F350 with 155K miles on it. It has a crewcab and a flatbed with a headache rack, heated leather power seats, a great radio/6 disc cd player, power windows/locks/mirrors, an automatic transmission, and a lot of new parts in the 6.0 L diesel engine.  Oil cooler/radiator/fuel distributor/about all of the fuel injectors/fuel pump (several times) and a BUNCH of other stuff.  The head hasn't warped yet, but I hear that's a'coming.

   I need $10K to pay off what's left on the re-finance for the repairs, and another $18K to buy another truck.  I have had a Ford truck parked in front of my house for the last 37 years.  Here is an opportunity for you to purchase the last Ford truck I will ever own!

Act now, it won't last long!  I promise!

Can't-tering

I went out for a bareback ride with our daughter yesterday.

  She had decided that THIS WAS THE DAY that she was going to ride a canter bareback on her horse, and I went along as cameraman to chronicle the event.  Boy, mixed results there.  The videos are here on her blog.  The 2nd video is where I learned several things.

*  If I am riding bareback at a lope, and my horse runs straight for a log laying lengthwise, he will hop to the side.
*  I will call him a name.
*  I will keep trying to film while I am sliding off the horse.
*  If I make a fist with one butt-cheek, I can grab hold of a bony horse's backbone, and sort of stay on, but it ain't pretty.

Bill

Drum roll please....

Now everyone...all together...big breath...and...

Happy Birthday to you,
Happy Birthday to you,
Happy Birthday to Bi-illllllll,
Happy Birthday to yoooooouuuuuuuuu!!!!