Thursday 18 December 2008

I finally finished a crocheted poncho that I started 2 years ago!!!!! I havent touched it for years and then decided I needed to keep my hands busy while watching TV and because I get anxiety attacks and this helps to calm me. So here is the finished product, she wanted something bright with a sort of African theme and this was as close as I could get.

(Click picture to enlarge)

Stan has been working in the area the past few days and as he passes the house every day decided yesterday to come and visit my baby horse Goldy. He had managed to get the halter and lead rope on her, she is a touchy and strong little thing and I wasn't getting very far with her. This is just a snapshot taken today of them, she is doing so well I am so pleased with her and am indebted to Stan for his time, he has three horses that we have bred and loves working with the babies so they hit it off immediately.

You can see from this pic that we have a lot of ice, the snow has all blown away and all of the white is our drive which is like an ice skating rink and you have to be really careful when you are walking outside. Expecting freezing rain snow and rain today through the next few days, so we are in for a marathon of bad weather.

Hope everyone is having a good week and hopefully we will survive the dreadful weather this weekend. ((((Hugs))))

Lori

xx

Sunday 14 December 2008

(Click on picture to enlarge)

I have left this very late tonight, just finished watching Survivor Gabon Finale and because of the football running over time Survivor has only just finished LOL. I have posted a picture that is finishing in the DP Challenge in about half an hour so I doubt if anyone will see it before the end of voting. This is the same sunrise as the one I posted a few days ago, right before the sun started clearing the horizon, it was vry cold and there were a lot of whispy clouds around so it made a very interesting scene. This is virtually the color that it was, I just brightened it and increased the saturation a bit, otherwise it is as shot.

I have been promising a fellow blogger Mikael of MiKael's Mania (you will see her link in the lists of my favorite blogs on the right side of the page) that I would help her get a camera to suit her needs and give her some basic tuition on how to get the best photos of her horses using it. Of course I have put it off and put it off and now I really need to get it done. I may start a seperate blog with tips and tricks or I may use this blog to do a few tutorials to teach the basics of photography. I am a hopeless teacher so I hope I dont end up confusing everyone. I will start with that tomorrow, I started trying to explain on her blog in the comments and it was getting too long winded!!!

Hope you all had a good weekend, I had a long chat with my friend Cyndy in South Africa again today and it has left me feeling more positive than I have in a long time, thanks Cyd (((Hugs))))

Se y'all tomorrow.

Lori

Saturday 13 December 2008

It has been a very varied day today, I regained contact with one of my nearly lifelong friends who I havent spoken with for 10 - 12 years. Facebook has been a wonderful form of therapy for me in that I have got in touch with so many people from my past and it is wonderful to catch up. My daughter is also on there so it makes it easier to communicate and our relationship has been strained for the past 8 years. So Kristin and Cyd if you are reading this, I am so glad that I found you both again, I am looking forward to doing more catching up.

Todays pic is one I took of Taxes a few weeks ago, he has quite a bit of winter coat already here. Poor boy no-one wants to be friends with him, he is the only male horse on the property other than our stallion Blue and of course grew up without any company of his own age so the poor little guy is getting it from all sides with the mares. I am hoping to find a good home for him, he would probably be better off in an environment with other geldings.

I spent about 4 hours with BJ, the mare that we have been fattening up for our friend Judy, this evening as she appeared to have colic and wanted to lay down and roll constantly. Colic is the number one killer of horses so when you think they have it you call the vet then start keeping them on their feet. When they roll because of the pain they can twist a gut and that is fatal. She is not a young mare so that doesnt help. Judy was going to collect her tomorrow anyway so it is unfortunate that this happened tonight. She is still not 100% so now it is a waiting game, checking her regularly and hoping that the shots that the vet gave her work.

Hope you are all having a good weekend, we had a reasonable day, around freezing and it still is but there is a strong wind blowing in and combine that with the cold air gives you a wind chill about 5 - 10 degrees lower than actual ambient temp.

((((((Hugs))))))) C U all 2morrow.

Lori

Friday 12 December 2008

I finally got all of my horses out for the day today. We were still well below freezing and it was a bit windy but I just had to get them out into the fresh air and will do so again tomorrow. On Sunday we are expecting it to rain again. They didn't go crazy running despite not having been out for a few weeks like I thought they might, for which I was grateful because the ground is pretty frozen and one could easily fall if they aren't careful. There isnt much outside for them but they kept themselves busy nibbling at what they could find. It actually snowed for a good part of the day but didnt accumulate much because of the wind.

The shot above is my new baby, Goldie, I have so few pictures of her and she isnt exactly very photogenic at the moment or since she came here, she still has her baby coat and got her winter coat on top of that so she is itching like crazy. She was born at the end of May which is a bit late, usually they shed their baby hair before they start getting their winter coat. She looks like a puffball. She is also very wormy, you can see that by her belly. I have wormed her already but need to find a wormer that will take care of tapeworms too because she is still looking bloated.

I haven't been able to get very friendly with this filly yet, it has been cold so I havent spent a lot of time outside and she has never been handled or even around people so she is very touchy, she almost acts like you are giving her an electric shock when you reach out to scratch her and she is very handy with swinging that butt in your direction and delivering a swift kick, little brat. I had to guess which halter would fit her and Stan got it onto her the one day last week (It was a bit big) but she won't let me near her head if I want to touch the halter. She will let me scratch her between her ears and on her forehead but runs like heck if I want to get any closer to her. I really need to start working with her or she is going to be too big to handle easily, even now she is too strong for me to grab the halter and be able to hold onto her until she calms down or I can get a rope snapped onto the halter. When I do I will leave the rope attached which will make it easier for me to get a hold of her safely. This is only the second time I have been able to get her outside since she came home and she stayed well away from me LOL.

As you know from a week or so ago, I lost my buddy Wild Cat which I was very upset about, but this little kitten has been hanging around the barn the past few weeks and is finally getting friendly. I am still not sure if it is a boy or girl but she/he is almost exactly the same color as Goldie!!!! How co-incidental is that? It is also about the same color as Wild Cat's mother was.

Well it is weekend again so hope you all have a great one, we are expecting it to be nice but cold tomorrow and I thhink I am going to try to get some photos around the farms here, old barns, the elk, bridges etc. I need to get myself inspired again. (((((Hugs)))))))

Lori

xx

Thursday 11 December 2008

Three pictures today, the first one is of Sam our Home Health Aide's pit bull cross puppy !!wearing her new jersey!!

Sylvester, the black and white barn cat that is such a good mouser has decided he wants to become a house cat. I have to say that for a cat that is about 7 years old and has never lived inside he is really good. He has found a place next to one of the vents for the heating system and is as happy as a clam. I am scared that he may mess in the house but he meows until I let him out if he needs to do his business!!! Trying to keep him out is impossible because he is so quick at slipping in behind you sometimes you dont even realise he has snuk in. The other day he was so indignant at not being let in that he went to the bedroom window which is next to my desk. It has blinds and in the winter the glare from the sun through the blinds gives me a headache so I usually hang a blanket over the window to stop this. He sat on the window sill and I got a great silhouette and meowed and scratched indignantly until I went around to let him in the door LOL.

Every winter the sitting room windows which are double glazed get wonderful ice formations and the sun rises on that side so if I get it right I get incredible pics of the sun reflecting in the ice and beautiful formations. It has to be really cold outside and we have only had one or two mornings like that (single digits F) but the ice patterns havent been too great. This is one so far I hope I can get better ones before winter is over.

Well that's about it hope you are all having a good week, looking forward to the weekend I want to go do a drive around on Saturday and see if I can get any photos as they say the weather is going to be reasonable that day, we will see. ((((Hugs)))))

Lori

Wednesday 10 December 2008

Oops missed a day again, I am trying really LOL. This is a picture of the sunrise a few days ago. I have a few other versions as the sun rose and they all look completely different but I am using one in a challenge on DP Challenge at the moment so won't post it til voting is over there.

It rained the whole day yesterday but it was warmer, upper 40s but today it was dry and cold again, we stayed at about freezing.

Hope you are all having a good week. (((Hugs))))

Lori

Monday 8 December 2008

Was a bit warmer today I think we actually got into the upper 30sF Woohooo. I can't remember if I posted any of these before but this was me messing around with slow shutter speeds and zooming during exposure. I can't remember which of the horses is the third photo but this is another of my rim light experiments.

A bush with red leaves zooming while exposing with a slow shutter speed.

I think this is Dudette, I will have to check LOL.

The trees down our drive with their autumn leaves shot with a slow shutter speed so the wind made the blurred effect. I am very pleased to say that one of my esteemed colleagues who's photography I admire greatly purchased a small print of this photo as it has all the colors in her bedroom that she is redecorating.

I am hoping that I will be able to put the horses out soon but you need ice skates to get around outside without having to shuffle along so you dont slip on your butt. The snow melted a bit a week ago and then it refroze and snowed a bit more hence the ice rink.

Hope everyone is having a good week ((((((Hugs))))))

Lori

Sunday 7 December 2008

Here is Kendal our budding new horsewoman who is going to be taking April who she is riding and possibly BB to the 4H events and some pinto shows next year. This little girl is a natural horsewoman, it is quite amazing to watch her when you consider she has hardly ever riden unattended. She has an amazing balance and seat, I am very excited to see how they do next year.

Hope you all had a nice weekend, it is stil in the 20s F here for highs so the horses have been cooped up for over a week now and are bouncing off the walls.

Lori
xx

Saturday 6 December 2008

This is my buddy Wildcat. I am going to miss him and his antics.

Not much more to say today, it has been snowing on and off all day, very windy and freezing so I have not put my nose out of the door much.

Hope everyone is keeping warm. (((Hugs)))

Lori

Friday 5th December 2008

Wow the year is nearly over. Lots been happening here but I am just not getting to post so I am going to try to post at least one picture each day and if I can think of something profound to say I will otherwise I will just give details of the photo(s).

When I married Larry I inherited 3 step-"children" and six grandchildren so was an instant grandma. Larry is 15 years older than me. Well at 48 I am a great grandma because Larry's son's son had a baby boy five weeks ago and the first picture is one I snapped last weekend when they all came over to have late Thanksgiving dinner with us and to introduce us to the new baby. This picture is particularly special because it shows the four generations of the Schmidt men. The second one Larry's daughter Stephanie took with my camera, I haven't held a baby in many many years and this little guy was just too cute but I look like an old hag, need to PS the wrinkles out LOL and learn to smile with my lips closed LOL.

In typical Indiana style, we have gone from only a week of nice fall weather straight into the sub-freezing temps. This morning we woke up to 11F and toped out at 24F but at least it is better than the mud. Only thing is there is not enough snow on the ground which is frozen to put the horses out. They have been in for over a week and when they are put out they are going to run and I am scared they will slip on the ice. When there is a few inches of snow down it makes that less likely. We are expecting a few more inches in the next few days, we will see. At the moment we have a light coating on the ground which tarted to melt then froze up again making a nice icerink outside.

The horses are all well but unfortunately I lost my black cat, Wild Cat. We suspect that the neighbor hit him with their car, he killed huggy cat a few months ago and didnt even bother to come in and tell me or stop and see if the cat was alive or dead. Unfortunately there is an easement running right through the middle of our property so that they can get to their house behind us and it runs between the barn and the house and so the cats are always back and forth. I wonder how he would feel if we had to use the same lack of care if we were driving through his property with his children there? These animals are my children and to lose one of them affects me equally as badly as if I lose a member of my family. Wild Cat was one of the very first litter born after I came here 7 and a half years ago and he was a loving gentle cat who really loved me with all of his being. He would have crawled under my skin if he could, always held his claws back when he played with me and didnt bite hard but at the same time making it look like a viscious tussle. He used to run across the drive from the barn and shoot up the tree by our front door and he used to climb up my insulated overalls to get loved, or climb up the step ladder and then if you came close enough would jump onto your shoulder and drape himself around your neck. I will post a picture of him in the next few days, goodbye my buddy I am going to miss you.

Well on that sad note I hope everyone has a great weekend, we are in for a very cold one. Still slowly working on my stock pictures. ((((Hugs)))) to all of you who havent given up on me.

Lori