ProPhoto By Lori

Tuesday 24 January 2012

2012-01-24T15:23:00.000-08:00

When I first came to the US I had been around horses on and off most of my life but I had never been around stallions and foals. At my late husband's insistance I put many foals on the ground but it was a constant agravation to him that I would not let my babies go to just anyone. He used to say that it was easier to adopt a baby than buy a horse from me!!!! This is for very good reason. The horse industry has been on the decline for almost as long as I have been here and the risk of one of my horses ending up in a slaughter house was just too much for me to bear. This is part of the reason that I have 12 in my barn still. I worry and wonder about every single horse that I have parted with, it is overwhelming sometimes. Horse advocacy from a slaughter perspective and from the Mustang perspective have become a huge part of my life. I do not like what I am seeing and I am passionate about stopping both attrocities. Some of my friends may not see things from the same perspetive as I do and I would never hold that against them, and I hope they feel the same way, but I also hope that I can educate everyone who follows my blog or FB and hopefully show them why I feel the way I do. I used to be one of those "slaughter is a necessary evil" but I have changed my way of thinking in a big way. I wont go into it all here today but I intend to try to tell the story of how I changed my view at a later date.

Todays picture is of three of the babies that I bred in 2005, the two paints (spotted) are still in my barn and the filly in the center was sold to an employee of a friend of mine. I will be following up on her soon to see how she is doing and I hope she is still in the wonderful home that she was when I sold her.

Lori

Saturday 21 January 2012

2012-01-21T19:36:00.000-08:00

A quickie for today, here is a pic taken this past summer with 5 of my brood in my "pasture" which is severely lacking in grass!!! From L-R : Wiggle (my 7 year old bottle baby) Gee (my 8 year old TB mare), Goldie (my beautiful 4 year old golden palomino and I mean awesome golden color when she is not so dirty), Kooter (19 year old momma of Goldie) and April (grand-daughter of Kooter 11 years old).

Bitterly cold today but sun shining and horses got out for a few hours. They had a ball and bucked and played after a few days cooped up in their stalls. It has been so muddy this year and we are heading for more mild weather after tomorrow. It has just been crazy.

Have a happy Sunday!!

Lori

A Tribute to My Friend Michelle Cowgill

2012-01-18T19:41:00.000-08:00

This is one of my favorite photos of Michelle who passed away suddenly on 9 October 2011. She would have been 55 today and her passing has left a huge hole in my heart and my friends Judy and Susan. She is pictured here riding the love of her life, Dosie. This is the horse that gave her the confidence and courage to end a 25 year abusive marriage and start a new life for her and her daughter. She was just finding happiness after her divorce and losing her job when she was taken from us. Dosie loved her as much as we did. He was my breeding stallion for 8 years when I gave him to Michelle. He had never been "my" horse, he tolerated me and he only ever had eyes for Michelle and she felt the same way about him.

Michelle was an incredible woman and loved her children, grandkids and her horse unconditionally and totally. We didnt always see eye to eye but our friendship was solid and we always got past our differences which didn't happen often. She shared her hopes and dreams with me and I am just so saddened that she could not realize them.

I will miss you my friend. Her favorite song was Cowgirls Dont Cry which contains the lyrics "Ride Baby Ride" so that is what I wish for her, until we meet again.

Lori

Tuesday 17 January 2012

2012-01-17T20:58:00.001-08:00

The wonder of nature. This was an ice crystal formation on my living rooom window a few days ago when I woke up. It had been incredibly cold and the windows are double glazed. A bit of condensation gets inbetween the panes of glass and when it is really cold these patterns form. It is about 12 - 18 inches high. I got some really awesome ones a few years ago with the sunrise outside http://prophotobylori.blogspot.com/2008/01/2nd-january-2007-2nd-post.html there are a few more which I posted that month if you care to delve into my older posts.

Well it was in the 50s this morning and by this evening had dropped to freezing. We had torrential rain last night and this morning and will be getting snow and sleet tonight and for the next few days, then back into the 50s by the weekend. It has been crazy and I and the horses are sick of the mud to say the least. Nothing worse than muddy clay!

Okay that is my lot for tonight.

Lori

Sunday 15 January 2012

2012-01-15T19:37:00.000-08:00

A little swan family taken quite a few years ago. I got some really nice shots that day of them.

Spent the day (very cold) cleaning stalls. Put the horses out but as predicted because of the rough frozen ground they were not too crazy about giving me a show so I didnt get any shots. They did enjoy the sunshine even if it was around freezing all day, but were very glad to come back in to their nice clean stalls and their dinner. Hopefully the weather will be more conducive to photography soon. We are going to be fluctuating temp wise for the next 8 days and are expecting lots of mud to deal with once again. Ugh!!!

Lori

Saturday 14 January 2012

2012-01-14T18:42:00.000-08:00

Caught this little family this past summer. It has been so cold the past few days just needed something warm to look at LOL. Hopefully will get the horses out tomorrow for the first time in 3 days and then it will be a stable cleaning marathon (12 stalls!!). Temps will be a bit above freezing which will feel like a heatwave. Maybe the horses will give me a show, although the ground is so rough from the muddy conditions which have now frozen, and normally they are pretty careful when they are walking over the uneven frozen ground. If not I wil try to get some new pictures.

Lori

Friday 13 January 2012

2012-01-13T19:16:00.000-08:00

This is a favorite pic of mine, my bottle baby taken quite a few years back. Think she was 2 years old here. I call her Wiggle Monster but her name is DBD Indian Dreamaker
Wow I said we were gonna pay for our mild weather and we sure are, wind chills of -7F today!!! To think that 2 days ago I was walking around in a T-shirt! Frozen buckets, frozen stables (poop included), snow banks because we have 30 mph winds, frozen water troughs and frozen hoses!!! Yay you gotta love it LOL. Horses tucked in safe and sound today again, just dreading the clean up when I can get into the stables again. Consider, each horse produces about 40-60 lbs of poop a day and multiply that by 19 each day, something to look forward to!!

Lori

Thursday 12 January 2012

2012-01-12T12:10:00.000-08:00

It has been a wild winter, very mild with pretty awesome weather up until today. Mud has been dreadful but toss up between the snow cold and mud hmmmm .... which one to choose LOL. At midday today we saw the temps start plummeting, has been in the 50sF for a while now and right now I think it is about 25 (well below freezing) blowing a gale and snowing!!! Quite a drop in the space of 24 hours. Our wind chill tonight is going to be 0F and out high tomorrow 21F!!!

Horses all tucked into their stables, becomes a real pain to keep 12 stalls clean and then 7 more at my friends' whose horses I care for too. Okay I will quit complaining!!

Todays pics were taken this past summer when I first put Herbie out with the rest of the herd. I had him gelded (ouch!!) and he could become a horse again instead of leading the solitary life of a stallion. This is my last foal that I will breed, he is 3 years old in June and as laid back as his daddy.

Celebrated my birthday yesterday, time flies!!

Lori

Tuesday 10th January 2012

2012-01-10T18:49:00.000-08:00

I seem to have an affinity for attracting waifs and strays!! A few months ago I noticed a female cat at a neighbors property heavily pregnant. She then went on to obviously have her kittens and I saw her from time to time and about three weeks ago I saw one of her kittens with her, a gorgeous white kitten with cream ears, tail and paws!! Then nothing until she appeared in my barn a week ago with two kittens, an all ginger one (seen right below) and one with beautiful siamese markings. Since then there has been coming and going, different kittens appearing and disappearing and today I had these three in the barn along with the white with cream points, but that one disappeared again leaving just these 3. They are pretty scared of me right now but are getting better, such fun to watch them.

They love their green mice and like to "kill"them!!! This little calico has a bent ear, so cute.
Here is one of the original and the most friendly of the kittens, he is quite brave.
I have had as many as 12 cats in the barn and was down to the final 3 when this little family appeared, if there are in fact 5 kittens I will have to do fund raising to get them all fixed!!! My oldest is nearly 11 years old, he was born shortly after I came to the USA.

Well that is all for today.

Lori

9 January 2012 - Monday

2012-01-09T18:28:00.000-08:00

A quiet day, weather is still really awesome, but will change on Wednesday night, dreading it LOL.

Not much else to report, today's pic is of me and my bottle baby Wiggle. This is the pic I use on Facebook as my profile pic but it is a favorite of mine.

Lori

8 January 2012 - Sunday

2012-01-08T20:16:00.000-08:00

I know, it has been a while!! Life has had many many bumps over the past nearly 3 years since Larry passed. Most of it has been traumatic and stressful but I am hoping that I am on my way to recovery. I have many people to thank and to apologize to, people who have never given up on me despite my silence. I will be contacting them all in person soon.

So as a start here are a few pics taken today. I have hardly touched my camera in the past 3 years, it will be good to get back to it.

We have had an extremely mild winter so far this year, so much so that my flowering bushes are starting to bud and flower!! I know we are going to pay with some extremely cold weather soon, probably going to start on Wednesday judging from the weather forecasts , so I really hope it does not kill these bushes. The one above is my lilac bush and the one below a wild rose bush.
Of course to go with the mild weather, we have tonnes of mud to deal with. Clay is terrible to deal with when there is a lot of moisture. The horses are happy to be out in the sunshine but not too happy about having to plod through the mud to get in and out of the field.
Not a blade of grass in sight!!
The horses are all doing well. I am looking forward to starting this project again. Happy New Year to everyone, here's to a wonderful 2012!

Lori

Monday 15 November 2010

2010-11-15T18:09:00.000-08:00

I inherited a new cat, about 1 year old, and he has no fear of the horses at all which is not a good thing. Herbie, my yearling colt, likes to play with anything he can get his teeth onto, branches of trees, jolly balls, plastic containers and recently I added a shovel handle and shaft that had been broken which he holds by the handle and flips up and down. I am trying to get photos of him doing that but when he sees me he drops it. Well needless to say whenever I go into his pen the cat follows me and rubs up against him while he smells him, he is fascinated by the cat. I am terrified that he is going to grab the cat by its tail or something and flip it around!!!! I caught these shots, very close because I had my long lens on the camera at the time and didnt want to move too far away in case he decided to play rough.

Lori

Saturday November 13, 2010

2010-11-13T16:18:00.000-08:00

Some photos taken of a statue at the Minnetrista which is on the grounds of Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana. It is titled "Appeal to the Great Spirit" and was erected in memory of one of the Ball brothers of Ball Jar fame. This is a wonderful place to visit and I am glad that I have discovered it thanks to a friend a few weeks ago!!! I love this statue it is so powerful!!!

(Click on pic to enlarge)

(Click on pic to enlarge)

(click on pic to enlarge)

Once again trying to get into the swing of things!!!

Lori

Monday 18 October 2010

2010-10-18T12:48:00.000-07:00

Leroy being taken care of by two of his "Aunties" They all took turns to watch him and play with him, so cute!!!

Saturday 16 October 2010

2010-10-16T11:07:00.000-07:00

A stallion I photographed in May this year. He is the sire of the baby in my last post, his name is "Step Into My RV" and the foal's name is "IMA Fancy RV"

Thursday 14 October 2010

2010-10-14T17:06:00.000-07:00

My friend Judy's foal born 25 April this year. He is such a wonderful baby.

Sunday 10 October 2010

2010-10-10T19:13:00.000-07:00

Well it is 10.10.2010 today, wow LOL

Here is my sixteen month old colt, Herbie (Herberts Spooktacular) some of you may be able to see the ghost on his side (look at the white area on his barrel, conical head with hands extended upward and legs flying out beind him). Herbert was my late husband's name and this colt was born 2 months after he passed and the last colt that I intend to breed and that Larry was alive when I did so the name is singnificant. He is a brat like all my horses LOL. He loves his Jolly Ball and will play for ages with anything he can find, which is exactly how his father is. I see so much of his daddy in him, wonderful disposition.

Friday 8 October 2010

2010-10-08T19:33:00.001-07:00

Shot last year at one of my favorite shows, the Heartland Welsh Pony and Cob Show. This guy sure can stride!!

Lori

Thursday 7 October 2010

2010-10-07T18:04:00.001-07:00

Dosie with his huge round bale, very happy horse, all to himself!!!!!

Found this guy in the pond at the restaurant.

Wednesday 6 October 2010

2010-10-06T17:33:00.000-07:00

I have been working at a restaurant for the summer, we closed this last Sunday, and this is one of the attractions in the gardens.

It was a different experience.

Lori

Tuesday 5th October 2010

2010-10-05T18:52:00.001-07:00

Happy horses!!!

Thursday March 18, 2010

2010-03-18T19:38:00.000-07:00

It has been a tumultuous week. This poor little guy has been singing his heart out to attract the perfect mate to no avail for about two weeks now. It is the closest I have been able to get to a Cardinal, he is so absorbed with his song that he doesnt mind me. They usually disappear in a flash when I want to try to photograph them. Unfortunately it was overcast and raining.

It had been raining for over a week when last Friday night we were hit by a severe storm. I am usually always keeping tabs on the weather so I know whether to close barn doors etc. but missed this one and when it hit at about 10pm it was too late to go out. My barn was a bit flooded the next morning but not as bad as I have had it before. Those who have been following my blog for a while will have seen the scenes below a few times over the past 3 years LOL. This is my "pasture". This is how it looks after it has rained heavily. We had 1.5 inches in about 8-10 hours and it rained the whole day on Saturday afterwards!!!

Cat (the B&W mare) and Piglette loved the water, Piglette loves to roll in it despite the just above freezing temperature.

This is what it looks like from the road looking back up my field, the house it out of frame on the right!!!! Waterfront property!!!! You can see the two horses in the distance and the railroad runs along the top of the frame.

Here is my oldest mare, Sonnys Copper Gal (Barn name Girl Sonny). She is 20 years old now and has borne many foals for me, and Larry when he was still with us. Here she is peering out of the barn doorway as I was walking up the lane. The mud was too terrible!!

We have a small farm down the road from us which I pass on the way to feed my friend Judy's horses every morning and evening. The sheep are always so shaggy and they have started having their little spring lambs. Quite a few sets of black twins this year. With the dreadful weather I havent had much chance to photograph them yet but shot a few frames a few days ago. The gese were chasing the little lambs LOL.

I think this is also a twin because it has white paint on its head, even on the black twins one has a bit of white paint on its head. It is very new because you can still see the umbilical cord hanging underneath it.

On Monday the weather improved dramatically and I got to let Judy's and my horses out for the first time in over a week on Tuesday morning when things had dried a bit and the temps had risen a bit. They are very muddy and dirty but were very happy to be outside. Here are 3 of Judy's brats (she has 11). L-R Snickers, Rain and Red.

Here are some of my brood next to the "Lake" L-R Piglette, Blue, Kooter, Wiggle and April (Kendal's filly). Top right of frame is where our road crosses the railway track. They have installed booms now which is great because I got tired of watching people come flying over the tracks, sometimes with all 4 wheels off the ground, never even slowing to check for trains even though there were warning lights, what the heck would they do if they werent working, and often I would see people taking really unneccessary chances to cross the tracks despite the close proximity of the train. This photo is looking north and sometimes the trains travelling south to north are speeding down this track, it makes me cringe. How we have not had an accident here I have no idea. Now the booms come down but I have seen people weaving in and out to cross the track anyway!

The lake has nearly dried up now and we have had a wonderful week of beautiful weather. We are expecting freezing temps, rain, wet snow and cold again from Saturday evening onwards. We always get these few cold snaps before spring sets in for real so I suppose I should have expected it. It just sucks because it has been so nice after the dreadful February we had.

Judy's one mare tried to jump over the stall wall into the aisle on Monday and I found her on Monday night with her two front legs and one back leg in the aisle and her one back leg stuck straddling the wall and in great distress. She has obviously been there for more than a few hours. The boards had pulled out of the wall with her stuggles and there were 6 inch nails protruding. Thank God she didnt get into those and was so exhausted that I somehow managed to get her off of the wall, still dont know how, just shoved loads of hay over the protruding nails, tried to get something bulky under the hoof to give her some footing and leverage to get up and out and she eventually lost balance and got her leg out without more damage. Her leg was severely grazed and the inside of the leg that was stuck has a long laceration right up by her udder where her legs rub together, only the skin fortunately, and a bad cut and grazes on the top of the leg on the front. By the time I had got help to get her to the vet and got her back home it was 3am Tuesday morning. She was so sore she couldnt or wouldnt move, poor little thing. Long story short, with cold hosing of the leg twice a day, lots of penecillin, pain killers and salve she is doing really well today and I am hopeful that there will be no permanent damage, but infection and the possibility that she has done nerve and tendon damage are still there which will leave her with a limp, so we are hoping for the best. She is only 2 so this is a big blow. I would post pics but they would probably gross you out. I will try to find a photo of her, she is called Jeannie.

So that is my week in a nutshell. Got hay in today, I am running a bit short but this should carry me through until we start our own baling Mid to end of May. Everyone else is well and enjoying their time out. (((((Hugs)))) and I hope you are having a good week. Have a great weekend!

Lori
xx

Thursday 11 March 2010

2010-03-11T12:33:00.001-08:00

It has been a long absence! January and February were tremendously hard months for me both with the terrible weather we experienced for such a long period and thus my mental frame of mind. It has finally started warming up after 5 weeks solid of sub freezing temperatures, snow and ice (not nearly as bad as some of our surrounding states ... but with 13 horses here and caring for 11 of my friends' horses 5 miles down the road it made it unbearable). We have gone from below average temperatures to above average temperatures in a matter of days. Indianapolis topped out at 72F yesterday, there are still patches of ice and snow all around despite the warmer temps which is a good indicator of how fast it has changed. Of course the mud has come along with the thaw!!! One can just never win LOL!

I put Gee and the two babies (Goldie who is now a two year old and Herbie who is 9 months old) out for the first time in a while the other day and they had a ball. Below is Gee, all 17 hands of her, elevated at least 2 feet off the ground!!!
(Click on each pic to see a slightly larger version)
She has such a joy for life, she is the TB mare who has boarded with me for the past 4 years. I love her to bits, she has such a wonderful disposition and mind for a racehorse! With Larry passing last year (can u believe it has been nearly a year) I havent had much time to bond with my little palomino mare, Goldie (yeah I know that is original but her Daddy is CK Sun, and I had just seen the most beautiful sunrise minutes before I first laid eyes on her that her name CK Golden Sunrise was a must), and have NEVER seen her roll. She rewarded me with a few rolls on this occasion, this one was in a drier area of the pen, you will see further along that she found the wettest, muddiest part of the area and promptly rolled there too! She is not going to be a big mare, might just make a horse but may still stay short enough to be a pony but she is a tank.

Gee just loves to find any water she can, paw it into a muddy mess and then roll in it. There is a small pool that forms at the base of this tree when it rains, and she found it and did her thing. You can see the results, oh yes she made sure she laid down in it on both sides!

Herbie found the Jolly Ball in the mud and had a bit of fun with that. He and Goldie are also best buddies, my next job is to get him gelded, poor boy. He hasnt displayed any studdy behaviour yet but then spring is young that could change quickly.

He also had to coat himself in the mud. It is one way of getting that winter coat to shed out, and when it does start shedding it probably itches like heck so they love to roll all over the place and when I look out in the pastures there are white and brown patches scattered all over LOL.

Here is a picture of the three of them after they had all had their bit of fun in the mud, you can see how muddy and wet Gee got and Goldie too.

I have hardly touched my camera in months. I was looking at my photos the other day and since the beginning of January I have only shot a few more than 100 frames. This is very unusual as I normally shoot hundreds every week. I am hoping that with the arrival of the warmer weather, my passion for photography and life will improve. It has been a long battle the last 11 months. I am still looking for a job and have no income so have become an expert at shuffling money between accounts in order to get the bills paid!

I am not going to aim too high to start with, hoping to maybe get a post a week up. I miss all my blogging friends. (((Hugs)))) to you all.

Lori
xx

Monday 18 January 2009

2010-01-18T16:52:00.000-08:00

A quickie today, these are two chiauhauas (sp!) that are brother and sister, about 6 weeks old now belonging to my friend Judy who's horses I feed in the am. Believe it or not they are from the same litter and the smaller one is the little girl and was bigger than the other one at birth!!!

Too cute LOL.

Lori

Friday January 15 2010

2010-01-15T11:31:00.001-08:00

We are well into the new decade and this is my first post. I am struggling more every day to stay on top of thing financially, mentally and emotionally, feel like I am on a rollercoaster most of the time, torn in 10 different directions, and no answers just a pit of depression.

I was coming back from feeding Judy's horses the other morning and this Cardinal was in a tree right next to the road, I stopped and reversed the truck and snapped a few shots of him, this is just about full frame, just a little cropping. I have been trying to get a good Cardinal shot for the 9 years that I have been here and this one just happened and I had my camera with me. It was shot through the truck window so didnt so too badly! Finally!!

Yesterday on my way back from Judy's again I saw this chap ice fishing on our local Lake Placid (a christian community property with a lake on it and with all the extreme cold we have been having obviously the ice was thick enough to withstand his weight, personally I wouldnt have attempted it LOL). He had drilled his hole in the ice and snow and was patiently waiting to catch himself a fish. Dont know if he succeeded but he didnt seem to happy to have me pointing my camera at him LOL. I hope he was successful because the January thaw started yesterday and I am pretty sure he wouldnt have attempted it again today.

With the crazy weather we have been having it has not helped my mental state. I had the horses in during the extreme cold week to 10 days that we had and put them out a few days ago but with the thaw starting now of course the mud is starting again. I have dreadfully dirty stables to get cleaned out, snow and ice still on the ground and dont know where to start. I may have to bring them in tonight if the mud is too bad as they will just trample their hay into the mud if I feed them outside. So far they are all looking great, not as fat as I would like them to be but we are weathering the storm so to speak.

I still have not been able to find work and photography sales have been minimal so it is a day to day struggle to find the money I need to pay the bills, especially the huge ones left after Larry passed away. I have been lucky enough to get some energy assistance for the electricity account which has been a blessing, but as far as Social Security, Disability benefits or Medical care, nothing!

And that doesnt even begin to cover the funeral bill which I have been trying to pay off monthly (you dont want to know how much that came to I was shattered when I got the bill!!).

Well had to get a bit of that off my chest, my horses are my other worry, I have had too much time on my hands and although everyone tells me to send them to the sales, I have done a lot of research and seen too many horror stories on the horse slaughter issues here in the USA, that I would never take one of my animals to a sale, I would be lucky to get $50 a piece for them anyway and they would probably end up on some European or Japanese dinner plate in a restaurant, I dont even want to get started on what is going on in that area at the moment, it sickens me, which of course doesnt help my mental wellbeing either.

Sorry for the Blaaah post today but that is how I am feeling and it is not getting any better. Sometimes I feel I am just being a pain in the ass and complaining all the time but I really do care and would do anything to get some type of work to help me clear all this backlog but it just aint happening and me not having a work history here doesnt help either. I also have to wait until I am 60 (another 10 years) before I can draw a pension off of Larry's Disability. Wonder if I will still be around then!!!!

I am not normally as vocal about my problems but needed to get it out and today was the day.

((((Hugs)))) to you all and I hope that all is well in your neck of the woods, we have had to deal with a lot of bad weather country wide and in fact world wide, so I hope you are all doing okay.

Lori

Monday 28 December 2009

2009-12-28T14:20:00.000-08:00

I have two regular readers who dont post in the comments much but who are encouraging me to be more active on here and I am really going to try. Annette and Paula thanks, it helps so much to know that there are people out there rooting for me, it has been a difficult 9 months and the winter weather, snow, cold and ice is not helping my frame of mind.

Paula I have been thinking of you while watching the terrible weather all around us, we have been lucky to dodge the worst of it where we are so far. Keep safe and warm!

Todays triptych is one I made up of Taxes who will be a 3 year old this January. I am not shooting much but I particularly loved this grouping, shows the life of a baby horse, eating, playing and sleeping.

(((((Hugs))))) to you all.

Lori
xx

Sunday 27 December 2009

2009-12-27T11:34:00.000-08:00

It is snowing outside, expecting a few inches, we have avoided most of the really bad storms so far this year, they have been east west south and north of us. Just had one light icestorm on Thursday and I ended up halfway down the embankment in one of my fields when trying to drive down our lane. The trees stopped me from going right down the bank, so I am very wary about driving in this weather.

Todays picture was one that my late husband Larry digitally enhanced a year or so ago a few months before he passed away. He made it from a picture I had shot at a Palomino show or one of the contestants in Parade Costume taken from the rear. It is a very emotional picture for me and brings back a heavy heart every time I view it.

Hope everyone is safe (((Hugs)))

Lori
xx

Friday 4 December 2009

2009-12-04T16:34:00.000-08:00

My walk to my mailbox at the end of our lane sometimes holds pleasant surprises for me as it is right next to a forested area and I sometimes over the years see a mother deer and her baby (I have seen her with her offspring right there in front of me not 25 feet away many times) and of course lots of squirrels.

I saw the Doe and her fawn a few weeks ago for the first time in a long time but hunting season started shortly after that and I havent seen any sign of any deer since then until today when I saw just the baby and no momma by the railway tracks as I was crossing them to turn into our lane. I can't help but think that momma has been a victim of the bow or gun season as this is the first time I have only seen one on its own and it was definitely a young one. It isnt enough that we have to endure seeing multitudes of dead deer on the sides of the roads and highways wherever you go, but the hunting seasons take their toll too and as riders we have to be careful during these times that we wear bright orange clothing so we are not mistaken for a deer and shot!!!!!

To each his own but I would rather shoot these beautiful animals with my camera, but then everyone is entitled to their opinion I suppose. I also shot the second picture of the squirrel a few days ago. Oh and they have squirrel hunting season here too for those that dont know! Everything is regulated and supposed to be to keep the populations manageable, I still think we should control our own populations then maybe there will be room for all of God's creatures. Sorry venting, but I am an animal lover and that is how I see it.

My frame of mind is still not great, struggling but still here (((Hugs))))

Lori
xx

Tuesday 1 December 2009

2009-12-01T16:35:00.001-08:00

Okay great start, missed two days already!!! Hi CG so good to hear from you. I am struggling but still here. ((((Hugs)))

Todays pictures are of some cattle a few miles down the road. They have Longhorns and Watusi's (an African breed) and I am not sure if this one with the calf is a cross between the two or not, but the horns are sure impressive whichever way you look at them!

Lori
xx

Saturday 28 November 2009

2009-11-28T10:52:00.000-08:00

Well where has the year gone? I see my latest blogging layoff has been over a month this time!!! I was progressing nicely since losing Larry in April until I took on a job a month or so ago which put me straight back into the stressed, panic stricken, depressed state I was in before he passed and after. I am struggling to pull myself out of this one, it is complicated and I wont bore you all with the details, just that it is hard to meet financial commitments when you have no income, and I mean zero!! Seems I have to wait til I am 60 to draw off of L's Social Security (only 10 more years to go) and I dont qualify for any financial aid myself as I have never worked here and finding a job at the moment is impossible.

I hope everyone has a good Thanksgiving.

Winter has started to set in after a really strange summer but we are still all alive at least!

I will try to post a photo every day even if I dont have much to say, but my passion for my photography has also suffered greatly over the past few months.

If any of my old faithful blogging buddies are still out there thanks guys!!! Sorry I have been so scarce.

Todays pic is of a Bluejay which I snapped a week or so ago while driving down the road. He was sitting in a tree beside the road and I stopped and got one frame off and this is it ... not bad considering.

Take care ((((Hugs))))

Lori

Tuesday 27 October 2009

2009-10-27T19:35:00.000-07:00

After a hectic week last week filled with interviews, tests for typing and skills I was chosen to go to Orientation with a National school photography group called Lifetouch, not as a photographer but as a telephonist in their call centre. This will be incoming calls, parents placing orders and fixing problems with missing prints and problems with packages and will be through the Department of Manpower until the middle of December or thereabouts. After that Lifetouch will have the option of extending our contracts and working for them directly so we will see. We started our training yesterday morning at 8am (it is in Muncie which is about 30 - 45 minutes drive away) and my friend Lisa recommended me for the position and she is training with me which is great because we can commute together which helps with travelling costs.

We are all having brain overload problems at the moment LOL because there is so much to learn but I will keep you posted. Lisa and I opted for the 10am to 6.30pm shift Friday to Tuesday with Wednesday and Thursday being our days off, the weekends hours are slightly different by pretty much in that ballpark. It is like being back at school LOL.

So forgive me for the short post but I have HOMEWORK!!!!!! Geez can you believe it LOL.

We passed the Elk farm on our way home this evening but it was gloomy and raining, but I did manage to get this one shot of a baby on the farm. There is a magnificent stag in another pasture with an amazing huge rack of horns. Of course yesterday when we went past the sun was shining and weather beautiful and I didnt have my camera, go figure!! We will be going back though because it is pretty much on our route home, we go to work in the dark but return when it is still light. That will change on Sunday when we turn our clocks back though and of course we will be on our new time schedule so it will give me an extra hour to sleep in on Sunday but it will be light when we go to work and dark when we come home. Yay, I have to say it is taking some getting used to having to get up so early and of course winter is setting in.

Talk soon and ((((((Hugs))))))) to you all.

Lori
xx

Monday 19 October 2009

2009-10-19T10:41:00.000-07:00

Well the stretches with no posts seem to be getting longer and longer !!

I completed that temp job, it was very physical and last Wednesday was a 12 hour shift and Thursday an 11 hour shift so I was pretty tired by the time I had finished.

I am looking at another temp position at the moment which will entail far less physical exertion, my friend Lisa is starting there on Friday. The position is in Muncie and is with a photography company who do school portraits etc. They are looking for people to answer phones and take orders as they are extremely busy at the moment.

Todays picture is of Herbie, taken a few weeks ago, he is so cute.

Nothing much else to report, trying to keep my head above water (((Hugs))) to you all.

Lori

Thursday 1 October 2009

2009-10-01T11:08:00.001-07:00

The trail riding went well this past weekend, we didnt get there in enough time to spend a long time on the trails, but Michelle and I did a short ride and Kendal got to compete in the games that had been arranged for the members and it was amazing to see her change from a nervous 12 year old when we first arrived into a confident rider who just didnt want to go home! She was trotting and cantering around the whole camp area and went for a short trail ride after the games with Danny and his wife (our new friends). The pictures are a few from our day and the one of the gal and puppy were a chance snap which I really liked. No cropping here this is as it came out of the camera with me laying on the floor shooting up (I was sitting on the fenceline of the arena shooting the games and they were standing a bit down the rail watching too).

Can you believe it is October already? Our temps here are already getting close to freezing for the lows, we always have a few bouts of "Indian summer" but with the strange weather we have been experiencing this past summer I done know what to expect. We only got two cuttings of hay and on the one field only one and it is ready to cut again now but the temps are too cold to cut and get it dry enough to bale. Oh well that is life I suppose and typical of Indiana, yet another variation of summer, I have been here going on 8 and a half years and every season has been different, keeps you guessing LOL.

I still have too many horses but I just can't take them to a sale, the implications make me feel ill. So it is going tobe another long winter.

I am starting my first job on Monday, my first official employment since arriving here in USA. It has been incredibly hard to find even that position because I have never officially worked here or contributed to Social Security because my time was taken up with the care of Larry and the horses. It is a menial job, and short term, but an income, and has the potential to become something more permanent. It is also close to home so I dont have to worry about travelling long distances in these coming winter months if it turns into a full time position. Wish me luck LOL.

Hope you are all well ((((Hugs)))).

Lori
xx

Saturday 26 September 2009

2009-09-26T17:12:00.000-07:00

Michelle, Kendal and I went to our last show early this morning. We got lost and arrived 10 minutes before the first class which was also our first class!!!! Michelle threw her clothes on and I tried to patch BB up and we flew into the fray LOL.

Unfortunately she didnt fare too well in her first two classes but in her three with Kendal she had started to warm up and she brought home a first in Color, second in Youth Halter (10-13 yr old) and a 4th in Youth Showmanship which was combined with one entrant with an older division. This show let us see how far Kendal has come in confidence and even though there werent stacks of entrants, she did a great job, watch out for them in 2010 LOL!!

The first pic is one I took of her after I gave her a leg up onto BB after her classes holding her ribbons, blue for first and red foir second, and the fourth place is hiding behind, and the second pic is of BB when we put her out in the muddy field about an hour later and she got right down and rolled all that beautiful cleaning off that we had done LOL. I swear she was smiling at us, look at her mouth, she is grinning LOL (click on pics for larger version).

We are going to take Kendal for her first Trail Ride tomorrow and they are going to have a small contesting show at the club which we are hoping she will ride in, even if she only walks for the first time (barrel racing, poles etc.). I have a feeling she will enjoy it, I know if it wasnt limited to kids I would sure be in there too!!!

Hope you are all having a great weekend. (((Hugs)))

Lori
xx

Thursday 24 September 2009

2009-09-24T09:56:00.001-07:00

Here are a few more shots from my outing yesterday, more detail shots, I love shooting these, some of them work and some dont and it is great when you get one that does.

They also show you how much work goes into getting these horses ready for display. I shot these first two while they were tacking the horses up getting them ready to hitch up. They prepared one horse at a time and put it in it's traces then they moved onto the next and there were 8 of them!!

Bud the dalmation was still quite energetic here, this was one of the few shots I got earlier on when they passed the first time (thanks to the two darned 18 wheelers that got in the way!!)

Well need to get more work done, hope you enjoyed these (((Hugs)))

Lori
xx

Wednesday 23 September 2009 - Second Post

2009-09-23T16:58:00.001-07:00

Just had to post this which was taken earlier in the afternoon while they were still preparing the horses. Man are these guys gorgeous and kudos to the handlers for the pristine condition that they are in!! ((((Hugs))))

Lori
xx

Wednesday 23 September 2009

2009-09-23T16:29:00.001-07:00

I had a break from the norm today, Lisa telephoned me asking me if I wanted to see the Budweiser Clydesdales which would be in a town a few miles from us. These are fantastic horses!!! and boy are these guys on the ball. The Budweiser Clydesdales are visiting Jay and Randolph counties in Indiana this week to honor Jay Miller for his many years of service with Anheuser-Busch. The owner of Jay County Beverage of Portland, Indiana, Jay Miller, has sold Anheuser-Busch products for more than 60 years and you can see him here riding shotgun with the drivers today during a parade in his and their honor. Bud the dalmation can be seen behind them. I have stacks more to edit.

I also got to photograph one of our other local celebrities from a local Country Music radio station (102.5 WMDH). I just started listening to this station a few months ago so it was a nice surprise to see them represented there.

So I didnt do too much constructive work today, but it was a nice break despite the high humidity and big trucks getting in the way!!! Long story you dont want to know LOL.

(((((Hugs)))))

Lori
xx

Wednesday 16 September 2009

2009-09-16T11:59:00.000-07:00

Not without much battling my last show of the year is photographed and proofs posted at http://loriprophoto.jalbum.net . All four shows are up if anyone is interested in some of what I do LOL.

This morning Herbie and his daddy Blue were big buddies out in the pasture. It was so cute, momma was nowhere in sight and there were the two of them standing on the hill, when they saw me they came running towards me and then stood in the corner of the "pasture" together and later I shot another one of them grazing together on what is left in the field. As usual click on each pic to see a larger version.

Nothing much to report, just catching up on everything, the carpet that was given to me is in and I am slowly getting through all the filing and paperwork that has piled up over the past 5 months and some of it longer.

The leaves are already turning and it feels very autumn/fall like which of course it is, but it is different this year as it is every year. Stan is cutting the one large field for hay so we should be baling in the next few days again. I hope it is going to give us enough to get through winter. Then we just have the field next door to where I live to do and we will be done for the season.

I hope you are all having a good week. ((((Hugs)))) to all of you that come to visit.

Lori
xx

Wednesday 9 September 2009

2009-09-09T07:42:00.001-07:00

On Sunday Michelle press ganged me and hauled me and Wiggle, Dosie, Kendal and herself off in the trailer to the 4H grounds about 2 miles from us to do a bit of riding in a decent arena as we are limited for space here. These first two pics were taken right before we were getting ready to come home. I had been plodding around on Wiggle bareback while they were working, you will also see their pics further on in this post. Of course it was the second time I had ridden Wiggle ever so I didnt really know what to expect. She is a bit lazy and had to be wacked on the butt with the end of the reins to get faster than a walk out of her. Michelle grabbed my camera and just shot a few frames, these are two. It had just started to rain too.

This second picture is a case of Wiggle being a rodeo horse when I wacked her to get her to canter LOL, I was whooping up there rodeo style LOL, michelle loves the way her mane and my hair were going in the same direction (click on pics to see larger views). After she had got that out of her system she cantered across the arena beautifully. (note the crooked saddle pad and the stirrups too short LOL and the hand holding the rein so I could get more than a walk out of her, in other words dont look at my form it is dreadful but it was fun and next time I will do better.

Here are two pics of Kendal on Dosie who is Wiggle's father although he is no longer a stallion. She was very nervous about cantering him but they got the job done and by the time they were finished Dosie was tired but she wanted to carry on so is over her fear.

Here she is trotting nicely along the rail on Dosie

Michelle was the first to ride her boy though, she hasnt ridden in 6 years and very little in the past 30 and they looked really good out there, he was a breeze thanks to Drew for his work and to Michelle for her work and her love for this horse. I am so glad he is back with her because she loves him dearly.

Here she is cantering with him. This was just after we had arrived and his head should have been lower but he was checking everything out but he still rode like a champ and Michelle was so happy.

Well that was Sunday, lots more happening but I will end for now. My last show of the season to shoot is this weekend, the Pinto Futurity in New Castle. I hope the almanac is right is says we are going to have snow for Thanksgiving, but after that we should have a pretty dry mild winter, we can only hope.

Hope everyone is doing well, please remember to check my Etsy site out, link is at the top of the page of this blog, some of the items would make nice gifts. I am planning on putting up some more Christmassy stuff and also a 2010 calendar in the near future. ((((Hugs))))

Lori
xx

Thursday 3 September 2009

2009-09-03T07:01:00.000-07:00

Lisa and I had a very pleasant weekend in Rochester shooting the Welsh Pony and Cobb Show, (the weather was gorgeous), that I have been shooting for 5 years now, or it may be 6!!! Wonderful group of people, they always look after me and whoever is with me so well. Of course we both shot far too many pictures LOL, Lisa is WORSE than me LOL and that is saying something!! I have about 3000 proofs to post on a website so that people can go and look at their pictures and order if they find something they like.

On top of that I am still trying like crazy to get orders edited and filled from the show 2 weeks ago (Pinto) and to make matters worse I have another Pinto show the weekend after next! That will be my last show. Larry always used to get this up on my website and I never learned how to use the software and manage my website (lack of time and we would usually end up taring each others hair out because we frustrated each other LOL) so I am having to do everything the long way and it has been very time consuming. I spent a day trying to figure it all out then decided it was just not worth it, I need to get the pictures up asap.

I shot the picture above this morning about half an hour ago, as you can see little Mr Herbie has made great friends with Goldie and Gee, his mother is about 30 feet away to the left of the screen munching away enjoying the fact that she has two baby sitters I am sure (not the prettiest pic because of the electric fence and tape). He and Goldie have started getting really attached and he is starting to play with her like he does with his mother. She was another foal that grew up with no foals her own age to learn from and play with.

Goldie and Gee are already joined at the hip, so I can see problems in the future when I want to do something with just one of them and have to take one out of the group. I am planning on turning Wiggle and April out with them in the next few days so that it will increase the herd in the one field and hopefully get them more used to being around a large number of horses and not get too attached.

Unfortunately it normally works out that horses will pair off even in a large group, it is just a natural instinct and if there is an odd number of horses, one will always be left out and the rest of the herd will chase them off. This is what happened to Taxes when I tried to put him with the older horses at the beginning of the year, poor boy, but he is doing great down the road with the other 4 horses and is fat and sassy again. Will post pics of him as I get time too.

The shot above is of my one barn cat who was drinking out of the water trough last evening. I am always scared that he will fall in LOL but he and Sylvester the B&W barn cat are always drinking here. He is recovering from a really bad abscess on the left side of his face that blew up like a balloon and thanks to Michelle, who was able to get it opened up and cleaned out. I wont go into the details but it was gross and fortunately I wasnt here because he wasnt a very happy kitty, but it would definitely have killed him if it hadnt been taken care of immediately. I zapped him with a course of penecillin which I always have in the house for the horses.

Well there is tonnes more to say but I need to get to work, can't believe it is Thursday already, I have orders I need to get off to the printer so I get them back in time for the next show for delivery.

Hope you all have a great rest of the week, our weather has been very nice and another thing I have been fitting in is hay baling, which we will be doing again tonight, and have a great Labor Day Long weekend ((((Hugs)))

Lori
xx

Friday 28 August 2009

2009-08-28T09:40:00.001-07:00

I spent the day yesterday thinking it was Wednesday!!! Dont have a clue why but that is just how my brain is or isn't functioning at the moment, so while I thought I still had plenty of time to prepare for the weekend photographing the Welsh Pony Show in Rochester, I in fact didnt!!

Herbie is only 2 and a half months old but is a very busy curious and rambunctious colt and his poor mother is really feeling the pressure. He is eating so well and yesterday I just decided that in order to get his little mind occupied it was time that he learned to socialise with other horses so that when I wean him from his mother he wont be like Taxes and Goldie were being only babies and unable to socialise with the bigger horses because I was worried they would get hurt.

His arrival with his mother in the field got all sorts of activity going, I put him with Gee and Goldie because I felt they would be the best to start them out with and Sonny protected her colt beautifully and we had no mishaps and it quickly got to the point where she realised, hey this is cool, that little monster that is always biting me and jumping on me has something else to keep him occupied because he headed straight for the other mares. They were very gentle with him and Sonny had a nice break from his attentions and didnt seem to mind that he was on the other end of the field from her just glad of the peace and being able to munch grass. Blogger as usual has posted the pics in reverse order so the one below is of Herbie when I first put him out, the one below is when they all got racing around, it is so cute, Gee always lets Goldie win LOL, now and again she will stretch out and run the full length of the field and outpace her by miles, the 3 on the other side of the fence are Cat, BB and Wiggle.

The first pic is of them when Sonny first started letting the other horses get close to her baby, she only chased them off once then just let him do his thing and he thought he was just the main man.

I havent had a very good few days, so have not been online much other than to do what I have to do and will be away until Sunday night. So I hope you all have a good weekend, ours looks as if it will be pleasant and cool. (((Hugs))))

Lori
xx

Wednesday 26 August 2009

2009-08-26T14:04:00.001-07:00

A few posts ago I posted a pic of a butterfly crysalis that was just ready for the Monarch Butterfly to emerge. I took the crysalis pic and had to go out for just over an hour and this is what I found when I got back!!! The butterfly had completely emerged and dried its wings the works, I missed documenting the emergence. Anyway here is the little butterfly that came out of the crysallis, the second pic you can see its clear cocoon/crysalis right next to it.

Balieve it or not this is my little darling born this year, Herbie!!! Just look at the color he is turning. We are not sure if he is going to be tri color (brown black and white) or dark chestnut (liver chestnut), time will tell, in the meantime I can't register him cos I have no idea what color to put on his application! Just look at that attitude, reminds me of Taxes who is 2 years old now and looking awesome. Herbie is about 2 months old here, this was taken a few days ago

Gee loves water and she drinks from the hose, wish I had her with her lips going drinking it but she loves a bath too.

We finished baling and putting the hay up in the loft at 9.15pm last night!! 198 bales. Stan and I were on our own for this one and even though I did the driving of the tractor during baling it was still very tiring and hard on my back. We took this hay to Stan and Val's house (the guy who normally bales it took 108 so we only had 90 - 66 bales from that field and 24 from another small field that we did at the same time - to put up) and Stan has bought an elevator to get the hay up into the mall of his barn which is much higher than ours, so I had to lug it onto the elevator so it could go up where he caught it and stacked it at the far end of the barn. Who needs a sauna, I can tell you I was dripping by the time we were done, but really pleased that we got it done I am getting some of my stamina back at last. Needless to say I slept very well last night LOL. It could have been worse we thought we would get about 300 - 400 bales and misjudged thank heavens, we would have been out there until midnight! Must check if the tractor has headlights LOL.

Pleasant mild day today. Hope you all have a great week. (((Hugs)))

Lori

Tuesday 25 August 2009

2009-08-25T07:05:00.001-07:00

I am on a roll what can I say, now all I have to do is catch up on my fellow bloggers' blogs as I am seriously behind with my reading too.

A few weeks ago I got my favorite thoroughbred back to board. I dont know if any of you will remember Gee. More to come on her later but here she is eating her hay this morning out of the hay feeder in the field, she has become great buddies with Goldie and considering that she is about a foot taller than Goldie it is an odd couple indeed.
Also taken this morning is a shot of a Coopers Hawk (?) which I saw in the apple tree in the field early this morning as the sun was coming up. Not great quality on the photo as the sun was only catching the bird from the one side as it was very early and he was pretty far away, I tried to get closer but he caught on and flew away. He came back in about 15 minutes but caught me again and I didnt get a chance at another shot. He was eyeing the birds in the bush in my front yard and was perched on one foot until he saw me which is when I shot this shot and then he was gone. I have some of him on the one leg but the quality is not very good. The small birds of course were all atwitter which is what first caught my attention to the fact that something was going on outside.

I took these a few days ago, this is Dosie who we sold last year but I managed to do a trade on one of my other horses to get him back because Michelle has always loved this horse and I wanted her to have him and I knew that Drew was looking for a brood mare to breed to a particular stallion and as they have had my filly Lori there since Larry passed, they had got to like her and her bloodline a lot so we did a trade. So in a way I cut down on numbers because I gave Dosie to Michelle so although he is still here she takes care of his needs and helps me a lot around the barn and Drew and Tanya cut back on one mouth too. That is Cat in the background and as you can see we had a small rainshower and the first thing they did was roll in the mud!!!

Well we tried to bale hay last night because they were calling for rain this evening, but that appears to have been extended til tomorrow and the hay was still a bit wet last evening which would have caused it to mould, so Stan and I are going to get back to it at midday today and hopefully that will have been enough time for it to have dried enough to bale. We are looking at about 400 bales maybe a bit more so it is going to be a long day. It is also going to be in the 80s again which we need to dry the hay but makes it unpleasant to be doing physical labor in LOL (although truth be told poor Stan will be doing the loading and I will be driving the tractor and baler!). Oh well we can't win them all I suppose.

I have the Welsh Pony Show to shoot this weekend. Lisa is going to be coming with me and helping with the computer side of things and the shooting so it is just non stop. The Club put us up in a motel which is great so there is no running back and forth each day and we will leave Friday evening and come back Sunday evening. It is going to be a hot one then too so I should have a good sportsman's tan.

The photos in this post and the last few have looked a little dark after I have uploaded them to blogger, let me know how they seem your end because if this is the case then I need to do some monitor calibrating because in Photoshop they look fine.

Have a great day everyone. ((((Hugs)))))

Lori
xx

Saturday 22 August 2009

2009-08-22T08:35:00.001-07:00

Wow yep it is probably gonna rain or something (hope not though because Stan is cutting hay for us today) but I am here again.

Was editing some pictures I took about a month ago when I went to the farm where I buy my horse feed from. This little mini foal was 3 weeks old at the time and I fell in love with him.

Busy busy as usual so will cut it short and get on with some work and hopefully pay the bills.

Dont forget, if you like my photos, I am offering a very inexpensive way to have a small copy (trading card size) of them as collectors items which I am doing using my Etsy site or if you are looking for inexpensive gifts for you or family or friends please visit my Etsy shop at http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=6874447 here you will find all sorts of goodies from my photo trading cards to crocheted dish wash cloths (which I highly recommend as once you have used these woollen ones you wont use anything else).

Have a great weekend all ((((Hugs))))

Lori
xx

Thursday 20 August 2009

2009-08-20T16:38:00.000-07:00

Yep I am still alive and kicking. Crazy busy but thought I better post something, not my usual fare but I found these guys in the pond down the road yesterday. They all ducked very quickly when they saw me, the frogs gave me one heck of a fright as they chirp loudly like a bird when frightened!!!

The turtles didnt make another appearance but I somehow managed to get this one shot of one coming up for air, they are so quick.

Water must have been good and this guy watched me warily while I snapped off a few shots.

This last one also made a very brief appearance like the turtle but I thought it was quite cute LOL.

Hope everyone is well, I am having good and bad days, still struggling along but keeping my head above water (like these guys above!!).

((((Hugs))))

Lori

Wednesday 12 August 2009

2009-08-12T19:18:00.000-07:00

Where to start!!!! So much happening over the past 2 weeks. The photo is of the Monarch butterfly about half an hour before it started emerging from the pupa. I had to go out just after I shot this and when I came back an hour later there was a butterfly fully emerged, so I missed the whole thing!! Pics of that to follow.

BB and Kendal won their class at the Indiana State 4H Show and got 3rd overall in the halter horse division!! Not a bad deal for their first year showing considering the first and second plkaced horses had been competing for a few years at least, the one was in her last year of 4H (18 years old). The judge and other exhibitors had nothing but good things to say about this pair. They just do each other justice. Unfortunately I dont have any photos as I was shooting a Pinto show while they were there but I have a few pics that Michelle and Kendall took but havent had time to edit them yet.

The Pinto show was very hot and although not as successful as they hoped, it was a good weekend and enjoyed by all. I am still trying to get the ordered photos out which will help with the bills tremendously!!!!!

Annette sold another filly for me, Dawn one of the 3 year olds which is great and possibility of Taxes being sold too but probably at the end of the show season, everything is so crazy right now with shows every weekend that the people havent been able to come and look at him yet. He is looking awesome, I will try to get photos of all the horses down the road soon.

Other than that lots happening but I am starting to feel really human again and things are looking up, I hope it will continue this way.

Hope you all had a great weekend too. ((((Hugs)))))

Lori

3 August 2009

2009-08-03T13:13:00.000-07:00

I have over the years collected photos of each stage of the Monarch Butterfly's growth and have never been able to get it in the pupa stage. Well this year I decided that when I saw the first caterpillar I would watch it until I thought it was a reasonable size then cover the plant or bring it on the plant inside and monitor it's transformation. In the past I have always seen the worms then they just dissappear and I have hunted and hunted for the crysallis to no avail.

This is what it was looking like today, beautiful green color with spots of glistening gold around the top and bottom of it. I am hoping that I will catch it emerging. The transformation from caterpillar to the first stage where it turned green was so quick literally in the space of a few hours it had turned. I will keep you posted. I have not seen many Monarchs around this year and this is the only caterpillar I have found so far and I have made a point of protecting the Milkweed plants which are their staple diet along our fence lines but I dont know if it is the mild weather or what but I have only seen one butterfly and one worm thus far.

The next pic is of Herbie. He is such a beautiful little boy, if you look on his right side the white pattern looks like one of Casper's beastly brothers with the sheet over its head and hands up and legs behind!! We still havent settled on a name for him but Michelle thought maybe Herbert's Spooktacular would fit him LOL. He also appears to be changing color from the sorrel we thought he was going to be to a black, or grullo. If you look closely at his hindquarters, his baby hair is shedding out and it is coming back almost black??? I will post a better one of it when it has shed out a bit more.

I have been trying to get all of my paperwork sorted out. Stan got me a lovely carpet to put into my office and bedroom areas. While Larry was alive it was not possible because his wheelchair just wasnt compatible with carpeting and this piece although it is nearly 10 years old is in immaculate condition. The piece out of the lounge alone is big enough to do both of these rooms, so I have moved everything out of the back room that used to be the dumping ground and am making that into my bedroom and the main room where we spent most of our time which was the bedroom I am going to set up as my office with tables and computers etc. The only problem with this is that I have had to pile everything into my living room until it gets done and it may be a week or so before anyone can get to it!!! So in the meantime I am just going through stuff and filing and keeping what I need to keep and throwing what can go out away, a bit each day.

Hope you are all well and had a great weekend ((((Hugs))))))

If you like my photos, I am offering a very inexpensive way to have a small copy (trading card size) of them as collectors items which I am doing using my Etsy site or if you are looking for inexpensive gifts for you or family or friends please visit my Etsy shop at http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=6874447 here you will find all sorts of goodies from my photo trading cards to crocheted dish wash cloths (which I highly recommend as once you have used these woollen ones you wont use anything else).

Lori
xx

Thursday 30 July 2009 - I'm Baaaaack

2009-07-30T19:49:00.000-07:00

Who knows for how long, have been taking lots of odd shots over the weeks but just havent got to edit and post them.

Below are various pics of my new boarder Gee. I have had her boarding here a lot over the past 4 years and she is back and helping to pay the feed bills. I loved this filly the first time I saw her. She is a thoroughbred (bred for flat racing on a track) and a lot of these were taken very late in the evening after the sun had gone behind the horizon so with her dark color they appear a bit dark. She is a very tall horse, easily 6 inches taller than my tallest paint horse. Below is Kendal leading her out into the field, her surroundings are a bit strange so we are babysitting her until she gets used to the lay of the land.

April, Goldie and BB enjoying the fresh air and bit of grass amongst the weeds.

This is BB and April coming in for feed time.

These below are more of Gee enjoying stretching her legs. Boy she can run!!!!

Well that is about it, so much happening, some good some bad, just not enough hours in the day.

((((Hugs)))) to those of you hanging in and continuing to visit my blog.

If you like my photos, I am offering a very inexpensive way to have a small copy (trading card size) of them as collectors items which I am doing using my Etsy site or if you are looking for inexpensive gifts for you or family or friends please visit my Etsy shop at http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=6874447 here you will find all sorts of goodies from my photo trading cards to crocheted dish wash cloths (which I highly recommend asonce you have used these woollen ones you wont use anything else).

Lori
xx

Thursday 16 July 2009

2009-07-16T13:02:00.000-07:00

Just to show you that "eM" could certainly stand up for himself despite his small stature.

If you like my photos, I am offering a very inexpensive way to have a small copy (trading card size) of them as collectors items which I am doing using my Etsy site or if you are looking for inexpensive gifts for you or family or friends please visit my Etsy shop at
http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=6874447
here you will find all sorts of goodies from my photo trading cards to crocheted dish wash cloths (which I highly recommend as once you have used these woollen ones you wont use anything else).

Lori

Wednesday 15 July 2009

2009-07-15T11:34:00.001-07:00

This is Blue when he was a few days old, a lot like his son Herbie!

If you like my photos, I am offering a very inexpensive way to have a small copy (trading card size) of them as collectors items which I am doing using my Etsy site or if you are looking for inexpensive gifts for you or family or friends please visit my Etsy shop at
http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=6874447

here you will find all sorts of goodies from my photo trading cards to crocheted dish wash cloths (which I highly recommend as once you have used these woollen ones you wont use anything else).

Lori ((((Hugs))))
xx

Silent Sunday 12 July 2009

2009-07-12T19:00:00.000-07:00

Can anyone come up with a caption for this?

I am working on my Etsy site and stock photos, if you are looking for inexpensive gifts for you or family or friends please visit my Etsy shop at
http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=6874447
here you will find all sorts of goodies. I Highly recommend the dish wash cloths, once you have used these woollen ones you wont use anything else.
Lori

Silent Saturday - 11 July 2009

2009-07-11T17:54:00.001-07:00

We have Wordless Wednesday, well I am doing Silent Saturday.

I am working on my Etsy site and stock photos, if you are looking for inexpensive gifts for you or family or friends please visit my Etsy shop at http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=6874447 here you will find all sorts of goodies. I Highly recommend the dish wash cloths, once you have used these woollen ones you wont use anything else.

Lori

Friday 10 July 2009 - Still Hanging On

2009-07-10T16:25:00.000-07:00

I am trying to be proactive with finding work but between the horses, baling hay, a few orders and the heat and an unreliable vehicle I have had no luck.

I am starting to panic a bit now because I have zero income as I dont qualify for a widow's pension (long story wont even get started on that) and I lost all income from Larry the day passed. I am going in a big circle at the moment, damned if I do and damned if I dont.

Oh well just thinking one day at a time. This is a picture I shot of Herbie when he was a few days old, he is a gorgeous colt, and has a personality like no other as do each of the horses. It is breaking my heart to think of parting with them but even the horses arent selling, heck I have offered some of them for $500 and no takers, so if you know anyone who needs a green young unfinished paint horse let me know I have quite a few looking for homes aged from 2 years old up to 15 years old. Some have a bit of riding experience and they are all fast learners and easy to get along with. They dont need a heavy hand and are all sane and sound and just need someone to give them some time and love. I want to at least give them a chance at life or else they will end up in the sale pens, I will be lucky to get $50 let alone $500 for them there and then they will probably be destined for the slaughter house. They say that they have banned the transport of horses for slaughter in USA and have closed the two processing plants, but the horses are going somewhere and where there is a will there is a way.

I read in one of the magazines that I submit photos to that people in the Florida area are finding their horses slaughtered and butchered in their pastures!!!! What is this world coming to???? It is just too horrible for me to even contemplate. This is not just an isolated incident it is happening more and more.

Oh well sorry about the doom and gloom but it is how I am feeling a bit at the moment. I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend. We had a hot one today but may get a bit of rain tomorrow which will be great for the hay fields.

(((((Hugs)))

Lori

Monday 29 June 2009 - The Herd is Complete

2009-06-29T19:34:00.000-07:00

I have finally managed to integrate everyone here into one field, for Blue it was the first time he had been with other horses since he was gelded earlier this year and for Goldie it was a first for her since coming home from Iowa.

Left to right BB (Big Butt!!!!), Wiggle, April (Front) Blue (Back) Cat and Goldie.

I used to have a series of names for BB while she was growing up, BB came about because she was a Blueroan Baby, then she became Bully Baby, Brat Baby, Bad baby, B***h Baby, Biting Baby or whatever fit the moment LOL.

We are having the most amazing weather, why couldnt it have been like this last week for the 4H Fair, it was lovely the week before the Fair and now the week after it is lovely again with pressure cooker temps in the 90s and humidity in between while we had to spend all that time at the Fair with the poor animals trying to keep them cool. Oh well that's how the cookie crumbles I guess.

Sonny and the baby (Herbie) are in the field next to these guys and hopefully I will eventually be able to have them all together so the baby learns to mingle with other horses. Sonny is an excellent mother and will guard him like a tiger but I dont want a repeat of the problems I had with Taxes when I had to try to get him integrated. I will post a pic of them tomorrow, not enough hours in the day.

Stan cut three fields yesterday and will turn them tomorrow with the rake and hopefully by the time he has turned the last one, the first one will be ready for baling. At least this time we wont be enduring those ludicrous temps while we are baling and loading the bales, I have to say that I did very litttle of it because I just dont have the stamina anymore, so I did the running, for water, spare parts etc. and a bit of the manual work but not much. Stan, Zack and Kami take all the credit for that.

Hope you all had a great weekend, I can't believe how fast the time is flying by, not enough hours in the day. (((Hugs)))) to all.

Lori
xx

Saturday 27 June 2009 - After the chaos

2009-06-27T08:50:00.000-07:00

Well that was quite a week, dont know how Kendal and Michelle do it because they were out there in that heat showing one animal or another since Sunday last every day, I have been hiding at home a lot of that time with the airconditioner!!

I did spend Thursday at the horse show in 92F heat and I suffered a little after that, on top of which there was a storm that night and the apple tree took out my powerline so with a minimum of about 80 even through the night and no fans or anything was not a happy experience.

The pic above is of Kendal and BB. This particular shot was taken in Showmanship where she didn't place, lots of lessons learned in a class of 18 horses. The moment of glory was before this was taken, I will edit a pic and post it later, was when BB took Grand Champion Halter Horse at the show!!!! We were thrilled because she beat some really good horses. The rest of the classes were not too successful, she took a 4th and 5th in riding on April (walk/trot) and took a 3rd on April in Pony Halter.

We learned a lot over this past week about the dos and donts of showing horses LOL but overall Kendal did a fantastic job all week with all of her animals. A very hard working a dedicated 12 year old for sure and she deserved every bit of it. I have stacks of pics to go through and hopefully will get them up a few at a time on my blog over the next few days. With this extreme heat I am avoiding being outside as much as I can. In amongst all of this we baled hay and spent 2 days putting haybales in the barn (or should I say Stan and Zack and Kami did). I wasnt much help because I can't tolerate this heat. I have had heat stroke before and after you have had it once your tolerance is even lower and I have been feeling it.

Enough about me, this post is dedicated to Kendal, her mom Michelle, April and BB and all the other critters for a job well done!

(((((Hugs))))))
Lori
xx

Sunday 21 June 2009 - Show Day

2009-06-21T19:13:00.000-07:00

Well show day has finally dawned. Michelle hasnt been in a show ring for nearly 30 years so she was thrilled to get a first in the color (Paint & Appaloosa) Class and a third out of 10 entries in the Open Halter with BB.

The two horses who beat her were great horses but what really made it special was when one of the older members of the family who showed those two horses came over to us and told us that he had picked us to be the winners!!!! Wow how great is that. Michelle was over the moon.

Kendal took a second in the Halter Pony class and a second in the walk trot riding class. I am so proud of them all because this was a first for the two horses and a first for Kendal and a first for Michelle in a very long time and they sure did us proud.

I just picked two pictures from the day, it was VERY hot. Poor Kendall had to go on to show her Chickens and she has Goats and shows a dog in agility, so the week will be very busy.

Of course I came home after the horse show and collapsed in a heap, the stress was just too much LOL but I am very proud of all four of them. We learned a lot of lessons along the way, especially Kendal which I am glad we learned at this show because that will make her performance at the 4H Fair Show on Thursday just that much better.

Wish us luck. (((((HUgs)))))))

Lori

Friday 19 June 2009 - Herbie Tests His Legs

2009-06-19T09:02:00.000-07:00

I have had a much better 24 hours and have to say the relief of having this baby on the ground has really shown. I feel a whole lot more relaxed.

I had to wait until yesterday evening to let Sonny and Herbie out to stretch their legs and even then because of all the mosquitos she wasnt too charmed. Sonny hates the flies and bugs and would rather stay in the barn in front of the fan which is where they are now because we are expecting a heat index of 103 today. The cooler weather couldnt have held on for just one more week, it had hung on thus far and then the County Fair would have been over.

So we are starting with BB and April going with Michelle and Kendal to an open show on Sunday, which will be a test drive for the 4H show at the fair on Thursday. The horses are looking wonderful, having horses with lots of white has its drawbacks and we are trying to keep them clean but they will always find that one wet or poopy spot to lay in and then have yellowish stains on them at the last minute!!! Here are a few pics of Sonny and Herbie last night (I had to bribe her out with food) and Kendal, she is smittten with the new arrival and they make a good pair because his coat should turn the same color as his mommas which is the same color as Kendal's hair, red!

Just showing that he knows where to put all those long limbs if he needs to. He is a very sweet baby and is going to be spoiled rotten. He doesnt have the same arrogant attitude that Taxes had so I think he will be much easier and safer to be around LOL.

It looks as if we are going to have a dry spell from Saturday afternoon for 5 days so we are going to be making lots of hay if that forecast stays. We have 4 or 5 big fields lined up and are going to have our work cut out for us so if you dont hear much from me in the next week, I am still around will just be baling hay from the time the dew is dry in the am until dark at 9.30pm to get as much in as possible. Wish us luck.

Hope you all have a good weekend, think of us at the horse show on Sunday and keep fingers and toes crossed that the little darlings dont embarass us LOL. ((((Hugs))))

Lori

Thursday 18 June 2009 - It's a Boy

2009-06-18T09:13:00.000-07:00

Relief, I can stop worrying, for about 2 seconds LOL. Sonny had her baby sometime in the early hours of this morning. It is a little boy and it is raining so I have them in the old barn which is pretty dark so havent been able to ascertain if both eyes are blue or just one. We are going to call him Herbie as his barn name and he is a little cutie pie.

Everything that is working is working great so I can relax for a bit. When I can get them out to take some decent pics of him I will but this will have to suffice for now, taking a nap in the straw. This will be my last baby and it is unfortunate that there is only one again this year because they so do need to have other little ones to learn from and older horses too, so I will probably not keep him and momma separated like I did with Taxes and her and the other horses, because I want him to be more sociable. Needless to say I will be asking the vet to make him a gelding at the first opportunity which will be far less traumatic for him now than later when the surgery is more involved.

((((Hugs)))))

Lori
xx

12 June 2009 - A Tribute

2009-06-12T19:59:00.000-07:00

I am still really in pain about the decision I had to make with this filly but wanted to do this little tribute for her. She was instantly friendly the minute she saw me and even though she was only with us for half a day she has forever left an impact on me and will have a very special place in my heart.

When I told my friend that she had been born and that she had hints of black pigment which I hoped meant she was not a lethal white I was overjoyed and Michelle immediately named her, without even having seen her. So even though she will not be registered we have named her DBB Blue's Angel, little did we know that within a few hours that is exactly what she would be. She looked so much like her Daddy when he was born it was uncanny.

My friend Lisa came over when I first phoned her to tell her the baby had been born but by the time she had arrived things had deteriorated rapidly and I told her to get photos because there was a good chance this would be our only opportunity. I have very few pictures of me with my horses and I dont think I have any with even one of my 20 odd foals that I have bred and raised so these photos are going to be amongst my most treasured memories. I edited two of them, one with momma, me and baby in it and one with just me and Angel.

She must be an awesome sight running in those green pastures with her long legs and I hope that she and Larry meet up. I know that to most of you this sounds all dramatic and melancholy but this little horse and all of my animals deeply touch my heart and I love them all like my children so it feels to me like I have lost a child.

I have a feeling that the other baby might arrive tonight, don't know why because I cant see any obvious signs but it is just a feeling.

My leg is feeling a bit better. I am still not sleeping well and experiencing a lot of pain at night where the muscles have torn so battle to get any sleep but it is improving so there is light at the end of the tunnel.

Thanks everyone for your messages. ((((Hugs))))) and have a great weekend.

Lori
xx

Monday 8 June - I Must Be Cursed

2009-06-08T17:01:00.001-07:00

This morning I woke, late as usual and looked out the kitchen window to see four little legs on the other side of my B&W mare who was expecting any day. I held my breath as they moved hoping to see some black spots or any colored spots for that matter and from there I could see nothing. This is not a good sign with paint horses as some of them mainly the Overo strain carry a genetic defect called Lethal White Gene which causes the babys to develop normally but when they are born their colon and intestines are not connected and they cannot poop so if they are not euthenased immediately they are usually dead within 2 days which ever way you go.

To cut a very long day and story short, the vet had to euthenase her this evening as it was evident that there was nothing we could do for her. We were going to call her DBB BLUE'S ANGEL. I did get a few pictures of her before I brought her inside and she started getting so ill, nothing exceptional but here is one of them.

Cutting it short tonight. Say a prayer for her.

Lori
xx

Thursday 4th June 2009

2009-06-04T19:57:00.000-07:00

Another quickie today, this is a picture of my friend Judy's two dogs. The Chihauhau is only 8 weeks old and is an absolute cutie pie!! He is called eM and travells with her in her semi around the country until he is sold, then his momma will probably take that role back until she has her next litter of pups.

Hope everyone is good and c u tomorrow. (((((Hugs))))))

Lori
xx

Wednesday 3 June 2009

2009-06-03T20:26:00.000-07:00

Just a quickie, pretty much holed up inside today as it rained most of the day and my leg was really paining me so I put it up to rest it and did some computer work. Hoping to be able to start cutting grass tomorrow for hay baling.

This is a pic of Kendal again which I shot on Sunday evening.

See y'all 2morrow

Lori
xx

Tuesday 2 June 2009

2009-06-02T18:05:00.000-07:00

Today has special significance for me in many ways but I wont go into them. Sorry I have been away so long. I hope some of you are still out there. Lots of changes and responsibilities been happpening over the past 2 months and I am slowly muddling through them all.

I am going to try to post a picture every day, I have stacks that I have shot and not even edited or looked at but am starting to get the urge again, so here we go again, I am giving it another try.

Todays pictures are of an 8 year old mare that was a foal when I first arrived here in the USA and her new owner Kendal. The mare was born on 1st April and her name is DB April Dawn. She spent two weeks with a trainer when she was a 4 year old being broke to ride then went to Iowa and lived in a huge pasture 365 days of year with our other mares to have babies. She only had one baby in 3 years and came back when I went to fetch the horses last October with my new Palomino baby.

Kendal and her Mom Michelle have been long time friends of Larry and Michelle used to ride for Larry and her daughter has her natural talent with horses. April can be a bit of a handfull and have a real attitude but basically she is a wonderful mare. Kendall is showing her and BB the big Blue Roan mare in 4H this year and these were taken last night at a 4H clinic at the Fair grounds and I am so proud of them both. This was the first time for both of them in an arena with other horses and they were fabulous and considering that she has never really ridden and the horse has hardly ever been ridden, makes it even more special.

I will keep updating this story as we go.

I will try to keep this up again so hope you will all hang in there with me. Don't forget to check out my Etsy shop, there is a link on this blog, might just be something you can't live without LOL, I have made a few sales Woohoo!!

(((((Hugs))))) to you all and thanks for hanging in there with me.

Lori
xx

Monday 11 May 2009 - Goldie's Debut

2009-05-11T17:01:00.001-07:00

Well the light was a bit flat today so not the best for shooting the palomino who needs a nice golden light, but here is the brat, she is a year old at the end of this month, and apart from the umbilical hernia which I am not sure how I am going to deal with, I think she is gorgeous!!! Then I am barn blind. What do you think?

(Click on pictures to see larger version)

She still has a little bit of fuzz on her so I will have to wait another week or so until I have it all brushed out, but she is a livewire and a Handful with a capital "H". I don't know how I always end up with these naughty horses!!!!! The only sane one is Blue (who is in the background of the side shot of her). He has healed up really well and I had no problems with his gelding. Hopefully I can get him riding soon and in with the other horses so he can end his solitary life.

It has been a strange day today, I have been trying to visit my friends in Indianapolis for months now and every time we try to arrange it, something comes up and messes it all up!! I wanted to go visit today but I will see them this weekend at the horse show I am shooting I hope!! The problem with going to visit is that it would turn into an all day journey because they are about 60 odd miles away on the outskirts of the city (I think, I am a terrible navigator so it will be a miracle if I even find them LOL).

Praying for one or two more dry days so the farmers can get their crops in, but expecting storms Wednesday again so they better hurry and get those seeds planted who knows when they will get their next opportunity.

Well that is it, I am working furiously at my stock images, work is not an option around here so I have to find an income somehow.

Hope everyone is well, I seem to be coping for now thanks to a couple of very special friends. ((((Hugs)))))

Lori

xxx

Sunday 10 May 2009 - Mother's Day

2009-05-10T16:59:00.000-07:00

Hi it is Mothers' Day here in the USA today and I think in the UK too. Hope all you Mom's had a happy Day.

I have been whittling away at all that needs to be done and am feeling better each day. Today's picture is of a little Robin who's nest fell out of one of our trees last night with the wind and it was hiding away in the grass. Momma was keeping it fed and I was just hoping that it would stay safe. So far so good, I daren't disturb it but at least she is feeding it, that is her with a beak full of worms in the picture.

My friend Pepper came over to visit today and I enjoyed her company, we let some of the horses graze on the lush green grass in my garden which needs mowing desperately. I hate it that the fields are just about bare and there is all this grass just on the other side of the fence. So we took a few out and also picked lots more and gave it to the ones that didn't get a chance to be out.

I am hoping to take 3 of the horses over to that pasture I use in the summer this week. That will relieve the load a bit more. Then it is just wait and see when babies arrive. Cat, the black and white mare is huge as usual! Her milk hasn't started coming in and I am expecting new additions any time from the beginning of June. She always goes overdue and has huge foals. The other mare is 19 now and has had many babies and she tends to be early. She is not as big but you can see she is carrying. I feel so badly for her, she is old and tired and I can't wait until I can just let her be a pasture ornament and live out her twilight years in comfort. I have no plans on breeding anything in the future or until the horse market has improved at least. I live foals but I can't bear to think that they are just unwanted and where they will probably end up.

I can then start working with Goldie (I promise I will post pics of her soon, she is gorgeous!! just need someone to hold her that isnt't intimidated by her spirit LOL), Blue and Wiggle and hopefully have two riding the trails this summer.

Well that is about it for now. It gets real lonely sometimes but I am pushing myself through it and trying to be constructive, I need to earn an income and jobs are just not available right now, so I am promoting my photos everywhere I can think of and sending to the agencies and magazines.

(((((Hugs)))))) everyone. Oh and Michael I could never have eaten that fish!!!! I am afraid I would never make a farmer's wife, I love all the animals too much, no I am not vegetarian but at least I am not on face to face terms with what I do eat although it is not much right now LOL.

Lori

Tuesday 5 May 2009

2009-05-05T17:45:00.001-07:00

Todays picture is another taken yesterday when I let the horses out to run and stretch their legs for a few hours. This is BB and April, the two fillies that our friends' daughter is showing in 4H this year. Larry and I gave April to her as she is a very dedicated young lady and BB is going to be our showstopper we hope because of her unusual looks and with Kendal being a little thing, BB is huge beside her.

Of course they got to rolling in the mud and we are working on getting them fit and fat for the County show in June/July. I really hope she does well with them both. We are not going to do riding classes this year but depending on how things go this year that will definitely be on the cards for next year.

I have had a truly amazing day today. Larry's son was really worried about a man's ring that had been passed down from generation to generation in the family and that I did not ever remember seeing, and believe me I have packed and been through everything here a few times over the past 8 years. I told him I would keep my eyes open for it because I would be having to go through everything again to tie up all the loose ends and make sure everyone got what belonged to them. A lot of stuff had been stolen over the years by the help coming into the house too, among which was a woman's diamnd ring so I didn't hold out much hope. I hadn't looked in the office which is a bit of a dumping ground, although I have tidied it up on numerous occasions during the past years, and was looking for a cartridge for one of my printers today when there right in front of me was a green velvet box. When I opened it I was amazed to see that it had the ring that he was looking for in it!!!!! Now bear in mind I have been over this same spot hundreds of times and now today all of a sudden it was there right in front of me. It has diamonds in it and is of great sentimental value. I am so amazed that it was there!

Then I was taking some papers to Larry's sister this evening to sign and as I was driving down the drive saw something splashing around in the few inches of water left in the field from the rain. I got out of the truck and found a carp about 12 inches long struggling in a few inches of water. It always dries up so I knew that I had to move it or it would die as the water dried up. I think it is what you call a carp. No I didn't have my camera!!!!! and it was getting dark. I couldnt get a hold of it so after getting myself all muddy and wet, drove on to get the papers done and when I came back looked for it again only to see another one further down the field, this one about 16 inches long also struggling in the shallow water. The first one had got into slightly deeper water and swum back up the pipe that runs under the road from the property over the road where there is still a pool of water. I must have looked a sight because I ended up soaked and muddy but I managed to get a hold of the fish eventually by the gills, trudged out of the muddy field and zoomed off in my truck to a lake just down the road where I released him. I will be looking out for the other one for sure as the water dries up because it will only be a matter of days before it does and these were pretty big fish!!!

Who says miracles don't happen and that people don't watch over us? I am not a religious person but not an athiest either and I have finished the day with a very good feeling. I just wonder is Larry had anything to do with the finding of that ring or the fish LOL?

That's it for today, it is late and I still havent eaten dinner so am off to cook. (((((Hugs))))) everyone.

Lori

Sunday 3 May 2009

2009-05-03T15:19:00.000-07:00

Okay so once every two days might be a good place to start LOL.

I have had the horses all in for weeks now because of the constant rain and mud but today it had dried up enough for them to be able to go out although it is still very wet. As you can see from this photo the grazing is nowhere near established, and of course Piglette did the first thing she always does when she sees a pool of water (even in the middle of winter) lay down and rolled in it!!!!

It has been a lonely weekend, Michelle and her daughter, Kendal, came over today to work with the horses that Kendal is going to show in 4H this year. I was working on photos and stock on the computer inside while they were here so didn't see a lot of them. It was a beautiful sunny day so it was pretty much wasted spending it inside.

Goldie has nearly lost all her little tangles of hair so it will be photo debut time soon. Her sides look as if they have dreadlocks on them, all matted, just waiting to fall off LOL. She is so naughty, I am going to have to send her to filly charm school I think because I dont know if I am going to be able to give her the direction she is going to need and she could turn into a little brat as she has a very strong will.

Nothing much else to report. I miss Larry terribly and never thought I would miss the constant stream of different Home Health Aides coming through the house!!

Hope you all had a good weekend, and those who had the lousy weather to deal with hope you all came through that okay too. ((((Hugs))))

Lori

Friday 1st May 2009 - New Beginnings

2009-05-01T07:37:00.000-07:00

Today's picture is of the little B&W colt that I bred three years ago and was bought by my friends Stan (who is riding him) and Val, His name is Eb (DBD EBONY WONDERBAR). I went trail riding on Sunday as I just felt I needed a day away and snapped a few shots while I was out there.

Okay you guys I know I have said it before but I really am going to try to get this blog up and running again and keep it going. I am still a bit numb and there is still an element of disbelief that Larry is not with me anymore, it gets lonely here on my own and I find myself looking for him or thinking about him often.

Thank you so much EVERYONE who sent me messages of support, good vibes, positive thoughts and Hugs while I went through this ordeal, they were all greatly appreciated during a really difficult time.

There is so much to arrange and ends to tie up and without your support and the support of my friends Tiffany, Pepper, Michelle and Lisa along with my sister-in-law Rita and my "grandkids" I don't know how I would have got through it. The arrangements for a funeral here in USA are so different from what I am used to where I come from and seeing Larry for the first time at the viewing and then the last time before going to the cemetary were definitely the hardest part.

I still find myself wandering around the house aimlessly not knowing where to start but somehow everything is getting done (I hope).

The first and most important thing is that I need to find a constant source of income so may have to find a day job because there was no will and no insurance as Larry's insurances had been depleted when he first had his accident. So basically all the debt, taxes etc. fall on my shoulders, and you don't want to know what a funeral costs here either! They did a wonderful job though and at least I have good memories and pictures in my mind of Larry as I last saw him.

We have just had one of the 7 wettest Aprils ever recorded in Indiana and May is normally our wettest month of the year, so everything is just mud and puddles. The poor farmers havent been able to plant their corn and beans because the fields haven't dried enough for them to get them done with one day hot three days freezing and raining repeatedly. No relief in sight from the rain for the next 5 days so here's hoping that it stops for long enough before the middle of May so they can get their crops in or it will start getting too late to sew, and grow enough to get it harvested before winter. That of course will make the grain prices crazy again and they are still high enough now.

I am making plans to get all the horses that are saleable broke to ride and safe and then sold (or given away if necessary) to good homes for whatever we can get for them and believe me you can buy a horse for $100 at a sale these days so they are not bringing much, but at least I feel that I am giving them a better chance at finding good homes and being safe to ride this way, rather than ending up in a slaughter house. Drew is a great trainer and he, Annette and Tanya have already found possible buyers for 2 of them but they have horse flu in their barn at the moment and need to get that cured before they can take horses in or out of the barn as it is highly contagious. Drew, Annette and Tanya have been a godsend to me with this dilemma and I can never thank them enough or repay them for their help with this.

I made my first sale on Etsy.com last week!!!!! Three sets of trading cards, I mailed them yesterday so I hope that the buyer will be happy with them. I am going to start listing more stuff there today and start preparing stock images again for the photo agency and magazine because I have a feeling that this will be how I earn an income with the job market being so bad at the moment.

Well that is about it for today, I am sure there will be more trials and tribulations over the months to come so hold onto your seats.

Tuesday 14 April 2009 - Hanging in Here

2009-04-14T18:23:00.000-07:00

I have been blessed with wonderful friends and family who have all come forward and taken all of the burdens and worries off of my shoulders and allowed me to stay sane. I am still very numb and it all seems so unreal.

The viewing for Larry will be on Thursday and the Service on Friday at 11am. The custom here is that the deceased will lay in an open casket for people to come and pay their respects and then the funeral is held afterwards and on to the cemetary. This is not a custom that I am used to because we always just had the funeral or cremation ceremony, most of the time in a closed casket and it was all done the same day. Afterwards we went on to the family home to mingle a bit and have snacks etc., so this is very foreign to me and I am not too sure how I am going to handle it as during the viewing the family will stand with the casket and greet all the mourners as they come to pay their respects. This is done in three 2 hour shifts over the 2 days.

My only solace is that I have this vision of Larry, with his body whole again and able to walk and ride, with his family who have preceded him and the one horse that he so dearly loved that we lost shortly after coming over to USA. Please keep him in your prayers. I may not post in the next few days because I am totally shattered.

I want to thank everyone for their notes and condolences, I will get to you all as soon as things have calmed down, all of your kind words are greatly appreciated by me and his family and I find them very comforting. (((((Hugs))))

Lori
xx

Monday 13th April 2009

2009-04-13T02:59:00.000-07:00

I am writing this because I just don't know what else to do with myself at the moment. I received a phone call at just before 5am this morning to tell me that Larry had gone into cardiac arrest and that they had been unable to revive him and that he had passed away. I am numb and needed to vent.

Thanks all for all your prayers and thoughts. I will probably not be in contact for a few days. ((((Hugs)))))

Lori

12 April 2009

2009-04-12T19:26:00.000-07:00

It is hard to absorb the fact that it will be 2 years since Taxes was born on 15 April 2007. Here was one of his first pictures when he was only a few hours old, it was cold had been snowing and was muddy and miserable. He got his first day outside when he was 3 days old but didnt like to get his feet muddy. I don't have and newer pics of him right now but when they have finished shedding I will post some.

I have had a long trying day so will not post any more on my saga, but yes it does seem to have a happy ending, after today I am not too sure though. I will elaborate tomorrow.

Happy Easter everyone!! ((((Hugs))))

Lori

Saturday 11 April 2009 - Life's Little Tests

2009-04-11T18:53:00.000-07:00

Not my usual type of shot but this is one that I shot when Lisa and I went on Safari and got lost last week LOL. I thought it was a bit of irony considering the auto industry situation at the moment.

(Click on pic to enlarge)

I have just had a dreadful week as some of you know. I didnt post on here when it all started but did on Facebook so this will be old news to some of you, sorry.

I woke up last Saturday morning to my husband in a non responsive condition. He was breathing and that was about it!!! I called 911 and they were there in minutes. When we got to the local town hospital the EMTs had got a breathing tube into him and had determined that he had a temperature of 105 and was in critical condition. Other than that they couldnt tell me much more and arranged immediately to have him taken by helicopter to a hospital in Fort Wayne who are better equipped to deal with these extreme cases. It was a different hospital to the one he normally goes to in Fort Wayne, about 10 miles further on. Our neighbor Richard brought me home and I arranged lists of telephone numbers and things that I thought I would need as he was critical and they really didn't think he would survive as they didnt know how long his temp had been that high.

I have to say this hospital was like night and day compared to the one we normally go to, these people actually show that they care, are extremely efficient and obviously enjoy their jobs. I am convinced now that L wouldnt have survived if he had gone to his usual hospital which is where I told them his records were and where he normally went, but they decided to take him to the other for whatever reason, I dont know why but I am so glad. I dont know what the man above has in store for Larry but he has defied the odds over the past 26 years so many times that there has got to be a special purpose for him.

When I arrived at the hospital his sister and daughter joined me and we just had to wait. His temp peaked at 105.9 and they had to put him onto a thermal blanket which pumps cold water through it. He was diagnosed with sepsis brought on by a bladder infection which is common with quadraplegic patients as they have a catheter and any foreign object in one's body will react so we had had these infections before but never this bad. They thought he may have had a small heart attack as a result and he was on a ventilator which was doing the breathing for him. His blood sugar was 315 (normal is around 100) also brought about by the fever, kidney stones which were also infected because of the bladder infection, the one being about 1.5 inches across. He had a small one in his other kidney and a large one about the same size in his Gall bladder. He also had pneumonia.

The doctor had no good news for us, he was comatose and they had him sedated because of the tube down his throat for the ventilator so he wouldnt try to pull it out. We all slept in the waiting room that night after speaking to the doctor who said "he is a VERY sick man" and literally told us that he didnt expect him to survive and if he did then the chance would be that he would have to stay on a ventilator or have some type of permanent mental damage. Because he was in the Critical Care unit they don't allow family to stay in the rooms out of visiting hours so we were directed to the lounge. I didn't sleep a wink all night, you couldnt turn the lights out and could only dim them slightly so it was a bit hard to sleep on two chairs pushed together with bright spotlights above you.

To be continued ........

((((Hugs)))) everyone, dont forget to visit my Etsy shop the link is on the top right side of my blog. I did a lot of crocheting over the past week so I will be posting a lot more LOL.

Lori
xx

Tuesday 31 March 2009

2009-03-31T11:35:00.001-07:00

(Click on picture to see larger version)

This is a little church about 9 miles outside Hartford City that is on the main state road. It is always immaculate and I have taken photos of it before but never with the graveyard included so when Lisa and I went on our safari the other day I made a point of stopping and getting a few reasonable pictures. I think it is very quaint.

We had our new Photo Club meeting last night and it has been great to get toknow a bnch of people in the community who also enjoy taking photos and want to get better and understand more. Most of them have compact digital camera but we are covering copyright, composition, lighting, inside flash and that sort of stuff. The group is made up of mainly women who are in my age group or a bit younger and older except for one of our members who is a 12 year old girl that has an exceptional eye for a great picture.

In response to some of my comments received :

Liz, I was born in Bulawayo Zimbabwe and when I moved to SA I lived in Benoni and Sandton, both suburbs of Johannesburg. We used to go to East London (a coastal town on the east coast of SA) every second year from when I was a small child travelling there by train from Zimbabwe. It was always such an adventure. I have had brief visits to Durban, Port Elizabeth and Pretoria but most of my time was spent in Johannesburg.

Kym, I belong to a group of photographers and artists "The Equine Arts Protection League" and we all look out for each other's work. The main abuse has been the Chinese paintings brought in and sold dirt cheap, I think Walmart sells these a lot and am willing to bet that some of them have not been released to copy and sell. The other place for lots of abuse is e-Bay. We find a multitude of products that people make using our photos, it is a pain to police and an ongoing project. If we can prove infringement eBay will shut the seller down immediately. People seem to think that just because a picture is on the internet it is theirs to do what they like with despite the copyright notices on them. This is so far from the truth. Every single photograph you see is owned by the person who pushed the shutter, unless they give the rights away, even your family shots of the yearly barbeque. It does not have to display a copyright symbol because it is automatically protected. It makes it very hard for those of us who are making a living from our photography to compete against people who just give their work away for the thrill of seeing it and their name in print and most of the publications and magazines see it as a way to get free photos by preying on the unsuspecting social photographer. Always remember you paid a lot of money for your equipment, it should pay for itself. This is a very long and complicated subject but I will leave it there, just think twice next time you are tempted to save a photo you like on the internet and make it your screensaver or print it to frame it in your home or make a piece of jewellery, that is illegal. Even if you are only copying it as a painting or drawing it is still illegal it is not yours to copy. A lot of artists think that because they make their own artwork from a photo they have lifted off the web it is okay and then the artwork they make becomes theirs, this is not true. You have to get the permission of the photographer to copy or use their work for any reason.

Donna I hope things look up, I am hoping that they will become collectors items like trading cards. It is an inexpensive way of enjoying photographs made by others legally without spending a fortune and can be built up as a collection.

Abraham, unfortunately having to watermark your images spoils them for the viewer but it has become necessary. I still have to work it into my workflow, as you see today's pic isnt watermarket!!!! but it does have my copyright statement on it.

Okay that is my speach for the day LOL. Please visit my Etsy shop if you havent already, the link is in my last blog entry.

Miserable rainy cold and overcast here so I am staying close to home but have to go to town quickly.

((((Hugs)))))

Lori

Sunday 29 March 2009

2009-03-29T17:32:00.000-07:00

I have been going through a lot of my old photos, the few that I did get scanned and on CD before I came over here and subsequently lost my original photos, slides and possessions. The majority of the digital photos and scans are not of very good quality because 10 years ago things weren't as advanced as they are now with digital and good film and slide scanners etc. but they will make great small prints. I have started watermarking my photos as theft on the web has become a problem, and we find our photos and artwork are being stolen and used in all sorts of applications to manufacture jewellery, light switch covers, keychains, greeting cards and 1000 other things that only require a small resolution image. The ones above were taken in South Africa.

I am making up a series of ACEO cards, the type that artists hand paint measuring 3.5" x 2.5" and they have people who collect them. If you can't afford a whole bunch of original large prints or paintings and you like a particular artist or photographer's work, this is a nice way to be able to appreciate and possess someone's art or photography for a reasonable price.

I have been listing them on http://www.etsy.com/ my username is Loriprophoto so if you do a search you can find my shop or you could click on this link Lori's Etsy Shop and you can check out some of my photographs and crochet skills (my relaxation) and heck who knows for a small sum you could own a collection of my photographs and boast about having known me when I was a poor starving artist after I become rich and famous!!! Yeah right. This site is dedicated to hand made items and antiques and you can find just about anything hand made on there. It has a lot of jewellery.

I started crocheting a few months ago when I was really stressed out and have made all sorts of product, dish wash cloths crocheted in wool (believe me they really work well), baby blankets, scarves, beanies, tissue box covers, toilet roll holders and many other things. Now I am sitting with a box of goodies and nowhere for them to go LOL.

After our beautiful spring weather we have plunged into freezing temps this morning with rain sleet wind and snow all day. They say it will warm up later, we will see.

That's it for today guys and gals, hope you are all surviving this inclement and variable weather (((((Hugs)))))) to you all.

Lori
xx

Saturday 19 March 2009 - Miracles do happen

2009-03-28T19:08:00.001-07:00

Lisa and I went to get grain for the horses yesterday and decided to do a safari at the same time as the place is about 40 miles away. Remind me to never get the two of us together again to go driving where we dont know where we are going because we are both hopeless navigators. We thought we were heading east along the backroads and ended up heading west and backtracking 10 miles in the opposite direction from where we thought we were going!!!!

Anyway we did find our bearings and headed on to get the grain and then did a bit of safari again afterwards even with my overloaded truck (hubby had ordered nearly 1 tonne of grain and my truck is only big enough to hold half a tonne (1000 lbs, we had 1650 lbs).

It was a bit of a dreary day but we got a few shots which made it worthwhile, we also saw a lot of spots we would like to go back to when the light and conditions are better.

The covered bridge above is one of the "treasures" that we came across on our travels!!! I will definiely go back there when the trees are green and the light is better.

I have been working on my stock photos and also my Etsy shop, so if you want to own a Lori original in miniature or in a larger size head over there and have a look, they are very reasonably priced, and who knows maybe I will be famous one day and you will be able to say you have a collection of ACEO/Trading cardS (3.5" X 2.5") by me LOL. I also have a bit of my crocheted goodies there. Here is the link to my store http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=6874447 it is a very interesting site to visit as all of the items on the site are either hand made or vintage.

I am also going to be listing some of Valerie's artwork on my store so be sure to check it out and check back every so often for updates. I have so many pictures it is hard to focus on where to start!

Hope everyone is well ((((((Hugs)))))) to you all.

Lori
xx

Sunday 22 March 2009 - Popping up again!!

2009-03-22T08:18:00.000-07:00

If there is still anyone out there LOL I am still around, so much happening and not enough hours in the day.

This past Friday evening one of our local ladies, who has started a small photographic group in our town which meets once a month, arranged for us to listen to Kevin Ford, the Astronaut for the August 2009 mission who has been given the task of taking all the photos on their trip to and from the International Space Station. Please note these pictures are protected by copyright and although I have cleared posting them here on my blog they are not to be copied or reproduced in any way. NASA is very specific about what photos are seen and where they are seen for obvious reasons.

Unfortunately we had bright sunlight coming in the windows from the left side of the frame which made shooting quite hard with or without flash and made the pictures on the screen murky even for those of us watching the presentation. I wanted to show you two although I have a few more which as I edit I will share. These were shot available light, hence a bit of a color cast and they are a bit grainy.

The first photo is of Kevin explaining to us the trials and tribulations, difficulties, etc., of shooting in these confined and extreme conditions and this is a self portrait taken by one of the astronauts on a previous mission. If you click on the picture you can see a slightly larger version and you can see the camera reflected in his visor.

The second picture is of a water droplet in negative gravity floating in the atmosphere and the photographer took a photo of it with an astronaut behind it so that the water droplet inverted him so that he was upside down. This is quite a cool thing to do with a glass of water or such, anything viewed through the water behind it will be upside down.

We are hoping that after the mission he will come back and show us some of his shots, he has been training for about 5 years for this mission, lots of planning and patience and he gave us a really interesting talk both from an aerospace and photographic point of view. I will be sure to watch this launch. Wish I could convert them to Canon thought LOL as all his equipment is Nikon and I am a Canonite!

We have battled every year to find hay and afford the cost for the last 8 years (I did a count of what we spent on hay this year and was horrified), so Larry decided we needed to do our own baling. It was just a matter of finding the right equipment for the right price, the right price being the optimum because we had to borrow to pay for it so it has to pay for itself quickly. Stan found some equipment about 40 miles away and it was a really good deal, farm equipment is horrendously expensive despite the fact that it is all really old, but because it is only used a few times a year, if it has been cared for properly it will be reliable. Yesterday we spent the WHOLE afternoon towing some of it back from where we bought it, I had the hay rake behind my vehicle and couldnt do more than 10 - 15 miles an hour without it getting into a speed wobble, so you do the math, on top of it we had to take all the backroads because we just couldnt be on main roads doing these slow speeds. We got home at 7pm! Never again, Larry was with me and was a nervous wreck, which made me one too by the time we got home LOL.

Well that is enough diatribe for one day, hopefully (I keep saying that I know!!) I will get back on here soon again. ((((Hugs))))

Lori
xx

10 March 2009 - Out of Hiding again but for how long????

2009-03-10T16:25:00.000-07:00

Today's picture is another of Stan and Valeries 8 month old puppy, Shami, she loves water and loves snow even more, here she is pouncing on a snowball one day while they were here fixing our well which had packed in again.

I don't know if it is from the kick I received to the head two months back has changed my demeanor or personality (the cartlidge in my lower earlobe where it was torn is still very painful believe it or not even after all this time) because since then I have really been struggling to feel positive about anything.

At least I have got down to saying hi to all of you guys at long last LOL. I have been doing a lot of crochet in the past few weeks, something I learned to do as a teenager. I have made stacks of baby blankets and all sorts of stuff over the years and for some reason just got obsessed with it after my accident. I put some of my stuff up on a site called Etsy.com which features home crafts and hand made items for sale, it is very cheap to put up an entry, 20c for 4 months. You can see some of my stuff at this link, http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=6874447 , I think you may have to register to see it but it is free and quick and quite an interesting site to browse around. I have had a lot of hits but no takers this far and need to add a lot more that I have finished because I have boxes of finished goodies!!!!

Well guys that is about it for now, I keep hoping I will get back on track, I have missed reading so many blogs and seeing all of your photos. ((((Hugs)))))

Lori
xx

Wednesday 18 February 2009

2009-02-18T20:14:00.000-08:00

Another quickie today, it has been overcast and raining lightly on and off all day. Everything is damp and we are still hovering around the freezing mark. I took this picture a few weeks ago from my kitchen window after we had about 6-8 inches the one night.

We had temps go as low as -18F and as a result had these long icicles hanging from the roof of the house. At sunset the one evening these ones were picking up the red/orange of the sunset and I tried to get behind them so that the color would be reflected nicely but there wasn't much room. I thought they were pretty anyway.

Thanks again to everyone for their well wishes and concern, I will address all of your questions soon (I hope). I am feeling a bit better today but the dreary day didn't help.

(((((Hugs)))))

Lori

Monday 16 February 2009

2009-02-16T16:39:00.000-08:00

It hasn't been a good day but here is a picture of my new kitten who turned up on my doorstep at about the same time as I got my palomino foal in the last post. What is really weird is that they are very similar in color and both the same in temperament, very jumpy and scared of everything. (okay the kitten is the third picture, blogger is reversing order on the pictures again)

I am going to make this short. The first pic softened the blow for the picture of what the kick did to my face, taken 8 days after the accident. It has been a month now and the lobe of my ear is still very painful but everything else is back to normal, just a bit of discoloration between ear and eye where the kick originally landed but that will go with time. I have been meaning to write a post about this incident and will so when I am in a better frame of mind. Hope the pic isnt too scary, what with my ugly mug, wrinkles and the bruising, it is enough to scare the bravest of souls LOL.

The first pic is of Stan's puppy, she is only 7 months old and loves the snow, catches snowballs. I have a lot more pics of her but have spent very little time with my camera and computer over the past month so haven't edited much.

Thanks to you all for your persistence and concern, I hope I am on the mend, just need to get my mind right. I have been doing a lot of crochet to keep myself relaxed and have listed a whole bunch of stuff on Etsy.com (sorry it requires you to register but is worth it if you like handmade goodies) a new website for home made items that a friend made me aware of recently. Check it out and let me know what you think. I am adding stuff every few days, I really need to get my photography paying for itself.

((((Hugs)))) to you all and I am trying to catch up on all your posts and pictures but it is going to take some time!!!

Lori

Saturday 14 February 2009

2009-02-14T19:59:00.000-08:00

Wow it is Valentines Day again, I have never really observed all of these holidays because I feel they are too commercialised. The picture above was one taken at the end of January of my brat Goldie who still looks like a teddy bear.

Thanks so much to you all for your concern. I have healed, I was very lucky. I am plannng a post about the accident but have been in recluse mode for a while. Now that the temps are changing again and hopefuly we are through the coldest weather and it has been cold unlike anything I have experienced before, I am starting to get my motivation going again. I have avoided the computer almost completely and have taken very few photos of any note in the last month but it is time for me to boot myself up the butt and get going.

Thank you all again. It is nice to know there are people out there that care, I know Donna and CG went through something similar recently. ((((((Huge Hugs)))))

Lori

Tuesday 20 January 2009 - A.W.O.L.

2009-01-20T07:55:00.000-08:00

Just to keep you all up to speeed, I have been absent for a few days and probably will be for a few more. The evening before last I took a kick to the side of my head while out in the field with the 3 fillies, my fault entirely, it wasnt malicious, I was carrying hay to the roundpen which is in the enclose that they are in and they were fighting over it and getting very excited and bucking and running and one of them caught me on the right side of the head, tearing my earlobe and causing a lot swelling and bruising. I am just laying low and taking it easy in case of concussion and am not spending much time on the computer although my e-mail is on and I will check it periodically.

I will be back (((((Hugs)))))

Lori

Friday 16 January 2009 - Wiggle - Part 1

2009-01-16T16:29:00.000-08:00

-14F this morning, I think our low was -19F and our high about 5F but we are surviving. Sspent a lot of time outside today because all the latches to the stables were frozen, the buckets were blocks of ice and I needed to do a bit of cleaning up. Adam didn't give the horses water and fortunately I checked and they were all really thirsty. Makes me so mad, I have tried to instill in him time and again that they can go without hay and feed but never without water and especially if they are eating hay. Kooter started colicing nearly straight away but she came out of it quite quickly.

As promised here is Wiggle's story. As you know 11 January is my birthday and on that day in 2004 I was surprised to see the start of the birth of a baby horse, she was three weeks or so early so not expected at all. This first picture she has just stood up for the first time and is probably about an hour or so old, still squished up from being in the womb. She is what is called a Medicine Hat Paint horse, the Indians held great stock in horses with this pattern), which consists of color over the ears like a hat a shield like spot on the chest and patches on the sides. She had the right idea about the milk bar but couldnt get attached and I was worried because the mare didn't have much of a bag if any. My first concern was that the foal needed to get that all important colostrum from its mother's milk within the first 12 hours at least. We had no way to know if she had got anything from the mare or not.

I immediately got hold of the vet and he gave her Momma, Barbie, a hormone injection to try to get her milk to come in, if it did it was very little so by the second day I knew that it was too late for the colostrum which I will always make darn sure that I get for any future foals immediately even if I have to drive across the state.

Now the battle started to try to get this baby to take a milk supplement for horses. I tried a teat on a bottle and she just wasnt interested, she was a real fighter and refused to suck on that thing. Our neighbor helped me try to contain her while we got her to take the milk. No luck. I was in tears and so frustrated and just imagining the worst was going to happen when Larry told me to put it in a bowl or small bucket and dip her muzzle in it and see what happened. It worked like a charm, before we knew it the little darling was sucking that bowl of milk down in a matter of seconds LOL. It would have taken her a lot longer to get that amount from momma that is for sure. That is when I decided to call her Wiggle Monster because she was an impatient little thing right from the get go and swished her little tail with irritation when things werent going fast enough or her way or she was irritated with something you were doing.

When she was two days old about a day after Barbie had the hormone injection I was standing just inside the stable giving Wiggle her milk and the next think I knew Barbie was coming at me with her teeth bared and ears flattened with all of her 1100 lbs behind her. She bit me above the right breast really badly and hit me like a train pinning me up against the wall. If I hadn't had the wall behind me I hate to think what she would have done if I had fallen down. I was totally shocked because this mare had NEVER shown any signs of agression even with her other baby so can only put it down to the hormonal shot. I was in severe pain and black and blue over half of my chest for over 6 weeks, it hurt to breathe.

After that I made sure that I kept her tied up when I was in the stable as I now didnt trust her at all. I left her with her momma because I figured that if she was getting even something from her mother it was better than nothing, but it didnt appear that she was. The vet told me that by the time Wiggle was 6 weeks old we would know if she had received the valuable colostrum which forms the foundation for the foal's immune system for life. We just were unable to afford all the tests etc. needed to test her and know for sure.

In the above picture you can see her when she was about 5 weeks old, her fetlocks and legs are quite swollen and I had had to tailor make a blanket to fit her because we didnt have one her size, the one was too small and the other too big, so I did a few alterations LOL, it looked quite funny but it kept her warm and she didnt seem to mind. I took her mother away at about this time as it was clear that she wasnt helping her baby at all. This of course is when the little darling started getting spoiled rotten by me.

The swelling started worrying me and I took her for a walk out in the field every day when the weather allowed as it was very cold and could see when she was feeling good and when she wasnt, so we started fearing the worst and the vet told us it didn't look good. Larry suggested getting a plasma transfusion for her as a last effort to try to save this baby horse because he knew how heartbroken I was over her dilemma. I was a wreck by then with worry. Our vet wasn't convinced it would work so Larry went onto the internet and found a company who he told our sad story to and asked what it would cost and that our vet didn't think it would work.

Mg Biologics kicked into gear and not only supplied me with $300 of plasma but airfreighted it to me overnight free of charge because they were determined to show my vet that it does work!!! (He has since started doing this procedure quite often but would never admit it LOL). He wasnt too keen on giving her the transfusion and it was hard to get the needle in and keep it there because she didn't want anything to do with it and he was pretty impatient because he thought it was a waste of time. We eventually got the job done with Mg Biologics telling us that if we needed any more plasma they would be more than happy to supply it. What great people it restored my faith in human nature and I will forever be grateful to them.

She started improving almost immediately and the daily routine was me coming in to the barn to feed, opening her stable door and letting her have the run of the barn while I was feeding everyone. She went up and down the aisleway greeting all the horses one by one and it wasn't long before she decided that she had to sample each horse's bucket of grain before I gave it to them and would chase me down the aisleway with a mean little look on her face and her ears back if I tried to evade her. All this time she was still slurping her milk supplement with great gusto every four hours but was now getting grain and hay as well preparing her to be weaned off of the milk.

The whole time I was in the barn while I was cleaning stalls or feeding she had the run of the barn and would only go out for exercise if I went with her, then she would run flat out, suddenly drop to the ground and roll over back and forward about ten times, then bounce up go flying off and repeat the same thing. She loved to roll from day one and especially if there was a lot of mud. This was all cute when she was small and I could ellude being buzzed and play kicked at as she flew by, but started to get a bit worrisome as she got bigger LOL. She became an expert at climbing the sawdust pile and completely destroying a complete bale of hay and spreading it far and wide then rolling in it.

In the meantime she had learned that if she got stuck in her stall after rolling, when she was up against the wall and couldnt maneouver herself to a position to get back over so she could get up, that I would come and roll her over and up she would pop. Again all very amusing and easy while she was small but this became a game, she would lay on the ground when I came into her stable right up until she was a 2 year old and just lay there and look at me and I had to roll her over before she would get up even though she wasnt stuck. When she reached about 1000 lbs that became impossible so she eventually grew out of that but she would never panick if she got trapped, just waited patiently until I came in to feed and I would get her out of the pickle she had got herself into so I was grateful for that because the one morning I found her under the panels that I had dividing the stalls, half of her in one stable and the back half in her's!!! I had to dismantle the whole set up in order to get the panel moved so she could get up and she just lay there and waited for me to finish the demolition procedure on the stalls LOL.

It was clear though that she had an identity crisis, not knowing if she was the same as me or if I was the same as her and considered me to be her momma but the only thing was she couldnt rough house with me like she could have if she was still with her momma. At three months old I decided to wean her off of the milk .......... to be continued.

Before coming to Indiana 8 years ago my knowledge of horses had been at riding school level and I had made a great friendship with Marion when I started riding again. She owned the riding school that I started riding at and we became firm friends and that is where the photography and horses melded into one too because I was always taking pictures for the boarders at the barn, the riders who came for lessons and the small shows she had most weekend. I charged a small fee for the pictures and it helped sustain my income. I learned a little about feeding as she had 50 horses at the facility and often I would be in charge of giving the grooms the rations for charges (each groom looked exclusively after 3 or 4 horses in the yard) I will get into that more one day I hope. I had never been around a stallion and I had only ever been around one foal, so this was a huge learning curve for me when I arrived here to take care of 12 odd horses (four foals, two stallions and 6 brood mares) and NO experience other than at a riding school.

We survived the day, are hoping for opportunities to get horses out tomorrow and if we do I will have photo opportunities I hope, so may just have some new stuff to show you! Keep warm and safe everyone. ((((Hugs))))

Lori
xx

Thursday 15 January 2009 - Weather Update

2009-01-15T16:20:00.000-08:00

Well to say our weather country wide has been absurd is an understatement. I experienced my coldest ever temps today with colder tonight, we woke up to -5F (-19C), our high was 0F (-15C) and our low tonight is going to be -14F (-22C) tonight!!!!!! This is the enevitable ice crystal formations on our front window this morning, no really intricate patterns but these little ice crystals were quite pretty.

This was the view from our kitchen window, deceptive isn't it? It was -8F (-20C) when I photographed the scene!! I went out to see the horses who are all safely installed inside and couldnt bear to be out for more than 10 minutes. The windchill brought us down to -25F -30F and it was absolutely frigid. The figures in Celcius are estimates and will be within a degree or two of being correct, but the Farenheit ones are the actual temps.

I just had to get this post in for the record and will now try to move on to Wiggle's story which has been pushed back all week LOL. Keep warm everyone who is living this nightmare and be careful, take care of yourselves, it is dangerous to be out in such cold weather. (((Hugs))))

Lori

Tuesday 13 January 2009 - Patrick Swayze

2009-01-13T16:21:00.000-08:00

I was going to start my posts about Wiggle and her battle to stay alive and the character she has become, but I visited a fellow blogger's blog MiKael's Mania before I started putting my post together and now am unable to concentrate as this has left me quite emotional.

So today I would ask you all to click on the link to this article about Patrick Swayze and his battle with cancer, his outlook and his Arabian horses.

It is certainly food for thought and I know that they would welcome everyone's prayers and positive energy, makes you realise how fragile life is.

Stay safe and look after yourselves ((((Hugs))))

Lori

Monday 12 January 2009

2009-01-12T10:48:00.000-08:00

This is my latest work of art, we have another baby expected in the extended family so I thought I would make a blanket like this for him/her to add to my portfolio. Here is a closeup of the squares and an image of the entire blanket, it measures 35" x 21" with the border. I can do these in any combination of colors they don't have to be exactly like this but with us not knowing the sex of the baby I covered all the bases.

I am going to start my story on Wiggle and if I dont get it posted today I will post it tomorrow. It is quite cool going through all my old pictures, they bring back so many memories.

Have a great day, and thanks again for all the birthday wishes I really appreciate them. (((((Hugs))))

Lori

Sunday 11 January 2009

2009-01-11T17:50:00.001-08:00

It was my birthday today (dont ask I am starting to count backwards now) and I want to thank everyone for their birthday wishes via this blog and e-mail. I had a very quiet day which is what I wanted, just to veg out and finish a blanket that I have been working on. I havent taken a picture of the baby blanket yet but will tomorrow and post a pic, I intended to do that today but got sidetracked (surprise surprise, doesn't take much).

Yesterday I posted a picture of Wiggle (DBD Indian Dreamaker), who I also call Wiggle Monster LOL. I am not going to post her story today but remember I told you she threw temper tantrums, well this isnt a temper tantrum, she has always loved to roll and will get down and roll over and over 5, 6 even up to 10 times before jumping up and then bucking and farting across the field (jet propelled). What I want to do is maybe a series on each of my personal horses and also our other horses over the next few weeks. Her story is pretty amusing and of course I have lots of pictures to give you a visual story too. Photogchic asked if Wiggle is what they call a "Medicine Hat" paint and the answer is yes, I will explain more about this as I tell you her story.

I hope you all had a great weekend, we were around freezing again today with snow and more freezing rain but I was curled up inside on my rocking chair LOL (can you picture that!!!)

Havent been feeling great but am starting to come out of it now so I am hoping this will be a good week. ((((((Hugs)))))))

Lori
xx

Saturday 10 January 2009

2009-01-10T19:10:00.001-08:00

Just a short post today, I have had "one of those days" Iknow a lot of you can empathise, hopefully tomorrow will be a better day. I was looking at old photos for a bit and this is one that I took of my little filly born in 2004 at about 6 months old. I hand reared her as her mother didnt come into milk. I call her Wiggle but her registered name is DBD Indian Dreamaker. Her mother was the mare we lost last year while she was foaling. As a result she is a bit of an attitude child and is not sure if I am a horse or she is a human or the other way around and can get a bit boistrous (sp!) around people and has absolutely no patience. She used to throw temper tantrums when I got mad at her when she was growing up if she did somethinglike chase me down the length of the barn to get a mouthful of each horses' feed out of the buckets before I gave it to them LOL. She was spoiled and I have only myself to blame LOL. She would literally throw herself on the ground and roll over and over jump up snort and shake her head and then throw herself down again LOL.

I could kick myself at the end of every day when I havent spent time with her and my other horses doing something constructive but it is just so hard to get motivated.

We had freezing rain and snow today so everything is like an icerink again today.

Talk to you all tomorrow and thanks for your visits, CG do you like Blue?

((((Hugs)))))
Lori
xxx

Thursday 8 January 2009

2009-01-08T18:55:00.000-08:00

I may have posted these pics before somewhere on my blog but this is an idea of some of what we put up with during our winters LOL, from the mud to the snow.

The first is of some of the wild birds with some seed that I put out for them, I have been trying since I came here to get a really good shot of a cardinal, so far this is one of the best, they are very illusive. The other little birds are house sparrows I think.

At first glance anyone driving past this scene may be shocked but believe it or not on the cold winter days when the sun is out even if there is snow on the ground, the horses will lay down and bask in the sun, mud or no mud. I saw this scene out of the kitchen window and grabbed my camera and snapped it quickly because they don't normally lay down for long periods of time. Poor babies, no grass and just mud LOL.

It is going to be a short one today again, I have been staying away from my camera and the computer a lot in the past month, trying to renew my enthusiasm, winter is not the best time. Thanks for all the comments and Joan I wish!!! I still have a lot of friends in SA and a brother, it is just not financially possible, now if any of you would like to order a crochet beanie(hat) or a poncho or something like that I could maybe do enough crochet over the next 12 months to buy a ticket!!! I will do items to order, color and design wise LOL.

Hope you are all having a good week, we are very cold, in the teens F today for highs. (((((Hugs))))

Lori
xx

Wednesday 7 January 2009

2009-01-07T19:00:00.001-08:00

Oooops missed a day already. Sorry but I am back, it will be a shortish post.

One of the new blogs that I found recently and which is sure worth a visit SA Photographs - Joan posted some photos of the monarch butterfly in the southern hemisphere. They are actually very different to the ones here in the northern hemisphere, at least in this part of the USA. So I wanted to show her what ours look like. The only part of their life cycle that I havent photographed in the Pupae stage because I have never been able to find one, this summer I am planning on making some sort of enclosure so that I can see and photograph them as I believe they are very beautiful, green with gold dots around it. I see plenty of the caterpillars but I have no idea where they dissappear to to form the crysallis and I have been hunting for a few years now LOL. The milkweed plant that they feed on makes them unpalatable and poisonous to predators which is their defence mechanism. There are very few insects that will feed on milkweed.

There is a similar butterfly to the USA variety and it is a King butterfly or something I cant remember exactly will have to do a bit of research. They are exactly the same except they have a black line diagonally across their rear wings which the monarch doesnt. I have a photo of one of those somewhere too, will see if I can find it.

Had a cold snowy windy day today and I stayed curled up inside crocheting, andyone care to place an order for a poncho LOL. Cyndie received hers yesterday and seems very pleased with it, my only worry was that it was long enough because she is pretty tall. She is going to have a photo taken while she is wearing it and if it is okay with her I will share it here when she does. I am really finding the crochet theraputic and relaxing.

Hope everyone is having a good week, ours started off lousy weatherwise but I suppose I am going to have to get used to that if I want to live here LOL. ((((((Hugs))))))

Lori

Monday 5 January 2009

2009-01-05T18:31:00.000-08:00

This is part of one of the buildings in our town square which line the four sides of the road around the courthouse. I have posted a pic of it before but have been wanting to take more of all the buildings for ages because they are really starting to get shabby at the edges. When I post a few more pics you will see what I mean, loose bricks at the tops etc. They need serious maintenance and just about all the stores on the ground floor are closed and empty. The supermarkets etc. are all spread far and wide over a square mile. This one dates from the late 1800s and the brickwork was also what fascinated me, the designs they made out of the bricks are gorgeous.

(Click on picture to enlarge)

Well not much happening today, I had no help with the horses so did both feeds and only found about this evening just before it got dark, so had 11 horses to bring in and feed and it was already dark. Thank heavens it wasn't too cold, I think we stuck at about freezing and just above all day but it was sunny which is why I put the horses out.

I am going to get a reasonably early night so hope everyone is having a good week so far, thanks for the visits and comments. ((((Hugs)))))

Lori

Sunday 4th January 2009

2009-01-04T19:13:00.001-08:00

I hope everyone had a good weekend, we had a misty rainy but rather warm day 40sF but I didnt spend much time outside. The horses couldn't get out today because that bit of a warm up and the rain is just enough for it to get real slippery on the clay and tear what is left of the pature up, so this is a picture of everyone's favorite filly BB (IMA Blue Dudette) when she got out yesterday. She was very happy LOL.

I promised to post a picture of Deb with her poncho that I posted a pic of the other day. I made a beanie cap to go with it but ran out of the multicolored wool so ended it with a fold up in yellow. I reckon it will keep her warm and I think she was pleased with it.

Nothing much else to report, this weather is crazy. Adam can't feed the horses tomorrow morning so I am going to do that for the first time in a while. The barn is suffering from the cold weather and indability to get dried out like it does every winter but we are trying to keep on top of it. Every chance I get I put all the horses out.

Hope you all had a great weekend. ((((((Hugs))))))) to everyone who needs them, Julie I hope you had a better day today, MiKael I am jealous of your snow, yes I will admit I love the snow, just not the extreme cold and wind and you dont need it to be extreme cold to snow so hopefully we will have at least one good snowfall before the end of winter.

See y'all tomorrow.

Lori

Saturday 3 January 2009

2009-01-03T17:11:00.000-08:00

We have definitely not had photo taking weather recently so I havent got many of the horses, but we put Goldie out to run in the small field today. She is still very twitchy about her head so we have left the rope attached or we wont be able to catch her LOL, I havent spent anywhere near enough time with her but I am taking advantage of the break while Adam is looking after the horses to detach myself from them and when next month I get back into routine it wont feel like such a chore and maybe I can start enjoying my horses again.

As you can see she is just a ball of fluff, that is the only way I have seen her because she was already 4 months old when I got her. I can't wait until she sheds out all that hair and I can see what she looks like properly. Cyndie you asked if her legs were that straight, she does had vry good straight legs according to Larry but again with all the hair on her legs and around her fetlocks etc. it is hard to see LOL. I am not big into what is "correct" in conformation, which is bad with me being a photographer, they are all gorgeous to me and I love them all whether I can see their "faults" according to those that know or they are as ugly as sin.

She sure is a little firecracker though and it wont be too soon for me to start working with her because she is going to be a handful.

Nothing much happening today. Got a print order that I have been putting off for ages (just personal pics not orders) and got that done.

Hope everyone is having a good weekend. (((((Hugs)))))) to all that need them, you are all always in my thoughts. I am going to try to learn to meditate I think, I believe it is very relaxing.

See y'all tomorrow.

Lori

Friday 2 January 2009

2009-01-02T20:15:00.000-08:00

Today's pic is the ice formations on our bathroom window a few weeks ago when it was so cold here in the northeast. Click on the pic to see a bigger version. Nature is wonderful, there is never one the same as the other. I haven't had any elaborate ice patterns this year but winter still has a ways to go. We are hovering around the freezing mark, up and down but there is no ice anymore thank heavens and so far it has stayed dry which allows me to put the horses out so they can at least let off some steam.

A few of my blogging buddies have expressed interest in us banding together for support and a swift kick up the butt to get us moving forward when it seems that all that you want to do is cawl under the covers and stay there, as they are going through a similar situation, emotionally and mentally. I think that is a great idea, I am always here if anyone needs to chat, moral support or a shoulder to cry on, it definitely helps to talk to someone, I can thank MiKael for my moves in a positive direction, it has taken a while but I am finally getting there!!!! Don't think it comes easily because it doesnt, but when it starts to come together it is worth it.

I have made some great friends here on bloggosphere and even though we have never physically met we have so much in common and the ones that have stuck have been wonderful, there is nothing really to say why we are drawn to someone without meeting but I am glad that this has happened to me and hopefully one day we will all be able to meet.

It is late and of course I haven't edited any more photos LOL, reliability has not been one of my strong points of late but that is another thing I am working on. ((((((Hugs))))))) to all that need them.

Lori
xx

1 January 2009

2009-01-01T16:15:00.000-08:00

Wishing all of you who still visit my blog and any new visitors a Safe, Happy and Prosperous 2009. My resolution (and I am going to try to keep to it the best I can), is to look forward and stop looking back at what could have been or was. No regrets, what ifs and bad feelings. My life is not going to mend until I let go of all the negative, painful and dissappointment that are holding me hostage and making me miserable.

With my Father's passing in September I got in contact with a member of my extended family (my step-sister Di), reconciled with my daughter (it is baby steps but we are getting there), resumed my relationship with my brother in SA and regained contact with my one friend who has always been there for me, somehow over the years Cyndy and I have gone our seperate ways due to various paths that our lives have taken but we have always ended up meeting up again and taking up from where we left off like nothing had changed. She is still in SA.

I haven't shot much recently and what I have shot I haven't done much editing on but will soon. I have been working on my second crochet poncho project which has left me with a calm feeling, the best I have felt in a long time. That is the picture that I posted today. I wanted to try to use an African theme, the Ndebele people (A tribe in Africa) decorate their homes and do beadwork etc. with their own unique style and I wanted to try and capture some of that. I think I succeeded and can't wait to start on my next project. I have done crochet as long a I remember and have made double bed blankets, toilet roll holders, the wooden hangar covers, baby blankets, you name it and am glad that I have found it again because it relaxes me.

Well that's it for now, I have a picture of Deb wearing the poncho that I made for her in my last post which I will edit for tomorrow's post hopefully. (((((Hugs))))))

Lori

Thursday 18 December 2008

2008-12-18T16:11:00.001-08:00

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

Sunday 14 December 2008

2008-12-14T20:31:00.000-08:00

(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

2008-12-13T18:12:00.000-08:00

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

2008-12-12T16:22:00.001-08:00

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

Thursday 11 December 2008

2008-12-11T16:42:00.000-08:00

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

2008-12-10T16:17:00.000-08:00

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