The Humidity is setting in

Look at those teeth LOL!!!!!! This was Dee, one of the two year old fillies stretching under the electric wire without shocking herself to get the little bits of green grass that were sticking up. Quite a set of chompers there LOL and a very dirty nose!

I caught this little guy outside the kitchen window again a few days ago, I liked the way he was lit by the setting sun from the back and I used fill flash to brighten up the shadows and it worked nicely.

It has been very humid today, not quite as hot, but overcast all day. We had a bit of rain on and off. Last night's storm only yielded 1/10th of an inch of rain so we were on the edge again, thank heavens because if it had been worse my old refridgerator would have been sitting in my driveway not just 6 feet further down the deck from where it had been before the storm LOL. You can't describe the intensity of these storms to people who have not exerienced them. They are there one minute and gone the next and sometimes just the straight line winds, not even tornados leave chaos in their wake in a matter of minutes. It is pretty scary.

The trees will blow so that they are nearly horizontal to the ground, big trees. Nature is a powerful and beautiful thing and I have the greatest respect for it.

Abe I think this little dove is a Mourning Dove? It doesnt have the ring around its neck so I am assuming that it what it is. I am just too lazy to look it up LOL.

I got the urge to go out and groom saddle, lunge and ride Cayenne in the bottom of the barn today. I havent ridden or had the inclination to for 6 or 8 months so when I got the urge I acted on it right away. I didnt ride for long because I still have part of the bottom of the barn taken up with stalls so it was hard to do more than a small circle. We did a bit of flexion, (neck bending) bringing her nose to touch my foot each way and then did a bit of walking and trotting in each direction.

I want to start trail riding and she will be my first project because she has had the most riding time (3 weeks!!!) of all of them and I need to get her sold. So if my burst of enthusiasm continues and I ride her every day this week, maybe I can take her out on the trails for a ride next weekend.

She is such a willing enthusiastic filly and I would love to see her go to a loving home where she will get loved back. She will come and try to put her head into the halter for you when you come near her with one, just gets so excited and intense and eager to please.

I wish I could get a picture of Taxes for you with someone standing next to him because you are all not going to believe how big he is, but I dont have anyone to hold him and he is naughty LOL.

That's it for today, I have to say it was nice to be sitting up on a horse's back again even if it was short and sweet - I am out there alone so if anything should happen it would not be good - so I usually make sure there is someone around when I ride.

Hope you are all having a great weekend and the people west and south of us, stay safe with all this dreadful weather heavy rains and tornados. ((((Hugs)))))

Lori

xx

Finally I am on the mend (I hope)

As a lot of you know I have been suffering severe depression for a couple of years now and it has taken ages to find the right meds to balance my brain chemicals out, but I think we are finally there. The better weather is certainly helping, and the getting out and about on my own a bit too.

I am working on a little project with Valerie as she does great pencil sketches and paints, and digital art. I am hoping to incorporate it with my efforts which have come to a grinding halt but I have plans for expansion and marketing for the near future.

I am hoping that we are not heading for a,other drought because we have had no rain, the pastures are bare still and we normally start getting our first cuttings from the farmers in May. I will have to go and check out their fields. I just hope their prices come down a bit but with diesel at $4.40 a gallon plus I am not holding my breath.

I have finallly started getting sawdust again so I am getting all the stalls stripped, even with most of the horses out 24 7 and preparing them in case they are needed. Beginning of May I have to decide on 4 - 6 horses to send to the pasture down the road which will be a help.

I want to start working on Dosie and Cayenne first as they have the most experience under saddle, hopefully get them onto the trails if nothing else and make them safe rides which they really are already, they just need the miles put on to them.

Most importantly I have to start getting my readership up, my posts interesting and drawing more people to my site and photos and gifts for sale so that I can feed my brood LOL.

Thats it for now, todays photos are frpm the other day of a little dove in one of our trees and Blue out in the turnout

((((Hugs))))

Lori

xx

21 December 2007

No horse pics again today, I am trying to revive Friday's Catblogging trend. This is a shot I took a few years ago, it was my first entry in DP Challenge and didn't fare too well. The theme was Wooden, where wood had to be an important part of the composition. I didnt know how narrow minded they could be on that site at that time and I shot this on a day in the upper 80s low 90s with an actual wooden frame propped against the outside of our cabin and the co-operation of two of my cats. I thought it was so clever, unfortunately the DPCers didnt think so and most of them misread the challenge specs and thought that wood was meant to be the main focus. Oh well, I love the picture LOL. This is Huggy cat and a kitty which I have since lost to Feline Leukemia. I titled it "Living Portrait in a Wooden Frame"





My little dove was still under the bush this morning, looking much perkier and wary and later when I went out to see if I could see it again it was nowhere to be found. A bit later I looked out of the window and saw him eating again but havent seen him since. I hope that he has found a nice safe place to hide and will keep an eye open for it and keep putting corn and oats down. I will go shopping tomorrow and get proper bird seed.



It was a really dull dull dull day today, no sunshine at all but pretty warm, in the 40sF. By this evening a heavy fog had started moving in and we are expecting the low 50s tomorrow and then a sharp drop off in temps again and below freezing for Christmas day and after. The horses stayed in for the day, I dont see the point in putting them out when it is just so muddy and it takes forever to put out and bring in 11 horses as I do them one at a time.



Abraham do you think this is a Mourning Dove that I posted, it doesnt have the black mark on the side of its's neck. For everyone who loves animals you need to visit Abraham's blog , he and his wife Patty have led a very interesting and varied life and his stories and wealth of knowledge are worth a read.

MiKael's Blog is another must read if you love horses. She is an very talented story teller, raises Arabian horses and has experienced just about everything that a horse breeder can experience, good and bad. Be warned she likes cliff hangers!!!! When she tells her stories she normally leaves you hanging at the most crucial part LOL.

Well my herd are all well. I am coping so far but am so stoked that tomorrow is when the days start getting longer again!!!!!! Yaaaaaay!!! Have a great weekend everyone ((((Hugs))))

Lori
xx

20 December 2007

No horse pics today folks, I put the herd out and it was nice and sunny for most of the day but it is really a mixture of snow and mud at the moment and the horses aren't in a very active mood. They are glad to be out of the stables but not bouncing off the walls so they have bursts of enthusiasm and unless you are there and in the right place for those 30 seconds you miss it LOL. I walked down the drive/lane (like a sheet of ice today again) to get the mail and took my camera with me hoping to see a squirrel around one of those nests. No squirrels but on my way back I noticed a bird hopping along the ground and Piglette (Black mare) following it with her nose on the ground. I climbed through the fence and when I got over there I found this little Dove. It was very unsteady even hopping on the ground (although the ground is frozen and rutted from the horses hooves). I managed to catch it and brought it back up to the house. Got my 100mm macro lens and took it to the bush outside the kitchen window that all the birds love to sit in. I got it to hop onto a branch and it puffed itself out and stayed there for a few hours. While it was there I took the opportunity to get some pictures of it.


It eventually went down onto the ground again and was pecking around trying to find food so I put out some oats and crushed corn (which I dont normally give to birds) and it occupied itself with eating for the rest of the afternoon. It definitely can't fly so I am wondering what is wrong with it. I looked at it's wings and could see no damage but obviously there is something that is not visible to the eye. Well all I can do is hope that whatever ails it mends itself and that it will survive the cold. Poor little thing.

We should have one more dry day then the snowy rainy weather moves in again for the weekend. Nothing else exciting to report for the day, hope everyone is staying warm, dry and happy. ((((Hugs)))))

Lori
xx