Thursday 11 March 2010

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

3 January 2008

It was absolutely freezing again today. Woke up to 1F and it didnt get above 24F when I last checked. What with 17 frozen water buckets which needed to have hot water poured over them to get the solid ice out of them which meant taking them all outside the barn, my freezing fingers and toes despite two pairs of gloves, insulated socks, two beanies (wool hats) and insulated overalls I couldnt spend more than half an hour at a time out there.

It was beautiful and sunny with very little wind so of course I decided to put the horses out for a few hours, which then led me to freezing my buns off more following them around the field with about 6 inches of snow in it. I didnt get any really great shots because the mares headed to the far end of the field to have their fun. They were running bucking and rearing and having a ball. I had to crop a few down because they were so far away and todays pictures are of Cayenne doing the Hi Ho Silver thing (with Lori in the background) and the three boys being brats as usual.
This third shot was taken of the ice on the window this morning as we did have clear skies and a pretty sunrise. Not as spectacular as some of my others but one for the record. Promise this will be the last one for a while LOL, I am thinking of doing a triptych of some of these shots (sheesh still trying to get the calendars finished!!!!) I will have to do 18 month ones to make up for my lateness.

Stan is doing a fabulous job of finishing off our bedroom and has helped a lot with little stuff that I just cant get done around the property. I am hoping to make arrangements to go riding with him and his wife sometime soon. They spend the weekends at a camping ground about an hour's drive from here, with their horses every weekend and trail ride but I dont have a trailer and my horses have very little riding hours under their girths and I am hoping I can convince them to bring their horses over here when we have a bit warmer weather and ride in the areas around our property. That will give me and my three horses I want to ride a chance to gain confidence and exposure to other horses and still be close to home.

Well other than being a frozen popsicle today everything is going well. The stables still depress me every time I look at them but I am doing my best and the horses are fat and happy. (((((Hugs)))) everyone and keep warm.

Lori
xx

2nd January 2008 (2nd post)

The first two were shot as the sun was rising and this is the effect it made on the ice, no color additions on either of them, the first was the sun just clearing the horizon and the second was as it got a bit higher a few minutes later. The other was a border on one of the other windows.

Thanks everyone for your visits and messages, I will get around to everyone again soon I promise, I check in quickly but just never have time to always leave messages. (((Hugs))) and thanks.

Lori
xx

2nd January 2008

Well DP Challenge had a challenge starting with the theme Ice this week, of course it started the day after the day the ice had melted in the field (this pics I shot of the horses walking on the ice and licking it in the pasture) and of course the challenge finished last night at midnight and we had no more ice until early this morning!!!! Man that is frustrating. Here are a few shots that I got of the ice formations on the sitting room window (double glazed so this is what happens withe the moisture that is trapped in between when it is really cold. We woke to 4F (approx -14C) and maxed out at about 14F (aprox -8C) today and tomorrow is going to be colder.

(Click on pics to enlarge)

It was overcast at sunrise this morning so I didnt get the colors that I got last time I shot this type of shot a few years ago. I will put them in a seperate post. I find these absolutely amazing, isn't nature wonderful!!

No horse pics today, it was just too cold. I had to do the feeding in two or three stages this morning and again this evening because despite the gloves and insulated overalls my fingers were freezing. The horses in the old barn with the new doors are definitely happy with their new doors, it sure has made a difference to the temps inside that barn. It has been snowing steadily (very light but steady) and has been windy all day again today. It is difficult to say how many inches we have had because of the wind making it drift. If the high is a bit higher tomorrow and the wind has dropped I will put the horses out again and they should have fun, they love the snow.

Well that's about it, nothing else exciting to report for the day. Hope you are all well (((((Hugs))))

Lori

xx

7 December 2007 (2nd post)

Wow every time I look at this baby I find it hard to believe that he is not even 8 months old yet. He is such a little monster LOL. He loves his time out and today I snapped a few shots of him in the snow. I had to put him in to put the other 3 stud colts out too and he wasnt very happy with me because he was just having so much fun. I am so tempted to turn him out with these 3 because they have access to each other all day and play at what MiKael calls Face Boxing all day over the rails but am scared that 4 ungelded stud colts may be a bit too much especially when there is a year difference in age, even if he is just about as big as them already. He wants someone to play with and it breaks my heart. He and Eb (the black and white colt) seem to spend the most time playing at the partitions so maybe I will try them together but then Eb is the colt we have sold and it is just a matter of time before he goes to his new home (Stan is building him a stable and pasture).



We had another 2 inches of snow last night so have 6-8 inches on the ground at the moment. It was a lot warmer today just around freezing and I put all the horses out after they had eaten their breakfast. It was cloudy all day so they werent as happy to be out as they were yesterday when it was sunny despite the fact that it was so cold yesterday.

Well that is about it for today. I find it very hard to spend time outside, the cold really drains me physically and the stables are gradually getting behind again. I am glad that they are able to spend time out though, it just makes it a little better.

((((Hugs))))) to everyone, have a great weekend.

Lori
xx

6 December 2007

Once again I am behind on everything. In typical Indiana fashion we have gone from heat to cold in record time again. We had 4-5 inches of snow yesterday and I put the horses out which they really enjoyed. I had managed with the help of my helper to get the stables all sorted out on Tuesday so everything was clean and dry. Here are some of the mares out in the field yesterday.

I put the 3 stud colts out too in their new enclosure, and here is a pic of Dream breathing steam and of him and Blaze playing in the snow also shot yesterday.

(Click on pics to enlarge)

We woke up to 4F (for those of you in celcius, that is about -12C) this morning!!!! No wind thank heavens and beautiful blue skies and sunshine but just too cold to be out there. It is lunch time now and it is about 24F right now, expecting a high of 32 (right at freezing), but I havent been able to bring myself to do anything other than feed the horses and come back in because even with two layers of gloves my fingers are freezing by the time I get back in. I so want to get some pics in the snow with the lovely light but may wait until this afternoon sometime first. We are expecting another 3-4 inches or thereabouts tonight but it is not going to be as cold (when I say not so cold, I mean just below freezing but not like this morning).

I started with a sore throat yesterday and it is still feeling blaaah so I am not a happy camper today. Thought I would get this in early. I am hoping to have some pics of Taxes in the snow later, the last time it snowed was the day he was born and then it was wet slushy snow that turned into mud before he even got his first outing.

I am going to end for now. If I do get more I will post again later. (((Hugs)))

Lori
xxx

30 November 2007

Believe it or not the first two pictures above are of Taxes (7 months old!!!!) taken a few days ago. Snap shots I am afraid, it has been cold and windy the past few days and wet the days before so they arent too crazy about getting outside. The second one his head looks a bit big because of the wider angle lens I used as I was quite close to him. He is still a brat and I am still threatening to tie a road map to his neck and send him down I70 in Mike's direction!!!!!! LOL
This shot is from yesterday evening. The three boys were having a rough and tumble in the new enclosure and were running around the outside of what is left of the roundpen and jumping up on each other mock fighting.

Our helper has been coming over all week and he and Larry have been getting all the stuff fixed in the barns. It sure has helped me as I have been able to concentrate on cleaning stables and getting ready for the horses to all be spending more time inside.

Nothing too exciting to report from this end of the world except that it has been really cold and windy the past two days. I can handle the cold but when it is windy too it is dreadful LOL.

Hope everyone has a great weekend. (((((Hugs)))))) and welcome to my new blog visitors.

Lori
xx

15 November 2007

Not an exciting pic today and no horses, it was VERY cold today, wind chill in the low 30s and it was pretty windy. We will finish building the stables tomorrow for the mares and hopefully I can get hold of a friend of ours who has a horse trailer and he will be able to help us bring them home. We are expecting a low of 26 tonight so I feel a bit bad because there is no real shelter there for them. There are a few buildings which they can stand behind to get out of the wind but that is it.

Larry suggested using the panels from the roundpen that we needed and making the balance of them into a smaller roundpen so we at least had some type of enclosure if we needed it. So we now have a 30.5 foot diameter roundpen LOL. It used to be 60 foot diameter.

I think I am winning the battle in the house and the barn against the rats and mice. Yuk I hate it, I dont like killing things but they were being very destructive and it was becoming a problem.

The picture today is of the seed pods of the milkweed plant. This will be one in my series of this plant and the monarch butterflies, their caterpillars and the milkweed bugs which all survive on this plant. The only shot I need now is one of the crysallis, I have not been able to find one despite checking the plants and surrounds regularly this year. We didnt have so many caterpillars this year because of the lack of rain so maybe I will get that next summer.

That is it for today, hope everyone is keeping warm, ((((Hugs)))))

Lori
xx

6 November 2007

LOL I just realised that me saying that I made the pictures into my wallpaper, I meant the wallpaper on my desktop on my computer, just to clarify!

Today's picture is of Dee (with the white spots) and Dudette (Taxes' sister) out in the "pasture" a few days ago. Not much of a pasture at the moment but at least they are in the fresh air and not in a smelly stable breathing ammonia fumes which build up from their urine. Even keeping the stables as clean as I can you still get the fumes.

We woke up to 28F this morning and very windy, wind chill 20F. It was pretty cold all day and we are expecting a hard freeze tonight. We even had snow flurries this afternoon. Expecting a warmer weekend so that is something to look forward to.

I have made two new posts on my other blog which I have never really got going. One is a picture update of Taxes' leg and the other is of Hummingbird Clearwinged Moths, which Abraham has also had the good fortune to capture pictures of recently. Bear in mind these guys arent much more than an inch long and move like lightening, their wings are a blur. If you click on my Profile on the right it will give you a link to Lori's Critters.

Well that is my excitement for the day. ((((Hugs))) to you all and keep warm those of you in the northern hemisphere.

Lori

xx

3 October 2007

I had a pretty lazy day today, not intentionally. I laid down this afternoon after doing a bit of computer work this morning and the next thing I knew it was 10 after 5!!!! I still had to go down the road to feed the mares and get all the other chores done too so I ran around like a chicken with my head cut off for the next three hours. So no more fence got built but it sure will tomorrow.

I have posted some of the pictures I have been working on, making post cards and getting them printed. This is a few of them so far and also shows what the back looks like. This is another item I intend to put on my website along with the calendars which I am working on and hope to get done soon so they are out earlier this year than last year.

Still working on the editing of the pictures that still need doing for new backgrounds, it is slow tedious work if you want to do it properly and have it look good. When I am finished with them I will post a few before and afters.

Well that is about it for today, still hoping I will slow down soon. One positive thing is that Larry has asked our friend if he will keep our three mares there in Iowa for the winter, we will pay for their feed but he has them running out with his mares so we are hoping it wont be too much of a problem and he will agree, which will relieve the load I have here a lot. Also it looks like a trainer will come and fetch Gee the thoroughbred we board on Sunday (she was meant to fetch her in April but something happened and she never got here). If she feels she can work with her, she was her trainer previously, two years ago, then she will take her for the rest of the season here which ends in November and then probably take her to Florida for the winter to carry on racing there, if she amounts to anything that is. She did really well as a 2 year old with this trainer but when the present owner bought her he made the mistake of putting her with a very unscrupulous trainer and when she came back to us for the winter she was starved and depressed so badly it took weeks to get her back to normal. She has a fabulous mind for a thoroughbred and is very easy to keep as far as keeping stable clean and handling her so I really hope she will do well. Of course I have fallen in love with her, she is so sweet. If that happens then that will mean 16 horses for the winter as opposed to 20. I should be able to stable that many converting the bottom of the big barn into stalls.

That's it for now, hope you are all well and ((((Huge Hugs))))

Lori

xx