Thursday 11th September 2008

I have been in a bit of a daze all day today, didnt sleep well last night which didnt help. I stayed near the phone and computer and got an update from my brother eventually at about 8pm their time 1pm our time. The Scan indicates that my Dad has Brain Cancer, they are not sure where it started from but it is very advanced and they are not going to try any treatments because there is little hope. I am devastated, he was always such a healthy fit man a great husband and a good father, he deserves better than this. I also feel guilty because I am not there then I feel that at least I will remember him as he was 7 years ago when I last saw him and not as he must be now. I will know more tomorrow, my brother has a meeting at 9am tomorrow morning with the doctors again (2am here) so I am dreading turning on my computer or receiving a phone call.

Fugazi, Mike, photogchic and CG thanks for your messages, your words are appreciated more than you can imagine. I feel so alone here separated from all of this by such a distance and dont really have anyone really close to me to endure this with other than Larry who never knew him.

(click on pics to enlarge)

I fiddled with my camera a bit today while in my daze and tried my 2x converter on mt 70-200 2.8 lens on my bird feeder. It was a bit dull and overcast but these are some that I came up with, above one of the few occasions that I have seen a hummingbird come to rest although they say that they do spend about 80% of their time perched, the rest eating, nectar for their fuel and insects for their survival.
The little hornets or wasps or whatever they are above, we call them yellow jackets and they always come out in droves during fruit season because they feed on the fallen and bruised fruit around the trees on the ground. These little guys are about half an inch long but they pack a huge punch if they sting you, very painful and lots of swelling, and they are very aggressive, they spent the whole day chasing all the birds away from the feeder, not just the nectar for the hummingbirds but from all the seed holders too. I hope they dissappear soon because they are a real pest.
I am not sure what this bird is, I have had a lot of them hanging around along with a woodpecker. At first I thought they might be Bluejays that had lost their colored feathers, but I am not sure.

That's all I have for you today guys, hope you all have a great Friday and a wonderful weekend, we might see some much needed rain at last so we are hoping that it happens. The ground is so dry that I can run the garden hose in the cracks and they never fill up, the water just dissappears so I know we will need a few inches at least to make any impact. ((((Hugs)))) and thanks again

Lori
xx

I Have Been Slacking

Not a horse today again guys, havent had much time to pick up the camera, I have been taking advantage of the good weather and gettting the barn tidied up. It becomes a dumping ground if you give it half the chance and that is how it looks now LOL.

So here is a yellow jacket (hornet/wasp like insect that hurts like heck if it stings you). It was on the flyscreen of the kitchen window. Nice splash of color, but I let him go on his way after taking a number of shots.

We are having clients coming over tomorrow to see Blaze (the foal that is in my profile picture with me but he is two years old now). I have always had a special feeling about this colt, he has the mildest, calmest most loving disposition out of any of the babies I have bred. Take for instance, I have not done very much with him other than to teach him to lead from the barn to the field so he is as stiff as a board LOL but when I took out the electric clippers to clip all his excess hair off around his hooves and legs and make a bridle path behind his ears, he just stood there like he had done it all his life!!!!! I was amazed, any other horse would have been climbing the walls just at the sound of them let alone the feeling they make when they are clipping. He wasnt too sure about the shaving the long hair in his ears but he did that too without too much resistance.

I will get a nice photo of him tomorrow as he has nearly shed all his winter hair out and is filling out nicely, but I need someone to hold him so I can take the picture. If he is sold, I will take a goodbye picture of him too. I really hope that they like him he is so gentle.

I went to look at the pasture down the road that we had the 4 mares at last year and the grass is long. I moved them there at the beginning of May last year but have held off this year. It needs to be cut so we are going to try to see if we can get it baled and then move the mares onto it. If we keep up the good rains it will sustain all of them adequately all summer.

Well that is about it, muddling through each day, keep losing my to do list and then having to start another one!!!! The weather has been lovely, actually on the cool side, but mostly sunny, we seem to have avoided the bad weather again east and west of us.

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

Lori