Sunday Stills

The ups and downs of horse ownership.

There are so many ups and downs to horse ownership, which I weighed and thought through very carefully (like at least for 5 minutes) before we agreed to let the girls get their two little ponies. The way they nicker at you on a frosty morning when they see you coming, has to be one of the highlights of our day. The thrill of knowing that when school work is done, you get to brush and walk these magical beings, has helped to motivate us to get our work done. That has been a bonus I didn't even consider.

There is one thing in particular that all horse owners fear. It's the C word. It can come out of nowhere for no apparent reason. It can become deadly, expensive, and cause extreme exhaustion to horse and owner alike. It's Colic. I lost one of our big horses to it several years ago, and lost my savings account to it not long after, when one of our previous ponies (Fry's chocolate Brownie) had an episode of it. It took 3 different farm call visits from our vet, and numerous hours of me "working" on the pony. So, when my oldest Princess and I were walking our "new" ponies through the woods the other day, and I noticed something "off" with our little bay, I became concerned. By the time we made it back to the barn I was pretty sure he wasn't going to make it. I called my friend from THE BARN, and she came straight over to help me diagnose what was going on. Yes. It was COLIC!! We gave him a shot for pain, and she left with the advice to ask Sweet Man to dig a hole. A pony sized hole.

 This brought back all of the emotions of loosing my other horses. "Why Lord? This is going to hurt so much...for me AND the girls this time!" We did everything we could..without calling the vet in. We took turns walking that pony for five hours the first day.

We let it roam around the yard, eating fresh grass, hoping that would get "things" moving in its gut. We took turns being 'on watch', which was a great opportunity to catch up on some reading. ;-)

Three days of alternating between walking, watching and giving pain shots, I do believe we saved our pony! It was scary and a tad bit exhausting, but several good things came out of it. We got a whole lot of exercise, and we now have a pretty tame pony. :-)

Hiking with a......Turkey????

The days are getting shorter and colder. We are trying to cram as much outside time in that we can. Yesterday's weather was just perfect for being in the woods. We planned a hike, met some buddies half way between farms, and set out for our adventure.

 That's the thing about hiking...you never know what you will find. It could be a new path, new plants to dig up and add to the garden, or how about a TURKEY?!

 This guy didn't have a chance. When our two families hike, we are normally joined by our dogs. Between the two families their are five dogs. That is a whole lot of sniffers and teeth. While walking down the path the kids startled this turkey. 

 He flew over the bank, and like a flash this little golden retriever grabbed him. It was a quick kill that left no blood shed. Which left us trying to figure out if it was really dead. I was reassured by one little boy in particular that "It was dead".

 Home school farm kids. You gotta love them. They started plucking feathers for crafts, ink quills and decorations.

 "No wait guys! Do you really think it's dead?" ..this is where I pipe up reassuring this little boy "It's dead".

 Bring the vet technicians in to figure out cause of death.

 Clover: "It wasn't me!!"

 The turkey was carried home to be skinned and eaten.

" I know it seems strange darling. But Mommy was just looking at free range organic turkeys at the store...it's the same thing but without the packaging. Would you like for me to shrink wrap it for you and stick it in the freezer for eons?"

 We took turns carrying the turkey back through the woods, and made a pit stop at my Dad's cabin, where he was spending his day laying chimney brick. He strapped the bird onto the four wheeler for easier transport.

That was one "recess" that I am sure the kids will not forget for quite some time! ;-)

HEY!!!!

Oh wait....I mean HAY!!!

 A barn full of hay and kids just go together. So many nooks and crannies to hide/fall in.

 What do you and your Sweet Man do with your good friends? Well, we get hay with ours. ;-)

Hay= Happy kids and happy farm critters! :-)

Glitter cones

 Several day ago the girls and I were invited back to our friends house for more gabbing and crafting. We were asked to bring pine cones for this fun afternoon. That little request brought about another exciting adventure. The girls armed themselves with plastic grocery bags, and set out for a scavenger hunt around the property for fall treasures. It was so neat seeing  them trek through the woods, accompanied by their dogs, to see who would fill their bag first. I got to stay inside and do laundry. ;-)

This was such a fun and easy craft for them to do. 

Dilute regular ole school glue with some regular ole tap water.

Give the kids a paint brush and some glitter,

And let em have at it! 

They brushed the pine cones with the glue mixture,

And then sprinkled on their glitter. :-)

This would be such a fun, and frugal, way to decorate for the holidays! 

I see lots of glitter and pine cones in our future. :-)

Wordless Wednesday

Happy Fall Y'all!