The smells of spring

I know that spring is in the air, no matter what the thermometer says.  When I walked out the back door this morning at 6:30 to put the dogs in the kennel, all I can say is ewww!  The aroma of skunk was everywhere.  When you get that smell during this time of year, it usually means mating season for our smelly friends.  Not to mention I’ve seen a lot of dead animals on the road signifying that the smaller animals are on the move, looking for the first bits of spring delicacies.  I’m keeping my fingers crossed that the weather is going to keep improving.

I am so glad that I don’t have to do 15 stalls on a daily basis!  Between my farm and Wendy’s place I am starting to get worn down.  It is a lot of work and with the cold, rainy weather it makes it pretty unpleasant.  You don’t know how to dress….if you wear your long underwear, pretty soon you are roasting.  So I just dress in layers and work pretty vigorously to get warmed up.  By the time I got home from Wendy’s today my clothes were soaked in sweat.  Right now everything is in the washing machine.

I realized last night just how much I miss Jim.  All of the little things he always took care of are now falling on my plate.  Some days it seems I go from job to job to job trying to get it all taken care of.  It’s a good thing I’ve always been mechanically inclined because I would be screwed.  I am also so very grateful of the huge life insurance policy he left me.  While I knew that he had a will and life insurance(I was always the one who made sure he got his paperwork in on time!) I never realized how much he provided for me.  He was truly a wonderful man who made sure I will always be taken care of.  I’ve had a few bad days….feeling sorry for myself and still very pissed at him for leaving me like he did.  Although we had talked many times about how if we had a choice how we would want to die.  His was either in his dirt car or in a fall from his eventing horse.  He succeeded in getting his wish.

The dryer is beeping so I guess this is enough for now…………

Stalls, stalls, and more stalls

It’s going to be a busy week around here.  I have another farm that I go to one day a week and the woman who owns it is on vacation this week.  She and her husband headed south to check out some farms down in South Carolina.  They are looking forward to retiring down there when the time comes.  So this week, not only do I have my 6 stalls every day, I also have another 10 at her house.  I will have guns of steel when I get done with all of this!

We got a lot of wood cut on Saturday, even with the crappy weather we had.  It was supposed to be 63 and sunny.  It was 44 and cold with a lot of wind.  But at least the guys got a good start on next winter’s wood.  This is the good stuff….aged hard maple that is a bitch to split but burns all night.  I am so thankful for my son-in-law and his friends.  There are hard workers and it’s a good thing because there is a lot to be done around here.  Jim left so many unfinished projects that I’m not sure I will ever get them all finished.

Jennifer and I spent a good share of yesterday afternoon in the barn knocking the mud off of a bunch of dirty horses.  Not that it will do much good because I’m sure we will have to do a repeat performance before the blacksmith comes on Friday.  There is nothing tackier than to expect your blacksmith to have to work on dirty horses.  I’ve had my blacksmith tell me some horror stories about other clients (no names, of course) but I can’t imagine.  If it snows, the driveway to the barn is plowed, if it rains, the horses stay in so they aren’t wet.  I always keep a dry towel for him to use, if needed.

The snow has finally melted enough so that I found the garden!  It’s going to be a while before anything goes in the ground, though.  I can’t believe how far down the cold goes in the dirt.  I guess we haven’t really had any kind of thaw this year and the sun has been basically non-existent so I guess it shouldn’t be that much of a surprise.  When my father-in-law was still able to garden he always had his peas and onions in by the end of March.  I try to follow his example but I’m not so sure it’s going to happen this year.

I really like the “new” used 2 horse trailer that I bought.  It’s a nice Sundowner that hasn’t been used a lot.  It’s going to save wear and tear on the gooseneck.  I love the big trailer and want to keep it nice as long as possible.  The living quarters need cleaned out.  It’s been a rough winter at the horse shows and we just sort of shoved stuff in and came home.  Everything is picked up but it could definitely use a good airing out and floor scrub.

There are things that have bothered me since Jim’s death.  I guess the biggest one is that not one of his family showed up for anything and the one person that Jim considered a friend was nothing more than a big liar who had an ulterior motive for keeping Jim as a friend.  He was actually a direct pipeline back to Jim’s ex…..telling her everything that was going on in our lives.  He is also the one who told me that Jim’s dad wasn’t dead.  He is actually a convicted sex offender who lives about 20 minutes from us.  Jim always told me his dad was dead.  Imagine my surprise to find that out after being with him for 10 years.  But I did make sure that his father got something from Jim’s estate.  And surprisingly enough, the only time I heard from Jim’s beloved brother was when he had his hand out because he wanted all of his brother’s tools.  I was even accused of making up the will after Jim had died.  Luckily the lawyer got it through his head that it was a valid will that Jim had done in 2007.

Jim had so many problems, both physically and mentally.  But it was no surprise considering the environment that he grew up in.  His mother had 5 kids by several different men, they moved 13 times during the time Jim was in school.  Seems his mom didn’t like to pay her bills.  They were always on welfare and during that time that it was a real embarrassment to be on welfare.

I guess that is enough of the life that Jim shared with me for tonight.  .  At this point in time I am so glad they are no longer a part of my life.  IF they are smart they better never EVER darken my door!

Mud and horses

While I am so very thankful to have spring come, unfortunately that means that there is also mud.  Right now I have 7 horses that are covered in mud!  I did pull my winter blankets because it was time.  Even though I swap blankets out every 2 weeks to wash them, my guys were starting to shed and were itchy.  So now they can get a good roll in the mud and get rid of that heavy winter hair.  I just need to knock the mud off and give them a good curry in the process.

I have done a good job in making it easier to avoid the mud this year.  I put a really nice driveway in and there is now a large parking lot in front of the indoor.  Now that the snow is gone, well…almost, I am having gravel delivered for the drive from the road to the parking lot.  They were able to bring one load yesterday and hopefully another 2 will be delivered tomorrow.  I just need to get on the tractor and move some of it around with the bucket.  I told Jennifer that we now need to start figuring out what kind of landscaping we are going to put around the indoor.  I also need to get busy in front of the house and get it ready for grass seed.  We buried a drainage pipe and filled in the ditch so I do have a bit of a mess that needs to be taken care of.

Jennifer is gone to Columbus for a couple of days for work.  She is attending a seminar for the next 3 days so I’m left home alone to my own devices!  She worries a lot about me, for which I am very thankful, but I did grow up on a 100 acre dairy farm and know how to properly run pretty much any kind of equipment safely.  But I will be lonely without her.  We’ve gotten into our little routine and it’s comfortable.  I know that I thank God that she lives with me.

My bathroom remodel is almost done.  Randy just has a few more things to do and then all will be done.  The new floor and cupboards look fantastic.  He does such a good job.  Since he was Jim’s best friend, I’m glad I can give him the work.  Randy and Carleen are good friends that have stood by me during this time since Jim’s passing.

Next week is going to be a crazy week for me.  I help out a friend who is an Arab trainer one day a week by going up and working horses, cleaning stalls, grooming, and whatever else needs to be done.  She’s a little older than me and she appreciates the day off.  Right now she has 10 horses, some are her own and some are training.  Normally it is only on Wednesday that I am at her place but next week it will be the whole week plus the weekend since my friend and her husband are heading to Aiken, SC for vacation.  So not only will I be doing my 7 stalls, I will also be doing her 10.  Busy, busy, busy!

Life is funny.  We  never know what direction we will end up going.  I personally thought that Jim and I would be retiring and doing some traveling when we got older.  Instead, here I am, just getting through every day without him.  I won’t lie, it’s been a struggle.  Sure, Jim had his problems.  But if you grew up in a screwed up family like he did, I’m sure anyone would have problems.  But Jim’s death has been an eye-opening experience to me.  A person who I thought one of Jim’s very best friend’s was actually a huge back-stabbing piece of crap.  Jim’s brother, whom he loved dearly couldn’t even be bothered to show up at Jim’s service, but didn’t hesitate to have his hand out expecting something from Jim’s estate.  But Jim’s will was very specific as to who got what and there was nothing left from the race car business  so he got nothing.  But I did make sure Jim’s father, Merl, got what he was supposed to.   I am just glad that the estate is now closed and I don’t have to worry about dealing with them anymore.  The whole family is worthless and I’m glad they are no longer around.

Time to head to the barn and play with my dirty ponies!

Bye bye Mr. Winter

Finally Mr. Winter is giving up his grip on the farm.  Although I do have several piles of snow that are well over 8 feet tall I think we are over the hump of last year’s nasty visit.  As always, things are moving on here at the farm.  It’s been almost 8 months since Jim’s death and it is still hard to believe that he won’t be roaring up the driveway anymore.  Dealing with his death and estate have been a real eye-opening experience for me.  Thank God he had a will made out and I knew where it was.  It made everything so much easier for me to take care of things and know his wishes for everything.  Taking care of Jim made me realize that I needed to take care of my own responsibilities so today I picked up my will and all the rest of the documents that go hand in hand with one’s death.  Now I know my girls won’t have to deal with anymore heartache than necessary.

The indoor was fantastic to ride in this winter.  Right now I am down to 1 boarder but still have 7 horses in the barn.  Jennifer and I picked up a new TB gelding on Saturday to take the place of her big jumper horse.  She and Boo will probably win the South Farm year end awards in the training division (3’3″) and since she won the novice division with him last year (2’11”), we have decided to retire him and use him as a lesson horse.  He doesn’t like water so that makes eventing him a difficult thing and he tends to get very stressed over things.  I guess it’s from racing for so many years.  Freddie is coming along but he is only 4 so she found Manny and we liked what we saw so we bought him and brought him home!  He is so calm and gentlemanly, just a dark seal bay TB but I have a good feeling about him.

My lesson kids are coming along well.  I know it helped being able to ride all winter.  Now I’m itching for the mud to go away so we can get the large dressage arena footing hauled in.  The future looks very good for my lesson kids!  State fair here we come :).

We are in the process of remodeling the bathroom.  Jim’s very best friend is doing a wonderful job of it.  I am basing the whole remodel around a shower curtain that I found at Rod’s last year at Congress, showed it to Randy and he picked out everything (mostly) and it’s all coming together nicely.  It’s a good thing because I don’t handle change well and I’ve had a lot of change over the last few months and I need a vacation.

I hope all the wetness goes away pretty soon.  I am itching to get the garden started.  Right now the whole garden is a mud pit.  Since I am lucky and have sandy soil it shouldn’t take too long for things to dry up enough to get my peas and onions in the ground.  My garden is next to the woodburner so we’ve been piling wood that is going to need to be cleaned up.  Always something to do!

I have come to the conclusion that Jim must be visiting Tanna quite a bit.  She is always jabbering away to him, calls him Pop Pop.  She will come into the dining room and look at his pictures of him on various horses and just start talking away to Pop Pop.  She was too young when he passed to remember him so I know he is coming to her now.  That is very comforting to me.

Well, time to head to the bedroom…………….

Where to start

It’s been a long time since I have taken the time to sit down and write anything. Last July I suffered a terrible loss in my family. My beloved boyfriend/partner of 10 years died as a result of a fall from his horse. It’s hard to believe that almost 6 months have passed since that forever changed my life.
Jim was the biggest pain in the butt that I have ever met, but he kept me on my toes. Having him was like having another kid. He was also the dirtiest guy I’ve ever met. I swear that all he had to do was walk and dirt attracted itself to him. Being in a relationship with his was a full time job.
Slowly but surely I am getting my life back in order. My friends and family have been wonderful. My girls looked on Jim as a father figure in their lives. He was always the one they called when they needed help and he was also the one they called just to say hi. Unfortunately Jim’s piece of crap family never even bothered to come to his services, which were beautiful. We dressed him in his eventing clothes and helmet. He would have been proud. I never even received so much as a card from his family. Not even his brother. His sisters I could understand because he literally hated them with his soul, but his brother must have truly been as big a scumbag as the sisters. I hope they sleep well.
Things are moving along here at the farm. Jim left me a huge insurance policy so I have taken a little bit of it and put up an indoor riding arena. Jim would be proud of it and also probably pissed that he didn’t get to ride in it! We are making good use of it. I now have 2 full time boarders at the barn and am giving lessons 4 days a week, which is plenty for me. I bought a new horse to start, a 4 year old AQHA gelding that stands at 17.2 right now. I’m keeping my fingers crossed that Freddie will be the future of my farm.
Hopefully the weather will warm up a little bit. It was minus 12 this morning when I went to the barn. By the time I get done with stalls and working horses I am beat. It’s not fun putting 5 layers of clothes on just to do my daily work!
Well, enough for today. I’m hoping to get back in the rhythm for doing a daily writing 🙂

Ramblings on…………-12 degrees

Today when I went to the barn the outside temperature was -12 degrees.  Come on now, this crap is getting ridiculous!  This is March for heaven’s sake!  We need some warm weather.  Jim has been coming home so late because this cold weather is hell on the garbage trucks and he can’t leave until they are all ready for the next day.  At least from the forecast it looks like we might be in for a little relief by the end of the week.  Since Friday is my birthday, I sure hope so! 

The blacksmith will be here on Thursday to trim 5 and do a re-set on one.  It usually takes about 2 hours so I’m hoping that it warms up enough that we aren’t freezing our asses off out in the barn.  Probably next month we will put shoes back on the thoroughbreds to get ready for show season.  Jim and I talked about possibly putting it off until May, depending on how wet our spring is.  There is nothing worse than hearing that clink, clink, clink, thud when someone walks down the barn aisle after losing a shoe during turn-out :(.  And of course it always happens right before a show.

Speaking of shows, Jim and Jennifer have both been smoking everyone at the shows at South Farm.  I am pleased as punch at the progress that Jennifer and Boo are making.  He is a bad-ass and jumps everything that is put in front of him.  This month she is going to move up to the training level, along with doing the novice division.  Jim and Kwik are plugging along.  Slowly but surely Jim is getting his form back.  It’s hard to get that muscle memory back when you are getting older.  Riding a green horse doesn’t make it any easier!  Kwik is awesome on the cross country course but when he does stadium he always has a worried look on his face.  During the dressage section, he is impressive.  Jim said that this is the first time in his life he ever owned a horse that was so good in dressage.  Now if we can just get Jim’s equitation up to Kwik’s ability, all will be good.

We finally got our seeds ordered for the garden, which of course is covered in about 6 inches of snow right now.  But we will be ready as soon as the weather breaks.  We found a couple of ideas in the seed catalogs that we are going to be trying this year.  Thank God Jim is such a handyman.  I show him a picture of what I need and I get it.  And because I’m so cheap, he always manages to keep within our budget.

My judging shows are really beginning to stack up.  I’ve got almost the whole month of August booked already and June and July are following suit.  I love judging, I’m so lucky to be able to do it on a full time basis.  The only thing that will be bad for me is when I am judging one place and Jennifer and Jim have a show in another.  But such is life.  I’m trying to keep my schedule open to be able to go to the shows with them, but I have to make money.

I can’t wait until Friday.  It’s my birthday AND I get to spend it with my beautiful granddaughter, Tanna Marie.  She is the love of my life.  A perfect little human being, so very smart and already advanced for her age.  I am in the process of finding someplace that sells riding helmets small enough to fit her so we can start riding this summer.  After all, both my girls started riding when they were big enough to sit in front of me on the saddle.  She isn’t the least bit afraid of animals, loves my dogs.  Another generation of riding!

Well, time to head to the barn……

Ramblings

Okay, I guess I’ve probably been a smart ass about long enough, but I just can’t help it!  Someone who considers herself to be a writer told someone that anything that I wrote was nothing but ramblings…seriously, I have the police report to prove it!  So I just decided that I should name everything that I write “Ramblings” in honor of one who has such high delusions of grandeur!

It’s been a while since I’ve taken time to write and I probably wouldn’t be writing now if it wasn’t for the darn snow storm that is blowing around the farm right now.  So much for wearing shorts today to celebrate the 1st day of spring.  And it’s only supposed to get worse over the course of the next couple of days.  I have strawberries and asparagus that is impatiently waiting to be planted in the new raised beds we built last year.

Ramblings on…………..snow, snow, and more snow

This has been the winter from Hell here on the farm.  More snow came this morning, another 2-4 inches is predicted for the next couple of days and then we can’t forget that wonderful polar vortex that is scheduled to hit us again by tomorrow.  I am sick and tired of this crap!

I spent a couple of hours in the barn yesterday cleaning and blanketing the horses.  Of course they were mud balls because I pulled their winter blankets last week when the temperature was actually over 40 degrees.  Needless to say, the first thing they did was find a convenient muddy spot and did a stop, drop, and roll.  When I started yesterday afternoon they all looked like clay figurines that one might find in a cave someplace.  When I got done I was a mess!  But everyone got a good cleaning and then their nice, clean winter blankets put back on.  If it wasn’t going to be so cold, I wouldn’t worry.  But when it’s zero and below, I need to make sure everyone is happy and warm.  Can’t have anyone stop drinking because that can lead to serious colic. 

When the weather breaks (if it ever breaks!) we are going to be installing stall mats.  I have mixed feelings about mats in the stalls.  I’ve been here 35 years and never had stall mats, but now I have a couple of older guys that I think it might be beneficial for them to have the cushion of a mat, and not be standing on concrete.  It should help save some on bedding costs, too.  Since my horses are on concrete I tend to bed heavier so with the rubber mats I should be able to back off on the bedding.  Right now Jim is doing research to find out where to get them.  We have several options, but since my stalls aren’t standard size, they will have to be cut to fit my stalls.  That is what I don’t like.  If you don’t get mats in a stall to fit together pretty tight, they move and roll. 

I’ve got my order for my seeds ready to put in.  I’ve been reading a lot about organic gardening, and while I might not get completely into it, I did read a lot of interesting ideas.  I need to figure out some ways to make better use of the garden space.  We do a huge garden, but it’s always nice to find a little extra space for some new things.  l read one idea about planting sunflowers with your cucumbers to give them something to climb on.  Not sure if I’ll use that idea, but it is something to think about.  I’m putting strawberries in as soon as it’s safe and I’ve got my fingers crossed that this winter wasn’t too hard on my new asparagus plants.  We are also making a special plot at the back of the hay field to grow some pumpkins for Tanna for Halloween.  2 years ago when I finished up the garden, I had a bunch of squash that I took back by the woods and threw on the manure pile and they went crazy last year.  I froze so much squash and gave a ton of it to the homeless shelter in Warren.  I’m hoping that I can have the same luck with pumpkins.

I have a big pot of stuffed pepper soup cooking right now.  It’s making the house smell wonderful!  I’ve never made it until just a couple of months ago and it has become a huge hit with our family.  I have so many peppers in the freezer to use up and it’s so cost effective.  The only thing I have to buy is the rice!  Everything else is either in the freezer or on the shelves in the basement.

Well, I have to get busy.  I have to take Jennifer’s cat to the vet today.  He isn’t feeling well and is 10 years old so we are a little worried.

Think warm thoughts!!!

Ramblings on…………..a welcome rain

Well, yesterday we got some much needed rain.  Although we didn’t really need the 30 mph winds that came with it but at this point we take what we can get.  We were lucky that we didn’t get the hail that some other places around here did, but the wind was pretty scary.  The dogs were hiding behind the couch and recliner, except for the Blue Tick, who didn’t even move off the couch.  The primary storm blew through here quick and mean.  Our power flickered several times and went out completely for a few minutes.  When the first wave was done, I looked out the back door and realized that the wind had taken down part of a neighbor’s tree and put it down on our barnyard fence.  There were branches blown everywhere and lo and behold, the 55 gallon drum that we use to hold up the wagon end of the hay elevator had left it’s spot behind the barn and was now sitting in the middle of the side yard!  Talk about some crazy winds! 

I am a creature of habit and my routine with the horses is that they go out first thing in the morning to graze for a while before things heat up and I do stalls when they are out.  This morning I couldn’t let them out because of the limb on the fence thus screwing up my routine.  Jim and I had to run the Trailblazer up to Orwell to be dropped off at the tire store so they could align the front end and we went out to breakfast while we were waiting.  As soon as we got back home we went back and cleaned the branches up and got the fence straightened around.  It’s now ready for the horses to go out, but now it’s getting hot so I have to wait for a bit.  While we were out we walked the fence line in the back pasture marking trees that we will take down and cut up for heat for the winter.

It’s always an on-going process to harvest wood for the winter.  Jim will go back and cut down the marked trees and then cut them up.  We will go out with the wagon and I will take my chain saw and help get things cleaned up.  We are planning on cleaning up some more of the woods to use for winter grazing.  The horses are hell on the pastures in the winter.  Even though they aren’t out that much, it’s still nice to have extra land for the to graze.  So we will start the process of reclaiming some of the woods land for pasture.  It’s a long way off from horse pasture, though.  At one time there must have been some kind of old barn back there because the concrete foundation is still there.  We will have a busy time cleaning and making sure it’s “horse safe”.

I found another 6 tomato plants that we missed on Sunday when we were working in the garden.  Now I just have to figure out what I’m going to do with them!  If all of these plants do what they are supposed to do, I’m going to have more tomato juice than Heinz :).  My beets are doing good and I’m excited to see how they are going to turn out.  I lost the tags off of a flat of plants and even thought I’m sure they are pumpkins, I’m hold back judgment until I see something forming! 

The rest of the week is going to be crazy busy for me.  I have lessons all day tomorrow and Friday morning I have to do a massage at 8 a.m. at a barn that is about an hour away.  Hopefully when I get home from that I can get the lawn mowed because I’m leaving for New York to judge the horse show on Saturday.  This show has 57 classes and it’s my first time there.  I can’t wait to meet the people.  It’s one of the best things about being a horse show judge, meeting all the great people!  I’m driving home Saturday night and then heading to southern Ohio for a horse show on Sunday.  I’ve judged for this organization before and am excited about going back.  They have a great bunch of really nice horses.  It’s always nice to have to pick from a bunch of really good horses rather than trying to figure out what fault is the worst out of a bunch of bad horses!  I guess that’s why I do so many small shows.  Every person that is there absolutely loves their horse and firmly believes it’s the best horse in the show ring.  I always try to speak to every exhibitor at these small shows and give them some positive feedback about their ride that class. It’s very important to do this and unfortunately some judges have lost sight of this aspect of our job.

Jim has sort of gotten an offer on his farm.  I think we are going to sell it.  There is an Amish family that has already bought most of the land around his place and they made him an offer that was almost too hard to refuse.  He feels guilty about making the renters leave, but the bottom line is that in 5 years Jim will be retiring and we need to start setting ourselves up financially to deal with it.  Besides, within a couple of years the house is going to be needing a new roof, plus several other things, maintenance wise around the farm.  I think it’s best just to leave now.  It’s almost paid for so most of it will be profit for him.

Well, the barn awaits……..

Ramblings on…….a hot summer day

Summer has finally arrived here on the farm.  Hopefully tonight we will get some much needed rain.  I’ve been turning the sprinkler on the garden every night trying to keep the plants happy. The forecast is calling for some thunderstorms tonight and I hope we are in the path of a few of them.  Our second cutting was doing so well, but then it slowed down when the heat came and the rains left.  It’s funny how even in our area the weather is so diverse.  Two nights ago, not even 15 miles north of us, they got torrential downpours with some power outages.  Obviously I can do without the loss of power, but I sure could have used the rain. 

I had to go to the fairgrounds last night and give lessons to some of the kids.  I do this strictly as a freebie for the kids.  Ashtabula county is pretty poor and most of these kids won’t ever have the opportunity for help.  So I’ve been donating my time and skills to help these kids improve and I’m happy to say that I am pleased as punch with the progress they are making.  Although last night I wish I would have just hopped in the Heavy Chevy and came home when we were done with the meeting, but no…..I saw a girl that had her Appaloosa mare standing behind her trailer.  The mare wanted no part of loading onto that stock trailer.  So 2 hours and about 6 people later, we finally convinced the mare that she needed to get on the trailer if she wanted to go home.  We actually had to blindfold her to get her on, but she went.  She wasn’t being ignorant, just didn’t want to get on the trailer.  People don’t realize how loud it is for the horse when they are riding in an open stock trailer.  You have all the road noise, not to mention the stuff that is clanging and banging around in the trailer.  I told them to get some cotton plugs that are made specially for horses’ ears and try that.  I have to go back to the fairgrounds tonight to help another group and I sure hope all the ponies cooperate when it comes to go home!

Jim is on second shift for about 2 months.  He’s pretty salty about it.  He hates that shift but he had a guy quit on 2nd and they can’t leave the other guy alone.  So Jim had to move to second until they get another mechanic vetted and hired.  I know I don’t mind because I don’t have to get up at 2:30 in the morning!  Sometimes I’ll wake up in a panic and think that I’ve slept in and then realize with a sigh of relief that I can go back to sleep!

The planning for the baby shower is going well.  Her room is all painted and next week Kelly and I will go to pick up her bedroom suit and curtains.  Everything looks so nice and I can’t wait to meet her!  I’m already horse shopping for a nice lead-line horse for her! 

I had to take Chewie to the groomer’s today.  He looks and smells so much better!  He always smells like old lady Avon when I pick him up, but he comes out of there so proud I don’t care what he smells like!  I had them do a little bit of a trim job under his jaw.  He is so hairy that sometimes his tie out cable gets stuck in his hair.  I hope Jennifer won’t have a heart attack!  But since she is in North Carolina enjoying her vacation, I imagine she’ll be okay with it.

I just went to the barn and checked water buckets and threw the horses another flake of hay.  My guys sure have it rough, standing in front of their fans, cool, clean water in their buckets and wonderful new hay in their stalls.  Yep, they sure have it rough!

Well, I guess I better get moving on the laundry.  Does it ever end????