Ramblings on………….peace and quiet

The summer seems to be flying by.  Before we know it the 4th of July will be upon us and then it won’t be long after that the Labor Day rolls around.  We spend all winter waiting in anticipation of warm weather and then when it does get here, it flies by so fast that if you blink you miss it. 

The rains finally stopped and now we are getting some much-needed sun.  Our garden is doing great.  I’m already picking broccoli and freezing it.  The peas are a little slow in filling out, mostly due to the crazy weather.  We got the asparagus planted and will hopefully have a bumper crop next spring.  Our sweet corn will definitely be knee high by the 4th of July!  I double planted green beans because the pickled green beans that I canned last fall got such rave reviews that I will be doing an extra lot of them this year!  I even planted some beets to try and duplicate my grandmother’s pickled beet recipe.  She was a cagy old coot.  She would give out most of a recipe but hold back a key ingredient!

The baby shower plans are going well.  We booked the Mahoning Country Club to hold it at.  Kelly’s list was so big that I figured that this would make it easier on me….no cooking or clean up!  All I have to do is bake some cookies and get the cake ordered.  From the rsvps that are coming in I think that it’s a good thing that we are holding it at the country club!  Kelly made the invitations herself and they turned out so cute!  Next week I am going to pick up the bedroom suite that Jim and I bought them for the nursery at Baby Depot.  It’s a 5 piece set that you can change as the child grows up.  I think it’s well worth the $300 price tag.

Jennifer is in North Carolina right now on vacation so I have double duty.  Every night I have to go up and spend time with Pip in her bedroom.  We can’t let him downstairs because I’m pretty sure Goldie might think of him as a snack.  So every evening Chewie and I go upstairs and feed Pip then we all lay on the bed for a while and I talk to the cat!  I’m sure that Jennifer is going to come home looking like a Mexican!  My kids are lucky enough to take after me when it comes to tanning.  They both get so dark in the summertime.  I remember when I was growing up that when my dad would take off his shirt when he came in from the fields that he would be snow white where his t-shirt was, but his arms and face were so very dark.  I guess my dad had a farmer’s tan before it was cool!

The horses are doing wonderful.  Both Kwik and Boo are progressing in their training and I’m pleased as punch.  Jim has entries in for the show at South Farm in July and there is no doubt in my mind that he is going to be a super star!  I can’t wait until I get to watch him.  I have has horses in and out for training on a regular basis for about 2 months.  I am so happy that things are starting to pick up in the horse world.  My massage business is growing on a weekly basis and I’m giving lessons 4 days a week.  For the next 4 weeks I’m going to be on the road a lot judging.  This weekend I’m going to meet myself coming and going.  I have to leave Friday night for a show in New York on Saturday then I’m driving home, getting clean clothes and heading to Lancaster, OH for a show on Sunday.  Busy, busy, busy!

Things have been so peaceful around here.  I am so glad that we finally sent the cease and desist letter to Jim’s family.  I know that something is going on with Jim’s brother because he used to call him on a fairly regular basis, but he hasn’t been doing that anymore.  For the life of me I can’t fathom what would possess “responsible” adults to behave the way they did, the lies they told, the trouble they caused.  How sad and lonely their lives must be to behave this way.  I guess it was just the poor upbringing they had.  But even so, when you become an adult you need to learn how to act responsibly.  You can’t just blame all of you behavior on your parents or lack thereof.  The funniest thing is that they are still reading what a write and having their little chit chats talking about us!  Wow, it really hurts because we don’t even know what they are saying.  Now that’s intelligent.

But anyway, I love the peace and quiet!

Ramblings on……………..horse shows and home

We spent last weekend in West Virginia judging a show for the Mountaineer Horse Club.  It was their very first show ever and everything went off without a hitch!  The young lady that was in charge really had things together and should be very proud of herself for the job she did.  We showed at the West Virginia Reedsville facility and I wish all the places I judged were that nice.  The only negative thing that I can say about the whole thing was the footing was so deep, but the end of the show the horses were having a hard time loping because they were so tired.  I felt their pain because I tromped around in it as much as what they did.  But all in all it was a good show.  Jim did an excellent job as ring steward.  The show committee was a bit short handed on staff so I volunteered Jim to help out in the ring.  We had a good time and slowly but surely he is learning about open showing!  Since he never had any kids he never had the opportunity to experience the 4-H world and the one kid that he did know spent her time stealing cars and vandalizing county vehicles, this is a completely different world for him.  Jim shows 3 day eventing, which is a different discipline completely.  But anyway, we stayed in a beautiful hotel, had a great supper and met some great people.  Not only that, there was an awesome tack shop that I scored some good deals on!

Jim’s on vacation this week but unfortunately we aren’t going to be baling hay, which was the plan.  We can’t string enough dry days together to make sure the hay will dry, so hopefully next week we will be more lucky.  I’m not worried because we still have plenty of hay in the mow, but the sooner we get first cutting made, the sooner the second cutting will start growing!  We have enough projects going that we will find plenty to do while he is off.  The only thing I really want to do is to head to Mountaineer to the race track on Friday night, bet a little money and have a lot of fun!

I have a show on Sunday for the Valley City Saddle Club at Medina county fairgrounds.  It’s looking to be a pretty big show so I expect I’ll be gone until late.  Hopefully it won’t rain all day!

The garden is growing like crazy since we got that rain.  My corn is up about 3 inches and now with this heat, it should definitely be “knee high by the 4th of July”!  The strawberries are way behind growing schedule because of the cold, damp spring we’ve had here in northeast Ohio.  Hopefully that will change now.  I enjoy the warmth but not the humidity.  I think we are going to put the air conditioner in tonight.  I know the dogs will enjoy it :).

We found another batch of kittens in the hay mow last night.  That brings the grand total up to 4 litters.  It is time to catch all the wild mamas and haul them to PetFix to have them spayed.  I don’t mind a few cats hanging around, but this is getting crazy! 

Well, time to hang another load of clothes on the line to make use of the free clothes dryer!

Ramblings on…….moving forward

Right now things are a little hectic here on the farm.  We are actually getting some much needed rain and I’m keeping my fingers crossed that it continues until tomorrow.  The garden is sucking it up as it’s coming from the sky.  We’ve had some pretty weird weather patterns lately and I hope this early lack of rain isn’t a sign of things to come like it was last summer.  We were pretty well into a mini drought last summer and it took a toll on a lot of other peoples’ purses since everyone had to buy hay.  We are pretty lucky.  We got enough first cutting to last the year and even managed about 60 bales of second cutting.  I have friends that were paying over $10 a bale for hay last winter.  We made it through winter with plenty of hay.  I actually need to head up to the hay mow and move the leftovers to the front so when we bale (hopefully next week) the new hay will go to the back of the barn.  The only problem with this is right now I’m pretty sure there are at least 2 litters of kittens hidden in the hay!

We are supposed to have a beautiful weekend, weather wise.  Memorial Day kicks off the outside picnic season here on the farm.  Last Sunday Jim got the table and chairs out and scrubbed them off and situated them under the maple tree, in anticipation of great parties to come!  We have been taking our suppers out and eating under the tree at night.  It’s so calm and peaceful, one of the benefits of living in the boonies! 

Jim and I are heading to West Virginia on Saturday afternoon for the night.  I’m judging at the W. Va. University horseshow grounds on Sunday so we are sneaking off and spending the night away from home.  From the feedback that I’ve gotten from the show committee, it’s going to be a pretty big show.  The weather looks like it’s going to be gorgeous, sunny and 70, which is perfect horse show temps!  We are also heading down to Rogers tomorrow afternoon to the flea market.  I need some produce for Monday and the meat vendor has the best darn kielbasa I’ve ever eaten, so we will be bringing some home!

Jim’s on vacation next week, so that means I’m not!  We have a list of things we want to get accomplished a mile long, so it will be work, work, work!  I have 2 days worth of lessons to give so some of the things he has to do himself.  I think that probably next Friday night we are going to head to Mountaineer and do a little bit of wagering on the horses!  We always have so much fun when we go down there.  Neither one of us waste money on the slot machines, but we usually have a contest to see who wins the most money on the horses.  When you get 2 horse people with as big egos as what we have, sometimes things get interesting :).

I am picking up another lesson student tonight.  I am meeting with the family when I’m done giving lessons to discuss my policies and techniques.  I run a pretty tight ship when it comes to this and my theory that I will tell them is simple.  I expect 110% from my students.  Don’t waste my time or your money if you aren’t going to put the time in.

Peace has finally come to the farm.  Jim’s white trash family seems to have gotten the message and just left us alone.  It only took a cease and desist order from our attorney to get it done, but it has worked.  There is no doubt that the 3 stooges are still going at it about us, but the way I figure it is that if they are talking about us, they are leaving other people alone.  I must be really special to have them so jealous of my life for so many years!

Horse show season is really heating up.  My book is full!  Not much makes a judge happier than to know her date book is filled to the brim with shows.  A lot of them are new, but I still have some of my regulars.  I know I’m doing a good job when I get booked for the same show year after year.  It’s pretty crazy right now….between hauling to the shows so Jim and Jennifer can show, my lesson kids showing, and all the shows I’m contracted to do.  I really have the best job in the world.

Well, time to get off of here and get ready for tonight’s lessons!

Ramblings on………….A storm is coming

The weather is so unpredictable right now.  I just got home from taking the recycling to Bloomfield and the sun was shining and it was a beautiful day.  In the span of 30 minutes the skies have blackened, the wind has picked up and it looks like the skies are getting ready to open and just pour.  Either that or snow!  After all, this is northeast Ohio and we have had a really crappy spring.  Anything is possible.  The only good thing about this weather is my peas and onions are thriving.  Unfortunately, it’s too cold to get my plants in, but maybe tomorrow.  I do need to go and buy them before they get all picked over.  Sounds like a project for later today.

We finally got the asparagus planted in the second raised bed.  Hopefully it will do well.  I need to haul up some more dirt from back where the old manure pile used to be.  If it won’t grow in that, there isn’t much hope of it growing anyplace!  For some odd reason, I started some tomatoes and peppers in the house this year.  Well, maybe not such an odd reason.  I found the starter sets at Tractor Supply marked down to $2.49 each and I couldn’t pass up the deal.  Now I don’t know what I’m going to do with them.  I might have to till up some more ground to put them in.  My garden is filling up quick, as usual.  I am going to have to plant more broccoli this year.  I can’t believe I’ve gone through all I froze last fall.  I love the convenience of being able to go to the freezer in the basement to do my meal planning.

The new backhoe/front end loader finally made it home last night.  What am I going to do with a piece of equipment that big?  I do know but I am going to have a blast finding out!  It’s a huge International Harvester and I think it’s main purpose is going to in the woods, hauling trees up and clearing brush to make riding trails.

It’s nice to be home, but I still feel like I’ve been drug through a knothole backwards.  I’m tired and just can’t seem to get caught up on my sleep.  But it’s tough having to get up everyday at 2:30 a.m. to get Jim up, make his tea and pack his lunch.  Sometimes I can go back to sleep, but not very often.  And of course I’ve spent so many nights on 3rd shift that I don’t sleep well anyway and it’s usually 11 p.m. before I’m tired.  I cherish my weekends being able to sleep until 5 or 6. 

I noticed that my change bucket was getting pretty full so I sat down this morning, emptied it out and rolled change.  I ended up with $50 in change to hide in my stash!  I have to get some more change rolls from the bank the next time I’m out….couldn’t roll the nickels.  I am a notoriously cheap person.  I save my change, pick pennies up from ground in parking lots, collect cans to recycle.  Even though I have more money in the bank now than I have ever had in my entire life, my saving habits haven’t changed.  I probably should have grown up during the depression.  I reduce, reuse, and recycle everything that I can.  We probably only put garbage out once a month because of what I do.  I shop at the Amish scratch and dent stores, SaveALot is one of my favorites.  I’m so glad they put one in Orwell.  I sit down and plan menus to make sure I don’t have to make an extra trip off the farm.  Every little bit helps.  I am proud that I have passed on my ways to my daughters.  Both are sitting on healthy bank accounts with their bills paid in full every month.  I have one credit card that I use and it’s paid in full every month.  I don’t carry a balance EVER.  Life is good.

For some reason, I feel like I am at a crossroad with my life.  My horse business is growing daily and I’m just not sure if this is the right time for me to be in a relationship.  I seem to do better if I’m by myself.  I don’t know why, just seems that way.  I am a very private person, don’t share much with anyone.  Once bitten, twice shy…you know all that.  I would probably be a very good poker player as I hold my thoughts and feelings in to myself.  Maybe this is the storm I feel brewing, not the one outside. 

Ramblings on ……..traveling

Seems like forever since I’ve had time to do any writing.  With the onset of spring things get a little crazy here at the farm.  But that’s not the only thing that has kept me from writing.  I’ve been on the road pretty much since the last weekend in April, when Jim and I went to Kentucky to watch the Rolex.  We had a blast, unfortunately the weather didn’t want to cooperate so well for the Saturday cross country section, but it was great just to get away.  This year we made the decision to attend the whole show, not just the cross country.  So I thought that I was ahead of the game by buying the tickets in advance.  What I didn’t know was that even though we bought tickets for the gate, you had to buy additional tickets for the individual competitions once you got there.  We had never had to do that before because for the cross country, you don’t need anything extra.  So we stood in the 40 mile line to get tickets for dressage and I’m really glad we did.  I got to see Boyd Martin and William Fox-Pitt ride, but there was another rider from New Zealand who was actually more impressive and he ended up in second place after the dressage, but more impressively went on to win Rolex.  This trip to Kentucky was pretty cool, since we actually had time to do some driving and just enjoy the scenery.  We went to Tipton Fasigg, where they hold one of the highest dollar horse auctions in the world.  There are miles of stone fences, and since the weather was better down there, all the grass was green and blooms were in full force.  We had a great time in Kentucky, but I’m not sure we’ll ever take the time to do all 4 days again.  Unfortunately, they don’t have much in the way of food vendors, and the companies hawking their wares can only offer so much entertainment.  Although Jim did buy Kwik a new saddle pad, to the tune of $230 and he got himself a new George Owen skull cap, which was on sale for $210.  Now he only needs new tall boots and I pray to God that he finds some new breeches soon, because I’ve about had my fill of his ratty old black ones!

When we got home, I had exactly 3 days of free time before I needed to be on the road again to Florida for the Gypsy Vanner Judges seminar and in those 3 days I washed, dried and put away all the dirty clothes, spent most of the morning on Tuesday with the farrier getting shoes put on the jumpers and trims for everyone else, then headed to Walmart for groceries and up to Austinburg to the feed mill to stock up the horse feed, then spent the rest of the afternoon and evening giving lessons.  Seems everyone wanted to get one last ride in before I bugged out for Florida!  So on Wednesday morning, Kelly and I picked up the rental car at Youngstown airport, threw our bags in and off we went to Florida!  Enterprise gave us a 2013 Impala with only about 10,000 miles on it.  For a car it was pretty nice.  It’s been forever since I’ve driven a car, but we made it to South Carolina and spent the night and got up Thursday morning and made it the rest of the way to Florida.  Since I didn’t have to be at the seminar until Friday, we did some exploring and got acquainted with the area.  The plan was for Kelly to take me to the site of the seminar and drop me off in the morning so she could have the car for the rest of the day and then pick me up when we were done.  She got to spend the day poolside, working on her dissertation and getting a killer tan!  The clinic was great, very informative.  We got to see some high quality Gypsy Vanners and I did a lot of networking with some of the other judges.  One of them is going to let me apprentice with her since I’m working on my Shetland and AMHR card.  I am pretty excited about that.  One nice thing about Florida is that we were able to have seafood every night for supper!  On Sunday when we left Weirsdale, we headed to St. Augustine to the beach.  It was absolutely beautiful.  They had had a bad storm the night before and the ocean was still very angry, with swells large enough to attract quite a few surfers.  Kelly collected some nice shells, took tons of pictures and was content to wade in the ocean.  Where we were staying in Florida was central so there was no beach, but we found a beautiful one at St. Augustine.  I would like to go back to that city and spend a week.  It’s so pretty.  But we had to head home and drove through torrential downpours.  Finally about 9 p.m., we found a motel in Virginia and spent the night.  Driving through West Virginia on I77 with the trucks traveling 85 mph isn’t my idea of a good time in the dark.  We got up, ate breakfast at the hotel and headed home.  People can say what they want about Ohio, but I’ll take it over central Florida any day.  So far we’ve been to Fort Myers and Sanibel when Kelly was playing softball for Hiram and now to St. Augustine and I think unless you’re in a coastal town, the rest of Florida is pretty boring.

We made it back safe and sound and right back into another busy week of trying to catch up on laundry and cleaning and lessons.  Jennifer did a wonderful job of holding down the fort while I was gone, but taking care of this place is a full-time job!  I’ve picked up 2 more students so my lesson book is filling up, not to mention that I had to be in Burton to do their 2013 Kick-off clinic.  This year they asked me to do both the English and western divisions.  I was honored that they asked me to do both, since in the previous years they’ve always had 2 separate clinicians.  Saturday was cold and windy.  It misted most of the morning, which wreaked havoc with the sound system.  I now have a scratchy, sore throat because of it!  The clinic went off without a hitch.  I see a lot of these kids from year to year at various shows, and I love to see the progress that they have made and how they are maturing into fine, young adults.  I truly have the best job in the world :). 

Once we got the clinic over with, I had to beat feet home to head back to Austintown to my granddaughter’s spring choir concert.  It started at 7 and I barely had time to get home, pick up Jennifer and head south.  We swung through the Wendy’s drive thru and got a bit to eat and then it was off to the concert.  Unfortunately, the choir director at this high school doesn’t have a clue on how to run a concert.  They need to hire the director that we have at Maplewood.  That woman can run a concert and put on a program like nobody’s business!  So we spent from 7 to 9:45 at this concert.  I was so tired that I probably would have fallen asleep if the chairs weren’t so hard!  Jennifer and I were dragging by the time we got home Saturday night.

Mother’s day was wonderful.  I got flowers from Jennifer and one of those huge chocolate chip cookies that Walmart sells decorated in “Happy Mother’s Day” from Kelly and Terry!  So much for my diet :).  Jim and I went to Saybrook in the morning to clean off the graves of his mother and grandparents.  After we got everything looking nice and clean we planted a geranium on his mother’s grave.  Jim says that was her favorite flower so that is what she got!  I need to take some glue up and reglue the plaque for his brother on the back of his mom’s stone.  It’s sad to think that we live the farthest away, yet we are the ones that do the work on their plots.

Everything is going gangbusters here at the farm.  The horses are doing great, Kwik, Newman, and Boo are progressing so well in their training and I can’t wait until we are ready to head to an event.  I’m still not sure what Newman’s role at the farm is going to be, but he’s a good guy.  I hope that I can work him into being used as a lesson horse.  We shall see. 

That being said, I’m honored that pretty much every day my blog is being read by certain people who are now using googlebots to do their searches!  I guess some things never change.  They do all kinds of sneaking around, yet don’t have guts enough to say anything to my face.  To each their own, I guess. 

Ramblings on……..Sunny but cold

Sunny but cold.  Is this weather ever finally going to really warm up?  Although I will take the weather we are having here in northeast Ohio to what the Midwest is getting right now.  Hopefully we are finally completely done with the snow for this season.  We had a heck of a rainstorm yesterday and it is really greening things up around here.  If we would get some really warm days the hay field would shoot up in no time.  The ground isn’t warming like it should be since it is still going down into the upper 30’s at night.  Even though my peas and onions have been in the ground for almost 2 weeks, there is nary a sign of a sprout :(. 

The horses are finally starting to lose their winter hair.  Right now I can tell where each and every one of them roll when they get into the pasture.  Especially Smoke, since he is a gray who is basically white now.  Watching the horses roll is one of the highlights of putting them out.  They do a kind of a stop, drop, and roll.  The 2 thoroughbreds do this tiny little squeal when they get up and shake the dirt off.  It’s hilarious!  One of these days I might actually take my fancy new smart phone out to the barn with me to take some pics and videos of the horses screwing around.    Every one of my horses has their own individual personality.  I have a barn full of felons…the horses that no one else wants to can deal with.  I know most trainers probably have a horse or two in their barn like that. 

I finally found my clients the horse we’ve been looking for.  She is the sweetest mare I’ve ever been around and she came from the back woods of Steubenville.  Right now she is looking a little rough around the edges, but with a little TLC she is going to be a champ.  The vet came yesterday and gave her a clean bill of health, along with shots for everyone in the barn.  The bills was only $523.00 and this included rabies, west nile, and the 5 way vaccine for 6 horses along with a Coggin’s test for Boo and Kwik.  I didn’t think that was a bad price.  I love my vet, she is the greatest.  She recently had a bad wreck when she was showing in Florida and the only reason she came to my place is because my horses are so well-behaved.  She is recuperating and getting around using a crutch, told me she already has been back on her young horse!

I am having a crisis of faith right now.  Not with my God, but with the man in my life.  I am ready to walk away from the whole relationship.  I feel like I’m being smothered and don’t know what way to turn.  It’s tough.  I’ve asked him to leave, but he refuses….says I will have to call the cops to get him out.  Which really pisses me off because this is my farm.  I pay the bills here.  I have beaten cancer 3 times, went through one horrendous divorce and now just want some peace and quiet in my life.  But I’ve given this relationship all that I can give.  Please pray that I can get him out.

My book is filling up with horse shows and for that I’m grateful.  Looks like I’m going to be needing a little more income!  I’ve also picked up a few massages and have kicked around putting an ad in the local paper.  The only down side of that is that I usually get a couple calls from creeps wanting me to massage them and not their horses!  I know I am looking forward to my 4 days in Florida next month.  I sent in the seminar paperwork, reserved my car and need to get the hotel reservations done.  I need some time away most desperately and can’t wait to get to the warmth of the beach.  I’ll just let the sun of the Gulf coast bake the hurt out of me.

Well, I guess it’s time to head to the barn to put Piper out for a while.  I have lessons tonight and am looking forward to seeing my little girls.  They are both excellent riders and it makes giving lessons to them so much fun.

Until the next time………..

Ramblings on…..moving forward with life

One part of my life has come to an end.  I finally sold my 1997 Silverado.  It was with a lot of regret, but ultimately she was doing nothing other than sitting in the garage taking up space.  And if you know anything about vehicles, sitting around just causes nothing but rust.  And in northeast Ohio, we drive on salt-covered roads most of the year.  So it was with a heavy heart that I listed her in the Star Beacon for $2,000.  With hind sight being what it is, I should have listed her for more.  The first people that came out yesterday bought her, and we’ve had about 15 more calls and a bunch of emails, so I guess the price was right.  She has about 295,000 miles on her.  We replaced the motor around 35,000 miles ago and she ran as strong as she ever did.  That truck was so awesome, that no time in the 10 years that I owned her did she ever leave me stranded on the side of the road.  Not even the day the head gasket finally blew, she limped back home and made it into the garage.  She has been one kick ass truck.  She never pulled the horse trailer, but I hauled many loads of hay and sawdust and hay wagons around the farm.  The girls and I made at least 50 trips back and forth to Columbus for Quarter Horse Congress, not to mention various NASCAR races and about every other darn place you can think of.  I have had a love affair with that truck since the day I saw her sitting on the lot.

I think it’s also bittersweet for me since I also sold my 2 horse bumper pull trailer.  These things have been fixtures in my life for so long.  I bought the trailer brand new at Congress in 1993 but wasn’t able to take delivery of it until May of 1994 due to the steel strike.  Like the Silverado, this trailer has hauled horses all up and down the east coast, hundreds of trips back and forth to the fairground hauling the girls to 4-H so they could ride.  It’s been borrowed by pretty much every one in the county.  I think that’s what makes this whole thing so hard for me.  There are so many wonderful memories attached to these two things.  But if I’ve learned anything from “Hoarders”, it’s that they are only things.  Getting rid of them won’t lose the memories attached to them.  So they are both sold and I know that they people who bought them will enjoy them like my girls and I have.

We had a wonderful Easter here at the farm.  To shake things up I made chicken, beef, kielbasa, and veggie shish kabobs.  They were a huge success!  I like to think outside of the box when it comes to cooking and I think that if I hadn’t have gotten so involved with horses I probably would be working as a chef by now.  Instead I just use my family and friends as guinea pigs!  Jim doesn’t seem to mind…his theory is that he is always ready to take one for the team!  The kids were pleased to see their Easter baskets.  It probably helped that there was $10 in each one!  We sat around the table eating and the girls got to laughing so much that Kelly couldn’t stop!  I love these family meals and am so glad that we get together at least once a month to sit down together and just enjoy each other and catch up.

We found out that we are having a girl grandbaby so Tanna it is!  I had a feeling that Kelly was having a girl and I sincerely hope that this baby keeps Kelly on her toes, just like she did me.  The doctor said that everything is fine and that makes me so very happy.  I can’t wait til this baby hits the grounds, as we say in the horse world.

Jim finally got a new dressage saddle on Saturday.  He’s been driving me nuts for about 6 months looking for this darn saddle.  We had to drive to Albion, PA to get it but it was worth the drive.  The leather on this saddle is like butter it’s so smooth.  The lady is a breeder of Swedish warmbloods and she took us on a tour of her farm.  It was very impressive.  She is looking for someone to do the groundwork on a couple of her young stock so I gave her my card.  It would be nice if she would send them my way!  I told Jim we might need to think about putting in a smaller barn for training purposes.  But I swear, if it doesn’t start warming up I’m not stepping foot outside!  April 2 and it’s 30 degrees out and the ground was covered with snow this morning.  I am so over this winter!

We didn’t get north to get Jim’s mom’s grave cleaned up.  Hopefully this weekend we can get it done.  The horse that I was supposed to go look at didn’t pan out, so that shot down the trip to the cemetery.  But we will get it done.  My dad is buried pretty close to me, actually right down the road, so I ride my bike down and clean up his headstone, but Jim’s mom is about 45 minutes north.  We’ll get it done so it looks nice this summer!

Sounds like another load of clothes is ready to be switched from the washer to the dryer so time to go back to work!

Ramblings on……..cleaning up the garden

Ramblings on……..cleaning up the garden.

Ramblings on……..cleaning up the garden

I am keeping my fingers crossed that the mean old winter has finally let go of our area.  Today is our first full day of sunshine in so long and it feels fantastic.  As soon as I’m done with my housework, I’m heading to the barn to pull blankets and turn horses out for the day. 

This weekend we are going to till up a spot in the garden to get the peas and onions in the ground so I need to get out and do my thing.  This means I walk the garden and pick up the big rocks that have worked their way out of the ground, yank out any leftover plants from last year and just a general cleaning and picking up.  There isn’t anything quite as peaceful for me as working in the garden.  With the exception of cleaning stalls, that is!  The raised beds really need some attention and I need to head to Wally World to pick up a couple of bags of soil to add to the dirt that we put in them last year and then finally I can put the strawberries and asparagus in the ground.  What a relief!  They’ve been living in the kitchen for the last 2 weeks and I’m really sick and tired of moving them from spot to spot!

Right now I have a load of towels out on the line.  The sheets are merrily being swished around in the washer, and when done, will take their place on the clothesline next to the towels.  There isn’t a much better feel than to crawl under the covers and curl up in sheets that were dried on the line.  I’m not quite as bad as the Amish, I don’t hang clothes out during the winter, but if we have a nice day, I’ve been known to put a load out on the line, even if it means walking through snow to do it!

We had a wonderful birthday dinner for Jennifer last night.  She was having a bit of a hard time turning 33 but I told her that she is exactly where she is supposed to be in her life.  I firmly believe God has a plan for all of us and he won’t bring us anything that we can’t handle.  But sometimes I must admit that I’m tired of handling things!  It was nice having supper with the whole family.  Terry didn’t have to work so he came with Kelly and he and Jim immediately went to the living room to watch the pre-game hockey stuff.  The girls and I had a wonderful visit.  Kelly’s little baby belly is starting to show.  They are going on Monday to do an anatomy scan and will find out the sex of the baby then.  We had a wonderful meal of chicken enchiladas and nachos and then cherry cheesecake and apple crisp for dessert.  Everyone was stuffed, as usual, when we were done.  We also finished planning the Easter meal.  I’m just pleased as punch that they have Taylor for the weekend, so we won’t have to rush to make sure she makes it back to her mom’s place.  We can sit and visit and the weather is supposed to be nice.  Can’t ask for much more than that.

Jim loves that we do this as a family.  His upbringing was pretty rough and from what I gather, they did a lot of sneaking out in the night to avoid paying rent.  He grew up living on welfare.  I think that’s why he is so adamant about being a good provider for our family.  He works very hard at his job and when he comes home, we work hard together keeping our farm running. 

I am kicking around the decision of getting a new phone.  I currently still have my little flip phone that I’ve had for years, but have decided that I would like to get a smart phone.  I guess it’s probably time.  My girls are always ragging on me since I don’t text, and maybe this will make it easier for me to do so.  Change is hard for me and I’m so worried that I won’t like it, or it won’t work here on the farm.  We live in the boonies and sometimes the coverage isn’t the best.  But Avon has a program for their reps that will allow me to get a phone at a reduced rate, so I guess it’s time I make the jump!

Today I am pulling blankets on the horses.  It’s time.  They still are doing a lot of shedding, so maybe this will help encourage it.  This will also allow me to wash the blankets and put them on the line to dry.  I’ve made the decision that I am going to start riding Peanut.  We both could use the work and this way maybe the vet won’t rag on me for her being chubby!  I can also start doing Newman and Kwik’s ground work.  It will be so nice to get an indoor put up.  When you live in northeast Ohio in the snowbelt, it’s virtually impossible to do anything outside in the winter. 

Jennifer made the comment about how annoying the birds are at the feeder.  Her room is next to the feeder and I have a ton of birds that eat there.  I go through about 50 pounds of bird seed  a week and generally that feeder is hopping!  I do know they are making a mess and I need to get it cleaned up.  Now that the sun is out (yeay!) I can get that done and pick up about a million sticks out of the yard. 

Time to head out and enjoy the warm weather!

Ramblings on……happiness

Finally we are starting to see a little bit of sunshine.  This seems like it’s been such a long, hard winter that had no intentions of ending that the breaks of sun that we are having today are a welcome relief.  Hopefully I am going to be able to put my strawberries and asparagus in the ground this weekend.  I also need to find a spot for that darn rose bush, other than the pantry shelf!

Jim and I are taking a day trip to PA this Saturday.  He has been combing the internet to try and find a dressage saddle that will fit both Kwik and him and it’s been rough.  Although Kwik has been slowly filling out over the course of this past year, he still has those high thoroughbred withers, which makes it somewhat of a challenge to find a saddle that he is comfortable with.  I hope that Saturday’s trip will bring an end to this challenge!  Then all that’s left are finding Jim some new tall boots, since he has stick figure legs and a new helmet.  I will drag him kicking and screaming into the 21st century if it kills both of us!  Jim just loves that darn helmet and it doesn’t help that our vet’s boyfriend has the same helmet that he is still using.

The kids took a vote and decided that they want to do a cook out for Easter Sunday, which is fine with me.  I guess we are going to have shish kabobs of various kinds.  At least it is supposed to be sunny and in the 50’s.  I have got tons of stuff for their baskets.  Even though they are adults, they still look forward to getting their baskets every year.  Not to mention the instant lottery tickets I always put in them.  Next year we will have a new baby to buy for and I am so excited about it.  I keep telling Kelly that once this baby gets here, it’s all about them!  We find out the first of April what the baby is.  I don’t know if I want to know or wait until August and be surprised.  I know Kelly is going to tell me!

We finally broke down and put my black Silverado on Craigslist to sell it.  It was a tough decision on my part to let go of my “Babygirl Truck” which is what I’ve called her since I bought her.  But right now we have 5 vehicles that we are paying insurance on and she is the only one that isn’t 4WD so she is the one who goes.  I wasn’t sure about using Craigslist, but Jim’s buddy assured me it was safe, so he wrote up an ad and placed it.  We’ve had a couple of calls and a whole lot of scammers, but so far no bites.  People are crazy because it’s a great truck, low miles, good condition and very clean interior.  If she doesn’t sell, she’s going to have to move out of the garage so Jennifer has a place to park her car.  I told Jim that right now I don’t care what we get for her, she just needs to go down the road.

Sometime this week Jim and I will head north to put some flowers on his mother’s grave.  I have to go look at a horse in Geneva so we will probably just make it a stop on that trip.  I don’t know what kind of flowers we are going to take this year.  I like to mix things up a bit and change from year to year.  At least now the snow will be gone so we can clean up around her headstone.  By this time of year it’s looking pretty ratty.

Tonight after chores Jennifer and I have to head to Warren to Giant Eagle to get our groceries for this weekend and I have to pick up 3 AVON orders.  Looks like I’m going to have a pretty big order this time, which is nice.  I’ve also been kicking around the idea of having a small open house when the weather gets a bit warmer.  I’ve collected a lot of product over the years and some of it needs to go!  I’m just not sure if I have the time to do it.  Kelly said we could do it at her place and that might work out better.  She would be home and I wouldn’t have to worry about making my schedule fit around an open house.

I’ve picked up 2 new kids and 2 new adults in my lesson business.  I guess the economy must be improving because I’ve noticed a definite upsurge in calls for lessons and massages.  Which I’m not going to complain about at all!  More calls means more money in my pocket 🙂 and that is something that I like tremendously.  More money, more money!

Right now Jim and I are the happiest that I think we’ve ever been in this relationship.  We finally paid off the bills that his ex incurred by home improvements and the damage his sister’s boyfriend did when he was renting from us.  It’s been a long road to get to this point and I’m glad I stuck by him.  There were times when all I wanted was for him to take himself and his white trash family and get the hell out of my life, and I won’t say it hasn’t been hard to work through these problems.  But we’ve come out of all of it with our heads held high and things worked out.  I never knew such evil people existed in the world until I met Jim’s family.  Thank God he’s proven what a decent person he is and how unlike the rest of the family that he is.  I’ve let the trash have a hold on my life for a long time and I see according to my statcounter that they still are checking and reading this blog.  Which is okay, I have nothing to hide.  Truthfully they can be compared to a sneaky weasel…..always trying to sneak into the hen house by the shadow of darkness and stealing whatever they can get their grubby paws on….never having guts enough to come out of the darkness and do a face-to-face.  But that’s okay IP address 99.13.43.61 whose provider is AT&T UVerse out of Willoughby.  Keep on reading, doesn’t matter to me.  You’ve tried and tried to cause so many problems and it’s just not working.  Sorry your sad, mundane little life has nothing to offer you.

On a brighter note, Jim and I bought a Bowflex Treadclimber and boy does it work!  We both wanted to get back in shape so we decided it was a good investment.  When we head to North Carolina this September, I plan on being slim and svelte so I can wear a bikini (well, maybe not a bikini, but bathing suit for sure!). With the 3 cancer surgeries that I’ve gone through, it’s been tough to keep the weight off and while I’m not fat, I’m not comfortable at this weight.  But it seems the TC is doing it’s job.  Since Jim can’t seem to stay out of the sweets, says it’s my fault for being too good of a cook, he has a belly that he needs to get rid of.  Nothing else, just a chubby belly! 

Well, time to head out for some sunshine 🙂