Monday, February 16, 2009

musings of the day...

I sadly do not have pictures to go with the blog... as I wasn't there when it happened.But even if I were there, I doubt I would have had the time for pictures.. and the story goes like this...

Last Thursday, I was in Kennebunk working with several private students, leaving Ed to "tend to the farm". He had been puttering around the house, and then walked up to the barn around noontime to give out lunch and check on "everyone". As he approached the barn he noticed that Mocha was in with Silver and Tonka... another break out!!! We have worked so hard to keep her in "her place"... but, this was more than a break out with Mocha... it was a FENCE down!!!! Tonka and Silver were still "inside" but Duke was out!!!!

Thinking quickly as "what to do" and knowing "what not to do" (ie: chase a horse that is loose).. Ed went into the barn, grabbed a handful of hay and went out to call Duke in. Now, the good thing is, Duke does come when called, and he NEVER passes by any food, so hearing his name and seeing the hay in Ed's hand... he came a running. To quote my Ed... "seeing 1800lbs of horse coming at you , is a little like standing in front of a train!!!" Ed ducked into the barn, threw open the first stall door and stood there, calling. Our gator was parked in the barn alley way, so it was a bit of a tight squeeze for Duke, and at first he stood outside the barn debating as to whether he would go in or not. Ed just waved the hay and then threw it into the stall, and in Duke went.... whew!!!!

Now, Ed had the fence to deal with. He went and shut it down, only to realize that the horses could still "get out" because all the outside stall doors were open. Course Duke had to see what he was up to, and came out. ONLY... to get tangled in the down fence!!! He began to panic a little, but Ed told him "Whoa and stand".. which he did... (so grateful for a horse that will follow voice commands and has had enough driving experience to know not to get upset with things around his legs!!!!!) Ed said that when Duke stood, the fence loosened around his legs and he just stepped out of it.... another whew!!!!

This time, Ed put hay in all the stalls, brought everyone in, locked the doors... and headed out for the fence again. I guess it was quite a mess.. and it took him nearly an hour to get it up and running again. We have no idea what they were doing to bring it down like that.... probably "horsing around!!!"

It was funny, because when I got to the farm, the first thing I noticed was all the hoof prints in the barn yard. I knew that I hadn't had the horses out to make those prints, and Ed can bring them out, but it isn't something that he usually does... so I commented on it, and then got the story!!!!

My Ed doesn't give himself enough credit when it comes to the horses. They have been mostly "my hobby", but he has a natural way about him that they like and he handles them well. Course, being on the farm now, he has the opportunity to be with them everyday, and that's makes it all the better. It was quick thinking on his part to get food, and not go with the impulse of "run and catch it!!!" So,job well done, honey.. and like it or not... you are a "horseman!!!"

Then the other story I have to share with (sadly) no pictures...is... Saturday is was extremely windy here. You can only imagine that when the wind whistles across that open lake, it really can get a good head of steam!!! Well, we were having our coffee and I could hear a rumbling noise. I looked at Ed and asked "do you hear that...what is it?''' At first I thought that maybe something was wrong with the furnace... just as we were looking about, we saw an ice fishing shack go sailing past the house!!! The wind had caught it just right, and being on "skies", it just skated past the camp... going at a really good clip!!!! I wished I had caught it on my camera!!! Fortunately, there was no one inside, because I doubt you could have even jumped from it, it was going so fast!!! It ended up at the end of the lake, and broke one of it's "skies", because it sat there lop-sided. Yesterday afternoon, I saw some folks go by on a snow mobile... looking for their "lost shack"... and a bit later I saw them, pulling it back up the lake. It must have been surprising for them to arrive and see their shack gone!!!! It has been an "interesting" winter here on the lake... you just never know what you might see.