one thing... leads to another...

Have you ever had one of "those projects" that leads from one thing to another?? well, such was the case with Ed and I today. I woke this morning with all good intentions of staining our "electrical shed" ... I want to get it done before the wood ages any more, and have it done for the driving clinic next weekend. But when I arrived on the farm this am... Ed had another project in mind.

At the edge of our driveway is our outdoor wood furnace, at some point in time, we need to take the pine trees down that are around the furnace. We also need to make room around the drive to have a place to push the snow next winter, as well as a place to put the wood that will feed the furnace. This project is on our "to do" list... but the "to do" happened today.

We noticed that the "town" has been working on clearing out the ditches at the road edge, digging out the sand and gravel that over the years, has begun to clog up the ditch. Ed spoke with the road commissioner and said he would take some of the "fill" that they were pulling out of the ditches. This "fill" is perfect for the area around the furnace and the drive. Well, this morning the road commissioner came to the farm and said, if we wanted the "fill" he would be happy to bring it to us. It saves him hauling and dumping time, especially where they are now working on the road that passes right by the farm.

So, in order to get the fill where it needed to go... Ed and I had to get some trees down and the area cleared....

Almost before we could start, the first dump truck arrived. Since we really were not ready for it, they just dumped it in the driveway.

The easiest and most efficient way to do this project, was to have Ed cutting trees, and me running the chipper that is on the back of the tractor. I wasn't too excited about running this thing, it's loud and strong, and I wasn't so sure that I could do it.

But, Ed showed me how to run it, and I just decided that I needed to do it. I figured I would go slow and careful, and do the best job that I could.

So, he got to work, taking down trees, chunking up the big pieces that we can use in the furnace next winter... and then piling the brush up for me to put thru the chipper......

Once I got used to running it, it wasn't such a bad thing at all. I did take my time, and carefully put the brush thru it. Wood chips were flying everywhere, and I had to put the hood up on my sweatshirt to keep them from running down the back of my neck.

We work well together, and I was able to keep up with Ed, which was nice, because as he got a tree down, it was all clean up and gone before the next one went down.

Hard work, but well worth it.

After we had a good area cleared, Ed got on the tractor and pushed the pile of dirt into it.

By the end of the day, all the fill that had been brought to us, was evened out and the area is flat. We still have to make it bigger, but that can be done on Monday when they bring us more dump trucks of dirt.

It wasn't exactly the way that I had planned to spend the day, but, when good things come your way... you need to take advantage of them. If we had to buy this fill, it would have been quite costly... (they don't say "dirt poor" for no reason!!!).. the road crew was happy to have a place to put it, and we were happy to take it off their hands... all that was needed was a bit of work. So, job well done, and another thing that can be checked off the "to do" list!!!!

"inspector gadget"

Our guinea hen has a new job!!! He is now a vehicle inspector for the state!!! Think those other guys don't miss anything... well you haven't seen the work that Mr. Guinea does. He doesn't miss anything, and being at his "low height" he sees it all....

"and around to the other side"

course, there is a chance that he is just looking for "that handsome fellow" again!!!!

or maybe just picking the dead bugs off... hey... there's another job.....

bug detailing.........

Can't say that our animals aren't multi-talented!!!

We have new neighbors in the barn... the swallows have found the overhang and are beginning to make new homes. I don't know how many pair we have, since they dart in and out so fast. But what a racket when one bird chooses the wrong the "cubby"..... the Blue Indigo's are not so happy with the new neighbors... I think they like the peace and quiet... and then the swallows arrived. I am happy to have them all... they're all bug eaters!!!!

Next weekend, we are having a driving clinic here on the farm. Our friend, Butch will be running the seminar, and we have seven "students" coming to learn about driving. Butch is bringing two of his Belgians with him, and then Tonka and Duke will also be "used", as well as Mocha. This will give the students a wide variety of horses to work with.

So, with that in mind, I have been trying to work the boys in harness as much as possible. Can't have them "rusty" when they are going to be teachers!!!

Pulled Duke out last evening.... now, the "rule" is, when there are big (very big) horse feet on the floor... cocker spaniels must be in a safe place!!! Sadie's little dog, Tatter, took refuge on a few bales of hay!!! and we got this cute photo of them!!! It's so nice to have horses that like dogs and dogs that can behave around horses... makes for a peaceful kingdom!!!!

Betty came over to work with Mocha... my goodness, was she a "twit" last night!!! She gave Betty a real run for her money, and finally, I asked Betty if I could step in and fix this little attitude.

Mocha wasn't too happy when "Mommy" got behind the reins, and finally decided that she should "just go with it"..... mares!!!!!!

Then Betty took over once again, and they had a fine lesson together....

think we better do a little more work with Miss Mocha before this clinic!!!!!!

Annabelle was in rare form last night... being silly and doing all sorts of crazy things for the camera. She has turned out to be the best kitty....next month will be her one year anniversary as our barn kitty....

"all this horse training make me tired!!!!"

stairs and doors....

It's funny in that, when you use something all the time, you hardly even notice it... until... you don't have it!!! Case in point, cellar stairs!!! All winter long, whenever we have needed to get into the cellar, it has meant, going outside and walking around to the back of the house. Not bad if the weather is good, but if it were snowing or raining... that also meant putting your coat on!!!

Well... as of today.... this "big hole" that looks into the upstairs....

is gone!!!!!

Because Ken has completed the stairs!!! And all we have to do (when wanting to get into the cellar) is head down the steps!!!

how grand!!!!!!

Another "all done" project is the set of doors in the cellar that leads out to the back yard. One of the neat things in the design of this house is the walk out basement!!! It's going to be so handy when it comes to muddy puppy paws... and guests dogs, and (hopefully) the doggie daycare that we plan to start up. With this door in place... all "outside" openings are now closed in!!!





This is the "kennel area"... when you come in thru the garage, it's down another (competed) staircase, into this area. We will build a wall here between what is the cellar area and the kennel area.... and then the dogs will just go from here thru the door into the fenced back yard.

Things are progressing well.... Ed is finishing up the wiring, we're getting decisions made about the outside covering on the house (vinyl)... and then it will be sheetrock... kitchen work.. bathrooms... floors.... hugh... think I'll stop here!!!!!

a weekend of horses!!!!

It's late, and I haven't been home very long..... but I know that some of my loyal readers will be looking for a new blog... so, I am taking the time to get it posted. What a wonderful weekend!!! and there is so much to tell, that I know I won't get half of it printed in the blog... but, at least I can give you a report.

I spent the weekend at the farm of our friends, Becky and Butch. They were the hosts to a training seminar with Patrick Benson (www.patrickbenson.com) . As most seminars go, you come home happy, excited, tired and overwhelmed with information, but all in all, great fun!!! Tonka was a great boy and not because he is my horse, but he turned out to be quite the favorite with the other riders and with Patrick himself. Tonka doesn't look like your typical dressage horse, but he has talent, and it didn't take too long for him to show that off. Course, he and I have been working on it for the past few years, so he does know his work... but being a "draft type", you don't know it when you look at him.

Patrick rode him a few times over the weekend, and Tonka proved to him how athletic he really is. He has a nice bend to him, and can be very light on his feet. It was fun to "show off " with him.

Beside the fact that I had 11 hours of riding this weekend (and NO I am not sore in case you are wondering!!!) the whole idea of traveling with your horse, being away from "home" for the entire weekend (sleep overs with your friends).... proved to be a wonderful experience.( and certainly way different from travleing with your dog over a weekend of dog shows!!!!) We also learned some new riding moves and made some new friends!!!

This is my friend Becky on her horse, Major....

It was a small clinic in that there were only five riders, but that was nice in a way, because we got a lot of personal attention. The arena was very nice, but smaller that some, but, for the five of us, there was just enough room. That was also another good experience for Tonka... to ride in an arena with other horses. I have done it in the past with another horse, but not with him. It's a different experience in riding, when you need to keep an eye open for someone else, pay attention to where you are going, and be polite to the other riders in the ring. Our group got along quite well, and we really had a good time riding together.


Course, a visit to Becky's and Butch's is always the best when you get a chance to be behind the Belgians. On Saturday, when we were done riding, Butch hitched the team and took us for a ride thru the woods. It was just a perfect way to end a day of riding and training work!!!! We pretty much crashed after that.

Today was more riding, answering questions, and just tweaking our new work.... then it was packing up and heading home once again. I know that my own bed will look really good tonite, and Tonka seemed pretty happy to see his own stall again. I'll give him the day off tomorrow, but we'll be "back at work" before the end of the week, working on some new things Patrick taught us, and then going to see Laura for our weekly lesson.......

I hope this blog makes sense... I am quite tired and probably will read it tomorrow and think.."why did I say that?" so.. it's off to bed.... and I may change this blog around tomorrow......

it's Thursday already???

Goodness, I have no idea where this week has gone!!! It's been a bit of an "odd" week, with the holidays and other "happenings".. it just seems to be "one of those weeks". But, tomorrow is Friday and I have been looking forward to that all week. I will be packing up Tonka, and with my dear friend Betty, we will drive to Becky and Butch's for a weekend of riding!!! Betty and I will be attending a seminar that is being put on by Patrick Benson... I have no idea what to expect...never been to a clinic before with a horse, but I am looking forward to a weekend away and a weekend of horses... should be great fun, and I will take lots of pics for the blog!!!!

Ken and Buzz are back again finishing up some little things...mainly stairs.

This set of stairs in the the garage and will lead down to the cellar. If things work out according to plan... this will be the entrance to our "doggie daycare" and boarding kennel. It will be nice, because clients won't have to walk thru the house to get to the cellar area, and by coming thru the garage, they can be "safe" from any kind of bad weather.

This is all I got for house photos today... just the rough in of the steps. After that, Ed and I were on the road with a "million" things to do... so, I didn't get back to see the finished product. Guess I'll have to get those shots tomorrow.

Monday (Memorial Day) was great fun. The weather was beautiful and Ed, Sadie, and I got up bright and early and headed back to our "old town" to see the parade. Ed and Nate decided to dawn their uniforms and march in the parade as well. We brought the dogs will with us .. and certainly weren't the only folks with dogs!!! It was a great place to do some socializing and meet some new friends. Here Banjo and Tatter say hello to a pug puppy.

The start of the parade. It was fairly large and there was an excellent turn out of town folk. It really pleases me to see so many that wish to pay their respect to the ones who gave so much for our country!!!

Got to love a man in a uniform!!! Here is my Ed (fire department) son-in-law Nate (Marines) and my Dad... (also fire department).... nice looking group of men!!!!!

And I just had to get this picture of Nate with his dog!!!!

By the way, last night Banjo passed the AKC Canine Good Citizen class and test!!! He officially holds the title of CGC!!!

Congratulations to Kas and Nate for a fine job of training this beautiful dog!!!!

On one last note, Ed's brother Bill is in the hospital tonite... he has some health issues that he has been dealing with for sometime now, but, last night was not feeling well at all. We paid him a visit this afternoon and he is looking much brighter, though "they" are keeping him for a while to do a long list of tests. I feel a little guilty for leaving this weekend, but really there isn't much I can do, so I will still continue with the weekend plans. Say a little prayer for Bill........

feeling like a holiday...

Today began with going to church. Dare I say that we haven't been in almost a month!!!! with dog shows, Mother's Day, open house.... it seems as though every Sunday has had "something" going on.... so, today, I was anxious to get back to church. It was a nice service in honor of Memorial Day, and after church, there was a little town memorial service that Ed and I stayed to watch. I was so wishing I had my camera with me.... the little girl scouts with a veteran raised the flag and did a wreath placing ceremony. We sang some songs, and listened to a couple of wonderful speeches.... just the perfect "small town" sort of thing.

Then in the afternoon we had a small cookout with friends. We have been trying to get together with Kelli and Rick for quite sometime, and I was so happy when they were able to come. And then we got a phone call for another couple of good friends, Cindy and George. They had invited us to their camp, but with plans already made with Kelli and Rick.... I invited them to our camp instead.

It was such a nice afternoon, we ate out on the deck and enjoyed the lake, the good weather and the excellent company. Things like this are things that I plan to do a lot more of this summer!!!! There is just never enough time to spend in the company of good people!!!!!

The "lake" has been busy this weekend. Just about every camp on the road has people this weekend. Cookouts are happening all over the place, and you can hear happy voices everywhere. It would appear that our "renters" are having a great weekend... the weather has been a bit "off and on" with showers here and there, but when the sun pops out, it's almost hot. Tomorrow we head back to our "old hometown" to celebrate Memorial Day there and see the parade and all. We have to be on the road early, as the parade is at 9:00 am.... so that will make for a busy morning.

Sadie and I took some time yesterday and finished planting the garden. We have all sorts of "yummy things" planted...so I guess we'll see how it all comes out in the end. I saved a patch to plant tomato plants and a few other things, that I was going to pick up sometime next week. But, when Kelli and Rick came this afternoon... they brought me some goodies for the garden... several different tomato plants, pepper plants, summer squash and watermelon to name a few.




When Ed and I went down this evening to feed and bring the horses in, we got a new plants in the dirt and gave them a good drink. We will need to get the fence up around the garden this week... we already know we have some bunnies around, and we don't want them helping themselves to our goodies.

I know that I already posted the video of Duke in his cart yesterday, but here are some "stills" to go along with it. I started the "lesson" out with some ground driving. It's good for the both of us, he is still getting used to my driving "skills" and I am still getting used to working with him. He has some "flaws" that need work... one being simply standing still.... he likes to move, and getting in and out of a cart, you need a horse to stand well. I know what to "do" to fix it... just a matter of "doing it".....

Because the ground driving went so well, I got "brave" and pulled out the fore cart. At first I worked with it and didn't have the seat in place. I also asked Ed just to monitor us and be that "extra pair of hands" in case things went amuck.... but they didn't....

and then we put the seat on the cart, and away we went. I know it's just a matter of practice and work and we will be doing this on our own. I get better each time I do this, and I can see my own improvements. Come fall, we should be able to drive all over the place!!!!!

ps... Silver is just fine after his night of "partying in the alleyway".... whew.....

biker chick.....

Ed took his bike out this afternoon, and almost immediately had a fan....

Or maybe it was this "fan" discovered something else....

like.... "what a handsome guy I am!!!!"

what we did today......

the video says it all........ :-) by the way, this is Duke!!!!

and me without a camera...

Just came in from the barn...... what a MESS!!!!! "somebody" didn't latch Silver's door last night, and he had a grand time in the alley way!!!! Nearly ate an entire bale of hay!!! pooped everywhere, knocked things over and I can only imagine the way he got everyone else up set....... I will have some chores to do a little later!!!! WHY do they do things like this on a holiday weekend??? If he has tummy troubles, finding a vet won't be an easy task....... will keep you posted!!!!


(took this photo last weekend... not bad looking for a horse that is 31/32 years old!!!!)

too busy to blog.....

I know there hasn't been a blog all week, but honestly, dear readers, we have just been too busy!!! OR, by the time I do have time to sit and write, I am simply too sleepy and doubt the blog would have made much sense. So, here's a new one for you!!!

With the open house behind us and Memorial Day weekend ..well... almost here!!! It was time for Ed and I to focus our energies on the camps. So, we (wisely) took a week off from house work, and moved into yard work!!! The mess caused by the winter storms was "amazing", and we spent three full days of raking, picking up sticks, trimming back broken trees and mowing. I am glad we gave ourselves amble time, we worked at a pretty steady pace without "killing ourselves". Both the "gator" and tractor were put to good use, and what a blessing that turned out to be!!!!

But, when you wake up in the morning, and the lake view is this... who has the right to "complain" about work!!!

I have had a couple of emails and the like with questions about the "camps"... because it is sort of confusing as to who and what that's all about. So, for those of you who might be interested, the story goes like this. Ed's (and Bill's) parents bought a small fishing camp on the lake back in the 1950's. They used it as an escape from work and home, and moved into it during the summers while they rented out their home on the ocean. (this helped them pay taxes and such) For the better part of growing up, Ed lived at the lake in the summer time. Naturally he has many fond memories of that, escept for Labor Day weekend, when it meant moving "back home and going back to school". When we started dating and all, Ed and I spent many weekends at the camp, and then the girls came along, we were there often.

In the '80s, Ed parents decided to take the fishing camp down and build a house that would be more suitable as a "retirement house", that way they could spend more of the year on the lake... the little fishing camp was really not suited for cold weather!!! Sadly, Ed's Dad passed before he had much time to spend in the new (big) camp... but Ed's Mom was able to spend a number of summers there.

In the early 90's, the camp beside "Kay's" and another camp "behind "came up for sale.(both camps were being sold together as a package) Since we were spending so much time at the lake, Ed and I decided to buy those camp and have one of our own and one to rent out. Like Kay's old camp, the one we bought on the lakeside, was in bad need, and we decided to take it down, and build a new one for ourselves... the "little" camp, as we call it. As you can see, these two camps are very close (as are all the camps on the lake), so it's important that you like your neighbor!!!

As life made it's way along, and Ed and I began to talk about "what we would do when the girls were grown"..and it turned out that we would like to have a farm. I have dreamed of living on a farm since I was a little girl, anyone who knows me, knows that animals have been a HUGE part of my life!!!! Because we had the camp, and knew that we would need to "tend a farm and still be able to have time at camp"... it only made sense that we try and find our farm near the camp. After a couple of years of searching, we found the land that we have now.... and slowly began to make plans to change our lives over and move. (And, if you have been a blog follower, you know that the move happened last summer.)



We moved here last summer, even though our farm house isn't done, for a couple of reasons - one being, we wanted to be "around" with the house going up... and driving back and forth (an hour each way) wasn't practical. And two, with Kas and Nate getting ready to start their lives outside of the military, they needed a home to live in, our old house seemed like the perfect answer. The fact, too, that our barn up was, also meant that we could bring the horses with us, and save quite a bit in boarding fees as well. So, it made good sense to make our move.



All winter, we have lived in the "big" camp, which actually is a nice sized cape and is just two miles from our farm. It has worked well, with 6 dogs, 3 cats, guinea pigs and Titus. But, in about three weeks, we need to move from the big camp and back into our little camp. After Ed's Mom passed a few summers ago, we began to rent out the big camp, and we have it rented pretty much the entire summer this year. I am a little "worried" about living in the little camp.... it's really little, and we already know that Titus can't be with us (there is NO room for his tank) and the "piggies" can't be with us either, so we are looking at places in the barn or even the house for them to live. And with ANY luck, we will be in our new house before the fall.......so, that is pretty much the "story" in a nutshell.... and what we call "the big camp" (Kay's), the "little camp" (ours) and the "back camp" (the rental)......





For the holiday weekend, I was able to rent both the "back" camp and our "little" camp, thus the reason that we needed to "get it together" and have things picked up, opened up and ready to go.

Last night, Dave, Nate and Sean came to help Ed get the docks back in!!!(thanks guys, we couldn't do it without you!!!!) It's so very nice to see them in the water once again!!!!

And "this" will be "home" for the summer... certainly not a bad spot to be in!!!!!

And here is the "back" camp, .. it's isn't on the water side, but we have pretty good luck renting it out. The people who do rent it, just have a short walk to the lake, and a grand view from their "perch" on the hill..... the lawns look so much better now!!! (wished I had take a before picture)

Goodness, you'd think they had done all the work!!!!!!

Another summer season is just beginning.... I don't even want to think of how quickly it will go by!!!!!