Spoiled Kitty & My Hoodlums

Here are pictures of Preston finally.  He is still the coolest cat – he LOVES to be groomed and as you will see in the pictures – he is in heaven when you brush his belly!!!!  Weird ass cat!!

 

 

 

 

 

Check out the tongue

 

 

 

Spring Planting

Four years ago I planted my first garden.  I LOVED every minute of it that summer.  I love playing in the dirt anyway so it was good to have a “reason” to be doing it!  :)  I had so much corn, cucumber, zucchini, summer squash and beans that I was giving TONS away.  I’m also the first one to buy the “odd” vegetables….that first year, it was yellow tomatoes.  I did it more to be different but now those are the only ones I want!!  They are sweeter than the standard red tomato and although when you use them to make spaghetti sauce, it turns a greenish/tan color it is YUMMY.

The second year, my garden was just kind of blah.  I wasn’t as into it, I honestly don’t think we got anything edible out of the garden except cherry tomatoes and maybe a couple carrots.  I am HORRIBLE with seeds – a packet that will plant a 100’ row, I tend to accidently dump the whole thing in a 3’ section.  OOOPS! 

Last year I didn’t garden at all.  For a couple reasons, I was discouraged by the utter failure the year before.  I also had two foals and mares and the stallion and the kids and was still really struggling with the losses of Buck and Star.  And the biggest factor was that I didn’t have a rototiller of my own.  Dad has always ‘tilled for me and with his working 40+ hours a week plus having his own garden and yard to tend to, he doesn’t need to be doing my garden too….and before you ask, no I can’t use his tiller.  A: I was afraid of it (I failed shop class in 8th grade because I was afraid of the saws/machines) and B: I’d surely break his tiller and then I’d NEVER hear the end of it!! 

About a week ago, I was debating a garden at all.  My brothers junk RamCharger was STILL sitting in the midst of my garden spot, I didn’t want to ask Dad to till up the ground, did I want to spend the time/money etc to do it even…..Well, Dad made the decision for me.  He was at work and saw a rototiller on the side of the road for FREE!  YAY!  Cause we know people always give away their BEST stuff right?  But when I got the call to “go get it RIGHT NOW” who was I to argue?  So I drove over and picked it up.  The lady told me “it doesn’t run maybe it can be fixed I just want it out of my yard”.  So when Dad got home, he came down and looked it over – he fiddled with a couple things, pulled the cord 3 times and TA DA it started right up!  Now, I honestly thought he wanted it for himself and was going to take it up to his house to unload it but he unloaded it in my yard.  Put it in gear and played with it a little in the driveway and then asked where I wanted to put it……um?  Huh?  Ken asked him if it was his new tiller or moms and Dad said, “well, by all rights it should be mine but I’m gonna let your mom have it”….I told him that was unnecessary but he just said “well maybe I can borrow it sometimes” LOL  He left me with stern instructions not to run it until I got oil – no problem there….I’m still scared of it remember? 

So Friday my plan was to get started on the garden – shifting the garden down some to get around the Ramcharger that was supposed to be moved Thursday night but Dan was too busy breaking my truck window *sigh* Well the best laid plans right?  I can’t remember why, but I didn’t get around to starting it….probably more because I was afraid to try it without someone to dial 911!!  Dad came down and asked why I hadn’t started yet and I just shrugged…..so he put in oil, we put gas in and he started it up.  His first swipe and he decided that he’d go get his mower and mow the area first because the longer grass was more hassle than necessary.  I had intended to use the push mower on that section before we started but the mower hates me and won’t stay running.  Anyway!

Dad ended up doing the initial ground breaking for me and when he got up towards the top, he said “here you go” YIKES!!  I only had one small mishap – my first turn with it, I almost ran into the ram charger…….I got a firm talking to – was told to STOP fighting with it, and when I whined “but it’s HEAVY” I was told that if I thought it was heavy, then I wasn’t a farm girl…..GRRRR, ok so it wasn’t heavy when I stopped PULLING on it trying to stop it from going forward while I was trying to lift it up…..*sigh*  So I did the last pass over the garden and towards the end, was pretty comfortable with the beastly machine.

Dad left me with instructions to till it up again in the morning, let it dry, do it again, let it dry, do it again and so on.  We also discussed how much lime to add to the ground.  The first year I added lime and the garden was awesome, the second year I didn’t and I’m sure it was just coincidence that the garden was a flop and then last year the ground just sat so I figured it’d be best to do the lime again.  We also discussed what I should plant, I’m planting no carrots, radishes, spinach etc this year – I’m going to stick mainly with plants ready to go in the ground this year. 

Saturday morning, mom, the boys and I set off for the greenhouse.  I bought buttercup squash, pumpkin, yellow and cherry tomatoes, onions, watermelon, cucumber and cabbage plants.  I also bought corn, bean, pea, zucchini and summer squash seeds……now here’s the problem, do I have enough room??  I worked the ground twice yesterday (Saturday) and the plan for this morning was to get up, hit it with the tiller and then go get lime, get the lime on it and till it again and then plant either tonight or tomorrow morning.  It rained last night though so I wanted/needed to let the ground dry up some before I tilled so I went and bought lime, came home and got the ground tilled and just as I was finishing up, it started raining again.  Once the shower passed, I spread the lime but then went DUH!  I forgot to get gas for the tiller so was planning to run and get some when Dan and Dad brought my couch down and things got out of hand from there.  Mom ended up picking up my gas but by the time she got home, it was dark so I’ll get it tilled again in the morning and then plant it. 

Dan did come get the ram charger yesterday afternoon, so I do have an extra 10 feet or so that I can add on to the garden if I decide to – might see if Dad will help me with that in the morning – I’m more comfortable with the tiller now, but still nervous about the jumping and twisting it does with new ground.  I had intended to have pictures to share of the garden in stages but kept forgetting the camera and then when I did finally remember it today, it started raining!!  So I promise a picture blog for tomorrow including pictures of my wonderful new best friend Preston.  :) He’s still the worlds coolest cat even if he does have a “hair problem” LOL

PS – I have overcome my fear of most power tools/saws by the way…..I do realize how silly it was of me to be terrified of them when I was younger.

Brothers

I’ve touched on this before…..I love my brother, I do but sometimes he is enough to make me CRAZY!!!  The transmission in his truck kicked the bucket a while ago and he has yet to fix it but he’s been driving his girlfriends car so “no big deal” right?  Until they broke up anyway!  Tonight he had to return the car so he asked me to borrow my truck so he can get to work tomorrow.  Ok, fine – he didn’t break it last weekend when he used it…..it’ll be fine right?

I got one of “those” phone calls about an hour after he left with my truck.  “I promise I’ll fix it and really it’s not that bad”……no friggin joke!  THAT is how the conversation started.  I seriously thought he was just screwing with me.  He apparently went to throw something out the window of the truck, hit the window with it (I’m very unclear what it was that he was trying to throw out) and the window “!#$%^&* EXPLODED” !!  Nice huh?  I really still thought he was screwing with me so I made him take a picture…..

 

That is my leather seat, pieces of glass and his leg.  Yup I threatened to kill him.  He promises he’ll buy a new window and put it in tomorrow.  *sigh* I love my brother but sometimes I just want to smack him.

OH!  And in that other blog I linked to/referred to up there, I forgot the other “he’s ok but…” phone call.  Just before Thanksgiving 2007 I got a phone call from his now “ex wife”….”he says he’s ok but he just rolled his truck over just down the road”  Big, HUGE *sigh* When is he going to realize that he is NOT invincible??

Finish the sentence……

I took a walk out thru the pasture today to check out the grass.  The field has been so over grazed for so long that although the grass is growing in, it’s not ready for the horses yet, I figure in another couple weeks I’ll be ok to turn them out on it, but for right now, I’m going to hold off – this is something I have trouble with and part of the reason it’s been so over grazed – I have had problems in years past keeping a hay source past the end of April but my wonderful hay lady informed me she still has over 3000 squares and that I shouldn’t worry about hay!!  YAY!  Anyway, so with a steady hay source, it’s not an urgent need to get them out on grass so ….we wait!

But the point here was – I was walking back thru Buddy’s pen, and he was following me.  I stop, he stops. I walk, he walks.  I turn, he turns.  He and I have a connection that I haven’t had with any horse other than Buck.  It is kind of bittersweet for me but it led me to start questioning what is different for me with Buddy than with all the others that I haven’t been able to connect with since Buck.  Buddy and I have a partnership very similar to what Buck and I had.  He trusts me, I trust him and we’re happy….the key to that seems to be understanding.  I understand that he is a youngster and wants to please me but may still get scared and he seems to understand that I’m a “fraidy cat” and takes pretty good care of me.

So – finish this sentence…….Partnership with my horse means…...?  What? 

“Sir Preston”

I’m not a cat person….in fact, I swore I wouldn’t have any more cats.  We already have 2, Spaz the 11 year old grumpy brat that Vince got for me right after we were married and Kitty the who knows how old monster cat that someone dumped in our garage a year ago.  I especially swore I would never have a long haired cat.

Friday evening I went to my ex-sister in laws house with my brother to drop the kids off, she was telling me about a cat she was given that beats up her other cat and her 2 kittens so she was looking for a new home for him.  I asked to see him, fully expecting to dislike him simply because of his long hair.  You see, Preston is a Persian.  A 6 year old, neutered, lovable, cuddlable, dog-like cat!  He adores attention of any sort, if you look at him and say his name he purrs!  He has that smoosh face and the runny eyes, Vince says he looks like Oscar the Grouch. 

ANYWAY!  My ex-SIL and I talked and we decided I’d take him and see how he gets along with my cats and Ginger – if it doesn’t work out she’ll take him back until she can find him another home, but I have to say, this cat is the coolest.  I’m still getting used to the hair, and another concern was Ethan’s asthma and my allergies but both of us are doing just fine with him. 

It also occurred to me that his name is really “pressed in” ha ha very funny….he reminds me of the Fancy Feast cat and is just too regal for such a name so he’s “Preston” although I do keep catching myself calling him “Winston” LOL  As I type, he’s laying behind my head on the back of my chair.  He rocks and although he’s a high maintenance cat (brushing the fur and cleaning the eyes) he’s a keeper.  There has been some growling and boundaries have been set as to who gets to sleep where but for the most part it seems to be peaceful with a “you leave me alone I’ll leave you alone” attitude.  I don’t have any pictures of him yet, but I will get some VERY soon…..oh btw, he has the neatest blue eyes! 

Lysh 1 – Fear 0

Ok, so I’ll try to make this a not too long update!  I really need to be more regular about writing on here but I haven’t been feeling all that great for a while now.  First on that, Dr says CT is clear, YAY I DO have a brain.  He says the headaches, dizziness etc that I was having trouble with are all from the concussion and could take up to a month to go away….maybe more.  The good news there is, the headaches have lessened and for the most part, the dizziness is gone!!  The anxiety meds he put me on are working, after a full on anxiety attack I decided it was time to do something about it…that is NOT fun. 

Louie is still here and we are working on some respect issues.  I had a long talk with his owner, she wants him to be here with me and asked that I keep trying as long as I’m comfortable with him….so, we’re going back to very very basics.  Lunging and ground manners.  He works very well on the lungeline although he did show me his butt the other day and kick out, he quickly learned that would NOT be tolerated and hasn’t done it again.  I do think he has some pain issues with his back so I’m going to try some massage work with him and look into a chiropractor appointment for him.

Lucy and Rowdy are basically hanging out being pasture pets although Rowdy is working on leading manners, he’s been rushing me and pressure on his nose has been met with arching his neck and half rearing as he blows by….so we’re working on that he still looks like a wooly beast too.  Lucy is being started with some regular lunge work and saddling.  I have someone who thinks she might like to lease her for the summer so we’ll see how that works out.

Now for the biggest news!  Buddy and I are doing tremendously together.  I love this horse more and more with every passing day.  I took him to the vet on Monday, although he didn’t want to get on the trailer to go, he wasn’t bad just testing me to see how far he could push I think.  He was a bit fidgety when we first walked into Dr Tanja’s barn, but he settled down and was a good boy for her.  Her S.O. complimented him and said he was a real nice looking horse which made me happy.  He got his Coggins drawn, and after much discussion he got his EWTWNV, Rabies, Flu and Rhino vaccines.  I have never given WNV, have heard too many bad things mainly in regards to breeding animals and it wasn’t a risk I wanted to take when we were breeding but Dr Tanja feels it is necessary and I am of the frame of mind that if the vet/farrier thinks it is necessary then that is what I do.  This was my first visit with Dr Tanja and I have to say, I love her and hope she never leaves the area, at least not while I’m still here!!  We discussed in depth having Rowdy gelded which will happen very soon.  I will also be having everyone elses vaccines updated in the next couple weeks.  Buddy was good getting back on the trailer, and stood quietly while I took care of the bill and Dr Tanja and I had a long conversation.  He rode home quietly and although he did get a bit sore he was no worse for the wear as far as the shots went!  Dr Tanja gave me the go ahead (and much encouragement) to ride him on a regular basis, she said studies have show that consistent, easy work from 2 1/2 years old on has proven to be the best thing for good, substantial bone growth.  She said it would benefit him to be worked 5-6 days a week – 4 to 5 days of light work with 1 to 2 days of heavier work.  YAY!! 

So now for the fear count that is the title of this post!  I am working thru my fear issues a little at a time, working consistently with these guys is helping with that, although the thought of actually getting on Louie still makes me feel a bit panicky.  Tonight was a work night for Buddy.  He was a bit goofy about me getting on, I don’t have a mounting block so I use a bucket….always have at least as long as I’ve been riding him.  Well he was convinced that the bucket was going to eat him!  so after he jerked me off the bucket acting like a goober I went to work convincing him that the bucket wouldn’t kill him.  After that session he stood still and let me on him no problem.  Earlier this week, Vince helped me change my round pen (which I’d used maybe twice in the last 6 months) into a 60x75 square pen so that is where we worked tonight.  The footing is a bit sloppy after the mucky nasty rain yesterday so we were just mainly walking although we did trot a little.  At one point, he would not walk along the back fence without turning his head to the inside and trying to walk towards the gate…..he was ONLY doing it when we went Clockwise so I started working him just on that stretch, circling in the corners and going right back to “the rail” back and forth.  Just as I was getting him settled down finally and not fighting me to the inside, I had him too close to the fence and got my foot/stirrup caught on one of the posts….his head came up and he flew sideways.  My foot came out of the stirrup and in compensating for the lack of stirrup I almost threw myself off of his right shoulder!  But when I said WHOA he stopped and let me collect my stirrup, gather up the reins and then we went about our lesson.  YAY ME!  I’d be lying if I said I didn’t get scared, it scared me but I didn’t lose it – and yes I know this is a very little incident but this is an incident that would have sent me over the edge a few weeks ago!

A long 12 days…long update

When I posted last I’d just cracked myself in the head with the post pounder.  Vince left for work the next day, and I was recovering just fine.  Dizzy and headaches but nothing too serious.  Since the holiday swap, instead of having pretty even paychecks, he gets one for 12 days and 1 for 2 – talk about a budgeting nightmare!!  At least where I’m concerned!  So we get our bills paid with the big check, and the small one pays the jeep, gets him home and gives me grocery/hay money for the 2 weeks until the big check….only this time, something was messed up in the payroll department and he only got paid for one day – so enough to pay the jeep and get him home……but no grocery/hay money for me!  YIKES!  He has been trying to straighten that out – but as of yet, still no check – at least he gets paid in a couple days!! 

So, with the pay mess, and my dizziness/headaches it was a L O N G vacation for me with the kids.  On Wednesday or Thursday, I took Louie for a nice ride – our first real “road ride” and things went fabulously!  My anxiety/fear didn’t get the better of us and I was very hopeful for a fantastic summer with him.  On Saturday, Louie and I set off for a quick loop over near the Lodge.  The wind was blowing and I wasn’t sure how it would go but we headed out anyway.  Things were going FANTASTICALLY, the wind was blowing the trash at the house on top of the hill that the car drove thru last summer, and other then a little snort, he couldn’t have cared.  There were LOTS of cars that passed and his “goosiness” from the first road ride was gone.  He seemed alert, happy, forward and eager to get out there and GO SOMEWHERE and so was I!  We got passed the scary guardrail and the culvert that pours water, passed the dam and pumphouse and headed down the camp road.  I took him to the water to see if he wanted a drink or to splash….he was afraid of his reflection LOL so we proceeded down the trail and I figured I’d tackle the water another day.  We got about 2/3rds of the way down the camp road when a rooster crowed and our great ride when to hell in a handbasket!!

He was NOT going to go any further.  I tried circling, I tried backing.  I even tried just letting him stand there a minute or two and THAT didn’t work.  So I went with plan B – go back the way we’d come and take the main road into the lodge, explore those trails and then head back this camp road so he was approaching it from another angle and maybe would be better…..except when we got to the end of the road, his head came up, his pace picked up and he stopped listening to me.  I circled him once and got him to stop.  We stood for a minute and then I asked him to go to the right towards the lodge.  He spun a circle and we almost fell over.  (keep in mind I’m still dizzy anyway!) I got him stopped and asked him to go back down the camp road, he spun a tight circle and tried to rip the reins from my hand and I decided I couldn’t fight him – not there and then, I didn’t feel safe.  Once we started towards home he was very forward but not trying to jerk me out of the saddle anymore so I thought “ok just something to work on” – until we met a car, there were kids yelling and running on our right, a car and a truck in front of us and the steep bank and pumphouse on our left…..talk about terrifying for me!  I’m on a horse that will NOT stop not even for a minute, he’s dancing side to side, there are cars coming and I can’t get him stopped so I can get down, I can’t get out of the road……I had these images going thru my head of all the bad things that could happen…..I pulled tighter on the left rein, kicked my feet out of the stirrups and bailed.  The cars weren’t going to give me a single second to get him under control and sped past and he was so wound up that he was walking on me and dragging me towards home.  By the time we got home I was so wound up it wasn’t funny – I yelled at Tosh and Dan and my kids and just wanted to scream.

On Sunday, I decided it was a good idea to take Buddy out for our first real trail ride BUT he’s never been on the road and that’s not something I wanted to tackle alone so I loaded him up and took him to the Wildlands.  He loaded like the champ that he is, was a bit fidgety until we got going but nothing serious.  When we got there, there was only one other car in the parking lot so parking was a snap, I got parked, unloaded him and walked him around a minute to try to get a handle on his “mood”.  He was alert but not nervous so we went to the trailer and I tied him and set to tacking him up (I’d brushed him before we left the house) – he was great for being in a new place and our first trip out together and he was ALONE!  I got him all tacked and we walked around the gate to find a place to get on.  At the rock I wanted to use to get on he was being blowy and snorty and I admittedly got a little nervous and decided to walk for a minute.  We headed off down the road and I found a stump that was easily accessible and safe for him to go completely around.  Now mounting is my bad spot, we all know this by now.  It took me a minute, but I got up there and off we went.  He was very very forward but responsive to me and other than whinny a steady stream, he was great!  We stayed on the main road as I’d forgotten the map that I’d printed off and had forgotten to check the box at the gate to see if there were any in there.  There was one spot on the trail where the wind was blowing a tree just right that he was convinced there might be a pony eating monster, but other than stopping dead in his tracks he had NO real spook.  I just kept talking to him and he relaxed and on we went.  When we were getting towards the point where I was thinking we’d turn around, we came upon some HUGE, and I mean HORRIFYINGLY HUGE PONY EATING MONSTERS!!  LOL At least Buddy thought so!  In reality, they were two decent sized boulders that mark either side of a branch road…..I didn’t have the heart to tell Buddy as he was side stepping and snorting to the far right of the road that there was an even bigger boulder just inside the tree line!!  That time it took a little convincing but he finally walked forward.  He was so busy worrying about the monsters though, he never noticed when we walked over a bridge!  We got to the far side and turned around.  Stood still a few minutes and then started our climb home.  When we got back to the gate, I got off and walked him to the trailer to untack.  He was a sweat covered mess but he still had plenty of energy.  I called my mom to let her know I was still alive and would be heading home soon, and took him for a small walk to see if he wanted to roll.  He didn’t, so we walked back to the trailer and he hopped right on and we came home.  It was a great day – and we both had a blast!!

**I started this blog  TWO WEEKS ago and just finished typing it now…..sorry about that cause now I’m going to do another one that will probably be long too!!