The guy I've been dreaming about

A fine example of the male equine persuasion...

Get your minds out of the gutter!! Do you blame me for dreaming about him?

I've never actually met this horse. I know - how can a horse be the object of a persons' dreams and the subject of so many countless hours of thought when I've yet to touch his silken coat...but it's true. His name is Eagle. He's an untrained Mustang from the BLM Warm Springs HMA.

I've talked to Eagle's current owner/caretaker and she can't speak highly enough about him...she says that in her heart-of-hearts, she knows, without a shadow of a doubt, that Eagle will be a rock solid riding horse. And she knows Mustangs; and well, horses in general...she's been rescuing and adopting mustangs for many years, and she's a trainer/ranch hand and has been for most of her life. She does a lot of volunteer trail work on the Pacific Crest Trail, among others...and rides on trails you'd never catch this cowgirl on anymore.

This picture of Eagle was taken on one of those rides. This was his first ever pack trip, and he'd just decided that he was pretty sure they'd taken a wrong turn somewhere back down the mountain...and maybe he'd just take a little break if it was alright...

Pretty smart horse in my book. Plus, just look at his gaze...he's a heartbreaker, isn't he?

*sigh*

I think I'm a goner...

Do you think I'd be just plain numchuck nuts if I adopted a 10-year old untrained, only been mounted a few times genuine wild Oregon Mustang at my age???

Signed,

Sleepless in Yamhill

Into the future...

Time keeps on slippin, slippin, slippin into the future...it's another new year. 2011 - so hard to believe. I'll turn 51 this year and my hubby will turn 62. Damn. Where have the years gone? I'm not sure how I'm supposed to feel, but when I look back into my archives of memory - 50 was old in anybody's book! I don't feel old. Well, I feel older certainly; but not old. But then again, some days after putting in a lot of hard work, I do feel old - at least my body does! That's life though, right? Seasons of ones' life...I'm feeling like it's probably the beginning of fall. Still plenty of time before winter. One of my favorite lines from one of my favorite movies..."get busy livin' or get busy dyin'" Yep! Words of wisdom and words I hope to keep in mind and put to good use. However, some days when it's slow at the clinic and there's nothing to do...but be here - I do feel like I'm wasting my life away. My mind rationalizes that almost anything that I could be doing with my time would be more valuable than sitting here and becoming vegetable-like. Don't get me wrong - I am thankful for my job. I am thankful that I have a job that provides an income which we need. I am thankful for so many things, but I'm also tired of coming to this clinic day in and day out and just "being here". I find that at times I am guilty of wishing my life away...longing for the days when I no longer have to "report for duty", punch somebody else's clock in order to provide money for my survival. I dream of the day when my time is my own. What a blessing that will be!! I just hope and pray that I'm not too old to enjoy that freedom, and that I still have the means and the energy to do all the things that I only daydream about so very often these days...

Oh well, like dear old dad used to say; "you can wish in one hand and *@#! in the other, and just see which one fills up quicker!" :) I loved my dad...miss him all the time...God Bless his resting soul!!

So on that note (ahem)...moving right along...I'm surprised as all get-out that I'm actually writing a post on my blog; it's been a long time! September 21st was my last post! A lot has happened since then and I'm not even going to try and catch up now.

Fall has come and gone, and we're in the winter time now. Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years are behind us again, and I for one am thankful for that. Thanksgiving was just hubby and me at home. Quiet, yummy meal, but a little lonely. We had ourselves a merry little Christmas, but it too, was very low-key. Christmas Eve we were home, taking care of the horses, cooking and delivering home-baked cookies to our neighbors and visiting. Christmas Eve dinner was spent at my sister's house. Christmas Day was Sabbath and we went to church and came home and enjoyed dinner, just the two of us. The friday before New Years we went shopping (fun!) and were in bed by 10...exciting huh? I enjoy the holidays, mostly...but for me, the holidays and winter are times for too many memories, remembering loved ones that are now gone, reminiscing about the good old days and noticing that by comparison, things don't seem quite as good anymore. My bad. I know that this is a dangerous and slippery slope, and one that I shouldn't entertain nearly as often as I do...but with all the rain and mud, and the shortened daylight hours and the lack of outdoor physical activity...my brain goes into decline and I suffer from (for a lack of a better word) depression. I don't like that word. I think it's highly overused, but it's at least somewhat truthful. Sads, the blues...whatever...I hate winter in northwest Oregon - always have and probably always will. Another daydream of mine is trying to figure out exactly where I would want to move to, if I could actually move. I spend a fair amount of time working on this, and I've come up with several options...someday, somehow I'm gonna do it...or die trying!

Overall, we're doing well. Our horses are all fat, healthy, fuzzy and happy. Annie is perfect (as always) and our new puppy, Ruby is turning into a lovely young lady...Annie might disagree, but it is happening! Nellie died on September 28th and that is a long, tragic and sad story that I don't wish to relive. Suffice it to say that we miss her, and I am looking forward to the day when I get to see her in heaven...as well as a whole bunch of other people and animals whom I have loved in my life!

My boss is giving me a satellite dish for a Christmas bonus. We don't actually have it installed yet, but soon. We just have basic cable service and don't have many choices in viewing, but hopefully that will improve. We don't have plans to pay for additional channels, but we are looking forward to at least some more options in free channels. The Adventist church alone has nine channels I think, and they have some pretty good ones. We're looking forward to those and also the many radio channels that we'll be able to listen to. The reception at our house is really bad and just having clear radio reception will be wonderful.

I'm hoping to begin my winter arena riding soon too. I'd like to alternate between riding Ladde and Harley, as they could both benefit greatly from the exercise. Harley's blindness has progressed rather quickly. He still has a little vision, but not much. I was very worried about his safety being turned out in the pasture with the herd for a while, but lately he seems to be adjusting and I have relaxed about him somewhat. I continue to pray for his safety every morning and so far, so good. We take it one day at a time...that's all I know to do.

Hoping you all are doing well and wishing the best to all my friends in this new year.

Keeping the faith...
Cingspots, aka Lorie

One of my pet peeves...(maybe one of many)

If I'm being honest here, I really have quite a few pet peeves, but this one in particular is at the forefront of my mind this morning.

Last evening was our appointment with the farrier to have the horse's shoes pulled for the winter. So, everybody got their scheduled pedicures...simple, right?

Well, so it should seem. I brought Ladde in first because farrier "T" seemed a bit sullen-faced and cranky, and I thought - okay, get the big guy over with first before "T" gets any more tired. And...Ladde can occasionally be a little argumentative, and the way he plays this out is to minutely, but repeatedly, baby-tug his hind feet. After a while this becomes annoying and he needs a "slight attitude adjustment"...which I do, but I also have no problem with someone else (the farrier) giving him a good old-fashioned wollup. Then Ladde is a good boy and stands very quietly for his pedi. However...my farrier seems to think himself a chiro guy as well as hoof care expert; and believes that this is more of a pain issue rather than a behavioral one. And, maybe this is true in part, but if there's a physical cause I will hire a professional of my choosing to do the appropriate treatment. My horse - my decision - my money. That's how I see it. Now, I have asked "T" repeatedly (3 times to be exact) not to do any manipulation/chiropractic work on my horse. And, repeatedly (3 times to be exact) "T" has done what he chooses to do anyway - regardless of my wishes. This in my opinion is not respecting my wishes and therefore, pisses me off. A lot. So...last night I very vocally made my displeasure known.

So, now I have my farrier upset with me (last week it was my sister, who still isn't speaking to me) and who knows if he'll want to continue providing our horses with hoofcare. Of course, this incident happened at the beginning of the appointment and "T" did finish up with everybody after Ladde; and of course, I managed to smooth things over somewhat without budging on my principles. I also apologized for my rather direct comments, and mentioned that I could have used a little more tact and still made my point known...but at least now we have an understanding. Mutual respect is a very important matter and apparently can be a little bit of a delicate situation if not handled with kid gloves. Dually noted.

This morning I discussed the entire situation with my boss (the lameness expert vet), and with a few quick lessons on the equine anatomy, we've come to the conclusion that I've apparently overreacted a little. :) (insert big, sheepish grin here). My boss concluded that "T" was probably doing no actual harm on Ladde (which of course was my biggest fear), was possibly helping to stretch and relax his lumbar and leg muscles thereby making it a little bit easier to hold his leg up; but...was also not respectful of my wishes as the horse's owner. And that, was my main point of contention with the dadgummed horseshoer. So, with my anatomy lessons intact, I will probably in future take the time to warm Ladde up before his trims or shoeings, do a little stretch work and if deemed necessary, give the big brute a gram of bute to ensure both his comfort and the comfort of my farrier. *sigh*

Isn't life ever easy?

We humans are a delicate lot.

I'm just sayin'...

I know - I know - I promised that my next post would be all about the pictures and here I am running off at the mouth AGAIN! Well, hell - apparently I'm a liar as well as a mouthy old broad.

*sigh*

7 Days and Counting

Can you believe it? One more week and summer is over...the dog days of summer and it feels like fall's been here for a few weeks already. I'm not complaining - really I'm not - the coolish, sunny days are simply divine in my book. Absolutely perfect for doing almost anything! But...it's just kind of sad. Once again, another summer come and gone; and as usual, I'm feeling like we've done very little fun, summery stuff. You know, like horseback riding, camping, swimming, bar-b-ques with friends, lounging around in the sun sipping frosty, cool drinks...sigh...I simply cannot wait for when I can retire! I know, I know - I can almost hear my mother's voice echoing in my ear..."don't wish your life away" - "the older you get, the faster time goes" - blah, blah, blah...I just want to NOT have to work all the dadgummed time!! I long for days to myself where my time is not dictated by the clock, and I don't have to spend 50ish hours out of every single week somewhere I'd rather not be...just to earn a paycheck to pay my bills, to live and survive!!! Aaaghhh!!! I'm soooo tired of working for someone else to earn my living!! *sigh* Okay, I'm done...I think. I just long for a different life.

So, Labor Day weekend was spent in an emotional whirlwind. I wish it would have turned out differently, but like the saying goes..."it is what it is". We had plans to go to the state fair and take a road trip somewhere adventuresome and picturesque. That didn't happen. It's actually been long enough now that my memory's a bit hazy, but Friday and Friday night was not good - that I remember distinctly...the dogs and I spent a day at the lake, lounging and hiking, and the dogs had a blast swimming. I cannot swim in a lake where I have to walk in a foot of mud before entering and upon exiting the water. Simply cannot do it. Yuck! Lakes require rock bottoms, or better yet, a boat. But it was alright, and the dogs were over the top; so not a bad day overall. Home from there, only to head out again with the dogs...this time the destination was the beach. I had no plans, just started driving - west over highway 6 through the coast range mountains and when we reached Tillamook, I turned right and headed north, up the coast. We were very fortunate to find a room over a holiday weekend. God answers prayers. We had a partial ocean view, a lovely deck, king-sized bed, full kitchen and a fireplace. Not too bad. We walked on the beach until sundown, then headed back into town for a take-out pizza, icey cold Blue Moon complete with orange slices and movies on cable. Very nice. The next morning we took an early morning walk along the beach again, took a bunch of pictures and then headed back to our room for coffee and a shower. From there, we headed north up the coast to Seaside and then back home on highway 26. It was a gorgeous weekend at the beach! Mid 70's, beautiful blue skies and absolutely no wind. Perfect! Then on Labor Day, we labored. We stayed at home all day after a quick breakfast out, and got caught up on some projects around the house and yard.

Last weekend, we went and got some firewood and bought a new chainsaw. Now we have about 2 cords all neatly cut and stacked in our woodshed. Nice...how I love squirreling for winter!! I'm actually looking forward to getting a wood-cutting permit and getting out in the woods and chopping some more firewood. I feel like Paula Bunyan!!! However, I'm not the chopper - I'm the pitcher into the trucker. There's something very satisfying to my soul about storing for winter use. I do believe I have a little squirrel in me!

In other areas of winter preparation, we've been working on filling up the pantry with canned and dry goods, filling up the freezer with everything imaginable and making lists...yes, I am a list maker. My list includes everything that I can conjure up to make our lives easier throughout the long, cold, wet, fall and winter months. Such as...hiring our neighbor and his tractor to move our manure pile from last year so we can make room for this season. Making arrangements for at least 1 truckload of slag/gravel to spread around the areas where we park our vehicles and those spots that get a lot of foot traffic...anything to minimize mud is a good thing. :) My hubby has plans to build us a wood storage box - one that will hold a weeks' worth of firewood handy, just outside the door on the back deck, thereby minimizing treks back and forth across the soon-to-be muddy yard to the wood shed. I've seen his plans and it's going to be a great wood box! Like Martha would say...it's a good thing.

Also on the "to buy" list is a couple of tons of bedding pellets for the horse stalls and at least 1 ton of stove pellets for those nights when the woodstove isn't quite enough, or we're too tired to build a fire...whichever comes first. I still LOVE my pellet stove - it just wasn't quite enough to heat the entire house, and on those rare occasions when or if, there's a power outage. No power - no pellet stove. You know the drill.

And, if my list wasn't already long enough...I'm in the market for a new washing machine. My beloved 20 some year old Speed Queen finally died a few weeks back. I'm still in shock over it! I had so hoped she would last forever...but alas, she's a goner. So, to market to market I go!! The only major problem with this cotton-pickin' list is that it's a fair amount longer than our cash supply!! Isn't that always the way it is!!?? So...slowly, over time and with careful prioritization...we'll tackle things as best we can!!

The story of our lives!!!

As always, and with many, many blessings to each and every one of you dear friends, this is once again, Cingspots signing off for now...

p.s. next post will be all about the pictures - I promise!! :)

It's Alive!!!

I mean...I'm alive!!! Believe it or not, it's been just over 3 months since I've posted anything on my blog. How the time does fly!! I know, I'm a broken record if nothing else. Anyhoooo, I can hardly believe it myself that so much time has passed. Guess I just didn't have much to say. You can all stop laughing now!!

My last post was talking about the wild and wacky spring weather we'd been having and thinking back, summer was certainly a long time in coming this year, and believe it or not - here it is only 4 weeks from today and it's the first day of Fall. Sheesh!! And I'm still waiting for my tomatoes to ripen. But, overall I've been loving this summer. It's been pleasant. We've had a few stints of wildly hot days, but generally it's been lovely. Not too hot, and not too cool. Mid 70's to 80ish and I'm a happy camper. I can't take the extremes anymore. I don't like it hot and I don't like it cold. My comfort level has shrunken (is that a word?) over the years, even if some other things haven't. But...I don't want to talk about that. Nope, not going there.

We've been busy. Imagine that!! I get tired of hearing myself say that. I long for leisurely days lounging around reading a book, sipping iced tea from a frosty, tall glass and daydreaming about ... oh well, just never mind what I daydream about. Anyway, you know...free time...what I continually long for and never seem to have any of.

Let's see...looking back several months we have taken a weeks' vacation. We started out in central Oregon, prepared to spend the week horseback riding and lounging around camp. Well, it started out nicely enough, but it was hot. Very, very hot. And I got heatstroke and after day 2 of being sick and not being able to ride, or eat, or go for walks, or even play in the creek (it was too cold!) - we headed for home...dropped off the horses, unloaded some stuff, took a little nap and set out for the beach. The beachside was perfect! Lower 70's, sunshiney with a beautiful little breeze. We camped at a place called Whalen Island where we napped, went for long walks, went out for dinners and browsed the quaint little shops. Much more to my liking!

We've also been repainting the exterior of our house. What a job that has turned out to be. We're still not completely finished, we have about 50% of the trim work left, but that's it. It started out with demossing the roof, then pressure washing the entire house, followed by taping off all the windows and doors, priming the entire house, painting the entire house with the base color, painting the eaves/peaks a second color and now followed by the trim. Good grief!! This will be the fourth weekend in a row and I have just about had enough!! We're also painting one of the two barns and the garden shed. It's looking great, but I hope to never have to do this job again. I'm getting too old to work this hard, but it would have been too expensive and unaffordable to pay someone else. So, hopefully soon I'll be posting some pictures of our newly painted and vastly improved house. Yippee!! Oh and I must not forget to thank Steve and Chris...my brother and sister-inlaw who have been a huge blessing - for without their help, we would not have been able to do this huge project. Thank you guys sooooo much!! We love you and owe you BIGTIME!!!!!! Of course, no one from my lovely side of the family lifted so much as a pinkie finger to help us. Sorry, I degress - but oh-so-true. I just hope they never ask me for help...because if they do...I can't be responsible for what comes out of my mouth. I'm just sayin'.

Let's see, what else have we been up to???? The usual stuff of yard work, house work, working full-time at the clinic, caring for the horses and of course, occasionally finding the time to go for a few trail rides and a couple of camp-outs with our wonderful riding club friends. They are a beautiful group of people who we consider much more like our family...they are truely blessings in our lives.

In regards to Harley, my main trail horse that's going blind. It's a mixed bag at best. I've had him out on a few trail rides and it's not going as effortlessly as I'd hoped. He seems to have just enough sight that a lot of what he can see, spooks him. And, if his trail partner gets more than a few feet away, he goes into full-blown panic mode. Not good. If Ladde farts, or stumbles and makes noise, Harley spooks. In the past, if and when Harley spooked, his habit was to wheel away and gallop off. He was very easy to regain control...I'd just one-rein him around and bring him back to earth - so to speak. But...now, he wants to wheel and run, but he knows he can't; and so he stands in one spot and trembles in fear. It's pretty pitiful. I'm working at encouraging him and gaining even more of his trust, but it's a project in-the-works and will take time. So, for now, we are limiting where we go, and who we ride with. I'm not sure how this story will end, but one thing is for sure - Harley's a keeper and he's not going anywhere. He may not end up being my main rider and then again, maybe we'll work it out together. Time will tell. But for now, we're going to focus on more arena riding this fall and winter and try to keep the faith.

Before long my squirreling nature will show in full-force again. You know, the gathering mentality. Our 20 tons of hay are safely tucked in the barns, but we still need to get 3 cords of wood for the winter, wood pellets for the pellet stove and of course, bedding for the horse stalls. And, I made strawberry jam which is in the freezer, and have strawberries frozen for future use, but still want to can peaches for the pantry. The peaches will be here this Friday, so if I can find the time, looks like I might be canning some peaches this weekend. Oh, and I've volunteered to be a greeter once a month at our church and this Sabbath, it's my turn...plus I'm on the "encouragement committee". I seriously think I need my head examined. As if I wasn't overly busy before...whatever was I thinking!!?? Pray for me, please??? Pretty, pretty please???

I am starting to depress myself, so I am going to shut up for now before I think of something else to add to my "to do" list. And, all I really want to do is run away and rent a little cottage in the mountains by a lake and waste away for a month or so...sounds simply divine, doesn't it? A girl needs to keep her dreams alive...for sanity's sake, if nothing else.

Love and blessings to all,

Cingspots

Heavens to Betsy... the weather!!!

Whatever have we done to have such horrendously volatile spring weather!!?? In the last several days, we've experienced warm temperatures and deliciously sweet sunshine, gentle, nurturing showers, delicate breezes...sleet, angry rainfall, hail, rainbows, stiff winds, more rain, some sunshine...torrential pelting rainfall, gale force whipping winds, a little more hail...back to aaahhhh beautiful sunshine...good grief, I'm afraid to ask what's next for fear I'll find out!!

But, it's certainly not boring!! Tomorrow (according to the calendar) charts the 2/3 mark through spring. Yep, summer's a mere month away - believe it or not. I've yet to complete my garden planting because we're still experiencing night-time frosts on occasion, and our horses are still on about an hour and a half of grass turn-out daily for fear they'll overdose on the lush springtime carbohydrate-rich pasture. They are decidedly unhappy about this unreasonable limiting of their free-choice munch time, but their bellies are proof to the contrary. Will they never be satisfied?? I fear not...spoiled critters!! Our last year's stockpile of hay is severely depleted...we have 3 or 4 bales left. I sure don't want to have to buy more before we get our once a year barnfull - and who knows when that will be with this uncooperative weather. Oh well, I have absolutely zero control over any of it, so que-sa-ra-sa-ra...whatever will be, will be!! You know the song, right? Sing it with me, kay? No!? Oh fine then!!

We've finally gotten the shoes on our horses but have yet to make it to the mountains for that first trail ride outing this year...call me crazy, but I prefer riding when there's little mud and sunshine on my shoulders. Ooh ooh, another song we could sing together...shall we? Can you tell I'm experiencing cabin fever? Hmmm? Oh well...soon, my pretties, veerrrrry soon...

Bye all,

One last thing...all season long, I've been saying it's gonna boil down to the only 2 possible competitors! And guess what!!?? I was right!!! That's right - Crystal Bowersox and Lee DeWyze - ooh baby!! They are the best, and I can't possibly make up my mind as to who the winner should be!! And, I guess it doesn't really matter cuz they're both winners and they're both gonna go far!!! Yeah baby!!! In case there are some of you out there who are wondering what in the world I'm talking about? American Idol Season Finale next Tuesday...Crystal and Lee.........love that show!!

Cingspots over and out :)

Potpourri

No, not the smelly kind - as in, a mixed up bunch of stuff. So, I'm at work today after having stayed home and taking a sick day yesterday. First sick day in, I can't even remember how long. Felt deliciously luxurious getting to stay home and sleep in for as long as I wanted to. The bummer was...I didn't feel well and that's about all I felt like doing. Funny how years and years later I still harbor guilty feelings about being "lazy" if I'm in bed during the daytime. I can still hear my mom's tiny voice in my head...isn't there something - anything better you could be doing besides laying in bed??? Will it ever go away and let me just learn how to relax?? Probably not. Anyway, I'm still not feeling very well, but I figured I may as well be at work collecting my pay instead of wasting my precious vacation time lazing around at home. Sick days are not a luxury I have, and I have no co-workers so I always feel guilty for taking a day off unscheduled. I hate that...feeling guilty is such a waste of emotion!

The horseshoer was out last evening and trimmed the girls and Shad, and we finally got shoes put on Ladde and Harley. Now I want to go riding!!! I want to go riding with just my hubby for a couple of times to see how Harley is going to be out and about with not much vision. I think if we stick to some wide, safer trails, he will probably be just fine. No super steeps and no drop-offs for us. We'll stick to the kiddy trails for a while and go from there.

Our horseback riding club has its' first scheduled camp-out coming up over Memorial Day weekend at Mt. Adams in Washington state. It's a beautiful location and has become one of our most favorite camping and riding locations. We're thinking that we may not be able to go because our truck is in serious need of new tires. I priced comprable tires to the ones we have now and they're almost $1300...ouch!! Amazing how expensive everything has gotten. We don't want to risk having a flat along the road somewhere with the horsetrailer in tow, so we'll see how things pan out, but it's not looking good. We were so looking forward to this camp-out too. Hopefully our lack of money won't prevent us from doing a lot of riding and camping this season. We may just have to stick close to home, but then we'll miss out on socializing with our friends and that's a big part of the enjoyment. Such a drag!! I wish this economy would make a turn towards improving and put lots of people back on track. Somehow, I just don't see that happening anytime real soon. I guess we'll just have to get used to staying much closer to home, at least for a little while.

Our weather is slowly becoming more spring-like. Most of the mud in our pastures has dried out and we're experiencing drier weather and more sunshine. The temps are still pretty cool, but I'm just happy the rain is decreasing. Hopefully before long, we can start planting our vegetable garden. We're staying pretty small this year, planting tomatoes, some salad greens and cucumbers and hopefully adding to our berry patch. We recently bought two more apple trees to add to the fruit orchard. We have peaches, cherries, pears and apples. Yum!! I don't want to go overboard, but fresh fruit in the summer is always a treat!

Hope all is well with everybody...blessings from cingspots!