That winning combination

We have progress!!  I am soooo happy I could just about bust!!  I'm talking about our little herd of horses and the integration of our new horse, Eagle.  Hubby and I were so pleased this morning with the progress that it's just humbling.  There's really no better word to describe it...humbling.  Horses never fail to amaze me, and in so many ways.  They are amazing, amazing animals and I feel blessed to have them in my life - our lives.  :) 

For the past week or so, we've been ever so slowly introducing Eagle in a smallish pasture, one at a time, with one of his herdmates.  Everybody except Harley - wasn't quite ready to go there, yet.  Remember that I was torn with exactly how to approach this.  So...when in doubt, go with your instincts.  Start out with the top dog and the rest will/should be a cake walk.

We started with Shad and Eagle together in the corral and 3 piles of hay at morning feeding time.  Refreshed from a long, cool nights' rest and hungry...perfect, right?  It went swimmingly!  There were a few sideways looks, a few cocked ears, and a few of those "hairy eyeball" moments; but neither horse was very interested in a retake of the kicking match that had taken place the week before.  Enough time had passed that the lesson, apparently had lodged itself in their brains.  Never underestimate the power of a little time to cement a lesson in ones' mind - equine or human...I'm just sayin'.

Eagle has that perfect, and apparently winning combination of complete and utter self-confidence mixed with just the right amount of humble respect.  And with Shad, it worked like a charm.  You don't worry me one bit, but I respect you and your authority...now, can we be friends?  We left them together for a couple of hours and they sniffed, they switched hay piles, they walked around each other...and eventually, they even shared a few bites from the same pile.  Hallelujah!!!!  We have the beginning of a relationship and we couldn't be happier. 

And, this morning - quite by chance, the gate was left open again...and again, Eagle spotted it almost immediately and proceeded to saunter with the confidence and grace of an Olympic athlete right into the middle of the herd and pick a pile and start eating.  Kadie, the little old lady (Shad's little old lady to be exact) of the bunch, made a beeline to Eagle, ears pinned and put her nose on his and promply squealed loudly and strike out.  Eagle responds by lifting his head out of harms' way...and then continued to eat his breakfast.  Kadie stood there for a moment, and then went back to her hay as if nothing happened.  Too funny.  Shad merely watched, mildly interested, and resumed eating.  This is too good to be true! 

Now it's Harley's turn.  Harley's the horse that's almost completely blind.  Harley doesn't have a mean or aggressive bone in his body.  He goes directly to Eagle and assumes the "groom me" position...Eagle continues to eat.  Harley decides to share Eagle's hay.  Eagle could care less.  At this point, hubby and I are beyond speechless.  We are quite honestly, stunned! 

Ladde's quite another matter.  Ladde also felt the "great guns" of Eagle's kicking prowess and remembers that little lesson all too well.  He has a very healthy respect (possibly even a little fear) for Eagle and isn't quite so anxious to resume their acquaintance; but Ladde's also non-aggressive and with some time, he'll come around, of that, I have no doubt. 

What really surprises me the most, is that Harley and Eagle seem to be forming the closest bond of friendship.  I didn't expect that.  In fact, I was the most worried on Harley's behalf.  Go figure.  No matter how well we think we may know our horses, and no matter how adept we may believe that our "reading skills" of equine behavior are...we are infants compared to horses reading one anothers' instinctual body language.  *sigh*  As long as I may live, my hat is off to the amazing horse. 

So, to say that we are pleased with our, or I guess I should say, their progress thus far, is an understatement.  We are infinitely pleased...and ever so thankful, and feeling abundantly blessed at this most recent turn of events. 

I just keep telling myself to breathe...

it will all work out in its' own time.  Not mine. 

Blessings all,
Lorie @ Cingspots 

Herd Integration and Socializing Challenges

Socializing within horse herds comes quite naturally.  Horses are curious creatures.  They enjoy sniffing noses with new acquaintances and getting to know one another...to a point.  But, when you talk about integrating an outsider into an established and close-knit herd.  Well, that's another can of worms entirely. 


See this guy down below?  That's Shad.  Shad is our little herd's "lord and ruler".  We call him the "herdmeister".  Shad takes his job very seriously. 



 We've had the same horses at our little farm give or take a few that have passed away, for 14 years and in some cases, more.  That results in a very, very tight little family unit.  They have established a very consistent social heiarchy within that realm of personalities.  Every single horse knows exactly where that individual stands.  Shad's the boss.  Period.  He rules by intimidation and everyone accepts that without question.  Even the neighbor horses, more or less, accept Shad's authority.  Shad accepts his position of authority with grace for the most part.  He hasn't had anyone ever challange his position, and the occasional newcomer has always ran away.  Shad is, for the lack of a better explanation...quite animated and very dramatic in his body language.  It's always sufficed.  Always.

Until now.  We've had Eagle for a little more than 2 weeks now.  We haven't even tried to put all the horses together in the same pasture yet.  Frankly, we're terrified to try this.  For a few reasons.  For one, Harley is almost completely blind now.  He relies on mostly Katie to be his eyes, but he will stick close to both of the other horses periodically as well.  Without knowing where his herdmates are at, Harley is uneasy and cannot relax until he's reunited with everyone.  Siri used to call out when Harley yelled for his companions, thereby indicating where at least, she was at.  So far, nobody else has stepped up and accepted the "town cryer" position for Harley since Siri's demise. 

The other day, I accidentally left the gate open during feeding time...Eagle spotted the open gate and proceeded calmly and directly to where Kadie was eating.  Kadie gave him her best "scally look", but Eagle was unimpressed and continued eating alongside Kadie.  Kadie accepted and continued to eat.  No big deal.  Ladde could have cared less about Eagle.  Ladde is all about the food, and was satisfied that he had his ration and all was well within his world.  Harley was completely unaware that Eagle had joined the dinner table...

Shad however...did one of those comical "doubletakes" like..."what the????", and proceeded straight as an arrow to where Eagle was, all puffed up like a peacock, neck arched, spun around and presented his big, red butt and bellowed like a bucking bronc and began a kicking match on the intruder.  Eagle responded in kind.  Eagle was not impressed, nor was Eagle intimidated.  At all.  Eagle has great guns and gave whack for whack.  I was in a state of sheer panic and grabbed the, now frightened Harley, and got him the heck out of there before he could get caught in the crossfire.  Hubby comes running with the lunge whip and gets everybody's attention and breaks up the kicking match.

When the dust settles, Kadie's in the corner with Shad protecting her like armour.  Ladde's in front of Shad, and Harley's running around in the corral wondering what the heck is going on?  Eagle is standing calmly, butt facing the trio in the corner, about 20 feet away.  Everybody's thinking things over, it seems.  I walk up to Eagle, halter him and get him out of there before round 2 gets started.

Now, I'm still not sure whether what I did was the right thing to do, or not.  I did not want anybody getting seriously hurt.  I wanted to check everybody out and see if any damage had already been done.  But...if we were'nt there to intervene, would that have been it?  Or, would they have gone at it again?  We'll never know for sure, but my bet's on round 2. 

We've had the horses where they've been able to sniff and squeal and get acquainted for just over 2 weeks now, and we need and want to get Eagle integrated into the herd.  That's quite obviously what Eagle wants.  Shad, on the other hand, likes things the way they are - thank you very much!  *sigh*  What to do???  I know at some point, we are going to have to let them do what they will.  I remember Ray Hunt telling me that "you have to go through it, to get past it".  True, but scary at times.  For me; this is one of those times because one well-placed kick could mean a broken bone.  That, I don't want. 

Does anyone have any experience dealing with a situation like this?  What have you done when integrating a new horse into an established "equine family"?  Do you remove the herd boss and let that horse work out things with the new guy first?  Or, do you just let everybody out together at the same time? 

I do know one thing for certain.  Harley will have to be removed for his own protection.  He cannot see to avoid a situation and would almost certainly get hurt.  Kadie's an aged mare and doesn't move as quickly as she once did.  Plus, she's as close to "married" as any horse possibly can be...and to Shad.  It's his duty to protect Kadie at all costs.  Even if there's nothing to protect her from - Shad sees things differently than we do.  Like I said before, Shad takes his job very, very seriously...and he is the protector.

Ladde, undoubtedly will be the easiest.  He's already had a squabble with Eagle and has learned that the powerful, even if smaller, Mustang has..."great guns".  Ladde's butt shows Eagle's perfect hoof mark as a reminder.  And, as second in command, Ladde will follow Shad's lead.

I'd definitely appreciate any advice that you can offer.  Life's experiences can provide great insight and wisdom...we're open to any and all of your thoughts.

Blessings all,

Cingspots...Lorie

Sunny daze

We'd been having a picture-perfect summer up until a couple of weeks ago...then it turned HOT!!!  A pox upon all of you complainers about our mild summer... sure hope you're all happy now!!  I've been wilting like an english rose.  I used to love the heat, but simply cannot tolerate it anymore.  I get light-headed, dizzy, feel exhausted and sometimes sick to my stomach if it's too warm.  It's a problem.  But...summer is fleeting, so I shan't complain anymore!!  Fall's just around the corner and it'll be sweatshirt weather and frost on the pumpkin before ya know it.  I love fall.  It's my favorite time of year.  Summer's pretty sweet too!!

So glad it's Friday.  It's been the week from hell at work...so slow I think I may lose my mind!  This translates to long days feeling like I'm a caged animal.  Hate that!!  Could be worse - I could not have a job to be bored at.  Ok, I'll shut up about that.  Anyway, the weekend is here and we're picking some peaches at a nearby farm (yum!!), organizing our camper for a possible upcoming camping trip (our first this summer) and attending a life-long friend's 50th birthday bash.  Should be fun!  And, according to our local weatherman, this might be the end of our record-setting heatwave.  Next week it should be back down in the mid 70's and lower 80's.  Now that's my kinda summer weather - perfection!! 

 My boy Harley with my girl Kadie.  Harley will always groom on command.  Must be nice huh?  Harley would do anything for Kadie...he loves her.  Kadie pretends this annoys her.  :)

 The adorable Annie having a good back scratch after her bath with the garden hose.  She dislikes baths intensely, but you cannot keep this dog out of the water otherwise.  Must be the soap...

 My brother-in-law, my niece Kendall and her daughter, Lilly (on the left) and Faith, my other niece Rachelle's daughter.  They recently celebrated their first birthdays.  They're about a month apart in age.  Pretty adorable babies huh??  They're polar opposites from each other.

 Beautiful, naked babies in the pool...adorable!!

From the trail the dogs and I walked a couple of weeks ago in the Jefferson Wilderness.  The trail was 2.3 miles up, up, up...I was a hot, tired gal and so were the pups.  Fun walk and very peaceful though.  We hiked into Pamelia Lake and the dogs had an energizing swim as their reward.  I found a hat and used it as a bug swatter.  Remember, "ask and ye shall receive". 

 Come on mom!!!!  It's so cute how the dogs always come back and check on me...they probably walk triple the distance that I do.  Ruby recently turned 1 year old...cannot believe that we've had her almost a year already.  Again - time flys!!  I cannot believe it. 

 This is Duncan...trail horse/packing horse extraordinaire sneaking through camp headed for the water bucket after hauling these steel culverts out from a "you slip - you die" trail.  He is phenomenol!!!  Call me a coward, but you will NEVER catch me on those kinds of trails ever again!!  I like land on both sides of the trail - thank you very much!!

Kate, Duncan and Eagle arriving back in camp.  Eagle got lucky and only had to haul the oxygen and acetylene tanks in one way.  He's not quite as experienced as Duncan and those heavy, very cumbersome culverts might have been a wee bit too much for him to handle.  Awesome experience for him though.  This was the day we brought him home.  He's been living the life of riley since arriving at our place. 

Hope you all have a spendid weekend!  Make the most of it because summer's waning...

Blessings to all,

Lorie

He's all mine...

...or maybe I should have titled this post something like, Caution:  May cause drooling.  Ya, that's it!  Because he's even more gorgeous than I'd remembered and HE'S ALL MINE!!!  And, he's home with us at long last!!

The last several weeks I'd spent many an hour doubting my decision to get another horse.  That's what I do.  I hash and I re-hash.  I toss and turn and can't sleep.  One minute, I'm super excited and the next I'm crying because I'm unsure and doubting, doubting, questioning my every motive and chastising myself for being foolish.  *sigh*  I HATE being indecisive!!! 

You see, over a year ago when I first laid eyes on this horse, I went ga-ga.  Uh-huh...head-over-heels stupid ga-ga over this horse.  You'd think I was a silly teenager or something.  I spent an hour on the phone with Kate (his current owner) learning everything I possibly could about him.  And, then I did what I'm so very good at doing...I started to question the soundness of getting another horse when we already had 5 horses and a llama to feed and to buy hay for, pay for farrier expenses, veterinary costs, bedding supplies and on and on and on...you know the story.  Horses are expensive.  Horses are a lot of work.  My hubby and I are not spring chickens anymore.  My hubby and I are both gainfully full-time employees outside the home, aka tired when we get home to second horse-caretaking job, not to mention property owners, home owners, fence builders and maintainers, landscapers, cooks and chief bottle-washers...*sigh* ...sheesh, I'm getting tired just thinking about all we have to do.  And, I wonder why we never have any money.  And...why we can never afford to take nice vacations etc etc etc...the list goes on and on and on...  you get the drill.

Anyway, after a week or so of heart-wrenching doubting and questioning of myself and my motives; I made the phone call to Kate and told her of my decision to postpone acquiring another horse at that time.  I tried to forget about said horse.  I even did - for a little while.  But...no matter how hard I tried, somehow I never quite could...

Months and months go by, over a year actually.  Things change, life happens...old friends die.  Our beloved and precious resident "little old lady" coliced unexpectedly and we now had only 4 horses in our humble little abode.

After the initial grieving process, a tiny little (guilt-ridden) feeling of relief began to creep in...maybe our hay supply we'd bought just might last through the winter for 4 horses.  Just maybe we won't have to buy a few more tons to get us by, the farrier bill will be just a tad less every couple of months, less vaccines to buy, one less stall to clean...don't get me wrong, I was never relieved at Siri's death.  Not for one single minute!  But, the more practical side of my brain began to emerge.

And then, I remembered Eagle.  And the Wild Horse Expo was coming up.  I'd put that on my calendar hoping we'd be able to attend, months earlier.  I sent an e-mail to Kate inquiring, if perchance, she just might be attending, and if so, was she bringing Eagle to the event???  All perfectly innocent questions, right???  RIGHT???  

Kate responds with a resounding "YES"!!  "I'll bring Eagle with you in mind!".  My heart starts pounding wildly in my chest, I start getting all emotional like a ninny and...well, you know.  Shit happens!!!  I had hoped that once I met him in person, I'd see that he was just another horse.  No big deal, horses come along every single day.  Finally, I could get him out of my head (and out of my heart).  End of story...

NOT!!

He looked me squarely in the eye and I melted like a cube of butter in the noonday sun. 

God help me...I was a goner.

Can't explain it.  I don't even try.  For those people out there who have never fallen in love with a horse at first sight, you couldn't possibly understand.  But, just maybe there are those of you out there who know exactly what I'm talking about.  Some things in life you just can't explain.  Some things in life don't have to make perfect sense.  And some things are just bigger than we are.

*sigh*

I think we were destined to be together...cool, huh?

For the love of summer

Yes, I doooo love summer and all that it entails.  Long days, warm nights, sunshine, everything!!  So, for once I don't have a lot to say and thought I'd just post a bunch of pictures taken over the last month of so.  Our summer so far...

Homemade strawberry jam...YUM!!!

 Swimming in the lake...................

 Fishin' - even if it is just for pretend!!

Bathing and spending time with the horses just because you love them!!!  This is my grandson David and our beautiful little mare "Kadie".  She loves attention...don't most girls??

"Ladde"  after just having his first bath of the summer and showing off those spots that otherwise go un-noticed unless he's all wet.  I think he's beautiful...er, I mean handsome!!

 Ya just gotta admire a gorgeous horsey butt!!  This is Harley, doing what Harley loves best...

Herd shot...with the head herdmeister - "Shad"

Naps with an old friend - what's not to love about that!!??

My berry patch!!  This is the first year I've got berries, and they're a little out of control...like so many other things in my garden.  But those berries are delicious!!!

A super weekend breakfast made especially tasty with freshly homemade raspberry topping with berries just picked my my berry patch!!!  Hmmmmm...

My gorgeous wild rose hedge that keeps growing bigger and better with each summer...I love it!!

Summer projects that are enjoyed for years to come...
Thank you honey!!

Making new friends...

And lastly, but forever at the tops of my loves list...another shot of Ladde feeling especially dashing after his bath.  He knows he's gorgeous!!  And, there's my beloved hubby trying to hide behind the Laddmonster!!  Sorry, not a chance!!  :)

Hope you're all enjoying your summer.  We're off to Costco to buy some ribs and chicken breasts for a BBQ this weekend at our house with the family and a few friends.  I'm gonna make a killer (I hope) boysenberry cobbler with some of the berries that I picked last night.  Hmmm, served with homemade whipped cream/mascarpone cheese topping...oh my!!!  Hope everybody's weekend is fun, relaxing and oh-so-tasty too!!!!                                                                                                                              

Smiles and tears

It's always a mixture, isn't it?  Life is never simple, nor is it dull.  There are pleasures that bring the smiles, and there are the heartaches that cause the pain and the tears.  I guess that's just the way it is.  On this planet anyway.  I do look forward to the day when we're living in heaven, on the new earth, where there will be no more sadness and no more tears.  I look forward to seeing my mom and dad, my grandma, and the grandparents I was never fortunate enough to meet.  And so many friends, relatives and animals whom I have loved dearly.  Yes, I'm looking forward to that...very much. 

But, until then...life goes on.  I see that once again, I have been remiss in posting with any regularity on my blog.  The days just seem to fly by, and I so easily lose track of the days.  One after the other, they pass so quickly.  This has been a lovely summer to me.  I've heard so many people complain about our weather, the lack of sunshine and hot temperatures so common to so many other summers.  But I've been enjoying our sunny, cooler than usual weather.  Mostly, the days have been pleasant and warm, some grey and some rain.  I can appreciate that.  Especially when I watch the news and see what's been going on weather-wise in the majority of the country elsewhere.  Temperatures in the hundreds, massive flooding, tornadoes and such?  We are truly blessed here in the pacific northwest.  We complain and we have absolutely no reason to do so.  So, I for one, am very, very thankful for our summer.  I just hope it sticks around for a good, long while. 

Remember this girl?  This is our old gal..."Frosted Siri L"  She turned 29 years young on January 31, 2011
and this is our grandson David, who's 10 years old and loves Siri madly...

He'd spend all day long in the barn or hanging out with her in the pasture if he was able.  Well, Dave came out and spent 10 days with us when we took some vacation time the end of June and the first part of July.  We took a bunch of pictures of him and Siri spending time with each other.  I'm so thankful that we got that time and those pictures, because our sweet old girl passed away on July 13, 2011.  She was in good spirits when I turned her loose in the apple orchard pasture with the rest of the horses, and about 2 hours later, we had to have her euthanized for an apparent fatty lypoma that strangulated her small intestine.  It was intensely painful  and unbelievably fast.  Here one moment, and gone the next.  It certainly took us by surprise, and left us with no alternative than to say good-bye to our dear friend.  We buried her near the apple tree the following day, along with so many other animal friends whom we've loved over the years.  I'm so very thankful we were home and able to be with her when she needed us the most...so thankful for that.  We're going to miss her, and her sassy attitude, and her worrisome nature over her herdmates.  She was a treasure and we loved her.  It was especially touching to see how each one of the horses personally said their good-byes to her.  And some people don't believe that animals love one another and grieve over the loss of herdmates.  I'm here to tell you that they do. 

R.I.P. "Frosted Siri L"  1/31/82 - 7/13/11  Thanks for the memories!!  It's been a pleasure and a blessing spending time with you!! 

If you ever get the chance to read a little book titled the "Ghost Wind Stallion" , I'd recommend it highly.  I forget who the author is, but it's narrated by an old Nez Perce Indian named George Long Grass.  The story is about Siri's ancestors and a particular line of horses that were highly regarded by the Nez Perce Tribe.  I read it, quite by accident, and was startled to discover that I was looking at Siri's lineage exactly duplicated.  She had noble ancestry.

In more recent events, we attended the Central Oregon Wild Horse Expo at the Brasada Ranch last weekend near Prineville, Oregon.  What beautiful country and what a gorgeous ranch!  I'd move there in a New York minute!!  It's considered high desert with beautiful mountain ranges all around.  You can see Mt. Hood, Mt. Jefferson, Mt. Washington, The 3 Sisters, Mt. Bachelor, Broken Top, and Black Butte from beautifully green, lush pastures brimming with beef cattle and beautiful horses.  My kind of country.  Anyway, there was a wild horse adoption, vendors, demonstration of all kinds, a competitve trail ride, a horse show for wild bred Mustangs and clinics going on.  Very entertaining!  We had a blast!

Remember this guy??

This is "Eagle" - the Mustang that I saw a picture of on a friend's Facebook page over a year ago.  I included him in a blog posting quite a while back.  I admitted that I was enamored of him, and quite honestly have never been able to get him out of my mind completely since then. 

Well...I found out that Kate (the FB friend) was going to be judging one of the trail courses at the wild horse expo, and...quite innocently enough asked her if she was perchance thinking of bringing Eagle along.  And, she sent me an e-mail that stated that yes, she would bring Eagle with me in mind.  My heart started beating madly...and guess what!!?? 

I met him, I got to spend time with him, and I got to show him in-hand at the expo!!!!

I'm quite madly head-over-heels, in love with this horse!!!!

Right from the first, if you'd have asked me just what exactly that it was that had me so smitten with this particular bay horse...I'd have probably said, "something in his eyes, his expression"...and that's still the case.  I believe this horse is an old soul, a true gentleman and oh so very, very kind.  I get all emotional and my eyes tear up just looking at him and being near him.  I think he wants to please, feel safe, and be loved...and that's it. 

I'm a goner.

And then I find out he's led a very sad life.  He wasn't loved or valued at all.  He's got whip marks on his body.  Apparently, he was captured as a 2-3 year old in the Warm Springs Herd Management Area of central Oregon.  He was adopted through BLM to someone in the Roseburg, Oregon area.  Apparently, he was beaten, and it was savagely enough that at 11 years of age, the scars are still evident.  Bloody hell!!!!!  I can't even imagine...and as if that weren't enough; his owners were what Kate refers to as "dopers" who then sold him to the Winston Wildlife Safari to be used as cat meat.  Wow...thankfully, someone with a kind heart at the safari made a phone call to someone in the Strawberry Mountain Horse Rescue and said they had a horse there, who was obviously too nice of a horse to be cut up and fed to the wild cats.  That person came and picked Eagle up, and that's how he ended up with the Central Oregon Wild Horse Coallition and owned by my friend, Kate.  Long story, short...before long, I will more than likely be the very proud new mom and forever caretaker of the magnificent "Eagle". 

The beginning...

**happy dance***

:)   Cingspots 


You just never know where life will lead...

Sum sum summertime

...and the livin' is easy...NOT!!!!  Wow, have we been busy.  I always dream of more downtime, less "to-do's" and more socializing, soaking and sipping.  But - whatever - that's my life!  I'm not complaining, well maybe a little.  :)  It's been almost a month since my last blog post, and there's more to update than I can possibly remember.  I'll give it my best shot though...

My sis had eye surgery for the 3rd time and she's finally doing somewhat better.  They say she may always have blurry vision in that eye, but will try corrective lenses and see if that helps.  I'm just happy that she's not looking at more surgeries anytime soon. 

Ruby got spayed on June 16th and all is back to normal.  Big sigh of relief...I was quite worried about the surgery for some reason, and am thankful and relieved that she did well and is totally healed up.  I took a day off work and spent the day in Salem.  Just me and Annie puttering around, it was fun.  We went (I went) shopping for a few new summer clothes, went to Costco and stocked up on some groceries, went to a huge park and had a very long walk and even went through the massive rose garden they had there.  It was a beautiful day and I really luxuriated in having a day off work mid-week.  Felt like a stolen day...loved it!!  It would have been positively perfect had I not been worried about poor, little Ruby.  But, I said my prayers for her protection and left it in God's hands.  Always helps!!

My hubby and I took a week off from work the last week of June and over the 4th of July weekend.  10 days off in a row.  Sounds like a long time, but it sure did go fast.  We had our grandson, David the entire time.  We are definitely not accustomed to having a child around for that length of time.  Parts were enjoyable and parts were intolerable, but all-in-all, it went fairly well.  I'm very glad that grandpa got to spend some quality time with his grandson.  David loves being around the horses!  He's an animal lover at heart, and that's wonderful and quite helpful being at our place.  We have cats, dogs, horses and the llama.  Dave got to ride Siri a few times, brush her and he loved that, so did Siri.  We spent a day at the beach, went out for seafood dinner, had a long walk on the beach and gathered seashells.  We spent another day at the lake, swimming and hiking.  It was fun, but I found myself wishing we'd had a boat.  There were soooo many people there and I missed the solitude that I remember from years past.  So many more people moving to our part of the state.  I don't blame them, it's a beautiful part of Oregon, but I prefer less crowds and less rules everywhere.  *sigh*  Guess I'm showing my age again...  I bought 15 lbs of sliced, fresh strawberries and made a double batch of jam.  YUM!!  I put the rest in freezer containers for using later.  $30.00 for washed, sliced berries is quite reasonable compared to the cost at the farm stands.  Everything has gotten so expensive.  But, we'll sure enjoy those berries come winter time. 

We also bought some Windsor Cottage stones and built a 14' long x 30" wide raised flower bed in the front of our house.  We made it about 16" tall, so it would be comfortable for sitting.  It turned out really nice.  I just bought a bunch of flowers for planting at the local garden store today.  I just need to pick up a load of planting soil and I'll be all set for mass plantings.  We still have enough stones to build a v-shaped raised garden bed on the other side of the house by the front door.  That one should be a quicker, easier version compared to the big one.  It's really going to add some pizazz to the landscape, and I can't wait to see the end results.  My next idea is to put up some planter window boxes under some of the windows, but that's for another time. 

We have our winter's supply of hay all neatly stored in the barn too.  Our hay was delivered last week and it took us and 2 paid helpers, 2 evenings working to finish the job.  We got about 12 tons total of new hay, and have about 2 tons left from last year.  That's considerably less than the 20 tons we put into the barns last summer, but money was a bit tighter this year so we'll just feed as long as it lasts and worry about buying more later, if and when we run short.  We more than likely will have to buy a few more tons, but I'm not going to worry about that now.  Next big project will have to be the firewood for the winter...the work just never ends, does it??  Sometimes I envy those people who live in little homes in the suburbs...they just don't realize how easy they have it, but then again, I love living on our little farm in the country with all its' privacy and peaceful surroundings.  Nothing in life is ever perfect...but it's our life and I really do love it, even if it is filled with work.  I don't have to pay for a membership in a fancy athletic club to get exercise and that's a fact! 

We had plans to go watch fireworks on the 4th of July and were in the car ready to go when our neighbors started shooting off big, loud roman candles and such...Harley freaked, started running and that was that.  We parked the car in the middle of our very long driveway and watched the illegals going off all around us and felt a measure of relief at being able to keep a watch over our little herd as well as the neighbor's 30ish head of horses as well.  What a gorgeous sight to see all the horses running together in one big herd...much more spectacular in my humble opinion than the greatest of the fireworks!!  It's all about perspective, right?  I just wish I'd have had my camera because I could have caught some fantastic shots.  I'll try and remember that for next year. 

I'm still riding Ladde and he's doing wonderfully.  I'm feeling more and more comfortable on him with each and every ride.  Lately, however our consistency's been off because of all the other projects we've had to deal with.  The weather has cooled this week and it's lovely riding weather, so I'll probably have a nice evening ride tonight.  I'm looking forward to it. 

Harley had a flare-up of his uveitis lately.  It was bi-lateral, but worse in his right (good) eye.  I managed to quiet it down very quickly, but the damage was done.  He now has cloudiness in about 1/3 to almost 1/2 of his right eye.  Prior to this outbreak, the damage to his eye had been in the anterior, or back portion of his eyes; meaning that nothing was unusual looking about his eyes.  Somehow the fact that he didn't look any different from a sighted horse was something I was thankful for, but now his eyes are starting to look more typical of a blind horse.  It breaks my heart to think that he has so little vision left.  I still cry over his situation, but bless his heart, he seems to be adjusting to his lot in life much better than I am.  I just keep praying that God will watch over him and keep him safe.  So far, so good.  I'm a firm believer in the power of prayer and am so thankful for our many blessings in life.  God is good.

Well, I've run on a lot longer than I'd meant to.  I really should try to post more often so that I'm not trying to catch up on a whole month's worth of activities.  I've got a bunch of pictures that I've taken, but never seem to take the time to download them onto a disk so that I can transfer them to this computer.  Someday, maybe I'll advance to the 21st century!  Ya think?  One can always hope...

I hope you're all enjoying our wonderful summer...it was a long time coming.  May we all savor and enjoy it while it's here!

Blessings and good-bye for now...
Cingspots aka Lorie