18 years ago today...

I was given one of the most wonderful gifts ever bestowed upon me.  Seriously, ever.  

My beautiful mare "Mis Star of David", but lovingly known to us as Scooter, gave birth to the most gorgeous foal I've ever had the pleasure of seeing.  I know everybody probably says that, but our little Harley was drop-dead gorgeous right from the beginning.  :)

And I was there at the birthing, and was so blessed to get to watch the whole thing. 

You see Scoot was 30 days overdue and her pregnancy had been worrisome, so my hubby had installed a video camera in the corner of her stall so we could spy on her whenever we wanted to.  He had run telephone coax cable from our house to the barn and hooked it up to the tv.  We had our very own "scooter channel".  It was great!  The only reason I got to be with Scooter that morning, was because of that camera.  

Somewhere on my blog, I've written this story in its' entirety, but I don't know how to link to it, so if you're interested - it's quite the story.  Needless to say, I ran to the barn just in time to drop down on my knees and witness the whole thing.  It was amazing!  And scary and wonderful, and so much more.  For me, it was also very emotional.  For 12 long months, we'd anticipated and waited for this day to unfold, and I was with my girl the whole time.  I felt so honored; and so very humbled.  I still get teary-eyed remembering how awesome it was.  

I just watched and did some soothing, calm-voiced coaching on Scooter's behalf.  She and I made eye contact several times and I think she felt better knowing she wasn't alone.  Oh my gosh, she was so beautiful - and her foal was gorgeous!  I wish I had some of his newborn pictures to share with you today, but they were pre-digital and are at home in an album.  But...I have several pictures to share with you of Harley's and my adventures together over the years.  

Riding in a Brad Cameron clinic 

Me and the hubby on a trail ride with our boys

Harley, me, Ray Hunt and my sis at a clinic

Me and Harley at another clinic with Ray

Me and hubby on another trail ride outside Dayton, Washington with our boys.

My sweet boy when he was about 6 weeks old 

He always has been a lover-boy.  :)

Again at about 6 weeks old.  We called him Harley Ten-Hairs when he lost all mane and tail.  I was devastated, but it grew back...

Taking care of my non-horse-riding brother in-law.

Isn't it odd how life goes sometimes?  I truly believed that day, when Harley was born, that this would be my last riding horse.  And I guarantee that I'd still have been riding this horse all over the countryside and in clinics and anywhere else I could think of, had he not gone blind.  I know that I have to feel thankful for so many aspects of his blindness, but my heart screams why this horse!?  From the first ride ever, we rode around Timothy Lake near Mt. Hood and I felt 100% comfortable and so at ease.  We had an instant trust, and I knew I'd found my replacement for Kadie.  Oh well, I am grateful that he's otherwise healthy and I get to see him and love him every single day.  He does pretty well dealing with his blindness, this is where he was born and lived his entire life, so he knows the lay of the land.  Very helpful when dealing with herd politics!  

So Happy Birthday my handsome boy!!!  18 years and counting...

Happy April!!

Until tomorrow,

Lorie

Silly animal antics

Well hello there my lovelies!  As you may, or may not have noticed, I've already blown my 30 day blog challenge.  *sigh*  I have such trouble with commitment!!  

But in my defense, I have a really, really good excuse.  :)  You knew I would, right?  

It was Monday.  I had sooo much trouble sleeping the night before and was tired and basically brain-dead.  Was almost late to work.  Had to skip showering.  Worked hard the day before and was sore.  Chaotic and insistent phones and clients at the clinic...again, it was Monday.  I had an eye appointment and needed to leave a bit early.  

There - how's that!?  Pretty good excuse right??

That's my story and I'm stickin' to it!!

Let's get to it shall we?

I'd like to introduce you to Miss Ida Mae and her mom.  She came into the clinic because she has a sore leg.  

Ida Mae is a bit of a diva.  She's a bottle baby and until very recently, slept each night in the bed with her human parents who love her very much.  

Apparently, like any baby, Ida Mae gets bathed frequently.  She loves her baths!  In fact, she just had a bath before her appointment today and was thrown into a bit of a tift because her human momma was running late and didn't have time for Ida Mae's usual blow-out.  
(seriously, you can't make this stuff up)  Anyhoo, Ida Mae is reported to have pitched a little fit and stood baaaaaing ever so loudly while staring at said blow dryer.  :)  

Whoa...if they don't get a handle on this child, they're really going to have a problem on their hands when she reaches those difficult teen-aged years!

I'm not sure...but I'm thinking, maybe they should change her name to Mariah.  Or Marilyn.  I wonder if she sings...

Last week my sweet and thoughtful friend Claudia, gave me these beautiful tulips for Easter.  They are so pretty!!!

Thank you Claudia - I just love them!

Besides a beautiful shade of blue - do you see anything in this cloud?  I see a cow, but only her head.  

Sure looks like a typical spring day around here.  Pale blue skies, puffy white clouds, and green.  Lots and lots of green!

My girl.  Ruby.  She's quieter than she used to be, with Annie around (or in the front), but she still loves going for walks.  Nothing has changed that.  It's been almost six weeks since my Annie left us, and sometimes it's even harder now, than it was before.  I miss her so, so much.  *sigh*
Nothing feels quite right anymore...

My shadow, my dog and her shadow.

You know.  In case that wasn't apparent.

We turned the horses out into the "apple orchard pasture" a few days ago.  Nothing in this world makes them happier!  Until it becomes old hat anyway.  We gave them a half hour to graze and decided that was enough as spring grass is rich and lush, and they are fat.  Just sayin'.  Anyway, when it comes time to be run out, which is usually not a problem, they dutifully leave when asked.  We took Harley out and put him in the safe zone, and then Shad and Kadie left of their own accord.  But the three.  Oh no, not these three - they definitely didn't think they'd been allowed to chow down long enough!

The three porkers...Missy, Eagle and Ladde in case you were wondering, had their own ideas.  
Ladde would have went out, but noticed that Eags and Miss were not into cooperating, so he blocked the gate with his substantial girth and grazed there.  That made it quite impossible for the others to comply with our requests to vacate the area.  Perfect excuse!!!

Now Missy loves to run!!  And being built like an old "bulldog" type quarterhorse, the little gal can hunker down and make some moves!!  Quite impressive really...anyway, she just looks for any little reason to play "dodge the human" and fly around and slide to a stop!  And this was no exception.  If she wasn't so darn adorable, I might have gotten mad at her.  But she was, so she didn't get in trouble.  :)

 The star of tonight's show had to be Eagle though.  The usually mild-mannered reporter horse pitched a hissy fit of his own.  We were impressed.  The old boy can get a move on when he chooses to!  He did a few evasive maneuvers, sitting down on his hindquarters and spun beautifully - but the icing on the cake was when he squared off and faced his assailant, did the "wild stallion" double tromp of his forelegs and gave a big, deep harrumph before flying out of the pasture taking the others with him!  It was absolutely beautiful--but don't tell him that!!

*sigh*  These horses just have a way of making us smile every single day.  Whatever would we do without them?  Big goofballs...and dear, sweet Ladde - the desire to make those moves is there, but his big body just doesn't allow him to move like the squat, bigger-muscled little horses can.  And his desire to eat that sweet grass, well it overrides everything else I'm afraid.  :)

I hope you've all had reasons to smile today...I hear spring arrived, even out there on the East coast.  Hot Dog!!

Happy April!

Until tomorrow,  (I hope)
Lorie

Colors of nature...favorite color

There are so many beautiful colors, mostly found in nature that I think are just amazing.  Imagine that color of the sky when the sun has just gone down and there's that dusky, purplish, pink, greyish blue color on the horizon.  Simply gorgeous!  I can't even really describe it, but if you've ever watched the changing skyscape of a summer evening's sunset - you know what I mean.  

Blurry, but there's that color!

The beautiful myriad of greens of the trees, the vibrancy of spring grass, the magnificent and so hard to define color of the ocean's surf when it comes to land.  It's blue, it's green, it's grey...all those colors mingled together into something so unique.  

The intense reddish-orange of a sunrise, or a sunset just as that huge orb drops below the horizon.  Or for that matter, an autumn moon.  That warm and intense orange that historically has been called the "blood moon".  If the weather was right where you live, we were just supposed to experience one of those.  I didn't see it, but I did see an incredible silvery-white full moon last night, against the black and starlit sky.  Oh, it truly was magnificent!  

What about the overwhelmingly, bright and perfect white of a winter's blanket of fresh snow?  So peaceful and so serene.  So crisp, so fresh it almost makes everything seem alive.  Have you ever experienced that?  

Picture the woody and warm browns of a forest.  The sweet and crunchy brown blanket of pine needles under your feet.  Color in our world is so perfect.  Can you even imagine a black and white world?  How very different everything would be.  Color adds intrigue and fun and such depth.  Talk about inspiring!

But, since this post is about my favorite color, I guess I'll get to the point.  

Blue, for me is just about perfect.  I love so many different shades of blue, it is without a doubt, my favorite of them all.  In nature there are countless shades of blue, all of them unique, but with one thing in common.  Blue is calming.  Blue is serene, and blue is peaceful.  The brilliant blue of a summer sky against the white, puffy clouds.  Gorgeous!!
The pale and silvery-grey blue of a storm sky.  Intense, almost purple blue of the Iris and the gentler, slightly faded blue of a Bachelor's Button.  Your favorite pair of comfortable jeans.  Have a look at them, is it any wonder you love wearing them?  They're likely the faded, friendly blue that goes with absolutely everything.  

I suppose there are lots of varieties of shade in all colors, but for me...blue is and always will be my favorite.  It's the peaceful color, and it's the color I want to look upon just before I close my eyes to go to sleep.  And it's the color of the sky that I most look forward to seeing when I wake up.  

What's your favorite color?

Well, that's a lot of pictures!  Sorry...I do have a tendency to get carried away.  

I do hope it has been an enjoyable Easter Day spent with those you love.  We stayed home, and will be having French Dip sandwiches with Swiss cheese, from a beef roast that's been simmering in the crock pot pretty much all day.  That reminds me, I'm getting hungry!  

Since it was just the hubs and me, we planted two apple trees, a pear tree, a Blue Spruce and a yellow Forsythia bush that our sweet friend Claudia gave to us in honor of Annie.  A yellow flowering bush for a yellow dog.  I had hoped to spend some time working with Eagle today as the weather has been just beautiful all weekend long.  Alas, it wasn't meant to be.  The rain that they've been forecasting has finally arrived and  I'm kind of tired anyway.  It hasn't been the big family affair of years past, but it's been an enjoyable day nonetheless.  The frilly dresses, Easter bonnets, Easter eggs and family dinners will live on in my memory.  The times they are a-changing!  

So, however you chose to spend the holiday, I'm hoping it was memorable and joyous.

He is risen and that's reason to celebrate!!

Happy April!!
Until tomorrow, Lorie