Wednesday, July 9, 2014

VENT !!!!

7.9.14

Whoa, two posts in one day !

For those who are not wise as to the life of a horse person, I'll tell you a few things..  firstly, even though I can take some time "off" during the day, I have to be here all but 24/7 . Horses are like that- they need feed, stalls cleaned, water to drink and a lot more. If a horse gets sick- then whatever I'd had planned goes right out the window ( mind you- this usually happens on a Friday evening of a 3 day holiday weekend). I have had to cancel dates, parties, friends getting together and some really fun formal balls in the past. Most folks who own horses and do not board them will understand this. We do Not have time to waste on "no shows".

Twice now, just recently, I have had people call about boarding a horse here. One was all but frantic and the other had been fed up with the lack of care where their horses lived at the moment. BOTH made appointments with me, so they could meet me, see the barn, ask questions, etc....  BOTH of them even called me back to make sure they'd written the day / time correctly.

So I hang around and wait. Sure, there were many many other things I'd planned on getting done that afternoon, but noooooooooooo- I waited. Mowing was needing done, I have to drop some harness parts off to be repaired, and more. Let alone possibly taking a little road trip with my husband....

No One showed up- No One bothered to call to say they were not coming, nothing. To me ? That is Rude. I don't have spare time to sit around, waiting for people who don't have the good manners to let another know ( hello- cell phones in every single hand now a days ). And I sat here, patiently waiting and wasting yet another afternoon on a rude person to show up.



Bad Weather

7.9.14

Wow, did central PA have some wicked weather yesterday afternoon !   I was playing around on Facebook ( yep- we have a farm page there too) and all of a sudden, frantic alerts began... from local weather stations. Generally, it was letting us know of a line of very bad thunderstorms on their way.Reports of lightning strikes, trees down, high winds, and a lot of rain.... Then, tornado warnings began. Hello ????  Tornados in central Pennsylvania ????

Lo and behold, there really was one- and while it did some damage, I do not believe anyone was seriously injured. Here on the farm, we had two sessions of winds/ rain before it all blew over and blue skies / sunshine appeared.






 All in all, a scary late afternoon, but here, it all was good . As I was keeping track of the storms, etc, Piper trotted into my office, and it turns out he'd found something wonderful on the floor :

From now on, I will be impatiently waiting for Autumn. Stay cool everyone, and safe !



Tuesday, July 1, 2014

Whewwwwwww

7.1.14

It is HOT today. I think summer has finally arrived full force. We had been getting some 'warning' hot weather, but now ? Yep, it's here to stay.

A busy month - riding lessons, chores to get done and lots and lots of weed mowing. Turns out, our lawn tractor finally died....  it's engine froze and we had to buy a new one.  I was a good two weeks behind- so for me ? Mow, mow, and then ? Mow some more. The pastures look super now, but for one. I love the new tractor !

All of the equines have been doing great so far, as are the chickens. Ending up with just two white peeps, their mom's have been being good parents. HotWheels has what I believe is Widgets' chick because it is SO small... but HotWheels loves it any who.She's the one who sat n' sat to hatch it out, so of course, it's Hers! Doesn't matter who laid that egg, but who sat on them. Same w/ Widget- her peep is pure white, telling me that it's half Plymouth Rock and half Orpington : LARGE peepie.
It seems that The Girls have learned that at feeding time for the horses, it is also dinner time for them !   They see me coming out of the house, and come a' runnin.



Then we all walk Back up the lane together.....



Below is RC trying to be Incognito- but it didn't work, I saw him anyways.

I was taking some photos the other day- this is the barn in summer...


Today Taylor and Alex had their lessons together. Rose is quite stubborn and so it Alex.  Cherry is a little fearsome, but Taylor is quick to praise her for being so brave. Perfect matches for Both ponies and teenagers. It has been so hot in the afternoons, I'd not been doing much driving, but I don't have a trailer so why be in a big hurry to get fit ponies ? Ah well, stay tuned on THAT one.
I have had to change my feeding practices it seems. These two draft ponies can live on grass easily ! While they both look incredibly gorgeous, they are a little, ummmmmmmm, "fluffy". They are both on diets now and still looking great. I am really enjoying owning them.
We have been invited over to a friend's farm to watch a fun show there , the last of July. I'm going to take the camera and get some photos - plus we'll all go to clap n' cheer as an audience! 
!

Sadie has been enjoying the sunshine but not so much the heat.... Piper doesn't seem to really care-


 Lynn n' BoJangles standing in front of the barn.....
 they catch the cool breeze that comes thru the aisle.


They enjoy being cool, too.


Thats about it for now- stay tuned and stay cool.