Finishing out December 2010...

Just a conglomeration of what the end of December was like.  We got some snow, we got a rain storm and it warmed up so the snow turned to mud, then it turned cold again so the cold mud is frozen. 

Wyoming and Batman letting me know I am spending too much time taking pictures and not enough time getting their feed...

Ace and Epona posing at the feed trough...

Ace always wanting to fog up the camera lens so I can't take his picture...

Boom, who is not a picture fan, says "Fine, take it and move on..." 

Boom and Wyoming wondering if they can sneak in the barn....they know that Tandee gets special stuff, and they think they are special too!

Okay, this is just plan funny!  Wyoming was following me around and I took this picture....look at Boom's behind in the back.  I got road apples in mid air!  HA HA HA!!!!

The llama trying to run me off the road while I am trying to get pictures of Brian and Ajax.

Wintery self portrait...

Brian, Chase the llama, and Ajax the burro...

Llama less than amused....like usual....

Everyone wants in on the special stuff that goes on inside the barn...

Tripp sucked in a snowflake....ack!

Night time glowy eyes....

Wyoming loves self portrait time!

Chase running after me!

Millie the cow has her 'hula-hoop' space with those horns....everyone respects them and keeps an eye on her.

Misty the snow dog loving the weather...

Nakita the other snow dog ....

Big Red waiting for breakfast....

Remember that big black and yellow garden spider that was on the chicken house wall?  This is her egg, and it is still there.  I am surprised the chickens have not found a way to it yet.

Sunset...

Thomas not happy that other things are on his chair....and one of those things has another orange cat wearing a hat!  The absurdity of it all....a cat in a hat!  :-)

Tripp leading the pack...

Tripp and I rubbing noses....he is such a love bug!

The morning of December 25th starts here....
Ace and I enjoying self portrait time...

Chase is done with his feed and wants more.  Boom, in the back ground, doesn't like to share with the llama.

 Nevada blowing and nibbling on my ear...

 Nevada and I .....

Oops, this snuck in here...this is before Dec 25th....it was such a pretty morning and Nevada looked beautiful with that background.

Back to Dec 25th....Stormy.....

Let's play a game!  Which shape doesn't belong?

 We went to Brian's parents that afternoon.  Brians Dad and brother Justin were heading to the Chiefs football game on December 26th, so Brian and I went to hang out with his Mom all weekend. 

Brian's Dad going to bust water in the pond for the horses.  They know the drill and follow him down there...

Brian's Dad, Larry, with their QH 2 yr old, Ginger.

On the 26th I had to get out of the house so I headed down to break ice off the pond...the horses were on the other side of the hill and heard me heading the other direction.  I heard some whinnies and here they come!  The one in the middle is Tiger the mustang.

Brian came down to help me and he stopped to visit with Abby (Gingers Mom) on the left and Tiger the mustang on the right...

Brian and Tiger...

After chopping ice, they followed Brian back to the house...

I finally caught up to them and had the group behind me...

Me and Tiger with frosty whiskers...

 When I went out the day we arrived, Tiger was playing hard to get and was running and trotting all around me.  I finally got in front of him a bit and he turned to me and walked right up....he followed me like he had been taught and we did some easy directional changes and yielding.  He remembers....he remembers a lot.  :-)

December 31st...
After the rains the snow is gone...but mud is here....Boom doesn't get as muddy as Wyoming.  Wyoming seems to love being muddy.  Then night before he was packed with mud and the plan was to get a picture of him the next morning....it had rained and he was just about cleaned off.  I knew he would not let me down and by the middle of the day, he was muddy again.  :-)

Batman looking all crabby....he has earned the right to look crabby.  Chase won't quit chasing him...yes, that is how Chase got his name.  Because he would not quit chasing Jester, the blue donk, when he first arrived here.

Chase and Batman play quite often, and this is one of the nights they did not take turns chasing each other.  Batman would double barrel pop Chase in the chest and I could hear a little 'thud'....well, it really was not a 'thud'...think baby version of 'thud' and you have the sound!  More like a 'pop'. 

Batman might run, but he also turns and attacks.  He was also getting a hold of Chases hock and taking him down.  They are both something else!

 That afternoon the sun came out and it was about 60 degrees if not more for a while.  It was beautiful and very hard to remember that it was a gift from God for the day...it is still winter.  We ran a couple of errands then headed to the wildlife area to check out the lake.  We sat down there quite a while...just Brian and I.  It felt good to spend some time with him.

This sign has been upside down for a long time.  Brian says it is so the fish can read it from under the water....
It says 'Fish Attraction'.

Me enjoying the sun...

 I love sillouette shots...especially this one. 

Perfect way to end the evening....snuggled up together....

It is hard to believe that 2010 has come and gone.....

Until later....Karen and Tripp, who has no sense of time and is happy that way.  :-)

Snowy Days....

We had some very pretty snowy days.  Don't get me wrong...I am really not a big snow fan, but I sure do think it is pretty.
This morning Brian and I went out together and were going to put out some round bales for the horses.  The wind was blowing and it was snowing.....brrrrrrr......

Brian topped off the fuel in the tractor while Wyoming watches.  He knows he has enough hay in his feeder for a while, but wonders if he gets some new stuff......yes, he did get some new stuff.  It was low enough to not take a chance on a day of no tire traction.

Brian's daughter Madison woke up and heard Brian outside in the shed getting the battery charger.  Instead of staying inside where it was warm, she bundled up and came out to help.  She really is quite the helper!!!

Madison tearing the netting off the bale before Brian takes it out.

 While Brian and I were putting the tarps back on (windy night) Madison was tapping into her artistic side....

After working Madison and I decided we would have a little bit of fun.  We got the sleds out and played on the hill a while.

I came down one hill and Madison came down the other.  I ended up stopping part way down because I was making a fresh path....so no crash.  Not that we were wanting to crash, but it would have given us some good stories to tell!  Ha ha!

 Me and Madison....

A couple days earlier I checked on the bee hives.  This is our first winter with hives, and I am not liking this scene.  I want to hear them buzz...I want to know things are going well for them....but I just have to trust it will work out.  While I was walking around checking things out, (it was not that cold out) one bee did come flying out.  I freaked out thinking they were all going to come out to see what was going on, then freeze to death.  I hurried behind the hives so it would go back in where she belonged.  I know it was a 'she' because the drones (boys) are the couch potato in the bee world and the girls work.  Hmmmm, sound familiar?  :-)

Winter has always been a tough time for me, but I am finding that I deal with it much better than I used to.  OH!  I have finally realized why I have a love/hate relationship with my bib coveralls.  They are toasty warm but I feel like I can't walk or step up on things half the time, and I sure could not hop on a horse if I needed to.  Even Batman!  Well, here is the deal, the suspender part of them doesn't stay tight, so they scoot down and the crotch is lower than it should be!  If it wasn't for them being bibs, I would look like those kids who let their pants hang half way down their butt while they hold the front crotch area up.  Yeah, real attractive....

Hope everyone is faring thru the winter well so far.

Until later....Karen and Tripp who is so cute!