Got to take a short ride in a little bit of snow...

Saturday morning we woke up to a thin layer of snow.  It was so pretty...and not too cold!  I was going to take a ride!  All my stuff was still in the truck, so out came the pretty tie-dye colored halter.  I love tie-dye and it has been part of our motif since I got Tripp for the EMM. 

Since it was as short ride, I was going to ride in the area where we store the round bales.  We opened and closed the gate...it isn't pretty, but we got the job done.  If I had cows, they would have gotten out!  Ha ha!

I CAN REACH IT....there!  Closed!

Brian came out looking for me, so I ventured out for some pictures.
I have to laugh at my sense of style....or lack of.  Same warm cushy flanel jacket I always wear, jeans rolled up because my camo colored boots are snug around the ankle (but they are warm!), my two sided bright orange/snow camo colored ear warmer headband thingy, under my favorite helmet. I think Tripp is looking much snappier in his bright halter.  :-)

 Up the small pond bank....

Around the pond....

And here is where it got interesting...the horse to the right is Boom, and he and Tripp do not have any lost love for each other.  Tripp is usually the boss, but now that Boom is out there, they all respect his space.  Normally Boom will avoid us, all tho he makes faces at us over the fence when I ride in the hay bale area.  Today he started stomping and shaking that pretty head of his.  At first I thought it was nerves, then I realized it was a challenge.  I talked to him and he turned to walk away, then pinned those ears and turned back at us real fast!  I yelled at him and he turned to go the other way as Tripp did a very nice roll back the other direction...yikes!  I got Tripp stopped and facing Boom again, and Boom high tailed it away from us after I yelled.  I might still get the spooks when I get on Boom, but on the ground (or on another horse) I am still lead mare.  I think it is a Tripp/Boom thing.  Even tho Tripp lets Boom do his thing, he still wants to assert his authority.  Brian, being on the other side of the small pond, was a bit nervous....but it all turned out well.  And dang, Boom sure did look good!  :-)  

After our short ride was over, I took Tripp for a walk to the 'scary area'.  The scary area is down the hillside where coyotes ran out from behind a dirt pile a while back, so he still gets the "SNORT, WHAT IS THAT?" thing when we go by there.  Today something flew out from behind the dirt pile and thru the trees.  He did a quick turn spook thing, I about had a heart attack but stayed on (yay me!), then after I quit laughing (I laugh right after I get scared of something...don't know why...but it works for me) we proceeded on our merry way.  This was all before the Boom thing.

After our walk I played a bit....I love this little mustang!

It was a lot of fun, I got not just one, but two 'AH HA!' moments to work thru, and I was ready to start the weekend!  :-)

Until later, Karen and Tripp who says he is happy to oblige helping me with my 'AH HA!' moments.  :-)

Hemi in the dog house...literally...and more

Tripp:  "HA HA HA!!!!  Hemi is in the dog house!  How cute is he now?  Nicker snort snort..."

Hemi:  "I am in the dog house - because I am THE bull dog and I choose to be.  Now, back to that sun beam..."

Tripp:  "Oh, never mind.  HEY!  What is that blue thing?  I don't have one of those!  Oh, I get it...."Mom is saying 'A rope, that will shut him up.'  Yeah....nicker snort snort!"

Hemi:  "Dad loves me more!  He got me 2 new chew ropes AND a big one with a handle!  I was told I am not supposed to get the handle end...but sometimes I sneak it.  Snort snort..."

I woke up yesterday morning to a pretty layer of snow.

Brian caught Misty the dog and Thomas the cat at the tree together...looking up....(he missed that photo op)....

They were scoping the squirrel that had a nut in its mouth.  If you click on the picture you can see the silhouette of the nut in its mouth...it is facing the tree trunk.

 

I was trying to get a picture of some sparkly ice on a weed...and Nakita jumped in just as I was getting the picture.  :-)

I don't know what it is about snow on the previous years plants...I love sunflowers even in the winter!

Close up of pod head.  It might look all dried up and dead, but a lot goes on inside this little thing.

Joker:  "SMOOOOCCCCHHHHH!"

More self portraits....January has been incredible this year.  Lots of great evenings with beautiful skies.

Tripp, Epona and Wendigo.  They are showing off their glowing eyes alien look.  

Tripp:  "Just so you all know, I was joking about Hemi.  I really do love the little wrinkled guy...especially since he knows his place...snort snort..."

The days are getting longer, the weather has been great, and I am so blessed to have the life that I do.

Until later....Karen and Tripp who agrees that I am blessed to have him in my life.  :-)

A week off work...

I don't usually complain about work, but I am going to right now.  This summer was rough.  We have had the biggest turn over in employees in the past year than the whole 11 years of me being in that department.  I usually get some time in the summer to take a few days off, and I usually get to go on storm duty.  I did not get to do either....until now.  January really is not the best time of year to take off, but I really needed it.  Out of the week there was one day that was about 60, and Brian was home that day so we got a few things done that were on the to-do list.  Other than that, cold and windy!  Not the weather I hoped for, but I am still so so grateful to be able to take the time off to clear my head. 

Friday the 13th Hemi went to the vet to get (shhhhh, don't tell him) 'fixed'.  He is also up to date on vaccinations and he had his eyes checked.  He had cherries removed from his eyes when he was younger and the vet had to do something with the tear ducts.  My vet told me if the cherries are bad enough, they totally remove the ducts.  Long story longer - he does not produce his own tears, and he is going blind.  (We knew this when we agreed to bring him home with us)  We know he can see shadows, but we think that is about it.  Example:  he will be at the bottom of the grass hill and I call him to me (kisses means come to me....I started doing that and it is working better than calling his name).  He will head up the hill at an angle so I know he isn't seeing me, then I will call and kiss again, and he will correct his direction.  At night - he can't see.  He is learning where things are and it is amazing how much running and playing he does!  Of course I cried when I thought of sweet little Hemi being blind...then I remembered that we as humans tend to have a harder time with stuff like this than they do.  They go with the flow more than we do.  So guess what?  Hemi is just wonderful!  :-)
He has another appointment in 3 weeks to check tear production.  No matter what, he will be on a lifetime of eye drops of some sort.

We had snow and I think Hemi was wondering when he was going to get to go back to Virgina Beach and chase horseshoe crabs.
 

 

It was a little chilly but not too bad.  The snow melted within a couple of days.  I went out to play with the llama.  He is learning to lead and looks quite handsome in Batman's purple halter.  I also put the red halter on Jester the donk.  That halter looks great on everyone so far!

Tandee is wondering why she doesn't get to wear the pretty red halter.  She says she looks good in red too.  :-)

Playing with Chase the llama and Juster the donk.  Batman is supervising, Tandee is showing her disgust since she has not got to try on the pretty red halter yet, and Wyoming is making like he doesn't see us.

SMOOCH!!!
For those wondering, Chase spits all the time, but has never spit at Brian or I.  I did get residual spit on me one day when he sent a wad flying at Wyoming, but other than that, we have stayed clean.  He has belched right in our faces before....oh man...talk about rank!  Ewwww!

Is it my turn to try on the pretty red halter yet?

We ended up with a very frosty morning and everything was sparkling.  It was soooo pretty, and soooo cold! 

The horses looked so pretty that morning with the sun coming over the trees, the frost on their bodies sparkled, and they all looked happy.  Sure can't ask for much more than that.  I love my life!

Nevada is such a doll baby...

 Tripp sporting a frosty back.

Joker centered right in the middle of the green cedars and the sparkly surroundings...you can barely see his breath.

Nevada says "Hey!  It is me again!"

Tripp and Ace before their play fight time.

Tripp going over the play fight rules with Joker.  He says the rules are there are no rules.  :-)

Brian spoiling Tripp..."ooohhhh that feels sooooo gooooooddddd"...

Nevada is very much a people horse.  He will come up beside you and just hang out.  I love that about him.

I kept saying it was too cold to ride.   Heck, some of the week was in the 20's and windy...so yep, it was cold.  Then a friend from our Mustang club mentioned that he got bundled up and worked one of his horses when it was 20 out.  I thought "Oh heck, now I have to go out to do it while it is 30!"  So I went out looking for my stuff and could not find any of it!  After a slight panic, I realized I had it all packed in the truck for the Equine Celebration this past weekend (that I ended up not taking Tripp to) so I grabbed the pretty colorful halter to ride in!  I love this halter!  It is bright and festive!

Tripp and I doing our self portrait stuff....he is such a good sport!

Brian liked this one better.  Yes, it is more centered, but I get more giggles out of the other one because I know what Tripp and I went thru to try to get pictures.  He would get too close and fog up the lens, then I would have to start over.  :-)

Batman nosing around...

Chase facing around...

Two nights ago we had some pretty strong storms come thru.  This is hail!  I sat up waiting for the storm to pass....internet and satellite was not working, and I was not taking chances on a rogue tornado.  The storms stopped as fast as they started.

Nothing like a beautiful sunset to end the day...

It was a busy week but a nice one.  I am hoping to do it again this summer.

Hope everyone is doing well so far this year!

Until later...Karen and Tripp who is laughing at Tandee because he gets to wear the pretty red halter.

Weekends just don't last long enough...

I was flying solo this weekend.  Brian took his kids up to his parents, and I stayed home to nurse an infliction of PMS and to take care of critters.  I wonder how long I will be able to use PMS as an excuse to stay home....hee hee hee!!!

In between doing a whole lot of nothing and a whole lot of something, I needed to make time to ride.

Batman to Wyoming and Tandee: "Do not make eye contact with the girl!  She is carrying something big, squishy looking and RED!  Red just can't be good!"
Wyoming:  "Not looking....not looking...oh so hard not to look...but not looking!"
Tandee:  "Zzzzzzzzzzzz.....huh?"

Hemi:  "I am not looking either....too busy basking in the sun beam.  Move on...no need to mess with my productivity"

Hemi: "Now too busy taking nap.  It is hard work to sit up for so long...in a sun beam."

Hemi:  "Not making eye contact with the girl......snort snort....zzzzzzzzz....."

Tripp:  "Oh oh, no treats in the box...this can't be good."

Tripp thinking to himself "If I just stand here and look cute, maybe she will forget that treats come AFTER work.....yep, just a little more cuteness and I got her!"

Tripp:  "BAH!  She is a tough one.  But I am looking pretty good in my new squishy red pad if I say so myself!"  (Insert music here:  "I'm....too sexy for my pad...too sexy for my pad....tooooo sexy...."

Tripp:  "Now the other side...note my ears are up, my tail is set nice and pretty, and I LOOK like I am having fun.  If I LOOK like I am having fun and LOOK cute at the same time, maybe we will move on to the treats!"

Tripp:  "I am very lucky...I would look great in bright green too!"

Tripp:  "Yep guys, fuscia!  I am very confident in may ability to pull off fuscia and still be a handsome dude."

Tripp:  "Purple!  Now we are talking! The color of Royalty.  Mom calls it the color of Royalty for a Royal Pain in the 'BLEEEEEP'.  Whinney snort snort....sometimes I just can't help pushing her buttons.  Keeps her on her toes."

I also did a video of us.  I set the camera on the bale of hay and worked with what I had.  I thought I had done a video and I was pretty proud of what we did.  Tripp was so good and we were both very comfortable and smooth.  I checked the camera - NO VIDEO!  ACK!  So I tried it again and thought I messed it up again.  So I had to do it a 3rd time.  Well, by the 2nd time Tripp was done and had enough, and he was getting a bit cranky.  We rode thru that silly ring several times without a hitch, and now he decides to balk.  I did catch Boom peeking over the round bale from about 20-30 ft away making faces at us.  Believe it or not, Tripp was responding to him.....ugh!

I know this is blurry....but it is still kinda neat.  Thomas the cat walked across the road with me to watch the sunset.  He plopped himself down and gazed that way for quite a while...I often wonder if animals appreciate stuff like that too....now I know.  (There was probably a mouse moving around in the leaves...ha ha!)

The sunset Saturday night was beautiful!  I never cease to be amazed at where all the colors come from, and how each sunset is original.

Sunday I headed to a friends and we rode in her arena.  I took my camera intending to set it up for some video, but forgot.  We rode about an hour and had a nice chat.  It was good for Tripp to get out and about. 

Until later....Karen and Tripp who says it would be way more cool to DRIVE something with a Hemi under the hood instead of hanging around with a wrinkle faced Hemi.