Fantastyk Voyage

Friday Foto

2012-01-27T05:48:00.001-07:00

Sunday Stills (1-22-12 Birds)

2012-01-22T11:19:00.000-07:00

This week's Sunday Stills photo challenge is birds. Here are my offerings:

There is an artist in Santa Fe, Peter Joseph Woytuk, who creates lots of larger than life bronze statues. See here for more about him and browse around my blog for more pictures of his outdoor art sculptures, especially the elephants.

If you look closely, you can see city chickens roosting all along the upper ledge of the building.

This artsy roadrunner is the logo of our Railrunner train system.

Resident ravens are in my neighbor's yard.

They must be having a private conversation.

Poor swallow! It must have frozen to death in it's nest in my barn. Now, it swings in a final macabre dance, caught up in it's own nesting materials.

For more Sunday Stills, please visit here.

Friday Foto

2012-01-20T06:07:00.003-07:00

Doesn't this look good?

This is my son's gourmand invention called a McNasty. From the dollar menu at McDonald's, you put a chicken sandwich and a double cheeseburger together. Although in this case, I believe it was a Wendy's Cheesy double and their chicken sandwich. They're too big for me to eat. lol.

Mousetraps

2012-01-18T08:08:00.000-07:00

It must be your destiny when you get caught twice!

alfalfa: hay vs. pellets

2012-01-15T17:42:00.000-07:00

I've been watching my hay stack go down this winter quicker than normal. I never did get enough hay this fall to last out the winter. The last few winters I have been feeding grass or grass mix hay to my horses on my vet's recommendation but last year I switched back to mostly alfalfa because it is so hard to keep weight on them.

If I had a truck that ran, I could buy more hay. Of course, it would be at premium prices since we had the drought and hay shortage last summer. Or I could try and hijack one of the many semi hay trucks that I pass on the freeway every day. However, they wouldn't be able to deliver it to my barn because of the snow and mud that I still have. And they are carrying the giant bales that need a forklift to move. But still, it would be nice to have four or five of those in my barn right now.

As a solution to my hay shortage, I have been feeding alfalfa pellets in the mornings and alfalfa hay at night, to the horses. I worried about Nadia having trouble chewing because she is so old (almost 29) but she seems to be doing all right.

I am still feeding the grass hay to the alpacas because everyone recommends it and not the alfalfa, but whenever they are loose in the barn, they bee-line it straight to the alfalfa. I guess everyone likes what's not so good for them, huh?

I'm hoping this will stretch the hay I still have until I can get some more this spring. Actually, there is less wastage with the pellets and the horses seem to be chewing the pellets okay. The biggest drawback is that it is costing me $11 for 50 pounds and that is just about a two day supply when I only feed it in the mornings. And every few days I need to tote bags out to the barn. Again, IF my truck were running AND I could get to the barn, I could buy a full pallet (at a discount) and drive right into the barn to stack it. Top of my to do list- fix my truck, right?

I've been feeding two large (2+ lb) coffee tins of alfalfa pellets and a large can of grain each to Yalla!, Nadia, and Annie. Scout gets a smaller (2lb) can of grain with his two large cans of pellets. So far, they seem to be doing fine. Hopefully, they won't lose weight because I really can't afford to give them more, although every other day or so, I've been giving each of the girls an extra can of pellets at a feeding.

I used to board years ago and that's what they fed, although they were called horse cubes- one inch squares of a pelleted, complete feed. I remember the standard feeding amount was two scoops which is pretty much what I'm feeding. I haven't found them in the feed stores though. Nowadays, it's little, compressed cubes of alfalfa hay, like mini bales, or the fat, alfalfa pellets. Complete feeds are a smaller pellet than the alfalfa pellets.

Here's Scout eating a combination of the mini bales, alfalfa pellets, and grain.

Does anyone else feed alfalfa pellets? How much do you feed? Do you still prefer hay?

Sunday Stills (1-15-12 Corners)

2012-01-15T07:53:00.001-07:00

This week's Sunday Stills Challenge is to photograph corners.

This is a photo of our Old Town shops at Christmas taken from the street corner across the way.

Sandy is standing and Skyy is sitting in the corner of my unfinished bedroom watching the snow fall.

This is the crowded corner of the alpaca pen. Sophie Rose actually does have ears as you'll see in the next photo.

On cold nights, a local raven likes to cozy up in the corner of the barn.

For more Sunday Stills please visit here.

TeBowie

2012-01-14T16:52:00.002-07:00

Jimmie Fallon recently performed as David Bowie...and...Tim Tebow singing to Jesus Christ for help with the Denver Broncos football game, in the style of Space Oddity. Go here for more about it and just in case you haven't seen this video yet...

update: Like the song said, Tebow was on his own for this game and with a final score of Broncos 10, Steelers 45, TeBow really could have used Jesus's help.

Friday Foto

2012-01-13T06:35:00.002-07:00

Happy Birthday, Mr. Jones

2012-01-08T06:02:00.001-07:00

Today is David Jones' 65th birthday. See here for a great article about what he's up to nowadays, living a normal life in New York City with his wife, Iman, and his daughter, Lexie. After a long, productive life in cutting edge music, he has unofficially retired. His last album released in 2003, was appropriately named Reality. I was lucky enough to see him three times on the Reality Tour in 2004. Thanks for the memories, Mr. Bowie!

Happy Birthday, Mr. Jones!

Sunday Stills (01-08-12 light painting)

2012-01-07T08:07:00.002-07:00

For this week's Sunday Stills challenge, Ed suggested playing with the camera settings and taking photos in the dark to get strange light pictures. I tried, but it didn't go so well. I have some wonderful pictures of last year's Christmas lights on my desktop computer but it's packed away, so I thought I'd share these from the other night. I pointed into the dark and snapped. I have no idea what the little circles are. Cosmic dust? Aliens? or plain barn dust? Cripes! No, it is not snowing.

If only I could photo shop this picture to be a little clearer. It would be a really neat one of Yalla! with her tail flipped up over her back. I'm including it anyway because of her bright, round, "moon" eye.

Here's some more of those sky dots. And no, the camera lens was not dirty. I would have said they were stars, but they're all over the place.

I did manage this shot, however. I think it looks like a family of monkeys, off center towards the right. Don't you agree?

I was actually trying to get a picture of Annie but I think she ducked down in the previous photo when the camera snapped. This one was more successful.

This is my walk back to the house with the full moon in the background. There is still a lot of snow left from the storm we had over two weeks ago. It's some strange weather we're having, for sure!

For more Sunday Stills, please visit here.

Lol- this post went up early. I woke up Friday morning with the room spinning. Went to the doctor and she gave me some antibiotics and said it was caused from sinus. Must have affected my brain because I completely forgot what day it was.

2012-01-06T17:14:00.001-07:00

Nadia has turned into a beaver these past few weeks. Or an interior decorator. Just look at the new window she made in the wood of her stall.

I got out the "official" stuff to coat the wood but, believe me, it just doesn't work!

A long time ago, we used creosote on wood to keep the horses from chewing on it. But, that's been outlawed as bad for the ecology. They used to treat railroad ties with creosote and look how long they last! Anyway, after trying several times to use this No Crib horse product with no luck, I reverted to my old standby- used motor oil. Shhhh, don't tell, I don't want the ecology geeks after me but I have found that painting wood with used motor oil is miraculous for keeping the critters from eating the wood. Really, it's a way to recycle that old motor oil, right??

Friday Foto

2012-01-06T06:19:00.002-07:00

Standing in the Sunshine

2012-01-02T18:59:00.001-07:00

These photos were taken last weekend, but I never got around to posting them.

Here's little Sophie.

She eats hay now

but she still prefers her mother's milk.

Here's butterball Scout.

Horses love to roll, don't they? I like the way Annie's feet are all in the air.

Check out the new snowy whorl Annie has in the middle of her forehead.

Everybody took turns having a good roll in the deep, white stuff.

After rolling, they didn't know what to do with all that deep snow. The sunshine was very warming, however, so just standing and soaking up the sun rays seemed a good choice.

I guess this is what Yalla! would look like if she turned gray, huh?

She decided to come over and join me. We watched the other horses stand around.

And she chewed on my boot.

Why does Yalla! always look like a cute little pony??

Standing in the Sunshine - song: Safe, artist: David Bowie

The ice forgets to melt away

2012-01-02T05:19:00.002-07:00

I always find it interesting how snow melts into sculptured art. My roof snow is turning into marshmallow fluff.

How about some long icy fingers?

Check out the snow creature sitting on the roof of my barn!

Because of the barn's metal roofing, the snow sometimes comes off in sheets.

But snowmelt isn't always so nice. Taking hot water and beet pulp mash to the horses can be treacherous for me with my weak ankle when I try to walk on the old paths in the early morning. Walking on the frozen, unyielding old footprints forces my ankle to sometimes, unexpectedly, painfully, bend. The snow is still a foot deep in many places and I feel like every step is a challenge, kind of like climbing Mount Everest. I tell myself, one footstep at a time and I WILL get there.

The ice forgets to melt away - song: Sell Me a Coat, artist: David Bowie, album: David Bowie

Sunday Stills (01-01-12 best photo of 2011)

2012-01-01T10:41:00.002-07:00

This is really hard! I have lots of favorite photos, lots of memories. Just look back through my blog to the Sunday Stills and the Friday Fotos if you want to see my best. For this challenge, I decided to choose a photo taken this week, previously unposted, of my ♥ horse, Yalla! FantastyKheema, and I, to remind me that she is a big reason for my blog. It's not a flattering photo of me with no makeup and washed out flesh tones and certainly not good composition, since it was a point and shoot self portrait, but it is full of our future together. You see, my main goal for 2012 is to break and train this upcoming three year old Arabian mare to be ~~a good~~ the best little riding horse I have ever owned.

Wish us a FANTASTYK VOYAGE together, will you?

year 2011 in review

2011-12-31T17:32:00.002-07:00

2011
January-
After wrecking my 2003 Infiniti FX45 in December, I bought my 2002 Subaru Impreza wagon,

My mom and I visited the Bosque Del Apache wildlife and bird refuge at sunrise, one Saturday. Visit here to see a Sandhill Crane dance video.

February-
Alas, I missed the Scottsdale Arabian Show for the first time in years. February was a busy month for me with both my boys' birthdays to celebrate.

My son, daughter, and I took a quick road trip to Holbrook and saw the Hashknife Pony Express set off. Read all about it here.

I also attended a Dennis Reis clinic and invited my neighbor and her daughter. She got lucky and won a DVD set from him during the give-a-ways.

I lost my 16 year old cat, Simba, to kidney failure. I picked him from the litter of six kittens our Pearlie had. (We lost her the next year to coyotes.) Then Terra was the last kitten still to be given away and my husband convinced me to keep her too. As it turned out, Terra claimed me and I was never able to spend much time with Simba. He was beloved by all the family and used to head-butt on command. He was half Siamese and would wander around the house in the wee hours of the morning, crying out loudly, as only Siamese cats can. I miss him terribly but the yowling and prowling, I do not miss.

April-

I did not fall off of my horse but maybe I should have jumped. I was riding Scout at the back of my neighborhood when he got spooked from a pack of loose, running dogs, reared up, and fell over backwards on me, breaking my ankle, which required surgery.

I now have a plate and several pins on the inside of my ankle. I learned what it was like to be disabled, since I was off my foot and in a wheelchair for two months during rehab. I still have a very stiff joint and continual discomfort in my ankle.

I was fortunate enough to attend two fantastic concerts- both were opening nights of those tours and both required road trips to the Denver area:

In April, my daughter and I saw Arcade Fire in Broomfield (above Denver).

During our road trip, we visited Manitou Springs, Colorado Springs and the site of the Ludlow Massacre. Read more about that trip here and here.

In May, I added two ~~aliens,~~ erm, alpacas to my animal family: Thelma (red) and Louise (bay/black). Louise was supposed to be pregnant.

I saw U2 in May with my Sister-in-Law and a friend of hers. I bought the tickets for this concert over a year ago, on ebay, and then Bono hurt his back and the tour was postponed. After driving up to Denver, over 450 miles, I found out the tickets were fraudulent, on the morning of the concert. The girl who sold them to me, Natacha Gillis, had received a refund from Ticketmaster, right after I had purchased them from her! Fortunately, we were able to purchase three seats in the handicapped area (I was still in a wheelchair because of my broken ankle), and had a fantastic weekend together. We visited the Denver area, Central City, and the Red Rocks Arena where U2 performed their landmark song, Sunday, Bloody, Sunday in the 80s.

While in Denver for the U2 concert, my SIL and I went to the National Alpaca Show to experience lots of close encounters with the "alien" alpacas. See here and here for more.

June just seemed to come and go. I had three physical therapy sessions and rode again for the first time since my accident. We had the alpacas sheared and I took a lesson on wet felting alpaca fiber. I made a hat which I will post about some day.

July-
It was a time of snakes and swallows.

My mother, daughter, and I flew to Oregon for my nephew's wedding. It was a mini reunion for my family- my mother, sister, brother and I were together for the first time in years.

Also, the family took a scuba diving lesson. How do I look?

I also went to the Arabian Youth Nationals. click on previous link for more.

And, very sadly, I lost my Little Buddha (Japanese Chin) to the coyotes one morning. Tragically, I heard him yelp but could not rescue him. He was only seven years old and I miss him every day.

August

My son, daughter, and I celebrated with my Mom for her 84th birthday at Pietown with lunch and a freshly baked green chili, pinon nut, and apple pie.

It's a long drive there and back but we all enjoyed the road trip. We even stopped along the way back to see the VLA visitor's center.

September

We celebrated more birthdays- my daughter's and mine. My sons took me for a nice little hike in the Sandia Mountains, my first and only this year.

I made bones for the One Million Bones project.

Meet Skyy, a part Australian Shepherd and part Blue Heeler puppy that my daughter acquired.

October-

Yalla! came down with a case of Pigeon Breast, (pigeon fever, dryland strangles, etc.) and it was weeks before it was advanced enough to be lanced. Nasty stuff, the infection usually settles in the chest, causing a huge swelling like that of a pigeon's breast, thus the name. Annie has had it two different times in years past. It is caused by flies and nearly impossible to prevent although it is not too common, fortunately. Annie had to have multiple lancings. Yalla! had one vet visit and drained thoroughly, although she is still scarred from it.

I decided to remodel my house. For years, I debated on bamboo, tile, carpet, or cork. I finally settled on Pergo laminate. I refinanced the house, purchased the flooring and began the project. My son ripped out the old carpet and baseboards, I repaired the concrete floor, and everybody painted.

November-

The best thing to happen this month was the birth of little Sophie Rose Iman, Louise's cria on November 3rd. When I went out to feed in the morning, I was surprised to find a miniature alpaca with the two big girls. The birth went well and, because the alpacas and the horses had their fall shots in August and the little cria looked extremely healthy, in spite of being all legs and neck, I didn't even bother to call the vet. Besides, I was still paying off Yalla!s vet bills for the pigeon breast. Unfortunately, my camera was completely broken by now. It had been giving me problems for several months. These photos were taken courtesy of my cell phone.)

Meanwhile, the flooring project was becoming a nightmare. I had Thanksgiving at my house for family and friends even though the only complete room was the kitchen and that was a mess. We had originally been hoping for the flooring to be installed BEFORE the holidays but, alas, this was not to be. The order came in short two boxes. I had to wait almost three weeks for those to come in and then two more weeks before the installers would begin their four to five day job.

December-

We had snow and snow, and more snow!! At Christmas time, we still had almost two feet of snow everywhere from the build up of the recent storms. Here's a view of my backyard.

Here, at the homestead, we had no furniture in the house. Without wood, I couldn't make fires in the woodstove and my heater was not running properly. We slept on mattresses on the floor for six weeks and the house got down to 56 degrees most nights. Needless to say, it's been rather miserable for the last couple of months.

I splurged and bought myself an early Christmas present, a Canon Powershot SX 230, 12 megapixels and 14X zoom.

Finally, last week, the installers came and did a fantastic job in just three days (1500 square feet- living room, dining room, den, hallways, and four bedrooms). And guess what? There are at least four unopened boxes of flooring! We could have been finished a month ago!!! Didn't need to wait for the missing boxes after all, did we? Really?? My whole family has been sick for the last two months, living in a shell of a house, for no reason!

That was my year, more or less.

Happy New Year!!

Friday Foto

2011-12-30T06:03:00.003-07:00

This is soot on the back wall inside my wood stove.

I see a gremlin leaning to the right with a pointed ear, curly hair, large, dark eye, hooked nose, mouth open, and receding chin. I can even make out the shoulder and arm on the left. He/she's holding something in the hand, like a baby bird. All I know is, it really creeped me out when I looked into the cold, dark wood stove and saw it.

Someone else pointed out a bunny rabbit where the mouth and chin are.

What do you see??

Ch-ch-ch-changes

2011-12-28T08:12:00.001-07:00

When I went to work yesterday, my floors looked like this:

When I came home, it looked like this!

There's still a lot to do, but I like it already.

The dogs are liking it too. At first, I wasn't too sure about the color, Bristol Chestnut, but I think it will fit in well with my furniture.

Ch-ch-ch-changes- song Changes, artist: David Bowie, album: Hunky Dory

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-24T17:47:00.003-07:00

I don't have any Christmas decorations up in my house so I decided to post some decorations from the neighbor's house and my workplace.

Ya'at'eeh Keshmish!

And don't forget to watch this classic holiday video! ;)

Friday Foto

2011-12-23T06:05:00.002-07:00

Just Disappear

2011-12-20T20:26:00.002-07:00

The other morning, I noticed rabbit prints heading towards my garage. Where did they go from there? Those are dog prints behind, and maybe a human boot print too. Interesting...

Just Disappear - song: Black Tie White Noise, artist: David Bowie, album: Black Tie, White Noise

Neither Snow nor Rain

2011-12-20T00:11:00.001-07:00

This morning, on my way to work, I drove through snow, fog, and sleet. I felt like the mailman, lol. I knew the winter storm was still moving in so I left work early, around 1:30PM, when the snowflakes were big and the streets were slushy. I stopped by WalMart to get some last minute shopping and I think everyone else had the same idea. After over a half hour wait to check out, I loaded my packages and realized I had forgotten to buy one of the priorities on my shopping list. I stopped at Walgreens to get that and then back on the road, this time to rain. I have a 45 minute commute on a good day now since the company moved their office earlier this month, so I got comfortable, turned up the defrost, set the windshield wipers to intermittant, and prepared for the journey home. Most of the way home is freeway but, because of the snow, I got off the interstate and took Historic Highway Route 66, the frontage road, for the last ten miles to home. I could see that the light, mid-day interstate traffic was still moving well, despite the now heavy snowfall, but Route 66 highway was practically deserted, a winter wonderland, although treacherous, with the foggy snow, slushy roads, and freezing temperatures. Still, I wanted to see how my new Canon Point and Shoot camera worked for point and shoot photos. So, here goes:

This might be my favorite photo. I like the snowy trees and the lone mailbox.

The brown stripe you see in the next photo is the side of the freeway which runs parallel with Route 66. Sometimes, after a heavy rainstorm, there are temporary waterfalls running down from the upper levels. Not today. ;)

You can see the roads are getting worse (next photo) as I gain in altitude and approach my home. I live at 7,000 feet above sea level, 1,500 feet higher than in the city. It's awful when you have a cold and your ears plug up and then pop, which reminds me of a story. Two different times, I have purchased neon tetras for my fish tank, only to arrive at home from the city, with dead, little, red and blue fish. It seems that the altitude change doesn't agree with them. Their eyes actually pop out of their heads! Crazy, I know, but absolutely true!

When I got home, my son's friend's car was stuck in my long driveway. Uh oh! I have to go past without hitting him or getting stuck myself. I couldn't even stop because I knew I would get stuck then too. Everybody watched and worried as I carefully drove past and parked in the driveway. When I tried to back up and straighten out, I couldn't. I was stuck. Oh well, I was home, safe and parked. Yay, for my Subaru!! Whew! I do slip and slide a little but I haven't got stuck yet. Then, I snapped this photo, looking back down my driveway towards the neighbor's driveway, just after they got the car going again. Last Saturday night, another of my son's friends got stuck at the end of the driveway nearer the neighbor's wall. The driveway may look easy, but it curves in an "s" with a slight drop on both sides and there is a culvert at the end, near the road. When driving in snow you can't heavy gas it, slow down too much, or stop, and you've got to stay on the gravel. The biggest problem I seem to have driving in snow is the low clearance of my Subaru Impreza. But, my daughter says, "it's all about the driver". Lol, thanks for the compliment. After all, I didn't hit the friend's car OR get myself stuck. Tee Hee.

I wasn't very pleased that my son and his friends were going out in this blizzard but they were performing at a show tonight with their band, Second Thought. He did call me when they got to town so that I knew they were safe. The weather wasn't so bad in the city and he's going to stay at his friend's apartment tonight after the show. Have fun at your show, guys.

I let Sandy and Skyy out for a pee and a romp. They had a blast running through the deep snow.

Skyy was so fast for this photo, I only caught her tail.

By this time, Sandy was far, far away. This photo was taken using my 14X zoom, four times more than my last camera.

Inside, it looks like the snow monsters are outside.

I think I will be working from home tomorrow, in order to stay safe. I really can't risk anything happening to my one driving car, since the Hyundai got totalled.

Neither Snow Nor Rain - song: O Superman artist: David Bowie and Laurie Anderson

Powder and Paint

2011-12-17T09:32:00.002-07:00

I have been living in the shell of a house for over a month now.

We moved all the furniture to the garage and a rented storage unit.

We took up all the carpet and baseboards.

We painted (most of) the ceilings and walls in all the rooms that will be getting the new flooring. (over 1500 sq ft.). Still need to do touch up work and door frames, etc.

Patched the walls (from taking off the baseboards) and the concrete floors. The dark spots along the walls show wet concrete drying after patching the holes made from pulling up the carpet nail strips.

Boxes of Pergo laminate flooring are now sitting in the middle of each room: living room, dining room den, hallways, and the four bedrooms.

Waiting...

waiting...

Got a call from the installers and they won't be starting until December 27th. She stressed that we must put boxes of flooring in EACH room of the house and keep the temperature at 70 degrees at least 48 hours before they begin. WTF?? I have no flooring, no insulation! My internal house temperature drops down into the 50s overnight. We're lucky if ever gets to 68 during the day! My electric bill is 30% higher than normal (higher than it's ever been before in the 17 years I've lived here). I have very little wood left for the woodstove and I just bought $700 worth of propane which took the tank to only 60%. Oh my! I considered converting my wood stove to pellet but then I'd need to buy pellets all the time AND run a fan. I guess I better buy a cord of wood quick and get it delivered. With my pickup truck not running, I haven't been able to go get any wood myself this year except for the little bit my daughter and I picked up one afternoon and half of that was rocks, lol.

Did she say DECEMBER 27TH?!?!!

That's two more weeks! Oh my, no Christmas for us this year.

I see a very bleak two weeks ahead. Cold, cold, cold and nothing in the rooms except a few mattresses, my big 54 inch tv and my laptop (of course). Oh my!! Sure not looking forward to it.

Just a few years ago, I had a roof leak and had the entire roof repaired. It took a couple of weeks because of the snows we had during that time. That was in January- and it was COLD!!!! Remind me to do my next major house improvement in the summer, PLEASE!

Now I have nothing to do but wait...

Powder and Paint song: Maid of Bond Street, artist: David Bowie, album: Deram songs

Show you his Teeth

2011-12-16T21:59:00.001-07:00

The other night my son and I were playing with Skyy and we noticed that her teeth were loose. So, I held her while my son pulled at her tooth.

He couldn't get a good enough hold on it so we switched places and I pulled.

I got it!

Skyy moved and then we found a second tooth. I guess my son did pull the first tooth out after all.

Amazingly, her teeth have already grown in, just days later. The vet told us last weekend that she was almost five months now because she had already lost a canine tooth, and now, two more. My baby is growing up!

Show you his Teeth - song: Amsterdam, artist: David Bowie performing Jacques Brel

Friday Foto

2011-12-16T05:52:00.002-07:00

I spotted this tree reflection in the window as I was driving down the road. Cool, huh?

Skyy...and more

2011-12-15T00:45:00.000-07:00

Meet the new camera! I ordered a red one but I think it's more pink. Oh well, I still like it.

The Canon is much lighter than my last camera and it powers up fast. I can drive down the highway and click! Here are the Sandia Mountains from the northern end of town. Not very good, but not too bad either, considering I was driving over 70 mph (legal for that stretch of road) and the sky was hazy, with early morning light. Notice the blur in the foreground as I whiz past the sagebrush.

One of the features I've fallen in love with is the "kids and pets" mode. It locks on to the subject and cuts the blur out of most animal photos. I'm really looking forward to having a photo shoot with my horses on the run. It's been great for Skyy who is constantly in motion until she falls into her deep puppy sleeps. Notice all the different toys in the photos. She plays with a new toy every ten minutes.

Ouch, those nails really need to get cut again!

It's not all about the camera, although it does help me get better photos. Hopefully, I can do it justice now with some good camera shots. Just bear with me as I learn with my new toy, okay?

my backyard

2011-12-14T07:48:00.000-07:00

It's a foggy, rainy, snowy day and Sandy is deciding if it's worth going for an adventure...

Just look at the Winter Wonderland I have in my backyard.

Sunday Stills (12/11/11 Pets - Ed's 3rd Anniversary)

2011-12-11T08:52:00.000-07:00

I haven't been posting to the Sunday Stills photo challenges for several weeks but I couldn't miss this one. Here's Skyy, five months now with the world in her mouth.

She loves to play with her best friend, Sandy the Stray. Sandy adores my daughter whom she adopted last year (yes, Sandy chose my daughter).

I've included the alpacas as my pets because they are becoming just that. I go out and hang around with them whenever I have time.

Little Sophie Rose is certainly going to be a pet. She is curious about everything and loves to pronk around the barn aisles investigting.

Yalla!is about the most friendly and curious horse I have ever known. She will come running down the arena to the far end to visit with me while the others stay at the barn.

Terra loves me. Here she is cozying up to my homemade alpaca felt hat.

For more Sunday Stills, please visit Ed's website.

Note- first two photos are from new camera. All others are from archives.

An early Xmas present, from me to myself (and you)

2011-12-10T10:24:00.001-07:00

That's right, a present to you, my readers. I really like to add photos to my posts and without a camera, I haven't been posting much in the last month, or so. Of course, I have been extraordinarily tied-up recently too, with my work, health, and remodeling home project all considerable factors.

I have been wanting a camera for several months now, ever since my old Kodak went on the blink. I researched and settled on a 35X zoom Canon SX40, but it was out of stock. This is the improved, newer version of the Canon SX30. I actually thought I bought it once only to find out the order didn't complete. Then, I considered a Panasonic Lumix FZ40/FZ45 (24X zoom) because the reviews were so good. I debated and debated because the price tag is so high for these cameras that I wanted just for myself, especially at this time of year. Then my son asked me why I didn't just go with a smaller point and shoot since I ALWAYS take photos while I'm driving. I thought about this and decided that was true, so I settled on the Canon SX230, a small, but powerful, point and shoot with a 14X zoom and a great low light shooting function. I ordered it and waited.

Last night it arrived and, after playing with it for 60 pictures or so, the verdict is in.

I LOVE it!

Okay, these first two photos are not great but they were the first two taken from the camera.

For fun, I took pictures of the chip bag I was eating from. Aren't the colors just fabulous?

This morning, I brought the camera along with me to the barn.

Sophie Rose is five weeks old now and just getting cuter and fuzzier all the time. You would not believe how soft her fleece is!

Notice her long lashes in the shadow? She has the most beautiful lashes and eyebrows that curl. I'll hae to get a close up of her brows.

I also took a photo of the Colorado Blue Spruce in my backyard to show how vivid the outdoor color photos come from my new camera. Isn't it pretty? I really should decorate it since I don't even have any decorations up inside the house.

Yep, we still have snow on the ground from the storm that came in a week ago. It snowed Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and Monday. We got almost two feet, in all. I even worked from home on Monday and Tuesday because the roads were so awful. We have had extremely cold temperatures for the last week, so all the outdoor hoofstock are on emergency water rations. My son and I have been toting hot water to the barn several times a day for over a week now. Winter is here, full blast!

Overwhelmed!!!

2011-11-29T01:12:00.003-07:00

Is there anybody out there?

Did ya even notice I've been missing??

My life has been upside down for several weeks now. It even hurts to breathe, but on the good side, I've found a great way to work out my abs! Coughing!! Yup, about three weeks ago, I developed a sore throat, cough, terrible headache, etc. that just won't go away. I've had laryngitis for two weeks now and am finally becoming able to talk in a raspy, deep throat, sexy way. I can't hardly sleep at night and I don't like to lay down, even if I had a bed to lay in, which I don't, at least, not at the moment, because, I am remodeling my house. Yep, I rebought my house, for the fourth time, and added on a floor allowance. After over three years of debating what to do I finally went and did it. I am getting Pergo laminate flooring to replace my old worn out berber carpet. However, to meet my budget, I had to trim $2000 off the final price...soooo, I decided that my son and I could take up the old carpet, baseboards, and prep the concrete base. How hard could it be? LOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I have a house full of furniture but ~~everything,~~ well almost everything, is finally packed away. The garage is stacked full and I had to rent a storage unit- one of those P.O.D. things, which are a really great idea, btw, since I haven't been able to get my pick-up truck running yet and I had no idea how we were going to manage moving stuff to a storage place several miles away. I was amazed when I was searching for a rental unit at the variation in prices. I got quotes from three companies and the delivery charge each way varied from $179 to $139 to $89 each way. Guess which one I chose? AND, I got a 16 foot unit for the same monthly rental price as a 12 foot unit. AND, there was a $50 discount being offered at the time. SCORE!! The portable-on-demand storage unit people, better known as 1-800-Pack-Rat, brought the unit to my house and it's parked just a few steps from my front door. Hopefully, I will be able to time it right and only need it for one month.

My younger son and I have been working overtime trying to get this project done. At the same time, we are ~~painting~~ attempting to paint the entire house, but it's a huge job and I'm afraid that it's much more labor intensive than can be done in the short time frame we have, with me working full time (overtime, at that) and such a small labor force of my son, daughter and sometimes friends. Nights are just too short, especially when they are sometimes spent in the emergency room with my son after he wrecked my little Hyundai one night last week, for example. My daughter and I were happily chatting and painting the living room when we got a muffled call on my cell phone. We called the number back and found out it was the hospital emergency room. No one could give us any information other than that my son was there, but my daughter knew that Trevor had placed the call because she had heard his voice before it disconnected. At least we knew he was alive, right? We found out afterwards that my son had knocked himself out and been transported to the hospital. When asked for emergency numbers, I realize now that he had been giving his own cell phone number, which turned up missing, and wasn't thinking too clearly. He's fine now, but he ran into a truck and trailer that was slowing down ahead of him, and bumped his nose and mouth on the steering wheel. He's real lucky he didn't lose any teeth, and his two friends who were riding with him were okay too, but the poor car is a goner! (It's a sad fact that young people living out in these rural areas all seem to have accidents in their first couple years of driving.) This accident happened on the old Route 66 Highway and I spent the next day trying to find out whether the County Sheriff or the State Police attended the scene and had the car towed and to where? I finally located it in a small tow truck yard behind a motel in Moriarty. It's a small town!

I had to get a friend to pick it up- they charge by the day-and now I need to decide whether to buy another car, or not? Last year, in December, it was my Infiniti that got wrecked...

Anyway, that's the way it's been for the last three weeks or so...

but, did I forget to mention...

the best news?

Oh, yes!!!

One morning, I went out to the barn and there was another alpaca in the barn with Thelma and Louise! That's right! Louise had her cria! All went well and the baby was already dry. However, it was only 18 degrees that morning, on November 3, 2011, the coldest we'd had so far, and I could feel the chill on the poor little thing. I scooped her up (she was so light, so little, all legs and neck!) and it was so neat to hold her right away!

I think I look like a Russian ~~peasant~~, er, shepherdess in this photo. lol.

Did I mention that on top of everything else, my camera completely quit on me. Oh, the withdrawals I've had, losing my camera! Thank goodness, for cell phones! LOL.

My neighbor, Lisa, posted on her blog about the cria birth and took some photos a day or so after. I think the spitting contest she mentioned was when Louise went into a post-partem heat about a week after the birth. I actually saw Thelma trying to mount Louise one day and they were screeching and carrying on something crazy. Louise kept cushing and Thelma stood on top of her, even rearing up on her two hind legs, trying to mount her. I don't know, but I suspect it's like the foal heat horses have after birthing, usually around nine days. Maybe for alpacas, it's seven days later.

What especially amazed me about the alpaca herd behavior was how much like an aunt Thelma was towards the new cria. On cold nights, when I went out to blanket the little gal, I noticed that Thelma and Louise cushed side by side with the cria in between them. They have always stood together and now the cria moved freely around them. It was only when she tried to suckle Thelma, that she'd get a gentle kick to tell her she was at the wrong milkbar. And Sandy was there, right from the beginning too. I could tell that she worried about the little cria's safety because she always wanted to stay out at night and be right in the pen with the three alpacas. I was glad because I worried terribly about coyotes going after the tiny newborn.

Notice the tips of the cria's ears are white? I think they may have gotten a little frostbite from the cold morning of her birth. She is 24 hours old here. Even now, they are still white on the very tips.

Especially in the beginning, Mom and cria hummed to each other- a soft little errmm back and forth. I'm so glad Louise is such a good mom. I worried so much before hand and when I saw the cria that morning, I called two Alpaca farms I knew and asked them for advice. They both said that, as long as everything was good, not to worry. One advised giving an enema and iodine on the umbilical, the other said it probably wasn't even necessary. After having two foals born on my ranch and both mares retaining the placenta and needing vetting, I was very relieved to see the frozen placenta on the ground all in one piece. And, since this was only a weekafter Yalla's vetting, I didn't want another huge vet bill. It was over $340, when Annie delivered Yalla, for the vet to come out and run a colostrum test and give Annie shots. This little cria looked super healthy and, although I couldn't tell if it was actually getting milk, it was in the right place. They told me that alpacas seem to sip and lick in the beginning when they nurse rather than latch on and suckle. I decided to wait and see how things went before calling the vet. Every day, since her birth, I've noticed her getting bigger and stronger, so I am sure she is nursing fine. I'm glad the alpacas got their shots this past fall too so that the baby has some immunity too.

Every day, I go out and visit the alpaca girls for a while when I feed. They really look forward to me hand feeding them and I can actually catch them now. I have even taken their halters off. Of course, the small pen helps a lot but it seems that having the cria has settled Louise a lot. She is actually the calmer of the two now. I catch the baby almost daily too. They seem to have exceptional scent ability and the baby is always sniffing the bucket, the rake, or my hands. She still tries to get away from me all the time but I catch her and sometimes, I pick her up. I only let her go when she quits struggling. Then I play a little game with her while I feed the ladies. I go Hrrm... errrm... errrm, and she cushes right in front of me. Not only that, she lays down and rolls over, grinding dirt into her coat. Then she gets up and shakes off. She's so funny! She has done this four times now. It's cute the way she is always picking out a blade of hay and chewing it and then spitting it out. Soon now, I'm sure she's actually going to chew it up and swallow it.

It's amazing how soft she is. I spoke with a mill worker a few months ago and they said that the cria fleece is the softest, most valuable fiber. However, whereas a farm owner told me that they shave the crias quickly because of how messy the coat is, the miller told me to let it grow a year or so until it is at least a couple of inches long. I think I'll stick with the miller since that is who processes the fleece. I realize now that Thelma and Louise should not have been sheared when they were because after the shearer was all done, he told me how short their fleece was. And the mill said they cannot process fleece shorter than a thumb's length in the carding machines.

I like the next photo of my alpaca herd showing all their behinds. Louise is filthy, Thelma really looks like a camel, and the baby has her makeshift blanket on. I blanketed her every night for the first few days because we had the freezing cold weather and then a snowstorm, but thankfully, it didn't seem to harm the baby at all.

Yalla's not the baby at the barn any more. Btw, she has gotten over the pigeon fever but her chest is still all scabby. I am waiting til the hair grows out and it falls off naturally rather than pulling the gunk off and risking opening up a scab. She looks like she has actually done some growing lately too. Very soon now, after all this remodeling is done, I will start her education in earnest. It's time she learned what being a good horse is all about.

Ah, but did I mention the cria has a name? Yes, she does. I immediately started calling her Sophie. But I like Rosie too. So she is named Sophie Rose. And, she could also be called Iman, because she is black, beautiful, and has a looooong neck, like David Bowie's model wife. LOL!!!

Last photo, courtesy of my son's girlfriend, was taken on Thanksgiving Day. Yep, I cooked a turkey and all the fixings for the family, all six of us!! And I was speechless, really!! :)

Live in a Fever, Raging inside of Me, part 4

2011-10-31T23:40:00.003-06:00

WARNING- GROSS PHOTOS AHEAD!

Over the weekend, Yalla!s chest swelled even bigger and she began to walk stiff again. She liked having me massage her neck and chest pockets- probably to relieve the pressure- but otherwise, she was lethargic and moody. I could tell she was still running a low temperature too.

I knew that soon I would need to call the vet out to lance it and begin antibiotics but I didn't want to start her too early on the antibiotics. I gave her bute a couple of mornings, several days ago, but was advised that this may prolong the infection so I stopped giving it to her. She seemed to have no problem eating, and I didn't want to call the vet out too soon. These pictures were taken Sunday morning when I borrowed my daughter's camera. Having no camera is driving me absolutely crazy.

This morning, when I went out to feed the horses, Yalla!s Pigeon Breast "pocket" had burst open and was beginning to drip fluids. I decided it was time to call the vet in order to lance it and clean it out better.

The dripping looks like sap from a tree, thick and amber colored.

I called the vet and he said he'd come by around 10:30. I went in to work for an hour or so (it's a half hour drive each way) and arrived back at the house before he showed up. He looked at her chest and worried that the pockets weren't fully developed. He gave her a sedative because he said this Pigeon Fever is very painful for the horse and most horses resent having the pockets even touched. Then he lanced the pocket, digging around, and I was surprised/disappointed that it dripped more blood than pus because that would mean he's not getting all the infection out. Notice that the fluid is brighter in color than normal blood, because it is mixed with the infectious material.

He dug around inside and again commented that it seemed to be entwined in channels. The pockets can channel up in all different ways so unless the right part is opened up, it just keeps growing and spreading into new pockets. I asked him about the flabby one at the bottom right hand corner and he said that no, that one didn't seem to be a pocket. It was more like where fluids are just settling from gravity.

I was disappointed that he just left them to drip rather than purging them with a saline solution like the other vet I've used in the two previous times with Annie. I was actually getting nausious as I watched the blood and stuff ooze out of her chest. I can't stand the sight of blood. AT. ALL.

As Yalla stood, swaying in her drug induced daze, she left nasty puddles all over the ground. The vet suggested disinfecting the area with clorox. I did sprinkle some on the various puddles of blood/pus that were forming but I think I'll need to do a very thorough cleaning when she is done with this. Unfortunately, it may be several more days, or even weeks until she is recovered. He gave me some antibiotics to feed her (once a day) and prescribed more bute for her until she is recovered.

Poor Yalla! She is such a mess right now and in so much pain too, I'm sure. I'm praying that I won't need the vet to come back out again but I half expect that I will.

This PF is for the birds!

Oh yeah!

Happy Halloween!!!

Live in a Fever, Raging inside of Me: song: Fascination, artist: David Bowie, album: Young Americans

Live in a Fever, Raging inside of Me, part 3

2011-10-28T08:08:00.001-06:00

Yalla! looks no better- no worse with her pigeon fever. She still has a good appetite and is walking better than the first couple of days with more neck flexibility.She has a large, hard pocket on the lower part of her neck and a flabby pocket between her forelegs. The button won't depress. It may have drained a little on the underside because there is some matted material in her hair. It could also be from laying down in the muddy paddock. We had a couple of inches of snow yesterday morning and a heavy frost this morning. The horses enjoy rolling in the muck, much to my displeasure. Sorry, no pictures. My camera is kaputs.

Scout also seems to have a touch of it. He has a six inch long edema on the underside of his belly. He had that last year too (or was it the year before??) and I took him to the vet. She put him on low grade antibiotics and it took about three weeks for it to clear up. I believe I'll keep to my holding pattern for now as far as calling the vet. I have tons of work and personal business in town so this is a really bad time for me to be staying at home, nursing a horse.

I have heard that horses don't get it more than once. Not in my household. This would be Scout's second episode and Annie has had it twice too, big pockets both times, in past years, not consecutive years either. I've also read that this is the wrong time of year for it. Well, in my last three episodes, it occured in October, after the first frosts. Go figure, the flies have dwindled but the bacteria remains.

I really do appreciate everyone's comments on this ailment. It is a rather controversial topic and anybody's personal experiences are helpful for me to decidewhat course of action to follow. If I don't follow any particular advice, it's probably because I'm usually a "wait and see" type of person. I know many Native people who rarely treat their animals with medications and believe it is in the hands of the Great Spirit to be cured. So let's all fold our hands together and say a healing prayer...

Live in a Fever, Raging Inside of Me: song: Fascination, artist: David Bowie, album: Young Americans

Friday Foto

2011-10-28T07:41:00.000-06:00

Live in a Fever, Raging Inside of Me, part 2

2011-10-25T22:00:00.000-06:00

Yesterday morning I called the vet's office and spoke to the receptionist. Not much help. She said I'd need to bring Yalla! in or have a vet come out to my place for a diagnosis and treatment plan. Then I called another vet who I actually spoke with. Of course, without seeing her, it IS hard for a vet to discuss an ailment but I wanted to discover what his general course of action is when treating Pigeon Fever. With Annie, we called the vet right away, who either lanced the abcess right then or came back in a few days. I can't really remember. However, he did put her on antibiotics and I remember that he had to come back numerous times to drain and lance new pockets. Annie had multiple holes of draining nastiness for at least a couple of weeks each time. Well, that vet has since retired so I now had my choice of either the large and small animal practice with multiple vets or the solo mobile equine vet who I was able to talk to.

We discussed several options, antibiotics right away or wait, painkillers, when to lance, etc. He thought the best time to lance it was when it had developed a soft area. The first days, the swollen areas are extremely hard to the touch. We agreed that I would keep watch a few days and then call him when I thought the time was right.

This morning, I went out to feed and inspect her chest and the swelling seems to have spread, thinning out. She is still having lots of trouble walking and moving her neck up but it doesn't really seem to be worse. I took a couple of photos with my obnoxious camera. Fifty tries before it takes the photo! And, of course, the morning sun is at the worst possible angle on a dark horse. Oh well, maybe you can see it.

I dug around in my refrigerator and came up with some bute from a few years ago. The medicine was expired in March but I figured it still had some potency. She felt good enough to turn away from me and the tube of medicine but I knew she was hurting because she can hardly walk. I dosed her a little higher thaan prescribed and then worried that I might have overdosed her. She seemed fine, however.

Now, what to do next? I've been reading everything I can about this and everybody says something different as far as treatment. My conclusions are:

Antibiotics given too early can prolong the illness and possibly cause additional swellings?
Some advise lancing. Vet said it's better for him to lance and clean out abcesses than to let them burst on their own.
Lancing spills lots of contaminated fluids and is absolutely gross. Trust me on this or google videos for pigeon fever in horses. There are some outstanding videos of pus spurting from the horse's chests if you are into that sort of thing.
Contact with contaminated fluids could cause additional infections in other horses, alpacas, and possibly even humans?
If the infections internalize, it can be life threatening, otherwise, just a PITA affliction.
No treatment and the horse recovers okay? Some say "yes".
Pain killers administered only if horse is in excessive pain. Otherwise, may prolong affliction?

Okay, so now, my course of action. I am tempted to see what would happen if I don't have it lanced. Nobody else has come down with it, so far, and they've all obiously been exposed. I hate to spread more contaminants around. Also, I worry that cutting them open can lead to worse infections, yeah, right!! And then there's the time and money factor. I have been working long hours with no end in sight so time off from work is difficult to get. And money, there is none. lol. I've had a lot of extra expenses lately and still more to come. But this is Yalla!, my baby, although I don't really think it makes a difference who it is. Last year, I took Scout to the vet with an edema on his underbelly. The vet prescribed a slow acting antibiotic and sent us home. He recovered just fine with no slicing and draining. Matter of fact, it was around this time of year. Coinidence? Or did he have a bout of it? I wonder? And talking to Lisa, Baby Doll had a mysterious swelling that eventually went away on it's own. Maybe, we are just too quick with medicine sometimes and the body will heal itself all on it's own?

Maybe I'll decide what to do in the morning...

What's Skyy got?

2011-10-24T06:04:00.001-06:00

There's always something for a puppy to play with.

This time, it's a whopping big grasshopper. Hmmm, wonder what it tastes like?

I guess it's better to just look at it than eat it.

Live in a Fever, Raging inside of Me

2011-10-23T19:35:00.003-06:00

I went out to visit the horses this afternoon. I've been concerned that Yalla! seems to be spending a lot of time in the barn. She usually roams around looking for things to see and do.

When I approached her, I saw why. She has Corynebacteria Pseudo tuberculosis, or pigeon fever, dryland strangles, or pigeon breast, as it is also commonly called. (Click on the previous two links for more information). She has a huge swelling in her lower chest area, one higher up, towards her neck, and possibly one on the left side of her neck. She is lethargic and finds walking very uncomfortable. Annie, her mother, has come down with this at least two times over the years. Both times, her swellings were lanced and drained, numerous times, to release the pus that forms the swellings. It is supposed to be a highly infectious ailment but only Annie has had it. It is nearly impossible to quarantine Yalla!, especially since flies are purported to be the carriers. This ailment is more prevalent in the dry southwest region and always seems to occur (in my barn, anyway) during October.

This is the topping on the cake for me. I had a brake job done on both the front and rear axles on the Hyundai last week to the sweet tune of almost $600. I had the plumber out two weekends ago for $500, repairing a leaky water heater faucet and an outdoor faucet. (I still have a leak in the barn and must keep the water turned off unless I am using it.) Last month, I had tires put on the Hyundai and the month before that the Subaru needed tires and a front brake job. And now...Yalla!

I thought about calling the vet but after doing research and thinking about Annie's episodes, I decided to wait until morning. Oh yeah, when I went to start my truck, it wouldn't. For three weeks now, I have been trying to get my oldest son out here to look at it (he's a whiz at fixing cars) and he's just too busy. I've called friends and mechanics but I couldn't get anyone to take a look at it. It starts, just won't turn over. My daughter's boyfriend finally came over and took a look and we decided that it might be the fuel filter or pump, after trying to hit the restart button. Who knew there was one? Anyway, we've been to Auto Zone twice now and I've got my fingers crossed it will work. I really need to get it running so that I can

Take Yalla! to the vet in the morning to find out what to do for her.
Go get some wood
Go get some hay
Take stuff to the dump

The vet will probably lance the abcesses (if they're ready) and give antibiotics. I believe it will run it's course if left untreated too, however, there is a risk of internal abcesses and peritonitis from ruptured abcesses getting infected. What should I do?

Pigeon fever is like a PITA ailment but it can also be life threatening, in rare circumstances. Does anyone else have any more information for me?

Live in a Fever, Raging inside of Me - song: Fascination, artist: David Bowie, album: Young Americans

Sunday Stills (10/23/11 Rocks)

2011-10-22T23:49:00.001-06:00

This week's Sunday Stills challenge is to post rocks and rock formations. Here are my offerings, taken a few days ago:

This photo was taken in the deep southwestern United States, on Native American tribal lands.

This interesting house is in the Zuni Pueblo, right on the main street. It is certainly not typical of a Pueblo dwelling, not even for modern times.

When you reach out the window to snap a picture, this is what you get. But I always get a kick out of seeing the school bus parked on the edge of this big rocky hill.

This is a very zoomed in photo of the green house on the edges of the canyonlands. They must have amazing views but I still wouldn't want to live there.

Check out the layers, or strata, in these striped mountains.

I believe these are the Zuni mountains. Notice the stripes and unusual rock formations?

Check out previous posts on my blog for some more interesting rock formations, such as Garden of the Gods, Camel Rock, petroglyphs, Canyon de Chelly, and oh, so many more.

For other people's Sunday Stills, please visit here.

Cowgirl Meet up

2011-10-22T11:55:00.002-06:00

Yep, it was a Cowgirl Meet up last weekend. Me and BrownEyed Cowgirl, that is. She had a barrel racing clinic with Ed Wright out in the booming town of Moriarity and, since that's in my neck of the woods, I couldn't pass up on the chance to meet up with her.

She called me Friday night and said she was settled in from her trip down from Colorado, but had the opportunity to ride with Ed, so we agreed to meet up the next day. I was amazed when she called me Saturday afternoon after a looooonnng day riding, that she still wanted to meet. I probably would have just wanted to crawl into bed under the covers after such a mentally and physically stressful day. But she cowgirled up and we had a wonderful steak and enchilada dinner at Buford's Steakhouse and chatted like old friends. Unfortunately, it gets dark way too early so I wouldn't be able to see her "boys" until Sunday.

It's a terrible photo but, oh well, my camera is acting up something fierce. I click and click and click and finally, maybe, it takes the picture. I'm trying to get to photo #10,000 before I retire it. I haven't got many pictures to go either. As you can see from her beautiful tan, the sun was shining and the weather was warm. For mid October, the weather has been just beautiful. All one needs are short sleeves and sunscreen.

On Sunday, I drove over to the arena to watch the barrel racers study with the master horseman, Ed Wright.

A long, long time ago, as a teenager, I ran barrels, poles, and all the other speed events that they have at gymkhanas. This was on my first horse (pony actually), Alfie, a 13.2hh Palomino Appaloosa that I got when I turned 13. The second year we had him, I trained him to ride pleasure as well as gaming. When we bought him, he didn't know what taking a correct lead meant. We ran games and general all-around riding in a tom thumb snaffle. Then I bitted him in a low port curb to train him for showing Western Pleasure and Trail. I taught him to back up properly, slow jog, and lope both ways around the arena on the correct lead. It was a huge improvement from the beginning, when we bounced around the arena, in a wildly fast trot, trying to get him to break into a canter. The funny thing is, he already knew how to do alternate flying lead changes from pole bending. He could do a perfect rollback in the chalk outline of a keyhole during a race. But he was ignorant on etiquette and proper pleasure riding. We learned a lot together in those early days.

At a gymkhana that summer, I rode the junior game events and my brother rode the senior events. They were divided by age: 15 and under, 16 and up. I also rode Western Pleasure and Equitation. We cleaned up with High Point Trophy and lots of beautiful rosette ribbons. It was great! Everybody knew us and the handy, little, yellow and white horse. I think I was especially proud of winning in the Western Pleasure class, however, because I had worked so hard for it.

But that's all in the distant past. I haven't ridden any speed events in decades. lol. It's intimidating to me now.

Anyway, I watched as Ed worked with each rider, having them "rate" as they approached the barrel and then proceed with the tightest, smoothest turn possible, lowering their speed as little as possible. When it wasn't correct, he'd have them stop, back, do it again, keep turning, or whatever it took to get the desired results. It was interesting to watch him work them through their issues and I usually saw some slight improvement. Whereas, in my barrel racing days, I pretty much pointed at a barrel and ran full out, letting the horse do all the work, I noticed how much the rider can help the horse prepare and round each barrel. As is the case in barrel race training, there was no all out running; they varied their speeds and mixed the patterns although I would have loved to see them really perform in a real barrel race. In between warming up, cooling down, and working with Ed, there was a lot of standing around. Barrel Racing horses are actually some of the calmest horses around, when they're not racing. How well I remember those days of sitting atop my horse watching the other riders run, like this girl, with her leg slung across the pommel of the saddle. I love her turquoise boots, btw. Also, notice the over the knee boots on the girl next to her. Nice, huh?

Since I wasn't in the clinic, I will leave a lot of the technical stuff to BrownEyed Cowgirl and just share some photos I took with my poor worn out camera. Please visit her website to read her very interesting and informative posts. Her horses, Frosty and Moon, are BIG and gorgeous boys and she is a very sweet, knowledgeable, and down to earth person.

This horse has the biggest butt I've ever seen on a horse. The lighting actually doesn't do it justice. And he could run too! I think he belongs to the arena owners who were also participating in the clinic.

Sometimes, Ed rode the other person's horse to better demonstrate what he was talking about.

He firmly believes in riding with your hands high on the horse's neck as you run the barrels.

After the clinic I invited BEC over for some homemade pizza and to see my animal gang. We visited the alpacas who, unfortunately, became very shy and wouldn't come up to us. And then we visited the horses, or should I say, Annie and Yalla! Yalla! wouldn't leave us alone and she wouldn't let Scout or Nadia approach us. BEC showed me some leg stretches that she had learned about in her clinic and we tried them out on Yalla! who readily allowed us to play with all four legs. I was glad she was there to show me the proper way to do it because I was trying to pull the back legs up way too high, which could cause soreness and damage instead of therapy.

Lastly, this is what happens when two bloggers get together. lol.

Friday Foto

2011-10-21T05:49:00.005-06:00

I was taking the coyote fence but the head popped into view just as I snapped the photo.

Fearful Hands

2011-10-17T22:39:00.002-06:00

Every morning, I hand feed the alpacas with a large plastic bowl of alpaca pellets and I've been able to catch Thelma by reaching under and grabbing her catch lead while she's eating. But still, both alpacas are really timid and keep shying away. I want them to reach through my two open hands for the feed. They don't want to. At. All.

Eventually, desire for the feed won them over. Louise got brave, reaching through my open hands and began to feed. I was able to gently touch both sides of her face. Then Thelma reached all the way through my open hands to the feed too. I was able to stroke both sides of her neck and poll. They feed one at a time, taking turns. Progress!! I am thrilled that I am getting to lay hands on them at last. I love touching their soft fleece. The catch lead dangles enticingly between my fingers each time one of them puts their head in the bowl. I decided not to try to catch them all the time and hopefully it will get easier to catch either one of them as time goes by. Here are some photos I took of Skyy and the alpacas. She usually comes in with me and lays down under their necks as I feed them. The alpacas don't seem to mind her although once, when she got too close to their hindlegs, she received a swift kick. Poor Skyy, she didn't know what happened but she learned not to go back there.

I have a four stall barn but it is not your typical layout of stall plus run, stall plus run, etc. The first and second stalls are a double pen with the two adjoining stalls sharing one door into the barn from the second stall, and no pen divider. The third stall has a small run and barn door access. The fourth stall has no barn door access, but a large run and an outside gate with access to the arena. I keep Nadia in the first and second stalls so that she has privacy from the other horses and she can eat her food in peace but she doesn't need both stalls. The other three horses live in the fourth stall with the arena access. Unfortunately, it gets crowded when they all try to squeeze into the 12x12 stall during bad weather. Poor Scout usually ends up part way outside. I'm thinking that by adding some pipe rail fencing and gates I can make the whole set up more functional.

If I add a gate on the outside fence of the first stall and run a pipe rail pen divider through the first two stalls, then I could put the alpacas in the first stall for the birthing and the winter months. I can reinforce the fencing with portable panels in the beginning so that they would have safety from predators too. Remember, I did that when Yalla! was born because she kept going through the pipe rails? I wouldn't want coyotes or even Sandy sneaking in and hurting/pestering the alpacas. They would have adjacent fencing to the horses but they would have area away from them, as well. Nadia charges at the alpacas but I imagine they would get used to each other over time. They'd have too, right? The second stall could be Nadia's. I could put a gate on the pipe rail divider between the third and fourth stalls to open it up and allow access from the barn to those two stalls for the other three horses. Or, I could take down part of the stall (gate?) so that they have one large stall. Or just leave Yalla! and Scout together in stall #4 and give Annie her own stall #3 next to Nadia's stall #2. Hmmm, still thinking about the layout there. . .

For now, with Louise due to cria in the next couple of weeks (I think!) building the shed would take too long. I decided to go back to my very original plans, when I first bought the alpacas, of placing them in the barn with the horses. For now, this is an easier and cheaper way to go.Okay, so this past weekend, we moved the alpacas to the barn. During the past week, I've been pulling round pen panels over to the barn and and then my son and I set them up in the first stall. We sat in the alpaca pen, offering feed until we finally caught Thelma. I also seized the opportunity to treat her back with the MTG that was recommended to me for her skin condition.

We tied Thelma up and tried to catch Louise but she was just too skittish. I suggested to my son that he walk Thelma over to the barn and then maybe we could catch Louise easier. They are like Siamese Twins, always doing everything in unison, as if they are joined together.

After Thelma left, Louise became frantic, but she wasn't going to come up to us to be caught, even though Thelma was gone. My son and I joined two ropes and tried to corner her. It took a couple of minutes because she would dart around a tree and we'd have to start over again but, soon enough, we caught her. Then my son led her over to the barn too.

The horses were excited to see the strange creatures up close.

I expected the alpacas to cower in the corner of the stall but they didn't. Yalla! came right up to the pen and she nosed the alpacas right through the rails.

Soon enough the novelty wore away for all the horses except Yalla! She seems to enjoy standing just outside their pen so that she can get closest to them.

First night in their new pen and all went well. However, I woke up at 5:30 AM, in a panic. I could hear lots of coyotes howling just out back, near the barn, and I was afraid that they were going after the alpacas. The panels are high enough on the bottom for animals to crawl under and I'm not so sure that coyotes won't make the attempt. I told my son about my fears and we decided that tomorrow he would move the panels and the alpacas into the third stall in the barn so that they will be surrounded by the horses and then he will put some wire up along the bottom of the panels for extra protection.

This morning, as I fed the girls handfuls of pellet feed, Sandy came in and stood around watching me feed them, picking up whatever pellets they dropped. I was glad to see that she wasn't chasing after them but it reinforced my fears of how accessible the alpacas could be to the coyotes, especially with a newborn cria coming soon.

Oh, and I put on cowboy boots for the first time since I broke my ankle. It hurt like the dickens! Although I only wore them a half hour or so, I now have a raw spot on my ankle where the plate and screws are. That's why my son walked the alpacas to the barn. I had to do as little as possible to save my poor ankle from getting torn up worse.

Fearful Hands - song: Blackout, artist: David Bowie, album: Heroes

Sunday Stills (10/16/11 Focus on the Foreground)

2011-10-16T07:12:00.001-06:00

This week's Sunday Stills challenge is to focuson the foreground. I'm not sure if I got this right, but her goes. Here are my offerings:

For more Sunday Stills, please visit here.

Friday Foto

2011-10-14T06:06:00.002-06:00

Check out this webpage for lots more special shapes.

I couldn't Sleep Last Night

2011-10-13T08:09:00.001-06:00

-I woke up this morning around four o'clock and couldn't go back to sleep again. I have too many things to worry about, I guess. I tossed and turned and then decided that I could keep trying to sleep or I could make good use of the time. It was a full moon outside. What could be better than an early, predawn ride on a moonlit night? I put on some sweat pants, a sweat shirt, ear muffs, boots, and a jacket and headed out the door. The horses were stretching, yawning, and peeing when I opened the barn doors and turned on the lights. I haltered Nadia and brought her into the barn aisle, looping the lead rope around the stall door pole, tying her up. Then I caught Scout and tied him up next to Nadia at the next pole. I gave both horses a quick curry and brush down and then I put the bareback pad on Scout. I put on my helmet and then I chose the snaffle-side pull bridle for Scout. Last time I rode him out back I had him in the curb bit and I think that was one of the reasons why he reared up and went over backwards on me. That was almost six months ago. I'm still recovering from my broken ankle.

I easily put Scout's bridle on, then I untied Nadia and walked out of the barn to the pipe rail fence, leading both horses. I climbed up on the rails and Scout sidled away from me while Nadia grazed on the other side of us. I thought 'great, I can't even get on my horse!' But I manuevered him right up to the rail, this time on the off side, and, throwing my left leg over, eased onto his back. For some reason, all my horses prefer to let me get on them from the fence using their off side. They tend to step away when I lead them up on the near side. Gathering up Nadia's lead rope in my right hand and the end of Scout's looped roping rein in my left, we headed out into the bright starlit night. We rode around the neighborhood, to the back forty, staying on the gravel roads. Sandy joined us, sometimes trotting ahead of us and sometimes romping through the fields. I could tell the horses and dog were enjoying the ride as much as I was. Scout's head stayed low as he stepped out and Nadia pricked her ears forward, walking easily beside us. I love ponying her. Except for holding the rope in my hand I don't have to do anything to bring her along with us. It's the same way when I ride Nadia and pony Scout. They just get along so well together, although Nadia does pin her ears and nip at him occasionally. I thought about how much I love my horses, how well behaved they were. Even though I haven't ridden for several weeks and I didn't even warm them up or work them down, they were a pleasure to ride and pony. This is how I like my horses. Although they're half broke (not ready for the show arena or any sort of competition) they are easy going and ride with very little guidance from me. We even had an awkward moment when Scout stepped into a deep rut in the road, only to find that it was full of water. He just stood there, confused, and when I asked him to step out of it, he did, and then walked right into some very tall weeds that made him stumble. I had a fleeting moment of panic, 'were we going to go down again?' but he recovered and we walked on. I never asked for anything faster than a walk because I wasn't sure of the ground after that incident. When we arrived at the place where we had our accident in April, my heart pounded and Scout sensed it and seemed a little nervous too. We continued walking past however. I wanted to bring Nadia along with us for two reasons: to get some exercise since she is confined in her stall and run most of the time and also to comfort Scout and I in case of fear issues. I worried that we might see cows in the field, or coyotes, or, God forbid, the pack of dogs that took us down that fateful time we rode out. The only thing that brought any notice to Scout was a realty sign in the field. He looked hard as we passed it by but did nothing else. We even passed solar light sticks that glowed blue-purple in the darkness.

The entire time we were riding, Yalla! and her mother, Annie, were calling to us. I'm sure the neighbors, if any were awake yet, wondered what was wrong. Nadia only gave a low nicker once and I was proud of Scout because he never made a sound. There was a time, not so long ago, when he would trumpet his distress for all the world to hear. Probably having Nadia along with him helped ease his herdboundness.

We didn't ride very long because it was still dark when I put them away. I fed them their mash and their hay and then I went over to feed the alpacas. I hand fed them pellets and they nuzzled my hands. I snuck in some neck petting and then, making sure they had plenty of grass hay and water, left to go get ready for the day.

I couldn't Sleep Last Night - song: Sorrow, artist: David Bowie, album: Pinups

Friday Foto

2011-10-07T05:50:00.003-06:00

I couldn't decide which photo of Thelma I should share so I included them both. Which one do you like?

I had suggestions to edit and crop the second photo. Here's the result. I love it!

Looks the Same

2011-10-04T06:34:00.002-06:00

My daughter and I took Skyy and Sandy to a shot clinic last Saturday.

We thought Sandy was about seven or even eight but the vet thinks she's only five or six because her teeth look so good. Cool! Since we've had her a full year now she was able to get the three year vaccine. Last year, she only got a one year vaccine.

Since we didn't have any records of Skyy's shots, we decided to start her on the full puppy series and to worm her too. The vet told us she was about ten weeks old now because she hasn't lost any of her puppy teeth or gotten any adult teeth yet. We were thinking she might be eleven or twelve weeks old. So much for knowing our dog's ages. LOL. Sheila is listed as the owner for both dogs and we got a chuckle when we realized: Sheila is slang for girl in Australia and she owns two Australian dogs: Sandy, an Australian Cattle dog/Airedale Terrier cross, and Skyy, a Blue Heeler/Australian Sheepdog cross.

Both dogs were very well behaved as we waited in line for almost an hour with the other dogs and their owners. There was no crying or barking, pulling or restlessness from our dogs like some of the others present. Skyy laid down at our feet and snoozed while Sandy stood sentinel-like right beside us. I found it interesting watching and talking to the other owners about their dogs. One little, older lady came with a Bernese Mountain dog, almost bigger than she was, with baling twine for a leash. Funny, because we couldn't find Sandy's leash and I actually thought about using twine myself.

We are still debating how big Skyy will grow up to be. However, the other day I saw a dog that looked just like what I think she will look like when she grows up. What do you think?

Skyy

Matter of fact, the dog was running down the street away from us

and then he stopped and came over to us for a close-up view. Since this dog lives several hundred miles from where the puppy came from, I seriously doubt it's related, although it must be the same breed. Crazy looking, huh?

Looks the Same: song: Sweet Thing, artist: David Bowie, album: Diamond Dogs

Fiesta!

2011-10-02T13:16:00.001-06:00

The Balloon Fiesta started Friday. Every morning for the next week I'll get to see lots of hot air balloons up in the sky. It is so cool. They look little but they are actually very big.

This is a view from my office window on Friday morning. The Balloon Fiesta hadn't officially started yet. During Mass Ascensions there are hundreds and hundreds of balloons in the sky. This year, the event is called the Greatest Show Off Earth! Cool, huh? I think it's funny that the restaurant is called Fiestas.

I hope to get more balloon photos but in the mean time, you can check out this post, from my balloon ride a couple of years ago.

Sunday Stills (10/02/11 Drops of Water)

2011-10-02T06:18:00.001-06:00

This photo was originally going to be my Friday Foto but Ed challenged us with drops of water for the Sunday Stills Challenge.

Here's another, from my recent Birthday hike with my boys.

For more Sunday Stills, please visit here.

Skin starts itching

2011-10-01T20:57:00.001-06:00

A few months ago, I had the vet come out and give the horses and alpacas their shots. Annie got her teeth floated and I had the vet look at Thelma's coat. It looks like she's got a fungus of some sort. Does anyone have any ideas as to what kind of skin condition it is? These photos are from a few months ago. I don't think it's gotten any worse, just not any better.

The vet told me to treat it with athlete's foot medication. That is all very well, except that I can't catch her. So...I bought the medicine and waited until I could put it on her. I hand feed pellets to the alpacas every morning and I can pet their chins but they shy away whenever I reach for them. Finally, last week, I was able to reach under and grab Thelma's catch lead, a six inch lead that stays attached to her halter. I really don't like leaving the halters on them but I am still trying to tame them. Of course, I didn't have the medicine on me, but I was able to loosen her halter. It was really hard to do! The nylon was stiff and the halter was snug on her face. I was afraid I'd lose Thelma with all the juggling I was doing and my fingers aren't very strong, but I managed to loosen her halter one notch. The funny thing about the alpacas is that they are very, very timid about getting caught, but once they are, they are easily handled. Not like a horse at all. They don't fight after the initial, "Uh oh, you can't catch me." So I loosened her halter and then I let her go. I was able to recatch her almost immediately too. Food sure helps!

Next morning, I tried again, this time with the medicine in my pocket. Success! I caught her and rubbed the medicating cream into her bald spots. She has a long way to go before I can just catch her but I am optimistic that I'm getting there. I sure hope the cream medication does the job now because I hate seeing her beautiful coat so contaminated.

Today, my son and daughter helped catch Louise for me. And she spat at us! Yuck!! Fortunately, she didn't dredge everything up from her stomach first. It wasn't as nasty as I'd expected. Anyway, we loosened her halter a notch. I reached over to feel her stomach and she kicked at me. I think she is feeling extremely touchy from being so pregnant. Hopefully, after she births, and in a few months, her personality will improve.

We caught Thelma and I was again able to treat her bald spots with the fungus cream. I found out that she likes animal crackers. I joked to her that she was eating her cousin when I fed her a camel cookie. I'm happy to report that she's getting easier and easier to handle. We actually let her go and recaught her. I know she's feeling more comfortable getting caught because now she'll eat while she's caught.

We also discussed plans for building a loafing shed for the alpacas. I'm thinking we'll build it 8 x 16 with a slanted roof, facing east. This is going to be a new experience for us, building something. Anyone have any ideas for us?

Skin Starts Itching - song: Lust for Life, artist: Iggy Pop

Is she or isn't she?

2011-10-01T09:32:00.002-06:00

I suspect that Louise is due to have a cria in three weeks. When I bought her, I was told she was bred and due in October. I asked the vet when she was here and she said that she appeared to be but without an exam she couldn't verify. Louise did NOT like the vet touching her and we didn't want to risk her getting kicked. I can't catch Louise even though I can hand feed her and touch her chin (improvement there). I expect that if/when the cria is born my son and I will have to get out there in the first few hours and corral Louise so that we can handle the cria. I will need to give the cria an enema and iodine the umbilical cord.

Here is a photo of Thelma from the side. This is before I medicated her skin condition, btw.

Here's Louise.Ya think??

Thelma...

Louise...

It's all very exciting. I estimate October 21 as the due date. Alpacas carry for eleven months just like horses. I'm debating about sleeping out there like I did for Annie. Hmmm, Yalla! was born in June and it was cold. This time around, it could be snowing! I shall have to decide if I'm tough enough for it. However, it could give me first handle on the cria too. I will definitely want to blanket it for the first couple of days.

Friday Foto

2011-09-30T06:16:00.001-06:00

Did you notice the lonely lawn chair at the water's edge?

Slinky fun

2011-09-28T22:03:00.000-06:00

It was so fun watching Skyy play with a slinky that I just had to share some photos:

Fortunately, nothing happened to the plastic slinky because my son came into the room, saw her playing with it and got all mad for us letting her have it. Ooops, but, oh my, it sure was fun for a while, wasn't it, Skyy?

Sunday Stills (9/25/11 Signs of Fall)

2011-09-25T09:12:00.001-06:00

The Sunday Stills photo challenge this week is to show signs of Fall. I didn't get a chance to go out shooting this week so I'm going to have to use archives for this one.

There are always beautiful sunrises and sunsets this time of year too.

For more Sunday Stills, please visit here.

Friday Foto

2011-09-23T06:02:00.002-06:00

What???

One Million Bones

2011-09-20T22:10:00.001-06:00

There is a national social arts program called One Million Bones which I took part in last weekend.

My son's girlfriend works at the ceramics lab at our local university and invited me to come and make a bone for this project last Saturday. Last month, she took part in laying out 50,000 bones in downtown Albuquerque.

I went and took pictures as well.

There was a garbage can sized tub full of porcelain clay just waiting to be shaped and fired into bones.

Here are the ingredients and utensils. Working with clay is very much like working with bread dough. First, you have to work it to take out the bubbles and air pockets, by kneading and pounding. Then, you can shape it by hand, adding water as needed to smooth the surface or by using special tools to smooth and shape it into forms.

I really had no idea how to make a bone. Then I decided that, in a pile of one million bones, nobody is going to inspect them very closely and anyway, they won't even know that I made them. So, I went to work. It seemed to get easier as I made more and more of them.

Here are some of the artsy folks crafting their masterpieces. The blue rag is water dampened and covering a small supply of clay to keep it from drying out as we work with it.

Here is some more molding and forming. It's much harder than it seems like it should be, to build a bone.

Here are some of the bones I made. I actually made 55 in all that day! 0.0055% of the total bones needed for the project- LOL!!

I know they're funny looking but hey, it's for a good cause and it was fun to do, too!

This is the sign on the kiln room door. Crazy, huh?

Here is one of the kilns. It's huge and very, very, very hot when in use.

Here's the inside of one of the many kilns. These are student projects. Nice stuff, huh?

Since it was on a weekend, some people were coming in to work on their class assignments.

Almost makes me want to take up pottery making or ceramics...

If you are interested in contributing to the One Million Bones project, check out this website.

Joe vs. Jose

2011-09-19T18:37:00.000-06:00

JOE vs. JOSE
You have two families: "Joe Legal" and "Jose Illegal". Both families have two parents, two children, and live in California.

Joe Legal works in construction, has a Social Security Number and makes $25.00 per hour with taxes deducted.

Jose Illegal also works in construction, has NO Social Security Number, and gets paid $15.00 cash "under the table".

Ready? Now pay attention....
Joe Legal: $25.00 per hour x 40 hours = $1000.00 per week, or $52,000.00 per year. Now take 30% away for state and federal tax; Joe Legal now has $31,231.00.

Jose Illegal: $15.00 per hour under the table x 40 hours = $600.00 per week, or $31,200.0 0 per year. Jose Illegal pays no taxes. Jose Illegal now has $31,200.00.

Joe Legal pays medical and dental insurance with limited coverage for his family at $600.00 per month, or $7,200.00 per year. Joe Legal now has $24,031.00.

Jose Illegal has full medical and dental coverage through the state and local clinics and emergency hospitals at a cost of $0.00 per year. Jose Illegal still has $31,200.00.

Joe Legal makes too much money and is not eligible for food stamps or welfare. Joe Legal pays $500.00 per month for food, or $6,000.00 per year. Joe Legal now has $18,031.00.

Jose Illegal has no documented income and is eligible for food stamps, WIC and welfare. Jose Illegal still has $31,200.00.

Joe Legal pays rent of $1,200.00 per month, or $14,400.00 per year. Joe Legal now has $9,631.00.

Jose Illegal receives a $500.00 per month Federal Rent Subsidy. Jose Illegal pays out that $500.00 per month, or $6,000.00 per year. Jose Illegal still has $31,200.00.

Joe Legal pays $200.00 per month, or $2,400.00 for car insurance. Some of that is uninsured motorist insurance. Joe Legal now has $7,231.00.

Jose Illegal says, "We don't need no stinkin' insurance!" and still has $31,200.00.

Joe Legal has to make his $7,231.00 stretch to pay utilities, gasoline, etc.

Jose Illegal has to make his $31,200.00 stretch to pay utilities, gasoline, and what he sends out of the country every month.

Joe Legal now works overtime on Saturdays or gets a part time job after work.

Jose Illegal has nights and weekends off to enjoy with his family.

Joe Legal's and Jose Illegal's children both attend the same elementary school. Joe Legal pays for his children's lunches, while Jose Illegal's children get a government sponsored lunch. Jose Illegal's children have an after school ESL program. Joe Legal's children go home.

Now, when they reach college age, Joe Legal's kids may not get into a State School and may not qualify for scholarships, grants or other tuition help, even though Joe Legal has been paying for State Schools through his taxes, while Jose Illegal's kids "go to the head of the class" because they are a minority.

Joe Legal and Jose Illegal both enjoy the same police and fire services, but Joe Legal paid for them and Jose Illegal did not pay.

New Mexico is one of only three states that allow illegal immigrants to get driver's licenses and our governor, Susana Martinez, wants that law repealed. I say "yes!"

Meet Skyy

2011-09-18T12:05:00.000-06:00

Last year, my daughter acquired Sandy. Last week, she acquired Skyy.

We're not sure how old she is but she can't be more than a couple months, at the most. She loves to play and sleep and eat and pee and poo, and not in that order. We crated her the second night, after she went my daughter's bed the first night, and she cried practically the whole night, wanting to be let out of the crate. I gave strict orders to the kids not to give in to her, no matter what. Next night, she didn't cry so much, and then by the third night, she went right to sleep. By day, she must be taken outside constantly or she has accidents all the time, everywhere. I convinced the kids to keep her on a leash so that we can control her more. I've read that she has about an hour of bladder control for every month old she is. Of course, every time she wakes up she has to be walked...and every time she eats or drinks...and, well, you get the idea. She is very good about going once she is outside. Several times, I've caught her in the act and she'll finish outside, so hopefully, it won't be too terribly long before she is fully house broken. It's funny, the day before she came, I was looking at carpet samples, ready to do the house. Boy, I'm glad I didn't!

She's about twelve pounds and growing like a weed. I swear I can see her growing! I'm not sure how big she's going to get but my best guess is around 35-45 pounds. Sheila says she's Australian Shepherd crossed with something? Anyone care to guess??

Oh, and she chews on everything! We bought her some rawhides and she loves them. Between those, and the old dog toys we have laying around the house, I sure hope she stays away from the shoes and furniture.

I'm not so sure about having another dog after losing Buddha but she sure is a cutie! Unfortunately, Sandy is feeling rather jealous of her. Sheila keeps saying that she doesn't need to keep her- that she can give her back, but I seriously think she is here to stay. This is one of the reasons why I haven't posted about her previously. I guess time will tell.

Sunday Stills (9/18/11 On the Road)

2011-09-18T06:14:00.013-06:00

I live right off of Historic Route 66, known as the old "Mother Road". Follow me as I drive it home from the big ABQ.

I wanted to include this photo for two reasons- the weather making clouds over the mountains and the fancy designed overpass. Click to enlarge for a better look. New Mexico has some of the prettiest highway designs around, IMHO.

I'm driving Central Avenue, which is the old Historic Route 66, towards home through the mountain canyon and into a huge storm.

This next section of the Route 66 highway is a frontage road going under the freeway. It's a twisty canyon road and fun to drive.

I wonder how they get to this house with all the huge boulders?

I suggest that you enlarge this photo to really see it. There is a large white cross almost centered in the photo. I don't know why it's there but I believe this is 'Deadman's Curve' on the old highway. If you look closely, you can make out the old dirt road up above the freeway. I took this photo from the Route 66 frontage road which I am still driving on.

This memorial was recently placed on Route 66 as a result of a fatal head-on accident. For a long time, there was a large blood stain on the pavement. I'm relieved to see that it's finally worn/washed away. The strange buildings below are a rental storage place just down the hill.

This is the road home. It appears that I followed the storm after it passed through because I drove on wet roads but never through actual rain.

For more Sunday Stills, please visit here.

Should have took a picture

2011-09-17T08:23:00.002-06:00

The other day I went out to run the horses and ended up taking a photo session.

Here is Scout, my pinto/Arabian/Appaloosa gelding, born and raised at my ranch although not bred by me. I would never mix up the color breeds like that! I bought his mother, Beighley, a 1/2 Arabian/Appaloosa, already pregnant with him. Unfortunately, she tragically died shortly after we got Annie and Nadia. Scout was only two at the time.

This is Fantastyk Gal, Annie, my registered Polish Arabian mare and Yalla!s mother. That is dirt on her back by the way. She always gets her dirtiest when I pull out the camera.

Here is my sweet old Nari Asbah, Nadia, my Egyptian Arabian mare. I've had all three of these horses for the last fifteen years. You can see Sandy/Seven, the stray who came to stay, in the background in the next photo. We've had her a year now. She adores my daughter but she enjoys being with all of us.

Yalla! FantastyKheema, my selectively bred Arabian filly, found my whip quite entertaining in the next photo.

I bred her highly excitable race-bred mother, Annie, to a champion cow horse, Kakhem Sahib, to get some "calm." I think it worked. She has "cow horse" so instilled in her that she chases Sandy all over the place.

I am finally going to acknowledge that she is going to stay dark. yay! By now she should have signs of gray appearing or yellow in her tail, at least. Although, when I brush her, I find minute white hairs in her coat. huh?? She's still on the small side for a two year old but so was Scout. Like him, I won't ride her until she is three years old, next summer.

They did run a little but mostly, just stood and watched me. Oh well, next time they'll get more exercise.

Should have took a picture - song: Everyone Says Hi, artist: David Bowie, album: Heathen

Friday Foto

2011-09-16T05:28:00.001-06:00

Stamp Act Tree?

2011-09-15T07:26:00.001-06:00

This marker was on one of the largest pine trees in the forest along the trail we followed a few weeks ago. Does anyone know any more about it?

I found this information about the Stamp Act 1765 on wikipedia but I don't know that it's related.

Any help in this matter would sate my curiosity.

Sunday Stills (9/11/11 Shiny)

2011-09-11T08:26:00.000-06:00

Ths week's photo challenge was HARD! I can't think of anything "shiny." Not my cars and I don't have any money. SO, I went to the archives for the shiny event of the year- the Youth Arabian Nationals. Enjoy!

The horses are so well groomed and shiny for the halter classes. They shine them up even more around the eyes and muzzles!

Cruella de Ville was wearing an extremely shiny outfit for the freestyle reining class. Also, did you notice the silvery, "shiny" bridle?

The Native Costume class always shines with glittery costumes.

Trophies shine, as does the winner's smile.

Even the riding classes sport shiny derby hats, browbands, stirrups, hooves, and horses.

For more Sunday Stills, please visit here.

Friday Foto

2011-09-09T19:16:00.001-06:00

We found this neat rock on our Sandia Mountain hike.

Space Oddity- a children's book

2011-09-08T05:31:00.000-06:00

David Bowie's famous song, Space Oddity, about a spaceman who becomes lost in space, is now a children's book with illustrations by Andrew Kolb. It is not yet available for purchase but you can view a video of the book here:
Pretty neat, huh? This isn't the first children's book published using David Bowie's lyrics. Check here for Musical Storyland, illustrated by Jamilla Naji.

I had heard that Jamilla Naji was moving to ABQ. It appears that she has. Way cool, I should get in touch with her.

Birthday hike

2011-09-06T23:49:00.000-06:00

Last Sunday, my two sons and I went on a hike in the Sandia Mountains, not too far from our house because that's what I wanted to do for my birthday, before I get too old, ;).

I packed up some water (2 bottles), a couple of granola bars, two apples, a bag of carrots and sugar snap peas, and a couple of string cheeses. I knew Trevor was packing snacks but I wasn't sure if Ross was. I brought along my rain poncho because it had been misting in the morning and it still looked like it might rain some more. I brought along a sweatshirt because it was chilly, and I wore my handmade alpaca hat, just because. After I loaded everything into my backpack, along with my camera and some other odds and ends, I thought that maybe I was overpacking. After all, we were only going five or six miles in just a couple or so hours. Oh well, I thought, better to be prepared, than not. Right?

Around 11:00 we arrived at the trail head and this deer or elk skull had been placed on the mountain lion and bear warning signs. Kind of eerie, huh?

I took a photo of the map because you just never know if you might need it. This map is actually covering the entire mountain. Our plan was to do the little red triangle in the bottom right corner, the Faulty Loop Trail.

Along the way, there is a small waterfall and some little caves which the boys had to explore.

Here's a misty view of the nearby village.

My youngest son always has to ham it up for the camera.

Besides seeing the edges of my backpack and my "borrowed" walking stick, which I happily picked up at the trailhead, I wanted to show you how the plants grow in rocks around here.

I just love this tree. Can't you just see all kinds of mythical, magical things in it? I mean, I see a long beak-faced woman kneeling with her arms up, reaching for the sky. Do you see the elephant, or warthog, with the tusk? Can you see the green man's face right next to it? Okay, well, I guess I have a vivid imagination, then.

There were a few flowers along the way, nestled in amongst the rocks.

Here is part of the trail we hiked. This was one of the lesser rocky areas. Isn't it pretty?

Here's an artistic view of a tree.

It was cloudy and cool but it never did rain. It felt like an Autumn day without the fall colors, just a perfect day for a hike.

This fallen log makes a perfect, natural bridge across the gully, doesn't it?

Unfortunately, we came across several more deadfall trees across our trail, like the one in the photo below, which we had to climb over. It's much larger than the photo makes it appear. We wondered why the path appeared so little used and then we suddenly realized we were on the wrong trail! When we stopped for lunch, there was an intersection of three trails. We chose the trail to the right when we should have done a 320 degree turn back onto the lower trail. Oh no! After thinking that we were so close to the end, I was devasted when I realized we had miles still to go. By now, my ankle was hurting and I was tired. I felt like I had "hit my wall." My younger son gave me good advice from his trek guide days. He said, "Never think about getting to the end of the trail until you are actually finished, in camp, or driving home, because you just never know how much further you might really have to go." It's true, I was so looking forward to being done and now I had to keep on hiking. We took a break, ate some snacks, and started back. Until now, I was actually doing better than I had hoped for. I was wearing my ankle brace and it only hurt on the extreme "ups" and downs" because my bad ankle just doesn't flex much yet.

We passed this little hut made of old tree limbs and wondered who had made it? Trevor had to go check it out inside.

We checked the map on my camera and found where we had made the wrong turn. In the end, we found it easier to backtrack the whole way out. This is a big mountain with lots of trails but it amazes me how easily one can get lost. The trails look alike after a while and directions can be misleading. I was actually thankful for the excess of food and water just in case we had to spend the night, or something. I went on this trail by myself a few years ago and made a wrong turn and ended up several miles up from where I started, probably the same route we just made. I certainly didn't expect to make any wrong turns this time, however, with my sons along. I think it's called the Faulty Loop because there is a flaw in the map; it's not really a loop at all. LOL.

We did make it out shortly after four o'clock. Not too bad for my first hike, only four and a half months after breaking my ankle. We celebrated our return to civilization with burgers, cokes, and fries at Carl's Jr. I wasn't too terribly tired yesterday, but boy, today, I'm feeling the pain. It takes me a few steps to get my muscles moving and walking normally again. My hips and upper thighs sure got a work out.
What a goofy family shot, huh??

Happy Birthday!

2011-09-05T21:46:00.003-06:00

Happy Birthday to me...and Freddie!

I was just lamenting to my daughter that I couldn't think of anyone noteworthy born on this day when I saw the Google Doodle of Freddie Mercury. He would have been 65 today.

If you go here, you can see his full 1986 Wembley concert, courtesy of the official Queen website.
Of course, if you don't have an hour and a half, just watch the video below. Note that they were not actually performing on stage together. Someone did a fantastic job remixing and splicing films to make this great little video. Enjoy!!

Sunday Stills (09/4/11 Potluck)

2011-09-04T06:50:00.007-06:00

Since this week's Sunday Stills is "Potluck," I decided to show some photos of the road trip I took a couple of weekends ago. It was my mother's 84th birthday and Trevor and I drove up to her house to wish her a happy birthday. We left shortly after sunrise.

Sandy came along too. Here she is enjoying the fresh country air from the backseat.

I thought the view from this old run-down house was interesting.

I like the yellow flowers and the dark treeline bordering the farmhouses and green fields in this photo.

We got home very late. Along the way, I had to stop and capture this stunning sky.

For more Sunday Stills, please visit here.

Educating Yalla! darkness

2011-09-03T10:46:00.002-06:00

Yesterday, I watched a movie titled Riding Tornado. I highly recommend it. It's the true story of a distressed young man and a very disturbed, uncontrollable Arabian stallion. Pierre, the young man, finds a horse whisperer/missionary in South Africa and takes the horse to him. Instead of working with the horse himself, Barrie Burger tells Pierre what to do. Like so many inspirational stories, Barrie teaches patience and self healing. One of his suggestions to Pierre was to go out to the horse in the dark of night and just be with him, no talking, no touching. Barrie said that the horse would seek Pierre out for companionship when he was ready. He told Pierre to softly blow in the horse's nostrils (yep, there it is again) and only touch the horse if Tornado wanted it. Then, Pierre began taking Tornado for long walks at night in the Kalahari desert. Barrie said that the man and the horse would have to trust and depend on one another in the darkness. It's a good story; the changes to Tornado are incredibly visible throughout the movie and the cinematography is amazing!

This movie inspired me to go out for a late night visit to my own equines. I used to like to ride at night but since my ankle injury, I haven't. I considered riding last night but the mosquitos were out in full force. I was wearing a sweatshirt and leggings but they still bit at the exposed skin on my head, face and neck.

This photo is from another day but I thought I'd post it anyway.

It was very dark going to the barn but my eyes quickly adjusted and soon I could see well enough to go visit the horses. First, I visited my sweet Nadia. She nickered softly to me as I stroked her neck and murmured sweet nothings to her. She is looking really good right now for her 28 years. There was a spell where she lost weight and was continuously shedding her thick hair. Now she is sleek and soft coated. She still needs muscle tone but I have to keep her separated from the others so that she can eat and she tends not to walk around much. Since I've been feeding the alfalfa hay, her appetite has picked up. She used to leave hay scattered all over the place. Now, sometimes, all the hay is gone. Good girl!

I moved on to Scout, Yalla! and Annie. Scout is much more forward than he has been in a long time. It seems like since the accident in April where he reared and fell over backwards on me, he is trying to make it up to me again. He is such a sweetheart that I don't blame him for what happened. I think he lost his balance. I really do need to show him that all is well with us by riding him out again.

Annie was her usual sweet self. She loves to be loved but she is easily intimidated. She came right up for hugging but quickly backed off when Yalla! and Scout got in the way. Off and on she would come over to me for a scratching or nostril blowing and then back away again.

Yalla! never quits. She wants to explore my boots, my pockets, my hands, my hair. She loves to have me blow in her nostrils. She stretches her head up and towards me for more. The "vee" between her forelegs is one of her favorite places for scratching. I really need to start taking her for those midnight walks like in the movie. I just didn't feel like it tonight with the skeeters biting me. I did, however, walk away from the horses and down the arena to the log. I sat down and waited to see who would come. Right away, I heard galloping hooves. Yalla! was there in the darkness with me, again nosing everything on my person. She so reminded me of Tornado in the movie, when he turned towards Pierre for "games."

Yalla! and I heard something outside of the arena and, true to her name, Yalla! or "Let's Go" in Arabic, she bolted away, back to the safety of the barn and the other horses. She immediately turned around and galloped back to me. A coyote began howling several yards away and she tensed, but this time she didn't run off. She moved closer to me, protector, or for protection, I wasn't sure which, but she stayed with me as the coyote continued to howl and bark, in the nearby darkness. I swear that coyote was trying to sound like a barking dog. Other times, I've heard a coyote sound like a cat meowing. I wondered if it was the same coyote. If so, he sure had a knack for mimicking his prey. The coyote moved on and we heard other sounds nearby. I suspected it was Sandy and called for her. I went over to the gate and there she was, waiting, afraid to go in to the horses in the darkness. Smart girl. She's been kicked and chased often enough by Yalla! that maybe she's wisening up although I doubt it. I think it was the darkness that intimidated her. I said goodbye to Yalla!, climbed over the gate, and patted Sandy down, telling her what a good girl she was. I could hear Yalla! galloping back to the barn and her herdmates, as Sandy and I went to the house together.

Friday Foto

2011-09-02T05:42:00.002-06:00

Welcome to Wendys, may I take your order, please?

Untouched photograph of the drive-thru order board, at night... WTH??

This is genocide!

2011-08-31T22:23:00.001-06:00

This morning, I went out to the barn and immediately put a halter on Annie. She tensed up, sensing the unusual behavior, but I knew what I wanted to do. I gently blew into her nostrils and I could see her tension lessen. I brought the tube of wormer up to her mouth and she took it, without any issues, the whole tube! By golly, I am sold on this blowing into the nostrils method of horse whispering. It worked on my two hot Arabs, making worming them as easy as ever.

Then, I figured that since I already had Annie haltered up, I'd go for a quick ride. I brought her over to the rail fence like always, only she really didn't want to come up close enough for me to climb over onto her back safely. I told her, "I have all day" and I just relaxed and waited her out. After just a few minutes of manuevering her back and forth to the railing, she came in close enough that I climbed over onto her back and we rode into the arena with Scout and Yalla! following closely behind. Sandy came along too and I laughed as I watched Yalla! chase her a few yards. I'd say it's payback for her chasing the horses all the time.

I walked Annie very slowly around half of the arena, close to the barn, checking to see how excited she was. She always rides better in a halter (yes, Sydney, I do think she's a candidate for a bitless bridle) but, since I haven't ridden her much recently, I want to be very careful. Both Scout and Yalla! followed us for a while and then they got bored and stopped. When Annie and I reached the end of the arena, Scout and Yalla! came running up to us, startling us. Fortunately, Annie remained calm and we continued our walk. Then, I asked her to trot and she went into a nice slow jog for me. I only rode about 15 minutes but it sure felt good to ride before getting ready for work. I put Annie away and fed them all their breakfast thinking to myself that I gotta do this more often.

Next, I decided to change the fly trap mixture so that I can get rid of more of those pesty flies in the barn. Remember my photos of the very full fly trap? I took one of the fly traps and unscrewed the lid. I dumped out the putrid water, full of dead black insect bodies, along the fenceline, just outside of the horse area. I refilled the trap with water and added the mixture. I stirred it all up and then it was ready for more fly genocide.

I continued with my chores, fed the alpacas, and hurried to the house for a shower and change of clothes so that I could go to work. Then I called Sandy inside.

PEEEYOOOHIE!!!

She stank like cow manure and dead pigs! I think she rolled in the dead fly-trap mixture. I took her outside, woke my son up, and we proceeded to give her a bath which she didn't appreciate much at all. I hoped she didn't get any of that smell on me because I was running late for work by now and didn't have time to change clothes.

I left the wet dog with my son and took off for work giving my son instructions to PLEASE bury the dead fly mixture so Sandy didn't get into it again. I was only a half hour later than usual but since I'm staying late most days it didn't matter too much. All in all, I really like mornings like this where I can feel like I've accomplished something before my work day. The last several mornings, I've been chopping weeds for 20 minutes or so each day. Don't ask me how that's going! The weeds are flourishing right now- easily knee high in places. Sometimes, I collect what I cut and throw it over the fence for the horses to eat.

A long day's work and I was finally home again. Dark skies and heavy winds in town led to pouring rain at home. The crazy New Mexico weather can change by zip code, or sometimes, even by streets. I have actually been driving down the road and crossed a line from partly cloudy skies into rain or snow conditions. It may or may not rain where you are at even if it's raining in other parts of the city. But on this night, it was raining buckets at my house! Empty feeders and buckets held a half inch or more of water and there is a rivulet running through the horse pens and down the arena to the far downhill end where a lake has formed. Gah! This means a sloppy, messy muddy trip to the barn to feed the animals.
Ah, but never fear, in the morning, most of it will be dry again. That's New Mexico, the Land of Enchantment for ya.

This is Genocide - song: Diamond Dogs, artist: David Bowie, album: Diamond Dogs

Educating Yalla!, worming time

2011-08-30T22:52:00.005-06:00

Last year, I had Yalla! tested for worms and her stool sample came up negative. Naturally, I assumed that all my horses are negative for worms since Yalla! was the most likely candidate for any infestation, being young. My horses don't travel anywhere and they have no interaction with outside horses so I really don't expect them to have any worm infestation now either. But, Annie and Yalla! are on the thin side and all my horses have big bellies, although that's probably just from hay. Also, when they get the chance, they all like to scratch their butts up against the juniper trees, so I decided to worm all the horses this morning, just in case they are wormy. Unfortunately, they had a very different idea about it.

I went to sweet old Nadia first. She took it like a trooper with just a little coaxing and a hand grip on her fly mask. Scout balked (his usual self), but again, I dosed him with just a firm hold on his fly mask and a little backing up, on his part. However, Annie saw what was coming and hauled a#s, taking off and staying a safe distance away. I couldn't get near her! I decided to save her for later. So, with halter in hand, I targeted Yalla!

I caught her easily but as I put the knotted rope halter on her I could see the whites of her eyes. She threw her head high and kept backing away from me. I could see her considering rearing, but to her credit, she never did. She did, however, run around me, around and around, in both directions. Scout, who had raised the red flag with his behavior, was now standing placidly around us, like a bratty little kid, just getting in the way. Yalla! was backing into him and he was moving out of the way just enough and then coming back over. Maybe he was sorry for the ruckus he had caused. I hope so. But the damage was done. Yalla! was completely terrified. She moved forward when she could, backed when she couldn't, and looked thoroughly ~~wild~~ scared. She refused to allow the 'monster' I had in my hand 'hurt' her. I couldn't get the white tube of paste anywhere near her head. I kept talking to her, telling her that there was no way I was going to hurt her. Of course, I worried that she was going to hurt me too, with my already bad ankle.

She settled down a little, licking and chewing some, as I played with her mane, scratching her neck the way she likes it, but she would not give in and she continued to fight me. I firmly decided that I had as much time as it was going to take, all day if need be, for her to get wormed, and to accept it easily too. A few weeks ago, I had the vet come out and give all the horses their shots. At the same time she checked over the alpaca's eye for possible infection (flies) and gave them shots too. She was quick with the shots but when she tried to look at Yalla!s teeth, Yalla! said "no" with her reaction and the vet said "never mind, she's too young to have any teeth problems anyway." Looking back, I realize this set her up for the negative behavior today. Annie had her teeth floated at that time so I imagine that is why she skedaddled away so quickly today.

I was making very little progress and progressively worrying about what kind of horse she was turning in to. How was I ever going to ride this wild beast if she was going to get all ballistic over such a small thing? Then I remembered a book I had just finished, a western novel of the Hannah and the Horseman series, where the horse whisperer blows into the Mustang stallion's nostrils and 'small talks' to it after just catching it from the wild. Then the horse is immediately ridden without even any fight. I thought, 'yeah, sure!' But today, I thought, 'heck, I'm already doing the small talk. And I often blow in Yalla!s nose. She even appears to like it'. After all, what harm could it do? I was getting nowhere as it was. I even debated about calling up a horse trainer to help me at another time but I didn't think that was going to be very successful either. After all, last year I had him work with the horses all summer to learn to trailer load and Yalla! acted rather the same way, fighting for all she was worth. We did eventually get her loaded several times but I'm not sure how much of the lesson stuck with her. And when it comes to bathing, she gets all dancey and reary then, too. I need to come up with a good solution, and quickly, because she's only getting bigger and stronger and more wild, as time goes by and she gets older.

I breathed into her nostrils and she stretched her nose to me for more. Very soon, I could see her relaxing and dropping her head. Then I brought up the worming paste tube and rubbed the hard plastic tube all over her face, up to her ears, and along her neck. I fingered her lips and opened both sides of her mouth. I put the tube in one side, took a deep breath, and squeezed the paste right in. She never even moved. Afterwards, halterless, she came up to me and started chewing on the end of the tube until she wouldn't even let it go with her teeth; she was having so much fun playing with it. How many horses will do that after being wormed?

The demon horse was gone and my sweet little Yalla! was back, at least until the next training episode. I am seeing her personality as a panic first (mom's trait) and then, think it through (dad's trait), and finally, hopefully, complete acceptance (yay!!). Maybe the breathing into her nostrils really works? I'm going to have to try it when she gets her next bath. I have read that, as well as horses exchanging greetings, it's a way to exercise dominance over another horse. Maybe this is what I need to do to gain power and esteem in her eyes as the Alpha. What do you think about blowing into the nostrils to subdue the horse? Old wives tale or truth? Do you have any other training suggestions?

Oh, yeah, Annie is getting hers in the morning. I'm going to halter her before she gets any different ideas and runs off again. I think her teeth float last month kind of soured her to "face" work. Maybe I'll blow into her nostrils too. I'll let ya know how it goes...

Sunday Stills (08/28/11 bugs and pests)

2011-08-28T15:30:00.005-06:00

This week's challenge is to show pests and things that bug me. Here goes:

Flies are probably the number one pests.

The horses wear fly masks as protection against them.

Unfortunately, I can't find any fly masks to fit the alpacas and Thelma has a messy eye. The vet looked at it and said that it didn't need medication...yet. It does look better than this, for now.

To get rid of the nasty pesty flies, I set up fly traps. I think this one is more than full and ready to be dumped out.

Here's another kind of fly exterminator. It looks pretty full too.

I also hate the varmints that dig these holes, moles, I think.

As far as things that really bug- how about leaving water hoses laying around so that the horses can step on them and bend the screw in ends or even trip on them?

For more Sunday Stills, please visit here.

Friday Foto

2011-08-26T06:54:00.005-06:00

Path to Glory

2011-08-22T06:38:00.004-06:00

I just heard about a film that is available for purchase called the Path to Glory. See here for a view of the trailer. I WANT to see this film! It is a documentary on the history of the Polish Arabian, The Rise and Rise of the Polish Arabian Horse, from desert sands, through war and devastation, to the prestigious stud farms of Poland. How awesome is that?

My Annie is Polish. Her mother was imported from Poland just a few years before Annie was foaled. Annie's grandsires are Palas on her dam's side and El Paso on her sire's side. I still remember seeing the beautiful bay stallion, El Paso, shown at halter at one of the International Arabian Horse Shows many years ago. He was so valuable, he was called the horse that money couldn't buy. Lasma Arabians were only allowed to bring him to the USA for a three year lease from the Poles in 1975. Then, in 1981, he was sold at auction to Mr. Armand Hammer for a cool $1,000,000!! Time changes all things, I guess. I see Czort is mentioned in the film. He is El Paso's sire. See here for information on Czort, also photos of El Paso and, if you click on the links, Forta, Czort's dam, etc. Ofir is also mentioned in the film. I'm sure his famous sons Witraz and Wielki Szlem will also be covered in the film. During bombings of Dresden, Witraz's tail caught on fire. His heroic groom Jan Ziniewiciz put out the tail and held tight to both of these stallions during the night, chafing his hands terribly. Of the 80 stallions there that night, only 38 survived. Both of these stallions are in my mares' pedigrees. Another famous stallion Witez II, brother to both Witraz and Wielki Szlem, survived the war by his famous rescue by General Patton. He took the Super Horses (Hitler's special breeding program) from the Germans as prisoners of war and Witez II was imported to the USA, by boat, where his "look of eagles" spread his fame and he became a top breeding and foundation stallion in America.

Palas was imported from Russia to Poland in 1972. He was by Aswan, the "gift" horse from Egypt, presented by the Egyptian government as a "thank you" to Russia for helping build the Aswan dam, thus the name change from Raafat to Aswan. At first, the Russians were reluctant to use him for stud because of his "incorrect" conformation and lack of race record. However, as a courtesy to Egypt, they bred a few mares and were pleased with the quality of the resulting foals. Soon he was chief sire at Tersk Stud.

His son, Palas, was an extremely successful stud in Poland representing the Saklawi I line, siring many Polish, European, World, and US Champion get, including Annie's dam (Yalla's granddam) Fantastka, who became the Polish National Champion Mare in 1975. For more on the Saklawi I line please see here.

One of my biggest regrets has been not being able to show Annie in the show ring. She is far more quality than I ever imagined I would own. Who knows how far she could have gone?

Anyway, the intent of this post is to mention the film, Path to Glory and my reason for wanting to see it.

Sunday Stills (08/21/11 "B")

2011-08-21T05:29:00.001-06:00

This week's Sunday Stills is the letter B. Last month I went to my nephew's wedding. Here are my offerings:

The bride's cake

Betrothal kiss

Boy in Blue Blowing Bubbles

Bullet in the earlobe

I was only in Portland for the weekend but I did manage to go to the Beach. It is just a few hours drive away.

Here's some Birds on the Beach

Blue skies, Blue water, Beautiful, isn't it?

For more Sunday Stills, please visit here.

Transition Transmission

2011-08-19T21:38:00.003-06:00

In the Friday Foto, I introduced you to a distant shot of one of the satellite dishes of the VLA (Very Large Array). See here for information. The VLA is an interferometer; it operates by multiplying the data from each pair of telescopes together to form interference patterns. The structure of those interference patterns, and how they change with time as the earth rotates, reflect the structure of radio sources on the sky: we can take these patterns and use a mathematical technique called the Fourier transform to make maps. The 27 antennae were set up in the 70s at a cost of about $1 per taxpayer ($78,578,000 in 1972) and formal dedication took place in 1980. The VLA is used primarily by astronomers and for atmospheric/weather studies and other sciences.

When we drove down to Pie Town for my mother's birthday, we drove past the VLA and on the way back home we stopped for a visit.

To the left is the hanger where they work on the VLAs. Each antenna weighs 230 tons and stands 82 feet tall.

This photo shows the size of the VLA. Did you notice my son and daughter standing in the gateway?

The 27 radio antennae are arranged in a Y-shaped configuration on the plains of San Agustin.

The antennae are arranged in four configurations, or arrays. There is an A array, B array, C array, and D array, varying in antenna separation of 1km to 36 km apart. At it's highest frequency of 43 GHz, a golf ball, with a high-power radio transmitter inside, can be seen 100 miles away.

Is there anybody out there?

Transition Transmission- song: TVC15, artist: David Bowie, album: StationtoStation

Friday Foto

2011-08-19T06:44:00.000-06:00

more to come...

Birthday Pie!

2011-08-17T07:57:00.002-06:00

Sunday was my mother's 84th birthday.

To celebrate, we decided to take a road trip to Pie Town for some pie. Pie Town, New Mexico is located on the Continental Divide, 160 miles from Albuquerque. Pie Town is famous for, what else? pies, of course!

In the early 1920's Mr.Clyde Norman, a tall Texan and a WW1 veteran who "liked to bake" began making dried apple pies on a piece of ground that lay along a little rocky ridge and the "Coast to Coast Highway" later to become U.S. 60. Cowboys drove their cattle to the railhead east of Pie Town and on their way would stop and enjoy some of Clyde Norman's homemade pies. The word got around that the best pies anywhere were to be found at "Pie Town". That tradition carries on today and the Pie Town Cafe is the place to be for a relaxing time off the road, a good meal, great hometown atmosphere, local conversation and Great Pie! Don't be surprised if you see a real cowboy in the place. With Pie Town being featured in various television programs and publicaions, including the February 2005 issue of Smithsonian Magazine and in June 2011 featured on the Food Network Channel "Best Thing I Ever Ate". Pie Town Cafe is visited by many hikets and bicyclists from around the world traveling the "Great Divide" from Mexico to Canada. For more information, please visit here.

Last time I went to Pie Town, it was on a Sunday in March and everything was closed, but I found out that they have a summer schedule that includes being open on Sundays. Road trip, here we come!

Along the way, we had to stop at a rest area. I thought the little buildings were pretty neat, don't you?

However, this sign sort of worried me.

Here's a self portrait with the birthday girl.

Here is a view of the road we were driving on, definitely back roads, huh?

We drove past this interesting collection of windmills.

When we arrived at Pie Town, the first place we came to was the Pie-O-Neer Restaurant. The parking lot was full. (This photo was taken after lunch. As you can see, the parking lot is empty and the one at the Pie Town Cafe was full. They must rotate traffic throughout the day.)

But I knew that wasn't the original so we drove on to the Pie Town Cafe. When we got there, the parking lot was nearly empty and we wondered if we had made the right decision.

We went inside and were impressed with the rustic little cafe. It was all decorated with western decor and the daily menu was written on a whiteboard.

The place was empty except for one full table. Eventually those people left but they stopped and talked to us on their way out and back to business. One gentleman was packing a holster so he must have been the local sheriff. Others appeared to be the cafe owners and friends. One gentleman stated that it was a good day if the cash register taped touched the floor. As many more people started coming into the cafe, including a genuine cowboy and his girl (they came in a big pick-up and stock trailer rig) we knew it would be a good day for the Pie Town Cafe.

Please excuse the back end view of this girl. It's very poor timing on the photographer's part, I know.

This is a close up of the horse picture shown in photograph above (over our heads).

There were several other drawings around the little cafe too.

While waiting for our order, we played with the condiments.Aren't those little silver tipped boots cute?

MMMMmmmm, green chili cheeseburger and fries- the best!

My son was getting creative on his french fries.

As soon as we arrived at the Pie Shop, I asked about their special pie, the Mexican Apple Pie, made with green apples, green chili, and pinon nuts. She said, "Alas, a group of 20 people had just come through and eaten the last of it". There were other pies for sale but we really wanted the specialty. However, she said there were Mexican Apple pies currently being baked and that one would be ready to take with us. This suited us fine because, after having lunch, no one was ready to eat pie anyway. The Pie Town Cafe also does mail order pies. Just click on the picture for an enlargement of the business card for phone numbers and website.

The pie was still warm when we arrived home many hours later. I guess that's one good thing about summer heat.

Here it is slathered with vanilla ice cream. It tasted so much better than it looks, btw.

Happy Birthday, Mom!!! It was worth the trip!

Sunday Stills (08-14-11 Close-ups)

2011-08-13T23:58:00.001-06:00

This week, the Sunday Stills challenge is Close-ups. Here are my offerings.
The first one is the neighborhood Bull Snake.

This is Nadia.

My daughter and I took a trip to the zoo last wek. Enjoy!

For more Sunday Stills, please visit here.

Friday Foto

2011-08-12T07:02:00.002-06:00

Sunday Stills (8/7/11 Sunrise/Sunset)

2011-08-07T06:22:00.018-06:00

This week's challenge is to photograph sunrise or sunset with no archives. Most nights we have had cloud cover or rain. Here are some recent sunsets for you.

Doesn't that look like an eagle's head?

And here are some sunrises, during the time we had smoke from the wildfires.These are from archives.

For more Sunday Stills, please visit here.

RIP Little Buddha

2011-08-05T07:41:00.003-06:00

My little Japanese Chin, Little Buddha (of Suburbia) is gone!

I let him and Sandy out to go pee and play this morning. Then I left the front door cracked open so he could push it open when he returned, like he always does, but I know he never will again. Recently, he had a back injury and was hurting for months. He got a couple of steroid shots and then he began to feel like a puppy again. He and Sandy loved to go for runs in the nearby fields, visiting the neighbors. I knew the risks, but keeping him close was nearly impossible. He would wait and wait until he got out of sight and then make a dash, running off for twenty minutes at a time. I guess his luck ran out this morning.

As I was waiting for him to come back, I heard some yipes in the distance behind my house. I also heard Sandy growling and barking along with another dog. I ran to the back door and saw a brown shape, carrying something in it's mouth run across the fields in back of the barn, followed closely by two more brown shapes. They were gone in a flash and then as I headed out that way, Sandy came running up to me. I wish she could talk. I fed the horses in silence, thinking about it. I know what happened. Coyotes. I always thought Sandy would protect him because she is the only dog I know that will go running after coyotes but I guess the numbers were stacked in their favor. I guess it's all about the Circle of Life, isn't it? He couldn't have been worth eating. He weighed all of four and a half pounds and most of that was his thick fur.

Buddha will be missed so much! He would come back from doing his duty outside and just run around the house madly for a few minutes because he felt so good. Whenever it was feeding time, he would do "Chin spins". He loved to lay on the top of the couch or on the table so he could look out of the window. He was always called a puppy by strangers and a "she" because he was so tiny and pretty. He had a beautiful white coat that was never dirty looking and the silkiest, softest long hair ever.

He was the best lap dog! He was my constant companion for the last seven years.

Just yesterday, I was thinking about my life and how I couldn't cry any more and it's true, I can't. I just visited CTG Ponies blog and The Hurt, sung by Johnny Cash, was playing. It should have made me break down and cry just for the song but now, with Buddha gone, I still can't.

R.I.P. Buddha, my little buddy!!!