Sunday Stills (7/11/10 Shadows)

This week's Sunday Stills challenge is shadows.

For more, please visit here.

Sunday - song: Sunday, artist: David Bowie, album: Heathen

You can't say no to the Beauty and the Beast

I love the story of Beauty and the Beast, don't you? When my daughter was small, we watched the movie together all the time. When I heard last summer that the Beauty and The Beast musical was coming to town this summer, I wanted to go. Really bad! But, I had no one to go with so I kept putting off buying tickets. Thursday night, I decided to go on line and check for tickets because the show was playing this weekend. Saturday and Sunday afternoon performances were both sold out. That left Friday, Saturday, and Sunday evenings. There was one seat available for Friday night's performance in the orchestra section, 6 rows back and off center. Choice! The other two nights had tickets in the very back of the balcony and off to the far back sides of the lower floor. I thought about buying the fantastic Friday night ticket. A lot. But I really didn't want to go to a late night performance by myself. Of course, sometimes going solo is the best way to get a great seat. Anyway, I slept on it and checked the status of the one ticket this morning. It was still available. I couldn't say no. So I bought it. And I went to the show tonight. By myself. It was so worth it!!!

This picture is of the stage before it started. It's a giant rose. I know it's a lousy photo- my cellphone- but you can see how close I am to the stage.
It was one of the best live performances I've ever seen! All the characters sounded perfect and could they sing! Belle and the Beast were fabulous but, I confess, I love Gaston! I think he stole the show. Every time he was on stage, my eyes were drawn to him. He seemed to tower over the other actors too. He had all the raised eyebrows and smirks going too. And where I sat, I could see everything so well!

It's funny, after I bought my ticket, I set out the binoculars so that I wouldn't forget them. And then tonight, as I prepared to leave, I thought, 'I'm in the sixth row, if I can't see them normally, I am hopeless! I really don't need to see the freckles under their make-up, do I?' I left the 'binocs' home.

I really like the shuttle buses they offer nowadays for big events. I drove to the parking lot, parked my car in the first row near where the buses were loading and walked over to the bus. We waited until the bus was full, a couple of minutes at most, and then drove over to the University campus where the performing arts center is located. After the performance, I walked out with the crowds, got on the shuttle right away, got whisked over to the parking lot, walked over to my car, and drove home. Nice and uneventful.

The only bad part about going to an event alone is that there is no one to discuss it with afterwards. So, I'll have to tell you. Chip was great! You could see a real little boy's head at the top of the serving cart, but like a magician's box, the cart looked empty, so the little boy looked bodyless. Lumiere's hands lit up with flames that moved around. There were wolves too. And at the end of the show, the Beast's body raises up just like in the movie and transforms in mid air into the Prince. Don't ask me how they did it; I don't know! There was only one down side for me. In the movie, I LOVE Phillippe, the horse. In the play, there is no Phillippe. They use the father's invention, a motorized wood cutter, to go through the woods. And Mrs. Potts is much younger than Angela Lansbury, but that makes sense, because she has a young son.

There were a lot of children in the audience tonight. A lot of the little girls were wearing yellow Belle dresses. They looked so pretty and so happy! There were vendors selling dolls and things during intermission. What a magical night! It brought back memories of when I went to my first play with my family as a little girl. I saw Brigadoon. I don't remember the story, but I remember how special the event was for me.

Watch this video for a little taste of the "tale as old as time" and share with me the magic of Beauty and the Beast.

Has anyone else seen it?

You can't say no to the Beauty and the Beast - Song: Beauty and the Beast, artist: David Bowie, album: Heroes

Friday Foto

Friday - song: Friday on my Mind, artist: David Bowie covering the EasyBeats, album: Pinups

Bowie video day - Stay

I used to post Bowie videos every so often and I haven't for a while, so here's one for ya. This is called Stay, from his Stationtostation album, and it's one of my favorites. He is performing it in 2000 at the BBC during his "hippie revisited" stage, hence the long hair. lol. I hope you enjoy it.

Stay - song: Stay, artist: David Bowie, album: Stationtostation

One more Sunday Stills

Or Happy Belated 4th of July!!!

Sunday Stills (Frame It 7-4-10)

This week's challenge for Sunday Stills is to frame the picture. Here are some of my favorites. Which one is yours?

Sunday - song: Sunday, artist: David Bowie, album: Heathen

Friday Foto

I went to the zoo a couple of weeks ago...

Friday - song: Friday on my Mind, artist: David Bowie covering the EasyBeats, album: Pinups

One inch thoughts

Today was a crazy day! It started out pretty good. My daughter made me a burrito for breakfast and even though I spilled some on me as I was eating while driving, it didn't stain. yay!

I got to work, turned on my computer, read my email, and guess what? I was awarded "Employee of the Month"! It's funny, I read the heading of the email Employee of the month and I thought, "wouldn't it be cool if it was me?" Then I thought, "no way! I haven't even been employed here that long. Why would I even think that?" And then I opened the email and there it was! My name! I felt very flattered and honored.

And then, I got a 'missed call' on my cell phone since I had it on silent. It was from my sister and her voicemail said to call her right away. So I did. Guess what? I am a great aunt again. My niece had her baby boy today at 12:03, Kameron Clark. Awesome!

However, the shiny cloud over my head turned dark because when I got home it started pouring rain. I was going to have a horse trailer training lesson today. (now that's a mouthful!) The last time we had it planned, on Monday, it poured then too. Sigh! So much for my summer of trail rides. And Yalla! is missing out on her booster shots because I need to haul her to the vet's clinic.

The water pump in the barn broke a couple of nights ago. I'm wondering, are yearling horses like toddlers in their terrible twos? I swear, Yalla! has turned devilish lately.When I walk all the horses and Scout trails behind her, she'll kick him. Sometimes, she pins her ears and threatens to kick me when I am working behind her. Anyway, the other evening, she kicked out at me and I reflexed and jumped back from her and hit the water barrel and/or pipe rail with my leg. Check out the bruise! I wonder if I'd have been better off letting her get me. I must have grabbed the water pump or knocked it somehow (fell against it?) Anyway, even though the water was turned off, I heard the sound of running water. Not good. So I went to the house and tried to turn off the water- a little twisty knob down underground about a foot or so in this box. I wasn't strong enough to turn it. Fortunately, my daughter was out on a date and I called her and asked if her boyfriend could turn the handle for me when he dropped her off. When they came to the house around 10:30, we went out with flashlights and he turned it, so now the water to the barn is off indefinitely, until my son comes back from camp and can fix it. Boy, I hate to be so dependent on everybody!!!

Tonight, the horses were out of water because I left them inside all day, figuring it would rain. It didn't...until I came home, that is.

I had two options. I was going to have to haul water by bucket from the house or hook up some extra hoses and use those. I decided to haul out hoses. It's over a hundred and fifty feet from my house to the barn so I had to connect several hoses to make it reach. That meant walking back and forth, back and forth, until I got all the hoses and connections right. I even added a length of hose to the two I already had. When I turned the water on and tried to reach the water bucket, it still wasn't long enough. I thought, "but I just screwed on another hose!" I looked and discovered that I had fastened the third hose to itself, in a loop, and still had only the two hose length. ;P !!! Soooo, I had to go back, turn off the water, walk out to the barn and reattach the hoses, walk back to the house and turn the water on, fill the horses' water, go back to the house and turn off the water, go back to the barn and unscrew all the hoses, etc. etc. It took me an hour to water those horses, and all in the rain!

What a crazy day! But now, since it's midnight and I have to get up in the morning and do it all again, I'm going to say goodnight.

And, any suggestions on breaking Yalla! of kicking at her favorite people and horses would be very welcome. (Her mama was a kicker of other horses in her younger days and she finally outgrew it. Is it hereditary??) I yell at her and I've smacked her rump but then she threatens/kicks out harder. Oooops! that's like playing with a loaded gun.

One inch thoughts - song: Sons of the Silent Age, artist: David Bowie, album: Heroes

Worm, the pain and blade, part 2

Several weeks back I took a fecal sample of Yalla's to the veterinarian for an analysis on worm infestation. I haven't wormed her since last winter and I really didn't know which wormer to use.

I never really thought my horses had worms. I've never seen any evidence. I used to live in Illinois and the worm infestation there was terrible. After a worming you could see all the little critters in their manure. However, two doctors have told me that young horses are usually more infested than older horses, so I wanted to be sure. The count came back negative. BUT, she said there could still be an infestation and the cycle was at the wrong time for any to show up in the sample. She recommended having a second count to be sure. Yesterday, I took a second fecal sample of Yalla's in. I decided it was better to get a fecal count than to actually worm them like I'd been doing. I wonder about the other horses but I'm sure that if Yalla is most likely to have them and she doesn't, I can't imagine the other horses having any, right? Of course, the vets will probably recommend having the testing done on each one individually. lol. Anyway, that's a big relief to me. Now, when they scratch their butts, I'll know they're just scratching. ;)

On another note, last fall I gave Yalla her first shot but I forgot to give her the booster. Last month, I gave her the shot again, along with the strangles vaccine, but I haven't been able to get the booster for her. How many times do I need to go through this? How long can I go between booster shots to make it work?

Worm, the pain and blade - song; Voyeur of Utter destruction , artist: David Bowie, album: Outside

Sunday Stills (History- over 60 years old 6/27/10)

This week's Sunday Stills challenge is "History- over 60 years old". Gosh, I couldn't make up my mind. There are so many things around me that are historic! I decided to revisit the Pony Express station I stopped at last year during one of my road trips.




Oh, and here's one of my favorite old barn photos. For such an old, decrepit barn in a barren field, doesn't it just look really happy? ;)

For more Sunday Stills, please visit here.

Sunday - song: Sunday, artist: David Bowie, album: Heathen

Too tense to be undone

I was out in the field the other day, visiting my horses as they grazed, when I decided to ride Scout. I put his bridle on and climbed up, using the nearby gate as a mounting block. I'm just not limber enough to jump up and climb on anymore like I used to and I worry too much about re-injuring my knee.

I used to ride Scout around the field last summer and Nadia would follow us. Or I'd ride Nadia and Scout would follow. Anyway, once I was on Scout's back, Annie decided it was time to take off running away from us, down the field. Sometimes I think she does this as a test- "who's with me?"

Nadia and Yalla! took off after her and Scout became panicked as they disappeared out of view. He danced and wheeled and I was seriously worried about getting unseated. However, I had to wait until he stood still to safely get off... What a predicament! I decided right then and there that he was a spoiled brat and far too herdbound to be safe. Anyway, he stopped to listen for them and I dismounted quickly to the side. Then the girls came running back.

I was angry and walked Scout out of the field and back to the barn leaving the other horses behind. He was stressed and neighed and neighed while Yalla! and Annie neighed back. I decided that I couldn't leave them separated overnight, as much as I wanted to, because the neighbors wouldn't want to hear horse screams all night long, so I waited a couple of hours and brought the girls in.

The next morning, I took Annie and Yalla! out to the field and left Scout and Nadia in the barn. Even though Scout had Nadia and the neighbor horses with him he ran around and screamed endlessly for Annie and Yalla! who ran up and down the field calling back to him. I had to go to work but my daughter took Scout and Nadia out to the field a few hours later. That evening, I went out to visit some really tired horses. Of course, you'd never know it the way they came running over to me. Shame on my daughter for leaving Nadia's and Scout's halters on! She certainly knows better.

And Yalla! had obviously run through a couple of cactus plants. This is her knee. Three of her legs looked like this. Sorry for the blurry photo; she wouldn't stand still. I pulled out one of the thorns from her leg and it spurted and dripped blood. WOW! I couldn't believe how much a little cactus thorn hole bled!

I figured that I'd better get them to the barn before I pulled any more cactus thorns out so that I could dose it with some Wound Kote to cauterize it and stop the bleeding if I needed to. I walked them all in together down the little lane and through the field behind my barn. We've met dogs, campers, and dumpsters on our little walks to and from the barn. Annie walks very lightly on a lead and Scout and Nadia follow behind or off to the sides. I keep Yalla! also on a short lead but she is learning to walk more and more easily. I am always aware of where everybody is and I try to keep Scout and Nadia to the outside with Annie and Yalla! at each arm's length. Everybody walks quite calmly and the only trouble I really have is when we stop (everybody gets tangled up) to open and close gates. Also, Yalla! got rather fidgety once when one of the long lead ropes (Scout or Nadia) got under her tail by accident. And every once in a while, Annie will close in on me and step into my heel by accident, I think I have a nice little bruise forming on the back side of my ankle, because there is one place just outside of the barnyard where Annie and Yalla! don't like my parked flat trailer and sidestepped me.

I always find it interesting how calm my horses get when we walk. Arabians lead like lambs and ride like lions. Someone told me that once and I think it is true. Although, in shows, they get all hyped up. I think they like to act crazy because that is what the crowd wants. My Annie was always extremely calm and well behaved when I took her to the vet's office repeatedly for her breeding a few years ago, even though she'd never been away from the barn previously and it was all strange to her. I remember leading my Thoroughbred mare years ago and it was like a freight train when she wanted to go someplace, walking with my elbow in the shoulder and pulling back on the lead. My Paint, Dude, could yank the lead out of my hands. And yet, Annie can come running up to me at full speed with her head up and then she just drops it when the halter goes on. Shahreen, my half Arabian was just like that. Nadia ponies and leads with almost no control needed. Even Yalla! is fairly light on the lead although she needs to learn "whoa" a little better.

When I walk the four of them together, I feel like the herdmaster. I can even stop them all when I want to, along the way. Scout steals mouthfuls of grass and weeds where he can, but he is willing to pick his head up and keep the pace rather than fighting to graze. See, even he is easy to lead with the Arabian blood, although he needs more active direction, from that Appy and Paint blood.

Anyway, since the horses were tired and I was not happy about Scout's herd anxiety behavior, I decided to ride him. I saddled him up and we rode over to the pasture. I got off at the water pump and intended to take the hose across the lane to fill the water tank when he got all jittery again, not because of the hose, but because he was away from his companions. I nixed the watering plan and tried to get on him. He wouldn't stand still. The neighbor was out walking his dog down the road and as he approached us he picked up the dog. I thanked him and proceeded to turn Scout around in circles until we were both dizzy. Then, when he stood still for a second, I climbed into the stirrup and jumped up quickly. Scout settled a bit and we rode around. He neighed once, back at Yalla!'s constant calling and then seemed to finally remember his manners. For the whole rest of the ride, he kept his mouth shut. We had a really nice ride through all the neighborhood lanes as the sun set and the moon rose. He walked calmly at a nice clip (not too slow or fast) with his head down even though I could feel he was still a little tense. We even trotted and cantered a little. I enjoy riding Scout because he is always alert but he is usually well behaved, like when the turkeys suddenly gobbled as we walked past and he never even flinched. We rode long after the sun went down but the moon was so bright there were shadows on the ground. It was almost 10PM when I finally went inside for the night after settling the horses down for the night.

I am going to keep on working at his herd anxiety because he demonstrates extremely risky behavior at times. I realize that if I ever plan on going trail riding with him, I need to teach him to be a loner. I have spoiled him in recent years by ponying Nadia along with us.

In parting- here's my little whirlwind. Since she has been turned out to pasture for the last couple of weeks, I've noticed that she seems to have grown. She is shed out now and muscling up nicely. She shows lots of spirit and loves to run the long field, still doing circles and figure eights around everybody. It must be her daddy's working cow horse genes ;). She has a wonderful shine to her black/brown coat and her everchanging star on her forehead is now looking more and more like an "f' again, even though I just told my mom I thought it looked more like a feather plume and less like an "f". It's so covered up by her thick forelock it really doesn't matter, I guess. She is also going to school these days. More on that later...

Too tense to be undone - song: Get Real, artist: David Bowie

kissing all the ladies

Scout's got a new girlfriend, or two. He loves the ladies and spends quite a lot of energy courting the neighboring mares to their squealing delight.

Kissing all the ladies - song: Somebody up There Likes Me, artist: David Bowie, album: Young Americans

Friday Foto

Sunday Stills (Looking Up 6/20/10)

Looking up and clicking (the camera) is easy! I do it all the time

but not usually at weeds. ;)
For more Sunday Stills photographs, please visit here.

Sunday - song: Sunday, artist: David Bowie, album: Heathen

Friday Foto

Friday - song: Friday on my Mind, artist: David Bowie covering The EasyBeats, album: Pinups