My Christmas

My thoughts...

Some of my friends had unfortunate events take place right before or during Christmas and that robbed some of the fun and joy out of it for them...one of the drawbacks to making good online friends is that I am so far away from you all - and when you go through a tough time, for whatever reason, I am unable rush over and give a you hug because you had to deal with difficult family members or bring you a hot dinner after an accident so you don't have to make one yourself (or to help setting stuff out for Santa) or a bottle of wine or whiskey depending on the situation - such as breaking up serious dog fights and making sure it never happens again or making really hard and heart breaking decisions. Instead all I can do is stare in dismay at my computer screen and try to type out a few words from my heart that will bring you some comfort.

My inability to help any further frustrates me to no end. I had such a nice Christmas and I want to somehow transfer it to all of you who had a rough time these past several days, but I can't - so I will share it with you, and in hopes that it brings you a little warmth. Please keep in mind how many good people you have in your corner cheering you on to better times and better health!


On to Christmas...

Our Christmas was awesome this year - although as I write this, it's technically not over yet. I still need to make the trip up to my folks' place and exchange gifts with them.

It wasn't really the gifts that made our Christmas so special, it was that we spent it together - and the value of doing so is not lost on me. I heard from several friends who didn't get to spend Christmas with their loved ones - and I was heart broken for them - but also even more grateful to have the chance to do that with my hubby and the dogs.

Side note here - as an extra Christmas present to me......you're never gonna guess!!..........I'm SO excited!!..........My downstairs bathtub drain thawed when the temperature hit 20 degrees F and I now shower in my own bathroom!!! Yay! I don't have to hike upstairs every morning anymore!

My hubby loved his gifts from me - even though I didn't have the money to spend on him like I wanted. His main present was a camera - a new digital camera. Not the most fancy one on the market but a nice one and I got a good deal on it! All summer I have been hearing "If I had a nice camera like you I could just as good of pictures..." ok now - the bet is on! We shall see if it makes any difference that one of us went to school learned about photography and the other did not. Or who knows? Maybe it's the camera after all?

He got me a few very very nice presents that I learned he bought before he was laid-off (very, very sneaky) one was iPod Touch - which I have been wanting really bad and another was a small wine cooler! Now in general wine in my house doesn't stick around long enough to need a cooler to help the aging process, but I do have a couple of nice bottles of red that have aged - and that would benefit from the right storage conditions so it was a very thoughtful gift.

He also find me a new rod and reel & a new sling for my new shotgun my dad got me. He was priceless in my eyes last night! Those are all things that I have been wanting - they weren't all on my Christmas List - so he actually put some thought into them, and they are thing that I am just flat-out too cheap to buy for myself. It's hard for me to spend $75 on a new fishing pole and reel when that would buy me a winter blanket for one of the horses or maybe a new bit for Pat. So I just pout whenever I watch someone else getting a new fishin pole.



The Dog's, of course, got to open their presents first and the new squeaky balls - were big a hit them. Too big - by the end of the day they were driving us nuts, but it was nice to see them so interested and happy. Their "big gift" was a giant treated beef bone. One for each dog, once they got those they went outside - and chewed on em and buried them in snow until dinner time.

We fixed ourselves a very nice Christmas dinner for two - ham, potatoes, green beans, crab salad, and pecan pie for desert. Then preceded to sit on the couch and drink hot buttered rums together until we fell asleep in each others arms...(I know ain't that just sweet...) I had found some old 80s movies and put those one for the remainder of the night.

I have so far watched:

Top Gun - MAN I just love that beach volleyball scene...don't you?
E.T. - That one just gets me every time! They captured something incredible special that movie.
Footloose - although it wasn't my favorite movie at the time, it has grown on me and it has kinda become "the classic 80's movie".

In just a couple of days apart these have been on - I think I will complete my 80's movie-a-thon with a trip to the video store today (I am writing this Friday afternoon but may not post it till Saturday or something...so I'm planning out my weekend) I still can't do a whole lot - like shovel off my horse trailer, or play in the snow, but I am very thankful I am in a whole lot less pain. I do my PT exercises I walk on my treadmill, and pick-up around the house, then usually I need to sit down with a heating pad - so I have time to blog or watch 80's movies.

I think I will get:

Ferris Buller's Day Off - What other movie embodies everything 80's?
Back to the Future - Makes me kinda sad to see MJ Fox all healthy in these movies...
The Karate Kid - Did you know they are making a new one? Wil Smith's son is gonna do it!
Space Camp - It's not really the perfect 80's movie, but I liked it as a kid.

Anyone want to join me? Pick up a few old 80s movies, they are a cheap rent, and we can talk about it next week.

There is also these great 80's movies out there:
-Police Academy
-Big
-The Never Ending Story
-Short Circuit
-Starman
-Splash
-The Flight of the Navigator
-Flashdance
-Beverly Hills Cop I & II

Before I leave you - here is yet another dog video of Christmas morning (don't feel like you have to watch - I just make these and post them because they amuse me plus I don't have kids so I video and photograph my dogs) they got squeaky balls for Christmas and had alot of fun with them. If you haven't seen it yet - on my last post there is a video of Kaiser mounting a fierce defense of me from an evil snowmobile....so funny!

Snow Here, Snow there, Snow Everywhere!

Half way through the storm that dumped 34 inches on us...

My poor trailer - I can't shovel the roof off this year - I know, I tried, and it killed my back!
I hope my skylight patch job holds...

Super Road Conditions

People who were snowed in - had to walk to get food and supplies - the city told people not to walk in the streets - but there was no where else for them to walk, with 4 to 6 foot piles of snow on the sidewalks...

Zips - my favorite burger joint, snowed in...
Nice road huh? Plowed up all nice and neat. (sigh...)



Stuck while plowing snow...


Stuck after parking...


Stuck trying to drive their mini van over a snow berm
to get gas...


Stuck while trying to leave for work...can you find all the cars in the picture??


Some trees in town.

My drive to work - that's HWY 395 - there is supposed to me two lanes on each side...I know they are here somewhere...

Now I remember why a 4-Wheel Drive truck is cool! I can travel - even in this crap - quite well.

At my place this weekend....

Tried to shovel off my trailer - but it hurt too bad to do any more. Hubby was plowing while I was attempting this - but says he'll try to get to it this week...



Problem is we're running out of places to put the snow.



Dog houses - there is actually another one on the other side of this one. Don't worry they are very well built, the snow only insulates them more.
And they have heat in there...



There is the picnic table in our yard...

And some of my lawn furniture on the back deck...


So there you go - snow pictures. Now excuse me while I walk outside and swear up a small storm...like only a country girl can.



Check out this video of Kaiser - when i hopped on my snowmobile, I discovered he has developed
a disliking to it...

See I Told You So

Ok so it didn't this last weekend, but it hit last night - and we did have prior warn of a sever winter storm. From about 7:00 AM yesterday morning to....welll.....let's see.....10:21 AM today we have gotten 30 inches of snow. The city is shut down. Of course my employer is open and I will be braving the roads here shortly to get to work. As of 6:30 PM Last night there were 134 traffic accidents - hmmm....who could've guessed that? I have no idea what the total is now - but I am sure it is impressive. One bright spot is that the snow that is falling is very light and fluffy and doesn't gather on the powerlines like sticker snow will so there has been only one minor power outage. We are expected to get another 4 to 5 inches of snow before the end of this system.

I had pretty good luck making the trip home in my car last night it only took me about an hour and 15 minutes (usually takes 45 minutes to an hour in rush hour traffic). I hope for good luck heading in today. Hubby is out plowing right now trying to clear a path for me to get to the road. When I go to leave I will try to get some pictures of the snow to post - although I have to say I am really enjoying a nice slow late morning. Normally I wake up at 4:30 AM to get to work at 7: 00 AM - so getting up at 8:00 this morning was nice.

The dogs, who have been sleeping inside since this cold snap started are outside having a blast - but my mom called this morning and said that her mare has been holding up under her lean-to typically during heavy snow fall like this the horses will stay pretty close to the barn and only venture out further into the pasture slowly packing down trails as they go. During years the years that we get 3-4 feet of snow the pasture will get this interesting network of trails that looks like veins. When I was little I could be out in the middle of our pasture on one of those packed down trails and no one could see me.

We always would keep some baby oil on the tips of their tails and mane to keep the hair from freezing and breaking off, also we try our best to keep an eye on their feet and legs for injuries, small cuts, and stocking up. During Patrick's frist winter he was so disinclined to do anything in the deep snow that his legs got pretty stocked up. Forcing his owner, me, to lead him back and forth up and down the barn isle for hours until the swelling in his legs went down. But I can't blame the poor babe - the snow was half as deep as he was tall.

Anyways I get things I gotta get done - so hopefully I will have pics to show you guys soon. And maybe later I will be able to catch up on everyone's blogs. Maybe all the stupid people have already been in wrecks and slide offs - leaving the road to smart people who can drive in the snow and who put studded snow tires on...

A Christmas Mash

Laughing Orca Ranch wanted my "hot bran mash" formula - so I made a post out of it.

When I was growing up I decided to make Christmas a special day for my horses too. I can remember waking up on cold Christmas mornings and being more excited to run out to the barn than to open presents. Even when I was in college and boarding my house they would get a visit from me with treats! Spending time with my horses during Christmas became a tradition I loved and one I have carried over to adulthood. Christmas time can be fun for anyone with horses, there are many fun things to do, pick out a few and make your own traditions.

I like to meet my horses outside on Christmas morning with a steaming hot bran mash. Only this is not your regular bran mash, I make a special Christmas mash for the horses. First gather your feed tubs – flat feed tubs work better for mashes than buckets, although buckets will work too. I always keep some dry bran flakes around for mashes, they can be found at your local feed store. Bran mashes are good for treats, but they are also handy for horses that occasionally become slightly impacted, or are prone to sand colic – it just helps everything move on through their system a lot smoother. All you have do is add boiling water to the bran flakes and stir until you get a nice thick oatmeal like consistency – too much water makes the mash difficult for the horses to eat, to little and its too dry. Just imagine yourself eating dry oatmeal.

The Christmas mash recipe goes like this:
-About 4 cups of bran flakes (more won't hurt at all)
-Add hot water - really hot, as it will cool quickly until its think but not runny, and remember bran will continue to soak up the moister in the bucket so if your end product is slightly runny chances are the it won't be by the time you get it to your horse.
-One large apple cut into chunks
-A cup or two of rolled oats
-A large carrot cut into chunks
-And a couple of tablespoons of molasses for good flavor
-One or two small crushed candy canes (if your horse is a mint fan) mix well.

I’ll give each horse his or her own Christmas bran mash before the morning feed. Sometimes I will have stockings hung by their stalls (at my parents place) filled with treats, and while they are eating away on their mashes I hide the treats in their hay.

After our family celebrates Christmas morning inside, I will head back out to the back barn, hopefully with horsey Christmas gifts from friends and family in tow, to give each horse good brush down and if weather permits a Christmas ride out on the trail.

A winter ride can be a fun treat, just remember to warm up your horses bit with your hands before popping that cold thing in their mouth and to watch for ice. If your horse is unsure about his footing, don’t rush him. Also when you get back if your horse has worked up a sweat be sure to completely cool and dry him off before turning him loose so he doesn’t freeze and/or become ill. Wool coolers or an old wool blanket from Goodwill will work perfectly, plus it will cut your drying time in half.

One More Cute Thing....

Okay I know I already posted today (below) and it too was a dog type post - but I found this little video of a dog in the snow and it's just too darn cute not to share so here you go - clink on the link!

Dog in snow

Enjoy!

A Storm is Brewing

Here is some video I did of the dogs playing outside, like the little freaks that they are.



We are all hunkering down up here, supposed to get one hell of storm this weekend. Up to 2 feet of snow over a span of two days, 35 MPH winds and temps hovering just above zero. I have everything pretty much taken care of outside so I am not too worried. We are supposed to head up north this weekend to visit the in-laws (that figures) in the middle of this storm and I hope hubby changes his mind and we can just home where it is safe.

The first snow of the year up here just makes everyone STUPID. It's as if everyone forgets how to drive in it, and even though we know about this storming coming days in advance I would be willing to bet you money that the County and the State won't have their trucks out until its too late, they fall behind the snowfall and folks will get snowed in. It's supposed to happen over the weekend so they will drag their feet not wanting to pay the snowplow drivers overtime, there will be hundreds of car wrecks because of the unplowed roads, some poor old lady will die in her house because the ambulance can't get to her or the power went out so she froze to death, because Avista (the local power company) has neglected their lines all summer and now overgrown branches and trees too close to the lines are falling on them - it will make national headlines, just watch. Sigh.....I love the winters here, love love love love them.

I still have a ton of Christmas shopping to do and am hoping to get that taken care of next week - but I may have to wait till my second pay day in December which will be just before Christmas (such a lovely time to be in the stores) I have been trying to stagger my purchases so that I am not incredibly broke right after Christmas. We have my work party coming up which is always nice. The owner rents a big ball room in a fancy hotel downtown and has a prime rib dinner catered in for us, there is always a DJ and a dance floor, its always a very fancy event - plus all the beer and wine is free. It's a really cool thing that they do for us and its becoming more and more rare for companies to do that for their employees anymore. I went last year and it was a blast so we are definitely going this year. It's one of the few chances we have to get all decked out and hit the town.

While I was with my old company, had one fancy Christmas party like that the first year I worked for them and then they decided it was too expensive and turned it into a "year in review - all company meeting" spouses were not allowed and it was basically a work meeting that you were expected to attend on your off time. Such fun. I was just so sorry to leave that company...(voice laced with sarcasm).

This year we'll be spending Christmas at home, just me and hubby and the dogs. We try to do that every now and then. On Christmas Eve we'll hit the candle light service at church and hang out with some friends or family. Then on Christmas morning if I have horses at home I fix them up a hot bran mashes with chunks of apple and candy canes in them, run the mashes out to them in steaming grain pans give pats and kisses then hightail it back into the house. We let the dogs inside and open our gifts from each other in the morning, give the pups their new toys, then cook ourselves up a big fancy dinner with ham and all the fixins - I whip up a pecan and apple pie and we and relax veg all day.

Do you still have shopping to do? Do you do anything special for Christmas? I like hearing about other people's traditions...

I Fixed the Links - Please Try Again

So sorry guys - I was dinking around with the videos on youtube and in doing so I altered the links - therefor they didn't work on the blog.

So I went in and re-did them.

Can you ever forgive me?

Videos of Stretch

Now let's see if I still remember how to do this...

Here is the Hunter Under Saddle Class w/ Cheyenne pictured in the previous post. Fearless as always Chyenne is truly unique and touches everyone's heart whom she meets. Since this was an Open/Introductory Show where working tack is encouraged and since it was like 35 degress outside they could exact stop us from wear warm clothes and coats. Cheyenne decided a red shirt with a green jacket would be festive so that's what she had on. Chey is like that, what she feels like doing or wearing is what happens. Cheyenne is true another Cowgirl.









This next one is the Trail video with Trainer Joe, who again has Stretch since I am unable to ride (at least until I run out of money) in his warm arctic coat - we forgot to pull the polo wraps off, but the judges really didn't care, after all working tack was allowed.








Have a good night everyone, I am off to argue with doctors and insurance companies...

Super Stretch!!!

Yeah! Stretch Kicked Some Butt!
(but everyone rode very well at the show, I am just super happy for Stretch...)

Okay first - Thanksgiving went wonderfully, I got to see my niece and nephew - which was wonderful although my niece was kind of a pill (but hey who wants to eat dinner when there are a million way more fun things to do!) The turkey turned out perfect - in fact I think it was the best I've ever had - not even the leftovers tasted dry, it was just great. Pies turned out great too, with one exception but I can't really blog about that here...I might explain further on someone else's blog if you want details. I love spending time catching up with my family so it was a good time....

To Shop or Not to Shop?
So on Friday I did the black Friday thing and went shopping to scoop up some of the good deals on Christmas presents. I think I got half my list taken care of - its not much, I can't give a whole lot this year but it's something I can combine with like maybe some cookies or prints or pies or something. I just love the toy selection in Big R!! They are so down to earth and non-politically motivated, you can find toy guns if you want, tractors, horses, farm sets, pony collections, coon hats, sling shots, rocking horses, stick horses, the kind of toys I had when I was a kid (and never killed myself). The kind of toys rural ranch owners go looking for - no anatomically correct dolls or politically correct "green" car sets. I could've spent all day in there.

Show Time!
I was going to drive down to Lewiston Friday afternoon to hang out with my horse pals and help them get ready for the show, but alas a snowstorm changed my mind so then I thought I would go Saturday morning when the roads cleared...well my back had different ideas. I woke up at 6:00 AM, and was in incredible pain so I headed straight for my pain pills, downed a handful, texted everyone at the show that I would be late and fell asleep on the couch. Around noon I woke up and left for Lewiston feeling a little bit better.

I got there to discover that my friend Kelly didn't feel like showing Stretch that weekend so her daughter Cheyenne did. And Cheyenne kicked some butt with Stretch never placing worse than a 3rd and picking up lots of wins in the Open part of the show. My trainer also won the open show Junior Horse Trail Class on Stretch. Then during the AQHA part of the show, my trainer fudged the Green Horse and the Junior Horse Trail classes. I say that with the utmost respect - but I have it on video, it was 2 parts pilot error and 1 part "tired horse" sluggishness which caused the bobbles. Trainer was a tad tired and irritated that the show was taking so dang long - rushed the course and long story short Stretch wasn't responding to the rush well which equaled smashed cones and a bunch of little errors which by themselves are not bad but together are not so great. I am putting the good trail video on youtube and once its there i will link it to my blog too.

After Trail Cheyenne won Green Horse Hunter Under Saddle - and took second in the Jr & Sr combined Hunter Under Saddle class. By that time he was really tired and it really showed, or I am sure he could've won. Also Cheyenne didn't trust him enough to really canter him (her old horse was naughty when he cantered out) - she was practicing a more extended lope than an English canter with him and that gate really doesn't "show off" his movement well (he tends to get lazy behind and wants to pull himself along with front end if you don't drive him forward into your hands and then with a little more speed he balances himself better) Stretch has slow lope gear and canter gear - not really any "in the middle" gear. OH and he has a "hand gallop" gear but is lazy enough that he prefers not to use it, unless he is specifically asked for it.



Then at the end of the show on Saturday Trainer Joe surprised me by taking Stretch into the Western Riding Patten class. And he did awesome! He didn't miss a single lead but did have a bobble on the last lead change where he over reached and smacked himself in the back of his front right foot. Stretch is just so pretty when he does lead changes, he picks his shoulders up and reaches deep behind and switches so effortlessly its very pretty to watch. Some horses do a little hop or struggle when they do a flying lead change - not Stretch, if you blink you'll miss it. Once this Spring, Trainer Todd hopped on Stretch while Joe ran to take care of something, and started playing around with him changing leads - to my utter amazement in only a few minutes he had Stretch changing leads with every stride! One stride right lead the next stride left lead - it was so cool to watch! I knew then that he would make an amazing Western Riding horse so watching Joe ride the class was cool but I was not surprised at all at how good he did - I have known that was in him for while. Joe and Stretch took second against other experienced Western Riding Horses.





AND DID I VIDEO THAT PART? NOPE. Batteries were dead as a door knob thanks to the taping of his trail classes.

The show lasted until MIDNIGHT - I kid you not. The next day I watched and taped Chyenne (bought fresh batteries) riding and winning classes (Mannn you guys, I so wanted to ride....) but she still needed to kick it up a notch at the canter and drive him up some, after watching her I understand why my trainer has me ride him like he does - if only this type of a thing could happen more often... After the Open Show English I needed to head home - spending all night on my feet just killed my back and I had to leave before I was forced to take more pain pills which would've impaired my ability to drive.

I later heard from my friend Kelly (at almost 9 o'clock in the evening) that after I had left (of course) that Trainer Joe had won the Jr. Horse Trail class with Stretch picking us up his first AQHA OPEN point and had also taken second again in Western Riding, only this time there was no over-reach bobble and there were 6 horses in the class so i picked up another half of an AQHA OPEN point. Currently Stretch's AQHA points have all been in Novice or Amateur because that's the divisions I ride in.

So the introductory show kinda bombed. I was exceedingly dissappointed that hardly any of the Zone Show gang or any of the regular Quarter Horse show gang from the surrounding areas attended the show. The Open Show before hand was a smash - people loved that - but only like 2 people from the Open Show gave the Quarter Horse Show a try. Classes were small - they were a little larger on Sunday when local Trainer Sandy Johnson hauled in with some horses - thanks Sandy, that was really cool of you! But over all I believe the show went in the hole, which is sad because I highly doubt they will try it again, so we can kiss short, cheap shows goodbye - until folks stand up and support them.