Chick Update Part II

I'm having some problems uploading video, so I had to go back and make this one a two-parter.

Today was graduation day for the chicks. Hubby decided they were now big enough to venture into the big outside world. Problem is, chickens get used to one thing and don't want to change. Hubby opened up their access door and they all took turns looking out! One rooster sat with his feet on the edge of the door, but that's as far as he dared escape! Maybe tomorrow...

Chick Update

Well, I waited for Hubby to do the filming and it didn't happen... So today I donned my mask and venture inside the coop for a quick shot of the babies before they were turned out. (sorry about the shaky video... meds) They've really grown since you last saw them! The older hens that are laying have been moved to the small hen house so the babies could have the entire coop for themselves. It's a 10' x 20' house. Hubby recycled old playset ladders for the roosts.

Back by popular demand...

So many of you have asked to see more pictures of my beloved Maggie Mae; How can I resist? Here she is in front, Alpha mare of the herd. Behind her is Hubby's old Buckskin Molly. (His big regret is letting her go too.) My Nekoda in the center rear and to the right is the crazy mare Misty. She literally was crazy! The last time I got on her I ended up beat against the bars of the round pen... Buddy replaced her! Fuzzy horsey kisses are the best!

My favorite time to ride. No sweat, no flies!

I wish I had a picture of video of her in her prime.

To watch her run is a true picture of grace and elegance.

Handy Five
Foaled June 4, 1981 in Virginia

yr age starts 1st 2nd 3rd

1983 2 6 0 0 1

1984 3 8 0 2 1

1985 4 21 2 2 0

1986 5 13 0 1 2

1987 6 1 0 0 0

1988 7 2 0 0 0

TOTALS 51 2 5 4

USA$ 20,934

Dreams of Maggie

My Beloved Maggie Mae

Winter 2005-06 Some people hate a fuzzy horse. I don't get it. I love burying my face in their thick winter coat.
Donning a scarf, hat, and mittens, I would throw on her bareback pad and go play in the snow. Maggie is coming home very soon. This winter I will have many more pictures like this one!

Taking the plunge!

Well, the pool is finally clean enough to dive in! It's still a little cloudy, but there's no green in sight! Plenty good enough for us. The water should be ready for company by Monday. These hot days have made the water temperature perfect without having to put on the solar blanket.

When I first retired 3 years ago, I babysat for my grands for a few weeks. I got one of those little $10 pools for them to cool off in. They had a blast! And they didn't care how dirty the water got!

Ali, she's going to pay you back for that!

I told you so!

G#3 seems to be getting the best of Ali here!

I told Hubby I wanted to buy a real pool. When my daughter was young I had one of those 3' deep ones that come in a box from the box stores. They don't cost much to buy or maintain, and are the perfect size to float around in on a hot day. If you knew Hubby, you'd know that it would end up beyond that...

He declared that if we were buying a pool, it would be big enough for his 6'5" frame to swim in. (He is the small one in the family.) So we ended up with this monster that comes up to my armpits! I hate all the upkeep, but I'm glad he convinced me to get it. We've had my daughter's whole family and his son & DIL all together, splashing and having fun! Worth every penny and every minute spent working on it! I wouldn't trade those memories for anything!

G#3 2007

Ali and I practiced our 'routines' today in the pool. We do these handstands and back flips, then spring up in a big Olympic style finish with our arms in the air. She scored a 9.8 on the back flip tonight... her best ever! We also do synchronize swimming. Yes, we are talented!

Ali's finally old enough that she gets I do not want to stand there and count all day. She always asked me to count how long she stays under or how many somersaults she can do without stopping. We'll never get ready for the competition that way!

Hail Yeah!

Ali and I were in the pool cleaning the walls when the sky turned really dark. Papaw was grilling some burgers and dogs, so I thought it was time to get out anyway. Good timing! Here's what came up a few minutes later...

Coming home...

A while back I introduced you to my first love Maggie Mae... well, my first equine love. The story continues...

If you follow my essays blog, yesterday's post was about a friend losing her home because of being laid off from GM. Her plant is closing soon and they have been evicted because the landlord was worried about her income. They were renting a farm in hopes of buying it. They relocated to Mansfield after our plant announced it was closing. So now, here she goes again. But she has no where to take her horses. She sold her mare Vanity yesterday and the lady is picking her up Tuesday. She is heartbroken about it.

Her little boy loves my Maggie Mae! Here is a video of his favorite pastime with her. It is a great testament of how sweet and gentle she is, to be trusted to run with a small child.

I gave Maggie to her when I retired because I wanted to make sure she had a great home. Now that she can no longer keep her, I am getting her back. I promised her that if her situation turned around quickly she could have her back. But I can't afford to keep three horses forever. So I may be faced with a big decision... I don't think I can bear to part with Maggie again, unless it's to give her back to Teresa.

It's bittersweet for me to have a glimmer of sunshine from someone else's misfortune. I feel so badly for my friend. But I can't wait to throw my arms around my Maggie Mae and ride her down the bike trail again...

Project - Phase Two

This is not a picture from space... This is our pool! Yuck! Living in the 'Land of Devil Wind' makes it nearly impossible to keep the cover on the pool all winter. But at least the cover is off now and the cleaning has started! I looks like a farm pond, don't you think?
OK, don't scream! This is really ugly...

Around the corner of the house is the new wood steps and the stone steps that we just finished. At least we have one entrance to the pool area that is not an obstacle course! This side was done... Then we put in the outdoor boiler system. They had to trench right through the area I had finished. There were stepping stones leading to the lawn area, surrounded by the crushed brick and a few small boulders. The pavers stacked near the pool used to be in front of the big wooden box that used to sit along the back wall of the house for storing the pool supplies.

There is a lot of dirt to smooth out before I replace the black plastic and landscape cloth. Fortunately I didn't have a lot of plants in place yet. Once the pool is cleaned and open, Ali will have something to do while I tackle Phase Two!

Oh my, it's hot! Broke 90 today!

Sadie's Wordless Wednesday

For All My Faithfull Followers

A brand new award! Anne at Comfort Food Warms Your Soul has passed along a new award for my blahwg! blog.

Squirrel Queen at The Road to Here has also passed along this award to me and all her other followers.

This award came to Anne from Kristen at Hands, House, and Heart Full. Kristen designed the award herself to give it to her followers. Please take a few minutes to visit Kristen.

The great thing about this award is that there are no rules, no list this or that, no set number of blogs to pass it to, or any other rule. This award is given out of love and friendship to those who take the time to read your blog. What could be more simple than that?

I am honored to pass this award on to all of my followers! If you are following blahwg! , becoming an author... my journey, or essays & utter nonsense, please take one of these awards and pass it along to your followers.

If you are just visiting, hey... Become a follower and take your award!

Cock-a-doodle-doo!

WARNING: Animal lovers who eat chicken... This is where they come from.

Remember the rooster you heard crowing in the background in one of my videos?

Well, he isn't crowing anymore... We had him for dinner tonight. It's only our second farm-fresh chicken. Still haven't got it right... He was a little tough but tasted much better than the first one.

Hubby's showing a little too much eyeball, but he's excited. I can't believe he's wearing this shirt! It says, 'The original wake up call."

Too hot for you?

I don't know about you, but I'm not a lover of hot weather. The only thing it's good for is growing vegetables and playing in the water. I needed a cool down!

Hubby is always wanting me to post my winter pics and vids on the local news. I finally uploaded this one and it aired that night. This was after a January snow storm this year. My mare loves to run and spin in the snow. (Watch for the flying snow behind the swing set.) See if this doesn't refresh you a bit.

320 Pounds of Concrete!

The local weatherman has been having fun with me. I'm starting to get annoyed! He keeps telling me that storms are coming. I've been wanting to get the stones finished and move on to the next step of my project.


Ali and I went to Lowe's today and bought four eighty-pound bags of concrete mix, hoping to be able to use it someday soon. After dinner it still hadn't rained. I got online and checked the forecast... A slight chance for spotty light showers. I'll take the gamble!


Hubby is still on restrictions, but he offered to mix and shovel. Ali helped me get the heavy bags out of my car and into the wheel barrow. (Did I mention the project area is at the opposite end of the house as the driveway? And since it's rained a lot we can't drive around to it!)


We each had our job. Papaw shoveled the concrete a little at a time. I was on my knees with a small garden shovel, filling in the gaps, cracks, holes, etc. Ali used a bucket to carry the crushed brick down and smashed a layer of it into the wet concrete. It took all four bags to finish this part of the job. I still have some stones edging the other side of the patio that need mortared, but it will have to wait.


We've made it this far! Yea! Next comes the plants for the other side and staining the rest of the wood... But that will be a few days. I've promised Ali that, come hell or high water, the cover comes off the pool tomorrow! How does it look so far? The big dark spot is just some very wet mulch that was left in the other wheel barrow.

And remember the new wood steps? Makes a great spot to sit and sample the chives...

Camping Out

When I was Ali's age, one of my favorite things to do was camp out! Dad would pitch the tent waaay back beside vacant field. I thought the farther from the house, the better! Once a neighbor friend and I camped in sleeping bags under the stars. I remember listening to the crickets and watching the stars. I loved it! I wasn't crazy about waking up damp! Of course, we didn't hear coyotes or packs of wild dogs. We didn't see raccoons and ground hogs scurrying about either. Maybe it would have made a difference...


Ali is a city girl; there's no denying it! Once, she and her older sister camped out in the backyard, but I was sleeping in the hammock right outside the tent door! It was so amazing! The hammock was right next to the pasture fence and my horse laid down and slept right next to me! (Sorry about all the !!!!s, but it was amazing!) Anyway, back to Ali's adventure...

I've often suggested she pitch her tent on the balcony instead of in the middle of the living room. (That's where she usually slept when spending the weekend.) Since she's here for the summer, I told her no tent in the middle of the living room.

Last night we were sitting outside at dusk. It was such a beautiful night. Unfortunately, there was too much breeze for a campfire. I asked Ali if she wanted to camp out. She said yes, if I camped out with her. I explained the effects of old people lying on mats for hours... I suggested she position her tent so that the door was right next to my bedroom door. I would leave the door open so that if she got scared she could step right inside. We negotiated until we settled upon her sleeping with the door next to my door and Sadie in the tent with her. I didn't know how that would go over, but I agreed. I figured Sadie could put up with it long enough for Ali to fall asleep. And she did...

Hubby and I were sitting in our recliners watching the news. He could hear Sadie softly whining from the tent. I figured a bit longer and I'd bring her in, but Hubby is impatient... So, as quietly as possible (yeah, right) I unzipped the tent and allowed Sadie to escape. Ali woke up. I told her Sadie was coming inside for a few minutes but that I would be out...

A few minutes later I heard the zipper. (Maybe waxing it?) Here comes Ali through the screen door, blanket and pillow in arms! I wonder if Papaw will ever get his bed back...

Sadies' Wordless Wednesday...

Love My Friends Award!

Thank you Squirrel Queen from The Road to Here! Judy has presented me with the coveted Love My Friends Award! I am honored.

The Love My Friends award is bestowed on to blogs that are exceedingly charming. These kind bloggers aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in self-aggrandizement. Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated.

I am blessed with many good friends that I have met in Blogville. The most wonderful people reside here.

The award states it is to be delivered to eight bloggers who must choose eight more and include this cleverly-written text into the body of their award.

I have a new policy about passing awards... I've been just picking one or two that I have not in the past awarded. But this award is different. I do love my friends and want them to know, so I am passing this award on to the eight closest friends I have in Blogville in hopes that you will meet them and love them too. These people have given me kind words and support, aside from a wonderful blog to follow. Please visit the blogs of these delightful people! Check out the other blogs on my sidebar that I follow. They are all wonderful people worthy of you spending a little time.

Lille Diane at ...This Time Tomorrow...

TC at Animals That Give Pause

Mark at From the North Fork Long Island

Nina at Grandma Nina

Charmine at my favorites

Anne at Sassy Sasha the Lovable Shih Tzu

Rae at Weather Vane

...and back at you SQ at Through Squirrel Eyes

Keeping up with Ali

If moving the rest of the heavy stones in place wasn't enough! Ali brought her scooter up from her 'old' home and has been anxious to ride it on the bike path. So tonight we ate a light and early dinner and, after resting a bit, dug my bike out of the shed. I haven't ridden it in over a year. It's an old people's bike. When Hubby and I started riding, we shopped around for bikes with regular handlebars and big seats. We bought city touring bikes. Very comfy for us old fogies; and seven speeds are enough for me now. I'd rather go slower and enjoy the scenery. (no pain from bike butt)

Well, it seems I've lost a lot of coordination in the time since I last rode. Sadie wanted to follow us, so I pulled out my cell and called Hubby. I asked him to call to her, which he did, but she wanted to follow us. I turned around and rode back down the lane, across the creek where she could see Daddy. I told him to bribe her with food. He asked her if she wanted a treat and... end of problem! Or should I say beginning of problems...

I was sitting sideways across the gravel lane and began to lift my front wheel off the ground to turn my bike. Way too difficult a maneuver for me! I lost my balance and hopped sideways down the slope trying to regain my balance. All the while (like slow motion) I'm looking at the large chunks of rock waiting to gash my flesh. Somehow I managed to remain vertical, but still wounded my leg with the peddle... Just a minor cut, a big bluish lump and compound fracture of the pride bone. Fortunately, Hubby had already turned back toward the house and Ali was over the hill in the front. Whew! No witnesses! (somebody later blabbed)

So off we go. We live on the bike path, but it borders our woods; so the best route is down the driveway to the old highway. It's about 400 feet down the road. The traffic is pretty light since they built the new highway. We waited for a car to pass then took off down the road. Ali pushed her little legs as hard as they would go and we made it to the bike path before another car came along. We stopped to check out some really neat weeds.

When we were ready to ride, I put my foot on the peddle and shoved off, while swinging my other leg over the seat... the way I used to do without incident. OK, another bad idea. I didn't crash but it surely wasn't graceful! My bike turned across the path and almost went off the other side before I managed to regain control. More good fortune... It is a more remote section of the bike path and not heavily traveled. Only Ali saw this one. She understands Nana is old.

'It's just like riding a bike... You never forget." Don't people use that expression? What has happened to me? What if I open the pool this week and find that I can no longer swim?

My only saving grace was that Ali learned a scooter is not the best equipment for covering mileage on the bike path. She was worn out and ready to turn around at the first crossroad! Well, OK, if you insist...

Step 1 completed!

Girl power! Never underestimate it. Papaw has been 'out of commission' for a while, so Ali and I have had to do the hard labor by ourselves. The heat has slowed us down a little, but today we finished placing the stones for the steps from the lower patio up to the landing. They are all leveled, interlocked, and packed in with clay.

How do they look?

The next step is concrete. We'll pack the edges and gaps and smash the crushed brick into the top of it to match the way we did the slabs. Then we'll smooth out the slope, and put in some plants and mulch.

There's still lots to do at the top of the steps. We've got to level and secure the deck that is presently just laid on the ground, add a couple of steps from the top slab to the pool deck, rebuild the wood walkway on the other side of the deck (spaces are too big between boards - it's a scavenged piece), and finally, redo the landscape and stepping stones where they dug through to install the pipes for our outdoor boiler last fall. Wow, that sounds like a lot, doesn't it?

Anyway, the pool cover is coming off tonight or tomorrow! A dip after our work today sure would have been nice!

blahwg Award!

Sassy Sasha the Lovable Shih Tzu presented me with this award. According the the lovable pooch, it means 'Your blog deserves to be shot!' Hmmm... I'm assuming that since there is a camera in the picture, Sasha is not wanting to blow holes in my laptop. Of course not! She's way too sweet. Besides, I don't think Anne would let her tiny Shih Tzu near a firearm. Please visit Sasha's blog. She's very photogenic and shares a new adventure every day.



RULES
1.Post the award and link it to the person (or canine) that gave it to you.
2. Choose 5 life situations that could be repeated in slow motion and explain why.
3. List up to 12 blogs and pass the love to them.


MY 5 LIFE THINGS

1. Hugs - Slow motion? Yeah, that sounds nice.
   


2. Kisses - Mmmm...



3. somersaults - Wouldn't that be cool?



4. falling - That would give me time to pull something soft under me!



5. waking up - That's the way I like it anyway - SLOW!

I have a new policy on awards. I will only pass them to one or two, and not to someone I've already awarded. It just seems more special that way. So I would like to pass this one on to Jase at Fool Stop because:

1. He deserves an award. His blog is fantastically entertaining!


2. I would like to see the photos to go with his stories.

If you have never stopped by Jase's blog, please do so. You won't be sorry!

A Special Visitor

Ali hasn't seen Keaton in about four years. They used to play together a lot, but then (two more sisters later) her family got kind of busy...

He lives about twenty minutes from our farm, so Mommy picked him up this morning and brought him here to 'tour' the zoo before having lunch at Friendly's. The two friends picked up right where they left off. Thankfully, I can still pick Ali up and plop her on my mare... Even if she did get on the wrong way! That's Mommy holding Nekoda. Buddy is never far from her side.

Here is a short clip of the duo riding bareback. Well, not exactly riding, but...

It's gonna be a long day. I miss her already! Oh well, she'll be back tomorrow.

Baby steps...

We got over two inches of rain yesterday, so the ground is still far too muddy to be working on the steps; but I had to make a little progress. Ali and I spent about two hours trying to edge the patio while walking around with ten pounds of mud stuck to our shoes! A lot of mud washed down onto the patio and had to be shoveled off. I should have taken a 'before' shot the way it looked when we started today.


The first shot below is from last week, and shows how the ground is up to (actually a little above) the patio level. Ali dug a trench on the right side to hold landscaping timbers as a border to the new shade garden we put in last week. To the left side, the mud had washed down about three inches deep next to the post. That's the area we concentrated our effort on today.

Ali shoveled the mud off the patio (again), while I dug out along the edge with a hoe. We filled the wheel barrow to the brim with mud! Yuck! It probably took three times longer than it would have if it was dry. The gooey stuff kept sticking to the tools. And us!

I found some pretty fossil rocks to place along the edge. Then Ali helped me pick out the perfect stepping stones to lead off the patio toward our fire pit. I think the rocks will stop any future mud slides from reaching the patio. I'll add a couple more later to cut through the garden that will trail down and across to the front garden. I haven't decided what color to stain the concrete. I'm thinking of doing something different. Our front porch is mustard yellow and the sidewalk and steps are kind of reddish brick colored. Of course, this probably won't be until the leaves are changing! I figure it will take me all summer to finish my plan. I don't work very fast in July or August. But anyway, this is how it looks now...Since it's on the west end of the house and is covered by the upstairs balcony, it stays shady until very late in the afternoon. This will be a perfect spot for Ali to sit and read. She'll have company too, because Sadie loves lying on the cool concrete. It's going to be such a pretty little sitting area. And if I lean over the balcony railing far enough, this is what it looks like from above...
It was a good day, topped off with a trip to Wilmington's Banana Split Festival! Ali is going home tomorrow to spend the night. She'll probably be blogging about the festival when she gets back Sunday. We had a great time!

Lazy Day Breakfast Fun

Storms hit in the wee hours and woke up the entire house! We got two inches of rain, so it's a bit too muddy to work on the project. That meant today would be a lazy day. Ali decided she wanted some farm-fresh eggs for breakfast. She likes them under-seasoned and over-cooked. YUCK! But just because they're not full of things doesn't mean they have to be plain...

I cooked her a big flat egg patty with ruffled edges. She added the face! Maybe tomorrow we'll get back to work.

progress report

Even with shade and a breeze, the humidity was unbearable this morning. A storm was rolling in and I wanted to get the new dirt covered before it was washed away. Ali and I put down landscaping fabric to help with weeds, and then mulched the slope under the steps. Ali also used the hoe to make a little trench to anchor some landscaping timber pieces as edging. Papaw overworked on the stones so we gave him the day off. Maybe tomorrow we can get some more into place before the heat returns.

Work a Little, Play a Little

G#2 (Ali) is here for the summer, and likes helping with the projects. Here Sadie is supervising while Ali learns the intricate fitting process of building a stone stairway. After a couple of hard hours, it looked like a good place to take a break...

Hard work does have its rewards!

Diamond in the Rough

How do you like my stone stairway?

Ok, I know it needs a little work... I didn't put in anything for scale. These rocks are huge! I've had them for two years now. (Freebies) The new steps I put in go from my deck down half a flight and up to the pool. The bottom landing will turn off to go to the lower level, where there is a waterproof bathroom for the Grands when they exit the pool. It is the last side to begin landscaping, so I don't have many pictures. I'll have to make a point of shooting the 'before' mess. That end has been a storage area for my boulder collection, etc. Grand #2 comes Thursday. I don't think we'll have it done...