The Great Horse Escape

Okay, okay, so maybe it wasn't so great, but it really wasn't what I wanted to walk out to this morning. I had gotten the table scrap's for the chickens and headed out the door and I couldn't help but notice the round hoof prints in the mud next to the car.  Damn!  Then I heard the clunk of a garbage can.  I walked around the corner of the house, and there, next to the greenhouse, was Pip.  The alfalfa pellet can tipped over and her slowly munching contentedly.

I suppose this is a good time to put in a good word for Parelli foundation training because when she saw me she did  not take off at a run, or do anything to make catching her difficult.  I went ahead and fed the chickens and she waited for me.  I called her and she followed.  No rope.  No halter.  I was trying to figure out some way to contain her until I found her escape route, mend the fence, all that crap that I really was not in the mood to do.  I needed ideas.... maybe I could do something with  the half finished round pen.

She followed me around the corner of the fence and I could hear her coming along.  After a couple of hundred feet, I turned around.  No Pip.  I looked in the neighbors field... no Pip.  Looked back towards the greenhouse... wait!  There she is... standing at the gate.  Ears forward and eyes riveted on me.  I thought, well, she is calm and thinking.  She knows the drill, so we will try it her way first.  It was a bit of good luck actually.  The fence had not been sending a charge for awhile and it had been baffling me.  There it was.... the problem.  Somehow the ground wire had gotten clipped onto the bottom fence wire instead of the ground rod.  How the hell had that happened?!!!

I opened the wire gate and waited.  Here was the real test.  It is a very narrow gate and Pip , especially right now, is a wide horse.  I had no halter and no rope to encourage her.  It was quite a squeeze.  I just called her once, then tried to not look at her too much.  She didn't need any more pressure.  She rocked back and forth a couple of times, then focused on the far side of the pasture and came through.

Whew!!!

I fixed the solar charger wires and watched Pip.  True to her nature, she went right to the spot where she had escaped.  She had just taken a drink and so it was a good snap that I heard when her wet lips hit the wire.  Again a bit of luck.  She had just stretched the wire and had not broken it.

I had gotten off lucky.  And Pip had managed to get an extra large breakfast this morning.  I also got a warning.  I have to get that fence finished.  Every day is precious.  Winter is coming and I'm still not ready and today Pip reminded me just how unready I am.  Bugger.

Louie

Holes Continued

Holes Continue.... holes always continue, or so it seems.  I tell myself that there can be no more changes.  I just can't take anymore, I don't think.  Things are catching up to me.  Just a few days ago I noticed a clump of hair, hanging at the side of my face, streaked with shiny bright white hair.  Two thoughts zipped through my head.  The first was that I'm running out of time.  The second was that I am getting used up.  Then there was a moment of alarm, and the feeling that I can't run out of time or get used up yet.... the fence isn't done.

I just feel so much pressure.  Well, not that I didn't before, but now it has doubled, because my own mortality has added so much weight.  On top of that, I really need to have some fun before I die.  Seems I spent the first leg of my life's journey working so hard to be a good student... the good child.  The second leg being an industrious adult.  Work and pay bills.  We were always saying we could do something as soon as the bills were paid off.  The third leg of my life has been spent dealing with illness, both mine and my husband's.  So, when does the fun start?

I don't know.  I guess I just have to keep digging my holes and I'm going to have to believe that the fun will start just as soon as the fence is done.    Yup... that's what I'll keep telling myself.

Louie

The New To-Do

I was going over my to-do list from last year and I was surprised to find that I got a good deal of it partially completed. Not so completed that I could cross it off the list... damn! So, last night Mac and I were sitting on the couch talking about what we would like to see happen this next year. We have gotten wiser and we aren't planning on getting everything done but rather making good headway and finding places where we can take breaks in projects. There are still so many things that we need money to work on, which happens to be money we don't have. Those items are marked with a $. But you never know. Something could happen.

I am keeping things broken up into four categories.... home, business, farm and horses. Mac thinks he is feeling better enough that he can also work on some things this year. That will be a huge help. With that in mind we are planning some big improvements with the house. This is the plan....

House

Build roofed deck on the west end of the house. This should be fairly simple and we can screen it in the summer and put up storm windows in the winter to cut our heating costs.

Spray in insulation in cubby hole. We have a small storage area. A little crawl in type space where the tankless water heater dwells. The bad news is that it is in the north west corner of the house where it takes the brunt of the winter winds. I would like to remove the fiberglass insulation and get the space insulated with the closed cell spray in foam and really tighten it up. $

Pour the concrete slab for the garage. We had already purchased the supplies to build the garage. Then the leukemia came back before the slab was poured. Need to get this done before our building supplies are ruined. $

Build a tower for the TV antenna. If we could just get the antenna a little higher! We only get about five channels now, but the potential exists for getting about double that. It will keep Mac content enough that I hope we won't have to pay out money for satellite TV. We have opposing views on how much TV is too much TV, but we both want to save money. $

Build some shelves and cabinets, especially the oven cabinet. $

Finishing touches. A light fixture still needs to be put up. I need to get the switch plate and outlet covers on. So many little things that need to be taken care of!

Shop for a wood burning stove. If the electricity goes off we have no heat source. $$


Business

Have three to four items of reproduction art ready for sale (posters, comics, prints) $

web page or facebook page $

build bird houses. I have been told this is the big thing to sell right now. I really hope that is right! I need to make four thousand dollars this year for us to stay afloat.


Farm

Buy chickens I have managed to hang on to forty dollars to go towards my first chicken purchase. I have enough scrap lumber around to build a small coop. I just need to get some wire to make a chicken tractor so they can safely get out into the grass and enrich my soil. $

Buy a starter mushroom kit. I haven't given up on growing morels, but I have scaled back my plans somewhat. The area for the bed has been cleared in the woods. I just need to get it layered up with wood chips and horse manure and have it ready when the spores arrive. One kit is $36.00 plus postage.... it's a start. $

More fencing. This always takes a little money... sometimes a lot of money. But I now have my master plan and there won't be anymore tearing stuff out and rethinking the whole thing. From now on, I only make progress. I'm over fifty percent done with the whole project anyway, so that feels good. $

Seed the pasture. Better hay =more money. $

Continue cleaning out the woods My woods is such a tangle of dead elm and buck brush and I am convinced that if I get it cleaned up, the dead wood burned, then I can work towards a woodland garden. I will have a good space for weddings, nature walks, bird watching and I hope people will pay to come here. The farm must pay for itself and a little agritourism might be the answer.

Build a hay shed. I think I have this figured out where I can use some "pioneer" methods to get this done. Might have a few costs in roofing supplies. A farm HAS to have sheds!!!



Horses

I would like to spend two hours most days with the horses. It would be nice to get past my level 2 by the summers end, with both Chloe and Pip.



I know so much is dependent on money that not all of this will happen. But, it's what needs to happen There are a lot of other projects I want to get to, but right now, they are gravy. First comes the meat and potatoes. These are the OFFICIAL goals for this next spring, summer and fall. Now that I have declared myself, we will see just how much madness and mayhem will ensue in an attempt to derail me. As always, my fingers are crossed.

Louie

Ambassador

I have applied to be a Parelli Ambassador. I may not be far enough along in my horsemanship to earn that position, but that's okay. I would understand it and that would be fair. But I really, really hope I do get it.

Every spring I say, "This will be the year I accomplish....." First year, was to get some more of the finishing done on the house. I did get more done, but not all of it. Second year, was the stem cell transplant when the leukemia came back for Mac. Then there was the blur of time. I don't remember how long it even went on, so it is just "The Aftermath". Third year, I think, was trying to get ahead on the fencing and land development. This year needs to be about the horses and, hopefully, farm stuff that makes money. The year where all of the loose ends come together. This will be the year of my passions.

If I get to be a Parelli Ambassador, then I hope it will keep my mind focused on where it should be focused. A reminder. I haven't got another Parelli student close by that I can have horse days with, Someone to supply the support and focus, so I hope the working as an Ambassador will fill that role.... and create some Parelli friends in the area as well.

Sometimes I chide myself for being an old broad, with more then a few dings in the fender, chasing after my dreams and life goals like a twenty year old. I suppose on one hand it makes me a ridiculous person. But on the other hand, if I weren't chasing my goals, I would just be an old broad...... with more then a few dings in the fender. It would be a sin to die without trying. I have to try.

Louie

Savvy Equals Safety

I used to have an instructor that if she wanted you to remember something important, she would put it into a little saying, rhyme or an acronym. In a musical context, I think everyone has heard the scale referred to as Every Good Boy Deserves Fudge. My current instructor, my horse mentor, Pat Parelli does this as well. Though Pat has so many that I sometimes fail in remembering them all, but the first one I learned is the one in the front of my mind today... Savvy equals safety.

There is just so much bad that can happen. So many possibilities for creating our own demise. This last year there have been a number of horse person wrecks that I have heard about. Broken ribs, broken collar bone, gashed head but amidst this mayhem what stands out to me is that these Parelli students didn't die. They could have. When these people describe their accidents they can explain with absolute clarity, right to the point of impact, what the horse was doing, what the horse was seeing and thinking and things they were trying to do to control the situation, or to offset the damage. The program was ingrained enough that they didn't die.

Ingraining.....My old instructor called this Boy-Book-Boy... get the boy into the book so the book is in the boy. Pat has it a little differently. He says we start out unconsciously incompetent... we don't know that we don't know. We progress to consciously incompetent, where we have it figured out just how dumb we are, but we are learning. The goal is to be unconsciously competent, where the knowledge is so a part of our being that it is automatic. It's a good goal.

So today, I want to take a break from talking about fencing, disease, the onset of winter and all of my other rants to give a shout out to Pat. We may get bashed, bruised, bloody and sometimes, a bit broken, but thank you for keeping us alive, for getting inside of our heads and making our lives better. Some of the people you have saved are very dear to me.

Louie

Frivolous

I am planning on being frivolous. Next July there will be a gathering of my friends in St. Paul for a Parelli event. I haven't gotten to meet up with my friends for around five years. It might be debatable whether or not I deserve this get away, but I will proceed as if I do.

I'm figuring that I will need around $400.00 to make the trip. One hundred per night for hotel. One nice meal with my friends and the rest crappy restaurants so $100.00 for meals and that last $100.00 for gas. I tend to want to spend some money at the Parelli tour stop. They have great sales! So, will want some extra money in the event that the universe should smile upon me.

I'm already feeling guilty... I'll do my best to over come it.

It makes me do farm math though.... $400.00. That would be four moderate difficulty couch size quilts...OR... two difficult quilts...OR... one over the top art quilt. Or possibly, forty bird houses.... twenty stepping stones?... maybe some totally awesome alpine gardens in little hydrotuffa concrete planters.

I'll think about it some more but in the meantime, I am going to relish the prospect of being frivolous with my friends next July. Can't wait!!

Louie