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Here's a photo Barbie took as a Christmas present for me. You can see my charming foal cantering happily across a winter pasture. What a good good boy. Okay, so what's been going on over the past few days. The most important news is that two days ago, a severe lightning storm in Florida caused the accidental death of two of Renny's half-brothers. I feel so badly for the grandma of those ponies, she's such a nice lady.
As for me here, Violet and I continue our driving and on some days we are better than others, but mostly good. Hailee looks beautiful and healthy and fat and happy in her own serene way. And Renny is loaded to charm. He is just turning into the most elegant sweet small pony. On the home front, I am moving forward with my plans to get chickens, but am in a slight stall while I regroup and think through how to get/make a coop and run. I think Tim is going to help me. I put up two birdhouses, a bird feeder, a hummingbird feeder, and a suet block yesterday, and also made a butterfly feeder. I ordered foxglove and columbine seeds, so that I can make that back bed I cleared into a butterfly garden. And I bought some home supplies to repair cement in my garage, driveway and front steps, caulk the strip between the patio and garage, and stain the front entranceway. I priced out getting a new screen door for my kitchen into the garden, but am holding off on that job until the price of installation goes on sale. And this evening, I'm going to buy what I should have bought long ago, a tall ladder, so I can clear out my gutters.
What else do I know? For the past 9 years, every day that I would drive to Showgate, I would see a big beautiful Appaloosa -- the kind I like -- grey with a big white blanket and then huge black dots. Just a beautiful old girl, I've posted a picture of her before on my blog. Well, after Christmas, I noticed that she was very shaggy and much more weathered-looking than usual. I noticed that she had Cushing's. And it was a very, very, very hard winter of snow, ice, cold. She doesn't have any run-in shelter, she just must brave the cold. But now her body can't recuperate well from the heat and Barbie and I have noticed that she's very often laying in the creek on the farm property, obviously foundered as well as with Cushing's. Barbie is trying to speak to the owner, so we can get permission to trim that mare's coat and get her some care.
What else do I know? We had a big rolling slow fat thunderstorm this morning which started shortly after 5. So, all there was to do was lay in bed in the dark and listen to a few brave morning birds singing their song, the grumbling thunder and the rain as it shifted between sprinkles, earnest drops, and downpour. It was a wonderful 3 hours of wonderful sound, and I knew that all along, my birdfeeders and birdhouses, my gardens, my dreams were all dancing in the backyard. I felt happy.
So, I got up and did my morning chores and then made snickerdoodle cookies, worked on my Hostess Basket for the Fair, and puttered about. But now I'm getting ready to do research.
Please as always, I pray for the help and strength to fulfill the social contract with my creatures. Much love, namaste.