Horse camping again :)

Gotta love blogger's new feature where you can date your posts... yeah, I admit I was NOT on the computer on May 31 - not from the middle of nowhere horse camping!
First though a heartfelt thanks to God that I even got there... I left home about 1:30, and apparenlty somewhere between Phoenix and Payson I shucked front brake pads... fortunately the brakies were still stopping the truck and trailer but making a HORRID noise while doing so... I pulled into this place - Fletcher's Auto Repair - 5 minutes before closing on a Friday night!


First thing they said was they couldn't help me until tomorrow {yikes} but when they heard that I was from out of town and didn't know a soul there and had 2 horses and 2 dogs with me, one of the guys took pity on me and stayed late to do the job. Yet another "thank God" was that they actually had all the parts in stock...
Anyway I finally got to camp about 9:30 and I was exhausted!
But we had some awesome rides, so here's a few pics and more tomorrow.
Melanie on my Paint Mare
The local bus stop?!?!? Listen carefully - do you hear banjos???

Where's Waldo? Um, er, I mean where's Finnegan? He almost blends in doesn't he?
A view of Potato Wash through Katie's ears :)
More tomorrow!

My Other Life

This blog is mostly about Painted Promise Ranch but I thought today I would give you a glimple of my "other" life, the job which pays for everything!
The front of the building - it's huge, I had so much trouble trying to get it to fit in the viewfinder!

A closer look at the front entrance

This is the view I actually see walking in every morning.

Once in the lobby I go halfway down this LOOOOOONG hallway...

Enter our office and there is my desk

My desk from the other side

This little room holds my least favorite and most favorite things - the copier (least) and the microwave (most - that's where my lunch comes from!)

This is only 1/4 of the dreaded file room...

The M&M bowl... my diet downfall. Can you HEAR them? They are constantly calling my name...

And my nemesis - the @#$%^&* telephone! Which decides to ring every time I get up and walk 5 steps away from my desk ggrrr

So now you know where I spend the major portion of my awake time!

Look. And Look Again!

This past weekend a man that Randy works with, by the name of Scott, was killed while riding his motorcycle. A 17-year-old girl apparently pulled out to make a left turn right into his path, and he died right there in the road in the arms of his riding buddy.

So prayers for his family and friends are greatly appreciated.

But I have to go just one step further. You see, I have a 17-year-old daughter myself. So along with sorrow for Scott and his loved ones, I feel a tremendous amount of relief that it was not MY daughter that caused this. Because it so easily could have been... and I cannot imagine what that girl and her family are going through. She was in a hurry, or didn't pay attention, or was distracted... and she made a little mistake. But it turned into the biggest mistake one can make. And she will have to live with that for the rest of her life.

I've made mistakes myself and can only be grateful that they didn't become catastrophic like this... so I don't think that prayers for the girl and her family would be out of line.

And God, while you are at it... please help my and mine remember to take that extra second to make sure it's ok to hit that gas pedal...

New Website - The Valley Remnant

It's Wednesday again so of course Midweek Fellowship is on my mind...

Just wanted to share their new website now that I learned how to LINK!!!!!

The Valley Remnant

"But I'm Sure Glad He Listens"

I'm not sure I know how to do this correctly but I want to share a post with you from Debby's blog, Life's Funny Like That. If this link doesn't work you will just have to copy and paste into your browser...

http://lifesfunnylikethat.blogspot.com/2008/05/birthday.html

I have found through reading Debby's blog that we have a few things in common... we are not the same by any means but there are some important similarities. From what she has said about her Tim in her blog, I don't think he and Randy are the same either... but again, there are some important similarities.

So this post of hers really touched my heart, because the special thing that Tim did for her, well, Randy probably wouldn't do exactly that BUT he does stuff that makes me feel the same way. That last bit especially really got to me...

I am one lucky woman :)

(Even if AARRGGHH I guess I do NOT know how to link. Sorry but you will have to copy and paste!) ((And Debby can you share with me your instructions????))

WOO HOO I got it now, thanks gals!!!

Just Too Cute

It can be hard to take a good picture of Darci because she is always so close to me... so I get her from the top!
The little black dot we see in the distance...

is Vada!
Darci and Vada playing... and there's Sherman with his one floppy ear.
Sherman is hot on the trail!
Hey girls! Who, us????

Zacchaeus checking out Clementine...

She's staying really small!

Ok lady, enough with the camera!!

Meet Ozzie

Ozzie came to live with us last summer. He's a mini-me for my pony Skeye... they are almost identical, black with two blue eyes and a star... for Ozzie just add a snip (which for any non-horse people is the little white spot on his nose) and a penis - yes I said penis {snort} Sorry but that's the only differences between the two other than size... they both have gorgeous blue eyes, lots of thick mane and tail... and wonderful friendly pocket pony personalities.
Isn't he too cute...

Scratching his back...

He was quite the little pudge, being rather food aggressive... he's been on a diet and I think he's looking pretty good now... even with the dirt from his recent roll.

See it's hard to take good pictures of him because he always wants to get close!

Settling In

The way our place is set up, there is about an acre of "arena" where I let the big horses roam during the week. On the weekend I shut them into the smaller pen adjacent to it and let the minis out into the arena. Today after everyone finished breakfast, I let Gus and Ruthie out in the arena with the minis. Gus needs the room to exercise and Ruthie told Soleil that she would like to have another baby, and seems really interested in the minis when we walk her near them, so we thought she would enjoy it as well. When I went out to put everyone away for dinner, this is what I found:
Ruthie relaxing in the sun...


and Gus... wow is he wide!

Excuse me??? Are you talking about me???


I'm so glad to see they are able to lay down!

Happy 19th Birthday Lindsey

From your mom :)

Wacky Weather

Just a few days ago I wrote about how miserably hot it was already. Between yesterday and today the high temp dropped TWENTY DEGREES! It is cloudy and has been sprinkling... the weather report says rain but I will believe it when I see it. I sure wish it would, I need to tractor the pasture again (see my very first post). Of course since we were supposed to get the pellet dispenser filled today, it rained at their yard and they did not send the truck out (they say it leaks!) Scraping the bottom of the barrel (literally) got the equines fed tonight but if they don't deliver tomorrow the critters will be having breakfast for dinner! (Seriously, no worries, we do have a barn full of hay so no one will go hungry!)

The view from the back porch, southeast towards Phoenix (and sorry the wind was blowing so hard it moved the camera!)

The view north and east from the front porch (here I was sheltered from the wind)

The clouds sure make for a pretty sunset though!


The best part is that it is supposed to stay cool through Saturday before it starts warming up again, so maybe maybe I can get some work done this weekend!!!

A Very Odd Thing

I was given the above pencil tonight to write something down. Upon closer look I saw that it says "1988 CELEBRATION BALL". (Sorry it's not more focused, I tried and tried... but I think you can see that it really does say "1988".)

It occurred to me that this pencil is older than 4 of our 5 children. And that all 4 of those children are driving now.

Does that not strike you as odd? With all the things that could have happened to this pencil, it was still viable 20 years later...

OK so this post was not as interesting as Mikey's rattlesnake in the frig, but hey, I spend 40+ hours a week in an office... come to think of it, I'll take pencils and an office over a rattler in the frig any day!

The Big Fix

OK so Maricopa County (which is where we live for those of you out of state) has a program right now they call The Big Fix, you send in your application which you download online and for a mere $29 you can get your rabies vaccination, license AND "fix" (spay or neuter) - well, not you, but for your dog or cat. And if you already paid the outragious vet bill for the rabies shots which I did, and the outrageous license fee for un-fixed animals which I did, for the surgery only there is actually NO CHARGE. ***remember that - no charge!*** So I sent off for Zacchaeus and Hannah (Sherman is not old enough yet). It is supposed to take about 2 weeks for the vouchers to arrive. They were somewhat late. Hannah came into heat. I admonished the girls and Randy, and was very careful myself - IF HANNAH IS IN THEN ZACCHAEUS MUST BE OUT!!!!! IF HANNAH IS OUT THEN ZACCHAEUS MUST BE IN!!!!! NO EXCEPTIONS!!!!!

So two weeks ago on Wednesday Lindsey calls me and says "Mom Hannah and Zacchaeus are stuck together, what do I do?"

How about just SHOOT YOUR MOTHER. Geez you guys, how hard is it to have one dog in, and the other one out. Lindsey claims it was Hilary. Hilary insists it was not her. And the vouchers arrived in the mail the next day. Sigh.

Anyway Zacchaeus is now fixed. He looks very strange to us without his set of purple grapes. Well, that IS what they looked like! However I am waiting on Hannah, to see what happened. I'm sorry but if there is a chance, I can't be party to an abortion... and Sherman is so stinkin' cute that any little brothers and/or sisters ought to be easy to find homes for... but I am praying that once was NOT enough for a change.

Just in case - anybody want a puppy???? Mikey you KNOW Wade wants one to ride around in the truck with him!!!!!

PS the FREE neuter cost me $57 in "mandatory" (for this vet) pain meds which are over and above what the voucher covers. In the fine print on the voucher it says to be sure and ask if there are any ancillary charges for that particular vet which will not be covered by the voucher. Lovely. But hey, without the voucher it would have been well over $200... Again, sigh!

However I will be sending off for a voucher for Sherman once he "drops"! I've paid full price often enough I don't feel bad taking advantage of this program, and I hope a lot of county residents are doing the same.

My how she has grown!

In October of 2004 my daughter Hilary's PMU filly arrived from Canada. Destiny was 5 months old. When she first came we called her "the lamb" because she was so white and fluffy...

In fact that whole first winter we discussed endlessly whether she had any markings, we would think we saw shadings here and there but never quite sure. When she shed out in the spring we found socks, a blaze and an appy butt! Every winter she fluffs up and everyone who doesn't know her calls her "the white horse" lol. But every spring when she sheds out her palomino is another shade darker and her white markings more distinct.

At 2 we could see her socks really well

At 4 and this year for the first time she has DAPPLES!

Just for grins this was Hilary's birthday present last year, courtesy of my friend Shawna (see her website in my links list).

Oh Boy, Here It Comes!

Today it was HOT. Yup, over 100 degrees already. Actually, yesterday was too... so it's time for my summer schedule. Up at the crack of dawn, as soon as I can see, to work outside until it gets too hot (sometimes that's 7:00 AM!!!) Anyway once it gets hot it's inside to work a bit or get some computer time, then TAKE A NAP :) do some more work inside then about 6:00 PM it's back outside to work until I can't see any more... makes for some short nights!

The funny thing is, I remember as a teen walking down the sidewalk at 3:00 in the afternoon in July and August in my BARE FEET. The heat didn't bother me at all back then. Guess I am getting old...

Still wouldn't trade it for a winter of snow though!!!

New Friends

Today Sheryl and Matthew came out again to visit with the donkeys they were instrumental in rescuing... They drive from Ahwatukee which is about as far south and east in this Valley as we are north and west. Suffice it to say, it's a LONG drive... Last weekend they stayed to help me feed after working on Ruthie's burrs for hours. This weekend they helped me unload hay and stack it in the hay barn. Both times they cleaned the donkeys' pens too. Sheryl can be really proud of Matthew, he's about the nicest 14-year-old boy I've ever met. He loves animals so much, he volunteers at the zoo, so he already knows how to scoop poop and stack hay :) And Sheryl and I chatter non-stop like we've known each other for years...

After dinner I got a call from my friend Mary, also a relatively new friend, she lives a few miles down the street and I drooled over her buckskin gelding for a couple of years and kept thinking I should stop and introduce myself but since she parks in her garage I always thought she wasn't home... then I met her through the AZBCR website I've talked about several times and we've been riding together a lot for about a year now. Another gal who lives in this "town" and is on that website, Lisa, was celebrating her birthday, so we went into Surprise to meet up with her and a couple of her other friends. She signed me up for karaoke which I haven't done in more than ten years {eyes rolling here} but no one got up and left so I guess I did ok... The most awesome thing really was that smoking is not allowed indoors any more so I could actually go out to a bar and not wake up sick the next morning. Good thing since I am supposed to pick Lisa and her son up at 6:30 a.m. to go riding before it gets hot. I'm glad I got a nap in today and I'm sure that will be part of my tomorrow as well!

Pupdate - 3 months old!

Sherman and Vada are now 3 months old, still pretty small physically but growing up a lot as to what they can do!
Tug of war!

Killing toys!
They both fetch too although Vada likes to take her prize off in a corner and chew on it lol - Sherman loves to run and "get it" and he brings it back quick so I will throw it again.

They also sleep really well...
Darci wondering what the heck Lindsey is doing taking so many pictures!

And Hannah has her girlish figure back :)