Just Too Stinkin' Cute!

Yesterday we had lots of cute kids and cute minis. Today cute turns into CUTE!

Sherman and his papa Zacchaeus, exploring on the front porch. Sherman thinks he is going to come up the stairs!

Running around just like a big dog!
Sherman checks out my shoes while Shasta checks out Sherman... and mama Hannah appeals to me to protect her boy... silly mama, he's not scared at all!
I just can't get over that pattern on his back... I love it!

He's such a good boy, he knows our voices and comes running when we call. He can climb out of the crate all by himself now and if the gate isn't open, he stands on his hind legs with his front feet on the wires and I'm telling you, no one can resist that face! The gate gets opened...

A Visit From Carroll Farm

Tonight we had a visit from the kids of Carroll Farm. Well mom Lacy came too, after all someone has to drive the car... but somehow she escaped being in the pictures.
Jasmine getting a kiss from Grace
Jasmine and Peggy Sue
Justice getting kisses from Tank and Ahgee - and kissing Ahgee back!
Heather, Sammy and Makayla meet Skeye
4 girls, 3 donkeys, 3 dogs and 1 horse!
Makayla and Betty Lou
Heather and Sammy with Eve
Justice and Austin
Makayla found the bench! And Samson... who isn't so scared of little kids if they are sitting down and holding still!
Heather and Justice meet Ozzie
And of course I had carried my camera out back and left it on the truck when I went to open the gate, so our first stop, Clementine, you will find on the CarrollFarm blog...

A Cherokee Legend

I've been bombarding y'all with pictures this week so tonight you get a break. Got an e-mail recently I thought I'd share.

IT'S THAT SIMPLE AND YET THAT PROFOUND

Cherokee Legend

Do you know the legend of the Cherokee Indian youth's rite of passage? His father takes him into the forest, blindfolds him and leaves him alone. He is required to sit on a stump the whole night and not remove the blindfold until the rays of the morning sun shine through it. He cannot cry out for help to anyone. Once he survives the night, he is a MAN. He cannot tell the other boys of this experience, because each lad must come into manhood on his own.

The boy is naturally terrified. He can hear all kinds of noises. Wild beasts must surely be all around him. Maybe even some human might do him harm. The wind blew the grass and earth, and shook his stump, but he sat stoically, never removing the blindfold. It would be the only way he could become a man!

Finally, after a horrific night the sun appeared and he removed his blindfold. It was then that he discovered his father sitting on the stump next to him. He had been at watch the entire night, protecting his son from harm.

We, too, are never alone. Even when we don't know it, our Heavenly Father is watching over us, sitting on the stump beside us. When trouble comes all we have to do is reach out to Him.

The e-mail ended by saying, if you liked this story, pass it on. If not, you took off your blindfold before dawn...

Clementine's Day Out

Clementine sure enjoyed having the run of the place on Sunday. Pretty much every day when I get home, I let her and her mama out of the foaling pen into the separately fenced "garden" area. (Well, the lady that lived here before had a garden there. We just grow horses, donkeys and mules!) But being out in the whole big yard, there was lots for her to experience.
Shasta is curious, but afraid to get too close.
"Me and my shadow"

Hanging with mama.
Checking out the weeds.
Wonder what that dog is going to do next?
Enough pictures already!!!
Hugs from mama while nursing. Mary Ellen watches.

Shasta, Grace and Tank introducing themselves.
Shasta getting braver and closer.
Look at Clementine's face - she is fascinated by her mama flirting with Wiley...
Out by the back pasture fence.

Looks like all the excitement wore her out!
How's that for a Clementine fix?

Weedeaters Extraordinaire

My herd had a good day Sunday. I let them play weedeater... they LOVE to get out of their normal pens and have the run of the whole place. Well, all except Trooper, Dillon and Wiley. The boys were NOT happy because everyone else was out and they were not. Trooper won't have that complaint for long as he is next on the list to be gelded. But so long as Dillon and Wiley are slated for stud service, it is not safe to let them out as they would fight - and even as small as they are, they fight MEAN!

Anyway, it was a good day for me too, I got lots of pictures and got to hang out with my herd. Because even though there is lots to nibble, which one would think would keep them pretty busy, they find all kinds of trouble to get into! So I have to watch them constantly. I also got to hear lots and lots of braying since the three boys were so unhappy.

Trooper:

Dillon - running AND braying, he was ticked!!
Wiley:
Can you hear the mucis???

At first they come out the gates and celebrate freedom by thundering from one end of the property to the other, around and around, circling the house and the hay barn and the tractor shed and taking any other available path, running for the sheer joy of it. I half expected at least one phone call from a neighbor... "hey did you know your horses were out?" But I guess the thundering hooves didn't wake anyone up.

Before long they settle down and basically divide into three herds - the big horses:

the little horses and mules:
and the little donkeys. Had to laugh at Fred - King of the Hill!
Fred however immediately leaves the big herd and hangs out the the other donkeys. The girls don't really want his company, poor guy, and especially Mary Ellen will chase him away with ears flat back and then spin and give him two heels quick if he gets too close. We were surprised that the mules so obviously chose to hang with the horses until we realized that although they are half donkey, it was their horse mothers who raised them, so they identify more with the horses. Sometimes they shift and merge for short periods but soon they are looking for "their" group. I'm not surprised that the big horses are a separate herd since they are rarely let to run with the minis, but the minis are penned in mixed groups so it's quite interesting to see them divide themselves differently than normal.

The only bad thing about letting them out is, I now have piles of horse poop EVERYWHERE and since I don't like that, I have to pick it up...

Weird Weather

Last Sunday riding I got sunburned, and was really hot before we got back. Today it was icy wind and frozen rain. So much happened today, and I took so many pictures, that it would probably blow up the blog to post it all at once, so I will start with early in the day and with luck I can "cheat" and get a week's worth of blogging out of just today ;)

I woke up at 4 (anyone my age or older can easily figure out why) and tried to go back to sleep but Randy was snoring and wouldn't stop. I gave up and got up for good about quarter of five. Let the horses out while it was still dark to play weedeater, came back in for a quick bite and still was outside in time for some sunrise shots of the storm rolling in.

Looking northwest toward Wickenburg

and looking west a little further south

Looking east

That's a teaser, more tomorrow :)

My New Ride

For the last two years I have been risking my life every day by driving a POS pop-can of a car... a 1995 Ford Escort station wagon.
The radio was original, the speakers going out, rattles everywhere, upholstery coming apart, seatbelt only worked half the time... you name it. And if someone had hit me while I was driving that thing, I doubt I would have survived. But I put up with it in an effort to save wear and tear on my big truck, and for fuel economy. But the truck is finally paid off so I will suffer no more. Instead, I'm riding in style.
Our salesman trying to get out of the picture!

Randy watches him put on the temporary plate so we can drive away.

Isn't it purty? Probably won't look like this for long since we live in the dirt...


Here are a couple of good pictures I took the next morning and added:


I will probably never even use half the bells and whistles this thing has. Wow. Wonder if I will be able to sleep tonight with this big grin on my face :)