Friends

    I have been considering this post for a bit.   What makes a friend?  I have mulled this over for a few weeks now.  Some of my friends are rather new, and many, many are quite old ( as in I have been friends with them for many years, not age-related).   Some friends to me are inanimate objects,  for instance, these fall mornings as I step outside to do chores, it is still dark.  But I look into the sky and see my friend Orion gazing out into the heavens from his kneeling vantage point.  He is friendly to me because he is always there, unchanging, I can count on him being there for me to see.  I have been looking a lot into the heavens, learning the constellations and the stars that they are comprised of.  Betelgeuse is one of the stars in the Orion constellation,  I like this star solely because of its name.  Pronounced "beetlejuice", this star reminds me of the movie starring Micheal Keaton, and I really enjoyed that movie!    Another star in the Orion constellation is Bellatrix, and for those Harry P fans, we know who she is certainly along with her cousins Sirius and Regulus ( both are also heavenly bodies seen in the autumn skies here in Minnesota).  I never was able to make a connection with J.K. Rowling for how she chose the names of her characters, I think she too, looked into the heavens and was inspired.  Without doing any homework on this, I can only speculate, but the names ARE there.  My friends, the stars.    

     Speaking of stars, I am friends with Vin Diesel, at least on Facebook I am... He posts regularly, and always lets his FB friends know how grateful he is to be in the place he is currently at status wise.  I have always admired Vin,  he seems to be a man of integrity, something I value highly in my world.

     Honesty, integrity, faithfulness and kindness are some of the things I value in my friends.  I have many friends, some are not good friends they are on the outskirts of my friendship circle.  My true friends are good friends.   I have not unfriended many people in my life.  A couple of .loser boyfriends, and 2 women are all that come to me right now.

     The one friendship I regret losing now, Nancy was her name and she was beautiful, but nice.  She loved flirting with guys and I loved hanging out with her cuz I knew all the hot guys were going to want to get to meet her ( and me by association).  But one night of partying showed me her true colors, see she had just gotten married to this really hot, hot lead singer of a band ( we went to a lot of bars and met a lot of hot band members).  I knew Terry ( her husband), and liked him, he was a nice guy and didn't need to have his wife going off to party with some other band for all hours of the night.  I told her I wasn't interested in partying with this band, and we should get home, Nancy didn't like hearing that.  She was about to go off with this band without me even though I had driven her to this bar ( somewhere near Marshall , Lind ballroom I believe), and I wasn't about to let that happen. So I finally get her away from the band and get her into my car to head the long drive back to Montevideo ( that is where we lived near).  She was so mad at me she told me we were no longer friends, and she never wanted to speak to me again.  I agreed, and the silent car ride has lengthened into 20+ years.  I never made up with her again.  I sometimes wonder though, how she is doing, we had many fun times before this together.


   The second friendship I happily set aside last year. The person in question proved themselves to be dishonest, untrustworthy and unreliable. 

    My friends are much better people than this.   The people I choose to surround myself with are supportive, considerate, trustworthy, honest and kind.  My trainer for instance,  a terrific person who has been crapped on several times in her life.  Someone burglarized her barn, not just once, but twice!  This woman doesn't have a palace, and works so hard for what she has.  Why should she be the person to lose so much?  I often ask God that question.  His answer?  He doesn't always give us what we WANT, but he ALWAYS gives us what we NEED.  I don't know the how or the why of my trainer needing to be burglarized twice, but God has the plan,  I need the faith to follow what his plan is for me and my friends.  I do pray, and I include my trainer in my prayers.

   I have some really good friends that I have had since I was a child.  I don't get to see them often, but when we get together, we just pick up where we left off in our friendship.  I like to use the analogy of putting on my most comfortable pair of shoes.   Comfortable old shoes are a high priority to me and they clearly are high on my list of things I am grateful for  (right up there with hot running water)! That is how my old friends feel to me.

     I also have friends among the animals.  Clearly, all our animals here on our small hobby farm are friends,  My son and I name them all ( except for the bees, they move too fast to bee named...).  We have our 10 horses, which of course have been with us for many years.  Coni is 30 and she has been with me since she was born.  She is my heart horse, there is such a special bond between she and I we know each other...  Sahib is my other heart horse, and it is clear he loves me, as much as I love him.  Non horsey people have even noticed this bond.  They can see how he looks at me and can see the love emanating from him and they see my love for my horse also.  This is friendship.  I look forward to developing our riding partnership as well as our bond.  I have ridden him a couple of times now, since he got back from my trainer's farm and small baby steps will ensure that bond continuing to grow.

   I grieve for some of my animal friends.  Last year, an owl killed my friend Gary.  Gary was a large Pekin drake.  He loved me and I loved him, we were good friends.  Gary would always come when I called for him and it was hilarious to see this huge duck running and flapping his wings in his excitement to come and see what kind of game we were going to play!   He loved to play tag with my feet.  I would quickly shuffle my feet and he would almost trip over himself trying to catch each foot as it moved!  He loved grabbing on to my shoe laces and untie my tennis shoes.  My boots were frustrating for him, there was nothing for him to untie...  If I mistakenly wore sandals or flip flops outside I had to be very wary of Gary, because he liked nothing better than to come up ( especially when I was distracted) and nip my feet.  That stings, a lot!!!Try it sometime, take a tweezers and pinch a tiny piece of skin on the top of your foot as hard as you can.  That is kind of what it was like for Gary to catch me in flip flops!!!
   Gary liked to sleep next to the house, in the summer so he could be there quacking in his hoarse drake voice as soon as I opened the door each morning.   Sadly, this practice is what led to his demise.  I found him one October morning, with the Great Horned Owl that killed him standing over him feeding.  Shock overwhelmed my grief.  This owl not only killed my friend Gary, but it was more than willing to take on all 5 dogs that surrounded it as I unknowingly let them outside that morning!  I could see it starting to hop toward the mini Dachshund  Bailey, and I rushed outside grabbing the closest item I could find.  A broom.  Yes, I took on an owl with a broom, and guess what? An owl ( esp one of that size) isn't intimidated by a wild woman swinging a broom... I even connected with it, didn't even phase the thing.  It hopped off into the wild where I still here it sometimes at twilight as I am doing chores.  I then hustle to lock all my birds safely into their coops, and make sure the smaller dogs are safely inside before continuing on with my chores for the evening.  I won't lose another friend to an owl's hunger.
    I have sadly lost several birds this fall.  Gone are Betty and Agnes, followed by the only duck I hadn't named, the small black Runner female.  Then Rosy got sick and I found her dead last Monday, she is buried by Gary.  Helen disappeared next, she was a Black Swedish duck who loved her Cheerios, and clamored for them every morning.  Saffron disappeared next, and she was the one bird I thought had the best survival instincts, I figured she of all my chickens would be wise enough to sense danger before it was too late, I was wrong I guess. Now my Mallard duck Goldy is gone, she was Gary's mate and I enjoyed watching her antics as she begged for treats.  Yesterday, I lost one of my exhibition birds Ash, she was a blue Cochin, just about 7 months old, next year I was going to be entering her and her sister Smoke ( get it, Smoke and Ash???... I thought it kind of cool if you say it fast....) in some poultry competitions.   I am trying to keep my girls safe, but I think  coyote has discovered the reliable feast available to him during the day at the Erickson farm.   I don't lose birds at night, only when they free range during the day.

    So I say good by to some of my friends, and I will always remember them fondly.  My other friends, human and animal, I will continue to support through thought, word and deed.  There is nothing like a good friendship.

leaves are changing

   Gosh, is it the end of summer already?   My how time passes!!  It seems I was just beginning my summer yesterday!  At least this year, I am healthy ( as in not injured) and free of the worthless baggage that used to hang around my life. 
   I have spent much of the summer doing horse shows.  No, not showing, I am "retired" from showing, but I announce shows now a days.  I like announcing, I think I do a good job, ( at least I try my best to do a good job), shows always compliment me after the day and usually ask me back for the following year.  I have 2 more shows to do this summer, and then I can officially call it the end of summer.  2 Weeks from now I am announcing the Arabian Open Shows Championship show in Lake Elmo.  I announced this show last year, and they liked my style so asked me back for this year.  I enjoyed the show, so many beautiful horses, and some worthwhile trainers and stables represented.  There is one stable that isn't a really huge name stable, but the owner/trainer always supports the community shows in the state and brings many young students along to these shows.  I hope that stable is there this year.  Their name is Regent Arabians and I have the utmost respect for this owner Doug.  He seems to be a nice man with some integrity.  That is something I highly value at this point in my life.  Honesty and integrity, that is all I ask of someone in order for me to count them as a person worthy of my respect.  My parents taught me that.  I am trying my best to pass on those self same values to my child.  I hate liars!  With a passion!!!!!  Why would someone spend their time making up stories?  Is it to make them seem more important?  I just don't get it...
    

Motivational sayings

  Searching the internet I have discovered some really motivational profound sayings.  Here are some of them:


"If you wish to grow thinner, diminish your dinner." -Henry Sambrooke Leigh



Your body is the baggage you must carry through life. The more excess the baggage, the shorter the trip.



Arnold H. Glasgow
 
 
 
 
If you don't like something, change it. If you can't change it, change your attitude.



unknown
 
 
  I am hoping to continue to incorporate these changes into my lifestyle as much as I can.  I am doing well with the exercise and now it is just to work on the food.  I find myself analysing everything I am thinking about eating.  I have a rough idea of how many calories are in a serving, it is just to reproportion my serving sizes I think.
 
   Another celebration, I RODE Sahib!!!!!!  I am so excited to get to ride him again! I am also scared and quite tense, but I have great confidence in my trainer, and her skill to help me relax, and I have watched him being ridden by her often, and he looks so happy and unstressed that I know I can continue to develop my confidence with him as well!  He is such a  terrific horse, he has such try and an honest work ethic. My love for him is great as well as my love for all my horses!
 
  Without further ado:
 

Premo Sahib

Changing.... Hats

     I like most people wear many hats throughout my life.  For the past twelve years, the hats I have worn/ am wearing are as varied as the autumn leaves falling from the trees.
   

     My most important hat right now is that of a mother.  I have a 12 year old son, and he totally rocks my world.  My love for him is boundless, and I am so proud of the choices he makes as an individual.  He is a role model for other children around him,  he is has a clear and cutting wit mostly associated with adult intellect.  He is funny, kind and considerate most of all, he loves all things around him.  I am constantly being floored by some of the profound statements he makes.  I believe his is, an old soul...  I know that sounds corny, but I think it is true, even when he was a newborn, his face held so much wisdom, I knew he was special.  So, without further ado, let me show off my son:

My fondest desire is to raise a well rounded emotionally stable child,  at this point my young man is exceeding any expectations I might ever have had.   He is so cool!

       This Sunday, my hat is that of a beekeeper,  went out and checked on my 3 hives of bees this morning.  They are all doing well, considering we got off to a very slow start this spring.  I think I might have a small honey harvest yet this year!  At least one can always hope!

     Last Sunday that hat I wore was quite different from this Sunday's hat.   At the last minute, the judge for the local 4-H club fun show backed out, so they called me, wondering if I might be available to judge their show!   You can't imagine my surprise in being asked to judge, even if it is only a fun show!  I happily told them I would be delighted to judge the show!  Of course, I had some doubts, woudn't anyone?  I mean, I have never judged a show before, but it IS only 1 person's opinion on one specific day... At least, that is what I have always told the kids I have had the pleasure of coaching.  So Sunday morning July 18 dawns, and off I go to judge a horse show...  I think I must have done alright, no one was waiting to lynch me after the pleasure classes, and it was a lot of fun and quite a learning experience also!  I learned, no matter how many horses are in the class, there will always be one horse/pony that is going to be a brat.  This particular class I am thinking about had a couple.  It was a walk/trot 11 and under class, and man, it was CHAOS!!  I had the ring steward watching 1 pony, the announcer was trying to keep an eye out on another horse, I told her at the first sign of more trouble ( had already had a taste of the nastiness of this horse) stop the class on the rail and we would deal with it...  Luckily, there were no mishaps, I did end up excusing the one horse from the ring ( he was totally unresponsive to the rider), for the safety of the other riders and their mounts.  But how the heck to judge a class like that?  All I could do was take the rider with the least amount of mistakes and place them first, and then go down the line... all in a short amount of time.  I have oodles more respect for the tough job those judges have to do now.  At the same time, I have realized, this is a hat I kind of like wearing, and so my next goal is to attend the judging seminar and take/pass the 4-H judging test.  Here are a few photos from the show:

A  good time was had by all I think.

  

   I thank all the people I have gotten pictures from,  since I don't have a camera of my own, I rely on others people's photographic skills to get the pictures for my blog.

    Today,  my hat is that of a straw hat, because that is the kind of hat you wear at the beach, which is where we are headed now, before my riding lesson!

Winds of change

   Gosh how the summer has flown by!!  I have hardly had the opportunity to even consider organizing my thoughts here! 

   Well started the summer off by sending Sahib back to the trainer's farm so I could continue with my lessons and he could as well!  Had the chiropractor out for him and he also had some accupuncture done.  Now, I am/was quite the skeptic regarding non-western medicine, but this has REALLY helped him!  Amazing!  I realize this is the condensed version, but there is so much to blog about!!!

 

   I am continuing my dressage lessons and finally think I understand how posting feels while riding!  Never knew how to "feel" it.  I hope that my lightbulb moment  continues to be effective!  I am also continuing my workouts at the club, and now my heartrate hardly rises when I am walking @ 3.2 miles per hour on the treadmill!  This is progress!!!  I invited my friend to accompany me a couple of times, and boy did she feel she got a work out!  We both did!  Dripping in sweat!  That is a great feeling! LOL!

   

    My bees are doing well, had a slight mis-step when one of my hives lost the queen, I was afraid I was going to lose that hive!  But as nature intended, the hive created a new queen, and all is well.  They are getting another box this week.  My other hives already have their new boxes, I am hoping to have a honey harvest by the middle of August, just in time for a local celebration, called Garlicfest.  My mentors had a booth there last year, and we actually extracted honey right there in our booth!  Gave people a chance to see what goes into ( or out of ) the honey they purchase!  People were quite curious and eager to see the mystery surrounding honey unveiled.   Honey production, prior to my becoming a beekeeper always seemed like a secret society to me.   There was always some magic surrounding the whole thing, I mean, you saw bee hives out in the countryside, but never saw anyone tending them.  So, how DID that honey become so?  It was so revealing to me to find out!   I have had the opportunity to watch bees place pollen in the cells from there back legs positively packed with pollen.  I have watched the share nectar with their tongues, I have watched newly hatched bees pop out of their cells, I have watched the bees do their "nectar dance" which precisely tells the other bees where the nectar and pollen are located from the hive.  So many things I have learned!  So many more things to learn!  What a powerful gift this learning thing is!  How humbling to learn from a creature as small as a bee!

Back at the ranch... my 5 year old gelding Handsome got quite badly injured 3 weeks ago.  He managed to put his leg through the metal wall of the run in shed, and gave himself a degloving injury.The injury was to the bone, but luckily he didin't bag any big nerves, arteries or his tendon ( I have no idea how he managed not to do it like that but I am counting my blessing he didn't!)   Several hours and many hundreds of dollars later, the vet says, " complete stall rest".  Those who know me personally, know I have no barn, hence no stall... So I call my trainer and ask her if she has room for my injured fella for as long as he needs stall rest.  Without any hesitation on her part she allows us to haul him up there for his convolescence.  Now Handsome has not been off my farm that often, ( last year when I was injured, a good friend took him and 2 others off my hands), so he didn't really want to get into the trailer.   We tried all kinds of tricks, but without forcing him, since he already had enough stress in his life with the horrific injury to his fetlock.  Then I grabbed a handful of cracked corn, the big bugger stepped right into that trailer for his corn!

  The 1/2 hour trailer ride was uneventful, he is a good hauler once he got in.  Then the adventure of getting off the trailer at the trainer's farm.  Since I don't have a barn, Handsome had no idea what a building like that looked like.  should have seen his face when I asked him to follow me into that barn!  And the sound his feet made on cement!  He had no idea who in the heck was making those clopping sounds, but he didn't know if he liked it!  Then his pop, Sahib spoke up,  he was like a puppy rushing over to be comforted by the elder.HIs introduction to a stall was also an adventure, he took one look at that dark hole and you could see his brain thinking: "She wants me to go in THAT?!  Well, being the good sport he is, and trusting that I will not bring him to anything that will kill him ( I think he trusts me like that anyway, I have tried to be consistant with him), he entered the stall without much more ado.   Turns out he likes a stall,...  To my knowledge he hasn't had any meltdowns, and is being a good boy for my trainer. He is healing nicely after almost 4 weeks at the trainers, thanks to her due diligence and care.  I imagine it will be a while before he is healed enough to come home.  Here are some pictures:

This last picture is from last week, the 15th to be exact.  The wound is healing nicely ( thanks to Jean's ministrations and Wonder Dust!).  We were able to even get his hooves trimmed with him standing sound on that leg!  My only concern is for his fetlock and the possiblity he won't be sound on that leg, but for now we will take it day by day.

I DID IT!!!

   Just getting home from ... *drum roll please... my first 5K!!!!!!!!!  yep I did it!!  I am thrilled and pleased as punch for me!!  This blog began as part of my weight loss journey, and it continues in that vein with a few forays into the rest of my life.   I never thought I would possibly be interested in attending let alone competing in a running(walking) race!   I have a goal now, and that is to complete an 8K in 2 years, this should give me plenty of time to train and condition myself for that kind of running.  I watched the 8K competitors, and man, did they have an incredible pace going!  It was poetry in motion to watch them run.  I love to watch superb athletes perform.  And to have an idea of the conditioning and training that goes into any competition is simply astounding!
    Speaking of watching poetry in motion, I announced my second show of the season last Sunday.  It was our annual Arabian Community Show that my friend and I have put on for the past 4 years.  We had some really lovely horses and horse/rider teams competing !  I have to mention this one gal since I saw her last year, and am totally in awe of her.  Last year when she competed the whole summer, she was also enduring chemotherapy, AND riding a green horse!  This is the level of commitment this woman had for the Arabian breed!  What a role model!  I can only hope to aspire to have half the courage and perseverance this person has!  Had the opportunity to speak to her this year, and let her know how much I admired her  quite modestly this person acknowledged my admiration, another point for her!  Humility is a humbling trait to see in others, I hope to learn from them.
   At this same show, I always have  at least 60 people telling me what to do and how to do my job of announcing.  My son was helping me in the announcer's box, and says, " Mom, you should say this, like this!"  I look at him ( with a Mom look no doubt) and say" Matt, I already have 60 people telling me how to do my job!"  His reply?  "Well, make that 61!".   Hmmmmm, wonder where he gets his sarcastic sense of humor from!??   Minutes later, a voice floats up from the entry booth, ( remember, I am already kind of tense about the announcing thing and everyone telling me what to do and how to do it!)  and it says," That has got to be the WORST announcer I have ever heard!"  Let me tell you, I whipped around in my chair to blast them both barrels with what they can do with their opinion.  My secretary is openmouthed, wondering what the heck I am going to do.  and lo and behold, there stands my brother and sister in-law grinning from ear to ear~!  He only thinks he is funny...  Well, family CAN tell me I suck, doesn't bother me, especially when I know they really don't mean it~!  Their girls (my nieces) competed with their QH in the open classes, they did quite well, I was very proud of them for the fine horsewomen they are becoming!  They are also quite competitive on the WSCA show circuit in the game events.  It is fun to watch them compete.  My brother enjoyed living vicariously through them so much that he went out and purchased his own game horse, and now he is quite competitive also!  Poetry in motion...  Superb athletes... Bet I could beat him  in a running race though...

training

   Well, both my horse and I are in training, ( I as you know from this blog have been working on improving my physical well-being for several months now.)  Sahib has been at the trainers for a month, and I am signed up for my first 5k coming up here in June.   Yes, you read that correctly, I am running/walking ( mostly walking I bet...) a 5 k!!!!!!!   Never ever thought I would even be interested in participating in something like this!!! I don't care if I am the last person over the finish line either, this is about challenging myself to try something new~!!!!!  More in depth conversations with myself to come!