Going...going...gone is Summer

Yes it was cold last night at work, I had all the windows open for fresh air and actually thought to myself where the heck is my sweater.....HaHa...I guess I blinked and summer was gone, even the morning have that Fall Air, leaves have started to change and the Big Dogs are developing a coat already.  It was the strangest year, we had hail and cold weather in June then a horrible heat spell, crops did not fair well although my cherry tomatoes are coming along ok and the blackberries are good, I even picked blueberries on the road side that were reasonable sized.  This morning after the Staff Meeting I stopped to order my winter hay....Nooooo, I am not suppose to be ordering winter hay already it is too early but nevertheless I did and it is coming this Friday.  Empty wallet for a couple weeks but happy critters!  Matt is busy finishing up the addition to the cottage it will be nice to have the extra room and the wrap around porch is nice...My friends Matt and Katherine Dean have been clearing more pasture space for me, they needed the wood for winter and I needed a bigger pasture!  It worked out fabulously and also I will have the arena up for next year just in time to get Matriel back in training, she has been ignoring me terribly.  She knows that she is the One and that she always will be my sweetheart, the one with the stall in my office like Mr. Ed my favorite show.  But her attitude needs a little adjustment, I whistle and she flips her tail and turns and runs....in the opposite direction....NOT good and NOT acceptable...she knows better for sure.

Jill my Percheron Mare will be home in a week or so and I am hoping to get her out riding so we can go on a fall ride this year...Even if I just get some saddle time in I will be happy.  A distance ride would be nice though.  A short one, maybe 15miles maybe less, depends on whether I decide to breed her this year or wait until spring...Hope everyone has had an enjoyable summer and looking forward to the Holidays with family and friends...I am going to go visit my son in Texas for the holiday...Yea!

The Drive In to Work

Believe it or not I go through four or five towns on the way into work every night and home every morning.  Just starting to realize the flowers are in bloom, people have taken to the Lakes and Summer has come upon us, didn't I have the wood stove on just last week?  My Son and Daughter in Law were home visiting 4 days, very relaxing and very nice to see them.  It is my hope to visit Texas this winter as I dread the Maine Winters, if I was a winter sport enthusiast perhaps Winters here would not bother me and if I could stay awake long enough to curl up with a book in front of the wood-stove it wouldn't bother me....But the cold goes right through me and the wood stove can not be hot enough and sleep is all I want then!   But Alas Summer is here, this is my time to ride and to sight-see, enjoy being outside...

On the Way to the Distance Ride

Trying to figure out who would be the best ride for the Fall ride, Sullie and the girls will not be here until end of July and that will not give me enough time to condition for a 30 mile ride, although they are offering shorter ones that day.  Dancer I believe is in Foal so I am saying she is probably out for training let alone a ride.  I guess being so close to being ready to take off is better than not, so I just might wait until next spring and start training on three of them so I can have an option.  Janet thinks Sullie is going to love riding the distance and seeing the trails, I hope so he is beautiful...15.2 and ready to blast off!  I can't wait to see him and take a stroll down the dirt roads.  I was all ready to stand Sullie Stud here in Maine but after speaking with his owner i am thinking I just might be a little selfish and keep him for my mares, I tend to be a picky person and research research research is my middle name.  Sullie is dominant for the Black Gene we believe so rare and beautiful...

It has been a Beautiful weekend so far, I visited a couple of local spots, talked with Dancer today about taking a stroll tomorrow for Memorial Day, she is up to it...Am really missing not participating in all the rides this year, the only one I am doing is in September but next year watch out...I will either be riding porcelain fawn or bey b doll my new Arabian mares.....

On the Overnights

Several years ago I decided that I wanted to work the overnight shifts, partly because the kids were grown and being a night-owl I found myself very lonely with no one home.  Then I added critters to my life and realized that I really enjoyed being around them and night time was no fun for grooming horses and playing with the ducks and chickens, by night fall the cats were out roaming and didn't want to cuddle and the dogs were sleeping and couldn't be bothered.  So my option was to switch shifts and since I did enjoy staying up until 2 in the morning I figured it would be no sweat....Well I was wrong, up until 2 AM I was going strong but that time from 3 to 4 found me sleep walking, reading care plans over and over and still not getting it and then of course my handwriting was worse than any physicians!  I started out writing nurses notes with clarity but by the time I signed my name and credentials  you couldn't tell who the heck wrote that mess....So I needed to adjust my time and stay up even on my days off the problem is I live with someone who gets up faithfully everyday at 5 AM and is out the door by 5:30 to boot we live in a one room cottage (this winter to expand to two rooms and a bath...yea!!!) so staying up all night long posed a problem, plus hearing him snore made me tired.  So after trial and error I found a little nap before work fixed the problem.  Having the day to spend with the animals and go on shopping sprees  has  been very nice, I spend more money but still nice.

A Typical overnight is helping an resident that is still up, cooking meals for the next day and cleaning.  Then there is laundry and lots and lots of paperwork...Paperwork for everything and anything.  Document, document, document....In the Residential Care Industry or the Group home where I work it is all about the Residents and I just love working in this field...It reminds me of going down to my Great Aunt and Uncle's house and puttering around helping with chores.  And to me like having numerous aunts and uncles and grandparents, very rewarding.  

When I first started working the overnights for this company I did not realize that I would be cooking as much as I do....and if they knew my cooking skills they might have thought twice, but I have a great cookbook with a Nutritionists Menu and I have done ok with it...hahaha  I work on both sides of the House during the week and each side has a resident cat, Side 1 has Oreo whom I call Oreo Cookie as he looks like an Oreo Cookie!  Side 2 has a younger female cat that each of the residents named so she ended up being called Daisy Mae Greta Garbo High Street  whom I call with the treat can shaking side to side....I also get to do the Medications Count for the day and as I am sure you know it is very regulated fortunately  for me I work with very professional people and all of them are by the book so it makes it easy and error free....I do have to mention that the house is a duplex but an old old house that was renovated, nice wood floors and all the creaks and cracks and noises that go with creepy old houses that have been renovated. So being quiet is very hard to do.  I try to get all the running around here and there cleaning done first, leave the cooking for mid shift and the laundry into the last part of the shift.  Being able to watch FOX News throughout the night is a plus too and HGTV a must see at some point...

So in the end I am very happy with the overnights and will stay with them.  This gives me time to Ride and do some sightseeing, I am hoping to get some pictures up very soon....

A Fat Girl & A Fat Horse: Guest Blog: "You're too fat to ride"

A Fat Girl & A Fat Horse: Guest Blog: "You're too fat to ride": Our guest blog today is written by Bernadette who writes Green Bean Express , go on over and have a read! ----- Five years ago, almost si...

The New Blogging Adventure....

It would be appropriate to post my first blog on trying to set up a blog...haha....Little did I know while I was out grooming my horses technology took a hugh leap forward and left me behind!  Luckily I have a handsome son with a Masters Degree in Mathematics to steer me in the right direction, and a Bachelors in Psychology to help me through all the mud slinging that happens in all families...And a daughter who is a Crisis Counselor for backup...I think I have it covered...

So today I found by accident the blogspot.com site and WOW I am excited, I have been contemplating taking off on horseback for awhile now since the kids flew the coop and thought if I do that it would be nice to take pictures and keep journals, maybe post to YouTube once or twice too.  So I have spent most of the afternoon trying to figure out how to change content, style and have changed the color at least fifteen times.  I think today is good and will leave it to another day.   The basic desire to have the blog was to show my many travels for this second half of my life, but I think I will add anything Equine to that and maybe even a couple rants on my favorite topics...And once the farm is up and running I will add that web site and address so I can have visitors.....very exciting about this new venture....Good Luck everyone, I hope to hear from you and that you enjoy my BLOG...Peace...