A dream come true

It may have taken four decades but today, finally, a dream came true: I got to ride my very own horse for the very first time!!

screeeeee!!

We took Jack out to the dog park and my friend, who is an experienced rider, took him around to test his skills and riding personality - we didn't know how he would react, what he knows or how well he would listen so this was the safest route.

OMG were we ever in for a most amazing surprise - Jack is, indeed, a cadillac!! Completely bomb-proof, smart, eager to please, full of happy energy and incredibly responsive to the slightest touch - we were both floored, what a dream!

Here he is with my friend, warming up:

He just wanted to go, go, go!

The trick was to pace him and get to know him first:

Once we knew he was super safe, 

I finally got to ride him for a bit...

Are we cute together or what? :-D

He was impatiently waiting for the OK to get moving,

this horse LOVES to ride!

At his size, Jack would be considered a "half horse"

but he's all that and double plus more, I tell you!

I have to get him a proper saddle blanket tomorrow (the one I bought him was way too big, need to go exchange it) and then we're all set for a few more gentle sessions... From saddle on to saddle off today was about 30 minutes, we don't know his stamina yet and don't want to tire him out too much.

Like with people, a healthy diet, fresh air and proper exercise keeps one young in spirit and body.

Jack is blessed with exceptional genes, he looks and acts like a horse half his age. I hope to share many years with this special boy - how I got so lucky I'll never know but there you have it.

Sometimes good things are worth the long, long wait :-)


/end of Day Of Good Stuff post/

Love me some sunshine :-)

It was so warm and lovely today!

A lot of the snow is gone now, by tomorrow there should be very few white patches left - welcome back muddy everything but at least the flocks were happy!

I had a minute to snap a few funny pics of the girls today, here's a preview - more to see in The Chicken Diaries, just click and enjoy.

Cold feetsies cold feetsies cold feetsies -

wait, can I eat that?

So this morning the vet came by to float Jack's teeth (grind them so they make a smooth chewing surface), she said he was at least 25 years old if not more(!), some of his back molars are worn down to the gumline... Poor old man, at least he can eat more comfortably now.

After Thursday night's episode he's only allowed grains soaked to a porridge consistency, I was pretty scared to give him his first meal tonight but thankfully it went well once he realized he didn't have to shove his whole face in the bowl and get it up his nose!

Who, me?

How I love this boy :-)

On a more serious note. I still don't know what I want to do with my life. On the one hand, I'm enjoying every minute of pretending to be some kind of farmer, having no set obligations and just soaking in life. On the other hand, shouldn't I "be" somebody? Having a job, making a difference somewhere? Being a productive member of society - you know?

I don't know if I'll ever live down the guilt, or get tired of being a hermit, or have a proper answer when people ask "so, what do you do?".

If only I could find a way to reconcile all those loose ends.

/end of Musings post/

fat of the land

More die in the United States of too much food than of too little.  

~John Kenneth Galbraith, The Affluent Society

Our house, in the middle of a storm...

We had our first taste of winter yesterday...

View from our front porch -

notice my footsteps to the chicken coop?

View from our back deck... 

you can't even see the huge horse shelter!

It's all going to melt tomorrow, 

so we get to experience this all over again soon.

Woo!

Never boring at the techno-farm

Well!

It's snowing fast n'furious this morning, a real blizzard! We're already ankle-deep, scary mary. The horses don't seem to mind too much, not one single chicken dared to venture outside yet ("what the hell is this white stuff? noooOOooOOOoo! i gonna die!) and the dogs are busy being lazy in the house so really, the only ones who care are us.

I care that it will all melt in a couple of days since we're getting nice warmish weather again.

Hurrah!

Mud notwithstanding.

Jack gave us a good scare Thursday evening, I tell you it wasn't a pleasant few hours for anybody. The shitty thing is that it was preventable, had I known about this condition in the first place:

Equine Choke, from Wikipedia:

Choke is a condition in horses in which the esophagus is blocked, usually by food material. Although the horse is still able to breathe, it is unable to swallow, and may become severely dehydrated. A secondary condition, aspiration pneumonia, may also develop if food material and saliva accumulate in the pharynx, spilling into the trachea and into the lungs. Choke is one of the "top 10" emergencies received by equine veterinarians.

So yeah, I had to call the vet for an after-hours  emergency call - at Jack's age you don't mess around with these things, he had suffered for 3 hours and it just wasn't passing, enough was enough. In a nutshell he had been out all day, was very hungry, came in his stall and inhaled his grain which I had not wetted enough, it got stuck in his throat and there you go.

Did you know that horses "vomit" through their nose?

Yeah, me neither.

*shudder*

The vet had to give him a muscle relaxant IV shot and then a sedative, 30 minutes later we intubated him (like a garden hose through the nostril down the esophagus) and flushed out the obstruction, pumped his tummy full of water as he was dehydrated. He was started on antibiotics to prevent pneumonia and given anti-inflammatory meds for his throat.

I am now a pro at intramuscular shots in Jack's butt, LOL!

14 days of meds... my poor baby.

The one good thing that came out of this mess is that my vet examined his teeth and guess what, they are in bad shape and need a good floating.

Gooaahhhh!

I'm pissed because Jack's teeth were supposedly examined by another vet last week (before we brought him home) and I was told they were fine, no need for any floating. That was a very irresponsible and dangerous assumption to go on since bad teeth, specially at Jack's age, are a prime cause for fatal colic, not to mention poorly-chewed food isn't digested very well and this old man needs all the nutrition he can get.

He's scheduled for Monday morning.

Lesson learned... Never rely on others and get your own vet in for a thorough examination when you bring a new pet home, for everyone's sake.

I'm just glad ol'Cadillac Jack is OK (knock on wood).

It's snowing and blowing so hard right now, it's as if the house was wrapped in a white cotton blanket. I'm glad we're not going anywhere today even if we have winter tires on the car - many people still don't and that's scary. Yeah.

I might have to bake some cookies this afternoon, get into the spirit of winter... It's too early to haul out the Christmas tree but we can still drink hot chocolate after a play in the snow, right?

Right :-)

/end of Merry Winter post/

2nd birthday suit

Unmentionables - those articles of ladies' apparel 

that are never discussed in public, 

except in full-page, illustrated ads.  

~Changing Times

Cadillac Jack

Ah, finally some sun today - perfect for snapping a few pics of the boys, even if the wind was naaaasty. Jack didn't seem fazed, I guess at his age he's seen pretty much everything!

He was just so happy to be free to nibble bits of grass, 

even if it was dry, and to not be bullied by other horses:

Nom nom nom

says the little camera ham!

He has such beautiful, kind eyes!

Old man Jack, lookin' good at 25!

With his buddy Black, who is 18 

but acts like 10!

Meeting Big Daddy, who is in a separate paddock -

we don't want any more biting by mister bully!

Checking out the goods...

awe sweet!

"Mom? He's huge!"

"Does my bum make me look fat?"

Jack has settled into his new home incredibly fast - we're all just amazed. He must be used to moving around, judging by the way he's just so zen about everything. Mind you, he's getting tons of cuddles, grooming and of course the much-coveted breakfasts and dinners of yummy specialty feed.

He'd been hungry for a while, judging by the lack of any fat on his ribs.

Cadillac Jack, mama's thrilled you are her very first horse!!

/end of Gooshy Love post/

Listen up, ladies

The thing women have yet to learn is nobody gives you power.  

You just take it.  

~Roseanne Barr

Jack is home!

I can finally blog about Jack, the wonderful new addition to our growing family!

He came home last night, travelled like the seasoned pro that he is, and settled right in his stall like he'd always been there. Awe! He set his nose in the hay basket and got to work, he was hungry as he was being bullied away from food by other horses in his former home - well he sure hit the jackpot here in terms of food, just ask Big Daddy ;-)

Jack is a 25 year old paint horse (yes, you read that right: 25!!), but he's a young senior at heart. He's 14.3hh so quite small, which is perfect for me - he is super calm and gentle but saddle him up and he's full of fire, he loves working!

Here he is a month ago with his former family,

he has a thick bear-like winter coat now:

Happy Jack enjoying a spa session... LOL

Oh, I just adore him already!!

He will mostly be retired here, spending his days grazing in the fields, enjoying fresh air and plenty of cuddles, grooming, treats and the best possible nutrition - of course he will need regular exercise to keep him in shape, which means I finally get to ride! Hurrah!

My friend, who owns the other horse here (Black, the 18 year old standardbred), says she will need to work him a bit first as he is quite frisky and isn't easy to "brake", he gets a rush of youthful energy when he gets to ride, so funny - some horses are like that though, they age very well and love to have a job. Some others are dead lazy or lame at a young age so it really depends on the horse.

Of course he will need special care for his aging digestive system and joints but we're well equipped to do that. His heart and lungs are fine, so are his sight and hearing, hooves and teeth, no visible signs of arthritis yet, he has strong bones - he is just a bit thin right now and will need a month or so on special food to put some weight back on him.

Big Daddy is still waiting for his new foster family (or permanent home...) but he should be leaving this week, if all goes well.

He is now sequestered outside as we only have two stalls in our barn and the "grandpas" are in there for now, but that's OK as he doesn't like being inside anyways... He has a huge shelter, his own food, water and salt block and tons of land to roam in so I hope he'll hold out for a few days. I feel so bad for that big boy... He is living with so many mental scars, it will take a very qualified person to rehabilitate him emotionally. At lease we helped him physically the past four months.

Well, that's all for now...

Been awake since 6:30am, couldn't sleep, it's been a week my stupid brain won't shut off which gives me stomachaches - grrr. Ah well, at least it got me up early enough this morning to see the sunrise.

Joke.

It's grey with freezing rain today :-D

Time to head to the barn and see my new baby... I don't care how old he is, he will always be my baby. I hope he lives a long, peaceful life out here with us on the technofarm.

Pics to come as soon as the weather cooperates!

/end of Happy New Rainy Week post/

Creatures that we are

To give vent now and then to his feelings,

whether of pleasure or discontent,

is a great ease to a man's heart. 

~Francesco Guicciardini

Web log number whatever

Wow. After almost four years of Bubblegum Diaries, I wonder if I have anything left to write about?

What a ride, though.

The disintegration of a relationship, the discovery of photography. Daily life in the city with dogs and a good job, living in a tiny apartment in a cool neighborhood, feeling like hot shit. Heartbreaks, travels, friends, meeting Vegas. Anniversaries and birthdays. A marriage, celebrations, tears of joy and tears of sadness, the loss of a job. The purchase of our first house, a move, a new city, new business, failed business, the discovery of chicken love and gardening not-love. Learned skills along the way, new friends, ties cut with not good friends. Family, deaths, births. Renovations, carpentry, baking, the joy of freedom in a beautiful life - fresh air, green green green (and now brown and soon white). Horses, mud, blizzards, all cocooned in Love.

Yeah, I guess I still have lots to write about :-)

Today's inspirational story

True story!

Do not try this at home

Seriously the funniest thing I've seen in a long time:

LOL LOL LOL!!

Tooseday

I. Love. This. Weather.

I would marry it if I weren't already married to Vegas :-)

Farm life has been, well, farm life. Still no home for Big Daddy but he will have to be gone by end of the month, he keeps biting his field mate on the back and that sucks. Still working on renovating the barn, it seems never-ending but really, the finish line is very close - woo!

Vegas and I had THE most satisfyingly sweet gooey dessert the other day at this new restaurant we found: it's basically a big disk-shaped chewy fluffy donut shaped like a catcher's mitt, covered in loads of caramel sauce and holding a ball of vanilla ice cream, everything drizzled with chocolate syrup. Served warm, of course...

Oh - Em - Gee :-D

I'd eat one every day if I didn't care about fitting into my current wardrobe.

Or dying of a heart attack.

Time to go throw a load of laundry in the wash, clean out the chicken coops and enjoy what could possibly be the last day of warm sunshine until next spring.

What's on your menu?

/end of Lovin' It post/

Night... falls

All the things one has forgotten scream for help in dreams.

~Elias Canetti

The nice side of autumn

Despite the weeks of rain and grey skies, we've been having some pretty sweet days thrown in here and there to lift us from the doldrums...

Last weekend was for this:

There are still tons of leaves to rake up around the house but it just doesn't seem to be getting done, so hopefully next spring we can afford a landscape company to come fix us the wreck we call a lawn.

The girls have started laying well again, despite a few still molting -

I've even started seeing turquoise eggs!

As you can see, everyone's enjoying the warm breezeless sunshine...

Twice a day they get hay brought to the field,

how spoiled are those boys?

View from the back deck, looking towards the front of the house -

how desolate with those naked trees!

Happy weekend peeps!

Hello? World?

I'm still here :-)

The warm sunshine has felt awfully good the past few days, everyone's basking in it: horses napping in the sunny field on their side, chickens sunbathing in the dug-up flower beds, doggies on the deck checking things out and me, well, I get a few rays between the barn and the house - it's all good!

Tomorrow we are burying my grandfather's ashes in the cemetery a few streets away, next to where my uncle lays and where my grandmother will go one day.

Just close family for a short farewell ceremony - thankfully it's supposed to be warm and sunny until Sunday so we should be good.

Would it be morbid to take photos?

*pauses to check on horses*

Speaking of equines, status quo for Big Daddy... I don't know how long it will take for the rescue org to find him a new home but I hope it's not too long, being stuck in suspense like this is killing me. I can't really look for another horse until he's gone, but we don't want a long gap between the two either or the other horse here will just go crazy - sigh.

More complicated than autistic kids on peyote.

On today's menu: drinking in as much sun as possible while fixing miles of electric horse fencing -damn wire got pulled loose off a few posts thanks to clumsy jumping deer, in other places the wire is bogged down by tall weeds so I  have to lift the pegs, in other places the wire is too high and a smaller horse can walk right under it so I need to fix that too.

Ha, I thought yesterday's three straight hours of painting stalls in the stables was painful! :-o

Yes, yes I'll have pics for you guys soon - in fact I'll take some today just because I'm so nice and accomodating.

I heard a good one the other day and have to share before haulin' my butt outside:

Working people frequently ask retired people what they do to make their days interesting. Well, for example, the other day my wife and I went into town and went into a shop. 

We were only in there for about 5 minutes. When we came out, there was a cop writing out a parking ticket. We went up to him and said, "Come on man, how about giving a senior citizen a break?"

He ignored us and continued writing the ticket. I called him a Nazi turd. He glared at me and started Writing another ticket for having worn tires. So my wife called him a ****-head. He finished the second ticket and put it on the windshield with the first. Then he started writing a third ticket. This went on for about 20 minutes. The more we abused him, the more tickets he wrote.

Personally, we didn't care. We came into town by bus.

/end of Don't Mess With Pros post/

Good ol' Mae

A man can be short and dumpy and getting bald

but if he has fire, women will like him.

~Mae West

Tuesday drivel

Well, the ads for Big Daddy have been posted and the rescue organization he belongs to is also looking for a new home for him... I have faith in fate and I know things will happen as they should, there is no point in worrying. We have been a good foster home for this sweet boy and can offer valuable insight on his temperament for his future family, we just reached a point where we can no longer give him the structure he needs to continue his rehabilitation.

All things for a reason, even if it saddens me.

We're neck deep in True Blood these days (no pun intended), going on Season 2 tonight. We dole out the episodes so we can enjoy a few weeks of awesome instead of just plowing through everything in one weekend, which would have been too easy to do... that show is the bomb!

Soon we can sink our teeth into the last seasons of House, Glee and Mad Men - you know, that terrible show you hate to love as it's so... um.. this?

Do any of you crave unholy foods this time of year? Mashed taters with gravy and roast, thick chowders with fresh bread, warm moist cakes and lots of hot chocolate? Or is it just me stuck between two seasons with not much to do except putter around in the kitchen (and in my head)? I don't want to get fat but man, I'm hungry. Merrr.

I need some dry weather so I can get busy outside and quit sabotaging our attempts to stay trim and fit.

Right, Vegas? ;-)

No poisoned coffee - I have the BEST husband in the world!

/end of Cravings post/

Sad news, but not really

This has not been an easy decision to take, so no judging please.

We've decided that the best thing for Big Daddy and for us would be to have him re-homed with a family that has more horses and training knowledge/facilities.

BD is turning into a bully with his stable mate, Black - biting him on the back for no reason, blocking his access to the shelter when it rains, blocking him from food. He took on the role of alpha in a pack of two when his natural state is to be a follower in a pack of many and it's causing everyone stress.

He's getting too big for his box in the stable and hates being stuck in there when the weather is bad - I cannot fanthom getting through the winter like this as we cannot keep rebuilding things he accidentally destroys with his giant size :-(

But mostly, he will need a lot of work with a professional trainer to break him of his fears - months of intensive work with someone who knows how to deal with these things. He's a gentle soul who is too scarred, too messed up for the likes of this novice horse owner... I wouldn't be able to ride him for another year, if ever. And I see broken bones (mine) in the process.

He's too much horse for me :-(

As he was my very first, I didn't know anything about this at the time - all I knew was that this sweetheart needed a home and fast. It all got done in a day, the immediate focus being on his health and well-being. And get well he did! He's gained a good 400 lbs since his arrival here almost four months ago and as you all know, his life has been nothing but sweet here.

I'll make sure he goes to a good home who will know how to work him and give him a proper, balanced life. In return we are looking to adopt another gelding, a smaller and older one who's been ridden before and will better fit into our life here.

Please wish us luck cuz this ain't easy :-/

ah-hoy

They are ill discoverers that think there is no land,

when they can see nothing but sea.

~Francis Bacon

Today's weather

It's grey, it's cold, it's endlessly wet and

it sucks!

Welcome to November...

I forgot a title but it doesn't matter

Glorious sun!

Somehow, farm work is so much more pleasant under a warm yellow canopy, ah. I hope today's rains don't come until laaaate... So tired of the rain. Walking on the lawn = squish squish squish, I mean is that really necessary?

Bah, it'll all be frozen soon enough.

If you haven't checked out the good news I posted in The Chicken Diaries, well, do have a look-see!

So! Encouraging!

Still plowing ahead on that project until it's all done, then when the snow comes and stays on the ground I can move everyone in and voilà, a sort of freedom for me (even if sad for the chooks to be emprisoned for 5 long months...).

Last night's home-made guacamole made my mouth taste like cat tootsie rolls this morning.

In other news, we have no cats so that's a relief.

Off to run errands now, the chooks need food and I need paint for the inside of the barn, Vegas is out of milk (mmmm strong bones for the growing boy! LOL) and me, well, I'll just steer clear of the discounted candy and all will be fine.

I promise.

PS: Better late than never, we just discovered True Blood and are making our way through Season 1 - what a crazy show! Love it!

/end of Quick Catch-Up post/

Fear not the feral

Fear makes the wolf bigger than he is.

~German Proverb

How do you guys do it?

As I sit here in front of a blank screen, head throbbing from aching knotted neck and shoulder muscles, half-asleep, trying to think of what to write - I wonder if I have anything left to say?

I mean, this blog is getting old.

I don't want it to peter out and fade away like some old has-been, I don't!

Yet I feel it hasn't gotten the attention it deserves lately. I also am lagging in reading your blogs (you know who you are) and just can't seem to find the time and energy to get excited about it.

So I think I'll just be posting a couple times a week from now on, unless I've got loads of stuff to blab about. That would take some pressure off, cuz a hobby shouldn't become a duty. I've enough duties as it is :-/

Mind you, I've moved the first flock into the stables today (hurrah!) so I can say that the end of the Big Renos are in sight, in a few weeks it's all done and the rest should just be maintenance, free and clear. Technically, being freed up from hours of renovation work and scattered chook duties should give me breathing room to concentrate on... other fun stuff...

Projects! I gots 'em!

I want to paint the ugly hallways of our house this winter. Huge project. I also want to paint and decorate our bedroom (giganto project) as well as finish this godforsaken living room.

I want to take out my canvases and let some art come to life, it's tickling me up inside.

I want to learn how to work Big Daddy, get him prepped for the saddle this spring.

I want to have more time to spoil my hubby and the doggies.

Books. I like them, I want to read more of them.

I want to take a few little trips here and there, see family and friends. Flock care will finally be easy enough that I can let someone else do it once in a while - hurrah!

Vacation with Vegas? Dreamy!

Notice that I haven't mentioned work once.

Anyhoo, this feels like the right thing to do - at least for now. Since I'm allowed to change my mind (and do I ever), do keep visiting because you never know what you're going to find.

I promise to never stay boring for too long ;-)

/end of Freedom post/