Morning with Bubby

A post by guest blogger, Bubby

Good morning! My name is Bubby, and I rule around here. Since the Foose cat had his own post it's only fair that I get to share in the limelight. After all, I am the senior cat around these here parts! The Foose is the bane of my existence; I can't go anywhere without him finding me!

Just when I think I have eluded him,

he finds me. He thinks I'm his sparring partner, so I usually have to take a round out of him. Sometimes I let him win.

After that, I continue on my rounds. Checking the fence line is one of my jobs.

Someone pass me the hammer; looks like I gotta do everything around here!

I really enjoy dirt baths, and warming my belly in the sunshine.

As usual, can't do anything around here without Foose pestering me!

Well, folks, I'm getting tired, time for a cat nap!

See y'all next time!

Sunday Stills-Sounds

Ted making firewood out of the tree that fell down.

Tough challenge for me, as I was way too busy to go out looking for cool things like ambulances, trains, or jackhammers. I wanted to get the noisy cowbirds that flock here in great numbers, but they weren't cooperating. Tonight the neighbours cows were very noisy; their pasture is getting a little short for their liking and they can smell the hay I'm feeding the mares, so they came a-stormin' up to the fence in the dark, mooing their faces off when I went out to feed. So I snapped some funny photos of them;

The mares were crabbing at them over the fence; and I decided to move the feed area as far away from the cows as I could; I didn't want them ole fence crawlers getting in with the horses.

And my final offering for the sounds challenge is for you to imagine the sound I made when I saw this:

Yup; cow poop on her neck!

Wordless Wednesday

Lotsa stuff happening!

First of all, go visit Mikey she got hurt coming off her horse and is in rough shape. Maybe she'll take this chance to slow down a little..........but then again, maybe not!

Secondly, I received news last night that one of my heroes and mentor, Al Grandchamp, of Radersburg, Montana, passed away a few days ago, just 2 months short of his 103rd birthday. He is the one who made the hackamore I used on Sassy, and numerous other horses. He made it when he was 93. Here is a little bit about his rawhide braiding, and here is a letter he wrote about Ed Connell, author of Hackamore Reinsman. I was privileged to have known Al, a kind and thoughtful man, who was an astute horseman.

The fillies are getting along now, and Sparkle is definitely the boss.

There was a little of this chasing going on, but soon they were buddied up.

After a while, Sparkle lay down and Velvet approached cautiously;

Hmmm, maybe a little closer???

Yup, it's okay....

So relaxed and peaceful!

So I went to Cranbrook to buy material for making curtains, and this is what I see when I get home:

Any guesses as to what my post will be for Sunday Stills, sounds?

Sunday Stills -The Road

Roads all lead somewhere, whether you're going...

or just passing by........

going through...

or finally getting home.

Some of us live at the end of the road.......

and for some, the road is the end.

She's home!

The Sunday Stills challenge tomorrow is the road, and fittingly enough, I just got back from my road trip to pick up Velvet. I was up before the sun and on the road this morning, and had the filly loaded and headed down the road at 8 A.M. I have to compliment the folks who raised her for me, they did a great job, as she is really nice to handle, and she looks great. It was a long drive home, and I stopped plenty of times to give her a break; I pulled into our yard at 5:20 P.M. I moved Belle and Chickory over to the next paddock before I unloaded Velvet, and she was only too happy to get out of that trailer!

Sparkle pretty much ignored her- she was too busy pacing the fence, calling to her mama. Bet she has no voice left by morning! Velvet figured she should hang out at the other end of the pen, by her daddy.

She settled in well, but it's time for me to go out and check on them.

See y'all tomorrow on Sunday Stills!

Working Cowhorse Clinic on Computer!

AQHA , on their website America's Horse TV, is putting a Bob Avila Working Cowhorse clinic on, starting August 23. It is going to be a 5 part series, filmed at Quarterfest. This should be well worth watching!

Coyote Belle, Sparkle,and Velvet

Sparkle is getting so big now; she just turned 4 months old. It's time to wean her- as you can see, her mama isn't too impressed with the nursing. I got Belle's registration papers back with the notation that she carries the cream dilution gene. Check out the colour she is now; I can honestly say I've never seen a horse this shade before. I'm calling her a sooty buckskin- she is too yellow to be a smoky brown. I'll try to get a better shot in full sunlight- this was taken at 6 A.M.

I leave Friday - with a trailer full of hay- for Alberta, and I'm coming home Saturday with that lovely blue roan filly. Ted is overhauling the brakes on our horse trailer, and I need to replace one tire, then I'll be all set to go. As soon as I get back, I'll put the two fillies together and Belle and Chickory will go in an adjacent pasture, and weaning will begin! The blue filly I am taking right off her mother Saturday morning. I have decided to call her Velvet- maybe Choctaw Velvet, combining the two names.

She still has some shedding out to do; all the brown on her sides will disappear, and her legs will be black from about the knees down.

Morning with the Foose Cat

We originally named our kitten Chip, after car designer extraordinaire, Chip Foose, but Foose suits him better, and he answers to it, in fact he ignores him if you call him Chip.We had a lovely misty morning again today, so I went out with camera in hand for the sunrise:

Foose decided that I needed feline companionship,

He soon decided that I was no fun, and off he scampered.

Onto the porch he went, to lurk among the decor,

Still no action, so out into the yard he ventured, stopping to quench his thirst in a puddle. (Hard work, you know, seeking adventure!)

Refreshed, he finally found some action! Aha! Bubby strolled into the hunting zone, unaware of the fierce Foose all set to bring him down!

The battle was on! Little did Bubby know that Foose has backup- Tess protects him-and so the enemy is vanquished!

The victor rests after his hard mornings hunt, basking in the sun, which burned away the mist.

Sunday Stills- Clouds

This was a really enjoyable challenge. After a spell of hot dry weather we were blessed with a few days of cloudy coolness and rain, all of which worked out great for the challenge. In this shot, you can see the clouds spilling down the valley, laying low along the hills.

Sunset and clouds go hand in hand, although I know there will be some spectacular ones posted by some of you. But the most fun I had with this challenge was when I went over the mountain pass called the Skyway to go to my neice's 5th birthday party. I was literally driving in the clouds as I approached the summit.

<When I got to the summit, I just had to take this next one for you, Ed!

Morning Mooosic

Nice and early this morning I woke up to what I thought in my foggy morning brain was someone playing loud music; but a few moments later I heard them. The cows. They had broken through the gate pushing on it to get to that grass that is always better on the other side. Ted and I hustled out of bed, quickly called the owners, and ran out to keep them away from the road- and the other neighbour's barley crop. Picture me in my flannel nightie and gumboots, and Ted in his bathrobe and gumboots, pushing the cattle back through the gate! And no, I didn't take photos..... The cows were out of grass in their field and ready to move to the next one. They sure let you know when they are hungry!

I finally got the living room finished, now I can get the rest of the boxes unpacked. Once I get this place sorted out I can get on with the things that are more important to me- schooling Chickory and Sparkle, and winterizing the horse pens- yep, it's not too early to start thinking about winter!

Today's project is to work on that horse shelter in the mare pen, it needs to go from shabby to chic- because Chickory is using the hole in it to rub her neck, and her mane is rapidly disappearing.

Time for one more cup of coffee though.......

Guess who?

Twelve more days and I'll be bringing her home! Yippee! Yes folks, this beauty is Peppy's full sister. Let's get a poll going; I want to name her Peppy's Blue Velvet, and the other choice is Choctaw Magic. What do you think?

Meet n Greet

We are making progress on the business of moving in; the weekend was spent doing the living room floor. Ted tore out the gross carpet, I painted the floor with Bin, and Ted laid the laminate on Saturday. All day. He did a great job! He made the baseboards out of 1X4s routered the edges and all!

It's wonderful having such a talented husband; there literally isn't much he can't do. And no, you can't have him.

By the end of the day it was time for a little RnR, so I saddled up and introduced Beamer to the cattle in the next field. I worked him back and forth along the fence line, getting that nice cow-side curve. He seemed to be interested, especially when this little one wanted to investigate a little closer:

I wish I could ride among the herd, but the owner- and also this guy-

might have something to say about that! There are two bulls in the herd and this is the boss bull.

Chickory's swellings are almost gone, still a little tender on the top of her forehead, so I plan to give her another week before I start her groundwork schooling. Meanwhile, I have lots of work to do getting the hay storage area cleaned up, moving hay in, and the ongoing unpacking and organizing. No rest for the willing!

Sunday Stills- the four elements

I racked my poor little brain all week on this one, because I wanted to combine all the elements in one picture, and Saturday night, the weather cooperated! So here we are; BBQing(fire) in the rain(water)-you can just see the water drops at the bottom of the flag- in the dark(air) in my backyard(earth)! The fifth element- good food and a beverage to top off a hard day's work!

Music to my ears

I woke up this morning to a familiar sound- the bawling of calves. Hmmmm, thinks I; they sound pretty close..... so off I went to investigate. Sure enough some calves and their mommas had found a weak spot in the fence and were now across from the girls, who were quite interested. The landlord here has leased the balance of the 80 acres to a local cattleman, and they work on a rotational system, dividing the pasture into about 4 lots. The first lot is ready for the cows again, and they seem to know it.

The calves were cute, all lined up with their noses pressed up to the panels, investigating the horses.

Chickory was right in there like the good cow-horse-in-the-making that she is destined to be. Little Sparkle was not to be outdone; she was busy investigating too!

I've been taking pictures of her for her registration papers, now that she is mostly shed out. Here is one that I will be including:

My next project is to fix that wreck of a building that you can see behind her. So many things to do so little time- OK, back to work now!