Too close to home

Now that it's on the radio, I can tell you about the interesting day I had yesterday. In the photo above, our home is behind the maple trees on the right; the landlord has the big shop rented out, and the overhang on the right side of the shop is where my mare pen is, and where Kai was born.

I had the farrier come to trim Beamer and Kai yesterday, and just as he pulled in the driveway, along came the drug squad with a search warrant. Farrier was a little shaken to have the police descend upon him and take his info! So as we are getting Beamer done, the police were searching the shop, and found around 300 marijuana plants and all the assorted paraphernalia that it takes to grow them in the two rooms that were sealed off for that purpose. When they opened it up the smell was overwhelming! They were wearing gas masks. The renters weren't there while this was going down.

I'm not surprised about this as we had our suspicions from the first that these people were up to no good, but we had no proof. It turns out that they were under surveillance for months, which we also figured. If you are wondering why we didn't go to the police anyway it is because all we had was speculation and suspicion. In a small town, you'd better have more than that as the threat of retaliation is very real where everybody knows everybody's business.

I'm happy that we don't have this grow-op literally in our back yard any more. Now I hope that they make an arrest soon so that I can sleep easy at night.

But some good news today too! Kai did fairly well with his first trim, and today was my first day volunteering at the Therapeutic Riding center. It's really interesting, and so wonderful to see the happiness that horses bring to the children. Also, it will keep me in shape, it's a lot of walking!

A dog day afternoon

Sunday was a wonderful day for me, mostly because my husband was home for a day in between jobs- he is travelling to Port Coquitlam today and will be there for a week or so. After church we spent the hottest part of the day on the deck with all 5 dogs.

Sammi and the two pups, Ace and Henry were romping and having fun, and Sammi got in a tug o' war with Tess.

Ted was playing his harmonicas and the two little boys were all over him; they love him, and Ted is quite taken with Ace. In this photo you can really see why I called him Ace- the spot on his collar looks like a big ace of hearts or ace of spades.

This pup, originally called Chad, will be named Henry by his new owner, who is supposed to pick him up on Saturday. He is the sweetest pup, not as aggressive as Ace. When Sammi gets too rough, Ace gives her back just what she dishes out, but this little guy would rather snuggle.

When it cooled off a little, Ted mowed the weeds in Beamers pasture with the rough cut mower, while I went for a ride. The hayfield I ride on had been swathed, and it was the perfect place to go for a gallop- come ride along!

Beamer really wanted to get out and run, and it was a lot of fun just letting him stretch out- after I put the camera away! Coming back past the cow pasture, one odd looking cow had to check us out.

They are pastured right next to Beamer and he hangs out with them when they come up for water. They were quite intrigued to see me on his back.

I have to keep Beamer off the mowed pasture until the cuttings dry out, so he has to stay in his pen today. Fortunately the lake in it has dried out, and I'll leave the mares in today too so he'll have company across the fences. It's all about the B boy!

Time to go let the pups out to play, and water my garden- catch ya later!

Sunday Stills

Back in the day.......

This is what you used to play your music on. An Ipod it is not!

Back in the day......

This horse drawn cultivator was used in gardens; now we use gas powered rototillers.

And here is a tidbit of info for you; before it was Jeep it was Willy's Jeep, and before that the company was called Overland; this one is in Ted's collection of old wheels, with a removable locking hub to hold it in place- no wheel nuts needed.

My husband was a member of two Commemorative Associations; the 9th Battalion Voltigeurs, and the Northwest Mounted Police. He has the uniforms, replicated in authentic detail, circa 1865, and modeled here by two young fellows who were quite delighted to pose in them:

A handsome pair; men always look great in uniform!

Also in our collection of antiques is this icebox, the precursor to refrigerators.

Summer mornings are the best!

Sammy greets the day

I love my early mornings, this morning I was having coffee on the deck at 6 AM, listening to the birds, enjoying the first rays of sunshine on what is turning out to be a hot day. The farmers are swathing like mad; hay crops are abundant and I should have fresh hay for my equines soon.

I took Beamer to the arena today in the early hours to try to beat the heat. There is a little horse show at the arena on the 10th, and I want to enter a few events. So; since the barrels were set up I thought, why not, and patterned him on them at a walk. Well, he was hunting the barrels on the third try, so I upped it to a trot, then a lope. He's better on his right lead, so we do the left barrel first. Dang horse was enjoying it! I might have to enter the barrel race with him. Just for fun, not to go push him real hard and make an idiot of myself.

There is a water main break in the local water system today so it's a good thing I didn't have to fill the horse tubs today. Or Shower. Or do laundry, wash dishes, etc.! It can all wait until tomorrow.

My Morden Sunrise roses are in full bloom now, I love the delicate coloring.. Well, I'm off to play with the little boy pups, Ace and Chad, soon to be known as Henry.Then it's off to work. Bah.

Kai photos

Kai is now registered, I got his papers in the mail a couple of days ago. I'm sending away to the U of C Davis vet genetics lab for a DNA kit to get a genetic map of his color. AQHA registered him as black, and when he sheds out he will be basically black, but dilute.

He has black poking through all over; in a couple of months he will look completely different.

Thought I'd show you a couple of photos of his mama, Coyote Belle. She has some rather unusual markings.

First, on her forehead, she has the Star of David. And on her haunches.....

more stars! She has a whole bunch of these buckskin colored stars. I might have to name her next filly Belle Star.

While we're on the subject of hind ends, how do you like this line-up?

I had to add onemore photo......

since we're talking about pretty hineys....

Wordless Wednesday

Who turned on the light?

Lots of little things happening here; I spent some quality time with the pups this morning and gave each of them a leash lesson (they pouted) . But we had fun playing; I kept Sammi on the leash while I had them on the deck so she didn't pester them. Ace was having fun growling and playing with an old bone.

He is such a handsome pup!

I had to get some mosquito spray for the horses, they have welts all over. Then I hauled Chickory to the round pen down the road; she saddled and loaded into the trailer like an old broke horse. I longed her for a few minutes; she shook her neck once when I asked her to step up into a lope, but was otherwise really good. So today I gave her the first ground driving lesson; I used my biothane driving lines attached to her rope halter, hobbled the stirrups together, ran the off side line through the stirrup and over the seat of the saddle, left the near side line out, and longed for only about a minute; then since there were no problems I ran it through the stirrup, let the off side line down, and stepped behind her. She did a tiny jump the first time the lines tickled her hocks, then stepped out and off we went!

I hooked the lines up so that they wouldn't slide up and down the halter, and steering was no problem. The first two times I asked her to stop, I had to fence her as she isn't used to pressure on the noseband that way, but she learns quick and our next stop was in the middle, and looked like this:

How relaxed is that? She also backed every time I asked her. I did take a little video, but my battery quit about that time. I can't believe the difference in this mare in the last two months; she is like a different horse- hence the title of this post. After driving her, I tightened the cinch, and stepped in the stirrups on both sides. Since she was still relaxed, I stepped up and draped over the saddle and rubbed and patted her on the off side. Now, those of you who have never started a colt may not understand, but the feeling I got when I was doing this and could see the soft look in her eye still has me grinning; I couldn't wipe that grin off my face! I am so pleased with this filly! I should be riding her soon! I just need someone to work with me in the round pen as I never get on for the first time without someone else there.

Bye Bye Billie

Billie went to a new home today, and just like the last pups she loved up on the lady who came to look at pups today. This pup is normally quite shy and reserved, but she snuggled right up and gave her puppy hugs! Billie is going to an acreage home locally, so she is another one that I will get to see from time to time. I think that the agility club in this area is going to be seeing quite a few Tess pups, including this one.

So that leaves Ace.

My little freckle faced, possibly blue eyed boy is the last one left for sale; fitting because he was the last one born. So with only two pups now, I have started leash training them, and I can spend more time with them. They aren't quite big enough yet to be left alone with Sammi, who plays quite rough. And it really won't break my heart if Ace doesn't sell for a while.

There has been severe flooding in Alberta and Saskatchewan, and it looks like my husband is heading out that way to help with rebuilding the rail lines and bridges; he could be gone for a while!

Down to 2

Emma picked her new owner today; it's funny how these pups seem to gravitate to their people. Emma was all over the nice lady who came to look at pups today; whereas Ace and Billie could have cared less. And once again, I think it's a perfect home for this busy pup.

But she isn't going too far, so I hope to get to see her again. She will get to be a working dog.

So now there are only 2 to keep Chad company as he awaits his owner's arrival on July 3. I'm growing quite fond of Ace, so I'm happy to have him around a while longer. And Billie is a sweet little dog too, she is my cuddly one.

Sunday Stills

Today's challenge was "go low-shoot high. "

It was a bit of a challenge for me because of the rain but I did manage a couple.

I was sitting down to get a ground level view of the corral post and waaaay up there the moon.

One of the best ways to get a horse photo is from ground level; this was also a sunset on the Skimmerhorns, and almost a silhouette.

And just for fun....

The Mugwump!

Clean up

We had a lovely day today and took advantage of the sunshine by trying to get rid of Lake Beamer.We took the panels down and built a drainage swale between the mare's pen and Beamer's pen. Since we are right into the clay it was a hard go, but Ted managed to get most of the water out.

What a soupy mess, but if the sun sticks around for a couple of days that will all dry up.

It sure was nice to get the corrals cleaned again though. Whoever built this corral system sure wasn't thinking about drainage; it's all backwards. Beamer's pen is the closest to the house, and it is the lowest, we had to work at it to get it to flow in the other direction.

We had some spectacular towering clouds last night, but a clear sky tonight; bring on the sunshine!

Just a parting shot of Velvet, who grows more gorgeous by the day.

Corb picks a family

Today a family came out to look at the pups; originally they said they were looking for a female, but as soon as they went in with the pups, Corb picked them. And how could you not fall in love with that sweet face? They are going to consider doing agility with him, which is a good family sport, and they may even meet up with Janice and Kali, and Jenn and Abby, if they do that- it'll be litter mates competing!

I have their permission to post their photo here:

Corb and his new family!

I promised to put up a photo of Moss, the sire of these pups, so here it is:

He is a handsome fellow! Love those ears! I got another call today from a lady coming out tomorrow, they may take two. I only have three left for sale, so they are going fast!

True colors

Kai is starting to show his true color- losing that dun colored baby hair that Beamers babies are born with, and coming out black where he's rubbed out. The pale color on his face tells the story though, he will be a dilute.

I think he is going to be a sharp looking boy next year! I'm glad he will be living locally so that I can visit with him as he grows up. I got an email a while ago from Peppy's owner who said she would try to get some photos for me; as soon as I get them I'll put them up here.

Rode Beamer at the local arena today, but first we had a discussion about loading. It went something like this:

Beamer: I don' wanna leave my girls.

Shirley: You have to.

Beamer: What if I just refuse?

Shirley: You will have to work.

Beamer: Nanananana I can work all day as long as my girls are close by!

Shirley: I'll get my Big Stick.

Beamer: Don't care!

Shirley: And I'll tan your hide too!

Beamer: Ok Ok! Just keep that stick down please!

I didn't have to use the Big Stick -much- (it's a fiberglass stock stick that I use during breeding season when his attention is on his hormones). One thing about stallions, you can't let them start getting pushy or pretty soon they lose all respect for you and do what they want- and they are much too powerful to argue with.

At the arena Beamer got a little excited as it was his first time out since breeding season, but I took him down to the end away from the other horses and put him to work; then we hung out by the cows and watched some young girls getting a lesson on shoulder control for barrel racing. It was good for Beamer to have to stand quietly and be well behaved; he "talked" a couple of times but it earned him work, so he decided it was easier to stand around and do nothing. I was hoping to get to work the cows today, but I guess I'll have to wait until next week.

Raindrops keep falling.....

If you want a chuckle this morning, you need to check out this video of Sammi playing.

She is a real little bundle of energy right now. She has really strong herding instincts, and I plan on taking her to visit a sheep dog trainer in September to check out her aptitude. Right now she "works" Reba and Tess, stalking them in that low-in-the-front Border Collie posture.

I've been trying to get some photos for the Sunday Stills Challenge, which is "Go low, shoot high" but every time I look up all I get is raindrops in my face! I think I missed the opportunity earlier this week.

Lake Beamer is back,

and it's raining so hard I don't want to put the horses out; they have no shelter out there and Kai spends a lot of time lying down; I don't need him getting sick. That's his owner in the Wordless Wednesday photo below, she's pretty happy with him.

I hope someone somewhere is dry and warm, a lot of blogs I read are talking about heavy rain and flooding. I think the look on Beamer's face says it all:

Wordless Wednesday

And then there were 5....

I sold Ruby tonight; the cool thing is that it put me in touch with an old friend. Ruby is going to live with my ex brother in law. This will be a good home; he is looking for a dog with loyalty that will be able to go with him when he rides. I think he picked the right pup.

Interestingly enough, Reba and Tess always bark when someone drives in the yard, and especially when they come up the steps onto the porch. This man didn't get a peep out of them til he knocked on the door; he just has that quiet way about him. Ruby is a quiet pup too, so I think they are well matched.

And then there were 5, but only 4 left for sale as one is spoken for.

Roses

Morden Sunrise

The roses Janice gave us are blooming now, apparently being pruned by deer didn't hurt them too much.

Speaking of roses, there are some wild roses in this area that are spectacular;

huge bushes loaded with blooms. I have permission from the landlord to take a few shoots. They are thorny though!

So I'll have to be careful handling them. This bush is around 10 feet high and free standing.

I did manage to get my garden weeded, and it's coming along nicely.

I've had strawberries and green onions from it so far, and it won't be long before I can have some Romaine lettuce.

Sammi is learning to play with both other dogs, but she doesn't chase the ball; she thinks it's her job to protect it! I think she'll make a darn good working dog. Speaking of which, it's pretty certain that my landlord won't allow me to have sheep here; he was a little torked that I was using the pasture at all; we need to come to a new agreement with him. So I will have to see if I can make other arrangements for getting to work Tess on sheep this year. Bah!

Happy Anniversary to my husband

Today is our 14th anniversary, and it was a wonderful wedding- all horseback including the preacher- out at Anchor D Ranch.

Who says you can't ride in a dress? This photo is for Mercy!

Thanks Ted, for being the biggest part of my dreams come true!