In and out

March came in like a lamb and went out like a lamb, as is usual here. What a beautiful sunny day today!

I managed to get a moon shot this morning as the waning gibbous moon lowered into the western sky.

I must say, I am happy with the moon setting on my camera!

Then I turned around and looked to the east and caught the lovely morning colours.

No editing needed there! It was breezy today but warm with it. 

Ted was busy today, he installed a pump in the well for our personal use, namely the horse water and any other water use we may need at the barn, like horse baths or washing vehicles. It is powered by a generator he bought with his tax return.

Ain't she a beauty?

Now we don't have to bother the neighbours with using stuff that goes on their power bill. It will get a fair bit of use this year as Ted is building me a "cabin" for my camping out adventures at foaling time.  More on that as it progresses; I will wait until it looks good and then do a full post on it.

Meanwhile, Beamer and Jayne are doing great; enjoying some time in the grazing  paddock every day and soaking up the sunshine. 

Sadly, our gestapo  government decided to shut everything down again, so no Mass in Church for Easter. I expected that. Everything- restaurants and bars, sports etc. I am so tired of all this. 

Palm Sunday

This is the Sunday that we first moved to the Creston Valley, 12 years ago. Actually Ted moved first for his job and I followed a bit later. 12 years! I have never lived in one place that long. We both love it here, especially the mild climate after all those Alberta winters- and winds.

Even a heart in the sky!

I caught something cute on video. Beamer is totally Jayne's slave. But then we all know redheads rule!

Today, for the first time in months, we are allowed to have Mass in the Church. 50 people allowed, so Fr. is holding 2 Masses to accommodate all those who wish to attend. Our Archdiocese filed a lawsuit against the government and I think that made them pay attention to their blatant discrimination. We shall see if they rescind their approval after Easter. 

Spring things

We are at that in between stage. Not quite full blown-everything-is-growing-and-blooming part of spring, but spring nonetheless. 

My first day this year I could hang the wash on the line- love my solar powered clothes dryer!

I have been pruning my roses and peeling back old dead growth on my flower beds. Most everything is growing and it's time to thin some stuff out and transplant others. 

Beamer is almost all shed out and Jayne is getting slicker every day. Her metallic shine is starting to come through.

Although I still have the insulated tank full, I added the open black tub too, and that is the preferred tank for them to drink from. I was hoping the camera would pick up the blues and greens in the water when it was refracting the light as it flowed, but alas, not happening.

I may not have flowers blooming yet, but I have lots of eye candy!

Check out that baby belly! Around 7 weeks to go!

Special moments

March is the month of ever changing skies. 

Storm clouds roll in, obscuring the mountain...

then the blue sky and Skimmerhorns reappear....

and the next thing you know, there is a rainbow! 

I caught this cute interplay:

I see you still has grain. I too like grain,

Mine! Back off!

Well....you are kinda cute and I do likes you....

So yes, I will share!

Ahem, Beamer.....

You are just an old softy. She called your bluff. You're toast.

*** I really enjoyed you sharing your memories on my last post! Thanks for your stories!

Memories

We took a little road trip today. Ted had to go to Nelson for a doctor appointment and I went along for the ride. 

It was a trip down memory lane, as the route home we took was through an area that I grew up in. I took the opportunity to check out a place we used to live. Originally it was an old log house, with no power although it did have running water. Gravity fed, I believe. 

This photo was taken 25 years ago....

That upstairs window was the girls bedroom, our parents and the boys had the bedroom on the other side of the upstairs.

Sadly, the old house has disappeared and now there are 3 or 4 modern homes in its place. 

Just up the hill a few feet from there, the old barn was still... just barely... standing.

So sad to see it surrounded by junk and slowly sinking into oblivion.

 So many memories of playing in the hayloft, of pretending the lower part was a tack room filled with fancy gear for the horse of my dreams, for dreams were all I had at the time.

We lived there when I was 10 to 13 yrs. old.  I remember braiding a halter out of baling twine and stealing a ride on the neighbours horse, and even though one time the mare dumped me and knocked me out it never stopped  me from wanting my own horse. It took me another 12 years to fulfill that dream.

I remember days filled with drawing horses, of reading all the horse books I could get my hands on, even trying to write a book about a girl and her horses. That love for horses never left me and it still is the main focus of my life. I still draw horses, I still make halters, and I still fall off horses and get back on again! 

If you have a young girl in your life who is horse crazy, encourage her dreams, for good things will come of it. 

Sunshine and spring weather

All is quiet here, we have been having sunny days and the horses are taking naps in the sun, even in the morning at sunrise they are not too concerned about hurrying to get their morning feed. 

Looks like he's falling asleep in mid bite!

Jayne's baby belly is getting more pendulous but she isn't super wide, depending at what angle you look at her.  I haven't seen baby bumping yet, this one seems to be pretty quiet in the womb. Must be a filly huh? 😄

I tried out the pet portrait setting on the cats. 

It's hard to get Foose to sit for a photo, he usually wants to come right to me or walk away and totally ignore me, but those eyes are worth the effort!

Thumper, on the other hand, likes to pose.

He still spends a lot of time in the house though. Ted sure still misses Merle, so Thumper is getting a lot of cuddle time with him.

Friday is the last day of winter. Spring has sprung here, we have trees budding, flowers pushing their way up to the sunlight, and the songbirds are in full voice in the mornings. It is such a time of renewal and hope, but I am not forgetting what happened last March. We still have our Churches shut down, which is totally unfair considering the other Provinces are allowed to have people inside for services. They took away Easter last year and looks like they are doing it again this year. Must be atheists making the decisions. 

Just playing

I had a little fun yesterday playing with the camera. This time I played more with the settings and also with the post processing to make photos more interesting. I won't bore you with the details. 

Beamer and his willow stick. This is the yawningest horse I have ever known! I like him to have willow branches to chew on as it contains a natural pain killer and anti-inflammatory.

The lovely Jayne. In the background is a large pile of composted horse pooh that is destined for gardens this year. Our neighbour is a landscaper and he takes all our pooh piles and composts them. Of course, I get to have some of the pooh-turned-dirt for my gardens too. This year I am doing all container gardens up by the house and have 2 new ones to fill with that lovely dirt.

The next two are straight out of the camera, one is landscape setting:

I had just scraped the pen and made another pile ready to be hauled out for composting. I could have played with the photo so you can see that Beamer and Jayne are in the shelter eating (on their chosen sides!). I love that neither of them poohs in the shelter. Now that I am down to 2 horses I can pick the pen every day and not have to push  it up with a tractor. I will have such a nice clean pen!

 The trees on the sides of the photo are Elderberries . The chickadees eat the berries during the winter. 

Next was a macro setting of the same tulips, taken when the afternoon sun is low enough to come through the west window. Again, straight out of the camera.

I am hoping that the next full moon will have clear skies because I really want to try the moon setting!

The new camera

It finally arrived.... and it's going to be a bit of a learning curve for me so bear with me. 

The first couple of photos I took were of Tess.

I used the automatic settings for this. It didn't require much for post processing, just upped the clarity a little.

Outside, I used the same setting and found I had to do a lot of post processing to get rid of the glare, with only moderate success.

Tess is doing quite well, she can still jump in the truck, and is mostly steady on her feet. She has recovered from an abscess on her elbow but still limps on the left front. I started her on Protandim today. 

Today is the fourth anniversary of  her mama's death. Reba was 15 and a half, Tess is about 14 and a half. She is much more mobile than Reba was at that age.

Next- on to the barnyard. These 2 photos were taken using the setting that allows the camera to choose the scene. The light was really strong and the horses looked washed out in the photos so I had to do a lot of post processing. 

That's her "Quit playing with the camera and bring me my grain! " look.

This one was really washed out. To be fair, the sun was really strong on the background and he is so dark and most of him in the shade, as you can see by the over exposed background the camera was probably confused!

It will take me a while to figure out the metering and the settings. 

Next photo was taken in the house, with a bit more success but I wasn't really happy with the focus. I was expecting it to be sharper.

So today I will have some fun playing with the settings and see what happens.

Rio update and The American

For all you Rio fans out there!  Rio is turning into a pretty good barrel horse, looks like he has figured out how to turn and burn at speed! He is entered in a jackpot this week, and if I get videos I will be sure to share them with you. 

Pretty nice to see him run! And nice tight turns on those barrels- good job Rorie! 

Did any of you watch the American rodeo last weekend? I watched it on The Cowboy Channel (RFD TV) . The story of the rodeo was little Charlie Sohrt; at 7 years old she came up through the ranks to qualify for the semi finals, against a thousand other competitors. Wow!  In the semis, she knocked over a barrel, so she didn't make the finals- BUT! the rodeo administration used their "Golden Ticket" to advance her straight to the finals. She went off pattern for a no time  there, but what an incredible little cowgirl! Here is her run in the finals:

 

I think she just inspired thousands of little girls. 

And then there was Hailey Kinsel….  I absolutely love her horse, Sister, who is sired by the great Dinero, Shery Cervi's stallion (he passed away last year). Dinero was the sire of Shayla's cremello mare, Ice, who lived here for a while and has been sold to a barrel racer in B.C. 

This duo was flawless in this run- this is what it looks like to win $100,000:

 

That mare gives 100% every single time. What a bond she and Hailey have! 

As I watched all the events in the rodeo, I was struck by the caliber of horses those cowgirls and cowboys were riding. Some were younger horses but some were old campaigners even into their 20's. This is what every horse breeder dreams of- a horse that can compete at the highest level in whatever event they are bred for. Even the bucking horses are bred for their event. 

I was pleased to see that the AQHA Steer Wrestling horse of the year is a Canadian owned horse  again, Dashin Haze aka Tyson; another great one of Curtis Cassidy's horses. Anyone who knows barrel horse bloodlines will recognize that pedigree, which goes to show the versatility of horses bred for speed. 

Another thing I enjoyed was the Breakaway Roping. It's great to see another event for the ladies to compete in for big money! It gives the ladies something to compete in that pays as good as barrel racing and is perfect for those who would rather rope than race. (Because lets face it, barrel racing is not for the faint of heart!) I hope that they bring that event to the Calgary Stampede- if we ever get to have another Stampede, as it is shut down yet again this year due to the government travel restrictions.

Bellies!

As usual mama Belle is sporting a huge belly- she has around 2 months to go.

She has adjusted well to her new home, and doesn't mind that Gussie is not in the same field as her. 

Gussie finally got over it, apparently! She is looking good too.

This group of mares is living in a large field where they have to paw for their food, and they are all thriving. It gives them exercise too as well as keeping their feet in trim. 

Getting back to the bellies- Jayne has a much tighter belly.

She is doing really well too- Beamer does boss her a bit at feeding time but this wise old mare just quietly moves away . I just love her!

Shayla has a Driftwood bred mare that has joined the DLH herd- she is in foal to the sire of Drifter, so we are pretty excited to see what she throws from him. Her name is My Buckskin Concho, aka Concho. 

She is a young mare and this will be her second foal.

So we have 3 foals to look forward to this year!

Got an email that my new camera has been shipped- yay! 

Owls

Some of you may remember the barn owls I posted about a few years ago when we lived at our previous farm. There was a nesting pair and we were so delighted to have the experience of observing them and photographing them. 

We have a local lady who is an ornithologist, I met her on her birding forays down our road. She recently published an amazing book on the birds of our area. A big, hard bound book. She asked if she could use one of my barn owl photos so of course, I said yes! 

Pretty cool to see one of my photos in such a lovely book. 

Now, to get a new camera... I did order that Nikon B500, but of course it is on back order so who knows when  I will get it.....

In like a lamb

Yes, March came rolling softly in on grey clouds and mild temperatures; the day got brighter and warmer and it was lovely to see the sun.

I am calling this the Winter That Wasn't as we really didn't get much snow or prolonged cold. 

Straight out of my cell phone camera, no editing. Natural black and white with the silhouetted poplar trees against the sun and clouds. It does look stormy but that's an illusion.

Beamer and Jayne have their coexistence routine down now, much less drama than when I first introduced them  (*ahem* Beamer!) 

Just like  an old married couple, they have even chosen sides of their bed shelter- Beamer always gets the right side and Jayne is always on the left. Or from their point of view, Beamer on the left and Jayne on the right!

 I am so used to seeing Mama Belle with her huge belly (and consequentially big foals) that I am always mildly surprised that Jayne doesn't also have a huge belly. Dare I hope that this means a filly? 

We are approximately 2 and a half months from her due date.