Ready for winter.

 Every season has its own smells, spring is fresh turned earth and green growing things; summer is flowers and spruce tree sap and the rolling dust from the gravel roads;  winter is the smell of the hay as I toss it out for the horses and the crispness of the air but fall has its own unique scent- the dampness of the leaves on the ground as the frost on them melts, the harvested fields with their freshly rolled bales. 

We finally have colorful sunsets again too.

 A quick shower last night graced us momentarily with a rainbow.

We are pretty much prepared for winter. The hay is in, the gardens are harvested and put to bed, the water hoses are rolled up and stored away, the vehicles are winterized and the lawn mower is tucked away in the Quonset. 

I had one last barnyard chore to do, mucking out the mare shelter.

I had the quality control inspector supervising....

 "Why are you sitting down on the job? "

"You aren't finished, get back to work!"

I think you can call that a close inspection! Oh Velvet! Such a funny horse, she needs to be right in the thick of things. 

The new windows are in too, and the timing was perfect- there were very few flies hanging around thanks to the snow (yes we had snow that lasted only a couple days) and frost of the last 2 weeks; the two guys who did the installation were very good and hard working and did excellent work. 

The one large window in the living room is now 3 panes instead of one, a much more architectural look and easier to clean!

And yes, there is suet in the bird feeder, we have winterized for the birds too, making the downy woodpeckers, nuthatches and blue jays happy. 

We are ready, but I hope the real snow holds off until December!

Nature's beauty (horses included)

 The chiro lady came and adjusted both mares. Gussie had adjustments from head to tail- poll, atlas, ribs, hips and knee and other points in between! I decided to get Velvet done too, she wasn't too bad; her neck and some ribs and a mild adjustment in her hips- the lady doesn't get too intense in that area with mares who are in foal. I gave Gussie a couple of days off to get used to it and any soreness as a result. 

I have been working on the obstacle course, only 3 things set up so far as I have to scrounge for materials ; trying to do this without buying anything. 

Shayla brought home a new filly- this one is by the same sire as Drifter (remember the palomino roan stallion we had and sold) and she is a match for Gussie!

The new filly (Patsy)

Patsy has higher back stockings and a front stocking  but they sure look similar! Patsy is a weanling, it will be fun to see how she looks all grown up. She has the same quiet disposition that Drifter had. 

I went for a walk checking fences last week and it was a bit of a nature walk for me. I got some lovely shots of the lazy Medicine River that meanders along, bordering the farm. 

 We have beavers in the area but they don't build dams. 

This is a big old poplar tree that they chewed down. 

The grass in places was 6 ft. tall, it was hard slogging! There have been a lot of geese lately, and some interesting clouds. 

The next one is a sunset. 

We have had a lot of misty mornings, and at this time of year the sunrise is right at the end of our driveway. 

Last night's supermoon arose in nearly the same place, but I waited until this morning for a photo. 

Speaking of nature....

Guess who?

Yup those marauding bandits are back. The racoons couldn't get into the cat food tote by prying the lid off (see the chewed corner?) so they tipped it over and jumped on it until it broke. I was wondering how long I would get away with having it right next to my cat feeding station. Now I have it in the feed room that so far has proven to be racoon proof. 

Gussie let Thumper back on her- it has been a while since she agreed to that!

Sunday Silence

 

That moon and camo

 The full moon on Sunday was clouded over, but I did get a Monday photo. The moon seemed small so it must be around it's farthest away from the earth cycle- but no worries, here it is all up close and personal!

I love it when the moon set happens around the time I feed my horses, cuz well, you know, I'm camera happy!

There's nothing like having a special moment with my girl Ruby just enjoying the beauty of nature. 

Having horse ears in a photo always makes for a better picture!

How about that- it's shedding time! Beamer is the first to start slipping hair here. I'm sure the girls won't be far behind, we have nice longer days now and above freezing days... so far. 

Here's another set of photos where a close up is helpful. 

Excellent camo, it's those ears that gave her away! 

Frosty

 This is a rather boring time of the month; all the Christmas/New Year hubub is over and one waits for the changing of the seasons with longing for those first signs of spring- alas, so far away yet!

So we dream and make plans ... I had my farrier out to trim the horses and asked him about indoor arenas locally. I mean, who would know better what's out there! He told me about 2 in the area, the local ag society one that I already knew about @280 to join and limit of 6 hours per week, renewable at the end of August. Nope, not going to use an indoor enough to make it worth the money. Then there is a private one, not too far away, with a $20 drop in fee- much better. They do a lot of cowboy challenge lessons, clinics and playdays there as well as practice days on the obstacles, so that might be a lot of fun. And- TheresaA- they raise Andalusians! I am heading up there on Thursday for a visit to scope it out. Should it be what I'm looking for, I can start hauling Ruby there as soon as we get our truck on the road- it needs a bit of work to be able to pass the inter-provincial inspection we need to do on it to get it insured in this province. 

Meanwhile, enjoy the day for what it is- namely, very frosty! We had a big hoar frost this morning at chore time. Photo op! 😀

First thing to catch my eye, the horseshoes on the top of the round pen gate.

Beamer is blanketless at this time, it warmed up enough to have him go nekkid, but he hung out in the barn last night so didn't get all frosted up. 

Little Bandit was waiting for me at the gate to her feeding area- she's darn near at that kitty underfoot stage, but not quite. 

The girls were only minimally frosted up- mostly in the mane for Ruby.

She does have a nice long mane, yay! 

Velvet had very little frost and was more concerned with munching than posing for photos. 

As soon as they are done with their current bale, I plan to separate the mares to adjoining pens, as it's time to start supplementing Velvet with her senior feed, so that she doesn't drop any weight as her foal grows. And it will be good to have Ruby separate so that Velvet gets used to it when I start hauling or riding off property. She will have to be content with just seeing Beamer. 

A few more frosty delights that caught my eye....

Short chains awaiting their use as gate closures

The former harness shop, now used as a garage/storage space

All those beautiful spruce trees that align the driveway

They do exist!

 

We live at the lowest point of land, being along the river, but coming back from town today we were treated to sunset over the distant mountains; they are about an hour's drive west of us. The dark band of trees in the bottom third of the photo is close to our place. Wish we could see that view from the farm!

Plans for next year include saddling up and heading west, deep into the forest and the hills!

I have taken Ruby for a couple of walks to check the mail. She really enjoyed getting out.

So helpful!

The walking weather was good, but we are headed back into the deep freeze. Next batch of warm weather I hope to saddle up and ride a bit. I kinda had that planned for today but we had to do a road trip that took most of the day. 

Sneak peek at my Christmas tree- I want to do a post that shows some of the more fun/unique ornaments and I challenge you all to do the same! Lets see what creative minds are out there!

Sunday Silence (Scenes from a hammock)

 

A name, a home and a knot

 Although I haven't seen him yet, and don't have any updated photos, I have decided on a name for my colt. 

Boe. 

He is named as a tribute to an old cowboy, John Boe, who was my mentor when I decided to get into breeding quarter horses.  John passed away a couple of years ago, and I will never forget all his kindness and all that he taught me. 

We have secured a place to live; it's a month to month rental in a village 10 minutes from Shayla's, so it's easy to get to my horses. Also close enough to where Ted's dad is, and a short commute to where his son lives. I guess I will have to put up with town living for a while until we can find a farm rental. 

I will miss this view....

Just right of center, it looks like 3 or 4 figures huddled together in a prayer circle

I was watching a horse program on TV the other day and found this interesting- Clinton Anderson showing a better way to tie horses. I have a puller in Sophie, and it is hard to get the standard slip knot undone when she sets back! So I'm going to use this knot. (Sophie is now at Shayla's)

The next few days are going to be hectic, we can move in on Wednesday June 1, so now it's all about the logistics of hauling panels, Beamer, household stuff as well as cleaning the house and emptying everything in the barn. I may be awol for a while!

Swans

 When I heard that there had been some sightings of swans now that we have some open water, I vowed to at last get some photos of them. 13 years we have been here and now I finally made the effort!

We had to travel some 10 miles or so up the lake to find them; they were on a quiet backwater channel some distance from the highway.

Would you bushwack your way through that tangle of briars to get a few photos? Why, of course, I knew you would! Actually, I couldn't help thinking of Val and Aurora as I followed the deer tracks through the underbrush to find the easiest way through. 

And there they were! Two groups; these three and two more downstream from them. 

They had spotted me and were nonchalantly swimming away. 

I could see that there was a duck nearby but it wasn't until I got the photos on my computer and cropped them down that I could see it's a Hooded Merganser. Bonus!

As far as I can tell these are Whistling Swans, the most common one in this part of the world. Their call was more like a goose than the call of the Trumpeter swan, which is more rare. 

Not the crispest of photos, even though I had my tripod. But they were quite a distance away and I had max zoom on them. 

It was a bit of a steep climb back up to the road and I spotted this hole in a tree at one of my rest stops. I wonder if it's a home for a bird like a Flicker, Owl or just a place where the woodpeckers were dining. 

There were lots of these moss covered rocks too, some of them huge. Definitely don't step on them or you will go sliding! I managed to get all the way to the top before my foot went through a snow covered hole between the rocks. It always happens just when you think you are home free! But no worries, just a wet butt.