That'll do!

 I dressed Beamer up in his Christmas finery and after several tries, 

we have a winner! I chose this one because it is such a typical Beamer moment!

Here are some of the out takes:

Leave the darn hat on, Beamer!

It fits perfectly over his li'l ears!

The things she makes me do! Can I eat some of that greenery?

And Happy New Year too!

T'was in the moon of wintertime...

 

One of my favourite Christmas Carols is the Huron Carol, written by Jean De Brebeuf in the 1600's. 

This is my favourite version of it:

Today I am going to attempt my annual Christmas photo...  Beamer gets the call. 

Foiled plans

 Today was really mild, in fact it rained on top of the 6 inches of snow we got. So I figured when the rain stopped, I would ride Sophie. 

The sun came out and it was perfect! At least, I thought so. Apparently Sophie didn't agree. 

She played youcan'tcatchme for quite a while! 

In fact, long enough for a storm to roll in. By then I figured to just catch her, visit with her a bit and then turn her loose. 

Yeah that wasn't going to happen. 

Striding in perfect unison 

Jayne was very over it. Mostly she just stood still while Sophie played silly mare, but Sophie would come and get in behind her and make her move. 

Check out Jayne's baby belly!

Eventually I caught Jayne and put her in the foaling pen for the night so she could have some peace. And then fed Beamer , then Jayne... meanwhile Sophie was "Hey what about meeeeee?"

Hahaha. So I got her feed, left it outside the pen, and went in, again, with the halter. A little more resistance from her, then she went up by the gate which is a bit of a narrower area, and I blocked her escape route; she did a few cutting horse moves and then allowed as how I could catch her. (insert eyeroll!). I had her come with me while I got her hay in and put it in her shelter, then longed her a bit just because, before turning her loose. 

It is possible that Sophie sensed the storm coming in, but she has done this before in good weather, so I figure it's either a learned behaviour or a personality trait. So far it's the only thing I don't like about her, and I hope she gets over it. It may be beneficial to keep her separate all the time. 

Wordless Wednesday

 

Sunday Stills- Handmade

 Hand made or hand built? That was on my mind. Hand built speaks to me of larger projects, such as the horse shelters Ted built for me, and the insulated water tank for the horses, and the welded pipe round pen, etc. etc.- so many things he has built for me and I am truly grateful to him and so very proud of the talent and care he puts into every project. 

Hand made seems to me to be the smaller craftier items, such as this loon ornament made by Connie and Gene of Far Side of Fifty blog. It is usually one of the frst things I put on my tree!

Perfectly carved, painted and balanced!

Another ornament I have was made for me by my step mom. One year, I was admiring the big pine comes that dropped in their yard, and that Christmas she sent me this adorable little snowman she made.  He is so cheerful!

It occupies a place of honour hanging from my kitchen curtains

The most cherished hand made item we have though, was made for Ted's dad, who just turned 89, and we think it was made for him by his mother . 

He has had a few updates over the years, and his fur has worn away a bit, but he is all intact with moveable arms and legs. 

His little overalls were also hand made, in 1961 at the GWG factory in Edmonton, and he has worn them ever since. We keep him in a glassed in curio cabinet  to protect him  from dust and wear.

For more Sunday Stills handmade items go here!

Winter beauty

 We took a road trip over the summit today to visit my sister. It was a beautiful  sunny morning - we left early because we needed to be back early to keep the home fire burning and have some daylight for chores. 

As always, the summit (Kootenay Pass, it is the third highest pass in Canada) has way more snow than we do; we have about 2 inches on the ground and the pass looks like this:

Christmas card type snowy trees!

 The roads were well sanded and we had 4 wheel drive turned on so no real issues on the icy roads. 

I couldn't help but smile at all the beauty .

The mountains are blanketed in snow. Yes that is a very deep valley with a creek flowing at the bottom.

The closer we get to the smmit the more the terrain opens up. The road is a lot steeper than it looks.

There is a large pull out at the top for trucks to check their brakes and their loads. The way down on this side is actually steeper than the way up on the Creston side. 

Yup 8% grade going down.

But oh so beautiful with the sun breaking over the mountain tops and lighting up the snow laden trees.

I do love the mountains. They make my heart sing. 

We had an uneventful trip and a good visit with my sister, taking her birthday and Christmas gifts and a whole lotta love. Her birthday is the 23rd. 

With snow in the forecast for the next week it's pretty much a given that we will have a white Christmas!

We got our tree last Sunday, it's up and decorated. We found a little balsalm that fit into the small area we have in our living room.

Up...

And decorated!

Makin' Tracks

 I feel rather blessed in this little corner of the world. Such terrible weather going on all over the globe. My heart goes out to all the people affected by that trememdous tornado in Kentucky as well as all the folks affected by floods, mudslides, forest fires, volcanoes.... 

Here in Creston we have a mix of rain, snow and ice. One day we get this:

The next day we get rain which makes ice- treacherous to walk on so I had to improvise down at the barn.

Old hay and chaff laid out so I don't get laid out!

Two days later....

3 inches of heavy wet snow, but at least it is warm!

The snow made it possible for me to get Sophie out for another walk. She was happy to get caught and go for a stroll.

C'mon Sophie, lets go make tracks!

Speaking of tracks, there were plenty of deer tracks, some smaller ones (doe and fawn) and some larger ones like this one, probably a buck.

We have a lot of white tail deer who pretty much live in the woods here year round. 

In that video we are up on the dyke, and ahead of us are the tracks of a pair of coyotes. Definitely not dogs as there are no people tracks with them; some folks do walk their dogs down there. 

Sophie was really good, very interested in her surroundings and quite expressive without being overly spooky. This next video she saw something bobbing up and down in the breeze and just couldn't figure it out. Her reaction was to stop and look; she was concerned but if I had been riding it would have been very easy to handle. 

I am so ready to ride, hopefully this week!

Sunday Stills- On Your Left

 As I was leading Sophie up the alley between Beamer's pen on the left and the foaling pen, himself was trying to impress Sophie with his studly presence. 

The light

 One thing about the later sunrise these days is that I get to enjoy it when it's time for my morning chores. 

There were sweeping fingers of cloud coming up from the south as I headed down there. Then by the time I was about done, there were backlit clouds tumbling and playing along the mountain tops. 

Lovely way to start a cold (-10 C or 8F) December day! 

Sophie won't drink out of the insulated water box, and although Jayne will, she hasn't been because she is worried about Sophie coming up behind her when she has her head buried in it. I have been weighing my options on that; Ted is building me another insulated tank for Beamer,  but until then I can either put Jayne in a separate pen, or pull Sophie out and put Beamer back in with Jayne as they will both drink out of the insulated tank. Or just keep breaking the ice.... With snow in the forecast I think I will just pull Jayne and take the non insulated tub out of Sophie's pen so she has to drink out of the other tank. 

The thing with horses is that everything has to be adaptable. Even if Sophie drinks out of that tank, will Jayne drink out if it too if she is still worried about Sophie?  Once Sophie is accustomed to it, I am hoping that Jayne will be able to pick a time to drink when Sophie is not near when I put them back together again. Keeping the tank full every day will help, as she won't have to sink her head in below eye level. Winter is so much work!!!

Icy I see

 Today's plans with Sophie got cancelled; there is just too much ice. We didn't get much snow, less than an inch but all the paths and wheel marks in the barnyard have made it too slippery for me. Gotta protect these old bones!

However, yesterday was pretty nice, so I took miss Sophie for another walk. This time we went right up on the dyke and had a look at the river. 

Has she ever seen a river before? I really don't know. 

I really enjoyed this walk. She got to go up little hills and proved to be careful with her footing instead of just rushing up them. She seems to thoroughly enjoy these outings. The next time out I plan to do some bushwhacking with her, to see how she handles herself with branches rubbing against her, and how careful she is in stepping over and around deadfall and other obstacles. 

I also got a couple of photos for next Sunday's Sunday Stills Challenge- On Your Left. Beamer fans, stay tuned!

Evening walk

 Evening comes early these days. 2 more weeks to the solstice and longer days!

I took Sophie for a walk in hand, just to see how she is on walks through the bush. I don't know if she has ever walked among trees, bring a prairie horse. 

She was calm, but was deep breathing. Not spooky, but looked at everything. She was nice and light on the lead line, but did tend to walk a bit too close to me, which was easily corrected.

The pathways are a bit slippery now, so in hand work is better than riding. I do intend to ride her soon... be patient! Just need one day of melting to soften up the round pen sand before I get on her. 

I showed her the pond, which has filled back up again with all the heavy rains that swelled the rivers. One of the things I like about her is that she willingly walks through puddles, so I am looking forward to riding throuigh the pond next spring and into the river next summer.

Linda left a comment that Sophie is probably used to a lot of just straight riding with not much bend asked for, and I have to agree with that. Part of our training program will be around getting her to bend softly laterally and eventually vertically. It will be interesting to see if she responds to leg pressure under saddle, and to prepare for that I will be doing some ground exercises to help her learn what is asked.

Sunday Stills- Framed

 I knew what photo I wanted to take for this week's challenge, but the weather wasn't cooperating- until today.

The skies cleared, the temperature dropped (-10 C) and we had some colour in our sunrise.

Framed by the gate to my round pen. Ted built that for me, I love the ancient barb wire that embellishes the top.

And also framed by the mare's shelter, also built for me by my wonderful husband. 

For more Sunday Stills

Snow day

 A couple of days ago I worked Sophie in the round pen, bridled , and after bitting her around to each side and then longing her with the reins through the stirrups and up to the saddle horn, it was pretty plain to see that she isn't what I call soft in the face. So that will be a work in progress over the winter. She isn't bad, doesn't really lean on the bit but also doesn't have that sweet spot figured out. 

I did put the tarp on her again too, and she was so very much better.

I think she learns fairly quickly, wanting to please. 

We can't forget about Jayne..... she and Sophie have an understanding that Sophie dominates the space and Jayne waits until Sophie has had her say and then quietly inserts herself  where she wants to be- usually at the feed pile. I often see Jayne hanging out in the shelter and Sophie wandering around the pen. If the weather is really bad, I put Jayne in the foaling pen where she has her own snug shelter. 

Baby bump!

That photo was taken yesterday; this is what the world looks like today:

We don't have huge amounts in the forecast, and it is fairly warm. Tomorrow is supposed to be nice, and we are hoping that's true because we are supposed to be bringing my hay in finally. 

December flowers

 The heavy rains have kept things green around here; some of the usual flowers are still hanging in there and some others are still growing.

In the still hangin' in there category are the dandelions, pansies and johnny jump ups. 

In the still growing category are poppies and calendula. The poppies aren't flowering but they sure are sending out a lot of leaves. And the calendula are still sending up new buds.

My black hollyhocks are still green and my sea lavender has new leaves too. 

But I am sure all that is about to change; I looked at the winter forecast and it said this neck of the woods is due for below normal cold and plenty of snow. So far we are pretty much in the normal temperature range in the forecast.

The swirl

 Over the years I have mentioned swirls a lot and  my readers have had questions about them.

Here is a great resource for learning about why they are important and what they can tell you about your horse's personality. 

Swirlology 

Sophie has a nicely centered, feathered swirl. That should mean that she is people friendly, so far that seems true although she is sometimes standoffish. That could speak to her past history though, and I think as time goes by I will find out more about her. I am hoping that she is mostly laid back, as her swirl indicates.