Almost done

 The cold weather is almost over- one more day to warm up, yay! We can kick La Nina to the curb!

You know your windows are not airtight when they do this....

Odd formation! Almost looks like jet trails on my window pane!

Deer tracks and pawing craters in the back yard

Darn coyotes are traipsing through the yard in the early morning hours. The coyote choir has been in full voice close by ever since the full moon. I reckon this cold weather is making them rather hungry. Not much for them to eat unless they can take down a deer. Good thing they leave my horses alone, their tracks go right in front of the horse shelter and within feet of the barn. The barn cats don't venture out much, they are all snugged up in the loft of the barn, so I think they are safe. 

Velvet keeps me guessing. Is she in foal or not? 

These photos say no..

And these say, well maybe!  She is definitely carrying differently than when she was carrying Theo if so. 

Love this photo of the old girl!

I have been in touch with Ruby's owner, I am definitely first in line if she decides to sell Ruby's Beamer baby. I would be absolutely thrilled to have two Beamer babies here!

4 more weeks to spring!

It was a year ago today...

that Gussie came home to us. 

She took a long time to adjust, as she is quite an anxious horse, and so herd bound. It helped that Belle was here for her to hang out with for a while, and it also helped when Ruby left, as Ruby disliked her. Poor Gussie, she has been moved around a lot in her life, and I think it has taken her the whole year to trust me to just not do that to her any more. 

No looking back any more Gussie, you are here to stay. 

I mentioned before that any time I approached her, she would look away. However, she was always easy to catch and nice to ride. But in the last two months, she has started seeking me out, and volunteering touch. That really warms my heart!

It has taken me a long time to get in tune with her- my fault, not hers- and it is so nice to have that now. I am looking forward to this year 

You too Gussie?

Winter chores

I have to say, the least  favorite of my winter chores is chipping the snowballs out of hooves. 

It seems that they come back just as soon as I walk away! Gussie is good about letting me pound away at them but Velvet has opinions about it and doesn't always let me get it done. 

The snow is that dry squeaky stuff that comes with the drop in temperatures to 30 below Celcius. We have very dry cold here, not like some areas near lakes that get more moisture and heavy wet snow. We can still clean the sidewalk with the leaf blower, bonus!

Snow blankets

The mares were on high alert again yesterday, sure enough they had spotted this cow moose. This photo is deceiving, as that fence is a good hundred yards from the moose, who is browsing across the river. 

Velvet is getting rounder and I am trying hard to be patient!

Velvet is good at sharing; Gussie eats faster and helps Velvet clean up 

 We get ice fog when the temperatures drop and it frosts up the horse's hair and eyelashes. I looked at the forecast for the month, and the cold is going to continue, albeit in the minus 20s instead of 30s. So much for the old wives tale of heavy precipitation 90 days after a fog, which due to the fogs in November should have given us a snowy February. I reckon we will get spring snow storms instead! Bah!  

Watchmares

 Or, who needs watchdogs when you have mares? 

The mares have been really watchy lately. I try to see why, but they have better senses than I do. 

Velvet in particular is very aware of her surroundings. The watchiness is usually mornings and evenings (I can see their pasture from the house) so I was figuring wildlife of some sort. 

Then Ted figured it out when he spotted this:

Gussie is 15.2 hh, and she is closer than that bull moose, so you can figure just how huge he is!

There were 4 moose, browsing on the shrubs across the river. To their credit, the mares didn't get crazy, just ran to a spot where they could get a good look at them. 

Along with the moose, we got a spectacular sunset (view from the house)  and were able to watch as the moose (meese?) chowed their way along the riverbank, until it got too dark to see them. What a treat!

If I see them again, I will try for photos from my Nikon with the zoom lens, if my computer will cooperate in downloading that is. 

Catspotting (or what you do when you are bored)

 It has been pretty quiet around here for a while, I guess you could say the February blahs hit a week early. There isn't much to do to fill the days since I simplified my chores; no more firing up the tractor to move big round bales or struggle with tarps covering them; the little square bales are neatly and conveniently tucked into the barn and the shelter. 

The breakfast crew

Yes, those bales.... stacked to the top in the little barn where I was halter breaking Shayla's foals, and the cats are loving them. 

Mornings and evenings I get outside to do chores; sometimes with 70 km winds and sometimes with balmy above freezing lovely days, never know what you're going to get this winter. 

The barn cats are apparently thriving, despite the cold. 

Ollie, when it was stupid cold... 

and Ollie 2  days later in the balmy sunshine. 

Misty this morning. Cement blocks are not going to keep your toes warm!

Tom, who has stopped being afraid of me since he approves my breakfast service every morning.  He used to hide when he saw me, now he comes to see what's on the menu. 

These are hardy cats, they have the loft of the barn for their personal space, it is fairly deeply bedded in straw just for them; its where Misty's kittens were born. 

Speaking of those kittens, they are all doing great and thoroughly enjoying the royal treatment in their palaces, while their parents are living the pioneer life. 

Lily and Tiger, who live with my sister on the west coast of BC

Better than the haystack?

Much warmer than the frozen pallet!

Lily looks so much like her mama Misty

Lily and Tiger, umm, whose bed is that?

Their sibling Cece who lives with my sister M and has the company of 3 other cats, also is living the good life. 

Plenty of cushy couch to lay on!

The classic pose!

I have been asked if I will neuter the feral cats, the answer is no. It is a huge expense for someone on pension, for one thing, and for another, there are many predators around here that cull the cat population. So far, we have lost the black mama cat, Ringo,  Bandit, Badger and Smudge as well as a couple of other unnamed ones that were here 2 years ago. So I am letting nature take its course. I am just grateful that there are cats here to keep the mouse population down in my haystacks; and I have never seen a mouse in my feed room. 

As far as my personal cats go, Foose is turning 16 in April. 

 and Thumper will be 15 this coming summer. I keep them close, indoors at night and  in bad weather as well as if we will be away from home. 

Thumper does like to patrol the barnyard and make sure the ferals are behaving, he gets along well with them, after having put Tom in his place a couple of times. Cat drama!

All is well, and harmonious, just the way I like it. 

Escorted

 I have had some special moments in the last week or so. You may remember me telling you about how Velvet walks beside me wherever I go, well lately Gussie is getting in on the act too  

Gussie has been a bit stand offish for a while now; she looks away if I go to touch her anywhere on her head, so I started greeting her with a chest rub instead, and waiting for her to turn her head towards me. Apparently she approved of this new routine for she no longer looks away when I approach her. Velvet, on the other hand eagerly offers her head for rubs. 

Anyway, this has lead to Gussie no longer holding back when its chore time. Previously, she would wait until Velvet and I were some distance ahead before following. Now, it starts like this:

I always visit with them and check them over before walking down the hill to their shelter where I have hay for them. So yesterday, Gussie marched right along beside me, and Velvet on the other side.  The moon was out in all its morning glory, so I stopped to take a photo, and both mares stopped right beside me and quietly waited until I started walking again. So to test this, I stopped again in a bit, and so did they. I felt such a beautiful harmony with them!

To top it off, on my way back to the house, the female cat, Misty, escorted me to the house from the barn. She saunters out about 15 ft, stops and looks back at me, then off she goes again, repeating her actions all the way to the house. 

Well isn't that special! 

This morning, they decided to lead instead of escort, but they both stopped when I did.

Here is the moon photo I mentioned, in all it's misty loveliness. 

 

The sun comes up and the sun goes down

 We are getting into the monotonous part of winter . 

As I look at the winter weather other parts of the continent are getting though, I feel blessed that we aren't covered in 5 ft of snow drifts or dealing with a raging fire. 

The fire is in the sky in the morning sunrise

But not on the western side; this was taken only minutes before the eastern sky was aglow.

The evenings are just as pretty

Glowing on that baby belly!

And the skies in true form, rapidly change. 

This is our automatic waterer that is accessible from 4 different pens- I love it! Especially when I recall all the years I had to fight with frozen hoses and frozen stand pipes and frozen heated waterers! Even one year in Creston where I had to deal with 200 ft. of hose, through the bathroom window and hooked up to the bathtub tap. Gah! Never again!!!

Its quiet here on the farm. Not a lot of excitement

Tom, hoping I leave soon so that he can sidle into the barn for his cat food. 

7 more weeks until March and the onset of spring weather. We can do this. 

Listen

 My key word for 2025 is... you guessed it, listen.

Listen to your heart,

listen with your heart. 

Listen to others, 

listen to the silence. 

Listen to the inspirations of grace that God sends your way. 

Listen to your spouse, and try to read between the lines of what they are saying.

Listen to your horses, who speak in a silent body-language. 

Listen. There is always something to listen to! A wise old friend once said, you don't learn anything when you are talking, and I never forgot that. However, there are times to talk and times to be silent. And there is always time to listen.

Mementos

 I believe I mentioned months ago that I had sent off some hair to be made into a few items; hair from Beamer, Coyote Belle, Gussie, Jayne and my first stallion, Chipper. It took a while to complete the order as the lady is a very busy and well known horse hair artist.

Yes she does make items for folks from the US and I think Australia too, check her website. 

The package arrived in the mail a couple days ago, and I eagerly opened it- and didn't I burst into tears as I saw the beautiful work she did for me. 

She did everything exactly as I requested, and sent me a letter explaining whose hair was in each piece. 

The hat band looks perfect on my grey felt hat. 

The stampede strings are for my palm leaf straw hat, which tends to come off if it is windy or if I am loping. 
The tassels with the tin stars (one for me, one for Shayla) are made from Belle and Gussie hair, as bff's they are now always together. The little tassels, made from all the combined horses hair, are perfect for everyday use- the zipper pull goes to Shayla and the key ring for me. 

I highly recommend Donna's work and professionalism. If you want anything made, though, plan ahead as it takes about 4 months for her to get to your order . I must also say, her prices are very reasonable. 

Having these special pieces means a lot to me. I can remember the horses through my photos, but having a piece of them to wear or touch is so much more meaningful.