Behind Infinity

Quite well, actually.

Cilantro, basil, and chives.
In other words –salsa, pesto, and margherita pizza!

Here it is, all planted. Left row has lettuce and green onion, then a box of beans, then the peppers and squash box. Right row has peas, then my box of 10(!) tomato plants, and then the cucumbers.

Look–it’s a lovely little tomato blossom on one of the early-bearing plants. I cannot wait to harvest the tomatoes. I planted 8 different varieties (some that bear early in the season, some that bear late) and I’m looking forward to BLTs, salads and salads while they’re fresh, and canning the excess for making sauces and soups in the winter.

Peas. They’re starting to climb. I love the way they grab onto the twine with their little plant feelers.

Lettuce. We had our first garden lettuce salad on Sunday. It was pretty delicious.

Pepper plants in the foreground, squash in the background. Those squash plants will turn into enormous people-eating jungle plants by the end of the summer.

And now–on a totally unrelated note, here are photos of last weekend’s horse show (May 22). All photos courtesy of Marie (except the ones with her in them!)

It was a larger show, so we stayed overnight in the barn instead of showing out of the trailer.

pretty braid!

adorable…

Marie and Starr won 6th place in the Novice Rider class, Marie’s first show ever! I was so proud.

It was the first time showing in an indoor for both of my mares. Neither one of them was very happy about it at first. Jezebelle and I rode 3 classes on Friday night and she was totally goofy and uncomfortable with the situation, so we didn’t do very well. After classes ended on Friday I did a 2-hour ride with Starr (it took her that long to settle down!) and another 1/2 hour with Jezzie, and then things were better.

Here’s Starr and I, waiting for our class. I rode Starr in 2 hunter classes. We didn’t place in either of them (there were 20+ horses in each class) but we did have a good trip both times, which, at this point, is what we’re looking for.

And here’s our ribbons.

4th place Native Costume, Brittany + Jezzie
1st place Dressage Novice Rider Training test 1, Brittany + Jezzie
3rd place Dressage Novice Horse Training test 1, Brittany + Jezzie
6th place Dressage Equitation, Brittany + Jezzie
4th Place Sport Horse In Hand, Brittany + Jezzie
1st Place Dressage Novice Rider Intro Test A, Brittany + Starr
4th Place Dressage Novice Horse Intro Test A, Brittany + Starr
6th Place Novice Rider Pleasure, Marie + Starr
3rd Place Saddleseat Equitation Championship, Brittany + Jezzie

This weekend we’re back at WMAHA (our favorite club!) at the Hudsonville Fairgrounds. I’ll be showing both horses, Marie will be showing Starr for 2 or 3 classes, and Brenna will be showing Jezebelle for 3 or so classes. The weather forecast is calling for mid-70’s and it should be a great day.

That mare, she is such a gift.
Since the day she came home from Arkansas as a 3-year-old, she’s done nothing but teach us to ride. First me, then my sisters, my dad, my brothers, my friends. Now him.
If I ever have kids, I hope she’ll still be around to teach them. <3

Everybody with a special horse thinks their horse is the best and most loved out of all the horses ever in the entire world. But in our case it’s true. Jezebelle wins.

Almost exactly a month ago, on February 6, I lost my beloved iPod Touch. I had been out in the yard doing my weekly Saturday chores of stall-cleaning and barn tidying, and about halfway through the process, the iPod’s battery died. So I put it back into my pocket and kept working.

It wasn’t until 2 days later, on Monday, that I realized it was missing (Saturday night/Sunday aren’t peak iPod usage times for me.) I frantically searched my room for 1/2 hour before work and when it didn’t turn up there, I realized it must have slid out of my pocket while I was still out doing chores and it could be anywhere between the hay room, the stall I was cleaning, and the manure pile.

Mom searched the yard that day while I was at work. When I got home I spent half an hour picking through Jezebelle’s stall. No iPod. I mourned the loss of my little electronic buddy. And went out and bought a replacement at the Apple Store the next night.

Well, guess what I found last night while doing barn chores?

Yup. That’s right. It was in Jezebelle’s stall. I don’t know how I didn’t find it when I looked the first time, because I thought I raked through the bedding thoroughly. But I did bed the stall pretty deep that night because there were more snowstorms on the way. So the iPod must have been at the very bottom.

Yes, that’s horse manure all over the back. And that’s after I cleaned it up a bit.

My heart was sad when I realized it had been stepped on at least once. But I wasn’t surprised. Surely, after a month in a horse stall, in the winter, it wouldn’t work. That would be too much to ask. The headphone jack and the USB plug were stuffed with dirty shavings/manure. There was no way.

But when I plugged it in, it showed the low battery indicator for about 10 seconds, and then it booted right up. The touchscreen works as long as you’re careful not to get glass slivers in your fingers. But the real question was, would it still play tunes, after having the headphone jack stuffed with manure for a month?

Yes. Yes, it does. Unbelievable.

Apple products FTW.