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.

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.

And I love this. I love Jezebelle’s extremely short, extremely fuzzy neck. I love Max’s little hooky white marking. I love how the three of them are arranged in order of their appearance (but not their importance) in my life. I love how they are standing in roughly but not exactly the same way, and my wild, spirited mare isn’t quite peeking out all the way from behind my in-your-face boy. It’s my herd.

Today I drove down to Indiana to see my friend Marielle, hang out with her herd of brown Arabs, and bring home the ultimate souvenir–a little bay arab of my very own named Star.

So here are TONS of pictures of our day seeing as we are both camera-holics!

^The trip down took me about 2.5 hours. This was the longest solo trip I’ve ever made with a trailer and I was pretty nervous, but it went all right. I only missed one turn but I didn’t get lost (yay!) and I was very glad to finally arrive Marielle’s barn.

^the farm is a magical place with chestnut and bay Arabs and half arabs EVERYWHERE. They just kind of roam free, around the place. It’s pretty adorable. This is Marielle and some of her friends.

^here comes the herd.

^After meeting the herd she took me on a tour of the beautiful property. Seeing as it was cold and yuckie we took the utility vehicle instead of riding. This is a particularly beautiful spot on the farm (Although there were many particularly beautiful spots.)

^After getting back to the barn, we tacked up and rode. First I rode Buckwheat, Marielle’s CP gelding, and she rode Melody. Then we switched, and I got a chance to ride Mel. She is so tiny and delicate and sensitive, it’s quite the feeling, let me tell you! Marielle has done a great job with her and they have an obvious bond. Unfortunately, we didn’t get any pictures on those two (because we were to busy riding). But then we put them away and saddled up Star. I had Marielle ride first so I could see her (pictured here).

^then I got on. She was a sweet little ride and has such a smooth trot. She’d make a great WP horse!

^love this photo, Marielle.

^(”Hey Mom, whatcha doin?” Says Maebelline.) After we rode starwe set up some jumps so that Maebelline could strut her stuff. And she did strut, let me tell you! She is one talented and showy little girl! She and Marielle will do great things (once Marielle makes the hard decision of WHAT to do….)

Here is a video of Mae jumping:

^I think this photo of Marielle & Maebelline is adorable.

^unfortunately, all good things must come to an end and I had to make the hard decision to head home, because it’s a long drive. So we loaded up. Star hopped RIGHT in, it was hilarious and adorable. I am used to more of a fight because Jezebelle likes to make a big “production” out of loading. Hopefully we will work that out this summer.

^Star’s buddies wonder where she’s going.

^Saying goodbyes.

^The ride home was uneventful and quick, and we were greeted at home by excited people and adorable welcome home signs.

^My dad and my sister say hello. Star will definitely be a family horse, and I think she’ll do the job admirably. She seems so friendly and forgiving.

^Star with her welcome home signs. How cute.

^It was pretty warm out tonight so even Jamison came out to the barn (for the first time!) and met the horsies.

It was a very long, very exciting, very happy day, and I am tired. Thank you, Marielle, for “having me over” to meet your horsies, and for giving me such a great and generous gift in Star. I cannot wait to begin working with her and trail riding with family and friends and *really* teaching my sisters to care for and ride their own horse. My family thanks you too.

In horses, colic is a term that covers a variety of gastrointestinal disturbances. It’s basically an equine tummyache. A really, really bad tummyache. Here’s what wikipedia has to say about colic: wikipedia link Colic is basically every horseman’s nightmare. It’s freakishly painful for the horse, it can get nasty really fast, it can require major abdominal surgery to remove impactions or straighten out a twisted gut (and some people end up putting their horse down rather than pay the $2k+ cost of the surgery) and aside from vigilance and good dietary care and proper horse management, there’s no way to avoid it. Some horses are more prone to colic than others, and they may colic because of stress, or changes in the weather, or abrupt feed changes, or because they simply didn’t like the pink blanket you put on them last night. Some horses go their entire life without a colic episode. Rachael the wonder-neighbor has owned almost a dozen different horses on and off since before she was my age and she’s never had to deal with it. I was hoping I would be as lucky. But I wasn’t.

This morning I woke up earlier than usual to a banging noise in the barn. It wouldn’t stop. I thought maybe Max got himself stuck somewhere, perhaps on his water bucket or something. He’s silly enough to do something like that. So I flew down the stairs in my PJ’s and bathrobe, put on my black peacoat over top of that, and stepped into my red rubber boots. Got out to the barn, and yes, it was Max making the noise, but he wasn’t stuck–he was throwing himself around, kicking the walls, flailing, pacing, sweating, his legs would buckle and then he’d get back up, go down again and roll, wild, scared look in his eyes…all in all not a happy camper. He nickered at me when I came in (as usual) and came over for some lovin, as if to say “omg Mom I’m so glad you’re here, what took you so long?”

I watched in horror, hoping he would quit. He didn’t. So I took off running (bathrobe sticking out from my coat, flowing behind me like a superwoman cape) towards Rachael’s house and burst in the door. She was in the kitchen doing schoolwork with her kids. I breathlessly told my story, and she said “Yep, he’s colicing.” She came over to observe and advise. We called the vet’s practice. In an unbelievably fortunate turn of events, Dr. S (my favorite vet in the practice) was just finishing up a call less than 10 miles away and would be with us in less than 15 minutes. (their practice is located more like 45 miles away and they cover a huge radius, so to have somebody RIGHT THERE and ready to come was like, totally divinely ordained).

Meanwhile Rachael and I waited. Max was settling down a bit so he wasn’t so shaky by the time the Dr. got there. Good sign. He also farted a lot. Another good sign. Dr. S examined him and pronounced his vitals as being in good shape. After sedating him with dermosedan (as I watched I hearkened back to my other vet experiences and said to myself, “Dermosedan, $27.50! yippee!) and after the little guy began getting a bit drowsy, Dr. S put in a nasogastric tube–i.e. a tube from his nostril into his stomach–and introduced about a half a gallon of mineral oil into his system. The mineral oil acts as a horsey laxative. All the while, we were having a conversation about the recently-passed holiday. (Dr. S was called away from his thanksgiving dinner to go suture a pony who got his legs caught in barbed wire fence.) And he didn’t bat an eye at my interesting get-up.

And less than an hour later Max was resting more comfortably and the good dr. and his assistant went on their merry way and I was poorer. Oh, how I love vet bills. I watched Max for the rest of the morning then headed off to school (and worried the entire time I was there–even called the sisters and had them check on him for me.) When I got back home, there was a pile of new poop in his stall…never have i been so happy to see horse poop, LOL! Hopefully when I go back out in a few minutes, there will be more. His gut was sounding more “normal” too. (Makes me glad for all of the times I’ve just stood there and listened for the heck of it–I actually know what his normal is! Go me!)

Anyway, I hope my little booger is on the mend and doesn’t make a habit out of such nonsense. I really don’t want to do that again. And again. And again.

And then I woke up the next morning and thought, “Hm, it’s awful light out…does it get light at 4:30 AM already??” And I looked at the clock, which for some unexplainable reason had neglected to ring (No, I didn’t set it for 4:30 PM instead of AM) and it read 7:00. And I said lots of bad words. And then I called Dr. Anderson and left a very garbled still-half-asleep “OMG I’m SO SORRY” message on his phone. I was pretty bummed out about not being able to go (and looking like a real flake, thanks to my dysfunctional alarm clock).

But, no use crying over spilled milk or missed conferences…so I set about putting my Saturday to good use. I ran some errands in the morning, then when Dad got home from work, we toiled away on the barn until dusk. We finally got the doorposts in! I am so excited about this. Hopefully next week we’ll be able to finish the doors and hang them up, and then the barn is well…very close to completion. We still will need to do random trim work, soffit, and fascia. But all the heavy work will be done. And that’s pretty cool, methinks.

Before shot, from earlier this summer:

see? no doorposts.

Brenna pounds it over…

Digging a posthole. Max is so helpful!! (not…)

The Little Dog is getting to be as big as the Big dog. He’s getting fairly handsome, too. What’s that he has in his mouth? Looks like a stick.

Um, nope. It’s actually a deer leg. Yum, Yum.

Jake boppin’ around in his wheelchair. No, he is neither injured nor handicapped. You know how most kids strap on their rollerblades or get on their bike when they want to go to their friends’ houses? Well Jake takes his wheelchair out for a spin instead. And he parks it in front of our house with everyone elses’ scooters and bikes. hi-larious.

This is the neighbors’ new cow. He looks OK with a saddle on (Rachael: “Yeah, he’s got a lot of bling”) but out in the field, well….mooooo….

And this is the barn with our finished doorposts. This makes me so happy. Yay for doorposts.

I also hung Christmas lights in the rafters today. Isn’t it gorgeous? I was so sick of coming home after dark and doing chores in the cold dark, fumbling around with a dim lantern. But the Christmas lights are just so warm and homey and peaceful. I love it.

So, in spite of my thwarted conference plans, it was a productive, satisfying day.

My favorite part of riding in fall is hearing the leaves swush-swush and crackle underneath my horse’s feet.

Here are a selection of the photos “we” took:

our favorite field to canter in

entering the woods is like entering a totally different world. seriously. it’s just…beautiful.

the roof over our heads

the path before us

view of our house as seen from the chunk of land behind the pond

the fabulous Miss Jezebelle

The kids put up this scarecrow outside of their fort a few days ago and Jezebelle would not walk past it for ANYTHING. But today the scarecrow was dead, and she walked up to it with much caution and snorted. I think she was happy or something.

yesterday and today, Farmer Corky brought in the soybeans he was growing on our land. My amanals were kind of excited by the tractor.

Alrighty. Hope you enjoyed that. I have much more to say but I need to grade papers and plan lessons for my classes tomorow.

Max and Jezebelle smunch on some cornstalks. Aren’t they adorable in their blankies? Max’s is a teensy bit big, but he will grow into it soon. I’ve been told that I spoil them.

Here’s Dawg and his Dog.