I found this for a dollar at Goodwill. I wouldn't have bought it otherwise. I'm glad I did.
In the 19th century, a lot of Americans went to Paris--the cultural capital of the year. They are artists, musicians, authors and doctors. Paris influenced them--which also influenced us over here. It was very interesting to hear about their experiences.
I also learned more about France's history in that century.
I liked it, a lot.
Thursday, July 26, 2018
Book Review: "Sin Killer" by Larry McMurtry
This was a fun, light-hearted western. It is pert of a trilogy, so I wouldn't mind reading the rest of them. A family of rich people from England decide to take a hunting trip out west. It doesn't go very well for them, but it is fun for us.
My Garden is Out of Control
Other than the tomatoes and peppers having blight, the garden is thriving. I plant so many tomatoes and peppers, I will still have plenty. Already I have picked a lot of green beans, a few squash, some cukes, peppers, cherry tomatoes and a couple ground cherries.
The lima beans should be spectacular this year. The plants look great. They are just starting to bloom
I am having fun with my garden.
Thursday, July 19, 2018
Project Squash
Project Squash
I saved some seeds from a few winter squash that I grew last year and planted them in the mountains of manure behind the barn. They must have cross pollinated with my summer squash, because that is what most of them turned out to be.
In spite of the barn owner recently mowing down more than half of them a few days ago, we are still picking plenty. We got 15 just today. We started a week and a half ago, and have already gotten 72. Of course, I am sharing them with everyone at the barn who wants them.
Most are white, a few are yellow and some a little green. I like the striped one the best.
In spite of the barn owner recently mowing down more than half of them a few days ago, we are still picking plenty. We got 15 just today. We started a week and a half ago, and have already gotten 72. Of course, I am sharing them with everyone at the barn who wants them.
Most are white, a few are yellow and some a little green. I like the striped one the best.
Thursday, July 12, 2018
Trouble in Paradise, Again
A few weeks ago, Maggie the dog was chasing a fly. It flew into the other room where Thunder was. I wasn't there. Suddenly, Maggie started growling and barking at Thunder. All I could think was that Thunder got between her and the fly.
I ran to the room to break it up. Thunder scurried up to my bedroom--where Maggie can't go. Maggie got yelled at.
Since then, Maggie has been respectful of Thunder ever since, but Thunder has been very afraid of her. I have been having trouble getting him to come downstairs. He will come down and greet me, get something to eat--then he runs back up.
To make things worse--it had to be around the 4th of July. Maggie barks at fireworks. Whenever she barks, now, he runs upstairs. Then it takes hours to get him back down. If the fireworks werent' enough, we have had a lot of thunderstorms. She barks at thunder, too.
It has been awful for me. He is happy up there--he has everything a cat should need. There are 2 rooms--both with great windows, food, water and a litter box. Every time I would visit him, he would be so happy! Of course, I sleep up there, too.
Each time he would start to get brave, she would bark at something--and away he would run.
I miss him! Without him to distract me, I have no excuse. I have to do housework.
Yesterday, he seemed to want to try hanging out downstairs, again. I had an idea. I took the ramp that Ellen gave me that her dog used to us and put it in his favorite room with red blanket--his favorite blanket. The ramp was for Maggie, but she was afraid of it. Thunder decided he like to sleep on it. By moving it to a different room, it attracted him like a magnet!
Maggie was having a quiet day. He managed to spend all morning and afternoon downstairs--mostly on the dog ramp.
He has been downstairs again today. He seems to get less skittish with each hour he is down here. I hope that Maggie doesn't bark...
Conquering the Lagoon, Again
Conquering the Lagoon, Again
Ellen and I finally got to go to the Pig Trail. Funny name--irrelevant story. We would have gone earlier, but between Dante's hoof abscess, my torn retina, lots of rain and some very hot weather, we just never made it until now.
Ellen was nervous for her first ride over there, because that is her nature. Her horse, Dante, is just such a good boy; there just wasn't much justification for it. I had already gone a few times when Shari when Dante's abscess was happening, so I knew Cole would be pretty good. Personally, I was just looking forward to riding somewhere we haven't been for a while.
The Pig Trail is really nice. The tough part is getting there. We have another river to cross, the very busy Lagoon area to ride through and a huge hill to go up.
To make the long story short, the ride went terrific except for one hiccup.
On the way out, as we were heading through the Lagoon, we had a little trouble. It can be a tough place to ride. I have written about it before. The trail runs parallel to the road. On the other side of the road is the fisherman's wall. It is a steep rock wall with the river below it.
There were no fisherman on the wall, no cars in the parking lots between the road and the trail and there wasn't much traffic. I told Ellen we couldn't have asked for it better morning for our first trip through the Lagoon together of the year.
I took the lead and headed off at a trot. Cole was pretty excited and wanted to go fast. I didn't want to get too far ahead of Dante, who naturally trots much slower. If I did, I would have to stop and walk much sooner so they could catch up. I asked Cole to slow down and got a little response from him. I asked him, again--and suddenly we were off and running!
I had trouble stopping, but I must confess that part of the problem is my hand got a bit tangled in his incredibly long, luxurious and very inconvenient mane. I didn't want to pull his mane out, so he got away from me. All I could think about was Ellen behind me. I had to get him under control.
He wasn't going top speed, so I don't think he was all that frightened, but he still didn't want to stop. I large truck started to pass us on the street. That couldn't possibly be the problem. As it passed us, I could see it was towing a boar.
It wasn't loud or going too fast. There wasn't any real reason for Cole to take off from it--and then I thought of Dante. Maybe he spooked at is and that set Cole off. Maybe Dante was right behind us in a panic! My big sister feelings kicked in. I had to take care of Ellen!!!
Once the truck passed us, Cole began to slow down and I was able to get him to stop. I immediately turned him around to check on Ellen.
There was Dante, a couple hundred feet away. He was trotting along nice and slow like nothing even happened. Why do I worry about them? Why does Ellen worry about riding him in different places?
She said that she saw the boat and stopped Dante. Dante just stood there as it went by. She couldn't yell a warning to me because I was already too far ahead, and my old ears wouldn't of heard her.
The rest of the ride was flawless for both horses, and we really enjoyed ourselves. They seemed to enjoy the ride, too. They were both a little more excited than usual, but they behaved lovely.
I can't wait to do it again.
Ellen and I finally got to go to the Pig Trail. Funny name--irrelevant story. We would have gone earlier, but between Dante's hoof abscess, my torn retina, lots of rain and some very hot weather, we just never made it until now.
Ellen was nervous for her first ride over there, because that is her nature. Her horse, Dante, is just such a good boy; there just wasn't much justification for it. I had already gone a few times when Shari when Dante's abscess was happening, so I knew Cole would be pretty good. Personally, I was just looking forward to riding somewhere we haven't been for a while.
The Pig Trail is really nice. The tough part is getting there. We have another river to cross, the very busy Lagoon area to ride through and a huge hill to go up.
To make the long story short, the ride went terrific except for one hiccup.
On the way out, as we were heading through the Lagoon, we had a little trouble. It can be a tough place to ride. I have written about it before. The trail runs parallel to the road. On the other side of the road is the fisherman's wall. It is a steep rock wall with the river below it.
There were no fisherman on the wall, no cars in the parking lots between the road and the trail and there wasn't much traffic. I told Ellen we couldn't have asked for it better morning for our first trip through the Lagoon together of the year.
I took the lead and headed off at a trot. Cole was pretty excited and wanted to go fast. I didn't want to get too far ahead of Dante, who naturally trots much slower. If I did, I would have to stop and walk much sooner so they could catch up. I asked Cole to slow down and got a little response from him. I asked him, again--and suddenly we were off and running!
I had trouble stopping, but I must confess that part of the problem is my hand got a bit tangled in his incredibly long, luxurious and very inconvenient mane. I didn't want to pull his mane out, so he got away from me. All I could think about was Ellen behind me. I had to get him under control.
He wasn't going top speed, so I don't think he was all that frightened, but he still didn't want to stop. I large truck started to pass us on the street. That couldn't possibly be the problem. As it passed us, I could see it was towing a boar.
It wasn't loud or going too fast. There wasn't any real reason for Cole to take off from it--and then I thought of Dante. Maybe he spooked at is and that set Cole off. Maybe Dante was right behind us in a panic! My big sister feelings kicked in. I had to take care of Ellen!!!
Once the truck passed us, Cole began to slow down and I was able to get him to stop. I immediately turned him around to check on Ellen.
There was Dante, a couple hundred feet away. He was trotting along nice and slow like nothing even happened. Why do I worry about them? Why does Ellen worry about riding him in different places?
She said that she saw the boat and stopped Dante. Dante just stood there as it went by. She couldn't yell a warning to me because I was already too far ahead, and my old ears wouldn't of heard her.
The rest of the ride was flawless for both horses, and we really enjoyed ourselves. They seemed to enjoy the ride, too. They were both a little more excited than usual, but they behaved lovely.
I can't wait to do it again.
Monday, July 9, 2018
Time Out on Trail Riding
Time Out on Trail Riding
I haven't been doing much trail riding, lately. I got a tear in my retina. When I asked the surgeon who fixed it what restrictions I had, he said I could do anything but horseback riding! I asked him how he knew that I rode, and he said that he didn't--he just said that--never expecting that was the big question I had to ask. It was the bouncing that he wanted me to avoid. I guess I could have ridden just at a walk, but all I needed was one of Cole's Cole bursts.
Ellen had to ride with Kevin for a while. It sounds like they had nice rides, but Starry really back stepped in his leadership training.
We had an older horse in our barn die who lived next to Starry. The stall was much better the the stall Dante was in, so we moved him over to the new stall. I think having Dante by him all the time has made him more reluctant to leave him.
They have been working on placing Starry off to the side when they are trotting with great success. Starry still fights it, but Kevin can keep him there. He wants to follow Dante so closely that if Dante suddenly stopped, there could be a collision. If he is off the the side, the collision can be avoided.
Ellen did take Cole on one trail ride. I think she had fun. He was very full of himself since he hadn't been out for a while. He showed Ellen what a fast he has. Then she remembered that I have been working with him to slow him down when I want him to, so she tried it. He listened to her and became much more manageable.
When I was finally able to ride, the weather didn't cooperate. We have had just enough rain to keep the river uncrossable. We have just been riding out on the loop behind the barn. It's not exciting, but when you haven't ridden in a while, it is wonderful!
I haven't been doing much trail riding, lately. I got a tear in my retina. When I asked the surgeon who fixed it what restrictions I had, he said I could do anything but horseback riding! I asked him how he knew that I rode, and he said that he didn't--he just said that--never expecting that was the big question I had to ask. It was the bouncing that he wanted me to avoid. I guess I could have ridden just at a walk, but all I needed was one of Cole's Cole bursts.
Ellen had to ride with Kevin for a while. It sounds like they had nice rides, but Starry really back stepped in his leadership training.
We had an older horse in our barn die who lived next to Starry. The stall was much better the the stall Dante was in, so we moved him over to the new stall. I think having Dante by him all the time has made him more reluctant to leave him.
They have been working on placing Starry off to the side when they are trotting with great success. Starry still fights it, but Kevin can keep him there. He wants to follow Dante so closely that if Dante suddenly stopped, there could be a collision. If he is off the the side, the collision can be avoided.
Ellen did take Cole on one trail ride. I think she had fun. He was very full of himself since he hadn't been out for a while. He showed Ellen what a fast he has. Then she remembered that I have been working with him to slow him down when I want him to, so she tried it. He listened to her and became much more manageable.
When I was finally able to ride, the weather didn't cooperate. We have had just enough rain to keep the river uncrossable. We have just been riding out on the loop behind the barn. It's not exciting, but when you haven't ridden in a while, it is wonderful!
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