Flowers

This sign is hanging by my front door. Too many people have come to the door and no one answered, they thought we weren't home and we were right down in the barn doing chores so when I saw this sign I thought it was perfect.

It's not even mid season as far as the flowers go in this region but I thought I would take some 'before' shots now and then in a month take some 'after' shots to see how they've progressed for me with all the tender loving care I give them. (grow or I'll put you in the compost pile!) Ahem......

This is the front of the house garden that goes along the path that takes you to the Snowbird's residence. I put in lots of Wave petunias and some that were supposed to be Waves but aren't so they must have been mislabeled. Sigh.....that means deadheading which I'm not too fond of but if it keeps them going I will do it. Also I put tons of cleome but this year, the shorter ones as last year they got to be seven feet high!!!This is the garden out by the street. Here again I used petunias and mixed in there are lots of cleome but they are still practically seedlings at this point. There are lots of perennials that have been growing there for many years. You can see Snowbird's house on the right side of this picture. They have their own entrance but there also is a door between our two houses that I keep locked at all times nooooooooo...... I mean a door where we can go back and forth without going outside. Ahem again......

See my bunnies in the garden. There used to be some children in the neighborhood that thought they were real and brought carrots and apples for them. This kitty guards my gardens for me but notice that he has caught a cute little mouse in his paws! Bad kitty!

This is a new variety of petunnias that I got this year. I'll show a close up, it's just gorgeous. These are a couple of the varieties of hollyhocks that I just got this year. I loved them as a child as my mother always had them in her garden. Here's one more.

Well it's starting to thunder and turn rather dark out so guess I'll get off this computer before it blows up or something. The boys are all in the barn having their dinner but I keep an eye out in case one of them gets spooked by the storm and I have to go out and hold a hand.....no I mean a hoof!

These Fanfare Impatiens are what I have hanging on the front porch. They will cascade down as they grow and can take full sun. They are something new to this area last year and they did really well on my porch even though they don't get full sun.
These are like the ones I have on the front lawn but these are hanging on the back deck by my mother's sliding glass doors. I think they are just so adorable and I think I will press some for future crafts.

This is my little vegetable garden. I have tomatoes, squash, peppers, watermelon, cucumbers and pumpkins. It's just a small area but it really produces lots of yummy fresh produce for us and the horses LOVE the watermelon.

Guess that's it for the floral news around here so far. Hopefully everything will grow well and get full and lush. We need rain and I haven't gotten the sprinkler system going yet as one of the heads needs to be replaced and I just haven't called the repair guy yet. I'm getting tired of lugging hoses around so I think I will call him tomorrow!

Wordless Wednesday It's Still Standing

Monday Morning Musings

This was on the way to the lake on Sunday afternoon.

The weekend sure flew by fast as they ususally do so now it's Monday and back to the real world. We had a great weekend, went to camp after church on Sunday and it was beautiful down there. The sky was gorgeous with the big puffy clouds. The men put the docks in at our place and at my BIL's place next door. I got some shots of them and they told me that I should put out a Dock Putting In calendar of them and would make a mint! HA HA HA! In their dreams! When I got ready to take a picture I would tell them to suck in their stomachs and they said they already were! lol!

The water was still a bit cold but that didn't stop the kids from going in for a swim. I usually wait till July before venturing in but enjoyed watching the goings on from a chair on the lawn!

D put on one of his suits from last year and it still fit! I think it's one of those that keep you from getting too much sun. DIL went through all of the clothes from last year and will bring down a fresh supply for this summer. Came home about 4 to feed the guys and do Buddy's feet. He had a good day so we are a bit encouraged. It's kind of a roller coaster as some days are good and some aren't but we remain optimistic.

OOPS! One foot is black and one is done in white! Hey as long as it does the trick we don't care if they match! The farrier was here today and trimmed the ponies and checked Buddy's feet and cut out some of the pads for me that are a bit better then what I can do. He was guardedly optimistic and he gave me some more tips on what I can be doing.

Husband took a few shots of me and Buddy. He's not the most gorgeous horse there ever was but he sure makes up for it in disposition!

My old fashioned roses that we put in last summer are loaded with buds and blooms this year. They have more then tripled in size so I can't imagine what they will be next summer! So far (knock on wood) I haven't had any trouble with beetles eating the buds! Yippee!

T and D's cousin Kirk won the week at Bible camp contest at VBS last week! We were all so excited for him as he had worked so hard all week to earn his points! He is all signed up to go plus is going for another week as well. He called me Friday night and said in a sad little voice "I lost." and I felt AWFUL and then he said "just kidding! I won!!!!" He is a real outdoors type kid, just loves doing anything outside so really enjoys all the things that Camp Fair Haven has to offer and on top of it all learns each day more about God! He's a great kid, we consider him our third grandchild and his real grandparents are nice enough to share him with us! :0)

Friday Happenings

It's Friday again already. We are getting some much needed rain this morning but I am watching and listening for any signs of thunder as I don't leave the horses out when there is a chance of a bad storm.

I finally finished getting all of my annuals in yesterday. I was determined to get that job done before the sun went down! I went way overboard buying them but they are just so gorgeous when they bloom and I have no will power at the nursery when they call my name to take them home with me! Went back to the nursery yesterday to return all of the pots so that the owner can use them again and only came out with one hanging plant and two small plants to add to one of my barrels that needed a bit more color. Couldn't leave empty handed ya know!

Vacation Bible School is in full swing and the kids are having a great time. I miss working in it but this year was out of the question with all going on here at the 'farm' with Buddy and all. I'm usually in the barn until about 8 pm and come in and shower and hit the bed. It's looking really good that Kirk, T and D's cousin is going to win the free week at Bible Camp for earning the most points. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for him as he loves going to camp. He went two weeks last summer at age 7 and had a wonderful time. What's there not to love with swimming, boating, archery, horseback riding, hiking, crafts, chapel time, etc etc..... hummmmm wonder if I can go?????

I have been watching a pair of house sparrows for the last few weeks working on their nest in the barn and now taking care of their babies. Let me tell you that's one pair of hard working parents! They are bringing bugs and flies back to that nest constantly from about six in the morning till 8 at night! I can't see in the nest very well as it is high in the rafters but today I could see 3 or 4 little heads peaking out with their mouths wide open! Wish my camera had a good zoom lens on it so I could get some pictures.

I was reading Tonya's post over at There Is A Season yesterday and she was listing things that she is thankful for. I found that so uplifting and encouraging especially this week with my heart being heavy over the prospect of possibly losing Buddy in the near future. I too have so many things to be thankful for and am ashamed that I can tend to forget them sometimes when I am preoccupied with other things. One thing that she mentioned was being thankful for the bloggy friends that she has come to know and how we support each other in hard times even though we don't know each other outside of this world of cyberspace. I too am thankful for that and all the nice comments, prayers and thoughts that you, my blogging friends, have had for me these last couple of weeks. I know Buddy isn't a person but he has been my best friend for 14 years and is part of my family. So I am thankful for the past 14 years of fun we have had together, hopefully we will have a few more years but if not I sure do have wonderful memories of times spent out riding in the beautiful Maine woods and fields, spending time together in the barn just grooming and wading in the river getting cooled off. Thanks Tonya! :0)

Now that I have gotten my glasses all steamed up and my nose running I guess I'd better stop sniffling and get some housework done. lol! It has kind of taken a back seat the last few weeks so there is plenty to do. I'm trying to bribe Tina from Palm Tree Fanatic who does wonderful Tackle It Tuesdays to come to Maine and tackle some of my stuff!! She does the greatest organizing of anyone!!!

Oh for those of you who thought the handsome guy in the picture with Buddy in my last post was the vet he's not, he's my son! heehee! I got a chuckle out of some of your comments about him being cute and of course as his Mom I think he is a real cutie-pie and a truly nice person to boot!

Have a wonderful weekend everyone!!!!!

Vet Visit

Just to update you all on my visit today to Buddy's vet. I appreciate all of your kind words and prayers concerning his welfare.

Things could have gone better, there was more rotation of the canon bone which isn't good but there were other factors that were more positive. He was standing under himself better resting his back feet which puts more weight on his front feet and that was a good sign. He hadn't had any bute before we went down as the vet didn't want any false impressions. He was turning fairly well on the hot top both ways and didn't flinch as much when they used the pinchers to squeeze his feet. Now on a scale of one to ten with ten being the worst and one being the best the vet felt he was at a seven which was disappointing but it could have been worse. He trimmed his toe off very straight and put heavy insulation pads back on and I will continue to do that. He wants to see him again in 10 days unless I feel he needs to be seen before then. We will continue the ice soaks three times a day, no green grass or grain and daily turnouts on the sand.

That's about it. I did much better this time and didn't get all teary and mascara running down my face! :o) I think the vet was relieved with that! lol! He is being guardedly optimistic with this whole thing but not giving me false hopes either.

Thanks again for all your kind thoughts and comments, it sure means a lot to me!!!! :o)

Tuesdays Tidbits

Got off to an early start this morning. Funstuff, my Main Barn Gal was here at 6 a.m. to do chores and I was out there soaking Buddy's feet and giving meds. Tomorrow we go back to see Dr. Sherborne and see what he has to say. I am giving way to a bit of anxiety about this but I guess that is normal when you are concerned about someone or something that you care about.

I took T to her riding lesson at 9 and she did a great job and didn't fall on her head this time thankfully!!!! I could feel myself a bit tense watching her lesson even though I've seen kids fall off ponies a gazillion times, myself included, THIS WAS MY GRANDDAUGHTER and that makes it worse. Her instructor didn't sense any lack of courage so that was good. Kids are so resilient.

She worked a lot on balance so that she wouldn't be so apt to take another digger.

After a successful lesson she gets to lead Divit out and put her in her stall after a good pat on the neck and a few hand fulls of clover.

We had to go to the feed store for more vet wrap so T is always happy to see the resident mascot there a HUGE bunny named Stuart. He was being lazy today and didn't come out of his cage but she got to pat him and rub his ears.

Then it was off to Micky D's for some lunch. We were near Grampie's office so called him to join us out at the picnic table while we ate. Then we went for a little walk around the property. Well, some of us walked and some of us rode!

Did a few more errands after that and then headed for home. T and D both had dentist appointments at 2 pm and with Vacation Bible School tonight they probably needed a little rest. VBS is all this week and the children have a fantastic time with the skits, games, crafts, Bible stories and song time. Thursday night is Water Slide Night that the leaders construct out on the sloped lawn at the church and that is the hit of the week. I want to go to that and get some pictures and maybe even come down the slide myself!

Monday Morning Musings

It's a beautiful breezy warm day here this morning and no humidity! I've already hung sheets on the line and they are blowing in the breeze and remind me of back home when my mother hung everything out not just the sheets. Even in the winter! We didn't have a dryer then and things would be frozen stiff when she brought them in to put on a rack by the stove in the kitchen. With five kids there was a lot of laundry to be done. I know I am dating myself but I remember the old wringer washer we had too and I was always afraid she would get her arm caught in it but she never did. Now when I toss things in the washer and then the dryer I should remember to be thankful for modern conveniences!

We had a nice Father's Day even though Mr. Snowbird had an upset stomach. It didn't stop him from going to my sister's for a nice home cooked meal with hot biscuits though! Happy Father's Day again Dad! We were invited to my DIL's parents home out on the lake and it was a perfect day for swimming, tubing, knee boarding and of course EATING! Mimi always puts on a good feed for everyone and I once again ate way too much.......

I had never seen my granddaughter knee boarding so took my camera with me in the boat and got a few good shots.

D was going to give it a try but decided he'd stick with his new motorized bumper boat with the squirt gun. These things are so much fun, I had never seen them before but I guess Son found them at Wal**Mar*t. D loved squirting the unsuspecting people on the dock! :o)

Next was tubing.

It was beautiful on the pond.

About mid afternoon the clouds rolled in and we heard thunder in the distance to everyone rushed out of the water and we headed for home to make sure the horses weren't spooked by the storm. On the way the rain came in buckets and hail started pummeling my car. I was glad I didn't get any dents as I just had scratches that the turkeys made on the hood removed and repainted.

The horses were fine so once the storm was over I soaked Buddy's feet again. Things are about the same in that department but we are still working diligently on all the things we are supposed to do to try to make him sound again. We go back to the vet on Wednesday so are praying for a good report. Notice the snack in the lawn chair! Not too spoiled or anything!!

Well I need to go put Mir*acle Grow on all my annuals. I love how it comes in liquid now and just attaches to the hose and spray it on the plants. Things are growing well and should be really showy by July. I just love the splashes of color around the yard, just wish our growing season was a bit longer for us to enjoy the fruits of our labor! :o)

Thursday's Thoughts

I haven't been around much this week as I have been taking care of my sick buddy, Buddy. He is my 26 year old Appaloosa horse that my husband bought me for Christmas about 14 years ago.

We had been out of the horse business for a number of years due to life changes and interests that didn't involve weekends on the road to horse shows all over the New England states. We had bought a camp on a lake near by and most weekends were spent there soaking up the sun, fishing, swimming, four wheeling, and slinging hamburgers to a bunch of hungry teenage boys. We enjoyed every minute of it and wouldn't trade those times for anything, even the occasional 'mooning' that they found so hilarious at my expense! :o)

After about ten years the horse bug started gnawing at me slowly but surely plus Funsize (my niece) was about 10 years old and getting the horse crazies like most young girls do at that age. My friend Ann and I started looking around at different stables for something suitable for me and also suitable for a small 10 year old girl. Now, I am a good sturdy Maine woman at 5'7" and a hundred and plenty pounds so I wanted a good substantially built horse but it had to be gentle enough for Funsize to ride too without getting hurt.

We started looking at different possibilities. We went to one stable and the owner said "oh I have just the thing for you, an Appaloosa (which I wanted) and just the right size." This was sounding good. We went out to the barn and she brought out this horse that was trying to nip her all the while she was putting the saddle on. Hummmmm this didn't look like a child friendly horse or an adult friendly horse for that matter. Guess we'd pass on that one.

We went to a few other places with no luck and then stopped to visit Ann's Aunt Linda to see if she had heard of anything. Bingo! She knew of one that had just gone up for sale as the owner was going off to college and had to sell her horse.

We hopped back in the car, drove over without an appointment and went to the door. The gal graciously asked us in, I guess we looked pretty harmless, and asked what kind of horse we were looking for then she took us out to the barn to see Buddy. I fell in love immediately, without even riding him I knew he was the one for me. He was H.U.G.E.! He was an Appaloosa and he was gentle and kind. The price was more then what I was thinking of spending so I reluctantly left but came home talking about this horse. He had been used for jumping and dressage and I wanted a western trail horse but hey that didn't discourage me from wanting him.

A few days before Christmas my husband, who BTW is always late with his shopping, was out one night and I called him on his cell phone to pick up something at the store and thought he was rather short with me which isn't like him at all but figured it was the shopping which he hates to do on a good day let alone an evening after he's worked hard all day.

Anywho, Christmas Eve came and we were in the family room around the tree opening a few of the gifts before the whole family came for our annual get together and I saw a small box and it looked like it had a picture on the top. I looked more closely and sure enough there was a picture of Buddy on the box and I couldn't believe it!!!! I said, "you bought me that horse???" Yes he said, I was in the middle of negotiations when you CALLED ON MY CELL PHONE! Hummm, no wonder he was a bit short!

Anyway Buddy (Downeast Moonbug) has been the perfect horse for us. He has been reliable, willing and gentle. In fact Funsize dubbed him our Gentle Giant as he is a big boy at about 1300 lbs. He easily transitioned to a western pleasure trail horse and never looked back plus was very good with Funsize in her early lessons even though she looked like a little munchkin on him.

So here we are 14 years later with health issues that we are dealing with. Laminitis affects the feet and his are extremely sore to walk on and his xrays showed more rotation of the bone then I would ever have wanted to see. We are soaking his feet four times daily in ice water plus he is on bute for pain. He wears pads on his feet fashioned out of very thick Styrofoam type stuff that is held on with vet wrap and duct tape. He cannot have any grain or green grass but can have hay and takes his bute mixed in applesauce.

We are hopeful that this will all help. We don't know if it will or not. This is hard. Our vet says that if he doesn't come around in two weeks we will have to make some difficult decisions. We will not have him in pain just so we can still have him in our lives, he has been too good of a member of our family to do that to him but we are giving this our all and will continue to work as hard as we can to make him sound again. We are optimistic and he is being pampered like a king! :o)

Monday Morning Musings

It was a gorgeous weekend here in beautiful downtown Maine USA. I got more plants set out, slathered myself with sunscreen this time, and got lots of work done around the yard and barn. I haven't had hollyhocks for a long time so decided to try to get them going on the back of the garage where I have my veg garden where it is full sun. I remember as kids my mother had them in her garden and we liked to pick off the blossoms and they looked like little bonnets.

Got about four flats of Cosmos put in too. Like them as they have tons of blooms and make wonderful inside bouquets. I got singles and doubles this year and two different heights. I went over board buying bedding plants but everything just looked so darned good to me I couldn't resist.

Yesterday after church and lunch out at Muddy Rudder our favorite restaurant Son set up the water slide for the T and D and the neighborhood kids. Now this thing is huge, it looks almost as big as their house, not really but it is huge!

See what I mean!

My little kiddie pool that I have stored in the basement sure looks wimpy beside this thing! It seems like each year they come out with one bigger and better. The kids sure were having a great time even though the water was freezing cold right out of the tap! Of course before I left I was soaked which the grands thought was hilarious! heehee!

It a pretty walk through the woods over to son's house, occasionally a deer will run by and jump the daylights right out of me or the bucks will give a big snort!

Right now I'm waiting for a call back from my vet. My old appy seems to have foundered again much to my distress so the vet said to soak his feet in ice water this morning, take his temp (102*) and give him 10 cc's of banemine so now I'm waiting to see if that gives him any relief. He was very sore and stiff this morning but yesterday he was fine and two weeks ago the farrier checked him for any signs of founder (laminitis) and didn't find anything so who knows what brought it on this time. He's had it about four times in his lifetime all in the last 10 years.

At 26 years old I guess I have to expect things to go wrong but it doesn't make it any easier. You horse people all know what I'm talking about. If your horse hurts you hurt even more! I've shed more then a few tears this morning but now need to brace up and just do the things I need to do to help him out. Hopefully we caught this early enough so that it won't have permanent effects.

Till next time!