Skipper's Story Part Two

When my husband went back out to see Skip there were a few things he wanted to know.  The main one being is this pony safe to be around our grandchildren who were young, noisy and very busy.  We can't have anything that would be jumpy or bite or at worst kick them when they are in the barn.  He questioned the men quite extensively and asked them to pick up his feet which they couldn't do as he was scared of them.  With two of them they were able to bully him around and at least try and Skipper never struck out at them only tried to get away from them. 


Next he had them harness him up to see if he indeed did drive and how he acted.  They proceeded to put a harness on him that was less then stellar hooked together with baling twine but it did the job.  He stood perfectly still and when they hooked him to the cart, which by the way was something they had rigged up with car tires for wheels, he was the perfect gentleman.


Now this cart had a strange feature.  Right in front of where you sat there was a high piece of plywood nailed to the cart and you had to lean to the side to see where you were going.  The Hubs asked what that might be for and the man said he had a mare that he was teaching to drive and she kicked a lot with her heels flying high by his head so the plywood was to keep him from getting struck.  Sigh........give me strength........


Skip drove beautifully, doing his turns, stops, backing up and paid no attention to the yapping dogs that were running along beside him.  This was looking good.  The Hubs paid the bill and came home to get me.  At that time we had a rather large trailer with a changing room and hooked it up and headed back out to no man's land.  I noticed the shoes were gone and a bit of blood here and there.  Like I said in part one if we had known they were going to tie him up on the ground to get the shoes off we would have had them leave them on and called our farrier to remove them, live and learn.


I was wondering how loading him on the trailer would go.  As all you horse people know that can either go really well or can be a nightmare.  He walked right on with nary a glance back.  All the way back to our house we kept stopping and checking on him and he rode beautifully chopping away on a nice fat flake of hay. This little 11 hand pony in a great big trailer.  I couldn't wait to get him home, fatten him up and give him the love he deserved but had never had.


We arrived home with all the fanfare of the arrival of a new baby with everyone coming out to see him and bringing him a carrot or apple.  We are fortunate we didn't give him a belly ache that first day!  The barn was still in progess but the carpenters had made a temporary stall for him until the real ones were finished complete with a tarp over the top in case of rain.  It was only a week or so and the stalls were finished and I put a nice big bale of sweet smelling shavings in for him.  He looked pretty small in that big box stall with the large window to put his head out but he settled right in happily.


Speaking of the carpenters.  Of course I had told them the tale of where Skippy came from and the life he had led so they kind of took him over as their honorary helper.  I would look out the window and they would be sawing something and he would be right at their elbow watching.  Most horses would spook at the sound of a saw but it didn't seem to bother him at all.


At lunch time they would be sitting around and right there with them would be Skip, I didn't know it at that time but they were feeding him donuts.  No wonder he was right at their elbow!  Not sure that was the best thing for him to be eating but he sure looked forward to them and if they didn't hide them well enough he would sniff them out and eat what was left! They couldn't even put an empty box in the trash as he would go through the trash and find the box and lick it clean.


Finally the barn was finished and the carpenters were gone, no more donuts but lots of carrots were always readily available.  We decided it was time to harness him up and go for a ride.  This almost didn't happen............


Continued...........

And then there was three........Skipper's Story

Skipper's Story

I'm not sure if I am ready to write about this or not but I think I need to get it off my chest before I can move on in blogging.  Each time I sit down to try to write a post this issue looms in front of me like a dark cloud.  As most of you know we had to put down our beautiful little pony Skipper a couple weeks ago.  It was very unexpected and happened so fast I could hardly absorb what had taken place.  He was only ten and we had had him for seven years.

When the grandchildren came along we wanted a pony for them to ride.  I had put an ad in that said we were looking for a well broke, quiet, child safe pony about ten years old or so.  We had been asking around at the local Pony Club and friends of ours that have horses to find such a pony.  Nothing.  That's when I put the ad in the paper thinking I would get lots of calls.  Not one except from the man that had Skip.

He sounded like a good prospect over the phone so we decided to take a drive out to see him.  It was getting near dusk and it was a 40 minute drive so I asked the man if he had lights in the barn so that we could get a real good look at him.  Well, he said he didn't have a barn but he would take him in the kitchen if we wanted..........that should have been my first clue.........in the kitchen.

We drove and drove and it was really getting dark.  There didn't seem to have been a house for a few miles and it was a bit errie out there in the woods.  Finally we came to the house and I just sank in my seat.  There is nothing wrong with living modestly but I do have an issue with people that live in filth.  It doesn't cost much for a bar of soap or take much effort to put the trash in the trash cans.  We almost didn't stop.   But we did.

They greeted us and when I asked where the pony was they pointed to an old one horse rusted out trailer.  I could hear movement in there and yes that is where Skip was being housed.  There was no pasture just a round pen with various other poor creatures standing around.  Evidently the other horses were picking on him so they kept him in the trailer, tied.

He was a shy little guy but let me lead him around tip toeing on his inch high shoes that are used for pulling ponies.  The man bragged that he could win a ribbon at any country fair and that they had been using him to yard logs out of the woods.  I felt sick.  His mane was shaved off and his tail was cut off up to the bone plus he was underweight for his 11 hands.  He had a beautiful face with big eyes and I was smitten for several reasons, the main one was to get him out of that place and the second was he did seem gentle and have a kind soul.

We went home that night talking about it all the way.  He wasn't anything that we were looking for.  He hadn't been ridden much if any and was totally lacking in any training except driving.  We would keep looking.

Wrong. 

I couldn't sleep that night very well as all of this was going through my head and when we got up the next morning I looked at the Hubs and we both said that we had to get him out of there.  The Hubs unbeknownst to me took a drive out that morning to check out some things that we needed to know if this pony was going to be around our young grandchildren.  He wanted to know if he would strike out at you if you tried picking up his feet as we knew there was a problem with that among other things.  He also wanted those horrible shoes taken off him but if we had known they were going to tie him up on the ground to do it we would have made other arrangements.

Continued..............

I am going to take a little break from blogging for a couple of weeks.  We lost our pony Skipper a couple days ago and I'm just not up to writing anything worth reading.  He was our little rescue pony and we had him and loved him for only seven years but it was a wonderful seven years.  Thank you in advance for your prayers and kind thoughts.

Have you ever worn a sign?

I must admit that this sign is sticking to the back of my dress.  Really.  Honestly.  I kid you not.

Sunday morning I was on usher duty along with three other woman at my church.  There is a small pew at the back of the main auditorium that is reserved for the ushers to sit in once the service starts so that they can help anyone that comes in late and needs to find a seat or anything else that might come up.  There are two of these signs with Velcro on the back to keep them stuck to the back of the pew but they don't always stay there, they fall down into the seat.

We did our ushering duties, took the offering and greeted each person warmly then we sat down for the service.  I felt like I was sitting on something but reached under my.....ahem......hind quarters and didn't find anything so forgot about it.  Now we sing quite a bit at our services with the praise band so I may have stood up three or four times in the hour or so that we were there.  When it was time to go I picked up my long coat that I had forgotten to hang up and had just put in the seat beside me.

We went to lunch at the Rudder as we usually do and once again I forgot to leave my coat at the coat room and wore it to my seat where I took it off and put it behind my back.  We had our lunch and I stood up, put my coat back on and walked out with my FIL as the Hubs went to get the car.  Either I am the dumbest person on the planet (don't anwer that!) or just don't have any feelings in my behiney because when we got home and went upstairs to change out of our dress clothes the Hubs said, "you have something on the back of your dress."

I thought to myself, now what have I set in?  I STILL didn't feel anything back there!  I reached around and grabbed that sign and could not believe my eyes!  Was that there when I walked down to the front of the church taking the offering?  Wouldn't someone have told me about it?  Wouldn't someone have giggled at the very least?!  Yikes!

I didn't go to the evening sevice as my sister is here from out of town and we wanted to visit but when one of my other sisters walked into the church someone came right up to her and asked her if she had heard that I wore a sign on my dress!  Good grief!  I will NEVER live this one down!

On to better subjects.  It was Miss T's birthday so the family got together at her house to celebrate on Saturday evening.  She had had a sleep over the night before with five other little girls so Son and DIL were looking a little sleepy eyed as the gals didn't go to sleep until late and got up at 5:45!

Miss T was excited about all of her gifts and the other kiddoes helped her unwrap and ohhed and ahhed over each thing.

A new sewing basket all of her own!

Getting ready to blow out the candles.

Hugs from Grammie!

It just doesn't seem possible that she is 8 years old.  It seems like just yesterday or at least last week that Mimi and I were in the delivery room waiting for her to be born.  It was one of the most exciting days of my life to see her come into this world!  Happy Birthday Miss T we love you!!!!!

Resting Underwear

It's been a while since I have really made a fool out of myself on the ole' blawg (you must remember the spray tan incident and of course the Spanx debacle) so I decided it's time.  This time it is about resting underwear.  Yes, you read correctly, resting underwear.

I had been looking for a new brand of br*as as the old ones just weren't doing the job if you know what I mean......... What is it about gravity as we get older?  Why couldn't gravity have been the other way and all things would  be elevated?  Just one of those questions that will never be answered but I digress.........

While in Texas I did quite a bit of shopping as it rained cats and dogs every day that we were there so we couldn't do many outside activities.  As I have said before Chico's is my favorite place to shop so we hit about four of them in different malls.  One of them had a really nice 'personals' department so I went in to take a looksy.

A really nice sales lady came right over as I perused all the different kinds of undies that seemed to be more suited to my age and style then those in so many stores that don't have enough fabric in them to blow your nose with.  Thongs.  I thought those were something your wore on your feet when you went to the pool.  Hip I'm not, hippy I am.

I told her what I was looking for and we picked out numerous styles and I headed for the changing room.  She hung everything up on a hanger and then asked me if I was a hooker or a twister?!!!!  Excuse me?!  Am I the only one on the face of the earth that didn't know what that meant?  After she explained I said I was a twister which is a no-no, all women should hook in the back and not twist the fabric around.  Who would know?

After trying on several I hit the jackpot and found something that was comfortable and.....ahem.....uplifting.....so I said I would take three of them.  Then came the resting part.  She explained that you NEVER wear this garment two days in a row!!  They have to rest for a day!!  A day of rest? Yep, a day of rest.  It was something about the fibers, elastic, blah blah blah.

I don't know about you but I have never heard about clothes that have to rest.  It's not like they are holding up the world.  Good grief.  Then she took the item of clothing I was wearing when I came in and threw it in the trash saying now that I had this brand I would never go back to that brand.  I didn't want to do any dumpster diving so I walked out with my purchases.  I got in the car with the Hubs who was waiting patiently for me (thank goodness for Blackberries!) and asked him if he knew that underwear had to rest.  He gave me the look like 'I really don't want to hear this' so I spared him the details. 

Have a good weekend!

I ate moose meat........

I am not very adventurous when it comes to eating wild game.  I grew up eating deer steak but really didn't like it and it wasn't due to my dislike of hunting practices it just plain smelled funny when it was cooking.  We used to say it smelled 'wild' whatever that meant.  I married into a family that loves to hunt.  Now I know it is necessary to keep the herds here in Maine in check but I don't have to like it.  My prerogative.  But it has been a source of many jokes over the years that I am a Bambi lover, which is true.  Most of you have seen some of the many pictures that I have taken of the deer that come to my yard about every night for some grain and apples.  I just LOVE watching them.

Anywho, we were invited to dinner at some friends house along with several other couples and guess what the main course was?  Moose meat.  I kind of gulped but we enjoy these people so I wanted to go and the Hubs has no reservations about eating any of that stuff.  I was promised there would be something that hadn't been killed in the back yard for me to eat.  I get queasy just talking about this.

We arrived at the given time and there was this delicious smell coming from the kitchen.  I figured they must have thrown a pot-roast together for those of us that are not moose eaters.  We all brought something to add to the dinner and my SIL brought a lovely rice, veggie and chicken casserole so I knew I was all set but boy did that pot-roast smell good.  I'm sure you are guessing that it was indeed moose meat.  The steaks turned my stomach but that pot-roast looked so good I thought I would give it a try and you know it was delicious!  If someone hadn't told me that it was moose I would have thought it was beef.

So why do some of us have such an aversion to some kinds of meat and not others?  They were talking about eating bear that night too and I almost barfed.  Now I love a nice piece of tenderloin that is cooked so that there is no red in the middle so is this a double standard?  Why is a piece of meat nicely wrapped in the refrigerator section of the grocery store okay but a wild animal not?  Well I guess I have rambled on enough on this.  Will I eat more moose meat.  Probably not.  Will I enjoy a nice filet mignon?  Definitely!

Sometimes I get the cutest cartoons via e-mail so I thought I would share a few with you.  Everyone knows I love cats so they send me their cat cartoons.

This looks like our house.

The ultimate horse lovers outhouse!

Ski Vacation

The kids had a great time on their vacation in Vermont.  Unlike here there was plenty of snow there to play in.  They stopped at the Ben and Jerry's factory on the way and enjoyed seeing everything and tasting the samples.

They arrived at Smuggler's Notch Resort and T and D were very happy to find the huge indoor play area that is there!

The next morning they were ready to ski!

Mr. D was exhausted after being out all day but Miss T and Daddy went up to the top of the mountain a few times!  This is the view from the top of the chair lift.

A self portrait on the way up.

Daddy and Mr. D being goofy!

DIL doesn't ski but was on photographer duty all day.  She did get to enjoy the tubing with them.

They went about 900 miles before all was said and done.  It was a FUN week! 

Thursday already.  I have been so bogged down with paperwork concerning the lake house that I've hardly been able to do anything else.  Let me just give you a word to the wise,  make an inventory of everything in your home or summer property and put it in a safety deposit box!  You never know what is going to happen,  fire, earthquake, floods, frozen pipes etc etc and you will need to fill out all of these papers.  We were lucky, the things were still there, just ruined, but we were able to go in and see what needed to be on the list.  'Nuff said.   :o)

DIL and I went out and spent about three hours pricing new furniture one day this week.  A little overwhelming when you have a whole house to do but we had fun and I think we picked some things that will look nice once the cottage is back in shape.  Not sure just when that will be but I think there will be plenty of time before beach weather arrives.

Well must get back to the paper work.  Oh, if you didn't get a chance to see my last post on our spay and neuter day at the Humane Society please go back and take a looksy.  It was an exciting day and I am so happy to have been able to participate with such a wonderful group of volunteers!   :o)