Sometimes the change comes faster than you're ready for...

Lots has happened since the last post. 

First, I have sold my house. Close of escrow is on or before August 19, and I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed. The good news is that the buyers have agreed to clean up the property - I just have to get the house cleaned out. The bad news is that I have to get the house cleaned out.

How can one person accumulate so much crap? Ok, I know that when I moved in here 4.5 years ago, I went from a 1436 sq. ft. house into an 840 sq. ft. house, and didn't have enough room for everything, so I purged big time, I thought. Since then, I've managed to accumulate more stuff, acquired some of Mom's stuff after her passing (I needed a dumpster even before that!!), and now find myself doing the 2nd run through the clothing (how many t-shirts does one need??). I have already taken 4 bags of clothes to Goodwill, and one bag of shoes - my ex used to call me Imelda...

Needless to say, I've been procrastinating. I need to find a flatbed trailer to haul the panel gates and hog and cattle panels over to Correy's, since I don't want to sell them (I might need them someday...). Also, fencing, t-posts and 4 x 4's that can be used for animal stuff. I haven't found a borrow-able trailer yet, and don't want to spend the $$ to rent one.  Correy has generously offered to babysit my loom, and a couple of vintage oak dressers (one is Mission), and all the fiber... I'm not sure she knows how much that is... ;-)

But along with the full-blown panic of moving, there have been some really fun times in the last few weeks. Two weeks ago, I headed over to Correy's to help skirt fleeces (maybe she does understand how much fiber I have after all...), and got to see Who's Your Daddy in person.  Man, is she a pistol! We haltered both foals, and Correy did the initial leading training.

Her colt is relatively mild mannered, and really cute. He's out of her Arab/Appy/Paint mare, Jazz, and her Foundation Quarter Horse Stallion, Duster. The colt's name is Duster's Sunday Surprise, as he was born early on a Sunday morning, when everyone had decided that Jazz was just going to be permanently pregnant (she was about 3 weeks overdue).  He has the greatest markings, and the promise to be a very nice-looking horse (he will be gelded). A couple of pictures:

Whosie (tater is not appropriate), on the other hand, is a total control freak like her mother (and me...). She does NOT want that thing on her head, and she does NOT want to walk with you and she does NOT really care if you touch her or not, even when it feels good.  She threw herself on the ground several times that first time after getting the halter on.  We took advantage of that and scratched her all over, moved her legs around, played with her tail - all the while she was rigid with indignation.  Make no mistake, this filly was NOT afraid. Combined with the fact that this girl is going to be around 15 hands (her knees are already at the same height as Kiri's), it's going to be imperative that I figure out what makes her tick and get her to acquiesce to a human being alpha.  Should be interesting. First picture is before we "tormented" her:

Note how tall she is in this picture - she's one month old - Kiri is about 13.2 (54" at the withers):

After her exhausting afternoon (aren't baby teeth cute?):

Also, here are a couple of pictures that I forgot I had from the Reno trip. These were taken at the marsh about 1/4 mile from my old house.  I swear this Yellowheaded Black Bird was posing:

Not a great picture, but a Great Egret is always fun to see:

And last but not least, this last Sunday, Correy's daughter, Brin , and I went to what turned out to be the finale concert of the Oregon Bach Festival. Brin had gotten a voucher for 2 tickets, and let me choose the concert.  Since the one with Yo Yo Ma was exempted from the voucher (dang...), we went to see Beethoven's 9th Symphony (Ode to Joy).  I've never seen it live, though I have a really nice recording of it. I almost got to sing in it, but had to drop out last fall when I strained my voice trying to sing it.  I'm a first soprano, but there are more high A's in that one piece than I've sung in my whole life up to that point, and it was too much.  Anyway, the music was really good, the soli were adequate, but the chorus rocked! They were so tight, entrances and cut off's were perfect and the sound carried out over the orchestra like ocean waves - there all the time.  I had goosebumps the entire concert.  I'm sure my seatmate (not Brin) was wondering about this loony sitting next to her bouncing her feet and swaying to the music - I just can't help it!!

So, onward. Tonight I'll sort the clothes again... Honest...

Iz hab code in by nose...

Today is a better living through chemistry day – Airborne and Mucinex are my friends. I finally succumbed to the cold that I thought was allergies all last week (dang). I should have known when my nose became leaky faucet Saturday, and I couldn’t seem to get warm. Oh well, hopefully, it will be the last one of the season (the first one and only other was at Thanksgiving).

As such, I had a very bori... um, relaxing weekend. I read 3 books (I read very, very fast). I brought the dyed fiber in from the porch (see previous post) because after 2 weeks it still wasn’t dry. It’s now suspended between my hutch and a box over the window thingy, and mostly dry. I fluffed and braided all but 8 oz. of the fiber that was dry. I took a nap with Lyra. I walked Annie around the pasture, having her stepping over logs (she’s very aware of where her feet are, unlike a very big horse I know), and picked up all of her feet. She had forgotten that skill when I first got her – with some work (not really all that much), she’s remembered.  And I did it without her being tied up. What a good pony.

My sister reminded me that I had not sent her pictures of Ted. 

He basically fills this basket, which is 20" across – he’s becoming rather rotund… If he looks like he's glaring, he is.  I still can't touch him without him hissing and growling.  He was all comfy before I interrupted him. I would like to be at home curled up under my down comforter with Lyra.

Oh, and after 2 days with no rain, and a little sun, it's raining again, and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future.  Current rainfall total: 60 inches since Nov. 1, 2010.

Spring is coming, right?

Hello, my name is Laura...

And I have a problem. I collect horses. I should be happy with one. But then there were two. Both are rideable, though one isn’t sure she should have to be…

FIBER NEWS: I’m gearing up to go to Fiber Market Day in Prineville on the 29th of March. I have lots and lots of fiber/yarn to dye. I’ve also been asked to do a Natural Dyeing demo, and will coordinate that with a class on Sunday. I’m really excited – I’m going to change my normal class to include a skein from each of the participants of different fiber (from their own animals). In addition to making it more personal, it will also give all the participants the chance to see that not all fibers take the dye the same way. My goal for the future is to expand this class so that people will have a sample book like the one that I did for myself a few years ago with different yarns, overdyeing, and a record of the % of dye to weight of fiber. To an extent, natural dyes are repeatable, though they’re dependent on the mineral content of the water. If you’re using well water, that is variable, depending on the time of year, just like the color content of the plants. The scientist in me loves this!

Back to the title content: When I got back into horses, my first horse was a Haflinger mare, named Honey.

Honey had been injured, and I thought that I could let her heal for 6 months to a year, and then ride her. Unfortunately, x-rays showed that her injury was much more extensive than first thought, and riding (and breeding) were out of the question. She was the blond bombshell in the pasture, until I found what I thought was the perfect home. A family had a son who didn’t want to ride, but wanted a horse to lead around, groom, and generally be a buddy with. The agreement was that she would come back to me if circumstances dictated that they needed to lighten their equine load. She didn’t. Last fall (a year later), I found an ad on CL, which from the description, was Honey. I emailed the poster, with Honey’s name in the subject line, and told them that I would pick her up on the weekend. The woman was very nice, explained how she ended up with Honey (the people lost their home, and “boarded” two of their horses with her, but never paid).

When I picked her up, it was obvious to me that she hadn’t been getting bute (horse aspirin) for a good long while, as she was quite lame. I made one of those difficult decisions, and had her put down. I kept a lock of her flowing white mane in memory of the pony who got me back into horses.

Fast forward to 2 weeks ago. I was cruising CL (there should really be a 12-step program for that site!!), and found a 4 year old Haflinger mare for free. She is untrained, other than haltering and leading. I called my horse conscience, who gave me the go-ahead (she knew Honey, as well). I took the afternoon off, went home to pick up the trailer, and headed north. The mare was in far northwest Oregon, which you get to by going through Washington. I got there just after dark.

The mare had been caught, and as I walked around her in their barn, she was snuffling in my hair. She was curious, but unsure, but seemed very sweet. They called her Annie – I’ve renamed her Sweet Annie, since she has a nice golden color, which reminds me of the citrusy scent of the herb (sometimes odors have color for me).

 Ann had not been in a trailer since they picked her up as a weanling. I led her up to the trailer, she shuffled her feet for a couple of minutes, and then walked in. YAY! From there, we had a long drive home.

When I got home, it was 11 pm. She very calmly let me lead her out of the trailer, walked over a tarp like it wasn’t there, and into the barn, where Chris tried to eat her over the fence (the big turd). She was the bottom of the order at her old place, and seems to be at the bottom of the equines here, too, but over the alpacas.

Last Saturday, my farrier came out. Kiri was a poop, and had to have the stud chain to stand. She shaped up. Annie wasn’t sure about picking up her feet, but we were able to get her front feet trimmed, and her back ones picked out. I’ve been working on picking up her feet and she’s getting much better. Next weekend, I’ll have my farrier back to do her back feet, so she can be on the same schedule as everyone else.

I’ve actually put a saddle on her back – this for a mare that basically knows nothing. I didn’t have a girth on it, but she let me put it on and off.

The reasoning for this acquisition is this: I’m tired of dealing with other people’s baggage when it comes to “used” horses. I have trained a horse before, and it was the most satisfying relationship I’ve ever had with an animal. Sure, he had baggage, but it was my baggage and I knew how to deal with it. Annie will be trained my way, with my methods, and it will be all she knows. I won’t have to convince her that it’s a good idea (Kiri…) – she’ll just do it. She’s calm, accepting, curious, and will be great fun. She will be the last horse I have in my life (I hope!).

FARM UPDATE: The free chickens have turned out to be all roosters, after all. I’m able to take them back, so Monday, they will go with me to work.

I installed my new-to-me stove. My old stove's igniters quit on the right side, and then a couple of weeks ago, it started smelling like propane in the house - not good. In the process, it drained my 25 gal. tank. The new one is a 5 year old Kitchenaid, convection oven with probe, jetted for propane (this is why I like CL). There are no gas leaks, and all the burners light automatically except one, which needs a match. Hey – it’s better than nuking everything. I’ve been subsisting on Ramen and pasta (8 minutes for ramen noodles, 12 minutes for pasta). Don’t even try to do meat in a microwave…

As soon as I have some stuff dyed, I’ll post pictures. I’m always surprised at how they come out – like Sharon’s son’s comment: “Where came this?”