Fantastic horse time!

Hi everyone.   I didn't play with my horses over the weekend so when I took them out today I didn't expect much, but it was awesome!

Will learns so darn fast!  I taught him to spin today.   :)
He got it on the third try!  I'm not kidding...the look on his face on try three was "Oh, that's what you want."   The paddock we play in is large, (like three arenas put together), so I very carefully tried liberty with him today.  OMG, it was so incredible.  He never left me even once.  

And Lily learned how to come put her side up to me so I can mount.   I didn't mount of course but now she knows. 

Awesome day.

You know what else is awesome?..... RV's.   :)

My landlady and I spent over 5 hours at the camping and RV show yesterday.  I learned a ton about them and met some really nice people.  I put a fold up camper in place in less than 30 seconds all by myself with no strain at all....literally 30 seconds!   These things are awsome and it makes me want one.   Except I need one hooked to a horse compartment. Hehe.
Maybe someday. 

It cooled off a little here and it was nippy this morning.  It doesn't bother me though because by 9:00 it's starting to warm up beautifully.  Besides, our weather is going back to really warm this week so no worries.

The riding lawn mower I use to get work done has been in the shop since Thursday so I picked manure in a bucket and rolling cart today.  It wasn't so easy and I'm a little tired.
Also it was a little more difficult doing my exercise video this morning.   I just felt tired.   Hmmmm....I don't know what's going on with that.  
I guess these weekends are just screwing up my mojo.  :)

The reason I'm on the computer on a Monday is because I'm sitting on the porch of my landladys house.  The signal isn't great but it's okay.   Maybe I can post more often now.

Her little Dalmation, Annie, keeps coming over to check me out. She's really cute. 

Well, Will is looking over the fence at me and telling me it's time to go into the night-time paddock.  He knows it's dinner time.  Such a smart boy.  

My hands look like a man's!

No kidding, they really do.  I've been working very hard and it's taking a toll on my ravishing beauty!  Hehe, kidding of course. 

The good news is that I'm losing weight, I can tell by my clothes.  So I've got to keep it up. 

I'm sorry it's been so long since my last post...a whole week!
The time is flying by!  There's still a lot to do before my son and husband visit next month, but I'm finally beginning to feel at home. 

While my landlady was away in California I worked to make her large front yard look better.  Picking up sticks and debris, raking leaves, etc...   I've made a huge pile behind the barn, (so people can't see all the junk when they drive in), and will be taking a huge load to the county dump pretty soon. 

The washing machine problem is over.  Instead of making my landlady pay for a repair person I told her it would be cheaper to get one from craigslist.  And I was right.  I talked some people into selling me their machine for $50.
I asked her son to go help me get it and we got it in the house and it works fine.   Yay!    (I've been doing laundry today.)   The people I bought it from were astonished that I could lift it into my truck.    :)

A few days ago, it rained and I decided to work inside the house.  It took one full day to take the stove apart, scrub it clean and put it back together.  It now looks new.  And boy, I sure feel better about cooking on it.   
Some of my friends know I'm a clean freak.

Yesterday was spent scrubbing paint and grime off of the windows in the kitchen and dining room...including the storm windows on the outside.  The blinds were sticky and grimy from years of grease I guess so I gave those things a bath in the bath tub.  I had to sponge each blind individually but it was worth it because they look like new as well.  The windows sparkle when I look out and it makes me smile. 

Will and Lily are doing so great.  They're losing weight and looking like horses again.   I brought out the pedestal the other day and I can't get them off the thing!   I got Lily to put all four feet up on it, if only for a few seconds. 

Will is cantering on the 22 and 45 and keeping it!  I only let him go about four laps though and then praise the hell out of him.  
He learns so fast that boy!  He's really acting more like an extrovert right now.   I'm loving that!
I think the saddle's coming out in the next few days.   :)

I'll have them wear the saddle for over a week before ever mounting up.  It will just become part of their daily routine.

I continue to faithfully do my exercise videos and I'm feeling stronger. 

I'm so sorry I can't reply to your responses to my posts.  I don't see any way to respond, but please know that I always look forward to reading them and enjoy them very much.

I just saw on the TV while I was eating lunch today that there's so much more to do in Orlando beside the normal Disney World etc.    My son, husband, and I may need to check that out while they're here.

Oh! That reminds me....  
A couple of days ago I went next door because I saw a worker's truck parked outside another mobile home.  Since I wanted some tips on how a mobile home works, (you know, windows and such), I decided to go ask.

The people there were very friendly and the worker guy had brought along his brother-in-law who was deemed to be THE expert on windows and doors so he volunteered to go over to my mobile with me to give me some tips on how to repair my broken window.

Turns out he's a big-wig over at one of the golf clubs and gave me his business card.
On the back of the card he wrote....
      
          Good for 4 - 18's with cart.    Val.

How cool is that!   We'll get four rounds of golf at his club, that's so exciting!  Golf clubs are busy places around here during the winter. 
Anyway, I got a two-fer.    Lucky me. 

The next time I get to report here I hope I can tell you that I've got the siding on my little mobile home scrubbed down and the yard all raked of leaves and twigs, AND the weeds pulled.   AND that Lily will be better at not bracing against the pressure on her nose.  

Til then.   TaTa.

Lovin it!

Oh my gosh, the weather is everything I dreamed it would be...in the mid seventies all this week!  I had to buy some sun screen.   :)

I missed getting to the library this past Thursday as I was working on a project.  I wanted to finish it and didn't have enough time to get there and post before they closed. 

I've been working very hard this week on this property...it's beginning to look better.  I wish I had a dime for every leaf I've raked up and I've got loads more to go.  And twigs.....millions of little twigs and limbs.  Oh well, it's making me lose weight.   I don't have a set of scales so I don't know how much yet but my clothes are more loose. 

This past Wednesday it rained all day, so I took that opportunity to drive into Ocala for some shopping.  The items I needed for the house were many and I figured I'd have to go to Walmart and grab them all.  Not so.   I passed by a very large "Goodwill" store and stopped in.  Wow, I got most of what I needed in there and it was so cheap!   Two big bags of stuff for less than $50.  The only thing I couldn't find that I had to get at Walmart was a timer for an outlet. 
:)
I also drove around to see what was where and Ocala has everything a person could want.  My last stop was the healthy market, (very much like the one at home) and I stocked up on more food. 

I've been faithful with my exercising.  On Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays I get up, go outside to feed, then head back in to do my "Buns of Steel" DVD.  Then breakfast and out the door again to go do horse time.
Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays I do my Ab workout DVD.  I do feel stronger, but can't get all the way through the BOS DVD yet.  I'm trying.

Will and Lily are doing very well.  Will was full of spit and vinegar today.  He's so funny.  He's doing so well I have to come up with some more things for him to learn fast.   :)

Lily is my shrinking violet who doesn't want to be.  I think it pisses her off to be unconfident.  She'll snark at me when asked to do something, but I'm giving her plenty of time when she does it well and comes in to me.  This has proven to be very effective.  We have to stand there for quite a while sometimes, but it's getting better every day and she's licking and chewing a little faster than before. 

My husband sends me a packet each week containing the newpaper from home, my "Chronicle of the Horse" magazine, and any mail that's come in for me.   I keep hoping he'll put a love note in there for me one of these times but it hasn't happened yet. 

He did report that my younger son now has a girl he's dating!
This is HUGE news!   The kid will be 27 this year....it's about time!  :)

While I was at the Goodwill store I stocked up on some cheap CD's.  Now I'll have music to clean house and do laundry by today.
Oh, speaking of laundry...the washing machine in the house where I am doesn't let any cold water in.  It's a gigantic pain in the ass.  I have to fill pitchers of water at the sink then poor it into the machine...it takes forever!    I'm looking on craigslist to see if I can find a really cheap one out there.  If we called a service man it would be over $100 I'm sure of it.  The landlady doesn't want to spend much.  I don't blame her.

I also need a 12 foot farm gate with wire on it so my husbands dog can't get out of the yard when they come to visit.   I'm even looking for a dog house so she'll feel secure.
My husband will want to let her in the house, but I won't let him. 

I talked to one of the 3-star instructors that's down here for the winter and she and I have plans to have dinner together.  She's been living in her horse trailer so a home cooked meal would make her feel really good I bet.  I'll try to get more work done on this place before I invite her.  It'll take me another week or so to have the place where I think it's presentable for company. 

Okay, I'm off to enjoy my weekend.  After all the hard work this week, and getting the cleaning done today, it'll be nice to relax tomorrow.  I think I'll listen to the Parelli DVD's that came in December.  I haven't had a chance to do that yet.

The program has begun.

Hi everybody. 

A funny thing happened, well, not so funny, on Saturday after I'd posted here.  A member of another forum I belong to had posted a website where a woman was recounting how she had tried to explain sex to her eight year old daughter.  I was trying to catch up a few pages back because I hadn't been to this forum in some time.
I don't own earphones and the library was busy with people studying and being very quiet.  So I turned the volume down as low as it could go without being off and put my arm over the speaker and layed my head near.  Nobody could here so I didn't think I would bother anyone. 

Toward the end of the video I must've hit a button or something because the computer's volume came very much  back on, and at the loudest setting!   And of course it happened as the woman was using very sexual words!   I was absolutely mortified as I tried like mad to find a key, ANY KEY that would shut it off!   I couldn't do it!  It just kept on screaming to everyone in the place that I was listening to some kind of porn!!!!  OMG, I was jerking the cord out, trying to turn it over to pull the battery out, everything, to no avail!
Everyone was looking at me!   I was trying to explain to everyone but I was so embarassed that my efforts to do so just weren't working. 
So, let this be a lesson to all of you who don't own earphones for your computer..... GO BUY A PAIR!
Now the whole little town here thinks I'm a pervert!!!!!

I started playing with my horses yesterday.  They got to go out on a 22 to explore their new environment.  Will always does the same thing when taken to new places....he marches right out in the middle then stops dead with his head up looking.  I waited.... and waited......and waited.....and waited, then he looked at me and said okay, let's go somewhere.  And away he went.  I was at zone 4 and he took me all over that place with not one ounce of unconfidence. 

Lily, went out there a few yards at a time.  Once she knew that I wasn't going to ask her to go anywhere, her confidence came up and she got brave and went and explored as well.

Today, after another exploration, I played with them on some figure eight, circling, and sideways.  They act like their at home, so I'm very pleased. 

I won't bore you with the other work I'm doing.  Just clearing property and sprucing things up as I said.   The riding lawn mower I use to pull the dump cart around started acting up so it got taken in to the John Deere place this morning.   Hope I get that thing back soon as I can't do much work without it.

My landlady will be gone for a week to California.  Her daughter will be around so my week will be a normal one.

Oh, and it was 80 degrees today.   :)   This is just awesome. I'm so very glad I'm here.  When I think of the cold at home, I just laugh out loud I'm so happy.   :)

It's the weekend.

It's Saturday.  I didn't do very much today, just the usual horse chores plus some mowing and moving of debris. 

I'm really not going to start my horses program until Monday.  I needed time to get everything into working order and organized, and they needed time to rest and get comfortable in their new surroundings.

Yesterday, my landlady and I went into Ocala to the farmers market and to get feed, (for her, I brought my own).  We
also stopped into one of the thrift stores and I purchased a numbered print for the tea room in the cottage.  Sometimes you just get lucky.

When we got home I unloaded her feed, made and ate some soup, filled out a birthday card for my brother, (which I mailed today), and went back out to work.

As usual, I picked up poo in the playground...I figure in about three more weeks I'll have it all gone. I then just did general work, all of which consists of digging, raking or lifting so my right arm is beginning to get sore.  I'm going to give it a rest this weekend. 

In the next few weeks, I'm going to try to make a drag out of the wire, boards, and concrete blocks my landlady has laying around.   It'll help the sand to be more level.

I dug out some waist high weeds along the paddock fence line and then mowed between paddocks #1 & 2 today.   I also mowed and cleaned up yard debris on the north side of her house.
It's beginning to look better around here.

Of course I'm at the library in order to post here, so after I get home and have lunch I'm going to clean house and do some laundry.  
Gosh, what in the world am I gonna do tomorrow?!   Hehe, I guess I'd better rest!   

A good weekend to all you followers, whoever you are.   :)

Busy, busy.

Wow, there's a lot to do around here.  My landlady doesn't exactly work much on her place.   This is the first time she's owned property and I think made this mistake of thinking that the animals will keep the paddocks eaten down so she doesn't have to mow.   The weeds have taken over.  I'm working on it.

The biggest problem so far has been the fact that there's no tools to get the jobs done.  I've had to go out and purchase some things.  Luckily, I need these things at home too so they'll go back with me.

Will and Lily are settling in just fine.  There are lights on those giant lamp posts so this is the first time in their lives they go through the night with it not completely dark.  Wish I could shoot those darn things out, I love the dark.   But of course, the woman believes she's safer with them.

She's my age, but just doesn't have the stamina that I do.  She can only work with me for a few minutes before going back in the house.  But at least she does get out and do stuff.  Good for her. 

We'll see how we get along, I'm a clean freak, she's, well, not.  hehe   Maybe I'll rub off on her.

Oh no, the library's about to close.. gotta go.
Talk to you all on Saturday.     :)

Oh, my horses got a really good grooming today.  :)

A pretty good day.

The guy didn't show up with my horses until 3:00 in the morning.  He went too far south to another address that was the same as mine. 

When he finally got here, he was very apologetic and even took off some of the price.   So he made good in my eyes and
I feel better about him.

Will and Lily came off the trailer perfectly except Lily slipped in all the manure and went to her knees on the ramp.  She scrambled a little and was okay.  He had these short awful lead ropes on them so I had to switch them out in the street, in the dark while holding on to their fly masks, paperwork,and the very sheet I asked my husband not to send. 

So here I am juggling all of this and he asks me if I need help.
I said no.   :)   The three of us all walked just as calmly as you please through the gates while my landlady's horses were racing the fence.  But I looked back over my shoulder and said, "Oh, the reason I don't need help and the reason my horses self loaded is because I'm a dedicated Parelli student and these are Parelli horses.
:)
I think people need to know.


I turned Will and Lily out into their paddock when I got up this morning.  It was a little late because I'd been up so long during the night.  But they'd eaten their hay and drank water and looked good so we're in the clear I think. 

Will was warm, they have way too much hair for the weather we're having.  Even the Floridians are saying that this is a really mild winter. 
Heck, I'm already getting tan!

Also, I didn't do my exercises today but I did get some work in.  I strung more electric fence and trimmed a very large tree.
Two big dumpsters came in today, one for manure and the other for limbs and rubble, etc.  So I've been carting stuff to them and unloading with a big shovel.  Hopefully, I'll lose some weight.  I'm sticking to my healthy eating so maybe some pounds will be shed.


Okay, so the library is open on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays and they have free Wi-fi.    So that's when I'll be doing my posting. 

I'm heading out to do some major grocering shopping.... and to buy a serated knife.  It's hard to get along without one of those things.    Who knew.      :)

Grrrr!

I'm not happy.   I paid the guy extra because he wanted to wait to get a third horse to make the trip to Fl.  So I made a deal with him through emails that I'd pay him more and he'd just bring my two right away. 

He was supposed to pick up my horses at 6:00 a.m.   I'd made arrangements for other people to be at the farm early to help load the horses.  The guy didn't show up til 8:00 because he'd gone to pick up another horse!!!  What?!!!!

So he didn't come down I-95, he went down 81 to go to Atlanta so he could drop that other horse off. 

When he called me at 2:00 p.m. he said he'd just gotten into NC.  What?!   How could he have driven that many hours and just gotten into NC?!!!

He said he averages 55 miles an hour.   That just has to be wrong.  All the speed limits are 65 or 70 MPH.  
It's just taking longer and my horses now have to be on that dang trailer a lot longer than I'd planned... and PAID for!

He said he'll be dropping my horses off around 2:00 a.m.  Yeah right, if he's driving that slow the sun will already be up.  Grrr!!

I'm clearly never using his services again and will not be giving him any recommendations. 

On a better note, he said it's the first time in many years that he's had a self loader.     :)
I didn't even tell him I do Parelli, but I will when he unloads them.  People need to know.

I worked hard all day getting everything ready in 75 degree, sunny weather, I'm even sun-burned..   
My husband called me today and said it was snowing. 
Gotta love it.  hehe 

Guess I better get outta here and go get some sleep and set my alarm for 1:30 a.m.  

I'm here!

Safe and sound. 

The drive yesterday was wonderful... the windows open, the music of the 60's and 70's blasting on the radio.  Me singing along... (really loud). 

Got here around two o'clock.   A hello and hug for my landlady and I spent the afternoon and evening unloading.   I finished setting up my humble abode around 8:30 so I took a shower and got ready for bed.   Went to sleep at 9:30 and didn't get up this morning until 9:00!   I guess I was a little tired.  Also I just wanted to rest anyway because I have a lot of work ahead of me. 

I walked the pastures today and I have work to do to make them safer.   My gelding has never been around wire, only three board fences, so I intend to do a little work.

When I walked the property today I could see so much to do.  I'm used to having everything clean and in it's place.   I want to sit down with my landlady and see what goals she has for her property and what it is that she thinks needs to be done.
Then we'll go from there I guess.

I really am resting today so I'm at the truck stop eating some lunch. (They actually have "wild" Alaskan salmon!!!! Guess I'll eat here often.)
But I'm actually here because it's the only place I can get wi-fi.
During the week I think I can get it in town at the library.

So hopefully I can post every day, but if not, don't worry, it just means I couldn't get to town.  Wish the satellite companies would let me do a contract for 3 months only. Too bad. 

Tomorrow, I'll spend the day getting the farm ready to receive my horses.  They're getting picked up at home around 6:00 a.m. so they could be arriving late during the night.
My cell phone is acting up so I sure hope the shipper can contact me, I'd better give him my landlady's number too. (Yikes, she may not like getting awakened from her sleep. !)

Oh well.

I'll talk here again tomorrow if I can. 

First Day of Travel

Uneventful.  The highway was light with traffic, only saw a cop twice in 500 miles. 
I'm in my hotel room north of Savannah.  My rig is parked under the street lights so I can keep an eye on it.  I did lock it up good.  With the cost of hay down here I didn't want anyone just helping themselves in the middle of the night. 

I was really tired when I woke up this morning, so I just decided to lay in bed a little longer.  When I got up and brushed my teeth my lower lip was very tender and I could tell I was getting a cold sore.   This only happens when I'm stressed.
Hmm.... I don't feel stressed but I guess the holiday and rushing to get everything taken care of so I could head down to FL has taken it's toll.  
It's a good thing I don't feel bad right now.   My face did feel a bit flushed and hot yesterday when I was picking up the dry ice for my big ice chest.  (I'm taking all the healthy food I've made and frozen with me..... no sense in having that go to waste.)

I never get sick so I don't expect to now.   And I can ward off this cold sore too.   I simply get a sharp knife, cut through a slice of fresh garlic and rub in directly on the place where I can feel the cold sore starting.   It's stings like holy hell for about 20-30 seconds, but it nips it in the bud.   Normally if I feel one coming on and I don't have any garlic, it'll be huge within a few hours....they blow up fast.
  
I don't have anything at all now so the garlic worked it's magic as usual. 

I hugged and kissed my husband goodbye this morning.  (I'm going to miss him.)   Then he decided to follow me to town so he could buy me some coffee.   I gave up coffee a few years ago but will have one at Starbucks every now and then as a special treat.  

One last hug and wave and I was off.  

Going to bed now so I can wake up fresh as a daisy tomorrow to continue my journey.  I'm lucky as it's beautiful weather.  

Half-way there!     

Ready to Go!

Wow, what a day!  Lots of work but I'm all set to go.  We got 85 bales of hay in my trailer plus all my "stuff".   It all fit perfectly and I had more room than I thought I would. 

Just finished washing some dirty clothes that I'll add in with the luggage tomorrow morning. 
My truck is all fueled up, tires are checked, got some traveling money and I'm ready to go.  

The equine travel papers are safely in an envelope that will be given to the shipper on Monday morning. 

I'm going to get up early and hit the road around 7:30 a.m.

FLORIDA, HERE I COME!    :)

Frustration!

Ugh!  Nothing's ever easy.   I just couldn't get a semi in here to pick up my horses so I contacted another guy with a gooseneck that could negotiate into my farm.   When I read his quote last night in my email I almost had a heart attack... he was twice, yes TWICE the price of the semi!
Back to the drawing board.  Crap.   It "snowed and blowed" like crazy yesterday and last night... I even put a blanket on my older mare.    I want to get out of here and get my dream started!


Okay, I feel better now that's off my chest.  It'll work out, I just have to be patient. 

This means I can't load my hay in the trailer today because I may need to take my horses to someone else's place that can handle that semi if this new guy can't do it or is too expensive.  I don't know anyone off the top of my head.
I wish I didn't have to get to FL ahead of the horses... but I do. 

Lists are made, everything's just sitting, waiting to be put into my truck and trailer, but I don't dare load until I know when I can go. 

I'll head over to the vet's office in a little while and pick up health certificates. 

I have a ton of healthy frozen food in the freezer so I'm going to check into where I can get some dry ice.  This will allow me to take it all with me so I won't have to cook so much once I'm down there. 
It's getting hard to think of more things to take, hopefully this means that I'm not going to forget anything. 

Waiting to hear from the new transport guy.... tap, tap, tap.

My horses are out there not having a clue....  lucky heathens.

It got cold!

Brrrr!  It's so cold outside right now and the wind is howling!  Not gonna be fun loading up my trailer. (So happy I'm getting the heck outta here soon.) I know I won't get it all done today... there's so much stuff to take.  We're going to try to stuff as much hay as we can in. 

The transporter is emailing a price to me this afternoon, so, if I can afford it, I'll stick with him because he sounds like he knows what he's doing, and my vet office uses him all the time and trusts him. 

I spent some time with my husband last night.  We had a nice dinner at home and played some cards.   I felt a little guilty about being so busy and preoccupied the last week or so that I thought it was the right thing to do even though I could've been packing clothes and things.  He won't come see me in FL until February!
He's got plans on the weekends this month to watch football with our son and friends. 
He also plays in a band so he has rehearsals and doesn't want to let them down.  Well, for that matter, he also volunteers to walk dogs at our local SPCA.    (Okay Cindy, do NOT feel guilty, do NOT feel guilty.... this is YOUR time for you....do NOT feel guilty!)
Uh.


Back to work.

Holy Cow!

Yikes, have I been busy!    Most of it on the computer.  Changing doctor appts for the Spring, rearranging schedules, etc.   There's so much to do!
I've also been laying clothes out to take.... I'm going to need some boxes. 




I think I've negotiated a good deal with a shipper and he's available so my horses won't have to load up onto a semi.  Whew!   This will make it easier for the people who'll be here at the farm.  I'm leaving about three days before my horses so I have time to get prepared for their arrival. 


The farrier's coming today.  I forgot it's a federal holiday today so I can't pick up my coggins report or other things until tomorrow.


It's getting so windy and cold!   I know I'll be grumbling like crazy while I try to load up my trailer tomorrow. 


I bathed Lily yesterday, she was covered in mud.   Hope I can keep her clean until she travels.  I discovered that the water hydrant outside the barn is leaking, it was really wet so I shut off the entire water to the barn when I was done!   My husband's already called the guys this morning so they'll be coming to fix it soon.  Thank goodness they were open today.  Why do things like this always happen on a holiday?.. Sigh.......


One of my goals while in FL is to lose weight.   I took a couple of my favorite VHS workout tapes to a place to be converted to DVD's.   The place where I'm staying only has a DVD player.   I'll pick them up tomorrow. 






Gotta keep cracking........busy, busy.