Merry Christmas!!!

It's been a wonderous year!!!!

Now -I- Am In a Stall!!!!

The culmination of months of work, cajoling and complaining have come to fruition at last.  Self-imposed imprisonment of my own doing...  Dooming....?

Getting ready to enter the IN door of the surgery suite to have my knee looked at.

Then came out the OUT door (sorry, no pic) feeling a vast improvement already.  Now my sons (and granddaughters) just have to make me behave for a few days to get maximized quick recovery!!

To avoid me getting my way by NOT asking the Doc the question, older son Jon asked Doc how long I should wait until I ride again (after all, it is supposed to be in the mid 50's in two days (Christmas)!!  Doc was so bold as to tell him a couple of weeks....  RATS!!!

Now -I- get to see how adept I am at sneaking around behind my parental kids backs....!

HA!  The tables are officially turned!  Now my kids have kids both YOUNGER  A N D  OLDER than them!!!!  Lovin' it!!!!

Merry Christmas!!!

Just a Typical Horse in a Typical Stall, right?

Don't get me wrong.  I thoroughly enjoy both of my horses, but I affectionately call Lexi (the horse NOT pictured in this post) my son Jon's horse - both because he rides her and rides her very well, getting her to do things that she won't easily do for me - maybe I am jealous!!!?  But I digress.  Notice anything unusual about his photo?

Blue, the horse, is standing there, IN his stall.

Notice, the word IN......?

So what is so amazing about that, right?  A horse SHOULD be in the stall, when the door is closed and latched, correct?  Alright, maybe a little closer view will help....

Notice it yet...?  A few seconds later, he is looking much more intently at me.  Looking for the carrots he knows just HAS to be headed his way (yes, they WILL come eventually) but for the moment still IN his stall, with the door CLOSED and....?

OK.  Suspense is highest, look at this pic:

The AFTERMATH of Lexi, the destructor...  Yup, she broke the latch.  I still have NOT repaired it.  Just close the door...  It LOOKS latched, doesn't it Blue?!?

And so he stays!  

At least, until the carrots come out!

One Fit-To-Be-Tied Filly

Yup, I have one maaaadddd equine on my hands... (thank God it is not TWO mad equines!).  They spend the summer roaming on acres of lush green grass, thanks to global warming producing a lush green environment, and the poor beasts (who struggle to remain at a less than rotund weighty appearance) think that such lush green goodness is a permanent fixture in their environ...  FF a few weeks to the onset of WINTER in central Illinois and the continually growing greenness is halting its lifestyle very quickly.  So, protecting the grass nymphs, the gates are closed and God's 4 legged adventurers find their green grazing reduced to almost green grazing (freshly cut and baled grass in HUGE 1200 pound encampments so huge mouthfuls can be obtained without walking a foot (hoof?).  But the leader, fillie Lexi, decides fences are made to be broken and begins her mission of fording the wall - very successfully - walking though them like so much chaff on the forest floor!  Once discovered, the keeper of the goodness (ME!) repairs said fence into stouter form - both mechanically and with electron reinforcement (9,000 volt strong) to deter such aloofness.  While being made to stand in a stall (heaven forbid) for a few hours while fencing is being done, bashes are heard that sound like a horse rolling and a wayward hoof knocking a sidewall.  But in reality said equid comes walking out the door on her way to previous goodness.  Wait, says Caretaker, Back, Back, Back!  and redirects escapee back into barn where the discovery of not wayward hoof strikes but intentional bashing of stall door to escape is discovered!  After some very impatient stall time (think horse agitated, circles, big eyes, etc.),

 BOTH horses are allowed back in reinforced 2 acre pasture.  Immediately leading the jog to custom fence gateway, rapid redirection ensues when she observes caretaker's careful work and veers to aforementioned huge pile of preserved goodness, with an obvious evil side glance to said caretaker.   Shortly thereafter, when caretaker is finishing last of caretaking duties in 2 acre winter residence, I walk in the direction of the buffett to tidy things a little.  Of the two equines, one ( NOT escape artist) come to visit caretaker and commune (ever hopeful of a handout) while escape artist dramatically walks quickly and animatedly in the opposite direction while giving the "hand that feeds" the evil eye to express the strong distaste of even coming close to being touched by said caretaker!  Furious she is!!!!  While Blue waits patiently at gate, always hoping for the handout!

Bummer - Snow/Rain/Ice... But it IS pretty!

"When are we leaving?" says my partner in crime?

Unfortunately, the concept of traveling to southern Illinois (Shawnee) for a few days got nixed when up to the minute forecasts showed three rainy cold days settling in - and better weather than that on the home front....  Of course that now is changed and it is snowing here!  But still kind of damp at our proposed destination - and cool.

So here we are, watching the first white stuff of the season gently fall.

Not to detract from the beauty - or of the fun watching the grandkids play in it - from the comfort of my nice warm home on wheels....

South for the ....? Is it going to happen?

Since obligations of the medical kind are coming soon, desperate cries for travels into the wilderness issue, constantly, from within.  So a trip to Shawnee is being planned reminiscent of the old times.

This time with my son Jonathon, who has been able to join me occasionally, but not often enough!

Now, if the weather will only cooperate!