End of Vacation, 10K Run, Wanda, New Horses Arrive

Vacation came to a close and life back on the farm has been a whirlwind since our return.

First to finish off the vacation pics...

Here was my reading pile!   Not bad...if only I could make time for more of this at home.   Hopeful in the future as things get set up and built and to a maintenance level.

DH and I also hiked at Crooked Slide at Palmer's Rapids.   Lovely quiet park with grand views and amazing trails for snowmobilers.   All I could think of was having a horse with me to explore these trails could be the only thing to make this better.

NOW BACK AT THE FARM....

Wow, Wow, WOW...we have a second shelter pretty much completed for this summer.   

Here is the #4 shelter in progress last week.

Pictures to come of the finished product...it was getting too late by the time I thought of a picture the last few night!

Thank goodness too because we have 4 new horses on the farm.

Please welcome the absolutely giant Aspen (chestnut) and his partner, Paloma.

Ross (grey) and his buddy Marko.   And of course their 2 legged care giver Ingrid!

All four horses are settling in after arriving on Saturday morning.   There has been some stress in the group with all the changes but overall they are a happy bunch and adjusting to their new home as I would expect any new group of horses.   This is their first experience with living outside, so I hope they will be happy with their new arrangement once they adjust to the new found freedom of free choice in and out and free choice 24/7 food.

Wanda....as many of you have been eagerly awaiting news that she is or isn't 'with pony'....She IS in foal!!!

Izzy is going to be a big half sister in June!

A huge thank you goes out to Ferdi and Anita Haupt of Bennville Equestrian for this amazing opportunity.   

Here is her 2 month ultrasound!

This time of year has such amazing sunsets and amazing skies.

This was the beautiful sunset on my return to the barn last week from a hack to cool out to the bush.

This was the dramatic sky this weekend.   Love how the sun is shining bright against the tops of the clouds making them a brilliant white against the lower storm clouds.

I also have been busy with running.   My friend Theresa and I hit the waterfront of Oakville and did a 10K road race.   Theresa posted a PB time and I was so pleased to be part of her journey!  It was a rainy morning but it didn't dampen our spirits...because the energy on race morning is like no other!

I made a big harvest from my garden last weekend and set the produce at the road for others to enjoy and make good use of since I knew I had finished preserving what I needed.   I didn't even make it to the house and cars had stopped and the produce was virtually gone.   Glad that it has gone to good use.   Here was my road side stand.   ;-)

AND last but certainly not least, what would a blog post be without a little Molly drama!

The other night we had to race her to the emergency clinic in Hamilton as we thought she had bloat.   She was in a great deal of pain and her abdomen was VERY distended and hard as a rock.   It turns out she was OK…just had a very severe tummy ache from eating far too much junk around the farm including horse manure!!!

Here is the X-ray…According to the vet her stomach is over 2x the size of an normal adult dog of her age when it is completely full.   He was rather amazed and mentioned the word "impressive" size and not on a fat dog but a healthy, muscular dog!   "WOW, Impressive…Now I know how far the spleen can actually move.   Never seen anything this extreme in school!"

Since they could see it was clearly not bloat just a dog that is a glutten and has no sense of when enough is truly enough…we gave the Ok to induce vomiting so that it would relieve, at some, of her discomfort.   No she doesn't have an eating disorder…at least not one she is keeping from her folks!  LOL  Warning last pic is pretty disgusting…so stop now if you have a weak stomach.   4.5 lbs of barf!!!   Looking mostly like horse manure!!  Yuck!

End of Summer Vacation

Vacation always takes me back to the time when I was a kid and had very few responsibilities.  (At least looking back now I realize it was very few responsibilities!)  Isn't that a great time in life?   When the biggest worry was getting home before dark on your bike, making sure ponies had water and lamenting the current school girl crisis over clothes or boys.   This vacation has been a real kid vacation where I have shirked all (well maybe not all) my adult worries.   I let myself fall into the easy life of running everyday, kayaking on the open waters of Lake Kamaniskeg, reading trashy magazines (AKA Cosmo) and very good self help books and eating ice cream almost everyday!   Really, isn't that what adult shirking of responsibilities looks like?  :-)

Lots of thinking time to reflect also happens on holidays for me.   Time to recharge, revisit areas of my life that need some rethinking and also ponder what moving forward looks like.

DH and I have enjoyed this same cottage for, I believe, 10 of the 13 years we have been together.  Every year the place feels the same but the vacation never is the same from year to year.  I think that is in part to the growth we make as humans over the course of years and the changes that we experience in our lives and in our relationships.

This trip has definitely gave me some time to think about how I have changed or grown or maybe even took a few steps backwards in the last year or more.   As I look back on the last year I can see that for some reason the year 40 has been a year that has set forth a great amount of change in me.   I feel it from the inside out.   It may not be visible to some or it maybe very clearly visible...I don't really know as I have never mentioned it to anyone...but I feel it.   I strongly believe that the number 40 has very little do to with this new insight into myself but was just how the universe planned my path and I made the choices I have made, to lead me to where I sit pondering this 'me' that I am today.   I feel more gratitude.   I feel more love in many capacities.   I feel more free to speak.   I feel fiercely independent.   I also feel more vulnerable.   I feel that at times my world is spinning very fast and at times I am only holding on by my fingertips.   I feel ok to express my emotions...I'm ok with crying when I am happy or sad...it doesn't define me in any negative way.   I've tried to mend broken friendships and I have let go of trying to keep people in my life that do me disservice.   I've come to a point where I believe I am a work in progress and I don't need to be perfect...even tho my perfectionist tendencies still try and shape my reality.   About a year ago I read the book The Gifts of Imperfection by Brene Brown.  It's a good read and one that I have since given to a few of my close friends.   I have since read several more from the same reading list and have learned a lot about my tendencies, my insatiable appetite for understanding connection (both between humans, animals and the world at large) and in general how happiness, love, shame, vulnerability, resilience and living wholeheartedly all make a contribution to living with authenticity.

“People may call what happens at midlife “a crisis,” but it’s not. It’s an unraveling—a time when you feel a desperate pull to live the life you want to live, not the one you’re “supposed” to live. The unraveling is a time when you are challenged by the universe to let go of who you think you are supposed to be and to embrace who you are.” - Brene Brown, The Gifts of Imperfection.

I am unravelling...but I really don't feel like I am in a midlife crisis! 

Now that I have got that out there....let's see a few pictures from the vacay!!

DH and I have spent several hours out on the lake paddling.

We have eaten far too much and by that I include ice cream everyday with the exception of one so far!

We have hiked several trails in Algonquin.

DH was a crazy nut and went swimming!  Which lasted all of 1 minute or less!

Look at that face!

...and I am pleased to report that I have ran every day so far and have not made a stop at the Baykery at 21 Bay St in Barry's Bay on a single run yet....Only because they are open later now that the summer season is over!!  LOL   I did however, enjoyed the best Glazed Twist straight from the fryer yesterday...dear Lord I know I have a processed sugar addiction...please help me!

Enjoying a BLT with cheese and mayo after a morning run!

As always the sunsets are marvellous…

And the super moon was even more stunning…at 10pm. xo Me

Time Flies...

… when you're having fun!
The summer is coming to a close, as this is Labour Day weekend.   It has been one heck of a summer and I can't believe how quickly it has passed.   With no summer cottage vacation this year the summer was different than most; it went by so fast, it's hard to believe we will be heading to the cottage for a fall vacation in a couple of weeks.   Feels like there has been a great deal accomplished but when I think of the list of things I had set out for myself to do, there is still a lot there!  (I think I wrote about this once already….how my mind is far more industrious than reality!)

The shelter is finished and it looks fantastic.   I am so pleased with the add on room that will store hay and feed for the horses that will live in this field.   That small room I can foresee saving a tremendous amount of time in the coming months.

Here is the completed shelter in Pasture #3.   Thanks DH…you do great work!

Here is the progress for Pasture #4!

My garden has been prolific this year.   The sunflowers are magnificent!

And they make the perfect shady spot for sleepy dogs while I pull weeds!

The poppies that I planted from seed are stunning.   I will plant flowers from seed again next year.

The tomatoes are ripe and ready for making sauce.   I have been taking bowls full to work for 2 weeks now of small cherries and pink ladies.   The Roma's have peeked and they are no simmering for spaghetti sauce!

PS - Thank you Diane for the huge zucchini's!  They are now included in my 2014 sauce!

The fish have become very familiar with the feeding routine.   If anyone (including the dogs) stands at the end of the dock the fish all congregate looking for fish pellets!   They have all grown.   Hoping that we have a decent winter and don't lose them.

The ugly abscess that made Izzy lame in January has met the pressure of 1200 pounds constantly standing on it and broke clear from the hoof wall.   This is not a pretty chip but the hoof looks well connected above the dead area so hear is to hoping that as the new hoof meets the ground it is strong and reliable.

The dogs don't always get the use of their Kuranda dog beds…sometimes a less than 10 lb cat takes ownership and no 65 lb dog is stupid enough to try and remove her!

The trail in the woods has been lovely.   This time of year with the cool nights makes for less bugs and a very enjoyable ride.   Not to mention the lovely yellow flowers that flourish along the side.

The walk back to the woods is my favourite stroll to cool out after a good schooling session.   The dogs love to come along and enjoy the fields and the smells.   This was what I turned back and seen after my lesson with Diane Creech on Saturday morning.   The rainbow over the farm was just the icing on the cake after a wonderful lesson with some positive progress and some fundamental homework to keep Izzy and I moving forward.

The old round pen from south of the indoor is nearly gone.   My Papa Bear spent the better part of the summer digging out all the old clay and relocating it for the bases of our new shelters.   All that is left is a pile to be moved to Pasture #5.   Thanks Dad!   We couldn't have done all that excavation without your help.

I have spent some time painting the windows.   So far the process is slow and tedious…but the results are worth the headaches.   This is just the primer coat.

One of my dearest and bestest friends is moving from her farm to a condo on the lake.   I got the pre-move in tour and the best part…I got to enjoy the magnificent trails and the view of the lake that is just steps from her balcony.   xo Reta…Love you!