Izzy Jumps!

What a crazy end to the month of January!   My work life has dominated my existence in the last couple weeks.  Extended shutdown and then 2 major breakdowns.   It has been crazy!  I have spent more time at the office in these last 2 weeks than I would in just about a month.  This translates in to very little time at the farm.  However, I am learning so much and I am enjoying that part of the job.   It stretching me to be a better person.  To be kinder, listen more and forgive.   When you work when you are tired you hear people differently and when you work long hours with people you get to know them in such a special way.   It's a camaraderie that is shared that cannot always be translated into words.   I have a good group of guys on my team and we have become friends over crappy overtime meals.

In the mean time, at the ranch...

The big news is...drum roll please...Izzy and I had our first jumping lesson!   Yep, after about 25 years I shortened up the irons and took a tour over a few small fences in a jumping lesson with Scott McKay.   Izzy was a superstar.  For her first time Izzy just loped around the arena jumping the fences.  Even tho the jumps were maybe only 2'-2'6" they felt huge!   Scott made a good point; if you want the jumps to feel big, just look down!   Once I got my head up things evened out and it felt pretty good.   Izzy was certainly no hunter but to be able to mix up her training plan with some jumping to change her mental outlook on riding indoors for the winter, is certainly a good thing.

Izzy has also earned the right to the World Cup browband on her double bridle.  This lovely gift from Lynda after she rode Emma for a season when I was out with my broken leg has now been passed to the next competitor on the farm.  This special piece of bling needed to be earned, as it left the head of a champion and not just any horse can wear this in the honour that it deserves.   It however looks lovely on Izzy as she wears her white bling everyday!   Lets hope the next champion is crowned!   :-)

The new heaters for the wash stall have been installed and connected!   Izzy will no longer be sent back outside with her wool cooler under blanket to dry her out.  Special thanks to DH for this thoughtful xmas gift.

Friends are never far from my thoughts.   This group of girls are some of the best friends I will ever have.   We got together for our annual Christmas in January dinner.  

Flowers are also something that my mother has given me a fascination for.   The love of growing things and having this beautiful Amaryllis grow to this startling height is always a welcome pleasure in the depths of winter.   This beauty was started by my mom and gifted to me for Christmas.   It has grown to over 3 feet tall and has four giant blooms.   TWO more shoots are sprouting and will have blooms in about 2 more days.

A new small set of indoor estate harrows have been purchased to work up the indoor.  DH gave them the inaugural test run.   They work great and the old lawn tractor is able to pull them.

Wanda is blowing up like a balloon!   Still another 18-19 weeks to go!

Chubby still has a good buck in her!

From my studio...

Two commission quilts have found new homes recently.   Both in the same family.

From the kitchen...

DH took Monday off and made vegetarian lasagna completely from scratch for our first "Meatless Monday".  Sauce, noodles and cheese sauce.   It was delicious!

Wanda and Music Passion

Starting this post off as a VERY excited Mama!

Wanda's latest ultrasound showed no complications apparent with her pregnancy and both mom and baby look to be healthy.   I was rather concerned with her size as she is what I would consider to be huge.  Dr Claire however was not concerned by her size in the slightest and stated that she looks like a very healthy broodmare.   I guess my eye is just accustomed to the fit, athletic build of sport horses!!  So now the name game begins!    I need an 'S' name for a possible colt or filly.   Any suggestions will be considered.

Next I'd like to muse a bit on a topic I discussed recently with some friends.  We got to discussing music and lyrics and pop vs country vs alternative vs rock.   We talked about ear worms that just find a spot in your mind with their catchy but quirky lyrics or the song that sticks with you because it spoke to you at a time in your life when you were introspective.   The question came up about wedding songs.  Ours is Truly, Madly, Deeply by Savage Garden.   Then what song was most memorable from high school.  I can't really pick one in particular but Aerosmith was certainly pretty high on the favourites list.   Pre high school I can clearly remember Lisa and I belting out Wham by George Michaels!   The one question that came up was what song would best describe your 2014 year?  At the time I couldn't really think of a song but now that I have pondered it for a bit I'd have to say Demons by Imagine Dragons.   It's a bit of a dark song but I think we tend to lean on music more when we are in dark periods or when we have life events that shape us.   Other important or memorable songs that I can think of that have spoke to me at various times in my life are the night we rode at the Royal...I Gotta Feelin' by Black Eyed Peas.  This one is memorable because we rode in that first night as the underdogs and we walked out as the winners.   One of the sweetest wins I've ever had and shared it with some wonderful friends.   Then retired one of the best horses I have ever owned at the end of the show.  Magnolia is my first pony reincarnated...I am certain of this.  :-)

The Dance by Garth Brooks is also pretty important.  I will never forget the crop tour that included that song full blast on the radio and dancing in the headlights of a pick up truck on a gravel road in the middle of the summer at midnight.   It came on, he pulled over and asked me to dance.   The day my nephew was born; I was on route to the hospital and a song played that always makes me think of him whenever I hear it.   (The name is escaping right now but it will come to me!)   The song that always makes me think of my divorce is Jar of Hearts by Christina Perri.   When I was in a dark phase at boarding school, the song Under The Bridge by Red Hot Chilli Peppers was front and centre.   

Currently, I like a lot of genres of music.  I run to some up beat dance and hit list kinda music.  A fun hit from last summer that totally pumps me up is Cruise by Florida Georgia Line featuring Nelly.   I have Freestyles put together using Rock, Big Band and The Beatles.   So my taste of music is really based on good lyrics with a sound that appeals to me.   Artists that bend my ear lately are those that have lyrics that touch me, like John Legend, Zedd, Damien Rice, Shawn Mendes, Taylor Swift, Katy Perry, Sam Smith, Selena Gomez, etc, etc.   Most of all I think I relate to music because of the level an artist has to inspire us or make us feel an emotional connection to their art.   I went and seen Phillip Phillips play live at an intimate venue in Hamilton.   The level of passion, expression and sheer love for his art that he not only expresses in his lyrics but in his ability to "get lost" in his performance speaks to me in a wonderful way.   I admire and at times envy those that put themselves so far out there believing in themselves and their creative ability that they really just do what they love.

From the Farm...

I started off the new year with clean equipment!   I hate tack cleaning about as much as vacuuming!   Maybe I should start paying someone to do this for me too!  

DH and I built 2 new mangers in the old shelter that houses Izzy and Wanda.   It didn't take long for the fat lady to belly up to the buffet!   

The weather in Jan has been rain with a flash freeze which left the driveway a virtual luge!  Of course it only looked like this the morning that I had planned to trailer out for my first jumping lesson on Izzy!   Needless to say, I didn't go but will make the next one if Mother Nature cooperates!

I had some fun with Izzy teaching her to pull the toboggan instead!   

AND after a very good school I cut her loose and decided to do a bit of liberty work which I had not done in a long time.   She hooked up with me WAY better than I could have ever expected and I was able to have her up on the pedestal and totally with me.   What a feeling!  I love this crazy little horse! 

I have to note that my inspiration for liberty came from my friend Diane who is in Arizona right now at Harry Whitney's place on an intensive learning for 4 months.   SO, SO envious of her good fortune to take off for a stretch and just amerce herself in learning and self discovery.   What an awesome winter to scratch off the bucket list.    Someday!

Here is a shot of the Arizona sky she has shared.

This is one of her horses enjoying Arizona life.

Of course food is never too far away from the conscious mind with me on the farm!  I had a hankering for lava cake after my friend Andrea brought it up on New Year's eve.   I hadn't made it since the ladies night where JJ was nearly left licking the bowl to get the last bits of lava!   This is such a delicious and easy recipe that you make in the microwave.  Takes 8 minutes and 5 minutes to prep.   It's my kinda chocolate indulgence in less than 15 minutes!

Lastly, with the bitter cold last week, Marley found the best seat in the house!

Happy New Year, Goodbye 2014 and Welcome 2015

I made it!   Hard to believe that another year is under my belt.   There never seems to be a year that goes by without lots of challenges and lots of accomplishments.

This year I won't be winning the wife of the year award or #1 mom or even employee of the month.   This year brought forward some personal challenges, some soul searching and some re-evaluating of relationships and priorities.   

This year brought some accomplishments.   Izzy has progressed forward in her training, I ran a personal best 10K time and we added a new life to our home.  

This year I lost myself, I somewhat found myself and I have made some conscience decisions about what energy I wanted to surround myself with.  This year I also became overwhelming cognizant of the power I have control over and the power I don't.   The only energetic domain that you truly own, is your own.  I spent a lot of time, anguish, frustration, worry and judgement meddling in other people's energetic domains.   It's easy to see how others need to change or fix or transform.   How things could be better if they could just see what I see from the outside.

The truth of all of this is that I was just leaking energy and it was draining me of my power of my own transformation.  I spent a lot of time this year neglecting my own power and giving away my power to people that didn't honour it or need it.  Even when I had the best intentions and the energy I was meddling in was out of love or concern for the people I was in relationships with...I have learned to step out, step up and remind myself, "You have no power here."    I have shed a lot of tears over this discovery.   More than I care to even admit but it's the truth.  I also realized that this power struggle I have within myself and within my relationships with family, loved ones, friends and co-workers is a work in progress.    I don't get a do over in this life.  I have leaked a lot of energetic power to others that either don't want it or need it.   A re-focus on not giving away my power in both a negative or a positive sense has been a common theme in 2014 and definitely one I will carry forward into 2015.

My other major learning I will carry forward into 2015 is the fact that the people closest to me know how to push my buttons better than anyone.   From Oprah's, The Life You Want Tour, I learned that the reason the people closest to you can push your buttons the fastest and the hardest is that they installed them.   I will carry this learning into 2015...because I get my buttons pushed a little more frequently than I like.   I need to learn to take a deep breath and remind myself that this is a teachable moment.    I need to breath and ask, "What is it I need to learn here?"  Patience?   Compassion?  Boundaries?   

Now on to the last part of 2014!

My fam jam was at the farm for Christmas dinner.   Chris' parents also made the journey out for the day, which was a rare and special treat since it has been many, many years since they had been away from home on Christmas day!

My Dad spent his Christmas day grading our driveway!

There were special treats on Christmas Day for both horses...

…and humans.

The Babe's were exhausted after a day with the family.  

Molly even fell asleep with her bone!

I have been running on the trail over the holidays.   The major wind, thunder and lightening storm that we had on Christmas eve left several trees down on the trail.   

Got 2 new pairs of shoes.  I can't believe how much better my body feels with new shoes.  Note to self…keep better track of the km's on my shoes and replace them more frequently!

These next couple of pictures will be of particular interest to my friends Karen and Pat.   I was so proud of myself…I got my machine serviced the week before Christmas.   Full cleaning, oiling and repair to the reverse button that has seized.   I kept thinking to myself how Pat had that hardy laugh as I pulled out baby bunnies from my machine that one day at retreat.   The look of disbelief that I had not cleaned it in God only knew how long!  Well…I think I may have vetoed that cleaning on Boxing day!  Wanda has a major shoulder blow out along the seam of her blanket.   It needed a quick fix…even tho my machine had just been serviced!

Dad spent his boxing day digging the dry wells at the arena south side eaves troughs then filling them with clear stone.   We have major washout issues living on the hill.   All the water runs off at quite the pace when you are up high.   These new dry wells will be a big help keeping the gravel on the driveway and not washing out.

My little Marley was a sleepy assistant trainer on Boxing Day!

AND both pups have really missed a lot of sleep in the last 10 days or so with both DH and I home for Christmas Break!