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!

Moonlight, Creme Brûlée, RIP Ross

It's hard to believe that Christmas is just a few days away and we had the Winter Solstice.

I love the winter solstice...it means the days will be getting longer now!   I know that many people find the depths of winter in Jan and Feb to be the worst time of the year.   Me...it's got to be late Nov and Dec.   As much as I love Christmas and giving gifts, the lack of sun and going to work and coming home from work in the pitch black gets me down more than most anything.   The short days and the usual muddy paddocks is likely my least favourite things about this time of year.   All I have to say is, it's a good thing Dec has Christmas so that this time of year has some good cheer and holiday spirit sprinkled into the short days.  :-)

The tree is up and trimmed.

Mom has been out and did more decorating of the house.  It looks wonderful and I am happy that she has put her creative touch throughout the house.

Dad has also been busy doing clean up along fence lines and cutting up fallen trees in the bush which we will burn next winter or the winter after for much needed heat.

Izzy has been schooling superbly!   Diane Creech has been coming to the farm for clinics.   Having her expert eye helping me has really changed my focus and has made some significant improvements in Izzy's basic gaits.   There is still lots of work to go but I can feel more power coming through and more willingness from her to come into the bridle and accept the contact as she continues to have power from behind.   It's an awesome ride when she offers it.    Getting her there is not always easy but training her to actively seek this place of engagement is my training goal for the winter months.   I can already feel a difference in her strength and her willingness to get to the level of engagement I am seeking from my lessons in the summer.   Sometimes when you work at something everyday it's hard to see the progress unless you reflect back on where you started.  Everyday, I am thankful for this lovely horse that has been sent to teach me a different way and new skills. 

I have been busy in the kitchen over the past few days.   Christmas will be hosted at the farm again this year.   It's great to see my family together under one roof.  We really don't see each other all that much even tho we only live about an hour apart.    Some of the treats this year of include my home made fudge, baklava, chewy chocolate gingerbread and a first for this year creme brûlée.  Thanks to my friend Katie who, off the cuff, said that it was super easy to make and that I would have no problems making it.   Sometimes it just takes that small vote of confidence to try something new and out of my normal zone!  Thanks Katie!

The last month has been all about the food for me!   Dear Lord, I need not get on the scale until after the Christmas binge is complete as I have eaten out on so many occasions this season it's sinful!   AND, I might add at some very decadent places with lovely company.   I actually ate creme brûlée from 3 restaurants in less than 36 hours!   ...from Shakespeare's, Devlin's and Twisted Lemon.  Yikes!   That means extra km's on my sneakers are needed!   All the office and social gatherings are now complete with all of our friends...just one more big family meal as the grande finale on Christmas Day.

I have been enjoying a couple days of down time away from the office this week before Christmas.   It has given me time to let the dogs roam and be dogs in daylight hours.   I have come to learn that Marley is actually a Tomboy at heart...even tho she's sweet and kind...she's a digging Tomboy!   Look at that face!  That's the face BEFORE I clean her paws in the wash stall!   

This is what dogs outside most of the day look like in late afternoon and evenings!

The full moon brought in the month and it was a beautiful weekend night.   Terrie and I ventured out to enjoy the mystic of the full moon, the awe inspired moon shadows and the calm that night brings to the outdoors.

As life sometimes sends us unexpected events, I have had a few in the last month that have left me a bit low and feeling in need of a "break".   One of the horses that has been in board at the farm the last several months had to be put down in Dec.   Ross, a lovely old horse of 27 but in the end had kidney failure and was humanely euthanized.  Our boarder had this guy for over 20 years so to save her last memories of him, I assisted with having him put down.   It never gets easier to be there and guide even a weak, old soul with the transition over; even knowing in the end his pain and suffering is over.   It's hard ... harder than I thought it was going to be.   This is a beautiful picture of him over the summer.  He was a handsome old man with a gentle eye and kind expression.   I am glad he took flight from our farm and will look over our pastures now to assist others in their transition.

Wind Storm, Running and Nutty Pony

It's been far too long since my last update.   Life on the farm has been somewhat nutty with all that has gone on.   My new position at work has had me working more hours for both breakdowns and shutdowns.   The new job has been great in many ways.   Wonderful to be engaged and feeling as if I contribute.   It as been a bit of an adjustment at the farm tho as we have needed to hire a student that now is doing evening chores Monday to Friday.    It has been an adjustment to say the least for me to hand over the evening chores.   However, the pressure of working long hours and not always being able to get home at chore time has reduced the stress; knowing the horses are fed and watered even if I don't make it home until late.

The weather, as we Canadian's always love to talk about has gone from greater than +20ºC to greater than -20ºC and has now settled at the moment at a place in between.  We have had our first winter storm and our first day of "Indian Summer".

I was fortunate enough to clinic again with Josh Nichol.  I had 3 wonderful days in his energy.    I always leave the clinics with him feeling renewed and grateful.

DH has replaced the very rotted and not so wind proof front door and octagon bathroom window.

Before

After

My garden was more than prolific when it came to butternut squash and jalapeño peppers.   Both have been put to good use in my kitchen and shared with family and friends.  Lots of butternut squash and bacon soup.  

Home made jalapeño poppers.

We enjoyed the company of many friends at Bennville Equestrian at the end of season barn supper.   The table was set in the aisle of the barn and Lynda and Laurie did a superb job decorating while everyone brought something for the potluck turkey dinner.

The new bale feeders have been put into service.   They work great holding a full small square in the slow feed hay bags.   

Dad spent a day on a weekend grading the back entrance to the barn.   This area sometimes when we had wet weather then a deep freeze it would pool at the bottom of the door and freeze the door.  Not going to be a problem this winter!

Dad also helped by digging a french well at the water troughs so that they will not create a muddy mess in spring and and ice rink in winter.

I enjoyed a formal evening at The Royal Horse show with 3 of my friends.   Thank you Dianne for the evening out as your guest.   Seeing the inside of the private lounge and the box seats were a wonderful treat!

I was also lucky enough to be party of my childhood friend Shannyn's surprise 40th birthday. It's hard to believe that Theresa, Shannyn and I have been friends for so long with horses being our initial glue.

This fall has been somewhat slow with respect to the number of km's I have logged on my shoes but I did get out a few days on the river trail and it was stunning.

Theresa and I have been able to finish 2 races since my last post.   We did a 10K trail run which we both had PB race times.   Both of us finishing in under 50 minutes.   I ended up winning my age group!

We also did the Santa 5K in Hamilton...where all the runners have to race in a santa suit!   It was +13ºC so we were sweating buckets.   We both finished in the top 10% of our age group.  Exact placings aren't posted yet on the internet.

We had a major wind storm a week ago which resulted in some damage at the farm.  We had one of our new 30' x 12' shelters flip 180º onto its roof.   It was a wicked night and next day.   Luckily there were no horses in the field where the shelter was turned over.   We had some shingles off of our newer house roof as well.

We righted the shelter on the weekend with all 3 tractors and one failed attempt.  Thankfully the building rolled back onto its base with very little to basically no damage!  Thankfully DH is as anal as he is regarding building construction…or we may have had a pile of kindling!   Who needs riggers when DH and Dad are around.

Mom and I spent some time over the weekend decorating for Christmas.   The urns, pots and fence are all now decorated with beautiful greenery.   The Christmas lights are all the way up the driveway and across the fence in the front of the house.   Dec 1st is always light up night at the farm!  Thank you Mom…as always the farm looks beautiful because of you and it's such a happy inviting entrance.

And to end this post a couple pictures of my crazy kid and her mom!

Curse of the Cluster Fly

Today I am dedicating this post to all my farm and country friends that also have the curse of the dreaded cluster fly.

Here is a sample of the window sills that are on my second floor.   This is a somewhat lower death count than normal.   This is what will show up an hour after vacuuming corpses.

Please ignore my cracked paint.   Like most farmers, the barn takes priority when it comes to projects and the house is second.   Someday the window sills will be repainted...someday.

Cluster flies are the worlds densest fly species.   After a little internet research I found that cluster flies pray on the hapless earth worm.  The adults lay their eggs in freshly tilled fields and when the earthworm wriggles to the surface to have a look around, the young attach themselves and consume the innocent worm.   Completing the cycle for more zombie cluster flies in my window sills!

These flies once inside seem to gather with all their friends in the warm light of window sills or when the sun sets the bedroom reading lamp or the bathroom light!    These flies buzz aimlessly around or even worse they lay motionless and then revive for a few more buzzes when the wind catches them as you rush past a window.   Sometimes they will lay motionless for hours, then they get the bright idea to fly up to the window again for a second look. Then back to the floor they fall again, where they may spin around on their backs for a bit and then play dead for a day or two.

There has been more than one occasion that I have bent down to pick up a seemingly dead fly when I find he has a few more good buzzes left in him.  Or when I pull out the Dyson rechargeable mini vac and quite literally vacuum up 100's of these nuisance flies by chasing them all over the window as they continue to give it a few more good buzzes in the canister.   I know somewhat cruel but really they are flies after all!  The really perplexing thing about cluster flies is that at any point in their life, they can appear to be dead, half dead, almost dead or nearly dead, but, like zombies, they never quite expire!

If you are the last one to turn out the light you are pretty much assured to have a few flies careening around within your lamp shade.   Bouncing around within the shade at speeds that sound fast enough that the zombie should have multiple concussions or 3rd degree burns from the light bulb.   But instead the nuisance fly will just fall to the night table half dead to cool off and lay motionless waiting for you to turn off the light so it can buzz into your hair!

I couldn't find any rewarding evidence that mother nature created this stupid fly with any interesting abilities.   Not like a mosquito who transmits disease or even the common house fly which has a level of intelligence to at least bother dinner guests at mealtime.    This nuisance fly is quite simply just food for the birds and an annoyance to the farm house owner!