Blogger Issues - Short Update

I have been absent from the blog lately as I have been spending my time trying to resolved the picture upload issue through blogger/picasa.   I think I may have found the issue with the upload size...the trouble is I already have over 180 picture in my blog so far and they all have to be resized to a smaller format...ONE at a time!

In the mean time tho, I must share the fun I had on Sunday.

My friend, co-worker and unfailing workout motivator, Lynn planted the seed of interest in running the Santa 5K in Hamilton.  We didn't run/walk for a top finish placing, but rather to finish and have a fun morning out.  

Here we are in our Santa suits.  

Then on Sunday afternoon I went out for my very first hack with both horses together with one of my best friends Reta.   Reta is by far one of the biggest influences in my life; a mentor, a friend, an inspiration.   Here we are on our way out to the back woods then over to the Grand River.

Molly "The Terrorist" Update
She's growing like a weed!  And her jaws are getting stronger and her hyperactivity is also showing an ever growing ferocity!   She's great on weekends when she has had time outside running and chewing and basically blowing off steam.  Weekdays tho when she is inside all day with nothing to do in her play pen...she becomes "The Terrorist" because she will bark, bite or bully anything she can influence into her sphere once she gets out of there.   We certainly have our work cut out for us for the next 2 years.

Let There be Light

With the time change life has changed considerably here on the farm.   It's dark out now by 5:15 pm and outdoor work has ground to pretty much a halt on weekdays after work.
Not that there isn't a full list of indoor jobs to do but the motivation has also slowed to a near death experience!   The work in the house just doesn't seem as much fun as the barn work!

The hydro has been getting fixed in the stable.  For some unknown reason the previous owners had all the stable lights as plugs at the back of a pump cabinet.   I know crazy; 1 - putting full strings of lights on receptacle plugs and 2 - having to climb into the back of the pump closet to plug them in when you wanted the lights on!  
We have had the local electrician (who is also our old neighbour from Decewsville Rd) rewiring the barn.   We have switches now for the stable lights, the aisle lights and the outdoor front barn lights.
We also now have a couple of plugs, which we had no plugs previously and the new wiring has been run for the new outdoor plug for the heated troughs and the LED flood light for the front 2 pastures.  
We also have the hydro service between the house and the barn marked so that the trenching can continue for the new service.   The first new pole is "supposed" to get installed tomorrow and then the second pole near the house on Monday or Tuesday.   Once the poles are in we can get the new transformer hooked up and that means the new hydro service to the barn and shop.  No more 30 amps running the entire lot of farm buildings!  

Even tho the motivation has been low for actual work around the house after dark, I have got the spark back for my baking urges.   (Uh-Oh, I can feel my clothes getting tight already!) I tried out a new recipe this week; Apple Cider Caramels from The Smitten Kitchen.   I have pictures to post however blogger has given me a limit on photos and I can't post them!   I am still pretty new to blogging, so if anyone out there has more info on how to get around the limit or if there is a new site that I can use please message me!!

I had a fabulous ride through the woods tonight on Izzy.  Just wonderful to get outside tonight before the darkness fell.  I timed it perfectly making it down the farm lane back to the barn by 5:10 pm.   There are so many trails to explore out back...I can't wait to get some of the farm stuff done so that I can venture out for hours at a time without having heavy guilt for being gone for so long on a perfect weather day.  (Knowing that there won't be too many more of those!)   The corn is now off out front by the river.   I was hoping for decent weather this weekend to take Izzy down to the river.

Baby Molly is growing and we have discovered that the dog we have on the weekend with loads of outdoor exercise is not the same dog that we have during the week when she spends the majority of her day in the crate.   The training is coming along very well.   There obviously has been the odd accident in the house...due to the lack of Mom and Dad paying attention that Miss Molly has woke up and should be put out!   DH has started to work on training her attention span.   At the moment its about the same as that of a goldfish!   This little dog is not interested in food treats...so motivating her to come when called hasn't been as easy as other dogs we have had.   Hopefully her ADD will disappear as she grows up...if not, we have a very long 10+ years ahead of us!!

Baby Molly and Beautiful Fall Weekend

We have decided on a name...Molly.
She's just such a little doll.   I can't believe that 15 pounds can exude so much love, enthusiasm and exuberance.   I also can't believe the set of lungs that a little 15 pounder has at night when she DOES NOT want to be in her crate.  DH being the big soft bleeding heart that I fell in love with has "rescued" her ever night except the first night since she arrived!   In all the years that DH and I have been together he slept his first night on the couch...with his little Princess baby sleeping with him!   I realized at that moment that I had once again slipped to the #2 spot in the household priority.  
The house has been restored to its previous level of chaos and I am loving every minute of it!

As I am sure you are all well aware...this blog will now be Molly focused as her antics continue to enrich the lives of those who live and visit us here on the farm!
 
Molly spent some time on the couch having her before bed nap.   I know some of you reading this are going Eek Gads...they are letting her on the furniture!  Yep...she's a family member so she gets a spot on the couch.   There are 2 types of homes; those with beautiful furniture and no pets and those with pets and functional furniture!   We have the later type of home.   Maybe in a couple years we will get some new furniture, once Miss Molly has finished her chewing phase.  Within 48 hours we knew we were going to be dealing with a chewer!   All the throw rugs have been stowed away, if not they would have been stowed away in Molly's bed...as anything she can pick up and carry ends up in her bed.

DH and I spent all day on Saturday re-leveling the stalls and putting in stall mats.   Who would have thought that adding stone dust, power compacting and then resizing stall mats would take so long!   Seven stalls are re-leveled and 6 stalls have mats now.   The other 3 stalls are full of hay for the pending winter, so we will have to get to those in the spring.   

Supervisor Molly found Kitty's barn bed and made herself at home.

DH and I took down the old owners tomato garden today.  We have been working away on cleaning up around the house before the winter hits.   Still lots of stuff to do, the job jar list doesn't seem to be getting much shorter.   The barn job jar list tho has been getting a series of things scratched off so I have been a happy wife!

BEFORE

Here's the south side of the house as it looked when we purchased.

AFTER

I know it looks pretty bare, but once the new perennial beds are put in it will look great.  I can't believe the change in the light inside the house; both in the living room and the guest room by having that big tree removed.

After 2 days in the barn reeking havoc helping, Molly was rather grimy.  Not to mention the kennel she was in was not exactly the cleanest..so she had a "bird bath" in the kitchen sink tonight.   Here she is getting her first bath.   She was a little superstar.   She didn't even try and climb out once!   I can't believe how we lucked out picking her.  <note - I will likely be eating these words within 30 days>   Dog shaming photos will follow as the need arises!

The Silence Is Broken

The uncomfortable quiet of our home is now a thing of the past...<Insert goofy happy grin, school girl giggle and teary eyes of joy>!

Introducing the newest addition to our family.

This is our 9 week old bundle of joy.   Female Golden Retriever...yet to be named.
DH and I have not come to a satisfactory choice that we both love and don't feel silly calling it out at the top of our lungs in a busy dog park.

Stay Tuned...A door has closed and now; a window has opened!

Christmas Decorating...has started!

Another crazy weekend concluded at HP Haven.
New horses arrived, trenching for the new hydro service is underway, horses have been trimmed, Christmas decorated has begun, shelter wall goes up...

My Dad started the trenching for the central metering for our new hydro service.   This is an anticipated additional to the farm...especially for DH.  He doesn't even have enough power to hook up his compressor at the moment and the arena lighting cannot be upgraded until this gets changed.
My dad just loves playing around on his tractor and digging is the thing he is known for.  ("Groundhog Trenching Service")   I don't think he had a sand box when he was a kid with Tonka toys!

Groundhog Trenching service hard at work.

The Trench so far.

...still another 100 feet to go before we reach the barn panel and then another trench to get to the house.

My mom was busy doing those tedious jobs...like mudding the holes in all the walls on the second floor.   That doesn't sound like a big job but if you have seen the second floor walls you would know otherwise.  The guest room was especially terrible including dozens of holes in the ceiling.   DH and I no longer looking in the bathroom mirror and thinking we are seeing a big black bug on the wall now that the hole opposite the mirror has been patched!
Mom also has a real amazing knack for arrangements.   She took care of preparing the driveway planters with the Christmas greenery.   Drove in tonight and seen these 2 beautiful pots and it sets a happy mood driving up the driveway.  

Thanks Mom...they look especially wonderful with horses in the background!  :-)

DH spent his wonderful warm Sunday afternoon closing in one wall of the old run in shelter my girls are living in.  No more hurricane wind blowing directly on my girls now!   Thank you Honey...you always but the girls and I first...even tho Sunday would have been a perfect day for the track.

New Residents Arrive

HP Haven is welcoming 2 new horses today to the herd.   Elvis and Gus have arrived on the farm and will be part of the on going blog entries moving forward!   Elvis is owned by my friend Terrie and Gus is owned by her partner Nick.
They settled in pretty well after just a day meeting my 2 ladies over the fence.   No angry faces over the fence and no drama while everyone is loose and free to move around.  The ladies have come into raging heat cycles and are both crooning the boys over the fence, piddling the entire time!   Shameless these 2 are!  
Feed time was a bit of a production with no horses touching their supper.   I know my 2 can be finicky when things change in their world, so I kinda expected some drama.   I am confident in a week everything will have settled down and life will be back to a more "normal".  

Here are the new boys and the first meeting between paddocks.

By the end of the night DH and I got the new manger completed and the feed tubs installed.   The new boys have a nice new shelter to enjoy.

Still need to install some metal edging to prevent chewing but it's inhabitable and safe!

DH and I also got the stall mats into the first stall in the new barn!    How exciting!  The feed room is now matted and has all the feed tubs and shavings etc back in.  We will also make this a temporary tack room until the new roof is on the bank barn and we can move into the space we had designated as the tack room.   

The Royal

Spent the afternoon at the Royal today with Heather and Sarah.   Not too much damage on my debit card!   Only 1 pair of new breeches.    There would have been more if they would have had more colours in my size.   I also bought 2 pairs of winter gloves.   My age old faithfuls...tan thinsulate lined deerskin and a new pair for me called 10 Below's by SSG.   A couple of woman in the store, that were not sales people, were raving about them and said I had to try them because they are the best winter gloves by far.   I figured I had nothing to lose and my hands are almost always cold.

But the real deal about The Royal was my favourite meal; the pulled pork parfait from Hank Daddy's BBQ!   Pulled Pork Parfaits rule the Royal.   This little meal is the smoky sweet taste of BBQ pork with the creamy goodness of mashed potatoes, topped off with a few baked beans for good measure.  Here's mine served up fresh!

The best $5 bucks I spent this year tho was 15 minutes in a $7000 massage chair.   After several hours of shopping we had tired feet and aching lower backs so took the earlier offer from the Pansonic salesman.  

Here's Sarah pretty happy after her well spent $5!

Going back to the Royal now after competing there 2 years go has a different feel to it than prior to being a competitor.   It has a touch of nostalgia and good memories of the red ribbon first ride we had there with our first trip to the big ring with the big indoor crowd.  The Elvis Quadrille is the stuff you talk about in the nursing home!   Two years ago I got to check off "ride at the Royal" on my bucket list.   I also retired the the most amazing horse that has touched my life so far.   It was a grand celebration with friends; to celebrate our overall second place finish in the team quadrille competition and the closing of a long, successful show career of my one in a million horse, Magnolia.

A trip down memory lane...The Elvis Quadrille

l to r - Liz Schilke, Sheila Dunbar, Bronwyn Barlow-Cash, Lynda Cooper