MORE LICHENS AND MOSS AND MUD

We are having some really warm temperatures around here now.  It has been in the 50's the last few days - even hit 60 day before yesterday.  There is mud all over our place and we have to drive down to the pavement on Willow Creek Road then drive around the back way to feed our horses.  Driving through the forest on our place makes a lot of ruts it is so soft.  Been cutting down trees for next years wood that have died recently, but I can't get the blocks brought up until it freezes or dries up.

A snow squall going through the trees.

 Lots of lichens and moss on some of our rocks.

UPDATE 17 JANUARY 2015

We have been having about the same kind of winter now as we had a few weeks ago.  Cold and then warmer.  Have some ice still around, but for the most part it is not to bad.  Both of us are looking forward to heading south to really warm temperatures and doing some kayaking.  Plan on doing that in the middle of next month.

I have experienced something in the last few weeks that I have never experienced and that is an abscessed tooth.  Heard about them and know folks that have had them, but never thought I would.  Well I had one in a tooth that had never had a filling but had cracked.  It started to bother me in December and just got worse.  Because of specialization in their field now, I had to go through three dentists to get it pulled or "extracted" as they call it.  All went well and it sure does feel better.  This is the first time I have ever had a tooth pulled.  I can't believe how much better it feels, and I just got it done yesterday (Friday).  Of course everyone was quite concerned  about the infection as I just had my knee replaced in October.  So I have been taking two kinds of antibiotics to try and keep it out of the new knee joint.  I think I dodged the bullet on this one.

A few pictures taken while walking the Zeph around our place.

This time of year the moss and lichens are really out.

The valley waiting for the snow that is forecast for tonight.

HORSE HUMOR

As most of you know, Connie is a horse lover.  She rides when she does not have to and just likes hanging out with horses.  As a child, she slept with plastic horses instead of dolls.  I on the other hand, think that horses have one reason to be ridden - and that is to work cattle.  I really like to work cattle on horses and if roping is involved, I am right there.  But to go for just a ride is something that I am not that keen on.  And riding in an arena can bore me in just minutes.  As I am writing this, Connie is driving 40 miles to jump over poles in an arena when it is just 20 degrees (at least it is above zero).  So you can see we have a bit of a disconnect here.  But she loves it and I am all for it.  She comes back and tells me all about her "lesson" and how her horse Bill has done.  She sometimes takes two horses with her when she goes and I guess she gets two times the pleasure. 

Below are a couple of humorous little things she has found on the internet and they do describe her and her jumping friends pretty well.

Question:  How do you make a small fortune in the horse business?

      Answer:  Start with a large one.

   

Ten Ways To Get In Shape To Own A Horse      

1. Drop a heavy steel object on your foot. Don’t pick it up right away. Shout “Get off, stupid! Get off!”
2. Leap out of a moving vehicle and practice “Relaxing into the fall.” Roll lithely into a ball, and spring to your feet!
3. Learn to grab your checkbook out of your purse/pocket and write out a $200 check without even looking down.
4. Jog long distances carrying a halter and holding out a carrot. Go ahead and tell the neighbors what you’re doing. They might as well know now.
5. Affix a pair of reins to a moving freight train and practice pulling it to a halt. And smile as if you are really having fun.
6. Hone your fibbing skills. “See honey, moving hay bales is fun!” and ” I’m glad your lucky performance and multimillion dollar horse won you first place – I’m just thankful that my hard work and actual ability won me second place.”
7. Practice dialing your chiropractor’s number with both arms paralyzed to the shoulder, and one foot anchoring the lead rope of a frisky horse.
8. Borrow the US Army slogan; “Be all that you can be’…(add) bitten, thrown, kicked, slimed, trampled.”
9. Lie face down in the mud in your most expensive riding clothes and repeat to yourself: “This is a learning experience; this is a learning experience…”
10. Marry money!

 

You Know You’re A Horse Person When…

…your horse gets new shoes more often than you do.

…your mouth waters at the sight of a truck full of hay.

…every time you drive past a road construction sight you think what nice jumps the barricades would make.

…you consider a golf course as a waste of good pasture land.

…your friends no longer ask to get together after school/work or on a weekend because they know you’ll say, “I can’t, I have to ride.”

…you pull a $17,000 horse trailer with a $1,000 pick-up truck.  (in Connie's case it is a $40,000 truck pulling a $1000 dollar horse trailer).

…you buy duct tape by the case, and carry rolls in your pocketbook, briefcase, backpack, and car trunk.

…you realize finding a horse shoe is truly lucky because you’ve saved ten bucks.

…your boyfriend/husband complains that you love your horse more than you love him and you say: “And your point is..?”

…someone does something nice for you and you pat them on the neck and say ‘good boy’.

…you try to get by someone in a restricted space and instead of saying “excuse me” to him/her, you cluck at them instead.

…you show up for an appointment in your city clothes and when you get there people reach across the table to pick alfalfa out of your hair.

…no one wants to ride in your car because they’ll get sweet feed and hay in their socks and on their clothes…but that’s ok because you’ll have to rearrange all the tack to make room for them anyway!
 

…you look at all the piles of laundry sitting next to your washing machine and most of them are breeches, horse blankets, saddle pads, etc…. but you don’t even care about the horsey hair residue that will be left in your washer and dryer.

…you say “whoa” to the dog.

…your mother, who has no grandchildren, gets cards addressed to Grandma, signed by the horses and dogs.

…you see the vet more than your child’s pediatrician.

…you groom your horse daily for hours and you haven’t seen a beautician since…?

…someone asks for a screwdriver and you hand them a hoof pick.

…you clean tack after every ride but you never, ever, wash the truck.

…on rainy days, you organize the tack room, not the house.

…you can remember worming schedules, lessons, and farrier visits in your head, but often forget your class schedule, household chores, and meals.

…you are unreasonably pleased to get a horse item, ANY horse item, as a gift.

…you stop channel surfing at Budweiser Clydesdale commercials.

…books and movies are ruined for you if horsemanship references aren’t correct.

…you actually get to a point where flies don’t bother you that much anymore.

The first three pictures are where Connie used to ride.  The last three are one of the places she rides now.  I do not have any pictures of her riding in the covered arena that she rides in during bad or cold weather.  The picture above is of Connie and a couple of her helpers making sure the lead cows are going where they should.

 That is Connie on the right.

Connie jumping up in Missoula.

NEW YEAR WEATHER

We have been having some strange weather even for Montana.  Runs the gamut from cold and snow to warm and rain, wind and fog, to ice and mud.  It went from below zero to 38 degrees above and rain.  We had some slick roads let me tell you.  But we are doing fine.  Got all the Christmas stuff put away and are now trying to lose a few pounds of holiday cheer and food.  And with the weather that has been hard.  The last few days we were able to do some walking without ice cleats on our shoes so that has been nice.  Connie has been skiing a few times and it has been great.  The mountains are at or above our normal precipitation right now.  But there are a lot of avalanche warnings in the back country.  These last few days of warmer temperatures will probably help that though.

Had a horse get into some barbwire that the elk knocked off the fence posts the other day.  It was Joe and he did great.  He knew he was hooked up so just stood there until we found him the next morning when we fed.    We were lucky - he could have fought it and cut his leg so bad we would had to put him down.  The elk still go through our place ever so often so we will have to check the fences whenever they do I guess.

A little freezing fog today on my afternoon walk with Zeph.  This picture is at the church as we call it.  The pew is just a board between to rocks.

Frost on a lot of branches.

Zeph on the rocks.

The upper fire pit.