Tuesday, March 23, 2010

Busy in Da U.P.

We have been busy up here for the past 2 weeks, with school, girl scouts, archery, 2 birthday parties, and learning to ride horses! That’s in addition to everything else we do on a daily basis.
In that time, there has been a lot of smiles, tears of missing loved ones and some adventure. The turkey’s are back! There are 3 different batches coming in everyday now. Three big Tom’s that are making Bear twitch wanting to shoot one! It’s not Turkey season!
Pixie decided one day she wanted to try stand still enough -with birdseed in her hat - to see if the chickadee’s would eat out of the hat. I don’t think any birds landed on her hat but she one of our backyard corn munchers very close to her. She was a little freaked out and decided she had to move. I love being up here living in the woods, providing our kids a place to explore and be kids.
My little babies are growing up whether I like it or not. As a Mom I still try to baby them and as kids they always remind me, “MOM I AM NOT A 2 YEAR OLD!!!, STOP BABYING ME!!!!”. This year was the first year we didn’t have big sister, no games, but plenty of fun and friends!! We had decorations and themes to parties and just let them play and be friends! They ate and let imagination take over! We had a Crystal Ball(dancing, dresses and high heels), cops and bad guys(with dogs and walkie talkies), outside running around in the mud(dragging more mud on the porch) and swinging on the tire swing! Fun was had by all! Then came the end of the night, time for the sleepover to begin, sleep was not in the mind of one of the little ones. At 1am I got up out of my comfy warm bed for the umpteenth time to go tell her to be quiet or I was calling her Mom and she would be going home! I normally have patience for all people including small children but this little one just struck me wrong 15 minutes after she walked in the door! I found out the next day she has behavior issues, (um duh! Not a dr. but I could have told you that!) thank you Mom for telling me that when you called to RSVP it may have made a difference in my decision to allow her to sleepover!!!!! Mare Bears party went great and had many of her friends over, most of which ended up sleeping over! Let me just tell you, two weekends in a row with sleepless nights just about did me in. My Bear handled it very well considering he was the only male here besides the critters out back but he has less patience than I. We had sunshine but cool temps. That didn’t stop these girls from having a good time, swinging on the swing, plucking sap from the trees, running through the woods, and yes tracking in tons on mud. One year makes a difference in girls, Mare and her friends were in her room talking, laughing, telling secrets, and watching a movie. They were in and out of the house a lot. Pixie and her friends were using the whole house, not just her room. Mare and her friends wanted privacy, and it begins, the whole privacy thing. Not sure I am ready for that again.?

I think I mentioned the three horses we were taking care of? Haillee the Morgan(our favorite), Amanda(the old sweetheart), and Traz(the misbehaving thoroughbred). The girls have begun to learn how to ride. First was Hailee with a saddle and reins with someone leading. Then Amanda bareback, reins, and lead. Confidence is building the more time we spend with them. Lead rope was taken off yesterday with Amanda and the look of pride on the faces, both horse and human was precious. You see Miss Amanda is a 28 year old Paso Fino horse that can carry a small rider theses days. She did amazingly well! I watched her before they mounted, head down, eyes dark, wondering what we were thinking I’m sure. When one mounted, her head went up and she walked with the grace of a queen. Head held high, ears up and eyes bright, she made several laps around the round pen. What a graceful animal. I was completely blown away with how she changed, almost as if to say, “I may be old but I can still do this!! So don’t count me out!!”. Haillee who is normally passive was being a little stubborn so we chose to just leave her alone. I wouldn’t give up on her though and was able to brush her and give her some love too. Now Traz on the other hand, UGH!!!! She has been allowed for so many years to rule the roost and has the owner half scared! She is a tall horse, very smart and knows she can intimidate people simply by her size. The owner called me yesterday out of frustration and asked if I had some time to come and try to work with her. Of course!! We went there, had her calm and behaving, as soon as the owner came out she started her bad attitude. If she were my horse that attitude would be adjusted. I continued to work her and run with her. I understand Betty’s frustration, as I try to hook up the lunge line, she jerks her head and backs up to the fence, butts the fence. I think it’s time to go over, hook her up to the lunge line, and have the whip out(not to hit her with) out in the pasture. That way if she backs up to the fence she will realize it’s an electric fence(that’s not juiced). We shall see what happens with that. Hopefully I don’t get hurt or anyone else.

I hope you have a wonderful day and remember to always take in the beauty around you.

Till next time.