Dis... organized?

I went downstairs to get the clippers so I could clip the mule's manes. I'm late doing it this year. As usual.

I picked up a strange blue colored hammer when I grabbed the clippers off the shelf. Hmmm, must have been left behind by the electrician from a few weeks ago.

I put the clipper boxes on the porch so I could get right to the clipping job. When I took the hammer to the kitchen to take a photo and send it to the electrician, I noticed the floor was pretty dirty. I walked around the house and picked up all the rugs to get shaken.

Then I started randomly picking things up in one spot and putting things in another. When I turned around I noticed that the little table the tv was on needed dusting. And behind that? The window sill could use a bit of attention.

I opened the windows wide to let in fresh morning air and then got out the window cleaner. Oh wait, I wanted to vacuum. When I walked past the bathroom, I picked up the trash and cleaned the little bin, then took the trash out and ...

somehow in a most unorganized yet busy manner got the house vacuumed, mopped, windows washed, sills cleaned and discovered that I still had not addressed the mysterious hammer. Plus the clippers were still on the porch next to a pile of rugs that needed cleaning.

I finally did get a shot of the hammer and send it off to the electrician, but not before I had the two Lasko fans pulled apart and washed.

Oh and the mules?

Here is Sunshine, my red headed darling...before clipping.

and after...

I didn't get shots of the others as I did them, but they sure look more like mules than some strange equine now.

And then a couple hours later we had rain! Beautiful wonderful amazing rain.

We may have gotten 1/2" all total. Hopefully the pastures will green up a bit.

Looks like I'll be out doing some wild fungi foraging and searching this afternoon in the sweltering heat!

Yards and Gardens, Goat, Dog, Pony

I got the yard mowed again before I had to put pontoons on the mower! Well, I got most of the yard mowed. I left a section for the pony to clean up and did some manure raking by hand.
I couldn't mow the hill by the shed as it is steep and was still wet under the grass.

But my supervisors watched me carefully.

Charlie and Sven tied out so they can enjoy sunbathing 

together.

If Sven sees Charlie in the yard, he cries and Charlie

runs to be with him.

Charlie doesn't really need to be tied when he is with his Goatie friend. But since I had a huge mower out, it was a safety thing.

I have been calling Sven 'Goatie Goat' and he seems to not mind. I refer to Lil Richard as Pony and he doesn't mind. Charlie gives me a look when I call him Dog.

Later, my supervisors were bored...

An old picnic table top

serves as a place to

sleep.

Lil' Richard was in his area cleaning up around the machinery and the old Jeep which has finally been sold. I'll move him and then rake out the manure there. The next trouble spot are two places I can't mow. I could weed wack it. But I'll wack down the weeds he doesn't eat..

The mules moved to what will eventually... I hope, be a picnic area overlooking the ridge to the north. I just love to sit under the big old Box Elder and enjoy the view.

After my mowing and whacking, I decided to plant some flowers. I'd gotten marigolds for the right half of the porch and planted seeds on the left side with a mix of cosmos, zinnias, and sunflowers. Some of the sunflowers reseeded themselves so I will move them around when they are big enough.

I tried something different this year.

I picked up the logs from a tree that was cut down last year. It was hollow and I thought it would be fun to try planting stuff in them. I moved other logs to the Morris Garden to be used as holders for my pails with plants. It is fun to try and get a bit creative with plants and planters. 

I have one spot under the kitchen window that may need more color this summer. I may transfer some seedlings or pick up some more Marigolds. I never liked marigolds as a kid, but now they are fun and I love their late summer hues.

My bleeding hearts are doing well and as they fade out, the iris's will shoot up with purple. As the iris flowers fade, the Blazing Glories will burst into color.

After that the zinnias should show up along with the 4 oclocks.

I don't know that I will do a veggie garden this year. Seems I have a lot of vegetables left over from the abundant garden of last year. I still need to string the electric wire down by the creek. 

At least I am not running out of things to do.

A Not Day

I think after I do the morning chores, and go to town for groceries, I will be coming home and I will NOT do any other physical labor.

Well, that is my good intentions, to take a day off and relax. The vegetable  garden needs a good hoeing and the flower gardens need weeding. I may get a the little squishy pad out and sit next to the flower garden and pick and poke at weeds and listen to music in the afternoon. That is relaxing.

Yesterday I walked to the meadow and fired up my Weed Eater and tore through a large patch of Canada Thistle. I know the cattle will eat the wilted thistle so last night I let them out into the meadow. My hope is that they eat it, if not that is okay. When I chopped down another patch by hand, the mules ate the chopped thistle and then stripped the remaining stalks.

My neighbor and her kids came for an afternoon jaunt down the new ridge road to the creek yesterday. We walked through the meadow and my neighbor noticed the Ox Eye daisy invasion and mentioned that her goats absolutely loved those pesky daisies.

Let's pause briefly for
Creek fun:

Back to the goats. Hmm. The Mules are natural browsers and so are the Dexters. I used to raise goats but never had them in the woods. It has been ages. I may have to see about 'borrowing' the neighbors' goats for some cleaning and gleaning. I know they eat multiflora rose bushes and those pesky berry briers along with burdock.

So last night my mind was whirring away, here I was trying to figure out a rotation to include a goat or two and wondering if I could pasture them with my Dexters. Mules are not generally happy with goats, however in the past two years the neighbor goats have been constant companions on the other side of the fence...and occasionally a wayward goat finds its way into the mule pasture.
I was sure that my red headed mules would hurt the goats.

So far that hasn't happened.

And then I wonder what I'd do with goats in the winter. Sigh. I do actually have the room to keep at least two.

Decisions, decisions.

However I've decided to NOT work on fences or thistles, or much of anything today. The yard needs mowing. Maybe I'll just trim a bit.
See? There I go again.
But I see rain in the forecast again starting tomorrow for the next two days.

Enough already!
And then I think.
Perhaps Sunday should be a NOT day.

And then there is that new fence line I thought I'd put up...and our pony who was wandering around this morning loose. He's broken his tie out...
and going to visit MIL...and...

Oh heck. Can I just have one day of doing nothing please???

Tales of Tails

This is what happens when the Merry Meadow can't be clipped for weed control. The Burdock must have grown monstrous overnight, right?
No, I saw tails getting cluttered up with the nasty burdock heads, but waited to do something about it.

I took a stroll through the meadow and found that the redheaded sisters had been forging down into "The Island" area which is loaded with multiflora rose and other nasty weeds.
They are the adventurous mules who will go anywhere to search for goodies. They will eat the burdock leaves and sometimes even the flowering burrs themselves. Multiflora rose can be a delicious treat as well as thistle flowers.

I made the Executive Decision to move the mules across the fence to the our pastures. The one wooded pasture is being cleaned by the Dexter cattle who love to eat burdock and nettles.

Anyway, back to the tails.
What a mess! Sunshine's tail was one massive lump. The hair was twisted tightly around the burdock.

I got out Showsheen, a brush, a comb, scissors, some thinners, and some hair conditioner.
I worked for over an hour cleaning out knots and burdock.

I had to cut out the twisted lump, there was no way to untangle the mess.
However, if you didn't know that, her tail didn't look too bad.

She was rather unconcerned about her tail, however since I know she has a beautiful full tail, I'll be working on making sure it grows back in nice and full.

Fred's tail was not much of a mess. He, unlike Sunshine, stood like a statue for his tail grooming.

He and Siera have nice full tails. But that is probably because I haven't had to cut out much burdock from them in the past few years. They have been spared the Meadow area with the burdock mostly because I keep them close in for riding.

Thankfully out of all 5 mules, Sunshine's was the only one that needed trimming. I'd cut Mica's tail last fall to hock length to let the damaged ends regrow. I'd cut Sundance's tail this spring to get out the snarls.
Now the gals and Fred will get some extra TLC for their tails. Siera's tail had to be trimmed as it is long enough for her to step on it when she backs up.

Everyone enjoyed several minutes grazing the nicer grass that is in the yard. I was tempted to just put a hot wire across the driveway and let them loose. However I have a feeling that I'd have mules on the porch staring in the windows.

15 and the Farrier Visit

The weather was miserable. Cold, wet, rain, cold...wet, wet, cold...well you get the idea.
Dan and Danny Tesar came and we introduced them to our new horse/pony we call 15.
Yes she came from an Amish farm and needs a bit of filling out yet, but we have been so surprised by her super laid back and gentle attitude.  She was supposed to have been 'a good rider'. But as things go at auction, she really isn't what we would call well broke.
That was okay.
Rich and she got along so well. She allows him to do most anything with her. And she will accept a saddle and work with a bridle.

That was pre-stroke. We haven't messed with her except to feed her, clean her area, and brush her a lot. We had a bit of trouble picking up her back feet and I had meant to have her over that before the Tesar's showed up.

The Dan's worked quietly and patiently with 15 and trimmed her feet. She had a bit of an issue with her back feet. But the guys worked with her and concluded that she was not going to kick, she just didn't really understand and was a bit confused and frightened about having her feet worked on.

Rich stood talking to her quietly. She seemed to completely trust him and most of the time stood perfectly still.

As Dan and Danny finished up ... well something occurred that I'd never in my entire time with Rich seen him do.

15 closed her eyes and dropped her head to Rich's chest. Rich leaned forward and planted a kiss on her face.

I poked Dan as Rich turned to take her back to her pen. "Why I never! I have never in my life seen him actually kiss a horse!"

It is obvious that 15 is very important to my husband. She has touched him inside like no other animal I've ever seen. Not even his beloved Fred Mule.

We dragged in wet donkeys from the winter pasture and got their feet trimmed. Some donkeys behaved a bit badly. Normally they are calm and sweet. Dan thought perhaps it was the crappy weather.

I thought a bit and then realized that normally we have all of the donkeys clustered around when trimming. It was probably a herd sour issue. That explained that attitude of our quietest donkey.

Once the weather clears up, the donkeys will get summer haircuts and be bathed. Even Eddie the gelding I raised will be sold. However Bob, ever calm and steadfast Bob will stay. If ever there was a handsome, gentle laid back Jack, it is Bob.

I need to stop here and thank Dan and Danny Tesar of Dan Tesar Horseshoeing Co. for their excellent work and generous gift.
Rich is still pinching himself.

Hey...it isn't raining at the moment! How about some rain? It could get dry!
We only had an inch yesterday!

New Farrier, visit two!

Okay he is not a New Farrier.  Let me rephrase that, he is a Certified Journeyman Farrier.
This means he holds the highest certification by the American Farriers Association. I only know that because I looked it up.

I know that titles don't always mean everything, but I've watched a few farriers in my life and know the difference between those who just do the job and those who Do The Job with knowledge.

This fellow Dan, does it with care and knowledge and he doesn't do a rush job. He points out any health issues that he sees concerning the hoof and if he has a concern with an animal's overall health he will mention it also.
Some folks would probably prefer that a farrier not point these things out, but I don't mind.  
We are just getting to know each other.  
He may see something we have overlooked or he may see something that we are already addressing. 

Siera's frogs are recovering very rapidly.  Exercise is her best medicine right now Dan says.  Well that is fine with me!  
I can see it now.  

Me: "Honey, I am going riding."
Hubby: "Jeeze again?"
Me: "Well Dan said Siera needs exercise to recover!"
Hubby: "Darn that Dan!"

Here is Dan in action.  Sorry Dan, I was not trying for a rear end shot, but wanted to get a shot of the two of you guys talking.

Dan trims Sunshine, the older red molly mule.  The lighting for photos was terrible, but I was more interested watching Dan work than taking photos. However one day I'd like to see him make a shoe!

Sunshine and Sundance were in the round pen with two of our donkeys.  The red heads were sort of being naughty so I thought I'd step in and give them something to do.

Sunshine trots past the Mule Monster while Sundance decides to halt and give it the evil mule eye.

Sundance finally decides that she should smell it and then walk on it.  After that, it was something to jump, step on, tromp, and take a bite out of...just in case it decided to turn back into a Mule Monster.

I didn't get a shot of it, but the donkeys were rather unimpressed with the whole thing.  Emma gave it a stare and willed it to lay there and be submissive while she walked by it.  Princess walked over it without a care.

So the day really was a good one for us.  I got to make the red heads work, and the donkeys too.
Plus we had excellent trim jobs.

I am looking forward to doing some more work with the red mules.  And of course...I have to exercise Siera.

Happy Easter.

Busy day

El Nino hasn't been kind to us.  Sure the weather is milder and wetter, but we are swimming in mud and goo.

According to our farrier most of the equine he has had to trim have been in the sticky muck.  As he then said, "Hey, I chose this job."

Before he arrived we got each of the donkeys and gave their feet a bath and then put them in the round pen picking them out so our farrier wouldn't have to.

Not all of the donks liked getting their feet washed, but we got it done anyway.

Two hours later when Dewey showed up he was pleasantly surprised and very happy that we'd taken care and time to wash and clean the feet so he wasn't handling gooey mud caked hooves.

After Dewey finished, we talked about Siera and her frog issues on her one foot. We decided to see how trimming and regular 'in hand' exercise would work before we decided to go with special shoes.

I love Siera and she is a great ride.  Everyday I get her out, clean her up and either hand walk her up the gravel road or lunge her a bit in the round pen.  She enjoys the attention and the work so much that she trots to the gate every time I am in the yard.

Lil' Richard had his second training session.  In the first one, he was full of nonsense.  I put a rope halter on him for this session and we lunged on a line.
Between the last session and this session, he must have decided that he was going to be a smart pony and work very intelligently.

His Whoa became instant.  He learned to walk to me with finger pressure on the rope.  He learned to back up with finger pressure on the rope.  In all of his years with us, he has just been led around, trimmed, and basically had no formal training.

He took to this like candy.  He even took on the ever fearful blanket.  Lil' Richard gave it the stink eye, then walked over it after only a few minutes.
I put it on him and he smelled it and stared at it and then promptly ignored it.

He is a very quick study.

At the end of his session, I spent a bit of time with grooming.  He still has burrs in his forelock and in his tail from his late summer grazing.  He stands like a statue when I work on these.
Of course I've done this for years with him, so I didn't expect anything else.

He may make a great little mount after all.  He won't be for anyone who weighs over approximately 115 lbs, but that is fine because he'll work for me to get little short rides in.

My feet will only be about 3 inches off the ground.  My inseam is 3 inches less than his height.

I'm looking at an older donkey to start under saddle and with this mild winter I may have time to do that also.

So I guess El Nino may have some good things after all.

I look across the pastures and see Pedro, one of my favorite not trained mules. I'd started him quite a while ago but had that ended when I had to have multiple shoulder and elbow surgeries years ago.

Hmmmm.