What a STORM!

This was the sunset before the storm.

Temps were the highest on record, and on my back porch the thermometer read 94 degrees F. 

Yes that is right!

I almost turned the air conditioner on, but somehow doing that in April goes against my belief that it is just not time to turn it on yet.

The night began with Sydney and Sassy both trying to climb into my lap!

Normally storms do not bother them.

The air was heavy and very quiet.

The light show began.

I never saw any of the beautiful streaks everyone else saw,

because there is a hill behind our house.

But here is one taken by 

Scott Butner 

(I found a flicker album, click his name, and you can search his name on FB. He does amazing photography.)

from Facebook and this is what he said:

"This is a composite of three or four frames, all shot in the same position over a couple minutes time."

The thunder never really boomed, it more or less just rumbled.

So I came in the house.

Not five minutes later, 

Hurricane force winds hit and the trees were bent over....

Things were flying past the window that I had no idea what they were.

Doors slammed shut in my house,

because I had all the windows open.

At one point I ran outside to save my tomato plants,

Got eyes FULL of dust,

and had to use a life line just so the wind would not blow me away!

 

The rains came, settled the dust,

 and Morrow County reported a high level of rain that fell within that hour.

(I don't remember how much) 

After about half an hour, 

all was silent.

The rain continue to fall for another half an hour.

Then NOTHING!

It was so hot in the house!

but now I could open the windows!

FRESH AIR!

When we got up this morning and surveyed the damage.

I saw nothing. Not even limbs from the tree.

Then hubby comes in and says there is something in the pasture.....

A big piece of metal!

RUT-ROW!

Yes, it came from the little shed just to this side of the lean-to!

(Used my gieger  counter to check for any nails lost, and did find three.)

No one was injured, but my poor donks were very skittish this morning.

Poor things.

I have been SICK for FOUR days! UGH!

Started with a chest cold,

knocked that down with Airborne and Zicam,

but then there was no stopping it from going into my head.

My nose was so plugged, I seriously could not breathe!

Two sleepless nights did not set well!

TODAY, finally my nose is clearing out! 

I was dizzy most of the day,

but I am feeling way better than I did.

THANK GOODNESS!

Update on Donkeys:

Everyone is getting along really great!

Star and Buddy are glued to Libby!

I NOW have TWO donkeys running the fence when I take Libby out!

But not as bad as Star was when she was by herself.

I caught the two of them napping, with Libby standing guard.

 Buddy has the cutest face on him,

And it is so hard to get a good picture of Star because she

has to be IN MY POCKET all the time!

I LOVE THEM ALL!

Libby talks to me a lot, and I just love her Nickers....

Star brays and lets me know when it is feeding time.

Buddy still squeaks, 

although...

The other day, he DID get a bray out!

It was raspy, and I know he was trying very hard!

I felt like a mom, when her child says it first words!

I had to run and tell hubby,

"Buddy Talked! Did you hear that?"

Their most favorite thing is 

"Spa" time.

Yes, they all get brushed almost every single day.

And I can NOW pet Buddy between and on and in his ears, 

AND

Pick up ALL four feet and clean them!

YESSSSS!

 

Libby is shedding like crazy,

but the donkeys are not so much.

Since I have been sick,

I have not made it out to the pasture, 

except to feed, (and that was an effort),

and they have let me know too,

because they are both flighty today.

Could be because of the storm last night.

But all I have to do is halter up Libby,

and start brushing on her,

and I have two donkeys behind me, 

begging for some brushing!

I am teaching everyone ground tying,

and they all do pretty good.

Twilight Eyes.....?

My daughter in law, 

was taking pictures with her phone and

She sent me these:

"Shanna" 

(my daughter in law)

"Briann"  

(Daughter in laws daughter)

"Shelby"  

(Another daughter in law.)

Faulty Camera?

Full Moon?

Ummmm......?

R.I.P. White Horse!

R.I.P.

White Horse of River Road in Hermiston, OREGON!

The past week as I drove by I would find you in your pasture

with your buddy, the white sheep.

I noticed you were loosing weight very rapidly!

I knew the end was near!

Today as I drove by, I saw a blue tarp in your pasture,

and the tears fell!

You were loved and well cared for!

Your humans loved you so very much!

I know you had a spa day just a couple days ago

with the white hair in the pasture.

Your human probably said her good byes then.

It was a special time spent with you,

because we know when the time comes also.

We do not like it when it does.

And we cry, the tears fall heavily, and our hearts are heavy with sorrow.

The pasture will not be the same without you!

"I" Will miss you greatly!

White Horse on River Road

R.I.P.

(UPDATE: Found out, this was Misty and she would of been 33 years old May 1st.)

Libby Talked today!

When I was 9, 10, 11 years old,

Mom would get a paycheck from the government the first of each month.

It was Social Security drawn from my father who passed away when I was 9.

Back then she got $97.00 for each of us 3 kids, and for herself.

Rent was $100.00 a month.

I was a kid and now as an adult, I still don't know how she did it.

The highlight of each month, 

was to go to the local IGA store.

Get a dozen Chocolate eclairs,

sit in our '67 Chevy Belair

and the 4 of us would pig out!

We would sit stuffing our face,

(This was the only sweets we would get each month.)

We would sit and watch the people.

Study them....

Mom and I would ask questions,

Like "What do you think they are shopping for?"

or

"Do you think she is happy?"

or

"Why do you think they are in a hurry?"

We would make a game out of it.

This has carried thru in my life.

To this day,

I would prefer to sit in the mall and people watch!

This has also carried over to my kids in raising them,

and to my animals.

and

the neighbors animals!

(Yes this is leading up to a story)

I have five grandchildren.

and I hope at least ONE of them will be a cowboy/cowgirl!

Parker:

 He knows what he wants and you can not deter him!

"I Wide Wibby!" and nothing else!

Cameron:

I have yet to introduce him to Libby.

Cody: 

Loves to ride when he comes out.

 So our eldest came over with their kids.

Briann (3) and Kaden (1).

Briann came wearing her darling Snow White dress that she got for Halloween, and her boots! She was ready to ride.

Briann:

She is willing to ride horse AND donkeys!

So we go out and get Libby.

After a few laps around the pasture,

I ask if she wants to ride Buddy the Donkey!

"YES!" "YES!" she said.

So I take her off Libby.

She stands next to her mom.

 

I take Libby's halter off.

Libby follows me over to Buddy.  She is on my left.

Buddy is on my right, and I am in the middle.

She just stands there. Right next to me.

She ALWAYS walks off in search of a blade of grass when I take the halter off.

ALWAYS!

 

This was very odd behavior for her.

I put the halter on Buddy.

I have to step out and in front of Libby to have room to walk Buddy.

Libby steps to my right, and right in-between Buddy and me.

Buddy's lead rope in under Libby's neck.

HUH?

She just stands there.

I am taken aback, and I look at her.

I move over, and try to walk Buddy around her.

She steps forward and stays between me and Buddy!

She is very calm!

Not pushy!

Just standing there!

Keeping herself in-between Buddy and me.

Ok!

Now I am on alert and I study, and play over in my mind, what has just happened!

I got the message LOUD and CLEAR!

Libby was telling me, that Buddy was not ready to give a little girl a bareback ride,

and he needs more time in school to know how to take care of her!!!!!

YES LIBBY! I get it!

So I take the halter back off Buddy,

Put it back on Libby,

and we continue to give little kids a ride!

I am still stunned by her actions!

And I love her all the more!

When it came time for Kaden to get to ride,

We put him on with his big sister, Briann.

Kaden:

HI-HO-SILVER!

The giggles that came from him was the most precious music to my ears!

They both had fun, and neither wanted to get off.

I need a horse walker! TEEHEE!

The only way to end the ride was to tell Briann,

that Libby is getting tired and she needs to rest!

(in fact it was 'grama' and 'mom' that were getting tired! LOL)

The day that doesn't work anymore,

I hope she will be riding on her own!

Friends Cont......

When I was in school,

I had a very close friend,

and we did EVERYTHING together!

I was always the gutsy one.

Full of ideas for entertainment,

and usually the one that always got us into pickles.

Nothing ever major.

 

And, as life has a way of interfering,

we lost touch.

I find that I get older I like to make contact with the people that

have meant a lot to me in my life time.

(Am I getting old and sentimental? Maybe.)

So one day I popped onto her door step,

I knew she had a horse.

When she answered the door, 

Me, being a practical joker said:

 "I heard you have a horse for sale."

If looks could of killed I would of been dead,

but all I could do was start laughing!

Then she knew who I was!

It was great!

Since then we have been in contact and someday

I hope to go riding with her.

But ONE of us would need to transport our horse

since we live in two different towns.

Since "I" have the horse trailer,

I suppose that would be me,

and since I am NOT comfortable hauling

such precious cargo,

I don't think it would be any time soon.

SO, she comes over here and we ride.

But on this day, 

We both rode Libby.

 Libby is so accommodating.

And, we took turns riding her.

The main reason

was she wanted to see Star!

Star is a little luv bug

and she got in some nice little luv'ins.

 Libby: "What did you drop?"

 Star: "You smell good. I will be your friend."

Star does not let anyone come up to her,

but she was in "J's" pocket this day.

I look forward to making up for lost time.

I know I have lots of fun when we are together!

I only hope it is the same for her.

MISS YA!

and here is to a summer full of riding experiences!

Labels

Friends.......

Once upon a Time

We lived in town.

Next door lived a very good friend.

Her kids and my kids played together quite a bit.

Her and I had many laughs!

I think the one time I remember laughing so hard

was at Halloween.

I used to like to dress up for the holiday!

I was a witch...

(Let me clarify: Dressed UP Like a witch)

At the time I drove a blue FIAT!

It was old. The boxy 4 door, kind.

NOT the sporty kind,

Boy did we have fun in that car!

It would 4-wheel on all the sandy roads in the area.

It could grab just as much air as the 4-wheelers these days!

(Oops, sorry honey!)

None of which are accessible today, of course.

The kids loved it! "Faster mom! Go Faster"!

and Faster I went!

Oh, an this was before the seat belt law!

The kids had so much fun bouncing around in the back seat!

(I think. Maybe they were rendered unconscious at times!)

This particular Halloween we went to town.

The looks people gave us as we drove down the street would just send us into fits of laughter.

I do not have any pictures of me then.
Wished I did, because I won a Halloween contest that year.

(I make a good witch! LOL)

Times changed.

She moved.

We lost touch.

Then I get this new job!

And GUESS WHAT???
I now work with her!

AND 

it is so awesome!

Things are not the same...

But I am working on it.

I love being around her!

She still makes me laugh!

Friends come and go,

and you always miss the ones that meant the most!

One day this past January, it was pretty nice out.

I got her to come over and visit.

One thing let to another, and 

GUESS WHAT?

Yeppers!

She took Libby for a spin.

Libby had to get fueled up first.

Then OFF THEY GO!

Around the telephone Pole,

and where they end up,

Nobody knows!

Of course walking at a snails pace,

(Which is Libby's lazy speed)

They can't end up to far.

It was a wonderful day!

With a wonderful Friend!

QueenB:

Next time, 

You ride Libby,

I ride Buddy!

We will see how far we get!

HAHA!

Sheep Shearing.....

I have never attended a SHEEP SHEARING before

and when I got invited to one,

I jumped at it!

Here are two of them.

One is a ram and the other is an 'it'.

Not to fond of the rope, but getting them around the horns was just a brilliant idea!

Who'd a thunk! Right?

Well obviously not me!

 Here are the ewe's waiting for their turn to shed their winter coat.

 It was a beautiful day and actually quite warm.

But then it turned off COLD and I bet those poor little sheep wished they had their blankets back on.

 This guy was P.O.'d! but he sure has a cute face.

 The shearer setting up.

He was a man of few words!

Talked with an accent, and I asked him

where he was from.

He said: "Hermiston".

Well DUH!

I then said that his accent did not come from Hermy Town,

are you from "Scotland?"

I suppose being a sheep shearer and having an accent,

I only assumed!

NEVER DO THAT!

 He said he was from Spain.

 I don't think he said two words the whole time he was bent over working.

 Probably couldn't breath. 

I know when I bend over and work

it is hard for me to breath.

I think we need to make a table for these hard working fella's.

 Here is the ram all done.

 Both boys. 

DID NOT KNOW EACH OTHER!

Had to have the butt sniffing, get to know each other routine!

It was quite funny!

 This gal had the most gorgeous wool!

I found that the lanolin in the wool made my hands so soft!

I tried to see if the sheep shearer had soft hands, but he wore gloves.

If I would of thought, 

I would of brought some of it home.

These lady's are going to 'spin' this wool into yarn...

Yeah! That's right!

I think it is a lot of work.

Somehow I just can't see them sitting at a spinning wheel very long!

Teehee....