To the Moon and Back

 Gosh I love going to the quarry! It's like a weird trip to the moon or a surreal dreamscape. How many of you have ever been?! Our visits there give me the opportunity to share the joy and unusual visuals...

As you wind your way through, you experience piles of gravel, sand and quarry dust taller than your house. And weird structures where they do god knows what- creating smashed stone and asphalt. Additionally, trucks five times bigger than the average pick up whizz by and provide a sense of danger.

Oh I almost forgot to mention why we're here again. Neko the Wonder Pony's stall had been taking on water in a big way. Between torrential downpours and the frozen ground not soaking up water, quite a lot had flooded her stall on a regular basis. I had bailed it out multiple times, but was at my wit's end. And after years of cleaning the barn and several horses stomping in and out, the floor had actually been scraped down by like a good six inches. So we set off for the quarry to fetch a pile of processed stone.

You have to wait your turn! That truck is way bigger than us, so we hover until the coast is clear. Then this giant bucket loader approaches the truck and carefully lets loose 3/4 of a ton of rock into the truck bed. I'm sitting on the passenger side so I get to see the up close and personal back hoe in action. Kinda unnerving!

Yikes! Here it is approaching. But the operators are good and we're loaded and heading home...

It doesn't look like a lot once you get it home but believe me, after shoveling it out onto the wheelbarrow and pushing it into the stall, you get a much better idea of how much 3/4 of a ton is!

 

Many trips back and forth to the barn! And we returned to the quarry the next day for a second load. We sure do know how to have fun.

Here's a view of Neko's stall after the first application of stone. The center of her stall was really remarkably low. And here's the completed stall: nicely filled up after 1 and 1/2 tons of stone:

I couldn't be happier. We had rain and no water in the stall! I'm sure Neko is happy as her barn was not the high and dry refuge from inclement weather that it was supposed to be. But now it's ready for the deluges of spring...

Catch Up!!

 

So much to catch up about! First- and most importantly- it's Robin the Good's Birthday! Hooray for Robin; yes, the bestest doggo on the whole, entire planet.I can't believe she's 10! She looks great and acts like she's still a teenager... even the vet was impressed when he saw her last week (for routine shots). Let's hope to share our world with Robin for many more years!

And as if to celebrate Robin's birthday, nature gave us the first snow of the year. Kind of a heavy, wet snow and the wind is supposed to pick up this afternoon, but it was a charming surprise this morning. Neko's hiding in the barn; my horse definitely hails from a warmer, sunnier climate originally!

Another first! My first headcold (*1) since pre-COVID! I've been gasping and honking and my nose has been sheeding copious amounts of phlegm. I had forgotten just how stupid and unpleasant an old-fashioned rhinovirus is! (*2) 

And finally... I am sure that many things have gotten in the way and prohibited me from posting but let's be honest: The outcome of the last election threw me (and plenty of other sane, reaonable and intelligent human beings) for a big ol' loop. I mean really?!?!!?!?!? And as we count down the days until the orange menace assumes the throne for the second time, I guess we should take stock of all that is important to us- including this illusive thing we call "democracy". Fully one half of our country saw fit to send him back into office (despite all the awful things he's responsible for- like COVID deaths and a dreadful January 6th insurrection (and too many others to mention here!!) because of "the economy" and "the price of eggs". Just you wait; those things will pale in comparison to the disaster about to happen. Ugh.

*1). I tested myself as Bob had been sick a few days previous to my falling ill- although his symptoms were different. We've actually never had COVID! Let's keep it that way!!

*2) But you've gotta love Bob! He saw me photographing my old kleenex in the bathroom waste paper basket and never once questioned why I'd be doing such a thing. Artists understand...

Leaves and Other Things That Fall From the Sky

Yup. That's a whole lotta leaves! And they're not in the woods; they're in the horse field so they need removal as they simply pile up and kill whatever grass is underneath. Additionally, they're really slippery if I chose to ride my intrepid steed in the lower field. Here is Neko- my leaf colored horse:

Neko isn't concerned with much of anything besides eating, but she can't eat oak leaves, so rake them I will! I make numerous piles like this:

Put them on a tarp and then haul 'em away to the woods. I cannot even count how many piles I've hauled away so far but I figure if I drag four or five piles a day, I should be done by next year. Endless!!

Robin supervises. She thinks autumn leaves are awesome and enjoys chasing the leaves as they blow around the yard. (She also enjoys chasing shadows of birds which is pretty funny because she's running around, nose to ground, as the birds fly overhead.) 

The other thing that falls from the sky is meteorites! Last week Thursday, there was apaprenly a meteorite that traversed southern New England, passed over Long Island and landed in the Atlantic. Sorry to have missed that! 

(That is an actual photo that someone took.) We were coming back, oblivious on the train from New York, tired from our lovely trip to Tribeca and overloading on art viewing. We saw all kinds of wonderful, thought-provoking thing but nt that danged meteorite. Maybe next time!

 

Yes! Fence Me In!

 

Those of you have have visited us know that parts of the horse fence were in truly bad shape. The above section is (obviously) near the barn and shows the sad state of affairs. I had attempted to "fix" the fence by weaving together bits of chicken wire and metal poles... throw in some baling twine and you get a messy less than secure fence. A close up:

Somehow, it worked and kept Neko in. Or at least her body, as the fence is bent, spindled and mutilated because Neko was sticking her big fat neck and head over the fence to get the grass. Which we all know is greener on the other side. Anyway, this section was actually better (!!!) than other sections.

We had bought the new fencing and the posts, but Bob had been busy so we kept waiting until one unusually quiet day, Bob said, "Let's do the fence." I quickly agreed and set to work removing all that old, nasty fencing. Oh course, Robin the Good had to remain in the house while this was going on, which made her very unhappy. She spent the next few hours howling in pathetic canine accompaniment, certain she was missing all the fun.

Bob weed whacked the exposed fence line and set to work erecting new posts. I tamped the soil down after he dug the holes. Then we rolled out the new fencing.

It all looks straight and shiny and new and effortless, but it did take us the better part of the day. There's Neko in the background, wondering why she can't get her head over any more. Hahahaha! Part of the reason is that I ran a second line and a third line of electric fence along the top on fiberglass poles so that it looks like San Quentin Prison, but she can't stick her head through. And it works!! Horse foiled again!!

Better view by the large upper gate. So at least temporarily (until Neko figures out some other method to destroy the fence) everything is bright, shiny and new and secure. And thank goodness, our solar electric fence charger keeps blinking away.

I know because I touched the hot wire twice recently. Works like a charm!

So Much Excitement

 

I went to New York yesterday with two artist friends to enjoy a lovely afternoon of gallery hopping and dishing on various art scandals plaguing our local non-profit scene. We had a splendid time! As we were sitting on the train to go back home, I thought to text Bob to tell him I was on my way.

I sent my message and prepared to receive a brief text back from Bob, saying something innocuous like, "See you in a while!" or "Hope you had fun!". Instead I got a message that read- alarmingly- "Where's Neko's (the horse) halter? She's in our backyard freaking out and running around. There was a bear in her pasture. She jumped the fence." Uh... not exactly reassuring or calming as so many questions came to mind.

There was another text: "Got Neko back in her field; lured her with food". Well good for Bob for perfecting his horse wrangling skills and good for Neko for not killing herself or Bob or Robin the Good. Of course that led me to wonder nervously, where was Robin in all the excitement?

(Recycled bear pictures from last year's almost encounter as Bob was way to busy to run in the house and grab his phone or camera.) I dashed off several quick texts to Bob, asking "Is everyone okay?!??!!" There was an tense period where I'm checking my phone every three seconds, hoping for a bear disaster update and... nothing.

Until half an hour later, Bob says everyone is fine, although Bob related that Neko is still pretty disturbed, looking over her shoulder towards the woods, wondering where Mr. Bear is going to appear next. From Bob's description later on, the bear was simply ambling through the field looking pretty nonchalant. Bob's voice was hoarse from screaming at it and clapping his hands in an effort to scare it away.

When I arrived home, Bob filled in all the exciting details of his heroic defense of our homeland. He described Neko's galloping around our entire backyard, miraculously not damaging herself or our gardens (which of course, we're preparing for this Saturday's party!) She did stop to graze selectively from our lawn, probably thinking the terror of the bear was outweighed by her all-consuming love of eating. Bob had had the foresight to put Robin in the house when he spied Neko frantically running around. Ironically, Bob said that Robin was apparently so stunned by the bear she didn't even bark. (This is a dog who barks at the suggestion of anything even slightly out of the ordinary.)

Maybe it is time to have a serious discussion of how we live together with large unruly animals. Despite several friend's opinions to the contrary, I have very little desire to encounter more bears. Yes, this week, we had a few really nice wildlife sightings: two turtles canoodling by the peach tree, two foxes cavorting across the lawn, several turkeys looking for delicious horse poop, and lots of blue birds... but bears? Nope! Not interested! But what can we do: the bears are increasingly acclimated to living among us, stealing our cupcakes (on several occasions!), carrying small dogs and cats off , destroying bird feeders and breaking into houses through screen doors. Am I the only one thinking that soon enough, a small child or hiker is going to be attacked? (*1)

(*1) Yes, I keep hearing the argument that "they're more afraid of us than we are of them", but there have been a few very close calls. I would love to go trail riding but seriously do not want to be on Neko when we encounter a bear! 

Yowzah Weather

 

A balmy -6 degrees!! And in order to verify that this is happening at our home, I scraped the ice from our window to access our thermometer...

Yup!

Actually, this was a few minutes later and it had risen to -5!! Oh joy! At least it's not windy, like yesterday... It was so cold outside that I blanketed poor Neko (*1). Neko also was excused from her diet as in cold weather, outdoor animals require lots more fuel to keep up body temperature. 

It was so cold yesterday (do I need to remind you?!?) that poor Robin the Good neglected to poop at her usual time and so decided that she need to go outside after we'd all gotten tucked into our nice cozy bed. Great! I had to bundle up and venture outside at 12:00 midnight to howling gale force gusts of wind and sub-zero temperatures; I've never seen a dog poop so fast! She wanted back in.

But despite the deep freeze, some part of my stultified brain was working, as I got yesterday's Wordle on the second guess! I tried to save my astonishing triumph but my phone refused to cooperate. I tried photographing my "stats" and this is all I got:

"Tasty" was the word, by the way. So I guess being a smarty pants still weather-proof. (*2)(*3) It was just about all I accomplished yesterday as we literally spent most of Friday hunkered down under flannel sheets, reading and watching the giant screen TV.  Saturday looks to be the same. But tomorrow is supposed to be in the 40's!!!! Here's my response:

(*1) Neko, as you may remember, lost "blanketing privileges" last winter as she managed to push her way through the electric fence as the blanket prevented her from feeling the shock. She actually managed to sneak back in, too. Smart horsey... don't ask how she did this.

(*2) I assume most of us have "favorite" first words on Wordle? I do... seems to work! but no one ever wants to share their stats with me. I have tried asking on Facebook and never get a reply. A bit of Wordle Insecur-itle anyone?

(*3) Another note on my Wordle stats. At one point, I was doing Wordle on the computer. then I switched to doing it on my phone, apres yoga and pre-dinner. I lost a bunch of my earlier stats as the phone and computer don't seem to speak to one another. Have I said how much I can hate technology? Don't even get me started on how hard I tried to sync my phone so I could do a blog post from there! All because I tried to send great photographs shot on my phone to the desk top and that doesn't seem to want to happen. So stayed tuned; you may get the blog I was attempting to post yet!!

Farewell Maggie!

 Farewell sweet Maggie! She had a long and- hopefully!- happy life. She was a good friend, a funny, opinionated mare, a nice companion to Neko (who loved telling Maggie what to do and when to do it...) We all loved Maggie (aka "The Magster", "Magatini" and so many other nicknames!); Robin the Good especially had a lovely friendship with Maggie. They'd touch noses through the fence and lick each other's noses. Maggie was so gentle with Robin when she was a puppy. Maggie had obviously had foals and knew what a baby animal was- they forged a deep bond.

But as you could see in that picture above, Maggie was very old and very tired. She knew what was coming. I often saw her standing with her head low, soaking up the morning sun as if the weight of her own head was too great. 

Here's the two of them last week- always hungry! They hear the back door open and are at the fence like, "Hey! Isn't it meal time?!!?!?" (Maggie wasn't really a small as she appears above; somehow my perspective made her look so tiny, like a pony!) 

Maggie was a real character. Due to her chronic lameness, I only was able to ride her for a couple of years after she arrived here.  But that was fine: she was a delightful member of our herd. She loved to pick her food dish up when it was empty and shake it around and the toss it as if to say, "Fill this thing up again, dammit!". She often had a mischievous twinkle in her eye and liked to try and bite me, especially when I attempted to put one of her blankets on her. The funny part of that was she had few teeth and made a weird clacking noise. She also had no sense of personal space and enjoyed walking directly into you. (And her eyes were fine, believe me!) 

Here's Maggie busy at another one of her "hobbies". She was really good at getting super dirty. She rarely used the barn and stood outside in whatever kind of inclement weather. Maggie loved to get down on the ground and roll- which was fine when she was younger (in the picture above) and could right herself easily. In the last few years, however, she would get down to roll and was frequently unable to get herself back up. Imagine attempting to lift a piano; she was that heavy. We called upon friends to come and assist in righting her but the danger was in her hurting herself (or us trying to help her). 

Here's on of my favorite pictures of Maggie. What could be better than a horse and sculpture?! We used to let her graze on the lawn in the backyard. Look at that nice round butt! Anyone who has seen Maggie in the last couple of years will remark on just how skinny she'd become! It was her time...

Her departure to the Great Pasture in the Sky was peaceful and dignified. She is missed; Neko is very sad and missing her pasture mate. I know we'll get through this but we're all mourning our beloved Maggie.

The Bear Went Over the Mountain

 

Or at least across the driveway! Our neighbor Meagan shot this image of a "large"(her word, but is there any other kind??!!?) black bear, spotted ambling across her yard directly to our yard. Yikes! 

I had just come back in from riding Neko when Bob came down the stairs expressing just how glad he was that I was inside as Meagan had called to warn of the above bear. I'm very pleased that I did not encounter this mid-morning visitor while riding. Neko is a brave and level-headed horse, but I wouldn't want to test her on a bear!

Another shot of our friend, taking his time, out for a stroll while terrorizing the neighborhood. All day long when having to go outside for anything, I was apprehensive and worse, Robin the Good kept sniffing the air sensing something or someone unusual about.

Meagan sent over three shots of the monster. He looks fat and sassy! I am hoping that he was simply on his way from here to there and not thinking, "Gee! What a lovely area! Perfect place to raise a family!" I know they're around but this was a bit too close and in broad day light!! Move along my friend!!

A World of Shit

 

Originally, this was meant to be a light-hearted blog post about how much horse poop I am surrounded by on a daily basis. (*1) Two horses produce quite a lot of feces in the average 24 hour cycle, but hideous weather where everything froze up into thousands of rock-hard equine byproduct pyramids has rendered our horse field a truly sordid mess... and that was the funny idea for a post! Hahahha!!

Close up of multi-layered poops. Sometimes it seems the horses are "trying to help" by eliminating multiple times in one spot. I dunno; what occurs is shit insulation that makes the whole lump harder because ice forms and doesn't thaw underneath. I can't win! 

Here's Mount PoopMore. And see all the lumpy darker items in the background? Yes, more horse shit! That chestnut-colored item off to the upper left is one of the instigators of all this mess.

But my point is... the world is shit! I am so freaked out/disgusted/angry/scared/horrified at what putin has done in Ukraine! We are surrounded by shit, and the shit produced by other people! So it's not awful enough that we're (still) in a pandemic, have Climate Crisis to deal with, have half of our country's population getting weirder and scarier by the minute... and now we have to consider the distinct possibility of nuclear annihilation? No wonder I'm exhausted!

Although this was a pretty funny scene: I looked out our back door and wondered why Neko seemed so tall. On closer inspection it was because she had scaled Mount PoopMore- maybe to see what she could see? Who knows what goes on in the horsey mind?!!

And now putin has apparently put nuclear forces on alert?!?!?!?! Aughh! Will we live to experience Mardi Gras? (*2) Will I ever get my field cleaned up? Will it even matter?!?!?? (*3)

Picture of other suspect, Maggie. A million years old and still going (somewhat) strong. Included for no other reason than she produces 1/2 of all the equine excrement littering our fields and our lives. She shouldn't be left out!!

(*1) Typically, I keep a rigorously clean field and shovel the daily output of poop into glamorous piles which are then directed to our composting piles. Hygienic and productive!

(*2) Bob and I are going out to try and score a King Cake today. Maybe this will cheer me up!

(*3) Oh yeah: Fuck putin. I've gotten all existential...

Satan's Pony

Doesn't Neko just look the picture of innocence all sleepy in the morning sun? Isn't she sweet? Isn't she just the bestest little pony? Ha! Don't let her fool you for one minute. Neko has been busy devising devious plots and dastardly deeds!

The other day, at around 6:30 when it's still dark, I go to feed the horses. Usually there are two semi-visible silhouettes near the top of the field, eagerly awaiting their slops 'n' grub. This morning, I'm seeing Maggie and I think, "Oh, Neko must be in the barn or lower down in the field".  But as I round the barn, I see Neko and it takes a minute for me to decipher why she looks odd. Then I realize she's on the wrong side of the fence!

She herself seems a tad confused or embarrassed (yes, I'm anthropomorphizing) and follows me through the side gate, docile and hungry. I know now that this is not the first time she has escaped; last week, Bob announced that there were piles of horse poop behind his studio. I said, "Nay; it cannot be our horses. They're both present and accounted for"... which they were. A careful tour of the fence perimeter showed no signs of having been pulled down so we came to the conclusion that someone else's horse must have gotten loose and come to visit Maggie and Neko. But having found her on the wrong side of the fence, I now know better.

Neko's like, "Whaddyou lookin' at?" It still remains quite a mystery how she got herself through the ELECTRIC fence- unscathed- and back inside (last week). I realize poor Neko is certain she's starving to death and must escape from our evil pasture to find sufficient forage, but she really is a Houdini. She had no scrapes, no damage to her person, did not disrupt the fence. The fact that she got herself back in; I just don't know how she did it.

Hopefully, she will be unable to duplicate her recent nightly escapades as I ran out to Home Depot and secured a bundle of fiberglass poles and reinforced the fence line. (Like I really felt like doing this... I was hoping to go for a ride that afternoon.) She came to the bottom of the field and watched me insert the new poles, as I lectured her about her perfidy. I wish she were contrite!

Later that same day, I caught her with her big fat head pushed sideways, between the mesh fence and the hot electric line, bending another section of fence down so as to snack on the other side. Bob and I are in the process of replacing this fence line, as it is old and rusty. But now we're required to double up on the electric line. Ah! The joys of horse ownership!

Horse Hosin'

 

After remarking that I bath my horse Neko after riding her in hot weather, my sister Beatrice suggested as how this would be an interesting blog post. I realized that this was probably true as not many of my blog followers have horses or experience the pleasure of hosing down a large animal. I kept forgetting to bring my camera or phone along with me but finally, today, I was prepared.!

Following a vigorous episode of "torturing" my poor pony by demanding that she perform all kinds of arcane movements, like stopping and turning left or right, she can be sweaty. 

Typically this occurs under the girth and beneath the saddle pad. You can just spot wash it off but when it's really hot and humid- like today- they LOVE to get wet!

I always start by hosing the feet and legs first, as their hooves can be hot and need cooling first. I've been told this by several experienced horsey people so that's what I do! So after all four feet and legs have been wet down, the rest of the horse is fair game.

You will notice, Neko's eyes are actually closing; she's like, "Oh boy! This feels GOOD!". 

You will also take notice that I don't even have a halter on her as she enjoys this so much that she simply stands there. In fact, Maggie often crowds in, wanting to get hosed, too.

There's Maggie in the background, enjoying some of the over spray. I am only hosing Neko today; I don't use shampoo or soap often as that can dry their coats. Plain old water is better. It's like going swimming.

And here comes on of those funky details that you probably wouldn't have guessed at. A mare (a female horse) has her mammary glands (read: horse boobs) between her hind legs. They can get a nasty, waxy build up soooooooo we gently hose up there and then reach in and remove any crud.

You knew that was coming!! Yuck! Removing this must feel really nice as they often spread their legs a bit wider and accommodate my efforts. Oh, the pleasures of horse ownership! 

I then finish up by squeegeeing off excess water. Neko is looking at me as if to say, "What!? All done? Do it again!" And of course, a horse loves being squeaky clean and shiny and experiencing our standards of grooming and hygiene... WRONG!

The next thing that Neko does is lay down and roll, the better to adorn herself with dirt and dust:

You can only imagine the self-satisfied grunts that accompany this. Heaven.

And lastly, here's Neko, doing what Neko likes best- eating, delightfully encrusted in a patina of dirt, but cooled off!