It really is there; even when it's not...

Because Insult + Injury = Me (you see?)

I am (at long last) finally getting over some stupid sinus "thing". Now on the one hand, it's kind of nice to know that Ester C with Immune Support actually works (I know this, because I got sick approximately one week after I ran out - Grr). On the other hand, I feel like I have spent the last two weeks trying to corner the Kleenex market; or perhaps I should say "Codder duh Kleedex barkit". Ugh. At least my head is down to [almost] a normal weight; for awhile there it seemed to be weighing in at somewhere around 200lbs and was so full it was making my teeth hurt (weird, but true :oP 
Semantics, otherwise known as "Phraseology" can sometimes be pretty doggone important. Finding funds as a non-profit is a never ending labor of love (??? well, sort of). Large private donors are almost impossible to find, individual smaller donations are dwindling at an alarming rate, and the competition for grant money is fierce. Of course micro-mini charities like us have a much harder time finding funding than the big dogs; I mean, it's not like we have a real grant writer on staff, it's just me. That's why I was elated to find an email in my inbox from a foundation we applied to over the summer entitled, "2010 Grant Award Notification".  HOT DOG, all that hard work - plus those eight bars of chocolate and twelve bottles of Tylenol - has paid off! Yipee!!!
Heart pounding, I said a prayer of thanksgiving and opened the email to find, "We are sorry to inform you..." Glad I was still dragging that stupid box of tissues around with me; talk about a nasty surprise and a crushing disappointment! Afterward, I have to admit I got kind of irritated over the whole thing. Now maybe it's just me, but how would you have interpreted that email title? I don't know if they are mean-spirited or oblivious (hopefully oblivious) but it would have been nicer to word it a bit differently. You know, somewhere along the line of "Your 2010 Grant Request" or something like that. Bet I'm not the only who went from elated to devastated in 60 seconds or less either. Buncha meanies *sigh*. Guess that means I'd better get busy on the next one three proposals...Raspberries!

DD is off and running at college, and I must say that shopping for school supplies this year was far less mundane than it has been in years past. She is studying woodworking and cabinet making, so instead of a plain old ruler we needed cooler things like a tape measure and folding rule. I can tell you it sure felt strange to be doing our back to school shopping at Harbor Freight, Lowes and Home Depot (not to mention the checkout being considerably more traumatic for Mom - man this stuff is expensive!) Thus far, she's in heaven finding herself in a huge shop loaded with just about every power tool known to man (well, woman :o) The only hiccup so far has been her Interpreter who is leaving for another job (one with health insurance; and I can't blame her). Thankfully, she's helping with the mad scramble for a replacement. I'm not sure about other areas of the country, but around here Interpreters are in very short supply. 

I love daylight savings time; to a point. I think, though, that I will be very happy for the time change this fall. I'm also ready for some cooler temperatures and a reduction in the humidity (can't do the makeup before feeding, as I'll just sweat it off *sigh*). It's getting lighter later, and I still have to get everyone fed before I can get ready for work. Did I mention that we do not have lights for the Moo Crew? Talk about "being in the dark". Sheesh. I've never had to leave as early as I do this year, and I'm having a teensy bit of trouble seeing my way through the morning feed. Of course I can't wait until it's daylight anymore because then I'll be late for work. Let the stress begin, right? Although it would be much easier to get ready for work before feeding, it is a proven scientific fact that horses love you much more when you are clean (and yes I have tested this theory; the results were a nice big muddy nose print to the chest - dead center, of course, where else?) :oP 
In case you're are thinking I'm a half empty kind of gal, I am happy to share one of the positive aspects of my new schedule with you. Hope this will brighten your day a bit...God sure paints some pretty ones sometimes, doesn't He? 

To those of you who donated to help Laura G., thank you SO much for your kindness. There are only a couple of days left before the drawing; we'll let you know what happens - hopefully, she can GO! :o)

WEG = Wondermous Equestrianne Giveaway!

Finding the Sense in the [seemingly] Nonsensical

It took me a long time to realize that there was a grain bucketful boatload of truth in that statement. Just because we can't see it, doesn't mean it isn't there. Horses (and other animals) are infinitely more aware of their surroundings than people; we tend to be fairly oblivious as a species. I walked outside one afternoon to find The Girls and The Moo Crew standing together in a frozen, frightened blot on their respective sides of the fence. Since they were all staring in the same direction, I used my brilliant powers of deduction to look in that exact spot to see what might have frightened them. Ummm...I see the land next door, a dead tree, and a whole bunch of weeds. We didn't have a storm, there was nothing moving, and no noise, so what was it?? I had to walk halfway across the pasture and do a considerable amount of scanning (both high and low) before I finally figured it out:

Almost completely hidden in the weeds at the base of the tree was a large branch; a.k.a the top portion of the tree. Although we'd had some gusty winds that day, it was hardly anything major (that is, of course, unless you are an old, brittle, dead-as-a-doornail tree). Got it; mystery solved (and yay :o)

Yesterday morning yielded a new mystery: and would you believe I actually had my camera with me for once? The Girls had not come down the hill for breakfast (they're usually waiting for me), nor did they answer my first whistle. The Moo Crew, however, was quick to materialize when they heard me. I called out to Rina, who whinnied back (a regular whinny; everybody's ok - whew). Yet they still did not come down, which meant that something was definitely off. I walked up the hill and found The Girls staring over the fence toward a house down the street. The people that live there have horses who, since they rarely feed them, are forever getting out in search of something to eat. Although I didn't see them anywhere, I had little doubt that's what probably happened. The Girls willingly followed me back down the hill, but still seemed uneasy. 
When we got down to the stalls, Rina suddenly went on full alert. [A relevant aside: Isn't she a pretty girl? I didn't even have to do anything with the photo...although I probably should do something about those weeds - yikes].

I went after Rina to see what she was looking at, and this is what I saw:

Hmmm....more icky weeds, the horse trailer, the neighbor's houses and a bunch of trees. That's it. Of course once Rina and I had declared the front yard "safe", then Taya and Lady wanted to know what was going on (beats me :o) Bella and Sarabear were right behind them. Hey I know, let's ALL stare:

NOTE: Although I have yet to find the manual, (I know they've stashed it somewhere around here), it's important to note that there are specific emergency procedures/protocol to be implemented in times of crisis: 

1. Do not report for a meal (a definite no brainer for the biped that something's amiss). 

2. Notify Mrs. Ladyperson by either a) Making too much noise if she's in the house, or, b) Not making any noise at all when she's outside and whistling for you.

3. Give Mrs. Ladyperson The Look when she comes to see what's wrong - the one that says, "DO something!"

4. Wait (sometimes for quite a while) while Mrs. Ladyperson attempts to figure out specifically what it is she's supposed to do something about.

5. Repeat steps 3 and 4 until a) Mrs. Ladyperson finally gets a clue, or, b) the situation resolves itself.*

*I am happy to report that 99 times out of 100 these days, it's "A" (go me... HA ;o)

Strolling a bit further toward the street (and putting the zoom lens to work) solved our morning mystery:

Sadly, the closer I got the easier it was to see exactly why they'd decided to attempt an escape; they were starving. Poor babies...

You could literally count the vertebrae going over the rump to the tail of the horse on the left. The one on the right was also horribly thin; her spine protruding quite sharply all the way down her back.

I tried [very slowly] to get closer to the one with a halter, but they were quite clearly afraid of people. Since one of the neighbors had already called the sheriff's office, I opted to just let them handle it (the last thing I need is a hospital visit due to self-inflicted stupidity).

It breaks my heart, but there is nothing to be done about this situation. As long as the horses have water and are still standing, they'll stay where they are. Of course we couldn't afford to take on any more anyway, but it sure does hurt my feelings to look at them.

Geez, now I'm depressed. We need something to lighten things up a bit...Let's try this:

HaHaHa...Okay, okay, that's my Bella and although she does indeed have a lovely delicate muzzle, it's not really in a teacup...it's a small batter bowl that had a few shredded carrots in it. I made a carrot cake the other day and had some leftover carrots (knew just what to do with 'em, too).

Please don't forget about helping Laura G! Look below to see the items I'm kicking in; scroll down to my last post or click here to see what on earth I'm talking about  :o)

Postus Interruptus (cause it's important t'us ;o)

World Equestrian Games or Bust  :o)

Maybe it's because she's the most severely disabled of all the Para-Equestrians members on the team;

Maybe it's because she's their oldest competitor; 

- or  -

Maybe it's just because I admire the sheer grit and determination that help her overcome the physical challenges that should keep her out of the saddle (having had a degenerative muscle disease myself; thankfully now in remission).

Whatever the reason, a number of us "horseyfolk" have teamed up to help Laura G. achieve her goal. 

You don't have to be a Rockafeller, either. Just a regular person that wants to lend a helping hand. To encourage people to donate, we are putting together a number of prizes; some are horsey, but some are for the regular folks too! More details and a list of prizes are coming soon (we're still compiling - woo! :o) I can tell you that I'm still raiding my Etsy Shop inventory for enough items to fill up this 8.5x11x5" Priority Mail box, including one of my hand-poured soy candles in Dozen Roses (mmmmmmmmm :o) I'll give you a sneak peek at a few more of the items at the bottom of this post.

All you need to do to enter the giveaway is make a donation to Laura Goldman HERE (be sure to put her name in the "Notes to Seller" box on PayPal). It doesn't have to be a big one; $5 works as well as $50. You don't have to have a PayPal account either, you can just use your credit or debit card. Then leave a comment with your receipt number (copy and paste) and your email address on this post. That's all! Pretty simple, right? Laura's computer crashed a week or two ago, so she has no idea what we're up to...I just love a good surprise, don't you?  
Better hurry: The deadline is tentatively set for September the 20th. 
Let's all team up and git 'er done, everyone. Thank you!!!

Here's a sneak peek at what's in the box so far...

Registered at http://www.online-sweepstakes.com
Okay....Here's the whole kit-n-caboodle, just click on the image to blow it up: 

 Won't you please help us help Laura? Thank you!!

Manmade Mazes and Moxidectin (yum)

In case you missed my blurb on Laura, it's here. I made a very small donation a week or two ago, and received a lovely handwritten thank you note from her yesterday. Although my muscle disease is (thankfully) in remission, the memory of it looms large when I see Laura. I understand all to well how much of a challenge this is for her, and it is my fondest hope that she will be able to compete in the games; she only has a few more weeks to come up with the funds (this is the Olympics of the horse world for those unfamiliar with it).

Here's the link to help: http://www.uspea.org/default.aspx?id=donate If you'd like to see Laura live and in person, here's her interview with Sheri Israel:



Feel free to help spread the word by creating your own post about this terrific lady (we'll take all the help we can get, but please let's make it happen :o) 
Thank you!

And kudos to Hope Hand, President of the USPEA for responding (in less than 60 seconds) to my email that their site was down; and she's already fixed it. Talk about being on top of things....WOW (Thanks Hope! :o)

But Ma, I don't wanna go back to school

Because our *cough* official construction foreman (a.k.a. DH) has been pretty much slammed at work over the past several months, we've had a time of it trying to get the visitor area completed. Since the area is attached to our house, we can't use any of the Epic Farms' funds to hire someone else to do it (a big unethical No-No) so we are stuck doing things a little bit at a time; ergo moving at the speed of snail. This can be quite a challenge for the Type-A personality (and yep, I admit it).

The problem with the piecemeal method is the location of the construction zone: Yours Truly has to walk through it several times a day to get to the horses. This has resulted in a myriad of marital disputes; although I specifically remember mentioning on more than one occasion that my middle name is NOT Grace. Initially it was the thing with string that was giving me a headache. DH put up stakes and ran some nylon cord about 18" above the ground to mark off the visitor area. This meant I had to carefully step over said string both coming and going. Although it was fuchsia and easily visible, I still managed to trip over it after the first few high steppin' days when I shifted my focus to the feed buckets I was carrying and/or the horses (apparently there are time constraints on my multitasking ability :o) I have to admit, that cord held up pretty darn well though. Took me almost a solid week of tripping to actually break it. Of course you just know I got in trouble *sigh*. The support posts weren't so bad; they looked kinda weird sticking straight up toward the sky but I couldn't really miss seeing them, (though we did have some unique challenges there, remember the frogs?). It wasn't so bad, that is, until the concrete was poured to secure them...

The Feeding Time Obstacle Course:
1. Begin by tripping over drain pipe (which has been there forever) because your focus is on the piece of relocated metal roofing ahead; 2. Snag toe of one boot (doesn't matter which) on hose because you are distracted by the pipe and preoccupied with snarling repentable words at it; 3. Take one ginormous awkward step over said piece of metal roofing (while being sure to almost drop the feed buckets); 4. Snag toe of opposite boot on the other end of hose which is hiding in the grass on the other side; 5. Trip over empty concrete bag, then crawl carefully over high wooden brace (because you're too dang old to go under it) without dropping feed buckets, continuing to mutter repentable words while pondering the necessity of having a visitor area in the first place. Repeat course for the next several feedings or until you are ready for some serious therapy. Xanax anyone?

Speaking of challenges, I finally finished playing with the video clips from our latest Worm Paste Party. I posted it a bit further down. For those of you who are not familiar with the deworming process, here is a tutorial from eHow:

1. Choose what type of dewormer you want to use. There are paste wormers available in a large syringe or daily wormers in pellet form to be mixed with your daily feeding schedule.

2. Tie your horse before giving him the paste dewormer. Most horses don't like the taste of the dewormer so he may try to throw his head up in the air.

3. Set the syringe to the correct weight dosage. The numbers are printed on the syringe and are easy to read.

4. Insert the first few inches of the tip of the syringe into the corner of your horse's mouth. It should be pointed towards the back of the horse's mouth.

5. Inject the paste into the horse's mouth and remove the syringe.

6. Hold the horse's head up by pushing up from underneath his jaw. This will allow him to swallow the dewormer without letting it drop out of his mouth.

I found this funky halter for administering worm paste and other medicines to an uncooperative horse (they can't spit it out). While the step-by-step from eHow is handy, generally speaking this rundown from the Horselaughs blog is probably far more accurate:

1. Buy wormer paste.

2. Capture the wild beast -a.k.a- the horse.

3. Firmly grip lead rope in left/right hand (whichever you do not write with).

4. With your other hand insert wormer tube.

5. Pick yourself up off the ground and ask someone to hold your horse while you go to the emergency room to have your dislocated shoulder looked at.

6. Repeat steps 1-5, but duck this time as the back hooves somehow go flying past your head.

7. As your legs get twisted in the rope, try to stand up, only to have your legs pulled out from under you.

8. As soon as you spit out ALL the dirt you just ate, jump up and grab your horse.

9. Ponder why this is not working.

10. Repeat steps 1-5 and 6, but this time go home, change into a shirt that does not have apple- flavored wormer paste all over it and proceed to go to the feed store and buy another tube.

11. When you get back to the barn, see the manager's 10-year-old son walking over to you.

12. Let him take the worming tube from your hand, and watch in disbelief as he worms your horse without getting a single spot of the paste on himself, and there is no dirt on his face, and he's not in the emergency room.

13. Put your horse back in the barn and go home to your nice warm bed.

You probably noticed that there is a considerable amount of harness as well as a crew of three people deworming the horse in that earlier photo (it's not us). I am happy to report that we have been able to *cough* get by with one halter and two people: One to do the deworming, and one to hold the camera...

You're Invited! from Jen on Vimeo.
As with most videos, you probably want to let it hiccup all the way through one time first. Oh, and don't worry, it's not actually 9 minutes long...I have no idea how I managed to do that - Enjoy! :o)

I'm adding a P.S. here... Laura Goldman is a para-equestrian (disabled rider) who has earned a spot to compete at the World Equestrian Games. Laura has an amazing strength of will; she suffers from Muscular Dystrophy, but doesn't let that stand in her way! Unfortunately at around $5,000, the cost of the competition is far beyond her reach and she cannot afford to attend the games. Sheri Israel at Dressage Mom has been trying to help her find a sponsor, but has had no luck so far. If you would like to help this remarkable woman, please visit the U.S. Para Equestrian Association and make a donation in her name (e.g. "for Laura Goldman" where it says Add Special Instructions). Having personally suffered from a debilitating muscle disease (Dermatomyositis - currently in remission), I would love to see Laura have the chance to compete...You GO girl!

The skinny on the fatties...

Oh, wait...I'M the Mom (Dang it!  :o)

I can't believe it's time to go back already. Where did the summer GO?? *sniffle* I have to admit, it sure was nice to have lots of time to spend with the horses this year (last year I was battling that idiotic neurological "thing" that pretty much killed off any and all potential summer fun). As a dedicated Fuddyduddy - uh, that's one of them thar' technical terminyms - I am violently opposed to change of any sort. This is one of several reasons why horses and I get along like a house on fire *grin*. 
Since my previous student (a.k.a. DD) has graduated, I am off to interpret for someone new. Not only am I changing schools, but grades (high school to elementary). Nothing like a little culture shock, eh? Thankfully, I love the new school, and the classroom teacher is absolutely fantabulous. Er, another technical term there - sorry. The only fly (flies?) in the ointment is that it is three time farther (further?) than my previous school and I have to be there 10 minutes earlier. Ugh. Another change? DD is starting college this month. eek! She has also just gotten her driver's license. EEK! That's one way to achieve a more intensive prayer life (I'm going to wear out my knees on that one for sure). Oh, and in case you're wondering? I didn't Photoshop the bus in behind Bella; it lives next door, and of course the backpack is hers :o)

 

After some seriously hot, humid, yet rainless weather, we've finally started getting some rain. Unfortunately, all that icky sticky humidity threw an annoying (and unexpected) curve our way. Although our feed room is "inside" on the patio, it is screened and visqueened, not walled. We store our open feed in large garbage cans, and all bags are stacked against the wall on pallets (to keep them off the floor). Would you believe that one of the feeds was mildewing inside the garbage can? ARRRGH! Oh, and you definitely don't want to see the tack (blech). For now, I am buying feed every couple of days and storing the problem feed in the house. Of course I can't drag all of the feed stuff indoors, so I am now running back and forth like a lunatic. 

Did I mention that I have to leave for work at 6:45 this year? Sheesh. I am woman, hear me whine (Ha). After four years of a leisurely 7:15 departure time, this is pretty challenging because it means I've got to be outside feeding by 5:45. I have to allow enough time to feed everyone and cool off (ever try to stop sweating in a frantic hurry?), I have to have a wardrobe change (learned that one the hard way; horses love you lots more when you're clean) and slap on some makeup so I don't scare anyone. Here's hoping our pending grant comes through; it's got allotted funds for a dehumidifier in it so at least I can stop running in and out of the house. Of course my new schedule also interferes with my blog visits and Entrecard drops - so shall I apologize for my reduced appearance in advance?

Now maybe it's just me, but I found this solicitation for funds kind of tacky. As a survivor, I can state with absolute authority that cancer has absolutely NO appeal whatsoever (and har-de-har-har). Okay I couldn't resist that one, but let me be serious for a minute: While I understand that places like the Mayo Clinic are humongous contributors to research as well as a marvelous medical resource, it just doesn't seem right to ask their patients to donate money (Um, hello? I had enough trouble just paying my medical bills people). I guess if I were a gazillionaire I might be inclined to donate - and you'll pardon me while I laugh hysterically at that one - but I'm not. The other thing? Well, after three separate trips to Mayo - that generated three separate bills - I was left without a diagnosis. So sorry guys, my pennies are going to the ponies at Epic Farms... A much better bang for my buck don'tcha know ;o)
Look who I almost stepped on yesterday. I'll admit I was beginning to get just a teensy bit worried after a week with no bunny sightings (but a new stray cat in the neighborhood). I'm going to say that this is Harvey, as the little guy was initially invisible... 

I didn't see him until I almost stepped on him; he all but exploded off the ground at my feet (and that'll get the old heart rate up, let me tell ya). Here's hoping your week is full of sunshine and sassy smiles ('cause those are the very best kind). Thanks for reading! 

Ichthyoidus Butterballus

Sometime around the end of June we decided to purchase some fish to help keep the horse's water troughs clean. After doing some research (and talking to some folks that were already doing it), we bought six itty bitty goldfish. Three for The Girls and three for the Moo Crew. Since Goldfish are essentially domesticated members of the Carp family [a.k.a. vacuum cleaners with fins] and will not outgrow their environment - in this case a 70 gallon stock tank - it seemed to be a terrific and inexpensive green solution. If you'd like to read a bit more about the whole process, I made a lens about it here: An Epic Farms Fishtail.
A stickler for the rules, (remember Harvey and Elwood?) I gave them names on the way home in the car. Since we are a non-profit, Faith, Hope and Charity seemed to be the obvious choice for the Girls' fish. As for the Moo Crew? Why, Larry, Moe and Curly of course (it's SO them :o)

When we first added the fish to the tanks they looked awfully darn tiny in there. Even so, I must admit to worrying whether or not the little guys would have enough to eat after a while (although the horses do dribble an awful lot of "stuff" into the tanks with each visit). To the right is a picture of the Girls' tank on the first day we put the fish in; isn't she tiny? 
Apparently, my fears were groundless. Our little fishies have tripled in size; now they look more like Gobstoppers with gills. Dang. Even my husband (a self-proclaimed obliviousness enthusiast) stated that the fish looked like they were "ready to bust". Thankfully there have been no *kaBOOMs* (well, not yet anyway). Shadow came to see what we were doing when we added the fish to their tank - of course you know he was afraid of the baggie and stood back eyeballing it suspiciously *sigh*.

According to the experts - which would not be me - a fish's activity is directly related to their state of mind. In other words, the more they swim around the happier they are. Cool. Considering the fact that we get dizzy watching ours zip and zoom around in the tanks, I guess it means we may have unintentionally created Fishtopia (we'll call it a happy accident, 'kay? :o) For those of you wondering just how well it worked, here's a before and after of the Moo Crew's tank taken a couple of weeks apart (I left the dates on there for you). You can't even see the fish in the "before" shot; and do I need to tell you it's the one on the left? I didn't think so...

When we first put the fish in the tanks, anytime anything "loomed large" over their little world they would hot-fin it (haha) toward the bottom of their habitat. While it was good to know that they were not in danger of being slurped up anytime soon, it also made it pretty darn difficult to get pictures of them since they were initially quite small. Apparently time cures all in the fish world too though, as it wasn't too long before they figured out where their food was coming from (in this case it's Supermarket Sarabear ;o) Guess that explains why every once in awhile one of the Girls (or Moo Crew) would suddenly pop their head up from the water with a snort of alarm and head for the hills. Since horses cannot see underneath their chins, I imagine our little food finatics (ooooh, that was bad! Did you catch it?) gave them quite a start with their curiosity and enthusiasm. *Grin*  It's amazing how fast they've grown, too!
Of course then I had to see what would happen if I put my hand in there. The answer? They all came to investigate, and Charity even gave my fingers a bit of a nibble (it tickled).

Must be nice to have your food brought to you at home for every single meal, don't you think? I have to admit, I'm duly impressed by their complete lack of fear when it comes to the delivery method...A la Bella this time. Wow, right? So thanks for reading to the end [my friend] and I hope you have a terrific weekend!