Did some work on my farm website...

I did some updating on the farm website.  Just a little bit.  Not much.  But it was almost a year since the last update.  https://sites.google.com/site/cracklingpine/home

Goat breeding season is over.  I hope to have two goats that took A.I. Gwen, my Saanen, and Iris, a Toggenburg and my first A.I. doe.  Hoping for a doe from Gwen and a buck from Iris, but most likely with get just the opposite.  The others are all bred to Angus my Boer buck.  Those will all be market animals.

Had our family Christmas yesterday.  Had to have it early as my oldest and his family are going to California to visit with that side of the family for Christmas.  Hope they have a warm and sunny Christmas there and we have a nice and white Christmas here.

Jenn, her husband and one of their friends, Jared, were here on Friday and they all went for a ride in the cart.  Didn't get any pictures, too busy having fun to take any.

Spent today messing with computers.  Greg got a new Dell, so I get his old one.  Deciding which files need to move from my old, and I do mean OLD computer, to my "new" one.  Some of the programs are so old they won't load onto the "new" one.  Guess I will have to buy new ones...

Going to watch "Finding Bigfoot" tonight on Animal Planet.  My nephew, was part of the production crew in Michigan.  We might even catch a glimpse of him!  Ahh, stardom!

Well, so really nothing much...guess it just Onward and Upwards time.

I guess it's in the blood...

Yesterday began as a very snowy one.  At seven o'clock when I got up it was snowing so hard that I couldn't see the neighbor's house.  Finally a real snow.  Here's hoping for a nice snowy winter this year.

Anyway, Daniella had called the day before to see if she could come and stay while her parents went shopping.  She wanted to practice a music piece she wants to play for our family Christmas gathering.  If figure she was also hoping that her favorite aunt Jenn would be here and we would do something horsey.  I called Jenn to let her know that Daniella would be here.  Jenn said she would try to make it over sometime before Daniella left.

I guess it was around two o'clock when Jenn got here.  We were just having some homemade chicken noodle soup.  Just as we were finishing up our soup, Chris and Chita came back.  Jenn told them we  hadn't done our horsey thing yet.  It was decided that Jenn would take Daniella home after our play time.

So, it must have been after three o'clock and the three of us headed out to the horses.

Here's what transpired.  We tacked up Isis and hooked her to the cart.  Nothing unusual about this.  We spent a good hour just driving Isis around in the arena, taking turns driving.  Here's the "in the blood" part...Daniella was also able to take the reins to do some of the driving so that would make (drum roll please) three generations of ladies driving here at the same time.  Myself, my daughter, and my granddaughter.  Pretty cool I think.

Thanks to Jenn's nifty phone we have pictures and videos:

Daniella and Grandma with Isis

 

 

Three generations of ladies driving horses, and loving horses.  To those persons who have family members who want a pony for Christmas I have to say "It's in the blood.  And we never grow out of it, it just gets stronger!"  Don't try to ignore it, cause it won't go away.  Sometimes we have to learn to be patient.  Sometimes we don't get our horses until we are all grown up.  But it doesn't matter, someday does come and then we get to live our dream of having our own horse.

For those of you who understand the draw to horses...It IS worth the wait!

Onward and Upward!

Even MORE excitement...

So, today Jenn came over and we played with Isis again.  This was great, we hooked her up good, made the adjustments and then...drum roll please....

Jenn driving

 

 

And me too!

 

Had a GREAT time!

 

We even did a double ride, I drove with Jenn in the seat beside me.

 

Onward and Upward!

A lttle catch up and then a first...

First the catch up.  Back in October, Marion came and stayed a couple of days here on the farm.  The first day was just her and us and for a bit her family.  It was a nice day, but we didn't get everything done that we wanted to.  So, on the second day we got to ride horses.  At first she rode Isis, but for some reason Isis just wasn't a happy girl.  So we changed to Mariah.  Now mind you Mariah has not been ridden since moving here.  This was the first time in 12 years that someone has been on her back for an extended time.  She was a very good girl and Marion rode her, being lead by me for one full hour!  It really was quite the surprise.

Then in the afternoon Daniella arrived via the school bus. Cousins had a good time, we made noodles and on Saturday they made Halloween Gingerbread houses.

Making the frosting.

 

Concentration one.

And two.

 

More concentration.

 

Done and...

 

Done!

 

Now is time for the First that I mentioned...

 

The first accumulation on November 25th,  2012.

Just one month until Christmas, will it be a white Christmas...I sure hope so!





Onward and Upward!

 

 

 

More excitement!!!!

Over the weekend, Jenn came over and we hooked Isis to the cart!  We couldn't do much more then we did, because the hooking up wasn't done the right way.  Some parts are missing, so we had to "jerry rig" the whole deal.  But she was hooked up, she did pull the cart and Jenn even rode a few steps worth!  No spook, no fear, just plain good pony.

She stood patiently while we did our best to make her uncomfortable, not on purpose, just us fumbling around.  Even while pulling she got bumped from all angles and didn't mind a bit.

Can't wait to get all the parts lined up and working so we can actually go for a real ride.  I have about 20 acres of open field that is just calling to me to drive all over it!

Here's hoping I can get it all put together soon!

Here is a video for your watching pleasure:

Here is a posed picture of me in the cart as well:

If only I could be moving!

 

 



I'm excited about...

Last weekend the weather was nice and I felt like doing something horsey, so I went out and put a surcingle on Isis and a sidepull bridle and we tried driving!  She is not a happy horse with a saddle and a person on her back, but she seems to like to be doing something, just not with someone on her back.  Pony rides are okay, but not real riding.

Anyway, all hooked up, a slight correction and off we went!  She does drive!  Now whether she was ground driven when trained or she was trained to drive I don't know, but she walked off and around the pen four times with out much trouble.  It was great!

Then on Thursday, Jenn came over and we tacked her up again.  Same thing she walked off just like she knew what she was doing.  Both Jenn and I drove her.  Each time whoever was not driving would walk along side the driver and we talked and stumbled and made noise and Isis never showed any signs of not doing what she was suppose to.

I plan to work her again tomorrow, Sunday and see if she is still going well.  If so, then I plan to hook her up to something to drag around, maybe a tire.  She'll need to have a full harness on for that, and a whipple tree.  Greg will have to make me the whipple tree, but that is an easy do.

I have a nice little two wheeled cart in the barn, that is just waiting for a sweet pony to pull it.  Here's hoping that happens, maybe even before the new year!  I will work Isis in steps to be sure that we are both comfortable with what is going on.

For now here are a couple of pictures of Jenn and I driving Isis last Tuesday.

Pretty Driving Pony!

 

 

Here's a video as well:   



http://youtu.be/LCQZyyA7WL0



Vacation Part 2.

After spending four nights at Lake Margrethe, we picked up camp and headed down to our usual fall campground at Reedsburg Dam Campground.

We had to adjust somewhat as our favorite site was occupied!  Our second choice turned out to be just as good if not better.  There were three other campers there when we got there.

Our view one morning from the campsite.



When we weren't fishing we took some day trips.  One of the trips took us to the Fireman's Memorial in Roscommons.  I got my dad's name added to the wall this year, so I wanted to see it.  Two weeks before, Jenn and Pat with their firemen friends attended the festival and saw the name then.

Over view of the Memorial.

Wreath sent by Flint Township for my Dad and his friends on the department.

Gerald "Jerry" L. Sherman, Flint Township

Reading the wall was a trip back in time for me when I found a group of men all who had been on the department when my dad was.  Names that I hadn't heard in a very long time came back to me.  Memories soon followed.

Very glad there is a memorial to these men who gave their time and some even their lives to protect people and property.

Other day trips included a trip to "Arnie's"...a mega craft shop that carries everything for the crafter as well as a place with free wifi and coffee for the partner of the crafter.  Hours can be spent there as well as plenty of $$$$$$$$.

Other activities at camp are campfire cooking.  That is one of my favorites.  I enjoy baking on the fire using my reflector oven and my dutch oven.  One meal was put in the dutch oven before we left and was all ready to eat when we got back from our trip.

The start of biscuits and gravy one morning.

Gravy is ready, just waiting for biscuits to brown a bit.  Greg is writing in our journal.

Another activity around camp is relaxing...





I wish that the next pictures were clearer, this was just a really pretty scene across to the next camper...



The moon was full and all you could see was the glow of the tent and the moon, it was cool.

Need to work on my photography skills, and maybe a better camera.  I didn't use flash, so that is why it is fuzzy.

Unfortunately all our fishing and I came up with nothing!  They weren't biting much at all.  On the last day before heading home I did catch two Pike, but both were too small to keep.  One was close, but not good enough.

The one fishing story I have is this.  One evening down at the dam I was fishing off the west side near the abutment and I could see a fish, really good sized, just sitting there.  He was watching my bait, but he wouldn't go for it.  I tried everything I had in my box!  I did catch a nice sized Bass, but again not big enough.  He would go after the bait/lure but never strike it.

The next night when we took our walk down to the dam, someone else was fishing in the same spot.  I asked if they had seen the fish...yes, but he wouldn't take the bait!

The next morning Greg had taken the dogs for a walk there and talked to a gentlemen who fishes there plenty, we have seen him every year since we started going.  Greg mentioned the fish and the gentleman replied "Yeah, I've caught him a couple of times, he's not big enough to keep, but he is always there!" 

Crazy fish stories anyway!

Now here's our hunting story...Friday night when we took the dogs for one last walk around before bed, we saw lights in the trees across the water.  Lots of movement and flashing going on.  There are no cabins or roads on the other side, it is all state land and open to hunting.

We went to bed and the next morning at 7:02 AM all hell broke loose....gunshots and gunshots and gunshots!  Crazy war movie time!  Every direction there was BANG!  POW! POP! KABLUIE!

Come to find out it was opening day of waterfowl season!  And everyone and his brother was trying to kill as many duck and geese as he could!  It was CRAZY!

I talked to one group of hunters, three guys and a young woman.  How many did they get you might ask...ONE DUCK!  That's right only one and the girl, who had never hunted before got it.  You go girl!

I never saw one bird fall from the sky, we sat and watched and saw plenty of birds and heard mucho shooting, but I NEVER SAW ONE!

As for the lights in the woods the night before, that was hunters setting up their blinds and spending the night in their spot, so no one else could move in.

All in all we had a good trip.  It was most always cool, night were pretty cold a couple of times, but we have heat.  Had some nice color starting and some sunny days.  10 days away was really nice, but now it was time to go home.  Besides the food was running out and without fish we were going to STARVE!  Now I sound like one of the TV shows we watch...Yukon Men.  We even bought some store eggs...EEWWW!

Our plan for next year is to go a bit earlier, less hunting, maybe a bit less rain and warmer.  We'll see!

Onward and Upwards!