70 degrees, rain, thunder, tornado watch

We've had so much rain today it is quite literally standing in pools all over the property. It has to rain a lot for me not to let the horses out, but today I decided not to. It's slippery, and if it started thundering and they started running... not a great combination.

So we have spent the day trying to keep up with the mucking. Fortunately our barn has a shelter off the back 3 stalls, so generally what I do is let the geldings take turns - one gets closed in, the other two can go in and out from stalls to shelter. This insures that no one gets stuck in the rain. (can you say "bossy pony?") I leave the gate to the arena open so if/when the rain stops they can go in there and march around. It's wet, but it drains really well and it isn't slippery like the paddock and fields.

Salina and the donkeys have two stalls opened up, and the barn aisle, and I left them access to the barnyards so they can take a walk when the rain slows.

Right now, Rafer Johnson is watching for the storm.



Thus far it has worked as well as it ever does. Boredom is kept to a minimum, and they seem happy enough to stand and watch the rain fall, munching their hay.

There is a tornado watch in effect until 7 p.m. for our area, but right now, there is a tornado warning in effect with the center of rotation passing over the area where my brother lives, and where we used to board Keil Bay and Apache Moon. I hope it treads gently as it whirls on, and that it dies out soon. Another more severe band of weather is expected around 7 tonight, so we will keep our eyes open and hope for the best outcome for all.

70 degrees!

Here we are in December and it is 70 degrees outside. The horses have been running wildly today, enjoying the odd weather. Cody especially is trotting around like a dressage star, tossing his head in delight.

So far today I've had a close encounter with 3 crows and then a very close encounter with a redtail hawk, who flew up from only a few feet away and landed on a fence post, where he sat and watched as I scrubbed and filled a water tub.

Given the unusual weather, the bird sightings, and the season, I won't be surprised at anything that happens today.

if I had taken the camera out today you would have seen:

Rafer Johnson and Redford turning out for a little while with the entire herd. Redford looked like a little boy having his first Christmas!

Salina galloping to keep her donkey boys in check (and the geldings at their proper distance), then trotting and tossing her head.

Salina standing with eyes closed, enjoying her massage while the donkey boys munched on the heart of the last round bale.

Rafer Johnson getting his hind quarters checked for tight muscles. (none!)

Keil Bay searching his massage therapist's pockets for the hot stones, which we opted not to use today.

Cody nudging in to see if he could get some bodywork for himself. (alas, he was not on the schedule today!)

Keil Bay outside my window while I got my massage.

Chase the handsome Corgi peeping up at me through the face rest of the massage table, and touching my nose with his.

The gorgeous black basalt stones soaking in my bathroom in their crock pot.

The gray clouds rolling in just before sunset.

The pony's face when we took the remainder of the round bale heart and rolled it out under the shelter for the geldings to share until bedtime.

finding the rhythm of the earth

It's so cold this morning I can't even think of taking the camera out in search of an image! The ice was nearly an inch thick on the troughs, I noted that one plastic bucket exploded, and mucking is akin to moving rocks.

But the sun is out and temps are rising well into the 40s, so blankets are off, horses and donkeys are eating hay, and thankfully there is no wind chill factor.

As I often do, when I can't get my own images lined up, I went visiting my husband's website gallery looking for something to borrow. Today I found this:



It feels warm to me, but more than that it captures one of my favorite images in the mountains - the fog rolling in like a tide. I think a lot of us are drawn to mountains and the sea because of the constant sense of a cycle in process, as well as something "bigger than us."

I always find a sense of mystery and awe and appreciation when I visit mountains and the sea, and find myself getting in tune with the earth's breathing and sighing.

Finding an inner rhythm, and tuning in to it. I think he captured that perfectly here.

Thanks, Matthew!

early december

Has come on quietly, with nice days and some chilly nights. The fields each morning are white with frost. I have noticed the last few days that Keil Bay and Cody, in particular, seem to be craving something - Cody was after tree bark and then both of them went at the honeysuckle leaves in the big barnyard.

I did a little research and found something called Barlean's Green Powder, a supplement for humans which has all kinds of good stuff in it. When I saw that Joyce Harman has it listed on her website as well, I decided I might get a few containers of it and rotate it into the horses' mix. Hopefully I can find it at the local food co-op when I make a run into town later today.

I've recently put the pony on Quiessence (a mix of mag ox and chromium) and I believe we're seeing good results. I normally have extra mag ox mixed into my Glanzen but when I started the equine nutrition class I decided to wait on re-ordering the Glanzen in case I needed to customize it even more. So the pony went into autumn without the mag ox and I think his weight gain is a direct result.

On other fronts, we haven't put the Christmas tree up yet. Until last year we have always had live trees, but with all the cats and their sudden habit last year of doing their own version of watering the tree, as well as my concern with the dryness of the live tree in the same room as the wood stove, we bought an artificial tree.

I personally missed the smell of a cut tree, but otoh, it was nice not having needles dropping, and b/c the dryness factor had been removed, we left it up longer. It made the winter a bit brighter and we all enjoyed it.

This year we'll probably reprise the home-made ornaments that can be played with safely (and without regret if broken) by cats, since Mystic is in a phase where he just loves to knock things down. He's the most toy-using cat I've ever seen, and I feel sure he'll view the tree with dangling objects as his own personal playground.

Speaking of Christmas, frost, and trees, this photo from Matthew is one of my favorites: