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In celebration of the publication of Signs, I started a new series on the November Hill Press blog called The Writing Life. I hope you'll head over there and read/comment.
billie hinton’s camera-obscura:
life and lessons on November Hill Farm
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
april on its way
Although we've been seeing signs of spring for weeks now, yesterday the season suddenly seemed to take hold and although I could be wrong, I think it's now here to stay. The first carpenter bee late last week has now turned into a cloud of whirling dervish bee activity by the barn shelter.
The dogwoods are blooming. The tulips are blooming. By mid-day the horses had parked themselves up at the barn seeking shade. It was 80 degrees and with still not quite shed out winter coats and no leaves yet on the trees, they needed a break from the hot sun.
I got the stalls clean for them, turned on the fans, and started sorting out who was going to go where. Keil Bay was determined to be the first one in a stall, but Salina, usually perfectly happy to walk over and come through the gate into her paddock, wouldn't budge either.
So I held the gate open and called to whoever wanted to come through. Cody and Rafer Johnson marched through and their reward was getting to pick their area - barn aisle with clean stall and access to the big barnyard - or grass paddock with clean stall.
They both picked the barn aisle and stall and big barnyard, so I closed the barn doors and opened the gate again. Apache and Keil Bay decided to take the grass paddock and stall. They will happily share a stall so no problem there.
Salina and Redford, by default, got the barn shelter and two stalls.
Even with the fans on, the carpenter bees were making a tremendous noise. The birds were singing. Horses were snorting. And suddenly, just like that, it was spring. Which to me always seems very loud after the long, quiet winter.
March has rushed past and looking at the calendar for April I'm remembering that it's always one of the busiest months of the year for us. Activities stacked up on calendar blocks and things that need to get done inside and out. Four big birthdays. This last week in March feels like the calm before the storm. And one more birthday to go before month's end, which is a very special one.
Spring has returned. The Earth is like a child that knows poems.
~Rainer Maria Rilke
The dogwoods are blooming. The tulips are blooming. By mid-day the horses had parked themselves up at the barn seeking shade. It was 80 degrees and with still not quite shed out winter coats and no leaves yet on the trees, they needed a break from the hot sun.
I got the stalls clean for them, turned on the fans, and started sorting out who was going to go where. Keil Bay was determined to be the first one in a stall, but Salina, usually perfectly happy to walk over and come through the gate into her paddock, wouldn't budge either.
So I held the gate open and called to whoever wanted to come through. Cody and Rafer Johnson marched through and their reward was getting to pick their area - barn aisle with clean stall and access to the big barnyard - or grass paddock with clean stall.
They both picked the barn aisle and stall and big barnyard, so I closed the barn doors and opened the gate again. Apache and Keil Bay decided to take the grass paddock and stall. They will happily share a stall so no problem there.
Salina and Redford, by default, got the barn shelter and two stalls.
Even with the fans on, the carpenter bees were making a tremendous noise. The birds were singing. Horses were snorting. And suddenly, just like that, it was spring. Which to me always seems very loud after the long, quiet winter.
March has rushed past and looking at the calendar for April I'm remembering that it's always one of the busiest months of the year for us. Activities stacked up on calendar blocks and things that need to get done inside and out. Four big birthdays. This last week in March feels like the calm before the storm. And one more birthday to go before month's end, which is a very special one.
Spring has returned. The Earth is like a child that knows poems.
~Rainer Maria Rilke
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
a little bit of a pet peeve
I just need to vent. What is it with people meeting horses and immediately commenting on various aspects of conformation?
The relationship between conformation and horses being able to do various things w/o damaging themselves makes sense to me - I can see discussing that if you're looking to buy a horse or trying to assess whether a sport is a good fit, etc.
Breeding for the best conformation possible also makes sense to me, and discussions in that context as well.
But walking up to a horse and pointing out a "flaw" is the same thing as me meeting someone and saying "Hi, it looks like your jaw is set too far back on the lower half."
It's bad enough that people do this, period, but imo 9 out of 10 horse people don't even know what they're talking about when it comes to conformation, and to a certain degree it's a subjective thing anyway.
Are any of us made "perfectly?" I think not! Do we categorize ourselves based on our physical flaws? Not in my circle of friends and acquaintances.
Horses deserve more respect than being discussed this way, as do the people who live with and care for them.
As my friend D says:
and that is all I have to say about THAT.
The relationship between conformation and horses being able to do various things w/o damaging themselves makes sense to me - I can see discussing that if you're looking to buy a horse or trying to assess whether a sport is a good fit, etc.
Breeding for the best conformation possible also makes sense to me, and discussions in that context as well.
But walking up to a horse and pointing out a "flaw" is the same thing as me meeting someone and saying "Hi, it looks like your jaw is set too far back on the lower half."
It's bad enough that people do this, period, but imo 9 out of 10 horse people don't even know what they're talking about when it comes to conformation, and to a certain degree it's a subjective thing anyway.
Are any of us made "perfectly?" I think not! Do we categorize ourselves based on our physical flaws? Not in my circle of friends and acquaintances.
Horses deserve more respect than being discussed this way, as do the people who live with and care for them.
As my friend D says:
and that is all I have to say about THAT.
Sunday, March 20, 2011
Happy Birthday to Cody!!
Today is Cody the QH gelding's 8th birthday - 8 which on its side is infinity and that is how much sweetness Cody brings to us here on November Hill. He is our resident teddy bear, aka Coden Locomoden, Cocoa Puff, and every now and then by his registered name, Riskless Asset.
Today he had a small celebration with granny smith apples and for about one minute, the entire herd acknowledged his sweet personality by lining up nicely along the back arena fence while I took turns handing them apple chunks and singing happy birthday.
Then Keil Bay's personality returned to normal and he decided to freight train along the fence line, clear everyone away, and go back to being the leader of the herd. I took a break from handing out party treats to reconfigure dressage markers, and he led the crew around to the paddock - except for Cody, who was smart enough to know that I had saved him two big chunks, which he came and took at his leisure over the fence.
My daughter and I were away most of the day on a Pony Club expedition. She rode another big, bay, freight train named JJ who loves hunting foxes first flight and really wasn't that thrilled with doing just another Pony Club jumping lesson. But by the last half he settled in nicely and they had some good rounds.
Here's to good horses, all. We love you, Cody! You bring patience to our herd.
Today he had a small celebration with granny smith apples and for about one minute, the entire herd acknowledged his sweet personality by lining up nicely along the back arena fence while I took turns handing them apple chunks and singing happy birthday.
Then Keil Bay's personality returned to normal and he decided to freight train along the fence line, clear everyone away, and go back to being the leader of the herd. I took a break from handing out party treats to reconfigure dressage markers, and he led the crew around to the paddock - except for Cody, who was smart enough to know that I had saved him two big chunks, which he came and took at his leisure over the fence.
My daughter and I were away most of the day on a Pony Club expedition. She rode another big, bay, freight train named JJ who loves hunting foxes first flight and really wasn't that thrilled with doing just another Pony Club jumping lesson. But by the last half he settled in nicely and they had some good rounds.
Here's to good horses, all. We love you, Cody! You bring patience to our herd.
Saturday, March 19, 2011
sale! new cover! check it out!
In advance of Signs That Might Be Omens' publication, I've put both claire-obscure and The Meaning of Isolated Objects on sale at Amazon. If you've been meaning to buy one or both, now's the time!
And I've made a new cover for Isolated Objects, which you can see at Amazon. (I'll be adding it to the sidebar here soon, but for now, you'll have to click over to see it)
(Signs is book two in the Claire Quartet, four novels that are connected but not a series per se.)
And I've made a new cover for Isolated Objects, which you can see at Amazon. (I'll be adding it to the sidebar here soon, but for now, you'll have to click over to see it)
(Signs is book two in the Claire Quartet, four novels that are connected but not a series per se.)
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