Django

Ahhhhh Django!  We had a lovely ride this morning.  My friend Sandy on Duke and me on Django.  No one to take photos however...It was cool, no bugs, and a wonderful way to start the day!  Sandy is taking lessons on Duke for the first time in her life at 60!  Brave woman.  And already out riding in the field.  And I love having someone to ride with as I get acquainted with Django.  Tomorrow after our ride another friend is coming out and we will work on the ground with things Django is not used to...things like tarps and umbrellas...and quietly introduce scary stuff and work on his confidence.  I am falling in love with this horse.  I am so comfortable being around him and he loves the attention...quite a difference from Ellie.

Speaking of Miss Ellie...Sandy and I went to a little horse show at SLU last Saturday and saw Miss Ellie jumping!  She is doing so well...not as b*tchy either.  Standing quietly...jumping quietly...I am soooo happy she has the right home.  And her new owner, Jerry, rides her almost every day to put some miles on her--something I couldn't do.

Hopefully this weather will hold and we can ride in the coolness of the mornings!  Meanwhile Happy Friday!
xo

We have a Date!!!

We have a tentative date, anyway...April 13!!!

This gives the weather

a chance to moderate somewhat,

the snow to melt,

the sun to dry the land.

I'm telling Duke tomorrow.  He is so quiet

and seems so lonely even though he

never got along with Miss Ellie.

Speaking of Miss Ellie...she is doing fine

over at a barn nearby and the owner/trainer

is going to buy her.  She actually seems happier

there probably because they are so at ease

with b*tchy mares.

And maybe because she has mare friends

and Duke isn't kicking her.

My Alex went down near Albany for a job interview

which went well and he is expecting to

get and accept this job.  My mechanical engineer...

Noah will be home tomorrow for a week

from Skidmore.  Hopefully when he

graduates this spring he will get a job fairly

close as well.  This letting go is a little

difficult.

Yes another reason to fall in love with this horse...

And I sold this scarf already!

Just have to weave off two more!

Enjoy the weekend!

xo

Morning Chores...

Miss Ellie and Duke this morning for their

breakfast and a roll.  I'm still working her in the 

morning in the arena.  Trainer dude can't

come until Wednesday afternoon.

After we worked this morning I brushed

her and tried to comb her forelock and mane 

but she was cranky and ducking her head

to escape me.

So we lunged some more

and tried again.  Lowered her head and she

stood there patiently while I rubbed

her.  According to Ellie it was time

to go to the pasture...not time for

grooming.  So she gets cranky when things

are changed around.  So we will

work on that...

Chickens eating tomato skins from

my sauce-making.  I love having

chickens pecking around the yard, 

clucking, chasing each other, being

chickens.  Soon...eggs.

Another amazing day!

xo

September...

Well...it's been quite a month.  I have a show/sale next weekend so

mostly I've been weaving and organizing

and tagging and pricing, etc. all month.

 Scarf detail...

 Towels on the loom...

 Another scarf detail...

And we made butter

 Made 32 pounds of applesauce to freeze

Gary is building a deck for storing wood for heat

And I went to see my sweet Mom in NH.  My sister

Faith and her husband were there, too.

The second night I was there sleeping my Mom

wandered out to her screened-in porch and

got locked out of the house.  Luckily

there is a phone out there and she called

the operator who called the police.

Next thing I know there is a cop banging on

the door.  Sooooo...needless to say we now have

an awake night nurse staying with her every night.

But the next weekend she ended up in the hospital

with a blood sugar over 600.  Oh my god.

It really is a wonder that she is alive.

I think she is getting discharged today and

will have people checking in during the

day and making sure she eats properly.

It is so hard to be 6 hours away from her.

Isn't she totally adorable? 

Oh yeah...my horse. 

I'm going to see if we can

find her another home. 

Karen,
(http://thisoldhousetoo.blogspot.com/)
you were so right...

I see Miss Ellie more as

a hunter/jumper and she has way more

energy than I need.  I have put out the word

with my horse ladies and we'll see.

Meanwhile, I'm not telling my trainer because

he thinks I am giving up.  And for

a while I believed that but now I realize

that this should be fun and I am

not wanting to go out to the barn

anymore.  sigh.  But I still need him

to work with her so I'm keeping quiet.

So an eventful month and I haven't had

much time to even check in with my blog.

Hope you all are enjoying the weekend!

xo

Empty Nest and Weaving...

So odd being without the boys.  Noah went back to

Skidmore for his senior year.

Alex got an apartment in town and is finishing

 up his graduate degree in Engineering.  

Me...I'm just weaving and wondering who I can get

 to vacuum this place.  I tend to clutter up

all the downstairs when I'm working

and usually Noah gets fed up with my bad

habits and picks up (and hides things, I'm convinced).

Alex is always good for a vacuum if I ask

(neither he nor his father would ever

notice that it was needed).

So.  Weaving like a crazy person.

My Soft Stained Glass series

Three of each all sitting in my "shop" and virtually on Etsy.

More warping going on and towels still to be finished

and already designing new towels because 

Christmas is coming, people!!

Stripes!

So, now you know why I haven't been blogging

 lately.  Having way too much fun weaving.

Ellie update:

She is coming along though she has a bit of 

an attitude at times.  As in no I don't feel like working. 

But I am persevering and the trainer is still coming.  

This morning for the first time I took her out by myself 

to the outdoor arena to lunge and she was not too happy.

Even though she got some hay before going out.  

And we will do the same tomorrow morning 

and the next morning and the next morning. 

Trainer dude coming tomorrow. 

 We'll see how much progress we have made.

More Sunshine...

Winding the warp onto the back beam after separating

it into inch sections and dropping those

sections into the raddle which is taped

onto my loom.  

 16 ends (threads) per inch...

8 1/2 yards of warp...enough for 3 shawls woven...

All wound on the back and ready to take the

threads out of the raddle...

and let them hang down from the lease sticks...

Threaded through the heddles in the order I need,

 sleyed through the reed for the

density and width that I want, and

tied on ready to go...

Weaving the first shawl!

This is unrelated to weaving but just had to say

Ellie is doing so well with our trainer.

He comes and the only hard time she gives him right now

is when I have her loose in the arena and he

wants her to stop eating and turn to face him.

She gets a little pissed off that she can't eat

so she runs and hollers.  Then you can see

her think and she will turn and trot over to him.

Sometimes she will slow down and then

start running again like she wasn't sure but soon

enough she gives in and he puts her halter on

and scratches her forehead and lets her rest

near him.  She has gained some weight and

is much more affectionate and relaxed. 

I think she is happy that she is not doing things

that she isn't yet ready for like jumping.

Soon we will be riding.  Soon...

xo

Ellie...

Tomorrow is a training lesson for us, for Ellie...but tonight it is all about grass.

Unfortunately for my blog we can't photograph the training sessions but we both love the guy who is coming every week.  Ellie is learning to tolerate strange things on her body, things flapping next to her...she is learning to be very sensitive to the rope connecting her to trainer Al...leaving slack while she walks around him...ears forward...waiting for his signal to stop, turn, set her hindquarters, face him, step back and lead out with the right foot going the other way.  But before this, I have to say, I brought her up to the arena and took off her halter to let her eat some grass.  Then when Al came she decided that she didn't feel like working that day.  After 15 minutes of cantering, trotting, bucking and not being allowed to stop and eat grass, or turn her butt to him, she stopped, faced him, and let him put her halter back on.  phew.  On to the lessons.  I totally love this stuff though I do miss the actual riding.  And, of course, I could ride Duke...but he is so boring.  So I think by fall I might have an amazing horse!  We'll see.  Meanwhile I'm weaving and selling and trying to make enough to afford her education!

Three more days until Saratoga and Gary's regional meeting (which is always a lovely weekend!).

xo

Life Lessons...

OK...I know I've been among the missing lately.  I know I'm supposed to be head-over-heels in love with my new mare, Ellie.  I know I'm supposed to be loving every minute of every day.  I know I'm supposed to be making the most out of what I have...blah, blah, blah.

First of all, we have been giving Ellie too much grain especially since she is living a life of leisure.  So she became quite a basket case and I haven't even ridden her yet.  Also she doesn't know any ground work (re: manners).  So we hired a trainer after much stressing and fussing and lose of sleep on my part.  He is wonderful but doesn't want me to film him.  He has been out here twice and Ellie is beginning to respect our space, lunge properly, lead properly, set her hindquarters, and give to pressure.  She is still not comfortable around his flag which consists of an old car antenna with a crinkly flag attached to one end.  He hits the ground next to her with it and she is at the point where she just shivers but doesn't move her feet.  He can then touch her all over with it pretty much...again sometimes she flinches but she can tolerate it.  She now lowers her head to put her halter on.  She stands quietly for him.  She is easy to catch in the field.  So we are making progress.  He is almost at the point where he will have us work with her.

Brings me to the second point.  I think I am still very reactive to losing my Dommie.  Ellie isn't him.  I haven't been riding because I don't think (and the trainer agrees) she is ready.  Spring is flying by and I have been somewhat depressed by all these events happening in our lives.  I'm supposed to roll with the punches but sometimes...everything just sucks.

Did I mention that she has gone into heat twice in three weeks?  And Duke thinks he is a stud so we have to separate them?

Stud Muffin

Ellie in her stall

OK enough complaining...Noah is home from Australia and I love having my boys here.  My sister Faith is coming Monday afternoon for a few days!!!!  I really am happy about her visit.  This is the sister who went across the country on a train with me!  It is always so much fun to have her here.  We can make triangle scarves, go to St. Lawrence U bookstore which has fabulous coffee as well as fun stuff to buy, walk downtown, cook amazing meals, stay up late talking and sharing a bottle of wine.

Had my 6-month checkup with my oncologist who said that if it were him he wouldn't have any more CT scans because I have already had way too much radiation.   So that's that.  And I can keep the port in for another couple of years.

Life Lesson:  when stressed...take a nap.
xo

I Bought A Horse!!

Woooooo Hoooooo!!!  I bought a horse...a very young Appendix mare with front shoes...I know, I know I said no mare and no shoes but sometimes you have to give a little.  And she is only 5 and hasn't always had shoes so I feel confident that she will be able to go without.  Oh yeah...I said no mare.  Well...Duke will be very happy.  Maybe too happy.  Might be hard to separate them but we'll just have to see.  Duke, by the way, has always been sort of stand-offish but lately he has started coming when I call him and liking some attention.  That will probably all stop when the girlfriend shows up.  This horse looks so skinny to me, too.  Especially since I'm used to chunkos.  I better work harder at my diet so she doesn't collapse under the weight...

So all of a sudden we have to do some work around here...like getting electric to the barn and fence.  Picking up stones...fixing some boards in my outdoor arena...and the gate is hanging from only one hinge out there.  Going to be a busy weekend.  And I don't really know when I can get her here...have to talk to the hauler but I'm sure it will be next week sometime.  I am so excited but it is coming out in a crabby way...

They called her "Dressed in Chanel"
and her barn name is Elle...but we will call her
Ellie

And Noah called!!  He has landed in NYC and will be coming home tomorrow sometime!  YAY!  Haven't seen him since January when he left for Australia.  Such a nice gift for Mother's Day!

Hope everyone enjoys the weekend!
xo