So about that foot...

You noticed in the last post the bit about going home to ice my foot? You wondered about that?

Well, in the process of putting the horse in his new stall somehow my foot got under his.

He weighs about 1200 pounds.

He stood there wondering why his person was shrieking at him. He was being good. He was standing still. He didn't notice that there was a foot under his. He didn't understand why he had to back out of the stall when he hadn't properly gotten into it, but finally he did.

The person stopped shrieking.

But she sure was walking funny. Not as bad as it could be - just cracked.

Thank you for not making that comment that just flashed through your mind.

Horse moving

Our big activity this weekend has been moving Scotty. He left the old barn and rode a trailer to his new digs - way out in the country. It's a much bigger place than his old barn.
There are lots more horses.

This farm breeds Rocky Mountain horses so there are babies of all ages - this one peeking out of its enclosure with its mom is only a week old.

Scotty's new stall is down the same aisle where the mama and baby are.
The barn is huge and has three aisles of stalls and a big riding arena.

This is more a working farm than a riding stable, so there are farm dogs to greet you when you arrive.

There is Old MacDonald, the farmer, who has collected all the various animals that populate the place. The dog in this picture is named Archilles and he is a Catahoula Cur dog.

There are the ubiquitous barn cats.
And the barn swallows who are hard to photograph.
Unlike other farm birds.

The barn is not a quiet place. There are chickens clucking and roosters crowing,

ducks quacking and geese honking.

There are sheep

and goats

and...llamas???

something like a llama, anyway.

As time goes on I'll get more pictures of creatures here, but now it's time to head home and ice my foot.

"Waait a minute" says Scotty. "You don't mean to leave me here, do you?"
Sorry about that. Make yourself at home, horse.

Happy Anniversary week

I did mean to post this on the actual anniversary day, but that slipped away from me, and this seemed an auspicious day to post it when the whole world is thinking of weddings. Happy Anniversary to the Bloomingtonauts!

Easter Eve

This year Easter Eve was not spent getting ready for Easter! No last minute egg decorating (already done); no last minute breakfast dish making (ditto); no careful arrangement of baskets (never happened). Instead, our own household Chef participated in a crazy event. Yes, he was one of the "100 Men Who Cook"!
He cooked veggie chili.
Lots of veggie chili.
A triple recipe of veggie chili.

Such an endeavor required new pots: a gigantic stainless steel cook pot and a shiny new crock pot.
There was actually too much chili to fit in the crock pot so some was left at home for Granddad's dinner. Dinners. And lunches. And he could have had it for breakfast too if he wanted.






Then the new crock pot full of chili went to the Convention Center for the event.
Each of 100 men brought their best dish. Here they come marching in while the crowd cheers!

500 people paid to come taste 100 dishes.

I have to say from my experience it was not physically possible to taste 100 dishes in one evening, even if you eliminated the venison meatballs and so on the way I did.
Especially if you filled your plate with great salads, couscous, grilled asparagus, breads...

and deserts. Turns out lots of men fix fancy deserts.

Some guys really got into the presentation- while others...

hey, he's got vegetables on the table cloth.
Pretty good decorating!
So I had a really full belly and we had quite a different Easter Eve.

And lots of money was raised for Hospice and that's a good thing too.

Eggs

It's time to get ready for Easter, so here's a little Easter guessing game. ONE (and only one) of the following characters has been hard at work dying and decorating eggs.

Can you guess which one?
Is it the bunny?

Granddad?

Hoosier Kitty?
Was that way too easy?

Earth Day

In honor of Earth Day, here's a little woodland stream to contemplate...

And, sadly, here's why we need to educate and motivate everyone:

I walked up to this waterfall in Cascade Park and found two nearly full fast food drinks left on a rock -

and two women hurrying away down the path - which goes directly to a shelter house and trash container.

Bad bird! Bad!

I see you, Crazy Robin.I know that you are eyeing my clean windows.

My very clean, very expensively cleaned, windows.

I know what you are thinking about doing.

Yeah, don't pretend you're innocent.

One smear and I'll know who did it and I'll....I'll....I'll set the fierce corgi on you!

To the Small Celandine

Pansies, Lilies, Kingcups, Daisies,

Let them live upon their praises;

Long as there's a sun that sets

Primroses will have their glory;

Long as there are Violets,

They will have a place in story:

There's a flower that shall be mine,

'Tis the little Celandine.

Modest, yet withal an Elf

Bold, and lavish of thyself,

Since we needs must first have met,

I have seen thee, high and low,

Thirty years or more, and yet '

Twas a face I did not know;

Thou hast now, go where I may,

Fifty greetings in a day.

Ere a leaf is on a bush,

In the time before the Thrush

Has a thought about its nest,

Thou wild come with half a call,

Spreading out thy glossy breast

Like a careless Prodigal;

Telling tales about the sun,

When we've little warmth, or none.

Poets, vain men in their mood!

Travel with the multitude;

Never heed them: I aver

That they all are wanton Wooers;

But the thrifty Cottager,

Who stirs little out of doors,

Joys to spy thee near her home,

Spring is coming, Thou art come!

Excerpts from "To the Small Celandine" 1802, William Wordsworth

Look Ma, no cavities!

The other day Granddad felt something in his mouth. "I think I've got a new tooth" says he in a tone of wonder and amazement. "I can feel it with my tongue."

"Ha" says I. "Can't be. You're ninety-one years old and that's beyond tooth growing time. You're feeling something else in your jaw. A bone growth maybe."

"It's a tooth" he mutters stubbornly.

"Poor old guy" I think. But I'd better make a dental appointment to see what's happening in there. I don't actually want to look, you know. Besides he has some issues with his dentures on top of this tooth delusion.

You know where this is going, don't you?

Yes, I took him to the dentist.

Yes, he has a new tooth.

That's our Granddad. Giving new dimensions to the term "second childhood".

I can see clearly now

Meet my new favorite person: Matt the Window Washer.

Yes, our windows are now sparkly clean on the outside! (I have to do the inside myself....soon)

Except in the breezeway and there Matt the Window Washer spent a whole day washing those little miserable panes of glass both inside and out so that now it hardly looks as if there is any glass there at all. I love it!

The clean glass comes just in time to look out at the spectacular magnolia. In fact, that tree is so spectacular that complete strangers drive up to ask if they can take pictures of it. Somewhere someone's mother is admiring their pictures and thinking that Indiana is full of giant pink trees.

Less of her

Socks went to the vet for teeth cleaning and nail clipping. She came home with a good report: The vet is mightily pleased. We are all pleased.

This is the weight she should have.

She has a waist! She can run!

She isn't wheezing and coughing when she moves.

She's HEALTHY!

"Yeah, yeah, great" says Socks. "Just wait 'til my old guy gets going again."

Part of the day in the life series

Sometimes on Mondays I have a few extra minutes between the errands I need to run and the time the respite caregiver leaves (when I have to be home again). I take this bit of time to stop in Cascades Park. It is only a little park but on a chilly early Spring morning, I have it all to myself for a quick ten minute break. I rumble into the brick paved parking lot thinking about the old brick roads in Huntington where I grew up. My car is the only one interrupting the bare branch shadows on the brick. The bright yellow of the Buddhist monastery and the flapping prayer flags in the trees across from the park are about the only color today.

The path winds up the valley between hills and the creek. My feet crunch on the gravel and a little wind makes me pull my coat around me. Birds call in the distance without disturbing the solitude. I take deep breaths of the brisk air and smell the familiar scent of damp woods in Spring.

The creek sparkles in the cool morning light with a soothing rushing rhythm.

I am caught beside it for long mindless minutes.

Now this is not the great sweeping mountain views some of you have, nor the lush tropical landscape of others. It's only a little park, five minutes from home.

But it gives me a break that lifts my spirits and sends me on to my routine days with renewed energy.

Mini Marathon Weekend

The IU Mini Marathon brought the Indy Duo to town. There was activity... although only one raced, even Granddad got out to watch the end of the race and to cheer our Indy Phoenix. There was some inactivity... Chacko was delighted that the poor guy with the sore back joined him on the sun warmed rug. The activities got complicated as we coordinated watching the race go by with Mimi at Bryan Park, and then involved the Guitar Master in fetching a lunch from the over crowded Upland Brewery. No, they didn't get our order right. Yes, we all did get something to eat. And Granddad got his fish and chips. And we all had lots of chatting and visiting.