I really dislike when the weather keeps me penned inside on my day off and then is gorgeous on Monday morning.  Luckily today is NOT like that today...  It’s cold and windy outside.  Have I ever mentioned how much I HATE wind?  I love the idea of wind turbines generating clean wind.  Now we just need to figure out how to have windmills but create a wind break for the ground level plus not block the sunlight I need for my garden… it’s not like I’m asking for a lot…. LOL ;)

 

This is going to be a bear of a work week for me.  I volunteered for almost 20 hours of overtime work.  I could certainly have it a lot worse- not having a job, or working in bad working conditions.  In all reality I have a pretty cush job.  I have my own space, yes it’s a cubicle but since the walls are only 18 inches high I can look out and around so the mental feeling of space is there instead of feeling closed in.  Though honestly I am one of those crazy people that loves small places so I wouldn’t mind having walls- except I do like to chit chat with my neighbors.  I also get to speak with lots of different people every day and my job is to help.  I get to help people when they are frustrated and feeling out of options or when they are worried they don’t know what to do next.  It’s nice. 

 

So other than the fact that I’m not going to get to do much if any gardening or playing with my horse this week- It’s not too bad.  And it will help us get caught up on some bills which need paid so that’s always good.  And if I decided to be slightly crazy and volunteer for tons of overtime, then this week was the right week- windy and cold and totally spring like…just the side of spring that I don’t normally enjoy as much.

 

Yesterday’s weather had multiple personality disorder.  In the morning it was cold but clear, then clouds rolled in with winds.  Throughout the day we got cold weather, hot weather, windy weather, calm weather, sun, rain, and hail!  I got halfway out to the barn when the hail started coming down and decided I wasn’t that enthusiastic about being out in the hail.  The indoor arena was being used for a dog competition so any working with the horses was going to have to be done outside.   Hmmm… hail + horses or going home. 

 

Eventually I did make it out to see Tala and it was totally worth it.  She is growing up so beautifully!  I worked with her for a bit and even did some desensitization exercises as a per cursor to mounting.   I won’t take my first ride for a while yet on the excellent advice of my dear friend and Mentor Nancy.    But I must admit it is tempting when my horse is falling asleep during desensitization! LOL

 

 

 

 

Testing pictures via email blogging

 

I started working on getting Tala under saddle last night.  We have been moonlighting with the idea for a while now.  Getting her used to the saddle (she hates it), getting her used to bit and bridle (not to fond, but willing to tolerate), and doing ground driving (very confused at first but a pro at it now!).

 

So last night I had my barn manager help me.  She held her head why I stood on the mounting block and stepped into the saddle and laid belly down in the saddle for varying lengths of time.  We practiced me doing this on both sides for about 20 minutes.  She did great!  No freaking out, and only a little bit of side stepping.  I was able to step right back on to the mounting block about 95% of the time.

 

Tomorrow morning I am going out again and we are going to practice some more.  I am hoping that she will give me the okay to actually get on her.  Maybe by Monday or Tuesday we can get to the point of walking around the arena a bit.

 

We are taking it slow.  I want to make sure that Tala doesn’t get sour and that we are making progress.

 

But I am so happy that we are that much closer to taking that first real ride together!

 

In other news, the garden is getting planted.  I dug up a small dirt patch by our ultra ugly garage that was just clogged with weeds.  And not the nice easy weeds like grass or something, but the super nasty bindweed and common mallow.  These roots are amazingly thick and very hardly.  A little tiny plant above ground might have huge taproots thicker than my thumb just lurking below the surface.  These roots are also able to send up new plants in a heartbeat much like mint.  I used my garden claw like digging tool to scrap away at the dirt and plucked out little tiny hair-like roots until I thought I was going to go cross eyed.  And I also played tug of war with roots that I had already dug down 12 inches into the soil to “loosen” them until I thought I was going to give myself a hernia!!

 

Anyway I think I had quite a victory in that little patch.  So Nora and I sowed a mixture of Sunflowers, Hollyhocks, Lavender, and Snap Dragons in the bed.  Oh and couple of carrots for edible beauty!   :D  I am so excited for the next two weeks when seedlings will hopefully start to emerge!  I can’t wait to see Nora’s face when she sees how quick the sunflowers grow.  Though I am disappointed to learn that they can take 90 days to blossom!!  Holy moly!

 

Bad news though, we got a POUNDING rain last night followed up by a near freezing night.  It looks like it might have been too much for my little tomato seedlings that were doing SO well!  I am a bit discouraged right now.  Some of them might make but as many as half might have to be replanted. 

 

I have four very strong tomato plants growing upstairs.  They are already about five times bigger than the seedlings so I am going to reserve them for planting after mother’s day.  These things are HUGE.  They were normal sized seedlings but I planted them in a window box of soil and put it in an eastern window upstairs where it is warm.  It hasn’t even gotten that much sun until recently but they are probably close to 10 inches high and with stems as big around as my pinkie finger!  At this rate they will flower before they are even transplanted to the garden.   Perhaps this is what I need to do with my remaining seedlings.

 

Part of my spring cleaning fever has been a determination to make use of our unusable garage.  There is one room that has a southern facing window and it gets WARM in there.  I am thinking of moving my seedlings in there so they get good sun and warmth.  Maybe that will give them the growth jump start they need!

 

I know this is a huge long wandering post.  I got email posting set up and am able to post from more locations now!

 

More on our wayward gardening adventures later…here’s to hoping we can grow a bit more of our food this summer!

 

Test

Testing 1 2 3

 

Long Time No See!

I think I must be the world's worst blogger. Sorry to everyone!

Nora is doing great. She is growing like a weed and learning new things everyday. Her paternal grandma Dee got her a learning laptop for Christmas. It has several games on it- including a maze game. Nora has learned to manipulate the joy stick like mouse and now can navigate all 10 levels of the maze as well as logging on to the game without help. This is less than a month after she got the toy and at first she needed help to log on and even to complete the first and easiest level. She really caught on fast!

Another one of the games this laptop has is "It's Raining Letters!" Where it brings up a screen and says the phonetic sound of the letter. The child then needs to recognize either the sound or the shape of the letter and push the appropriate letter on the keyboard. Nora rocks this game too!

Tonight we were practicing on the grown up keyboard. The only problem I see with the learning laptop is the keys are laid out A-B-C way instead of QWERTY. So Nora is a little confused when she looks at my keyboard and the keys aren't where she expects them to be.

Also I quit my job as a Cashier and am now working full time at a large bank. I am still in training for another week and will be providing phone support for bankers all across the nation. The bankers if they need help with anything regarding an account can call a 1-800 number and can choose what department they need help in. I am currently being trained in the general account questions- basically policy and proceedures. It is really interesting work and I am happy to have this great job.

I am really looking forward to this spring. Tala is doing great and I starting to work on more intensive training regimes. I am stalled a bit until I can get some more equipment. Once I have her saddle we will be able to do a lot more. I am going to work on her headset and neck with side reins and ground driving before attempting our first ride. I am really looking forward to seeing how she will do since she has been so great about learning to wear a bridle!!

Well I think that is all the news so far...