Procrasticcomplishment

I have finished it! 

My project is completed! 

Never mind that I started the project just over three years ago!

And just look at how small and simple the object is!

Obviously something of this magnitude could be finished by a slug in just a few short days!

But ....
I ....
finally.....
did.......
it!

(Do you notice a distorted sense of accomplishment?)

There is something about the cold weather that makes me want to practice home crafts. So, when our weather took a turn for the worse, I pulled out the knitting. Buried under skeins of yarn from various projects I unearthed a relic from the past. The object was supposed to be a pillow. I began knitting the pillow in '07. I don't know why I stopped. I attended a knitting social group recently and became consumed with finishing the simple rectangle.

DONE!

The next morning I continued my fixation on finishing the pillow. I washed and blocked it. I made and stuffed a pillow form to go inside it, and I made buttons. Made buttons?!!! Am I insane?

Oh wait, please don't answer that. 

It might hurt my feelings! 

Let me explain....(if I can)! All along I had pictured the edges of the pillow being held closed with rustic buttons. I never had taken the time to purchase the buttons. A store that would sell rustic buttons is at least 20 miles away. I was feeling lazy. Well, lazy in that I didn't want to get into the cold car and drive into town, but....

I recalled that we had some Aspen branches on the edge of the pasture. I realized that I could cut slices of a branch and I'd have just the sort of rustic buttons I had envisioned for the pillow. On top of that, the time it would take me to make the buttons would probably be less than the time it would take to make a trip into town, and would provide me with much greater satisfaction.

Pippin helps me pick out just the right size Aspen branch.

 

I cut the branch into slices, just over 1/4" in width. 

I sanded the discs - thinking to myself this is one great way to file the finger nails!

After drilling two small holes in each disc,  I attached them to the pillow.

So....what to do next? 

Blog about it, of course!

So, what projects do you have sitting out there, waiting to be finished?
What things do you tend to procrastinate about?
What accomplishments have made you do a happy dance?

A Conversation: Christ's Mass

Hey, Pippin. Did you know that tonight 

is a special night?

What? Do we get extra hay 

or something?

*Big sigh* 

No, silly. It has nothing to do with food.

If it isn't that we get extra hay, 

I don't see how tonight could be special.

Tonight is the beginning of the 

celebration of Christ's birth.

Christ? The guy that my Mrs. Owner 

sometimes names under her breath 

when she's really, really mad?

No. Well, yeah. 

I guess so...In a way.

Never mind...

Many years ago Mary was about to 

have a baby. Joseph and Mary were 

traveling and couldn't find a place 

to stay, so they went into a stable.

Are they coming here? Tonight? 

Goody! I love visitors!

Pippin, will you listen? Please?

Oh, sorry. I just got a bit excited.

This happened a long time ago. 

Before we were even born.

Even before my Mrs. Owner was born. 

 Wow! That really was a 

long time ago, then.

So Mary and Joseph went into the stable 

on Christmas Eve. She had a little baby. 

He was born in the stable with all of the 

animals around him. 

Were there horses there? 

I wish I could have been there. 

I've never seen a baby born.

She put him to bed in a manger. 

His name was Jesus Christ

and many people believe he was a savior.

Oh...wasn't she worried that one of

the animals would try to eat her baby?

Oh, Pippin, how gross!

A bright star shone over the stable to 

announce the baby's birth.

Oh Doc, look! There's a star over there. 

It's really bright. Is a baby going to be 

born in our stable tonight?

The star led the wise men to the 

stable to worship the new king.

A king?            

You said he was a savior.

You are confusing me.

The wise men brought gifts for the new baby. 

Presents? I love presents.

Are the smart guys gonna
follow the bright star 

and bring presents to us?

Ever since then many people celebrate 

Jesus' birthday. They celebrate 'Christ's Mass'. 

They give gifts to loved ones in remembrance of

Jesus Christ and his birth.

Are you gonna give me a present?

What are you going to give me?

Is my Mrs. Owner gonna give me a present?

Oooo....what do I want? 

Some apple flavored treats?

I don't have a present for you, Pippin.

Horses don't go shopping and buy presents.

But I can wish you a Merry Christmas.

Oh. OK...I guess.

And, since I don't have a present for you,

I'll just have to wish you Merry Christmas, too!

We wish all of our readers a 

M E R R Y   C H R I S T M A S

and Happy Holidays too.   

With love from
Doc & Pippin 

Doc's Diatribe: Well Adjusted

One day a while back my Mrs. Owner took me to an arena for a riding lesson. I was feeling kinda lazy that day and just didn't want to walk in a 'cadenced' walk the way the lesson lady and my Mrs. Owner wanted me to. I just lumbered along. Ho hum. This is dumb. The lesson lady suggested that my Mrs. Owner might want to use spurs, or carry a crop....or, she commented, "maybe the horse is hurting." Well, I guess my Mrs. Owner has been worried that maybe I did hurt myself when I had my driving accident. So, she decided to take me to get adjusted. 

You know, I'm a pretty steady fellow. I don't get upset by much. I thought I was well adjusted...not like Pippin, who is as squirrely as they come!

My Mrs. Owner took me out of my paddock and then fussed at me about going into the big white box. I don't like the big white box. It makes a lot of noise. It wiggles under my feet. It worries me to hear all of the strange noises whirring by. I tried to tell my Mrs. Owner not to get into the box. I would not follow her. I would not put my foot up into the big white box. Unh uh. Not me. I backed up. My Mrs. Owner came out of the box. She asked me to go around in circles. I like going around in circles. My Mrs. Owner walked into the box again. Unh uh. Not me. I was asked to go around in more circles. Circles aren't that bad. Then I was asked to step into the box, again! Unh uh. No way, José. Never. More circles. Doesn't my Mrs. Owner think it is silly to have me go around and around and around? It does get a bit tiring. Well, you know, after doing this for a while I got tired of those circles. It seemed that if I was going to get any rest, I'd have to go stand in that box. That's what I finally did. I walked in there and stood. My Mrs. Owner made a big deal over me. She gave me treats. I felt better about being in the big white box.

We traveled up the bumpy road. We traveled down the turny road. We traveled on the fast road where you can hear all kinds of swishy noises.When we finally stopped and I got out of the box, there was a man I've never met. 

He isn't the cookie guy who trims my feet. 

He isn't the 'horse doctor guy who smells kinda scary'. 

And we weren't at the lesson place. 

Hmmm.... 

it looks like.... 

it must be.... 

Santa Claus!

So, Santa Claus watched me walk and trot. He said that my hips weren't even and one side was locked up. Locked up? The tack room gets locked up...but I don't see a lock on my  hips!

Santa Clause poked me here and there.

He prodded and he pushed.

He jerked my leg and he yanked on my tail!

I shook myself, beginning at the tip of my nose 

and working all the way down to my tail. 

Ohhh, that felt good!

........

With a nod of his head

And a twist to his lip

He pronounced me adjusted

As he patted my hip. 

He gathered his tools

Put them all in his sack,

And said that in a month

He wanted me to come back.

........

 Now I know what Santa Claus does when he isn't driving his sleigh.

Flocking

After Thanksgiving I began to notice lots of cars carrying Christmas trees home. Just that sight evokes so many wonderful memories and feelings of anticipation. However, the pink flocked tree, a real one, riding home on top of a car just about did me in. You know, I could have gotten some sort of neck injury from the double-take! I guess flocked trees are the current 'in' thing. I can understand the allure - just look at the beauty of nature's flocking! (AKA: hoar frost, white frost, pruina, rime, Jack frost)

Mornings like this make going out to feed the horses very special....just wish I'd remember to always take my camera and not have to run back up to the house, get the boots off and go find the camera!

It's OK Pippin, I'll be down to feed you after I take just two twenty more pictures!

Hurt Go Happy

I'm a winner!

Yes, Dreaming, it's nice when we feel good about ourselves. 

It is important to have a healthy outlook on life.

No, really. I am a winner!

Of course you are. 

Having high self-esteem is important, but one shouldn't adopt superior attitudes.

This isn't about my attitude. I won a contest! I won a book!

Linda Benson announced a contest last month on a post that included an interview with author Ginny Rorby.  I commented on her post and later learned that I had won a copy of  Hurt Go Happy. Ginny writes books for children and young adults. I am neither. But, this is the type of book I love. Afterall, I have a Master's Degree in the Teaching of Reading and I taught middle school for more years than was probably healthy! (Which may explain why I am the way I am!) In an effort to help my students learn to enjoy reading I began reading adolescent literature. Lots of it. I kept a note card for every book that I read. On the card I not only recorded the basic book info and a brief outline, but I also made estimates about the reading level, and sometimes I cross referenced the book to others on similar topics. In this way I could make suggestions for my students when they were struggling with finding a book to read.
I dug into Hurt Go Happy the day it arrived. I am savoring it, reading only a bit each day. The story is captivating and it was inspired by the true story of chimpanzee raised as a human child. I can't wait to read more!

For more information about the book, visit Ginny Rorby's site.

Linda, thanks for hosting the contest. I am most appreciative!

Letterboxing

I went letterboxing today!

We were supposed to get a fair amount of snow, but that didn't happen. The storm slowed and went south of us. But, a few flakes were falling and it was a nice day to stay inside, nice and warm, and wrap presents. Somehow Tucker didn't get that message. He kept barking. My husband would let him out. I'd let him in. He'd bark again. I'd let him out, my husband would let him in. The dog was clearly saying, "I'm tired of hanging around the house. Let's do SOMETHING!" So I hopped online to see where the closest letterbox is hidden. I've never gone letterboxing but have read about it on the Laughing Orca Ranch blog. I was intrigued by the activity so had read more about what it is and how to do it on Atlas Quest  and on Letterboxing.org. I gathered a stamp pad, a stamp (I have designed a personal stamp, but haven't made it yet, so I used a wood cut that my husband had made as a child instead of using a commercial stamp) a notebook and a pen. I printed out the instructions for the letterbox I was seeking. I pulled on several layers of clothing. I grabbed the dog and his leash and harness, and we headed off to a local park.

After a brief walk I located the stump described in the instructions. I was so excited to have found my first letterbox. My excitement, however, did nothing to keep my hands warm in the 23 degree temperature! My fingers were killing me by the time I had finished. It was difficult to put the contents back in the letterbox and to get my things back in various pockets with fingers that had lost much of their feeling. 

 

Tucker is standing guard by the stump where I found the hidden letterbox. 

He doesn't seem particularly interested in the activity, however, he did try to eat my stamp pad!

Do you see the letterbox?

Here is the stamp from the letterbox. It's beautiful!

So, is this something I'll do again?  Most definitely. I had a nice feeling of accomplishment when I found the box. It was fun following the instructions. Tucker has tons of energy so going on a hike, even a brief one, is great for him, as well. I also like the idea of hiking/walking with a purpose.

In what ways might I better prepare for my next letterboxing experience? I need to put together a 'kit' that I can put in a backpack, instead of trying to carry it all in my pockets. The journal in the letterbox was a challenge to stamp and write in. It was a beautiful hand-made paperbound book, but it was very floppy. I need to carry something to support journals like this, perhaps a small clipboard. Any other suggestions?

What are my next steps? I want to finish making my own stamp. I'm using an eraser and will cut the design with an exacto knife. I'd also like to make my own journals. I did some bookmaking classes years ago and the technique I learned will lend itself to making beautiful journals. I'm trying to decide whether to stamp the letterbox stamps directly into a journal, or whether to use index cards and cut and paste the image into a journal. Any of you out there have preferences for one over the other?

I would love to hear ideas from other letterboxers...is that what one is called if they wander around following instructions to find and record a hidden treasure?!

The North Wind Doth Blow

The North wind doth blow and we shall have snow,
And what will poor robin do then, poor thing?
He'll sit in a barn and keep himself warm
and hide his head under his wing, poor thing.

http://www.rhymes.org.uk/the_north_wind_doth_blow.htm

This is a traditional British nursery rhyme from the 16th century. My boys used to sing this at their nursery school. Maybe I should clarify that statement...they sang this much more recently than the 16th century!

Yesterday we had a high of 59. At lower elevations it actually hit 70. Today the north wind has begun to blow and we have a winter advisory in effect. Brrrr! Currently the forecast is for 4-7 inches (geesh - forecast is for four...I wonder how many different types of 'for' I could use in a sentence if I really tried!) between tonight and tomorrow night. 

Earlier this winter we had a brief snow storm. It snuck up on us after the sun went down. It was beautiful to watch the snow flakes falling in the lights from the house. In the morning the wind began to blow and began to redistribute the snow. At one point the average wind speed was 22 mph. The temperature was 19 F but the wind chill was only 1 F. Brrrrrr! It was not fit for man nor beast!

I tried to get a picture of the wind-driven snow but the camera couldn't seem to capture the wisps of snow picked up and tossed by the wind like the spray of water on a stormy sea. It only registered a general haze.  What you can see, through this haze of the blowing snow however,  are both Pippin and Doc high-tailing it to the barn hoping I have come out to take pity on them and toss them some hay in the comfort of their stalls!

So, I wonder what it will look like tomorrow morning? I guess I'll just have to wait and see!

A Tale from Two Sides - Bouncing is What Pippin Does Best

A few days ago our weather, although not especially warm, was sunny and bright. A good day to work the horses. OK, Pippin. You're up first!

So, there I am out in the pasture, trying to find something worth eating. Everything is dry as a bone and there's not much of it. A guy has to hunt long and hard to find a tasty morsel. Along comes my Mrs. Owner with that halter thing. I ignored her. Uh oh. She has put the rope around my neck and is leading me to the hitching post. 

Pippin is a mess! After some currying and brushing I've gotten as much dust out of his coat as I can. I saddle him up, grab the bitless bridle, and we head for the round pen. I am so pleased with how Pippin works. We play the friendly game, then I ask him to move around and he goes through his paces. He performs a delightful extended trot and changes back and forth between that and a quieter 'easy' trot. 

My Mrs. Owner seems to have grown weary of my strutting around her. I showed her my fanciest trot, even adding some bounces up and down and flagging my tail at one point. She asks me to stop and comes up and tells me what a good boy I am. I feel all gooshy when she does that. I put my head down and she rubs that spot on my forehead. It feels yummy. Speaking of yummy, I wish she'd give me a treat, since I was so good and all. My Mrs. Owner puts on the new bridle without the metal yucky thing. Then she climbs up on my back. That still feels so very strange to have someone up there.


After mounting I ask Pippin to stand a bit. In thinking back to earlier this year I realize what great strides he has made. He used to avoid my mounting by circling away from me, and then when I'd get up, he'd try to move off immediately.  We set off on a brisk walk, with his head high in the air. Within a round or two he has brought his head down and is relaxing a bit. I flap my right hand, then my left. I play with the long, western reins. Pippin only startles and hops one time. We practice stopping. We practice backing. I ask Pippin for a lateral move to the left and I am startled by his reaction. He doesn't do his 'boot scootin' boogie' but he does perform a strange kind of hop, or a kick, or some sort of unusual bounce. I chastise him. I tell him a firm, 'No' and make my 'that was ugly, don't do it' guttural sound. 

My Mrs. Owner growled at me. I didn't do a gosh, darn thing, and the thanks I get is that nasty sound. At least, I don't think I did anything wrong. I mean, I walked, I stopped, I walked some more. I turned a circle or two. I moved away from her leg and went sideways a bit, while still walking forward. I stepped on something and had a bit of trouble going forward, but as soon as I put weight on my other foot, everything was OK, except for that, "Pippin is bad" noise. I'm confused.

I ask Pippin to walk on. We continue to do a series of foundation exercises suggested by the trainer. I remind Pippin of my presence by waving my arm now and then and patting him here and there. I move the long reins and let them dangle near his legs. He settles into our work nicely. We begin a turn and he does the hunchy, funny movement again. It's almost like he's kicking at the long reins. I again let him know that I am not pleased with his actions. We continue with our exercises and Pippin seems to settle into the work. I am so happy with him. He has come so far. 

I continue to take my Mrs. Owner where she asks. We do circles to the left and to the right. We stop. We back. We do turns on the forehand. A few times my Mrs. Owner wiggles around and pats me on my butt. Hah! She doesn't surprise me with those moves anymore. Ha ha ha! You don't scare me! I try really hard to do what my Mrs. Owner asks me to do. I like it when she pats my neck and tells me I'm a good boy. Finally, my Mrs. Owner asks me to stop and she gets off. I hear her make a funny breath sound. Kinda like what happens if a person pulls my cinch up too fast. My Mrs. Owner gives me a hug. She tells me she is sorry. She tells me it's all her fault. She hugs me some more. I'm not sure I understand it, but I'm not one to turn down any sort of loving and attention! I turn to see if she has some treats, since obviously she thinks I've been really, really, really good!


Oh, I can't believe it. I feel like such an idiot. Poor Pippin. I am so, so sorry. Pippin wasn't 'bouncing'.....he was stepping on the latigo. At some point while riding, maybe while I was mounting, the end of the latigo slipped out of the leather keeper. Obviously I had not run it through far enough. The strange thing that I was feeling was Pippin stepping on the end of the latigo, which would cause the saddle to lurch a bit, and from up above felt like a funny hop or kick or whatever. I hate that my first reaction was to blame my horse! And what a fabulous horse for not reacting to the strange sensation of the saddle being jerked around. Pippin deserves some of those treats he is always coveting!

A wonderful thing about Pippin;
Pippin's a wonderful thing.
His top is made out of rubber,
His bottom's made out of spring
He's bouncy, bouncy, bouncy, bouncy,
fun, fun, fun, fun, fun,
The most wonderful thing
about Pippin is:
He's the silly one!

This is my adaptation of the Tigger "Bounce" song with apologies to the creator of the original.

Here's the original version. 

I think it would be just as cute with a Haffie bouncing around! 

Tigger and Pippin seem to have remarkably similar personalities!

Candyland Carriage Parade

Our town has had a Christmas carriage parade for 28 years. This year we helped direct trailers to parking and helped marshal the crowd and direct entries during the parade.

 Apparently this mini-donkey loves gingersnaps. He was so cute I wanted to donkey-nap him!

 Devil horns or candy canes?

Of course, no devil here!

 

I promised this Rocky Mountain horse that I would say nothing to his pasture-mates about what he was wearing in the parade! I didn't say a thing about posting it on a blog! Here's another shot of him. Do you think he's looking at his 'pants', ducking his head in shame, or just proudly strutting his stuff?

 

 Both of the percherons were intrigued by the dog. I loved the way they had turned in unison to check him out. Naturally, by the time I got the camera up and running, they no longer had their ears forward!

 Here's another pair of big boys!

 

Look at the human faces...are we having fun yet? Oh, yes, we are!

 Of course, you know that I was partial to this team! 

Doc met these boys when we went on a Haflinger trail ride earlier this year.

 

 This is the Wells Fargo coach, pulled by four quarter horses.

 

I think this guy's gentle soul is evident in this picture. What a nice guy!

Bought the Farm

Yup, we bought the new house! We closed on it earlier this week. After dealing with all of the paperwork we stopped by our new place. My husband and I stood in the center of the living room, somewhat in shock I think....no ceilings in the living room or parts of the basement; wood floor cut away on the main floor, except near cabinets in the kitchen; all baseboards removed; some sheet rock removed from walls in the basement; disgusting carpet without padding in the bedrooms and basement; a yard that hasn't been touched in 3 years; a barn full of pigeon poop. Is this a little bit of heaven or a little bit of hell? It's hard to tell at this point! There may be times in the next few months, as we labor on the house, that we may wish we bought the proverbial farm!

This is the living room. We'll need to replace the ceiling, wood floors and baseboard molding. We are going to contract with a sheet rock guy to do that work. We've done it before and it's a bear, especially with 9' ceilings. The ceilings and walls are also textured so we will have an 'expert' help match the existing tesxture. We'll do the painting. We are going to remove the can lamps (one is visible on left), but leave the wires behind a plate in case we ever want to put in some overhead lighting.

 The basement needs major work. At one point there was sheet rock on the walls toward the right, both the one near the middle of the room and the one further away where you can see insulation. Most of the ceiling was removed as well. This provides the opportunity for us to slightly redesign the floor plan; we'll put in a wet bar and a theater room, as well as frame an office/bedroom and a hallway.

 The laundry room really didn't suffer from the flooding, but they discovered that pipes were leaking so a plumber removed a 'window' to get in to fix the pipe. I'm not sure why the counter top is missing. The doors are from areas where hard wood was removed

 Check out where the hardwood floor was cut. We aren't sure how wet this area may have been. We will tear out the existing cabinets so we can remove the rest of the floor and check for and mitigate any mold damage. Although the cabinets are serviceable we budgeted for replacing them and putting in a granite counter top. Most of these cabinets will be used in the utility area of the basement and in the garage.

Can I Be Good?

Many years ago my mother gave one of the boys this darling book about a young Golden Retriever

who always managed to get into trouble. She loved the book because at that time we owned an incorrigible retriever who grew too big, ran too fast, greeted people too enthusiastically and had such joy and energy that he was always inadvertently causing problems, much like the dog in the book.

Today I was reminded of the book as I rode Pippin. I had the BEST ride on him, and it seemed to me that he was trying very, very hard to be good! He walked calmly. He trotted calmly. He listened to my aids for turning, stopping and backing. What more could a person ask?!

At the end of the ride, while my friend and I chatted, Pippin cocked a back hoof, lowered his head, relaxed his lower lip and took a snooze. I can't recall another time when Pippin has been able to lower his guard and relax while I've been in the saddle.

Yes, Pippin, you can be good!

Good Morning!

I love morning. (I apologize to those of you who are not inherently morning people...I know it has to be tough. I live with a slow riser!) I have always enjoyed hopping out of bed and beginning the day...with gusto! My usual morning routine is to pull on my jeans (and other garments), grab a coat, let the puppy out of the kennel, hop into my Bogs boots (in winter) or slide on my fake crocs (summer) and head to the barn.

I love hearing the horses call for me. Doc has a low rumbly nicker that starts somewhere deep in his chest and bubbles up. Pippin rarely nickers, he whinnies and it is high and shrill. As I sort out the hay Pippin demonstrates his ADHD traits. He walks into his stall. He makes one complete turn. He walks out of his stall. He keeps this up until I finally bring him his hay. He's the sort that wants everything right now! If he feels that I am delaying his meal, he will stop on his tour of the stall and stomp his foot. He knows exactly where to stomp in order to hit the metal piece near the bottom of the stall wall so that it makes a very loud ringing sound. Pippin knows just how to be obnoxious...to me and to four-legged critters. Doc waits patiently.

I weigh and carry the horses' hay in laundry baskets. When I enter the stalls I put the basket down, sweep a clear spot in the feed corner, and then dump the hay. Although my stalls have hay feeders, I really prefer that the horses eat from the ground. I worry that they will get chaff in their eyes, and if they feed from the hay racks the hay from Doc's stall falls into Pippin's water bucket. Doc will take one mouthful from the basket while I am preparing his feeding place. He chews his hay slowly and deliberately. Almost like he is thinking very complex thoughts. Pippin buries his head in the basket and pulls up the biggest mouthful he can manage. He chews quickly and dives into the basket again. He is very purposeful and driven with his eating. (I also have large, round stones in his feed bin to try to slow him down when he does get some feed at night.) Last year I used a NibbleNet to slow him down with his hay. After a few months he chewed through the webbing and I haven't repaired it or replaced it.That's someplace on the bottom of the 'to do' list. But since I seem to have lost the 'to do' list.....who cares?!

After seeing to the guys' immediate needs; hay, water and clean feet, I head out to their paddocks to pick up. Today I finally managed to get most of Pippin's paddock clean. Since we had some snow and a drift accumulated in his paddock, it's been hard to scoop. Either the poop is petrified and frozen solid to the substrata or it is in one layer or another of a snow drift, to be discovered during an archeological dig, or it is sitting mired in a pile of mud. The drift has melted, leaving its treasures behind. There are still a few pile remnants frozen to the ground, but I can get those later. (That's what I said yesterday.....and the day before....)

Then its back to the house, taking some time to play with Tucker along the way. There are those mornings where Tucker is disobedient and heads into the neighbor's pasture to play with the mini. Then my clean-up is interupted while I retrieve the puppy (can you call a 50-pound Aussie a puppy?)! I've begun to take him back to the house at that point, hoping that maybe he will figure out that if he stays around with me, he'll get to play a bit.

So, here I sit, enjoying my coffee and visiting blogs. My cheeks have that pinched feeling from being out in the cold and I feel happy and content with the world....at least for the moment!

I hope you all have a wonderful day!

One Word Wednesday - Panic