Saturday Centus: Let's Play

Jenny Matlock has asked us to use "He said. She said." in our post today, using no more than 100 words and the 4 from the prompt.  

I generally challenge myself to hit the word count on the head, but today I felt being succinct would have more impact.

Tucker and Mama Boots are the stars of today's Saturday Centus. 

I hope you get as much enjoyment out of their daily conversation

as we do!

She said, "Let's play!"

He said, "OK."

She said, "Stay away."

He said, "Foul play!"

 She said, "Back away."

 He said, "Whatever you say."

Can you tell who is large, and in charge, in our household?!

Click on the image below to read other responses to Jenny's Saturday Centus Challenge.

Hobby Horse Blog Hop - Week 19: What's In a Name?

We are considering adopting another Australian Shepherd. It's interesting to look at pictures and see the names of possible adoptees. We were considering a dog named Poppy. She seemed to suit her name as she was described as being very high-energy. I could picture her popping up and down. That turned out to be almost true. Poppy won't stay in a fence. She pops over them. So..... we can't adopt her. Our fences aren't high enough. Of course,  you will be among the first to know about a new dog when we find the perfect pup companion for Tucker!

Let's find out more about each other in the Blog Hop. 

I hope you can join in!

In case you are new... or as a reminder:

Each week I post two or three prompts. 

Write about one or respond to all.

Or, just link your blog to mine if you

care to share something else about yourself.

Most importantly,

complete your blog post (or comment) by asking a question of us.

I am really enjoying answering your questions,

and look forward to seeing other responses, too.

I think it's a great way to have a conversation of sorts!

Link your post to the Hobby Horse Blog Hop

by using the Linky Tool below.

Click where indicated, just after it says

"You are next...."

Or...

Leave a comment with the answer(s) to the

questions(s) on my blog, down below.

Visit other participating blogs on the list

and respond to their questions in your comments on their pages.

Hobby Horse Blog Hop Prompts - Week 19:

1. How did your horse (dog, cat, other pet) get his or her name? 

2. What names for horses, dogs or cats (chickens, guinea pigs..... and so forth) do you think are especially cute or clever?

3. Tell us about your first pet.

My Answers:

1. When I bought Pippin and Doc they were named Rock and Mic. It turns out that a lot of the foundation Haflingers were named A Rock and Modern Micah, and the names are popular among Haflinger folks. My son objected to the horses' names. I wasn't especially thrilled with them. I also thought that with both names ending in a 'k' sound, it might be harder for the horses to distinguish between their names when spoken to. Being a huge fan of the Lord of the Rings, son explained that since my horses were 'haflings' they should be named after halflings, or hobbits. He suggested Frodo and Sam or Pippin and Merry. I loved the name Pippin... and it fit Rock's character. I loved Sam. I could really see Mic as Sam. However, my son informed me, Sam and Pippin didn't 'go' together. I realized that Merry's full name was Meriadoc. I could shorten that to "Doc". That satisfied my son. It worked for me. And, the names really suit my horses' personalities. 

We named our Aussie, Tucker for a number of reasons. First, several bloggers suggested the name. We liked the sound of it. We thought that maybe he might live up to the name, "Tuckered Out" and perhaps, just maybe, not have as much energy as most Aussies (that didn't happen)! And finally, Tuck is an Aussie word, so even though Australian Shepherds really didn't originate in Australia, his name harkens back to the land he didn't come from!

Mama Boots came with the name "Boots". When it became evident that she had recently been a Mama, I just started appending that appellation to her name, and it stuck.

2. I met a guy who was driving the cutest team of paint ponies. One was named Biscuit and the other was named Gravy. I felt the names were as cute as the ponies. Although I won't really do this, I have been so tempted to name my next dog, "Password".

3. The first pet I grew up with was a wonderful Golden Retriever, coincidentally named Tuck. His full name was Friar Tuck of Windy Pines.

Me, My mom, and Tuck

The first pet I had when I was out on my own, was a mixed breed dog named Cricket. She earned her name by being especially bouncy as a puppy.

Now it's your turn! Write your answers to the questions in a comment, or on your blog. Link your blog to mine using the Linky Tool below.

The Challenge of a Card Challenge

Brenda has issued a card challenge. 

The idea is that we are to use this picture as inspiration 

and create a greeting card. 

We are to share our card in a post and link to Brenda's page,

2 Peas in a Pod.

I'm thinking I might forego the card making

and just make the M&M bark instead!

I want Brenda, and all of my readers, to get an idea of just how much of a challenge this was for me. It's not about making the card. I love making cards, and have done so for a few years. 

The challenge began with finding my card making stuff. I haven't touched it since we moved last year. It was someplace in the dungeon basement. In 2 or 3 boxes. I found the boxes and dug through them to find most everything. 

1 hour

I carried the papers, two baskets of tools and embellishments and a container of scrap papers to the kitchen. Then trucked back down to the basement to find my stamps, stamp pads and embossing powder.

15 minutes

I couldn't find my card stock. I knew I had just the right color of blue - but after searching through a few more boxes I gave up. Time to head for Hobby Lobby. Since I had some other errands to run, it was not a big deal. 

2 hours 15 minutes

Home at last! I pull out my purchase; three whole sheets of paper; a piece of blue card stock and two decorative pieces of scrapbook paper following the color theme of the picture Brenda supplied. I cut the card stock and began fiddling with the other paper. I had in mind what I wanted to do... now it's time to get down to work. I begin looking through the basket that has sticky stuff, embellishments and punches. I am looking for my star punch and I can't seem to find it. I head back downstairs and sift through two of the packing cartons - it's like trying to find a needle in the haystack. I decide that I could use a slightly larger star punch anyway, so I climb into the car to head back to Hobby Lobby.

20 minutes

I walk into the store and bump into one of my good friends. She is also a Haffie owner, so of course, you know what we were talking about! Then I head to the back of the store, find the punch, pull up the discount coupon on my phone and I'm on my way.

58 minutes

I cut out stars, cut lengths of fishing line, glue stars together - all while watching listening to America's Got Talent. 

 2 hours

It's another day and I get to work again, first clearing space on the kitchen table (which I had cluttered with my craft stuff last night, and had to clear up so we could eat dinner) and sorting out what I would need. I snip and cut, I try pieces of paper this way and that way, I cut some more. I grab a glue stick, some glue dots, some double sided tape and begin the process of sticking little bits of paper to my finger tips. 

45 minutes

I stamp a design on the card stock and sprinkle the embossing power on it. I heat the design until the powder does its magical transformation. I add some red jewels and complete the construction of the card.

15 minutes

I run upstairs to find my invitation size envelopes (yeah, you'd think they would be in the basement with the card making supplies - but at least I knew were they were - and just consider the exercise I am getting running up and down the stairs!) I cut paper to line the envelope and glue it in place.

10 minutes

I sort out, clean up and throw out. I take everything back to the boxes in the basement.

15 minutes

I decide to write a post about this challenge. I sit down at the computer. I get up to take pictures - but first have to wait for my phone to charge. I do the math. I invested approximately 7 hours, 58 minutes making the card. Rounding this up to 8 hours, and figuring that you might pay $4.98 for the average 'nice' card, my hourly rate for card making is..... a whopping $ .62 per hours. I guess I better stick to my day job. Oh, wait, I'm retired! Maybe I'll need to rely on my card-making money!

So, anyway, here is my finished card. My sister's Birthday is next week. I decided to make a card to celebrate that occasion.

Have a Star Spangled Birthday!

Life Ever After

Pippin sees it. Do you? He is eyeing that piece of grey 2" x 6" on the bottom left of the stall door opening. When we ran out of 2" x 6" pieces from the the cut out area of the barn wall to use in the doorway, we used a piece of the trebuchet... the trebuchet lives on!

Our son wanted to participate in a trebuchet competition during his freshman year of college. He found two other guys who were interested. Our garage was the birth place for the boys' project.

We had the tools. 

They had the knowledge!

They worked on weekends and sanded and sawed.

They drilled and bolted.

They built it piece by piece

with plans hastily drawn out on scraps of wood,

or from details that existed only in the minds of the boys.

Their trebuchet worked.

The boys earned third place in the competition,

which required that the trebuchets accurately toss 

gallon jugs of water specified distances.

Following the competition the trebuchet was retired - put out to pasture, as it were. When it became apparent that our son did not intend to reconstruct the trebuchet the following year, pieces of the trebuchet found new purposes around the farm. Pieces of the 4 X 4 side braces became saddle racks in my tack room and helped build some walls in the stalls of my first barn. Our garden had a fence post that had a previous life as part of the trebuchet. When we moved, the bones of the trebuchet came with us. The project continues to live on in new ways, and every time I pick up a piece of the steel grey lumber, it brings back memories of the young men working together and enjoying success.

Chats on the Farmhouse Porch: Hotter Than a Firecracker

I missed Patrice's chat last week. I guess I am spoiled by having fairly speedy Internet available to me 24/7. When we were out of town we could have one person on the computer at a time and it was soooo sloooowwww. It was almost painful! My teeth hurt from clenching them.

Patrice mentioned that it was hot. Here, too. I've been enjoying getting up at the crack of dawn and getting things done. But, then I fall into the trap of checking the blogs - and suddenly it's 95 degrees outside. I need to switch things around and save blogging for midday. Maybe tomorrow!

So here are Patrice's questions - and you must stop by her blog because she coerced bribed Wendell into participating with her.

1. What are your plans for the 4th of July?
2. What's your favorite ethnic food?
3. What's your least favorite chore?
4. What really "stopped you in your tracks" and made you think twice?
5. Would you rather dry your clothes on a clothes line or in a dryer?

1. Our plans for the 4th? Who knows? There is a town picnic that we might go to... but if it is as warm hot as it has been, we'll probably opt to stay home. I'm not sure if there are any fireworks in the area with the concerns about fires. I know that some have been cancelled.

2. It's hard for me to answer this question. My hubby isn't very adventurous when it comes to food and since we tend to go out together, I don't have much exposure to ethnic foods. He really dislikes hot foods, and I guess I have similar taste. So, strike off any hot ethnic foods - that eliminates a lot, right? I really can't think of a favorite.

3. My least favorite chore? I am with Patrice on this one - I really dislike cleaning bathrooms. I also don't particularly care for vacuuming. Especially when I have to drag the vacuum upstairs. Washing windows is high on my 'yucky' list. Tucker leaves nose prints inside and outside. I don't like dusting. Our house gets really dusty - I guess it's because of the wind. I abhor washing down walls. Luckily I don't have to do that too often since we don't have kids and Tucker isn't the sort who gets wet and comes in and shakes. I hate messy kitchen counters and getting the stuck-on bits of food off is a trial. I guess you could say that I dislike ALL household chores!

4. Something that stopped me in my tracks and made me think twice? Hmmm, that's a tough one. I am kinda like a bull in a china shop - charging ahead, sometimes  often oblivious to all that is around me. So, an epiphanic* moment? (*Hey, it IS a word... I checked it out in the dictionary!!) OK...yesterday I took Tucker for a walk on one of the wonderful trails in our town. We walked along Sulfur Gulch, a small waterway that is often dry. There were huge piles of sand along the paved trail. I suddenly realized those piles had been plowed off the trail after our huge rain/hail storm a month ago. There was also the remains of a cottonwood tree that was easily 4 feet in diameter. The bank on which it sat had been carved out by the rushing water. The water in the gulch must have risen from its usual trickle to 8 - 10 feet, at minimum! Wow! That was a lot of power! 

5. I would love to dry my clothes outside - well, some of them. I don't particularly care for towels that scrape the top layer of skin off when you dry with them - and drying outside sometimes does that. Hubby didn't like it when I used to dry his underwear outside for the same reason. It's funny, but not too long ago I mentioned getting a clothes line. Maybe that's what I'll do on the 4th! 

So, time to get going. I have a busy day ahead. I'm volunteering for 4 classes at the therapeutic riding center - it's gonna be hot! 

Click on the image to visit Patrice's blog and to be able to read other's responses.

Happy 4th of July to everyone!

God Bless America!

Hay, Pippin & Doc!

Several of you have asked how Pippin and Doc are doing. In case you weren't 'in' on the beginning of this saga, I made the decision (hard decision) to sell my boys. I took them to a fellow who would 'tune' them up and then sell them for me. He sells horses at the Harley Troyer Auctions each year and is highly respected. (I bought the horses at this same Auction, three years ago.) I figure he would have a much better chance of selling them than I would, since everyone knows him and knows he is good for his word.

Although this is not actually a picture of Pippin and Doc, it could be! This is what Pippin and Doc were doing last week. It was time for the trainer to cut and bale hay, so, my boys were put to work pulling the hay rake. The trainer said they were working well as a team and he has been making use of the extra horsepower around his farm!

It still makes me sad, and tears well up in my eyes, but I do believe that this is what the boys were meant to do. They were meant to work and I was just not able to engage them at the level they needed. They are strong little guys with very busy minds. Their minds and their muscles need work.

If You Give A Girl A Haflinger

If you give a girl a Haflinger,

She's going to ask for a wide-tree saddle.

When you give her the new saddle,

She'll probably ask for a pretty, new, air-cushioned pad.

When she tries the saddle on with the pad,

She'll probably need a new, slightly larger cinch, 

and maybe a flank cinch as well

When she's ready to ride, she'll realize 

her bridle doesn't match the new saddle.

When she gets the new bridle, 

she might notice that her bit has a few rust spots.

When she buys a new bit, 

and sees how beautiful her horse looks in his new tack, 

she'll want to show him off to her friends. 

She'll need a new horse trailer to take her horse on a trail ride.

When she is out on the trail 

she might see a Haflinger pulling a carriage, 

and she might decide she wants to do that. 

When she buys a carriage, it might come with a pole, 

instead of shafts, and chances are 

she'll ask for another Haflinger to go with it.

When you give the girl a second Haflinger,
she'll probably want another saddle!

Modeled after children's book: If You Give a Mouse a Cookie by Laura Numeroff