For Stephanie and Lisa...

Recently, two of my blogging buddies have suffered great losses; one the loss of a beautiful friend, and one the loss of a kindred spirit.

There are never words to express the emptiness or void that is left behind after losing someone or something that is close to you, and often the best way to communicate your sorrow and sympathy is through a hug, a subtle gesture, a home-cooked meal, or an offer to watch your kidlets for you.
However, because this is blogland, and because I cannot sit down with Stephanie or Lisa and share in their heartache, I will do the next best thing and let them know that I care. Just know that I am terribly sorry for your losses, and that I have been thinking about both of you.

Where Are The Horses?

Some of you may be wondering why I haven't posted much about riding lately. Well the main reason I haven't is because we have been short one horse-for about two weeks. Let me explain.....

As many of you know, Amber had Bo and Waska's shoes pulled about one year ago, and we now use Easyboots. Our farrier-whom we have had for over 12 years-also advocates for barefoot horses when possible, and he has shown Amber how to trim hooves throughout the years.

Amber decided to have the farrier out two weeks ago to make sure she was doing a good job on every one's hooves, and he trimmed all of the callouses off of Waska's soles...about six months worth.

We are not really sure why he trimmed the callouses off of Waska's soles, and Amber even said he commented about how thick they were as he trimmed them off. She wanted to speak up and ask him if he should be "cleaning" up Waska's soles-as he put it-but she didn't.

(Below is a picture with of Waska in his Easyboots from last fall)According to Amber, Waska was immediately sore, but she hoped that he would snap out of it in a few days-she gave him some bute and turned him out with Bo and Sienna. Now to give you a little history on Waksa's hooves, he had foundered at his previous home, and had only been able to wear shoes with pads. At least for riding, but he has never had trouble being barefoot out in his paddock.

To make a long story short, Waska got dramatically worse, even after Amber put his boots on 24/7, and after almost two weeks of soreness, it was discovered that he had an abscess.

Thankfully he is now on the mend, and our farrier is most humbled. He says that he will never trim or "clean up" Waska's soles again, and now sees that Waska has to have those callouses.

Bo??? He's fine, but he has super tough hooves, and doesn't even need hind boots...even with our rough terrain. Now if I rode him more than twice per week out there he would, but that will most likely not happen with my current schedule.

Well we are getting ready to take off camping again, and I promise to take lots of pictures. See you when we get back!

What We Have Been Up Too....

We are back! I know I didn't warn you guys ahead of time that we were leaving-we were way too busy!-but we took off on the 5th to go camping with our friends. We got home yesterday, and plan to head back over on Friday to stay for the weekend.

Anywho, before I go on and on about round one of camping, I wanted to say that I hope everyone had a happy and safe 4th of July. We always have a big celebration on the 4th, because it is my father-in-law's birthday, and the day was filled with lots of family, food, and fireworks.

On Sunday, we woke up early and headed over to an area in Eastern WA known as Little Naches. It is an area that we used to camp at all the time when we had our travel trailer, but we have not gone over there at all over the last couple of years.

Our friends go over there with their large extended family-and friends-and they bring their jeeps, because this area has lots of jeeping/ATV trails that run though and surround it. Have any of you ever been jeeping??? Well prior to Monday, I had never been, but now that I have, I want one!!!! LOL!!!

Jeeping is kind of like horseback riding, in that you get to go up in the hills on beautiful trails, except you don't feel guilty about riding a poor horse for miles on tough terrain. (Yes, the trails around here can be that brutal!)
The other nice thing about jeeping is that it is relatively quiet-I am comparing it to motorbikes and quads-and you are surrounded by your friends and family. All of whom you can converse with while out there.

We headed up to an area that has over a 6000 foot elevation-an area called Moon Rocks, and an area called Funny Rocks-and spring was just beginning. Their were large meadows filled with wild flowers and the scenery was absolutely breathtaking.

To give you an idea of just how steep some of the hillsides we drove up were, look at the angle of the treeline in the above picture. Nice, huh??? Kind of like being on a ride at the county fair.....
Above is a picture of some of the jeeps climbing up Funny Rocks, and below is another shot from the top of Funny Rocks looking down at another jeep maneuvering the rocks.
Below are Eric and his pals taking a break from climbing the rocks. Little hoodlums......

After messing around on Funny Rocks, we loaded up and headed up even higher to Moon Rocks. The view was absolutely amazing from up there, and you could see Ellensburg, Yakima, and the surrounding areas with no problem.
While up there, we had lunch, and the kidlets all ran around and looked for dropped elk antlers, as their sign were all over the meadows and forests up there.

Katie couldn't help herself and she picked some the the lovely flowers before I could stop her-you are not supposed to pick them-oops!!!She also struck a pose for me in front of an old tree....
Did I mention it was cold up there? The sun was warm, but the wind almost took your breath away. (Only up jeeping, not down at camp...) We had a great time and did not want to come back home, but Kevin had to be back at work today. Eric is still over there with his pals, and I can't wait to head back over and play in the water, as the camp is right next to the Naches River.

I wanted to get more picks from the trip, but my batteries died, and I forgot to bring other ones. I promise to bring lots of them this weekend though, so stay tuned!

Honestly, Honest, I Swear....

About one week ago, Oregonsunshine tagged me for the Honest Scrap Award, and even though I have played I along before, I decided to oblige and do it one more time; although I am not sure what I haven't disclosed about myself yet. Thank you Oregonsunshine!!!! It's always nice to be thought of.

The rules of this award ask that I disclose 10 honest things about myself, that I nominate/tag seven other people to play, that I notify them of their award, and that I pass the rules on to them.

(I decided to use pictures from a recent hike that the kidlets and I went on, and to use pictures from a recent ride as well) 1) I am the most comfortable when I am out in nature. It doesn't matter where I am-the woods, the desert, the prairie-the earth is so alive, and it rejuvenates me mentally and spiritually. Whether I am on foot or on horseback, there is nothing like it...2) I love poetry, and one of my favorite poems is called Stopping by the Woods on a Snowy Evening, by Robert Frost. One of my favorite lines from this poem is "...the woods are lovely, dark and deep..." So true!3) I detest living in town, and honestly think that I would be happy living out in the middle of nowhere. Oh sure, I would still want to go to town and do "town" stuff, but I am happy to just be by myself, doing what I love: reading, riding, hiking etc... Maybe one day, when my kidlets are all grown up, I will get my wish.
4) I have always wanted to be a midwife. I have helped welcome a lot of foals, calves, kids-as in the goat kind!-lambs, puppies and kittens into this world, and I also worked with an OB/GYN for some time. There is nothing like getting to know your patient over nine months, and then being there to help them welcome their little miracle into this world.
5) After Shadest-my horse of 16 years died-I bought a yearling 7/8's Arab gelding named MJD Camino de Oro. He was sort of a rebound horse for me, as I had always had one and suddenly found myself horseless. Below is a picture of Amber on him, and you can see how big he was as a three year old. When Amber finally sold him-I was too busy to do much with him so he became Amber's horse-he was 16.1 hands high. Oregonsunshine: doesn't he look like your VTA???6) I don't like country music.I do like bluegrass-that is more folky-but country music has never grown on me. Unfortunately, my hubby and kidlets like it, so I grit my teeth and bear it when I am in the car with them...lol!!! There are a few artists and songs that I do like, but it is just not my style. To each his own, eh? :)7) I am a bona-fide chocoholic. Yes, it is my one weakness...my one downfall-well I am sure that I have more than one downfall, but you know what I mean!!!8) Okay, this is getting really difficult...lol!!! Uhmmmmm....lets see...How about....I am allergic to bees? I have to carry an epi-pen everywhere with me, and it really sucks. I have done it for so long now though, that it has just become a third appendage.

One of my biggest fears is to get into a nest of them while out riding. That would not be good, although that has happened before and I made it out unscathed. Maybe that's because I kicked my horse into a gallop and left everyone else behind??? LOL!!!9) I am going to be 35 in November, and I have decided that I really like being in my mid-thirties. I never thought I would say that, but it is a good age to be. I have lots of life behind me, and I have lots of life ahead of me-hopefully, right????. :)

10)Yea!!!! I am done, right??? I know I am cheating, but this is my blog and I can make up my own rules...lol!!! (sticks tongue out)

Anyway, I hope that I haven't bored you all to tears. If anyone wants to play along, please feel free...

For the Ladies......

Well we did it.
We all spent another year at the log show in support of Brad-Amber's husband-and we were not disappointed.
(Again, for those of you who need a refresher about our town's annual log show, please refer to the links on this post)


(Above is Timber the Clown making his grand entrance)


Saturday was really warm, with the temperatures rising into the 80's, which may not sound that bad, but they were running in the 50's the week before, so that was quite the increase. (Was that just a run-on sentence??? LOL!!!)
(Above are two competitors in the log rolling competition)


Sunday was somewhat kinder, in that the weather alternated between cloudy and sunny, with temps finally reaching the upper 70's. Needless to say, even though I slathered sunscreen on myself, I got a doozy of a sunburn on Saturday; however by Sunday morning, it had turned into a nice tan.

(Above is Brad and another competitor taking off in a choker setting race)


Unfortunately, the top of my head burnt on both days, and I now have blisters on the top of my head. It hurts really bad, and I am so mad at myself for letting that happen. Thankfully, just me and Kevin burnt, as I religiously applied sunscreen to the kidlets, who don't even look like they were in the sun. Go figure!
(Above is a competitor either ascending or descending the 75 foot pole)

Now...this is a family blog, so I will watch my self, but let me be the first to say that even though I think a lot of the guys around here-and I am not just talking about the loggers-are hicks, these guys looked damn fine all dressed up in their logging duds, and you would have to be 1/2 dead to not be affected by the smell of bar oil, sawdust, sweat, and men. (Wasn't it you, Chelsi, that wrote about that in one of your older posts?)(Above are some competitors-including my brother-in-law Brad-warming up for the hot saw competition)

Yes, I could sit there all day and daydream about one of those guys sweeping me off of my feet and.....ahem....I will leave the rest to your imagination...lol!!!! (Sorry Kevin!!) (Above is a close-up of one of the crowd favorite's arms)

Now just so you all know, the pictures just do not do these guys any justice. You would have to be there to see what I am talking about, and Chelsi, I was thinking about you and what a good time you would have had the whole time. :0(Above is a group of guys getting ready to compete with their unlimited hot saw. These saws are powered by various high powered engines, such as V-8 car engines, motorcycle engines, truck engines...you get the idea!)

You know what they say about the size of a man's chainsaw, don't you???? LOL!!!! (Did I really just say that??????)
And last but not least, I took a couple of videos for all of you to watch, and I apologize that they are sideways. They are not that way on my computer, but for some reason, when I loaded them onto Blogger, they flipped over. Does that always happen with video???

Below is a video of Brad competing in the horizontal block chop-which he won by the way....

Next we have two competitors competing in a tree topping competition, where they climb a 75 foot tree, set up, saw the top off, and then come back down. These guys did not go as fast as they did in the earlier race, because this was the second time they had been up, and it was about 2:00-thus very hot!-at this point.

Lastly we have the guys coming down. Don't they look cool??? I was able to put on Brad's climbing gear and climb about 25 feet up a tree, and it is NOT easy. Your thighs feel like they are on fire. Good job guys!!.

Again....sorry for the videos uploaded so lopsided!

You Knew This Was Coming, Right?

Wow!

This is like my second or third post in as many days. Kind of weird, eh? I chose the title of this post because you all had to know that the obligatory kid-and-pony-summer-pics-and-posts were coming, didn't you?

Remember last summer, when all I did was let my kidlets ride, while I did all of the actual work? Well it has started again, but don't worry, I am really not complaining-it just sounds like I am. :)
The panonies were quite happy to see all of us pull into Amber's driveway yesterday, and we were all greeted with loud whinnies and nickers from all of them.

You don't suppose that is because they know that we will halter them and let them graze while we groom them, do you?? Nah!! We'll just pretend it was because they were genuinely happy to see us-which I really think that they were. Who knows?I opted not to ride, and so we left Waska at home, and he was not happy about it. Poor guy, he really wanted to come too. I figured it would be easier for me to be on the ground, as it was the kidlets first trail ride in a few months. That way, if anything happened, I would be right there.

Oh look. It's a moose...I mean Bo...lol!!! (above) Poor Bo Bo. He definitely was not blessed with a typey head, was he? Oh well, I still loves hims. He sure does have a nice chest though, and straight, correct legs.And then there is Miss Katie, who had to get off to go potty. Why do little girls always have to go potty out on the trail???
See the small creek in the next couple of pics? Well it is an off-shoot of the main creek that is left over from last winters floods. You can't really see it,but there is a small waterfall that is out there now too, and guess what?

This small offshoot runs right through where our trail used to be. The flooding completely obliterated our riding area down there, but oh well...we will just have to make new trails, right?

Well I hope that you are all having good weeks so far. We are going to pull our friends jeep trailer over Chinook Pass this evening-while they pull their camping trailer-and then come home on another pass called Pyramid Pass. There is usually lots of wildlife on Pyramid, and I am hoping that I can get some good shots before it gets too dark.

Then we have the "big boys" loggers rodeo this weekend, and I promise to try and get some nice shots for all of you. :)

Toodles!

What's In Your Food?

Do any of you ever think about the food that you put in your mouths? I mean really think about it? I guess I always thought that I did, but as I was curiously watching a cooking show that my hubby was watching on the Food Network-while pretending to read a book-I noticed that the chef/cook was using butter to grease her casserole dish with instead of an olive oil cooking spray-as I have been instructed to do. That got me thinking about all of the new fangled, modified, and genetically/molecularly altered foods that are out there on the market; our populations massive consumption of them because they are "healthier;" and the rise in certain diseases such as cancer and MS. Now I know that I may sound like a wacko here, but bear with me.....

Because I had borderline gestational diabetes, because Type II diabetes runs in my family, and because I already tend to show resistance to insulin, I have always been instructed to avoid real sugar as much as possible, and to substitute real sugar for things such as Splenda or Nutra-Sweet.

Have you ever read about how either of those sugar substitutes are made, and the "potential" side-effects?? I have, but I always assumed that the benefits outweigh the risks.

What about butter? I am rather old fashioned in that area, and still use butter, but have you looked at the ingredients in margarine or other butter substitutes?

I guess what I am trying to say is did people 30-60 years ago die of different things than people tend to die of today? Where there more cases of clogged arteries, heart attacks, and high blood pressure from butter and sugar than there are today? Have sugar substitutes stopped diabetes from occurring???

No...now we ingest all sorts of non-natural chemicals and substances, and we really have no idea what they are really doing to our bodies.

Take this can of olive oil cooking spray that we are now told to use on everything. I happen to have one right here, and the ingredients seem pretty benign: %100 extra virgin olive oil, soy lechitin, water, and propellant.

Propellant??? What type of chemicals are used to propel this spray from the can to my waiting pan? Who knows?

So, here is what I have decided to do. I am going to use real sugar-in moderation. I am also going to keep using real butter-in moderation-and I will stop using cooking sprays to grease my pans. I can use a small amount of butter, because I actually know what is in it, right?Will making these small changes prevent me from getting one of the above mentioned diseases? Probably not, but I at least have some idea about what I am putting into my mouth.
I am also vowing to eat more fresh fruits and vegetables, and to try and steer away from more processed foods.

So who wants to join me for a yummy bag of Doritos??? I kid...I kid...lol!!!!!

Anywho...do any of you have any insight on this subject?