I'm goin' PRO!!

Today I set up a website through ShutterBug where you can purchase prints from my photos! The address is http://morningcallranch.shutterbugstorefront.com/ Please check it out and let me know what you think. So far I just have team penning photos up, because I know that there are some riders that would like to purchase prints.

Memorial Day

First thing in the morning, Dad went out into the pasture and cut down a dead tree that had several little trees clumped around it. "Why?" you ask. Because now that those little trees had leaves on them, they were blocking our wireless Internet connection. As you can see, Tillie was really concerned about that noisy chainsaw!

Peep-Peep is doing very well with her adopted goslings....

Here is the tent that the boys spent the night in. They wouldn't pose for me, but Daisy would!

After breakfast, Dad & the boys dressed in their uniforms and we all went downtown to participate in the Memorial Day Parade. (I didn't participate, I just took lots and lots of pictures!) We are fortunate enough to live in a town that honors veterans and pays tribute to them....



Now this is the kind of mini-van that I want!!

These miniature horses did great in the parade. Those little girls were so proud that they got to ride behind them!!

After the parade we headed to Portland to bicycle around Back Bay. We met my husband's parents and a cousin at Payson Park, where we unloaded the bikes and then headed off. My new bike went great! I love having all those many, many gears to choose from - very handy on the hills. We rode all the way down to the Old Port and then back around the other side of the bay to the park. The wind blew a gale, which made for hard pedaling, but it was warm and everyone had a great time. We rewarded ourselves for doing all that wonderful exercise by stopping at McDonald's for ice cream! ;-)

Afterwards we drove to Standish, going through South Gorham on the way, so that we could show the boys this neat covered bridge, and the farm where my grandmother grew up...except that I wasn't sure which one it was! It's been a loooong time since I last saw it. Oh well, we discussed it with my father later on in the evening, so now we know which one it is, and next time I'll get photos of it...

The boys came up with this idea for a new family tradition - we visited Great-Grampa's gravesite, where the boys put up the flags that they had brought to honor him with. They miss him very much and they will never forget him, nor the service that he did for our country.

Ace is gone....

Well, they arrived around noon today with their horse trailer. Ace was determined that he was NOT going into that trailer though! He's such a funny boy. He never gets upset, he just gets stubborn. He would stand just as close to the ramp as possible and stop and take a nap. It took us about an hour and a half to get him in and then once he went in he was perfectly calm and quiet. I think he just got hungry enough to go for the hay we had put in there. It was very frustrating, but we all knew that it was going to be a challenge to get him in and that helped us to stay calm. He'll be much better off now because they have the time and knowledge to train him....

The boys are camping on the lawn tonight. Dad helped them get the big, old army tent set up, they've got Daisy snoring away in her crate and a nightlight lantern, so they're all set! Happy as clams!!

I can't believe it's been over a week already....

"Time flies like an arrow. Fruit flies like a banana."
Groucho Marx; US comedian with Marx Brothers (1890 - 1977)

Anyway....I'd say it was because we were having fun, but it's more likely that we were just really busy....

Last Friday morning I drove down to Standish to spend the day with my sister-in-law. We wove baskets to give to the kids' teachers on the last day of school. It was really fun and very productive. I'm finding that I really have to make the time for that sort of thing or it just doesn't happen!

When the boys got off the bus that afternoon, we collected the mail, and discovered that there was a package for the oldest. It was the ants that he had ordered for the Ant Farm he got for his birthday from his aunt, uncle & cousins. He couldn't wait to open them up and put them in their case!! As you can see, the boys were enthralled by the ants...

Late Friday night I got a phone call from the president of the team penning club. She was frantic because the people who were supposed to bring the printer for the show secretary had forgotten it! So, the show secretary was there (albeit hours later than planned) but she couldn't print any of her paperwork! I stayed up 'til the wee hours printing what I could here and then got up at 5 so that I could take the printer over to the arena bright & early.

Saturday I spent the whole day at the OK Corral watching team penning and taking lots and lots and lots of photos! It was a great day and I got some awesome shots!!

I got some more awesome photos the next day too! We took the boys to the Oxford Tuff Truck Challenge and Mud Run. What a great time that was! They were very surprised and loved every minute of it!! Those drivers are C-R-A-Z-Y...

Sunday afternoon my parents came up for a visit. Grammie & I went for a long trail ride on Lily & Tillie. They were both very good girls! Lily insisted on jumping each water obstacle, which was a bit nerve wracking for Grammie, but otherwise Lily was very relaxed. Tillie only spooked once, at a branch that apparently she didn't think should be lying on the side of the road, but Lily kept right on walking past her, which gave Tillie the confidence she needed to continue...

Meanwhile, the boys were fishing in the brook with Dad & Grampa. The bugs were too much for our oldest, so he & Dad headed back to the house. Our youngest was determined to catch a fish, so he stayed with Grampa, and darn if they didn't BOTH catch the prettiest little brook trout!! Our boy was sooooo proud of those fish; and I think Grampa was pretty proud too, both of the fish and of his grandson for sticking it out. Grampa also taught him how to clean the fish, which Dad was kind enough to photograph for me. You don't need to worry about me displaying them here...

This week has mostly been spent sitting here in front of the computer, watiting for all the pictures from last weekend to upload! I've also had a ton of paperwork to do for team penning, as a result of the competition last weekend and the clinic coming up on Saturday. I've tried to get out and ride Tillie in preparation, but I'm afraid she's still going to be way too fresh for the clinic tomorrow. Oh well. What can you do?

On Monday I took the incubator into the second grade classroom. I don't know why, but for some reason I just don't have the good feelings about it that I have in previous years. So, when the teacher called in a panic yesterday afternoon because mysteriously the temperature setting dial had gotten moved and the eggs weren't at the proper temperature, I wasn't surprised. Unfortunately that happened again while I was there picking up the boys this afternoon, but that time she caught the culprit immediately! I'm more than a little bit worried about those chicks....

Wednesday morning I had my doctor's appt to find out the results of the bloodwork that I had done last week. Apparently there isn't anything wrong with my hormones, so she doesn't have a clue why I'm growing hair on my chiny, chin, chin. But, she gave me a prescription for a medication that might help - it's an androgen blocker. Unfortunately, it's also a blood pressure lowering medication and since my blood pressure is already extremely low, she's a bit concerned about me feeling faint and drowsy. Yup, that's what is happening, but hopefully it will regulate itself and hopefully it will work!!

After my doctor's appt, I had an hour or so to kill before my hair appt. I went to Wal-mart to fill my prescription and bought some great plants! They had lots of great, big hibiscus plants, which I feel bad for, because they had them outdoors. Keeping the outdoors at this time of the year is fine, but they shouldn't be selling a tender houseplant as an outdoor plant in Maine. They will so not survive the winter - poor things, they're doomed!! Those of you who know me well, are probably thinking - she needs another hibiscus like she needs a hole in the head! But, they had pink and yellow hibiscus!! I haven't seen those available locally in YEARS!! So those of you who know me well can just shush and know that as soon as I can I'll make babies for you all... ;-)

Thursday evening a friend from gaming & team penning came over to check out Ace. She was very interested in him before she found out that I owned him (she had read my ad in the Uncle Henry's) and extremely interested when she found out he was the one that I had told her about last summer! She's familiar with both his mother & his father, so she loves his pedigree. She also loves his build and disposition. Her roommate is actually the one that will be working with Ace and he was able to saddle Ace and hop up onto his back while we were standing there chatting! I was so proud of Ace - that was the first time anyone had done that. I'm happy that they decided to take him on trial. I know that he will do well for them and I also know that he will be going to a very good home. Her horse, Poco, was Kitchy's best friend last summer, so Ace will be in great company!

I finished up another Prairie Schooler cross stitch project this week...

This morning I finally finished paying for my new bicycle. It's what they call a 'comfort' bike - and it is that! I just can't ride a mountain/street bike - they bend me too far in the middle. This bike will be much better on bumpy trails than my old Schwinn, which is why I've upgraded. After I brought the boys home from school, we packed up the bikes and headed to the Cornwall Nature Preserve on the other side of Paris Hill. We didn't ride for too long, partly because it was more technical (roots, rocks & stumps) than the youngest is ready for, and partly because we were dodging rainstorms. Just as we were leaving it started POURING, so we timed it just about right!

I typed this post on Friday evening, but I had so much trouble getting it uploaded, that it's now Sunday that I'm finishing it!!

Tillie did well at yesterday's clinic. Although the biggest difference between this clinic and the last was the instructor! Last time the instructor looked at me like I was a freak and why couldn't I just control my horse? Because I didn't know how!! Yesterday the instructor let me do lots of slow, easy work with the cows, trying to figure out when she gets upset and then pushing those limits until she was doing quite well for me. He even rode into the herd with me keeping Tillie pushed right up against his horse so that when she considered rearing and spinning around again, there was nowhere for her to go! That helped tremendously! He also told me what to do when she does rear and spin - take hold of one rein and pull it all the way to the back of the saddle - let her try to run with her head all the way to the side!

We also figured out that part of the problem is when we just sit there waiting for someone else to cut a cow, she gets antsy and nervous, so my goal is to keep her feet moving. If I'm giving her direction, she can't think about what sort of trouble she can cause. We still went through quite a rodeo throughout the course of the afternoon - rearing, spinning, charging, etc. Several other riders, whom I think are wonderful horsemen/horsewomen told me that I was so brave to ride her in there knowing what she might do and that they would have long since gotten off her and given her up for unsafe! I don't think of myself as brave, I just try to ride it out and I'm pretty darn stubborn, when you get right down to it. I also have a lot of faith in Tillie and she is such a sweetie that I think she would be horrified if she actually hurt me and that's not her intention. She just gets so scared in there and that's what we need to work on. At the end of the day, while everyone else was packing up their horses, I rode her back and forth through the herd, on a loose rein and she was quiet. That meant so much to me, so I deem it a very successful day!!