Tuesday Mail Walk

Here is my uphill grey gravel driveway to my mailbox. And when I see the red muddy

dirt I know I am on the road to my mailbox. The fog makes it all spooky with only the sounds of the owls hooting in the trees. The only tire tracks are the mailman's.

Yesterday and today

Yesterday in the Ozarks was sunny, windy, warm and wonderful. Today it is foggy, cool and drizzly. The trees are budding and soon the rains will help the trees to leaf out.

My First Saddle

I have been dreaming of getting a horse someday. Now we live in the Ozarks and have the land for a horse. My dream is slowly becoming realized at 40 of becoming a horse owner.

This past weekend at an auction I won an Aussie saddle. It is big and black and very comfortable. My husband and I can both use this saddle. We also won a saddle rack to keep the saddle clean and off the floor. Very exciting!

March Horse Auction

This past Friday at 6pm my husband and I went to our first ever horse auction. We signed up to bid in case there was a really good deal. We walked the holding pens to see donkeys, drafts, mules, minis and horses. Many were thin and needed to see a farrier. But there were some very nice healthy horses with owners willing to tell/show you their horse before the sale.

One I wanted a 13 year old white Arabian mare. The owner had too many horses and she had to go for any price. The mare was shod but was reluctant to lift her feet in any way.

The auction then started with all kinds of new and used tack for bidding. We looked over all the saddles and found an Aussie style one in good shape and size. We then met some horse people willing to explain the workings of the auction to us. People are so friendly here in MO.

After all the tack was sold they started to ride out each equine for bid. It was now 10pm at night, cold and the place was packed with people. Most of the healthy horses did not sell for their reserve asking price. Then some green broke horses sold fast in the $200 range. Then a lot of donkeys were sold. Some of the donkeys had foals with them and were sold as a pair.

We were looking for draft horses but the two we saw were in poor shape and did not sell. Finally at 1am on Sunday we called it a night and headed home. We did end up winning that Aussie saddle, some feed buckets and a halter. Mostly, we learned what to look for in future horse sales.

This Whole Bread

I finally got a some time to grind my own wheat and make sunflower seed whole wheat bread. It came out plump, hearty and super flavor. I am looking forward to date nut bread next. Making my own bread from scratch at the end of the day is very satisfying.

Poppy Life

One thing about Missouri cats they are tough. Poppy is our first MO born and raised cat found in the parking lot. Poppy in an indoor/outdoor fixed male cat. He follows us out into the woods even when we are chopping wood. He jumps into the car or trailer to see what we have brought home. Poppy also knows how to rest. At the end of the day he jumps into a box of fabric to sleep until the next day's adventures begin. He is so relaxed we call him Floppy Poppy.

Chopping Wood

We bought a 16 inch Stihl chainsaw, protective gear and got chainsaw lessons. We walked into our woods to cut up some fallen trees for firewood. The chainsaw worked great with no problems and we cut several logs. Then reality dawned on us, how do we get the 30+ pound logs out of the woods? We put two logs on a garden cart and the rollovers began. Finally, after 30 minutes we were able to walk 3 logs out of the woods. No one told us how to get logs out of the forest. We don't have an ATV, mule or golf cart. We realized later we would have to cut the logs with an axe on site and pull the split wood out. We did get those 3 logs up to the garage to split into kindling. It was a lot of hard work and we got our workout that day. And now we have firewood for our home.

Happy Winter Farm

I got the chance to visit a small farmer in Mountain View, MO. He raises goats for milk and meat. He also has chickens, turkey and ducks for their eggs. He gave me a tour of the goats and poultry tucked in for the night. I never knew you could bed down turkey, ducks, geese and chickens together. They were so happy, healthy and warm in the barn. And the goats were fat and munching on dry clover. These were very happy farm animals. I even got to pick up a baby goat, aka, kid. So warm and fat in the middle, very soft fur. Momma goat was not too happy I picked up her kid, however. Momma goats are very alert to their kids activities; more so than some human mothers.

Summersville Quilting

This week I taught a "beginners" quilt class for all levels at our local Summersville Community Center. We are making a simple two border nine patch to donate to the Quilts for Kids project. This organization has the free patterns on-line. Some of the students brought quilts they created in the past such as the handkerchief butterfly quilt. There is a lot of talent out here in the Ozarks. And we will be making larger quilts for our first ever fall quilt show this year.

Squirrel-cicle

This morning I got up to feed my skunk scented dogs and saw a shape on the grassy hill. It was a DOA frozen female squirrel. It was mortally wounded on the neck and died trying to get away from some predator. It was frozen solid on the ground. My dogs did not want to play with the squirrel-cicle; so I placed it back into the woods for more hungrier predators. The nights are a busy time for the creatures of the woods. Ah, frozen nature in the the Ozarks.

Bunny Foo Foo

Here is a photo of Rose our bunny in harness and leash. She is taking a walk in the forest enjoying the twigs and leaves. Rose is a Rex bunny also known as a velvet bunny. We keep her in a harness so she does not attack the other animals in the forest.

Rose is cute but she's a lethal woodland creature.

Nothings as loving as a skunk fresh out the oven...

Yes, we have been Skunked out here in the Ozarks. It was only a matter of time with two dogs, woods and wildlife. I left the dogs free after dinner and they went after what they thought was our barn cat, Annie who is black and white. There was a yip and I ran after the dogs with a flashlight and spotted three pair of eyes running right at me. Hickory, Osa and a huge black and white skunk. I had no idea skunks could run so fast.

The dogs and the skunk ran around the house and I ran inside. The skunk ran around the house spraying both dogs, the fireplace and the entire outside of our house. It was a lethal attack. Were were all stunned as the stink enveloped us. Both dogs were whining outside and frozen with a new fear of skunks. The smell came inside the house via the chimney and we experienced the awful skunk scent. The skunk went back into the woods happy as ever. My dogs are not happy tonight. We hope they learned a lesson to leave the skunks alone.

I don't like skunks very much after all this.

Training your bunny

We own two bunny rabbits that are our indoor pets. Sometimes it is a good idea to take them outside for exercise. Here you can see my husband taking Rose for a run through the property. Clearly Rose is in charge and taking A. for a fast jog. This is why having a harness is a good idea. No husbands were harmed in this photo shoot.