Sunday's Lesson

It has been a very weird and sad weekend here.


My elderly neighbor, who is the sweetest human being on this planet, came and told us to watch our dog. Apparently, someone killed and skinned a big, beautiful dog and left the skin on his front porch! He is just devistated, and wondering why someone would do this. It wasn't his dog, and he did call the police.

Friday night, a helicopter was hovering for hours over the woods/creek across the street. We knew there was something very wrong going on. Then yesterday morning, the State Patrol Water Rescue and about half-dozen other police vehicles were coming out of the open gate leading down there. I asked one of the divers if someone fell in, and he said, yeah. I asked if they were okay, and he just said welllll. I said Ah, never mind. And he said he couldn't give any info. I told him no worries, I understood, I wasn't meaning to pry.

Found out later on the news that it was an 81 year old fisherman went missing, his wife called Friday afternoon and they looked for him all night. He didn't make it. It's very very sad. We are trying to figure out why he would do that. There aren't any fish in the creek right now, that I know of. He must have been just needing to get out of the house, or something. It's very sad!!


So... That's been my weekend thus far! The lesson I've learned?? Life is a rare and precious gift. Enjoy every moment of it!

Hugs,
Colleen

Colleen's Critters

So my friend, Lee, hurt her back again on someone else's horse, so I've been taking over barn duties and awol. The poor thing can't even move to answer her phone half the time.

My Passion was so upset about being moved from the barn out to pasture for a few days, that she quit eating and drinking. One of the other mares got between the hot fence and the barbed wire, very early this morning, so Lee had to haul her sore hiny out there to disentangle her. She called me a little later this morning and asked me to bring Passion back to the barn bacause she was on the verge of colic (to which the other mare threw a fit at being left). So, after bringing her back, Passion instantly ate, drank and nuzzled. She was content again. I've read where horses will do this because the water smells different. If you take one to a show and don't haul your own water, they will often quit drinking and become dehydrated. So, a nifty trick is to use koolaid to scent the water. BUT this time, it was the color of the bins. These horses won't drink from a pink or yellow container, or whatever other one they decide is yucky. Eat yes, but drink no.

Then there's Curly, my little Hudini Pony, has been up to her tricks. She came running home a couple of nights ago and ...

Oops! Barn Call! LOL (Had to put the fence back up after Lee managed to get into the truck to get hay. The horses need very spacific hay and feed, or they simply won't eat it. These are all male, so I think you get the idea how pickiness runs in the male species. lol)

... tried to get cozy with the Stallion. Uhh, no can do! So, Lee finally was able to get a little pony proof pen for her! lol One of the neighbors is leasing their alpaca pen to us. hehe It's perfect for her and she is actually quite content in there with Maylee, a small red horse. SO... I'm tired...

Yesterday, I did manage to make bread, which came out nicely!

Jeez, it took me over an hour to write this!! lol

I'm going to attempt to do a little writing before starting dinner now. What a day, and it's not over with yet!

Passion for Fashion and Fashion for Passion

So... Yesterday I was going a little stir crazy and needed to burn off some stress energy. I don't live in an area where I can just hop in the car and go to the mall, and quite frankly, that's not my cup of tea anyway. I did the next best thing and went out to the barn. :) It was in the low 40's and the rain was bucketing down, echoing off the tin roof. After bundling myself up, and stuffing my pockets with apples, I escaped to my sanctuary. Of course Lad, the stallion, gets first dibs. He likes his apple held so he can bite it in half. He chews over your hands so that anything that falls out, can be eaten again. He also likes to lick the juice off my hands, he's not spoiled at all! He is so gentle it's hard to believe he has those hormones that drive the male spiecies. After that, everone gets one and all is well. Usually I stay long enough to spend a little time with everyone and today I decided that I would brush them before we put their blankets on for the night. Of course this is Miss Passion's favorite thing. She absolutely loves to be groomed and fussed over, so I took my time with her, brushing her tail and mane too. One of her many funny quirks is one she has aquired from her daddy, Lad! She will point to where she wants you to scratch, oh boy, she kept me busy! Her favorite place to be scratched is her hind end and if you don't know that, she will greet you, sniff you, maybe even kiss you before it appears she is moving away, only to back up and knock into you, because she wants her hiny scratched. hehe :) She did it to a cop once, but we won't get into that story today. lol Needless to say, he had a good sense of humor about it and obliged her. lol :) Even after the geldings were stealing his pens and glasses and such. lol...


Here is Miss Passion butting into Tanner's photo op. She looooooves costumes, fabrics with different textures and shiny things. Mr. Tanner was not impressed by her rude interuption as you can see here. He is our Schoolmaster and is an amazing horse with an impressive resume as a retired roundup horse.


















Passion followed my daughter everywhere, touching her dress and the beads in her headband.




















When she finally figured out that it would come off, she took it! So my daughter put it on her ear and she nearly wouldn't let us have it back. She is 15.3 hands at the shoulder, so her head is way the heck up there when she stands tall! :)



















Anyway, this is my form of stress relief. It's an amazing thing and they really get it when you are feeling like garbage. Many times I spend time with them when I'm plotting a scene. Daykan was my lead man in Eden at Twilight and Lad starred in one I wrote this spring. I have one planned that Scooter will be my lead in. They all have such distinct personalities that it's a lot of fun to create stories featuring them. :)

I hope your Sunday is restful and your week successful.

Colleen

I'm still here!!

What a whirlwind this year is starting out to be. I've been a touch distracted from writing and my whole imaginary world! Reality had to make me check in and pay attention. I'm sure you have all heard of the Pacific Northwest flooding going on. Well, I am right in the middle of that mess!
This photo is a barn that is fairly close to my house! I pass it when we visit my brother and I think it is a bit disturbing. They were at 41 feet above flood stage, I believe. Kinda scary!
Lucky for us, we live on a hill, but the Stillaguamish and little creeks surround that hill at the bottom, so we just stayed home for those couple of days. Went out on Friday, late afternoon and though there was still LOTS of standing water, the roads were clear.
If you are interested in seeing any other footage of the flooding that was very wide spread, here is a great link to our Seattle news stations!

www.king5.com

In other life events...
My Father In Law had to have an emergent double bypass this last Wednesday. They caught it just in time and he didn't have a heart attack. He is getting back to his feisty, cantankerous self. Of course this is why I love him to death too! lol So, sometime this next week, he will get to come home! :) Yea!!

Well, I am going to get busy on some writing today. I am looking forward to the escape, immensely!!

Have a great Sunday!!

C~