Doesn't Everyone?

Texans aren't happy with lawn jockeys, yard gnomes or flamingos.

Real Life Intervenes

As you know, we here in Texas have been praying for rain to help assuage 2+ years of drought conditions. Our lake (Lake Ray Roberts) is almost 4.5 ft. low. We were very excited when Mother Nature complied last week to the tune of 4" of rain. Our land drains well, so we accepted every drop without qualms.

Only downside is that parts of Heather's place, including the arena, tend to hold water for a good while, so no riding this weekend. I did, however, spend about an hour with the Boyz today. It was a de-mudding and carrot eating session, but I'll take what I can get.

The rain meant that the greater part of the weekend could be devoted to Mr. Fry's and my rather ambitious project: ripping the carpet out of all 4 bedrooms and replacing it with drop-and-lock laminate flooring. Words cannot describe how disgusting that 12-year old carpet is. Animals in the house — 'nuff said. We are taking our time, using the opportunity to paint the rooms when there's no need to mask or use drop cloths. And we're doing it "nice and friendly," as we say around here, so we don't cripple ourselves.

Once we got all our questions answered and it all made sense to us, we found it's really not so bad. Heck, I'm even out there using the big power saw. I still have all my fingers, too.

We started with our son's old bedroom. We are very pleased with the results.

I am also using this opportunity to clean out closets and get rid of excess accumulated stuff. I've been wanting to do this for years. That much trash makes Mr. Fry twitchy, for some reason. I am much less sentimental about keeping stuff than he is.

What are y'all up to?

Blown Away

After a damp, foggy, gray beginning, the day turned out to be warm and gorgeous. It was sunny, not a cloud in the sky, and a high temp of 73°F. And then the wind picked up. No, I mean really picked up. There were gusts up to about 45 mph. It wasn't cold, but I feel like I got free micro-dermabrasion.

There were six of us riding today. You may remember that Chris, Rachel's husband, had a bad fall about a month ago and he's still feeling the effects of that, so he and Heather sat it out while the rest of us headed out into the big pasture.

 Dr. Erin grooming the Percheron mare Midnight

 Keeley (grey) and her daughter Ishka

 From left: McKenna grooming Poko

(camped out because I just stretched his hips),

Ash, and Jazu

 You can come next year, Rico.

If you look a-wayyy out in front of us, 

you can see Nita in the red shirt on Keeley

and Sarah on Ishka.

After we were done riding and I had treated Jaz's sarcoid (Xxterra) and hand grazed him, this happened. I had Daltrey tied to the chute, about to pick his feet, when a big gust of wind picked up a blanket draped over the other side at the same time a wall of sand blew over us and a mean trash can threatened to eat him. I saw the panic attack coming a split second before it happened and was able to jump out of the way as he pulled back, bringing the chute with him for about a foot or so, and tipping my loaded tack cart. I'm glad the halter did what it was supposed to do, and no one was hurt. A few cookies and I was able to lead him back over to where we were and convince him nothing would eat him.

Another excellent day with my barn buddies and our noble steeds. I hope your pony time this weekend was as enjoyable.