nuthin ta say ...

 Can't say it's been a great winter. In fact it's been a very sad winter. My mom decided after 4 months of battling illness that she would shuffle off this mortal coil.  And I've had nuthin to say.

Maybe today I do.  A little rant 'bout cold morning coffee, being cold in general and tight barn clothes.  Winter morning routine … lay in bed; read a book, scratch a cat; roll outta bed; find sweater; make coffee; turn on news; fire up facebook.  New spring routine … get dressed, completely ! Find many sweaters;  make coffee to go for two; try to open the door with two coffees in hand.

River, new horse at the barn, having his breakfast

Its cold out !  And windy! What happened to Spring?  I realize last year was too warm, too fast but it was nice … Fields dried up nicely, played in the garden, lovely.  Every morning its minus 6, bah! I think I will have extra maple syrup on my pancakes because thats the only good thing about it.

So every morning I get out there, reluctantly… but once I'm there I'm happy.  All the horses nicker good morning to me (more like "there you are, 'bout time!" lol) Vern and I have a routine that gets horses fed, cats fed, (surprisingly Vern does that) all blankets on, most days anyway. There have only been a few nice days that the horses have been naked.  It takes an hour but it's an hour that charges me up.

Lily and Vern enjoying the one nice day we had

Heather returns soon.  My mornings will be my own again.  I will luxuriate in sleeping in and reading facebook with my coffee in my pyjamas again :) big smile.  Soon Vern and Heather will be off to work and the alarm will go at 5:30 …BUT hopefully it will be warm! 

As sick as Mom was and as little as she remembered, she always remembered Willy and his antics.  She liked horses very much and told me stories of her mother's horse who was a retired circus horse.  If Norma (my grandmother) was unfortunate to be uptown when a parade went by, her horse joined the parade no matter what. Hilarious!
Memorial for Pat Taylor in Gravenhurst on April 13, 2013

Sounds of the season

First thing in the morning, which is second thing for the horses because Heather has already been there hours before and fed them breakfast, okay ... when I walk in, first thing I hear is quiet nickering.  Some of my four legged friends are saying "hello" or "its about time!"

The next thing I hear is all the stomach rumination of everybody's horse with my head pressed against bellies as I fish around for straps on blankets.  I can hear all sorts of gurgling and grumbling.  Is that normal?  What's going on in there? Does your mom know 'bout this?

Overhead a small army charges by. The sound of sixteen little paws trooping out of their hidey hole, running downstairs from the hay loft, looking for breakfast.  They are very loud, considering how small they are.

Then there is a terrific banging.  Ben or Lily, one of them is getting impatient and is kicking the stall door. "BEN" I bellow.  Champagne rattles her door.

Slurp,  slurp,  Jon is sucking his lips, I think.  I don't exactly know what he is doing but it's annoying.  I bellow at him too.

 Zoom, slide,  bang, stall doors open.  Clump clump, geldings go out.  Tingle tingle, chain on the gate as I open it up to the paddock. Clippity clippy, mares go out.

I watch for a while.  Their morning "hi, how are ya"  to each other is often amusing.  On this day the snow was falling quite heavily.  There was a silence that you could feel in the heaviness of the snow.  A dampening of all noise.

Gotta get moving, there's work to do.

I start mucking stalls. I rarely, I mean never, do all the stalls. I figure I am there to help and anything I do is a help.  There is a slow plop plop sound.  I say slow because it's the sound of poo balls slowly rolling out of a wheel barrow that is too full and back on to the ground.  Too full because I don't want to wheel my barrow out to the manure pile when I have just a bit left to go, plop plop, arrrrrggg









In the evening, when the horses are all back in, there is a slurp slurp, ten times over as all the horses eat their supper.  It is very loud and earnest, like it has been days since their last meal not hours.

Standing in the barn at the end of the day, the last thing to hear is a quiet grind grind grind as the horses eat their hay.  Its a lovely peaceful sound.

"The moon on the breast

of the new fallen snow, gave lustre of midday to objects below."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qUzIF4eYRkg

                                                                                                                    Linda Frank Photography

Last night was just so.  As I turned out my light to curl up for the night, I saw the moon light on the freshly fallen snow, the shadows of the trees stretching across the pristine lawn.

Earlier last night Vern and I went visiting with our Christmas parcels and a bottle of wine.  First stop was at the farm, at Heather's house to see some young friends.  I chuckled as we drove in the driveway.   The three inches of snow we had was enough for Heather and Sarah Onelite to fire up their snowmobiles and drive around the fields and the driveway and the lawn.  I smiled with a feeling of nostalgia.  Lawns are supposed to look like that in the winter, all covered in snowmobile tracks. I didn't realize I missed that.  My own lawn now is a beautiful virgin white blanket since Vern's sled is also at the farm.  Stepping out of the truck and into the tracks in the snow, I thought "Ha Ha winter is here." 

Moon lit nights in the woods are magical. We didn't get out there often enough.  Generally a bright moon in the winter means it's verrrrry cold. The fields are brilliant and the woods, mysterious, magical, a bit ominous, at the same time serene.   But very very cold.  

My favourite story to read to the girls was "Owl Moon" Here's a link to hear the author reading http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KlllfX5PprU  We were never that quiet as we bumbled down the snowmobile trail out into the meadow, the dog gallumping ahead of us. We have owls here too and we often hear them calling at night "who cooks for you, who cooks for you"

Christmas this year is full of changes.  Jennifer is off at sea, working on a cruise ship.  She will have Christmas is some exotic port in the Caribbean, complete with all the Disney magic.  My mom is in the hospital and my dad is going for chemotherapy on Boxing Day.  This is the year to start new traditions.  Our Christmas breakfast will be at the farm, with Vern cooking the Cheese bread, instead of Grandpa.  Our big Morrison Christmas feast remains the same, Uncles, Aunts, cousins, Grandma Vena, turkey, presents, slightly inebriated sister in laws (me included) ... can't wait!

Merry Christmas from my house

Last Day ... as turn out person

Wow, finally snowing... big fat flakes.  Vern threw all the horses a flake of hay and filled the water buckets so while they are chillin in their stalls, I am relaxing with my second cup of coffee. Ah, love it, tomorrow the same and next day and the next day...

Back to reality, I not really relaxing. I am wrapping, baking, and writing out Christmas Cards, still, so if yours is a little late, well, its a Happy New Year card.  I heard from so many people that they are just not as organized as they'd like to be this year.  Is it the weather?  It has been grey for so long, when the sun does come out we will all be snow blind!

Coffee done, off to the barn I go.  Blankets on everybody!  Going to start stalls. I organized my day for barn work and to finish the baking.  Housework will have to wait and wait and wait.

seams kinda pointless to be filling it while he's emptying it

Morning Smile :  All the mares, so happy, all rolling in the snow at the same time

Morning Surprise:  Finding my husband hiding out in the garage while I put blankets on the all 10 horses and put them out!







Home again Home again, my jiggy jig ran out after mucking six stalls.  I went straight down stairs, stripped in front of the washing machine and washed all my barn clothes.  I Am Done !

Morning routine

Whoa !  Not a good day!  I must be suffering from a hormonal imbalance.  I chewed out poor Vern because he wanted two grilled cheese sandwiches this morning!  Good thing he has a sweet temperament.

Morning smile:  Jon rolling in the manure pile

In the barn with Barley, putting on his coat, he is sooo warm. We just stand there cheek to cheek.  Every morning, a warm cuddle from Barley.

On to Penny.  Every morning she looks surprised about the blanket but she likes attention.  She puts her head down for a scratch between the ears. This morning she leans right into me. I have to scooch her over before I fall over.

I open the big doors and each of the geldings stall doors and they file out, single file. They wander through the sand ring and into their field.  Kingsley needs help to keep moving. Finally he gets out of the gate but I have to push on his ass to get him to clear the gate to get it shut.

Back to the mares, just slide open the doors and get out of the way!  Sierra, Champagne and Lily charge out, heads up, tails up.  Penny looks surprised again.  I get her leadline, put it around her neck, just like yesterday, and the day before and the day before that and lead her out so she doesn't wander through the whole barn and lose her brains.  I've discovered that about thoroughbreds, if things aren't exactly right they get so agitated that they can't think straight.

Frankie

Next on my list is the barn kitties because I need a break from horses. There are four wild kittens, our third batch, and one fat house cat, Theo.  Big Fat Theo, I call him, knows exactly when it's breakfast time in the barn.  Little Frankie gets a cuddle before food but the others are too wild to touch.

Three more horses to deal with.  Jonny is getting a bit impatient by this time.  He is stomping around his stall, bobbing his head up and down and sucking his lips but as soon as he sees his blanket he settles right down and bends his head to help me.  He is only one to do this. In this moment, Crazy Jonny, calms down.
Jacey stands quietly, always does.  She closes her eyes and brushes her face against mine, awwww.  I have to streeeeetch to get the blanket on cuz she's huge!
I have to open Jon's door first, because if she is goes without him, he loses his shit.

Poor Willy is last, that's because he is a good boy now that he has had his little operation.  One wee halter on, leadline clipped up, watching the teeth and out we go sniffing at and knocking over everything on the way.  Ducking our heads under the electric fence, I unclip, slam the gate.  All done!

Well almost, I have to rehydrate the beet pulp, give Jacey and Jon hay and check their water.  I notice that Kingsley is just now moving away from the gate. Now as long as the weather doesn't turn, I am done for the day!

Two days to go ...

A rose by any other name ...

Did I say in an earlier blog, "Yay I don't have to get up at 5:30 anymore and Vern will help me with turn out"?  What I should have said was, "Yay I don't have to get up at 5:30."

Lily checking out the dirt

Morning surprise:  Barley smells like honey even though his stall is completely trashed.

Morning smile:  All the horses checking out Vern's piles of sand in the paddocks

Ben and Barley. Kingsley is around back

Wow my car stinks ! Maybe its me !
I need a sniff test.  I need to ask my girlfriends to tell me if I stink like a horse because the dam odour gets on ya and in ya.  If I spend enough time in the barn, like everyday, HA!,  it becomes normal.  Its hard to keep that smell out of the house.

I've told this story before but I will tell it here again.  Two years ago, I went to a Christmas card making class.  We were paired up and I had a real nice young woman to work with.  As we were starting to work together, she says, "You know, I smell horse". OH NO!  Without realizing that odour was so pervasive, I had worn the same running shoes that I had been tromping around in the barn in!   Now, having learned my lesson the embarrassing way, I never wear nice shoes to the barn and change my clothes as soon as I get in the door at home.  My car, on the other hand ...

Help my ass is froze Christmas Barn Party

Jacey's ready for the Famous Morstar Christmas Party

2nd Annual Christmas Barn Party was a great success, I'd say, modestly, judging from the all smiles and hugs.  The weather was a little better this year except for a bitter wind.  It poured rain last year.  I bet all the horses were glad to come in, eat treats and get groomed. Some dear friends were working and were missed.  Our youngest barn member, Sierra and her friend Amy, saddled up and were gone first, so excited to be riding.  They were the winners of the stall door decorating with handmade horse decorations and lights!

Sitting on hay bales kept our butts warm.  Shawna, brilliant,  rode her horse bareback to keep her bum warm.  Mug o'Bailies kept her insides warm.




Bobbing for carrots, best horse game ever! Oh, the horses were up for that challenge.  Heather's horse, Sierra, had the hardest time trying to get a swinging carrot in her mouth.  Frodo, on the other hand, nailed it in 10 seconds !







Heather baked sweet treats for all the horses.  Her Pampered Chef square stone has only been used for that particular purpose since she bought it.  She should write to them and do a testimonial hahaha

People treats were based on food the horses eat: Borsht soup instead of beet pulp, with Oat bread, salad instead of grass,  Carrot burgers, Hot mulled apple cider, Haystacks, and  … Carrot Cake, of course !
Since I have never made Borsht, never even tasted it, I wasn't sure if it was right.  I was more than happy when Eric told me he was Polish, borsht is a Christmas Eve tradition for him and that I had nailed it ! Alexis said he had Ukrainian friends and my borsht was spot on.  Hmmm might make it again.  Last year I made carrot soup.  What other soup I can make … grass soup?

Merry Christmas from Morstar Equine