"True happiness arises in the first place from enjoyment of oneself."

-Joseph Addition

"How easy and simple it is to live enjoyably when the simple, interminable blue of the sky, with its long wisps of white clouds, becomes a pleasant thing to behold, a thing of beauty that thrills you every time you care to look skyward."

- John Schindler

Sun Dog on a very cold morning

Sometimes you just have to indulge your inner child and have some fun.

It's been years since I've gone sledding and I had the urge to go, so I bought a little saucer toboggan at the feed store.

There is a bit of a hill by the horses so I took the sled up there.  Unfortunately the wind we've had loosened the snow up quite a bit so it's like powder in most parts and hard snow in other parts.

After going down that hill a few times I decided to try the driveway since it's a solid sheet of ice.  Now that was fun!  I had more of a runway so-to-speak and got to go faster for a longer distance.

The horses were a little surprised and didn't know what to think, but I had a blast! :)

Shoni, Tabasco, Sweetie, Pebbles

"Clouds come floating into my life, no longer to carry rain or usher storm, but to add color to my sunset sky."

- Rabindranath Tagore 

Enjoying the sun set with Shoni... priceless.

For some reason all the strays or misfits seem to end up on our door step.

Some time last fall there was a cat peeping in the patio door at our cats, Koda and Kirby.  We were thinking it was Kirby's Mom because we hadn't seen her for a while.

After a couple weeks of seeing this cat off and on we finally got a good look at it and realized it was a different cat.  It continued hanging around the house but kept it's distance... for a while.  After it figured out we weren't so bad it was all over, we had on our hands a lean mean purring machine.

I would come home from work, feed the horses and suddenly there is a loud meow coming from the tree area.  Then you see the cat running through the field to get some attention- completely oblivious to the horses.  Thank goodness the horses didn't go after the cat.

Of course the cat never went home, none of our neighbors new who he belonged to, no one reported a lost cat and the weather started to get cold so we gave him water and cat food and on cold nights he stayed in the garage with an old coat and some towels for a bed.

Since we couldn't locate his owners we took him to the vet for a check up.  Turns out he is a 2 year old tom cat.  The vet gave him his shots right away, tested him for feline leukemia  then neutered him.  He is now an indoor kitty named Toby and we are looking at finding him a new home.  He is an absolute lover and seems to get along with the dogs but he thinks he's big and bad and he likes to push his luck with them.  In our house that doesn't fly with Missy so we wont be able to keep him.  Hopefully we can find him a home where they'll keep him as an indoor cat to keep him safe.  He's pretty oblivious to the world around him sometimes and he's too nice of a cat to end up as a meal for a hungry eagle or coyote.

"I has a mouse for you"

On a side note, Toby has this huge motor and just purrs non-stop when you're around him.  When he purrs he also *drools*!  He is the first cat that I've ever been around that drools, but apparently it's not that uncommon.  Who knew?! :)

Getting caught up, the end of 2012 in review-

OCTOBER:
At the end of October I went in to get my hair cut and decided to donate 12 inches to Locks of Love.  I'm glad I did it and I will more than likely donate again in the future.

NOVEMBER:
I couldn't justify having three green horses and one broke horse with a few issues so Sundance went to a new home the end of November.  His new name is Stolee.  I met his new owner once when Tabasco was still at my trainer's and she seems nice.  My trainer is actually the one who found his new home and it sounds like he is going to be spoiled rotten in a herd with two other Fox Trotters.

DECEMBER:
Around December we noticed Trib was having a tough time keeping weight on even with being kept separate from the other horses, having oats and 24/7 access to a round bale.  We spoke with a local guy who sells feed and he gave us a more fattening feed to mix in with the current oats.  We also had the vet out who said he'll need his teeth floated this summer and she also suggested blanketing Trib for the winter.

Funny vet story from that.  The vet drew some blood and then mentioned she would like to get a stool sample as well for testing just to make sure there was nothing else going on.  Right on queue Trib lifted his tail and she got her sample.

Since then Trib has filled out nicely and looks even better than when we brought him home.  I can't wait for Spring so I can take pictures of him running out in the pasture with the rest of the herd.

"I go to nature to be soothed and healed, and to have my senses put in order."

- John Burroughs

I'm still alive and kicking and am in the process of typing up some long overdue updates.  

I hope all of you are doing well and I look forward to catching up on your blogs as well. :)