Naked

Went and saw the ponies today (its been awhile).
Didn't ride but I gave them a pretty good grooming session while they ate their treats. Cessa (for once) doesn't have too thick of a coat under her blanket. She's starting to shed but there's not much yet... this is pretty normal for her though. But man oh man, it was like a snowstorm when Applejack got his turn! I took one swipe of the curry on his barrel and a sheet of hair (about the size of an 8 X 10 picture) lifted loose. At that point I got out the shedding blade and went to town.
Now that it is finally consistently nice enough out I took the blankets off and turned the horses out naked. I'm sure there's going to be lots of rolling going on tonight! lol
Oh, and before I forget I took a measurement with the weight tape. Cessa has wintered very well, especially seeing as I've been a "bad mommy" and not been out to give her her extra feed very often this last little while. Her weight is right on track with where it was in the fall (around 970-995) I thought Mr Applejack was going to be quite chubby but when I took his blanket off he didn't look too bad, still his weight came in around 1250 which is a bit too high. We're going to try to start riding more consistently though so I'm sure that will help us both! :)

ps - I tried to take some pics (especially of the big, fluffy, white piles of hair) but my camera was dead! :(

This-n-That

There are a few comments that seem to need response, or that will make for (I hope) an interesting story or two. Plus a couple things to catch y'all up on:

Pie's Eye
His right eye is blurry, but only when he looks peripherally. Straight on everything is fine. He also feels a bit of pressure just under the eye. When he covers his 'bad' eye and looks at something he sees the correct colour (ie a red bottle looks red) but when he looks at it with the good eye covered that same bottle appears reddish-black.
So far we have been to the eye specialist at the hospital 4 times now. Still have no idea what's wrong. His CT scan came back fine and he is waiting to find out when he goes for an MRI.

**clarification for newer readers - Pie is my hubby**

My Back-
I have had a few car accidents over the years.
(okay its about 5, but I am NOT a bad driver. I've never been the one at fault)
Plus, as is the case for many of you, I've found myself separated from the occasional horse while riding.
I basically have pain to some degree or another everyday. Its one of those things that you become used to and don't really realize until its a bad day. I've been having a LOT of bad days lately. Which leads to headaches, poor sleep and general bitchiness (and trust me I am very good at being a bitch! lol)
I've also been having more joint pain lately. And a strange sensitivity type of pain. Like when my sister gave me a 'pat' on the back and it felt like she'd thrown a brick at me.
I'm starting to think my mom may be right, I should talk to my doctor about fibromyalgia .

FHOTD & FWOTD-
I was asked why I have these both on my blogroll. Truth be told its because even if I don't agree with them I find them somewhat entertaining (especially if I'm in a bitchy mood).
I used to really enjoy FHOTD. Back when Cathy was focusing more on outing truly tragic abuse cases or examples of poor breeding/conformation. I find that lately she (and her more rabid followers) are taking things too much to the extreme. Or making a great big deal out of something that really isn't all that bad. Also I just plain disagree with some of her opinions. Then add to that that when you are as well known, and opinionated, as she is that you really need to make sure you are as close to perfect as you portray yourself as (whether that is your intention or not). Well guess what, she's not that perfect. Nor are most of her 'mafia'. I honestly think that a LOT of those folks would fail a Fugs inspection.
So that is why I also enjoy FWOTD. Same snarkiness as Cathy, but directed at her and her mafia. Pointing out that they are NOT "all that and a bag of chips".

POTD/Authorblog-
*wave to David* Thanks for the mention David! I'd never heard of this before and when I went to check it out I was flattered. (also thanks to whoever nominated me!)

Wine-
I'll leave the wine (and beer) drinking to the rest of y'all. For some reason I can NOT drink either of them... they go straight to my head.
I will admit that I've allowed myself to indulge in a "few" adult beverages every once in awhile lately. (our bartender/my buddy John is a BAD influence! But I do get my 'revenge'. lol)

Question-
I've noticed a few people have added a widget for their Facebook profile. Which one did you use? I tried but it came up in Spanish.

The married woman-
Yes that one. She and her hubbie are good customers. The kind you want in your bar. They spend a decent amount of money, they tip well, they don't start crap but will back Pie & John if there's trouble.
Well she's been awfully complimentary to me lately. Not really a biggie. But then she told me that if Pie and I ever split up and I wanted to try playing for the other team to let her know. Pie and I both laughed but when HE walked away she grabbed my arm and said "No. Really."
Ever since then she is even more complimentary and has started doing things like grabbing my ass. A little awkward, especially since I know she and her hubbie have had other woman with them. That's fine for some people but not my thing.

Happy St Patrick's Day!

Ahhh... St Patty's day. The day we all celebrate being Irish, even if we aren't! lol So here's an Irish toast to share with y'all:

May you be in Heaven a half an hour before the Devil knows your dead!

May the road rise to meet you,

May the wind be always at your back,

May the sun shine warm upon your face,

The rains fall soft upon your fields and,

Until we meet again

May God hold you in the palm of His hand.

May God grant you always...

A sunbeam to warm you,

A moonbeam to charm you,

A sheltering angel, so nothing can harm you.

*images found with Google Images*

I feel like Charlie Brown

When Lucy pulls the football away, know what I mean?

I've just been feeling really BLAH lately.
At first I thought it was just a case of the late winter blues (and with temps in the high -30's and -40's last week that could have been a factor).
But its been a bit worse than that. I just want to curl up and do n-o-t-h-i-n-g.
I haven't been, I've been on the run quite a bit actually. Test driving vehicles (when not being ignored at the Ford dealer, hmm maybe the Chevy dealer should send them a thank you card)
Driving Pie back and forth to the hospital. Seriously, we've been to the eye centre at City Hospital twice last week and go again this Thursday. And because they have no CLUE what the F is up he had a CT scan on Friday (results not yet in).
Then there is the chiro, in 8 days I've been there 3 times. Woo-hoo I get to wait a week before I go again.
And due to the back pain (which is why I've been at the chiro so much) I didn't even go barrel racing yesterday. Not to mention not riding even though the weather has finally turned more spring-like. But hey, at least I can sneeze without my back cracking and snapping... so far. And I have yet to have a headache, today.
Aaargh. Sorry, I know I'm being whiny. Most of you probably clicked off this page a few paragraphs ago. Can't say I blame you.
Maybe until I can focus on something horse-related or otherwise cheery I should just shut up.
(or I could tell you weird stories from the bar at work... like being hit on by a married woman! lol)

*Charlie Brown & Lucy are not my images, found with Google Images*

Kids say the darndest things

Saturday I had to drive my niece to her ballet practice. Here's a portion of our conversation on the way home (keep in mind she's 7) -

"Thea... you know those certificates you get for driving fast?"
("thea" means aunt in Greek)
"You mean a speeding ticket?"
"Yeah. Wouldn't it be funny if they gave them to people for driving too SLOW?"
"Actually hon they do. It doesn't happen very often and usually you have to be driving REALLY REALLY slow for the road but it can happen."
small moment of silence, then with a bit of a snort...
"YOU'LL never get one of those!"
and yes I had to laugh

Laughter is the best medicine...

While shopping in a food store, two nuns happened to pass by the beer, wine, and liquor section. One asked the other if she would like a beer. The second nun answered that, indeed, it would be very nice to have one, but that she would feel uncomfortable about purchasing it. The first nun replied that she would handle it without a problem.

She picked up a six-pack and took it to the cashier. The cashier had a surprised look, so the nun said, "This is for washing our hair."

Without blinking an eye, the cashier reached under the counter, put a package of pretzel sticks in the bag with the beer, and said, "The curlers are on me."

**side note** The photo from (sorta) Wordless Wednesday will be explained in a post in the near future. I just have to wait for a day when I have time to wait for Blogger to post pics (it always takes forEVER for me! :)

(sorta) Wordless Wednesday

Barns

I drive by these two old barns whenever I go to my Mom's house. There are no signs of houses or other outbuildings, just these barns. Even though they are run down you can see they were once fine buildings. When Leah started doing her "Falling Down" posts I knew I had to snap a couple pics for her :)
This red one is the first one I pass. It is just after the town of Allen (I think) -

This weathered grey barn is nicknamed "5 Minute Barn" because it takes about 5 minutes to get to Mom's house when we see it. (there does appear to be some sort of small building, maybe a chicken coop behind and to the left) -