Pretty bird - June 10

I was at the table one night last week and heard this "click click click" sound from the window...looked up in time to see this bird tapping. Princess (our fat house cat) then jumped at it and almost knocked herself silly. The bird flew away.

I grabbed my camera and ran out the door. It sure didn't want it's picture taken even with my big zoom lens. I followed it around the yard, watching it land on both holiday trailers (at windows) and tap tap tap.

Weird.

I did manage to get these three shots. In the first shot, look for the spot of orange...that is as good as I could get before he flew away. Sure is a flashy thing hey?

Job Hunt

Wow...I can't believe that the summer is almost here and I still don't have a job. I am sending out between 20 and 40 resumes a week. I am on the "lists" at 4 staffing agencies in the city and still nothing.

I don't know whether I am under qualified for the jobs I am applying for...over qualified or whether people are just not hiring.

I wish that when you applied for something you would get some sort of a response. That they wouldn't leave you hanging. Even just a "received your resume" response - SOMETHING.

Oh well, something will come up. And if not, I can always go to Tim Horton's or WalMart (both in Vegreville) as they have their "we are hiring" signs up.

Denver poses

This is one cute little bay. I am not a big fan of the color but he is really cute. LOL

New horse pics - June 10

Went out today and took some pics of the horses.

Here is Rondee. She has become a pocket pet so the zoom was used for most of the pics except for the extreme close-ups.




Here is a pic of Denver and Molson. Denver is finally being brave and following Molson around. Molson is Denver's dad.


And one of Denver with his mommy, Dolly.


Here is the young man at home (Gunner). He is out in a new small pen - more like an alleyway between pens - but they have grass in them. So he was chosen to be the "mower" for these small areas.


Here are pics of Ding. She too had to get up close and personal with the camera. LOL

Max - June 9

Max is coming into himself. While he loves attention, it has to be on his time and at his request. He is normally pretty good this year about listening...he is starting to actually stop and come back to the house if I yell at him when he goes to go after a car. It is still a work in progress but it is happening!!!

He is also getting better at me being in his space when he doesn't really want me to be. He sooo wants to be right beside someone all the time, but you can see him debating it all the time. "should I - shouldn't I". He wiggles and squirms and whines. I just sit and let him decide. Most of the time it takes him about 5 minutes and he is right there panting and slobbering all over you.

I have also been working him letting me grab his neck and giving him a shake...rattling his ruff...and looking at his teeth. He has gotten really good about it...usually just falling over on his back and whipping his four legs in the air.

All this was tested this morning when we found him with porcupine quills in his mouth. We ignored them to start with so we could see just how bad they were...he came up for his morning walk with me to feed the horses and got some scratching on the ears. Then Doyle came out with the plyers. We got him on his side and I managed to yank out 4 or 5. then he got away.

We let him go and went back to the house. Doyle grabbed cat food and fed the barn cats (who all like to be at the house). He then stood at the back door...and I went out the front to trap Max on the deck. When we grabbed him, he fell to the deck and Doyle sat on him and we got all the quills. Giving him cookies every 4 pulls.

Once we were done, we let him go. I still had a few cookies in my pockets so I sat on the steps and let him decide how badly he wanted one. Maggie, of course, was right there getting her fill. It took him 5 minutes maybe to come up for one. Once he realized all he was getting was cookies and scratches, he almost crawled on my lap for more attention.

What a dog.

Interesting email - June 6

Not sure how many of you will remember the little grey mare I talked about after the Supreme Horse Sale last october. Well, I blogged about her a little bit saying that I had really liked her.

Well, her new owners apparently read my blog. And I got an e-mail from them today. They are having a dispersal sale and have offered me this mare for what they paid for her at the Supreme Sale.

Too bad I don't have any extra cash laying around. She was really nice.

Here is her pedigree:
TWIST AND SHOUT

2/28/2005 AQHA Grey Mare
Doc O'lena
Smart Little Lena
Smart Peppy
Smart Little Pistol
Docs Hickory
Miss Silver Pistol
Pistol Lady 2 Be

Doc Bar
Doc Tari
Puro's Linda
Trista Tari
Son O Sugar
Sons Round Tuit
Oklahoma Cowgirl

Bad news on Gidget - June 3

Gidget has been at Dale's for two weeks. And this is tonight's update on her training while she is there:

Hi Carrie,She has been pretty bad.I have to work the crap out of her to just get a complete circle.She decides every second to take off and go very quickly in any direction she chooses,and then when you force her to go where you want with the legs,she kicks out with her hind legs.She has not been made to listen by the people you had her with prior to me and called to task,that has made her think she is running the show,all of which will take time to fix.I can almost guarantee she will attempt to run off with someone and/ or hurt them severly. She has no problem loping except for the fact that she is out of control when she goes fast,even harder to turn and stop.

I e-mailed back and told Dale to stop working her. I can't see putting more money into her at least this year. I will see what she throws next year and will decide from there what I am going to do with her longterm. THIS SUCKS!!

Breeding season

Both Rondee and Ding were bred the weekend of May 22. I then heard from Dale that Gidget was bred the same weekend.

Now what does that mean? Well...that I could have 3 maiden mares all foaling at the same time next year. EEPS.

But I am glad things are going well for me in that regard.

Now to get Molson home (as there isn't any room for Dolly where he is living) and get Dolly bred back to him for next year. Am hoping to get him here in the next few days to catch Dolly on her foal heat.

Gottem figured - May 25

It sure doesn't take them long to figure things out. Denver is now two days old and has totally figured out his legs and what all he can do with them.




Dolly is a pretty laid back mom allowing her babies a bit of freedom to run and play - but they are to stay away from the fenceline where the other horses could be standing.

Denver likes that fenceline as it is a good place to race.

Learning how to work these legs is hard

Denver had a hard time laying down as do all newborn foals. I managed to catch one attempt from start to finish.

Bay boy gets a name

And it is Denver. All of Dolly's babies have had "city/country" names. We started with India, and then had Cuba, Rio, Paris, Pheonix and now Denver.

He is a cute little thing...one hind sock and a few white hairs in his forehead. and NO dun markings at all.

Here are a few "day one" pics.

Bay colt - May 23

Dolly foaled a red bay colt this morning between 12:30 and 1 am.

As I was crawling into bed, I looked out the window to check Dolly from and saw her lay down - get up - lay down. Said to Doyle...Dolly's foaling. Ran out of the bedroom, grabbed the camera and the flashlight and went out.

Saw the whole thing - only my 2nd birth ever watched from beginning to end. And the first of one of my own. Strange that it only took me 28 years to finally see one at home.


He is tall (for a cutter), nice head. Red bay - not Dolly's normal dark black/brown bay. Has 1 or 2 socks (really short ones) and maybe a snip. No dun characteristics at all that I can see.


Doyle also watched.

Baby has pooped and Dolly has passed the afterbirth. Just in to warm up as it is chilly. Doyle and I are going to put a bunch of hay into the big stall and put them inside. Then will make sure he nurses.


He is already bucking and trying to run...so thinking he is pretty healthy.

Thank goodness - it is done - and done safely.

Foaling and Breeding Season 2009

Dolly is following her pattern to a "t". Started dripping milk at some point this morning. it is starting to flow heavier. So we should have a baby in the early hours of tomorrow morning.

I am very excited...sire is Molson. So this will make Sly a grandpa!!!

May 22

Both Rondee and Ding were in strong tonight. Debated breeding...brought Gunner out...and got the deed done with Rondee. We debated Ding but ??? I just don't know about breeding her this year (she is 3). Her and Rondee are matched for size and weight...so ???

I was pretty nervous doing this as I have never hand bred before...only pasture bred. Gunner and I have been working on manners and boy did it show. He was extremely well behaved - kept one ear cocked towards me for the most part. I only had to yank on him once and that was when Rondee kicked at him and he wheeled around and kicked back...missed her thank goodness. But other than that, he was really really good. He is also a gentleman...talked..."huffed" at her...smelled and licked and nibbled before mounting.

I do have to build something a little more secure. My farrier was over and she helped me by holding Rondee but the forward motion was almost too much for everyone.

So maybe in 340 days, I will have my first homebred "cutting prospect". I am excited.

Powerpoint is driving me to drink (almost) - May 24

I downloaded a new program...didn't work to convert the powerpoint to a video file.

So uninstalled it today - and found a new one. Installed it and it got right to work. Easy to use - until right at the end. It kept telling me that my dvd's were full when i was pulling them out of the packaging.

So dug through my computer programs and found one that was compatible and used it. YIPPEE - MADE A DVD. But it won't work on my dvd player. It does, however, work on Bailey's "el-cheapo" dvd player.

And we discovered a problem. One of the slides stuck or something during the conversion process. The music keeps playing. then the slide unsticks and everything proceeds with no music until the next slide that has music attached.

All of this took me SIX HOURS.

I am almost ready to TOSS my computer or something.

Oh...and because I downloaded a trial version, there is a watermark (says "unregistered program") on the bottom of each slide now.

I called the bowling co-ordinator and discussed with her and I am going to call the support line for the program and if the purchased version will fix this problem and we can go with the 2007 version then we will share the cost of purchasing.

I WILL NEVER DO ANOTHER ONE OF THESE!!! (unless everything else goes smooth). LOL

Vegreville paper gets it right!! - May 23

Our home newspaper did a much better job of things. You can read all about the girls here:

http://www.newsadvertiser.com/newhtml/VNA%20May%2018,%202009/VNA%20May%2018,%202009.html

The story starts on page 1 and ends on page 28.

And wow - even shayne made the last line.

The perfect birthday present

Hubby and kids went shopping on Friday and bought my birthday gift. It is an external hard drive. ONE TERABYTE. A massive load of room!!!

I was sooo excited. Attached it to the laptop to get an error. it runs on a 32-bit system. My laptop is a 64. Well, crap. After two days of messing with it, trying to find a support line or e-mail addy. Doyle finally said "call Future Shop".

So I did. The tech there had me go into the drive, make a new folder and put the autorun programs into it. That would "shut them off". He then said "treat the hard drive like it is another "folder" and just copy and move stuff onto it like you would from one folder to another.

So I am moving all my laptop pics right now. All 21 GB of them. EEPS. I will do the same with my documents and music.

Will then head over to my desk top and do the same. It will be so nice not to have PILES and PILES of cd's laying around as backups now.

May long weekend = winter??

Woke up this morning to temps below zero again. It is COLD. Wore my winter gear to do chores. And it was TRYING TO SNOW. I can't believe we are almost to the end of May and we are still getting winter temps and snow.

Forecast is a possibility of up to 3 inches of snow this week.

UNREAL!!!

Poor judgment - May 14

The Edmonton Journal picked up the story of the Alberta bowlers doing so well at Nationals.

Our coach and his wife were contacted by a reporter and sent a bunch of questions to them via e-mail to ask the three girls about their experiences. Corinne spent hours on the phone with the three girls and also myself, as well as Coach Kevin. All the answers were then typed up and e-mailed back to the reporter.

We all waited with baited breath for this great story of these three girls from a small town doing so well. Never before has there been a National title at a small town bowling lane anywhere in Canada.

When the story came out, we were sooo disappointed. The reporter, instead of touching on the fact that these girls did so well, picked up on just one of the girl's one answers to a question. I thought that was in such poor taste. To take a young girl's response and turn it into an entire article - and then to not even take it in the context she said it in was horrible for this girl.

None of the other questions answered by any of us were talked about in this article which I think is a big shame.

To read the article click the link below:

http://www.edmontonjournal.com/sports/Rennie+headed+life+gutter/1587749/story.html

Interview at Shell - May 13

Well, I had one today. And it went GREAT. Or at least it felt like it.

The job is out at the Shell Scotsford Refinery in Fort Saskatchewan. Around a 40 minute highway drive.

I met up with the "boss" (aka "K") and he took me on a tour of the place. We talked about the job...and he showed me where the guys all work. We then went into his office (an ATCO trailer) and we sat down with his 2nd in command, "D". They told me about the position and asked me a few questions.

The job is basically to take over the billing operation for this department. It may also involve data entry of other things, and going to meetings. So it sounds like it could really evolve.

D's first questions for me were "have you ever worked in a place like this". I answered "yes". He smiled and nodded. Then "does it bother you to work around all men?". I answered "no". He smiled and nodded again. Then "So swearing isn't going to bother you?". I said "ummm...no.". He smiled and laughed and said "thank god". LOL

They both said they were extremely impressed with my resume...were thankful that I had other "industrial" construction experience...and then asked when I could start. I said "immediately".

They looked relieved. We then talked about the hours of work and wage. K has been begging and putting in requistions for an admin for 3 months. Shell finally gave him the go-ahead but did put limitations on the job as to hours of work and wage. But as more of the area is developed and more of the facilities are built for this group, the duties will expand and so will the hours. K said at the most the hours for this position would be 8 hrs/day for 5 days one week and 4 days the next...same hours as K. the day starts at 7:30 - so I am figuring that it would end around 2 pm to start with.

K then took me on a little bit larger tour of the refinery and said "will let you know on Friday".

So here's hoping!!!

Horse time - May 12

I went out and spent some time with the horses this morning - it is a beautiful day today.

Spent time with the bigger group - Ace, Angel, Lance, Cuba and Skeena - patting everyone. Then went and saw Gunner - and wished again he would finally settle in and calm down so he could go out on pasture. Maybe once the girls are all bred, he can live with them.

Then thought I would grab up a shedding blade and head out to Dolly, Ding and Rondee. Ding is always happy to see the shedding blade - and so is Dolly. Today, however, I had to follow them out into the big pasture. I got Ding done from head to toe - and am happy to report that she is filling out again. The grass is really coming in and she is getting grain 2 x per day.

Then it was Dolly's turn. She is not high on the totem pole, so I only managed to get one side done but she was very happy with that much.

Then I tried once again with Rondee. I have been out there 3 or 4 times and tried and she has just said "nope...not today". Until today. I started on her neck and then went to the shoulder, making sure to give her the room to leave if she wanted. I did the one side but when I went to do her other side, she stepped away...at least until she saw me turn my back on her to do Ding again. Then she bumped my shoulder, so I turned around and did her other side.

I love it when they decide they want the attention. I think it makes for a better relationship.

Decision on Gidget - May 11

After thinking about Gidget for a few days, I made the decision to leave her with Christina and get a few more rides on her there...and then take her to Dale Dodd's to be bred to Whata Sansation.

I headed out to see her on the weekend and both Christina and I rode her. She definately is a stubborn girl and will do well with some tougher training which she will be receiving at Dale's while there being bred.

Gidget and I trying out a few things:



Christina and Gidget having their turn (with some stubborn thrown in for good measure):

Gunner is settling in - May 10

Melissa rode Gunner last night for the first time since we brought him home. While he has been ridden outside at Jason's, here was the true test as he can see everywhere through the three planks on our arena. He was a little "out of it" to start with (watching everything) until she put him into a good lope. He was good when asked to work but when just standing still he was very anxious and would not stand still. He wasn't bad but his full attention was not on her for sure.

I got on him as well for a few minutes and did some turns on the haunches etc. and again his attention was more on what was going on around him than me. I am sure that will come with more riding here at home.

I took these pics this morning. He is coming around even with being in his pen...likes to get pats again.

Family pics (of the 4 legged kind) - May 9

We have been bringing the pups out into the yard to play and get a little more exercise than in their dog run. And this is what happens. Maggie lays down...Max come over to protect...and the pups are in "Family" heaven.



Until it is time to try to excape. If they go out the front side of Maggie, Max steps on them until they go back to mom.

Rondee and Ding - May 9

Rondee is starting to fill out finally - is really roaning in the flanks too.





This pic shows what she does with her feet while she is eating. I also noticed today that she does a "nose swish" around the entire pail like it is water and then eats Half of it ended up on teh ground - silly girl.


Ding is really growing into herself. I can hardly wait until she fills out more as she is going to be one stunning girl.