The littlest Farmer

Is he the cutest little man you ever saw in overalls in your life?

Radar moves away

Anyone who has been around here very long knows how much I love this horse. Since the day he was born, he has been very special to me. It is not that he is so pretty, he looks like a girl--its not just his laid back easy attitude--its not how he follows me around like a puppy--its all of that and then some. I just love him.

Today he moved away with a new family. I know it was the right thing to do, because he will be used and have the best of care from them. He will get to do more than just eat, and will have a herd to hang out with, and his new mama has a huge crush on him. I cannot ask for more than that for him.

It still sucks. I took to the bed and cried until my head pounded. I always hate selling horses, but it is rare that it kicks my ass like this. I will miss him so much.

West Memphis 3--ITS ABOUT TIME~!

8/19/2011 1:03 AM Deal for West Memphis 3 may allow innocence claim By JEANNIE NUSS Associated Press Three men imprisoned for nearly two decades for the brutal murders of three 8-year-old boys in eastern Arkansas could be released from custody as early as Friday if a deal with prosecutors goes as planned, victims' relatives and a person familiar with the case told The Associated Press. A tentative deal would include a legal maneuver allowing the men to maintain their innocence claim while admitting that prosecutors likely have enough evidence to win a conviction, the person familiar with the case said. That person spoke on the condition of anonymity because of a gag order barring parties in the case from speaking publicly about it. "It's a highly technical way to put an end to judicial proceedings in the case," the person told the AP. Damien Echols, Jessie Misskelley and Jason Baldwin were convicted in 1994 of killing Steve Branch, Christopher Byers and Michael Moore a year earlier and leaving their naked bodies in a ditch in West Memphis, Ark. Echols was sentenced to death. Misskelley and Baldwin were ordered to spend the rest of their lives in prison. Defense attorneys, along with celebrities and legal experts, have long said the men were wrongly convicted. The three men, known to supporters as the West Memphis Three, won new hearings from the Arkansas Supreme Court in November, more than 15 years after they went to prison despite little physical evidence linking them to the crime scene. Their attorneys point to new DNA evidence that they say should help exonerate the three men. The support for the West Memphis Three reaches some of the victims' relatives who have questioned whether the right people were behind bars. Byers' adoptive father, John Mark Byers, said he believes Echols, Baldwin and Misskelley are innocent. He said prosecutors told him that they planned to reach a no-contest plea on Thursday. "There's certainly no justice for the three men that's been in prison or my son and his two friends," Byers said. "To me, this is just a cop-out from the state for not wanting to admit that they made a mistake." Prosecuting Attorney Scott Ellington declined to comment, as did defense attorneys and a spokesman for the state's attorney general. They all cited a gag order issued by the judge overseeing the case. Echols, Baldwin and Misskelley were slated to appear in court for an evidentiary hearing in December. But on Thursday, Craighead County Circuit Judge David Laser announced that the men would be in court on Friday. He declined to release any further details about the hearing. But the person familiar with the case said that the earlier verdicts would likely be set aside in order to go ahead with the tentative agreement. In what's called an Alford plea, they would agree that prosecutors have a solid amount of evidence against them _ likely enough to win a conviction. Normally, when defendants plead guilty in criminal cases, they admit that they've done the crime in question. But in an Alford plea, defendants are allowed to insist they're innocent, says Kay Levine, a former prosecutor who now teaches criminal law and criminal procedure at Emory University in Atlanta. She is not involved with the Arkansas case. "It's not an insane strategy decision," Levine said. But, she added: "It's incredibly troubling to us as a free society that people would plead guilty to something that they actually did not do." Some judges find the legal maneuver offense, Levine says, because they see no reason someone would not contest to a crime that they didn't commit. But most prosecutors would take the agreement, she said. "The prosecutors still get the deal that they have already struck," she said. Department of Correction spokeswoman Dina Tyler said the men were transferred from Arkansas prisons, along with their possessions, on Thursday, ahead of Friday's hearing in Jonesboro. They're being held in a county jail there until their court appearance. ___ Jeannie Nuss can be reached at http://twitter.com/jeannienuss ___

Hawkeye Update

Since Hawk left us this spring, he has started a new career. This is one of my most recent videos of him at his new job. If you do not remember him, he is the red dun heel horse.

Im so proud of him. I admit I miss the ol crank, but I know he is happy to be working instead of lounging like he was here. If all my horses turn out like him, I will be thrilled.

Life Project--The midlife crisis

I clearly have had one--well, I had one and then I had one forced on me. I thought my rowdiest manifestation of it was my tattoo. I see now it probably was not, but it is hard for me to distinguish between midlife crisis and full on lunacy lately.

I see them happening all around me. My counselor, Darla, swears they are some of the most powerful changes stem from a midlife crisis, they are normal and most people have them. We talk about them a lot, but I want to know how many of you have gone through it and what your experiences were.

If you have had yours already, what did you do? Did you know that was what it was? Was there something besides age that kicked it off for you? How long did it last? Were there good things that ultimately came of it?

I think this could be a really interesting topic, and I want to get this blog moving again- I miss all the old commenters, and the great dialogues we had here---this is on my mind so lets talk about this for a while.

And anyone who wants to suggest a topic for deep discussion or ridicule-come on. Let's get this community back together!

Weekend project--the big tree

This was one of my best trees at the farm----100 years old, 80 feet tall pin oak--and down it came on a pasture divider fence.
It was almost 4'6" in diameter, so you can imagine how hard it was to get it cut up so that it was movable. It took a major part of the weekend and a lot of equipment. It had been struck by lightning at least once, but this was the good part of it. Even chopped up, the tractor could not drag it--it was eventually able to be shoved enough out of the way that the fence can be re-built. It smashed t-posts, and generally made a nuisance of itself. Even the smaller branches will make great firewood--now if I only had a fireplace!~

This was the second and larger of two trees that I have always loved. They were right next to each other The first one came down in early June, and when this one came down, it was not immediately apparent to me that it had happened because I assumed what I was seeing was remnants of the first one. You know how you can look at something and know it is not right, but not know what the problem is? I looked and looked at that tree line for God knows how long before I realized what had happened. I used to spend hours under these two trees when we would get a new horse that was somewhat wary of people. I would prop myself up against them with a book and wait for the horse to get curious enough about me to come to me. I cannot even count how many hours I sat there. It breaks my heart to have lost them, especially because they were so beautiful. Those two trees were what I thought of when I thought of the farm layout--and now they are gone.

Its almost symbolic isnt it? Something can be part of the fabric of your life for so long you do not think about it until it is gone. But then, it changes and you learn to like something different--and maybe forget what it was ever like.

It is done

I am divorced--got that way about 2 pm on Wednesday, August 10.

Its okay. Barry was here to sign his part of the papers on Tuesday so we had lunch together and he came out to see the dogs and get more stuff. We had a pretty good time and it was all right.

At least it was until later Tuesday nite. Some of the girls joined me for champagne and cocktails, and of course, before I got to bed I ended up bawling like a little girl. I needed to get it out though. Thank God for FB, as it let me chat with some far away and old friends who talked me through it until I could go to bed.

The actual day of the divorce I had some other things go haywire which totally overshadowed the end of my marriage--if that does not tell you how quickly I have assimilated this change in my life I do not know what can show it more. Four months and your world can change--and you can live through it and be happy again.

In other news--I have to have rear brakes on the truck and the washing machine died.

Just another day in my world

They are home!

Mandy and the kids got here tonight--back home from Qatar for the first time since they moved in April. They have actually been in the US since last Tuesday, but they have been in Park City at Edward's family vacation home until tonight.

Gabi is as bossy as ever. She acts like she is running a multinational corporation, the way she orders everyone around. She is very concerned about where everyone and everything is--especially the horses, as if they could possibly be in the kitchen at mom's house.

Crews looks like he is completely in shock. Or maybe in a coma. It is hard to tell with that one--the only thing he really said tonight was that he had to potty, which is pretty impressive for a kid that is not even two years old yet. His birthday is Sunday. He is absolutely hysterical with his little scrawny body--I had no idea that little boy underwear came in sizes that small. They look kind of like doll clothes. He is sporting some fancy red drawers today that had us all in hysterics.

I must have been excited about them getting here, because I got so much done today. Not only did I get a huge amount of actual work done while I was at work, I got a lot done on my lunch break and before and after work as well. I made deposits in two banks, made an appointment to have my car detailed, made an appointment with appliance people to see why my washer is throwing up every time I run it, had it out with Verizon until they changed my package without charging me more, went to they gym, got pizza for everyone once Mandy got home, and ran the bushhog until I threw a pin in it. Now that I think about it, all that energy might have come from the adrenaline of having fired my farm hand yesterday, as he is a piece of crap.

I hope I can keep this up as I have a crazy week ahead of me. Gonna be fun but busy!