Under the gun and other news.

I have been working like a dog trying to get all my work done by September 30, the end of my evaluation period at work. It has been exhausting to catch up--something I am not used to at all, because I am usually very far ahead of the game. Not this year for obvious reasons.

So I am worn out. Physical work is one thing, but concentrating for 16 hours a day will kill a girl. Even my TMJ has been acting up from stress--to the point I could hardly open my mouth over the weekend. The swelling got so bad it made my ears ached, which made it hard to think. Anti-inflammatories help but it is still really painful.

I have weaned two babies--have one left to do. Should I ever get home from work when it is not the middle of the nite I will get on that.

Lots of home improvements going on around here. It is nice to do things I have wanted to do for a long time but one thing leads to another. I wanted the gold tone light fixtures, and shiny faucet out of the master bath so replaced it all with nickel to match everything else around here now--but now the medicine cabinet pisses me off. And that bathroom has oak cabinets--and all kinds of oak trim so it will be a project to change it over. I also want to paint the little third bathroom and quit treating it like I do not know it is there, but I have no thoughts on color. The rest of the house is so vibrant but it is tiny so it needs less shock value---and I do not know what to do with it.

The best most exciting thing going on around here is that I am going to Colorado Springs for Columbus Day weekend. An old friend/boyfriend from back in the day lives there and I have only been there one time in my whole life, so why not? I am sure we will have a ball and it has been really fun reconnecting with someone I have not seen in so long. Funny how things change so much and stay the same so much sometimes in the same minute.

I like having things to look forward to so this is a good plan.

After that, I have my big trip to Mandy's in Qatar. We are going to Dubai and Abu Dhabi...that will be a hard trip to top. Knowing me, as soon as I get back, I will start plotting the next one!

RIP Doctors Playmate

1981-2011

One of my best girls ever, Playmate, was laid to rest this morning. A 30 years old, the only way she could maintain her weight in the heat or extreme weather was on 25-35 pounds of senior feed, beet pulp and alfalfa pellets per day. Which is just fine but the only thing Playmate hated more than not getting to go somewhere was being locked up to eat...and to eat that much took pretty much all day. It made her miserable. I had to decide this summer which she would like more--and she made it clear she wanted to be out on pasture with her friends. After all, who else was going to boss those young whippersnappers if not her?

I bought Playmate in 1999, and she had four more babies for me. She got in foal to Haidas Little Pep more than once but lost it every time but the last time she was bred to him, and slipped her last foal, which was sired by Sly. Most of her babies were ropers so although they do not have AQHA records, I have heard great stories of their earnings over the years. Playmate herself was the most competitive horse I have ever known---she would just shake at the sight of cows--she could hardly control herself wanting to get after them. And man did she have a big engine--even when I was still riding her at 29, she was a handful---I could never put a kid on her and let her loose. She was like a freight train. I cannot count how many first time team penners or sorters I put on her and she took to the pay window. She was just a cool horse.

Here is her produce record which does not even begin to tell the story of all she did.

DOCTORS PLAYMATE'S Offspring

JAZZY BUZZIE 2320218 Deceased Bay Mare 02/01/1985
Sire- LAST COUNSELLOR 1471753

MAGIC PLAYMATE 2469249 Deceased Sorrel Mare 03/01/1986
Sire- LYNX MAGIC 1712880

CLASSY KELLEY DOC 2811036 Sorrel Mare 03/01/1989 Genetic Typed
Sire- SUGS DOC DIDGET 2240505

DOCTORS BROWN SUGAR 2915107 Bay Mare 05/01/1990 Genetic Typed
Sire- SUGS DOC DIDGET 2240505

DOLLY DOC MATE 3053026 Bay Mare 04/14/1991
Sire- POCO DACOMA 2389768

DOCTOR DACOMA 3093075 Bay Stallion 04/14/1992
Sire- POCO DACOMA 2389768

DOCTOR JAZZ LEO 3357400 Sorrel Gelding 05/30/1995
Sire- KING MARAVILA JOHNNY 2102999

JAZZY DRY SOCKS 3604149 Sorrel Mare 04/18/1997 Genetic Typed
Sire- DRY GLO 1795872

SON OF A DRY GLO 3775992 Chestnut Stallion 05/14/1998 Genetic Typed
Sire- DRY GLO 1795872

DOCTOR LA BLEU 3900564 Buckskin Stallion 07/19/1999 Genetic Typed
Sire- SANA LA BLEU 2082833

SON OFA DOCS ROCKET 4015903 Bay Gelding 07/04/2000
Sire- SANA LA BLEU 2082833

PLAYIN N THE SAN 4132356 Bay Mare 06/02/2001 Incentive Fund Foal
Sire- SAN N DOC 1706205

HAIDADOC 4591921 Bay Mare 04/26/2003 Transported Semen; Genetic Typed
Sire- HAIDAS LITTLE PEP 1643650

PINA COLADA PLAYMATE 4627907 Bay Mare 03/31/2004 Transported Semen; Genetic Typed
Sire- RUM SQUALL 2450734
National Cutting Horse Association: $ 3,015.90 Earned thru 11/09/2008

This is her dam's produce record---so Play's siblings. Evidently, the longevity of Play was genetic--look how long some of these horses showed

MISTY WADE 0289386 Deceased Gray Mare 01/01/1963
Sire- HANK WADE 0077203

SPARKLING MISS 0506930 Deceased Bay Mare 01/01/1967
Sire- VEN'S SPARKY 0279418
Show: 10/1978 Open- H- .0 P- 10.0 Amateur- H- .0 P- .0 Youth- H- .0 P- .0
Achievement: 1978 OPEN PERFORMANCE REGISTER OF MERIT

JOHNIE'S MIST 0541757 Deceased Gray Stallion 05/01/1968
Sire- JOHNIE M BAR 0248561

EMBAR'S MIST 0658086 Deceased Bay Mare 01/01/1969
Sire- MR EMBAR 0176224

SHAH MISS 0909487 Deceased Brown Mare 04/01/1972
Sire- SHAH BOY 0247339

MAGNOLIA MISTY 0959048 Deceased Red Roan Stallion 05/01/1973
Sire- MAGNOLIA CROTON 0544704

HONKYTONK JOHN 1141959 Deceased Blue Roan Stallion 03/01/1975
Sire- ROAN ROCKY 0608394

DOC ON CALL 1391003 Deceased Gray Gelding 03/07/1978
Sire- CAL BAR 0454267
Show: 12/1991 Open- H- .0 P- .5 Amateur- H- .0 P- .5 Youth- H- .0 P- .0

THE DOCTORS MAID 1472151 Deceased Sorrel Mare 04/01/1979
Sire- SON OFA DOC 1106780
Show: 11/1992 Open- H- .0 P- .0 Amateur- H- .0 P- .0 Youth- H- .0 P- .0
National Cutting Horse Association: $ 4,864.08 Earned thru 12/31/1990
Achievement: 1990 YOUTH WORLD SHOW CUTTING 9th PLACE

THE FEMALE DOCTOR 1652447 Deceased Gray Mare 04/01/1980
Sire- SON OFA DOC 1106780

DOCTORS PLAYMATE 1781075 Deceased Bay Mare 05/29/1981 Genetic Typed
Sire- SON OFA DOC 1106780

In the end though it did not matter who she was, or what she did--I loved her. She was one of our first important mares and she taught me a lot about horses. She will certainly be missed.....and life in the pasture will not be quite as fun as it was with her in it. She was one of a kind

RIP Play--

The torture of Tazer

Look what Cinder puts this poor dog through.

And he puts up with it.

Slater the babysitter

I realize that it does not look like Slater is actually DOING anything other than what he usually does---and that is sleep. That is what I thought at first. He had a little lay down with my friend's daughter when she feel asleep on a pallet in front of the big TV....it was so cute.

However he was not just resting as usual. He was supervising her as she slept. And he took his job very seriously. When it was time to take her to the car to go home, Slate popped up and made it clear he did not want her to leave. He gave this stink eye look and when we went to pick her up--he put his paw on her as if to tell us to leave her right where she was. Just leave her right there thank you very much, he seemed to say. She never even woke up so had no idea of the impression she made on Slate.

Tiger Love gone bad

This poor bastard has been killed by his younger girlfriend. You can read the story here... well maybe you cannot, it appears I cannot paste the link in here. It is a yahoo story about how this 6 year old male was killed by hus 3 year old lady friend, in an apparent fit of jealousy that he was flirting with another female.

Let this be a lesson to you boys....one woman is more than you can handle. You do not need two or more. Someone will get hurt and it will be your fault.

Also, do not piss off a tiger lady. They do not jack around.

And finally, I think tigers may have the right idea---just rid the world or pooly behaved men, and it will be a better place for all of us.

Fonzie's fall Founder

Once again, the Fonz has started his fall foundering episode. I caught it way earlier this year than usual so he is not in bad shape at all. I loaded him up and moved him to the farm Monday, and put him in a dry lot. He is not happy at all because he is alone but its for his own good.

Doesn't he look depressed?

Cinder

She is growing into half a dog isnt she? I look at her everyday so I do not notice it so much, but when someone who has not seen her in a while sees her, her growth is always remarked on.
She is kind of cute. Now if she was not completely psychotic or brain injured.

Labor Day weekend--camera malfunction

I had another camera malfunction on our trail ride this weekend--I got it to work for enough time to get some great pictures of some of the horses on our ride then then memory card went berserk and could not be read. Typical. That really sucked because I loved some of the artsy fartsy shots I got of some Pasos on our ride--they have great hair. Ashlyn and Pam rode them, and Julie and Eric rode some of those painted walking horses, whatever you call them. It is wild how different horses of a different breed can look and still be the same species. Head brought a new TB that was on only his second trip to the woods and less than 10 rides all together I think--and he was awesome. Linda rode Jane and she was reasonable. Jodi and I rode Twist and Gyro and damn near killed them. It rained the last hour of our ride yesterday, which was unpleasant, but we still had a great time. It is always good to decompress in the woods--the good food and good company just make it better.

So to test out my camera fix, I took some pics of Sly when I got home. He missed his Twister.

Meanwhile, Fonzie is starting his fall foundering episode, so I swapped trailers and took him to the farm to dry lot him. Happens every year, and at least I know all he needs is to be dry lotted for a while.

I am on a marathon to get some real work done--I have been for some time now but it is getting down to crunch time here. Since the weather broke though I hope to be able to do better with photos etc now---so stay tuned, I really will do better about this blog