A new location

On the way to our hotel in St Louis last nite, I tried to take pictures in the dark. It was not successful, but this Court House shot turned out kind of neat. Barry and I had looked at even more apartments for him to live in while he is working there, and been to see Dad, and gone to dinner on the Landing, before we got back to our room.

Dad is getting a little better. He was able to sit up in a chair yesterday, although after seeing how weak he is, I cannot imagine how many people it took to get him there. He was at least normal people color, which he definitely was not on Saturday. He says he feels 300% better, but not even close to normal. Even changing positions in the chair was a major production.

Today, he was able to walk to the end of the hall. I do not know how he was able to do that yet--I would have thought it would be several days before he could. They are now evaluating when he will be able to leave the hospital--but they want to send him to a skilled care rehab facility for some undetermined amount of time so he can recover with the kind of support he needs. There is no way mom can take care of wagging him all over the house, as weak as he is.

I guess that is the next step.

Meanwhile, Barry thinks he found a place to live and it is very cool. He actually found two--one a typical townhouse apartment in Soulard with a balcony--very handy for Mardi Gras coming up. The second one is an alley house also in Soulard--kind of cool to have a little house tucked away so no one knows it is there. We had the hardest time deciding--we really could not even get a gut feeling. By this morning, he had decided on the townhouse. God willing, he will move into it on Monday. That is such a fun area to be in--restaurants all over, and famous music clubs and bars--I think it will be a lot of fun. And how often do you get the chance to be so frivolous and just pick something for fun like that? Pretty much never.


Being there this morning before I came back home, I started thinking about all the photography opportunities I would have while Barry is living there. I was born in St Louis and lived there when I was little, and of course, I shop there, go to the doctor there, etc, but because I am always in a hurry with everything I do, I have not paid as much attention to so many of the neat things there are to take pictures of. This is going to get me out of my photo rut, and we are going to have a great time enjoying all the little things we miss by rushing all the time.

All this running out of town business always ends in the same way---what kind of mess will I find when I get home? Today, it was not what I expected. Sly had a crack in his hoof, so the farrier was scheduled to come out tonight. I mentioned to him that I thought he might have been a bit off on his hind left the other day, but it might have been just the bad frozen muddy ground. I left Matt there with Sly to go start the water at the farm, and when I got back, he said the crack was fine, but Sly was breathing really weirdly. I had noticed when I fetched him up that he was nowhere near himself--he made me walk all the way out there to get him, drag him back, and was not happy to see me. I can count on one hand the times that has happened--he loves me and gets so excited to see me every day. He was not that way today.

After his trim, he seemed off on his front left--where his crack was. However, the crack was not as bad as it had first appeared, so it was not that. He is definitely not right on that side. There is no heat, no pulse, not lumps or bumps anywhere to explain it. I suppose he could be working an abcess and I hope it is that easy. Even though I cannot imagine what it is, I do not think it is what is making him act so weird. I called the vet, took his temp, checked his gums, his level of hydration, his tum is working if all the poop means anything--its all normal. Doc M suggested I keep him in a stall where I can watch him, bute him up a bit and supervise closely--and call if he does something else weird. I think he thinks perhaps his trim is causing him pain, and since I did not see the onset of heavy breathing, I cannot rule it out, but I sure saw no sign of it in his hoof itself.

We have a weird stall situation here--Sly has removed most of the boards dividing two stalls, so the wall is only about two feet high. He does not like to be stalled. He does not freak out, he just looks at it as a challenge. He is more than a bit of a houdini. I put him in the good stall, went to get him hay and fresh bedding, and when I got back, he was in the next one. Matt had tied him up and laughed at him. I could not get him to go back for love or money, so I had to take apart our temp fix-it and walked him back to his stall. There, his grain and hay and water were waiting for him--but he had known that for two hours by then. He had perked up a bit seeing it, but could not get himself to it. That is just weird.

When I left him, he was torn between eating his hay and eating grain. I am hoping they keep him busy enough that he stays put, but I would not be surprised to find him somewhere else. As irritating as that can be, it will be a suggestion that he is feeling good enough to cause trouble.

In the only at Paige's house theme---I found a pile of pony poop in the tack room tonight. Obviously, I know who did it--but why? And when? What goes on down there when I am not there to watch them?

No hail for hammer

This pic was taken from the same spot as the top pic in my last post--two days later when it was not getting ready to hail. Way more to see huh? It is a pretty high point.
This is what baby Hammer looks like on day 3 of hard riding. He got better and better every single day. There was nothing he could have done better.
I never had to worry about him worrying the reins when he was tied for a break, because he was too tired!


Isn's he darling? I never thought I would be able to say this, but this one even tops Radar on his first hard trail ride. Someone will have a handy little horse when he gets a new home---any takers? You won't be able to throw anything at him on the trail that he will not take in stride. He will hop logs, climb out of steep ravines--he will drop his little butt and shimmy down the side of a cliff like he has done it a million times--and when he slipped in one, he burn the hide off his fetlocks and still has not even told me about it. He is a stoic sort, and I sure did not expect that from him. He thinks he is big--and thereby able to climb out of creeks like the other horses, even when the edge is almost over his head. And then by God, he does it, even if he has to crawl on his knees to get up it. I could not be more shocked by him, I swear.

The area is much prettier when the sun is shining, isn't it?
Hammer went up and down this washed out climbing spot---I admit that on the way down, I shut my eyes, laid back and let him go--hoping he could handle the weight shifts and be sure footed about it. He did it better than the other horses, and I do not think he considered for a second not doing it. Going back up, he just dug down and got after it, and the only side effect was my lost hornbags who could not handle the angle
There seem to be a lot of pics of roads here, and we rarely even ride on a fire road. This year's rain has worn out some of our regular paths, so that they are just rutted gravel--far more slickery than the rougher terrain we are used to.
This was a rare moment when Hawk was not torturing Jodi by rubbing his head on her to scratch. He is a scratchy dude. They got along fine--she liked him. As she said, he is a bit of an asshole, but he rides nice so she liked him. He comes across as such a thug and I do not know why, as he really is not--and he is so brave, I swear he holds his breath and just throws himself into any new challenge. I do not think he has any fear about anything either.

Here, he was asking Head if he could maybe have a drink of beer. I do not know how he made out on that deal. I suppose if Hawk really wanted it, he would have knocked Head off his perch and taken it.

Linda has a long horse--it makes it easier to get phone reception in the wilderness. Even out there, there is always something demanding attention back home--so thank goodness The Dirty Cowboy knows how to hook her up with a high point to take a phone call.



Radar rode only on Monday, and that is when we realized that he and Hammer have to share a headstall for their bitty heads. I was not about to give it up, so Barry had to make do with a closer fit. Not very close at all, actually--about a half inch too long, and the buckles on the throat latch thing were missing. Because we are fancy, Barry tied it in a knot under Radar's jaw--which of course would not stay. There was no curb chain either--so this poor feller was in a bit of a snit about his ill-fitting equipment. He and Barry do not get along like Radar and I do, so they argued for a while, until they reached a truce. And now I have an excuse to shop some more!

Look how far down on his head that browband is--pathetic, huh? He is still awfully pretty, but I guess we might as well admit that he will always wear a yearling halter and have to have his headstalls adapted to fit his pea head. I guess there are worse problems.

We had a great weekend, and there are more pics to go through, but if I waited to post until I was recovered, it would never happen.

I love these weekends with Headleys and Jodi, and various other people that come along-- they rejuvenate me. I am lucky to have friends like this to spend time with, and lucky to have a constant supply of home grown babies that make me happy to be around, and ride. What more could anyone ask for?

The Clampetts go to Chicago

Last weekend, Mike, Jenna and I hauled our hillbilly butts up the road to go see Barry in his new digs. Well, I was the only hillbilly, but it is my story, so I am making them hillbillies too.

We got to Barry's apartment a little after 9--it was nice, and what we could see of the neighborhood was nice too. We did not have much time to mess around though, since we had some people to meet at a local resort watering hole. It was on the water --Indian Lakes Resort. That was a lot of fun, to see Jen and other Mike, and meet their friends.

We had a late nite, and that is all that needs to be said about that.

The next day we turned into full-blown tourists. I mean, serious tourists. Mike had seen a place on the Travel Channel that is famous for its weirdo sausage, and he wanted to go there. Thank God for GPS, which took us directly to Hot Dougs Unfortunately, it also took a whole bunch of other people. We arrived at 2:30 and there was a line longer than the block. I do not need reindeer sausage that much, and evidently neither did Mike, as he consented to move along to our next Chicago tourist activity.

That was deep dish pizza at Gino's East. I am not a fan on the deep dish pizza, as it seems to be to just have its toppings on upside down and I do not get that, but I never turn down pizza at all. Barry's GPS, Trixie, took us to the wrong one, but that let us sit outside and enjoy the 70 degree weather. It was awesome.

For our next stage of acting like we have never been to the big city, we went downtown to shop and hang out. We covered a healthy section of State Street and Michigan Avenue, which was fun. It is odd how when you can do that, you just do not. Had we come from some other state, I am sure we would do it more often.

We had a break for a drink at Dick's Last Resort in its new location on the river. While there, I got a text from a friend from junior high, and she was with her friends at the Roof at The Wit. Our server told us it was quite the big deal place to go, but that we were dressed like hillbillies....

And we were of course. We are not the sort of people to let that phase us though, and we went anyway. It was fun to see Julie, and Roof is gorgeous. It is on the 27th Floor of this new hotel, overlooking the river and the downtown area. The only thing more stunning were the people....I don't know if I have ever seen so many stunning people in one place in my life. We spent a few hours there catching up and people-watching. It was a great way to end a nite--and the lines to get in when we left backed up the story that this is a very popular place. You can see some pics here--Roof


We were worn out after that, so we called it a night. It was a great day.

Kiteboarding

This was Barry's kiteboarding instructor in Bonaire. I do not know what his name is. I do not know if he speaks English. I do not care about any of those things. Do you?

I am not really a fan of a little man like this--although he was probably average, not little. Even I can appreciate such good colors though--blue water, tan skin, blond hair and white teeth. No wonder I do not know what language he speaks.


Barry has wanted to learn kitesurfing for years. Something always gets in the way. In St. Maarten, it was too windy once, and the next time, they did not have an available instructor. They did not offer it in Belize, so when he found out that it was a big deal in Bonaire, I knew he set his heart on it.

And since his ears exploded again and he could not really dive, he got the chance to do it finally. We found the place on the south end of the island.


He spent about three hours learning how to do it. They started on the beach learning how to work the kite. Then he used a small board in the shallow, and learned how to work that.

The little we saw of his lessons, it looked like he was doing pretty well, even though it was super windy.
That part looks hard---Barry said sometimes the kite would pull you out easily and sometimes, it sucked you right out of the water like a bullet. Evidently he got the flying part down really well. The landings need some work, I hear. It really does look fun, but no way could I do that.

I guess he thinks he is superman now.

A twofer--Gabi/Tequila

Lookie here--Gabi can swim! Ok, it it not totally swimming, but it is pretty danged impressive for a 26-month old short person. She powered around the pool like a wild woman all on her own forever. I am not kidding...she would putter around, or tread water, and float on her back or swim from one person to another. She could not grab the side ever because it would tip her over--not that she cared. She does not hold her nose at all, and if she gets water in her mouth, she just spits it out. It is so cute.
We have these really big noodle-like things--but they are kind of bean baggish in feel. She tried to tackle one on her own, but she is so tiny, she could not really get her arms around one enough to hang on it alone. That is all right with her though, since she loves "Uncle Barely", she can just play with him
She has no fear. I was probably more worried she would jump off the pool into the yard than she was of jumping into the pool. I realize she does this every day at home, but I figured maybe it would be different with an above ground pool than her nice pool. Did not phase her though. She would go way underwater and come up laughing. It was so fun to watch. Mandy and I were both like that as little bitty kids too.
Then we came in the house when it got dark, and Gabi fell in love with Tequila. It is kind of hard not to do, even as jacked up as Quila is. Important thing to note about this phot0, besides that grin on Gabi's face--Tequila is standing UP. She had a great evening last nite. I have been struggling so hard about her condition. Her back end is really getting weak. LAst nite, she was able to get up on her own, go up and down all the steps without falling, came to the pool to hang out with us, and changed locations a few times. It was wonderful. She is not sturdy by any means, but she did it. We have had a few days lately where going up and down the few stairs we have caused her to fall down. It scares her and makes me cry. She is not good on the tile or the wood floors- and we have only two rooms with carpet. She never even complains or cries like she hurts, but her daily dose of Previcox (Which I was out of for a few days while we were on vacation, so I have been blaming her downhill slide on lack of proper meds) does tend to help her. This week, we have put her on Tramadol as a last ditch effort to get her moving more. If this does not do the trick, Tequila will have to be put to sleep.
And it is killing me. Because I love her and I know she did not have an easy life before she came to us a couple of years ago--hell, it has not always been easy since she got here. I do not want her to suffer and I am afraid I am not willing to see the final sign from her because I dread it so much. It is horrible.
Gabi hugged her real big and said "I love you, Quila", while I was taking pictures, and of course, that set me off crying. I kept hoping these were not the last pics I would ever be able to take of her. And then being glad that Tequila got to have a fun day with Gabi, and that Gabi got to love on her--she loves dogs so much, despite being bitten in the face by her nutbag dog and as a result, having to get rid of her.
Quila is not the most affectionate dog in the world, but she liked Gabi loving her.
They had several important discussions. Notice the pig in the background--he is sneaking up on her, because he is a little scared of Gabi and this seemed to be the only way he could do it.
I do not know who is bossing who in this picture.
Everyone likes Slater, so I brought him in give her someone else to love on. This picture absolutely cracked me up--she is so tiny, she does not even come to his chin. I think he is hugging her back though.
It is fun playing at our house. There are a lot of toys for dogs to get out, and some hats to play with and leftover Mardi Gras beads...we are a well-rounded household.

She is pretty cute huh?

Weekend in the woods

Try as we might, we cannot quite get everything together at the same time. We got out of town a little after 4 pm on Friday and arrived at the campground around 5:30. Jodi and Ed had been there all afternoon, so were set up and relaxing. We were surprised to see how busy the campground was--we have gotten a little spoiled in that we have quite often had it mostly to ourselves over the past year, since our friend bought it. The word is out though that it is open, and it was pretty busy.


We hung out and had dinner and talked all nite. We expected Amy and Burt to arrive from Chicago Friday nite, but they hit a snag of some sort, and did not get in until Saturday afternoon. Linda and Randy arrived Saturday morning. We had a nice ride--not long, maybe 3 hours or so on Saturday afternoon.


I rode Gyro, because she is delightful. And after this, none of the pics will make any sense.


This Great Pyr came to visit on Sunday. I thought he was swell.

Amy brought her pack of dogs. This is Bopper.
Every time the dogs got a chance, they got their short asses right back in the Denali. Evidently, camping is not the best thing in their world--they prefer leather seats to sleeping in a tent.
This is Jodi, looking like she has been caught in a thunderstorm, because she had in fact been caught in a thunderstorm. Our Sunday ride went off the rails a bit, as it looked like the rain was over. It most certainly was not.
Only Eddie had a reasonable raincoat. I of course, had nothing, and was soaked to the skin.
Look how wet all the horses are. I had to use the flash too, as the skies were so dark.
Poor Amy had on a sweater, I cannot imagine how unpleasant that felt.

I did not mind the rain so much, it was actually kind of fun.
This is what Jodi looks like when she is not caught in a thunderstorm. Her horse is a pretty good boy too.
Here, you can kind of see Tequila's ouchies. And that her ass is shaved, so that her wounds could be treated. She discovered the couch in the trailer, but honestly, she was as happy having the mid tack and stud stall to herself--she could come and go and had two rooms to choose from. Not a bad way to live.
This is Barry and Head at the initial tree. We always stop here for a snack break.
Who knew that Bocephus had been there?
It was at this stop that Gyro got up close and personal with this tree. She spent the longest time trying to get it in just the right place to scratch her itchies--which evidently involved her udder or something else personal. I don't think you can see her face well enough to know how much she was enjoying this episode. We watched her do this for several minutes, moving that tree all over the place. When she got done, she picked up her off hind leg and tried to get it out of there--that required hopping on her other leg all the way around the tree. She never got the least bit bothered by any of it--she is a good girl, and kept us laughing for a while.
This is the big Weed. His real name is Tumble Weed. we mostly call him the Weed. When he is bad, he is the called Dick Weed. This weekend, he was regular Weed, which is nice.
I did not get many scenery shots, as I thought I would have time on Sunday--and then the down pour started, so I mostly have pics of rain, and a few rocks in the rain. That kind of sucks
This is Tequila acting like a good girl. She was an angel all weekend, and she is feeling very good. It does my heart good.
Ah--finally proof that it did not rain the entire weekend. This is Linda and the Dirty Cowboy. Saturday was hot and humid and other than it making me sweaty, it was really nice.
Barry rode Hawk on Saturday. Hawk got cut from the team last year, as he was pretty solid and did not need the work, and got bratty about the trailer. It was time for that to end though, so he was back in the lineup. He was excellent. Did not take a wrong step, was great about the trailer, and was all around swell in every single way. We were thrilled since he has been off so dang long--like a year or so--which is a long time for a young horse. Barry loves him.


I kinda like him my own self. He is such a handsome boy. He is going to make someone a great horse---if someone would just step up and buy him. You could not ask for more in a young horse with as little work as he has had--he is just such an athlete, but laid back enough to get along with everyone.

This is Barry's favorite activity on these weekends---sitting. He did not ride on Sunday, opting instead to go mountain biking, but he did not get to do that either due to the rain. So he sat and rested. I take my resting in the form of a nap--I slept so long Saturday evening, I missed dinner. I only was down for an hour or so on Sunday when Darrell and Paula showed up and I never ever ever miss the Logan show. You just cannot make that stuff up, so I got up for that adventure.
The other swell thing of this trip as baby Junior---Eddie and Jodi's pup. Is he not the cutest thing ever?