The grass problem, but gotta love him.

Pictured above are the beautiful animals that live in my pasture on a daily basis. Sorry no picture of Miss Kitty but she does live in the barn and only weighs 5 lbs so she gets a break. Pictured in the barn is Hope and Missy. They are mother and daughter and enjoy hanging out in the barn way more than being in the pasture. I guess it is cooler in the barn and less flies.
The next picture is Miss Sage, who most of you are familiar with. Notice Sage is standing near the area where I have planted grass seed. The biggest point of this picture is she is standing.
The next picture tells the story of today. Mr Ben. Notice Ben is laying in the area where I have planted grass not only once but three times. He loves to roll in this area. He rolls and rolls and rolls. You get the idea. Donkey's love to roll in dirt. It keeps them cooler and helps to keep flies off of them. Well I happen to have a large area of dirt and he is loving it.
Also notice the look on this donkey's face. I think he is laughing at me. He knows I do not want him rolling in my grass seed. I have shoooed him off of it several times. He just comes right back and rolls more. While I was there yesterday he layed down and rolled and rolled and rolled right in front of me and then looked up at me with this expression on his face. I swear he is laughing at me!
Friends I will never grow anything in this area with him constantly rolling on it. Grass will not grow under these circumstances. I cannot rope it off because it is right in front of the enterance to the barn and Missy and Hope love the barn. I also believe all of them should have access to shelter if we should happen to get rain. But if we get rain, then I will have mud and maybe, but only maybe, Mr Ben will not roll. But only for a short time. When it dries out, he will start rolling. He must think I made this area just for him. Althought he stood and watch me plant grass not once but 3 times.
I could put up a sign that says "No Rolling" but I am not sure if he can read and even more sure if he could read, don't know if he would obey the sign. I think he would still roll and roll and roll.
I also still think this little fellow is laughing at me. The look on his face when he looked at me just told it all. He knows he is doing wrong and he knows I love him and will not do anything. I guess I will just have a huge dirt area in front of my barn and he can be happy rolling and rolling.
Everyone have a wonderful day and a really great weekend. Tell the ones you love that you do love them.
Thanks for reading.

Grass ???!!!xxx***???!

Part of the construction at the barn was to grade some of the ground around the barn hoping to stop water from running into the stalls. Water and Mud is a real problem due to sloop of the land there.
I had the opportunity to plant a different type of grass so I would not have tall weeds around the barn. I was excited. Well I was excited. Now I am mostly annoyed and aggriviated. I researched to determine the best type of grass that would grow under the types of abuse it would encounter there. Dry temperature, large animals walking around on it, and being on a hill. The local feed and seed store recomended the perfect seed and I got double what the gentleman thought I would need. Always go large and get more. I planted this seed as soon as grading was complete and the heavy equipment stopped driving on the ground. That night we had a very heavy rain and almost all of my seed washed into the pond. Then it rained hard and heavy for 3 more days. Oh well, not to be discouraged I went back to the feed and seed store and bought more seed and replanted. The weather man said the chance of rain was only 30% so I assumed things would be OK. The very next morning we had what is called a gully washer and guess what. All my grass seed washed into the pond. OK, I do not accept defeat very easily so I go back to the feed and seed store and purchase more grass seed. I go back and once again plant grass seed. We even had a light sprinkle of rain that afternoon so I felt good. My new grass had been watered and things were looking up.
The next day when there was only a 20% chance of rain, there was a huge downpour of rain at my barn that lasted about 15 minutes. I was at the barn when it happeded and I could see the rain washing toward the pond. Probably most of my grass seed was going with it.
Well the good news is that most of the water does run away from the barn and not into the new stalls. The other news is that I think once again my grass seed had washed away. My grass seed is blue, so when I walk out around the barn I can still see some seed there. I decided not to plant again but see what happens. Well we have had no rain. I do not have running water at my barn so I cannot water my grass. It has been a week with no rain now. Finally I went out yesterday and carried a bucket of water and watered my grass seed as best I could. Nothing is coming up that looks like grass. I have some really good mud though. Well not even mud anymore because there has been no rain. I am going to wait another week and if I do not see anything coming up that looks like grass I will try once again to plant grass. Funny, the grass I bought was suppose to come up under any conditions and would grow anywhere. I must be doing something wrong. A friend said in about 3 weeks I will have so much grass because it probably did not wash away and I keep putting more seeds out. I hope she is right. I will let you know.
Everyone have a great day and tell the ones you love that you do love them.

Happy Memorial Day

Happy Memorial Day and a Special "Thank You" to all troops past, present, and future that gave so much so we can have all the freedoms we have.
Thank a Vet today and tell the ones you love that you do love them.

Stopped

Well construction on the barn has stopped because it has rained for 40 days and 40 nights. Well OK maybe not that long, but it has rained for several days and construction has come to a full and complete stop. I planted grass seed and it all washed into the pond. Can we say I have been defeated by mother nature.  Well I will let mother nature have this battle but in the end I will win the war. I do not accept defeat easily so I will be back at it right away. I will have green grass and new stalls in my barn!!!!
The horses were miserable on the other side of the pasture so I put them on the side they are used to with all the mud because the grass seed washed away. Now they are walking around in 5 inches of mud. They are still happier in the mud rather than being in the very high grass. The grass was so tall on the other side that sometimes you could not see Ben for the grass. Poor little fellow. The horses were very unhappy too.
I will attempt to plant grass again in the next couple of days. I am going to plant a mixture this time so something will come up quickly while the grass I really want to grow has time to come up. Hope the horses to not trample it to death while it is trying to grow.
I think the weather is going to cooperate and no more rain for a few days. Maybe things will dry out and construction can begin again. Hopefully the new grass will have sunshine and begin to grow.
I will keep you updated. Hoping soon to have pictures of the new addition and also pictures of the new grass.
Everyone have a great day and tell the ones you love that you do love them. Thanks for reading.

It Begins!

Construction on the addition to my barn has begun. The guys started working on Tuesday. I am very excited. 2 more stalls for the girls. They can all have a seperate stall for eating napping or whatever. The one little fellow I have (Lil Ben) will have his own stall also. He will have a place to get away from all of the girls that worry him to death. We have not decided who will get which stall yet. Actually, I have not decided how we will let them know which stall is theirs anyway. I could put their name on the gate but I am not sure if any of them read well enough to understand. Either way, construction is underway and I am so very grateful for the guys working very hard over there doing this for me. I will add more pictures when the job is complete. Everyone had a really wonderful day and always tell the ones you love that you do love them.

My day.

Had a wonderful Mother's day. Spent a couple of hours with my Mom and it went well. No screaming and yelling so I consider that a good visit. (My Mom has Alzheimer's) Spent time at the barn with my Equine babies. No riding but everyone was groomed and loved on and spoiled. I have noticed as time goes on I care less about riding and more about spending time with them. Guess I am losing the riding touch. It is OK. The love I have for these animals has not dimmed any. It has grown more and more. I am more comfortable around them and trust them way more. Just do not seem to care about riding. Maybe it will come back. Maybe it will not. Either way I am enjoying having them and loving them.
Was informed that construction on the barn will begin this week. I am so excited. Extra stalls for the extra horses. More comfort for everyone. This is a great thing.
The weather has finally turned like Spring and this I really love. Makes me want to hang out at the barn more and more but this is my favorite time of the year. My mood is better.
Everyone have a wonderful week and remember to tell the ones you love that you do love them. I hope it is Spring where you are.

Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day to all the mother's out there. Enjoy your day and take the time to have a small amount of time for yourself. Enjoy what you love to do.
If you have a mother take the time to visit or call her. Sometimes just a phone call saying I Love You will make Mom's day. Visit if you can. You all know how I feel about that one small thing. We never know and none of us have the promise of another day.
Today is not the day to preach so tell your Mother you love her either with a visit or a phone call. If you are a mother enjoy your day and do something you enjoy.
Everyone have a wonderful day and tell the ones you love that you do love them.

Officer of the Year

Well I made it to the awards ceremony. Guess who is Officer of the Year. Yes my son. I am very proud. Although I must say, I am proud of him no matter what he does, even if it is not getting an award. Officer of the Year is a big deal, (well at least to Mom it is). We sat at the table with the Sheriff and his family. They were all very nice and a good time was had by all. I took lots of pictures but my son hates it when I use his picture freely on my blog or facebook page. I actually did put the pictures on my facebook page but I promised I would not put it on here.
I have decided that for some reason that is lost to me, Spring has not arrived this year. It has been cool and rainy with very little sun. Not the best temps for having outdoor activities. I am ready for some sunshine and warmer temps. If you can get a word to mother nature for me it would be greatly appreciated.
All the animals at the barn are doing great and the cat is getting fatter. Still not sure if we are going to be blessed with kittens. Not being a huge cat person I just do not know. Probably will not know until I see little fur balls running around the barn.
Everyone have a great day and tell the ones you love that you do love them.