Saturday's

Saturday's can be busy around my house or very, very quiet. I suppose it is that way with everyone.

Today I had every intention of going out and playing with my Rosie pony. The weather was supposed to be gorgeous, in the 50's. I wanted to go out in the morning before the wind kicked up and made things uncomfortable. I am kind of a fair weather person. I feel I put in my dues with cold weather growing up in Maine. Things took a little different route however. You see, my husband received a bunch of gift certificates to Men's Wearhouse for Christmas because he wanted to get a new suit and he decided that this was the weekend to go in search of said suit. Plus, he said he would take me out to lunch. For those of you who don't know me, after horses, going out to eat is my second hobby. I love to go out to eat. I think it has something to do with the food magically arriving at the table and then the dishes being whisked away when you are done. As much as I wiggle my nose this just DOES NOT happen at my house. I have even gone so far as to leave the dishes out over night so that fairies can come take care of them but evidently fairies have better things to do with their time. So we trucked on up to Fort Collins for lunch and a suit. Mission accomplished across on both fronts.

After getting home, changing, and putting my daughter down for a nap I was back out the door to see the Rosie Pony. I first made a trip to the feed store to buy some Cowboy Magic Green Spot Remover though. One side of Rosie is getting kind of nasty where she poops in her stall and then lays in it. She gets pasture turnout time during the day but I guess she doesn't want to waste it sleeping. Or maybe she has decided that sleeping on the ground is beneath her and she needs some nice comfy shavings to rest her head in when she getting her REM sleep. Finally, I get to the barn around four and guess what? The wind has kicked up. Not just a little breeze, I mean the tarp on the big hay pile is straight out flapping in the wind. This big hay pile is also on the way to the round pen that I typically use. I really didn't feel like getting killed so I decided that today would be a good day to stay in the barn and put some elbow grease into grooming my little Appy beast.

I brushed and brushed until my arms felt like noodles but there was still dirt coming off of her. Not much I can do about it until it warms up enough for a bath, which is probably going to be awhile. Rosie was good, she stood there like a gem. Usually if it is windy and she hasn't been worked she is antsy. Maybe she was good because I tied her up outside of her buddy, Jett's stall and they were able to converse a little. I remembered to bring in the Cowboy Magic bottle but I forgot about the rags until after I had already tied Rosie up and there was no one in the barn to keep an eye on her while I ran back out to my truck. She probably would have been fine but I didn't really want to take the chance of something spooking her and her pulling back. At the previous place where I kept her I used to tie her up and wander all around so that she would know I didn't need to babysit her but that was also at a private persons house and there really wasn't anyone around for her to hurt if she flipped out. Here there are always other boarders around or kids taking lessons and I just don't want to get anyone hurt. So I just brushed the crusty area really well. It is still stained but is not all stiff anymore. I also picked up and cleaned out all four feet, brushed her head and played with her ears a little. All in all a pretty good grooming session.

As a side note, Rosie has a new little sister! She was born in Texas two days ago in an ice storm. She is also solid! Both of her parents are Appy's and have had five babies previous to this one and none have been solid. I just got pictures of her today and boy is she a cutey even though she is solid. If anyone out there is looking, these babies have really good minds. I can't tell you the number of stupid things I have done with Rosie and gone thank God she is as good minded as she is or I would be a pancake right now.

Camp St. Malo

Thank you to all those who posted comments on my procrastination post. It's nice to know that I am not alone. My hopes for a cure, however, have dwindled!

I had a question about the picture that I posted along with my Simple Woman's Daybook entry. The picture is of the Chapel on the Rocks at Camp St. Malo. Camp St. Malo is a Catholic Retreat, Conference and Spiritual Center according to it's website which can be found here Camp St. Malo The Chapel is still in use. In fact the day that we were there and I took those pictures there was a mens choir practicing inside and you could hear them outside. The doors are unlocked and you can go inside for a look around but they do ask that you please close the door as they have had problems in the past with animals entering the chapel. It is a very lovely chapel and has been well kept up. My pictures may have made it look harsh or deserted because I was taking them at about 11:00 in the morning which is not the best light. I also do not have Photoshop or any photoediting software so those shots are straight out of the camera.


I would highly recommend stopping here and looking around if you are tooling around the scenic back roads of Colorado. Camp St. Malo is located on Hwy. 7 also known as the Peak to Peak highway. It is about 4 miles north of Allenspark and you can't miss it, the chapel sits very close to the road. It is easier to see if you are coming from the south. Coming from the north I think the driveway is right next to some trees so you might miss it and have to turn around to actually pull in and park.

We made a day of going up there and went onto Estes Park for lunch and a look around the Stanley Hotel. The Stanley Hotel was the inspiration for Stephen King's book "The Shining." I was a Stephen King fan during my teen years, what with us both being from Maine and all, but I have gotten to be a scardey cat in my older years and just can't read his books anymore. One other notable thing is that F.O. Stanley, the man who built the Stanley Hotel (he was also the creator of the Stanley Steamer. The car not the cleaning service.) is that he was also from Maine. I believe he had contracted TB and had moved to Colorado for the dry air. Here is the link for the Stanley, they have much better pictures than what I took. The Stanley Hotel

Is there an AA for procrastinators?

If there is, I need to start attending immediately! Or maybe I will just catch the next meeting, because it is really cold and snowy out there and I hadn't planned on going anywhere today.... Is this sounding familiar to anyone out there?

A prime example of my procrastination. Today, I intended on making one last batch of peanut butter cookies with some dough I had in the fridge. I pulled it out and thought, gee, when did I make this? I realized it has been in the refrigerator for a week today. I smelled it. It smells kind of sour. I don't think this is how peanut butter cookie dough is supposed to smell. In the trash it goes.

Another example. I made an Irish Chain lap quilt for my daughter for her first birthday. Correction, I finished the top part of the quilt and gave it to her fully intending on getting it put together and quilted in the near future. She turned THREE last week and where do you think that quilt is? It is in a box waiting to be sent off to be finished.


My first memory of my procrastination causing an issue was when I was in the fourth grade. We had been assigned to make a model of the human digestive system. We were given plenty of time to complete this assignment. When do you think I started mine? Ding, ding, ding! The night before! You are correct! I remember my mother searching our house for bits and pieces of yarn or foam of any sort that could be assembled into a reasonable looking model of the human gut while I sat tearily hating Mr. Cooper for assigning us this stupid project.

Right now I am using this blog post to procrastinate on folding laundry. When does it end?

The Simple Woman's Daybook

FOR TODAY January 26, 2009
Outside my window... it is dark and cold
I am thinking... I had a nice time while my mom was here.
I am thankful for... a nice warm house
From the kitchen... only leftovers for dinner
I am wearing... my blue Campobello Island sweatshirt, old black sweatpants and my L.L. Bean slippers
I am going... to try and get everything on my to do list done this week
I am reading... horse magazines
I am hoping... that it warms up a little this week
I am hearing... a too loud movie that my husband is watching
Around the house... everything is a disaster
One of my favorite things... is Bailey's and hot chocolate
A few plans for the rest of the week: Just to make it through the week
Here is picture thought I am sharing...
This is a picture that I took a week ago on a drive to the mountains. I believe it is called the Chapel on the Rocks at Camp St. Malo.


http://thesimplewomansdaybook.blogspot.com

Blog break

I will be taking a little break from blogging this week as my mom is in town visiting us!  Hopefully I will have some fun things to talk about next week as I will hopefully be making two trips to the National Western Stock Show this week!  Catch up with ya later!

Horse Treats

It seems I am a blogging fool today, what with this being my third post and all.

Anyways, onto the horse treats.  Today I made some horse treats for my little beauty.  From scratch.  My family doesn't even get this most of the time.  I decided to try this because

1. I saw the recipes in Horse Illustrated a couple of months ago and 

2. The horse treats Rosie likes are are like $3 a bag and only have about six treats in them. 

Which is okay if you only use them once in awhile.  I tend to use them more often.  I didn't used to.  When I was a teenager and had horses my mom was the treat dispenser.  In fact I thought people who made treats for their horses had way too much time on their hands.  My, how times have changed!

This is the recipe I used:

Carrot/Apple Horse Cookies

1 cup grated carrot

1 cup grated apple

2 Tbsp. corn oil

1/4 cup molasses

1 tsp. salt

1 cup rolled oats

1 cup flour

Combine the grated carrot, grated apple, corn oil, and molasses in a mixing bowl and blend well.  Gradually fold in the salt, rolled oats and flour and continue blending.  Drop the dough by spoonfuls two inches apart on an ungreased baking sheet.  Bake at 350 degrees for 15 to 20 minutes or until lightly browned.

I got this recipe from the November 2008 issue of Horse Illustrated.

Getting started:  Assemble ingredients 

Let me just say that I love my Kitchen Aid mixer.  It is so very handy to just dump the ingredients in and walk away while it mixes everything together for you.  I highly recommend one if you are at all thinking about getting one.

First four ingredients blended together:

Then the remaining ingredients are then mixed in and it looks like this:

Once everything is all mixed together it is time to put them on the pan and into the oven.

And this is what you are left with!

Kidding, kidding!!!

Here is the real final product:

Look good enough to eat don't they?  Hopefully Rosie will think so too.

These do need to be refrigerated or they will go bad.  I put some in the fridge and then some in the freezer.  I got 20 cookies out of this batch.  

I had to laugh, when my husband came home he hadn't even made it to the kitchen yet and he said "you made horse treats didn't you?"  So I said that I had and then he responded that he wished that I made regular cookies as often as I made horse cookies.  Now, he isn't totally deprived, I just made Oatmeal Scotchies last week.  Before that though I can't remember the last time that I made people cookies.  

Not much happening...

around here but wow, I really need to do an update!  I started this just to kind of chronicle daily life, not that mine is that exciting but very few things ever seem remarkable while you are just going about your business.  It isn't until you look back and say "wow, that was a really neat time, I wish I had written more stuff down."

I haven't had much time lately to work with my filly.  It has either been to cold/windy (it is after all winter here on the front range of Colorado) or I haven't been able to get anyone to watch my daughter.  My husband works full time so that leaves large sections of time where it is just me and the kid hanging out together.  Which is fine, that is what a stay at home mom does, but when we have a nice day I ache to get some time in with my horse.  Oh well, life goes on.  I did get to spend some time with her on Sunday though.  I tried to groom her well and get some of the dirt off but I think that the yellowing on her haunches will stay till spring.  It is just too cold to give her a bath and I don't blanket her so she will just stay stained.  I always told myself after my last horse who was a sorrel and white tobiano Paint, that my next horse was going to be a s*#t brown horse so I didn't have to deal with manure stains anymore.  Well, what did I end up with?  An Appy.  One who roans out more each spring.  One who will probably be more white the brown as she ages.  Oh well, maybe the next horse will be a lovely s*&t brown.  Given my penchant for colored horses it probably won't happen.

My mom is coming for a visit this week.  She lives in Tennessee and hasn't seen my daughter since she was 18 months old.  Considering that my daughter will be three next week, it has been awhile.  I'm not sure what we are going to do while she is here.  We have tickets to a rodeo at Stock Show so that will take up one day.  Maybe a visit to the Butterfly Pavilion or the Denver Zoo would be nice if the weather holds up.  Or maybe the aquarium if it doesn't.  

I have to post another picture of my Appy beast.  She is just too darn cute not too!  This one I snapped on Sunday after I had brushed her.  I meant to bring my Show Sheen with me to do her mane and tail but forgot it.  I put it in my basement because it had frozen out in the garage where I keep all my horse stuff.  I did happen to bring my thrush treatment though which was good since she appears to be a little thrushy in her front feet.  Which is what that green stain is on the wall of the barn down by the floor.  I had set it on the tack trunk while I was holding her foot up waiting for it to seep in.  She had started to nudge my back with her nose and it was making me nervous as she used to bite when she was a baby and you were doing something she didn't like so I started pushing her nose back with my elbow.  Well, she must have decided to go after to bottle of thrush stuff instead.  She hit it with her nose, got green stuff on her face, sent the bottle flying into the wall and got green stuff all over the wall.  When I realized what she had done I sort of had mini stroke because I thought "geez, here I am under her feet and she is sending stuff flying everywhere.  At least she had the good sense not to spook at it after she knocked it over."  Count your blessings, where you can get them I guess!

The Simple Woman's Daybook

FOR TODAY January 13, 2009... (A few days late)

Outside my window... melting snow

I am thinking... do I want to go back to school?  How will I manage it with a small child? 

I am thankful for... bleach (don't ask, you probably don't want to know)

From the kitchen... dirty dishes needing to be washed

I am wearing... purple CSU hooded sweatshirt (hmm, I am sensing a theme here), light blue jeans and L.L. Bean shearling slippers

I am creating... a clean house, I hope.

I am going... to go get a drink soon.

I am reading... Western Horseman

I am hoping... that everything goes alright with my mom's flights on Thursday.

I am hearing... my dog snoring and she's downstairs

Around the house... silence, except for the dog snoring

One of my favorite things... nap time

A few plans for the rest of the week: Get the house cleaned up, pick up my mom on Thursday, hopefully get to see my horse.

Here is picture that I am sharing... my dog, Angel, playing in the new snow that we had yesterday.  She is so glad to be back where it snow's.  I have never seen a dog enjoy snow as much as she does!

This idea is courtesy of The Simple Woman's Daybook located at www.thesimplewomansdaybook.blogspot.com

I am still relatively new to Blogger and I have no idea how to put in a link where you can just click on it, sorry!  I need some educating I guess!

Adventures of a Horse Crazed Mind posted this photography meme on her site and tagged everyone who reads her site with it.  

The rules are:

1) Go to your picture folder, or wherever you store your photos on your computer

2) Go to the sixth folder and pick the sixth picture.

3) Post it on your blog and tell the story that goes along with the picture

4) Tag five friends to do the same thing, and leave a message on their blog that they have been tagged

I tag everyone who reads this blog, all one of you out there! 

Anyways, this is my photo:

This was taken on I-70 headed west.  We were on the way to my in-laws house for Thanksgiving.  I had never had the chance to take pictures on the way over before so I made sure I brought my camera this time.  It was a bright sunny day and the mountains were beautiful.  My husband and I remarked at the lack of snow for the time of year.  We should have kept our mouths shut.  On the way back over we ran into a snow storm and what normally is a four hour trip took eight hours.  Not easy with an almost three year old going stir crazy in the back seat.  We made it home safe and sound though, so no big deal!

So, tag, your it!

The Simple Woman's Daybook

FOR TODAY January 4, 2008...

Outside my window...I see the street light glowing orange against the dark of the winter evening

I am thinking...I hope I do this right

I am thankful for...my daughter sitting on the floor next to me healthy and safe

From the kitchen... pizza that I am ignoring that needs to put away

I am wearing... a purple CSU hooded sweatshirt and sweatpants

I am creating... nothing at the moment but have plenty of ideas swirling my brain

I am going...to take my daughter to story time tomorrow

I am reading... I am in between Twilight books right now, I hope that my step-mom hurries and sends me the next ones in the series

I am hoping... for a quiet evening

I am hearing... Go Deigo, Go

Around the house... the Christmas decorations need to be put away

One of my favorite things... HORSES

A few plans for the rest of the week: Get the Christmas decorations put away, clean master bath, find a way to sneak down to Stock Show early

Here is picture thought I am sharing...

This is my lovely, coming two year old Appy filly Rosie.  I was just goofing with the camera the other day after working her.  She was following my around wondering what in the heck I was doing.  Please ignore the dirt on her side, she spent a fair amount of time in her stall around Christmas time when the pastures were too icy for turnout.