I want my camera!!!! So there! I never knew how much I used it, until I didn't have it handy.

Good news! E. got hired at the business in Bloomington, a couple of weeks ago! He is having to learn a new computer system, and to learn about new merchandise. It is still the same type of work that he did before, just a different company, with different brands of the same products. He is doing inside sales, (customers coming into the store), a few job quotes, and pulling orders for contractors, etc. Now he drives 14 miles to work, instead of 61 miles. He was putting 30 dollars in his gas tank every 3 days, and now only once a week or less. He works 8:00 to 5:00 and is home by 5:25, and before when he drove to his previous job, he left at 6:00 and got home about 6:40. He is a happy man!!!

We have been trying to get our hay cut and baled, but depending on others to do it just doesn't work. We don't have a mower, so have contracted out to get that done, then we planned to rake and bale it ourselves. But...this person...has not even cut it yet! It was ready several weeks ago. It is yellow and wayyyyy overripe now. Ed has threatened to just mow it off with the bush hog. Everyone around us has had their hay in the barn already. Says he had an equipment breakdown, then the weather didn't co operate. Well, maybe, where is he right now? We have several days of nice weather starting today! Hmphhhh!!! We do know he did a field of hay for a neighbor, since he said he would do ours. Maybe it wasn't meant to be, huh??

The flowers that I planted in the porch boxes are beautiful! Sorry, can't take a photo of them for you!! (I want my camera!!!!!) can you tell I miss my camera??? My garden is growing, there are 2 inch long cucumbers on the vines already. Have a couple of tennis ball sized tomatoes. These are volunteer tomato plants that came up uninvited, from last years garden. So we don't know what they will be like. The ones I bought and planted are just starting to bloom.

E. has gone to his sister and BIL's home to get a load of fire wood. A storm blew down a large tree in their yard and they said he could have it if he wanted to come and get it. It is a two hour drive, pulling the trailerup there. They live just west of Indianapolis.

Nothing much going on around here. Gotta go and mow the grass today. It is neary long enough to make hay out of it too!! Going to go and make myself a cup of hot tea first, 'talk at ya later'.

Oh how I miss my camera! I accidently left it at M's and D's last weekend! and I need it. Now that it isn't here, I see all kinds of things I want to photograph! I would have taken it with me and took some pictures of our trail ride this morning. A friend had planned to go to JW Jones and ride this morning, and I was going to meet them there with Katie and ride also. But...it was supposed to rain this morning. I didn't want to haul my horse over there and get soaked and cold. (A good excuse not to have to haul her?) She called and said they were going to go anyway as it wasn't raining, and would throw a horse in the trailer for me if I wanted to ride. So that is what we did. I drove over and took my saddle and rode Belle, a TW/Quarter horse cross. She was a good horse.
We rode for 3 hours! Oh my tender anatomy!! It isn't used to this kind of muscle work!
It rained last night, with thunder and lightening. The trails were very muddy, and in the lowest places it was deep and sticky. It didn't rain on us, (there were three of us) and it was a lot of fun. Maybe next time I will take Katie and ride my own horse. She has every other weekend off and wants to ride often.
Today it was 57 degrees and very overcast. A bit chilly for me, but good for the horses.

What an absolutely glorious weekend! The weather couldn't have been more perfect!

On Saturday, Ed lifted the tarp on the hay baler to replace a couple of small parts, and what did he see?? A SNAKE! It was just laying there, not moving. Ed poked at it, but it didn't move. I picked up a 2 foot long stick and was going to lift it off the hay, but it MOVED!!! It was alive! Turned out to be a 4 foot long black snake. (not poisonous). But...it was a snake and I dislike any snake. Well, it slithered into the baler, and he went ahead and replaced his parts. Said it wasn't bothering him, so he didn't see any problem with it being in there! Yikes!!

As he called me to come see the snake, I walked past a post that we have a bluebird house attached to. There was a lot of fluttering and banging coming from it, so I lifted the front (it opens to clean it out between nesting seasons) and there was a fledgling bluebird inside, trying to get out. When I opened the box, he sort of just dropped like a rock onto the ground. Then I could see why he couldn't get out himself. His feet were so caked with dried bird droppings that they looked like he had boxing gloves on his feet! I picked him up and it was as dry and as hard as concrete. The weight of it had kept him from getting out on his own. The parent birds were still feeding him, and were dive bombing my head as I held him. The week before, Ed had mentioned that there were babies fluttering in that box, but I didn't look into it then. Just figured they were ready to leave the nest and were moving around. But now I think it was this same one, just couldn't get out on his own.
I took him to the hydrant and tried to wash it off of his feet, but it was just too hard. So I donned some rubber gloves, and took him into the house where I could use some warm water from the fawcet and went to work. It took me 15 minutes to work all that stuff off of his feet. Then I took him back out to the box area and set him on a fence post to dry. But he just fluttered into the tall grass at the bottom of the post. About an hour later, I went to check on him and found him in the same place but he was dry. I caught him and held him in my hand a minute, and when I opened my hand he flew toward a maple tree, and both parent birds were about 10 feet above him, calling and squawking. So he was being looked after. I was glad I could help, I hope he made it on his own out in the big world.

I rode Katie back on the Conservancy property later in the afternoon. She has not been riden back there for over a year, and other than being in a hurry, (to come back to the other horses) she was a good girl.

Today, Sunday, E and I went down to English and picked up a load of hay from the barn on my parents farm. While we were doing that, I thought I heard a bleat, from a deer? But...then...a goat popped its head around the workshop door! A goat? Mom and Dad don't have a goat!! They don't have any animals at all!! Well, it turns out it has been there for several days and no one knows where it came from. The neighbors haven't lost any goats, didn't have any to start with. So it is just there. Running loose. Some one needs to put a 'found goat' ad in the local paper. Since it was wearing a new red collar, it surely belongs to someone!! I hope the rightful owner turns up.

I rode Katie again today, and I think I love her more every time I ride her. She is an absolute love! She is willing to try anything and is so trusting, and I just love riding her. Am supposed to go riding with friends at J W Jones this Saturday. After finally hauling her myself a couple of weeks ago, maybe it will be easier this weekend. We will see.