I have been making mulberry jelly again. I went to Stoneridge and picked up the berries that Enrique had in his freezer. He had saved them and was waiting for me to come and get them and make them into jelly for him. He said he would get me the jars and sugar, but I haven't heard from him for weeks. I have kept saved the receipts for all the jars and sugar that I have purchased. I need to get them out of my freezer so just started to 'do' it! If he never comes through, I will have a lot of jelly sitting here! There is still enough in the freezer to make this much more. I think he had 12 gallons of frozen berries that I picked up!
Our little dog, Missy, has hurt herself somehow. About a month ago, maybe a little longer, I told E that something seemed wrong with her. She didn't hold herself right, and she stayed close to us when we were all outside. The first thing I noticed about her was that she didn't hold her tail up over her back anymore. Her normal routine was to see what she could scare up out in the fields. She was always running from here to there, digging and hunting for who knows what in the grass. Mice and moles for sure! Her decline was so slow that we didn't notice it for awhile, but then she had some trouble walking. It was kind of crooked and slow. I took her to the vet, and it just so happened that our usual vet wasn't available that day, so another one saw her. She thought she might have had an upset stomache. A couple of days later I took her back, as she was even worse and requested our regular vet and she gave me some anti-inflammatory for her, (don't know if I spelled that right). She said she should start to feel better in the next day or two. She did find that she had pain at a certain place in her spine. Well she got worse all week end, so I took her back on Tuesday. (Monday was a holiday). She said if she doesn't show improvement she would do x-rays. So that is what she did. She couldn't find anything significant. But she found that she definitely has pain in her back someplace. She thinks she has damaged a disk in her back, likely shaking chipmunks. Missy has taken them away from the cats and then kills them and sometimes eats them. The cats have killed lots of them in the last several weeks (at least 15 of them) and she would always steal them, shaking them vigorously. As it is now, she can't get up by herself, she can't walk except on the kitchen floor where it is smooth, as she drags her back legs which makes her fall down. I have to roll her onto a towel to pick her up as it makes her cry if we try to pick her up just with our hands. I have to carry her outside to potty, which she has a very hard time with as her hind end is very weak. She can't lift her head up if she is laying flat out as she is in this photo. She is lying on a 4 inch thick piece of foam. Vet said this could take as long as three weeks to start to heal. The only improvement that we have seen at all, is in the last couple of days she has been holding her tail a couple of inches higher. Her appetite is very good. She just needs her legs to work properly.

Here she is doing what she loves to do most! Digging! Gotta get that mole!!!

Here are some more random flower garden shots. Love these lilies! They are so bright and cheerful.

I finally replanted my Hen and Chickens. They have survived the winter and my neglect. I took them out of a broken clay pot and stuck them in this one. They have already started growing to fill it up.

I was given this bird bath and even though it has a crack in it, I liked it. It doesn't hold water for long but I did see a bluejay getting a drink from it. One of the cats too!

Early this spring, I started to use these Small Mesh Hay Nets for feeding the horses. The idea behind them is that the horses take longer to eat their hay rations so are satisfied longer. It keeps them busy longer. More like grazing. It used to take them about 1 hour and 30 minutes to eat 10 pounds of hay and now it takes them about 3 hours to eat 8 1/2 - 9 pounds of hay. And we are feeding less hay too!

They really seem to like them and even if I put loose hay on the floor, if they have these filled nets hanging in their stalls, they go for these first. There is a lot less waste, and they are busy eating, instead of just standing around. Now if it would just quit raining long enough to dry out the round pen, I could exercise them too!

Now what is she doing? She wants green grass, so has figured out a way to get it! There is an electric fence around their lot, so what does she do? Gets nearly down on her knees so she can reach under the fence and get it! This girl is very ingenious! She can only do this now that the grass is tall and has started to fall over, so she takes advantage of it at every opportunity!

Ok, I'm off to go clean stalls and sweep up the barn floor. The farrier is coming on Monday to trim the horses 'toenails'.

Views of our little bit of country

Today is a rainy, lazy, slow day. We should be cutting hay, but it will have to wait until a dryer day to do that! The horses have to eat, but I dread all that sweaty work. It is doubly hard to do, because our hayfield is on a hillside, but it is 'what we got'!

Here is a photo of my garden that I took this morning out in the rain. The pototoes are ones that I had for cooking that started to sprout. I planted them in the garden and they are really nice looking so far. No bugs or anything There are jalepeno peppers, sweet peppers, onions, garlic, radishes, carrots, cukes, a tomato, beets I just planted, and buttercrunch lettuce. It isn't all planted yet, either. Oh and you can see the rhubarb and the horseradish in the back.
This is what recliners were made for, on a day like today! A holiday, very overcast and rainy!This is my little flower garden. I made it when we moved here almost thirteen years ago. This past winter was pretty hard on it and several of my perennials didn't survive it. I have lots of annuals to help fill it in. I have planted a couple more perennials, but it will take them awhile to fill out and look nice.

Gypsy, begging to have some of your attention!

These are my mud puppies!!

Baby sister and I went to Brown County a few weeks ago and here are a couple of photos that I took. Don't know what this is but it was pretty neat.

I spotted this young lady, standing in front of a church with all the spring flowers blooming around her. Is this what is known as a 'tourist'??

And here is a photo of my new wheels! It is in the hospital, getting the heater core repaired. When I drove it, the windshield would fog up and a mist or vapor would flow from the vents and from under the dash. It didn't do this for the first three weeks we had it. Hmmm, wonder why...

Well, I hope I have rejoined the blogesphere. Will try to update a bit more often.