What A Trip!

Oh my....

so much to show and tell!

First of all, thank you so very much for all the well wishes

with regards to my broken rib and Moonbeam's hoof abscess.....

we are both starting to mend.

Now for the weekend road trip....

(Just about every roadblock imaginable was thrown in front of us

as we were preparing to depart...but eventually Amanda and I got on our way.)

We left Friday with blue skies...

an amazingly beautiful autumn day.

The sights along the way were breathtaking and quite colorful.

We passed through the peak of autumn's color.

Most of the trip was through rural countryside,

with lots of photo opportunities.

And lots of willing subjects....

Ah....our destination.

Well, almost, we had about four and a half hours to go from this point...

We arrived at Verde Farm around supper time, with just enough daylight to show you

our wonderful accommodations...

Verde Cottage.

This was my room for the night...

Absolutely adorable!

With just the sweetest cottage bathroom....

The view from the cottage is Amy's lovely home and gardens.

Just beyond the house is Verde Farm,

home to Bantam chickens, miniature Sicilian donkeys, ducks,

and

Kunekune pigs and piglets

(the whole reason for our road trip.)

Thank you Amy for being such a gracious hostess

and providing such welcoming accommodations!

Saturday morning, after a refreshing night's sleep,

we loaded up our two little girl piggies,

Ginger and MaryAnn,

and headed back to PA.

We left home on a beautiful Autumn day,

and returned home with this weather...

Freezing rain and ice in the mountains of West Virginia soon turned into

a blinding snowstorm that followed us the whole way home.

Nine hours later, we reached our little valley

with its familiar Amish buggies.

Ginger and MaryAnn weathered the trip pretty well,

sleeping most of the way.

A couple of instances of motion sickness gave us some anxiety...

MaryAnn vomited a few times,

but soon settled down and napped.

Once home, the girls settled into their new home

(our largest stall in the barn)

and were greeted by a couple of the dogs and the barn kitties.

And for the moment you have been waiting for....

Here are the girls!

Their first meal in their new home....

Leo loves the piggies!

We have even found him curled up asleep beside them.

MaryAnn loves Leo!

Sammy was quite curious and a little nervous.

The piggies were ready to make more friends.

Bobby was curious, but unimpressed.

Here is sweet little Ginger,

our beauty queen!

I will have lots more pictures to share with you as the days pass.

For now, I just have to tell you....

I am in love!

These two little girls are sweet, and affectionate,

amazingly clean and odorless

(they are herbivores)

and unbelievably smart.

Thank you, thank you Amy and Richie...

WE LOVE THEM!!!

The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

If you have ever owned/loved a horse you will understand what I am going to say. 

Horses bring out the best in you,

and

horses can bring out the worst in you!

We love our horses,

and so we care for them...

day in and day out,

several times each day,

no matter what the weather,

no matter how we feel.

We hay them.

We grain them.

We keep their water fresh.

We keep their bedding clean and dry.

We clean up their manure.

We groom them, clip them, bathe them,

keep their sheaths clean.

We pay vet bills.

We pay farrier bills.

We drop money on horse care items without even batting an eyelash.

We take them out to graze,

and round them up again.

We love our horses...no matter what.

And in return.....

they teach us patience, perseverance, humility.

We become better people when we spend time with our horses.

Most of the time.

And then there are the other times,

when our horses can elicit a string of profanity from our mouths that would make

our mothers blush!

It is at these times, when our worst side shows.

Unfortunately, my worst side emerged yesterday.

You see, Moonbeam, my haflinger has a hoof abscess.

I have been soaking and dressing his draining hoof this week.

The good news is... 

he is getting much better.

The bad news is...

I am pretty sure he broke at least one of my ribs yesterday while changing his dressing.

During his dressing change,

he started to crowd me in the aisle.

I turned my side to him and pushed, attempting to push him back into the middle.

He pushed back, and moved forward,

pinning me to the stall wall with his 1500 pounds.

It all happened in a split second.

I felt the crush.

I herd the pop in my chest.

The pain ensued.

(An all too familiar pain.)

And yes, I cussed a blue streak!

(And landed a girly punch right on Moonbeam's side.)

He meant no malice.

He didn't think.

He is quite often oblivious to his massive size.

He did to me what he would have done to another in his herd.

My feelings were hurt,

not to mention my chest.

Eventually, though, rational thinking prevailed

and I realized that for the most part

our horses consider us just one of the herd

and treat us like they would each other.

I suppose that is all we can really hope for....

to be one of the herd.

After all, our horses do not love us in the same way our dogs love us.

Do they?

The affection our dogs give to us without asking for anything in return,

might just be a little much to ask of our horses.

And so, we continue to love and care for our horses,

through the bites, the kicks, the stepped-on-toes,

the bruises, the fractures...

all the while knowing that the love we hope our horses feel for us,

is something quite different.

And yet, it's enough.

Don't worry, these types of occurrences are rare.

Our horses are usually quite pleasant and cooperative.

Moonbeam is moody right now.

His foot hurts.

He'll get back on track.

And so, as you read this, I am driving my sore ribs to West Virginia to pick up

Ginger and MaryAnn

our two little Kunekune piglets.

And no, in answer to a question I keep receiving,

we will not be eating them.

They will become part of our farm family.

And I will have lots of pictures for you on Monday!!

Have a great weekend!

Joy

There are times in life that are hard to describe in words.

Perhaps there just aren't adjectives that are sweet enough.

Yesterday was one of those days.

We had a visitor on the farm....

Tyler spent the day with Grammie and Mup (that's what he calls Hubbs).

Pictures say it all.....

There is nothing sweeter than the pure joy on my two "guys" faces!

It made me happier than words can say!

We had a surprise arrival on the farm yesterday afternoon....

a bathroom!

The "Port-o-let" was delivered for the construction workers.

Yesterday they put 1/4 of the roof on....

the rest of the roof should be finished today.

Our Version of the Slow Food Movement

If you have read my blog for some time,

and seen my many posts about our equines,

then you probably have noticed that my "bigs" and "littles"

are a bit on the chubby side.

Keeping the horses trim seems to be a never-ending battle,

and at times a losing proposition.

I limit the time they spend on pasture;

and unless it is cold outside,

I also limit their hay.

Horses are grazers, though, and are healthiest when they can eat small amounts often.

So......

in a attempt to find middle ground,

so that they can eat more often without

over-consuming calories....

I am trying out some slow feeders for hay.

I found these at our local feed store and installed them yesterday afternoon.

Then I took a video to show you how they work.....

While I was busy working with the horses,

the construction crew was doing this....

and by the end of the day, our barn looked like this....

Can you believe...

those workers walked around on top of those roof trusses

like tight-rope walkers.

Amazing!

I have a little guessing game for you today...

Can you guess what this is?

It's very strange, isn't it?

It is a small part of this....

How about this?

I think it looks like it could be part of a nostril.

Maybe of a piggie?

But, no, it is a part of this.....

which I call our "ogre" fungus...

because it looks mean and nasty!

And last...

the last roses of the season.

We are to have frost this week,

so these blooms will soon be just a memory.

And lastly, I want to tell you about our lady bug phenomenon.

Each year when the weather turns cold,

we have an afternoon or two when

scores of ladybugs leave the woods and cling to the side of the barn and house...

soaking in the season's last bit of warmth.

Yesterday was one such day...

a ladybug day!

Ladybug, ladybug...

fly away home.