October flew by...

...like a witch on a broomstick and no, that wasn't me on the broom!! Not much happened out of the ordinary at our place in October. Just trying to stay healthy at home, while the over-mentioned virus spreads like wildfire in our area. Sigh. 

As Winter approaches, we put future large projects on the back burner and work on as many smaller outdoor ones as possible. Like cutting wood, and cutting more wood. We have also worked on our trails. The rest of the time we are enjoying things like this:

Finding, Tank snoozing in his dads spot

Discovering, Angel fish floating in the Western morning sky

Seeing, tigers (aka Leo) on our walks in the woods

Watching, Leo love on Tank. He loves him soooo much its ridiculous

Enjoying, lingering Fall blooms like this surprise Iris bloom

These iris were transplanted from our old house, and bloomed a color I've never had. Iris are normally Spring bloomers, and even my re-bloomers have never bloomed in October. I am (re) learning to garden in different soil, where everything seems to bloom later.
  
Maybe this is the new normal? Very curious to see what familiar (or changed) Spring flowers appear this coming Spring in our sandy loam soil!!

Dreaming, always dreaming

Some day, the back of the barn will be extended with an indoor riding arena attached to it.

Walking, under huge powder puff clouds close enough to (almost) touch

Doing, endless chores while these guys enjoy Bed & Breakfast

(Koda, Nemo, Harmony & Cierra at feeder)

Appreciating, our horses. Every. Single. Day.
They all get along so well now, and trade-off being buddies.
 (Koda, Harmony, Nemo & Cierra)

Nothing spooky about peaceful morning views in the upper pasture. 
October 31, 2020

officialness

It is official, Cierra will be bred to Whizkey & Diamonds Spring of 2021. Well, as official as officialness can be when an official contract with legalese is signed and you are officially dealing with the unknown.

Brad had a good phone conversation with the associated contact at the well-known breeding facility that is standing the stud, and was sent an application that day. We met with Brad's trainer to see if she saw anything unusual on the contract. The requirements looked standard to her. He signed, sealed and delivered the contract back, more like signed, scanned and emailed it back. He tried not to wonder patiently waited for one week for a response that they had received the application, and then followed up. Cierra's application was indeed received, and accepted. It was a pleasant surprise to hear they also gave him an early booking fee reduction. It is common, but wasn't noted anywhere therefore unexpected. Guess we didn't need to wonder if Cierra would be accepted after all.

Cierra
October 8, 2020

Below is a screenshot (aka borrowed) photo of WhizKey & Diamonds in his younger years, the one that made me stop scrolling and look into him. Something about his expression and build, not to mention I am a sucker for flowing manes. The powers that be are wowed by Whizkey and his off-springs records and collective earnings, but that was not why I chose him as my top ranch stud pick. I not only liked what I saw, I liked what I read. In particular what was said about his demeanor, handling and his off-springs trainability. Anyone can claim anything, but I believe it when I read and hear similar from different sources. Wish we could meet him in person, but I am not even going to ask considering the pandemic. And no, I will not let Brad forget that I picked him! Unless the prospective foal turns out to be a very naughty handful, in which case Brad said he would officially name it "Aurora's Diamond" ~ ha ha very funny!!

  

not my photo, credit noted above

I still do not know Whizkeys color genetics (related links do not work) other then he is a Buckskin with a "black type pedigree". I used the most common color generator for a guesstimate. It has changed since I last played with it, or perhaps I used a different one. I used to be able to enter a specific color code. These auto results do not match Cierra (Cream result is wrong, she is CR and no clue where the little n comes from). I should could dig deeper, but color genetics make my brain hurt. With all that said, it doesn't really matter what color is produced as long as the foal is healthy. 

**EDITED color possibilites**
(see comments below)

Future plans include moving Cierra Winter of 2021, at some point to live (not train) temporarily at our trainers for a few months until she is bred in April. As you can imagine, I am less then thrilled about moving her again. However, that show barn is heated during the cold & lit 24/7 and I am told that will regulate her cycles. Brad assures me the move is in Cierra's best interest, and it is after all his mare. I know Cierra will have excellent care. Our trainer has extensive experience monitoring horses in general. She has lovingly taken on many horses requiring special care from owners she knows. I am always learning from her. This whole breeding/foaling process will be exciting, and no doubt the cause of many future sleepless nights. Cierra will have other adjustments in her future like birthing etc. We think she is going to be a great mom. The move will likely be the easiest adjustment. We too will have adjustments coming our way. As long as everything goes well, it will all be worth it! There is nothing I enjoy more than watching Brad interact with young horses, he is sooo good with them. I also look forward to having a young horse to love on (and photograph) !!

Truly hope this upcoming adventure adds more to our homestead dreams then we ever imagined. Also hoping that you won't be reading another "official" future post about the foals name being "Aurora's Diamond"...!!!

 

fall-ing into thought

Fall. The season that finds me reflecting, the most. About everything, but mostly about the year that is rapidly coming to a close. A year, most people in this world would prefer not to repeat. It hasn't been all bad for us, altho different for sure. Sadly this year continues to be SO very hard on way too many.

On a brighter note, now that it is Fall I can take me, myself and my thoughts back out to the woods!! Along with Tanky, and sometimes Brad and/or the grand dogs. I walk our woods as many days as possible throughout our three ever changing seasons, but rarely during Summer. Too hot and too buggy. Feels sooo good to back among nature! It is where I am happiest. I clear my head and fuel my soul. It is my church.

Tank leads the way on our walks.
He never goes too far ahead or strays, such a great dog!

Our cat-dog Leo found us walking among the pines.

Leo trying to keep up with Tank
(they are mid-right)

Our pine woods are on the opposite end of our property. I ended up carrying Leo back to the barn, he was panting. It was a warmer then usual muggy walk, right before rain. Leo was happy to hitch a ride back. Silly cat.

milkweed pods getting ready to spread wishes & seeds

Early Fall our outdoor arena use came to an abrupt halt. We had non-stop rain for close to a week, and then outdoor projects consumed our free time. The last few week/ends were spent landscaping, adding to our driveway and cutting/stacking wood. Getting close to being done with outdoor projects for the year. Then, hopefully we can get back to enjoying the outdoor arena before the rain turns into the S word! 

repurposed crates (from work) are easy to move
 and are perfect for drying stacked wood

We have enjoyed some gorgeous intermittent early Fall weather. Sunny days that cool down at night, perfect for sleeping with windows open. Warming up by our fire pit feels extra welcoming. Our trees are just starting to turn colors. We have mostly evergreen, with Oaks and a few other species sprinkled in. Oak savannah's are predicted to be predominant in the future, replacing pine woods in our area. Late summer we had a DNR forester review and walk our woods with us. He supplied more info than I ever imagined on how to care for our woods. I was happy to hear our trees are in good shape! It is important to me to take care of our land for future generations, an on-going project for as long as we live. 

I have hopes of eventually planting a prairie on an open area adjacent to the pines, with dreams of sauntering rides through changing terrain. Hope you are enjoying Fall and dreaming of a bright future as well!

beautiful Fall skies give me all the feels

a few more summer projects

Landscaping and getting grass to grow around the buildings has been an on-going project since we moved in - and this summer it ramped up. Brad made huge strides and our sandy landscape is starting to settle and green up.

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In July, we had a mold recurrence. Ugh!! An unexpected summer project. I was SO disgusted! The damn stuff re-grew everywhere, including on the surface of my (bagged) custom saddle :( I spent days & days weeks working to make sure this moldy situation never ever (ever) happens again!! I hope.

I reviewed everyone's advice from our first moldy experience in October 2018. After that episode, I cleaned the mold I could see and thought I took care of the problem. Some items never went back in the tack room. Obviously my cleaning efforts were not enough. This time I took every single thing moldy or not, out of the tack room. Our barn was a total disaster area! I insisted Brad and our daughter go through their tack, figure out what stays and help de-mold. Nothing was allowed back into the tack room, no exceptions. Every single thing had to be cleaned (even if it looked clean) and stored, and pass my inspection. I was one (b) itchy barn manager, but I don't care. I do not want to go through this again. 

Besides cleaning tack, and in some cases re-cleaning the semi-cleaned tack (insert eye roll) I wiped down the tack room walls & mopped the floor with a vinegar water solution. Most tack was lightly cleaned with the vinegar solution, even leather. I had to kill the mold. All leather was then cleaned with leather cleaner, and conditioned. 

To help find a solution, our daughter loaned us her hygrometer. Brad did some research, ordered a humidifier fan and installed it. I had no idea humidity fans existed. For the longest time we had three humidity readers in the tack room lol. One on the dehumidifier, the fan and hygrometer. Eventually we bought our own hygrometer, they are inexpensive. We checked humidity levels a lot, and still do. Ideal humidity is between 30-50%. Our fan is set at 45%, it turns on if higher.

Fan flaps circulating air out of tack room

I felt better about making a hole in the wall after Brad trimmed it

Fan mounted inside tack room wall

Digital Fan Control

You set the humidity desired and fan runs automatically.
It also shows room temp & fan speed.

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Brad built a tack room shelf for the many totes I bought, filled and labeled. Cardboard boxes used for moving, are no longer allowed in the tack room and nothing lives on the floor anymore. So far so good, even through the endless humid summer days. I am hopeful the sad moldy nightmare is behind us.

Clean tack room
 (photo is distorted & makes it look bigger)

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We were so happy with our organized tack room, that it led to more barn organizing! Brad built a storage closet on the hay side for larger tack totes, extra buckets, exercise ball and misc stuff. It helps minimize the quickly accumulating barn dust. He also added wall hanging racks.

You can never have too much storage & everything looks better.
See Tank? He is waiting to play, always.

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I enjoy making things by hand, altho not very crafty. I sanded, stained and hand painted three barn signs pre-mold discovery and recently finished the fourth sign with our ranch name.

Hidden Cactus Ranch

Plan to hang a pair of my old spurs
and our daughters first pair on either side of the sign.

Maybe something else? Not too much, because of barn dust.

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After using our feed area & trying to figure out the best storage solution, Brad built us a custom storage table!! We may add a few hooks or ? to the area. It has been in use a couple weeks and I am loving it so far! The feed table still needs to get oiled, along with the wall. 

Our Feed Table has two feed buckets & hoof supplement bucket,
 a large storage "drawer" area (top is closed in photo, lifts open & latches easy)
and an open shelf storage for PDZ, salt etc.

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A "fly spray" shelf by the entrance went up early summer, and has been so useful that we added another shelf. We now have a phone/beverage shelf, with a hat hook above and use it every day. 

phone shelf close-up & my old hat

You didn't think we were done with the barn, did you?! We still have many projects left on our never ending list. To name a few, the wash stall needs trimming, decision on a swing hose holder, dry blanket hooks, human coat hooks, a place to hang a couple wet saddle pads & boots (cuz they aren't allowed in the tack room until they are dry, lol), decide where to mount the PVC whip holder, find/build a hallway bench, build/buy a Saloon garbage container, buy a refrigerator, decide on a cat out/in door, and whatever else makes our barn life easier and more enjoyable!!!

Hidden Cactus Ranch sign

Photo taken today of Brad & Cierra, while the farrier was here.

She has gotten so light, looking like a Buckskin.

With all that said and done, I am SO ready for Fall!!! Time for wrapping up loose ends on summer projects, cooler weather, changing leaves, hikes, outside/inside fires and general winding down. I love changing seasons and all that they offer!