My First Real Job, and Bits of This and That

Guess what I did today?

I finally accomplished something useful and helpful around our ranch. And I definetely made a difference for some little lives. It was my first real job around our ranch since my fall on Christmas Eve. And it was the most physical thing I've done since then, too. Today was a fairly warm sunny day, and now that I'm able to stand without support and walk with only one crutch, I felt ready to take on the job.

Want a clue? What is that wheelbarrow for?
I mucked out the coop! It hadn't been thoroughly cleaned out for 3 months and we were doing the 'Deep Litter Method' as I wasn't able to clean it and Ranchman John and the kids drew the line at handling chicken poop. Needless to say, it was nasty in the chicken house, with over 6" of poop, shavings, straw, food scraps, and more poop. Just nasty!

Sid Vicious agreed. He said, "It's about time you got out here and cleaned my castle, lady!"

My one twinling, Jem, was my right-hand man and not only brought me everything I needed for mucking the coop, he also took pictures, too. He refused to scoop chicken poop or even stick his nose in there.....and I truly don't blame him. Ewww!
Isn't that the nastiest chicken house you've ever seen?!

My hens enjoyed exploring and looking for any food tidbits from everything I removed from the henhouse.

In the past I've only had to use a dustpan to scoop out the old bedding and poo, but this time I had to bring in the big guns! And even the big honkin' shovel struggled to do it's job.
It was hard work and physically demanding, especially after being so inactive for such a long time. But it felt good to be doing the jobs I used to do before I got hurt, and even better to be outside in the fresh air (well, except for the chicken poo stink!) and to be hanging out with my chicken friends.
There goes Jem with the wheelbarrow, on his way to the compost pile. I couldn't have done the coop mucking without him.
Half the coop was scraped clean after 45 minutes. Whew!
And finally after 2 hours it was looking pretty good in there.
We loaded up 4 wheelbarrows full of stinky chicken manure for the compost pile.
Then it was time to toss in the fluffy shavings and replace the feeders and nest basket.
There is just something so satisfying about seeing the end result: a clean chicken house.
And happy chickens, too.

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And finally some bits of this and that.

I just have to say how thankful I am for my dear blog friends. When I started blogging over 3 years ago I had no idea blogging would be more than just journaling about my family and our experiences. Not only have I discovered many wonderful blogs that I enjoy following every week, but I've also discovered friendships along the way, too. I'm even more amazed when these friendships reach beyond the internet, through phone calls, visits and snail mail.

I've recieved so much support and encouragement from you, my blog friends, and it always seem to come at the most opportune time. Like when I'm feeling frustrated or discouraged or bored and useless. I am immensely grateful to all of you.

Last week, I received a package from my sweet friend Tammy, ofWrensong Farm. I was totally taken aback, as Tammy had already sent me some goodies right after my knee reconstruction surgery back in January. And yet again, she seemed to know that I could use some goodies and encouragement. I had a particularly tough physical therapy and was exhausted, stiff and sore.

Tammy sent me some interesting and fun books, a deck of very cool cards with different dog breeds on each card. A delicious aromatic cinnamon apple candle, a yummy gourmet raspberry chocolate bar, a lovely angora goat card, that reminds me of my Luna. And a magnet with a painting of an adorable paint foal that reminds me of the photo of my Baby Doll when she was a foal. (I included her baby picture below) Thank you sweet Tammy! You are a very dear friend.

And here's my mare as a cute little filly. She'll be 16 yrs old in April.

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One last bit I'd like to share are a few goodies that I recently won from the One World One Heart Promotion. Mmore than 700 artist blogs participated by offering contests for their readers to enter. The very best contest I won was for the ACEO painting of my mare, that you see in my header. I was one of 200 entries and was thrilled to have won such an awesome prize. You can visit the artist, Morgane Antoine, at her website and see some of her artwork by clicking on the link at the top of my sidebar.

I also won some pretty scrapbooking/card-making stickers and a sachet filled with lavender scented, heart-shaped body butters.
The postcard you see below is a treat, too. It was sent by my blog friend Erin of a Good Life in Virginia. She wanted to keep in touch with me while she was on her trip to Italy. I'm so tickled to recieve mail from Italy and my thoughtful friend, Erin.


So....what did you do this weekend?


From the Tower of,

O~is for Oreo and Owies(!)

Oreos, you say?? Yummy!
No, not Fried Oreos. (They are rather good, though)
No this post is about my 'orca' cat, Oreo. Some folks call this color of cat 'tuxedo', too. I've just always had a thing for black and white critters.

I adopted Oreo about 6 years ago, when he was just a kitten, from some folks who were allergic to him and had to get rid of him pronto. He reminded me instantly of my first tuxedo cat, Bugsy and I just had to adopt him. He was also the first cat I'd had since my cat, Bugsy had died from old age, about 5 years earlier.

Oreo used to be an indoor kitty, but he was never happy living indoors, so we gave him his freedom a couple months ago and he is much happier now.
Oreo gets along with the chickens quite well. They really seem to like him.
I really like Oreo's jazzy, checkerboard pattern on his back legs, too.
And Oreo can be so silly!
Oreo is turning into a pretty good barn cat, too. He and my 'Orca' horse get along quite well. And there is just something so beautiful about seeing black and white on black and white.
Yeh. I've got it bad for black and white critters, don't I? Shhh.....
And I was thinking the following two pictures would make fun Christmas cards or even notecards. What do you think? Color?

Or black and white?
Yes, I love my Oreo.
(ps, Sorry no 'blog school' today. I'm wiped out from a very busy weekend. Today me and my boys, along with some good friends, including my neighbor friend, Val, visited Bosque del Apache Wildlife Refuge down in San Antonio, New Mexico. And then yesterday, Val and I rode our horses up and over the ridge near our house.
(Story below)
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(This photo wasn't taken on Saturday because I forgot to take my camera with me. But I like this photo alot. Annie and Baby Doll are the horses that went trail riding on Saturday, so the photo does tell the story quite well)

Whoooeeee! Am I sore. I'm feeling some 'Owies' today and I was even more sore Saturday night.

The reason you ask?

Well, I rode my horse, on Saturday, for over 4 hours all over our 'Back-40' and up and over the ridge near our house. It was the first time back in the saddle since my Emergency Room visit over 2 weeks ago!

Let noone ever tell you that riding a horse is not a form of exercise. You really do use alot of muscles while riding. And if you stop riding for a while, it's no different than stopping an exercise program.
I felt sore in my legs, thighs, lower back, upper neck, arms and shoulders. I snuggled up to my heating pad and was grateful for some Tylenol to take away the pain on Saturday night.

Now, that being said, it was totally worth it, even the pain. It was so awesome being back up on my sweet horse again. She seemed happy to get out and ride, too. She especially likes it when I take her out to graze out in the Back-40. It's really changed the way she looks at leaving the barn now. Her barn-sourness is mostly gone, but she still does the 'drunken sailor' routine sometimes, weaving in the direction of home, if she thinks we really should head back again. Thankfully, she's not too persistant. And she was really good for me on Saturday.

I did work her out a bit in the round pen to see how she was feeling. I got her up to a canter a few times and she did give one happy little buck, but that was it for the excitement. Then I led her out, just she and I, to the trails and we had a grand time! The weather was gorgeous, warm (in the 60's) and sunny. Such a mild December day. Perfect for riding without the usual wind, too.

We rode around a while, did some grazing, and then came back to the house to check and see if Ranchman John and Jenna were back yet. And they weren't. But I did notice that one of my neighbors, the one with the two horses, had taken them out for a ride with his partner. And instead of putting them back to graze over on the ridge property that he leases from another of our neighbors, he'd left them in his backyard.
I was so excited because that meant I could do some ridge riding without loose horses pestering us.

But I'd much rather go with my riding pal, Val, but she was getting her dogs vaccinated during a weekend clinic. So, I took Baby Doll back out and rode for a while more, and then headed back to Val's house to see if she was back home yet. She wasn't, but I left a message with her son to tell Val that I was out riding and wanted her to ride with me when she got back. And then Baby Doll and I headed back out to the 'Back-40' again to ride, graze and play around.

At one point Baby Doll was munching some grass and someone across the hill was using a buzz saw. Baby Doll got a little bit alarmed and shot her head up. I told her, "Baby Doll, it's ok, girl. It's just a silly saw Don't worry, sweetie, I've got your back"......and then I laughed and said "literally". Gosh! I crack myself up. heheh!
It's amazing, though, how when I tell her calmly that something's ok, she just trusts me and goes back to what she was doing. Feels really good knowing that my horse trusts me so much.

After a while we came back and saw that Val was in her barn saddling up Annie, her beautiful, Arabian mare. I was so excited! She got tacked up really quick and we headed out to the 'Back 40' again just to catch up with each other and to gauge how Annie was feeling since she hadn't been ridden for a while either. She was doing great; calm, relaxed and very interested in heading out on the trails and exploring.

(Note: Now, if you've read this far, then you probably realize that I brought Baby Doll back and forth to our home 4 times. That's a pretty big deal considering just how barn sour Baby Doll used to be when I first started riding her. I'm finding that it's so good for her, and I, to never just come back to the barn, and be done with the ride. That it's better to keep her guessing and not ever keep the same routine while riding. This way she doesn't get stuck in her ways after discovering the pattern. This, along with occasional grazing privileges, while riding, has made a big difference in virtually eliminating much of the barn sour behavior.)

So, we entered the ridge property, which is about a couple hundred acres covered in trees, hills, pastures, beautiful views, and trails up, over and down the ridge. Both horses did really great and Val and I enjoyed an awesome ride with our beautiful horses.

I did have to laugh at one point, because Baby Doll was acting a little 'anxious' and 'antsy', and sort of in a hurry as we were heading over the ridge to the other side.
I finally figured out why when we got over there. That girl had to pee! lol!
She rarely ever has to pee while I've ridden her, but on Saturday we had been out riding for such a long time, that she plainly told me, "Mom! I've really gotta go!". lol!
Once she was done, she felt noticeably better and was back to her regular self.


So, did anyone do any riding this past weekend?
And do you ever get sore if you don't ride as often or take too long of a break out of the saddle?

Fried Oreos

Over the past year, I've been salivating over all of the wonderful recipes so many other bloggers have posted. Most of those recipes involved beautiful, fresh produce grown and harvested straight from their own gardens.

I've been wanting to post a recipe, too. But my garden was a wash out with our frustratingly fickle weather this past year: late freeze, hail storms, drought, monsoons, gusting winds. Not even our apple trees came through for us this Fall.

So, I'm just going to pretend that Oreo Cookies grow on trees so that I can share a very popular treat that I make for my family and some of my friends.
It's a recipe I brought back with me from South Carolina, where fried food reigns.
If it's food, fry it!

Fried Oreos
2 Cups Bisquick (or baking mix)
2 Eggs
1 1/2 Cups Milk
3 tsp Oil

Oil for frying.

Mix ingredients together. Heat your oil.Dip Oreos into the batter and place into pan.At exactly 3:30 flip over your battered Oreos (Just kidding) Flip when batter turns a golden brown.A couple of these got a little too brown. You want to go for a lovely golden brown. No matter what, though, they'll still taste great.Using a slotted spoon, place the Fried Oreos onto a paper towel covered plate. Eat these babies while they are still warm!If you've ever tried a Drake's Devil Dog, or Devil's Food Cake, this is just what Fried Oreos taste like. We don't make these very often because I'm sure they have a bazillion calories and fat grams, but Fried Oreos are the ultimate treat....and it's fun to be bad sometimes. Make them when you have kids around and you won't have to worry about who's going to eat that last Fried Oreo.