Rodeo!

This morning was a little chilly.

Which means it got a little crazy.

I bundled up.

(It was 44.)

(Yes, I think we have established I'm a pansy.)

Fed the horses.

Fed the chickens.

Milked the cow.

(just checking to see if you were paying attention)

Took some pictures of the progress on the chicken coop.

The boys are getting it all framed in!

It's going to have a metal roof.

(See the roof pan on the ground to the left...)

Anyhow.

Let the horses out.

Went in to feed the dogs.

Came out.

Andy was in the yard.

???????????

I checked the barn gate.  Closed.

I checked the yard gate.  Closed.

I checked the garden gate.  Closed.

He has arthritis.

He couldn't have jumped out!

While I was standing there, stumped,

I noticed the big panel gate at the end of the garden where the boys drive in and out

to bring in dirt was open.

And, of course, they took down some of the garden fence to build the coop.

Sneaky Andy figured out how to get out.

Unfortunately, CJ and Buddy were jealous.

So they were both galloping full bore around the pasture,

bucking, kicking, making a fuss.

Then CJ figured out the puzzle.

So he came BLASTING through the garden.

Which left Buddy.

Buddy doesn't do "alone".

I was pretty sure he would come totally unglued.

So I carefully opened the little garden gate and

RAN out of the way.

Good thing, too.

He came shooting through there like a crazy rocket.

Nut job.

But then they weren't done.

Oh no!

Laps and laps of the yard, bucking, kicking, galloping, skidding

in the wet morning grass.

Then into the front yard!

I thought OH GOOD!  I can lock 'em in.

But they came rocketing out before I could get there.

Meanwhile, Sabrina and I need to leave for work.

But we can't leave with these loons running around!

If we open the front gate to drive out, who KNOWS what will happen!

So I took a video.

Without my glasses.

It was a good video, too.

Unfortunately, I didn't get the video turned ON.

So got a great 2 second clip of my feet.

Then nothing.

Sigh.

But by then, they had calmed down a little.

So I grabbed a rope and took CJ into the front yard.

Buddy doesn't do alone.

So he followed.

Andy wasn't having any of it.

I had to go capture him and bring him in personally.

He was quite proud of himself for starting the whole thing.

And now they are quietly grazing in the front yard

like the senior, sedate horses they are.

NOT!

Rocket

There was a rocket launch tonight!

It's such fun to watch those go off at night.

Sabrina had never seen a night launch.

How do you live in Florida and not see a launch?

I don't know.

But it's not a problem now...

Jim took a couple of pictures with his phone,

but while it's cool to look at,

on the camera it just looks like a little blob.

So trust me.

It was nifty!

Not as big or as loud as a shuttle, 

but since those days are over,

it was good enough.

Yet Another Chicken Coop

The boys are going to build me another chicken coop.

This time it will be tall enough for me to walk in.

It's going to be next to the barn.

So far they are building up the dirt foundation.

They are bringing it in one little trailer load at a time.

This is how long it is going to be.

(And possibly the only picture in existence of Kyle "standing around" while others work!)

They are making a nice dent in the compost pile.

(Not "real" compost... just horse poop scraped up with the top layer of sand.)

They had an audience.

And a random photo of the middle pasture.

And the Legacy Continues

It might have skipped a generation.

Possibly.

I know I never learned...

But a Hanna tradition continues.

Kyle ordered himself a ukulele on Friday.

And has been learning to play it every since.

He now plays The Camptown Races,

Three Blind Mice,

and

Row, Row, Row Your Boat.

He's a Maestro!

It's hard work!

But he's having fun....

A day of Surprises!

Yesterday was a day full of surprises!

I came home from work and found THESE...

My darling husband bought me some beautiful pink roses.

Gorgeous!

And they smell marvelous!!!

Then I headed out to feed the horses.

I guess I let the chickens out too early in the day.

One of them wasn't "done"...

This is what the hay room looks like in our barn.

Look a little closer....

Yup, an EGG!

In my hay wagon!

Silly girl.

And then we got a call from Rod's brother Tim.

Dad fell and knocked himself out.

He was up at the E.R. and they were admitting him for observation overnight.

So we got cleaned up and headed up to the hospital.

He's got a knot on his head that looks a lot like one of the girl's eggs.

They think he stood up, and since his blood pressure was low (60/30)

he passed out and fell.

Which is good, because he didn't try to break his fall, so there are no broken bones.

Tim's daughter, Courtney is a CNA at the hospital and was luckily home.

And his home health nurse was there as well.

And Tim had hernia surgery earlier this week, so he was there too.

So lots of people to take care of him, right away.

(And then 911 sent 4 firemen and 2 EMTs...)

This morning his blood pressure is up a little, but still low.

His sodium levels are still way too low.

The doctor is concerned about his heart and kidneys,

so there will be Cardiologists and Neurologists and

who knows what other kinds of ologists.....

But for now he's eating his lunch and feeling a little better.

Prayers would be appreciated.

Spring?

The property next door was making a LOT of noise.

I looked over the fence and their horse pasture was FULL of robins!

Those are some noisy birds.

But they herald spring.

Even if it's January.

It was pretty chilly yesterday.

And this morning.

(42)

(Yeah, I know...)

MY birds, however, were too busy eating to make noise.

I moved a couple of old pieces of wood and they found BUGS!

They were having a great time digging through the grass

and finding yummy things to eat.

I sat out on my chair and read some Lord of the Rings.

I just opened the book to anyplace and ended up

at the scene in Moria where they discovered 

the graves of the dwarves.

And the battle with the orcs and the Balrog.

One of my favorite parts!

Meanwhile, Jim baked some yummy pork ribs,

candied some carrots and baked some onions.

Can you tell we've been watching lots of Chopped?

WHAT?????

Not Sick.

Not Dead.

Not Away.

Just not writing.

LOL

Back to the office yesterday after a busy long weekend teaching four really nice,

interesting ladies.

I am required to have 5 students to run class.

Last month I had 5.

For one hour.

Ran the balance of the 4 days with 2 people.

This month I sent a text to the recruiter.

"It is 7:45.  I am alone."

(Registration starts at 7:00, class starts at 8:00.)

Luckily, about 2 minutes later, they started showing up.

One of them mentioned that our address is wrong on the website.

Several months ago we moved to a different suite.

For some reason, this month the website went back to our old address.

So at 7:15, one of the students (who owns the bakery next door)

noticed a man pull up, walk to the old suite, try the door, peak inside at an obviously

empty office, get back in his car and drive away.

Eventually, by just after 8:00, I had 4 students.

But I called and claimed five, since the other guy "might" come back.

(grin)

Anyhow.

It was a good class.

They were fun.

They were funny.

They were interesting.

They were interested.

But they were NOT getting it!

I go through a pile of flashcards that we use throughout class to reinforce the information.

Each time, I read the question.

Then I pause and wait for a response.

If I get nothing, then I give a couple of multiple choice answers.

Sometimes I do some "pantomime hints".

(What modifies a policy?  Answer:  Rider. 

Hint?  Make a horse with your hand and use your other hand to add a rider..... elementary, but it works!)

Usually when I offer the right answer choice the light comes on and they jump on it.

By the end of the 4 days, they generally need no prompts and often answer before I finish the question.

Not this group.

Read the question.

Nothing.

Prompts.

Nothing.

Facial / arm gestures.

Nothing.

Like blank stares and crickets.

So, I wasn't too surprised that 2 passed and 2 didn't.

One passed with a 73.5 and the other with a 75.

Usually I get nearly everyone passed with high 90's.

I have NO idea what went wrong.

But I didn't like it.

I'm really happy to have this weekend off.

And I'll hit the ground running the following weekend.

And THESE people SHALL PASS!