We have just been working for the last couple weeks, trying to get everything done. The rains came and all the pastures really greened up quickly! Looked like spring, all bright and shiny green grass. I got everything mowed again just not very short. Hoping it spurs the grass to do another growth spurt before frost hits us. I got lime spread on a couple of the fields. I did the powdered lime, supposed to be better, last longer than the pelleted lime, cheaper too. It was a real pain spreading by lawn spreader, having to wear a mask for the dust. Interesting how the wind comes up, starts blowing pretty steady about noon, then drops off again about 5pm. Made huge clouds of dust so I would have to stop, then go back. We have been working on leading the foal around without his mom, she is eating in her stall. He is getting better, she is much less excited about seperations now.He is growing like a weed in the sun. He is on his second halter, only two holes left to go. Stands about 54" now, withers level with my armpit. Much bigger than the belt buckle high of his birth! They are usually grazing apart out in the field now. I have been adding other old horses as company in her field to let him practice his herd skills. He really likes having other horses to play with, just stand and watch. He canters or gallops most of the time, both fast like a racehorse and slow as the best Western Pleasure horses. I have only seen a few trot steps all summer. Foal is a good baby, good to lead and loves brushing. He will stand close as long as you will brush him! Has had his feet done a couple times, did pretty well standing and balancing. He has grown out all his foal hoof feet, chipped and trimmed off, now has totally new BIG hooves since birth. Almost the size of the palm of your hand. I have torn out a couple of flower beds, was surprised at how many bulbs were under the ground! They were huge, got lots of babies, splits, and tubers, to replant. Some of my lily bulbs are as big as apples, with a dozen bulblets attached. Had to add a lot of dirt to raise the beds, prevent the water pooling from drivway runoff. I had a dirtpile from scraping the horse paddocks, lots of sand and "organic material" so should be good for plants. All the nurseries are having sales, found a good selection of perrenials and shrubs marked way down. Should give the yard and flower beds a new look in the spring. This is a good time to plant here, they grow until ground freezes in Dec. I like flowering shrubs, easy to grow and pretty to look at. You can get something blooming all season if you plan well. My new Witch Hazel is a fall bloomer, bright yellow, should add a burst of color with red leaves to my Oak trees in the corner. Splitting perrennials will help fill in the beds too. Husband is digging around the barn driveway, got the drainage changed behind the little barn. Water has just been like a funnel with the cloudbursts, drainage going right into the back door. I have found the horses standing in fetlock deep water several times, then had to dry out the tie stalls and drag out the mats! Told him the fall rains were coming, something needed to be done. DD and I started project, moved a lot of dirt! Tried to be done as a surprise when he was gone for the weekend. Ran into some problems, didn't finish until today. He had fun with it and came up with some stuff I hadn't thought of, filling and leveling. Looks real good, have to see how the water runs when it rains! I had DD help me clean the carriage barn, rearrange carriages and get seasonal stuff around to the front. Found the tire chains for tractor, leaf sweeper, made a pile of stuff we don't use to sell at the winter tack sales. Put the summer stuff way in the back, carriages we won't use in winter are behind. Have a pile of leather to put conditioner on, may need a couple coats. I like reins, harness, to be soft and smooth in my hands before I pack them back away. Saddles need a wipe down and some conditioner as well. I have a couple sets of synthetic harness I need to run thru the wash, so it is nice and clean when we start working horses regularly again. I do like that synthetic harness, so little work! We are doing some work with the 3yr old, he doesn't mind wearing his saddle blanket and surcingle. Bridle goes on well, just doesn't understand bit and reins directions yet. Also very unfit, totally sweaty in about 15 minutes. Of course the temps DID drop about Thursday, maybe 55F will be more to his liking than 85F of last Sunday. Sent the little Corgi to get bred. Hoping for puppies in early Dec. Little late for Christmas sales, however the male dog owner said he never has problems with selling puppies, even in January. Kind of exciting, we haven't had puppies in about 10 years! Female is red and white, marked like Lassie. Male is a tri-color, mostly black with a nice white necklace and feet. DD is hoping for puppies of both colors. I don't know what to expect. Owner of male said the red color stays brighter, when crossed back with the tri-color. Our female was bred that way, her whole litter was red and whites. Surprises are fun, they will all be cute. Fall color is just getting started, just a few splashes of red or yellow. No frost yet, though warnings are out for further north of us. Huge crops of nuts and acorns just carpeting the ground. I could use a couple more weeks of cool, not freezing weather! Have to finish the garden beds!!

Thanks! Of our 4 girls, she is by farm the hardest working and most observant. You show her once and she's got it. Last spring she helped me put our drip tape. I pulled a wagon with the drip tape roll in the back. When I stopped her job was to stop the roll from unrolling. She caught on very quick. We got the job done very quick. Last summer she would come out and pick cherry tomatoes with me. She would pick more than her sisters. 4 to 6 pint baskets. Not to bad for a 3 year old. Best of all she WANTED to do it. Jay

jwr6404, It ain't the first time either. I called the stock market to a T past couple months. When it moves up & when it would drop. A buddy of mine couldn't believe I was 100% right for 2 weeks then finally I got something wrong. I even called the day when we would make new highs. Thats scary stuff. Watch the drop below the 50dma within 3 weeks and we'll hold below it. I remember telling a buddy the outcome of the last 6 games of his hockey team. Lose, Lose, win in OT, win, win, lose. It happened exactly as I said and even the tie game I had called to win in OT. The last game instead of a loss it was a shootout win. I was bummed. lol Anyway - back to gardening. :)

Wow! I really thought I was going to be clever with the RABBIT RABBIT and be first, but NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOoooooooooooooo.... Ah, well, have a great time at the pumpkin farm. I still have to read and catch up with everyone. :-( Ivamae: HAPPY BELATED B-DAY! LOVE having you here! ...Ivamae- Did you ever hear from Harold, the weight-loss guy? When someone disappears off the diet forum, it always makes me think of the movie Chocolat, when the mayor ends up wallowing in the window of the chocolate shop....haha...just sayin'...! Well, I started weighing myself in kilograms about a couple of weeks ago, and I love it! :-) The numbers are so much more friendly! I get to do the dump run today. One thing about living remotely is duty of the garbage runs. The guys at the dump are really nice though and help me unload my trash. I wish I had less of it! The packaging really counts for A LOT... Next year, I hope I use less stuff and eat more things out of a garden I WANT TO BUILD. I made a deer-resistant enclosure and have been letting the chickens run in there all summer - so it's fertile now! This weekend, I will go to the horse farm and get straw bays to put in there for the winter. Next spring, I'll put dirt on top of those and have a straw bale garden. Has anyone done this before? My friend's straw bale garden was SO successful! She had TONS of tomatoes. Okay, check in! (((((((((HUGS, everyone!)))))))) Here is a link that might be useful: Pictures of Straw Bale Gardens