Thursday, August 11, 2005, 18:46
I Must be Out of My Mind. . .
"Well," I said, "we did it."
Randy was in the shower this morning (Thursday) so I couldn't see the expression on his face.
"Oooo-kay," he said.
"I must be absolutely, positively, completely out of my mind," I said.
"Probably," he agreed.
The thing that I did which convinced me I had lost my mind was a simple telephone call I made while Randy was getting into the shower. And all I said was, "yes, we'll take her."
The "her" is a horse. A four-year-old greenbroke Quarter horse/Paint mix.
There's a fair chance I will be spending a certain amount of time in the emergency room during the next year or two.
A greenbroke four-year-old? What am I thinking?
It all started Monday night. Well, actually, no -- it started 7 years ago when my 32-year-old Quarter horse gelding, Red, died.
After Red passed away, I knew that someday I would want another horse. I also told myself that if a horse ever came walking in the driveway, I should probably pay attention.
The horse did not come walking in the driveway Monday night. But her owner came driving into the driveway. Right out of the blue. He had been talking to a neighbor of ours who said we might be in the market for a horse.
So, we drove over there Monday night to have a look at her. Then we went back Wednesday night for another look. She's a chestnut (dark brown) with some white on her face (that's the Paint breeding) and a few white roan hairs on her flanks (also the Paint breeding). She's not very big, either, although I think she will grow a little bit and will most definitely fill out.
The horse hasn't been ridden since she was a 2-year-old. She's spent the last two years standing around in the pasture. The guy who owns her has had her for six weeks. He has pulling horses and isn't interested in riding horses. He said he bought her because he liked her. I also think he bought her for his granddaughter, who has gotten busy with other things and isn't necessarily interested in the horse.
When we arrived Wednesday night, the filly was tied up to a horse trailer. The owner said she'd been tied for about two hours. And he was all the way across the property, working in his garden. Even now, at 24 years old, I couldn't leave my Morgan-Arab cross tied somewhere for two hours. He would have everything torn apart, and he would probably be in the next county, dragging whatever it was I had tied him to.
The guy is going to stop by this afternoon so I can pay him for the horse. Then Randy and I have to get busy modifying the pasture. I don't want to turn her out with my old gelding right away because I don't want him to get the idea that she can't leave the pasture without him. The owner has said he will keep her for us for a week or two until we get things switched around for her.
I *must* be out of mind. A greenbroke four-year-old?
On the other hand, my Morgan-Arab cross was a greenbroke 7-year-old when I started riding him. At that time, I couldn't even leave him in the crossties while I walked five feet away to get the saddle, for fear he would rear up and flip over backwards. I'm hoping for a smoother start than that with this one.
LeAnn R. Ralph
Wednesday, August 10, 2005, 17:49
Ho-Hum. . .
I must say, so far, it certainly has been a disappointing year concerning our garden. It's been too hot and dry. To date, we've had 25 days of 90 degrees or higher, with much of that being in the 95-degree range with one 100-degree day thrown in for good measure. We've also had six days of 88 or 89 degrees.
If you ask me, once you get up to 88 or 89, there's not much difference between that and 90. Other parts of the country, I know, are typically much hotter than this, but that's the key word: "typically" -- this is unusually hot weather for this neck of the woods.
Storm fronts keep moving through the area, but we only get a few drops of rain or a tenth of an inch out of them at the most. Not even enough to settle the dust.
To start out the growing season, our sweet corn did not germinate very well. If we're lucky, we'll get maybe a dozen ears out of the garden. Last night, Randy found one ear completely taken over by corn smut. I hope that's not an indication of things to come. We have joked that when/if the corn gets ripe, we will eat each ear very carefully. We will each have a dish of melted butter, and we will cut off each kernel separately, spear it with a toothpick, dip it in the butter and savor the experience.
My tomatoes are not doing too well, either. They started out gangbusters, but the hot dry weather does not seem to agree with them. The Romas have developed many tomatoes, but they're small, and the ones that are starting to ripen are rotting from the bottom. And so far, I have found *one* tiny green cherry tomato. The plants are large and healthy looking, but there's not much for tomatoes on them.
And then there's the climbing peas. Again, it's too hot and dry. The one basket of peas that is closest to the barn receives maybe an hour of shade more a day than the other basket that's just a few feet away. The basket that is getting a little more shade has more peas, but still, the peas are not doing nearly as well as they have in years past.
As for the cucumbers, which I planted in a tub this year because last year they took over my little plot by the basement and produced dozens of cucumbers beyond what we could eat -- the cucumbers are dying back and the few cukes they have produced are funny shaped and bitter-tasting. And that's in spite of being watered regularly. We even moved the tub back farther so it would get more shade during the heat of the day, but it hasn't helped much.
The muskmelon vines are growing like crazy, but as far as I can tell, there's only one muskmelon on them. Of course there may be many more, and it's possible that I just haven't seen them yet.
The eggplant plants are growing well and have only started to blossom so it's too early to tell.
The sugar baby watermelon have a few melons on them, so I might end up with a couple of watermelon.
The only thing in the garden that looks wonderful are the carrots. The carrot tops are lush and green, although I haven't pulled any yet to see how they are getting along. It's possible that the carrots are all tops and nothing else. I hope not, though.
Well, actually, the pumpkins are looking good, too, especially the white pumpkin volunteer. Many white pumpkins on the vines. And the Jack-o-lanterns are doing well. Not much for Big Max pumpkins yet, but I'm hoping some of them crossed with the white pumpkins since they are growing side-by-side. In the fall when we hold a fund-raising dinner at church, Randy will sell the pumpkins at the dinner. He's been doing this for the past few years.
And the wild grape vine growing by the barn has lots of grapes on it, so perhaps I will get enough to make grape jelly.
Yes, indeed, I am deeply disappointed that my garden is not doing so great this year. Maybe next year will be better. . .
LeAnn R. Ralph
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