That Time of Year Again.

It's that time of year again. Ugh. Rainy season in Idaho. Some people around here call it "Mud Season." Same thing. It will be muddy and miserable until the ground freezes. Then it will be tolerable until the Spring thaw when we get to do it all over again.

It is snowing in the mountains now. Here is a picture of the butte behind the pasture. I was going to crop it to look similar to the picture at the top of this blog when i noticed that my chore buddy Amelia at the bottom. Can't crop my 'lil buddy out! See her widdle ears?



Here's a link to an earlier post I wrote about Amelia:


Thought I'd share the best sound in the world. I wish someone would record one of those relaxing musical things and put the sound of horses eating on them. You know, instead of the whale sounds? I sure would buy a copy!

Things I wish I had pictures of

Sitting here bemoaning the loss of my video card reader, I found myself thinking about things that I wish that I had pictures of - like this morning when I looked out my back window and saw Ted and Delight lying together. Ted was behind Delight and I swear it looked like they were spooning! They never lie that close together.

It reminded me of when I was a kid positioning the animals around the manger scene at Christmas time. The camel always went behind the donkey, nestled right next to one another, looking at the Christ child.

I love looking out my kitchen window at the horses. I often see things I wish were immortalized in a picture. Speedy and Spinner (and Star) often are out there playing happily. It's ironic that our two "rescue" horses are the most playful, isn't it? They rear up on their back legs like wild mustangs, teeth flashing and manes flying. I know by the time I got out there with a camera they would stop their hyjinks and come trotting up to me looking for a treat, so I don't even try. Wish I had a picture of that!

The day Star was born I took gobs of pictures. Some of the most precious were ones of my oldest son (who was there for the birth) with her before she even got up. There were pictures of her very first efforts to stand, and her first attempts at nursing. I uploaded the pictures to my laptop, deleted the card on the camera and took more pictures. A week later - you guessed it- my laptop crashed and I lost all of my pictures. I wish I had those pictures!

One day last summer we took the kids and their horses to a show. Luckily it was a local show because our beloved hen Caddie decided to stow away in the tack compartment of the trailer! I have so many stories about this little red hen that I could devote a whole blog to her adventures. When we arrived at the show and opened the door, there she was sitting on a saddle blanket. Not a feather ruffled. I just know she was thinking, "What? Did you think you were just going to leave me behind??"

We had to unhook the trailer and taxi her back home in the truck. Wish I had a picture of that!

Here is a picture from last winter. It was taken at night. Amelia was following me around (as usual) and Star nearly got a hold of her tail! Wouldn't be the first time though. A few years ago Ted actually did grab her by the tail! He swung her side to side before she was able to scramble free! Now that is a sight that I wish I had a picture of! Crazy cat... you would think she would learn!

Queen Amelia

One day several years ago, when we first moved to this farm I lay down for a short afternoon nap. It was a warm summer day and the kids were plenty old enough to look after each other I reasoned as I snuggled into my comforter. Our little farm is an older one and we have 4 weathered outbuildings as well as a large shop/garage that all needed treasure mapped. We have 3 acres, and at that time no horses so there was room enough to explore and build forts in the tall grass and weeds.

Just as I drifted off, all 6 of the kids came running into the house, "Mom! Mom! We have kittens! Josh is out there in the garage catching them right now!!"

"What? When did we get a cat?" I answered groggily.

"No Mom, we don't have a cat! These are wild kittens! You should hear them hiss! There are four of them!" They all clamored to be the first to tell me the vital information about their newfound treasure in the garage.

Okay, I was awake now. Josh walks in with a big grin on his face and an angry growling kitten in his outstretched hands. The kitten bites him and he drops it onto the bed. All seven of us scramble to recapture the little lion cub without further injury. I was the one who finally caught her, and I have a scar on my finger to prove it.

All in all the kids captured 6 kittens that day in the garage. They were beautiful. Some were peachy cream color, some smoky grey, some calico. They lived in the dog crate until the kids were able to handle them. Then we gave them away to unsuspecting friends and advertised them in the paper.

There were two left over. One was the first kitten that Josh caught. I think the kids hid her every time someone came to look for a kitten to take home. She had long hair and had a few patches of orange, if you looked hard enough. Josh had taken to carrying her around on his shoulder. The kids had taken to calling her "Queen Amelia".

The second was one that took the longest to tame and was still quite wild. She was named "Tiger", not because of her coloring which was a short haired smoky calico with a few orange patches, but because she was ferocious.

The kids talked us into keeping the two leftover kittens and they are now our chief mousers, and keepers of the chicken house along with Tommy who is Ameilia's son.

Amelia loves to follow us around outside, meowing for attention, to be picked up and for a ride on our shoulders. I took some pictures of her with my camera and my cell phone the other day as she followed me around as I was doing chores.

"Okay, I see we are ready to do chores. You set your coffee down right here, so that your hands will be free to carry me, all right?














"Oh alright. I will just watch you feed the pig then. You are lucky I have such great balance!"

"Can you see me now?
Yes, yes, I think this bale will do for the horse's breakfast this morning."




"Look deep into my eyes... You cannot resist picking me up... You can...not... re...si....sssssst..."