Goofy gelding~ABC Wednesday~022614

Sunni is my goofy gelding.  Actually, Quad is my goofy gelding, but I didn't get any photos of him last weekend.  He was the only horse I didn't get down to the arena or up to the round pen.  But, Sunni sure had fun as he galloped around the arena, don't you think?  To visit ABC Wednesday, please go to:   http://abcwednesday-mrsnesbitt.blogspot.com/

Spring at the ranch~trees, blossoms, and warm weather!

I love to see spring at the ranch.  The trees bud out, the almond trees blossom, crow pairs are everywhere, the horses are shedding.  YES!  They are shedding by the handful!  They all got brushed on Saturday and I'm not sure who was the wooliest!  I think it was Lucille.  She's always very "wooly" every year, anyway.  There are two winter (wet) storms heading our way...one on Wednesday, and another, larger one on Saturday.  We sure need the rain!  Anyway, here are some photos of springtime at the ranch.

Ranch blossoms~Today's Flowers~022314

Beautiful almond tree blossoms up at the horse ranch last weekend.  By yesterday, I'd say 90% of them were gone.  Without much rain this year, they just don't have much of a chance and a big windstorm knocked off 75% of them a couple of weeks ago.  So, I'm lucky I was able to get photos of these while I could!  Today's Flowers for February 23, 2014.   To visit Today's Flowers, please go to:   http://flowersfromtoday.blogspot.com/

Miss Cutie Pie (Scout)

Miss Scout is doing very well with her weekly lesson.  She eagerly awaits her time with my trainer, Maia, and can't WAIT to go down to the arena for some exercise!  She now walks WITHOUT dragging either one of us!  Good girl!  She is rewarded with some "free time" in the arena.  And, she has to be the FIRST horse out on lesson day, OR ELSE!

Finally~some horse time!

Well, I wasn't sick this 3 day weekend, like I was the last 3 day weekend.  No more breaks from school now until spring break, which is at the end of March.  HA~I hope I can make it that long!

Saturday the hubbs and I drove through Joshua Tree National Park.  Our son asked us to check out the campgrounds there, so we did.  It was a cloudy, overcast day until about noon.  By then, it was hot.

But yesterday I was able to spend time with the horses, during their lessons.  Every horse gets some turnout time and a nice grooming.  My trainer is working with Sunni and just getting him to relax at the tie rack.  She doesn't tie him...she just stands there and talks to him (or me) while he relaxes.  Quad now works the entire arena instead of dragging her around it.  He is a lot softer.  Gigondas now enjoys her grooming sessions and lets out long sighs.  Scout is much calmer and more collected and also doesn't drag people around any more.  She didn't do much with Lucille because Lucille, a couple of weeks ago, sprang into action in the arena and jammed one of her front shoulders on some hard sand.  She did get a turnout and she rolled and rolled.

It was quite warm up in the mountains and the owners' almond trees are pretty much DONE blooming.  I missed the whole cycle of their blooming because I missed getting up there last weekend...sigh...I always enjoy seeing the almond blossoms.  Darn it!

She has 3 horses in foal.  Her pinto mare went out for training and somehow came back preggers!  The sire is an Andalusian stallion, so the foal would be an Azteca.  And, she has two of her Peruvian pasos in foal.

And, hay prices are going up, due to the drought here in the Southwest.  Fortunately, the owner bought another whole load at current prices, before they go way up, but I'm sure that before long, I'll have to pay more for board...sigh...

Joshua Tree park visit

Actually, it was more like a drive-through.  Hubby and I went through the park yesterday starting at the east entrance which is outside Indio, CA.  I wanted to purchase my Senior Pass for $10.00 (a one-time fee when you turn 62!), so I did.  Then we drove around the park and checked out almost all of the campgrounds because we may be doing a family camp out in the future (with a 5 year old...).  So, off we went, exploring the campgrounds.  I think any of them would be fine for hubby and me, but with a 5 year old grandson, we may wish to stick to running toilets with water.  Either that, or have him take along his own little potty...Have any of you gone camping with a youngster who is afraid of vault toilets?  Let me know, PLEASE!!!

That's me getting my Senior Pass at the Cottonwood Ranger Station.  

Saturday morning walk

I took a LONG walk Saturday morning.  And, I mean a LONG one!  I walked all the way out to the furthest pond at the golf course first.  Went back to my car, and did my normal morning walk along the outskirts of the golf course.  Went across the street to the Marriott and stopped to take some photos of the flamingos and their beautiful flowers and also saw a white crane.  I was gone 2 hours!  Hubby, of course, was sleeping the whole time.  He just isn't into this morning walk stuff!

The big prints are from a crane. I often see them at one of the golf course ponds.  Didn't see or hear any coyotes, however.

Another 3 day weekend

We're having another 3 day weekend this weekend, and I plan on getting out and up to the horses, SICK OR NOT.  I finished my z-pak this morning, but my sore throat is lingering.  (I was sick ALL last weekend...sigh...and had to go to urgent care for some antibiotics.)  ...sigh...another weekend WASTED because I was sick from the kids at school.

But, I'm so eager to get up and visit the horses, and the weather is SO NICE (it was 81 degrees here today!) that I came home and I made a green smoothie.  I'm READY for the weekend and some horse time!  I imagine they'll all be shedding.

I took these photos of some of the finches and sparrows who come to one of my sock feeders out front.  Aren't they adorable?

3 day weekend ~ Bah humbug!

...sigh...another 3 day weekend that I'm HOME SICK!  I awoke early Saturday morning (1:30 a.m. to be exact)...with a severe sore throat!  It was so bad that I couldn't go back to sleep.  So, I grumbled and stayed in my pajamas all that day.  By Sunday morning, I was off to urgent care for antibiotics.  Got a z-pack and am on day 2 of the pills.  I can't take the chance that this goes into bronchitis AGAIN.  I had bronchitis ALL LAST SCHOOL YEAR!  Grrrrrr!  This year, however, so far, I've been lucky!  I think part of it has to do with my green smoothies that I'm making and an occasional shot of wheat grass.  Plus, I've slept 13 hours Saturday night and 12 hours Sunday night...I'm sure that helped!  So, no, I didn't get up to the horses AT ALL this weekend, but it will be a short week until NEXT weekend (another 3 day one!)

Thursday afternoon clouds

After school yesterday, I raced home, grabbed my camera, and headed out for a late afternoon walk.  Turns out, I REALLY needed some outdoor time!  I even sat down at one spot and just gazed up at all the clouds!  We don't often get afternoons like this one and I wanted to enjoy a few minutes of peace & quiet after another noisy day in my classroom!

Question

Has anybody here turned your blog into a book?  I see there are several websites which do this...just wondering.

Some mountain time

Hubby is off this weekend and honestly, I just was too tired (again) yesterday to drive up to the horse ranch.  And, it looks like today we are heading over to Joshua Tree National Park.  I DID take a drive up to the pinyon forest Friday afternoon, after school.  I raced home, grabbed my cameras, and out I went for a drive.  Hubby wasn't home yet and it was a windy afternoon.  Clouds were spilling over the mountains and I wanted to get some photos of the newly-dropped snow up on them before it melted.  So, off I went.  Unfortunately, I only had a light jacket on and when I stepped out of the car, it was DARN COLD!  The wind was coming off the snow-decorated mountains and the wind just cut right through my jacket, so I didn't stay long.  But, even that 45 minutes was a welcome relief!  I may try to do that from now on on Friday afternoons!   :-)

E book question

I need help.  Both my friend Barb and I want to start publishing some books for Ebooks OR some kind of Internet book thing where people can download them.  I have one book completed, but I did it in an app for my iPad.  It's called "Cali's Journey" and it is the story of how Cali came to us from Wyoming.  I especially wanted to write this after I lost her to damn colic.  I'd also like to put some kind of hyperlink in it so that it would take the reader to one of my YouTube videos about her...does anybody know how to do that?

Anyway, I know Nuzzling Muzzles writes ebooks, or Internet books...so maybe she has some ideas?

I suppose I could just google it, but I'm interested in the pros and cons of this.

Both Barb and I have a lot of horse stories, so we could get some cranked out in the next year or so....she's off work for the REST of the school year because of her golf cart accident (AT SCHOOL) the two days prior to the beginning of the school year.  She has some REAL back problems right now and has been ordered to stay home through the summer...SOooooooooooooooooooooooo, she has some time to get her books started.

Any ideas/suggestions?

I did find SMASHWORDS...here's a link to their website:
https://www.smashwords.com/