Shingletown

Once again work called me away from the fun! Here's Lynn's version:

Friday night got home, kicking off "good" clothes for "everyday" clothes (same stuff, everyday is too worn out for work).  Called Mom said you ready to roll?   Of course she is ready to roll, she was for sure watching me  and headed out the door.  Mom asked where is Vicki?  I told mom she can't come she is in San Jose or San Rosa remember she is at a conference?  Nope.   Caught Buster and Star.  Hooked up, through our crap in the trailer, loaded up horses, Haley and us piled in... on the road by 5:15...

We stopped at the Lumberjack in Redding for dinner, lets just say it was okay.  

On to Loomis Ranch.    We arrived and was met by Dave the hired hand.  He was moving making everything perfect.  Horses water, and cleaned out our trailer, and showed us our room.  I ask  if I could let Haley out.  I was nervous, Kate has added chickens.  They were between us and our accommodations.   I seen Haley's keen eyes hone in on them,  I told her in a low and I mean it voice NO, you leave them alone.   She was really good and tried to ignore them, I could see her watching the whole time.  I know she was thinking they could be fun.  

Dave showed us our room.  It was nice, quiet and unique.   It is located in an out building.   The Bathroom is to the left right when you go through the open air door.  Continue on and the room in on the right.   It has all the amenities you need, TV, Wi-Fi, love seat for your TV viewing.   Angela text me many times, she is fast.  I could not respond fast enough, I was laughing...  WE went to bed... on the trampoline one little movement and your rock'n & roll'n for 5 minutes, it was a hoot.  Definitely good for a laugh.   Haley wanted us to hold still.  Needless to say I could not breathe, allergies!  Augh!    After Mom tried to go to sleep and I was still trying to breath, of course blowing my nose.  CRAP!  That set mom off  laughing.  There was a knock on the door, Haley went nuts!  Kate.    She was checking to see if everything was okay.  She said she was sneaking up to see if she could hear conversation  she wanted to say hi and realized her spurs were jingling then she heard us laughing, she knew we where still up.   She was just getting home from the rodeo.    We visited for 15-20 minutes.  She was leaving at 5:00 am she had entered her first bass tournament. 


Finally,  morning came.  I went to feed and Mom shower.   Then she asked when Alisa was going to get here.  No Alisa is not coming.  She also thought we were going to ride there.  I said we got to get on the road to Shingletown.  Meeting Angela at Reeds Market.   Later on the road, she said Alisa is always on time.  She'll be there or we arrive at the same time.  I had to remind her that Alisa was not coming. 

At Reeds market we had breakfast.  Did some shopping, in and out of the store.  Finally I told the checker that we were waiting for someone.   In about 1 hour Angela showed up.    We introduced each other.  We took off following Angela to Claire's house.   

Angela  introduced us to Steve (Claire's husband).   I asked Steve if I could let out my dog, and he said of course.  So let Haley get out.   Steve busted up, said wait right here... Than I started laughing.  Here came "Woopie"  Black and  very tall Standard Poodle.   She is a very happy dog :)   I followed Angela to Claire Gaston's (?) house.   Claire had broke her ankle the day before of course riding, not her horse and for the first time in 5 years rode with no helmet.    I told Steve  too bad the other 2 standards  weren't here.  By this time Claire had made her way out... poor thing.   She asking about Haley and I told her about Sammy and Ziva.   She just smiled.  This is their third standard.   She loves them. 

Angela saddled up and we headed out.   It was about 10 am.    She was riding Dozer... :)   We had a nice ride.  The terrain is flat.   They had a "hill" our drive way is about the same incline.   Inside I chuckled.   Haley chased a jack rabbit.  She was not much larger than the rabbit.   I seen a doe and turkey tracks.  The weather could not have been better.  Sunny and about 75 degrees. 

We arrived back about 1:30 or so.  We unsaddled put the horses in one side of their corrals.  Then we went and visited with Claire for a little bit.  At about 3 we loaded up and headed for home. 

We stopped in Weaverville for our best meal of the two days at Marino's gassed up and arrived home at 7:00 pm.  Good weekend.

Buster Bucks

It's the year of the horse! According to one website, the "Horse year is about freedom, returning to nature, and enjoying life and life’s adventures." Hmm. I'm liking that! 

I am sitting here multi-tasking, reading Texas 10th grade paragraphs online (and every now and then I need a mental break!), writing this, and playing with Ziva. As I look down at my feet I see a bone, a zebra, a ball, another sort of ball, a rooster, an outside flying squirrel toy, and Ziva who is straining to get under the hutch to get the tennis ball she has put there. Do you think maybe she thinks I am boring? I am sure she had rather live with Lynn and Haley where she thinks it is about having fun all the time! :)

Saturday started off a little rough. Zigman had blood all over his left front leg and his knee was swollen. Lynn brought him down and cleaned it up and doctored him. We aren't sure what happened, but he seems like he's healing up; although, it was still a little swollen last night (Monday). Haley also ended up with a hurt foot. She cut it on something near the end of the ride. Poor little thing was holding her foot up and wouldn't put weight on it. After cleaning it real good, then a few epsom salts soaks, and having a wet Sunday off, she was much better last night and ran and played with Ziva the whole time. 

So Lynn rode Buster and caught Star for Shirley. We rode out around the top of the Hennessey. It just never gets old! Lynn is currently working on a trip to Shingletown for a ride with her friend who lives there. It sounds like a good time! In addition, Lynn thinks she found another place to try when Alisa comes over, which will be fun, too, but honestly, every day is a different day when we ride and I just don't get bored. I don't think Jupiter does either. 

Another thing that never gets boring is feeding the horses at night. I am sure Lynn is much faster when Shirley and I are not "helping." Because I am there with Ziva, it slows her down considerably. We laugh and mess around with the boys and then go for a quick loop up and around the hill so the girls can run. They are so much fun to watch. Then there's Lynn and Shirley. As you know, all three of us ride the 4-wheeler together (totally illegal and dangerous!). We all have on mud boots, big jackets, and hats so there is not a whole lot of room. Shirley is positive that we would be the team to beat on the luge! Because the hill is steep, Lynn needs to shift down to slow us down a little, although I am sure it's only because Shirley and I are on there, too--I am willing to bet she flies at top speed when she's alone. Anyway, the joke is that Lynn tries to shift Shirley's foot half the time. It's hard to get big mud boots under the lever, and with everyone's feet in the way, it's even harder. So she tries to get Shirley to shift. It's silly and we laugh.

Finally, we are adding a new way to support our horseback riding. Buster Bucks. Buster is Mr. Steady. He is the "go-to" guy when someone's regular ride is out of commission. Toni has ridden him, Lynn a couple of times, has Alisa? Anyway, Shirley has always called him the backup horse. So the idea is to buy shares of Buster. As an English teacher/word lover, this is a fun one because of the play on words! Get it? Shares like part ownership and shares like sharing (renting) the ride. ha ha I am always cracking myself up and no else thinks it's funny. :)

The sky is now bright and maybe even a little blue! so it's time to get ready for my real job. Happy trails!