Updates......

First, Chubs is one happy camper! He walked into the trailer with no hesitation and traveled like the well seasoned old campaigner he is. He was very patient at the destination while we prepped his spot, just having a good look around. Upon unloading he was wonderful on the lead, then was turned loose in the grassy area. Within seconds, he had three mares in a total tizzy over his presence :) Everyone was so rattled and dashing around at such speeds that I sent my son (with dog, haha!) to safety in the pickup. The herd dynamics that evolved were pretty interesting, to say the least, but at last report he has settled in very very well-just gets upset when he can't see the other horses for a time. If things go reasonably well, I expect he will be turned loose with the mares in a couple of days. I could not dream of a better situation for his last summer, really. And I am eternally grateful to the compassionate horse owner who offered to pasture him. Kudos to you (and you know who you are *wink*) for recognizing his needs.

Second, the garden is planted, yippee! I am seeing new growth on the vegetable starts, the flowers in the baskets are going great guns, and I find myself needing to pot up some tomatoes again. The only things coming along slowly are the pea and bean seeds-likely due to our cloudy and cool weather. They are just about to pop, any day now....and I found three packets of peas and have been debating whether they should go in the ground too. A neighbor has kindly picked me up two really nifty little carnation type perennials because I admired them in her garden. I will have to get the name of them-wonderful scent! Luckily I have just the place for them, right where the new (double white ruffle type) peony is going. Speaking of perennials, my sis tells me she is bringing me a pile of them for my birthday. Egads, this means building a seperate bed for them, for sure. The lillies and peonies I planted last year are finally, finally starting to show, very late. I think this is due to not quite enough mulch last year, and our very cold spring?

Things with Wingnut are going well....she is continuing to gain and we have started turning her out into the arena about every other day. Luckily, she self exercises and she has begun the slow process of converting the newly deposited fat into muscle. She really does look good, and I do plan on new photos this weekend, for sure. Today she gets her first dose of strongid wormer, after a lengthy series of ivermectin. Over the weekend, she apparantly rolled and found herself in with the other two horses along side her run. This happened while we were hauling Chubs, and no major harm was done....a couple scrapes, and one board on one wall cracked-from the looks of things, someone got pinned inside the barn and bolted out-clipping the board along the way. Everything was very quiet when we arrived back home, and we headed back to the house for tools to fix the minor issues. About that time, Wingnut's "step Dad" showed up, and he decided he should give the three a snack. Um, not a good idea! There was another dustup immediately, but we got everyone seperated, repairs made, and now Wingnut is back where she belongs.

The other news is that today I am picking up six chickens. And I have another two to pick up tomorrow as I don't have room to get them all in the one cage. Three Wyandottes, three Anacaunas, and two beautiful little Banties...the banties are fairly young, and are white with red shoulders. The other, larger birds are egg layers-two hens and a roo of each. Not that I need that many roosters, but what the heck. I am thrilled and have been running around getting supplies. We are going to put them in a 12x12 bay in the barn, so they will be under cover.....today my husband and son get that prepped as I will be heading home with them this afternoon, haha!

Honestly, I had no idea I was going to need so many trash cans! I have six just for horse feed, and now find I will need at least two to three more for the bird feed, at least. I better give some thought to where I can store this stuff so it doesn't take up so much room inside the barn proper.......