Happy Trails, Old Girl

 On Saturday evening,

I went down the barn to feed the horses.

Sadly, I found our old girl Chessie dead in her stall.

While not shocked at her passing

(she was about 29 and had been laying down more and more

and having trouble getting up),

it still stung.

The day we first met Chessie

 Losing any pet or animal stings

because they always become part of your family

even the chickens.

But losing a horse seems bigger.

Like the next level is losing a human.

Horses are your work partners.

They carry you around the pasture,

along trails,

over logs and fences,

 through streams.

Brat Child riding, he said he was going to ride her forever

They tolerate extra weight on their back

and small feet flailing at their sides.

Chessie meeting the love of her life Wilbur- who also passed away

When you get a young horse,

your relationship can last more than 20 years.

That's longer than most marriages.

 And if you're like me,

a horse is someone you talk to.

Someone you can wrap your arms around and press your face in thier neck

and cry about whatever injustices you're enduring.

And not be judged.

So, 

while I tried to tell myself she was old 

and I shouldn't get too upset because it was, afterall,

her time

and I knew it

there's tears

knowing that the riding and conversations are ending.

 The chapter has ended

I've closed the book

much like I closed the stall door where she lay.

Photo Credit to my mom who took this one morning going down to feed the horses.

More Snow? Really?

That's a downy woodpecker sitting on the tree

Guess what.

That's right, we got 4 more inches of snow on St. Patrick's Day.

I also received my box of seeds 

from Annie's Heirloom Seeds.

And Thursday is technically the first day of Spring.

Really.

I'm serious.

Part of a herd of 20+

So, I'll get to planting some of my seeds that need to be started indoors

and come up with ways to keep the deer from turning the garden into an outdoor buffet.

(they like kale a lot)

So Long, Friend

Okay, so friend might be pushing it.

She was just a chicken.

 But she was my favorite one or one of my favorites,

and yesterday she met an untimely end.

My brother found a large pile of white and black feathers in the bottom pasture.

So, off we went in search of chickens.

Two were hiding in the branches of a large spruce tree,

2 were missing and one was presumed dead.

We confirmed that Squatch was dead when we found her body in the neighbor's field

relatively untouched.

There was no sign of Bertha or Martha Stewart who are the only remaining hens from my original 6.

We looked all over-

me clucking like a chicken-

but found no sign not even feathers.

I left for my meeting, my son crying, me with a lump in my throat 

(don't judge I raised them from little chicks)

While I was at dinner I got a call.

My brother found the 2 missing hens and had returned them to their coop.

So R.I.P. Squatch

you're antics will be missed

(theory is that a dog got her as a fox is unlikely to leave a perfectly good dead chicken)

Is It Spring Yet?

This is the garden from just 2 days ago.

Luckily the temperatures have been near or above 60 degrees

and most of the snow is gone.

Of course tomorrow is supposed to be 31 degrees

but at least there's no snow.

All the warmer weather and the sight of grass greening up

and crocus and daffodils popping up

had me dreaming of the veggie garden.

So I placed an order.  

Big E better be ready to get dirty, 

there's going to be a lot of planting going on.

What's Up?

This may come as a shock, 

but we got more snow.

Luckily, we didn't receive the 8-12" they were predicting, though 

we did manage another 4-6" with a visit from the polar vortex.

I'm so glad he came back to visit.

It just really seems like Spring is never coming

and we'll be stranded in this perpetual winter.

Then the chickens started laying eggs regularly.

So eventually I guess we'll start thawing out.

Let's hope it's soon.

All this winter had me in a real snit.

Stress didn't help either.

But I'm still trying to work on resolutions

even though it seems like a wasted cause.

I heard someone say that there's still 10 months to work on resolutions.

I thought that was a ludicrous statement,

but it's true.

There's nothing that say you must make good on them by the end of February.

So on that note I've managed to achieve the following:

Paying off credit card debt

Breaking through the weight plateau I was stuck at

(though I'm not exercising enough yet or eating perfectly healthy)

We managed a couple of family nights/times and need to get that on a regular basis

We managed 1 date night and need to get that on a regular schedule too!

I've been a little better about eating habits. There's been more salad and less crap.

More water and tea and less soda.

These are all positive things, and I'm working with renewed fervor to get more accomplished.

Today Lent begins and as a child I always tried to "give something up" for Lent.

This year I'm deciding to give up bad carbs/stress eating.

Might seem more like a diet than a Lent offering,

but I really, really rely on stress eating to make me feel better.

Except I don't feel better because I get upset that I ate whatever I ate

and then I need to eat something else from the stress of eating something bad.

So, I'm giving up my crutch, my comfort 

and forcing myself to be healthier and work through things in a healthier way.