walk~in~shelter

we've had some nice rain lately...which makes for good puddle
jumping...creek walking...splashing good times.

we have also had some very warm sunny days...just
perfect for new projects.

now that the horse fence has been finished...the next project on the

list is a walk~in~shelter for renny to get out of the sun, wind, rain, snow.

i am so grateful to my darling husband for his diligent hard

work...our boys also pitched in quite a bit.

thanks jesse, ethan, and david.

renny is very respectful of the electrobraid fence...the dogs are still learning.

we have had some yelping lately...they will soon learn.

i really like the way the braided fence looks...it looks very natural.

there is 30 ft between each post so you can see your horse very well.

dh has never built a fence before and it looks professionally done

i am very proud of you, dave.

he has never built a walk~in~shelter either but that didn't stop him.

on saturday...we had a few more helping hands.

thanks to eric, nate, canaan, rachel, and ellery.

it was hot but the crew worked tirelessly to get the shelter up.

well between texting(anyone who has teens knows this the

one constant in their life.)

i was on the tractor cutting our acres.

our sons friend nate found these stakes intriguing.

ellery enjoyed handing out the nails as needed.

it is a good thing we had a few extra hands for putting up the structure.

my parents used to say "many hands make light work."

it does make it more fun and lots of joking around.

ellery taking a break from the heat. cutie pie.

as the sun set the last boards were being nailed down.

i took these on sunday. i love the way it looks.

after some discussion we have decided to double it in size.

we used the same rough~hewn lumber that is on our barn.

it will weather to a nice natural grey.

fields of passion

anybody else ever feel like there are never ending lists of to~dos?

well our latest to~do has been a whopper...big...huge...back breaking.
having the heat whip us everyday is a bit humbling.
we are building a fence...why you ask?

remember....mine and abbey's trip to florida where she learned
from her big sister esther to ride horses...well one horse in particular.

"renny"

we have been gifted with being able to bring renny home to our farm and
call him our very own horse. it's a long story but i will be brief. hopefully.

many months ago i got a call from esther telling me about this wonderful
sweet, spook proof, great with kids, can do anything type of horse...only one problem.

so here goes he has a club foot right?...no, no, nothing like that. he gets the heeves...
heeves, what in the world is that? he has allergies very bad from july for several months and needs a home somewhere north of florida...

tell me a little about this horse...the owner loves him and really doesn't want to give him up but she loves him so much she realizes she doesn't want him to suffer. she needs a good home
where someone will love him and ride him. he practically can do anything and nothing spooks him. he is wonderful with children. he lives in the fields and eats grass so his maintance is minimal. "what if he gets the heeves here?" his owner, karen will get in her truck and come pick him up and trailer him back home. sounds foolproof to me. oh and by the way he is a paint horse....ding ding ding....my head was reeling. okay yes, we'll take him...let me talk to dad.

backtrack......... 5 plus years ago to a little girl's prayer, abbey's prayer..."moma.....can i get a paint horse?"
at the time we lived in the city..."maybe one day my precious."

almost every day for the last 5 plus years, "moma......can i get a paint horse?"
"i sure hope so my precious."

back in march or so...."moma"...yes precious...."there's only one prayer i have prayed that hasn't come true"......yes dear what is that?....."i never got my paint horse".....just keep on praying and believing precious.

when we went to florida i knew renny was ours but i wanted abbey to fall in love with him and make a connection...well she fell and fell hard...

one day standing there grooming him she said, "moma....i wish i could have a horse just like renny." it was all i could do not to cry and tell her but i still wanted the time to be right.

i was able to tell her after she had spent several days with renny...they were riding as one.
she was beside herself and i got to tell her mom and dad had nothing to do with that gift...it was truly a gift from God.....she was soaring with elation and gratitude......"i can't believe that i have my own horse after 5 whole years of praying"......well that's half of her life....that is a long time.
"and it's a paint horse just like i prayed for." "yes precious God is good and He loves you very much."

fastforward...july 2009...we are readying ourselves for our newest member of the family...
renny....we are building a fence.

being the tractor hog that i am. i hop on and start cutting the lines of the field we have mark off for our new fence and horse. much to my surprise i come upon a large patch of passion flowers growing wild out in a part of the field we just don't walk that often. i am elated...i started some from seed this spring and none of them made it...now without any effort i have a whole field of wild passionflowers vining all over the place. they are beautiful...so i cut around them and leave them there for beauty's sake.

i love when nature(God) does that...just drops a wonderful
gift of a flower in your life.

they happen to be my favourite colours.........purple, white, green...
image that....thanks Lord for your love.



now back to the task at hand, after that very lovely diversion.

building a fence.....

around 40 post holes...4 corner posts...10 braces/supporting posts for the corners...
i am glad i have some big boys....and of course dh.

after the corner posts were in and the places were marked for the middle posts

it was the same process over and over again.

take the auger...drill a hole...mind you through clay and limestone...sometimes.

have you ever seen a grown man thrown 4 foot backwards?....i have several times.

then you measure the hole to make sure it is deep enough...around 32 inches.

get ready drop the post.

shore it up...level it...pack down the dirt....level it again and

so on and so forth....again and again.

on one side of our property we have a really nice tree line.

it has a wonderful understory with all kinds of places for critters to hide and live.

it gives us a good line of shade from the front all the way to the back.

we walk that way quite often.

even so with the heat there are breaks needed to cool off.

otter pops, frozen sticks are often consumed on these breaks.

the dogs have been our constant companions and they like the pops too.

there is always a little time for petting.

this makes it all quite...happy...

sometimes we need an a/c break as well...

i will keep you posted on the building of the fence and renny's arrival this coming week.

this is the latest little blossom in my wildflower garden.

so tiny, sweet and the prettiest blue.

a volunteer sunflower just outside my fenced wildflower area.

....so maggie is on guard...in the field of passion flowers....out

where we are building the fence.....good dog....maggie.

good dog!

happy summer days.