tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35111318896009513442024-03-05T02:43:08.266-06:00I'm Just Saying....Dawn Melkahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09208301043262680551noreply@blogger.comBlogger22125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3511131889600951344.post-11472606922761869842010-08-31T09:03:00.000-05:002010-08-31T09:03:21.369-05:00Herd bound, getting him to relax<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZZy-jWZXLV7zhX2PrrZTuS8JoEBxaHhC9kNkG62nKh-S7R0WKNiTxsMkgeBTE1Y6y5mXed-miidiroPjZYwyYzajULW1RHsVOGNvmpvDWAlvPbc4BcA4Hp4_Sf8Gb7RlhhOMP7T0fDo7d/s1600/joe-fixed-copy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ox="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZZy-jWZXLV7zhX2PrrZTuS8JoEBxaHhC9kNkG62nKh-S7R0WKNiTxsMkgeBTE1Y6y5mXed-miidiroPjZYwyYzajULW1RHsVOGNvmpvDWAlvPbc4BcA4Hp4_Sf8Gb7RlhhOMP7T0fDo7d/s320/joe-fixed-copy.jpg" /></a></div>Rode Joe yesterday, I put him in the bittless bridle and we went out alone. A very different horse, the problem has been that Joel and I have been riding together leaving Quincy in the barn or round pen and that’s been causing a huge problem. Quincy and Joe are herd bound..... need I say more. So poor Joel cant get him to relax and he is not having as much fun as he could be . Having said that I think Joel likes it when Joe is a little “up beat” Lol, he likes the challenge.<br />
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So anyway I went into the arena and he was relaxed within minutes, worked on walk, trot, transitions hoping to get him to be calmer and listen better. He was doing so good that I asked for a canter, he did ok.. When I brought him down to a trot he started to rush so maybe I asked for the canter to soon, ( I know I did but I couldn’t help myself, bad me!). Worked a little longer until he calmed then took him out for a trail ride.<br />
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He did great !! we just walked because I knew if I had even asked for a trot he would be off. Instead of walking in the paths and fields I had him going back and forth, up and down and around the cedars. He had to think about what he was doing instead of who was yelling for him in the barn. <br />
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Joel and I talked about it and we think the next time we ride together he will start ahead of me, he can warm up Joe before I bring Dylan out of the barn we will see if that helps. I think I also need to take Quincy for some walks away from the others, he is just to stressed when he is alone. Of course getting another horse would always help, LolDawn Melkahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09208301043262680551noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3511131889600951344.post-28955798993645416212010-06-11T07:48:00.000-05:002010-06-11T07:48:56.652-05:00Horse relationship breakthroughWell I had a major relationship breakthrough with Quincy the other day, such a nice feeling!.<br />
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I used to think when something big, really big, happened between myself and my horses that it was just the greatest, well it is, but, I have realized lately that the little tiny things are just as great, just as important because those little things always lead to the bigger things. Need to pay more attention to them.....<br />
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Awhile back I went to a horse event and watched this trainer rub his horses neck, not a pat, not one stroke, but many strokes, long and with feeling. He talked about how the horses mother would have done that when he was a foal and how it helps with trust. Now I think I had heard this before, I am sure of it, but I guess it just had not clicked....till now . So, why not try it.<br />
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I waited until Quincy did something I had asked of him and I stroked his neck over and over again, long strokes with a definite touch and to my surprise while I was doing this he licked, chewed and yawned, wow, I was amazed . I have been doing this ever since, every chance I get and I have noticed he listens so much better, its just an amazing thing. Remember not a simple pat, but long strokes over and over again<br />
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So the other morning I had put the horses out but had forgotten to use fly spray so I needed to go back out. I keep a bottle of spray by the gate and usually I leave my carrot stick there as well, so from the house I went right out to the field. Now getting through the gate with three horses stomping and pushing to get away from flies is not an easy feat, and it had just poured so the ground was slick. I looked around and no carrot stick, I had left it in the barn , I should have gone back for it because Quincy was right there, but, I went right on in anyway. First, he moved back with just the movement from my hand, nice!!, remember they were not happy because of the flies but he moved with little effort on my part just a simple will you please! So I sprayed him told him he was a good boy and moved over to spray another horse, Quincy moved with me, not pushy like Quincy is, just with me, quiet and softly. Recognizing that this was something great I played with it a bit, moving from horse to horse away from him and he just stayed with me. He was not trying to get away from flies or another horse, he was not pushing into me, he just wanted to be with me. And when he dropped his head lower and lower letting me pet him I realized that he had been doing that more and more as well, he had been doing that and I had not realized it. This is huge for us !! this is like the old Quincy before it all fell apart, there is hope for us I just know it !<br />
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I have learned patience in my older years but I am telling you I cant wait for the arena to be done and the round pen put up I just cant stand it !!!! LOL. I need so badly to do more with this horse and I am getting more and more excited about it. <br />
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Isn’t natural horsemanship great!!! Thank you parelli and thank you Emma!!!Dawn Melkahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09208301043262680551noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3511131889600951344.post-39771089216183042392010-05-11T16:47:00.000-05:002010-05-11T16:47:14.717-05:00Should I have let him run?Well I had just the best ride on Joe... I have to say a great big thank you to Audrey, if not for her three rides on him I would still be waiting until I could do some more ground work, you are awesome!!!!<br />
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I have never had a really bad ride on this horse, he has never done anything to make me so scared or feel so unsafe that I had to get off, but he can and does object from time to time and thankfully I have learned enough to gently persuade him to see things my way. He is the type of horse that will go into himself and that can be dangerous, but, he gives a lot of warning, you have to really not be paying attention to not notice it happening. <br />
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I had no real agenda in mind I just wanted to ride and have fun, I was only going to walk and if he was doing ok I would work on walk trot transition, if not so be it, we would just walk, no pressure. So about 20 minutes into the ride I got some soft blowing and he gently pulled the reins from my hands as he stretched down, it was really nice. We started with the transitions. What a good boy. <br />
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But.... everyime he saw the barn he wanted to head that way and he did his stepping backward thing, but again nothing to bad, nothing I could not handle. It gave me a chance to ask nicely for what I wanted and for him to answer nicely, there were no real battles. <br />
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Now I have to admit I did something I should not have done but I could not help it! I always bring him back when he brakes his gate, this horse loves to run and I love it when he does but it has to be safe I have to have control. This was our first ride alone in well since last fall and I did not think letting him out was a wise thing to do, especially since he wanted to get back to the barn, he is fast, very, very fast!!!. But I do let my horses have some say in things if they ask nice and if its safe so when he broke into a canter the split second it happened I started to bring him back but he was soft.......I just let him be and we had such a nice, slow, controlled canter, he just wanted to run a little, not away from me, not to the barn, just run for the sake of running. Should I have let him, probably not, but I tell you it was so much fun....Dawn Melkahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09208301043262680551noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3511131889600951344.post-72725606098807013162010-04-19T10:44:00.000-05:002010-04-19T10:44:41.191-05:00A Successful Session<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEU-wTMNVClTZ_PKqLAB5UTRjpl4f0bEDQDVA1eVVOEBeD_xYTDtwS_OB8c9TpwqrlEEJtJSP9JevOTLGkJ42bqIuJQJyK_4WtSLYveR766vP2JIslgBY2EOZd0iN79AYmL4pitU0vsLRU/s1600/quincy-close-up.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEU-wTMNVClTZ_PKqLAB5UTRjpl4f0bEDQDVA1eVVOEBeD_xYTDtwS_OB8c9TpwqrlEEJtJSP9JevOTLGkJ42bqIuJQJyK_4WtSLYveR766vP2JIslgBY2EOZd0iN79AYmL4pitU0vsLRU/s200/quincy-close-up.jpg" width="200" wt="true" /></a></div>He was bucking and rearing but there was no anger in it! Ok so I think most people would think that was awful but really I was just so happy with what I got. <br />
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There has been so much going on here that playing with the horses almost never happens and forget about riding, cant do that until I can get them back in shape, talking mentally not physically. But I have been making myself do at least something with them everyday other than feeding, cleaning the stalls and saying hello on my way out the barn. Most days I just brush them maybe do a little ground work and just hang out with them. <br />
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For me, for my sanity, I need to be riding so now I need to make the time. Yesterday I decided I was going to work some with Dylan and if all went well I was going to hop on him. I just got my new bitless bridle and cant wait to try it out. Well it turned out instead I did some work on line with all three, here is how it went.<br />
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I worked first with Joe, learning parelli has been a life saver for me, honestly it has but I have decided that with Joe I am not going to change how I ask him to circle or back from me. That old saying if its not broke....and honestly he dose what I ask when I ask and its never been an issue . Plus when I try and change things with this horse he goes to that bad place I am just not going to do that to him. I will however inject as much of parelli training as I can as much as he is comfortable with. So in doing the circling game I got three times around without having to ask, without nagging and I got it in both directions. I got some snorting but he never really relaxed and normally I would work with him until he did but his back is sore and he is off on his front left so instead of asking a whole lot more I worked on his back when he had enough I gave him treats and put him away. <br />
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Next came Dylan, I really do have to work with his manners some getting him to back off of me. Its a security thing with him, a respect thing. When we take them for a hand walk he and Joe together he is so worried that Joe is two steps in front of him instead of one that he does not know I am even there. Not acceptable !! so we worked on that and did some lunging, I just want him to listen to me instead of what is going on around him. Really was a good day for it as the alpacas across the way were having a party and the minis playing in the other direction were grabbing his attention. By the end of the session he was listening to me doing what I asked so we stopped. At this point I almost got on him but no one was around so decided I had better not. <br />
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Well it might have been safer to ride Dylan than to work with Quincy, but it turned out ok. In fact as bad as it got it was great, let me explain. I did a few things on line he is getting better and better but he is still Quincy, LOL . I asked him to circle and I am still struggling with how I ask him. I keep “blocking” him with my actions and sometimes its not till its done that I realize what I am doing. So when I asked him I needed to encourage him to turn and go and this time I asked him to “walk on” saying it out loud because he knows the words and I asked him to turn at the same time by pointing the stick at his nose!!! Now for me that’s a biggy, I always forget to just ask the nose, I don’t need to ask at the neck or shoulder, turn the nose the rest will follow. It was awesome and I think because of that the next part went so well. He broke into a canter and at first I was going to stop him because I know where this could lead but for some reason I just let him go. He stayed at the canter never rushed, never bucked, never got angry, never tried to come in, he did three circles and I stopped him. Was so awesome. Well now the other direction......I guess at this point he was done.....he went off on me, reared up when I asked him to back, took off at a canter, a really ugly rushed one, came in and when I asked him to get out he bucked and got tangled in the rope did that all four feet off the ground thing but I just let the rope flow out of my hands I just let him go on because he did not have that “look” he gets his eyes were still soft. Amazing! Got him stopped and asked again, it was a repeat performance but again there was no real anger him. I know I had to keep going until I got what I was asking. Finally I got almost a complete circle, a nice steady quiet circle, I could tell he was going to that bad place so I just stopped it he turned liked his lips and we were done. <br />
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How weird it must be for someone to listen to this story and wonder how I can be so happy with that performance but really truly he never got so angry that he wanted to kill, he simply did not want to work and figured he would let me know, its what he does. I need to get a round pen up I need to find a parelli instructor or at least someone who knows more than me and I need to work this horse more. I have no dilutions that I will ever ride him again but I will have a trained horse on the ground and I will have my old horse back again!!Dawn Melkahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09208301043262680551noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3511131889600951344.post-39427863861223615392010-03-02T09:23:00.000-06:002010-03-02T09:23:36.217-06:00Treasures under the house or surprise # 42Well lets see, lots happening around here, the latest is we are getting ready for the foundation work to begin. They will be patching the foundation there are holes everywhere and its crumpling. Support beams will be replaced and we are hoping that once they get into it we wont have any more surprises, keep your fingers crossed.<br />
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So this is kind of cool, for me not so much for Joel. There is a crawl space under what will someday be the library it needs to be cleaned out so the workers can get under there and so we can insulate, this house is over 100 years and no one along they thought to put insulation under the house or even in the attic, that’s another story but I am getting side tracked. <br />
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The former owner had to get under there and had a small hole cut in the floor, apparently our workers did not feel it was big enough so Joel had to make it bigger. This is right up his ally as he was able to use lots of tools, I don’t get it but whatever, Lol. Once this is all done he will rebuild the “door” in the floor complete with handle. He will do an awesome job as woodworking is his hobby. <br />
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Anyway as the story goes, as it was told to us.....the old farmer that once owned this property apparently liked to drink, a lot. The people we bought the house from said for years and years they picked up liqueur bottles all over the grounds. Now when they moved in they noticed a hole in the floor and even though it seemed odd they did not give it much more thought as the condition of the house when she bought it was really something. They showed up pictures you would not even recognize it as the same house we bought, ok again I am getting side tracked. So... when they went under they found hundreds of old bottles! Now it makes sense, the old guy must have sat in this room drinking and getting rid of the bottles by throwing them into the hole.<br />
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What we were left with was bucket after bucket of broken glass and other bits of trash. We had to haul it out one bucket at a time. When all was said and done we now have about 200 old bottles that we will try and sell. Some we will keep as they are part of the history of the house and some I will paint as still life objects. I am thinking a painting in the library as a reminder might be nice.....maybe not, LOL. <br />
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Here are some pictures so you get a better idea of what I am talking about...<br />
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<div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0Cjd4ZU-70ngpnBZX6hqR9wQbvW2tNHWR1_pBatXYL4tEaXBYfT8lGNjuqTTgpFjoJ5Efvy3IpCFO46eLuY_4TEwi4IZwdRmp8lxnazNS3ssV7Wjc-wvcBon4kx2tn0Nj403yBFHJAZrN/s1600-h/cutting-the-floor-3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="133" kt="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0Cjd4ZU-70ngpnBZX6hqR9wQbvW2tNHWR1_pBatXYL4tEaXBYfT8lGNjuqTTgpFjoJ5Efvy3IpCFO46eLuY_4TEwi4IZwdRmp8lxnazNS3ssV7Wjc-wvcBon4kx2tn0Nj403yBFHJAZrN/s200/cutting-the-floor-3.jpg" width="200" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIYihIDQ5eLAx0-CG-GQoeqt8djtx9oe2IX6aQ9nmLITFzPgm_4QMo8bK2th-KN3p0L7G16SXdygeepNRdopsZmyZ4n_I_7rD6UyO3NsiT7ORjmcdIe8Ut5krdHBz1N9QXGbJaa3mGORne/s1600-h/cutting-the-floor.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="cssfloat: left; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="133" kt="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIYihIDQ5eLAx0-CG-GQoeqt8djtx9oe2IX6aQ9nmLITFzPgm_4QMo8bK2th-KN3p0L7G16SXdygeepNRdopsZmyZ4n_I_7rD6UyO3NsiT7ORjmcdIe8Ut5krdHBz1N9QXGbJaa3mGORne/s200/cutting-the-floor.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;">Cutting the floor</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlHRlHTyF8MzM7bJSZ1Z14wHxhV-Dbo3bHeEPbw66PR2kfhKpCZYL-nCRguHYVBhrxkJILgMmMq8WJS4Wq37Ii8deiXAvZRoIfoCvdbrLwcnH0shLI5vz5yDDkiYgbqXnekXP_iTzcD2VP/s1600-h/cutting-floor-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="cssfloat: left; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="133" kt="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlHRlHTyF8MzM7bJSZ1Z14wHxhV-Dbo3bHeEPbw66PR2kfhKpCZYL-nCRguHYVBhrxkJILgMmMq8WJS4Wq37Ii8deiXAvZRoIfoCvdbrLwcnH0shLI5vz5yDDkiYgbqXnekXP_iTzcD2VP/s200/cutting-floor-2.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;">My first peek under the floor, no I did not go down there just the camera, LOL </div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoOVHBZtBmtBYlpVpQVZxBRSu03DyJDZ_BuFDXquQ_OuDIZCWsAr_Zg8he0LjIOu9gblNRNzFxFdXSlfQ_LR-1TT4CXh75e5myHs1hsTP98ykG3Z1oUG5A_f5V6X9b_fdEWb19GKetOyGT/s1600-h/under-floor-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="133" kt="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoOVHBZtBmtBYlpVpQVZxBRSu03DyJDZ_BuFDXquQ_OuDIZCWsAr_Zg8he0LjIOu9gblNRNzFxFdXSlfQ_LR-1TT4CXh75e5myHs1hsTP98ykG3Z1oUG5A_f5V6X9b_fdEWb19GKetOyGT/s200/under-floor-1.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;">First bucket full</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYe72EZ-fn9obQaNkgL_6BzrZ8T2MHMevVZn2Nhu1v67wkn6EKepzV4UDOz4YfLL6vpkJch28AWd1gm2ldMLt7nNcaV1bLptFUo2uw4xxtykoN9rJ-WA_LZh1hy4xKY3_tGp0TuDwFgbq6/s1600-h/first-bucket.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="133" kt="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYe72EZ-fn9obQaNkgL_6BzrZ8T2MHMevVZn2Nhu1v67wkn6EKepzV4UDOz4YfLL6vpkJch28AWd1gm2ldMLt7nNcaV1bLptFUo2uw4xxtykoN9rJ-WA_LZh1hy4xKY3_tGp0TuDwFgbq6/s200/first-bucket.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">First load of many</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBecFmQyhcj6wIoxU5MUsbDgoaRq9ympPOdDMPHJDZEXTkxJq623nklwTN7LST7vUKJlCBX4Sc7Ghvc27VeJIYUSP0Lk3zFv3pPETIFb9lX36hetN2ZlprfJKnXNd-Pl_XJMIurbJlBsDM/s1600-h/first-load.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="cssfloat: right; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="133" kt="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBecFmQyhcj6wIoxU5MUsbDgoaRq9ympPOdDMPHJDZEXTkxJq623nklwTN7LST7vUKJlCBX4Sc7Ghvc27VeJIYUSP0Lk3zFv3pPETIFb9lX36hetN2ZlprfJKnXNd-Pl_XJMIurbJlBsDM/s200/first-load.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;">Now I have done a little research on bottles and one thing I read was that people got rid of bottles by throwing them in there privy (outhouses) why not they had a hole in the ground and it would be filled in. Apparently if you are into old bottles that’s were you want to dig, to each there own, LOL So I am thinking that the hole in the floor was made for this purpose. We have so many poison bottles and other household bottles that I don’t think it was just a place to stash the empties. I do however like the other story much better, it also explains the cigaret burns in the floor!! </div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; text-align: left;"> </div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>Dawn Melkahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09208301043262680551noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3511131889600951344.post-38948987181225785602010-02-01T06:09:00.000-06:002010-02-01T06:09:39.107-06:00Nice<blockquote>Sometimes its just the little things the unexpected things that can be huge. Yesterday I threw some hay in the barn for the horses, I placed it in the isle so I could clean the stalls. I walked by Quincy who was eating and you all know how food oriented he is, nothing comes between him and his feed, without thinking I reached out grabbed his tail ever so slightly and just pulled toward me, not even pulled just a slight tug and guess what, he backed up!!!! Granted he was chewing he has his month full but wow ! Now I know that might seem silly to a lot of folks but to get a horse to back by tugging on there tail takes some doing, to get them to do this with just a slight tug not much more than a thought is awesome, to get Quincy to do anything much less backing, well all I can say is wow. </blockquote>Dawn Melkahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09208301043262680551noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3511131889600951344.post-58260868498385150422010-01-05T16:19:00.000-06:002010-01-05T16:19:11.095-06:00Site for the new arena<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdiFgJMOR3TRA2250GqKASSaQuZo2Owu2ydUcMPgXA23ZM6QorNr3sds2sEbQjqpAaHuwmjbvc0UHs8UtUBA7ZKhalGaQx0rl5BYl9BT79UErZyhWr953Ry58sCFFBFeH8ztd4CiW7d52N/s1600-h/old-barn-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ps="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdiFgJMOR3TRA2250GqKASSaQuZo2Owu2ydUcMPgXA23ZM6QorNr3sds2sEbQjqpAaHuwmjbvc0UHs8UtUBA7ZKhalGaQx0rl5BYl9BT79UErZyhWr953Ry58sCFFBFeH8ztd4CiW7d52N/s320/old-barn-1.jpg" /></a><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Barn before the storm<br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Barn after the storm, it seemed to move daily<br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">All gone!!<br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Well the old barn is not only down, its gone and although this was not what we wanted mother nature had different ideas and we were left with no choice but to tear it down. When we got the property we knew there was a possibility that it could not be saved but we were hopeful. Then the storm came and left us with no choice but to take it down. We hired someone to do this for us and even paid extra to have it taken down in parts in order to save the wood, but, some genius had tied cables around the barn ( in an attempt to keep it standing)and when Ron, he’s the one taking it down, when he cut a cable and just gave it a little shove the whole thing just collapsed. Yickes that was not good. <br />
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</div><div style="text-align: left;">We were also having the ground from the one barn to the old one leveled so we could put up the round pen, as we watched all this happening Joel and I were talking and one thing led to another, why not put the arena here ! Ron has the equipment he has the time lets just go for it. The reason we were not going to put it here in the first place was one it’s a very windy spot and two we were going to build a shop there but since we were not able to save much of the wood and since we cant put an arena in our chosen spot for two more years, ( its under contract with crp) we thought lets just do it! <br />
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</div><div style="text-align: left;">We have not figured everything out as this truly was not something planed but hopefully in a few months we will have our arena. We are hoping in the future to have a covered arena but that has to wait till we hit the lottery, in the mean time this will work just fine. We are close to the barn so easy to tack up and ride. Visitors will be able to just pull up and use it. It will be a great spot to warm up the horse and rider then go for a trail ride, I’m thinking this is going to be great!!!!!. <br />
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</div><div style="text-align: left;">I will post pictures when the arena is done but in the mean time you can all see the latest changes here at Barking Dog Ranch. . <br />
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</div>Dawn Melkahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09208301043262680551noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3511131889600951344.post-68879904821328498902010-01-04T09:44:00.000-06:002010-01-04T09:44:37.282-06:00Happy New YearWell it’s a new year, I’ve l made my resolutions, oh the dreaded resolutions, , still have my trees up, just been to lazy to take them down, and now I am really contemplating what to do next. I think this is the week for me to really think about some changes, to figure out what I want to do and to just get to it, wow 2010 !<br />
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So...If I don’t call them resolutions instead if I call them goals then maybe I will actually keep some of them. Lets see, I plan on calling home more, emailing more, writing more letters and card, I love getting cards and letters in the mail so maybe if I send more I will get more.... riding more, playing more, creating more , painting more, writing more and reading more. That’s a lot of mores but none of them are very hard and all of them will make my world a better place. That’s the plan lets see if I can stick to it.<br />
Well then, I have a full week ahead of me, I will make my list but, and this is a big but, I will get done what I can and not worry if something prevents me from getting it done, there is always next week, I mean as long as I am accomplishing something, anything, then all is good and I will just continue the list. <br />
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So this week.... I really do have to take down the trees and put the decorations away, I cant believe I am admitting this out loud but do you know I still have most of the original boxes for most of my ornaments and some of them go back to high school, each ornament comes off the tree, goes in its original box then gets put into a container, that my friends is why it takes me so long to put everything away, and why I always put it off....why do I do this to myself ? I have a long list of things to get done this week, but I don’t wont to bore you all with it, I just need to get to it.<br />
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I do want to wish all of you a very happy, healthy, wonderful new year. I hope your dreams and wishes all come true. Stay positive, laugh a lot and do the things you want to do. Stay in touch with loved ones, find old friends, make new ones, let the past go and move on. Have a great 2010 everyone !!!!!Dawn Melkahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09208301043262680551noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3511131889600951344.post-35994521016111465062009-09-19T05:59:00.000-05:002009-09-19T05:59:17.480-05:00FacebookI have joined a few web sites, social networks, blogs etc... I belong to art sites and horse sites and sites that I am really not sure what we do. The internet has been a powerful tool for me, I have my own web site for art, I sell on different sites, I buy on some, I talk on some, I learn on some, I hover on others. I have joined and quit, gotten confused and lent a helping hand. Its very frustrating at times and very very fun other times. <br />
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Well I am thinking facebook has become one of my favorite sites. I started there out of curiosity but it has turned into the most wonderful way to stay in touch. I have friends and family all over the place and now I can see what everyone is up to with a click of the mouse, its been just great. More recently I have been able to connect with people I went to school with and that’s been a blast. <br />
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Now some of my “friends” don’t understand that they actually need to write something in order for all of this to work but that’s ok they are just behind the times, perhaps they will catch up. But everyime I see a new face I just love it. I even have friends that I have never met in person but we “met” on other sites and just followed each other. <br />
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Well I just really wanted to thank all my friends and let you know I am loving being there and although I might not talk to everyone everyday I am thinking about all of you. If you have not yet joined what are you waiting for you will be so surprised how quickly and easily you will connect and reconnect with family and friends. Go on join!!!!Dawn Melkahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09208301043262680551noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3511131889600951344.post-41012066533833341082009-09-19T05:30:00.000-05:002009-09-19T05:30:03.755-05:00Tittle ChangeWell ok then I decided on “I’m Just Saying...” Its something I say almost daily and usually in a sarcastic way, LOL but the title now covers just about anything I may want to write about. Briefly I changed it to Life at Barking Dog Ranch but decided I wanted it a little lighter. Not to say I wont change it back.... <br />
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Thanks fo the input everyone !!!Dawn Melkahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09208301043262680551noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3511131889600951344.post-6823662105674447662009-09-16T15:14:00.002-05:002009-09-16T15:17:22.718-05:00Name changeWell as you all know I cant sit still or leave well enough alone. The title of this blog has been bothering me, I did it in a hurry and at first I thought I would use it for everything, art, horses and life but as it turns out I am using a separate one for my art so I need to get rid of that in the title. I have been agonizing over this for a bit and still cant come up with anything I really like so I am going to list a few ideas<br /><br />I keep going back to Life at Barking Dog Ranch since that name has been a part of my life for many years but I have a few other ideas as well let me know what you think good or bad<br /><br />Life at Barking Dog Ranch<br /><br />Fragments<br /><br />This end up<br /><br />Just me<br /><br />Its just me<br /><br />Over here<br /><br />I’m just saying<br /><br />Thanks talk to you all soonDawn Melkahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09208301043262680551noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3511131889600951344.post-52835255136169039802009-08-25T11:15:00.000-05:002009-08-25T11:17:25.656-05:00Backing out of the stallHad a great ground work session with Quincy, it was short but oh so wonderful. Yesterday Quincy knocked Vicki over barging out of the stall, my fault I have not worked with him and he is starting to do the old Quincy things again. So I have decided that everyday no matter what I have to do something of him, even if its only for 5 minutes, no exceptions!!! Yesterday was really good, I did some back up and some circling, he went twice around at the walk before I had to encourage him, for us this was really good. I also made sure he was at my shoulder when I led him, not a few steps behind like he has been doing. Don’t get me wrong leading him has become a joy in fact he leads better than the others but always a few behind. I was very happy with the out come. <br /><br />Today I thought lets do something different. I decided to back him out of the stall, now I know what you are thinking, that’s easy and you have done that before, but wait, this stall had a drop down of about 8 inches so what that means is that he has to step up 8 inches to get out. I asked him to back and had to work on getting him straight and keeping him that way, this became an added bonus for us to work on. Once he was straight I asked him to back and as soon as he hit the board he stopped. No mater how I asked he just stood or came forward or stepped to the side. We just started over again and again and again... I was getting to the point that I thought maybe this was to much for him but just as I was thinking this he turned and looked at his back end and started to lick and chew. Ok we are getting someplace, I asked a few more times before I thought maybe if I lifted one hoof up and out, I walked to his back end lifted a hoof and placed it out of the stall then walked to his head and asked him to back.( Should have thought of this sooner) He walked forward, I tried the other hoof and this time he just stood licking and chewing, he did not walk backwards but he did not walk forward either and he licked and chewed. I gave him a minute to think about it asked again and he tried then stopped but still did not bring the hoof back in. The next time hooray he backed out !!!!! I told him what a good boy he was and let him stand part way in part way out. He licked and chewed again then I asked him to back he went right out.<br /><br />Fixing the stalls in on the top half of our to do list, now I am thinking maybe not so fast this is kind of cool, LOL.Dawn Melkahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09208301043262680551noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3511131889600951344.post-62913022167929816902009-07-25T07:31:00.001-05:002009-07-25T07:35:21.615-05:00Look what the Dogs Draged in !We love taking the dogs for a hike, they love being able to run play and hunt. Bill, he is really quite the hunter always bringing home moles and gophers, go Bill!! Sometimes they spot a deer and off they go then Joel has to go off into the woods to get the dogs, not always happy about it as we know there are other creatures in these woods, some we would rather never ever come across. We figure we are safe during the day as its mostly night time when the sun goes down that we hear the sounds of the wilderness, but you never know.<br /><br />So the other day we decide to go for a hike and fortunately I grabbed my camera, just hoping to take some pictures of the dogs and nature. So we are walking, Joel and I talking, I take a picture here and there, the dogs are doing what dogs do, it was cool enough that we were all enjoying our hike. When all of a sudden the dogs stop, not moving a muscle, the hair on there backs go up, Joel and I stop as well not sure what is going on. Then just as suddenly Bill bolts off into the woods, Lucy right behind him, Joel an I look at each other not sure what to do. This is different than other times somehow we know its not a deer or bunny this is big! We can hear them running but they get fainter and fainter as they get further and further away from us. I can see the look on Joel’s face he is thinking I’m not going in there and I am thinking each man, woman and dog for them selves I want to bolt but in the other direction. <br /><br />Its so quiet I think even the birds have stopped breathing..... time passed very slowly..... but then we heard it, a soft rustle, a twig breaking, heavy panting, the dogs were heading back, but wait, something is different I cant figure out what the sound is...... oh my!! I cant believe my eyes I know I must take a picture but I cant I just cant move, out comes Lucy, out comes, Bill, out comes oh my oh my oh my could it really be, has Bill and Lucy done what great men and women over the years ben unable to do, have they captured Big foot can it really be..... <br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmFolORtGBjG1AoEGVKKZUJVcR-siy753i66KFgiOA6796-KaULRolNGReJRJFf6XTY6hOQyx2UXnLBbJS71WUUUQG7RBDIiRSqjHMXGaGyxIy-1kuiHKuVQjAgrFkYMUIi-JZexKDLJRt/s1600-h/bigfoot.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 239px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmFolORtGBjG1AoEGVKKZUJVcR-siy753i66KFgiOA6796-KaULRolNGReJRJFf6XTY6hOQyx2UXnLBbJS71WUUUQG7RBDIiRSqjHMXGaGyxIy-1kuiHKuVQjAgrFkYMUIi-JZexKDLJRt/s320/bigfoot.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5362374721293875362" /></a><br /><br />Ok so my attempt at fiction may not be very good but I had you going there for a bit, LOL Hunting for big foot has been a long time joke in our family, Joel and the dogs, what ever dog we had at the time have always gone hiking in hunt for him. When I saw this cement casting I knew I just had to get it for Joel, yes its ugly but come on how fun. Joel will find a very good place for it, perhaps hidden on a trail so when we are on our hikes with the dogs we will see it and think fondly of the dogs that have passed before us. Hope you enjoyed my story, hope I have not scared you away.Dawn Melkahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09208301043262680551noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3511131889600951344.post-36339326277042589392009-07-14T08:27:00.004-05:002009-07-16T08:32:27.944-05:00Parelli training pays off<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiF01UXDpl1Gl203n6TGZogRP0Ov1Q3GZiQIVDO6iuNAUDdbNWjzUhPSUeNDaold8bm3dwj8nhEl1C6qaRb4DHLSqCDt5t4nElLEsvjqO3pT1onRXeUf7fyEI1Crum6ZnIDImDUik9J5P0B/s1600-h/THE_NOSE.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5358307383021790018" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 160px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 200px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiF01UXDpl1Gl203n6TGZogRP0Ov1Q3GZiQIVDO6iuNAUDdbNWjzUhPSUeNDaold8bm3dwj8nhEl1C6qaRb4DHLSqCDt5t4nElLEsvjqO3pT1onRXeUf7fyEI1Crum6ZnIDImDUik9J5P0B/s200/THE_NOSE.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><div>This is my latest discovery on the parelli learning adventure. </div><br /><div><br />I have a left brain introvert who to say is a handful would be an understatement, we have come a long way but have so much further to go. Here is what has been happening.... </div><div><br />First I should explain the layout of the barn. It has stalls all down one side and stalls and tack room, washroom etc.. down the other. The isle is extra extra wide with a dirt floor, you can actually ride in there if you would want to. So what this means is the horses can not just go in and out of there stalls but in and out of the barn. Its awesome!!! </div><br /><div><br />Ok so the section that has the hay also has a gate across it to keep the horses out of it, else it would be a feast. I was throwing hay one day and they were all in the isle, I grabbed some hay and walked out to spread it around, when I turned to go back and close the gate Quincy was in there eating. He not only had opened the gate wide he had walked under and through the tarp that hangs to keep the rain out if the big doors are open. Now before parelli I would have shooed him out and shut the door, but instead I just walked in told him he was a good boy grabbed more hay and continued doing what I had been doing. I gave him some time then walked in and asked him politely to leave, he did!! Well this kept happening he would just wait at the gate for me to walk out and he would swing the gate wide and go in.</div><br /><div><br />Now, I can stand at the gate, I don’t even have to go in and ask him to leave, he always does. I gave him a choice instead of a demand I let him play and make a decision and the results are incredible. </div><br /><div><br />Because of the move we made and everything else that’s been happening I have really neglected the horses but now that things are getting to normal that will change. I have decided to take the riding part out of the equation when it comes to this horse and just concentrate on the ground work. We will see what happens. If someday I am able to ride him again that will be great but if not its ok I will learn from him and for him and the other horses will benefit. </div>Dawn Melkahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09208301043262680551noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3511131889600951344.post-11403502393123088132009-07-13T08:49:00.002-05:002009-07-14T07:38:37.965-05:00ANIMAL'S TEN COMMANDMENTSI found this on the web awhile ago and just had to share, If anyone knows the original author please let me know so I can give credit Thanks <br /><br />Just found out this is by Debbie Wadkins .<br /><br /><br />1. My life is likely to last 10-15+ years depending on what type of animal I am. Any separation from you is likely to be painful for me.<br /><br />2. Give me time to understand what you want of me.<br /><br />3. Place your trust in me. It is crucial for my well-being.<br /><br />4. Don't be angry with me for long and don't lock me up as punishment. You have your work, your friends, your entertainment, but I have only you.<br /><br />5. Talk to me. Even if I don't understand your words I do understand your voice when speaking to me.<br /><br />6. Be aware that however you treat me I will never forget it.<br /><br />7. Before you hit me, before you strike me, remember that I could hurt you and yet I choose not to.<br /><br />8. Before you scold me for being lazy or uncooperative ask yourself if something might be bothering me. Perhaps I'm not getting the right food , I have been in the sun too long, or my heart might be getting old or weak.<br /><br />9. Please take care of me when I grow old. You too will grow old.<br /><br />10. On the ultimate difficult journey go with me please. Never say you can't bear to watch. Don't make me face this alone. Everything is easier for me if you are there because I love you so.Dawn Melkahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09208301043262680551noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3511131889600951344.post-61749855483343787252009-07-05T10:19:00.001-05:002009-07-05T10:22:07.652-05:00Sounds of the nightIf you are real quiet around dusk you can start to see and hear the sounds and sights of the night. At first you have to listen hard as the sounds come from afar. Off in the distance a small yap, a howl, a buzz, a snap, and a hum. As the minutes pass on the sounds become louder and louder and you are certain you are involved in a private conservation with the wild. The coyotes are out and on the hunt, the pups are calling to there parents and you just know they are right around the corner. The frogs get louder and louder almost overtaking everything else. There is a song in the air and you listen more intently not wanting to miss anything. The light show that goes with the voices is unbelievable as hundreds of fire flies dance and float all around us adding yet another dimension to the night.<br /><br />We are sitting on the front porch, not having to think, just listening and watching and being totally entertained , nature at its best. I am getting used to this new life we have here at BDR. I invite you all tonight, to take a few moments where ever you are to stop and listen to the sounds around you. I think you will be pleasantly surprised that for a little while you are in a different world, one that is relaxing , entertaining, peaceful and so beautiful if only to your ears.Dawn Melkahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09208301043262680551noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3511131889600951344.post-60286245088171965532009-06-27T10:11:00.000-05:002009-06-27T10:13:38.243-05:00I think I am losing itOk so I am doing my best to go with the flow but I have to admit its not been easy. I am wondering why we moved here, its been between 90 and 96 degrees, with the humidity it feels like 100 to 106, you open the door and it hits you like a brick wall. Not even 5 minutes and the sweat is dripping down your back, 10 minutes and your clothing is sopping wet, 15 minutes your feet slosh in your shoes and your eyes start to sting from the salt dripping into them, and no I wont mention the rash under my boobs!! . I know I stink, but since I have decided to set a limit of two showers a day I am just going to have to wait. I clean the stalls just before one of my showers as it’s a oven in there. And yet, I keep the horses in the barn because at least the flies are less in there then out in the fields. Speaking of flies, never in my whole life have I seen a horse flies the likes of the ones that live in this neck of the woods. I think I will rope one of those bad boys and just saddle it up, that is of course unless my saddle is to small for them.<br /><br />Now if the heat is not bad enough, I have for the first time in my life , poison ivy, ring worm, you heard me, ring worm and my ankles are almost raw from scratching as a result of being bit by chiggers! What in the world are chiggers!!!! Tell me, why why why do we have ticks, snakes, horse flies and now chiggers, I see no good in any of theses and I want to know why! Oh and the other night on the front porch as I was talking to a friend on the phone I caught movement out of the corner of my eye. Something big and fast was scurrying all around the porch, I’m thinking a mutant bug of sorts, but to be honest, I could not take a closer look for fear I would lose my mind. When I saw it crawl up the side of Joel’s boot my first thought was huh, serves him right for moving me to this inferno !<br /><br />Even the dogs are having a hard time, I ask them if they want to go out and they get all excited, we walk out the door and bam, they just stop, turn and stare at me. What , go pee then you can get back in. I try to take them for walks in the early morning because if it does not happen then its not going to happen. For those who know me you know how much I love mornings so you wont quite believe this but the other day I was already mowing the lawn at 7am you heard that right, 7 in the morning. <br /><br />Now I would love to post this on the blog but I don’t have internet !!!!, again, and I think I am going to have a little nutty. I tell myself its ok it will be back soon , you should not be so obsessed with the internet but that’s all I have between me and the civilized world. Ok I am exaggerating but come on!!! cant I at least have my internet. <br /><br />Ok I am going to take a deep breath, call the internet people and beg, then I am going to go and hose down the horses, then with great pleasure am going to grab the bottle of spray I bought and attempt to distinguish between the poison Ivy and real plants, I am going to kill each and every plant I find, I am going to take aim and laugh in its face, that my friends will make me feel much better. Not sure what that says about me but o-well.Dawn Melkahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09208301043262680551noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3511131889600951344.post-75321166422853755252009-06-17T17:51:00.000-05:002009-06-17T22:13:40.982-05:00Cloud photo, pre stormToday I am going to share a photo with you. Most of the time the camera is a tool, the photos are used as reference for paintings or to show others what is going on in my world. A lot of the photography makes it into greeting cards and occasionally I get a photo that’s good enough for the wall. Today, I will share a photo that was not planed, by that I mean I did not realize what I had until after I took the image. We get a lot of thunder and lightning storms here and quite often the sky just before the storm is beautiful. This picture was taken while hearing the thunder and seeing the lighting but it was still a distance away. I promise you I did nothing to this image, I did not Photoshop it or alter it in any way, this is nature having fun. <br /><br />Look at the first photo, do you see it? Now look at the detail in the second photo ! <br /><br />Hope you see what I see and think its a cool as I do. <br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXOqU6tg5oV-11WomAHDARthRw06y5LgTF0mZBwdTpNWxJnGDDNcifg1zbLYtEXwEaBFHjY1NY1k_SK9nMODehdEvIu-gNOl4QB8_PeNfZdHRFYIWSkJ_M5Z-j0DeshnuXPsOoiz4zpkr2/s1600-h/man-in-the-clouds.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 213px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXOqU6tg5oV-11WomAHDARthRw06y5LgTF0mZBwdTpNWxJnGDDNcifg1zbLYtEXwEaBFHjY1NY1k_SK9nMODehdEvIu-gNOl4QB8_PeNfZdHRFYIWSkJ_M5Z-j0DeshnuXPsOoiz4zpkr2/s320/man-in-the-clouds.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5348435672934493314" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5yujVB_A2NvLMGAQ2APmy1UCWaFFgoCJVZl0OcssNDosid5FFirdwJFUfrz4-7N1MpekGawcVDaalI04MLuS943uoxOe6oTGAyqlxSO79t_3zeEPkj4j2xv7BEOA-CBEgJR-24HbGf8Av/s1600-h/man-in-the-clouds-detail.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 258px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5yujVB_A2NvLMGAQ2APmy1UCWaFFgoCJVZl0OcssNDosid5FFirdwJFUfrz4-7N1MpekGawcVDaalI04MLuS943uoxOe6oTGAyqlxSO79t_3zeEPkj4j2xv7BEOA-CBEgJR-24HbGf8Av/s320/man-in-the-clouds-detail.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5348435493306317858" /></a>Dawn Melkahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09208301043262680551noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3511131889600951344.post-55604539383728644752009-06-15T18:19:00.000-05:002009-06-15T18:37:31.126-05:00Mimosa tree, my new favorite<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMDeWRQpaw49k7ZTlV0OqGgzYB7j139EGAGgDpYdjJcCif8bzcKk3-kk1bXH-O-2fGGp2w1_lzeJN8ez4UodJaNn6xph-Drqn1J8rC5UE4j0x7wQf8Tuv6J_UZ0LRVyr03bBFE-q3wMlHS/s1600-h/mamosa-3.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5347699970747821954" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 133px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMDeWRQpaw49k7ZTlV0OqGgzYB7j139EGAGgDpYdjJcCif8bzcKk3-kk1bXH-O-2fGGp2w1_lzeJN8ez4UodJaNn6xph-Drqn1J8rC5UE4j0x7wQf8Tuv6J_UZ0LRVyr03bBFE-q3wMlHS/s200/mamosa-3.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgidFOF6yR_JyYsZnuCKoFOknrJ-yX4GxzmDYYRZtvMz8Yr_HzCrkUeMJvin-do7Qrj2-cRJBsIspE41038s_Gm74WjZwSTI229iQMtjuZxQtJveEJ3iivCshg3TW-qO0bVoOOsc9ogmTv_/s1600-h/mamosa-3.jpg"></a><br /><br /><div>Well we are almost there, the yard is almost back to where it should be and we can work on planed projects or do nothing if we choose, its awesome. We did hire someone who came with a cat and chipper, took three guys two full days but its done. Don’t get me wrong there is still a lot more to do but we can slow down, we can relax a bit, we can play with our horses and I can get in the studio. Best of all we can walk outside look around and discover all the wonder and beauty that surrounds us. </div><div><br />My friend came over this afternoon, it had stopped raining long enough for us to walk around and I saw something I have never seen before, the blossom of the mimosa tree. First off, I had never heard of a mimosa tree before we moved in here, the tree itself looked interesting but what I saw today was a real treat. </div><div> </div><div>Today, for the first time there were blossoms. She told me to wait and take pictures when the whole tree was in bloom but I could not wait. What a wonderful, delicate, whimsical, fragrant and almost playful blossom this is. The world is just full of wonderful surprises but I think this is my new favorite.<br /></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9MGlJMQH0VNnAoguvyf2tkbcMsad9hkA54AHlUHsg7xhKgrkWCM-jP_Gk9bzw9AfMg5Ow1MLka9BpMtkHLAu13HGAixxlCAxqqMYEBrC1ZR0pREzQ-hGXWLJkI2hdTWzZJSkRyXNFWNaz/s1600-h/mamosa-2.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5347699517618176130" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 213px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9MGlJMQH0VNnAoguvyf2tkbcMsad9hkA54AHlUHsg7xhKgrkWCM-jP_Gk9bzw9AfMg5Ow1MLka9BpMtkHLAu13HGAixxlCAxqqMYEBrC1ZR0pREzQ-hGXWLJkI2hdTWzZJSkRyXNFWNaz/s320/mamosa-2.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><div><div><div><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvH__KZidlGRX66M1DvFGrnVTyBgzTe_cYptkRIH-PUXq0CARIEPSRy8L2jMGXmYsBHjS3YwmH8_RFBtBzA7-7H9YQnbTSRqhdHrHehP2ouqx87Z6EtH4Hw8MrrNzdgQcXeF-K0k_zm8xz/s1600-h/mamosa.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5347699051184065762" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 213px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvH__KZidlGRX66M1DvFGrnVTyBgzTe_cYptkRIH-PUXq0CARIEPSRy8L2jMGXmYsBHjS3YwmH8_RFBtBzA7-7H9YQnbTSRqhdHrHehP2ouqx87Z6EtH4Hw8MrrNzdgQcXeF-K0k_zm8xz/s320/mamosa.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><div></div></div></div></div></div></div>Dawn Melkahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09208301043262680551noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3511131889600951344.post-83064505839784291622009-06-13T07:55:00.000-05:002009-06-13T08:00:01.863-05:00Frog PondWell I worked on the frog pond yesterday ,this will be the 5th or 6th time, but who’s counting. And....this time I am sure its done, well not done, but to the point I can now just futs with it. During the aftermath of the storm I decided at the end of a very long hard day to see what was up with this little neglected pond by the barn. I ended up cleaning it out, layer after layer of mucky smelly decaying leaves. It was pretty ripe!!! Just what I needed, to get involved with yet another project.<br /><br />The next day I emptied the rest of the standing water from it, I actually got inside and swam with the critters, it was the only way and I was willing to sacrifice myself! I then scrubbed it with a brush and filled it up with water. It was so cute, I put the floating glass balls from my old koi pond and wow not bad. Well now I think a fountain... , a few plants..... some gold fish and we will be done. ( did I really think that would be the end of it, I mean this is me we are talking about! )<br /><br />So I go on the hunt for everything on my list, I came home with a small pump that has a fountain head and three very sick looking plants and no fish to be found. I could not find a pond store and the only pond plants I found were on the sale rack because they were on there last legs. Well after trying to put the fountain thing together, it had no real directions and I was just not getting it, I decided it was just a cheap one anyway and I was taking it back. I put the plants in and they floated, no kidding on there sides floating. My neighbor stops by and sees the floating plants and after some discussion we decide to just re plant them in bigger more stable pots. It worked !!! Not bad....<br /><br />Joel talked me into getting just a pump and building a waterfall, well I love the idea but was afraid of the amount of work I would have to do, after all take a look around !!!! And this really is just a small tiny pond but ok. So I gather some rocks from around the property and I built a waterfall, l loved it loved it loved it. The bottom rock has a chanal in it with three outlets so its really kind of cool. When I showed it to Joel he asked if the water was all flowing back into the pond, well of course it is do I look that stupid?????.<br /><br />So the next morning I go out to feed the horses and yep you guessed it there is no water in the pond, oh how I hate it when he is right ! I take it allllll apart and refill it with water, but with no waterfall. I also realized that the pond was not level and Joel, him again, said if I did not make it level I would never be happy, he’s right so instead I just walked away thinking later I will work on it later.<br /><br />So yesterday morning my neighbor came by and said well I can help lets just do it. We worked on it for hours, removed all the rocks from around it, took the liner out, leveled the dirt, gathered more rocks and reassembled the pond complete with waterfall. I know I was driving her crazy when I said it was all to straight and not natural looking, but being the good sport that she is she just smiled and asked what I wanted to do. We just tweaked it a little added some pebbles to soften it, found some old "driftwood" and when we stepped back we were just delighted. Now I did had to warn her that I was going to change it up a bit and at first she did not understand, I had to explain that ’s just the way I am, I will futs with it almost everyday and maybe by the end of the summer I will be done.<br /><br />So here we have it a little frog pond, I placed some frogs around it hence the name. Now I am thinking maybe in the back by the herb garden.......<br /><br />Goldfish to follow.<br /><br /><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGT0qLebLGltEqQgR6B9_TjVQLL4Imj917OoTq0BNyR9btUuppvLbxIIeNhyzMws7lU5-m62zkCY6bRsTAPbAPzRBbsBpGgk1Wof2_2RdWwMhVyKVxUuKnZU0CnEMSaIQl3RtwymQD0uZJ/s1600-h/frog-pond-2.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5346795492296051362" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 213px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGT0qLebLGltEqQgR6B9_TjVQLL4Imj917OoTq0BNyR9btUuppvLbxIIeNhyzMws7lU5-m62zkCY6bRsTAPbAPzRBbsBpGgk1Wof2_2RdWwMhVyKVxUuKnZU0CnEMSaIQl3RtwymQD0uZJ/s320/frog-pond-2.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFPoT5ERZf3se_pKm-Za75yCnIg7cgih5UyG6kSTSGVqCnwbxL7FyxWzqh-e0nkdzpFQw0Vky_KXWYZSuU4vXSxEL_HiScihQy-h8NDglGN3S7GkIlZuZgHy9tpMCdREPX_o4aVacJvNgP/s1600-h/frog-pond.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5346795487034107298" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 213px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFPoT5ERZf3se_pKm-Za75yCnIg7cgih5UyG6kSTSGVqCnwbxL7FyxWzqh-e0nkdzpFQw0Vky_KXWYZSuU4vXSxEL_HiScihQy-h8NDglGN3S7GkIlZuZgHy9tpMCdREPX_o4aVacJvNgP/s320/frog-pond.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><div></div>Dawn Melkahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09208301043262680551noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3511131889600951344.post-43677821258351969892009-06-11T08:18:00.001-05:002009-06-11T08:23:39.123-05:00Tic’s, spiders, snakes, oh my !!Ok in my world there would not be bugs and crawly things they would be outlawed banished never to be seen again. Being new to this part of the world is opening my eyes to many things and some of them I would rather not see. I guess May is tick month as we had them on us every day. Some were just there crawling up with those tiny little legs and some actually bit us, I still have the marks from those little suckers. The first few times I had them on me I came unglued, jumping, swirling, spouting obscenities and basically totally freaking out. I got better, really I did, what choice did I have it was a daily occurrence. And the poor dogs, having tic’s is bad enough, but having to deal with a mother that is afraid yet tries to take them off well I am sure in there mind they would just rather I let the blood get sucked out of them. Sorry boys! Well I have noticed that there are not as many, some say it’s the heat I think word got out that I was on a mission to banish them and they are afraid of me, very, very afraid!!!!<br /><br />Then there are the spiders oh my they are everyplace, in the barn , in the studio, in the shed and in every little nook and cranny of this house. The bug guy is coming today I don’t care what it costs I will not be bitten by one of those bad boys. I was told the other day that I needed to look out for this particular one as it will rot your flesh, oh just great !!! Now I have to learn the difference between the flesh eating spiders and the good for the garden ones, no, I don’t think so, make them all go away!!!<br /><br />Now to top it off I walked outside yesterday and there in the lawn in the front of my house inches from my big toe was my worse nightmare. Don’t tell me they are good for this or that, no way they are bad and I want them gone. Please someone take them all away, you can have them they can live in your world you can even give them names, just take them away!!!! OH my!!!!!<br /><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGvES9bsjtb-N2PI23IAzo9mKF7cICbwDdNxNe6dVuy6xepjLZgArX4BUYPzwVnN0So2dwyCoz86zEw95t8vQjDc6VvEbkmQkuvn_hR8NDrUSMwMTvKWYQpR1Aadc7ePKB2I4wCpr-Tf7u/s1600-h/why-I-need-a-gun.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5346059096431321650" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 213px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGvES9bsjtb-N2PI23IAzo9mKF7cICbwDdNxNe6dVuy6xepjLZgArX4BUYPzwVnN0So2dwyCoz86zEw95t8vQjDc6VvEbkmQkuvn_hR8NDrUSMwMTvKWYQpR1Aadc7ePKB2I4wCpr-Tf7u/s320/why-I-need-a-gun.jpg" border="0" /></a>Dawn Melkahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09208301043262680551noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3511131889600951344.post-33744297489824981192009-06-10T18:57:00.000-05:002009-06-11T08:25:39.729-05:00The Big StormSo what do most people do when they move into there dream home??? yeah they paint and decorate and organize and enjoy. But what happens when one week after they move in they get hit with a hurricane!!!!! to make matters even worse we don’t live on the coast! Not sure what the technical name is for it but they call it something when its inland. So now its been about a month since the storm and we can finally start to think about other things beside clean up.<br /><br />We lost a lot of trees including the two 200 year old pecan trees that shaded the sunroom. Its ok really after we cried about it we looked on the bright side of things, we now have a clear view of the pond and the sun rises are magnificent. Plus who doesn’t want a new roof and fencing not to mention the retaining wall, lightning rods, horse fence and oh that smelly thing they call a septic...... just to mention a few. But we will have wood for the fire place for years and years and years.....<br /><br />This weekend we will hire some help and get the limbs chipped, we will then clean up that mess and forget about trees for awhile. Lots more of them came down but we will take a brake and resume that clean up in the fall. Its really getting to hot.<br /><br />Here are a few images from the storm<br /><br />Trees on the roof-<br /><p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLTXbKHXpcGeeQPdkQyVnXVPxShuO0aWSs9i1SjImgz9l676aPQafhD3qAZEwAUeNqoINw2SU6P6AA3p3b3BLj12kpeh-VSfROk3Ub7QEb1zy_fxtF1EjW1mRIr4JDjyegfcozTzujdWD3/s1600-h/trees-on-house.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5345852679748559490" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 213px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLTXbKHXpcGeeQPdkQyVnXVPxShuO0aWSs9i1SjImgz9l676aPQafhD3qAZEwAUeNqoINw2SU6P6AA3p3b3BLj12kpeh-VSfROk3Ub7QEb1zy_fxtF1EjW1mRIr4JDjyegfcozTzujdWD3/s320/trees-on-house.jpg" border="0" /></a></p><p>Two pecan trees up-rooted<br /></p><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhT4Ztmy-AYXDvYeTV659ZHSz_eV2DFEmEcSrp2QdC8apwygFgHGUpuG4yNmsZvM_AKMD5hf2nH98K9PL4v1AgK93Q2o-1dWaYrzjPVVel-unn3IUujX3VGLKfUsbfNesknS5VC15F4EmXA/s1600-h/pecan-trees.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5345852677075107474" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 213px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhT4Ztmy-AYXDvYeTV659ZHSz_eV2DFEmEcSrp2QdC8apwygFgHGUpuG4yNmsZvM_AKMD5hf2nH98K9PL4v1AgK93Q2o-1dWaYrzjPVVel-unn3IUujX3VGLKfUsbfNesknS5VC15F4EmXA/s320/pecan-trees.jpg" border="0" /></a> This is the old barn it used to be straight<br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNOMkmp-OQy0U_9kg0t3G1Unv2o9AM6Y-UsDw7B35bRRJIRCxwTO_NMKHIiJLHnOuiZ8kcMDdNxYnTBshH6Pcc_BpO6-cvYQR5ZoTbGf_QVB8VvZToNKnbmMPF3vDRxS5LQnS-fHeZ1UIm/s1600-h/old-barn.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5345852670160345234" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 213px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNOMkmp-OQy0U_9kg0t3G1Unv2o9AM6Y-UsDw7B35bRRJIRCxwTO_NMKHIiJLHnOuiZ8kcMDdNxYnTBshH6Pcc_BpO6-cvYQR5ZoTbGf_QVB8VvZToNKnbmMPF3vDRxS5LQnS-fHeZ1UIm/s320/old-barn.jpg" border="0" /></a> Joel working on the cedar, it shaded the deck<br /><br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7DMTe_UwzmJeoqnrNOFNh37xy0xhcb5CQhEY4ggUKL1o-RchVP5dnqnm6WkJ_7Dv7ELO5sygLQrCH-Jrx3yNMcuk9gXPtToNJhQcqtsg9Fdl5UC2BoEGoiNEF6TMLwW8ktS_BjO318L_R/s1600-h/Joel-working-on-the-cedar.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5345852669946251426" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 213px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7DMTe_UwzmJeoqnrNOFNh37xy0xhcb5CQhEY4ggUKL1o-RchVP5dnqnm6WkJ_7Dv7ELO5sygLQrCH-Jrx3yNMcuk9gXPtToNJhQcqtsg9Fdl5UC2BoEGoiNEF6TMLwW8ktS_BjO318L_R/s320/Joel-working-on-the-cedar.jpg" border="0" /></a><br />Part of the fence around the house, if you walked around the whole house this is what you would see all the way around<br /><br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRZ4prh4LseDl3y3chgs6fKRLzApabJViOaT9JcHE-Lr4HZfrtF693N0xQt1Zp5t6Wpe5ut_KwGkgS5UrGGk4o7neSh6Hku-UoOpU78w6-IAa0tPxrnDLBveuWeMyNVDaFFaCeioGWE1JZ/s1600-h/fence.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5345852667644595538" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 213px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRZ4prh4LseDl3y3chgs6fKRLzApabJViOaT9JcHE-Lr4HZfrtF693N0xQt1Zp5t6Wpe5ut_KwGkgS5UrGGk4o7neSh6Hku-UoOpU78w6-IAa0tPxrnDLBveuWeMyNVDaFFaCeioGWE1JZ/s320/fence.jpg" border="0" /></a> Lots more but really all the same<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><div></div></div></div></div>Dawn Melkahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09208301043262680551noreply@blogger.com1