Round Pen Adventure- SEIZE THE WEATHER!

I came up with this great idea to build a round pen in our back yard for our horses. All it took was for my husband to get a little bit excited about it, and soon enough we were cutting down logs and spray painting a 60' circle onto the grass. This is actually happening... as I look out my window the hubster is outside digging holes and placing logs into the ground. I am determined to do this all for free. Wood is expensive, and we have a lot of it sitting in the brush that needed to be cleared out. Why not use it? The hubster was not thrilled with the idea of splitting six foot logs, but sure enough he did it. Now I just need to figure out where to find 10 foot rails. So far I have a small collection of long pine branches... not enough. I need about 54 if them. I have about 17 so far. The scavenger hunt is on my friends... the hunt is on. Fingers crossed this doesn't turn into a diabolical mess of an eye sore. In which case you will never see the photos. Ok, I'm off to take photos of the process... will add to this later. Bye for now!

Update:
We found an ad on Craigslist selling the end pieces of long logs... the hubs I guess they are called. They were perfect. All you could take for $60. The hubster went and got as many as he could fit int he truck and used them for the rails.
It turned out pretty good.
He cheated and used 2x4s to make the gate. All in all though we built a round pen for under $100. The horses like it. They gallop around in it, and eat the wood.
Since we built the round pen it has snowed... and then melted... so the ground is either too icy, or too muddy.
I can't wait for spring.
Pictures coming soon. I promise.

My horses are dumb.

I get asked this question a lot. Are horses smart?
Today, I came up with my answer.

Yes, some horses are very smart. I have witnessed a few horses using their lips to open their stall doors. I have even seen a horse drinking out of a water bottle using their lips to hold it in the air. My favorite kind of smart horse is one that poo's in a corner of their stall, makes for easy clean up; and they don't have to stand in filth.  When it comes to riding... I have seen many a horse dump a bad rider because they were just very annoying. I mean if a horse is so smart, why would it let a predator on it's back? A smart horse really wouldn't let you near it, but they are trusting, and so I will let that one go.

My friend Charlene giving a horse a drink of water. This one was a smarty pants. 

Yet, are my horses smart? No.

My two girls are not gifted. I have witnessed them standing in freezing rain instead of standing in their shelter. Today, I went to feed them, which I do twice a day. Each of them have their own designated buckets, which they eat out of... yet... today, Ellie decided that she forgot where her feed bucket was, and decided to eat out of Raven's... and Raven didn't quite know what to do so she walked out of the pen and stood on the other side of the gate waiting for me to give her orders.

On top of this they have fresh water (hand walked, thank you frozen hose) to them every morning which goes in a different bucket. I might as well have brought them a bucket full of poo. They still stand at their frozen solid water troughs waiting for water to miraculously appear. I just don't get it. I mean I even pour the fresh clean water into a fresh clean bucket right in front of their faces so they can hear, smell, and see that I am in fact giving them their water.

I like to go with the old saying. "You can lead a horse to water, but you can't force them to drink"

I confess that I do own two idiot horses. But they sure do make for some pretty lawn ornaments.

The Job Hunt in Today's Society.

I have recently been actively looking for a creative job. The stay at home mom role is challenging and may be one the most demanding of all jobs I have ever had, yet I feel that in today's society it is frowned upon to be a woman living off the man. Women are more independent now, and as much as I love my kids and feel that the best care giver for them is me... it wouldn't hurt for me to be a care giver, AND work. I certainly am capable and strong enough to handle both.

I have always loved to work, and when I do work I put my heart and soul into it. When I was in design school studying Interior Architecture it came the time to find an internship. I sat in a class of 40 girls all going after the same dream, and when it came time to get an internship we all fell to our knees looking for a job. It was the recession. Jobs were hard to come by, and paid internships were at an all time low. Interior Design Firms were closing their doors, and I was thrown into this heap of people wandering around throwing resumes and cover letters to the Internet and postal service without ever hearing any word back.

I was fresh, young, and full of the most up to date of information, the world was at my finger tips, and my confidence was at an all time high. My teachers and fellow students loved me, and I was in a giant bubble of success. Yet... to get the outside world to see this was impossible. I had trouble standing out, and my first impression was a boring letter telling a stranger why they should pick me.

I never got that perfect for me internship that swooshed me into the job of my dreams. The longer the time went by the more my confidence started to dwindle, and self doubt came roaring into my ears. I ended up working in the retail field, which allowed me to learn many tasks. Importing, Exporting, Visual Merchandising, Web Page development, the list goes on. It was a great experience that I finally had to let go of due to having children.

Now, I'm trying to get back in the world. Having to teach myself all the software I left behind at school. The updated versions, have become more user friendly, and all those quirks from the past are gone. A monkey could learn this stuff, and I am that monkey. Self motivation is one of my weaknesses. I never enjoyed being my own boss. To force myself to do things without being told or how, to have a strict assignment that pays no money only experience. Sometimes, I think. "Why bother?"

I have to bother because now people are hiring again. I don't want to slip through and be forgotten. I want something in life. Independence, Pride, and Self Worth. It's not just a job to me. It's who I am. I am a worker, not a slacker, or a sitter, or a couch potato. I have talent, I have a mind, and I think the world needs someone like me out there.

Since sending out paper to strangers has not been working, I will have to start making real life connections. I will have to get my face out there, meet people, and show them in life how full of life I am. My next step to all of this will be my unveiling. I am going to rework myself into a creative machine, and start shining. I will not let people just pass me by like a tiger in a cage. Instead, I must roar, and bring them to attention. I think this is what it takes to get people to notice a person now a days. I will not be another resume in a pile. I will be the person standing in front of you, shaking your hand with a smile, and my resume will speak for itself.

Raven is lame and I'm up the creak with no paddle.

The hits keep coming. I seem to have very bad luck when it comes to my animals. All of my chickens are now gone either due to sickness or predators and now my little pony has turned up lame.

About three weeks ago I went out to feed Raven and Ellie, and noticed that Raven was limping as she cantered towards me. She slowed down to trot and her head was bobbing and she was clearly in pain. I checked out her legs as she ate her food. No swelling, no heat, no cuts, no hoof marks from kicks... nothing. I picked out her feet hoping it might be a rock that she stepped on... her feet were fine.

I waited a week or so, and could not wait any longer, I had to call the vet out.

The horses got their shots, and Raven was looked at. The vet suggested she get a nerve block done on her back right hind leg which was showing the lameness. I had to think about it, since Raven doesn't belong to me. I contacted her owner, and was slapped in the face with a "I want this amount of money for the pony by the end of the month or I will take her tomorrow"

I'm faced with hard decisions. Do I go ahead and pay for more expensive vet fees to find out whats wrong with Raven and then pay the fee asked? and... do I look like I am made of money? I got the owner to take about 75% off the originally asking price. The price being asked is still a lot for a lame green pony that can't be ridden. I could pay this price for a horse that has been around the A circuit and is fully trained and sound.

I had the vet over again today. Raven is now getting worse. She showed up lame on her front left leg and her hind back right leg. The vet asked me to tell her my situation with the owner and as I told my story her mouth dropped open and immediately said "Get rid of this horse"

She took one look at my face, and saw that this was the last option. She decided against doing the nerve block, seeing as it now was in two legs, not just one. It would be too difficult to find the problem in just one leg... but now two?..... For a horse that does not belong to me, and could take a few more thousand dollars of vet work to find out whats wrong... with a grim diagnoses. The vet was pretty sure that this horse would have to go through a lot of therapy to ever be ridden again. I looked at the vet and was begging for other solutions.

I mentioned "Lyme disease" after all, why would this horse be getting worse? She looks arthritic. Is very sore, lethargic, and without being ridden or working... is getting much worse as the days wear on. The vet thought this was a great place to start. She drew blood, and I will know in a few days whether this is the culprit.

If it's not  Lyme's disease I am going to have to give Raven back to the owner. I can't afford to keep doing tests on her.... This could be one of the worst Thanksgivings of my life so far. I'm faced with horrible choices, and feel as though Raven and I are stuck in a corner together with nothing but bad news.

I'm praying that this is the cause, it would explain a lot. If it is Lyme's disease she will get some antibiotic, and I will hopefully have my pony back and I will gladly shell out the money for a healthy pony that is like family to me. If its not, I will end up contacting the owner, and hope to god she will be like, "Just keep her, I can't sell her lame like that, it's a total write off" Yet, I know in my heart she will be here within 24 hours of that phone call and will take the pony and do whatever with her... those thoughts haunt me.

I will have to find a new companion animal to keep Ellie company. Ellie is going to freak out if they take Raven... just today while the vet was here I had to tie Ellie to the fence just to trot Raven up and back, and she started to scream and pull at the rope as I walked Raven away from her. They are a pair, and it will do mental damage to Ellie if I let this pony go to another home.

WHY ME? Why am I always in these bad situations. First lesson learned. Always have a written agreement if you take on someone else's pet. In most cases this would be the owners responsibility to get the vet out and pay for the costs of it's health care. There is a binding agreement that would have protected us both. If anything happens to the horse while on my property I am not responsible. Yet, here I am... both the owner and I are in a bad situation. The owner now has a horse that was worth money, and is now worth nothing so she has lost that sale, and I am stuck with a sick horse that belongs to someone else.

Oh little life of mine, why must I learn everything the hard way?
Fingers crossed its Lyme's Disease.
Never thought I would ever be wishing for one of my animals to have a disease.

Etsy and Finger Print Trees.

I need to start bringing in a little money of my own to pay for my horses. I have decided to open an Etsy account and start selling my talent on canvas. I started with a finger print tree that I did for my friend Kari's Wedding. She loved it so much that she urged me to start selling these on Etsy. It was easy enough. She showed me a tree that she liked the look of, asked me to carve her and her husbands initials in the trunk and add a swing. I finished it in two hours, and had fun doing it. I went to art school, I might as well put my talents to good use. Fingers crossed that I get some business, or it's back to the drawing board. You can see my little store here at the link below. I of course named it The Lizards Den. I will eventually start adding other things like paintings, cartoons, custom art, and maybe some framed Italian Landscape Scenes. The sky is the limit, let's hope this takes me to a new level of starving artistry. Enjoy!

https://www.etsy.com/listing/168367892/wedding-fingerprint-tree?

Offended?

I was just reading an article about a girl that dressed up as a Boston Marathon Runner covered in blood.  Not only did she get fired from her job but she has also been harassed with death threats. The more social media I read the more I see similar outbursts from people.

People/Readers are easily offended, and have no problems tooting their horn all over the Internet. Yet, I'm sure if face to face these same people wouldn't say a word to show their irritation.

One face book user was very offended by a plastic Halloween skeleton hanging from the neck in a neighbors yard. She was horrified and extremely angry over "lynching" and how this made her think of slavery.  Really? It's a toy decoration hanging in a tree... I mean people have been lynched for thousands of years... not just African Americans. But that is besides the point. People just want to get angry over something. They want to point a finger...

I feel for this girl that just lost her job. Halloween is supposed to be about scary costumes, things that make you scream in the night. The day of the dead. It initiates the triduum of Hallowmas, the time in the liturgical year dedicated to remembering the dead, including saints (hallows), martyrs, and all the faithful departed believers.^[7] 

So, according to the definition, wouldn't this girl have had an appropriate costume? She was remembering the dead... perhaps it was her sexy happy pose that caused more of a threat?

I'm more offended by young women that use this holiday to dress up in provocative dresses, showing lots of cleavage and upper thigh. It's not cute, it's not scary, it just says one thing... You finish that sentence, I'm not going to. Yet, I'm not offended at all. Again, it's all for fun. Dress how you want. Just cover your bits and pieces!


For me, this Halloween was scary. The people year after year become more opinionated and sensitive. I slowly start to find myself getting pushed further from the circle of normal. Normal is social media, iPhone crazed, young people and old people alike living their lives through the Internet. It makes it easy for them to go on blast and blow their hateful comments every which way. It's cowardly.
People are judgemental and angry and get a kick out of destroying and tormenting young girls that dress up in dumb Halloween costumes.

I feel sorry for the girl. I hope someone will give her a second change and people will eventually leave her alone. Don't people realize they have ruined this young persons life? It's a Halloween costume.... not a mockery of terrorism or people that were hurt or killed at the marathon.

Update on: Miss Bobbie Socks after she left me….

Well here I thought my blogs were just stupid rants and raves about my little life....

I wrote a story about my horse Giselle (Miss Bobbie Socks) that I had re-homed. At the time I could barely write the story due the excessive crying while typing... it was not an easy story for me to write about.

Yet, the story worked it's way to Google, and a girl who was on a mission to find her once loved horse now knew where to find her. I knew that Giselle had a story, a good one... and magically her story came to light when I received an email from a girl named Mallory. I was in shock.... she sent pictures of Miss Bobby Socks at the Hampton Classic, with this girl on her back.

The email was this:

Good afternoon,

My name is Mallory ******  and due to the help of many friends I have come across your blog post about "Miss Bobbie Socks"- or "Giselle".

Almost three years ago I was shown a horse that was picked up from auction in my search to lease the perfect child/adult jumper. Miss Bobbie Socks, or "Hope" as she is known to me was one of them. I leased her for a year and a half and we ended our run at the Hampton Classic right before I left for college (photos attached). When my lease was up she returned to her owner, Wayne Dougal, who later sold her to the Strain family horse farm. I was confident that this was a good home until recently when I became informed that she ended up at Camelot. Attached are her photos from Camelot, as well.

I have been desperately trying to track down her new home in an effort to make sure she is safe. I am completely torn apart over the fact that she ended up at auction but your blog post has sincerely given me so much hope for her safety.

Please, if you know who has her or who got her from you, let me know. I am on a crazy manhunt here and judging by your post I'm sure you know why- this is an amazingly special horse. By the way, we had trouble picking a show name when I had her until finally we saw her jump. We then settled on "SuperGirl"- you know why!

Thank you for taking care of her for the time you had her. I am so relieved to see that. I am hoping I can see her again.

THANK YOU

Funny enough.... I came up with the Name "Giselle the Gazelle" in the truck coming home from Auction.... the guy at Camelot said that this horse had jumped out of the round ring, and was too much to handle for the two other people that had adopted this horse before us.... well now we know where she learned to jump! 
Of course... I was over the moon about this new information.... Mallory and I quickly started writing back and forth and now Mallory is on a good path to finding her beloved horse... I hope they can meet again.... If anything, the power of this blog has helped a girl find her friend once more. I am so happy for her, and do hope that she in the end gets her horse that we both loved so much back.
Good luck Mallory!
And my love will always be with you my sweet peasant girl....I think of you every day, and miss you terribly... if only you knew how much you have touched those around you. A very special animal indeed.
Here's to a happy long life with lots of people that love you unconditionally. 

My first day with Giselle the Gazelle my Peasant Girl.

Mallory and "Super Girl" (her show name).

Mallory and "Hope" as she was also called.

Mallory and Hope 

Mallory and Hope

Me and Giselle after our first ride.

Giselle after she kicked a hole in the wall....

Giselle a few days later

The race horse....very scared and unsure at first.... looking at the blueberry farmers in the field in front of us.

BUT WAIT…. the story still goes on for this poor horse. I just got an update on Miss Bobbie Socks.
I sold Giselle (Miss Bobbie Socks) on July 20th 2013.
I was just notified by (Miss Bobbie Socks) current owner of her history so far since she has left my pasture plus she did extensive research and found all the places that Giselle has been before she hit Camelot.  (Where I found her)
I sold her to a Trainer in Connecticut that would find her a forever home.

The trainer I sold her too sent me this after she sold her to her new home.  This is a picture of Chris (her current owner) riding her.

which is where the current owner Christina and her partner bought her. She now lives in Malvern, PA only an hour or so away from me. She is currently being worked from the ground up and will hopefully have a forever home. If Christina does not want Miss Bobbie Socks anymore I have agreed to take her back. Because she is so close to me, I may even go visit her.

Christina sent me this picture of her 1 month ago in her current home. 

Miss Socks all ready for lunging. Chris takes exceptional care of her and dressed her in they fly sheet to help her concentrate while lunging. 

That is one happy and healthy horse. I'm so pleased to have met Chris and correspond with her regularly with fabulous stories of the horse that was once a mystery. 

Lets hope this is the last update.
Goodnight Miss Bobbie Socks. I'm thankful to know where you are. I can sleep well tonight.

My life without kids

Today is one of those days where I desperately want to go on vacation from my children. I sit in a daze as my children scamper all over my body pulling my hair, ripping my glasses off, shouting over the news that I am desperately trying to watch, and jabbing a knee or elbow in my soft parts.... and a terrible feeling of numb engulfs me where my body and mind turns off and runs to a different place.

That place.... I often wonder what it would be like.

A business woman perhaps an art director, or Interior Designer....  wearing a pencil skirt, stilettos, and Italian shirt tucked in with gold expensive jewelery dangling from every part of my body.... I would grab a coffee from starbucks and jump into my brand new sports car that still smelled of fresh leather and would be gleaming with imported wood. I would have music blaring as I raced across town to my very important job where people looked to me for all of the answers. I would work late most nights, but on those nights that I make it home I would make time to ride my horses.

On my days off, I would stay in bed snuggled under my very expensive clean white crisp smelling sheets, and read a book with my cat and my freshly brewed coffee just inches from my hand. I would take a shower for over ten minutes and walk around in silk pajamas before once again starting my day of painting, and riding my horses. Some weekends I would have to wake up early to primp and pamper my horses to haul them off to a horse show, where I would enter the show ring and walk out loaded with awards and ribbons.

To celebrate, my husband and I would pick a fine restaurant in the city to drink and dance the night away together... the conversation would not involve how many poops our children had or what color or smells they consisted of, but instead it would be devoted to talking about our accomplishments, things that were happening around the world, and of course where our next big vacation would be... perhaps Australia, or Bali, or even Bermuda for a romantic get-a-way.

Long hours would be rewarded with high pay, and with that money we could travel in luxury, anywhere our hearts decided to go. Paris would be a hot spot to do some shopping, and Africa would be a place to see our favorite animals on a safari.

Next on the list would be friends... lots of them... I would host dinner parties where couples would flock to have the best cheese and the finest wine. So tired from laughing they would leave with large smiles on their faces and great stories.

And scene!.... lets snap back to reality for a second.

Currently... my one year old is tormented by his teeth, and along with his screams of pain his older brother, a complete monster comes over and football tackles him to the floor, where his already sensitive head hits the floor, with the silent screams to follow, I am the only person that he can go to for comfort.

Then while my two year old sits in time out for being a terrible brother he dismisses the fact that he no longer wears diapers and craps on his time out chair... to clean this up, I must put down my sensitive one year old who erupts into violent screams as I try to clean up fresh poo... using my leg to hold back the one year old and scream at the two year to stay clear of the one year old... this is not what I signed up for.

Having children was a terrible move on my part. I wasn't cut out for loving this career, yet there is nothing I can do about it now. My hopes and dreams have flushed down the toilet with the poo of my two year old, and now it is only a matter of waiting for them to grow up so I can start my life over the way I want it.

Yet, if I hadn't had these children I doubt my dreams would be so intense.... I took life for granted, and my personal time was nothing more then a luxury that I didn't appreciate.

Now with the drive, and forced intuition for hard work, I feel as though I'm ready to conquer the world, and looking forward to enjoying my life as an adult.

I wonder sometimes if this was the only way for me to push myself to what I was meant to be. Maybe the children were a blessing, even though most times it feels like a terrible burden.

At the end of the day, I have a job.... raising these boys to be men that treat humans and this planet with respect. If I can accomplish that then my life will mean something greater then having a successful life as a corporate business woman. I gave a giant chunk of my life to create two men that will hopefully work as hard for something they love as their parents did.

Maybe then I can feel successful. Yet right now... I feel like a failure wasting my life, and growing old and ugly... my youth is slipping away, and at the end of the day I'm  just a mom stuck in a house in New Jersey surrounded by bad smells, loud noises and the constant feeling of numbness.

London Calling

We just got back from Brighton, England. My Uncle John turned 80 and it was a great chance for the hubster to meet all of my family across the pond. It was a daunting task to haul my 1 and 2 year old on an 8 plus hour journey. We had to drive an hour to the airport, wait about three hours to get onto the plane, and then travel through the night for 7 hours to arrive at a very large airport, find our way through it to take a shuttle bus to the car rental place, and then drive on the wrong side of everything another two hours to our final destination... my aunts house.

I haven't felt that sleep deprived since having a newborn baby, and even that did not compare to the sensation of utter mind warp. For a whole week my mind was in a gentle fog and my brain cells were working at about 15%. The boys did not do well with the time difference either. Their tight schedule of naps and sleep time were hit with a wrecking ball and my little baby turned into a grump monster that would wake up on the dot at 3 am screaming while my two year old would sporadically start his sleep with a nice cough and vomit on the floor. A mystery that we still haven't figured out.

On top of the sleep deprivation we all achieved the luxury of having terrible colds. Sore throats, runny noses, blocked sinuses... it was one wrecking ball after another when it came to physical comfort.

Those were the bad things....

Yet, on top of all of this we had an amazing time. My cousins took us out drinking at night, (the hangovers did not help the sleep deprivation, colds, and mental retardation) and during the day we pried ourselves off the sofa to go sight seeing.

The hubster is an expert tourist. He has had the luxury of growing up with a family that dragged him around the globe to see all sorts of different countries and do the tourist thing of joining tour guided groups. He wanted to see London. He had never been, and as much as I dislike large cities I couldn't throw a wrench in his hopes and dreams. Elliott, my cousin is an expert at traveling with out a car, and he had a doctors appointment in London at 4 pm. We all went on the train and landed in London an hour later. Our first stop was Wellington Square to meet up with a free tour. Gary was our tour guide. We walked through Hyde Park and learned about Queen Victoria and her many assassination attempts. We, walked past the walls of Buckingham Palace and learned of the many break ins and the people that had met the Queen Mother with out a welcome. We stood in front of Buckingham Palace and learned about the flag, and the gardens. We saw Prince Charles and Prince Harry's home just across the way and took photos of the guards with their bear fur helmets.

Hyde Park is very much like Central park of New York City, only there is not the constant sound of beeping and there are no homeless people. It was very much picturesque of the Renaissance days of luncheon in the park. I know that if I lived in London this would surely be a place I would frequent. Amazing how this beauty of a walk was located in the center of a city. It changed my opinion of London Instantly.

We ended up in front of the National Gallery, where we left the tour.... seeing as our time was running out. We dashed into the National Gallery for a quick look at some Rubens, Jan Van Eyck, and many other Baroque Artists mostly Flemish, since that was the area we were in. The interior was instantly soothing to me. The architecture was as beautiful as the paintings. The first thing you approach as you walk in is a stained glass dome, light pours in and marble stairs in case you. My only stipulation with the gallery was that to every room you went to there were very heavy doors that took a bit of strength to open. Not only was this irritating, but I couldn't help but feel sorry for those in a wheel chair, or the elderly, or parents with kids in strollers. What a pain.

Buckingham Palace

The fountain outside of the National Gallery. Trafalgar Square.

London Guard outside of Prince Charles house. 

Anyway, we grabbed some lunch and waited for my cousin as he went to his appointment. We took the bus back to Victoria Station and went home.

We went to my uncle's birthday party, which was lovely. He had booked many rooms for family to stay in and we had the privilege of having a room with an extra room and private bathroom. It was awesome. I spoke to many cousins I hadn't seen in ten years, and then we went out after the party to celebrate some more.

The following day we went to Beachy Head. A quiet drive through some picturesque country side. We passed the largest sheep dealer in the world. Who knew that sheep came in so many different shapes and sizes, AND did you know that sheep have tails? I didn't.

We finally arrived at the Dover Cliffs. One of my most favorite places in England so far. I had visited there when I was about sixteen or so. A depressed teenager I was... and walking towards the edge gave me an overwhelming feeling of life. I didn't want to lose it by standing too close. The wind is strong, and the view is empty of civilization. It can't really be described in words or pictures. There is no fence to hold back your cars, or your body's from plummeting off the edge if that's your goal of the day, and many people use this as a place to do exactly that. As we peaked over the edge we could see the remains of a car. The front axle with two wheels laid on the ground below.... a testament to how serious this place can be. Just the day before a couple had leaped to their end... how can such a marvelous place not change the minds of these poor souls?. Surely, the landscape alone would put a bit of life back in them. It exudes life, freedom, everything the spirit should be made of... and yet these fools are blind to it, and throw their bodies to the ground. Something I can't understand...

Overall, it was a great trip. I learned a great deal from the tour that my hubster forced us on... very grateful for it now. I loved seeing my family, and catching up with them.... as an adult with my family surrounding me.... ever so proud of my boys and hubster. I felt as though I had achieved a great deal since I was last there.

We came home with not a bump in the road, and pulled into our driveway at 1 am. So happy to be home and to have my little life back... yet, I will never forget my second home, and the great times I had while I was there.

My Happy Bubble

I find it very difficult to stay positive through out the day. I watch the news in the morning, a lighthearted show called the "Today Show". It's not CNN, or BBC World news. My mind isn't blown by stock market facts or intense conversation about the war on terror.

It's simple.... it covers our area, and goes after easy to understand topics.

Simple local news can be bad news... the things that people are capable of... humans... are vile. There was a man that starved his 3 year old daughter in Pennsylvania. They found her dead in her room where she was locked away. Nothing but a curtain to cover her little window. The kicker of all of this is that this little girl had a grandmother that appeared on TV and said that she never saw the little girl. Maybe twice a year. What the hell is wrong with people. My mom immediately was like, "If you starved your kids I would do something about it, that woman must have known there was something wrong" Yes, I'm sure she did, and she did nothing... like so many humans... it's a human trait to sit back and do nothing.

A woman can be screaming for her life getting the shit beat of her by an asshole and people will hide from it. The only time people do anything is if you scream "fire". What does that tell you... what it tells me is that humans are selfish. They will only act to something if it impacts them.

Meanwhile, horses have been known to jump in the path of a cougar to save their owner. Dogs have been known to attack things much larger then themselves to save a human. Cats... well, they will break your computer and never say sorry, pee on your favorite sitting spot, and bring you dead rodents that are half eaten.... They are horrible creatures too.

I am very bothered by this man that could allow this child to starve. People do it all the time... starve their animals, themselves, food is a luxury it seems in today's society. It's abundant, it's cheap, and yet this man couldn't throw a $1 cheeseburger at his kid once in a while? It's not like it's not affordable to feed a child. People starve their animals... leave them in cages and let them rot... just let them out of the house and they would be better off.

I have no solution to all of this... I don't know how I can comfort myself from this terrible information. I can't avoid it yet I must do something.... maybe write a blog about it and beg people to be more aware. If you see something suspicious about a neighbor just call the cops to investigate it. Be more nosey, be more present, be there for your neighbors, look out for the children, take care of animals, and if you see trash on the street, pick it up and throw it away.

My Orchestra teacher had a saying, a quote written on paper that was above the black board, the chairs all faced his podium, and everyday before we played together in the orchestra he would smile, point his baton at the saying and say "Practice Random Acts of Kindness and senseless acts of beauty" Something about that always stuck with me as we played classical music. It was healing... in such an angry environment of teenage hood. It's a great saying that I think more people should follow.

Windows! Glass ones that you can see through.

The minute my mom moved in with us she insisted that we upgrade some things to our very old home. One of the biggest problems we have is the window situation. It was so cold last winter, that I was forced to take bubble wrap, spray my windows with water and stick my bubble wrap to the window to help keep the constant cold breeze from entering our house. It wasn't just the glass. With large winds you could feel air pushing through the frames. The window situation became worse this summer.

The hubster went up to our bedroom after hearing a large thump. Low and Behold our window was sitting on the ground. I have never seen anything like it. The whole bottom sash of the window just plopped out of the frame. The same window shattered just a few weeks ago. The plastic on the windows have started to break off... the handles, the locks... it's a complete mess. Not to mention that I can't see out of the them... the seal broke between the double glass where the gas once was and there is condensation, so it's blurry glass every morning with a touch of frozen ice in the winter. These windows suck.

We took my moms advise and started to call around for free estimates. Along with a free estimate a sales person comes to your house and then forces you to sit at your dining room table for 2-4 hours and educates you about every aspect of the window that they sale. I felt like I was back in design school.... listening to glass ratings, gas's that are in the window, the insulation factors, the plastic they use, a heat lamp was pulled out with a heat meter to show how the glass keeps heat from passing through.... it was all.... overwhelming, and I soon was badgering the poor salespeople to "just give us a price!"

Windows... cost about $500 a window. We needed 19 of them. Talk about a hole in the wallet. My mother thankfully stepped up and helped us out. We don't have thousands of dollars hanging around at the moment.

Last night a sales agent came over for our second interview. A young man of 28, was a father of a two year old, and was constantly distracted from our weird collections of artifacts, and our children. He stayed till 11 pm, and finally we just signed the contract and hopefully found a local to be friends with. Bonus.

I never noticed windows before this... I never realized how critical they were till our windows started to turn into a nightmare. I was raised in a house that had wooden heavy windows with a storm window. You could never trust them to stay up, there was a board or book somewhere to hold them up so you didn't smash your neck or hands as you leaned out to throw water balloons full of paint and pee at the neighbors kids. (I was a lovely child)

Now, the windows that we just spent a small fortune on will stay up, have a screen in them that you can poke holes in and magically fix with a quick rub of the finger, they have child locks on them that keep the windows from opening completely, they can even stop a missile AND an atomic bomb. Well maybe not.... but they should seeing as they are like the Bentley of Windows.

Being a home owner is an adventure. One thing always leads to the next. Instead of a vacation to Disney World, we got windows. Whoopie!

No Donald Duck this year, but at least I won't have windows flying at me during every storm.

Next, is insulation in the crawl space to keep the cold air from blowing up through our floors, and then a new heating and cooling system, and then a new driveway, and then a Tiffany & Co. diamond bracelet, and maybe a new BMW convertible, and then I'm going to grow wings and fly myself to Italy.

It's all a dream, a marvelous dream, that with patience and timing, and lots of hard work will... come true. Even the wings. If they can make artificial hearts, they can make wings, and I'm the first one in line.

Screw Technology...

IPhone, Flat Screen TV, Cable, WiFi, Router, Internet, DVD player....

These things are all really stupid.... and I think this because just yesterday, I tried to work all of these things and failed at it.

I grew up around this stuff... or rather I watched it grow. I used to think of myself as technologically advanced. Hell, I used to set up my Nintendo to the TV... red to red, yellow to yellow, white to white, screw in the cable, plug the thing in... done. Game time.

Now, as of the past two months I have been given a smart phone... an iPhone from my husband who set up a family plan so we could both have nice phones for the price of one of our bills.

Great, wonderful, let me make a phone call to my parents....dropped call. Hi Dad? What? You can't hear me? Oh let me walk outside and stand in the rain on top of my table so you can hear me better!! Stupid Sprint man... they SUCK. They want to charge us another $200 for a thing that lets me talk on my stupid phone that SUCKS.... Sprint you suck, your company sucks, and I hate you and your lack of rip off service.

Am I angry? Just ask the hubster... he gets an ear full when he gets home, because I couldn't call him to yell at him about how my phone doesn't work as a phone. Sure I can text message, and take photos... but I wanted to speak on the phone, and it doesn't do that.

So, what good is it?

I have insisted that we get a land line...like a real telephone in our kitchen that is attached to the wall.... I will be able to hear people, make calls, there will be no more dropped calls, no more static, no more charging, can you imagine?
An old fashioned phone in my house.... I am in love with the idea.
AND my mom can call England all she wants for $5 a month.

A dream come true.
What has happened to us? This new technology is not the answer to our problems. The answer to our problems is to stop making things so complicated. Why can't we just go back to using a radio, and watching a matinee?

Or a real live play.... or socialize like real people in person?

I tried to set up my moms TV last night. We don't have cable, we use other devices to get channels in... called an Athena. We currently pay $50 a month just for Internet, and we also get TV, and use a box that brings in the Internet to our TV.

Now my mom wants Cable, a land line, and a cell phone with her old telephone number on it.
Now we will be paying $150 a month. It's a rip off.... and it's stupid.

Verizon doesn't work here so we have to use Comcast. Which means we have to cancel Verizon at her house... and getting in touch with them to tell them this is impossible. Another Idiot company with terrible customer service.

Technology....
Is not the answer. PEOPLE are... we need people to answer our phones... not machines.

Just give me my phone attached to the wall, a book, and my Internet so I can write.... and lets call it a day.
I hate it all.... and yet with this sort of attitude I will end up like an old fart taking orders from a young buck idiot telling me how to turn on the magic box and explaining things to me like a baby. Can't wait.... really, it's happening already and I'm only 32.

I have to play the game... they have us all in their death traps.
The cherry on the top of all of this? To get in touch with Verizon (a phone company) you can't call them.... you have to do everything online.
My 74 year old mother is screwed. What are you supposed to do if Internet is not your thing? You can't even press 0 to get an operator. We are so advanced that we can't even speak to real people anymore. If you have a question you have to talk to an idiot through chat.

Last night the hubster was on chat for an hour, and basically was asked questions like "What is your favorite color?" Useless... the whole thing was such a waste of his time, and the guy was a total idiot. And... I can't call them... because my stupid phone doesn't make phone calls! Bastards.

It's all such a waste of time when really this was all supposed to save us time.
Ironic isn't it?

Off the Track

Miss Bobbie Socks or as I called her. Peasant Girl "Giselle"

My dad called me and requested that I write a blog about my horse Giselle... it's a sad story to me... one that I have been keeping on my back burner.

When I worked at a local barn down the road from my house I was in the process of training Raven, and riding a bunch of the school horses. I really wanted to start training for eventing. Eventing is usually a three day event where you take one horse and do Dressage (ballet for horses), Cross Country jumping (a three mile dash across the country side jumping natural obstacles) , and Stadium Jumping (jumps that fall down). It is a triathlon for horse back riding.

I wanted to find a horse that was capable of doing this, and was sorta prepping for it. I wanted to find a rescue horse that was athletic enough to do so. Ginger (my old boss) has a great eye for picking rescue horses that turn into gold. I trusted her opinion. I went with her to Camelot Horse Auction to take a look at the horses.

We roamed the back stable where the horses were kept, and she got her eye on this Chestnut Mare with four white socks. "She sure is purdy, but a little over the knee" Ginger mumbled as she leaned against the fence looking at the rear end of this Thoroughbred as it calmly ate hay out of the manger. I wasn't that impressed. "Yeah I guess... what is over the knee mean?" "Her knee is over her hoof... see how it's not straight?, I don't think it will be  problem"

To make a long story short... Ginger bought the horse without ever watching her be ridden.

A week later, I was on this horses back. She was a little nuts... I couldn't put my heal against her body without her bucking, she was nervous, and had a bunch of stable vices... you couldn't tie her to the wall without her ripping out the rope, she kicked a hole in the wall, and she pretty much hated me. She was scared, and very anxious.

I wasn't sure if I had found the one for me. Ginger just kept saying "If you want her she is your horse" I wasn't sure what that meant. Who buys someone a horse with no strings attached? Even my own parents wouldn't do that for me. I was naive... and untrusting. Giselle and I had something in common.

Ginger closed the barn about a month later and three horses came to stay with me in my field next door.

Ginger said that Giselle had a tattoo on her upper lip from when she was a race horse. The cool thing about tattoos is that you can send in the tattoo to the jockey club and they look it up and send back all of the horses history.

I got a reply identifying the horse. No name horse which I named "Peasant Girl, Giselle the Gazelle" was actually named Miss Bobbie Socks. She had two wins and raced about 20 times. She won over $200,000 and was born in Oklahoma. She ended up with the Strain Family in Connecticut. A well known family for turning out some great and expensive horses.

This horse sure did have a history, and the more I researched her the more I ended up loving her. Meanwhile, she was casually grazing in my field next door and had become a happy well adjusted horse that was a total sweet heart... except when she came into heat... to which case she no longer let me groom her, and would spin around and try to kick my teeth out. She was mare-ish, as we say in the horse world.

Other days I could hop on her back and gallop her around the field as if we were on the track... she loved it, I could feel the winner in her. She put her whole heart into galloping, and once at the top of the field she would collect and balance herself under my leg and become a rocking horse under my weight as we did a perfect circle over a jump without hesitation. I would hop off her back and she would always take her head and tuck it into my chest and close her eyes and let me scratch her face... a horse hug is what I call it.

Raven would bully her though... and chase her away as she ate her food. She needed to eat desperately... loosing weight was her new hobby. Thoroughbreds are notoriously hard keepers and will eat you out of house and home... and sure enough that was what was happening. Squeals were often heard as Giselle and Raven would back their asses against each other and kick and buck relentlessly at each other. Watching this was horrible. Bare hoofs would make full contact with each other.. and leave giant round welts for days... my pony would walk around with a stiff limp and Giselle had missing fur from a quick kick. It was getting out of control. Meanwhile, Ellie was a protective mom to both, head of the pack and was equally a mother to both Raven and Giselle. She always had her eye on both of them, and kept the heard together.

I had lost my passion for riding momentarily... and because Giselle was withering away in weight and hoof I decided to find her a perfect home.

The day came that I found a lady that would take her... She came out with her horse trailer... it was a perfect day. I groomed Giselle and of course the bond between us made it ever so much harder.

Tears rolling down my face, I brushed her mane... "I found you a perfect home, your going to love it... many acres, only two other horses, top notch horse feed, a barn even... you will be so happy there..." Giselle rested her head against my shoulder and gave out a sigh. I was boring her....she just wanted to get this over with. The lady came over and introduced herself. I immediately liked her. She was well put together and already had done all of her research on Giselle. She was a trainer like me that rescued off the track horses and sold them to permanent homes.

She rode Giselle around the field... Giselle was in good form, and was behaving herself, ears back and nasty faces was all she gave... if only this lady had seen this horse just a month ago... the bronco bucking, the spins and dips to get rid of the rider... now she was trotting around in a frame, and the lady rode her beautifully. It was a sight to be seen. My horse was being ridden by an expert rider, and the two of them looked like they were ready for Devon. She was a little apprehensive to canter or jump her... "Do you want me to show you her real talent?" The lady was eager to see. I jumped on and quickly trotted Giselle down the field. On cue we stopped at the bottom... Giselle ears perked up knowing what was going to happen next. "GO!" As if I had gunned a porshe, her back legs dug into the ground and her rocket boosters ignited. We launched up the field at the women, her eyes wide and scared, the ground shook with the hoof beats. I laughed as we came up around her, I shifted my body weight back and immediately Giselle tucked her nose in and we did a slow canter around the lady.... "Want to see her jump?!" "YES!" And with that I asked for a flying lead change, jumped, and asked for another lead change and without pulling on my reins, I shifted my weight back and down, and Giselle came to a skidding halt.

I jumped off effortlessly.

The lady was impressed. "Ok I can work with that!"

Next thing I know Giselle is in my driveway as I went to get the Coggins papers. It happened so fast. As we walked across the street to the horse trailer Giselle screamed out... she threw her head up and looked back at the field. Then the thunder started... Ellie and Raven broke through the electric fence at the bottom of the field and were now in the upper corner of the field crying back. You could see the fence shaking as Ellie threw her body into it trying to get to Giselle. The screaming back and forth was one of the worst sounds I have ever heard.. my body started to shake, and I knew I couldn't hold out much longer... this was hard... this was really hard. I almost grabbed Giselle and took her back to her family. Yet, she gave out one finale goodbye and walked effortlessly onto the trailer. I took her leadrope, gave her a pat on the butt and told her I loved her.... more then anyone would know.

I walked shamefully back to the field to calm down the girls. I gave them some food which they ate, screamed, ate some more. I stood in the field and watched as the trailer left. My horses in view as the trailer drove away. I could see Giselle turn her head and give one finale goodbye... it trailed off into the distance, and then I collapsed.

Sobs.... I have never felt so much pain.... I wasn't expecting this.

Raven came over and looked at me like I was the biggest traitor in the world. Ellie trotted back and forth... calling... calling... for her friend to come back... for two days. All night long... she called.

The horses demeanor changed. They both clung to each other for dear life after Giselle left. They became like mother and daughter. I had Ellie up for sale too.... but after that... I couldn't do it. I promptly took down the for sale ads, and decided to keep her.

Since then the horses have been much better and easier to keep.
They are happy and content. They have forgotten about Giselle... even though I know that if she came back they would gallop around, celebrating her return.

I have been in touch with the lady that took Giselle. She has gained weight and loves her new boyfriends. She is adjusting well to her new home till she finds the perfect home. When that happens I will know about it... and the new owner will have all of her paper work, her history, and know exactly who this horse is.... she will never go back to auction, and she will never be a no name horse. This is the only thing that can help me sleep at night.

I still think about her everyday. I miss her... even as I write this I have tears trickling down my cheeks. Over a horse.... she was so much more then that though. I learned a great lesson from her. I had bonded with her. I had gained her trust. I came to understand her... and I can't help but feel like I let her down in some way.

It's a sad story that I didn't really want to tell... but my dad seems to think otherwise.
Anyway, moral of the story. Rescue a horse, take the time to know them, and then keep them, love them, and care for them.

Many horses are going to meat markets. They are majestic creatures.... and will give you their soul for just a little bit of love and care. They are easy creatures to love, and they certainly love you back. They are a natural drug... they are a psychiatrist... they are the Adderall for your kid, they are structure for an unruly teenager, they are the teachers, of responsibility to youngsters. They are the living teddy bear of your childhood, the smelly blanket attached to your fist as you suck your thumb. They are sunshine up your ass.

Ok thats it... I'm done talking about Giselle. This chapter is closed. My heart hurts.

homemade grape jam

Grape Jam Recipe:

Get a Bowl full of Grapes

Wash and separate from vine

Squish in pot

Add a shot glass of water

Simmer and stir for about a half hour or until the skins turn to pulp

Strain out seeds and skins

Return juice to pot

Simmer juice till it turns to syrup

Add sugar or honey if needed

Cool

Add pectin

Package

Takes about an hour to do.....



One of the most daunting things that came with our house were three rows of grape vines which apparently are very old and very abundant with Concord Grapes. The grape vines sit in the middle of our field and the hubster wants to get rid of them.

I have mixed feelings about it. These grape vines are over 20 years old and are loaded with grapes, it would be a shame to get rid of them even if we hate the location of them.

The grapes have just come in season. They have seeds in them and are very sweet. I called my neighbor down the road to come and pick the grapes seeing as she is an expert canner, and loves the grapes. She makes tasty grape jam from it and gives us some of the jam, which goes in a matter of days.

So, because she made such good jam, I tried my hand at it.

I went out and picked a large bowl full of grapes. I then had to pick all the ripe ones and separate them from the vines. I then washed them, and threw them into a pot. I smashed them up, added a tiny bit of water, and simmered them on low heat till the juice turned into a syrup. Be careful not to burn the juice or you're done... You have to keep it on low heat, and stir frequently.

I then strained the juice from the seeds and skins and then continued to simmer the juice for another hour on very low heat while stirring. I added about a half cup of white sugar and about a 1/4 cup of honey. I could have done with out the sugar or honey, but my grapes were a little too tart. The next batch I will make sure to use only really ripe grapes.

I let it cool in the pot, poured them into jars and added some pectin to make it into a jam.

Done.

It is very rich, and tart.

My first batch was a total mess. I didn't simmer it long enough and ended up with concentrated grape juice.... no amount of pectin could solidify it. The next batch was more successful because I simmered and reduced it till it was a syrup.

Overall, I'm quite pleased with my outcome.

It's a lot of work for something I could just buy at the super market, but at the end of the day I know where the grapes came from... they have no pesticide, and no added preservatives. It's 100% organic. You can't get any better then that.

Apparently, you can do this with regular store bought grape juice too... just simmer it till it turns to syrup, add some pectin, and you have jam.

Now I just have to figure out how to can properly. Whenever I read about it I get overwhelmed. Pressure cookers, boiling, sealing the top, having it at the right temperature.
It seems like a lot of work that can go wrong. I'm not really feeling the canning process. In the meantime, I just put them in small tupper ware containers and make lots of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.

Homestead Renovations

Rave (left) Ellie (right) Appreciating me... because I am the best horse mom ever. 

What a great weekend for getting things done. My mom babysat Watts for Friday and Saturday night so the hubster and I used it to our advantage to really get some things done around the homestead. We needed to fix the footing in the run in shed for the horses.

James in the tall grass before mowing.

The hubster went and had 4 yards of gravel delivered to our house. In our driveway. The run in shed is about 4000 feet away. The hubster put a tarp in the bed of the truck and manually shoveled gravel into it and then I would let him through the gate into the field and he would back up the run in shed and the both of us would pull the tarp into the run in shed and spread the gravel. It was not an easy job.

 After about 5 loads we had some decent footing. The hubster then spread the rest out in our driveway to make it look like a real driveway instead of a patch of dirt to park the cars. Every time I went out to check on him his only comments were "I hate rocks, I never want to see a rock again, this is really hard, and I don't mind manual labor"

 While he was spreading and hauling rocks I had James strapped to the front of me in the baby bijorn and mowed the tall grass in the horse field. James loved it, and I loved it too because I was killing two birds with one stone. The horse field looked like Kentucky blue grass by the time I was done running down the weeds and tall grass.

After that we piled into the truck and went shopping for my wedding anniversary gift. Four stall mats, a 6' gate and two posts. We put the stall mats over the stone in the run in shed, and are going to install the gate from our property to the horse field. Currently, I just cut the wire fence and am holding it in place with bungee cords. It's embarrassing.

I also had the horse dentist come out to float Ellie's teeth. It's an interesting process. The dentist has files that fit over the back teeth and he files them down so that they grind evenly. It looks barbaric, but Ellie just stood there on a loose lead rope while he did it. I was amazed... I think she actually appreciated it. Meanwhile, Pony Raven was going into the dentist bucket and pulling out tools for him to use. She wanted to help, and was two inches from Ellie's face the whole time.

Last night I was outside and the hubster noticed an animal sitting in the dark.. a calico kitten.... I called for her to come up and eat some food. She was wild but gradually came up to eat, and then let me pet her. She was skin and bone and maybe about 6 months old. An ugly cat, but very sweet.

This morning when I went out to feed the horses she was hiding in the bushes. I called her over and she came scampering up to eat and again came for some love scratches. Am I becoming a cat lady? On top of this we have taken in one of my moms cats... Wicker. We don't let her in the house because she is notorious for hacking up hair balls, pooping and peeing in the house. She is very happy to be here though and sleeps on our porch. She was not thrilled to be sharing with "Kit" as I have named her. Short for Kitten.  She hisses at her, but then lets her eat.

Oh my I have so much news..... So then, we have decided to go to England for a week in September for my Uncle Johns 80th birthday. It's a big deal, and may be the last time that my huge family will all be together again. We booked the tickets for the hubster, my mom, James, Watts, and myself to go. It is going to be a problem because I need someone to look after the homestead while we are away. I need someone to feed the horses, chickens, cats, and look after my koi. I put an ad on Craigslist for a farm sitter, and I found a few people that were interested. So problem solved!

Things are working out it seems. We have also been busy moving my mother out of her house of 42 years. It's been very stressful. The dump guy is coming today to take away all the unwanted stuff and then on Thursday the moving guys are coming to move things into storage. So by the end of the month my mom will be officially living here until we find her a new perfect and even better place to live.

I'm looking forward to the end on the move. It's really sad on one hand... the house is in shambles, everything is everywhere, and it is proving hard to put emotions on the back burner. It is a beautiful house, and now that most of the stuff is gone you can really see the bones of the architecture and then all the memories come flooding back to what it used to look like and all the Christmas dinners, Thanksgiving feasts, and birthday parties I had... floating around like a ghost memory.

The only thing that gets me through it the thought that I can find a place that is up to date, with central air, with new appliances, and a landlord that will take care of the house that my mom will move into. She can start fresh with no more stress.

I also won't have to drive an hour to see my mom. She will be right here... no more phone calls every morning, no more worrying about what she's eating, no more concern over helping to upkeep a yard. She will be here, and that's how I want it.

Everything is great right now... my animals are happy and healthy. My family is happy and healthy... and I am happy because everything is running like a well oiled machine. Things are great... for now.

We have a ton of butterflies. All I can think of when I see butterflies is "CHANGE" can be a great thing. 

Artist: Susan Van Wagoner

I have a subscription to The CHRONICLE of the HORSE, a magazine that gives you updates to the dressage, eventing, and show world of horses. As I casually flipped through the pages of my June Issue I came to the last page and there was a picture of a horse. No big deal, until I realized that this was a painting, on closer inspection I noticed that this painting was not the ordinary equestrian art I often see. I eagerly read the small blurb about an Artist named Susan Van Wagoner that lives in Virginia and I felt compelled to contact her. Also... I liked that she was a female artist. I find that most of these portraits are done by men... Being a Moore graduate attracts me to fellow female artists.

As a formerly trained artist I have spent countless hours sitting in hour long critiques of student art work. I have roamed museums all over the United States, Paris, Amsterdam, London... my eye at this point has become very critical. I have seen so much, that at this point a painting really has to have something about it that grabs my attention. Line, composition, depth, emotion, movement, mass, color and a story are some of the things that are the basics to paintings or artwork.

With this in mind, I was baffled as to why a small photograph on the last page of a magazine of a normal horse painting had grabbed my eye. There is a lot of equestrian and animal portraits around today... it's hard to find a portrait artist that can capture a moment, or embody the soul of the creature. Not to mention it is really hard to paint animals, the fur and hair for one thing takes skill to perfect.


Perhaps I like the simplicity of Van Wagoner's paintings. I have always been a "less is more" lover of the arts. The painting that grabbed my attention was "Gray Slipper". It is painted on raw linen with mixed media. Normally you don't see a painting starting with the rear end in the foreground. The line quality is crisp, and the eye sweeps across the canvas out through the horses eye to an imaginary landscape. The horse is alert and looking at what? It has some mystery to it, the composition is simple yet powerful. The accuracy and detail is exquisitely done. I have always been a fan of realism. This doesn't get any better than that.

Gray Slipper. 69" x 34". Artist: Susan Van Wagoner

Then the fireworks went off as I read the small blurb about this painting. It's life size. Absolutely incredible. Do you realize how difficult it is to paint large, in scale, with fine detail like this? It truly takes talent and skill. I could only dream about ever painting this well. I always wanted to be able to paint exactly like this, yet brush to canvas I get something much different. It never comes out this way. The bigger I went the harder it was to get the proportions correct. With large paintings the artist has to step back after every line to make sure it is accurate. I did one painting that was large in art school, it was a constant battle, I would draw something as simple as a hand or an eye, find that it was perfect up close... step away and see that it was either too large, too small, or 3-4" off. How annoying, and because of my lack of patience I gave up and stayed to paintings no bigger then 2' x 2'.  

Susan Van Wagoner has started a fire in my heart, and inspired me to  eventually get back to the large scale paintings that I once tried to do. In the meantime I started with a 2" x 2" quick drawing. 

This is something I drew last night, I felt inspired by Susan's art work. This is about as detailed as I get. I also traced the outline of the photograph, and then just shaded it in. I cheated, but I wanted to work on how much detail I could get in. This is after 10 years of formal training, I get this. Yet, it took me 15 minutes with pen and pencil... it felt good, even if it's tiny and traced. 

15 minute Doodle. 2" x 2"  Artist: Liz Aaron

I have a long road ahead of me. I contacted Susan to ask her if I could write a blog about her artwork and publish some of her work. Amazingly, she got back to me within the day and said "yes". I felt as if I had won the lottery, and just spoken to a true celebrity.  I really admire and respect her work as an artist, and was taken aback at her quick reply and kind words. 

Here are some more pictures of her work that I took off of her website which you can find below.

http://susanvanwagoner.com

If you want a portrait done of your pet... this is as good as it gets. Susan has been published in magazines, has exhibited in museums and is simply the best when it comes to pet portraits. 

" Rachael" Artist: Susan Van Wagoner

"Maybelline" 22x26 Artist: Susan Van Wagoner

"Faith" 32"x40" Artist: Susan Van Wagoner

"Heddy" 74"x 47" Artist: Susan Van Wagoner

"Final Answer,  "Reggie" and Sherrie"  47"x 32" Artist: Susan Van Wagoner

"Rosmel's Caprisun, "Stephanie" "63" x 53" Artist: Susan Van Wagoner

"Warhol, Kelly, and Jesse,"  37" x 35" Artist: Susan Van Wagoner

A Photo of Susan Van Wagoner. A true talent.
(Thank you Susan for letting me post your artwork).