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).

A Great Day in Two Years.

This weekend the hubster and I went to a wedding in West Chester. Since, the hubster and I have not been on a formal date in over two years we decided to get very fancy. I had my nails done, and then went to get my hair professionally styled. I felt like Audrey Hepburn. I had my hair done in a classic french twist, and with my large sunglasses and cocktail dress I felt like I walked right out of the 60's.

We had a great time. I was able to hold a conversation with adults, I drank beer before 7 pm, and mingled with new people. I sat down at a table with a table cloth and was able to eat my food slowly with a knife and fork. I even danced.

It was a 12 hour vacation, and it was amazing. I am so burnt out... that something that normal young people do every weekend feels as romantic as my honeymoon.

My mom took care of my boys while we enjoyed a little sanity. We slept over her house, and when I woke up in the morning I found my mother on the sofa with Watts my two year... he was lounging on the sofa watching the TV with a bottle hanging out of his mouth, my mom could barely move and managed to croak out that my son had woke up at 3 am with enough energy to last the whole day.

She was absolutely drained.

There was an article in the New York Times about childless couples. It's becoming all the rage. Kids... are exhausting. They are like puppies that never grow up into that perfect dog. It never ends. I suppose it's different for those parents that dump their kids off at day care, or have a nanny. That would be nice... but then what was the point of having kids? The article was about couples not having children...  are happier without kids.

Looking like a lady that just walked out of a movie from the 60's I strolled hand in hand with my husband down some beautiful streets in West Chester, the weather was perfect... a little old lady came hobbling towards us, stopped, and said "You look beautiful, you both look beautiful" My first thought was, Oh good I don't look like a slut.

If only she knew that just a few hours earlier, I was covered in chewed banana, changing two diapers at the same time, running around trying to feed my chickens, horses and cat, and loading up my truck with a stock pile of juice, milk, crackers, clothes, cribs, and electronics.... getting out of the driveway was a challenge that would dwindle the energy out of a 20 year old athlete.

The old lady didn't know that... and at that moment I had forgotten it all... was swept up in the romance of looking beautiful, feeling fresh, and strolling casually with not a care in the world with my partner in life. It was the best vacation I have ever taken, even if it was only for a few short hours. Times Magazine... some days I agree, somedays I don't.

Inching closer to my dreams

I finally have it, after all these years... my amazing hubster went out and traded in our Acura for a brand new double cab Toyota Tacoma. The first thing I did was drive it directly to the feed store and stock up the bed with hay and straw. Next on the list is lumber, gravel, sand, and then.... drum roll.... a horse trailer.

We have lots to do on the homestead. First on my list of chores is to take the run in shed with terrible muddy footing, and fill the ground with a good foot of gravel and place some rubber mats on top. This will help keep my horses feet dry, and they will have a nice dry place to lay down and take a nap.

This truck has opened so many doors. It will also help my mom out with the big move.

Anyway, I'm thrilled with the truck, even if it's not a 3/4 ton, V8 engine. This would give me more confidence to pull a horse trailer, but seeing as we won't be towing the trailer over mountains or huge hills, it will be fine for short journeys.