Worms, Why Worms?

Yuck yuck yuck! For science today I'm learning about the wonderful world of parasitic worms. Oh yay. (Sarcasm) I hope there aren't many pictures of actual worms. I WILL cover such pictures if they are there. Well, that's my quick blurb. Toodaloo!

In Times of Trouble

We all agree that times of trouble are nearly all the time.  Some times seem worse and some times seem almost nice.  Some days rock between both extremes.

My best friend is going crazy.  She hears a voice in her head telling her to die.  She's tried going for help, but no one is listening to her.  She's had similar problems before.  If this isn't a time of trouble, I'd hate to see a real time of trouble.

I've been praying for her ever since Saturday, when she told me.  I have been feeling sick, wondering if she's going to kill herself that day or not.  I've been praying all the time. 
But I've realized someting.

God loves her much more than I ever could.
God cares for her many times more than I do.
God knows her much better than I ever had.

And that gives me peace.  He knows my friend, and He knows what words might give her comfort.  And I've been asking Him what on earth I say to her to try to help her.  And it suddenly struck me that in these crazy times when it seems nothing is right, that's when I'm closest to God. 

Because I'm relying on Him completely.

Because I can feel Him there supporting me, lifting me.


I read Psalm 23 about ten times today.  I memorized the first two lines in sign language.  Saying and signing it helps me feel His peace.  I know that my friend is in His hands and He will never ever let her go.  She is safe.  But it is still scary.  And freaky.  And strange.  I don't want to lose her and it's hard to completely trust God to take care of her.  I want to do anything to help her, but the only one who can really help her now is God.  And it's hard to let Him do that.  I want to do something.  I hate sitting by and watching.  But if God wants to, He'll use me to help her.  All I can do right now is just be there for my friend during this.  And pray.  'Pray without ceasing.'  A command from the scripture.  And I intend to do so. 

In times of trouble, God is constant and He is always ready to help when we ask.

Three Is Greater Than

Have any of you ever used <3 to say love?  I was just looking at it and thinking of the meaning of numbers.  I was also just doing math before thinking this, so it was all fresh in my head. 

Three is the number of God.  God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.  Three.

And then there is the greather than sign just before the three.  Logically (which is apperantly what math is), this little figure means blank is less than three.  Or, reading backwards, three is greater than blank.

Replace three with God.  God is greater than (insert whatever thing you can think of right here).

Pretty cool, huh?

And it's the symbol for love as well.  When I realized that I just sat there and went, "Huh!  Imagine that!"

Well, that's all I had to say.  Except that I will be posting more.  Hopefully.

See y'all 'round!

Tractors!

I love tractors.  They make farmlife easy(er).  So of course I'm happy when my mother and a neighbour (who is a Tolkien lover and our farm manager) decided that the medium sized tractor we have now is getting old and it's about time to replace it.

Well, before I get into all that, I'll tell you about the tractors we currently have.

For a large tractor, we have a Case that is big (obvously) and red (another given) and has a closed cab.  It also has air conditioning (hooray!!) and a tape player and radio.  Actually, the tape player may be in the combine.  I'm not sure.

And we also have a thirty year old John Deere that's still going well (Nothing runs like a Deere!), but we're replacing that one because it may not run so well in a few years.  It has no cab and no musical players.

And then we have a small Case tractor that we use for plowing snow and mowing the lawn.  Yes, I'm spoiled with my mowing tools. 

Right now we have three tractors on the farm that we are testing.  We need to know which one is easiest to operate for both my little brother and our manager as well as which one is best suited to clearing out the barns after a cycle.  Handily, we're shipping the chickens out tonight and will be able to try them tomorrow.

The first tractor that I shall mention is another Case and is thus red (with a little black).  Michael seems to like it.  I think it's his second choice.

Then we have another John Deere which is green and yellow.  Michael doesn't like the way the controls are and it is his least favourite of the tractors.

And then we have a Kubota of the typical orange colour.  Michael likes this one the best of all.  For him the controls are right where he likes them and he thinks it'll be easy to use.

Of course, all these opinians Michael has will be tested tomorrow when he (hopefully) gets to drive all of them.  He's tried the Case very briefly and is excited for the rest.  I'm not sure how much our manager has driven the tractors, but he's certainly used them more than Michael!

Now, in other news Rosie the Horse is getting rather porky!  I found a chart on how to try body scoring on your horse and what sort of things to look for.  Fat deposits on shoulders: check.  Fat deposits on rump: check.  A bit of a pot belly: getting there.  Fat deposits on neck: not nearly as much as this time last year.  And another test you do is to pet your horse with a bit of pressure (much like you would pet your kitty or doggie) and see if you can feel the horse's ribs and almost count them.  You should not be able to see them, though they will be more visible in breed like Thoroughbreds.  But Rosie is not a TB.  She is a Morgan/Quarter Horse cross.  And I had to use massage strength pressure before I was able to feel my dear Rosie's ribs.  Terrific.  I'm going to have a job getting her back in shape in spring. 

I don't ride her in winter muh because it gets so darn icey around here.  All the fields are in a slight dip and catch all melting snow.  When it freezes the ice is treacherous.  So I prefer that neither Rosie or I break any bones and stay home, limiting her feed to an amount that hopefully keeps her from becoming way too fat.

I would ride her more in the winter if I had a covered or indoor arena, but there's like, only three of those things within a ten km radius from our house and I don't know any of the people who have them.

And so that is what is going on!  We are getting a tractor and Rosie is getting fat!

See y'all next time!

I Am NOT Impressed!!

Today I have learned a very sad and shocking fact!  It is something I have been dreading for over eleven years and it has finally come to pass! 

Get ready...

You may as well brace yourselves.

....


My little brother is taller than me by several inches.  I am now the shortest in my family!

Yeah, yeah.  You probably didn't need to brace yourselves. 

But understand that I am a mere inch away from being the lofty height of six feet tall and my little brother is now taller than me by about two inches!  So he is around six foot one.  He's the second tallest with my older brother being six foot eight.

Bake a Cake!

Hello to y'all!  It's me again with another hopefully fun story to share.

Today is my mother's birthday!  (Happy birthday mom!)  But she`s off at my little brother`s basketball game today.  Actually, she first went to a parade my older brother was in.  He does sword fighting with the SCA and thus was in the parade to show off his cool costume and sword.  He only got back an hour or two ago.  Then my mom went to Michael's basketball game. 

Just before she left, my cousin An called.  So she came over for most of the day.  We talked for half an hour, then my aunt come over to leave a present for my mom.  She asked us if we were baking mom a cake.  An and I looked at each other and said "That's a great idea!"  So we did.

Well, first we ate lunch.  (Scrambled eggs with real bacon bits, dehydrated onion and powdered garlic and cheese)  It was hard figuring what to have for lunch since An is allergic to corn.  Now before you think I'm crazy, I'm tellin' ya; corn is in EVERYTHING!  It just doesn't always go by the name 'corn'.  Glucose is a corn product, believe it or not.

After lunch An called her mom for a chocolate cake recipie that is really good.  Then we spent a lovely hour and a half mixing it up while listening to various Adventures In Odyessy episodes. (Like the one where Jack, Curt, Jimmy and Lucy are all grown up and come back for a visit and all the guys love (or at least have a crush on) Lucy.  I love it.)  Then we made hot chocolate and pudding (for layer filling) while waiting for the cake to bake and cool.  We also listened to more Odyessy.  Finally, the cakes were getting cooler, so we mixed up a chocolate glaze for it.  It was ... a little too runny and kinda poured off the cake, onto the plate and then to the counter.  We also had problems with the layers.  We had cut each of the layers in half so we had four layers.  But one layer broke due to a slightly undone center.  We got it stacked at last and then poured the afore mentioned glaze on.  When that had sort of set, we mixed up some plain vanilla frosting and began piping "Happy Birthday" onto it.  'Happy' went on fine.  Then I began writing 'Birthday', starting with the 'th' because I'd be able to center it better.  Well, when I got to the 'd', the pipe bag's seam broke and frosting blooped onto my 'd'.  After we scraped off the offending mark and repaired it with some of the leftover glaze,we transfered the icing to another bad. 

My mom has, er, had three bags.  One just broke.  Another's opening hole is too big and none of the things you put on fit properly and would just pop out if we squeezed.  The last bag was made of a type of canvas.  We used that one.  It is a HUGE bag.  It's over a foot long!  And we didn't even have a cup of icing.  But we used it.  And I finished writing Birthday and also drew a flower.  Then I removed my hand from the bag.  My had was sticky and the bag appeared wet.  Canvas is not waterproof and he moisture of icing oozes through.  Despite the stickiness, I put a ring of icing around the bottom edge to finish.  We had just enough.

Then began the grand ol' process of cleanup.  The dishes were moved to the sink and the cake set in the fridge.  The cooling racks were wiped and put away.  An washed some of the bowls and things while I wiped the counter.  Then I put some of the smaller items in the dishwasher while she finished the rest.  And we also washed things that were left in the sink from before lunch.  In the meantime our last Odyessy CD had run it's course and the stereo had begun playing the next CD.  Christmas carols!  In February!  It was fun.

After that I found a DVD she wanted to borrow and we went back to my room for a few more minutes.  We played with my block and marble set.  Yeah, we're cool like that.  I love toys of that kind that are more commonly thought of as 'little' kid toys'. 

The it was nearly 5:00 and she had to go home.  We said goodvye and I sat down to tell you about our fun advetures.  I love making cakes.

Spring Rain

The rain comes down softly, in small droplets.  Each droplet soon dissapears on trees branches, roofs of buildings, in animal fur, or into the snow.  With every droplet that hits the snow, the snow is reduced.  Only reduced a bit, but still going away.

It is the first of February.  I sit at the computer having just returned from feeding my horse.  The gate was wet.  I wiped it off and shook it to get rid of the most water before climbing over.  Yes, I climb gates.  I know I shouldn't, but I do.  My horse was waiting for me at the gate, with nary a noise of greeting.  I preformed my routine of petting her, then traveled the last thirty or so feet to the barn. 

The little gadget we use as a lock for the hay door was not very wet, being slightly under the eaves.  I stepped inside, then grabbed Rosie's hay.  I fed her, then returned to the warm indoors, whereupon I sat myself down and typed out this thing.  All in an effort to say that it's raining, and it's not winter rain, it's spring rain.

What else would I talk about....

except for youth group?  My otherwise non-existant social life?

But here is the updates on what I've been doing!  Mainly youth group.  (You seein' a pattern here?)

Well, my most recent awkward moment would have to be youth group. Have I mentioned before that I've been rather ditzy lately?  I don't think so.  But I have.  Take my word for it.

We played Cat and Mouse at youth. Everyone grabbed a partner and linked one arm. Then the links formed a circle, with one pair standing out. One person of the excluded pair had to run from the other person. The person being chased could link arms with the free arm of a pair. Then the person of the original pair who didn't get someone linking onto them would have to let go and evade the cat. If they were tagged by the cat, they would have to tag the former cat, who was now a mouse, before the mouse linked with someone.

After a minute, I was the mouse. I scurried around, as much as a nearly six foot tall girl can scurry, and evaded the cat for a while, trying to get away long enough to link up. I was tagged and dashed after my quarry, who had stupidly, it seemed, turned and faced me. I tagged him on a shoulder, looked at him, then wondered why he didn't move. Then I realized he had linked and that the new mouse was wondering who was it. I merely pretended I had lost sight of who was mouse and tried not to look too stupid. That was slightly embarressing.

And we played Hug Fest, where Cory, our leader, stood off to the side and made us walk around with our eyes closed. When he called a number we would open our eyes and form hugging groups of the number he called. Can you just see the awkwardness oozing through this crowd of 12 highschoolers? And can you see the awkwardness even further when Cory called out 'two' and the only person within my range was a guy? (Theresa does not mix too well with guys) And can you imagine how I felt knowing that this guy has a girlfriend? (Theresa is also not a girl to go around hugging other girl's boyfriends) I found that game very awkward indeed.

We also played a rather violent game too. In this game you had to balence upon a single foot. The object of this game was to simply knock your opponant over or off balence them enough to make them stick a foot down.

We all paired up again. I was with a short(er) girl who I was pretty sure was named Nikki. The first pair went and the winner went to a little table in the corner of the room. Then the next two pairs did so. And at my turn I merely turned and pushed Nikki backwards and sideway at her shoulders to win my match. Then the others went, the guys doing elaborate moves that flipped the other guy over.  Except for Cam.  It was funny how neat and tidly he pushed his opponant over.  He simply grabbed Talon's shoulders, pushed him back sharply to get him off balence, then jerked him forward.  Talon just tipped over before he realized what had happened.  Several people missed it because it happened so fast.

Once everyone had gone, Cory paired us winners up so we could battle again. I was with Adi this time. She's the twin of Cam. She was harder than Nikki, but I beat her, much to the teasing of her brother. I returned to the little table and waited for the rest of them to finish.

When they did, there were three winners left. Cory wondered how we had ended up with an uneven number. We all clammered to explain that twelve would never divide to and even number in the end. Cory shushed us and told us all to go at once. I was up against Adi's twin, Cam, and Bryce. They were both pretty big guys (over my height and Bryce is stocky) and both farm kids, so I stayed off to the side as they battled each other. With chairs, no less. Cam won, sending Bryce sprawling on his right side. Then Cam turned for me. I knew I had little chance of beating this guy, so I just charged.

You should know I'm competitive due to having two brothers. And you should also know I was the only girl who really tried to win.

So I charged him, hopping along on my right foot. He also charged me, though much less aggressivly than he did with the guys. I was very apperciative of that fact, and also the fact that he had sometime dropped the chair. Of course, he didn't need aggression or a chair with me. I last about thirty seconds, until he kinda whirled/threw me away from him and I almost kept my balence but needed to stick a foot down.

I also think I supprised him in our duel because I seemed to almost knock him over.


Now, that was two weeks ago.  Last week was Clue night.  And on Friday instead of Thursday.  If my little brother hadn't been so tired from his baseball practice (they're doing conditioning, which involves about an hour of running and more time doing pushups and core strengthening exercises that leave him pretty tired and ravenous) he would have come.  As it was, my cousin An was skiing, so I had to go alone. 

For Clue night, we were playing a gaint game of Clue.  There were six characters, six weapons, and six rooms.  The hippie was in the sanctuary with the flower, the old man had a cane in the youth room, the clown had a rubber chicken in the downstairs kitchen, the angel had a sword in the upstairs kitchen, the scientist had poisen in the nursery, and the Mexican had maracas in the library.

To get rooms, characters, and weapons crossed off our lists, we had to answer riddles.  Each character had six riddles.  Only one person at a time was allowed to guess at the riddles.  Every try we had at answering a riddle lasted two minutes, or more if the person forget to time it.  After we had tried three times for one riddle we were given the answers, no matter if we had guessed it or not.

At the end, we all piled back into the sanctuary to see if anyone had the results.  One girl and one guy both were close in their guess, then they both shouted out the answer at the same time.  The girl really got it, but our leader just said they had tied to make it easier.  There were also three prizes to be given out, and each of those two got one.  Then there was one prize left.  We were asked to put up a hand if we had narrowed at least one thing down to only one item.  I put up a hand, the guy and the girl who had already won put up their hands, and one other guy put up a hand.  Then we were asked if anyone had gotten more than one thig narrowed down to one thing left.  Everyone stuck their hand down.  Then the other guy and I were asked to count the riddles we had guessed without being given the answer.  I counted fifteen, he counted ten.  I won the prize.

But Cory, being Cory, had forgotten the prizes at home!  He's going to hand them out this week.  I bet the prizes are McDonald's gift cards.  Prizes have been that before.


Well, so long and fare thee well!  Enjoy your day and may God bless you in your work!

I Went Skating and Tubing

Yes, yes (insert sarcasm here).  I have and extreamly original title for this.


Well, as my un-unique title says, I went skating and tubing. 

It was with my youth group (as all out-of-the-house activities of mine usually are).  We all headed over to the church at a mite before 10:00 in the morning.  We registered ourselves with our youth leader and sat around in the gym-type-area to wait for departure.  After all kids had arrived (it was bothe senior and junior youth) we all piled into a bus.  Which was an experience for me.  I hadn't ridden in a bus for ten years.  I'm homeschooled, that's why.  So we bounced and jounced around in the stale smelling vehicle for about 45 - 50 minutes, finaly ariving at our destination.

We all piled out of the bus in the snow covered parking lot and stood still (for the most part) while our bus driver parked.  While we were standing around, my brother, Michael as I call him online, dicovered a unwelcome fact.  He had forgotten his gloves.  And we were going to be there all day. 

We headed dwn to the lower parking lot (where busses don't fit) and stood in lines to get our passes for skating and tubing.  I attached mine to a zipper on a pocket.

I depositied my lunch inside the lodge (like everyone else did) and headed off to the tube hill with my cousin, An, and a few other people.  We had a few slides down, then most of us got cold and headed back inside (not me as I had gloves, a touque, a zippie, my winter jacket, jeans, a pair of athletic pants, and thermals on).  Besides.  It was lunch time.  I took one more slide down then zipped into the lodge.  My lunch didn't seem very appetizing (granola bars, cheese, and something else) so I got an over-priced item from the small restraunte thing inside.  I ordered chicken strips and fires along with two hot chocolates (one for my half frozen little brother).  Those fries were some of the best fries I have ever had!  They were crispy-ish on the ouside and creamy on the inside.  They didn't have as muh salt as McDonald's fries, but still enough.  Delicious!

Afterwards I decided to rent skates and go skating, even though I hadn't skated for two or three years.

They didn't have my size of women's skates.  I'm size eleven women's.  Yeah, huge feet, right?
So I rented men's hockey skates.  I tried a size nine first, but they were too small.  Then the skate rental lady had me try another air of skates that I think were size nine and a half.  And they fit perfectly for my ankles and my feet.  They were too long so my toes had a ton of room, but that was easily dealt with.  Besides, I like it when my toes aren't crammed into my shoes. 

I was able to get out the rental shack and down the steps to the snow with no trouble.  Then I had to cross about fiftenn feet of snow to the pond.  That was much much harder.  I slipped and wobbled as my skates sand unevenly into the snow, sending me lurchng forwards or reeling back.

Miraculosly, I made it to the ice without mishap.  Mishap being defined as falling over.

The ice at the entry was extreamly roungh and I bumped and wobbled over it to get to the smoother area.  The smooth area was a little better.  I still wobbled, but from normal I-haven't-skated-in-several-years balence issues than the the-ice-needs-a-zambonie! type of balence issues. 

My cousin and brother were also out there, along with a couple other of the people with whom we were tubing.

Naturally, Michael was already whizzing around.  Though in my defense I hadn't skated in several years and he had skated more recently.  I felt like a beginer skater as I carefully skated.  My arms were held stiffly in front of me, elbows crooked slightly.  I stepped more than I really skated, and my torso was really quite stiff. 

Michael was skating circles around our little group.  Being his slightly competitive sister, I tried to chase him, simply speeding up my skating.  But of course, he had already re-discovered those powerful gliding strokes that send you flying accross the ice.

I gave up.  Instead of chasing him I worked on turning.  I turn to the left the best.  There's just someting about it that works for me.

When I bored of turning, I chased my brother again.  This time I noticed the sweeping gliding motions he used and tried to mimich them.  Naturally, I couldn't do it. 

Once again I gave up chasing him.  But this time instead of practicing turning I concentrated on gliding.  During this time I balenced on one foot then tried to gracefully switch feet, pushing myself powerfully along.  I also kept ordering my arms to relax by my sides and I ordered the rest of my body to relax.  Things don't normaly work as good when you're stiff.

By and by I managed to sweep nicely along.  My new technique was much more effective than the previous step-skating I had been doing.  I decided it was time for speed.

It's like my piano teacher says.  Start slow and when you've got it down slow you can speed it up a little.

I was able to speed around.  So then I practiced turns again, but this time at my 'high' speeds. 

I can't turn sharply.  Just trust me on that one.  It will take a lot of practice before I am able to turn in a circle less than fifteen feet in diameter from a higher speed without falling.  (ouch ouc ouch!  My knees!)  My knees stung for a few minutes after that.

Later I was able to nearly keep up with Michael at my highest speed.  Which is pretty amazing considering he's this extreamly athletic guy who has been able to beat me in races and nearly all things athletic for about four years now.  Athletics generally aren't my thing.

Of course I had to fall again.  This time I was speeding around and the toe of my skate caught in a crack that needed zambonieing.  Ker-thunk!  I hit the ice again.  And once again my knees hit first.  Owchie.  I knew I'd have a bruise later.

While the smarting stopped, I watched Michael preform controlled fall after controlled fall.  Several people were kinda staring as this skater, who had looked so good before, hit the ground time and time again.  I never tried falling on purpose.  Not my thing.  Falling on purpose would probably ingure me more that falling by accident.

A while later we returned the skated and tubed for a bit.  Then we felt like skating again and wished we had waited the return the skates.  That was when we made a welcome discovery.  If you rented skates, returned them, then wanted to skate again you could do so without paying again!  So I got another pair of skates.  This pair pinched my ankles and the blades were off kilter, forcing my feet to turn out.  So it wasnt as fun as before and I couldn't go nearly as fast.  It was soon getting dark.  We returned our skates for the last time and headed off for a bit more tubing before we left. 

The powdery snow stung sharply on any exposed skin as we nearly flew donw the hill.  Soon enough we were freezing and popped back into the lodge.  Turns out five minute later we were heading back out to the parking lot where we were counted and packed onto the bus.  We stopped at Tim Hortan's on the way home.  An had texted her dad to pick her up there and didn't stay.  Michael and I sat mutely at a table with our snak and waited for the time when we would get bak on the bus. 

Half an hour later we stepped off the bus into the church parking lot.  We thanked our leader for organizing this and saw our mom waiting for us in the truck.  We climbed in and soon were home.


And that was my adventure with skating and tubing.  Oh yes.  I did get bruises.  Horrific bruises the size of 2 - 2 1/2 inch diameter circles below my kneecaps.  It's two weeks later on Sturday and I still have shadowy bruise marks on my knees.  My bruises don't seem to heal quickly.

Anyways, till next time!

Shopping

Last night I went shopping for artsy things.  Most specifically, scrapbook paper (for cardmaking) and acrylic blocks (to put my new clear acrilic stamps on and so I don't have to borrow my mother's).  Oh yes.  And possibly some nice thick yarn to use with my stick weaving kit my older brother got me for Christmas.  Well, after our breif trip to Michael's, where we sepnt only just over an hour, I came out with a couple sheets of paper, a bag of black and white buttons of various sizes, a few interesting beads, and some new drawing supplies that I hope are good quality.  I really have no clue about those things. 

I spent about half an hour in the bead isle.  I should have watched the time more carefully because I hardly had time to grab a few sheets of paper later.

Then I saw the bag of buttons and grabbed one.  I've been needing black and white buttons of varying sizes.  I use them for eyes on my sock critters.

Then I noticed I was right by the pads of drawing paper so I decided to look for pencils and things.  I normally draw with your average mechanical pencils or those yellow things kids get for school.  I wanted something nicer.  And I probably did get something nicer.  I now have four new woodless graphite pencils that I will experiment with after school.  I also decided to get some coloured pencils.  So now I have a twelve pack of woodless coloured pencils.  How nice.  I just need to try them out now!

I was flabbergasted at the prices for one brand of pencils.  It was right about two dollars per pencil!  There were these huge packs for that brand (Prisimcolour, I think) that had 120 pencils.  *Jaw drop*  I'd LOVE to have that pack!  And maybe I'll get them after getting what I am currently saving up for.

"And what is that?" you ask.

It is a Cannon EOS Rebel T3i camera.  And it's taking me forever to save up for.  Mainly because the only money I earn is babysitting money.  *sigh*  But it's going to be wonderful when I do get it!  I have a wee little Cannon point-and-shoot type thing.  It's pink.  And black.  Need I say that it's time to get rid of having a pink camera as my main camera?  I've decided it's time for a good camera.  One that you can change the lenses on.  And one that has a veiwing screen that flips out away from the camera and rotates.  (Yay!)  It's going to be cool.

Anyways, folks, that's my latest (and not exactly greatest) adventure!  Stay tuned (or ignore me compleatly, it doesn't really matter) for my next post!

A Pleasent Suprise

Well I logged on today and noticed I have a new follower!  Thank you Jenna for coming to my rather mundane little blog.
And Nina also followed a while ago, but I forgot to metion her in the busyness of school.

Would you believe I've done schoolwork every day for seven consecutive days?  Yeesh!  I don't like that, but it's my own fault, really.  I should actually follow the schedule my mother writes out for me instead of procrastinating until I'm a week away from exams!  Really, I should.


My news for the past while.

I have been teaching my horse manners!  (Yay for manners!)  She used to be a grump if you tried to pet her while she was eating.  She'd pin her ears back and swings her head at you, looking as if she were going to bite.  She'd also swish her tail sharply, possibly lashing you with the course hairs.  She only ever threatened to kick the cows or dogs, though.  Never threatened to kick me or another person. 

But anyways, I've been correcting her manners in an extreamly simple way.  Step one, stand beside her and touch her shoulder, and keep touching it until her ears unpin.  If she gave me the "Ima gonna bite you" look, I'd just say "Ay" (Like 'hay', but without the 'h'.  This also works on little cousins.  It's all in the tome of voice)  or I'd snap my fingers.  It's so funny.  She's almost afraid of me snapping my fingers.  I discovered this little trick when I was at the gate to the pasture and she reached over to bite me (not something she does often.  I think she was having a mare day).  The first thing that came to mind was to snap my fingers to warn her off.  So I did, moving my hand forward with a flourish.  To my great suprise, her head jerked up and she took a step back.  I've used that ever since.

The next step I did involved petting her shoulder more, then walking around her to pet her other side.  Because of the setup of my feeder for her (a bathtub with a grate made of rebar and hinges of pipe.  Yep.  Homemade.  Gotta love it.  This contraption is set on bricks and any rain drains out the bathtub drains.  Ingenious, no?)  and its positioning at the barn wall, I began Rosie's manner training on her right side, then added the left later.  It's a good exercise for her mind.

After that I brought my spare lead rope into the hay barn, pulling it out when Rosie came when I fed her.  I would pet her with the rope.  Hopefully she'll be ewasier to catch due to this.

Just recently I've added picking up her front hooves to the routine.  Soon I'll add the back hooves. 

I only do the hooves and rope in the morning because it's light out then and I can spot the icey areas.  I do not want to slip and startle her!  Though my little 11 year old cousin did so when I let her feed Rosie the one time.  Fortunantly, Rosie only sidestepped as Naomi fell against her.  Rosie also gave her an annoyed look, but seemed to understand that Naomi is young and can't quite keep her balence on the ice the same way I can.

And that is Rosie's manners training. She's so fuzzy for the winter right now.


The dogs are doing great as well.  They are both very near to their final height, which is probably about two feet tall.  I haven't really measured.  Cub has retained his fluffy coat, though it is now about four or five inches long (due to the Border Collie hair) and really really thick (due to the Black Lab hair).  It's also rather wavy, which could be a resuld of either breed, I think.  He is built like a Lab, looks like a Lab, acts like a Lab, and thinks like a Lab.  He enjoys tackle games the most.  He is still black, except for his front paws, the very tipmost tip of his tail, and a white stripe on his chest.
Sage is a couple inches shorter than Cub, and is much more Border Collie.  She is built like a BC, she looks like a BC, she acts like a BC with a tad of Lab, and she thinks like a BC.  She's very cute, with a bald face (using horse term here)  Her white face runs down her chest and neck.  Her belly is white and her front legs are mostly white.  The bottoms of her hinds legs are white as well.  The last four inches of her tail is white.  Her ears and the back of her head and neck are white.  She is built for speed and is one fast little blighter.  She chased a guy on a bike down our hill and kept up with him all the way.


Well, that's my news for now.  Mre later!

Enjoy your day, my friends!