Field Trip!

It's been such a long time since I went on a field trip!

Today, The Eiman clan and I went to

The Breeding facility of the Budweiser Clydsales

A wonderful cool and cloudy August day at their gorgeous facility.

The last three of the pregnant mares-there will have been 23 babies when these three come.

They are all due in the next month so they are "on deck"

A mare is pregnant for nearly 11 months and gains about 300 pounds

but there are never twins!

That said their labor takes from 5 minutes to 35 minutes.

They are rigged with alarms straight to the head trainer when labor begins.

He has made it to the barn from his home on the ranch in 52 seconds.

Whether he was completely dressed is a question.

They breed for the hitch and there are specific requirements:

Must be male,

Gelded,

Bay in color with 4 white socks, a black mane and tail and a white blaze on their face,

Must stand at least 6 feet at the shoulders and weigh between 1800 and 2000 pounds.

With the exception of the first two their breeding program is 95% accurate.

They're very scientific.

 We saw every part of the facility photos and questions were welcome.

Everyone's favorite part is the BABIES!

There were three in the stalls with their moms.

This a very famous little girl named Gloria!  

She was born only minutes after the 

St Louis Blues won their first ever Stanley Cup!

(That's hockey folks.) 

Budweiser's home is St Louis so it's a very big deal.

Then they brought out Stan the Man for petting and photos ops.

He's already a commercial star but isn't on any of the hitches yet!

That's Kolby with me.

Such a patient and well mannered man is Stan.

A better picture of Stan!

Ethan actually touched him! 

Then as we were headed out to the trucks,

there came along a training drive.

Boy babies are kept with their Mums until they are gelded at 1

then they go off to St Louis for "basic training"  

At 3 they return to Warm Springs for hitch training.

This 4 horse hitch is stage two.

The  Three Clydesdale Hitches appear 300 times a year.

And are well known for their fabulous Super Bowl commercials!

Have a look at a couple of my favorites!

Puppy Love!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=hck3cXzg4_M

And the 911 Tribute

www.youtube.com/watch?v=A5uEeEWhBCA

You can read more about Warms Springs here

www.warmspringsranch.com

and more about the Budweiser Clydesdales by Googling them!

(Although you do have to be 21 to enter their sites-too funny!-

I tried to add a link but something went wrong.)

It was a great trip and I now know a lot about these gentle giants.

Surprises. . .

Last week,

or maybe the one before,

I looked out the patio door and saw pink in the grass!

When I went to satisfy my insatiable curiosity I discovered. . 

flowers!

Moss Rose,

and lots of it.

I didn't plant it out there,

well, not intentionally anyway.

Each fall I dump all the pots and clean them,

at this house I have several VERY low spots in the yard.

Which hold rain water in a big way!

That's where I put the dirt.

I must have emptied the pot that held the Moss Rose last!

It self seeded.

Pretty amazing considering the horrid winter we had.

Now, when I look out the door

I hope to see pink.

Sad to say,

every time we mow they get cut down.

Doesn't seem fair somehow.

Still it is a lovely surprise when I that spot of pink appears!

At Last

It is finished!

Washed, dried and on the bed!

I can't tell you how glad I am.

Music on Monday

I'm showing my age but. . .

This song has been in my head ALL DAY!

Now it can be in yours!

Check out  Monday, Monday from

The Mamas and the Papas
Recorded in 1965!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=h81Ojd3d2rY

Nearly there

Before I get to the Nearly there, 

I have a couple of things I finished this week.

Well, yesterday truthfully

First,

 a new shower curtain rod.

The old one was rusting on the top and hard to move the rings on.

I'm always amazed at the things which I find truly annoying

the struggle with the rings was one of those odd things.

This new one is MUCH easier.

Second,

A new mailbox.

The existing mailbox was made of some flimsy plastic, 

UGH.

White, 

Well once white anyway

And broken.

The new one is metal.

While I was at it I re-painted the post.

I love these letters I found on line!

So much nicer than the peel and stick from the hardware store.

(To be truthful these are peel and stick also!)

Easy to use and nice to look at.

Lastly,

The nearly there.

Yes,

those are binding clips on

the quilt that will not be finished!

I think I will actually finish it and have it on the bed by Wednesday!

At the moment I can only see

all the mistakes in it

BUT,

in the next six months those will just magically vanish!

Other stitching is in the works,

but,

some are gifts so not showing them 

YET!

On the medical front.

After 5 weeks,

numerous phone calls and faxes

and a visit with my Primary Care Doctor

I am scheduled for a knee replacement on August 28!

Waiting for the packet in the mail with all the instructions.

I know it won't be pleasant 

BUT 

it will be done

and I will just have to get on with it.

Updates and finishes

I'll admit I haven't been accomplishing much lately.

My left knee has gone bone on bone 

and has a lovely Baker's cyst turning to rock as well.

I'm awaiting scheduling for a knee replacement-sometime next month.

Hard to believe but it is worse when I sit with it bent, 

some days I just have to sit on the couch with it up and read.

That said, 

I have done some things!

Updates first.

Above is the quilt which insists it will NOT be finished!

Three Quarters quilted.

Shooting for 100% by this time next week and completed by month's end.

The beginnings of a rag quilt.

All the squares are cut,

still need to cut some batting.

I'm pinning them all then I will sit down and stitch through the layers 

before I lay them out and sew them together.

No real goal for finishing here.

Soon.

Maybe.

Finish number one.

the table skirt for the small round table I made year before last.

I've hunted for ready-made ones,

They were all the wrong size.

I hunted fabric, even bought some green,

but in the end I went with blue as the quilt that will not be finished 

is destined for the bed next to it.

Got out my little cloth from Ireland.

Now to accessorize it.

Lastly,

I painted the hutch base,

 and put on new hardware.

(Sorry the photo is so terribly dark-I took 20 shots I think and this was the best of the lot!)

I'm not putting the top back on.

(No idea what I'll do with it.)

Eventually, I'll get a piece of marble for the top.

It will make a nice place to place food when the whole group is here.

It too needs accessorizing.

I'll get to it.

Camping

Camping at Arrowrock.

If you've followed me for any length of time you will have realized that

I love to camp at Arrowrock State Historic site.

It's a smallish campground,

usually dominated by couples without children.

So it's quiet.

It is fairly close to home and to Columbia where Scott and Bri live.

I store my trailer in caves quite far north from my home

Which is a pain if I'm headed south!

Going to Arrowrock though is simple.

The caves are only a short distance (like 2 blocks) from US Highway 24.

I like driving this way, 

there is rarely much traffic for one thing!

The road follows the south side of the Missouri River,

Although, you can't see the river from the Highway.

Over hills and through valleys

A few small towns and lots of farm land.

Mostly,

Corn.

This year continues to be very wet,

so wet that at least two roads I passed had signs that either 

the bridge was closed or there was water over the highway.

You can see from the corn that farmers had trouble getting into low-lying fields.

The corn on the top of the hill is in tassel and Very Tall.

Down in the low spots it raged from a few inches to maybe 3 feet tall.

It is beautiful to see the hills spread out before you covered in gorgeous, 

vibrant green.

As I was driving I couldn't help but think of the movie Field of Dreams

all the baseball players going into the corn and just fading away.

I drove down on the 3rd

meeting up with Beth and family for the 4th holiday.

Scott and Bri brought the kids up for the 4th and we had a picnic.

Of course, it began raining.

There was a stream through the campsites!

We missed the fun parade, bummer.

When the 3rd round of rain poured down on us 

we moved the party to Scott's in Columbia.

Some stayed for the fireworks but Quinn and I went back to the trailer.

For the quiet of a place where fireworks are not allowed!

Saturday, we went into Columbia again for dinner and ice cream.

Sunday,

Beth's family packed up and headed home

leaving their golden retriever, Zoe, to ride home with me the following day.

The campground was nearly deserted that night!

Monday, I packed up, hooked up and went home,

dropping off both the trailer and Zoe on the way.

After unloading the truck and showering I took a long NAP!

It had been quite hot and buggy all weekend.

I was quite proud of the fact that I managed to backache truck up to the trailer and hook up on the first try!  

Guess all the truck backing practice has made a difference!

Also,

I bought a new battery last year and it didn't run the tongue jack-

which is no fun cause then I have to do it by hand!

I was all set to take the battery back

But,

I discovered that the key that keeps the battery from running down was off!

Ran the jack just fine when I took it back!

Ugg!

All those camping trips where I raised and lowered it with a fourway.

Totally unnecessary!

I need a check list for picking up and leaving!