May Update

Hey y'all! I'm baaaack! How is everyone? Loving May as much as me? This is one of my favorite months. So much fun to see everything "springing" (ah, ha, ha) to life!

So...still having a bit of a writers block with my blogging...seems like a lot of the stuff that I feel like blogging about is the same stuff I would have blogged about around this time last year! So for now, thought it might be fun to post some before & afters of our yard/arena. Can't believe it's been a year since we started really working on it!

Remember this?

Yay! I have a lawn now! Please excuse my crooked/wavy lines...must've been hittin' the Mike's Hard Lemonade prior to this. Just kidding. ;)Of course, we still have all kinds of work to do...finish weeding, mulching the beds, etc, etc. It really is endless, isn't it?

On to the arena...here it is when there was still a big ol' compost pile in the middle of it...
And here it is now! But it's still unfinished too. We had a friend who was using a dump truck for a project at his house so we were able to go in on it & start getting gravel. There's a great quarry just about 3 miles up the road from us...so convenient! Except that the truck had to go back & we're still a few dumps short on the gravel. So we're gonna have to buck up and pay a dump truck service or rent one ourselves to finish. Yuck. I'm tired of shelling out $$$.

Then, we'll still have to compact the gravel and then bring in sand. But at least it's a start! However, I'm really itchin' to get it done, because fatso needs some good exercise! And my horse does too. He, he. But really, it's been hard to look at this area that is *this close* and not be able to use it yet. Argh. The SAFE show that we participated in last year is coming up in a few months and I'm not sure if I'm gonna make my goal of entering all the English classes if I don't get to work SOON! For now, I've been putting around on him, up the road and whatnot, but I really need to get down to business. All in due time I guess.

If you ask me though, Caspian doesn't seem to mind this situation a bit. He seems more than content to enjoy a life of ease soaking up some sun, rolling in the dirt, and, of course, eating like a horse.

Oh, in other exciting horsey news...I got new truck!!! Long story, but the short of it is that at 205k well driven miles, my trusty Rodeo gave up the fight. She's now parked out to pasture...she might have some more life in her but it's gonna take some diagnostics and we didn't feel like continuing to dump $$ into her. Now we can just work on her a little at a time & not have to depend on her for daily commuting. I had had her into the mechanic a few times in the last couple of months and finally one fateful Saturday she got a little belligerent and started steering us all over the road. It was at that point that we turned her back around and headed home. My hubby was heading out of town for the day, but before he left he found a 2006 F150 for sale in a town a little bit north of us. He wasn't able to come with me, so I called up my mom and we did a bonsai run up there and the rest is history. I now have a new/old truck sitting in my driveway and I absolutely LOVE IT! It's funny how when you have become accustomed to putting up with your car's quirks, it makes you really appreciate driving a super reliable vehicle.

And the most exciting part is that it's the model with the V8 engine and transmission cooler...which means...a HORSE TRAILER is in my future! Eventually. My grandpa has one he's been trying to get me to take but it needs new tires. And probably some welding work. Nothing too major & obviously still a good deal but like I said...so tired of spending $$$. Especially with the recent new/old truck expense. I'm thinkin' maybe I'll be patient and if anyone buys my flowers (fingers crossed) at our Saturday market I'll use that $$ for tires. We'll see. I'll definitely keep you guys posted & you'll be the first to know when my Prince finally gets his chariot! I have so many plans for us once we get mobile! It opens up a whole new world!

Here's a glimpse of some of my baby flowers...hopefully these guys will prove to be profitable and play a role in getting us mobile! Keep your fingers crossed for me! I'll definitely keep y'all posted!

Happy spring and longer days to you all!