Merry Day After Christmas

We’re on the tail end of the blizzard that has been hammering us since Sunday afternoon…it started out blowy and blustery on Christmas Eve and just got steadily worse.
But, we’re almost through it, and by tomorrow, it’s supposed to be done. And then, the clean up starts.
*sigh*

But, everyone is safe, well fed, and doing just fine.
The horses were even kicking up their heels a bit this morning. 😉

Hopefully, once the weather settles, and the clean up is done, I can do my annual Yule photo shoot with the Girls.
Yeah, it’ll be late, but that’s okay.
I’ll still enjoy doing it, and I’ll enjoy sharing it, and I’m sure y’all will enjoy seeing it. 😉

In the mean time, I hope everyone has had a warm, happy, and healthy holiday season…

Happy holidays to all y’all!

Slugabug

Pardon me for the lack of posts. I had fully intended to get a post up for Scavenger Hunt Sunday, but it just didn’t happen. And, I’m not sure it will happen before the link closes.

Between Hubby working crazy over time hours, work on the farm, and some made-prior-to-Yule commitments, we’ve been a bunch of cold and tired folks. Slugabugs.
Add to that, I’m trying to be a photo editing machine. lol
I have…well, let’s just call it “A LOT” of photos sitting on my memory card(s)…and, I really want to get the images pared down to the usable ones.
Today I finally got through the set of images from an Elaine Potter Dressage Clinic I shot waaaaay back in November….so yeah, Ima little bit behind.

And, I still have some shots from around Yule to get done.
We had friends and family come out for festive photos with the horses, and I’m working through those next. Thankfully, those were all shot in natural lighting so there’s very little processing I have to do to them. Yay!
Plus, I have a whole new round of jolly ball/asshat-ery shots too…

That’s what I’m going to share with y’all today. 2 of those shots, that were going to be SHS, but, just hasn’t happened…

Sable and the peppermint ball

Ruby

Do you think Professional Photobomber could be a real job?
Because Astrid is really good at it, and it’d be nice if she could make a little $$$ while doing it. 😉

SHS~January 10th Edition

We’re still cold. lol! The joy of this weather is I get to practice my extreme cold photography. What I have learned is I need some gloves that are warm enough for -35*c, but supple enough to handle the camera buttons as well. My nasty hay slinging gloves are thick wool lined leather gloves, and while they look terrible (they are soooo well broken in, I love them!!) they are incredibly warm.
So, I’m on the hunt for warm and supple gloves. I’m happy to take suggestions from the other farm folks/photographers out there!

This week’s prompts are New, Red, Breakfast, Simple and Circle.

New

Daphne has a new toy…

Yes, that’s a log from our wood pile.
Yes, my dog is weird.

But she loves her new toy. She growls and barks at it, while she pushes it all over the yard. She can even carry it. Needless to say, we do not throw it for her. She’s just silly enough to try to catch it, and that would be very bad!

Red

Red Ruby

3 red things in one shot…Ruby (rubies are red) wears her halter (that’s red) and she’s a bay (red in horses) tobiano.
With a steady diet of top quality hay, beet pulp and flax, she shines in the sunshine. That copper red you see in the picture comes as close to her true color as a photo can.

And of course, my little red horse…

❤ Ms Astrid ❤

Breakfast

The Girls, in this weather, get increased hay rations. Ruby is not a horse that we can just set a big bale out with…the words “easy keeper” don’t quite apply to her. She’s more of an “Eat until she bursts” kinda horse. Now, I’m not complaining about this. I’ll take an easy keeper over a hard keeper any day. Ruby does present us with certain challenges though. Especially when her Paint cohort has food issues anyways…which is why we have 2 feeders, separate food stations for beet pulp, and why they have to be supervised when buckets are almost empty. Ruby will snort her’s down and work on pushing every one else out of their’s if she’s not supervised. So, Fat Girl, mixed with being the lead mare, makes feeding the Girls fun. 🙂 Wheeeee!

All of this to share this picture of Ruby…

“Whatchoo mean no more food ’til breakfast?!?”

I told her last night not to snort all the hay down, because there was no more until breakfast time. lol!

Simple

It amazes me every day, how a simple sunset can be so satisfying to the soul. I can never get tired of this view.

Circle

Feed buckets are circles!lol
I was feeling a bit stumped on this one, oddly enough. Until I realized, while taking the red pictures, that The Paints buckets are circles.

Cookie’s bucket…

Ruby’s bucket…

Sharing with Scavenger Hunt Sunday hosted by Ashley Sisk.

Memories, Dreams and Reflections 2015

This is the end of year photographic wind up, hosted by Ashley Sisk of Scavenger Hunt Sunday fame.
I really enjoyed doing this last year, even though it took me nearly all day! It was fun though, to look back at all the pictures I had taken and to choose the ones that worked best with the prompts.
I’m just going to jump into the prompts without listing them first, because, well, there’s 25 of them.

Let’s start!

Me!

❤ ❤ ❤

Me and my favorite horse. My bestest Girl. No surprise that any picture I choose of myself has her in it.

I Love You

Not only do I love them, but these two love each other. I can trust that horse to keep The Kid safe, no matter what. Our Sable is a blessing, for sure!

Still Laughing

I’m still laughing about Ruby and her in-front-of-the-camera antics…

She’s a card, that horse…

And she knows how to play to the camera!

Winter Wonderland

I had to go all the way back to March for this…we haven’t had enough snow yet to get some great asshat-ery shots, so here’s last winter’s Bella and the Ball series for some Winter Wonderland fun…

Evil ball!!
Popped out and scared her…

“What the hell Ball?!?”

Get away! Get away!

“Ima teach you, ball!”

Birthday

Cookie is the only one of the Girls whose birthday I know for sure. That’s because it’s on her registration papers. When her birthday comes around, everybody gets a chance to wear the birthday hat though…

Daphne modeling the birthday hat.

Then came Astrid…

And finally, the Birthday Girl herself…

Friends

What better for friends, than images of Cookie and Felix?

Or Nancy and Daisy Mae?

Or the 4 horses together?

🙂

I Was Inspired

Remembrance Day was the inspiration for these shots…

“Soldier’s Daughter”

“Soldier’s Horse”

Spring Fever

Spring fever always bring on the Krazy Kantering Horse Games!

Sable makes the best faces, when she’s being silly!

And looks right at the camera when she does! “Look at me Mom! Take my picture!!”

They got around front, trotted up for some snuggles, and then, were off again!

Travel or Vacation

We have livestock…no such thing as a vacation. 🙂
But, we did do some traveling. Just day trips…

To a couple rodeos…

Saddle Bronc Saturday…

After the ride…I was torn on whether or not to share this one. It’s a powerful image, and yet, it feels like I, as the photographer, am intruding on the rider’s pain.

Freedom!!!

We also made our weekly trips to the Stable, where Hubby has been assisting with the rebuild of the owner’s home after a fire consumed it in May.

Summer Days

More rodeo shots, because our summer days were filled with rodeo fun and much editing afterwards.

Saddle bronc, sans rider

Saddle bronc

And, with rodeo pictures, I learned a new editing technique…

Here’s a sample of that new technique I learned.

A Day In My Life

A day in my life has this:

Dorkite

And this:

Tools of the stinky trade…containers, toothbrushes and paper towels. And a place to do it outside…

And this:

That’s our Daisy, bites Nancy’s butt to force him out of the box.

And this:

“Mine! Mine! Mine!”

In short, a day in my life is a mixture of mad crazy motion being photographed, quiet work on jewelry and the day-to-day running of a hobby farm.

All Smiles

Hello Not-Bob!

I was all smiles when this guy showed up.
Seen a couple of others since. Makes me smile every time. 🙂

Autumn Harvest

Blue Bean Killer

As the garden was finishing up, BlueCat decided to help me with the final bean harvest…

Storm

While StormCat did what every good farm cat should do…

Home

Home is where my Girls are.

My symbol of Home…the 4 nags together.

Celebrate

We had many celebrations here this past year. And many that I took pictures at. My favorite (at least photographically) was our Samhain bonfire. I really enjoyed taking pictures of the bonfire.

A few folks standing ’round the fire.

This ^^^ was my favorite one of the night.

Let’s Do It Again

The garden. Because we’re gonna do it again…and again, and again, and again…

Corn!!

Rows of tomatoes

A row of lettuce

Purple pole bean flowers

I Miss You

Yeah, I got nothing for this one.
The folks who made the choice to leave my life this past year are gone, and I don’t have the energy, or the urge, to miss them.

Beautiful

Sable and Astrid

Yup, they sure are!

Dress Up

Hahahahaha!!!
Happens a lot here…we dress up the horses. 🙂

MudaMino!

And sometimes, they dress themselves up…in mud!

MudaStrid

You know the mud was bad when Astrid is covered!

MudaRoo

Really, Ruby does have white spots…

MudaCoo

So muddy, her white neck spots are gone!

Macro

Love those short, fuzzy hairs…and the colors. She just makes me smile. 🙂

Holidays

We did a bunny ear hat for Easter:

Astrid 1 eared it…

No surprise, Sable wore it like a champ!

Cookie was not. happy. 😡

My Favorite

This is a tough one. I had a ton of great shots in 2015. Finally, I settled on the Miniature Lions.

Don’t Ever Change

Cookie

I don’t want her to change.
I love her just the way she is, Miserable Cow and all.
I do want her to learn and grow and be the very best horse she can be…all while keeping that amazing, sweet personality (yes, it is in there!!) and incredible heart.

Just Because…So There!

Best. Joke. Ever!

It’s a terrible angle.
It looks like her head isn’t even attached to her body.
It’s odd and just plain off.
But, it makes me smile and I love it.
So there.

Hopes and Dreams

Hopes…
I hope to grow so much more food on the Farm in 2016.
The chicken coop is done, and ready for birds.
We have the spot picked out for a couple of feeder piglets.
The garden seeds are picked and ready to be ordered.

I am tired of being a slave to food prices in grocery stores.
I am tired of someone else growing my meats and eggs.
I am tired of not being hands on in our meat eating.

It’s time to utilize as much of this land that we have worked so hard for, to grow our food. Not just the fruits and veggies, but the meats as well.

Dreams…

I dream of getting on Cookie.
Of taking the next steps in her training. Not until her feet are 100% grown out. We are so close…once those cracks are gone, then, then, I can seriously consider getting up on her. Not before though.

I dream of Equi~Gems becoming my full-time job.
Not just fits and starts, here and there. But solid, steady work, that brings solid, steady $$$ into the Farm.
I’m working on it.
I am happy with the new gemstone settings.
I am happy with the new earrings I’ve been working on.
I am excited to share those with you all!

Most of all, my hopes and dreams revolve around the happiness of everyone who calls Midnight Calico Farm home.

The Kid.
Hubby.
The Girls.
Daphne.
The Marauding Hoarde.
The Meatloaves.
And yeah, even myself.

Here’s to a happy, healthy, prosperous 2016.
Not just for us at Midnight Calico Farm.
For all of you, our readers and followers, too.

Ruby says…”It shall be so!”

Sharing with Ashley Sisk, who is hosting Memories, Dreams and Reflections.

Last SHS of 2015

Last Scavenger Hunt Sunday of 2015.
The prompts this week are simply Photographer’s Choice.
My choices this for this week are some festive photos we did with the Girls on Christmas day.
Seems to be a tradition with us…wake up, take the dog out, feed the animals, make coffee, open presents, then go out and photograph the horses. 🙂
Works for me!

So, on to the pictures.

Photographer’s Choice #1

Festively adorned Astrid

I borrowed the ribbon around the neck idea from the MRDA Santa photo shoot. This is the best of a bunch of not-so-good shots. I was trying to do this on my own, without a halter on Astrid. Hubby and The Kid were working on getting Sable bridled…I wanted to do a photo of Sable with the ribbon and bow, plus The Kid on her back…didn’t work out. Sable was having an off day. 😦 It’s never fun when Sable is having an off day.
All that considered, this isn’t a bad photo, it’s just not as good as I had wanted it to be…so, I’ll try again.
Astrid is a real beauty, and I really want her 2015 Christmas photo to show that.

Photographer’s Choice #2

Christmas Sable

She was having a rough morning. Still not sure what was up with her, but we finally got a good shot. Not great, but good. Again, I will give it another go later on this week.
Afterwards, I did give her a bit of a back rub, and a couple of gingerbread cookies, and that seemed to make her feel better. The weather’s been pretty steady, so I don’t think her tummy was off. I think, maybe, she was just missing her humans.
Our dear Sable is very much a people horse, so when she doesn’t get what she feels is enough attention, she can be grumpy, and will make her tummy upset over it.
She’s our big special Girl. ❤

Photographer’s Choice #3

The Christmas Cookie

Who said “Why yes, Mama, I will wear that bow and pose real pretty for you!”
I figured of all of them, she’d be the one to run off, never to pose with the bow. Just had to prove me wrong. Big silly.

Photographer’s Choice #4

Hubby and Ruby

Ruby was another one…”Oh! Pose for the camera with Daddy and a bow? Sure!!” And easy peasy, this shot was caught.
Paints.
Go figure!

Photographer’s Choice #5

This last shot isn’t mine…it’s a shot by The Kid. You can see why I didn’t take it…

❤ ❤ ❤

Yup, me and my bestest Girl. And, she’s looking fabulous.

Sharing with Scavenger Hunt Sunday hosted by Ashley Sisk.

We’re Back on the Hunt!

Scavenger Hunt Sunday that is. 🙂
This weeks prompts are When I Grow Up, Pattern, Festive, Triangle and Fancy.

And, away we go…

When I Grow Up

Erik the Viking

This little boy needed a fierce name. A name that would strike fear into the hearts of all men…okay with that cute face? Not going to happen, no matter what we named him. I just wanted to give him a name that would override his habit of pooping himself when he got picked up.

Poor little boy…he was so scared the first couple of times we caught him, he just let the poop fly. lol!
He’s actually Nancy, Robin and Sophie’s (now Suzie) littermate. Yup, he’s a Meatloaf too.

When he grows up, Erik the Viking wants to be just like big brother Trouble…that’s who he’s looking at, sitting on top the cat house.

Pattern

Hmmm, what to use for a pattern picture…I think we’ll go with this:

Cookie and Ruby

Patterned paints are a good thing. 🙂

Fancy

Though, neither of my Girls are as fancy as this boy…

Marty

Marty is an adorable gelding at the stable where The Kid takes her riding lessons. And he likes to have his picture taken. 🙂

Triangle

Another image from the stable…where the owners are in the midst of building a new house.
I had a tough time coming up with something for triangle, until I remembered I had pictures of the roof trusses being lifted.
Voila!
Large triangle!

Festive

Nancy (sitting) and Daisy Mae

We are hoping to have a festive holiday season. However, since we now have these 2 ^^^ in the house, there will be no Yule tree in the living room for us. It’s just not a good idea.

Between crazy kittens and the short dog with the over excited tail? Yeah, festive Yule trees will be outside.
In the pasture…
With the horses…
Who will wear Santa hats for Yule photo shoots…
And anyone in the area who wants to come out and have their picture taken with festive, Santa hat wearing horses and decorated trees, is most welcome!

Sharing with Scavenger Hunt Sunday hosted by Ashley Sisk.

SHS~August 16th

Today we celebrate 2 years on our Farm. At 9am, August 16th, 2013, we took possession of this place, and the first part of my lifelong Dream came true. 🙂
In this past week, we have come close to putting together something Hubby has wanted for a very, very long time…at least as long as we have been together. The story is in a few of the pictures, so let’s get on with it, shall we?

Prompts this week are Starts with S, Leading Lines, Powerful, Frozen, and Daily Task.

Starts with S

If you’ve followed us here for any length of time, you can guess what around here starts with S...

Sable!

Sable starts with S…but then, so does…

Sky!

Sky starts with S! That was our sky this morning…looking a little like rain. We only got a small spittering of rain, nothing much.

Leading Lines

Whole bunch of ’em hanging by my back door…leading lines (lead ropes), lunge lines, even Sable’s bridle and The Kid’s barrel reins…if it’s a rope that has to do with horses, it’s hanging there.

Powerful

Ahhh, see, now here’s where we get into the part about Hubby…

See that?

That’s an anvil.
Just like Wile E. Coyote used to have. 😉
The two of us weren’t strong enough to get it off the truck…he needed something more powerful. That’s where Daisy came in.

And this?

That’s a brake drum from a Frieghtliner…given to Hubby by the StableMaster.

These two things will form the foundation of Hubby’s home-built forge. He’s got some work to do, to get it set up, but I told him I want to be taking picture of him working steel in the forge before the snow falls. That’s going to be an awesome photo shoot!

Frozen

Home made naan bread. Left over from last night’s celebration/get together. It’s going to be frozen and used a personal pizza crusts.

Daily Task

Just one of my daily tasks where The Girls are concerned…

Beet pulp buckets.

Soaking their beet pulp before feeding. It’s a daily thing, so they can get the ground flax in them. Makes for shiny coats, healthy skin and hooves, and happy horses.
Plus, there’s the bonus of me rubbing my Cookie’s ears while she eats. We both like that. 🙂
A few times I’ve been sick enough that Hubby has taken over the beet pulp feeding and I always tell him “Don’t forget to rub the black one’s ears while she eats!”
She says he doesn’t do it right. Haha!

Sharing with Scavenger Hunt Sunday hosted by Ashley Sisk.

SHS~August 8th

Busy week this past week. I’m working hard to keep up with the greens growing in the garden. No complaints!! I love pulling 2-3 lbs of greens out a day. I’m still hoping to get some spinach into the freezer, but I keep eating it. 😉

I had a new toy to play with this past week too. And, after enjoying it, smearing a little WIPE on it, last night I paid for it. I’m now the happy owner of a Nikon D90. Yes, it’s an older camera, but, it does a damn fine job.
Have to keep in mind, I’ve been working with a D3200 for the past 4ish years. I did a  lot of comparison research, before I was ready to commit to spending the money, and I was given some time to work with it and see what it can do. Yeah, I’m happy with the upgrade. It may not be a huge leap of an upgrade, but, for the price (I was given a really, really good deal on it) and for the extra skills I’ll gain using it, it was so worth it for me.
Plus, The Kid will get a chance to play with the Red Monster…I’m not ready to give it to her outright, but yeah, she can have fun with it. 🙂
All but one of this weeks photos were shot with the D90…

Prompts this week are Dots, Bokeh, A Game, Repetitive, My Everyday.

Dots

We own Paint horses…they have dots. But, my Cookie has on her nose, 1 almost perfect big black dot. 🙂 See where the arrow is pointing? This is one of my favorite places on her body. I ❤ this dot! It is where, after a breath exchange with her, I place kisses on that nose.
And, it’s a funny dot, because in the midst of her pink skinned nose(which gets a sunscreen/zinc oxide mixture to protect from sunburn), the skin under that dot is black. So funny. So odd. That my Cookie’s dot.

Bokeh

I’m not gonna lie…I don’t understand bokeh.
I’ve read about, I’ve looked at examples of it, I’ve had it explained to me, and just when I think I get it…nope. Comprehension just scoots out of my head. The technique seems simple enough, but for some reason, I just cannot wrap my brain around being able to do it. It’s like a big ol’ block sitting there, preventing me from actually being able to do it. Instead, I’ll just share a picture of The Paints…

See? Pretty painted horses. 🙂

A Game

Jolly ball!!

“It’s trying to kill me!!”

Being chased by the Jolly Ball…

“Kick it so it dies!!”

“Um…what’m I s’posed to do with dis?!?”

Jolly balls are so much fun!

Repetitive

If you follow us on FB, or are friends with me personally, some of these pictures might seem repetitive. Often I’ll throw up one or two of them on my personal page, before I have a chance to write a blog post. I do try to make sure there’s new images in a post, so that y’all don’t get bored with repetitive photos. 😉

Strawberry Paint

This is my only D3200 shot in the post…it’s an old one. One I’m sure I shared before, but I came across it last week while looking for a different image. I love this…it’s from a time when she was still unsure of trying things I offered her. Now? That berry would be long gone, not just nibbled!

Pretty Girls.

These 2 are best friends ever. This photo is a perfect example of an equine greeting. ❤

Hello stupid horse!

Dumb bag decided that my using a flash to take her picture in the shelter was terrifying. She lit out of there like her ass was on fire!
Later on, it dawned on me that the D90 makes a different noise when taking a picture than the Red Monster does. And yes, something so simple can affect a horse…a new, different sound, when we’re used to one specific sound when Mama points that thing at us.

Oh, sleepy Ruby!

Silly, sleepy Ruby. The camera didn’t bother her so much, but she did decide that the essential oil bottle was scary as all get out, and she was going to plaster herself to the back of the shelter.
Idiot.
Normally, she’s just about on top of me for a good hard sniff of the Peace and Calming.

Astrid pre-spa treatment.

With the Paints acting like dumb asses, I decided to give Astrid a good grooming. Brushed all over, rubbed to a shine with a rag, then coated in WIPE, her mane and tail brushed out, and her mane braided.

Such a gorgeous Girl!

She loved every second of being pampered. 🙂

My Everyday

My new everyday pals…I can’t go anywhere without them. And Mimi gives me a *look* when I try to!

“You going some where Food Lady? Some where without me?!?
Yeah, I didn’t think so!”

“Hullo Food Lady. I waiting patiently for you.”

A pile of kittens who got tired of waiting for the Food Lady to stop working with horses.

Oh, the joys of my everyday life! 🙂

Sharing with Scavenger Hunt Sunday hosted by Ashley Sisk.

SHS~August 2nd

Holy Moly!!
It’s August already…where has the time gone?
Summer is half over already, and we haven’t gotten half our to-do list done. Looks like we’d better get our butts in gear…and the weather best start cooperating too. 😉

Prompts for this week are Low Angle, Home Made, Light, Waiting, and A Chore.

I took some photos off farm this week. Every week, The Kid goes to a riding stable for her lesson, and this week, I brought my camera along. I used to take a lot of pictures there (and I do mean A. LOT!), but since we moved to the farm, when Kid has her lesson, it’s our chance to get grocery shopping done. 95% of the time we get back to the stable to catch her ride, so I don’t miss out on that. Which is great, because her riding skills have improved greatly. But I do miss out on taking pictures.

First two are shots from home…

Low Angle

I was sitting on the ground, just outside the fence, to catch this lovely low angle shot of Sable…

Thankfully, this was far away from the water, because otherwise, she would have spit water aaallll over me. That’s just how she is.

Home Made

For this, you get a decent shot of Cookie’s home-made leather crown on her breakaway halter…

And, a lovely shot of the Miss herself.

It came with a simple tan one, but I decided she needed something a wee bit fancier. Pink leather, with an all over fish print on it. Not fish scales, but fish drawings. It’s cheesy, it’s tacky, it’s awesome. 🙂

Light

Ahhh, now we get into the shots I took off farm. These are taken in the barn, where the light is not exactly perfect for photos. To be fair, it’s not set up for photographers, but for what’s best for the horses.That’s how it should be, right? That means I have to adapt my skills to make a good shot work. I can do that. 🙂

Sometimes, that means popping off a flash…

Poor Surprise! I really did surprise him with the flash…as you can see! Caught him with a mouth full of grain. I made up for it with an ear scratch though.

I try not to use the flash very often, because I never know if a horse will take exception to it. I’m only a visitor, and the last thing I want to do is upset any equines.

This fellow, however, didn’t mind it at all…

What a cutie!

After this shot I figured, let’s try a long shutter speed and see what we get. I’ve been wanting to play with daytime long exposure shots. Perfect chance! Most didn’t turn out. But luckily, there was one…

I really like the way this one turned out!
I dropped the iso to 400 (typically, in the barn, I use 1600 or higher, depending on if the lights are on or if there’s more natural light) and set the shutter for 5 seconds. Likely, the shot would have been better if I had used a tripod, but for a hand-held shot, this turned out pretty damn awesome, if you ask me.
And yes, that’s a coffee cup in the person’s hand. Horses love coffee y’know…he was having a real good sniff of that cup, until my bringing the camera up caught his attention.

A Chore

A chore that is done every day at the barn is the bringing in of the horses from the pastures. I like to call it The Running of the Horses. I also like to photograph it.

I will admit, this is far more impressive in the winter. As the big door opens, the steam from the heat of the barn meeting the cold outside air adds an amazing element.

Waiting

Once all the horses are in, I have to wait for The Kid to finish up her after-ride work, so we can go home and I can process the pictures I took. Sometimes I give the images a quick review while I’m waiting…I really should invest in a good laptop. Then I could sit in the barn’s lobby and process right away. No waiting to get home. 🙂

Inverted colours, to make for The Running of the Ghost Horses.

Sharing with Scavenger Hunt Sunday hosted by Ashley Sisk.

SHS~July 26th

I think I’m finally settling back into the swing of things here. It’s funny how a weekend of photography and visiting changes the dynamics. I went from focus on the farm work I needed to do to thinking about aaaalllll the photo editing I wanted to do. Guess which one won? 😛

This week’s Scavenger Hunt Sunday shots will show you I’ve neglected the garden…lots and lots of growth, both from the things I’ve planted and the weeds.
*sigh*
Next week will see me out pulling weeds, and trying to figure out a ground cover for the bare spots. Yes, I actually have space in my garden! It’s partly because it was finished late, and I planted late. This will not be the case next year, I assure you.

Prompts this week…Selfie, Rows, One Word, I Love This, and White on White.

Selfie

I don’t understand selfies. I don’t do them, I don’t understand the impetus behind them. Every time this prompt comes up, I work to find a way around it. It’s not that I have anything against having my picture taken, it’s just I can’t wrap my head around doing it myself. I’d much rather be taking a picture of what’s in front of my camera, than the me behind it.

That said, instead of a selfie, I’m giving you a shot of my pea patch…because my pea patch is like a thick carpet of pea plants, and it’s awesome. 🙂

Hay! That’s peas! There’s no Wolfie in there!

Wait until the peas are ready, then Wolfie will be in there like a dirty shirt…assuming The Kid doesn’t push me out. Haha!
Thankfully these are way out of reach of Long Neck. Sable would nom these down in mere seconds, and beg for more.

Rows

“Mary, Mary, quite contrary, how does your garden grow?”

Normally, my garden does not grow in rows. I’m a broadcast seeder, when it comes to carrots, beets, lettuce, spinach…this year though, I planted some rows.

A row of spinach

I’m doing a test…I have a row of spinach, and a section where I broadcast seed as well. I’m curious to see which produces better.
As you can see, this row is ready for a good, hearty thinning. I’ll cut a bunch of leaves, eat a ton of them, then freeze the rest for winter.

A row of lettuce

This is supposed to be romaine lettuce. Any lettuce is good lettuce, imo. I love a salad made from home-grown lettuce.

Rows of tomatoes

Tomatoes I plant in rows…because I have to be able to move between them at picking time. Rows makes it easier. I still don’t have to like it. 😛

Corn!!

Mmmmmm….4 rows of Painted Mountain corn. I am hoping that this is able to produce for us. I planted it so late, that it may not. If it doesn’t give us cobs, at least The Girls will get to have the stalks.
Stalks they can munch, cobs are not allowed. Far too easy for cobs to cause a blockage in horses who forget to chew them. Remember, we have one accident prone sweetie, and so the chances of her forgetting to chew, getting a blockage, and giving us a humongous vet bill are far too great. As such, corn stalks only, for my Girls. 🙂

One Word

❤ ❤ ❤ ❤

Only one word I can use for this sight…LOVE.
I have waited, Dreamed, and worked for this sight for 40 years. Ever since I was a baby, all I ever wanted was a horse. Nearly 2 years ago (August 16th is 2 years!) I came so close to the Dream I could smell it…and then, in October, I met my Girl and lost my heart.

Taken the day I met her…

I looked into that big brown eye and knew I was a goner.
It’s been a difficult road for her and I, but I can’t imagine my life without her. And, I wouldn’t trade her for anything…she’s a MCFarm lifer!
The others are a bonus, because I can’t forget them. I love them too…they’re just as much a part of the Dream. 🙂
(in case anyone is wondering, the others are MCFarm lifers too)

I Love This

Pepper flowers

Painted Pony bean flowers

Purple pole bean flowers

I love this because it means we’ll have produce from these plants very soon. That means fresh food, and some to put up for winter, hopefully!

White on White

Yeah, I didn’t really know what to do with this one…so, I took a shot of Hubby’s truck lined up with the stock trailer and the house…

White on white on white

Sharing with Scavenger Hunt Sunday hosted by Ashley Sisk.