The Front Porch Swing

[Loc20chick]

Now, I found y'all a funny!

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=569669486480126

That is funny. They are having fun, Duck TV

 

[TexasLisa]

OK

Helio Pad.

When I first moved to my house there was nothing there for livestock. I wanted an arena in the worst way for working a green carriage horse on her skills.... But the more I surveyedt the land with my own eyes I could only see two possiblities

One is out of this picture downslope in a level area populated by Ribbon wood trees. I could put a full on Class A arena down there. But dang when you are working alone it ment harnessing up at the corral then driving down to the arena then having to get out of the vehicle to open gates. Too dangerous without a helper. Then there were those ribbon wood trees. They were holding in a masive amount of sand from the stream bed....

The upper portion of land near the drive way was a better prospect. It would be a bout the size of a small arena just enough for one carriage horse with little obsticles to work with. I could build a carriage house out there then lock the horse in for harnessing and hitching. Much safer for me.

I dont know if I mentioned it but Carriage driving especially with a green horse is one of the most dangerous forms of horse locomotion there is It tops even Three day eventing. People ride in Armor for Three day eventing.

So spot located. It needed to be graded because while it was mainly level but had a couple of hills and had no rocks. I figured the grading process would take about a foot off the top and spreading out would make me a decent arena. I could access non horsy areas from the driveway and I envisioned the Carriage house would be about 12 x 24 Shaded and a place for my two Carts and the Wagonette I wanted to eventually get. The idea was to get her trained enough to pull the Wagonette. These are people vehicles and can be as small as four passenger and as large as 20... for a single horse.

I started asking about trying to find someone up in the area that did grading... trying to get an idea of how much it would cost. Everywhere I chatted with people a person by the name of Crazy Loui came up. I will be darned I was at the liquor store (contact hub for the area second only to the Casino) I heard someone mention Crazi Loui's name and say good by.

He was a medium built fellow with a very tan complexion... Very very dark hair that was slicked down with brylcreme... And about seventy years old. His shirt pocket was threadbare in places from his pack of Camels he smoked constantly... He smelled of stale tobacco and beer and diesel fuel. We chatted a bit and he seemed excited about doing some work for me.

Apparently he had worked on my land when the house was built originally and put in jsut about all the roads and easement access in the area. He had one of those big freeway graders. Back in the day he worked for CalTrans putting in the new Higway 8 freeway and he got the grader as surplus. His mom owned the Wisteria Candy company up in boulevard and when she passed it went over to him and his sister. He wasnt interested in Candy LOL. http://wisteriacandycottage.com/

His quote was a thousand dollars... which I thought was pretty good. I had some money designated from the sale of my house in Santee for improvements like this. I asked him if he would also remove the ruts in the driveway He said sure no charge. So we made a deal and he said he couldnt get up there for a day or two. But that he needed 50 bucks to top of the oil on the tractor.

I chatted up my neighbor Tom and told him what I did. His comment was... "You didnt give Louie money did you?".... "Ermmm... yes." "Dont expect to see him for at least a week. hes a gambler." Duuhh slapping my forehead. Yep it took a week. nope I didnt get a phone number from him.

Finally I hear tractor making its way up the road. I was expecting something like This:


Instead here comes this up the road grading away..... Apparently he had to drive to his work sites... LOL

Though he had a dozer blade on the front rigged for brush ripping. It took him a week with his baby leaving it on the spot in the evenings and showing up in the morning with a passenger car loaded up with Diesel and Oil... Of course The work wasnt all in consecutive days ... he needed money on occasion for more fuel... Then he would disappear... Sigh.

So one day he tells me hes done. I said... "What?" He takes me over to the middle of the graded area and here is the surface of a boulder probably the size of the first dozer I showed you. ANd "Oh by the way I dug up some PVC stuff" That was more important. He had taken out my phone lines.... No pipe broken but exposed and moved.... sigh. My fault.

I paid him and he left. and what I had was a flat place about the size of my house plot... Maybe big enough to put in a large round pen. And my road graded... All of which I felt was worth the money even when I didnt get what I wanted.

Later ON I found out it was an excellent place to land Lifeflight for when they gave me a helicopter ride into the city after an accident with my horse and Buggy.

deb

O Deb, when I first saw the bulldozer I was thinking, "Ken is going to be so jealous". hehee You really meet some interesting people! Just in case you didn't notice, you left us dangling again.....accident with horse and buggy.

Lisa

 

[heartsizedfarm]

OK Helio Pad. When I first moved to my house there was nothing there for livestock. I wanted an arena in the worst way for working a green carriage horse on her skills.... But the more I surveyedt the land with my own eyes I could only see two possiblities One is out of this picture downslope in a level area populated by Ribbon wood trees. I could put a full on Class A arena down there. But dang when you are working alone it ment harnessing up at the corral then driving down to the arena then having to get out of the vehicle to open gates. Too dangerous without a helper. Then there were those ribbon wood trees. They were holding in a masive amount of sand from the stream bed.... The upper portion of land near the drive way was a better prospect. It would be a bout the size of a small arena just enough for one carriage horse with little obsticles to work with. I could build a carriage house out there then lock the horse in for harnessing and hitching. Much safer for me. I dont know if I mentioned it but Carriage driving especially with a green horse is one of the most dangerous forms of horse locomotion there is It tops even Three day eventing. People ride in Armor for Three day eventing. So spot located. It needed to be graded because while it was mainly level but had a couple of hills and had no rocks. I figured the grading process would take about a foot off the top and spreading out would make me a decent arena. I could access non horsy areas from the driveway and I envisioned the Carriage house would be about 12 x 24 Shaded and a place for my two Carts and the Wagonette I wanted to eventually get. The idea was to get her trained enough to pull the Wagonette. These are people vehicles and can be as small as four passenger and as large as 20... for a single horse. I started asking about trying to find someone up in the area that did grading... trying to get an idea of how much it would cost. Everywhere I chatted with people a person by the name of Crazy Loui came up. I will be darned I was at the liquor store (contact hub for the area second only to the Casino) I heard someone mention Crazi Loui's name and say good by. He was a medium built fellow with a very tan complexion... Very very dark hair that was slicked down with brylcreme... And about seventy years old. His shirt pocket was threadbare in places from his pack of Camels he smoked constantly... He smelled of stale tobacco and beer and diesel fuel. We chatted a bit and he seemed excited about doing some work for me. Apparently he had worked on my land when the house was built originally and put in jsut about all the roads and easement access in the area. He had one of those big freeway graders. Back in the day he worked for CalTrans putting in the new Higway 8 freeway and he got the grader as surplus. His mom owned the Wisteria Candy company up in boulevard and when she passed it went over to him and his sister. He wasnt interested in Candy LOL. http://wisteriacandycottage.com/ His quote was a thousand dollars... which I thought was pretty good. I had some money designated from the sale of my house in Santee for improvements like this. I asked him if he would also remove the ruts in the driveway He said sure no charge. So we made a deal and he said he couldnt get up there for a day or two. But that he needed 50 bucks to top of the oil on the tractor. I chatted up my neighbor Tom and told him what I did. His comment was... "You didnt give Louie money did you?".... "Ermmm... yes." "Dont expect to see him for at least a week. hes a gambler." Duuhh slapping my forehead. Yep it took a week. nope I didnt get a phone number from him. Finally I hear tractor making its way up the road. I was expecting something like This: Instead here comes this up the road grading away..... Apparently he had to drive to his work sites... LOL Though he had a dozer blade on the front rigged for brush ripping. It took him a week with his baby leaving it on the spot in the evenings and showing up in the morning with a passenger car loaded up with Diesel and Oil... Of course The work wasnt all in consecutive days ... he needed money on occasion for more fuel... Then he would disappear... Sigh. So one day he tells me hes done. I said... "What?" He takes me over to the middle of the graded area and here is the surface of a boulder probably the size of the first dozer I showed you. ANd "Oh by the way I dug up some PVC stuff" That was more important. He had taken out my phone lines.... No pipe broken but exposed and moved.... sigh. My fault. I paid him and he left. and what I had was a flat place about the size of my house plot... Maybe big enough to put in a large round pen. And my road graded... All of which I felt was worth the money even when I didnt get what I wanted. Later ON I found out it was an excellent place to land Lifeflight for when they gave me a helicopter ride into the city after an accident with my horse and Buggy. deb

Okay that was a cool story, and he's a character out of the movies, but that story has a cliffhanger! Now you have to tell the story about the buggy accident.

 

[Blooie]

<<PLOP>> Whew! Could I trouble someone for a glass of something cold and sweet, and maybe a huge slice of banana bread slathered in real butter - not Oleo? Wait - make that moonshine and the most fattening bag of chips on the market.

Just got home about 10 minutes ago from Billings....planned on making a high speed run there, getting back here about 1:00, and calling Caroline (luvblues7) to meet up with them in Cody. For starters I left my cell phone at home. Really stoopid move considering that I've been waiting to hear from Jenny all day. Then Tam could not, and I mean could NOT, find a pair of shoes that didn't kill her feet. She has some serious foot issues so it's so hard to find shoes that work. We hit about every shoe store in Billings - and never did find something that she could wear comfortably on the cruise. Katie was hungry and getting owly, so we stopped about 3:00 to grab an early dinner.

While we were walking from the car to Penney's after dinner, the wheel fell off my walker. No warning, no wobbling - one minute it was rolling along and the next it was rolling away. So when the walker came to an abrupt halt, I stumbled, fell forward and clobbered my head on some parked car's bumper. Just great...Tam and I went in (sans walker) while Ken ran over to Lowe's and got some little doo-dad he needed to put the wheel back on. It's a sign......I ain't supposed to take that doggone wheeled contraption on this cruise.

I made two calls the second I walked in the door. I called Jenny first. News there is pretty doggone good. Kendra still has the same sized ventricles she had on her last MRI, and the amount of fluid in them hasn't changed. And the Chiari Malformation is also the same size and in the same position that it has been as well. So our Little Warrior doesn't need any surgery for either the malformation or shunts. Yayyyy!!!!

They think that what's happening is that her seizure activity has changed. Whether it's because her Onfi and Keppra levels are too low or it's the wrong combination of seizure meds is the question. We know from her EEGs that besides the obvious seizures we see she has many silent seizures that don't show up except on the EEG. Her neurologist thinks that the family history of migraine (Kenny, Jenny and me) and epilepsy (me, Jenny), and the uncontrolled electrical activity in addition to the fluid on her brain are causing these severe headaches. So tomorrow they begin the search for a better combination or different dosages of what she's currently on, plus the addition of some kind of pain medication for the headaches. They are bad - she presses her hands against her head so hard that her little fingertips turn white and she just cries and cries. It's heartbreaking. But now we know what we're up against and Kendra fights on.

The second call I made was to Caroline.....are you reading this, my dear? I left a message on your phone, but I figured by now you'd found something interesting to do or had checked into your hotel and are ready to call it a night. I am so sorry I missed you - I was looking forward to it all day long and planned to give you a call as soon as we got home from Billings. I just didn't expect to get home this cotton-picking late. I'll PM my number to you anyway. But if we can't seem to hook up, please drive safely heading for home, my friend.

Okay, caught up...I think. Deb, loved your story about your own personal "construction crew" and I'm loving looking at the porches. Um, does Deb's count as a porch? It's more like a spa!

Thanks for all the prayers and good wishes for Kendra. We accept them gratefully and humbly. I wish you all could hold her in your arms and look into those eyes - see one of her rare smiles - hear her giggle - and watch her as she learns to do things that most 10 month olds are doing already. She is a total inspiration, and I'm so proud to be her Gramma!

 

[Blooie]

Okay that was a cool story, and he's a character out of the movies, but that story has a cliffhanger! Now you have to tell the story about the buggy accident.

And the story about Mary Donna....

 

[Blooie]

I almost forgot to show you this picture I took this morning of Katie. Why can't I wake up like this? She's such a morning person - wakes up smiling and ready for the day. She's been sleeping in the living room while Jenny is in Denver. I walked past her this morning just after she woke up and she said, "G'morning, Gramma!" When I saw how she looked, and that smile, I grabbed my iPad and snapped this. She is the doggone cutest little booger, and that HAIR! Looks great on the pillow - not much fun to comb out every day. The back of it forms natural dreadlocks every night which have to be combed out every morning. UGH! But this was taken before she even got up -

 

[heartsizedfarm]

<<PLOP>>  Whew!  Could I trouble someone for a glass of something cold and sweet, and maybe a huge slice of banana bread slathered in real butter - not Oleo?  Wait - make that moonshine and the most fattening bag of chips on the market.  

Just got home about 10 minutes ago from Billings....planned on making a high speed run there, getting back here about 1:00, and calling Caroline (luvblues7) to meet up with them in Cody.  For starters I left my cell phone at home.  Really stoopid move considering that I've been waiting to hear from Jenny all day.  Then Tam could not, and I mean could NOT, find a pair of shoes that didn't kill her feet.  She has some serious foot issues so it's so hard to find shoes that work.  We hit about every shoe store in Billings - and never did find something that she could wear comfortably on the cruise.  Katie was hungry and getting owly, so we stopped about 3:00 to grab an early dinner.  

While we were walking from the car to Penney's after dinner, the wheel fell off my walker.  No warning, no wobbling - one minute it was rolling along and the next it was rolling away.  So when the walker came to an abrupt halt, I stumbled, fell forward and clobbered my head on some parked car's bumper.  Just great...Tam and I went in (sans walker) while Ken ran over to Lowe's and got some little doo-dad he needed to put the wheel back on.  It's a sign......I ain't supposed to take that doggone wheeled contraption on this cruise.

I made two calls the second I walked in the door.  I called Jenny first.  News there is pretty doggone good.  Kendra still has the same sized ventricles she had on her last MRI, and the amount of fluid in them hasn't changed.  And the Chiari Malformation is also the same size and in the same position that it has been as well.  So our Little Warrior doesn't need any surgery for either the malformation or shunts.  Yayyyy!!!!  

They think that what's happening is that her seizure activity has changed.  Whether it's because her Onfi and Keppra levels are too low or it's the wrong combination of seizure meds is the question.  We know from her EEGs that besides the obvious seizures we see she has many silent seizures that don't show up except on the EEG.  Her neurologist thinks that the family history of migraine (Kenny, Jenny and me) and epilepsy (me, Jenny), and the uncontrolled electrical activity in addition to the fluid on her brain are causing these severe headaches.  So tomorrow they begin the search for a better combination or different dosages of what she's currently on, plus the addition of some kind of pain medication for the headaches.  They are bad - she presses her hands against her head so hard that her little fingertips turn white and she just cries and cries.  It's heartbreaking.  But now we know what we're up against and Kendra fights on.

The second call I made was to Caroline.....are you reading this, my dear?  I left a message on your phone, but I figured by now you'd found something interesting to do or had checked into your hotel and are ready to call it a night.  I am so sorry I missed you - I was looking forward to it all day long and planned to give you a call as soon as we got home from Billings.  I just didn't expect to get home this cotton-picking late.  I'll PM my number to you anyway.  But if we can't seem to hook up, please drive safely heading for home, my friend.  

Okay, caught up...I think.  Deb, loved your story about your own personal "construction crew" and I'm loving looking at the porches.  Um, does Deb's count as a porch?  It's more like a spa!  

Thanks for all the prayers and good wishes for Kendra.  We accept them gratefully and humbly.  I wish you all could hold her in your arms and look into those eyes - see one of her rare smiles - hear her giggle - and watch her as she learns to do things that most 10 month olds are doing already.  She is a total inspiration, and I'm so proud to be her Gramma!  

Really happy to hear Kendra doesn't need surgery just now, did I get that right? and maybe meds change will manage the seizures. That's great news.

 

[heartsizedfarm]

I almost forgot to show you this picture I took this morning of Katie. Why can't I wake up like this? She's such a morning person - wakes up smiling and ready for the day. She's been sleeping in the living room while Jenny is in Denver. I walked past her this morning just after she woke up and she said, "G'morning, Gramma!" When I saw how she looked, and that smile, I grabbed my iPad and snapped this. She is the doggone cutest little booger, and that HAIR! Looks great on the pillow - not much fun to comb out every day. The back of it forms natural dreadlocks every night which have to be combed out every morning. UGH! But this was taken before she even got up -

She's a natural beauty. Hair to die for, a sweet very innocent smile, and wise, thoughtful eyes.

 

[Alice28]

I almost forgot to show you this picture I took this morning of Katie. Why can't I wake up like this? She's such a morning person - wakes up smiling and ready for the day. She's been sleeping in the living room while Jenny is in Denver. I walked past her this morning just after she woke up and she said, "G'morning, Gramma!" When I saw how she looked, and that smile, I grabbed my iPad and snapped this. She is the doggone cutest little booger, and that HAIR! Looks great on the pillow - not much fun to comb out every day. The back of it forms natural dreadlocks every night which have to be combed out every morning. UGH! But this was taken before she even got up -

Cute! My hair does the dread lock thing too! My husband told me people with dread locks wish they ha hair like you, it would be dreaded in a week. It's true. I brush it and go do stuff outside and it's a tangled mess! I have to wear it up all the time

 

[perchie.girl]

LOL... In order to tell the horse accident I Have to first tell the 5150 lady story.

Desert people are a different breed.... Often times come up for the beauty, or because land is inexpensive or for the isolation. You find Rock hounds writers and artists, as well as the free spirits and local crazys. I joked with my mom seeing a homeless person with his brown bag in hand He had expression of anticipation as he sat down on the curb to have his beer. I said to mom.... "Here in the city hes a bum up in the desert he would be a local."

Some people when they leave the city to move to the desert the whole block will hold a party because they have gone... The 5150 lady would have been one of those. 5150 is police code for a crazy person here in CA I dont know if its the same all over. She was the one who would call the police on her neighbors over and over and over again, Or Sue for something if she thought she could get money out of them.

She would stop you on the road and ask you what your business was to drive on HER road. Then she would make casual mention of the Shot gun she carries with her at all times. She professed to be a horse trainer and she did have about five horses. But like me she haddnt been on the back of any of her horses for a good ten years.

Of all that crazyness she did work. She was an insurance broker. Nasty mouthed sounding like a lawyer. Ever present was that Suspicious Litigeous nature. Believe me this was the light version.

Ok I buy this place and had heard of her and I vowed to either make friends with her or at least find some sort of common ground. So when she stopped me along the road to my house and wanted to know who I was I introduced myself. I told her I was bringing my horse up eventually (common ground) and I admired her Queensland Heelers (dogs also a common ground). I invite her up for some iced tea to get acquainted.

First thing she does was go through my house looking in all the rooms. No invitation. She goes to look in the laundry room and I say thats my laundry room... she said NO its NOT its a bedroom. OK fine I got her to exit. She did say that I was welcome to use her round pen if ever I needed it. I tried to explain why I wouldnt be doing that but she didnt listen to me.

Fast forward. I have my horse up there now in her new HUGE corral and a nice setup for driving. My neighbor Tom is an ex cowboy and an ex biker and an ex petshop owner... Not in that order of course but hes very good with livestock.

So I wanted to take him for a drive in my cart. Having help hitching is a blessing. Katee is a good girl as long as shes secure, having someone to stand and talk to her makes her secure.



Tom and I went for a drive around the block which is about a two mile loop. Pretty pretty country and lots fo good conversation. Tom is the consummate photographer so he took lots of pictures along the way including the one above. This was a drive that I had done myself at least twice before so I knew Katee would be a good girl. This was a new harness i had bought from a draft horse friend. More suitable for dirty dusty environments. It is made of Biothane. You can wash it with the hose They are great.

Anyway after the drive we came up to un hitch. Katee goes into the cross ties while I do this. Because shes a Wiggler... LOL. But I made some mistakes in un hitching. It was a hundred and five degrees that day and the ground was heating up. So I took some short cuts. Normally the harness goes on in an order. Then the cart gets hitched in a specific order...

First the traces are fastened to the cart... these allow the horse to pull the cart. Then the hold back straps which fasten the cart to the breeching... these allow the horse to stop the cart. Then finally the hold down straps or wrap straps depending on the harness get unfastened... Thes keep the shafts in one position along the side of the horse. Once those are done then you canlift the shafts and push the cart backwards out of the stirrups, or shaft loops.

I got just about all done on one side then went around the front of her to get to the other side to un hitch her there. I figured why not go a head and take the bridle off in the process. Shes been trained in an open bridle so she knows what the cart looks like.

I got the bridle off just as I was telling Tom this is something I shouldnt do.... I remember her knocking me down but that was it. I woke up on the ground and there was no horse. Tom was coming back from his house and telling me he had called 911. I aked him what happened. and looked around The cart was on the OTHERSIDE of two brush piles and from what I could see one shaft was broken. He said dont worry emergency services are coming... but ... "What happened Tom" "where is Katee" Sound travels far and I couldnt hear her.... "What happened Tom" he wouldnt tell me.

So I asked him again. He finally said Katee Broke the cross ties trampled you and stepped all over you then dragged the Cart over the top of you.... then she jumped the brush piles one at a time. The Cart broke free and she ran off into the desert.

He has a thing for police, and left. It was getting hot so I got up and walked for the hay pile and sat. Still too hot so I walked up to the horse trailer and sat on the fender... Nope not a good spot. So I walked the rest of the way to the house and sat on the front porch which was very cool its always in the shade .... Aaah.

The fire department got there and found me and was putting a neck collar on me in order to load me up on the heliocopter. Just then 5150 lady skids to a stop and starts chewing me out. "I told you you could use my round pen... Oh by the way your horse is safe in my corral... I told her we had already finished the drive and were unhitching the horse when the accident happened. She looked at me like I was the stupidest person in the world.... Then she realized she was in the way and skidded off.

Life flight landed their heliocopter on my "pad" it took four people to carry me on the stretcher over there. I dont do Helocopters well but I can deal with that. My main issue is I cannot lay on my back. My weight messes with my back but more importantly it also presses on my diaphragm and I cannot breathe... or it takes more work to breathe. I tried to explain this but the emt threatened to strap me down if I didnt quit moving. So I asked permission to hold on to the neck collar. By pulling on it I felt a sense of control and could relax enough to breathe well enough to make the trip.

When we got to the ER they took exrays and the ER doc came in and said "we have good news and bad news." The good news is its a mild concussion.... The bad news is we couldnt find a brain. LOL....

So i am in a dilemma. They released me Mom and Grandma came and picked me up at the hospital... I was told not to drive. Not for a couple of days. Problem is Home is 60 miles away and I had a horse to retrieve from the 5150 lady. So... I drove back home Thank goodness Grandma was still driving then and so was mom. though they had to steel themselves for the drive back neither liked freeways. But 8 is a forgiving one and a straight shot home.

I follwed Katees foot prints she had gone about a mile before she realized she was going away from hime. Bits and parts of harness were laying here and there along the road. I gathered the bits and threw them in the back seat of the truck. 5150 lady wouldnt allow me on her property so she took my halter and caught Katee and brought her back.

I tied the rope to one of the rings on the pick up truck and had my son sit in the back to talk to Katee as we went home.... Good news She seemed to enjoy the process and dealt with sharing the road with the truck quite well. I looked her over really well and she didnt have a scratch on her... YAY there is alot of barbed wire up in my neighborhood and it could have gone very badly. So everyone was oK my son went with the grandmas back home.

Tom came over and told me the whole story. How Katee had stepped all over me. I told tom I had NO footprints anywhere no scrapes either.... I would know if 2000 pounds had stepped on me... believe it. One thing I can say for my girl is she has cat like balance and coordination if she needs it.

OH and aside from a single strap breaking on the Cart there was NOTHING broken. That shaft that I thought was broken... was actually driven into the ground a good three feet. Got to love Hickory....

deb