Where do the horses go........at night?

If you have a traditional barn that question is probably very easy to answer.....they go into their stalls. But my horses live a more natural life they have a 3 sided run in shed and about 3 acres of fenced paddocks to roam. But from sunrise to sunset whenever I look out the window, day after day, there they stand.... always in the same place, in front of the run-in eating, sunning, and sleeping. Even after dark, when I flip on the spot lights to check on them they often blink their eyes sleepily from the protection of their run in shed. But take a walk in my pastures and the hoofprints in the snow tell a completely different story. Under cover of darkness my horses are explorers, they patrol their fence line down in the woods and weave their way in and around the thick pines. Even after a snowfall, with depths over a foot, their tracks are evident in the fresh snow. Sometimes they find a fallen tree, perhaps this is the reward for the effort, the opportunity to strip bark off a fallen hardwood, maybe they just like taking themselves for a walk. Whatever the reason I realize now I need to check that fence-line as often as they do !

The Downside of the Home Office

I cleaned my stove yesterday.....and while I can hear husbands and maybe a few women saying "so... what's so bad about that?" Trust me it was not a good use of my work day. But, that is the challenge of working at home, when the task at hand gets a bit tedious you can easily slip into avoidance mode by noticing the stovetop needs cleaning! I think part of the problem is self disapline but the other part is that most of us never see our home interiors during the daylight hours, there is nothing like brilliant sunshine streaming in to show up the dust in your house. After 4 or 5 hours of editing on the computer even vaccuming starts to look like an attractive diversion.... SO... what is the answer to this problem, hire a houskeeper? get more focused? Personally..... I just put on my sunglasses.......

And the winner is..........

Marty! Yes the new top cat at the Mount Washington Observatory to be voted in clearly pounced on the field and ran away with the election. Personally I feel it was Marty's smug confident demeanor that swayed the voters. Sadly, my choice, Sarah, fell to a third place finish, but we all know how it works when you are a female, you have to catch twice as many mice in order to be thought of as half as good as the guys! Oh and Marty may be looking pretty smug right now but just wait until he finds out he is now an indoor and outdoor cat in a place famous for the worst weather ! Can you say MEOOOWW ?! Good Luck Marty !

Voting day the NH Primary

I don't live in NH but today I will take place in the democratic process to elect an individual to one of the highest positions in the state of NH. Yes ... it's true.... today I will cast my vote for Top Cat at the Mount Washington Observatory. While all the candidates profess to be PURRRRFECT, their politics clearly indicate all three have played games of cat and mouse. After carefully reading their resume's I am going to cast my vote for Sarah, she is the only female in the race, I like her spunk and her wide eyed direct approach. You go girl!!!! visit www.mountwashington.org/events/topcat/vote.php to cast your vote!!

Ahh January

Well here it is the new year has arrived. I love this time of year, 7 storms arrived during December and all my little pastures are sleeping under a foot or more of snow. The horses have yarded up in front of their run in shed and spend their days munching hay for warmth and sunbathing in the protection of the shelter. My favorite midday breaks are spent brushing them, this time of year the snow keeps them clean and the dreaded shedding season is still a few months away. What is my New Years resolution ? Okay I'll try to blog more often, ..oh yeah and loose 5 lbs. Happy 2008