Finally a sign for the farm

There has been a lot of hard times in my life, lots of changes. Mostly it has turned out good. It took awhile for me to settle into this farm because I loved the old one so much and I don't think I was over losing it.

This place is very different than the old farm, the house is very nice and there is 10 acres and a huge spring fed pond. The arena is nice and the stalls Abe build have all the things I liked from the old farm. Special stall mats and a skylight for each stall. It's quiet here and the land has lots of trees and is rich with life.

I wanted to have a feeling of completion and permanency so I had an artist make a sign with my favorite drawing to represent what I feel about the farm and animals living here. It turned out really nice.

Cody almost died this year, I took him to Ohio State and he made it through. It was a wake up call, all these years I have struggled to survive and haven't been able to spend time with him as much as I should have.

When Cody was really sick all I could say to him over and over again was I still need you. It is true, Cody was the beginning of horses and farms and living the life I have chosen. We lost pony before I moved here and that makes me sad and now there is Hugh. Bit and Aubrey are doing well.

My life has been enriched with geese and lots of feral barn cats and trying to stem the litters of kittens that come with them. All together, there have been nine cats fixed and several more to go provided I can trap them.

There are water turtles, snapping turtles, snakes in the water and on land and countless other creatures. We have lizards also. I see the beauty of life all around me everyday.

Kylie brought a kitten to the farm late one night that was very sick, now I have a house cat which I wasn't looking for. The parrots are still with me too and 3 dogs. The best of it is the love I am surrounded with and the humor provided mostly by the geese. 

Donkeys can be very serious

Two friends

Cooperative geese

Penny and her entourage are kept in the barn at night since the pond is frozen over to keep them safe. I let them out to roam if there is grass exposed but if the ground is covered with snow I only let them out in the barn during the day. If it is nice enough to let them roam I let them out in the morning and walk to the pond at the end of the day to escort them back to the barn.

Today it started snowing in the afternoon and for the first time they walked around the house down the driveway and into the barn on their own about the same time I would normally bring them in before sundown. 

Penny of course was leading them all the way. In the beginning of winter they didn't want to be in any shelter but with the brutal temperatures I insisted on them coming into and staying in the barn. I think they have learned to appreciate being in a stall with hay bedding and water and out of the wind.

I really have grown attached to Penny and the other geese, they give me great joy and amusement. 

Sweet faces

A Christmas Tradition

Three dogs and three toys but only one Golden Retriever. Every year I wrap dog toys and put them under the tree and the dogs will not touch them even though they can see and smell them and KNOW they are dog toys until I tell them it's okay to take them.

It is the same every year, Mica and Cooper know that Daniel my Golden will take all three toys and they let him. Daniel will be in dog toy heaven for days trying to carry all three in his mouth and playing favorites with each toy at different times.

Coming full circle

21 years ago I bought a horse and named him Cody and in the beginning I spent every day with him and we had a very special bond. Life happened and being a single parent I didn't have the time to spend with him and sometimes I felt very guilty.

I held on to him anyway and I have looked at this face looking in at me when I clean his stall for the better part of 20 years. Looking back at the rough times and even if I couldn't spend time with him that he was taken good care of, had his herd and was never in the hands of someone that would hurt him or be sold at an auction.

I have waited a long time to be able to be with him and feel the deep connection we once had and finally it isn't a dream or a hope any longer but a reality.

Since I haven't ridden in a long time I struggle with the saddle and the bridle and my riding seat but Cody is patient with me, he just quietly waits for me to get the tack right and tolerates my poor seat. Slowly it is all coming back including the memories, I was young and he was young and in the beginning we learned new things together and we had fun. I am old and he is old but now it is a calmer thing between us.

I know Cody loves me, I can feel it when he is near me and when he nuzzles me when I am letting him out of his stall. I know that when I take him out now to ride or exercise that he feels maybe as I do that it has been a long wait.

I searched for the right saddle for us for awhile and I found one that is light weight compared to our old saddle but just as comfortable. I rode in it tonight and felt deep in the saddle like I used to, the feeling I had forgotten about. When I exercised Cody first I didn't speak to him, he read my body language and knew what I wanted without words. I took time to listen to him in the way he moved and make him feel good.

We rode tonight, we rode a little like it used to be when it was just Cody and me and the quiet of the evening. I was so full of joy and Cody was just mellow and happy to have his hay afterwards. I wanted him to know how happy he had made me, I hugged him and he ate. I walked from the barn to the house, tears in my eyes because I felt I had found something precious that was lost for a long time. There are tears in my eyes now from the love and joy that I feel.

I don't know how many years Cody and I will have left together, I only know that time is precious and we must enjoy every moment together. We are older but there is that glimmer of the past peaking through when I was young and determined and Cody was young and unsure. There is a warm ember of that special bond still glowing and with a little coaxing it will burn again brightly.