Thistleblooms Rambles

[thistlebloom]

One thought on the guest house is three times the size of our current home just think of the cleaningi want a larger house but seriously thats massive. It's like 600+sq foot per person in this house hold thats like your own one bedroom apartment size thats just huge!!!
It's beautiful you do good work. I would be afraid my kids would ruin all that work they love to pick flowers and dig holes.

Yeah, the yard is not really designed to be a kid friendly hangout. The guest house is really only used 2 weeks a year and the grandkids are all in college now. Past the hole digging, playing in the dirt stage, if they ever had one.
It's like viewing life on a different planet, interesting, but not personally appealing.
But I am grateful for the work and the type of work it provides. I feel hugely blessed to be able to work outside, be solitary, and not be micromanaged on every decision. I certainly don't expect everyone to be like me, or want to live my lifestyle.

 

[B&B Happy goats]

Hey T bloom, I was at my neighbors today and saw my first thistle bloom, I never realised how beautiful they are, what a awesome piece of eye candy !

 

[Bruce]

You have thistles blooming NOW??? They don't bloom here until almost fall.

Pretty sad to have a house that size sitting idle and slowly degrading, used only 2 weeks a year.

 

[thistlebloom]

Hey T bloom, I was at my neighbors today and saw my first thistle bloom, I never realised how beautiful they are, what a awesome piece of eye candy !

Why thank you!

You have thistles blooming NOW??? They don't bloom here until almost fall.

Pretty sad to have a house that size sitting idle and slowly degrading, used only 2 weeks a year.

Degrading? Are you kidding? The maintenance on both houses and properties boosts the local economy greatly!

 

[Bruce]

They have people go into the "guest house" regularly to keep it up?

 

[thistlebloom]

They have people go into the "guest house" regularly to keep it up?

Oh Bruce! I can tell you've never been endowed with more money than you could ever possibly spend! 😂 That's actually refreshing...
Yes, the house gets cleaned regularly, polishing the polish you know. Not as often as the main house, but many housekeepers (is that politically correct, or are they called something else now?) will not be employed at snowbirds homes unless they are also employed at least part time through the winter.
The property manager has all the systems checked regularly, and everything is maintained in such a manner that it could be lived in at a moments notice.

 

[Bruce]

Housekeepers = domestic engineers?

Um, no I don't suppose I'll ever have more money than I could spend. Unless of course I win one of those sweepstakes or lotteries I never entered and send a few thousand dollars to cover lawyers fees

 

[CrazyAboutAnimals]

Miss @thistlebloom,

Were you, Miss @WildBird (and one other whose name I can't recall), impacted by the earthquake in Idaho yesterday?

Senile Texas Aggie

I was. It was crazy!

 

[Senile_Texas_Aggie]

I was. It was crazy!

Miss @CrazyAboutAnimals,

I hope things turned out OK. Sorry that I couldn't remember your name. I just remember you posted on a thread that was something about Idaho, but I never located the thread. Thanks for posting, and thanks to Miss @thistlebloom for remembering your name.

Senile Texas Aggie

 

[thistlebloom]

Yesterday was a great day! Woke up to a clear sky, and below freezing, but that promise of a rare sunny day more than made up for it.
Got everybody fed, had my 3 cups of coffee 🤪, then my husband and I took the bikes over to the state park for a little trail riding. Nothing like a little heavy breathing to start the day, lol.

When we got back I hauled Syringa out of her corral and we took her for a trot behind the truck. She was a mud clod, but I put my hood up so nobody would recognize me 😉. Then everybody got a deep clean kind of grooming, and I turned old Luke loose to roam the property and find what little sprouts there are out there to nibble.

Syringa got saddled, and she was perfectly calm about it which is great progress. She sometimes gets nervous and wants to move her feet around. I don't tie her for the saddling, just hold her line and turn her in a small circle if she needs to move, until she settles again. We did some ground work review then I took her in the round pen for the very first mount from the ground she has ever had. Correction, I have stood up in the stirrup and leaned my weight over her back, but not thrown a leg over for a full mount.
I have also sat on her from the fence bareback a bunch and with Lukes English saddle (because Syringas wasn't finished yet). It's all in the prep. I don't want any surprises.
It was exciting to be on her, but also a little anticlimactic, which is what I was hoping for.

Checking her softness to lateral flexion from the ground.

She flexed laterally both directions nicely, and moved a her feet a few steps. I was prepared to do more, and ask her to move forward, but my neighbor had just ridden her horse out to work in the field across the road and Syringa was a little distracted, so I stopped there and dismounted. I didn't want an audience (I'm so shy) and I was happy with what she had done. No need to mess up the success and have to do more to undo any backsliding.

I took her for a little walk down the road (on foot) then put her away and started cleaning pens.
The sun came back out after hiding behind clouds and it seemed like a nice time to sit on a muck tub and hang out. Angus the barn cat curled up in my lap, Larka the big dog sat on my feet and leaned against my knees, and Syringa stood over us, licking the dog and cat and resting her head against my leg with her eyes half closed. It was perfect bliss and contentment. We were all in a little bit of a sun stupor.

This is Syringa the day I first saw her at the BLM adoption event. # 4223. She was in the last chancers pen. I got home and told my husband about her and he told me I had to track her down. I love that man!

And yesterday, 21 months later after a very happy day.