Linda in action in game against Kennebunk

Linda warming up with a foul shot, nice follow through

Well, its been an interesting couple of days. Last night when I went out to the barn to feed the horses, I was later than usual around 10:30 instead of my 8:30 or 9 feed time. When I got there I couldnt see one of the minis boarding here. I looked in his stall and my heart went up to my throat, I thot he was dead, but he was just stuck up against the wall. He must have rolled over and got his legs stuck up on the door and his front legs in under his feeder. Got him out and up and walked him up and down the aisle for about 10 trips . He seemed fine and started to eat and went pee and poop so i figured his organs were working okay. I called his owners this morning and let them know what happened.
Tonight the 4 of us went to see Marley and Me, --tear jerker!!!! I could hear a lot of sniffling from other people. We came home and went to barn to feed horses and Ginger was laying flat out in her stall which is very rare! I walked in and she didnt even get up, I finally got her up and she did a few circles and laid back down again. Signs of colic were showing!!! She was looking at her belly and kicking at it a little bit. When I went to put her halter on she didnt even want to get up. Finally got her up and started walking her outside for about 10 minutes stopped and she tried to lay down again. Got her walking again and called the vet, I must have done about 5 trips up and down the driveway by the time I was done she seemed better. The vet showed up and did a physical check on her, her heart rate was good and she had good gut sounds which she didnt have when i first found her. So right now she seems okay, hopefully it will stay that way. With the change of weather going from snowstorms to 50 degree days I'm sure it messes them up. Okay, time for some sleep, we are all going out to breakfast in morning.

Wild Thing and Bailey taking a break from the Christmas excitement

Linda happy to find money wrapped around her drumsticks, Jung In and Linda, Jung In happy to have found phone that was misplaced, happy with Spongebob

Horse that Linda made for me, slippers from So. Korea from Jung Ins mother, pen from China from Lindas parents

My friend Ana and her mom, Chritstmas breakfast at Anas house

The pictures below are the finished tree, Jung In and Linda proud of their work, Linda holding the American flag which we decided to use as a topper for the tree, Jung In and Linda trying to figure out how to finish putting together the plastic tree. They did a good job and did a lot of laughing. All the branches are color coded on the ends that go into the tree so it took some time to sort them out and then figure out where they go.
The weather today is not that good, it is a light drizzle of sleet/rain/snow mix. Just enough to make the driveway slippery on top of the snow. The girls slept in today until after 9:30am. Oh to be young again!!!
Have to go clean stalls and then find something for us for lunch. Merry Christmas!
Tonight we are going to our church Christmas eve service.

Linda and Jung In playing catch with a big chunk of snow

On Monday, Linda had basketball practice and then went to a Christmas party at one of her teammates. After I got done cleaning stalls and bringing horses in, I came up to the house and found everyone else "resting". On Sunday evening I got my truck stuck in the driveway, had to shovel and Fred had to pull me out with the tractor. It aggravated my back even more by shoveling so I took Mon and tues off to go along with my vacation time for Christmas. I went to the doctors on Tues at 1 and he gave me a prescription for some stronger pain pills and set me up for some physical therapy to see if it will help my back and ankle/foot. If that doesnt work i will have to go for xrays to get things checked out more. Yeehaw! Its tough getting old.

Time to take a nap

I made it home before the snow started thankfully. Jung In sleeping on the couch, Linda still sleeping, I collapsed in the recliner. Put the horses out in the snow around 10:30, Linda and I cleaned stalls, Fred cleared driveway with tractor. Jung In woke up at 12:30, she was very tired from her trip. We now have over a foot of snow in driveway, I told Fred he will have to get up early and clean driveway, cause I have to be at work by 7, which means i need to leave here by 6:15am. I dont imagine there will be any school tomorrow for Linda. The girls are going to put up our artificial tree tomorrow. It was funny tonight, I asked them both to peel potatoes for supper to go with our haddock and veggies. They said okay, so while Fred and I brought the horses in and cleaned the snow off of them they peeled potatoes. Back in the house I see a pan of potatoes on the stove with no water and no fire underneath it. I asked the girls how they expected the potatoes to cook? they started laughing and said oh we didnt realize you wanted us to cook them. Oh well, we had a good meal together. I was very grateful to sit down with 2 special young ladies that will always have a special place in my heart. I enjoyed listening to them talk and laugh. It has been a good evening!!

Yahoo! Jung In finally made it to Maine at 3 this afternoon. Fred, Linda and I went to breakfast after I got home from work and fed horses. We then went to Rochester to Walmart. Jung In called and said her 9 am flight was changed to 12:45. We hoped it wouldn't be changed again. She should have arrived at 2:20 but got there at 3. Her luggage didnt make it with her, hopefully that will show up tomorrow, the airlines is supposed to deliver it. Linda actually had a game at 4 so I called her coach who lives in town and asked her to pick Linda up for game. She was willing to do that. By the time we waited in line to find out about the missing luggage and then drove home her game was over. We picked her up and we all went out to supper at Strafford Farms restaurant. Came home and got wood stove going, took a quick cat nap of about 20 minutes, got ready for work, went to barn and fed horses and now I am at work. It is going to be a very long night......sleep??? what is that???!!!

it is now 2:15 am and my eyes are getting very tired, time for some Mt. Dew to perk me up. Still snowing!!!!! we must have at least 5 inches by now.

Well, I worked 5 am to 1 pm today, came home just in time for it to start snowing. Lindas game was cancelled today due to the coming storm. Jung In, our exchange student from last year was supposed to arrive at 6:30 tonight in Portland. Due to the bad weather in Newark, NJ she is stranded there at the airport until tomorrow morning. She is supposed to fly out at 9 am and arrive in Portland at 10:40 am. I am hoping that they wont cancel that one. I am working tonight in the office as backup supervisor from 10 pm -6 am, so needless to say I didnt get much sleep this evening before coming in to work. Fred and Linda "played" in the wood shop tonight while i was trying to rest. So, I will get home around 6:45 in the morning and Fred, Linda and I are going to go to breakfast then to portland to hopefully pickup Jung In. I will try to get some sleep in the afternoon because I have to come back into work again at 10pm. Then I have to work Monday and Tuesday 7-3 both days and then I am off for 8 whole days!!!!! YAHOO! Get to spend some time with the girls and have fun. MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

Freds had a hard day doing???? sun trying to come out after the storm

some pics of trees covered in ice in our yard

Wow, I thought I would always like to live like the pioneers but after the last 2 days I have changed my mind!!! Late Thursday night we lost our power and phone due to ice storm. We just got our power back around 8 pm tonight- Saturday.
I worked 6-2 today, took Linda to South Station in Boston by bus, she met the husband of the lady organizing the trip to NY, I took the bus back home. She is excited about seeing NY. I will go and meet her again at South Station on tuesday morning. Hopefully the weather will be good for them to see everything.
I will try to post some pictures of the ice trees tomorrow. It is still too cold by the computer to sit here for long. Gotta go crank up the wood stove.

Nobles girls 1st team played Marshwood tonight, they lost badly but they had fun. Linda "almost" got a basket, it rolled on the rim and then back down to the floor, not thru the net. She got to play quite a bit and had fun. The girl to the right of Linda in the middle picture is also from Germany. We went to Subway for supper and then grocery shopping, then got fuel for my truck. She is studying her Spanish now and I have to go feed the horses and then off to bed. I have to be at work at 7am so need to get my "beauty" sleep. :)

Lindas first basketball game against Marshwood

I've always said I would never complain about the cold because I dont like the summer heat, but today was bit chilly. 10 degrees without counting the wind chill factor. It was a little cold out there while trying to dump and clean the horses water tub in the pasture. Got it done tho, good clean water for them for a week or so. They were at the gate waiting to come in tonight, I think they were glad to get out of the cold wind. We have the wood stove cranking tonight. I love wood heat. Linda has her first game against Marshwood tomorrow, I think she is a little nervous about playing. I dont think she is quite sure on all the plays or where she should be on the court at certain times. Thats the whole part of playing and learning as you go. I'm sure she will be fine once she gets warmed up on the court.

Scenes from the Christmas party, group shot, students were from Japan, Mongolia, Italy, Mexico, Germany, the pretty Christmas tree. Lots of different food and good gifts.

Sunday, first "snowstorm" of the season, we may end up with an inch or two. Linda and I are going to a CHI Christmas party from 1-5 today. They are doing a Yankee swap, it will be interesting to see what people bring. Ok, gotta go get ready for church.

A Moose puzzle that Linda made in woodshop.

Fred at Bob's watching the kids do a scavenger hunt

Linda and Fred used the apple peeler/corer to do the apples for the pie, I mixed the sugar and spices and put the crust on top. Linda helped me make the stuffing for the turkey. She thought the turkey tasted good when we got to eat it.

Apple Pie and turkey for Turkey day

Linda had fun at her drum lesson. Although I am still cooking a turkey we are going to our friends Bob and Anne's for dinner. It is a nice day here, would be nice to go for a trail ride but there will be too many hunters out on this day especially. Gotta go make stuffing and some pies. Gobble Gobble!

Linda got her basketball uniform tonight, she got the shirt with 20 on it so she was glad. It was the same number she had for soccer. Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Pouring rain, high winds makes for a very nasty day at work especially since I was floating and had to walk in the rain quite a bit. Linda and Fred played in the wood shop some more and cleaned stalls for me. Came home from work and took Linda to basketball practice, gotta go pick her up now. They get their uniforms tonight, she is excited.

Went to the mall today to shop for a winter coat for Linda. Our winters are colder and more snowy than where she lives in Germany. Being the picky shopper she is, we were unable to find one that she liked. We did however find her some pants that she liked and were actually the right length for her 5'2" . She and Fred did lunch at Subway, I did lunch at McD's. Yum, chocolate shake with cheeseburgers. I actually found a pair of corduruoy(sp?) pants that fit and were stretchy. Yee haw! Came home made sloppy joes for supper, cleaned stalls, brought the horses in and fed them, now going to take Linda to basketball practice. While she is practicing i will probably rush to grocery store to get stuff for Thanksgiving day. Turkey-- gobble, gobble! She has no school this week due to teachers workshops and T-day vacation. She will probably work in the woodshop with Fred tomorrow. We are supposed to get nasty weather tonight such as blustery winds with rain or snow/sleet mix. Have to be at work at 7:30 am , hopefully by then the roads will be okay.

Linda #24 has made the first team for the basketball team, she is excited about playing. Sorry about the picture not being too clear.. no flash

Bud chilling in the sun, Ginger checking out the new arrivals, Lacey and Nibbles ( miniature horses) the new arrivals

Ginger putting smiles on little girls faces

I love this tree, how did it not fall into the river? It is so eroded away under the roots it should have fallen the opposite way. This tree is out on the edge of the path that is going to be part of our trail for riding horses or walking. It is so pretty out there. We put a deer feed block out there hoping to draw some deer to it. Last week when Fred and I were walking out there, we did see a deer across the river walking thru the woods. Fred never knew I took the picture of him in the woods, I was walking up the hill and just kind of snapped the camera hoping I would get him. Usually if he sees me trying to take a picture of him he ruins it by covering his face.

If a tree falls in the woods, will Fred hear it?