Snowblower Test Run

I got the "opportunity" today to try out my little Toro snowblower. About 3 inches of heavy, wet snow fell onto a rainy, slushy, ice base that was the result of the rain that had fallen all yesterday afternoon.

The mess gave my poor, little snowblower quite a workout. It also gave me quite a workout as trying to push the snowblower back towards the house on the icy, uphill driveway, where my feet kept sliding backwards, was a bit of a challenge. I should have thought to put on my spikes.

I also made some tactical errors as far as the pattern I followed while blowing and I re-snowed some areas and had to re-blow them. I also cut my hand on something, not sure what or when. Funny how that happens.

But otherwise... Well, I'll just call it a learning experience. Ms. Mini Toro actually did pretty well as I saw my neighbor with his big-ass snowblower having to stop and clear it several times. Sorry, I'm gloating a bit.

Java enjoyed shoving her face into the snow.

She then found her red ball and tore around the yard.

I did a bit of a photo study of the effects of the snow on the trees.

And on my brick retaining wall.

All of this was followed up with a comforting hot bowl of soup made out of leftover turkey, a can of diced tomatoes, onion, and cumin, garlic, and pepper. It was plenty good as is but I topped it off with a dollop of yogurt and some tortilla chips.

Next I'll be crawling under my down comforter -- after I do some more writing of course. This was just a warmup...

A Mishmash of Stuff

Saturday, I gathered with friends to make jewelry. It was my friend Sue's idea to invite people to her house, set up trays full of beads and other odds and ends from her collection for people to use, plus people brought their own stash to play with. This is my stash.

You'd think perhaps the things I brought meant that I have made jewelry before, but you would be mistaken. The beads and odds and ends were give to my son by a friend of mine. Only the polished rocks are mine.

The agates were mainly found at my two previous houses when I spent countless hours searching through the patches of river rock used for landscaping. A few agates were found up near Duluth. I have a rock polisher, which I used to polish a few of the agates in my collection.

Anyway, it had been my intention to find out how to wire wrap the agates from some of the more experienced jewelry makers. Instead, some letters Sue had put out caught my eye. I made the necklace below to inspire me to write more. It should have had an exclamation mark so it was more of an order. And perhaps a clock to remind not to waste time on less important stuff.

I could have made another necklace with all the time I had, but I was having fun looking at what other people were making, visiting with friends, eating M & M's, and picking up some ideas for what I might try and make next time we get together.

By the way, I have to put in a plug for Sue's post about her sculpture of Trina. I am so fascinated by the process Sue goes through to make the things that she makes. I've learned that getting things to rust in various patterns and colors is like a major science project, with lots of experimentation along the way. Even if things don't turn out the way they were envisioned, the results are always interesting and often a delightful surprise. Could be a statement about life, don't you think?

I already have my Christmas tree up. It's actually a fake tree that the previous home owners left behind. I suppose when you are moving to a condo, a 9 foot Christmas tree is one of the things to go.

Shy thinks she's in the forest.

I did a few lights over the garage and a little Charlie Brown Christmas tree on the front steps. You can kind of see the inside tree through the window above the front door.

The outdoor decorations are kind of lame but hopefully, this year, I will get to be one of those insane people that runs out to the after Christmas sales and picks up more lights and doo dads. However, I promise not to become one of those people with an assortment of Santa, elfs, reindeer, snowmen, and other glowing plastic statues in my front yard.

On my walk on Saturday, there were tons of ice chunks floating down the Mississippi River, making all sorts of whooshing, grating noises. It was so cool! But of course I didn't have my camera. There is still ice along the banks though.

Today, it got into the 40s and no ice bergs. Global warming strikes again. The heat wave is directly related to the fact that I put a winter blanket on Luke on Saturday. Poor guy probably sweated off 50 pounds today. But the cold is returning the rest of the week. Snow is promised too. Fingers crossed for a good snow base.

I made a turkey today since I miss having leftovers when I go to someone else's house for Thanksgiving dinner. It turned out pretty tasty and now I can make sandwiches and soup. Yeh!

I forgot to take a photo before hacking into the turkey. Oh, yeah, and I could have taken the shot from a better angle. The point is, I do cook sometimes.

This was the sunrise this morning. It was prettier live and in person than it looks in the photo.

And this was the sunset. The sky was on fire!

And this is Maery publishing her post and moving on to work on her book. Couldn't think of a way to capture that in a photo. Just picture me sitting hunched over my computer, a cup of hot chocolate sitting in front of me in my "I miss you" mug from my sister, sweat dripping from my brow, and head buried in hands. Oh, yeah and the wind is howling outside.

Perfect.

Dog Training Telepathy

This is how my window looked this morning. Good grief! Not another problem!

Oh, well, what's a little condensation (yeah, that's dripping water, not ice). And I'm not going to even mention the broken door knob on the door out to the backyard.

On to a more pleasant topic.

Java and I started a Dog Obedience II class last week. Never mind that we haven't had Dog Obedience I, although we did do a community ed. puppy class. I figured that Java has the basics and what she really needs is some tweeking and some work with listening when there are distractions -- like other dogs.

I was expecting the usual -- big room, dogs and people lined up, we do a lot of heeling around the room, etc. Instead, there were about 6 dog and people sets gathered in a small room and we pretty much never moved from our appointed piece of floor.

Instead, we started out by just working on timing. Without looking for any particular behavior from our dog, we simply used our clicker and gave our dog a treat. The important thing was to not have our hand in the bag with the treats, which is distracting, but simply have our hands by our sides or clasped in front of us, to click, then reach for our treat and give it to our dog.

Once the instructor, Linda, saw that our timing was pretty good (she said even professionals do not get the timing right 100% of the time), she had us wait for our dogs to look us in the face, then click, then treat. And once we had that timing down, she had us back up holding the leash, and while the dog followed our motion, we were to click and treat. It was important to click while the dog was actively moving with us and not move, stop, click, then treat. Otherwise the dog would think stopping was what he was being rewarded for.

We spent the entire lesson on timing and understanding the principles of dog behavior and training. It was really quite interesting. I've always had a hard time using a clicker in other dog classes I've taken and had given up on using one. But the way Linda explained it, broke it down, and had us practice it a piece at a time, really helped.

Our assignment in between classes is to choose a behavior, such as the dog lying down, click when the dog exhibits the chosen behavior and give the dog a treat. We were told to select whatever trick we wanted but only work on one behavior per day. The hardest part is that we are not to tell the dog what we want her to do but simply wait for the behavior, click, and reward. The reason for doing this is to get our dogs to focus on us, to problem solve what it is they can do to earn a reward, and to learn that the click means they got it right and will get a treat.

This idea of not using a command was confusing at first and is hard to stick to when I see Java looking to me to give her some kind of hint.

Is this it?

Yeh! I got it! If that worked, this should get me two treats!

No? Well, maybe that was a bit much. How about a bit more subtle?

Yes, I do see how it makes Java focus on me and gets her to problem solve. Once she does whatever I was waiting for, she quickly (or sort of quickly) understands and repeats the behavior over and over.

This technique is also a good way to teach a trick, such as bowing, yawning, or even sneezing. Every time your dog exhibits one of these natural behaviors, such as the dog stretching with it's paws out and head down, you can click and reward and turn it into a trick. You can use a command like "Who's the queen?" and have your dog bow down in front of you. I'm going to start working on that one first chance I get.

After a hard day of dog training, I went out and found a pair of winter riding boots. Aren't they sexy?

They are awfully stiff and I discovered they make annoying squeeky noises while I ride, but they work.

I am a bit perplexed about why boot manufacturers make these things to fit the calves of a 12-year-old boy. Hello!!! They are "winter" boots, ya know -- long underwear, fleece-lined breeches, and a pair of wool socks have to fit into them! A video of how I pushed on the flesh of my calves to compress them into the boots would probably win a prize on funniest home videos but I couldn't stand the humiliation...

Since I bought the boots a size bigger than my normal shoes, I think I can fit foot warmers into the toe.

I also bought these riding mittens as my fingers get so cold in gloves. Talk to the hand, man...

I tried the mittens out (along with the boots) on Tuesday and they worked pretty well. I think there is even room for hand warmers. (Luke worked pretty well too. We are becoming quite the team).

So bring it on winter! I'm set! Well, except I don't have my Under Armour yet. I can't believe that a pair of thermo underwear can cost $50 to $70! But I did try on the Base 3 and boy, are they comfortable! I decided to see if I could find them cheaper on line. It appears not.

Santa?

City Deer and Luke Rocks!

Sunday we got hit with a lovely, glistening coating of ice. A friend and I still decided to go out for breakfast. The slide out the driveway was bad enough. Then there was the treachorous walk from the car to the restaurant. (Note to self, tennis shoes are not the best thing to wear on ice...)

The real fun though was getting back up the driveway. We got almoooost there before I heard "oh, oh" and we slid backwards, then sideways, back into the street. I now know my driveway is wide enough for a mid-size car to slide sideways all the way down.

After parking on the street, we kind of crawled up the lawn, across the landscaping rock, clung to anything grabbable on the house and managed to get in through the front door. Sheesh!

I was hoping to get to a store to try on some winter riding boots and look for Under Armour, which I hear is the end-all best for being non-lumpy, bulky under breeches and sure to keep you toasty. Well, as toasty as you can be outside in the cold. But going out again seemed a little nuts.

So I watched the goings on of the backyard, city deer. I thought it was kind of strange, this one doe and buck hanging out together, but maybe they are the only deer in the neighborhood.

I've seen the buck before in the backyard, before the fence was put in. He can still jump the fence and go through the yard, which he did, but the doe doesn't appear to be willing to do the same.

They appear to be eating the buckthorn behind the fence so I actually wish they would come on in and do some clearing in my yard.

I swear she is going to be the death of him as she keeps heading to the front yards, by the street. He frantically keeps watch and I can just hear him thinking, "For cryin' out loud (said with a Minnesota accent), where is she going now?! Woman! Get back here!" before he takes off after her.

I hope they stay safe because they make me feel a little less cityfied and happy watching them.

Saturday, I rode in a clinic that started at 9 AM and lasted until 3 PM. Given that the high temperature was about 20 degrees, watching was a mite cold, but my insulated Carhartt overhauls over my winter breeches, not to mention my wool thermotop, turtleneck, sweater and down jacket. made it bearable.

I rode at noon and had hoped to get a video of my ride, but people were busy setting up for lunch and it was so cold that I didn't really think there would be anything good to video anyway. I only managed a few photos of the other riders before my camera seemed to lock up from the cold.

Well, given the occasional "Wow" that I was hearing, Luke must have an awesome trot, and I'd like to see it someday. I know that it feels amazing -- more lift than I even felt with the two warmbloods I've owned.

Somehow that uphill Tennessee Walker part of him has put the magic into those legs. The instructor believes he could someday do passage and piaff. The bad news is that the canter is always going to be tough for him.

But the instructor gave me some things to do that should help. She had me bend his neck to the inside for a brief moment (not extreme, just until I see his eyelashes) to unlock his neck and back (which tend to be stiff), then stroke his neck when he relaxed and lowered his head. She had me aim for 2% more trot to engage his hindquarters more, without speeding up or losing my rhythm, which gave me even more lift. Doing those two things helped raise his back, which he doesn't do easily or often.

She said if I can think about just getting the best walk and best trot possible, where his head is lower, his neck and back are unlocked, he has more swing through the hindquarters, and his back comes up, that these things combined will help him with his canter. She said his canter was not as bad as I thought and he picked it up nicely.

Needless to say, I was pretty excited by her comments and the compliments I got from the other riders.

I'm not really thinking of being some big, dressage rider, but I'd like to see just what Luke is capable of. He has been full of surprises so far. Okay, so he doesn't look like super horse in the photo below but at least he's well dressed...

Well, this is long enough. I'll save my explanation of what I learned in my first Dog Obedience II class for next time.

New Worlds

Each friend represents a world in us, a world possibly not born until they arrive, and it is only by this meeting that a new world is born. -- Anais Nin

This has been the year of friendship. My friend Sue has been feeling it too.

I have friends to go trail riding with, friends who are writers, friends who are bloggers, friends who are artists, friends who love chocolate, friends who let me rant and rave and wave my arms around in a story telling frenzy, friends who trust me enough to open up and tell me their stories, friends who let me practice my entertaining skills (or lack of them) out on them, friends who share a love for adventure and trying new things -- my friends are a mix of this and more, but what they all share is that they are a joy to be around.

They have helped me retrieve pieces of myself that I thought were lost for good and they have helped me discover pieces of myself that I didn't even know existed.

It's almost Thanksgiving and I am definitely feeling thankful.

Tail of Shy

Ah, yes, I admit it, this is what I do in my spare time.  Sad isn't it...

Snow!

We had our first snow storm of the season on Saturday. Java appeared to be oblivious, shoving her nose into the snow and trying to find familiar smells.

She managed to find her bone and settled down for a chew break.

I went to meet up with the Midwest Skijoring group but once again, I was busy and distracted when I read the e-mail about the meet up. I assumed I already knew much of the content, like where we were meeting, and I didn't have time to get into details. Well, they did not meet at the usual place, as I assumed they would.

Ah well, it turned out no one but the leaders showed up to the correct spot so I didn't miss out on much. With the help of a friend, Java and I worked on line out and "hiking."

On foot, the being pulled is not as much fun as when you are on skis. I had to run. I am not a runner.

Anyway, Java was a very enthusiastic puller and my fears that working on heeling so much would deter Java from pulling were totally unfounded.

The snowfall motivated me to get moving on finding a snow blower. I know this looks like a baby snow blower but I was ensured that it would "do the job, no problem".  Let us hope so.

The snow was pretty, but highs above freezing should make it quickly disappear.

After the snow adventures of Saturday, on Sunday I went out to ride Luke. I wish I would have taken photos of Luke in his new, red, waterproof sheet. He looked hot. But the sheet will probably be covered with mud next time I get out to see him.

I need to get out to the stable and ride at least one more time this week as I am riding in a clinic next Saturday. A friend says she will video tape my lesson, so I may have future footage to share, if I don't completely suck.

I've never taken a lesson on Luke with this instructor. The last time I took from her, I was riding a Trakehner, am impressive warmblood who knew dressage -- quite the difference from my Tennessee Walker and Quarter Horse mix. Way different goals and issues.

It should be interesting, maybe as interesting as when I had the dejavu experience of having heavy, wet snow slide off the indoor arena roof during today's ride.

Yee! Haw!

Imagination... It's a Good Thing. Isn't It?

It was one of those days...

A high predicted of 63 degrees. The weather has been amazing! But like all good things, it does have to come to an end, and it sounds like it ends tonight. Predictions for highs are going something like this for the next week: 48, 43, 40, 36, 30, 24... well, you get the picture.

It was a pinky-purplish sunrise this morning. I barely get to see it, much less photograph it as the neighbor's house is in the way (darn pesky neighbors).

I thought this tree made a cool outline against the sky.

This was kind of interesting. It's like the last photo I took got superimposed onto the picture I was taking. Actually that's two old photos superimposed onto the latest photo. How does that happen? Especially when I clear my cameras memory every time I download from my camera. A mystery... 

Anyway, the outdoors was on my mind all day at work. When nice days are rare, you should be able to take the day off and make the day up on the weekend, when the temps are supposed to be unpleasant. Although, soon enough, 40s will be perceived as tropical for us.

I was trying to write a procedure for someone at work today. It was really an editing and layout job more than a writing job, but there was a lot of editing and re-layout to be done. Very tedious and brainless work.

When I have this kind of document to do, my mind wanders. I write a few steps:

1. Select Sort from the menu.
2. Select your parameters.
3. Select ascending or descending order.
4. Click OK.

Okay, I need a break now. So I open up Notepad and jot down all the stuff that was running through my head while I was writing steps 1 to 4 and adding screen shots.

Today, my brain was off doing a dance and musical number that looked kind of like this:

I’m dancing on the stage
In my head
Leaping into the air
Finishing with a spin
A tree appears
And I catch a branch
Swing up with ease
Backflip down again
Land in a crouch
Arms wrapped in a hug
Until I spin upwards
Hands dance
Their own separate ways
My head is back
Eyes on the stars
A song pours out of my mouth
Soulful and smooth
All else disappears
On the stage in my head.

Sudden change of scene…

My mind is now galloping across fields.
While my body is trapped in a chair,
Eyes staring blankly at a computer screen
My brain is jumping logs on a horse named Fire
It is bicycling down a bumpy hill
It is lying in the shade of a tree
The sun glittering through the leaves
And making me squint.

How can I possibly write about how to run a report?

Sitting still almost kills me
So my mind spins, runs, leaps, and sways
To songs that play endlessly
Hands paint shadows across walls
A fish, dog, and dragon too
There is even a tad bit of flamingo dancing
Hands clapping, feet stomping

So much happening
On the stage in my head.

What can I say? Don't all creative writers do this to keep their minds from imploding while they do their day jobs? Good thing my mind isn't this spun up everyday... =D

Aaah-some!

What a weekend! Saturday I went to the 50 on 50th Art Show and bought a couple things to fill an empty slot on my book shelf. The tree on the right was welded by my friend Sue. I have enough horse decor and decided I needed some art depicting my other loves -- trees and a bike seemed perfect.

After checking out the great art and having lunch with friends at Edina Grill and a cupcake at Sweet Retreat (whoa baby!), I wanted to get outdoors to enjoy what remained of the day. So we packed up bikes and headed to Elm Creek for a bike ride. 

The bike trails are some of the same trails I take when Java and I go skijoring in the winter. I don't remember the trails being so hilly when I ski them. It was a lot tougher to travel by bike. I actually had full blown lung burn after an especially long and steep climb. Taking a photo was a good excuse to stop and catch my breath.

We took a detour cross country for a bit but I wasn't crazy about the narrow rutted trail, nor that the trail took us backwards to where we'd already rode. 

After having such a big lunch, I wasn't planning on having dinner but after several hill climbs I decided I could afford some extra calories and ended up eating more than my share of pizza for dinner. I pretty much fell into bed Saturday evening.

After doing some yard work Sunday morning, I met up with two other friends at the barn to go trail riding. There are so few nice days left before winter hits that I'm squeezing as much out of each day as possible.

While the 3 of us were preparing to load our horses onto a 3-horse trailer, a 4th friend showed up at the barn and was game for a ride too. So we took two trailers and headed to a park about an hour away. 

It was the opening weekend for rifle deer hunting so a few of us were sporting orange even though there shouldn't have been any hunters in the area. Key word is "shouldn't," doesn't mean there won't be any.

It was about a 3 hour ride around the park. Most of the leaves have dropped so the trails aren't as pretty as they are in the summer and fall, but the stark outlines of the upright and fallen trees are lovely in their own right.

The sun was getting low in the sky when we got back to the trailers and loaded up. 

It was all out dark when we got back to the stable and unloaded.

What a great weekend! But I wish I had tomorrow off to rest.