TIKI IS A GREAT POLE DANCER

Yes, this is Tiki.  Tiki came to us years ago after my beloved calico cat, Pip-squeak AKA Pippy, was killed.


One of the few nice things are neighbors have done for us is bring me Tiki a few days after the death.  They found her up north by their cabin when her mother went missing, all her kittens were following them around looking for a home.  So they thought that I would like a new cat since my kitty was killed by a car.  The neighbor said that she would keep her as a barn cat if I didn't want her, but of course, I can never refuse a cute face!  Only problem is I had just picked up two other kittens from down the road.

The ad said she had calicos, but all she had was orange tabbies.  So silly me, instead of just taking one tabby or none (I really wanted a calico again), I took two.

There is logic behind this.  When I was a little girl we had taken in a couple kittens that were litter mates, and all their lives they were the best of freinds, grooming each other and always playing together.  The love was so beautiful to watch!  So I always believe that when you get one cat you better get two and they better be siblings.

We've had a lot of cats over the years.

So I took Tiki home and I set her on the bed next to me that night.  She curled up into a ball and never moved, she was so grateful to have a bed and a home with love she just purred and purred all night long!

Now this was the thing about Tiki, she never was a very brave cat. She never would have made it as a barn cat. She never went outside and was just happy to be with you.  Then we got Happy.

Happy chased Tiki immediately accross the living room and Tiki ran downstairs never to appear on the main level ever again.  Maddie once said that the song, "Because of you"  is what Tiki is thinking to herself everyday down there. She hid in the basement for two years, until that fateful day when Happy was hit by a car and died.  I miss Happy, he was such an awesome dog!  He was sooo Happy all the time!  He had a reason to be: he was a in a cage for 9 months at the shelter. But that's a story for another day.

It took about three weeks before Tiki realized that Happy was no longer around, and she slowly started appearing at the top opf the stairs.  Then into the living room, then into the kitchen.

It took another year after that until she peeked her head out the doggie door.

Then about 6 months after that - I noticed her outside running around with the pig!  I also noticed that she would never venture out alone, she attached herself to the pig and the pig became her guardian. They've been friends for a long time.

Brave Tiki.  Now she is very brave and we tease her all the time about it.  Brave, brave Tiki! 

I'm not sure I like the brave Tiki.  She's kinda annoying sometimes.  I preferred the timid Tiki.

But how can you dislike inter-species love???

SHOW SEASON IS ABOUT TO BEGIN!

I can't believe it but it's been two years since we showed our horses! that is waaaay too long!  I miss it dearly but sometimes you have to be gone to be missed.  I miss it!  Now that my daughter Madison is living in L.A. I'll have the chance to show her horse this summer, which I am really excited about!  Max is an awesome horse and totally lives up to his registered name: User-Friendly Max!

Maddie and Max - isn't he just stunning!

And I will be showing my Arabian Khrome at a few Class A Arab shows.  Thanks to my daughter Samantha who will be training him and getting him ready to be the star I know he can be!

I've mostly used Khrome for trail riding, which is my utmost favorite thing to so with horses, and was fortunate enough to have the opportunity to break him a few years back.  I showed him a few times after I first broke him in walk/trot classes but this year Sam will take the reins and finish him to be a great show horse.  She's super good at training horses, both my girls are.  They trained all their horses and they succeeded well. I'm super excited!  He's just a beauty and no I am not biased!  He's a cute mover, cleans up well and is a great ride.

isn't he handsome??!!

Ok, sorry, all this horse terminology can get confusing.  So here's the easy explanation:

Class A shows:  there are different types of shows that you can show your horse in, one is open shows, meaning they are open to anyone, no registered horses required and beginner riders can enter, and then there are Class B shows which are a little higher up and then Class A shows for purebred horses.

Registered horses:  this is a horse that has 'papers' meaning registered through their breed affiliations.

Break a horse: means taking a horse at age of 2-3 and teaching it to be ridden.

Finishing a horse:  training a horse to be show quality, ie learning many different gaits (walk/trot/lope/canter), slowing him down (collecting), etc.

Cute/great mover: looks good trotting.

So today Sam and I moved our horses, Honor & Glory (barn name Honor) and Khrome by Khemo (barn name Khrome) from our barn down to our neighbor's farm.

Sam and Honor at the Badger Show in Milwaukee. Honor is just a beaut!!!

Barn name:  the name you call your horse on a regular basis - not his registered name.

Our neighbors  have an indoor arena to ride in and since we are expecting a good foot of snow or more in the next few days, we needed a place to ride and train because the first show is in three weeks!  Khrome won't be ready by then but Honor will be.

So because it is still so icy out I walked the horses the half mile down the road to our neighbors.  All the while Sam followed in the Durango. I needed the exercise. And the sunshine.  She suggested holding their lead ropes out the window while we drove and lead them that way but I knew better. That was just a wreck waiting to happen!

Wreck:  when a horse gets spooked (scared) at something and does something silly like take off, you fall off, you get hurt, the horse gets hurt or the horse rears up.

And of course Sam had to post this to Facebook.

What bothers me most is that my ass is almost as big as the horses!!

Geez, I need more exercise...

THE SUN IS SHINING, THE SUN IS SHINING!!!

It's been about two weeks now since the sun was shining.  Or maybe it has been 6 months? At least thats what it feels like.

So when I spotted the large sunbeam laying across the office floor I got super excited and had a small moment of avarice take over me: I stole the sunbeam from the pig.  She wasn't too happy, there were a few grunts and snorts followed by a big sigh. But as resilient that that Vietnamese Pot-bellied pig is, she decided that making me her pillow was a better idea for her anyway. Ya gotta love a positive thinking pig!

And by the way - It's not very pleasant snuggling with a pig.  They have bristles.  Sharp bristles.  This is good information for everyone to know prior to having one as a pet.

But I felt bad for stealing her sunshine so I let her lay by me.

Come to think of it, pot-bellied pigs really shouldn't be living in Minnesota anyway.  They come from Vietnam!  Do you know what it's like weather wise in Vietnam?  Hot, and muggy, all the time.  I'm sure the pig wonders daily whose brilliant idea it was to bring them here to America?

Did you know there are only 18 days left until SPRING???

gotta love the Life is Good t-shirt!

LA NOTTE DELLE DONNE - AN ALL WOMEN ART SHOW

Had another art show this past weekend and it was fabuloso! This art show was an exhibit of 6 local women artists: Heather Jerdee, Cassandra Buck, Anne Black-Sinak, me, Laura Rice and Susan Waughtal. The Exhibit will be an eclectic mix of mediums and styles. Mediums included photography, mixed media, acrylic and oil on canvas. In spite of being a little sick and not able to help out too much, I made it!  I was sleeping for nearly 16 hours a day the whole week and of course, since I never get sick, Murphy's law says it would have to happen at this time!  Haha!  Oh well, I made the most of it, there was a great turnout and everybody had a nice time.  That's all that matters.  

A WEEK OF SLEEP, SICKNESS AND THE NEAR DEATH OF TWO KITTENS

 Yes, since last Monday, each night I have slept for 11 hours.  For most people this is unheard of but I really manage to get about 9 hours every night anyway.  I need it, it's part of who I am.  But to sleep 11 hours more than one night in a row, I had a feeling it was my body telling me something.  And I was correct: come Wednesday I felt it - the scratchy throat, the lethargy.  I was sick.  This is something that doesn't happen to me, the last time I was sick was about 6 years ago when I got asthma, and before that about 4 or 5 years and maybe that was just a little cold.  Anyway, I wasn't terribly sick, just tired.  The lethargy was just terrible and on Friday I slept for 18 hours! Wow!  I had my art show Saturday, so I had to get up and get my large photo canvases hung, but I just couldn't stay and help out, I was needing some more sleep if I were to make it through the night.

I did, it was a fabulous evening and thanks to my new friend Cassandra - it went off with out a hitch!  It was well attended and everyone loved the art work displayed.  I was a very happy little girl.

So yesterday was Sunday and I woke up feeling pretty darn good.  I went out and did chores and felt much better, almost anxious because with all that sitting around and resting - my ass was getting numb.  It was time to get out.  But knowing full well that when you start feeling a little better after being sick, you should NOT over do it or you will regret it!  So I took it easy, did some work on my websites, since I had two days off in a row (!)  unheard of really… and then just went to bed at 9.

Now things were going quite well, I was still sleeping soundly and enjoying my nice warm bed when I heard the God awful sound of someone hacking at the God awful time of 5 am.  Yes, hacking!  ukk ukk ukk haaaccckkk!

Gross!

Then it happened again.  ukk ukk ukk haaaccckkk!

and again. ukk ukk ukk haaaccckkk!

and again. ukk ukk ukk haaaccckkk!

and again. ukk ukk ukk haaaccckkk!

and again. ukk ukk ukk haaaccckkk!

Ok!  That was it!  Percy had a hacking problem and it was totally grossing me out, interrupting my sleep, and not to mention I had to listen to the lap, lap, lap after each and every hack!  OMG!  I know, dogs do that, but super gross!

So I said, "Come on Perc."  and I led her upstairs, got myself a cup of water, went and laid down on the coach in the office, and tucked myself under the big, comfy fleece blanket hoping for another hour or two of sleep.

Except a couple of other beings in the house had another idea.  Just as I am about to relax into a deep slumber I am pounced upon by some bugger called Bear.  I resisted the temptation to throw her across the room and placed her gently on the floor instead.

Now in this family there is something that is an unwritten law with us.  We DO NOT, I repeat, DO NOT interrupt someone's sleeping.  I instilled this in my daughters from day one and if you come into a room to find someone taking a nap, you better leave the room and not interrupt them unless you want to take your life into your own hands.  This is a cause for murder in my book.  Sleep is precious, not to be messed with, dude.

So when an animal doesn't understand this law I don't know why, I mean they sleep 20 hours a day!  I never interrupt them!  Ever!  I go outta my way to make sure I do not disturb them, you would think they would offer me the same courtesy.

But no.

Next came that little butt hole Cashew, who decided that my water tasted better then his water and started lapping up some out of my water glass.  Then preceded to knock it over.  All over my notebooks!  Now I'm MAD!  I grab each and everyone of them darn kittens and the other cat in there and throw them out of the room, slam the door and lay back down.

Wide awake.

Well, at least I feel better now.

How could something so cute be so evil?

THE CHAT - WITH JEN AND PAM

Another one of our 'Chats' was in the paper Saturday. These are so much fun!  Hope you like this one:

THE CHAT: Eating well 'easier than you think.'

BOB'S IN THE PAPER - AGAIN.

We are so so lucky and blessed to be recognized as much as we are and it 's really neat that someone takes notice to all the great things going on in this town in the last few years AND that we get to be a part of it!  So here Bob is again, doing his thing: music, theatre, etc.

Artists Can Polish Their Work at the Salon