Photo Session with Vanessa

I have won an award. The press release is to go out Monday and I can speak more freely then, but in the meantime, I was only allowed to tell my family about it.

Winning meant that I got several assignments. There is a banquet March 1, and I need a professional headshot portrait and several family photos for that. I must write a biography that will go into a program and get a "much nicer than usual but not an evening gown" dress.

I also was told that I would meet my corporate sponsor. I have no idea what that means - maybe they sponsor just the award and event? - but I sort of feel like an athlete now, one who gets Nike shoes from his or her sponsor! (That would be fun!)

Who else would I turn to for that professional headshot but my daughter-in-love Vanessa? She is a professional photographer and did a beautiful series of pictures of Abby as a Mother's Day gift for me a few years ago. (The one at the header of my blog is from that shoot.) So I called her and asked if she had time to work me into her schedule. We met yesterday at her studio, and I saw a whole different side of Vanessa as she posed me and snapped pictures while in her element.

 The studio had windows running the entire length of two side, so it was very light and airy.

That last photo was an accidental one of Vanessa - I was taking pictures of the studio and swung around and caught her standing there. Here's a better one that was taken at Christmas in our home.

There were different sets and props scattered around the other two sides which she picked and chose from as she worked her magic.

I saw the lovely bedroom setting (with some things stored on the bed now) which looks beautiful in pictures but is actually simply an air mattress on a frame with nice bedding over it.

It was neat being photographed by Vanessa. I loved seeing her in professional mode, plus she's such a fun person to be with. And now I can't wait to see the pictures.

Tim's Tack Room

Tim, the owner of the ranch where I keep Abby, is a well-respected professor at Purdue University in entymology, but he is a horseman at heart and also likes to restore buggies, wagons, carriages, and sleighs. He goes to a lot of auctions and finds some pretty interesting tack that comes home in the truck with him along with those bigger purchases.

The new barn is where he tucks those items away and it is the ultimate man cave.

The new barn has an indoor arena that is lined with box stalls down both sides. But they are rarely used. Like me, Tim prefers that his horses have the freedom to go in and out at will so the old barn and the loafing shed are where the horses shelter when they want it. He brings them up here to the cross ties when he is trimming their feet, deworming or giving meds, or tacking up for a ride.

 The entrance to the new barn.

You enter a lovely, open lounge area with viewing windows and a door to the indoor arena.

 Tim likes to hang antique implements and cowboy items that he finds at sales on the walls.

 There are some chairs for sitting if you want, but neither of us spend much time here sitting down. (Although I did use those chairs before my spinal fusion as I could not stand for very long.)

Door number one, door number two, and door number three - sounds like a game show! The door to the far right opens to the rest room. I do use that occasionally!

The middle door leads to Tim's office. My tack is kept in there separate from his tack.

This is because Tim does a lot of horse trading, and if my tack was in the main tack room mixed in with all of his, it could get accidentally sold!

Tim also keeps an antique pony saddle in there as decoration.

The door on the left leads to the main tack room, and it is chock full of saddles, bridles, harnesses, and other horsey items. It also has a wall of cupboards where he stores medical supplies, helmets, and other things needed for a herd of horses.

I didn't take pictures of all of Tim's horsey vehicles that he has restored and that are kept in the new barn. The next time I go into it I'll do that and post them here. He has some pretty amazing ones, including an old jail wagon!

I took these photos when I checked on my tack - I don't ride any more, but I do clean and oil my tack in order to keep the leather in good condition. It was looking like it needed some attention, so I'll be doing that as soon as I get a block of free time.

Check back for those photos of the vehicles!

Atypical Weather

Atypical weather - that's what we're having in Indiana this month. January is usually very cold and bleak, with winds, snow, and ice. We've had the bleakness, those grey days that are overcast and depressing, but the temperatures the past few weeks have been unseasonably warm.

The snow we would usually be having has been in the form of rain, and as a result, there is standing water everywhere and areas the herd usually frequents are a muddy mess. (I am not complaining; better mud than snow and ice!)

 There is a large pond of standing water in the north pasture that stretches across most of it.

 And standing water in smaller amounts around the property.

Tim has the horses in one pasture with the others closed off so that the horses don't damage the soggy turf with their hooves.

 They look pretty good, and even have a hint of green due to the warmer temperatures!

Higher places on the ranch aren't as soaked as the lower spots.

But the lanes leading back to the barns have a lot of water on them despite their gravel surfaces. There simply isn't anywhere for the water to go.

Another week of atypical temperatures are predicted for this week, but it looks as though we won't be having any rain for a while. I hope that allows some of the excess water to drain away.

Abby's Dilemma

Abby made me laugh this morning as she had to solve a dilemma - how much did she really want those treats?

January has been warmer than typical and very, very rainy. (Thank goodness for the warm temperatures or we would be buried with snow!) As a result, there is a lot of flooding and ponding in the fields, on the roads, and the Wabash, Tippecanoe, and Wildcat are all well up and over their banks.

The north pasture up by the old barn and farmhouse is no exception.

The herd was about as far away from me as they could get, with a long expanse of water that stretched across most of the pasture between us.

Abby spotted me even before I called or whistled, and began coming up to chat. (The other horses? They know I won't give them nibbles, and with all that water in the way, they were not going to come up just for a rub or scratch.)

 Here is where I began laughing. Abby walked up to the water and took a good long look at it.

  Then she looked across it at me.

 She looked to the left - I could just see her thinking about what to do to get to me and her treats!

She looked at me, the water, and then back at me several times more. I was beginning to wonder if she was going to wade through it or jump when..

 ... suddenly she decisively turned to her right and began walking alongside the water.

 Reaching the end of the water, Abby, skirted the edge...

 ... and was home free! She'd figured out how to get to me without getting her feet wet!

Er, even though they pretty much so were already - and very muddy. (But in good shape, thanks to a recent trim from Tim!)

We had a lovely visit under the pines in the first sunshine our part of Indiana has had in WEEKS. 

And when I left, as usual, Abby watched me until I was out of sight.

I am still smiling, though, as I think about her trying to decide how to get to me.

Too Cold!

Snow and ice prevent me from heading to the barn. When you already have snow and ice and then add in this...

I am so grateful I have Tim who cares for the herd. I have fed and cared for horses myself for years in all kinds of weather; it is nice to sit back and let someone else brave the elements.

My Grandmother's Planter

Knowing well that I was a horsey gal, my Grandma Honeywell gave me this planter when I was in elementary school. She grew African violets and had a lot of planters; how she acquired this one is a mystery to me as it certainly wasn't her usual taste in pots and planters. (I have wondered if she bought it new for me and I just did not realize it at the time.)

I wasn't really into planters, equine or not; I preferred my Breyers, so I kept it in a box with other horsey things that did not quite fit into my collection.

Sadly, it broke just a few years ago. I chalked it up as just one of those things and life went on.

Fast forward a decade or so, and I was poking around in an antique shop looking for pieces to add to my collection. Was I surprised to find the same planter my grandmother had given me so many years ago! I also felt an instant connection to it, despite never really having liked the planter before, and so I snapped it up and brought it home.

 Like my grandmother, I grow African violets, and so I repotted one into it...

... and set it onto the table where I keep them.

It is like having a whisper of my grandmother still with me.

Amy's Old Pasture and Stomping Grounds

There have been a few moments over the holidays where I have really felt the loss of my mother. Yesterday, New Year's Eve Day, was one of them. I was out running errands and going to visit Abby, but I decided to include a visit to my parents' home, too. It's a lovely old home on nine acres that they bought when I was twelve years old so that I could have a horse.

We still own it, but a preservationist group (Wabash River Enhancement) is going to buy the property as it is on the Wabash River and wooded. Their plan for the land is the same as what they have done to other river properties that they have acquired - let it go back to nature, a plan my mother really liked and which my siblings and I fully support.

While we keep the lawns mowed, other parts of my childhood home are being allowed to simply grow naturally with no interference from human activity.

 It doesn't take long for nature to take back what was originally hers - this is part of Amy's old paddock! It is completely overgrown now with brush.

 This view is from the top of the driveway by the barn looking down the moraine at the highway (lower left.) If you look closely at the middle right, you can see the river. All that used to be pasture but is now becoming covered in brushy growth.

 Part of the lawn that we still keep mown.

This gigantic 300+ year old oak tree is beautiful, but it is also at the end of its life cycle and starting to lose limbs and decay on the inside. About ten years ago a large limb dropped off and went through the living room roof (the house is sheltered by this tree.) I am very leery when I am close to it - if someone were going to move into the home, the tree would most likely need to be removed for safety reasons. But since the property is going back to nature, and trees die and fall in the process, it is being allowed to die naturally.

Visiting my childhood home, one my parents bought so I could have my horses, made me feel close to them and gave me a chance to appreciate their generosity in making my dreams come true.

Happy New Year, Mom and Dad. Thanks for all you did for me.