Propane Tanks and Old Trees

Breaking 140 Year Old Temperatures

Unbelievable! 79 degrees on December 27 in southern middle TN at our farm! breaking records like crazy!

No Future Restoration Projects, but Went to Peru

At Machu Piccu

Down the Urabamba River with our Traveling Companions

The Marketplace in Cusco

Veggies in the Market in Cusco

Incan King Monument in Cusco

Our "taxi" driver (a Retrofitted Motorcycle, taking our lives into our own hands)

Baby Alpaca

Andy serving Guinea Pig

The Urabama River

Andy Ready to Paddle

Clarice Celebrating Her 59th Birthday in Peru

Children of Cusco and Our Guide, Walter Torres

Children of Peru

Fountain Park in Lima

This has nothing to do with restoration or living in rural America, but we did go to Peru in August, It was truly a trip of a lifetime! The culture, the people, who were so polite, the food (lots of potatoes), the Andes, altitude sickness, yuck!, the beauty and wonderful traveling companions from all over the USA. Everyone should visit Peru!

Belle of the Ball

Welcome, Belle of the Ball, my new fox hunter! This is a photo of our very first hunt in Lexington, KY with the Iroquois Hunt, and first ride together in March. I bought Belle that day and hunted her with Hillsboro the following Wednesday. She is a very dark bay, 11 year old, spayed mare, 15hh, 3/4 Percheron, 1/4 Morgan.  She is lovely and loving. I have been riding her all summer and she has been a star. I have a new trainer, Roman Kaul and he makes her look like a dressage star when he rides her in the indoor.  I am boarding her at Karen Gray's in hunt country. I am so excited to have her!!! love you, Belle!!!

Spring Flowers at Laughing Fox

Spring Flowers at Laughing Fox Farm. The irises and Nellie Stevens holly have been here since before we owned the farm. I planted the tulips and pansies. What I have learned is that irises loved to be thinned out, pansies are annuals, tulips have to be fed to produce flowers, and the holly tree just thrives on its own.  I had to feed one of the three hollies one year. I sprinkled about 10 lbs. of bone meal around it one spring and again in the fall.  I fed it because the leaves were turning yellow. Hollies go through a molting period when some of the leaves turn yellow. But that time the yellow leaves were about to outnumber the green ones. The tree is doing great.

Gone since 2013

For whatever reason I have not been able to access my blog until now. good to be back!

Out With the Old, In With the New - a Propane Odessy

It is ever amazing to me how long some things last. But, as with everything, eventually malfunction will happen. Such was the case with our buried propane tank. It must have been buried in the 40's or 50's (there is a plate on the cap that may give the date, but it isn't readable, do I hear "onion skin" paper?) and finally a leak started about a year ago. I was assured by the gas company that the leak wasn't dangerous, but it smelled terribly!  We ran out of gas a couple of weeks ago, a perfect time of the year for that to happen as we do use the gas for our logs in the fireplaces. In the meanwhile I had contacted a number of propane companies to determine prices to buy a new tank, get gas and have it buried. It is astounding how the prices vary. It pays to shop around!


I had to hire a person to dig out the tank with the gas representative present. The tank was dug out; it took about a hour. What was pulled out of the ground was something that looked like a submarine. It was gigantic!!!! The 1000 gallon tank itself was intact, but the leak had occurred near the tank's top. The photo is on this post.


I decided to relocate the tank as it was in our yard and I wanted it farther away. So a longer trench had to be dug, additional line was laid, a hole for the new tank was dug. May I interject something here? MEN: We women understand that it is fun to drive those machines to get work done. But really is it necessary to drive all over the place to do it? Our yard looks like a war zone. If I had not been there they would have used the Bobcat to fill in the dirt over the gas line. I insisted that part be done by hand, and I helped with that.   The new tank was placed, covered, connected, tested for leaks and we are now the proud owners of a new propane tank...to the tune of $3,400, not including the gas. The gas will be delivered Tuesday.


For documentation purposes: the gas line goes from the northwest corner of the house, straight back to the tank that is now buried beside the tractor garage, a distance of about 80'. There are no turns or curves in the line.


All in all it went well and it took seven hours to compete.

It Has Been an Age!

For whatever reason I have not been able to access my blog for almost a year.  Now it seems it's up and running again.  I don't know where to start, so maybe the present and go backward? 


Andy and I have bought a condo in FL which has nothing whatsoever to do with restoration of antebellum homes. I'm just excited and wanted to share photos.  It's on a barrier island off the coast of the panhandle and is RIGHT ON THE BEACH! However,I am unable to upload photos.

Horses Silouetts

 

 

 

 

I took these at sunset in July 2013

Spring and Summer 2013

Spring and Summer at Laughing Fox Farm 2013

 

 

 

 

I took these during the spring and summer of 2013

 

I

It's a Bear!!!

Our newest canine addition, Bear (bet you though from the title that it was a real bear). He's almost a big as one, 90 pounds of black, curly love. He's a Newfoundland/Labrador cross. His original owner, Melissa Ivey became very allergic to him. She had owned him since he was weeks old, so the departure from him has been a difficult one for her, but his arrival here at the farm has been fun.

Bear is doing quit nicely here now. He is patient, so gets along well with my not so patient females, Duchess and Gracie. He plays well with them, likes to be inside when it's hot, sleeps on his bed beside ours, and generally takes life as it comes. He likes the horses now (not so in the beginning when Maestro charged him and it scared him half to death), and thinks they are simply very big dogs. He tries to get them to play with him, but they mostly look at him as if they are confused by his overtures, probably are.

So please welcome, Bear!

A Very Busy Summer - Integrating the Herd

The latest change was to add three board wood fencing around a new pasture. I have the original pasture in which the barn is located and now this one. I rotate the horses between the two. The run-in can be accessed from either pasture, and the horses have enough room to stay out of each others way, roam, and graze and still get into the run-in to cool off or stay out of the rain/snow.

As for herd integration: Derby, the alpha, is in love with Tilly, the new mare, Derby was Maestro's best friend until she came. Maestro is not happy with the change, so it's a challenge for Derby keeping Maestro away from Tilly so that Maestro doesn't hurt her. And so that Derby can keep his mare close to his side. I like Maestro, he's a sweet guy, but I am very ready for him to return to the Kressenburg farm from where he came. He is getting aggressive toward Tilly, which makes Derby aggressive toward Maestro, it is a point of concern for me. Remi, in the meantime, pretty well keeps to himself, smart boy that he his.

Integrating a herd is interesting, and feeding time makes it even more so as I have only a three stall barn: 3 stalls + 4 horses + 3 dogs, all to be fed in the barn, + 1 stall for hay, well you do the math.. The secret is being very patient, watching the language of the horses, gradually sorting through how to feed them so that a disaster doesn't happen. Even with that, I have found what is working best for my situation is to feed the dogs in the center aisle first. While they are eating, ready the stalls, including the wash stall that I have commandeered for a feeding stall temporarily, with feed, water, hay, and fresh shavings. I clean the stalls every morning and evening. When the dogs are finished eating, I remove their food (otherwise Maestro who is fed in the center aisle will eat their food), then go outside, halter Remi, lead him into his stall, halter Tilly, lead her into her stall, halter Derby, lead him into the wash stall, and Maestro follows, is distracted by his feed in the aisle, so securing Derby in his stall is easy.

I have learned that Maestro likes to play with everything in the center aisle. He methodically removes every crop from their hangers, removes all of the grooming brushes from their shelf, aggravates Derby while he tries to eat, and has torn the top off of the box where I keep my liquid supplies. So I now wait for him to finish eating, and turn him out. He can still see the other horses, so he's happy enough and it gives the other horses, and him, time to rest from one another. Then I turn out Derby with Maestro, keeping Tilly and Remi in their stalls during the day. Remi will gain weight too quickly if I don't keep him in and Tilly needs rest from Derby's amorous advances. Then I repeat the process in the evenings, except I turn Tilly and Remi out for the evening. It's a process. The poor dogs don't know what's hit them, but they are taking it in their stride. Did I mention that we also have a new dog? More on him on a later post.

Remi (far left), Derby, Tilly and Maestro

 

Treasure My Remington - My Newest Field Hunter

This is Remi, my newest field hunter. Maestro, unfortunately, because of his extreme strength, has not worked out. When I bought him Karen Kressenburg asked me to sign an agreement that if he didn't work out that I would return him to her and not sell him,. So she will be taking him back right after she returns from Colorado August 2.  In the meantime, Remi is a four year old registered American Paint. He is four going on eight, very steady, rides out alone or with a group, so far, so good. He is just my size, 14.3hh, so technically not a pony, but about as small.  I look forward to trying him in the field soon.

Chatilly Lace

Announcing!!! Chantilly Lace aka Tilly, my new field hunter. She is a sweetheart, 14 yr old Thoroughbred bought from John Secan in MD. I can't wait to hunt with her!!!

The Coolest Mailbox Ever!

Our friend and neighbor, Bonnie Callerweart painted our mailbox complete with the laughing fox under the coop. We love it!!

Maestro the Morgan and Derby Pie the TB

The second photo is Maestro the Morgan. I bought him last November to hunt. He is a great guy, but very, very strong, so we have been experimenting with bits. I think we have found the right combination in an elevator with a Waterford bit and a figure eight noseband. Lily Wray-Davis hunted him for me the last three hunts and thinks this will work. In the meantime I am taking lessons on him, have started working out at the Y and riding him as much as I can. Hopefully by the summer is over, we will have it all under control. The first photo is Derby Pie, a retired show TB He was given to me from Starr Kramer in Lexington, KY. He is now Maestro's companion. They are hilarious together, like two old men, sometimes having fun, sometimes being grumpy at each other. They are a lot of fun to watch.