Jack and Annie

Last Saturday I planned to ride Jack. It was a lovely, cool day of bright sunshine and soft breezes. I thought it was a perfect day for a good, long ride. The horse, however, had other ideas about the day's activities. Here is a picture of his perfect Saturday. He likes to sleep in the sunny pasture.

Jack is extremely relaxed and trusting. He lets us love on him while he's down, so Annie went out into the pasture and joined him for a picture. Don't they look comfortable? Jack gets so relaxed that one can pick up his leg, and the leg will drop limply when it is let go. He is also known to snore on occasion.

Here is a tidbit of horse knowledge. In these photos you can clearly see the stripe down Jack's back. It is called a dorsal stripe, and it is found only on horses of the dun color. Duns also have stripes or speckles on their legs above the knee. These markings help to differentiate between dun and buckskin, a similar color. Buckskin horses have the same body color without the dorsal stripe or the striped legs.

Here is today's memory verse.
But thou, O Lord, art a shield for me; my glory, and the lifter up of mine head. Psalm 3:3 KJV

Flowerbeds and Missions Conference

Here are some pictures of the new landscaping we did at the front of our house. It was a fun project, and we can't wait to see how the new plants grow. The cats were pleased that we went out and made them a new place to play hide and seek.

During the summer, Momma and I planted Spanish tarragon, Navajo sage, marigolds, bee balm, and African daisies in one bed. They are still doing well, so we left them in the ground. I also planted zinnias and nasturtiums from seed. We added pansies, violas, dianthus, lavender, thyme, snapdragons, cosmos, and petunias. Then we transplanted a rosemary that had outgrown my herb garden and a rose that had been doing poorly where I originally planted it. I hope our new plants grow big and beautiful.


Last night we attended a missions conference. Several missionaries spoke about their work in various parts of the world. The keynote speaker was a man named Mr. Otto Koning, and we really enjoyed his message. He has been a missionary to Papua New Guinea, and the things God showed him on the mission field are vital to the Spirit-filled Christian life. He has recorded several of his messages, and we watched two of them. I highly recommend Mr. Koning.

Pops the Palomino

Our family was thinking recently about how much we miss Pops, the sweet little fellow in the picture. Pops was a two-year-old quarter horse gelding that we purchased as Daddy's riding horse. He impressed us with his willingness and his calm temperament. Pops always tried to do what was asked of him, but he also seemed to enjoy getting into mischief.

We have quite a few cherished memories of Pops. Once he went into our tack and feed room, stole the broom, and hid it in his stall. I suppose he wanted to play with it later. We remember how Pops and Rusty loved to play hard with each other all day long. Pops also liked running along the pasture fence with us, but one day he ran to the gate while looking over his shoulder at Momma. The gate is now dented.

We had to put Pops to sleep when he was three years old. He had a twisted intestine and colon, and we took him to the vet school for colic surgery. The surgery went well, but his pain returned. After almost a month of nursing him, we were faced with the realization that Pops was not going to recover. We buried him at the back of our property. Our family really misses him. He was one of those horses that touch your heart in a special way. Everyone who met him loved him. We are thankful for the time that God gave us with Pops.

Here are this week's memory verses.
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him, and without him was not anything made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not. John 1:1-5 KJV

My Roses

I have been interested in growing heirloom and antique roses for a while. These are two of the varieties I am growing currently. The pink rose is called Seafoam, and the red one is a Don Juan. Don Juan is my favorite rose. They smell so good, and they have a lovely dark red color. The nice thing about antique roses is that they do not require the spraying that hybrid tea roses need. These roses are pretty hardy and vigorous growers.

Today we are going to plant our flowerbeds. I'm excited, because we got some really pretty bedding plants from a little plant nursery called Ins and Outs. It is a quaint little place, and they always have nice, healthy plants. I'll be sure to post pictures when we are done planting.

Allergy shots

Yesterday I gave Rusty and Jack their allergy shots. They both deal with allergies to pollens and different grasses in the summer months. The treatment is usually a cortisone medication and antihistamines, but there are significant risks associated with the cortisone. We decided to try a fairly new, untested treatment of allergy shots. So far, it seems to be working well. The horses have been on their shots since the spring, and I was able to continue riding Jack all summer. I was voted the shot giver by the rest of my family. It is easier than I thought it would be, and Rusty and Jack are so well-behaved. I don't even have to halter Jack. I can just go into his stall with the needles and inject him. I never thought that I would be giving shots, as scared of them as I used to be.


Abby and Bunny love to play with each other. It is cute, and Bunny's presence seems to have knocked several years off of Abby. Bunny has Abby's approval. We have found out that Bunny gets cold easily and hates to get her little paws wet. She appreciates her doggy bed on the back porch, and it is hard to get her to leave it in the morning. Bunny is a sweet dog, and we are having fun with her. Bunny is a blessing from God.

Fall Garden Update

Our garden is growing well. Almost everything came up and survived. We are still battling weeds, but the ground is dry enough now for us to use our hoes instead of pulling weeds by hand. Hoeing goes a lot faster. I can't wait to start eating all those veggies! I hope the bugs don't beat me to it. These pictures are of the cauliflower, lettuce, parsley and cilantro. The plastic covered rows are where the strawberries are planted. We are especially excited about the lettuce, since we have never grown lettuce before. One of the "weeds" that we are dealing with is tomato seedlings. We tilled in a bunch of tomatoes at the end of our summer garden, and they keep popping up. We also have volunteer green beans, cucumbers, and sunflowers, but mostly grass. We made our garden inside the horse pasture, so we cannot expect there to be no grass!

It's been a while!

I'm sorry that I haven't been posting lately. The truth is, I've been sleeping through my blogging time. We're dealing with a cold in our family, and the extra sleep was a blessing.

On Friday night, we had a family from church over for dinner. We played a game and had a lovely time of fellowship with them. We are always blessed by spending time with this family.

Sunday was a beautiful day. We went to a horse program in the evening. It was held at the softball field of the First Baptist Church in Natchez, MS. The program used the starting of two young colts as a lesson about the Christian life. It was done by Dr. David Carter, the trainer whose events we've been to in the past. We all had a nice time, and we learned some new things that will help in the training of Jasmine, the filly down the street.

On Monday, we took Bunny in to the vet for all her shots and such. Our other dogs, a border collie and a golden retriever, always attracted attention and petting because of their sweet personality and their breed. It was a new experience for us to go in and have other people move away with obvious discomfort at Bunny's presence. There were two ladies there who were scared of Bunny, in spite of her goofy sweetness and our assurances of her good nature. (A dog belonging to one of those ladies tried to bite when it was taken back. Bunny just wagged her tail and went happily.) The vet says Bunny is such a sweet dog. He also told us that she's five years old, and she has heartworms. We're praying about what to do about that.

This week, our memory verse is Psalm 100.
Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all ye lands. Serve the Lord with gladness, come before his presence with singing. Know ye that the Lord he is God: it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture. Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name. For the Lord is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations. Psalm 100 KJV