Never Easy

Not a lick of work has been done to build my barn and I'm getting shit every time I mention it. A new dump trailer was purchased today so the barn better be being built pretty fucking soon.

326 Days

Lans IMAZ is in 326 days and training starts in 1 week. I gotta admit, I'm kinda jealous and excited for him. As long as I am not to bitchy about his training and he DOES it, he will be golden. Here is the 1st days workout:

Monday
We begin easily enough with one short swim. Nothing too crazy here, just allow yourself some time to get used to the water again and be patient with speed.

SWIM 0:30

WARM UP:

200 Swim - 2 x 100 Kick -

4 x 50 Choice, w/10 sec rest after each

MAIN SET:

5 x 200 w/:20 rest, done as follows:

(50 right arm only - 50 swim - 50 left arm only - 50 swim)

COOL DOWN:

2 x (50 Kick/50 Swim)

See, pretty damn easy. The following day is a 50 minute bike and a 35 minute run, both easy. In fact, so easy that the bike is in the small chain ring. AND HE BETTER DO IT RIGHT.

Now, Too Start Building

Its time to start building the new barn. I've only gotten 1 estimate, must check in to getting more.

Big Things

When we first saw this farm this is what the back pasture and arena looked like, all over grown with black berries and you couldn't see the ground for the grass & weeds.

 

We tried using the stalls but they kept flooding every time it rained, like, a foot deep.

 

 

So we built temporary stalls inside the arena and have been using them for 1.5 years.

You can see on the right side of this photo where it still leaks in.

 

 

This lean-too has been dismantled and now all that remains is one wall along the arena and the roof.

 

This is the arena side, all rotten from rain water that comes off the arena and goes right down the front of the stalls.

 

Here it is, mostly dismantled. We had to bring in more footing, it still flooded up until a month ago. It will again if we don't keep up on it continuously.

 

But we are now getting the new barn built and I can't wait to start.

I'd like a 12 ft aisle and five 12x12stalls with attached runs, one of the stalls being a wash rack.

We shall see.

I might just get 3 stall floors cemented, add dividers and outside walls and call it good. That would save me thousands of dollars.

 

Julia told me today that they are planning on having Roses go home by springtime so pretty soon I won't have their help with feeding and cleaning but also won't have her here fighting with Wifi. They go at it like teenage sisters. I'll give them some stuff to make their transition easier, maybe a corner feeder and a hay rack, They've got buckets and stuff.

 

I am really hoping I can get an aisle-way that has the brick look to it, it would be better traction but also look nicer and someday in the future it would have a better resale value. I don't plan on living here forever.

 

 

I'm sure this is much closer to the barn I'll end up with than the one featured above. But I WILL NOT have spaces between the stalls dividers like this, you're just asking for injury and broken boards doing that. I'm going to find some stall mirrors and the horses will be happy thinking they can see another horse. I want the stall fronts to have openings for them to put their heads out but I also want to be able to close those. I do not want them bending the bars like happened in the old barn.

 

Shit, looking at these stalls, they are only 8 feet across in front since the doors are 4 feet wide. Not big enough for horses, maybe this is a mini barn.

 

 

This is the blanket Joey wore when he was a foal. Joey was 44 inches tall at foaling and this only fit for a couple days but it was enough to keep him warm on the first couple of chilly nights.

 

Today I found it in a box and put it on Jenny...

 

And its too small.

 

Her chest just rips out the Velcro on the bottom, her shoulders need a lot more room up front

and the neck drags down.

I don't know how tall she is, certainly not 44" but I do know shes 30" long

from the back of her neck to top of her tail.

Good enough for a foal, not good enough for a mastiff.

 

The following poem was written by a friend, super cute

 

Now that it is December, I can spread the holiday cheer! :-)

Sweat drops on muscles and blister prevention;
New Ignite hoodies and convertible mittens;
Cool event t-shirts and tattoos with wings;...
These are a few of my favorite things!

Pizza and burgers and all kinds of pasta;
Chicken and rice ‘cause it makes me run fasta;
Custom race bibs next to finisher blings;
These are a few of my favorite things!
When it’s hot out;
When it’s raining;
When my brick goes bad;
I try to remember I’m paying for this and I don’t want my coach to be mad!
Race belts and run gels and Blue Steel for Rashes;
Electrolyte supplements and avoiding bike crashes;
Mike Reilly’s voice each time my phone rings;
These are a few of my favorite things!
Bright colored bike shoes and pushing the big gear;
Well fitted wetsuits and goggles that stay clear;
Corndogs and donuts and food fit for Kings;
These are a few of my favorite things!
When it’s dark out and I’m worn out;
When I don’t think I can;
I simply remember my favorite things -
And that I finished IRONMAN!
~Gnay Galloway

Falling

Its been awful wet out, the back pasture/sacrifice area is totally mud. I can leave two horses in the arena all day to stay dry but that means two have to go out into the crap. So this morning I made sure everyone was blanketed and let them all go into the front pasture. Its nice and grassy, only mud is by the gates (so where do you think they stood??) but no shelter, hence the blankets.

 

I brought them into the arena at 4:30pm, just at dark and removed soaking wet blankets and put on dry ones. Sunshower and Wifi are naked tonight but they have the hair for it. Joey and Roses both got clean heavier blankets. Actually, Joeys lighter weight blanket weighed more soaking wet than the dry heavy weight blanket. Go figure.

 

But while they were outside standing in the front pasture Roses was falling asleep, not just going to sleep, but actually falling each time she dozed off. I've seen her do it before so I wasn't worried about her but it is funny to see. I wish she was able to sleep in her stall but its hard when its flooded and sloppy deep mud.

 

Tonight I put her into Joeys stall, which is drier, and left him out loose inside the arena. He still has his hay and grain but he can move around.  We desperately need the barn to be built.

 

Triathlon stuff

 

I've been dealing with Plantar Fasciitis for 6 months and recently started taping my left foot like this and its getting better. Exciting to me, that's for damn sure. Today it was just some first step pain, not every step I take pain. Hoping it continues to improve and that I can run again. 

Black Friday

Today is Black Friday, traditionally the day everyone goes shopping in the big stores and malls, fighting over the 5 TVs on sale for a super good price, pushing old ladies into the street in order to get her place in line to get through the door faster. I've only gone shopping on this day a few times and not for Christmas gifts but usually for groceries or a piece of lumber at Lowes.

 

Last year REI decided to start something new,

 

 

I won't be able to go hiking or running but I'll certainly stay away from the stores.

 

 

This awesome signed picture is now mine. Affirmed, Secretariat and Seattle Slew, ridden to victory in the Triple Crown, autographed by their jockeys. I'm very excited to get it.

 

Rumors Of A Death

 

There is a rumor going around this morning that someone might have died over at

The Riding Place yesterday.

 

That would be sad, if might have been someones little girl.

Results IMAZ 2016

Dave didn't Finish, as NO ONE thought he would. He 'CRASHED' on his bike at about mile 40 and had to stop. Whaaa. Poor big baby. He didn't finish a single race or long ride this summer because every time, SOMEONE ELSE made him crash or 'hit him with their car'... EVERY time. So no one is surprised.
His swim was OK, 1:46:45.

Siked Up For Nothing

After getting myself all siked up to go to Pt D, they have figured out another mistake on the work bids and I'll be staying at SouthWorth. Which is fine, I am really enjoying the hours I have there. All days off, only staying up like I'm watching tv late into the night. I do miss some sleep but Its working out for me anyway.

Watched a terrible movie about a lady training for a triathlon, she wants to qualify for Kona but she barely trains and a 5 yr old kid can ride a bike faster and better than she can. It was actually a movie about a

psycho serial killer/ personal trainer. I read a review earlier in the day so when Lan found it on Netflix I knew we had to watch it. We had fun shredding it to pieces. I can't see ANYONE wanting to become a triathlete after watching this movie.

The appraiser is coming tomorrow so today we spent the day cleaning house. It looks good now, hope it looks good in a week. I hope he gives us a good result.

Ironman news:
Tomorrow after the guy is gone I'll be showing Lan the Ironman training plan and explaining how it works. Hes not going to like it because he doesn't like anything structured but that's why it will work, its structured. I'll volunteer to go to the pool with him to count laps and time him, I'll go to the track to do the same thing there. I'll keep tabs on all his bike rides; miles ridden, speeds, HR, hilly/flat/fast/tempo. He will appreciate it after we've got a month of time in and he can SEE results.

He did awesome at his first Ironman, we can make him so much faster that he can beat half the guys in his A/G if he lets us do it.

Shorter Days

When Lan left for work yesterday it was dark and when he got home it was dark. In 3 months it will be light for a few minutes after he gets home. Right now I'm able to enjoy the days, I get up at about 9am and have all day to do whatever I want before I go to work at 8pm. Its been a lovely stretch.

But things will change for me in a few weeks, I'll be moving to the Pt Defiance

dock, working mornings starting at 5:40am till 1:40pm. I'll land the boats, load the cars, put up the apron & then hop onto the boat to ride across to Tahlequah and do it all again, then back and forth all day. 20 landings in all.
I hope the crew likes me.
I hope the dock supervisor is nice to me.
I hope Nicoles aunt who sells at Pt D is nice to me.
I hope I don't get hurt jumping around.

I'll be getting home at 2:30pm and have a few hours to myself before Lan gets home.
Now, heres the deal. I'll be working 40 hours, bringing home almost as much money as Lan. I'm thinking he should pick up a titch of the laundry chores, maybe put some of his dirty dishes into the dishwasher. I'll have to ask.

More Arena Lights

Hardwood

The installer came to measure the floors and make room dimensions today and he had a couple suggestions. With so many options for types/colors/thickness, etc of new floors, its hard to make decisions. We don't even know what questions to ask. This is the one I really like, Acac

ia.

I like it because it has various colors so it would hide dog hair and dirt well and its also not flat so it would hide scratches.

This is Karens house where they used it, its gorgeous.

This is a google photo, shows the wave of the planks.

 

This is the floor in the store where I was standing on it. It was taking a beating and still looking good. 





 

But Lan doesn't like it, he wants something more traditional like our old house.

NO. I'm not in to the old oak stuff this time.

 

I love the look of this Hickory but its not as hard as we need.

 

Bent Out Of Shape

Someone keeps getting bent out of shape about me not riding all the horses. I think its fucking funny that they can't mind their own business and that they even care in the first place. So just to make this person understand, I'll explain why I don't ride all my horses.

 

Joey is retired. He's 20 years old and has lead a damn easy life but hes got a stifle injury (inherited) that is now catching up to him and he hurts. He will continue to live here with us throughout his golden years.

I don't 'Get rid of' my horses just because they are old.

 

Joey in the shitty halter because someone stole his leather one.

 

Sunshower!

Shes the perfect mare. I do ride her, shes my trail horse now and shes loving it, a lot. Joey was always my trail horse before but now my girl is picking up the slack.

 

 

And Wifi. My beautiful girl. Stinkpot. Spoiled rotten.

Shes got a career as a dressage horse and that's going along smoothly. Shes not liking that she has to work again but she sure as hell enjoys the attention she gets.

 

 

Other barn news:

We should be able to start the barn build within the month and we're pretty excited about that. I'm going to the county for the permit next week.

 

I've already been doing the research on use of different types of woods for the walls, etc. and have been to 3 stores to price things. I know the walls so far will be about $5,000 but that doesn't include stall fronts, hardware or the roof/floor of the loft. I'm having so much fun drawing up plans for everything and then getting to redo them when we figure out I did it wrong. I wish I had paid more attention to the stall doors in the old barn but Lan remembers how they were. I know we're definitely going to use pressure treated boards on the bottom of the walls so they don't rot out from pee and the first 4 boards will be 2x12x12 so they have added strength. I've seen too many 2x8s that horses kick and get injured because owners were too cheap to purchase stronger boards.

 

 

Inside the house we're prepping to take out 1 wall and replace all the down stairs flooring. I'm thinking about adding a gray slate inside the front door and going into the bathroom. We've also priced hardwood flooring for inside the house and spoken to a lot of people who have so much info to share. I've had hardwood before but we've never been the ones to choose and install it. 

Ironman Arizona 2017

I'll find a way to get there, even if I have to call in sick.

 

Lan will be racing and I'll be damned if I make him go alone. I'll drive the car down and probably back or he can drive it back and I'll fly...

 

But this next year is going to be dedicated to his race.

 

He asked a local coach to help him but as far as I know Lan hasn't heard back yet. I'll be pissed off if the coach doesn't at least tell him personally why not, if he doesn't want to coach him. Lan has tons of potential to do very well at IMAZ, even in the largest A/G.

 

At Vineman he was 96th out of 217 in his A/G and he admits to being under trained. If he had a coach, someone that would demand accountability, then he could get into the top 25% and that's HUGE. He won't listen to me though so I can't help him at all and he's going to have to speak up when he has a problem, any problem.

Days Getting Shorter

The days are getting shorter and will continue doing so for another 7-8 weeks but we're getting as much outside work done as fast as we can. We've waited all summer for the fall so the leaves would fall off the maple tree in the front pasture and not be raining. Tonight was our chance!

 

You can't see it very well because my phone camera is shit but Lan took off a few big branches, setting it up for when he has another day like today.

 

The tractor is such a handy tool!

 

There will be some good firewood in that tree, as long as its not all rotten inside. There is another tree in the back pasture that needs to come down also and some branches on the neighbors tree that lean way over our pasture need to come down.

Less trees = less leaves.

 

Went to the tack store with Karen today, got a set of leather side reins to use in the down stairs bathroom for holding curtains. Can't wait to figure that out.

 

And in the closet where the laundry is I'll be moving the rail that hangers can't go on because its too close to the shelf and I'll put a curtain up that will go off to the side and totally out of the way when not in use.

Great Days

This fall has been great; beautiful weather, perfect job, happy horses and busy life.

 

Even though this October has had the 3rd highest amount of rain in recorded rain history, it hasn't been awful. We did spent 2 weeks in Hawaii and missed a lot of it.

 

 My job has moved to Southworth and that is different. My hours for the winter at 8pm-2am, there are only 4 boats and I only have to do 3.5 of them. The outgoing traffic attendant lands the first one and I load & send it out. Except Saturdays, Mark is pretty fucking lazy.
Usually the boats are a couple minutes late so they literally land, unload, reload and leave. I don't have to spent tons of time standing around waiting for cars that might get there in time to sail. Its a 2 destination dock so getting used to that has been fun but I've gotten it down. If I make a mistake its not hard to fix, its not rocket science.

Yes, there is mud but we've got most of it under control. The horses have a covered area to escape the nasty stuff and there is the arena for working them. Plus, if I need to haul in I can just call Karen and she's always up for more horsey time.

 

I took Sunshower and Wifi out to Amy's barn the other day and bathed both of them & now have their tails wrapped, hopefully those last a while. Today in the mail I got a new polar fleece cooler for Wifi, its pretty dang nice and was less than $30 for the blanket, 2 de-wormers and shipping. The blanket is a pretty raspberry color, has 2 heavy duty Velcro straps in front, one belly band and leg straps.

 

I'll be taking one of my mares over to Karens to be ridden this winter, probably haul over Tuesday, ride, leave her there and go back on Thursday, ride & bring her home. That way, Karen and I can play and ride too.

 

I always try to keep track of the 1st frost of the season so I can worm the horses 30 days later and while in Hawaii Julia said it was frosty but Karen said it was only a bit on the tops of gates and it hasn't been cold or below 40 since then so I'm not counting that as the 1st frost. I have to wormers, now just waiting. Last year the 30th day was December 11th.

 

I've been doing some house cleaning and getting rid of shit. Today the bi-fold doors in the bathroom were removed and given away. Yesterday the green folding chairs were given away along with a curtain rod. I have SO MUCH MORE junk to get rid of. Its not all junk, if it were then other people wouldn't be wanting it either. I have a lot more stuff to go through and a lot of its junk. I don't know why I feel like I need to save so much crap. I don't want Brandan and R2 to have to go through it all when  I die.

IMAZ 2017 Early Entry

Jim has FINISHED a few Ironmans and he has also DNFd 3, 2 of which were his last ones, IMCDA and IMLouisville. I think the heat got to him.  So hes talking lately about not signing up for another one but he is hinting around that he does want to ~ but resisting.

So I have this IMAZ 2017 early entry available to me and I'm pretty sure I'm not going to use it so I have offered it to him. He will get to do an awesome race and not have to volunteer or pay extra to do it.

 

I myself am still on the fence about it; if its November 19th then no way since it would be on Thanksgiving week and I'll be working. But I'm wondering if Ironman will move it ahead a week, putting it on November 12th. That seems like the logical thing to do, since so many people won't want to travel on the holiday week. But I'd rather ride horses all summer and do fun rides than train for a big ass race again.

 

Yesterday I rode with Karen and Kim and it was fun

 except Sunshower didn't think it was fun at all. Shes not the best trail horse and she HAD to stay right on Angels ass and Angel wasn't too thrilled about it.

 

And then there is THIS GIRL

 

Wifi

 

She needs attention and has been begging for it for months. I've been spending much more time with them lately and she is thriving on it.

 

Went to bank to see about a construction loan, keeping fingers crossed. Would really like to get the hardwood floors in the house, the barn completed and a few other things Lan wants around here.

 

Finally coordinated a bunch of small things to make some simple improvements in the barn. I've had all these things sitting around in various boxes in the house, tack room and barn, waiting for a drill, charged battery, screws and time to do them. It all came together this morning.

 

Added 2 bucket hooks to each stall plus feed bucket hooks in Joeys & Roses's stalls. Now I need to figure out where in the hell all my buckets have gone too. I had 14 buckets at the other farm, found 9 today.

 

 

Whip holder inside the barn for the good whips. These are my new lunge & dressage whips, not to be confused with the old arena whips seen below.

 

This is a Blocker Tie Ring, when a horse pulls back this lets him move but doesn't let him loose. I'll use it with Joey and the girls, mostly the girls just stand nicely for me but he has always been a puller.

 

Here are the arena whips, all dirty and old. Do they even make them like these any longer?

 

This mare

 Wifi

makes my heart happy.

Getting Back To Normal

After the busy summer and awesome vacation we just had, things are returning to normal for us. Farm work, rain, house hold repairs and chores, plus jobs and family issues.

 

Lan has been up on the roofs of the barns, garages and house for the last couple days cleaning out the gutters and making some repairs. I've been cleaning stalls since the horses are kept in nights due to inclement weather.

 

We are making progress on the barn with quotes for the cement for the floor (26' x 60' x 4") at about $2,100.00. That doesn't include rebar or wire mesh or forms but we can rent forms.

 

In the house I'm getting caught up on the cleaning that wasn't done while I was away, dusting and stuff. I don't know where all the junk comes from but it seems I constantly have a box of stuff to donate and if I had the gumption I'd be able to fill 4 more boxes today. Purging once in a while is great. 

 

I've also been working on a few rainy day projects that I held off during the warm summer months and I'm enjoying getting these finished. Pictures of Wifi mounted on old stable boards, Joey & Sunshower horse shoes hammered into strategic spots.  I have several more things to do in the next few months, more pictures of Wifi, painting more walls, possibly a mural to mount on one wall.

 

I've been back to work a few nights, love it there. I have all the time in the world to do my own things, like reading and cleaning tack. Lol, I have my bridles packed and ready to go tonight.

 

R2 is doing well. On the day we came home from Hawaii he posted on FB that he

ONLY fractured his neck.

WTF??

He was climbing a ladder to work on his roof and the ladder slipped out from under him. I guess there is video, which I haven't seen yet.

 

Brandan has been dealing with car issues, first the started has been going out for a month, luckily he can clutch-start it. But now the radiator is also leaking so Lan will be spending some time on his car tonight. He was all ready to take it to a shop but I stopped him in time. Lan can do the work for a fraction of the costs of a mechanic and Lan probably knows more than most of them anyway.

 

Lessons with Delicia resume soon. Working with Wifi again has been great. Shes loving the attention and remembers everything she was ever taught before. And shes SO LOVING, that girl loves to be hugged and get attention.

Another Great Vacation

So our vacation has come to an end. Kona and Ironman was just awesome, watching all those FIT athletes and what they were able to do just amazed me.

While on the big island we went out to see Kilauea erupting lava into the sea.

 

This is an open lava tube. Lan and I walked all around it, safely roped off about 100 feet away, of course. It was warm but not hot for us. But the air was warm, all over the island.

 

It was pretty hot in town too.

Cute bike
 

On Maui Lan and I drove up to Haleakalā and watched the sun rise above the clouds.

 

 

Followed that up with a trip out to Hana, a red sand beach and of course, the Seven Sacred Pools.

 

 

 

We hiked out the trail to Waimoku Falls

 

and this is what you see at the end. 400' of water cascading down the rock wall.

 

The next day we went to my favorite beach, Makena Landing.

 

As always, it was my best day, spent relaxing and enjoying life with Lan.

 

 

 

35 Hours

Officially counting down the hours till we leave for Kona and Maui,

currently at

.

I still have packing to do but I've made arrangements for the dogs, cats, horses and chickens. I've gone shopping for the house sitter and made sure all the animals have enough food to last. The VETERINARIAN EMERGENCY CONCENT FORM has been filled out, printed and signed.

 

I've purchased enough snacks to feed an army on the plane because you never know how long it's going to be before your next meal and who knows what kind of crap they're going to feed ya.

 

I didn't want to get stuck with a big ass heavy carry on but Hawaiian charges $25 for a checked bag so I have to get everything in the carry on and the small backpack.

Backpack still has room but the carry on is getting loaded. I can still unzip the extra 2 inches all around if needed.

What we have done before on trips is go light and come back heavy, purchasing big ass bags where we are at so we only have to pay one way to check them. We've done it before in Hawaii and England and the junk store is by the old jail.

Rode Today

I actually got out on the trails at Banner Forest today on Sunshower with Karen on her mare, rode about 5 miles. What an awesome time!

 

Now I want to ride my horse every day and not do Ironman next year.

Decisions, decisions.