Heat

When I was growing up we had a trash burner in the kitchen that would heat the whole house. We also had a natural gas heater but the trash burner was warmer. I always loved backing my butt up to it to warm up on a cold winter day.

When Mom decided to rent the house out she removed the trash burner and it's been sitting in her basement since then, about 40 years. I REALLY, really want it for the Pioche house. The power goes out so often and when its only 22* outside, having a wood burning stove will keep us toasty.  Mom has said we could have it but I didn't feel like she really meant it when I asked if we could put it in the Pioche house. Is it because Mom is 85 and might never travel to Pioche to see our house? Maybe. Is it because she just doesn't want me to have it? Another maybe. Or is she letting Candie have it for her house? That's a very strong probably. All I know is that it would be perfect for our tiny home.

They don't use a lot of wood, the fire box is actually pretty small. The ashes fall through the grates on the bottom and are collected in the bin below it. 

This stove pictured isn't Moms, it's just online but this is the same kind.

Mom told me she wants to give me more money, for our next vacation, but I have no idea how much it might be. I have a feeling she's giving Heather a HUGE amount of money for a down payment on a house somewhere. H made an offer but that's all I know. I hope she's going to let Ashleigh live with her, since neither of them needs to be mooching off Mom & Don any longer, and when Jordan gets sick of his dad again then he can go live with H too.

Mom & Don gave half the business to Jordan & that lazy shit hasn't done shit to help run it. 

 

Our Next Vacation

We'll be heading to Pioche but taking a little longer route than straight down. Last year we went through Winnemucca to see the Gypsy Horse Fest show and it was very nice to see the horses but I was disappointed that there were only about 50 horses, max, at the 'west coast' show. I liked that they had it at all and that I got to go but it was a long way out of our way to see so few horses. It was an extra 500 miles and a day of driving to see the show.

This is the realtors photo of our house in Pioche, the one online for the sales photos, May 2024.

Our 1st visit, May 2024. 

I didn't think about taking a front yard photo on this trip.

June 2024,  our 1st trip as owners. 

When we arrived the front door was wide open.

September 2024, 2nd trip

December 12, 2024, no photo!! but I had just turned 62 & we flew down, went to Zion & got my America The Beautiful pass and went to Pioche.

April 2025, 3rd trip

September 2025

We had taken the trailer down in spring.

The yard was FULL of tumbleweeds, took me days to get them all pulled up.

I have full trips of photos missing or in other folders, lost for now. Dang. 

Its 5 weeks till we leave again to head down, we're planning on heading thru Utah & visiting the Dugway Geode state park where we will dig for our own geodes. I will definitely take an arrival photo this time, and every trip after this one.

I'm going to be looking for the perfect house numbers/sign for the front.

Things I Want

I want a 4 wheel marathon carriage for Amble

I want a well fitted saddle for Amble

I want a hula hoe for me to remove weeds in our Pioche yard

I want to go to Pioche!

 

Sigh

We drove the hour to Shelton for the tack sale, minutes before we arrived I got a text from the saddle fitter, she was there and had her eye on a Tucker saddle so when we arrived the first thing we did was use the cut outs to measure and it looked pretty dang close to a fit. So Lan & I drove all the way back home, loaded up Amble and hauled her to Shelton to check.

And it didn't fit.

I mean, it fit really well but Amble is just so round that the saddle rocked side to side, no matter what pads or shims we tried. Two hours. And still no saddle.

Don't laugh, we were changing the stirrup length.

I will hold onto the cash ($900) and put it toward a cart but I still need to ride so I'm thinking its going to be with a bareback pad. 

Tack Sales

There is a tack sale an hour away from our farm and I'm planning on being there early. I have my saddle fitting forms, and Sarah the saddle fitter, will be there doing her thing so if I have any questions she will be able to answer them.

The sale should have about 30-50 saddles and maybe, just maybe, 1 of them will fit.

IF none fit, there is a saddle 90 miles south, nearly into Oregon, that will work for now but its $650, its a POS and its a long way away in case I have to return it.

Wish us luck.

I'll Ride Anyway

I don't have a saddle but I'll try to ride anyway.

 

Feeling Defeated

I had the saddle fitter out today and I learned a lot but mostly I discovered I might never find a saddle that fits Amble. Shes SO flat and wide that nothing we tried on her would work, theres no way to ever get any of them to fit. I'll have to look for a draft horse XXWide. The tree can only be 16" long and overall length can only be 23".