Long Weekend

I found this on FB the other day and was able to go there to get it later that same day & bought it for $1,000.  I'm stinking excited about that.

This is directly out of the barn.

And this is at home before being washed.

Very dusty. I hadn't realized they had shocks and springs but this will make for a nicer ride.

There are a few things that need repairs and we're going to be working on them:

Black polycarbonate, also needs a piece in front of the tool area, under the front of the seat. The drivers seat has damage & it too needs to be fixed.

I'm sure the wheel hubs need grease, brakes checked and shocks checked out. 

Lan also found the double tree for the marathon cart, up in her barn above the tack room behind a bunch of other junk. Getting into that tack room was a chore, we had to go through the back of the barn and the old man had been a hoarder and never got rid of anything. 

This harness came with it and I'm sure they had it connected incorrectly, I *think* that strap behind the tug isn't supposed to be connected to the breeching. It doesn't matter, I'm going to put the wooden cart back together and put this harness with it and sell it as a set.

I found this cart online Thursday and we went to see it that night, and I paid her $100 down to hold it. 

We went back Friday to pick up the cart and at that time Lan asked if we could buy this lean-too for $100 and she accepted. 

So we returned Saturday to get that. That's when Lan found the biothane harness and I took it because the cart came with a harness, which I didn't take. I did find another saddle & didn't take it but should have. Oh well.

Paying $100 for this lean too was crazy as the panels are at least $200 new, they have no rust and are heavy duty. There are 3 panels, plus the roof is in good enough shape to reuse. One roof panel is broke and I think we need to replace it with a center strip of clear or opaque so we have more light in it. 

We are planning on putting the cart and Kenny under this lean too, behind the barn.

 

Feeling Better

 I'm feeling better about my recent life decisions. I KNOW Ambleside won't be ready to go on a 2 week trek across the state, I'm not going to be ready and I don't feel like Lan is too excited about it. Even as I was planning on the ride, I was dreaming of being in Pioche and working on the house.

I've started watching a LOT of YouTube renovation channels, there and thousands to choose from. What to do in a bathroom, what not to do in a kitchen, how to change this for that, how to make this better or hide that. It's all available at the tips of our fingers. Most of the people are flippers and I'm really not interested in their cheap changes, I really like watching the people who are going to live in their homes once they are finished. 

Janna Phipps has been great, for a young girl she's fun to watch and her disposition is funny. She can take a down turn and make it UP. She can cry and then sees the bright side.

In other news...

I have paid for 1/2 a beef and we should be able to pick it up in a couple weeks I guess. I'm not asking for them to do anything extra, mostly steaks. I'll be glad to not have to go buy hamburger at the grocery store.

Amble and I will be having another driving lesson with Stephanie, she will be here in an hour. She texted that she wants to drive Amble in her halter and since I did that myself last week I know Amble will be OK with it. I might need to use a better halter, her regular one has squared metal side thingys and the long lines don't hold onto it well.   I just grabbed one of the leather halters thats been hanging on Bucking Brown and washed it up really quick, that might work.

I need to go open the gate for Stephanie, take some boxes out to the barn for her and sweep the barn aisle. I'm looking forward to this lesson.

Friday the 13th, 2026

 I thought we could just sit at home & avoid any bullshit today but 

NOOOOO, 

bullshit came to our door, quite literally, via USPS.

On February 2nd, I complained to my boss about my back hurting so I got off work early and I went directly to a chiropractor. He doesn't do L&I claims and told me DO NOT tell them you saw me at all, so he is now out of the equation.

The next week my supervisor encouraged me to fill out a 'Green Packet', our departments on the job injury paperwork. You fill it out, turn it in and when you go to a doctor they give you a claim number. I found a chiropractor who does L&I and I've seen him about 4-5 times already. Meanwhile, I got a letter saying L&I WOULD cover my injury. Now, today, on FRIDAY THE 13TH, I get a shit-ton of letters from L&I saying they are reviewing my claim and might not cover it.

My boss told me LOTS of people in our business get this exact injury and that's why she wanted me to fill out the green packet. She thought I'd be out of work for a long time but I came back on my next scheduled day because I don't have an unlimited amount of PTO and I certainly wouldn't want to waste it on a work injury.

Heres a photo I took of one of the many xrays the doctor took, this shows how my hips are rotated, the left one looks smaller and my butt crack isn't in line with my tail bone. 

I didn't get a photo of the head so I borrowed one from the internet, this one has teeth missing, lol.

The head xray of me was awesome and next time I go see him I'll ask if I can get a photo of it.

And, in horsey news, I have received the neck strap retainer strap attachment that goes to the saddle on Amblesides harness and I have ordered the noseband hangers, the new crupper and a browband. I bet that fucker doesn't work or is too big or whatever. with the amount of money I have had to pay for all these new/missing parts & pieces to the harness, I could have ordered a brand new custom Comfy Fit harness made FOR AMBLE from Chimacum Tack.

I've also had to order about $300 of parts for the wooden cart.

Jerald Cart

I'm putting a little effort into fixing up the Jerald easy entry cart I've got. It was supposed to fit Amble but its way too small, it's for a 14hh horse, not a 15.2hh one.

this first photo is a google image and how mine is supposed to look.

Heres mine now

I sanded the pieces a little, so it would accept the new clear coating. 

I'm pretty sure with about 4 coats that it will look just short of amazing, for it. The boards have 1-2 coats on each side, the shafts have 3 on the back, just 1 at this end.

I've ordered & received most of the small parts it needs to make it complete and I'll still need more, I'm sure. I bought a new singletree (which needs a few holes in it) and a cross bar (which needs to be shortened) but I didn't stain either and I also didn't sand them and I think you can tell with the cross bar but oh well. I'm not going to have it any longer than I need to.

In other news, the beautiful saddle I bought for Amble has been sold for $1,000 (I had $1,300 into it & never used any of the pieces) and the consignment store gets to keep I think 20% so I'll get a nice check to put toward a marathon cart <- IF Teresa and Will have one to sell me. 

Today I had another lesson with Staphanie but I went to the barn where her 2 mini's are living and I drove Bo. Hes a skinny little guy, has a disease that took all his front teeth but they all get the BEST vet care available.

These are Laddie, the mini I gave her in 2018 and Bo, the little guy with no front teeth. Sweet boys.

Stephanie dolled them up and I took photos for her & she ChatGPT'd this photo.

 

Motivation

I'm trying to stay motivated, trying to keep the house in order and actually clean it up some. I took an extra day off yesterday and got the kitchen clean and started on a couple piles on the kitchen table. My house is not a pig sty, but with both of us working full time during the short days and we easily let things go and it ends up taking a full day once a month to get it in order again.

I am going to bring the horse cart up to the patio and begin taking it apart to sand and refinish it. 

I do need to take more photos too.

 

Dirty Feather

 Black Orchid Ambleside

Shes got a lot of feather but thankfully not as much as so many Gypsys. It's enough to be impressive and gorgeous but at the same time not too heavy and cause problems.

On Thursday we're going to have a visitor, Stephanie will be coming over to help me get our harness sorted, the biothane harness I purchased for $900 & had shipped here from southern California. I know its got 3 pieces missing, 2 of which are the ones that will attach it to the cart. Stephanie is also going to be teaching me how to drive, since Amble already knows how to be driven.

The photo above is Amble with semi clean feather and tail, which this IS NOT a current thing. She hasn't had them washed off in quite some time and I do not want them dirty when Staphanie arrives. So on Wednesday afternoon, after I get home from work, I am going to give them a good washing.

I will be taking the Dawn dishwashing soap to the barn with me and I will follow directions I have had written down and attached to my computer monitor for over 10 years.

1. Wash tail

2. Condition.

3. Soak in white vinegar

4. Using Dawn, wash feather, deep down to her skin, watching for anything in there that might irritate her or cause concerns.

5. Wash, rinse, condition again

6. Leave in conditioner, aka Cowboy Magic

I'll leave her overnight in her stall with a deep bed of shavings. In the morning they will be dry and fluffy and as long as there were no issues noticed while washing, I will brush them out let her hang out in the arena till noon, when Stephanie arrives.

In November I had the riding instructor over to give ME a lesson & Amble bucked her off. I do not know if that was due to an ill fitting bit since I have a 5.5" and need a 6" or if it was the saddle not fitting properly. So I have ordered a saddle pad with shims. 

This is a dressage pad but I am hoping it will work with she short western saddle. I could not find any in a pony length.

Black Orchid Ambleside

This was the trucks maiden voyage with the camper and I'm happy to say it did OK.

We got a late start and arrived at the area we like to boondock well after dark, so it was a bit difficult to find a spot. We did check out Kaner Flats but it wasn't on the river side of the road, and they wanted $10 to camp and I almost paid $40 because it was dark & didn't notice till the next day that I had put two 20's into the payment envelope. It's a good thing we didn't stay at that campground.

So this is the view we woke up to.

Our morning lesson with Amble turned into an afternoon lesson so we had 6 hours to use. Lan decided we should go check out Boulder Cave (it's only $5) and after the Ranger said it's reservation only, he said there was an opening so took our money and let us go in. There were only 2 other families there the whole time. It's a short cave, maybe 100 yards long and pitch-black inside. Its got bats but we didn't see a single one, since we forgot to take flashlights and my phone light sucks. But we still enjoyed the trek.

This little guy was on the hand rail of a walkway and we're sure he was trying to not get eaten by the Garter Snake that was hanging out below him. We left them both alone.

And, at 3pm, we got to see Amble. 

I got to drive my own horse!!!!!

I have a long way to go with driving but I hope I don't do her, or me, any harm. I definitely need to begin to use weights, my arms and hands were sore after I was done. And my feet were tired after being on the back of the cart for most of the hour from leaning to the outside of every turn.