Weekend at Todd’s

During the week the weather continued to be poor.  I check the weather in the SacBee and on my Droid app, and the news.  Always keeping an eye out and realizing that it always seems to point to rain on the weekends.  What’s with that?!  Let it rain during the week when I’m at work!  Sheesh.

So of course, it was clear Monday and Tuesday and Todd was able to work Blu those two days.  But he wasn’t able to work him the rest of the week. The weather turned and it didn’t look promising for the weekend.

Sharon and I proceeded with our plans because a little rain wasn’t going to stop US. 

We arrived Saturday about 11am to find Todd with a growing houseful of guests.  It was a very sad occasion.  Todd’s friend who lives in the guest house was in the final stages of cancer.  His family was coming to visit. 

Todd was pretty busy, the weather wasn’t cooperating, and it all added up to a non riding day.  Back when we kept our horses at Moss Beach we used to spend many an hour cleaning stalls.  It really allows you time to think, and to clear your head.  In this case, even though it is usually something handled by Mike, Sharon and I spent Saturday afternoon grabbing the wheelbarrow and pitchfork and cleaning our boy’s stalls.  For me it gave me another opportunity to get to know my horse.  And gave him the chance to get to know me and know that he can keep eating, or whatever, while I’m in his stall with a pitchfork.

Maybe you have to love horses as much as I do to know how peaceful an afternoon like that can be?

When we’d done what we wanted at the barn, Sharon and I decided to go shopping for horse stuff.  The “brown barn” (aka L.A. Hearne Store) in Prunedale was our destination.  Two weeks in a row we’ve managed to find ourselves there.  Sigh.  The suffering! 

I got Blu a “Jolly Ball.”  Why?  Every day since Blu’s been at Todd’s his grain bucket (that hangs over his stall door) has been everywhere BUT on his stall door.  The first weekend I’d found it in his stall both days.  This weekend I was finding it in his paddock.  And Mike said he’s had to pick it up from his paddock too when he was cleaning.  So it seemed Blu would enjoy some kind of toy.  This weekend I decided to get him a Jolly Ball and I tied it to a rope hanging from the ceiling in his stall.  It wasn’t there 30 seconds when he started to play with it.  (Sorry the video is sideways.)

Once we’d gotten our shopping fix (which included a stop at the Ace Hardware to pick up a front door mat for the camper – we were tired of trekking mud into the camper in all this rain) we called our friends Diane and Dennis.  We’d not been to their ranch yet so we grabbed the opportunity and boy are we glad we did.  Their place is GORGEOUS!  10 acres, a barn (with rubber mats in the center isle – it’s a nice touch and I have to remember that if I ever build my own barn), lots of paddocks and pastures (they dug every fence post themselves), a dressage court, and a house that is mostly windows and looks out over it all (and a mud room with a ½ shower that is perfect for washing feet or – DOGS! – and a drive through garage that fits a truck with gooseneck horse trailer attached.  Holy ….um… cow!).  Wow!  It’s an understatement to say we enjoyed a great tour, meeting their horses, birds and dogs and spending a couple hours with them.

After a grand afternoon we went back to Todd’s.  We checked in with him, and since he was quite busy, Sharon and I took ourselves out to dinner at Jardine’s (again).  They were so great last weekend and they were so nice to us we just HAD to go back.  (oh yeah – and we had to have their salad dressing again!  YUM!)

Since we’re quite self sufficient in my camper, Sharon knew that bringing DVDs could be a great idea.  She brought a selection and gave me the pick.  I’d never seen “The Day the Earth Stood Still” – the 1951 version NOT the Keanu Reeves version!!! And with the rain pounding on the roof, the wind howling, and cocktails in hand, it was delightful!  But when that movie ended it wasn’t enough.  So we popped in “The Queen” with Helen Mirren.  (And in that “small world” theme I pointed out that we were at Santa Barbara showing our horses in 1997 when we found out Princess Diana died.  Actually I remember that I was walking into Nancy’s parent’s motorhome after a day showing and her parents told us Diana had been hurt in an auto accident.  We found out later that day that she'd died.  That is one of those day’s I’ll remember forever.)  And coming back from that walk down memory lane…..

We chatted and eventually fell asleep – and as usual in the camper we slept great!  (They should market Truck Campers to insomniacs)  We slowly awoke on Sunday morning to blue sky in the skylight.  Though I wondered out loud if the blue sky was only where we could see out the skylight (it was).

Yeah!  We’d be able to get the horses out!