I went to “Savvy Support Club” at the Horse First Farm last night. This is held once a month and a chance for people who work with their horses using Natural Horse Training methods to meet and share information. Last night there was a speaker, Anke Johnson, who was to speak on “Squashing Fear and Building Confidence”. The talk was not at all what I expected but I took a lot away from it. Anke is a life coach but as she said, she can’t motivate any of us to do anything, it has to come from within and what she does is help people find for themselves what motivates them.

Things We Fear

Anke had us draw a large circle then divide it into 8 pieces (like a pie) then label each piece on the outer circle with something that we fear.
She then had us rate each area with where we are from zero to 10 with zero being the worst. Examples for me on the circle were “fear of injury”, “fear of not being in shape” enough to ride better, “not enough time” to do what I need then what I want, “losing skills/forward progress” with my horse due to winter weather and not enough time , etc. She then pointed out how if you improve even one baby step in one area you will see progress in the other. Note that at least two of my pieces of the pie related to “not enough time”.

Then she asked people how much time they could give this week to make one small step in just one of those areas. She asked one person how long it would take to make one small step where she wanted to improve (riding bridleless at a canter was her goal). She said she needed 2 hours this week to work on it. Anke asked her if she could divide this time into 30 min. slots but she felt that 30 min. was not enough time to catch and groom her horse let alone ride him. Anke then asked her how she could make that easier. After thinking she said if one of the workers on the farm would leave her horse in his stall she would have saved time by not having to catch him. Anke then asked her when she would work on this goal and made her pick a day and time. She then asked her to have a support person that would help her achieve her goal and someone to hold her responsible for taking this time with her horse. She then is to e-mail or call that person and say “I did it”.

Finding Time

I started to relate this to my lack of time when she asked me if I had 5 min. three times per day to work on one of my goals. When I hesitated and said maybe 5 min. twice a day she said she could see that would be too big of a step for this week. She assigned me to take 5 minutes 3 times in the next week and by next Thursday I am to e-mail her and tell her that I did it. Neat system and although I can’t afford her classes or coaching I am definitely going to try to break things down in my life to smaller steps so they don’t look so impossible.

Anke also mentioned that often with time management issues it is procrastination or not prioritizing. I know my biggest issue is time management and it affects everything I do which causes me stress. Finding a few extra minutes is not easy so when I find them it is a blessing and I want to make the most of them. So this a.m. the class I attend on Friday a.m.s was cancelled. I have a 40 min. drive each way to get there. I now have an extra 2 hours and 20 min. in my morning! I already have the barn cleaned, the hay thrown down from the hay mow to the stalls (enough for the next week!), was able to work with grooming the foster horses a little bit, another row of snow and ice chipped off my patio/deck area and my weekly blog post written (one of my goals is to write more often) and now I have the hot tub open and running waiting for me to finish this post as a special treat for myself (it is a “balmy” 30 degrees out today but no wind and the tub is well over one hundred degrees). Wow I feel great and it is only 10 a.m.!!

So where can you find some “stolen moments” to catch up on something in your life or do something you really want to? I hope you have success in finding some this week.

The assignment for a blogging class I am taking through lvsonline.com was to write a story using 6 words. Since my husband had a heart attack last month this has obviously been on my mind a lot of the time thus the above title. He has not had a cigarette in 6 weeks now and because we are in an area with lots of good medical care he is alive and well today. It was just a matter of choosing which hospital to have the ambulance take him to at which cardiologists immediately saw him and performed a cardiac cath hours later with another one done 10 days ago. Now it is up to him to follow through on no cigarettes, diet changes, taking his many medications and going to cardiac rehab. At this point I feel fairly confident he will succeed and make a full recovery.

Wishing all my readers a very Merry Christmas! My daughter and I are enjoying a warm Christmas with family in Florida while my poor husband holds down the fort in WI coping with snow, freezing rain, ice and now rain on the farm since we left. We really appreciate the opportunity to be with my family and are fortunate he is doing well enough to take care of things on the home front so we could come here.

Two days in a row now I’ve been able to slip a halter on Spice.
I tie it loosely then just let it slip back off. I have not put a rope on the halter yet and I put no pressure on it. I just give her a couple of treats then let it slip off again. I also was able to comb my fingers through her mane yesterday, also a first. Sugar remains very wary although I did touch her face briefly with the halter a couple of times.

A couple of Pat Parelli quotes help me remember that patience is a virtue with these girls and to stick with my slow approach. Pat says “Take the time it takes so it takes less time.” and “prior and proper preparation prevents poor performance particularly if polite and passive persistence is practiced in the proper position.”

Sugar and Spice are progressing well and are looking for the right home(s) that would continue to provide a patient, nurturing atmosphere. In return they have much to offer. I picture them being trained to pull a cart in time. If you are interested in adopting one or both please contact Spirit Horse Equine Rescue. There would be much support available to help you continue working with them.

As a homework assignment for a blogging class I read this article. “What is like breathing to you?” was the question put to the readers of Terry’s blog.

Breathing for me is my farm, my animals, my life in the country, riding my horse…….in the past 5 or 6 weeks I’ve had two really bad days at work. I’ve left being very upset. When I’ve left work upset I fight the city traffic and as I drive I fight to breathe. I just want to get away as quickly as possible. The minutes of my 18 mile commute put space between me and work and as I get closer to my farm I start to be able to take deeper breaths. I think to myself I’m almost home, I’ll be okay, I can relax and breathe again. I feel the tension in my shoulders start to fade. I turn onto my road and my breathing is easier, the tears are gone. I see my horses and mini donkeys in the pasture and work becomes a distant memory. I feel my blood pressure going down. I go to the fence and rub my horse’s neck and feel his warm breath on my face, I’m home…….I can breathe, I am at peace.

If I knew then, what I know now… is the topic for the LVS On-line Blog Carnival. There are always some things a person would like to change in their life. Sometimes you still can change the path you’re on, other times you can only move forward onto a different path.

When I saw the topic for the Blog Carnival a couple of things that I might have done differently in life came to mind.

First of all I would have gone to vet school instead of nursing school It is too hard to go back now after all these years as a nurse (33), being towards the top of the pay range, having seniority and established bills that need to be paid. I tried at one point — started taking some classes that I would need in addition to those I was given credit for from my BSN — but with a young daughter, debts, a job, and pending back surgery it just didn’t feel right. I’m okay with my chosen profession but I know I would have also loved being a vet and if I had another chance I wouldn’t let people talk me out of it.

The second thing that comes to mind as something I might have done differently had I known what was ahead was adopting our daughter. We do love her, but as a special needs child and now a special needs adult we will always be responsible for her which continues to put stress on my husband and I. I truly had no idea what was involved raising a special needs child. I would have talked to parents of special needs kids and adults and found out more about what we were getting in to. I never thought ahead to what would happen once she was grown up or that we might always be responsible for her. I didn’t realize we would have to be much more involved in her adult life than an average parent would be for their child once they were old enough to move out. I also did not anticipate the economy worsening causing budget cuts which have affected the hours staff can help with her needs, the job support she receives and the cuts to all of the programs she needs to enable her to live as independently as possible. Some will say I am horrible for thinking/writing this but I sometimes wonder if it might have been better to be childless. I remain committed to making sure she gets what she needs but sometimes this is a path it would be nice to jump off of!

Other things I wish I had known to do “then”:
When my grandparents were still alive I wish I had written down some of their stories about family and life when they were younger.
I wish I had labeled old photos with dates and names/places.
I wish I had made some different financial decisions.
And finally, I should have thrown out boxes and boxes of stuff when we moved 4 years ago; stuff that now sits in the garage. THAT is a path I can still change so once the weather warms up spring cleaning the garage is in our future!

My beautiful first champion Labrador Retriever and foundation of my breeding program, Champion Honorbright Legend of DMarsh TD, JH, RN, WC (Nessie to her friends) turned 14 years old today. She is the queen of the house and still very dignified. She does not have any major health problems — okay an accident in the kitchen on a day I am gone to work all day at times but that is very forgiveable. I think she enjoys her near deafness. She is also trained on hand signals as are most of my dogs but she chooses to ignore them when it is convenient. As she mosies off to sniff something else in the yard she conveniently looks away as I signal her to come! I am so happy to still have her with us.

Finally it is March and the light at the end of the long winter tunnel…….I was still suffering from “post traumatic stress” from last winter when the first winter storm arrived in November so this winter has seemed to go on forever but it’s March and that means SPRING!! The temperature doesn’t say “spring” this weekend with highs way below normal but at least it is light longer and the view isn’t all snow. The barnyard/outside agility area is a skating ring though courtesy of rain, melting snow then below freezing temps a couple of days ago so hard to picture the equipment up and classes running yet despite the inquiries.

The donkeys would not leave the barn the morning after the rain turned to ice. They are cautious and smart enough to know it is dangerous. It took Kent almost a half hour to convince them to go into a pasture and it wasn’t the one he wanted them to go into! Even the horses are treading quite carefully on the ice which I’m glad to see.

But it’s March so we can hopefully look forward to some better weather. In the meantime I’m going to Disneyland (World) and hoping when I get back winter will have left Wisconsin. In the meantime I plan to soak up enough Florida sun to last me until May!!!

When I last posted I was about to go on a quilter’s retreat for the weekend with the UFO club. Our annual retreat is called “Swiss Finishing School” as the retreat is held in a small town nicknamed “Little Switzerland” and everyone tries to finish up a project or two while there.

The slogan of the UFO Club is “Done is good.” I accomplished a lot this year finishing one quilt that was close to being done when I got there as well as finishing piecing a quilt top that I started over 10 years ago (the Bear Paws Quilt below). Others attending had similar successes.

Several of us went on a “field trip” to a quilt store a few miles away and with the help of others we picked out fabric to finish more of our UFO’s (UnFinished Objects) or our PhDs (Project’s Half Done). It always helps to have the input of others to help inspire us to finish projects we have started.

Here are photos from this year’s Swiss Finishing School. I can’t wait until next year’s but at least I have some inspiration to keep working on some current projects now.

After last winter I didn’t think it could get any worse. In fact I told people when the first snow fall hit here in Nov. that I was suffering from PTD from last year still. 100 plus inches of snow last year is being topped this year as we already have over 50 (season average is 49) and more coming tonight and next week.  Even more challenging is the extreme cold we are having this week.  It was minus 21 degree last night and at 11 a.m. it is still only minus 8 degrees.

Having dogs in this weather is enough of a challenge (don’t worry, they all live in the house and several have coats they wear when they go outside) — they barely want to go outside to pee so are definitely not getting the exercise they are used to.  They walk a bit then hold their feet up pitifully.  The pugs all huddle against the door a minute after they’ve gone out.  Then add in the horses and donkeys and we can’t escape being outside in these sub zero temperatures.

Yesterday the high didn’t get out of the minus digits.  All the area schools were closed yesterday due to wind chill warnings of up to 40 below zero and they are closed again today although winds are pretty calm.   Kent bought he and I face masks at the UW Bookstore yesterday (his office is right above it) which I can see will be helpful as I just used mine for the first time while I did barn chores.

The horses and mini donkeys are used to going out every day, rain or shine.  They have 3 sided shelters for when they are out but with these extreme temperatures and wind chills they could easily suffer frost bite, especially those donkey ears.  I have seen donkeys who have had their ears frostbitten and lost part of them so it won’t be happening to mine.  So they are getting a bit stir crazy as this is day 4 of these temps.  Yesterday I turned the horses out briefly when the temp almost made zero and it was at least sunny out.  They went crazy running, rearing, bucking and actually didn’t want to come in so I left them out for 2 hours.  This a.m. they made it out for about 10 min. while I cleaned their stalls, took a couple of laps and were ready to come back in.  The donkeys are divas and if you turn them out they usually stand by the barn door and bray to come in when it is like this outside so they pretty much have been captive in the barn since Monday and it’s Friday now.

We also have 2 barn cats, Gadget and Beauty, who I have been watching carefully for any signs of being chilled.  All the barn animals have heated buckets/bowls for water and we keep a lot of food out at all times when it is like this as digestion produces body heat.  Gadget and Beauty have blankets to lay on and often are laying in the barn window in the sun.  They have the most gorgeous, plush coats right now so they seem just fine although we have a contingency plan of bringing them into our basement should they seem to be suffering from the cold at all.