This place I live

I woke up this morning and as I was somewhat expecting, my body hurt in places I forgot I had. The root cause of this is yet again the beautiful Buttercup.  

It has been raining here for too long. Being that it was a gorgeous day yesterday, I decided to tackle all the outside chores. So, the trash that has blown/washed into the pond finally got picked up, the firework remains from New Years got cleaned up, the 9, 450, 678,092 Airsoft bb's that the boys have shot since Christmas got swept off the driveway and back porch, the 6 dead birds found mysteriously laying sporadically throughout the yard got tossed into the woods for proper disposal, the dog's kennel got cleaned out, the 4 gas cans that were left down in the back pasture after Jason aka Heatblast decided to burn it all assuring it will produce better grass for Buttercup in the spring were picked up and put away, the 500' plus of water hose that he used to "maintain" the fire was rolled up and put back in the proper places in the front yard and last but not least it was time to tend to Buttercup.

Now I guess I should tell you that I have "an attire" for any and all yard work that is done here in the country, a pair of almost knee high camo Muck (duck hunting) boots. They are water, poop, brier and snake proof! This is a MUST whether you are on the front of the property or down in the back pasture. My nephew Nick was even taken to the local Farm Supply for his own pair that stay here for when he comes. These boots are worn, spring, summer, fall and winter.  Now in the warm months it doesn't really matter cause you're in shorts, but I learned the hard way that they serve no purpose on the inside of your pants, so they are worn with the pants legs tucked in. So there is none of this sexy desperate housewives stuff going on out here in the yard, it is simply pure desperate country wife stuff here. Besides the boots being very hot in the summer, the only other downfall I have discovered is that the fact that they are rubber makes them very slick after it has rained. Hence leading into my story about Buttercup.

As I said it has been yucky and rainy for the past couple weeks. Buttercup hasn't gotten to get out and play much as a result. Keeping in mind that she is still a baby, she is very playful. So, I put her halter on and then a lead rope and we set out for the front yard to her favorite spot under the old black walnut tree. In order to get there, we have to go downhill. Keeping in mind that the fence is still not fixed and that I have already learned my lesson that she is NOT this sweet little thing that will stay beside me and not run straight out into the road if I let her go, she has to stay on the lead. It is pretty typical for us to do 15 circles to keep her from rearing up or taking off before I can tie her up to the lung and let her run. However, being that it was as slick as crap, I spent most of the journey yard skiing behind her. I did manage to get her to stop long enough to get back on my feet before she turned and went straight onto the front porch where all the Christmas lights that I had just taken down were sitting. Why in the world would a horse walk up steps to a front porch? That is just insane!! Needless to say, things didn't get much better as she began stepping on the lights and they began to go off as rapid as gun fire in war. The only thing I could think about was having to explain how the front windows got broken and why there were muddy hoof prints all in the house. Luckily, she decided to run the other way. After finally getting her tied off to the lung line and collecting myself, I headed for the stall. Now even though her stall is covered and has sides, rain still manages to blow in, so after several days of rain, it was a mess. Being that I was stubborn and brought her before the pasture was ready, she is up close to the house. This means I have to wheelbarrow all the crap from the stall down to the pasture to throw out. Normally this is not a big deal. Well, being that my arms felt like rubber, you know that feeling they have after you've been water skiing all day, the wheelbarrow was hard to maneuver. Not to mention that the ground was so wet that I was sliding everywhere and the wheel was sinking in the ground. I finished just in time to get JJ from school. (Noah was with his dad.) After I picked him up, I took him down to see his grandma (Jason's mom) and great grandma who is 86 and going through radiation.  

Today I took a few minutes to sit out on the dock and look out over the pond at this beautiful place where I live and say to myself that it's all worth it.