Welcome to Fern Valley

Here in central Alberta prime farm country,my husband Martin and I work together raising beef cattle and Appaloosa horses. Fern valley appaloosas have long been known for their quality of temperament conformation and color.I have recently rediscovered a love of writing and have published 2 collections of poetry. "Telling Tails" and Tails Trails and Campfire stories" . I look forward to a future spreading my wings as an author and as a horse woman .

Monday 23 January 2012

Warming up

The sun finally came out and gave us a break yesterday ! Which was much needed after this little cold snap we had ! Saturday Martin and a friend of ours installed a new pressure tank  for the house ! what a relief not to hear the pump kick in 20 times every time we use water!
In the process though we had to turn off the water to the farm, and ,we did have one waterer give us trouble .The float froze and it would not fill!.A couple  kettles of hot water fixed that !
The late in the day Dandy's new owner showed up to take him home . It went reasonable well all things considered. The footing was , well is poor , and it was dark, we actually wound up backing the trailer into he barn and building a bit of a ramp. Dandy was willing but due to the footing he got a little rattled. once we got him on comfortable footing and in the light he went right in. I think he will do well, as cold as we all were , his new owner ,maintained her composure , and patience. She did let me know he travelled well and she already loves him !

As you can see Sunday (yesterday ), was a much  brighter warmer day. So of course another waterer froze up!???This one has been the bane of my existence for years , and if you don't manage it exactly right it will do this . I think we have it fixed again , but time will tell. Might be time to just bite the bullet and replace it !
Anyhow after all that I went for a little walkabout and got a few photos

The discovery of the Jolly Ball
Anyone free for a pass?
Go long Comet!
Cactus , hanging out in his lair
Do I need to  tell you who this is?
"What  are we doin' next dad?"
I have a few other posts brewing , one on the ever important issue of safety and also I received an award , I need to share. Meanwhile,
Stay safe and warm everyone !
Quick update! 
Lookit this! doing well and  learning to be a big horse already! 
Breanna  gave me permission to use this , hope she keeps the photos coming! Dandy has found himself a dandy gal! 

14 comments:

Country Gal said...

I hope things dont freeze up for ya again ! Awesome photos ! It is raining here and mild but will drop tonight, snow is gone but more snow tomorrow and mild then sun and warmer weather for the rest of the week ! Thats Canada for ya eh ! Have a good day !

Nicole said...

You always have such good photo ops! especially in the snow! What kind of camera do you use anyway?

GoLightly said...

LOL!! Go long.. snorkk. Thanks:)

OH, My Johnnnnnnnie, my mane man, lookit those ears, awwwwww!!!! That nose, that CHEST! Whatahunk.
sigh.
Thanks FV, I was going through some pretty severe Johnny withdrawal. Nick of time, as usual!
We seem to be having yet another bout of rain. weirD.
So glad Dandy has found his new Mom, and arrived safe and sound. Whew!
worry wart out.

Shirley said...

Sure does look like a lovely day; about time- you've been in the deep freeze long enough! The boyz are cute with the jolly ball.
I think that's the first photo of Phoenix I've seen where you can see both his pretty blue eyes.

Sherry Sikstrom said...

Nicole,I have 2 cameras , my point and shoot is a Panasonic Lumix DMCTZ4 (love love love that camera, they don't make them any more ,they make a similar one , but I lucked out when this one was acting up , and got a brand new one off Ebay dirt cheap, so I have a spare! yay , because the replacement model is double the price)My Other camera is a Canon Rebel T2i still getting used to it , I did use it for these shots but I have to think about it to take it out with me . The Lumix is always in my pocket .
And Shirley , that is the result of stealth photography! I snuck way around back then popped up like a gopher and called him

Janice said...

Just got caught up with you. Glad you are out of the deep freeze. Love the shots of the horses. Tex is like your Mare was, do and go anywhere that he was asked.I never thought about some of the things I asked him to do...scary. I look forward to your second book...I'm still wanting to order a calender...how do I do that ? should I e-mail you?

Laughing Orca Ranch said...

Farewell Dandy! You'll be missed. Enjoy your new home.

~Lisa

Reddunappy said...

Its so nice to know they have a good home! Glad Dandy found a wonderful person!!

On another note! our well pump quit today ;o/ going to get someone out tomorrow and see whats going on.

BrownEyed Cowgirl said...

She's already sitting (riding?) him?

What an awesome colt!! I sure missed out on that deal, but I think Dandy got the wayyy better end of the bargain!!

sally said...

Lovely photos and so nice to see the horses in the sun and snow ....fantastic to see Dandy being a good boy....well bred for sure!!!

GoLightly said...

Wow, amazing how quick one can break a colt, without any drama, isn't it..
Dandy has landed in horse heaven, with his own girl to love on him!

Thank you, Breanna, for letting us see the two of you together!

What a beautiful picture of happiness!

4RRanch said...

I always love the great appy pictures you share. I have an award to share with you, come pick it up at my blog.

The W.O.W. factor! said...

Glad you got to see the sun! No matter the temp, the sun always seems to warm things up! (Water 'issues' are my least favorite thigs about our winter climate! So far, this year...so good!)

Sherry Sikstrom said...

trusty old blow dryer did the trick on the waterer! I have had that thing 20 yrs and it has been in the barn for 18!