TGIF Stuff

An absolutely beautiful weekend in store, and I hope I remember it all. Our routine will see some dramatic change this weekend. For one thing, at least one of us will have to stay up past 9:30-10 p.m. tonight. Annie and two of her friends are driving over from Seattle. They'll arrive around 11 p.m.

We'll yak until midnight, then go to bed, hope for sleep and arise early tomorrow to go our separate ways. In my case, Laurie will come over with her pickup and horse trailer. Lily and Lefty will load up, and we'll head for Spokane.

Annie and her friends have hiking on their schedule. It's possible Bill can lure them to the new Fish and Game public access sites for some geocaching to go along with the hiking. We'll all converge on the house again in the evening and talk about the day while feasting on Second Avenue Pizza---a required staple at the Lovestead during kid visits.

Early Sunday morning, the girls will pack up, say good bye and head into Spokane for the annual Bloomsday run. Then, it's back to Seattle for them. In the meantime, I'll be going through withdrawal---withdrawal from the speedy kid visit and withdrawal from the usual morning nickers in the barn. I'll be thinking about how the two horses are behaving and what they're learning at their home away from home.

Will Lily be kicking the side of her stall every time meal time comes? Will she scare whoever feeds her with those ears flat back on her head and that mean look in her eyes? I fell for that for a while, but figured out later that's just Lily. Although not a pussycat, she's got a good supply of bluff, except for when you try to clip her muzzle and her ears. Whatever behavior elicited at those times is for real and in need of a healthy respect for her powerful potential.

I'm hoping the box stalls at the Spokane Equestrian Center are padded because if there's a way for little Lefty to remove large patches of hide, he'll find it. Occasionally, my sisters have suggested that he should have been named "Patch." This week he did the grand poopah of all patches. It's about four inches long and two inches wide, and it extends up the bottom of his neck. Even though it's right out front where everyone can see, it's downright "butt ugly," as some folks like to say.

I combed every inch of his stall a couple of times trying to find a clue as to how he so masochistically damaged his otherwise beautiful reddish mocha hair coat. No clues. Usually I can find that errant chunk of hide in the spot where the injury occurred. Not this time. I'm figuring he knew how upset I'd be when I saw what he'd done to himself, so I'm guessing he ate it.

Anyway, the hope is that the hide and hair will grow back by Memorial Day weekend when he's supposed to look as pretty as possible for two Arabian shows in Spokane. Heads and necks on Arabians are everything, so when a young colt comes in with a big raw patch on his neck, that doesn't impress a judge.

Well, anyway, it will be quiet in the barn Sunday morning. No stalls to clean, no hay or grain to feed. Certainly a feeling of emptinest with kids and horses gone. If all goes according to plan, however, three old four-legged gals from the Tibbs farm will soon come to take Lily and Lefty's places for a while.

One of them will even be rideable, which will be nice for me. I have really missed saddling up and climbing on a horse. In fact, it's been almost a year since I took Rambo on his last ride down Center Valley Road. A few weeks later, I saddled up Casey to pony Lily around the barnyard. He died a few days later.

There is a lot popping this weekend, and, for sure, with the sun and warmer weather, the grass will grow. So, the lawnmowers will be seeing their engines revved up for the 2008 onslaught.

With that in mind, I'd better head off to my "places to go" and attend to my list of "things to do." Have a great Friday.