Wednesday streaming . . . .

Nothing major on the mind this morning; just a lot of trivial thoughts.  It's a rainy day, so a little stream of morning consciousness seems appropriate.

My horses went to Pasture No. 1 today after almost two weeks in Pasture No. 2.  The main reason:  I did not want to get really wet while leading them down the lane. 

In each of the three trips,  the entrance to Pasture No. 1 inspired some curiosity.  Indeed, something was different.

Horses, I believe, are the most astute creatures on earth when change---any level of change---takes place.  

For example, if I'm a minute or two late getting outside each morning to put them in the pasture, I hear about it.  If part of the manure pile has moved to another location, they stare at the pile in wonder.

This morning they dealt with a rather dramatic change.  The entrance to the pasture was pretty much the same, but the side of the shed which had originally been on the north side of a fence was now fenced off on the east.

All the junk that had sat in that enclosure for five years was gone, except for a stack of wood along the wall.  Let's hope that stays untouched until we can haul it away.

Now, instead of half a shed for escaping the elements---which in the past meant that just two and one-half horses could squeeze under the roof---Lily, Lefty and Heather have a full shed with a fence and automatic waterer between.

Life will be good for them today as they take breaks from grazing and the rain.  That's all thanks to Bill's work over the past week of tearing out the old, falling-down fence and putting in some nice new boards.

Of course, my first thoughts are of how soon those boards turn into munchies. 

~~~~Along the lines of farm animals, Bill and I are beaming this morning about one of our Lovestead menagerie.  

Miss Kea:  Cow Dog Supreme.

Until last night, we could not brag much about our herding dogs who've had more than enough experience with coffee cans and cats but no farm animals.  

Last night we noticed a few calves from next door in our far pasture.  By the time, we walked to the hay field, they had moved to the hay field also. Another was making its way through the fence, aimed at joining the visitors.

We had Kea and Kiwi with us.  On a past occasion Kiwi ran the other way when I told her to get Gary Finney's visitors out of our yard.

So, we weren't counting on her talents; however, we hardly needed to coax Kea, our resident patrol dog,  to go to work. 

Permission granted, she ran so fast through the fast-growing, tall hay that she fell on her nose.  She wasted no time getting up and taking off again, first racing toward the "almost" intruder and ordering it to get the heck back where it belonged.

The calf complied.

Then, she turned toward the herd of three.

Within 30 seconds, the job was done, slick as a whistle, and I didn't even need a whistle.  Once the calves were back on their side of the fence, I yelled for her to come back, which she did. 

Kea received all sorts of accolades as she raced back to us. 

The whole scene almost made me want to buy some cows just to watch her in action again.  Total natural ability.  It was impressive, to say the least.  

Love those Border Collies---even more. 

~~~Today's rain will allow me to get some of my indoor work done.  I have a story to finish writing and a speech to work on.  

My story will focus on geocaching via horseback, and I'll use the Schoonover family of Western Pleasure as my main interviews.   

In addition, a few geocachers from different parts of the world have also given me some suggestions for where horseback riders might want to search for caches.  

Tomorrow Jeralyn and I will get together to collaborate on a speech SHE will be presenting at the Women of Wisdom gala.  Our subject Myrt Burnett provides enough wonderful material that it will be difficult to squeeze it all into four minutes, but we'll do our best.

Anyway, the rain is welcome.  If the sun were shining, I would have a difficult time spending much time inside.

~~~Oh yeah, one other item on the agenda today.  I read on Facebook this morning that Big R is opening its doors today.   It's now one of the closest retail stores to our Lovestead (just down the road on HWY 95), and it deals with farm products. 

So, you can be sure, I'll be down there checking the place out.  

~~~Looks like a full agenda, so I'd better call it a day here at Blogger Central.  Happy Wednesday.