Today my grandpa came over and said there was a sick lamb that couldn't get up. He figured she'd be dead soon. I did my chores then went to check on her. She was really weak and thin. She had a big belly though...so I figured she had a bad case of worms. When I got to her she could stand if you picked her up, then she fell after a few minutes. So I brought her over, made a little pen in the barn, gave her probiotics, powerpunch then set her up with hay and water in her reach. She started stitting up on her own and kind of crawling around. She's eating like crazy now and I'm sure she'll live. It'll take a few weeks to get her back up to strength, but then she'll be find. I named her Phlox. Grandpa gave her to me 'cause she would have died other wise. I don't know if I'll keep her or not....I might just sneak her back into his herd! She sure is cute. Of course...I say that about every lamb I rescue! There is something about a helpless sick lamb...that must be why Jesus used sheep as illistrations so much. I'll have to get a picture of her up soon.
I took Smoke for a ride and now I'm going to work on my book. We might go to a horse/tack auction later...we'll see.
I'm listening to my celtic music while I'm writing this. I love celtic music!! I guess that's the Irish in me!
I picked up my quilts from the quilt show on Thursday...I won a doorprize! It was a book on five minute quilt blocks...should be interesting to look through.
I hope everyone is enjoying this lovely bright, sunny weather we're having!
Lauren

I'm more than half done typing the second book up. I'm on Chapter 13...The Last Clue.
Here's a sneak peak!!
When she entered the house, she heard loud, angry
voices coming from the library. Curious, she stole quietly down the hall,
pausing just before the library door. She recognized Harry's voice. "What do you
think you're doing coming here?" he was asking. "You want them to see you?" "You said to meet you here." another voice said in reply. "Come on. I meant in secret like in the garden." Harry sounded annoyed. "Well, if you're not happy with the situation, tell me what you wanted so I can leave!" the other man responded harshly. Amy flattened herself against the wall and held her breath. "Those kids are on to the treasure." Harry said. "How do you know that?" The other man asked. "I just know." Harry growled. "I can just smell trouble from those kids."
"That's just lunch cooking." Harry's companion said lightly. "Owww!" he
exclaimed suddenly. "Quit hitting me, Harry!" "Be quite, Evans, if you know
what's good for you! Now will you listen to me?" Harry exploded. "Evan's!"
Amy thought. "Wonder why Harry told him to meet him here." "I'm all
ears." Evans said then. "You got any idea how to slow these kids down?" "No, but we'd better figure something out quick." Harry said. "This Amy is the one who helped get my uncle put in jail! He told me how clever she is. She's the one
we'll have to watch out for. I was hoping you'd have some ideas." "I'll think about it." Evan's said. Amy heard a chair scrape against the floor as someone got up. "Meet me at the shack…" The voice was coming near the door. Amy turned and ran quickly down the hall and stepped into the drawing room. Breathlessly she waited until the sound of footsteps died away, then she got the scissors and hurried outside. 
Sorry! You'll have to wait to find out more!!
Today is was kind of snowing/sleeting early this morning but the sun came out this afternoon and it warmed up a little.
Two of Levi's bunnies had babies yesterday. One of them, MiMi, had four but three died and Boo had two. Both made it to this morning, then one died. He's already got both sold.
We have a mother fox that has her babies in our pasture every year. They are so much fun to watch! I saw them out playing yesterday morning. She has at least three this year. Here is a picture of the ones from last year. I snuck out early in the morning and got some pictures of them playing.
Hope everyone is enjoying this lovely spring weather!
Lauren

Yesterday I went on a ride by myself, Mom and Dad didn't want to go but today Mom went with me. We went on the dirt back roads at the back of the farm. She rode Bannie because Smoke is too high headed for her. We went 5 miles. That's the most I've ever gone in one ride. Anyway, they both did very well...Bannie wanted to keep wandering all over the road. Usually Smoke is very hard to control, she'll keep trying to trot or turn around....she did really well today. Most of the time I could ride on a loose rein. I can't wait to start competing with her!!
It is really warm today. The kids were going barefoot and in short sleeves. Now, Dad, Seth, Levi, Grandpa..and maybe Uncle Greg, are heading up to the auction hall to put the plastic on the greenhouse. We put up the greenhouse to give us more room to store things. It was too windy to do it last week. I'm in the house doing this, and Mom and Lydia are going fishing.
It is so nice to see green again instead of brown or white!! The pastures are growing and the lawn is almost long enough to mow! Levi rotatilled the garden today and wanted to spiketooth the roundpen, but I told him it was too wet.
Alright, I've gotta go make supper.
Lauren

Spring might be here!! I think I've said that about 10 times!! This time I think it's supposed to stay warm. Today and tomorrow it will be around 50.
Yesterday, Dad took me to the Orchard horse auction. We watched the auction for a little while, then watched the competition. It was cow penning instead of sorting this time. The penning uses three riders instead of two. We decided we like the sorting better. It's more fast paced and more exciting to watch. I saw a lot of people there I knew and it was a lot of fun. 
The boys went to the Argyle auction with Uncle Greg. It is usually really muddy but they said this year was the worst. You would be walking along and sink up to your knees! One poor guy was walking fast in a hurry and stepped into a rut that was just mud soup. He fell flat on his face, his glasses and hat went flying and his boots and socks got pulled off in the mud! Two other guys pulled him out and set him a chair. That had to be cold! He is a customer at our auction. Seth got to bid call and ring most of the day. They both had fun.
Mom had fun on her girls day out to the goat conference.
Yesterday Lydia and I stayed home. I worked on my book, cleaned the goat barn, moved the bucks to a different pen and lunged Bannie, then went to the auction. It was nice to relax and have fun.
The guys got all the water out of the basement. Looks like it won't be as big a mess as we thought thankfully. We got a new sump pump and it is working fine.
Today, after we do church, I'm hoping to go for a long ride. The sun is shining and it's nice out. I'll try to convince Mom or Dad to go with me. If Mom goes I'll have to ride Smoke. She doesn't like to ride her.
Mmmm.....lunch time!!
Lauren

It has been raining like crazy. When we got home today, we found knee-deep water in the basement. The sump pump motor had burned out. Now the guys are down there with an immersion pump (or something like that!) and they are pumping the water out. Then we'll have a big mess to clean up after they are finished. So goes life!!
Yesterday I took Bannie for a ride again. He went on a loose rein for a little, then as we started home, he tried to speed up agian. So, we did alittle work. We  would trot down the trail toward home with the reins loose. The minute he sped up, I would tighten the reins until he slowed down. Then I'd stop him with the one rein stop, at first he didn't want to stop smoothly, but by the time we finished he was doing it well. Anyway, when we'd trot then stop, I'd flex him, then turn around, the direction he didn't want to go, and we'd lope on a loose rein unless he sped up. We kept practicing that until he was really smooth. He learned alot and I enjoyed myself.
I've been typing the second book up. I'm on Chapter 10...The Clue. I'm on Chapter 2 in the third book. I really like the plot for this book....it's going to be so much fun to write about!!
Lately I have been having trouble keeping sweet, so my prayer is "Lord, give me a singing heart today." My goal is to be as sweet as Amy....she is the girl I wish to be and she is really sweet!!
Alright, gotta get back to work!!
Lauren

That's right. Yesterday it was in the 70's and Thurday it's supposed to snow! We were going barefoot yesterday, the first time of the year, and I took Bannie for a trail ride. As we rode along the woods, I cued him to trot. Normally when I tell him to trot, he goes into it very stiff and jerky, then tries to take off. This time, he made the transition smooth and quiet, then stayed in a steady trot on a loose rein without trying to speed up. I was surprised. Usually he is pulling on me constantly and I have to keep a tight rein on him, which he hates. He was doing really well, so I decided to try a canter. He went off real smooth and loped along on a loose rein and with his head down. Now, I have NEVER loped him on a loose rein before except this last week in the round pen. But here we were, out  in the middle of the field, and he was just as smooth as you please. Then I decided to try something else, the one rein stop. This is something you have to train into horses, they don't understand it automatically. I took the slack out of the left rein and he stopped!! We did trotting and loping for about an hour on a loose rein. It was amazing! Dad says he thinks Bannie knows all this stuff, he just figured he could get away with acting up because I didn't know what I was doing. Now that I'm figuring it out, he knows the games up.
After we got back, I turned him and Smoke out into the larger pasture across the road. They are having a blast with all the extra room to run around. This Saturday I plan to do the GaWaNi Boy round penning relashanship training with Smoke. I think she'll respond well and it will certainly help our communication.
We're at the auction hall today for take in for consignments. We'll be here through Friday.
I've been working on my diamond quilt and it's half done now. I'll probably lay it aside for the summer and pick it up again next winter.
Lunch break is over! Time to get to work.
Lauren

Today, after we got home from pick up at the aucion hall, I took Bannie out to work with him in the round pen. I started out by lunging him. He kept slowing down when he got near the gate so as he passed by it, before he could slow down, I'd turn up the intensity of my cues, so he didn't get a chance to disobey. Then I tried to work on a new method of bending I learned...didn't get too far on that. He is so tall and I'm so short :) so I couldn't get the pressure I needed. Plus he only had a halter on instead of the bridle. Then I decided to ride him. I hadn't been intending to ride. I didn't want to get the saddle so I just threw the bridle on and jumped on bareback.  We walked around a few minutes, then I stepped in up to a trot. This was the first time I was able to trot bareback without holding on to his mane. I had a few near spills but managed to catch myself. He kept running me into the fence on the gate side of the pen and swerving away from the fence on the opposite side, so I started pushing him to the fence one way, and cutting it off the other way. He figured it out pretty quick! Then I decided to try the bending (or flexing) mounted. I worked on it for awhile and eventually, he would touch his rib cage with his nose with little encouragement. One problem I've been having alot of trouble with is that he is very heavy on the turns. He wants to swing his whole body instead of planting his hips and swinging his shoulders. Since I got him light in his face and neck, he actually planted his hips a few times and turned light and quick!!! I was really excited! We've got a few more hurdles to work through but I think we're finally getting somewhere. He got spoiled when we finished!! Fresh hay and a blanket. He was sweaty and I didn't want him to get chilled. It's in the forty's but there's a bit of a breeze. Smoke's turn is next. I have to do the roundpenning with her. That takes about 3 hours, then I have some finer details of her training I want to work on. She really is a sweet girl and will make a fine horse with a little bit more training. She just turned 16 on April 6th and Bannie turned 18 on the 9th. You couldn't guess either of thier ages by looking at them!! We won't tell Smoke we know her age!!
It's been cold and raining here. Our property value just went up...we have lake front property!!! Ther is huge puddles of water everywhere. Hopefully it's about over. The farmers are anxious to start planting but the fields are too wet still. One farmer said he was planting corn on the 15th of March last year! Not this year!
I've been working on getting the second book in the computer. I'm on chapter 9...Light in the Night. Hmmm....are you curious?!
Got to get back to work on it.
Lauren

It has been raining like crazy the last few days. There are huge areas full of water. It sure would be fun to go on a gallop throught them!! I haven't had a chance yet, I doubt Bannie would do it anyway without a lot of coaxing.
We had more chicks hatch. Mama banty and her daughter, Baby banty are both sitting on the nest!! They had so many eggs, 15, that they couldn't all fit under on chicken so they did double duty! Last I heard, 3 had hatched. Mom also has some in the incubater. I think they're due to hatch sometime next week. The little  banty's are so tiny and cute!!
It's finally been alittle warmer the last few days. Hopefully it'll stay warm and dry out some of the mud.
Today is preview at the auction so Dad and I are at the hall. The auction is closing tonight then Friday and Saturday we'll all be here for pickup. It'll be a busy couple of days. Then we're going to try to set up the next auction in 3 wks instead of the usual 4. It'll be a busy time!!
Lauren

Well, I finally finished the second book! Yea! I've already started on the third one. I'm really excited about the plot for this one. Should be alot of fun to write about.
Dad planned a big surprise for me on Saturday...I got a ROUND PEN!! That's right...I've been wanting one for a really long time, but he surprised me!!! We set it up and rode in it that same day. It is soooo nice!!! A round pen is not necessary but it certainly is helpful!. There is a sorting competition near us and I'm thinking about going. Smoke is really good at it. The day we got the round pen(it's a 60 footer) we put two of the cows in it and I went at it!!! It was really fun! Smoke just flew around, cutting the cattle off and whipping around. I stayed with her and started getting the hang of it. I almost fell off once, but caught myself. So it looks like Bannie will be my trail horse and Smoke will be my competition horse. I was hoping to go riding today but it's pouring outside. Guess that won't be happening. 
My mom convinced me to enter the two baby quilts in our local quilt show. Mom, Lydia and I went there yesterday. There were a lot of quilts! It was a spectacular sight.  
Well, back to work! I hope everyone is staying well.
Lauren