I haven't blogged much about Ronin {the horse} lately.

Not for lack of drama in that area.  Just cuz I haven't had time and my brain falls apart when I start to think about him anyway.

I love having a horse.  I am so happy that I got back into riding/horse ownership.  I never thought I would after losing a horse right before college. And, I LOVE Ronin.  He's been as good of a horse as I could ever ask for, especially given that fact that he's a young, off the track, thoroughbred.

Well, he's been doing great with his show training.  He's got one rider now, who's been doing Pony Club with him and taking him to shows all over the Bay Area.  She's taking lessons from the same instructor who Roger and I both took lessons from, Ali, who has built quite a business in the last few years. Check her out at HC Equestrian.

Without Ali's help, we would have been up shit creek a LONG TIME AGO with Ronin. She's really taken a liking to him and made sure he has riders that are keeping him learning great things.  Can't thank her enough.

                                                             Photo courtesy of HC Equestrian



That said, there are some bummers.

We've had barely any time to spend with Ronin.  This is frustrating as a horse-lover, embarrassing as an owner, and not at all fair to him.

He's gone downhill in some areas.  He's become more of a lesson/competition horse and less of a trusting companion horse.  He's not fun to be around on the ground anymore.  In fact, last month I was unable to get him from his stall down the hill to the vet because of his rude behavior.  I'm not confident enough right now to lead him.  He walks all over me.

After a number of disappointing experiences, I asked Ronin's leaser to take lessons with Tracy Maurer, of Mon Ami.  Her work is amazing. She helped us with Ronin a while back and we needed her again. Luckily, Ronin was able to squeeze in a few ground manners lessons right before Tracy decided that she would no longer be giving private lessons since she will be pursuing competition barrel racing.....happy for her, not for us.

Anyway, those lessons still payed off for Ronin and his leaser.  Things are improving.

Still, we've made up our minds.  Ronin is going away for a while.  He'll be spending some time with my mom up in Petrolia.  An indefinite time.  Until we're ready to take him back.

I'm looking forward to what he'll learn there.  Although he won't progress as much in dressage or jumping, he'll get a lot of ground work that is much needed. He'll have pasture.  He'll have people doting on him all the time.  And hopefully, he'll be able to take part in helping others, as my mom is growing her therapeutic riding business.  I also feel that with the freedom of not having to figure out what to do with him while we're gone, we can go up to my parents' more often and visit him while we're there.

I have very mixed emotions about about sending him away.  I don't particularly like the feeling of losing him.  I don't like taking him out of the programs he's in now.  I worry that he'll get hurt in transport or things won't work out at his new digs. I worry that we'll never get him back :(

We're not the type of people to cop out on our animals.  Even though I don't think we are, it kinda feels like we are.  It's been a sad choice looming over us for the past 9 or so months.

But it's very apparent that taking care of him is too much for us right now and we have to think about what's best for everyone.  Besides selling him, {I die to think of it!}, I think this is the best option.  And thank goodness we have this option!

So by the end of May or early June, Ronin will be an absent member of our family.  We're planning to have him hauled up north and to follow behind.  This should be an interesting {and very slow}trip.  It's going to be the whole gang;  Me, Roger, Rowan, Trouble, Domino, Buddy, and Ronin.  A big family vacay!  Let's hope it goes as smoothly as it possibly can.

and I'm freaking out!

No, I'm not comforted by the fact that this is my second time around.  In fact, that might make it worse in some ways because I have some preconceived notions.  Last time I was pretty chillaxed since I had NO IDEA what I was getting into.  Now, I'm like...uh...crap....here I go again.

Plus, I've been totally lazy about getting ready.  Birth bag?  What?  Although I did make sure I have a few necessities easily accessible, ...in our house, not neatly tucked in a bag ready to go.  And here's what they are:

• My awesome slippers!  {those were the flippin' bomb!}
• Pads & adult diapers.  Yes, I sprung for the adult diapers this time. {TMI??}
• and Gatorade and Snickers...oh wait, I don't have those yet, shit.

As the date approaches, I'm finding myself extremely torn between wanting this little guy out of my belly and wanting to get some things done first!

For instance, I want to see The Hunger Games on Saturday.  Please, please don't come before Saturday!  {or on Saturday for that matter.  Especially not during the movie...please}. Otherwise, I'll end up having to watch it on Netflix.

But I also HATE being late.  If my mom is only coming for two weeks, I want to make the most of her time.  We can't be dilly dallying waiting for Trouble to make his grand entrance.

If Trouble knows what's best for him, he'll come right on schedule, just like our little Ro Bear did!

 Something tells me that's not very likely....

Look what we found on our doorstep this morning!

 We've done the CSA thing a couple times.

What's CSA?  Community Supported Agriculture.  Basically, local farmers provide produce weekly, which you pay {generally, a hefty price} to receive a share of.

I always enjoy getting the produce.  It's great to always have veggies {and sometimes fruits} available, and it feel right to support our local farmers. 

The drawback is, you typically end up with a LOT of the likes of kale and Swiss chard, especially towards the end of the season.  I've tried multiple recipes with these greens and never found something that I actually like to eat.  I usually just choke it down because we paid buco-bucks for the stuff!

Whenever people come around with sign-up sheets for these CSAs, we contemplate....and then ultimately decline due to the high $$$ tag and the inevitable kale overload.  So what made this time different?

I'll tell you.

We were enjoying a sunny weekend afternoon.  We had come inside the house to feed Rowan a mid-day snack.  All the doors to our house were open, letting the outdoor air freshen out senses. Buddy was quiet {for a change}, Domino was laying lazily on his bed.  It was about as perfect of a scene as you'll see in our house. But we're not dummies.  The baby gate was up in the front door.  The baby gate is always up if the door is open.  Why?  Well, we have a baby, duh.  And we have a dog.  A dog who likes to go outside.  But he's a {fairly} good dog and he doesn't breech the baby gate....at least not usually....

Out of nowhere, our bliss was suddenly ended when the doorbell rang!  There was no one to be seen, not even a shadow, but Domino was up off his bed and over the gate faster than lightening!  His loud bark piercing the neighborhood's ears.  Roger followed quickly behind, "Domino, get back here!"

But it was too late.  He was gone.  Chasing a young man down our driveway like a Hell Hound on a witch hunt. 

The poor guy was booking it as fast as his legs could take him. {Imagine those cartoons where the body is leaning backwards and the legs are just a circular blur}.

"Don't Run!"  yelled Roger to the hunted.  Good advice, but not taken.  Seriously, who wouldn't run from 80lb's of lean muscle, big teeth, and greyhound legs?

After a split second of madness, Domino returned to the house.  D never followed the young man past our driveway.  When he reached the end of our lot, he turned around and came home, thinking he had done his duty.  Like I said, he is a fairly good dog...or at least he tries to be.


Roger literally threw Domino in the back yard, and ran down the street to see how the young man was fairing.  He found him halfway down the block, sitting on the curb with his head in his hands, still trying to catch his breath.

"You okay?" Roger asked, "I can't tell you how sorry I am.  What are you selling?"


And that's how we ended up with this CSA delivery. 

But hey, at least it wasn't magazines or something lame.  And this one actually delivers!  Last time, we had to go pick up.  Kinda nice when you have a newborn on the way.  Interested in this CSA?  Go here.

After a profuse apology and a plea that it would may be good for everyone, the young man, Sam, agreed to come back to the house and meet Domino, who, this time, greeted him with a sheepish look, wagging nub {he doesn't have a tail}, and plenty of licks in an attempt to say "I'm sorry".  We talked for a while about Sam's past experience with dogs, and we apologized over and over, knowing very well, that he'd be scarred for life thanks to our over-protective dog.

It all ended OK.  Thank goodness.  Obviously with some pros and cons in between.

Of course, this wasn't the finest dog-parent moment.  Nothing to brag about.... But we have to chuckle a little because this was one of many heart-stopping events in Domino's life resume. Events that both test our patience and endear him to us.  If you don't know Domino, before you go thinking we're not suitable dog owners, try to refrain from judging too harshly.  I think we do a pretty good job.  Dom's not vicious, and he's probably better behaved than most household dogs, but he's not an easy dog. He's close to his instincts and always will be. Most people probably would've given up on him a long time ago, {in fact, someone did, and that's how we got him in the first place}. 

Want to see more about Domino and our other crazy animals?  Here ya go!

Now, to figure out what to make with the Swiss chard in our box ;)





  

In the last few months, I discovered how quick and easy it is to make pancakes!

Since I misplaced my mom's recipe {which is still my fave}, I've tried a few different recipes from the internet.  We're not big on the super fluffy pancakes, so so far, our favorite internet recipe is this one.  Only, we skip the butter in the batter {this happened by accident the first time and then we realized they didn't really need it}, and put a little less baking powder in the mix, because I hate that baking powder taste, and because we don't like super fluffy pancakes, remember?  We also use sugar instead of malted milk.  Still, I should just get my mom's recipe again.

This Sunday, Rowan decided he should make the pancakes.


He did a great job!  I must admit, I was a little surprised that he didn't make a mess at all.  He whisked that pancake batter like a pro.  What a chef! 

There's a saying that goes something like, "You can take a girl out of the country, but you can't take the Country out of a girl."

Roger and I both grew up in more rural areas than San Jose, my hometown being quite a bit more rural.  While I wouldn't describe myself as "Country" per se, I was definitely raised with a different kind of lifestyle than what I've become accustomed to in my adult years. And not to say I totally miss everything about my roots, but I do long for a lot of the things I grew up with and want my children to experience some of that kind of culture as well as the luxuries and conveniences of a bustling city. 

So I'm proud to say that from these photos, you'd never know we live in one of the largest cities in California. {even if they do only represent a small percentage of our lives}.

 Just another day on the ranch
 Playing in the dirt.

 Sticks and stones