Do YOU Have a Wedgie?

Are YOU looking at ME?

Look what the stork dropped off at the ranch Saturday!  This leggy little bundle of joy (plus piss & vinegar!)  He's quite the cutie with an attitude to boot. 

As usual, a rather contrary mare decided that it would be great to have the baby while no one was anywhere around.  Dad had called me early that morning saying he thought she might foal at any time.  He had plans out of town that he couldn't get out of and since I was headed to my soap class, baby watch fell to Mr. MoonCat.   Wedgie is the mare's first foal, so we were concerned that she might have difficulty.  We're very grateful that she proved us all very wrong. 

About 4 hours old.

Mr. MoonCat, my brother-in-law, and our nephew checked on the horses shortly after Dad had left the ranch.  He was so excited when he called me! It was a real treat for him to be the one to discover the little rascal, especially since Dad hadn't been gone very long.  The mare has turned out to be an excellent mama.  (I call her "CB" because the men all call her "Crazy B***h" as she can be pretty nasty at times.  I personally think it's because she just doesn't like the menfolk, just my own opinion of course!) 

CB living up to her name

The photo above may look like she's being nasty to me, but you can't see from this angle that there is a gelding hanging his head over the back fence of the pen.  She hates this particular horse and was spinning around to snap at him.  She's very protective of the little Wedge!

My mama loves me

For those of you wondering, "Wedgie" is definitely not his registered name.  His mother's facial markings are called "piebald".  When the hubby called me to tell me about the colt, he kept saying that he was a half-piebald.  There's no such thing that I've ever heard of, so I couldn't quite picture what he was telling me.  When I finally got to the ranch, I told the guys that the little dude was cheated.  He didn't get a whole pie, he just got a wedge!  So that coupled with the fact that this is going to be one TALL horse who will give people wedgies - or at least split their drawers; has caused the name Wedgie to stick. 

All of our horses have nicknames that many times have nothing to do with their registered names.  Our stallion, Sunday Sailor answers me when I call him "Booger".  My mare, Cinderella Sox answers to "Blondie Bear".  So it's not often that you'll be able to figure out their papered name by what we're actually calling them.  Their registered names are usually based on their bloodlines.  To officially name Wedgie, we will probably come up with some combination/variation of the papered names of both the mare and the stallion. 

I'm thinking we might just run a little contest here on the blog to see who can come up with an appropriate and "proper" name for the little cutie.  What do you think???

Monday Madness - Giveaway Alert!

As if I don't already have a full plate, I've decided to host another giveaway! I am holding it in conjunction with the fun that is Blogtoberfest.

Pretty simple stuff (for the most part). Since I am also participating in a Homegrown Swap with some of my i-friends in the Herbal world, I think that is what the prize will be. We haven't completed the swap yet, so you will just have to wait with bated breath to see what you win! I will tell you that the majority of the ingredients/supplies are "homegrown" and that herbs may or may not be involved. I have some other "homemade" goodies that will probably get dropped accidentally into the box as well. I do like surprise giveaways... Clear as mud? It's a mystery to me too.

Now for the particulars, there are 4 ways to get entries in the drawing:

1: Leave a comment and tell me : what your favorite flower is and what part of the world you hail from (I will ship internationally - so ALL are welcome!).

2: Follow my blog.

Bonus: If you are already a follower of my blog before today (Oct 5th), you will receive an extra entry (on top of the one above) in the drawing! Just because I appreciate you sticking with me.

3: Subscribe to my newsletter.

4: Blog about my drawing, I will give you another 2 entries. Just be sure to leave another comment with the link to the post.

That's pretty much all there is to it. I will draw the winner on one of my favorite days, October 31st. You never know, I may just have to have more than one prize! I'm having too much fun..Be sure I have a way to contact you if you aren't a blogger. I hate it when someone wins and there is no way to tell them how lucky they are! I will ship internationally so ALL ARE WELCOME!!

Spring Surprise

When I finally decided to get with it and pull the monster weeds & bermuda grass out of my extremely overgrown lavender bed, this little blast of beauty met me! I planted these two years ago and didn't see them last year at all, thought the gophers (or Chandler - you'll meet him in a day or so) had eaten them.

This is one of those fun things that I love about gardening, the little happy surprises that greet you when you aren't expecting it. We've had some strange weather with the heavy rain, then sunshine and warmth, and then more water. It's really making our little plantings grow like crazy (as well as the out of control weeds.) The hubby has been spending most of the day outside trying to get the grass mowed while I'm trying to get all of the plantings lined out and moved from the makeshift greenhouse/room. I've also worked a lot the last few days on several new products that I am hoping to introduce to our line in the next few weeks. Lots of experimenting going on!

My patient & good-natured other half has started making me some great new planters by recycling shipping pallets we get for free from a good friend. I found this project (along with quite a few others) on a great website: http://www.instructables.com I keep printing out new things that catch my fancy & he's been a good sport about trying most of them! Anyway, I have some new mints that are going directly into one of the new planters - we had a catnip rebellion a few years ago so I'm a little over-cautious about these little invaders and keeping them confined. (One note about these planters - if you decide to try it, be sure you get either untreated or heat-treated pallets, the chemically-treated wood could leach nasty toxins into your plants..)

With my next post, I'm going to start introducing the inhabitants of MoonCat Farms - starting with the afore-mentioned "Chandler" (Bing). He's a doozy!

HAPPY SPRING.........

Giveaway Update

WOW! I can't believe the response this has been getting. I was afraid that since I jumped on board reallllllly late in the game that I wouldn't get but a few comments. We're now over 100 and more appear to be coming.

Because of this.....I am adding a 2nd giveaway and winner. The 2nd drawing will be for another thing of bath salts and misc goodies just like the first! Everyone seems to be in favor of surprises so we'll just leave it at that. Sorry about no photos yet, the camera is malfunctioning again. Sorta adds to the mystery aspect though, doesn't it? Who knows what will go into the box.... I still don't yet, but I do have a couple of ideas whirling about my head.

Thanks so much to all of you for being so encouraging, offering support, and for letting me know that I'm not alone in this great blogging wilderness. I'm learning so much from some of my new blogging friends out there. This event has kickstarted new blogs and new friendships. Thank you Lisa!