braceplacecreations

I must get used to this.  The house is quiet.  Ethan and Shalisha went to camp.  Nate and I are experiencing something new...empty nest.  I can't say that I like it very well.

It was a great time last Tuesday night camping on the mountain.  The seniors left after the last activity and walked up the mountain to the designated spot.  Dwayne, my nephew, comes each year to take the seniors.  I go to be the lady counselor.  


When they get to the site, they set up tents and then start a campfire.  They have to make their own hot dog and marshmallow stick.  After supper they slide/hike down the mountain to the creek.  The contest in on to catch crawdads and "minners" (minnows).  Dwayne says that he will eat a minnow if anyone catches one.  (not this year).


The time wading in the water was fun, but watching Ethan eat a boiled crawdad whole was very entertaining (better than survival).  After smores there was a contest to see who could fit the most marshmallows in their mouths.  Dwayne, Isaac, Ethan and Erin tried.  I laughed so hard my sides hurt.  


Dwayne settled everyone down and a time of praise singing started.  Isaac and Ethan led the singing with their guitars.  Dwayne had a nice devotional and encouraged the seniors.  After the devotional they played a few crazy games.


As I lay in the tent that night I was very away of huge trees around me.  What if one fell on the tent?  I had to pray for peace in my heart and remember that God was in control.  Later in the night I heard a 4 wheeler in the distant trails.  I wondered about my van parked along the trail a ways back and envisioned some person breaking in.  Again, I had to stop thinking and fretting over something I could not control.  


Prayer is a powerful.  I thought of the verse in Psalms 37:7,8  "Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him; do not fret because of him who prospers in his way, because of the man who brings wicked schemes to pass.  Cease from anger, and forsake wrath; do not fret - it only causes harm."


In the morning we had a gong sound wake us up.  Dwayne hit the huge frying pan.  We had eggs and sausage over the fire, then the campers headed back to camp.  Ethan and I stayed back to help take down tents.  Next year we plan to camp on the ridge and do some star gazing at night.  (too many trees at present location).  It was  great time on the mountain.

We took four ponies and one horse to a Vacation Bible School in our area.  It was a crazy day.  We had activities until 5:30 and we had to be at the church and ready to go at 6:15.  Before afternoon activities started we had every thing needed for the Bible School event.  All the saddles were in the trailer, a rake and shovel, and fly spray too.  The ponies were brushed and tied in the back of the barn in the addition.  They were ready to step into the trailer as soon as we unsaddled the horses used for camp's activities.  Everything went smoothly.  We were ready for the children at church with time to spare.  


We must have given 80 rides that evening.  The kids were very excited and talked to us a lot while we walked them around the circle.  At the last few minutes of our time the rain began to fall and by the time we were finished with the 5th and 6th grades, it was pouring the rain.  We were all soaked driving back to camp, but were happy to have this experience.  The wrangler's who helped lead the ponies for VBS still talk about the evening...how God could use the ponies for His work. 


Jeremiah 9:23-24  "Thus says the LORD: 
Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom,
Let not the mighty man glory in his might, 
Nor let the rich man glory in his riches, 
But let him who glories glory in this, 
That he understands and knows ME, 
That I am the LORD, 
exercising lovingkindness, 
judgment, 
and righteousness in the earth. 
For in these I delight, says the Lord"

Do you notice Sapphira?  How sweaty she is!  (She's the brown horse)  I've felt the same way all week...and it's not because we've been working them hard.  The sweat is from the high humidity.  This trail ride and others this afternoon have been at a walk because I won't allow the horses to be overworked in the heat.  The campers still love it.  Afterwards the horses usually get a refreshing time at the water hose. 

The campers love coming to the barn..  The last two days the 15 to 18 campers have arrived early.  I tell them to get a comb and help make their manes look nice.  I don't let them ride until the start time.  I tell them the wranglers need some cool down time.  (The wranglers are sitting in the air conditioned tack room.  They get 10 minutes.  They've been working in this heat for the last hour and a half grooming and tacking up the horses.  It's a hot job.)  The campers are okay with helping me do little things with the horses at the barn, but they really want to ride. I hear it in their voices, and I see it in their eyes.  

Most of the campers know to wear covered shoes and pants to the barn, but the above campers are wearing shorts.  At least they are not going down a trail with briars.  Do you notice the first girl's feet in the stirrups?  They are too far into the stirrup.  It was corrected.  It takes a lot of firmness and reminding to keep everyone safe.  .

Next week the high schoolers come.  Pray for me please!  :)  They like to do more than walk, but there usually are campers that come for the first time and need more attention.  One camper wants to go fast and one is shaking in their boots.  It takes lots of organization to pull it all off.  I'm very thankful for the wrangler help.  Some of my helpers just lead campers around - or stay close by until the camper learns to handle the horse well.  


When it comes right down to it...I can't get enough either.  I love riding and teaching how to ride.  There is such satisfaction when a camper comes up to me and gives a (sweaty) hug and says they are coming back next year...are you sure we can't ride more now?    

Sometimes it's hard to overcome a dilemma.  There was a huge puddle in front of the barn.  We drove the tractor through it everyday.  It was getting old...and it looked bad.  What did we do to fix it?  We thought of gravel, but that just ends up in the compost pile.  Gravel is expensive too.  I thought of sawdust.  


It's hard to find a place around Hazard that has sawdust.  We used to go down pigeon roost to get some from a small sawmill.  I didn't like traveling the road.  Would you like to travel a road called Pigeon Roost?  High and winding is not my idea of fun with a dump truck.  You should see the driveway to get to the sawdust.  It's a very steep two track with a drop off a few feet to the right.  My heart is in my throat every time I drive down...which has been about 4 times.


We found a place, (praise the Lord), that is clean and dry and we don't even have to shovel.  This factory says we can come anytime we need some.  The puddle at the barn is now filled and the horses have done there share of rolling in it.  They even treat it like their bed.  More than one horse has stretched out in it and gone to sleep.  I call to them to get them to raise their head.  They look like they are dead in the sawdust patch.


I just heard Nate beep with the bus.  We are going to Walmart to pick up campers.  It's going to be a great week.  


P.S.  I'll try to blog more.  I see not many people have been stopping by.  I'd like to get that number up to where it used to be.  Happy Day in the Lord!


MB 

What's a favorite thing to do at camp?  Ride!  


Sapphira is enjoying the grass after a refreshing spray from the water hose.  Sapphira is one of our horses that sweats profusely.  There is no way I would ever ride her bareback.  She's a lot of fun riding, though.  She will go anywhere you ask her - even into the creek.  She will jump logs and will take off into a gallop from a stand still of you know how to ask her.  She is our daughter Shiloh's favorite horse.  


Shiloh asked us to show more pictures of the horses because she is away in MI working at Camp Beechpoint as a lifeguard and doesn't get to ride horses much.  She misses them.  We will do our best to share.


We are excited about the camp week starting tomorrow.  We expect about 125 4th and 5th graders.  Our teens just went out the door to stay the night at camp.  They must be there early in the morning so it's easier to spend the night.  They like to hang out with the summer staff so it's not a burden.  


Some of the summer staff joined us for lunch today.  There were 13 of us around the dining room table.  Yesterday they took a trail ride them came to our home to watch Second Hand Loins.  The living room was full of people.  It's a great feeling to make them feel at home...and that they are comfortable enough to hang out in our home.  There is a curfew at our camp so they don't stay out too late, which is good, for I can't take the late nights knowing the full week of activities ahead.

Saturday, June 5, 2010.
Nate and I are sitting in a barn in Irvine, Kentucky.  The isle is filled with tables of "treasures" to be auctioned.  A few black shaggy dogs walked around with their tongues hanging out.  It was hot!

We used to enjoy going to auctions in MI.  Nate would come home with a bunch of boxes.  We would go through the stuff.  I would find something useful for the home or something antique.  Nate found the tools.  Then it all went in the junk or gave it away.  Today, Nate watched old coins sell.  I would sit in the folding chair in the sun and pray for cool breezes and thank God for them when they came.  I brought along a book to read and dozed a bit from the ongoing sound of the auctioneer.  We both got a bit of sunburn. 
 
Nate was interested in a carriage.  As I browsed around I found hurricane lamps, a nice black saddle with a swede seat and small silver diamond studs bordering the skirting and finders.  

It took awhile to get to the carriage.  The auctioneer went to the shade trees and sold off the long row of farm implements.  Then the carriage.  It went for more that we could afford.  It went for $675. We stayed around to watched the guns sell.  One pistol sold for $6,000!  There were gun dealers and coin dealers at this auction waiting for a good deal.  

We never did get to the saddle.  The guns took forever to sell.  We bought one box lot.  It was a cow horn powder keg.  We gave it to our Pastor.  What else was in the box?  Those rubber coin holders...a bunch, key ring tape measurers...a bunch, a butterfly knife and a winchester knife. Our day at the auction cost $6.50. 

We do have a question.  Does anyone know what the last picture above is used for?  It's a round block of solid wood on three legs.  On the side is a switch to turn it on and off and a cord to plug in.  It was very heavy.

The drive there and back was like a roller coaster ride.  Up and down.  Around and round for two hours.  I drove home.  I was about sick on the drive there.  It was  a nice day away visiting with people and spending time with Nate. Who knows when there will be another auction or time to go to one.  

Progress continues with Martha, one of our newest horse additions.  We found a saddle to fit her so we don't take her on bareback rides anymore.  It's too hot and the jeans just get too damp from a sweaty horse to spend time riding bareback, besides, the insurance frowns on such procedures. 

Martha is also getting used to the herd, but this is taking time.  As big as Martha is, she is the most timid.  She would stand off in a corner and not get anything to eat if we kept her with group of horses.  She is usually in a pasture next to the group.  There is much socializing over the fence. 

People enjoy seeing Martha.  Men especially like to size her up and talk of their experiences with work horses.  Little children like to walk up and pet her.  Their eyes are big as they reach up to touch her.   All the time Martha is standing still with her head low to the ground.  In the picture above, Kimmie, our newest mission member, experiences taking Martha on a trail ride.   

We continue being consistent with her training and handling. Camp starts next week.  It should be interesting to see and hear the comments from the wranglers working at the barn and the campers that come for a horse experience.

Every year around the middle of May is work week at camp.  Many of the mission members spend the night in cabins for the week.  Just like summer camp, we work, work, work to get the grounds ready for campers.  We have a special speaker morning and evening for an hour.  Dave Price was very encouraging and some messages were Mastering Ministry, Winning Over Worry, Adjusting My Attitude, and Dealing With Disappointment.  Dave is a great speaker. 

There were many work groups from different states to help with various projects.  Ditches were dug, screens repaired.  Every building was cleaned.  Railing for the new walk bridge was installed.  There was activity all over the campgrounds.  I always start getting excited for the camp season to start during work week.

At the horse barn many things were accomplished too.  The inside of the barn was power washed, the tack room cleaned, tack checked for each of the 18 horses used, the trailer cleaned, etc.  Even with all the extra jobs there is still regular the regular work of feeding, mucking, and some workouts. 

Martha, our work horse is doing great.  She is a timid horse, though.  We keep her separate from the herd so she does get something to eat instead of standing off in a corner.   I am not afraid of her anymore.  Yesterday I took her on a trail ride with about seven other horses.  She did just fine.

The two new horses are adjusting also.  We rode them tonight.  Their owner rode the big black and I rode the "spooky" Palomino.  He's not so bad. 

My foot is much better now.  They are healing nicely.  I'm glad.  I have a lot of work to do.

I must show you something.  I'll post it soon.  I'll have about 4 pictures of it.  It's what Nate also worked on during work week.