So much blind belief in lies.

" so many Xtians posting hateful things after the S/C ruling"  -- oh yeah prove it.

"Secession was not about slavery"  -- hmmm SC and Missippi articles of secession beg to disagree, in fact Texas was the only state that stated good reasons other than slavery.  Many of the ones I read didn't give any coherent reason just said "we are out of here" but 2 of 3 that stated reasoning spelled out keeping slavery as a right and  a couple others say the Republican (abolitionist) party that has replaced the Whigs is invalid.

 Yes almost all of the Southern men who joined the Confederate army were only fighting to defend hearth and home and I'm good with making that distinction.  But nope, the confederate politicians and their media agents do not get that pass.

Marijuana, grape seeds ..... will kill cancer and all kinds of stuff and GMO food kills butterflies and poisons us.     Not so much.  Marijuana is useful for some medical stuff and I sure wish it was being studied and purified for that use.  And as a libertarian leaning person -- go ahead and toke if you want.  I'm not in favor of government protecting you from falling for bullshit that the MJ does not have a lot of the same tars and carcinogens as tobacco but when you copy/paste junk science crap you are not helping make the case that people can look after themselves.

But then I think a huge factor in that is that we have set up so much government nannying that people have regressed towards being naive children.  I do think if you take away the safety net people will learn to balance and use the guard rails etc.

 and I am mean enough to think that if they cannot then it is a good thing if life leaves them too destitute to pass on their genes or even if cruel nature kills them off unless family, clan, or "sisters of charity" take them in.

riding journal update

I rode Sadie Saturday about 5 miles.   I did a figure 8 on 1/2 of road 35 and road 6 to the ditch do get a bit more hills with a short ride.   She did pretty good.

Sprayed twice too and made supper did laundry usual stuff that has to be done, plus took off my punctured tire from the vet trip off the little trailer.   That was a SNAFU to get off.  First I ran up on the trailer jack before loosening lug nuts.  No biggie.  Then the flat tire was so flat and the lug nuts so tight that the tire was just spinning.  Ran up on 2x6.  Tire still spins.  I do not want to drag heavy air compressor out.  Ran up on 2 2x6s.  Top one wants to slip out.  I am able to get another bit of board and stand on it and get 3 nuts loose  -- with the use of 6 foot cheater tube slipped over the wrench.  Finally ran the flat tire up on the trailer jack and got the remains nuts loose.

 The tire is damaged.  I thought I could fix it and use only as a spare but maybe I will replace it with prepper mentality in mind as I do think that some table shaking may happen soon with the global economic house of cards collapsing.   I also got my big trailer hooked up so could haul out and ride Sunday.

Sunday hauled Tanza and rode with Dad on RazzMo.    I was moving slow and dad was moving slower and no help whatsoever for getting going, was after 12 when we finally pulled out from our place.  

A slow ride but very good mental training for Tanza and showed me I need to use smaller hoof boots on Tanza's front feet this weekend.   It rained when we got to the top of the mesa for about 5 minutes and was a bit of thunder mainly to west but a bit overhead cloud to cloud.   But then it cleared up and we had a nice ride.  I had made appointment to see chiro to fix shoulder neck from coming off Sadie on Wed and realized riding that I was also very stuck in my lower back.

We just got home and didn't even get horses unloaded and it started raining and was pouring so hard before we got horses unloaded that we just left them in trailer for 15 minutes till it slacked off.  Stupid Sadie and CJ sat in the rain because their buddies were in the trailer and not back in pen to so in the shed with them.   I am thankful that it did not rain hard for any longer than that.

I sprayed goat heads this morning and then showered and went to chiro to fix all the stuck spots.   Drove to brewery w/o stopping in office since I was late for the planned celebration and no one was there.   They decided this morning to postpone until Wednesday cuz project manager is closing on house or something this morning.    They may have even actually called to let me know but my phone battery is dead.  I doubt they did though as they think everyone can do email on their cell phones but I'm being a luddite and refusing to get a smart phone.  I don't want apple or google tracking my every movement + fat fingers and teeny touchscreen "keyboard"   + older eyes I don't think I would use the "smart features" anyway.

 Trying to remember how and typing on the touchscreen to see emails on the office smart phone I had for being on ops over weekend would have been as slow as swinging by office.

I am leaning towards not going to the ride in Shell next weekend.   I don't enjoy driving and I'd be stressing about all the weeds not getting sprayed at home and whatnot before we will be gone for 3 weeks.  It just does not feel worth it just to show Tanza some of the trail for next year when I want to enter the long ride.  I'm clinging to the belief that if I can just keep after the goat heads this year I will be able to control them next year with 1/2 or less of the spraying and will have a lot more time to play with the horses and be conditioning for endurance riding.

riding journal update

Rode Tanza 4 miles on Tuesday.   He was more anxious then he has been lately but we got through the ride.

Rode Sade 5 miles on Wed.   I came off when she did a sideways spook.

Thursday took them to the acupuncture/chiro vet.   Sadie was better, traveling evenly on her feet and stuff but still touchy on her back.   Tanza was needle shy but got a little blood injected to help boost his allergy shots.

Today I only sprayed weeks, did a bit of laundry and picked up my car before work.   I actually feel better about the possibility of defeating the goat heads as they were present but not thick at all in mini's alleyway and not real thick in ditch and still not bad in Grey and Shades pen that I can see.

I am torn between wanting to haul out to do a better conditioning ride vs attacking the weeds hard this weekend.   I need to see if I can wrangle enough hoof boots that I could take both Sadie and Tanza and pony or have dad pony one and I ride the other on Sunday or if I ride Sadie on Saturday I think I'd take Tanza so he sees some new stuff before Shamrock.  Sadie was doing fairly well last year and has been exposed more.

Ugh, Civil War rehash

The South was just fighting for states rights.

Yeah sure they were.

I know the North was not fighting to end slavery but to keep one union, and whether that was really for fear that France or England would join the south and end up the boss of the country or it was about the power and control of having the bigger country I do not know.

But the congresses in the 1800s went through all kinds of mealy mouth compromises before the confederate states seceded -hello, the fugitive slave act before the Confederate states would let California join the union was NOT hardly about states rights.  Then there was trying to sneak new states in as "slave states"   ---Kansas anyone?  etc.  The South was damn well NOT all lathered up about states rights in general.

They were lathered up that more of the new western states joining the union were pro-ablolishionist and it was only a matter of time before the abolitionists had the needed majority to pass a federal law to make slavery illegal.   And the big money plantations owners controlled the media of the day and managed to convince joe Q public that this was a federal government stomping on individual and states rights issue even though most of the public did not own slaves.   Media organs probably  managed to create a picture of former slaves running wild and killing whites for revenge and probably that the southern economy would crash and I suppose there was a bit of "if we let them take away the plantations' slaves which they paid for darn it, they'll soon come after your few acres, your horses and cattle too etc"

But come on.  THE right the Southern rich and powerful (i.e. the political and donor class of that day)  feared that the feds were going to take away was their right to own slaves.    To own people as property.

And thanks to their unwillingness to find another way to manage their plantations, the country ended up ceding a lot of extra power to the federal government during the civil war and states never got it back.   Thanks a lot, you spoiled rich cads.

Now I know that bureaucracy and centralized power grow anyway so its not like I think "oh we'd have a serious 10th amendment still in play if only those slave owner politicians had not been so pig-headed"  but no, you don't get to claim that seceding was only about wanting freedom from federal over reach in other areas and had nothing to do with slavery.

weekly riding journal update

Monday June 15 rode Tanza miles
Tuesday rode Sadie 5 miles
 W-F  various errands did not ride
Sat rode Tanza 5 miles
Sunday did not ride,  Hot and had accepted invite from Dad to go to fathers day picnic at his rifle club and shoot at some clay pigeons after their event.
Monday Jun 22 rode Sadie 5 miles.

Tanza's allergy shots are going well.

I pulled 1 p/u bed and 3 tractor buckets of noxious thistles out of pasture.  Unloaded p/u this morning.   Gag,  I had some old dog food and whatnot in the p/u bed that got wet and rotten over the winter.   I may ask dad to burn them so I don't have to babysit the fire and can spray goat heads that are trying to take over the big horse pen.   I want to mow pasture.  Maybe mow now and then again in 2 weeks and take horses off it at that time and spray the dam weeds.

Need to get the skid steer guy out to clean horse pens cuz with tilling pens, mowing, and spraying weeds that job is not going to get done by me or dad.  

Wanting to manage the weeds and grass like I own this place is proving to be a whole lot of work.  Life was easier when I just took attitude of "just renting, what do I care if parents are crappy at managing the place with mom spending 100s of hours to plant and water flowers while letting big things fall apart and Dad gone trucking and lazy on his days off"  

I keep thinking that if I just get the goat heads licked one year they will not be such a time sink to control in the future but I kind of wonder if I'll ever get there.   I sure wish I had sprayed the pasture with a pre-emergent herbicide this spring.  Maybe I can do it next year.  

riding journal update

Monday June 8 rode Sadie  3 miles
Tuesday rode Tanza 3 miles

Wed farrier
Thursday had Dr Mike out to geld the 3 minis.  Surgery went fine,  Dad has been conscientious  about exercising them 20 minutes 2x/day with 1 or 2 skips due to rain.
Friday I had to pick up grain and was too lazy to get a ride in as well.

Saturday Tanza 5 miles
Sunday Sadie 5.7 miles and Tanza  got his 2nd allergy shots.  Have to twitch already, he is determined to dislodge the needle which must feel like a biting fly or skeeter and I can't stay with him and get the shot in.  Twitch worked so he didn't even feel the needle, just hope he doesn't get head shy.   Tried the duct tape on the nose trick,  he rubbed the tape off on the trailer in less than 2 seconds.

Today Tanza 5 miles.

Lady went to summer camp yesterday

I am feeling overwhelmed with early goats head eruption and behind on riding the youngsters but it was a good day yesterday hauling Lady up to stay with Mason for the summer and riding Tanza on some rocky hills and through water crossings the first time (well OK I led him over the water cuz I don't trust my balance in case of wild leaps and it just feels easier in my old age to start with leading through water first )  but Tanza did then cross some shallow spots with me on him and was pretty good going through trees and up hillsides and stuff.   He is a good boy.

Now I must feed him and grab a quick ride on Sadie.   I am missing a meeting at work, oops.   Oh well.  I never set any Monday appointments because I'm so bad about forgetting them.  When I saw the reminder email this morning --too late to get there on time I was like Huh?, oh yes I do remember seeing the meeting notice last week; I thought then that maybe I'd ride both youngsters on Sunday and be set for the meeting.   But then DL messaged me and I ended up hauling there on Sunday and forgot all about the meeting.   I'll muddle through w/o getting whatever details they covered. 

I hope we retain enough Celtic roots to stay free

Not sure if Celtic is the right group ID, but I've been reading more historical fiction the last few years and what seems to come through is the Brits were never inclined to just accept being ruled.   The monarch had to be respected and the Brits seem to have ignored laws that were too binding.   The Romans could not tame them and I don't think British nobility ever had a malleable peasantry such as it seems existed in France,  Poland, Astrian/Hungarian/Prussian empire.     I may be wrong since my history knowledge is still quite weak but I do have the impression that even in the days of monarchy the British kings had to mind their Ps and Qs and not piss off their subjects too much.

So with that musing I do hope we have enough ornery Scots/Irish/Anglo ..... blood left in this country to tell the growing bureaucracy to STFU and get out of the way before it is too late.