Deck The Walls!!!

I just posted a link on facebook about the art sale that we're having in October. There will be several different artists there and tons and tons of wonderful gifts that would be great for everyone! I'm very excited about it and I hope that we have lots of people come out to the sale.

The dates are:
Thursday October 27th 5:00pm-8:00pm
Friday October 28th 9:00am-6:00pm
Saturday October 29th 9:00am-2:00pm

Reindeer Bulb

Here is another super cute little creature I have come up with for the Christmas sale!!! I used old lightbulbs and then made antlers and hats. Are they not adorable? I love to create fun and cute things out of items that would otherwise be thrown away.

Final Bandage Change!!

Tonight Boo and I removed Truman's bandages around his middle for the final time! The bandages that he had on were called Elasticon. They have a glue on the inside but they are very similar to ace bandages. The glue is very helpful keeping the bandage in place. However, it is agonizing for Truman when they are removed! He tries so hard to be brave each time, but I can tell that it really hurts him. I'm thrilled that we are finally done taking off his bandages. He is doing so great these days. He is going to have his stitches taken out this friday! SO happy!!!

Today on our walk, I had to smile. Not only was it me and Truman walking around camp...we were accompanied by Nicholas, Sally AND Jack the barn cat. Ahhhh today is a very good day.

The Lorax

I just recently found out that they are creating a new movie based on this book. It makes me very happy that they are bringing this story back around. It is by far one of my most favorite books in the world. Its a very simple story about a very important issue. I hope that it reaches lots and lots of people and maybe it will make a small difference. If you have never read the book, I higly reccommend it. And if you have any children I strongly encourage you to read it to them as well. Its just such a wonderful story.

This is my favorite quote from the movie:

Unless. Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing's going to get better. It's not.

I just can't say enough nice things about this book. Seriously, its one of the best ones out there. Period.

Little Sneaker....

We have had a family of racoons that have been sneaking into the barn and night and getting into trouble! They are clever little creatures and they get into everything. Boo set up the catch and release trap and we caught one that night!!! They sure are cute but let me tell you, they can be ferocious! This little guy was furious he was in the trap. Boo released him and we havent seen them since. Hopefully they have moved on and found another barn to terrorize.

Its time for fall y'all

We took a very silly group of seventh graders rafting at the Nantahala today. Lovely weather....COLD water. In the gorge I couldn't help but notice the leaves changing. They are already so beautiful. I used to think that summer was my favorite time of year but now I think I'm leaning more toward fall....

Theres no place like HOME

Today was the first full day of having Truman back home. I am truly exhausted...but beyond thrilled to have him here. He has to be fed every six hours so his feeding schedule is pretty tough. I am feeding him 6am, 12pm, 6pm and 12am. Since we are working a program right now, I don't get home until around 9pm. I tried to go to bed for early last night but I just sat up for a bit. I can quite often be a worrier. You can imagine how much my worry-meter has gone up since I've brought him home. But he is doing great. He greets me with a sweet little neigh everytime I enter the barn. That makes getting up at 5:30am and midnight all the more worth it. I think I'd be willing to sleep in the stall with him at night if he needed me to. Last night's midnight feeding was quite eventful. Sally and Nicholas went with me and we ran into 3 raccoons AND a skunk! Truman has been really great for his walks too. He loves to get out and walk around camp with me. Boo even got him today and took him for a walk with a few campers. Truman of course loved it. Redford has done a really good job of being a babysitter, companion and big brother. I am so happy to have them both once again at camp with me. I am so thankful for all the wonderful things in my life.

Miracles Happen

Today we went to visit Truman. I just can't say enough nice things about the people who work at the place. They inform us on every single detail with him and they treat him so wonderfully. Hes not just another patient there. He is a horse and he has emotions and feelings. And they recognize that. The main vet that has been working with him is Dr. Hunter. She is just wonderful and totally puts up with me and my thousands of questions about Truman. Today she happily informed us that we can take him HOME tomorrow afternoon!!!! Of course I began to cry when she said this. I am just thrilled beyond all words. I just can't believe we are going to be able to take him home so soon!
I have prayed and cried and hoped and prayed some more. And now it is all worth it. My baby boy is coming HOME!!!!!

Humbled

As I look at this view from our porch, I am once again humbled. Even with all of the hell we have gone through since thursday, I still consider myself a lucky girl. Truman is alive and fighting a good fight. I think he might be okay. I still have my health and my wonderful family and friends. The world is still such a lovely place to live in...especially when it gives you views like this.

Grazing!!!

Today was a wonderful day with baby Truman. The vets that have been taking care of him are doing an unbelievable job. They are so sweet to him and take him for extra walks every day. He is now eating mash in the morning and the afternoon. He is also eating wet hay in the morning and afternoon. We got a special treat today. We got to take him out to graze today. Being able to graze is a huge step for him! The head vet who did his surgery has put him on the fast track to recovery. They have removed his catheter which means he is off of anti-biotics and pain meds. This is also a wonderful sign. I have to remind myself that he is still not completely out of the woods. BUT, there is so much more hope now. I am so proud of Truman and the fight that he has in him. He inspires me every second that I spend with him.

Truman's first bite of grass!

We went to visit Baby Truman this morning and he is doing wonderful!!! When he heard our voice, he immediately started neighing in his stall (melted my heart). His protein is still going up which is so great. They fed him a bit of food this morning and then we got to take him on his morning walk. Hes starting to get his spring back in his step and is so much more alert. We even got to let him have his first bite of grass (just one!). The main vet tech who takes care of him had a great way to sum up how he's doing: "When he got here on thursday, I didn't think he was going to make it at all. But guys like him are my favorite...they're the ones who prove me wrong."

Truman thank-yous

I posted on facebook about Truman's situation last night. I can't even keep count of how many people sent messages with heartfelt words and prayers. I can truly feel all of the prayers and positive energy heading to Truman. The feeling that I have knowing so many people out there care is something I can't even describe. I am a lucky girl to be surrounded by so many wonderful people. A lot of people out there would just think it silly to be so in love with a creature. But all of you understand. And because you understand, I don't think you need much more than just a simple thank you.
So, thank you. Thank you. Thank you. From the bottom of my heart from me and from Truman. Keep praying...I know he's going to keep fighting.

Truman Day 2

This morning, Boo and I headed to Tryon to visit our little survivor. We were cautiously optomistic about it. We arrived at 8:45. Visiting hours are from 9:00-9:30 and 4:00-4:30. As we waited in the car, we saw one of the vet techs leading a big chestnut horse out for a morning walk. Can you imagine my surprise when I realized it was TRUMAN!? I was so happy, I cried.
We went inside to see him and were so happy to see that he was feeling a bit more like himself. His blood had just been checked and his protein level had risen to 5. That is a wonderful sign. He had also gone to the bathroom a few times the previous night. Another great sign.
The vet techs that work at the hospital just love him to pieces. Hes already become a barn favorite. It makes me so happy to know that they love him so much. And it also makes me happy that he is showing so much of his personality. We even got to take him on a walk around the property.
I cried and cried yesterday worrying about the cost of this surgery. Townsend, a very wise soul, said to me, "blaire, in 20 years you would be killing yourself over the fact that you didn't do every possible thing that you could to save your horse. I guarantee you that in 20 years you won't think twice about how much money it cost you." She was 100% right. Being able to hug him and kiss him and just bury my face in his side was worth any amount of money. In fact, I don't think you could put a price on something like that. I am becoming more hopeful about him.
We went to visit him again this afternoon and they tested his blood again. He is now up to a protein level of 6. Thank the Lord. We are still not out of the woods by any means...but he has already come such a long long way. I am so proud of the fighter that he is.

Truman

Yesterday morning started like any other day for me. I headed out to the barn to feed and then ride. Within 15 minutes of being there, I realized that something was very wrong with my horse Truman. I called Townsend and then the vet. He was beginning to colic. I started walking him all over camp to prevent him from laying down...for around 45 minutes waiting for the vet to get there. Every step with him I kept thinking over and over, "this is going to be okay....he's GOT to be okay....I love this horse too much for him to not be okay..."
The vet got there and it was quickly assesed. Truman's large colon had completely displaced and twisted. Blood flow was being cut off in all the wrong places. It was the rarest and most deadly form of colic possible. He was in a tremendous amount of pain. He was dying before my eyes. There was no other choice but to take him to the emergency vet hospital one hour away. We loaded him and took off.
The moment they opened the trailer at the hospital, my heart sank. Truman was lying on his side. He was breathing very little...the pain was just too much for him. I can't describe the agony I was feeling. The tears had begun an hour ago and they were only getting worse. The surgeon looked me in the eye and said, "you have a decision: operate or put him down right now." By the grace of God, I have parents who are willing to help me with something like this. Colic surgery is EXTREMELY expensive. There is no way I could afford it without their help. I said immediately, "do what you have to do. please try to fix him."
The surgery was touch and go, but Truman woke up well. They gave him a 50/50 chance for surviving. His colon is still very sick. But just knowing that he was out of pain and able to stand was enough for me. At this point all we can do is pray.
His protein level is at 3.5 when it should be at 7. If his protein continues to decrease, we will know that his colon has begun to leak and his body will then become septic. There is no recovery from that. I am as hopeful as I can be and praying every step of the way. The fact that he was able to go to surgery was a huge blessing that I'm sure a lot of owners do not have. Through all of this heartbreak, I am still realizing I am blessed to have such people to help me in this situation. Please pray for my pony.

ECU Equestrian Team

Back in my days at ECU, I was lucky to be a member of the equestrian team. It was such a wonderful experience for me and I loved it. I met wonderful people and it truly set course for all of the rest of the good things to come within my life. My coach, Ellen, found me my horse Redford. Then she reccommended I work at Camp High Rocks (she used to run the barn there!). Well, the rest is history. I came to camp, found a wonderful job and its even where I met Boo. Townsend (the owner of camp) has taken wonderful care of me here and she is the reason I am the owner of Truman. I also gained an incredible group of friends through the team. I am still very close with many of those girls and consider them my best friends to this day.

I just found out tonight that the team is doing incredible and they are hosting a show next month. I am so proud of them and all of the wonderful things they are doing. It makes my heart smile to know that they are carrying on this wonderful experience. Not only do these girls get to ride amazing horses, they get to develop relationships with dozens of others who share their passion. I am sending a few examples of my animal portraits to the president of the team. There will be a drawing at the show and the winner will receive an 8x10 portrait of their horse. It is a very small act, but at least its something I can do to express my gratitude to this wonderful team that truly changed my life.

Here is their new fabulous website:
http://ecuequestrian.weebly.com

A new home for Pumpkin

This past saturday, I met with a lovely family from Charleston. They had come to High Rocks to look at one of our lovely ponies to borrow for the off season. The little girl was very very nervous at first. She has been riding for several years but has had a few falls and is very very timid about riding. We tacked up Pumpkin and finally convinced her to get on and just try her out. After a short while we had her trotting around the ring!!! I am headed out the barn this morning to give Pumpkin a quick hug and bath before they arrive to pick her up. The mom even said they have planned a "Meet Pumpkin Party" for all of her daughter's friends. I'm so happy for the little girl and even happier for Miss Pumpkin. Things always have such a nice way of working out.

The Hunger Games

So I literally just finnished the book The Hunger Games. I absolutely devoured it. I started reading it sunday...and finnished it tuesday. It was a very intense book. I really enjoyed it up till the very last page. Then I realized that I HAVE to read the second one immediately! I decided to read this book because I found out that they were filming it in Dupont, which is right around the corner from us!!!! I'm interested to see how the movie turns out. If you have not read this book yet, I highly reccommend it. It is a very easy read and a book that you will not be able to put it down.

christmas creatures

These are a few of the paper mache animal ornaments I'm working on for the sale. I think its fun that they're not the traditional red and green that you see a lot at Christmas. You could actually keep them out all year long. They would especially be cute in a child's room. Love 'em.

teeny ponies

just painted these two little ponies today for the christmas sale. is it wrong for me to want to hang them in my house until then???

fresh flowers.....

How lovely are these flowers? Totally brought them in from outside! I don't care what you put them in, flowers are just beautiful. I love having them inside the house all over the place. They just brighten up everything.

Success!!!

I have officially canned 2 jars of homemade spaghetti sauce! It has tomatoes, peppers and basil all from our garden. I have had the BEST time canning all of this great stuff from our garden. This is SO awesome. The bad part about all of this is that now I just want to eat all of this great stuff.

gotta love gardens

i got ALL of this out of our gardens! my favorite are the tomatillos that look like little lanterns. i'm going to attempt to create a pasta sauce tomorrow with all of these that i will be able to

can. we have absolutely LOVED having our gardens. i seriously think it should be some sort of law that everyone should be required to have a compost bin and a garden. not only does it make me feel better about myself (because i'm eating SO many vegetables), it makes me feel better about taking care of the world around me. just think- if everyone even just composted and didnt even garden, it would cut down on SO much waste in the world!!!

this was the view tonight from our front porch at sunset. ahhh i love these mountains so much! i don't think i'll ever be able to get them out of my soul!

camp high rocks lake

after climbing today, i got a chance to relax on the docks at camp for a minute. there was a crazy storm moving in on one side of the lake. the other side was completely clear and blue. i snagged this panoramic shot of it to show the contrast. pretty cool. oh, and thats my partner for the session right in the middle - andrew.

slick rock falls

today we took a group of ninth graders climbing at looking glass. it was a blast and the kids were awesome. on the hike up to the rock where you climb, there is a lovely little waterfall called slick rock falls. its somewhat small and often overlooked. i think it is just wonderful. but i've never seen a waterfall that i didnt love for that matter. decided to share a little pic of it.

gone with the wind

so last night i finally finnished gone with the wind. i began reading that book in may. it is one of the longer books i've read in a while...over a thousand pages. it was bittersweet for me. i spent the entire book hoping her and rhett would end up together in the end. i like to think that maybe she actually does get him back eventually. it was a beautiful book though and i'm so glad that i read it. now on to a much newer book: the hunger games.

came across this today and thought i'd share it:
"everybody is a genius. but if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid." -albert einstein
ole al sure was a smart guy.

day 3 of insanity is accomplished. boo is staying in a cabin at camp for this session, so i had to get up an extra hour early and meet him there. we set up matts on the floor and did our workout in the lodge! thank goodness nobody was there to see us! within the first 15 minutes of the video, i was covered in sweat. this stuff is intense! i feel like every muscle in my body aches...which is actually a good thing. whats the point of working out if you're not actually working, right? we are going to do day 4 tomorrow morning also. i'm looking forward to it. it really makes me just feel better all around.

holy cow!!! the tracker on this thing went from 33 this morning to 54 this evening!!!! i don't know whos reading this thing, but whoever you are, thanks! makes me smile to know that someone other than me is reading this thing.

insanity day 2

so this morning we accomplished....well...more like survived day 2 of our insanity workout. plyometric cardio circuit. 45 minutes of intense cardio. out of those 45 minutes i'd say we rested for 5 minutes total, if that. i have never sweated so much. this is an unbelievable workout! as soon as we were finnished, we both took aleve. my clothes are absolutely covered in sweat. the best part is, we have a new fall program coming in today! ohhhh exhaustion! i'm so glad i have Boo to help push me through all of this. even though i'm so tired i can't think, i feel awesome.

its a hard life

went to the barn to feed and this is how i found Gibbs...sacked out in the window sill. geez, these cats have it good.

INSANITY

So, after spending a week at the beach recently, we have decided to start a completely new workout program. It is called Insanity. It is a 60 Day (yes, 60) workout program. Believe me, after day 1 of this program I am completely sure it is going to be INSANE. Today was the Fit Test. What did we find out? We found out that we are not very fit at all. I am exhausted and so is Boo. Its really nice, however, to be challenged by something like this. Its also very nice to have a partner for this.
I proudly marked Day 1 off of our calendar. Then I realized how many more days we are going to need to mark off....and I started to sweat a bit more....

"The Boos"

After being with him for over 4 years, its like eating soup with a fork. I still can't get enough of him!!!

Here kitty, kitty, kitty....

If you had told me a year ago that I would be the owner of 2 cats...I'd have said you were crazy. Here I am, the owner of 2 cats. It all started when I began taking care of the High Rocks barn 24/7 last fall. The mice were out of control! I am not a fan of mouse traps. I decided that the best idea would be to adopt a cat from a local rescue organization. Long story short, I came home with 2 of them: Captain Jack Sparrow and his first mate Mr. Gibbs

. They have become a hilarious part of our family. I never thought I'd enjoy 2 felines so much.

Lots and lots of fur....

Whoever said 2 dogs is too much is a FOOL. Our two dogs are our hearts and soul. Our oldest is Sally. She turned 10 this year and I cried. Sally has been with me since my sophomore year of college. I love her to pieces and my life would not be the same without her. Baby Nicholas joined the family almost 4 years ago. He is just about the most ridiculous dog there ever was. And we ADORE him! They have loved living up here in the mountains!!!!

The Big Boys

We are the lucky owners of 2 lovely geldings. Robert Redford became my first love over 5 years ago. Truman joined our family last fall. Having 2 horses has definitely been a challenge both physically and financially. BUT it also brings twice the amount of joy and love. We love these guys to pieces!!

One BIG happy family

For several years, I have had a blog for my paintings. I have kept up with it relatively well. I always wondered if anyone even read it. Its easy to see if people are reading your facebook. There's comments, posts, thumbs ups, messages..... But you never really know if anyone is reading your blog. So then you wonder, whats the point? I recently updated my blog and added a tracker to see if anyone in fact, reads my blog. I was pleasantly surprised to see that people actually DO read it! In fact, it averages around 5 to 10 readers A DAY!
This brings me to my current decision: to start a current personal blog. I wish that it was something that everyone had to do these days. I grew up in Greenville, North Carolina. I went to college at East Carolina University. Five summers ago, I met Zach Nichols (affectionately nicknamed Boo). He went to school at the University of Alabama. This past summer, we made our official move up here to Cedar Mountain, North Carolina. In our family, we have 2 golden retrievers and 2 horses AND 2 cats. What a blast it has been so far! We have decided to write this blog to share with all of our friends about our lives.
At first I wondered, "what if nobody reads this blog?" Or, "what if I have nothing interesting to blog about?" And then it hit me: why not live my life to the utmost and make it worth blogging about? There is a huge world out there and its just waiting to be enjoyed!