Stella The Mule!

We are all SO excited!!  Many Thanks to Rebecca and Miguel for working with us so that I can have more "being a 3 year-old-kid" time, grazing time, rolling time, running time, bucking time, sleeping in the sunshine time and general PLAY time!!  I Promise to stay away from the hot wire fence and Mum promises to keep my pasture clean! I will clean up my toys and she will clean up my poopy.  It was a long winter and I did my very bestest to be a good girl in my paddock, but I can't thank You enough for giving me this extra space!  Oh and I want to Thanks Dad!  He is a Super Dad and will be getting an extra special Father's Day Prezzie this year AND the rest of the weekend off to play golf!!  chEARS!!  Love, Stella

So about three years ago Mum stared working on a quilt to enter into the Evergreen State Fair!  It was a lofty goal becuase she had NEVER attempted a quilt before!! And she chose one the required using thick, fuzzy fabrice, about 30 different patterns and colors of fabrics, a LOAD of buttons and making 18 3-D Monkey ears!!  Layers, top stitching, head tilting, smile stitching and blocking.  Well, as I mentioned, Mum had never made a quilt before...SO when the time came to top stich it..she was stumped.  You CAN'T cram a decent sized quilt into a basic machine to top stitch it! Oh she tried and the result was dismal...she ended up ripping out hundreds of TINY stiches with a seam ripper, leaving tears in the the fabric.  The quilt ended up in a bag in the craft room....for a very long time....Mums dream of entering her quilt in the Fair were put on hold...then she met a very nice lady on FaceBook!!  Claudia Loitz is a Quilt Lady for sure!!  Mum sent her the Monkey quilt in the mail!!  Claudia sent Mum some worried FB PM's...this quilt was a hot mess and Mum and Claudia knew it!  But Claudia performed Quilt CPR and somehow performed a miracle!!  The quilt still isn't perfect but to Mum it looks AMAZING!!  The gorgeous decortive stitching is incredible and considering what Claudia was given to work with it looks so GREAT!! Mum will enter it into the Fair this fall and Ribbon or not...she can knock it off her bucket list!!  Thanks Claudia!!  And we LOVE my Quilt!  It has 5 awesome favorite pics of us doin' stuff we love!  If you'd like a photo quilt of you and your fave human, let me know and I will give you the contact info!!  chEARS!!

We have had a Bumpy start to Springtime!!  I am ALMOST Three and this is my second Spring in the Pacific Northwest!!  I gotta be honest...It is MAY!!  Almost Memorial Day and I am kinda OVER the whole "Pouring-Down-Rain" thing!!  I was honestly a bit cranky when Mum came up to play with me today!!  And then she showed me this awesome early Birthday Prezzie from my pal Mickey The Belgian!  Mickey lives in New York and his Momma Jen was nice enough to help him send me a neat-o Book!!  Mum wants to find more of them so WE can give them as prezzies!!  Thanks Mickey for adding some sunshine to a rainy day! 

It was raining today! Mum THOUGHT it was clippin' day, but NOT SO MUCH!!  Instead we played for a little while!!  It is hard to tell in this video, but Mum starts with air and goes from there!!  She doesn't start by tapping me!  I usually respond with a verbal, then air and SOMETIMES a tap!!  We are still working on stuff!  Today was a challenge! Obie the horse on my left always comes to watch us working..and Sabrina, the wise 23 year old mare on the right was VERY worried about the giant combine working across the street!  ( I was curious too!) THEN Miguel started feeding eveyone and my Mule ADD clicked in!!  Wish Mum had included more hugs and lovin' cause trust me...there was lots!! 

Mum and I have been working on some "New To Me" Basic ground work stuff!  I love praise and really good ear scritchin' but give me a Good & Plenty ANYDAY!!  Yummers!!  Mum has learned SO much over the past couple of weeks...and we had an amazing time together today!  I had so many "AH-HA" moments!  I was lickin' and chewin' and sighin'...and munching on Good & Plenty!  You see I am 16 hands and almost 3 and Mum is JUST figuring out some holes in my training!  Who would have thunk it!   Whenever Mum wanted me to flex or move something, she would just point and ask..well that is very cool..but Now I have to learn how to figure it out myself!  I don't know WHAT do do when I feel pressure!  So...I figured the best way to relieve pressure on my face was to lean in to it and LEAVE!  Problem solved!  But Mum says that isn't the right answer...so she is teaching me how to relieve the pressure and eaiser way...If I just stop pushing back, the pressure stops!  Yippeee!!  (I know..totally Kindergarten but sometimes you gotta go back to  make it right)  One thing Mum promised me (among the many things Mum promised me...) was that I wouldn't leave any holes in my education!! 

What a day!!  Seriously...Mum and I keep hearing about this MIRROR thing...that Mum and I MIRROR each other!  Well, shoot!  We figured that meant we are both tall and cute!!  (She has little ears though...) but I THINK that maybe we GET what this whole Mirror thing is about...Hmmmm...
Mum was working with me today and things where going really well!  I was listening and minding my manners and doing what she asked...Then, even though she didn't think I could tell..I could TELL that she was getting kinda frustrated...she didn't know quite how to ask me for what she wanted and she got out of her comfort zone, her posture changed, her energy changed, I started pawing and my posture changed and my energy changed and I felt frustrated...Ooooohhhh...I don't like that feeling...Im OUTA HERE!!  So I took off like Billy Hell....Now...lemme tell you..I've don't this before and that is why Mum and I are getting help from our new friend Jean.  USUALLY when I Pull this stunt, Mum comes marching after me, Huffin' and Puffin' all red in the face, looking like a Mamma Grizzly Bear in a Baseball cap, so I usually run around for awhile!  I don't wanna deal with THAT.  It was so weird!  This time she was smilin' and talking so I just stopped and watched her pick up my lead.  Suddenly she was smilin' even more and looking so much like a carrot that I had to walk over to her!  We did some more stuff and then we were done!  Huh?  Jeans not training ME!  Jean is training MUM!!  Thank You Jean!!

Gosh, so much has happened!!  Mum and I were sent a gift in the form of a Lady named Jean.  Jean says that Mum and I are going to embark on some sort of JOURNEY!!  I don't know what that means, but I know one thing for sure...Mum and I have to GET OUT OF OUR COMFORT ZONE!!  And sometimes that is scary!!  We were both pretty convinced that a Mountain Lion or a Nervous Breakdown might face us at any minute!!  When Mum met Jean, she thought this was all about ME!!  (laughing hysterically now...)  SURPRISE!!  More about that latter!
Mum is Happy to Report that she is learning that changing tools...like stud chains, bits, spurs isn't the solution to my issues...it is about changing my MIND!!  Mum says she has a headache today because her brain is having a hard time absorbing all the things that Jean is teaching her...Guess Mum is having her own growing pains!!  Thanks for everything Jean!  We're gonna do you proud!

Mum Likes to collect old time Mule and Donkey Postcards!  She is just getting started but here are a few of her favorites! They are all from 1904-1906!  Some have made it through the mail with nice messages on them!  It is fun to imagine what life was like back then!  And to think about what each postcard has been through and who took such great care of them for over 100 years!  Isn't that cool!!  Enjoy!  PEACE!  LOVE! EARS! 

Mum and I had a good day today workin' on my lessons!!  It may seem like Preschool stuff, but Mum and I both say you can't do too much of it!!  I have to keep teaching Mum how to ask me for what she wants....sometimes she gets confusing and I have to figure out what she is asking me to do!!   Hope you like my horn playing!!  chEARS!!