"9-1-1 What's your emergency?"

What a great Friday. I got up leisurely and gathered the girls together to take to their grandma's for the day so I could head out on a mini road trip to pick up my side of pork in Prosser and then back to the Tri Cities for lunch with my good friend Cathy and a little Christmas shopping. I thoroughly enjoyed the day. I also picked up my year end awards from Cathy that she got from the banquet last weekend. I got a really nice, heavy stable blanket in the correct size (86). I also got a nice Kensington English saddle carrier that matches my hat box I rec'd last year and lastly a really fun pink floral hay bag. The women who buy awards for the state do such a nice job, how they are able to keep track of so many horses and riders and special needs is beyond me.



Arriving home after dark, I went down and spent some time with the horses feeding, cleaning pens, and moving more hay over in anticipation of the big storm blowing in today. I really hate the fact that my horses are so muddy and not ridden anywhere enough but I try to make sure I control the things I can when it comes to winter horse care. The chickens and goats were all tucked in along with the horses and I headed up to the house for a nice quiet evening with just Doug because the girls were staying over with Betty. What a treat! Doug brought home ingredients to make my favorite cocktail, a lemon drop. He makes them just the way I like them right down to the ring of sugar around the top. So with drink in hand, I sat down with Doug and the fire place and candle light and thought we would enjoy a nice adult filled evening with mature conversation. As we finished up our drinks, I notice headlights coming down the road. You must know something about me, I am exceptional at knowing who is coming and going on this farm and even fairly adept at identifying headlights as they get closer to the farm. I didn't recognize these headlights and when they pulled in and stopped in front of our house I didn't recognize the grill of the truck in the headlights. Doug said the truck had pulled out and then quickly drove down to his mom's so he hustled out the door to see what was going on. WELLLL.....after Doug returned I learned that a nameless 2 1/2 little girl had caused quite a commotion down at Betty's house. It seems Betty and her friend, Marcia, were making a pizza for dinner and they noticed the house was filling up with smoke. They checked the pizza and realized it wasn't near being done and decided their must be a chimney fire. Marcia grabbed the kids and headed for the patio to get them dressed and ready to go up to our house to escape the inferno and Betty grabbed the phone and dialed 911. It wasn't soon after her cry for help to the fire department that she realized Kate had re-toasted a piece of toast from the morning in the toaster set on the highest setting. Apparently it came out the size of a playing card and was black. HA!! Never a dull moment what that little muskrat. So much for a relaxing evening.