Drumroll Please!

So...I figure if everyone else can have a Top Ten List so can I! DISCLAIMER: This list doesn't reflect the Top Ten in any particular order.

Here we go:

Top Ten Reasons I LOVE Springtime!

1. GARDEN TIME!
It is going to be so nice this year. We started a garden last year and disaster struck. First off, we were late...like almost two months late with most of our planting. The neighbor's cows decided our corn looked awfully tasty. Considering that they don't understand that plugging in a fence in order to make it hot is the only effective way to keep your cows in, we went from having almost shoulder high corn to two inch stalks within a day. Understandably, our dedication to our garden went down the drain instantly. This year is different. Tomatoes, cabbage and peppers have been basking in the sunlight of the breakfast nook for several weeks now. The tomatoes are even ready to head out to the cold frame that now dones a new plastic cover. We are even getting ready to start round 2 of cabbage plants inside this week along side watermelon and cantaloupe seeds. Raspberries, boysenberries and strawberries are already in the ground courtesy of Grandpa. Now, this is where we get smart: we fenced the garden! Well, partially...it will be finished this week. Railroad tie corners, t-posts strung with hot wire, and a rabbit fence on the bottom should do the trick this year. I'm very excited for what we are going to produce this year. We'll just see how good of a farmer Jake really is!

2. CLEAN CARS!
Did anyone know my cars are white? Anyone? Hello? All I hear is crickets? You can respond now...Yes, the tan camouflage exterior of our vehicles is no longer. Actually, I can't believe how WHITE our cars really are. It has been that long. 6 miles of dirt road each direction doesn't really facilitate cleanliness during the winter. Not only did the exteriors of the cars get a good power washing and scrubbing, (and scrubbing and scrubbing and scrubbing), and wheels polished but the insides got attention as well. Vacuum, dust removed from the dashes, windows cleaned, leather cleaned and conditioned. OH, and the biggie...no more Makenzie sippy cup splatters on the window. Or the door. Or the plastic on her chair. Or on the seat. Thankfully, that little girl has learned the lesson that throwing sippy cups is not a nice habit. I just love driving in a clean, dust free, fresh smelling car again. That is...until the rain.

3. NO MORE DOG SMELL!

Need I say more? If so, you are more than welcome to come next spring and take a whiff of Ruger's crate and that should do the trick in dispelling any lingering uncertainty that anyone could possibly harbor.

4. SHINY, PRETTY SILVER!

I am so late on my annual tack deep cleaning. I usually clean through the stuff that I usual on a regular basis throughout the summer. I ALWAYS clean all of my tack at the end of the season. That way the dirt, dust, grime is off my tack while it sits all winter waiting to be used again. Well, I completely put this off last fall. I had tack sitting in my house for months...OK, OKAY... like 6! Well, it is all clean now. It is so nice to feel a clean pair of reins in your hand as you ride. But the best part...cleaning silver. To some people it is such a tedious task but I love it. It is so relaxing. I like starting with a piece of tarnished, sometimes turning green colored silver and slowly, the grime and wear from the year starts to disappear. I could sit for hours rubbing on a headstall or halter getting it to shine. There is just something about it.

5. THAT FIRST RIDE!

Man, oh man! Am I ever sore today! Two rides for the season are officially under my belt, one on each horse. Peaches held the honor of being the first of the year. She rode like a rock star! She went around great! She is going to be so much fun this year and I am so excited to really start riding as soon as we are both in shape. Trail and Western Riding are on the top of the Learning Priority List for the year and I think we are ready to tackle both. Roz got rode last night. After two hours, a little running her butt into the ground, a very wet saddle pad, and a not so clean headstall later...we got her rode! Bonus ~ my butt stayed IN the saddle, which with Roz is always an accomplishment. She definitely tried her head tossing, rearing scare bit, but we made it through and got a lope in both directions. Holy cow, can that mare lope! Now, that I know what she is capable of when she behaves the work can actually begin. There is one thing that would make that first ride better...a freshly dragged arena. By the end of the week, I will have that too. There is nothing better than those first hoof prints...

6. OH, SO PRETTY!

Everybody got baths! After the winter, it has to feel so good to get the dirt and grime and sweat that has accumulated in their coats since fall. The girls not only got baths and their tails put up, but they also got their first trim job for the spring. There is just something about getting all of the whiskers trimmed up. It's like we are trimming up all of the remnants of last year and are starting to prepare for a new year. It's not perfect by any means, but it is a start place...the building blocks to grow on for the year. Woohoo! Philosophical moment for Sara! I know, take a minute...let it all soak in. Right up there with the first hoof prints in a freshly drug arena is the first pieces of mane that get clipped. My mom always hated this. The horses would grow such nice manes all winter and she wouldn't be able to chop them off in the spring. But, I love it! It is such a liberating feeling. There are absolutely no words...

7. FRESH AIR!

I love spring air...so fresh and clean. The screens to all of the windows in the house are getting put on this week also. I love being able to open the windows and turning on the ceiling fan. It is so wonderful to have the fresh air circulating through the house. It is so great to be able to hear birds chirping, no cars and the peace and quiet.

8. MAKENZIE'S ENERGY RELEASE!

Kenzie absolutely LOVES playing outside. She is one busy little girl and loves to explore. The bonus for us is we can wear her out a lot faster. By the end of the summer she is going to be a tryc-riding machine! She absolutely loves her bike. I don't know if it is so much the bike or that she is like her Daddy riding a JD green machine. LOL, she is such a Daddy's girl! She also has a couple of trucks that she loves to "Vroom" around. And her playground. Up the ramp. Down the ramp. Up the ramp. Down the slide. Walking in the rocks. Swinging high. And higher. And faster. It is going to be so much more fun when we get sand in the sandbox for her. Her playground needs a little TLC. A fresh stain job, a few nails pounded in, lattice put back on the side of the ramp landing, a massive cleaning of the fort house, and a few no-slip boards added to the ramp will definitely do the trick. Oh, and then there is playing Frisbee with the dogs, watching Mom work the horses, helping in the garden, running down to see the horses, and chasing the cats calling "Hi, Kitty!" Oh, what a fun summer she is going to have.

9. SPRING CLEANING!

What a relief! We made it! I never thought we would have gotten through it all. Our house has been spring cleaned to the max. We have gone through every room, every closet, and every nook and cranny. Everything has been gone through and organized. Many, many, MANY bags of trash have left our house for it's burial. There is only one box of stuff to go to Good-Will and a small pile of papers that need some attention left. The shop looks so pretty. There is actually workspace and no dead moths and walk space and no mess! It is so nice to be able to use the shop as a shop and actually accomplish something in there. The horse trailer is ready for the season. The only mess left is the shed. However, the majority of the stuff in the shed is going to be coming out here in the next week or so and that will make that organizational task very painless. It is really nice to be on top of the ball for once versus our usual state of the ball pounding us into the ground.

10. LET PROJECT CENTRAL COMMENCE!

It is time to dust the old clipboard off and start prioritizing our summer. There is so much to do and hopefully we can find the time to do it all. Staining the deck, the garden, building agility equipment, the horses, fencing the arena, fencing the pasture so we can hopefully seed this fall, tearing out the dog kennels, maybe get set up for chickens...that one is a BIG maybe, getting Kenzie's playground ready for use, working the dogs, finally finish painting the inside of the house, and it only gets bigger from there. With all that is going on, there is so much fun stuff going to be happening too. Bar-B-Que, wading in Kenzie's baby pool, horse shows, bike rides, hiking, maybe a little caching thrown in there, clay shooting to get ready for fall, maybe a little golf and baseball.

What a ride we have set in store for us in the upcoming months!

Oh Boy, is it going to be fun!