Mostly Recalcitrant, Slightly Sheepish

So, yeah.  Pretty much a slacker when it comes to updating my blog lately.  You'll have that.  I'm tempted to give a smattering of lame excuses, but instead I'll go with the honest truth:  It just hasn't been a priority because I'm a little pissed over having lost my camera.  Disenchanted, if you will, with a side of 'Screw it.'

BUT - here's what's been happening in RoadQueen Country.

First, there's been a ton of this:

Storm clouds rolling in

Which has made doing fun outdoor things spotty, at best.  We've had so much rainfall, that Mom and Dad's hay fields JUST NOW got cut for the first time this summer.  That's unheard of.  They should have been baled about 2 months ago, and the second cutting should be about ready.  Needless to say, the first cutting was so far overdue that the crop is basically useless to feed, so we still don't have any hay.  Good thing our horses are relying 100% on pasture at this point, otherwise we'd be in some deep trouble.  Here's to hoping that the second cutting is useful and timely.

The first weekend in June, I went to Will's Creek for my first horse camping trip of the year.  Normally I start camping in early May.  Again - see the picture above.

Ready to hit the trails 

The above picture is one of only 2 crappy cell phone pictures that I took of that ride.  I took well over 100 pictures on my cute little pink Canon Power Shot point-and-shoot camera.  When we arrived back at the farm that Sunday, I set my camera on the trunk of my car, forgot it was there.....and DROVE AWAY.  Needless to say, I walked up and down the road that I was on and searched the ditches and posted "Lost" messages on Facebook, etc.  The camera, case, all of my memory cards, etc. has not been seen since.  

Next adventure was Salt Fork State Park.  It rained each day that we were there, but we got a couple of rides in.

Campgrounds

RoadQueen and Guinness selfie!!

The Wednesday after camping at Salt Fork, I had my wisdom teeth removed.  That was fun.  I kinda wish now that I'd taken some pictures of my chipmunked face, but I was too high on the Percocets to think of that at the time.  Luckily I'm extremely blessed, and had a WONDERFUL caretaker while I was down.  

The weekend following my wisdom teeth removal, was RCT's AARL Field Day.   There was a little rain spattered throughout the weekend, but nothing serious.  RCT lives within 10 minutes from the remote location that Field Day was held, so we were able to go back to the house to sleep at night, rather than camping out the whole time.  Field Day was fun, as usual, but I was greatly relieved for the comforts of home at the end of each day with my newly surgically-altered mouth.

W8MDE/W8BAE Field Day Station - Operational

That brings us current to this past weekend - which was the 4th of July holiday for all of us Americans.  As I have for the past several years, I spent the holiday weekend at Mohican-Memorial State Forest with my riding club, the Wayne County Chapter of the Ohio Horseman's Council.

The weather was beautiful, and the event was a success, with the rain holding out until Sunday morning.

Taking a selfie on horseback - harder than I make it look

"Are you ready to go yet?!"

Happy Ears  :-)

So, yeah - I've been having fun.  So much fun, I haven't bothered to stop long enough to blog about it.  But, now that I'm all caught up, I'll try to keep it that way.  Also, I need to get another camera.  Someday.

As for bicycling, I've actually been doing quite a bit, although not in epic proportions.  My nature is extremely practical - and as I've become acquainted with my cycling-self, have discovered that my absolute favorite type of bicycle riding is commuting.  I've had many, many totally awesome rides in RCT's hometown.  Making trips to the grocery store, going out to dinner, and any other errand that pops up.  I still go on longer rides with RCT if invited, and I do enjoy them as well, but riding around town is my absolute favorite way to cycle right now.

I still want a recumbent trike (REALLY BAD!) so that I can go on all-day-long excursions without getting saddle sores or bruising my seat bones, but my Giant Hybrid is perfectly fine for sub-20 mile rides and will have to make due for now.

Ride safe, and don't be recalcitrant.

~The RoadQueen

Getting Screwed On Your Bicycle

Quick recent events run-down.  Not necessarily in chronological order.

Flew a Kite:

Two-handed trick kite, that is...

Also went on a 26. something mile bike ride and got screwed.  

No, really....see the screw?

It got wedged in between my big ring and middle ring up front.  

Luckily, RCT to the rescue!

Gotta love a Handy Man.  :)

Had Guinness under saddle a couple of times last month - not nearly enough nice weather for any serious conditioning yet.  :(

I'M SO GLAD IT'S STARTING TO BE WARM(ER) AGAIN!!!!!

Ride safe all!

~The RoadQueen

SPRING!!!!!

Happy First Day of Spring!  Although, it's currently blowing snow flurries across Northeast Ohio.  Regardless, I am SO glad that Winter is losing it's grip around here, with more days than not having high temps of 50+ degrees.  This year's winter has been brutal, to say the least.  I don't mind the snow, but I do strongly object to daily average highs being below zero for most of the season.

I've not been posting much on here because - why?  Other than a few miserable hikes, not much has been happening.  I suppose I could have posted about the hikes, but honestly it was too damn cold out to take my gloves off to use either my phone or camera to take any pictures.  So, yeah.  Screw you, Winter.  Don't let the door hit ya where the Good Lord split ya!

One interesting thing has happened over the course of the winter, though - Guinness has decided that he can no longer come into the barn and go in his stall unless I'm the one directing him to do so.  SMH.  This has resulted in me getting a text from my Mom or Dad almost every night at around 8-9 pm that I'm not already at the barn to do chores.

They usually read something like, "Your asshole horse won't come in."

This results in me traipsing my boots and pajama-clad self over to the barn (which is only 1 mile away, thank God) to open the big barn door and find "My Asshole Horse" standing there, looking at me innocently "Oh, Hai!".  Then we proceed with what has become our little routine:

Like this, only it's friggin' dark

Me:  "What do you think you're doing?"

Guinness:  *stuffs his face at me for forehead scritches and eye-bugger removal, if any*  OMG!  I'm so glad you're here.  It's scary out here by myself!  

Me:  "Get in your house and eat your supper, stupid."

Guinness:  *calmly sashays his un-bothered self into his stall*  "I was hoping you'd say that.  It's been a rough day of rolling in the mud here, and I'm bushed.

Me:  *walks over to stall to shut door*

Guinness:  *stuffs face at me for more rubs and scritches*  "WAIT!  Love me one more time before bed..."

Me:  *gives rubs and scritches and shuts door*  "Goodnight, Guinness.  Eat your supper."  *turn light out and leave*

~END SCENE~

It's really hard for me to be upset with him over this - although it's driving my parents (the property owners and main caretakers) NUTZ.  I'm pretty sure he just misses me and has figured out how to get me to appear.  My mother is certain that he hates her, and that he's doing this JUST to fuck with her.

I'm starting to think that both scenarios, are true.  Solution?  I need to build a small barn in my back yard and just keep him at my place, where I can feed and love and scritch him to our hearts contents.

Coming back to reality, I'm going to start working with him again now that the temperatures are bearable, and also start having my mom work with him some to hopefully get past this "I'm afraid of the barn when my Mommy isn't here" thing.  Kids.  What are ya gonna do?

The Winter Slumber

So, I've written about the Autumn Blues.  I was actually excited to see winter come this year, and had high hopes for lots of pretty snow.  Visions of romantic walks on sleepy snowy sidewalks and whisper quiet woodlands danced through my head.

What I got was near constant 30 mph winds, not a whole lot of snowfall (Plus what did fall blew straight off and piled up somewhere that I have no idea where it is. Seriously, I've been able to see the grass in my yard the entire winter so far.) and temperatures averaging Zero to some other negative degree with windchill factors in the "OMG Stupid" category.

I still have hopes that this winter will be more friendly to outdoor fun.  Temps between 20-30 degrees and less than 15 mph would be AWESOME.  

I *AM* happy to report, that the goals that I placed for myself in my last post are already well underway to being complete.

1. Buy a scale.  Low and behold:

Done and Done.

2.  Take Zach to Lyon's Falls while the ice makes the water falls super pretty.

DONE.

Did I get any pictures to share?  Hell no, I wasn't that with it.  It was awesome and fun!

3. Now that the holidays are done, get back to my regular work out routine.

Ehhh....kinda.  I've been riding my bicycle on the trainer almost every day for at least 30 minutes, but I haven't been doing the rest of the routine, only the cardio.

4.  Do more with Guinness yadda, yadda, etc., etc........

You read that part about it being Elevnty-Billion below zero and windy all the time, right?  So yeah - no.

5.  Once the weather breaks, ride my bike more often.

Again, the weather is broke, but not in the good way.

6.  KELLY TIME

DONE!  Kelly and hubby came over for dinner and socialization, and it was SO much fun.  Have to make it a point to get with them more than once or twice a year, seriously.  Kelly has been begging me to come ride her local trails with her on the bike, and I think the first opportunity I get to do so, I'm there.  SOLD!

So, that was it for my goals.  The only two that aren't making any headway, I don't really have much control over at the moment.  Just for giggles, here's a picture story depicting what else I've been up to so far this winter:

Gave the kid a haircut.

Got my piano - finally!

Found the cold weather cycling gloves I lost last year

Got my F&#*@(!! car fixed.  Needs fixed again.  *sigh*

Got an amazing Christmas Present from my Sweetie.  <3

Gave the dog a hair cut.

Watched it blow from inside my house.  My gas bill this month almost made me pass out.

Made a new friend at work.  This is Steve the Shrew.  We hang 'n stuff.

Saw a D-Bag in the wild.

Built myself a new office chair.

That's it.  Sorry.

Hoping that as the longer days - ie: more sunlight - lift my spirits out of the crypt of Winter apathy, my posts will regain their former frequency and entertainment value.  Until then....

Keep warm and ride safe, all!

~The RoadQueen

The Year Of The Horse - 2014

As an Equestrian first and foremost, I love the fact that this year is the Year of the Horse.  I myself was born in the Year of the Dog.  As a child, I remember reading the place mats at the local Chinese cuisine establishment and wishing that I had been born in the Year of the Horse.  

I mean, sure, Dogs have some very good qualities according to the Chinese Zodiac.  But why the heck wouldn't a horse-crazy girl want to be a DOG when there is a possibility to be a HORSE?!

Anywho, enough about that.  I don't like setting New Year's Resolutions, because I just don't.  I'm constantly setting goals though, and attempting to better myself.  Just for the sake of keeping myself on track, I'm going to write down my current goals here, with the hopes of being able to post at least once a month in order to add to my list, as well as cross some off.

1. Buy a scale.  Easy, right?  Right.
2. Take Zach to Lyon's Falls while the ice makes the water falls super pretty.
3. Now that the holidays are done, get back to my regular work out routine.
4. Do more with Guinness so that he's not a complete fucking moron all the time.  He tends to regress to being feral when not handled consistently, so I really need to spend the time he needs in order to keep him more at peace with his place in the world.  Which is supposed to be a tame damn horse that can be ridden and stuff.
5. Once the weather breaks, ride my bike more often.  I'm going to make part of this goal getting some fenders so that I can at least commute to the farm and back from my place even if the weather doesn't look so hot.
6. KELLY TIME

That's it for now.  I think I've got a decent mix of long-term and short-term goals to work on, and this short list should keep me on track.  

Ride Safe, All!

~The RoadQueen

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

To all:  May you and yours enjoy your traditions safely, and may the Christmas season find you surrounded by the ones you love and cherish.

~The RoadQueen

Walkin' In A Winter Wonderland!

This weekend, RCT and I finally got around to having some good wholesome winter fun.  We're both big fans of outdoor winter activities, and I know at least for myself, hiking in the snow covered forest ranks #1 on the list of favorites.

In light of it being deer season - gun season, no less - we chose a no-hunting zone that's only a 5 minute drive from my house - Wooster Memorial Park, or as us locals know it, Spangler Park.

RCT took the lead heading out from the trail head, and proceeded to set a blistering pace.  His long legs are awesome at covering a lot of ground - fast.  I was jogging at times to keep up and even so, he fairly handily left me in the dust for about the first mile or so.

Of course, my propensity to stop every hip-stitch to take photos in my excitement over my first winter hike of the year didn't help me stay with him.

"Oooh, Pretty."

"Oops, HEY RCT, WAIT UP!"

After a mile or so and scrambling after him on the biggest, steepest m-f'ing hill in the park, I cried uncle just a tad because the early effort to keep up before being properly warmed up was making me sweat under my layers of sweatshirts and hoodie.  I like to warm up slowly and steadily in the cold weather to avoid breaking a heavy sweat and then getting chilled.

Being the complete gentleman that he is, he let me take the lead and set a slightly gentler pace for a while.  

After another mile or so, our muscles were warmed up and were hitting our evenly matched grooves, so for the remainder of the hike we took turns leading.

The conditions for our hike were excellent.  Very little breeze, 24 degrees.  Cloudy and a very light snowfall at times.  The still conditions encouraged lots of different wildlife to get out and forage what they could from the frozen landscape.

There were little critter tracks and big critter tracks everywhere in the snow.  We saw Cardinals and other winter birds, a few squirrels, and 3 deer!  One was a lone buck, the other two were doe that we startled out of their thicket while tromping, yacking and crunching down the frozen hiking trail.

We had to cross Rathburn Run several times throughout our hike.  Rathburn Run is a tributary of Killbuck Creek.  We've had quite a bit of rain, then snow, then melt, then more snow, so Rathburn was fairly swollen and moving fast enough to resist freezing over, as it would normally do if it were moving slower.

We each ended up with a foot (or both) in the water at some point, but our trusty hiking boots purchased last year for this hike proved to be money well spent.  We each had frozen stiff pant legs, but neither of us had wet feet.

Frozen Pond

This hike proved to be just as fun and pretty as the Lyon's Falls and 14 Mile Mohican Hike that we did last year.  Although we each had slightly sore feet at the end of this hike, it was nothing compared to the bodily devastation caused by the Mohican hike!

We ended up getting back to the car at dusk, perfect timing.  We were out for about 3 hours, covering roughly 4 miles of steep, rugged trail with frequent stops to take pictures, gab, watch wildlife or just pause to soak up the beauty surrounding us.

I hope that we continue to have temperatures in the 20's and gain snowfall steadily.  I love winter hiking, and there are so many wonderful parks in each of our areas.  Some I know well, some I'd like to get to know better, and many that I've never set foot on.

~The RoadQueen