
And were we ever glad. The last few days we have hit the low 90s which is about as hot as it ever gets here. With humidity in the low teens and steady light winds, everything dries out fast, especially your sinuses and eyes. For the first time this year, I’ve had to deep water the garden twice a day just to stay ahead of the dry out factor. I have to laugh at what a weenie I’ve become though. In Texas, this weather in July would be considered a cool front! The temps dropped pretty dramatically today and we’ve had thunderstorms moving around and over us all day. It has smelled and felt delicious and I’m hoping this might even signal that the end of horsefly season is getting here.
Butterfly on violas.Like all couples, Mike and I have our ups and downs, times that we are closer to each other and times when there seems to be some distance between us. No matter what else is going on with us though, we always seem to agree on this place where we live, and about our horses. As I mentioned recently, Mike and I hiked our thirty acres to the north of where the yurt is, looking at where we can put in a training trail and obstacle course. Mike saw me get excited about the possibilities and of how many natural elements we have for an excellent trail training course for both horses and riders. A few days later, he told me he had been thinking about how maybe we could start a school where we held clinics and workshops for that sort of training and maybe even make an overnight in the national forest part of it. Mike is a graduate of the NOLS – National Outdoor Leadership Schools and has wanted to take their horse packing course for several years now.
Look at this new little cutie! Heirloom Roses put all of their minis on sale this spring, right about the time we lost Ellie. I ordered a memory rose for each of our lost pups and this one, Autumn Sensation, is to remember one of our first and most senior greyhounds, Cody. He was twelve when we adopted him and lived to be fourteen.What Mike didn't know was that last spring, before a series of major health issues consumed me; I had been researching the possibility of something very similar. I was very excited by how successful my adult rider teaching experiment was going and had been contacted by people from other parts of the country (and even world) who were interested in coming and working with me and with our mustangs. It felt like something I would want to do and I had already started collaborating with my old friend and instructor, Susan Gueaneau Mishal, on developing a series of videos and later books for that project. The name we came up with for that venture is From Thinking to Feeling ~ a mind, body and spirit path to riding in unity. © Carmon Deyo 2008. That was also when I started the Wild Hearts, Willing Spirits website which has been sadly left without any additional developed since last June but which will eventually house all of the information on this program.

After researching costs, creating spreadsheets, and deciding just how invested I wanted to be in it, it was clear that this idea is something that could work. As a retirement business it would allow Mike and I to do something we love. The most important thing would be to plan it so that this multi-purpose school would never consume us and beat us down the way Black Horse Design did.
This little lovely is Artic Sunrise. She is Ellie's remembrance rose who just opened her first blooms today. Artic Sunrise is a mini ground cover rose that will only cover about fifteen inches but be covered with these beautiful tiny blooms. I ordered this one just a few days after Ellie left us.
I am thrilled to discover that even though we never talked about it, we once again arrived at the same place on a future that involves us both. Now when I finish getting things wrapped up with the transfer of Black Horse Design greyhound jewelry to Greyhound Companions of New Mexico, I will be able to move back to researching and planning a venture that will not only be good for us, but will maybe let us share with others some of the knowledge and experience we both have.
This little lovely is Artic Sunrise. She is Ellie's remembrance rose who just opened her first blooms today. Artic Sunrise is a mini ground cover rose that will only cover about fifteen inches but be covered with these beautiful tiny blooms. I ordered this one just a few days after Ellie left us.I am thrilled to discover that even though we never talked about it, we once again arrived at the same place on a future that involves us both. Now when I finish getting things wrapped up with the transfer of Black Horse Design greyhound jewelry to Greyhound Companions of New Mexico, I will be able to move back to researching and planning a venture that will not only be good for us, but will maybe let us share with others some of the knowledge and experience we both have.
Marigolds, lavender and bug.In a couple of years we will have our 'real' house built and the yurt will become a guest and clinic house. We will be adding a hay barn that will also have several roomy stalls and runs for people who want to bring their own horses to work with. The Wild Boys will always be very important instructors who will aid us in teaching people how to 'speak horse'.
Rose trio.There is more that I want to do but they are things that aren't easy to express here in this short synopsis of something we are still exploring and working our way through. There is part of my history that I don't talk about much, partly because it is private but also because many people don't understand that aspect of me. I'm thinking it's time for that particular piece of self to come forward again, regardless if people judge me as something other than stable because of it. God knows there are enough other reasons to judge me as unstable so why hide out!
Prickly pear blooms.I’m excited about this and looking forward to hopefully being able to get some things in the works as soon as next year. There are legal aspects to explore since this would be a retirement business for us, and a lot to do and build to get ready for real classes and workshops that involve more than my patient group of friends and neighbors who are willing to be my test subjects. Right now I’ll be buried in spread sheets, planning, fund seeking, legal inquiries and all of the other things necessary. I’ll keep you posted. This is going to be something special, both for people who want to learn the nuts and bolts of riding, and those who want so much more than that with their horse.
















Mike has been working to desensitize Llego to plastic bags and similar noise making items. Llego headed back to the gate with me, walking beside me with his nose touching the grocery bag filled with dead batteries. He just knew there would be a treat in it for him!
Mike has been working under the deck clearing out sand that has accumulated under there from runoff. This is step one in getting ready to pour the concrete foundations for putting in flooring and generally finishing things off under there. Willie was convinced Mike was digging out that nice, damp, cool space just for him.
'You wouldn't really shovel me up, would you?'
'I guess you would.'
'Sigh...the things I have to put up with.'
Temporary kitty abatement plan. I'm covering the pool with netting at night plus the scat mat is armed and in front of it.
Not the greatest photos yet, but this is the plainer of the two shubunkins. The bright orange feisty one is still hiding out.













