Fiona

I got a text from a good friend of mine the other day.  "Are you going to be home later on this evening?" she asked.  I told her yes than asked if everything was ok?  "No!  But I'll call you later!"  I told my hubby this as we drove home from Lindsay this past Friday afternoon.  Must be something about 4-H or a guy we both agreed.  Then continued on our way home.

I call Kelly my Horse show daughter.  I got to know Kelly from attending Lindsay Horseman Association shows with my biological daughter, Hailey.  I can remember the first time I heard her hollering from the sidelines "Go Hailey, Go!!"  Kelly was always and is still today a huge supporter to Hailey and they have become lifelong friends!  Kelly always oozes energy and a good will to all she meets!  I can remember her riding some crazy buckskin horse at the LHA shows named Susie I believe.  I always felt a little fearful she may get hurt on her, but Kelly persevered.  The next year Kelly came to the first LHA show with a gorgeous white roaned paint mare by the name of Fiona.  Fiona was a nice quiet change compared to that appy mare she rode the year before!  Fiona stood over 16 hands and had the sweetest most even temper a person could want in a mare.  Mares can be a little like women.  Just plain bitchy!  But I never saw Fiona exhibit any of these behaviors!   Win?  Win they both did!  Fiona was not only a big mare, but she had a huge heart.  And that heart belonged to Kelly!  That mare would do anything for Kelly!  Much the same as our Hunter does for Hailey. 

As the years passed, Kelly continued to show and kick ass with Fiona, all the while hugely supporting Hailey at shows which brought Hailey more out of her shy little shell.  Wasn't long before Kelly showed up on another new gaming horse by the name of George.  Man he was a wild bugger that first year!  I thought for sure Kelly was gonna get killed!  Thankgod she didn't!  So she'd game both horses!  Crazy George and Steady Fiona.  George and Fiona became very attached to each other but Kelly was still number one in their eyes!

Kelly soon finished high school and went off to college.  So she took the opportunity to breed Fiona so she wasn't just sitting around the field doing nothing but being a field ornament and Kelly wanted a foal off her.  After what seemed like an eternity, a wee filly was born!  Kelly named her Dove!  Dove was a sweet gorgeous filly who was the spitting image of her mother Fiona!  Kelly was ecstatic!  But fate had other plans for Dove and she was injured in a trajic accident when both she and Fiona tripped and fell in their pasture.  I'll never forget it!  A horrible turn of events that left one's heart ripped open!

A wonderful offer from Garry Scott soon had Fiona re-bred to a gorgeous paint stallion and we all waited over the winter and spring months until Fiona gave birth to the most gorgeous little stud colt.  Kelly promptly named him Mac!  Mac is all white except for brown roaning on his ears the same colour as his moms.  What a sweetheart! 

The phone rang and Don went and answered it.  I think he was expecting Kelly to give him a hard time cuz they constantly tease each other.  Ones as bad as the other!  But he quickly passed me the phone and I expected to hear the same happy chirpy Kelly on the other end.  Instead I heard my show daughter in tears telling me Fiona had died!  I couldn't believe what I was hearing!  I didn't know what to say!  I just wanted to give Kelly a hug and try to stop the pain in her heart that was ripping her apart inside, I wanted to stop the pain that was ripping me apart inside!  Fiona gone!  It just couldn't be so!  She was always there!  When I thought of Kelly, I automatically thought of Fiona!  They were a team!  Fiona was such a constant, a strength, a comfort, and a friend to Kelly and to all who knew the sweet mare! 

Kelly is now pushing her grieving aside in order to help Fiona's son survive!  You see, Mac is not even 2 months old yet and he's not taking the bottle of milk real well.  But he is drinking from the water bowl and eatting hay.  Kelly's Dad, Charlie helps her to get milk down his stubborn wee throat!  But Kelly's a strong girl.  She's endured health problems that took its toll on her as well as the loss of her equine friends.  She has the most awsome sense of humor and I believe this helps her tremendously!  She already texted me the other day telling me that Mac was a little Shithead and always would be!  I couldn't help but laugh!  I can just imagine what a little bugger he can and will be!  But Kelly and him will have a bond soon that no-one can break!  And I do believe this was Fiona's last gift to Kelly.  A little piece of herself for Kelly to nurture and love as much as she loved Fiona! 

We miss you Fiona!   I hope the pastures are lush and green up there in horse heaven!

Kiosk

I was stressed!  I was walking around work hating everyone and everything about the place and wondering how I was going to make it to 65 in this hell hole!  A thief had made his or her presence known amongst us and now the rest of us have to pay the price.  Cameras are now watching us from every angle and believe me, whether guilty or not guilty it is really an awful feeling knowing somebody is watching everymove we make.  They can even do this from their home if they like!  So now adjusting ones bra or scratching ones ass is a no no!  So when my sister Cathy asked us to go on a fishing trip to Kiosk with them, I jumped at the chance! 

We loaded up our new to us trailer and hit the road.  It was a cloudy very cold morning and a long the way snow flurries blew past the windshield.  We weren't concerned.  We were excited!  No kids, no dogs, no phone cuz where we were going there was no internet service!  After 3 hours in the truck we arrived!  A huge lake lay before us surrounded by bush.  We settled into the campground.  The grand total of 3 trailers altogether.  It seemed like we were on another planet all by ourselves!  Everyone was chomping at the bit to get fishing so the guys unloaded the boats and all at once Tom announced water was gushing into our boat like we'd just struck oil!  Frig!!! Out of the water came our good ship sink a lot and promptly the three guys, Don, Dave and Tom, 3 chrysler mechanics may I add, were all over it like snot to a mustache!.. eww!  They quickly discovered the boat had popped a rivet!  And of course out in the middle of the bush you just can't run to the hardware and buy a rivet!  Out came the silicone and the guys quickly got to work!  At last they stood back to inspect their handywork and all 3 gave nods of approval!  Don and I were grounded until the next day in order to let the silicone harden so while the other 2 couples climbed into their boats and headed off into the wild blue yonder, Don and I grabbed our gear and started walking down the old abandoned railway tracks.  We came to a trussell and began our fishing.  We waited with baited hooks for that all too familiar tug on the line and to land a catch of a lifetime!....and we waited, and cast, and waited, and froze, thank god I packed my gloves and winter coat!  Nothing, nada ziltch!  So we crossed over to the other side of the bridge and tried our luck there.  Holy!  Suddenly my line seemed much heavier but no tugging!  I reeled in my line with hopes of a fish on the other end but figured for sure it was a twig, but what I wasn't prepared for was a clam!  A frigging clam!  It had clamped right on to my hook!  Immediatly I gave it to Don to take off and cast my line back in.  Another hit!  I was kinda excited this time and wound that reel back in a lot faster!  I couldn't believe my frigging eyes what came in on my line!  Another frigging Clam!  Don yells down from above on the tressell, "Seriously!"  I re-named the lake Clam Lake! It was getting onto evening so we gathered up our rigging and wandered back up the railway line.  We saw some dormant blackflies the size of small chickadees, champing at the bit to get biting us, and also a big pile of moose poop.  Have you ever seen moose poop?  It looks like gigantic rabbit poop!  It always amazes me they don't poop like a cow!  We also came across wolf scat so we were kept interested looking at piles of different poo on the way back to the trailer!

That night it must have got down to -10.  Man it was cold!  But the new trailer was snug as a bug and we woke to gorgeous sunshine and a gorgeous calm, smooth lake.  After a hearty breakfast of bacon and eggs, we packed a lunch and all our gear and got into our boats.  I was very afraid actually of how that silicone would hold on.  So far so good but then we headed out across the BIG HUGE LAKE, with Dave and Cathy on one side, and Tom and Sue on the other just incase we started to gush water again.  It didn't help when Dave yells over "We're at 140 ft deep and its 45degrees!"  "Thanks for the info Dave!"  We were then warned about the deadheads.  Holy Mother of God!  They were everywhere and just under the water!  You couldn't see some!  The others looked like peoples heads bobbing in the water!  Very creepy!  I was glad when we got out of that area!  No fish were caught so we stopped at a campsite on shore and a fire was started to warm us up.  We enjoyed an on-shore lunch of cheese and crackers, sandwhiches and granola bars.  It tasted sooo good! 

We headed back out to try our luck but again not a bite, for us anyway!  Don and I had already headed back to the trailer and Cathy and Dave weren't long behind us.  Dave caught a fish scale!  How does one catch a scale?  But he did!  So when Tom and Sue got back and Dave said they caught a fish, we figured he was bsing us!  There's no frigging fish in that lake!  Tom presented us with a nice lake trout which he fileted up and ate for supper.  

Saturday night was a bit warmer so we sat around a bonfire snuggled up under blankets cuz it was still pretty chilly!  But no bugs might I add!  Sunday morning we headed back out for what was mine and Don's last fish for the trip.  We tried trolling.  I had given up hope of catching anything when suddenly my line bent with a mighty tug!  Really?  I thought!  But no!  It definitly felt like I had something on the line.  So I started reeling in!  My heart was thumping in my ears I was so excited!  But the fish didn't seem to be fighting.  I said that to Don that I think I had lost it but I kept winding it in anyways just to be sure!  I couldn't believe what was on the end of the hook.  ANOTHER FRIGGING CLAM!!!  No Frigging Way!  Trolling at that! 

Don and I had to head for home that afternoon so after packing up and saying our goodbyes to everyone we struck out for home feeling bad we had to leave cuz the other 4 got to stay another day or 2,  and it was such a good time!  We were tired and dirty, heavey hearted and yet light hearted because it was exactly what we needed!  Gorgeous country!  Fantastic weather!  coulda been a wee bit warmer, and great company!  Thanks Cathy and Dave for inviting us!  We can't wait until the next time to try our luck on Clam Lake!  :)