State Fair

Went to the State Fair with Katie today. I never really liked the fair until I went with Katie. I hate wandering around aimlessly in large crowds.

I like eating crazy food, seeing a billion different breeds of chicken, and paying exorbitant amounts of money for small quantities of alcohol. Ok not so much the last one...next year I'm bringing a flask. But the rest of it was awesome.

Love me some turkey leg!

My once a year corn dog was well worth the wait.

Katie even found a FREE cookie on the ground! (yeah, she didn't really eat it.)

Chocolate covered jalapenos...not great. Gave me the hiccups immediately.

Modern Game bantam cockerel. This super curious guy was totally checking out the camera.

CUTE little Serama. Cool color, I've never seen it before, like dun duckwing or something.

Sweet little Sebright hen.

Next month we hit the Renaissance Festival HUZZAH!

Type

Ok, so I'm an INTJ. That's Briggs Myers for Introversion iNtuition Thinking Judgement. Still confused? It's a personality type, you can look up Briggs Myers Type Indicator and take a free test (or several) online to find out what type you are, if you're curious.

I was pretty surprised at the accuracy of the description. It's not like a horoscope or something that could be applied to anyone and would fit. In fact it was a bit of a revelation to find out there are other people like me, when so much of my life I kept hearing how 'wrong' I was for not liking to meet new people, talk to strangers etc... I was 'supposed to' smile! Be happy! Play with that kid I just met. Yeah, no. Bright colors and loud noises never made me happy as a child, in fact they're extremely stressful.

A quick overview of the type; one of the rarest types accounting for only 1%-4% of the population, most INTJ's are male, so I'm double rare. Categorized as a rational type thinker, also known as Masterminds.

INTJs apply (often ruthlessly) the criterion "Does it work?" to everything from their own research efforts to the prevailing social norms. This in turn produces an unusual independence of mind, freeing the INTJ from the constraints of authority, convention, or sentiment for its own sake Dang straight! I don't care if it fits in with your customs or ideas, if it works, it works. INTJs are known as the "Systems Builders" of the types, perhaps in part because they possess the unusual trait combination of imagination and reliability. Both perfectionism and disregard for authority may come into play Honestly if you are incapable of being in charge, or you know less about a subject than I do, I'm not going to do things your way, I don't care what position you hold. Personal relationships, particularly romantic ones, can be the INTJ's Achilles heel ... This happens in part because many INTJs do not readily grasp the social rituals. LOL! Perhaps the most fundamental problem, however, is that INTJs really want people to make sense. People should have a reason for doing things the way they do, most apparently don't, WHY??

Anyway I found a forum full of INTJ's and the topics they discuss and the way they discuss them is just insane, it's like looking into my own brain. Here's a quote from one on what annoys you:

People who think small children with sticky fingers and a coating of whatever they've eaten in the last few hours covering their face and clothing is cute. It's not. It's gross. Please clean your offspring.

YES!!! Thank you. It's not that other personality types aren't annoyed by the same thing, but really, who would bring it up?

Who would start a thread on why humans are obsessed with hair? Or The amount of time we should spend thinking about other people.

On that last one, most INTJ's answered: Why think about them unless you are currently interacting with them? or

in general I'd take a shot in the dark and say that, in terms of what is best for both the species as a whole, in terms of compassion promoting survival of the group, and the psychological health of the concerned individual, maintaining what could be considered a healthy level of concern would be characterized by:

1.) Careful consideration of the necessity and benefit of any anxiety, the effectiveness of any actions catalyzed by the anxiety (assume the 'best' course of action was taken in light of the perceived threat).

2.) The evaluation of the risk to the thinker versus the risk to the object of anxiety. This could be broken down further to include the relative value of the individuals relative to some standard, and I'd probably say the continuation of the species as a whole, taking into account the possibility of future contributions in all relevant fields, blah blah blah, but I feel like I'm already taking this too far...

I picture this situation as a sort of hypothetical equation with dozens of variables which all represent the individual details of a certain situation.

That about covers it.

August

Well, here we are in August again. I'm sitting in my filthy work clothes, too lazy to go shower right now. It was actually not to bad out today, still humid, but cloudy, so no burning sun making life miserable.

The horses and chickies are all doing well, no one is sick for once.

Chocobo the little rooster is being a bastard to the hens, but he's still young, only a little over a year old. He will settle down and by next year should be way more mellow. I just hate seeing all the hens with their bare backs. I would make them wear jackets, but it's been too hot.

This is Lucy with her jacket. I miss her.

There are a few girls in my current flock that are snuggly, but none like Lucy and Ella were. Beauty is a neat little hen. I've wanted Sumatras for years, ever since I first saw them on feathersite.com. Reading about them I expected a flighty little bird who is half wild. Beauty broke that perception. She's so tiny but just full of attitude.

She likes to be spoken too and will cock her head and talk back. She's one of the only ones who will come to the edge of the roost and demand attention when I'm in the coop.

Went to see Cowboys and Aliens last Friday. I really liked it, although that may have had more to do with the ridiculous amounts of Kraken I snuck into the theater. Really though, booze make any movie better. And Kraken is a new fav. I mean really, who can resist such a piratey rum?

Well I digress, oh wait, can you really digress when you have no aim? Hm...

Yeehaw!

One awesome thing about this summer is Phi & I have been riding 4 (?) times already. River Valley Ranch is Chaska is the cat's ass. Phia discovered it a few years ago and we usually go at least once a year.

The first time we went I was not expecting much. I've been to a few over the years and most are just a walking trail through the woods on dead broke horses. Kinda like sitting on a merry go round, but slower.

I was happily wrong! The trails are incredible, miles and miles of them along the Minnesota river valley, up and down some amazing hills and during rainy times through monster puddles. It also helps when they know you've owed horses and will give you a guides horse. I chanced on Robin this way and have requested her ever since.

Our last group ride.
Me & Xena, check out the mud on her chest! Robin just had her hooves trimmed so was out of commission for the day. Xena was fun, although half gaited so when she went to trot and canter her pace was really weird. She didn't have the usual cadence because she kept switching between trotting and pacing.

Phi & Chester and me on Robin, my all time favorite girl.

Awesome view of the valley.

I have seriously considered buying Robin. I haven't bonded with a horse like this since El Bee, my friend's pony who used to race in Mexico. Her gaits are so freaking perfect! She breaks into a trot and it's so smooth, and boy can she run!

First time we went out this year it was just the two of us and the guide, so we really got to run. The guide Codie was having problems with her horse so he kept veering to the side of the trail, when Robin saw that opening she went for it. It was awesome. She's super speedy but never out of control and she listens really well.

I adore how she watches her feet and stays focused on the trail. My old riding horse Joe was such a sightseer he'd be looking at mailboxes, trees, birds, and he loved big trucks. If he saw one parked he'd want to go sniff it. I love Joe, but when you only have an hour to ride, it's nice to have a horse that wants to make the most out of it and doesn't test you by veering off trail or snacking along the way.

If we didn't have Dex, Ben, Candy and Skylar I might really make an offer on her...

Summersrule

I was trying to think of a title for this post when Summersrule popped into my head. It's from the book series the Riyria Revelations. Let me be clear, I ADORE this series!

I came across the books when I downloaded the second in the series, Avempartha (which is still my fav), for free on Amazon. I was interested right away, but by the end of the book I was totally hooked. I remember reading until 3:00 in the morning because I could not put it down. I immediately bought the rest of the series with no regrets. They're some of the first books I ever paid for on amazon.

There are five books out currently. He was self published and designed the covers himself, very impressive. Just before the last book was set to be released he got picked up by a big publishing company. They're re-releasing the books and re-packaging them so the first 2, second 2, and final 2 will be bound together. Which means that I have to wait until January to find out how the series ends.

I was disappointed at first, but honestly, I don't want the series to end. He's created such a perfect world, I want more! The main characters Royce and Hadrian are interesting and unique, the story(s) is/are fantastic. The supporting characters are absolutely amazing. It is an instant classic. I would put it on par with The Chronicles of Narnia. I like it better than the Lord of the Rings series.

You know how even some books that you like have bits in them that you don't like, scenes that just hit you wrong or are annoying? I loved this entire series, not a bit I would say, uhhh. :/ I don't know how to express it better than that. I'm reading them all again and will probably read them again before the last book comes out.

It has been so long since I've read a book that I really like much less a whole series. Case in point The Hunger Games, very cool series but the ending....what the heck?!

Ok review over. Summery; Riyria Revelations, Michael J. Sullivan, and especially Avempartha, freakin' awesome.

Seeing Green

Spring is finally springing at the farm. I saw the first of the leaves on the trees this week and I swear I could smell lilac, although that is impossible so early. After so many months with the windows closed I'm loving having them open all day long. And so is Spike the sparrow, he's parked on top of his cage watching the goings on in the back yard. The chickens have a special call if they see a hawk and I was surprised to see that Spike knows it as well. They call, he hides. It's very cool.

I spent a day with the little horses grooming off their winter coats. Ben and Skylar adored it. Sky couldn't resist lipping me when I rubbed her belly. It's the horse version on a dog waving his back leg when you scratch him just right.

Candy let me brush out her mane and all down her neck and back, I even got to rub her chest. It's such an improvement from when we first got her and she'd spook every time you walked toward her. Dex won't let me touch him period, so I just stood next to him for about half and hour and didn't even try to touch him. Eventually he reached out and nuzzled my leg. Just a matter of time and he'll let me brush him too.

The hens are laying like mad, close to 20 eggs a day. I have nearly 20 dozen in the fridge and am trying to give them away! My neighbor wants to buy 2 dozen eggs for his daughters biology class. They want to incubate them. I'm not going to sell to him. If they had a plan for the chicks after they hatch them, maybe, but I don't want them to be thrown out or given away to kids who have no clue how to care for them. Chickens are not disposable.

Beauty and Lily are broody, and since I take away all the eggs they've decided to hatch each other. I'll go to collect eggs and Lily will be on top of Beauty trying to keep her warm. Silly girls! Beauty is more into it than Lily anyway. Lily will spend a lot more time outside, so she's not 100% broody. If I did give her eggs to hatch they probably wouldn't, because she's not committed.

All of the vegetables are started indoors and growing well. I transplanted the eggplant into bigger containers this week and they look amazing. I'll transplant tomatoes and peppers next, I just need it to be warm enough for them to go out in the greenhouse first. I've run out of room under the grow lights. Hopefully we will be able to start planting outside this week. Potatoes, beets, lettuce, peas, and greens will go in first. I'm so excited for summer and fresh vegetables!

In other news the bee guy will be setting up his hives this weekend, the bees will be coming May 6. Also super excited for that, I hope I'll have some honey from our place for my book club girls this fall.

Now I'm going to go out and enjoy the rest of this gorgeous day, looks like we're in for some rain tomorrow.

Heated

I just had a heated argument with my sister in law as to whether or not it is ok to force medical treatment on the elderly/dementia patients. This argument continued for a good 15 minutes despite the fact that we were essentially arguing the same side.

I am unquestionably against forced treatment for any condition, dementia or not. The right to decide is a basic human right, death and/or suffering cannot deny. NO ONE can make decisions for ANYONE regarding anyone ELSE'S healthcare. Is this hard to understand?

I still think she is secretly for it (she used 'the what if they were children?' argument.) That does not fly with me, even as a child I denied that and as an adult the idea utterly sickens me. NO ONE can take that right away from me.