No Truer Commercial

Commercials today are pretty genius. I mean, how many Wednesdays have gone by without you hearing "Hump Dayyy!" at least four times? People still talk about various Super Bowl commercials, and of course, we all know and love the Budweiser Clydesdales. 

But there are two commercials that ring so close to home, I forget about everything else for the 60 seconds they're on.

Piglets or Puppies?

Fourteen piglets have been a blast. And they're growing faster than those little sponge animals you soak in a bowl of water overnight.

Apology/Country Humor

Hi faithful followers. I'm really sorry I haven't posted in a long long time. I haven't been doing much other than going to work everyday and hanging out at home after, so there hasn't been anything fun to write about.

If you'd like to hear more about any particular thing, let me know! Leave a comment on here or on Suburban Hoofbeats's Facebook page.

Here's some country humor to hold you over until I have something more fun to post.

Fight or Flight?

Horse people know the phrase "fight or flight" when discussing survival tactics in the equine world. Well, mules tend not to know what 'flight' means, they're all for the fight. I found this on Pinterest today:

Holy. Crap. If (when) I end up trail riding in the mountains, I am so using a mule. This sucker took on a full grown cougar and killed it.

Do not mess with a mule.

Independence Day

I hope everybody had a great 4th of July! It was a perfect day for celebrating America. I spent the day surrounded by some of my best friends, playing in the woods, picking berries, and eating food cooked on the grill.

Summer Storms

You probably know by now how much I love storms. Thunderstorms over the farm are always spectacular. There's something about the incredible cloud formations, the warm wind before it hits, and the force of the rain, lightening, and thunder that captivates me.

The sky grew black so fast, it looked like someone spilled a giant bottle of ink.

Reby was checking out the storm also. I was running around the field trying to get good shots of the horses as soccer moms filed down the road next to me. They probably thought I was nuts. The storm was pretty much on top of us as I did this.

It's hard to tell in this picture, but the middle section had a freakish bright blue tint to it.

This storm hit particularly hard, with a ton of lightening bolts and those super loud, no-warning, cracks of thunder. Ironically, the piglets slept right through the whole thing. Sound asleep.

I'm pretty sure lightening could have struck the metal roof over their heads and they would've kept on snoozing. Heaven forbid you drive a tractor past on a sunny day, though. Pandemonium ensues.

Do you enjoy thunderstorms? If you have any cool pictures, feel free to post them to the Facebook page.

Piglets!

Wilma delivered her piglets!

The Face 48

I went to my first NASCAR race over the weekend. It was AWESOME. It was definitely fan-overload and I was more excited than Justin Bieber fangirls when he swishes his hair. There were vendor trailers (Jimmie Johnson's and Danica Patrick's were right next to each other, which was so super cool), people everywhere sporting their favorite driver's merchandise, and the actual race was fantastic.

My Top Horse Movies

Let's be honest, horse movies can be painfully cheesy. I know it. You know it. Every person who has had any kind of background with horses, knows it. But for every three cheesy movies, there's one really good one. So which ones are actually the good ones?

Everyone and their brother thinks they have the best list of horse movies, but when I check them out, they have horrible movies listed as their top five. Movies like Flicka, Flicka 2, The Derby Stallion, and so on. (Zac Effron? Really??) So I figured I would put together my list.

This is from a 1927 movie called Napoleon

Tweets About My Horse That Make It Sound Like I Have A Boyfriend

This is my new favorite twitter activity.

Comment below if you come up with any more!

Wilma's Expecting!

Sorry I haven't posted in a few weeks, there hasn't been much going on. (And if there has I must have missed it.)

However, Jeff confirmed that Wilma should be delivering a fresh new batch of piglets sometime this week! We haven't had tiny piglets since Christmas time so we're all very excited to have little ones again. I'll post as soon as they come!

Can't wait!

Adventure Time

Sorry for not posting in a few weeks, it's been a bit busy with traveling and a horse show (which we did amazing at! I'll update you as soon as I get a chance). I was offered an internship in Pittsburgh back in March and it starts tomorrow. I'll be working in the tallest building in the city, full time this summer. It's going to be a big difference from my usual babysitting summers, but it will be a great experience. As a small town country girl, I'm obviously intimidated by the notion of working in the city, but hey, gotta try new things.

Even though I have to be up in about four hours, I just can't seem to find sleep. I often listen to soothing instrumental music to help quiet my brain and as a nerd, the Lord of the Rings soundtrack is one of my favorites. I was lying in the dark a few minutes ago, listening to Concerning Hobbits when an image from the recent (and amazing) movie, The Hobbit popped into my mind. This sums up how I feel about starting my first internship in the morning:

I hope you all have adventures this summer, too!

You Ate What??

One summer I went to a super big horse show in Massachusetts. My friend's mom drove the truck and trailer with teenage Meredith and me in the backseat. It was an eight hour drive with a few complications, but otherwise a fun trip. We packed a cooler with fruits, sandwiches, and Meredith's favorite yogurt, YoBaby. 

After we arrived, got the horse settled in at the show grounds, and retired to our hotel, we were lying in the dark discussing our most recent meal (for some strange reason). 

"I ate a PB&J sandwich."

"I ate a banana."

And the best line of the night was Meredith's: "I ate YoBaby."

And thus, twenty minutes of giggling ensued before we actually fell asleep. 

Five years later, none of us can walk past the yogurt aisle without giggling. 

A Perfect Sunday

Yesterday was perfect. It could have been a bit warmer, but I'm not complaining. The sun was out with no clouds in sight, and only a slight breeze made us shiver. My brother, best friend, and I decided to spend the afternoon fishing.

(We had to be careful fishing because there is an electrical line that runs right over the pond, and many bobbers have been lost to tangling.)

Muskrat Residence

100 Muskrat Residence 

Pond by the Tree 

Suburbia, Pa.

There's a pile of cattail reeds in the shape of a house on our pond. We weren't sure what it was until someone offered up "Muskrat" and nailed it. It kind of looks like a beaver dam, but it's on a pond without stream, and it looked a smidge too small. So what's it actually look like? This:

Just a pile o' sticks. We haven't seen the muskrat, and we're not sure if we will. So I took the liberty of googling it for you. They look like a mix between a beaver and an opossum.

They're a bit cute. I'll be excited to see if we can catch a glimpse of it this summer. Has anyone actually seen a muskrat?

New Baby Calf!

Just when we started weening Nina and I thought I wouldn't have to bottle feed the calf before rushing to school, Mom and Jeff show up with another adorable orphan face. Meet Bruiser:

April Showers

Who else loves thunderstorms? I love everything about them. If I was better at math and had the guts to take physics, I would've gone to school for meteorology. We had our first real thunderstorm last week.

We have a sprinter

Nina is growing fast, and with the nice weather we love to take her out of her pen and let her stretch her legs (when the dog isn't chasing her). She first stuck right by my hip like a calf would to its mother, but now she's starting to wander off and graze in the grass. Although, being the baby she is, she doesn't graze for very long before she gets bored and wants to explore.

Country Humor

Every farmer knows the misery of hay in their clothes.

Ps: There should be an apostrophe in "its." Just sayin'.

Shedding Season

I spent part of my gorgeous Saturday grooming my pony. He grazed in the yard while I scraped immense piles of hair off. Since he walks while he grazes, there was a trail of white, snowy fur through the yard. It looked like somebody had a pillow fight.

I took a video to show you guys just how much my pony sheds. I'm not exaggerating when I talk about him.

I apologize that my breathing was apparently loud. It's crazy how much hair he sheds!

Who else shares the shed-dread of spring??

Happy Easter!

I hope you all had a good holiday!

This is my friend's little chick and she is just adorable! Happy Easter!

Facebook Page

Since my Twitter hasn't been updated, and the gadget isn't working on blogger (I'm so sorry if you didn't understand any of that), I decided to make a Facebook page for the blog. I'll post the link for each new blog post, as well as little things that aren't enough to justify a whole blog post. I hope this will make finding each new post easier for you!

So go "like" Suburban Hoofbeats's Facebook page, and share it with all of your Facebook friends. Thanks!

Click HERE for the Facebook page!

I found this humorous.

Why Robin was the Sidekick

I came home today and noticed a bird flying straight at our living room window. At first I thought it was a typical idiot bird that crash landed, but when I pointed it out, Jeff said the robin had been attacking his reflection for the past hour.

Robin's face is hilarious.

Tranquility

Our typical Pennsylvania weather dumped a handful of inches of snow on us last night, transforming our nice, breezy, 45 degree Sunday into a cold, wet, 34 degree Monday.

Happy Spring!

Even though it may not feel like spring right now, today marks the first day of the season. It's the Spring Equinox! Soon enough, the tulips will start budding, you can start wearing t-shirts outdoors, and the ponies will catch spring fever.

I even heard one lonely Spring Peeper frog the other night, which we all know means spring is practically here. (The poor guy didn't have any friends to return the call, so he valiantly peeped every few minutes alone.)

I can't wait for warm nights to have bonfires and sunny days to ride the ponies. What are you most excited for this spring?

Happy Spring! Watch out for Spring Showers!

Finally, A New Pen!

The piglets officially have gotten too big for ten of them to share one horse stall, so Jeff cleared out half of the back shed and rigged up a nice pen for all eleven pigs.

They're getting so big now that they need the extra room. It's also much more convenient for feeding. Wilma has also seen her babies for the first time in months now that they're right next to each other. She doesn't seem to have missed them, though. And I don't blame her.

I couldn't be happier with our new pig pen!

On the Loose

Picture this: my little 20-pound wiener dog chasing a half-terrified calf around the yard as my mother shouts for my assistance. Yeah, that's what my neighbor had the pleasure of seeing yesterday morning.

My mom has taken to letting Nina out of her pen while she bottle feeds her. The baby sticks to her side as if she was her mother cow. Well, that morning Mom walked with Nina to the back door to hand the bottle inside, and just as she did, my little dachshund shot through the doorway like a furry torpedo.

Pudgy has been fascinated with the baby cow living in the back yard and every chance he gets, he tries to get up close and personal.

However, Nina didn't appreciate the short creature charging at her, and promptly took off with a panicked "mooooo!" and thus the chase ensued.

I came out of the basement door after Jeff informed me that Mom was shouting for help. At first I thought she was freaking out because Pudge was running around without a leash, but then I realized the cow was running also. So, barefooted, I sprinted through the cold, mushy yard to head off the baby from running to the road.

Eventually, both Pudge and Nina were contained and everyone ended up okay. My mom and my neighbor had a good laugh about the whole scene later in the day.

Spiny Mice

Does anyone know what a spiny mouse is? Or more importantly, where I can get another one?

 

Kissed By A Horse

Mom told me this cute little story the other night. She was brushing Diva after having just worked her, and she'd put on Burt's Bees lip balm. If any of you don't know, that stuff is like ultimate peppermint lip balm. It makes your eyes water and your lips tingle, and you can smell it a mile away.

Well Diva must've smelled it too because, in true horse fashion, she began sniffing around Mom's pockets for a peppermint treat. It wasn't until she'd sniffed every pocket that she realized the smell was coming from Mom's face, and gave Mom a big ol' lick across the mouth. Unfortunately for Diva, Burt's Bees doesn't taste as good as it smells.

In The Doghouse

Most people have dogs in their dog houses in the back yard. We like to be different. This year's calf is such a sweetheart, with big brown eyes and an adorable voice when she moos. Her mom can't produce milk for her so we've been bottle feeding her twice a day. She lives in the dog pen, complete with a straw bed in the dog house.

Let It Snow

No not real snow, we're tired of that stuff. In fact, we've had a spurt of warm nice days, which has gotten everyone feeling good. Even the ponies, who are running and bucking with spring fever. We just hope it lasts.

My little pony seems to think these warm days mean it's time to shed the heavy winter coat. When he grows his winter fur, he looks more like a polar bear than a pony. And when he sheds it, it looks like it's snowed in the barn.

Why We Watch the Super Bowl

There's really only one reason why we watch the Super Bowl, unless the Steelers are playing, and that's for the Budweiser Clydesdales.

This year's is by far the sweetest commercial they've made. The snowball fight year was great, the streaker one was hilarious, but how do you top a newborn Clydesdale foal?!

Simply adorable. Congratulations on another home run, Budweiser. (Should I have said 'touchdown'?)

Which Bud commercial is your favorite?

Wine Bottle Terrarium

So it's winter. Which means the only things to do once it gets dark (at like 4) are watch TV and drink wine. It's a good thing I love both of those activities. But instead of just recycling those bottles (I don't have THAT many, just to clarify) why not upcycle them?

I saw on Facebook an article about a man who's been keeping a terrarium for 40 years without any maintenance! I thought this was super cool and now I want to replicate it. In miniature version.

I only have the bottle right now, but I think today I'll stop by a nursery for the soil and little plants. I'll keep you updated on how it works out!

If you're interested in this project also, I found a great website on how to make your own bottle terrarium.

Does anyone have a terrarium already?

This guy is awesome. I want his terrarium.

January Day

Four years ago, my friend Meredith and I decided we needed a holiday in January since there's a holiday in every month from October to April. New Years doesn't count because you spend all of December waiting for that day. January is such a cold and quiet month, it'd help to have something to look forward to--get out of those winter blues. Our solution: January Day.

Toy Boxes

We've caught the piglets gnawing away on the wooden stall siding like little beavers. Our friend who raises pigs told us that the piglets need to chew on stuff, and that's why they've been doing that. He suggested giving them cardboard boxes to play with. I had no idea how much fun the hamlets would have!

Once they've fully ripped it to shreds, it gets ignored. But throw a fresh box in and they pounce like lions!

TICKS!

Ticks are disgusting. I'm not normally squeamish about bugs, but ticks freak me out. It's probably because they're little disgusting vampires who stick their heads under your skin and drink your blood. GROSS.

Alexa and I took the dogs for a nice long walk through the woods since we had such great weather this weekend. I needed writing inspiration and I couldn't sit still inside any longer. Our dogs had fun splashing through the creek and climbing on things, and we got plenty of cool pictures. I love walking through the woods. Until we got home.

Good Clean Fun

This weekend was perfect. We had excellent, warm weather (60 degrees!) and no rain. Everything was still mucky and muddy though because all the snow melted. So what do you do with all the mud on the farm? Go riding of course!

Magic Fish

My fish has the power of resurrection. Either that or it's just really lazy. It scares me every time I see this; it floats around upside-down at the top of the tank. I keep thinking "Oh my god I killed another one!" and just as I reach for the net to scoop it out and send it down the toilet, it flips upright and swims away.

What the heck, fish? It's only the chubby one, too. The other slim goldfish don't do that, they swim normally. I think the fat one needs to take swim breaks and just drifts along with the filter current every now and then.

Does anyone know why it does that?? Do you have a lazy fat goldfish?

Celebrity Look-Alikes

Everyone loves comparing people they know to celebrities, claiming they could be twins, or siblings, or even stunt doubles (I want one). And I'm proud to admit I'm in that group of people. I have the perfect celebrity match!

Thanks!

Just wanted to say thanks to all my readers, new and old, for taking the time to check out Suburban Hoofbeats. I started this a year ago and if I didn't have amazing readers like you, I wouldn't have lasted this long. Sorry I havn't posted much lately (the farm gets quiet and sleepy in the winter time) but I'm still trying to update frequently for you! If there's anything you'd like to me to talk about, or anything you'd like to see more of, just leave a comment and I'll do my best.

Thanks again, guys!

It looks just like Wilma!

Snow Fish

Our fish tank evaporates water super fast because it's in the same room as the woodstove, and the filter splashes water into the tank like Niagra if it's not completely full. But we can't just throw more in because our well-water has phosphates in it or something that cause algea blooms to explode overnight. Then our tank looks sickly green and gross. We have to add store water by the gallon and that gets ridiculous.

Happy 2013!