Jude Stringfellow's Blog, page 83

Master Composer! My Friend, Alan Williams.

 I don't even remember when it was, or how long ago, that I found the works of the master composer Alan Williams. If you've never heard of this man, I can all but guarantee you've heard his work. You can and should Google the man in an internet search so you can find the tons and tons of music he's produced and composed over the years. I'll list his website at the end of this blog, you simply must must must go hear it. I ended up buying so many CDs I think I have an Alan Williams Collection by now. It's not complete by any means, I would need a few bookshelves to hold all those CDs for sure, and I'd need eternity to hear it all. Good thing I have eternity coming up soon enough! I just hope I can listen to my favorite composer when I get there! 

    Besides being a composer, Alan also gives talks (even TedX talks) on music matters, a subject he is just over the top talented in and about. I learned so much listening to him and found myself playing the video over again to catch what I may have missed because he was just so inviting. I felt like I was at the studio myself listening to him. According to his website, and this is just too impressive, Alan has traveled around the world teaching his innovative process(es) to business people, world leaders, groups of interested people really who have both education and monumental music in their hearts. Just wow. No, wow is not enough....no words.  With such great films and television credits, this blog would go one for pages after pages just listing them. 

    Of course, on the website you can find the store where you can purchase his music. I would recommend thinking it over and coming up with a really long list of all the things you know you need to have in your collection. If I could just listen to one composer for the rest of my life, and know that I would find peace, harmony and endless bliss it would be Alan. Don't get me wrong, his work is not all soft and spa-like, no, no, no....he thunders! He's a creative genius with that wand of his! I bet anyone who works with him can tell you that he not only generous in soul, but in spirit as well, he just comes off as being the kindest most intelligent being - - the one you want the aliens to find when they come down to take over our planet. At least with Alan they'd know they found intelligent life on Earth, right?

    Check out what you can, and tell me if you love it. I know I love it. If I ever do get the movie about my dog Faith off the ground and running, I won't search far for the music maker! Nope. I've got my heart and my head set on that one. No better work out there, not in my opinion. Go...go right now, why are you still reading? Go listen to Alan!!

www.alanwilliams.com 

    

Photo Credit:  Alan Williams www.alanwilliams.com

Just My Blog!

 I wrote my first Blog Book titled "Jude's Almost Daily Blog Book" (Vol. 1) in about six weeks. I sat myself down and just put the thing together using over 100 blogs from the website that I have titled the same.  I think I have something close to 1000 blogs total, but at the time that I wrote the first book it was closer to 800.  Having decided to write the book, publish the book, and then promote the book, I also realized I needed an amazing campaign advisor, a mentor, maybe even a sort of agent, and I found her in the person of Koshia Silver.  She'll have to give me her official title, but I call her Super Woman. 

    Koshia managed to get my new book up and running through social media contacts, ad campaigns, and we did a few web things that to be perfectly honest, as a non-techy person, I have no idea what I agreed to. I trust Koshia, and I don't throw the word "trust" around lightly. She found me the best people to work with and she cared for me not just the project. She's a keeper. I'll include her contact information so you can find her too. You won't be sorry.  

    One of the people that Koshia found me was a guy named Jerome Robinson of Memphis, Tennessee. Oh my goodness...can I just go on and on about Jerome, please?  He's a master mind of creative awareness and the founder of a new innovative virtual business card that literally makes everything you do online and through social media available in one spot!  It's a really cool concept, and his take on it is both unique and affordable. I like affordable!  Other people out there on the big bad web want you to spend so much more and they want to push their ideas and controls on you. I've told you, I'm not techy, Jerome gets that, and he worked around my phobia and my ineptness.  We did the funnest (not a word) stuff!!  He set up an interview with a local student reporter, thus giving that guy experience and keeping the over all costs down. Love that sort of thinking. Next, we recorded me reading several blogs from my book, and photographed several things to run in a slide show on what is called a BRAND VIDEO.  I have a BRAND VIDEO people! I am really cool like that. (Makes me smile and be all warm and gushy)

    Jerome's JustMy.com is found easily enough through a Google search. Here's the link to his fantastic means and ways: www.justmy.com  and you can go there and tell Jerome (or Duy, his fantabulous partner and creative mind master) that I sent you. I get brownie points, and you know I love my brownie points. If brownie points could be turned into coffee refills I would be in Heaven for sure. No worries, Jerome is a very fair guy, he'll see to it that I get my coffee if you tell him I sent you. 

    If you go to my personal card which is found at: www.justmy.com/judestringfellow you'll find the books, the blogs, photos, links, social media things, and all the stuff that makes Jude Stringfellow available and accessible online.  You can leave me messages, you can read my latest writings. You'll see the new projects I'm working on too.  You NEED this card folks. You can have it so so so easily too. Just give Jerome a ring - - a keyboard strike, and talk his ears off. He's got really cute ears, trust me. Then, when you're in need of a Super Woman to get your already uniquely placed materials off and running and into the hands and eyeballs of people out there...out there....give Koshia a ring or a keyboard strike too. I'm not sure if her ears are nearly as adorable as Jerome's she keeps them covered for the most part!!

Be blessed!! (Don't forget to mention me. I want my coffee!!)

Koshia Silver:  koshia.silver@gmail.com

website: www.cactuscreativegroup.com

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/koshiasilver 

Jerome Robinson: jr@justmycities.com

PHOTO CREDIT:  JustMyCities.com

I Can't Stop the Rain.

 I'm listening to Grover Washington's fantastic saxophone and wonderful harmonics at this moment. He's playing a great song titled "Can You Stop the Rain?" and oh, oh, oh, oh...it's smooth. It's so deep, and so sultry. I want to stop typing, turn out the lights and just move to it. I don't care if the neighbors watch me from their windows. I don't care if my shadow exposes my true feelings of hurt and mourning right now. I can't stop the rain. It's simple as that. I am not in any position whatsoever to do a damn thing about what it is that my soul feels too closely to. It is what it is, and my spirit aches within my being for someone who I don't even know, but I do know that he's not in a good place - - he's standing in the rain, he's going through the storm and I am not able to do more than pray.  So I pray.

    God has never allowed me to understand why it is that I feel.  I have a thing inside of me that I don't even know if it has a name, it could be something connected directly to my time in Heaven before I was born. It could be that the boy in the rainbow that I once played with is crying and I can't be with him. I can't reach him. I can't put my arms around him to pray with him, so I do what I can do, and that's sway silently in my darkened quiet space and I pray. I lift my friend to Jesus and I ask that He, Jesus, cause the rain to fall quietly, more evenly, and with the grace and gentility that will nourish and not harm. I can do that.

    Somewhere.  Somewhere in that out there, there is a man who I know but I have never met. I feel him, but I have never felt him. I see him, but my eyes have never found his face. I know he is who I am to hold in silence and my words, through my thoughts, as I repeatedly ask Christ to search my heart, and to request of His Father, the peace that passes all understanding for this friend of mine. I am in a place where I am at peace. I am in a safe, secure and wonderful existence right now, but my friend is not. He is hurting, and though I would fly to the end of the world to hold him and rock him gently as he experiences what he is inadvertently going through -- I can not. I can't do that. I can't help him. I can't stop the rain.

    Without being too transparent I will say that I am hurting from within. I smell something, something as small or insignificant as the bread I just made for dinner and I think to myself, "I wonder if he's had anything good to eat today." What right to do I have to do that? What right do I have to even think it, let alone wonder and ask myself. He is not mine. I know this. I can't stop the rain from falling on him, and I can't stop the rain from pouring its ever flowing waters into my heart reminding me that I didn't choose this path, or this mission. This mission was given to me. I accepted it, and I suppose for that I am now very aware of what it entails. I hurt. I hurt for someone else, not myself. I hurt and I can't fix it, but I know from whence comes the rain - - I know who to ask.

    Rest friend. If you are able to, please try.  Know I would be there if I could. I would visit, I would stay. I would return. I would never stop unless I was asked to stop. I suppose being here, so very far away and out of the way could actually be best -- reality can be a good thing, but so very limiting at times. I know what I know, and I can't know more at this time, but I keep my faith close and my God closer.  I lift you and I petition God directly for you. I can't stop the pain -- and I can't stop the rain, but I know you'll be protected by the rain maker; that's a promise He made us both.

Be blessed Tex.

Photo Credit: A Sprinkle of Stardust 

Celtic Worship (The Band)

    It's been about two years now I suppose, maybe a little less, since I was sitting at my desk (this one, in fact) minding my own business, when I was just thinking about the music I was listening to, which was absolutely wonderful.  I remember it was something from my Alan Williams collection; so it could have been literally any genre you could possibly imagine; the man is a master! While I was listening to his exquisitely measured and calculated tones the thought occurred to me that whatever it was that I was listening to seemed rather Celtic in nature - - it just sort of felt woodsy, forresty, and even lending me to think maybe a waterfall was closer than I thought.  That's when the thought, a completely different and new thought, came into my harmoniously soaked brain; "I could actually be listening to Celtic music if I wanted to, and oh hey, if I really really got honest with myself, I could be listening to Celtic worship music and proverbially kill two birds with one stone."  (I don't actually throw rocks at birds; not even in my mind, I want you to know that.)

    Celtic worship music. Combined.  It was a concept that I thought should surely be available and if it was in fact available, it would be online, and if it was online, it would be easily found through a Google search, and there it was...I was correct. When I put a few words into the search engine I found something; something GOLD (as one artist would put it). I found Celtic worship music alright, but it came in the fashion of an actual band whose name is in fact, CELTIC WORSHIP. That's convenient! You seek, you find. Works every time; and Google isn't the one to get credit for that one; nope, all the praise goes straight to God! Not only did God know that everyone would want to listen to Celtic worship music, He knew in His intimate and ultimate ways, that there should be a band named Celtic Worship so that anyone like me, and anyone like you, could search for it and be blessed to know there really is such an animal. 

    If you know me at all, you would know that I visit the Oklahoma Zoological Park as often as possible; I have a lifetime membership I think. I go year round and I often takes friends and family because its more fun to walk the 5.2 miles with someone - - and where am I going with this? I'll tell you; I just said earlier, that Celtic Worship (the band) is a different type of animal! They are.  In my opinion, and it may only be mine, they are the Okapi of the music world. 

     There, I managed to link the Zoo, one of my favorite places to be, with an awesome band using the ultimately unknown and unsung Okapi, which to me, again, my opinion, is what Celtic Worship is at this point.  No one besides me knew who they were when I began talking them up at social settings, music stores, and such, as if they were the greatest Christian band since Casting Crowns or Mercy Me! I mean it too! I really mean it, they are an amazing group and they just pour their hearts and souls into their music -- with every song, every verse, every stance, with every everything. They truly are true to the profession of music in that they are all gifted and talented musicians as well as gifted and talented singers, songwriters, musical engineers and craftsman.  They are the Okapi that no one knows about, but oh, when you see it, you never ever forget it, and you want one so very badly!  I wanted a CD from this band the very first chord of the very first song that I found on YouTube. I think it was "10,000 Reasons" that I heard first.

    That afternoon, or at least several hours of it, was spent finding every video I could, and listening over and over again to their songs. I tried another Google search and found that they had a website, they had a CD out, it was called "Homeward" and it was pretty new!  I wrote to the band through Facebook I think, and I requested a means by which to buy their CD.  I bought it - - and then I promptly lost it and had to order a 2nd one, and then you know I found the first, but it's OK, my daughter now has a Celtic Worship CD for her car too!  It all works out for the best.  

    The band has been together a few years, and I forgot to mention earlier that not only are they Celtic, they are from Scotland! Woo Hoo!   Most of the members hail from or around Glasgow, and one or two from Edinburgh; to say they are truly genuinely and authentically marvelous would be an understatement and I hope that you'll consider viewing them on YouTube and then ordering from their website at: www.celticworship.co.uk  You'll not be disappointed.  

    At the time of this writing the band members are:  Scott and Mhairi Marwick Wood (married) Gus and Naomi Stirrat (married) Ifedade Thomas, Chris Amer and Steph Macleod.  Scott is the piper and you just can't say enough about his talents on and off the stage; he's one of the masters behind the scenes as well with Gus.  Mhairi, pretty as ever, is the world's greatest violinist, (sorry Lindsey) and she brings life to every song.  Gus is the bass player, another behind the scenes man with the biggest smile ever; his wife Naomi is an actress as well as a singer, and her voice will send you to the Moon! Ifedade "Dade", is the drummer and he's kind of like a hummingbird with his arms moving so fast you can't even see them, but you hear that great noise!! You know he's there! (also an amazing smiler) and Chris Amer plays tenor guitar and to be honest, other than knowing he's in the band and he's amazingly talented, I haven't really read much about him. He's the strong silent type.  I know that Dade and his wife sing independently, and I know that Scott and Gus produce music for many other groups, bands, and individuals.

    The lead singer (a position shared actually with Naomi) is Steph Macleod, an accomplished singer and songwriter on his own, having been on the UK music scene for years.  Steph travels as a worship leader around Scotland, but has in the past traveled the world singing and leading worship as an individual and with other Christian artists through concerts and festivals. Recently Steph along with Celtic Worship, created a musical assembly of more than 40 people singing from their homes via Zoom or another platform.  They sang "Amazing Grace" in a unique and inspiring message to benefit one of my favorite charities, the Bethany Christian Trust (www.bethanychristiantrust.com) such an incredible force when you see what they put together. You can YouTube that too, and I hope you will (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MOiKZKV3vxI) -- and if you can, please consider donating to the Bethany Christian Trust via my website at www.judestringfellow.com/donate  I would truly appreciate it, and I know they would as well.

    Well, that's about it - - I can't say more about Celtic Worship other than to say more about Celtic Worship!  They have a 2nd LP coming out very soon - - one I've heard excerpts from, and I can assure you it is awesome with a CAPITAL A.  I can't wait for it to be released. If and when you have a chance, please do yourself a favor and check out this imaginative, inspiring, unique, and Okapi-worthy band. You will thank yourself for it, and you'll never ever forget you found them. (You can follow them on Instagram as well.)  Oh, and so you know, the Okapi is not only fantabulously unique, it is one of the kindest, more gentle animals you'll ever encounter -- God knew what He was doing when he put it together!

UPDATE:  Celtic Worship has released their second LP "Morningside" and it is wonderful!!

www.celticworship.co.uk

www.bethanychristiantrust.com

Photo Credit: www.celticworship.co.uk

Free To Good Home(s).

 WHAT a GLORIOUS disaster!  From time to time I have to simply sit back and admire the grandeur of the mess, the mighty mighty mess, that I am often capable of creating. Yes, it was on accident of course, but wow, what a ride. I have to admit, when I was in the middle of the downhill turn on this particular soap pour, I wasn't all grins and giggles about it. I, was in fact, rather sad because I was using my favorite of favorite scents (Sandalwood) and I had added a bit (just a touch) of Caribbean Teakwood to add just enough of a coastal smell. I was going to call the bar "Sand" or "Surf" I hadn't decided. Now, I guess if I was truly honest with myself, I could call "Rice Krispie Treats Smothered in Maple Syrup" because that is exactly what it turned out to resemble.  What do you think? Yes?

    If you know me at all, and you should by now, you would know that I am the biggest goofball this side of the Pecos. I am by far the least tech wizard you'll find, and I could also be described as a royal dork! I am just not the best at really anything, but I do pride myself at being at least able to handle my own in the kitchen. Well, as it turns out, the kitchen may be where I succeed when I cook or bake, but when it comes to following soap recipes I have a bit more learning to do -- or just maybe I'll not learn more, and just give it a rest for a good while until I can find another reason to pick it back up again.  Christmas, birthdays, anniversaries, you know, reasons like that. I don't need to actually make a bunch of money on the soaps I make, not after I sell the last of my success stories.

    This mess was brought to you via me (Jude) trying to skip a corner or two, and not really doing the needed research to do that. I'm like most people, I'm rather impatient, and since I've convinced myself that I already know most of everything there really wasn't a really good reason to do any research! I mean C'mon, how hard can it be to substitute palm oil in a recipe for solid soap? The little research I did manage to read between bites of my ham and avocado sandwich, led me to believe that using more avocado oil (good choice usually) was an excellent substitute....but maybe I wasn't supposed to use as much as I did. I'm not saying that out right mind you, but the fact that I could literally pour the oil off the soap after it sat for 24 hours in the molds makes me think that yeah....maybe, I did not do it the way a professional soapster may have completed the task....but only MAYBE.

    There was so many other issues rather than just the extended overuse of avocado oil. I decided to use less hardener as well because the batch I made the night before was too hard. Granted, the batch I made the night before had palm oil, and it also had more mango butter than this batch. I used a brand of fragrance oil that I hadn't used before, and or but there was a reason for that too! I had ordered the Sandalwood from two other places and the shipments have yet to arrive. Soap takes 18-22 days to cure! I was already behind on the Valentine's orders, so yeah, I just sort of ... fudged it.  I used WAY, (WAY) too much of the Arabian Sandalwood from Aroma Depot, and RIGHT THERE on the bottle I had a warning about doing just that. I promise, I do know HOW to read...but I'm just well, you know.

    Way too much avocado oil, way too much Arabian Sandwood (just a touch of Caribbean Teakwood nothing went wrong there) but yeah, then I think I may have added the lye water at a temperature that could have maybe caused the bubbling and the guey gloppy thing that sort of took over and made a ball of brain matter in the pot. I did the ultimate no-no, and used the electric hand mixer to try to even things out. LOL...if you're a soap maker you're laughing right now. If you're not, you can just start laughing and feel like you're in the right to do so. I was the problem from the beginning, the soap had nothing to do with its demise.

    Well, here before you is the end result. I let it sit in the silicone molds as long as I could really because I need them to make a good batch of something tonight.  I cut the loaves after I scraped off what appeared to be chicken fat but was really just the guts of the event.  I cut the loaves into pieces and they are now taking their 18-21 day rest before being hauled off into little packages to friends and family with a bow or something to try and make them seem more appealing. I could actually lie and say I planned it this way, and give each recipient of my master disaster a box of Rice Cereal and a jar of marshmallow cream!  I could do that. I could pretend it was preplanned, organized, and precisely accomplished, but then I'd have to give up the fun of kicking myself in the backside! I need a good boot from time to time.  

    There you go!  I'm so freaking human! Just proved it again.

\ Photo Credit:  ME

Change in Plans! (Change can be good)

 Basically, and through a great deal of mental planning, thought-trips, and more, I've decided to hold off on the whole "I-think-I'll-be-a-professional-soap-and-candle-maker" and I've decided to just keep the craft available and accessible when I need it.  I think holidays, birthdays, anniversaries, gifts in general, and maybe an occasional sell if someone wants a few at a time.  I put a great deal of effort up front and after working the process, pouring out the money, dealing with the time constraints, schedules, (and the mess in some instances) I've put the idea to rest that I could or would make an actual sustainable living in the wares business. It can be done, but not by me at this time. It's OK, I don't mind making a mess and then admitting to it. I don't mind cleaning up the mess either. I can always keep the memories!

    I still have the company called REULACA, and I still have the molds, the tins, the oils, lye, wax, etc., but I just put the pencil to the paper and came up with the simple fact that I'm probably putting too much time and effort into it, and unless I have the actual clientele to buy the wares I'm just putting myself into another money pit; one that would take a bit to get out from under if I allowed it to go any further. I have the Etsy account, and I'll list the soaps and candles I have now on the site.  I'll sell off all I've made and keep the profits to produce my 2nd Blog Book. That's a good plan really.  I think I can actually sell off just about enough to fund the book without having to dip into my personal savings. That's a win. 

    I will and I can always try it again, and I can always buy the supplies and load up 10-15 loaves of soap, pour about 80-100 candles and start the process all over again. I just don't want to be tethered to it to the point that everyone expects me to be at home mixing mixes and pouring pours. I think autonomy is just too important to throw out the window with the soap water.  (You see, when you make soap you use at least 6 or 7 different oils and it leaves quite the oily mess.  You can't simply pour it down the kitchen sink, not if you want the sink to work.)  You get my point. 

    So, as of right now, I have about 110 bars of soap to sell. I'll sell them at $7.00 a piece.  I have about 40-50 candles and can sell them for around $6.00.  That will leave me with the money I need to produce the 2nd Blog Book, and then when I can I'll buy more oils for the soaps, more wax for the candles, and I'll think about what I need to promote. I think that's really an easy choice really, I can promote the promotion of the two blog books online and through various means such as a newsletter and/or boosting their visuals on Tik Tok, Facebook, Instagram and other social networks. These things take time, it takes effort it takes money. I don't know that many realize just how much effort goes into self promotion unless one is trying to actually self promote. It's AMAZING how very few people we can actually say we know or can reach when we just rely on own own personal social circles. Nope, you gotta pay for advertising and the extra income was and is a really good means....it's just that however, extra. It's not my main squeeze for income.

    Just to give you a clue as to what you need when you get started on selling soaps or candles, I'll run through the average needs (assessment) so you can figure it out if you are thinking it may be a good plan for you. It is a great plan, by the way, it really is, but you will sink about $1000-1500 into it, and then there's all the time and energy you put into it as well. After the time, the energy, and the money you then have to wait on the clients and customers to see your ads, respond to your ads, pay you, and then guess what  - you have to send out the product!! More money, more time, more planning. This is not something you just do on a whim. Ready? Here we go:

You need supplies, this means you buy 7 different oils if you're making the good soap. You'll need lye, and you'll need all the things to mix the ingredients in so you have it all prepared to pour into the molds you have to buy as well.  The oils are: Coconut oil, Palm oil (unless you don't want to use palm, I'm using soy now to substitute) Soy oil, Avocado oil, Sweet Almond oil, Castor oil, Olive oil.  You'll need Mango butter or Shea butter as well.  (No really, believe me, you want that.  It makes the soap slippery and smooth.You'll need the pots, bowls to put the ingredients in to weigh them. You'll need a digital scale. You'll need utensils you can't use for regular cooking since they are introduced to lye. You'll need gloves and googles since you're working with lye. You'll need lots and lots of paper towels. You'll need softeners and hardeners, depending on what you prefer. You'll need scents (and no, they are not cheap) and you'll need colorants. You'll need boxes and bubble wrap.You'll want to wrap the soaps in cute paper and bind them with twine.You'll want to add a little label to let folks know who you are, and another to say what scent you're using.You'll need a warning label  for the candles, wicks, sticky pads to hold the wicks, tins to pour the candles into, and if you use glass (don't use glass) you'll need bubble wrap and heavier boxes.You'll need to figure out the postage so you can charge either a flat rate or an actual rate.You want to be sure to have plenty of space for the boxes and boxes and boxes of supplies, as well as the product itself once it's made. You can't very well make it and then not store it. You need tiered shelves with enough space to add boxes, modules, and thick cardboard to separate the batches. You'll need to set that up before you start overflowing with pretty soaps and sweet aromatic candles running out your ears - - don't do what I did...prepare ahead of time. Yes, it costs more, but you do have to do it to get started.     
    If you're thinking you really do want to make it something you do for a living, you'll need an office space. You'll need a computer with Quicken Books. You'll need ledgers and ways to keep track of the supplies the demands, the money, etc. You'll also need a good ergonomic chair, mouse pad, keyboard, and maybe one of those really cool stamp machines that weighs and stamps for you - - you can pay for those online now. Label makers are really cool - - I think I paid $99 for mine, and the rolls of paper labels can be found in bulk for about $39 for 8 rolls. You have to think of this before you start counting any profit.  Do you see where maybe this wasn't the best idea? I put out $1500 and may break even and make another $1500.  The time I put into it already, the space it takes, the gnashing of my teeth when I screw up a mix and have to wait another day to make up for it  - it can be daunting. No, it is daunting. I am happy to be honest, it's a chore.  
    
    All in all I'm glad I did it because I know I can make really cool things for my friends and family. I can make myself all the soaps and candles I will ever want. I know I can order 388 scents of smelly good stuff and be absolutely satisfied by just sniffing them and thinking of great places and things. I can know for sure, without any doubt, that I have achieved a really fun hobby and made money off of it, but the thing is, I'm not a soapest. I'm not candler. I'm a writer - - I write. I do a lot of that, and that's where the heart is. If I have to pour out a bit of Mango butter ala sudsy, well, there you go - - I'll do it. I would rather say I did this my way than to say I had to borrow the money or be obligated to anyone for it. I don't do well with obligation - - can you relate?
    
    If you have a minute, think about a passion you have or have had that you just struck out and made it happen and if you haven't done that maybe think about doing the whole soap and candle thing. You can also buy oils in bulk and pour them into bottles for massage oils. All you'd need is the oil itself, scents, bottles, labels, and luck!  I think I did the math on that. To get a gallon of the oil and enough bottles to do that gallon, you'd spend $75.00.  Then you have to get the labels, the boxes to mail them in, and wrap to contain any possible leakage, so that's about $50, but in order to get the amount of boxes to keep the costs down you have to order more. It's a catch-22, still, you can sell it for enough to earn about $250 from the $125 you paid out....IF you have the clients, and that's the rub.  (See what I did there?  "The rub"....massage oil...yeah, OK, go on, laugh, it was funny.

Photo Credit:  Me

Don't Tell Me No.

 If you know me, then you know me. If you're just reading this blog for the first time, or maybe you've read a few of the blogs, and you think you may have a sort of kind of grip on who it is that I am, please, let me be the first to step up to the plate and show you EXACTLY who it is that you're dealing me. It just makes it so much easier to cut through the muck, and show my true colors at the get-go.  I am an ENTJ on the Meyers Briggs scale. That means I'm an openly honest, upfront, direct decision maker who won't consider let alone tolerate anyone telling me that the sky isn't blue. I know it's blue. I have eyes to see, the damn thing is blue. Move forward.  Because of my ENTJ-ness, I will move the world for you if you need it to be moved. If you've earned my trust, there is no problem with me deciding to take you to the goal you wish to achieve.

     I am also born under the sign of Scorpio, and as a Christian that may seen odd to hear that I admit that, but God made the stars didn't He? They have a story to tell, and Scorpio is part of that story. We're skeptical by  nature, but we're cunning, clever, charming, and mysterious at the same time. We're stubborn because we have our own agenda and fitting into yours won't do. I am also born in the Chinese year of the Ox. I'm not going to pretend that the Chinese zodiac is a good thing, it's probably not, and though I hate to admit that the traits of the Ox do in fact size me up to a tee, it's true, I am Earthy, dependable, thoughtful, trustworthy, but if you cross me, you'll find me to be both bullheaded and unmovable. I will not do a damn thing for you if you lose my trust.

    OK, now that you know who it that you're listening to and reading from, let me say this, I am so very easy to get along with until someone makes the mistake of lying to me, or someone makes the mistake to not search out the full truth when I've asked a question, but instead (probably due to their ineptness of being capable of putting forth an effort or giving a damn) they decide to half-heart the answer and just say what they want to say hoping it will suffice and I'll go away. I don't go away. That's the other thing; if I decide to be there, I'm there. It's best you handle me with truth and be as direct as you may need to be, but yeah, I'm not moving. I chose to be there. You're welcome. I may just be the one you need to get whatever the heck you need done - - done. That's the stubborn, mule-headed, unshakeable, obstinate, OK, we'll say it, that's the ornery in me. (I comes natural if you've ever met my mom or her dad.)

    Today I had the opportunity and the personal challenge to put my innate contumaciousness to work! Someone, a person who thought I would just simply accept her answer because she was a hiring recruiter and I was looking for a career with her firm, told me that I needed to be sponsored in order to take the Series 66 FINRA exam in order to further my desires of being a financial advisor. I know differently, and I said so. She argued with me. (Hint: never argue with me. If you're going to argue with me, at least know this; I never get into a discussion that could be argued if I don't already have the thing wrapped with a bow!) That was dumb. I was right, I collected the Google info for her, emailed her and let her know I knew. She then, out of either sheer ignorance or anger, wrote to me to say that the firm would not consider me for a future role, and that I could and should look elsewhere for employment. Don't .... do not...tell me no. Not when I know the answer is yes.

    I decided to stick to my plan, to be a thorn in her side, and to force her to see that she was not dealing with a would be snowflake who was born just a few decades back; I'm super old, and because of that experience, I know that being a "Karen" has it's advantages from time to time. This was one of those times.  Yes, she was the recruiter, she was the one standing between myself and the hiring manager who is in my actual city, and available to me if I should, oh, I don't know, GO DROP IN ON HIM.  

    I dropped in on him. I let him know I was applying for the position, that I would be continuing to take the next steps towards my licensure (Series 66), that I wasn't expecting him to sponsor me, but after I pass it, because I have been licensed to sell insurance since 1983, and have my SIE, I would like a face to face interview. I explained that  his recruiter didn't appreciate being schooled, but I wasn't going to let her stop me from pursuing my career goals -- he laughed.  He said, "Damn, you remind me of me! I did that too. I had to come in here and shake the manager's hand about 14 years ago when the company said they didn't think I'd be a good fit."  He liked that I had the guts and the willpower to knock on the door of opportunity rather than being content to be hustled. 

    Was it rude of me to point out the obvious to the little-miss? Maybe. She has earned her position, and she had rules to follow, the problem is, and this is too basic not to know, you don't tell someone a half-baked answer when you know it's not the full truth. There are those that will let you bully them, and then there are those of us who are bulls or oxen ourselves (not bullies), and we'll hook horns with you on the spot! I'll get my hands dirty. I'll Google. I'll do the due diligence I need to load up on whatever "ammunition" is necessary to blow the doors off your story -- if I want in that door I'm either using the key or knocking it down. I'd prefer to use the key. I'm really very helpful and very easy to get along with. I'll take you and your goals to the limit or I'll dig you a hole so deep you'll never climb out of it if you try and lie to me. It is what it is. Don't try. Second chances don't usually happen with me. I assume you know that before we even meet. 

    Better stated, just tell the truth to me. Always tell the truth. I can spot a lie and I can dig through one so easily. If a challenge does arise in the middle of my digging - - well, there's a reason I like Dachshunds over German Shepherds. A Shepherd of any breed will help you, take you to the next level, guide you, show you the way, and hope the best for you -- that little weenie dog, on the other hand, will dig and dig, nose to the ground, ears widely open, hearing every last thing you said, but finding the end of whatever it is you were trying to hide - - and yeah, I think I'm 10 feet tall too, another Dachshund thing. Talk about nailing a description in an analogy - - Yeah, the Dachshund makes a whole lot of sense when you think about who I am or may turn out to be. Best friend no doubt, and I may look sweet and friendly, maybe even be a bit of a clown; but I will bit you hard in the ass if you turn your back too quickly. 

Photo Credit: Dachshund Joy

The Etsy Will Happen! (Get your store front on!)

 I have actually already started the Etsy store. It's officially open now, and has my book for sale to keep it in operation status. What I'm doing now is waiting on the boxes, the bubble wrap, the labels, and the new candle scents to come in so I can continue to make soaps, candles, and now I'm giving massage oil a try as well. I'll soon have three great wares to sell, all products are made with natural ingredients. They are all vegan if you're into that, it wasn't necessarily on purpose, but yeah, it's still a fact. The case could be made that they are all gluten free, but I'm not sure soap, candles or massage oil ever had gluten to begin with - - sort of like saying 7-Up is caffeine free; which it is. According to their 70's commercial, "Never had it, never will".  It's sort of like that.  (Could be an 80's thing, I don't really know)

    The Etsy is the best thing ever when you think about it. You can have your own store front and you can title it, name it, give it an incorporation if you want to. They keep track of supply as well, and you can sell basically whatever you wish to sell. They take a tiny profit off a enormous number of people, so it works well for them as a corporate model as well.  Everyone loves a winner and everyone loves a wining situation! For me, it's a chance to revive the brand "Reulaca" and have it mean something that is very close and personal to my life. My three kids are the backdrop for the name Reulaca. I have my son Reuben, and my two daughters Laura and Caity. The name Reulaca is pronounced "Reu-La-Cay" incase you were wondering.  So when you go to Etsy, as I'm sure you will, just look it up and see what you may be interested in possibly purchasing for yourself or a friend. (Right now, as of January 17, 2022, it's only my book "Jude's Almost Daily Blog" which could be an amazing gift, just sayin.)

    I've been designing new fragrances for the wares, and that's been the biggest blast. I buy my scents almost exclusively from www.candlescience.com and I buy my bulk supplies almost exclusively through www.bulkapothecary.com where I have not been let down even once. I buy and have bought so many scents and so many pounds of raw soy candle wax, I could start a business; oh wait, I did that! LOL. Yeah, that's the thing, I'm really into it now. I'm designing fragrances! That's when you know you're making this stick because Candle Science and Bulk Apothecary have (collectively) over 300 scents to choose from and you can't imagine how many combinations that could produce! Wow! I feel like Sonic Drive-In over here making drinks and mixing flavors with textures just for the fun of it. That's really exactly what I'm doing. I can really stink the house up too from time to time, the bad smells are as monumental to me as the good ones! No one will ever walk into my place and smell cat liter, that's for sure. Not only do I change it often, but the aroma of the various candles and soaps penetrates the air constantly. I have the best smelly-good-place EVER!

    I have six signature scents right now, and of course I can use the upward of over 300 other scents and just call them whatever I want, but I like mixing things. I'll give you a clue, and I don't mind if you do the same thing, it's your batch, you should have fun with it. I may or may not patent the scents, and if I don't and you used one I could always go back to this blog and prove I had it first, right? Here we go: I use a fresh rose and mix it with wild black cherry and call it "Cordial Rose".  Simple right? I also mix the scents Apple Harvest Bourbon and add ginger root to it, and call it "Ginger Bourbon".  The Ginger bourbon soap I made is a rich deep brown with a golden hue to it, so the candles and the oils will be the same color, and it will probably be one of the better choices for both men and women.   I have one called "Reulaca" of course, and it's a mix of three scents that represent each of my kids. I won't tell you what they are.  I have "Stringfellow", which is my personal scent, and it is reflective of the things I prefer in life, I'll give you a clue here and tell you that licorice is the backdrop for that one.  I have a couple of manly scents to choose from, "Kev" and then there will be something Scottish.  Kev is more of a traditional Americana scent, and the Scottish product is a baseline coastal scent with a infusion of wild currant, jasmine, and something very secret that keeps it precious and musical.  It's more European as the name implies, and indicative of my ancestral background. (I'm Scottish-American)

    Of course, there will be the standards of Lavender, Lemongrass, Apple Harvest, Patchouli, Arabian Sandalwood, Teakwood, Balsams, fruits and florals. You can't have a soap company without the peonies and the roses hanging about, can you? I think the candles will be for the most part, poured white unless they are a signature blend. The Stringfellow candle will still be poured white. I'm pouring them for the most part into 8 oz tins that are either multicolored, holiday themed, black, white, rose-gold, teal, wine, or gold. 

    There are a million choices, but I think I will stick with the near basics so that what I do pour will fit into most decors without issue.  The tins will be wider and have 2 cotton wicks. I tried the wooden wicks, but need a taller and bigger base for that, and I don't want to ship glass containers. It's both expensive and could be potentially disastrous in the transport. I won't be replacing goods; too many people like to pretend their shipment didn't arrive in tact - - to get a second. Yeah, not happening. If I replace it I will do so only after the first is returned to me. This is a very small business with only me at the helm, I'm not going to go too far out on a limb. You buy it or you don't. I'm easy.

    Two things my wares have that most don't, and what could separate them from the rest is that I pour more than 8% (load) of scent into my wares. I don't skimp on the scents, and I use only the best blends. I also sing, dance, pray, praise, worship, and talk on the phone with people I love when I'm making candles and soaps (and soon oils) so that the element of love is infused with all of the products either intentionally or by proxy. I should have a scent called PROXY!  Oh, that's going to happen.  I think I'll call one "Naked Bearded Man" too, and never sell it - - just keep it for myself. It may have to be Texas Burnt Orange...it may happen. It could happen. Yeah, it's in my head now, so it will happen. Makes me wonder now what a naked bearded man may actually smell like. (Can you tell it's been a while? LOL)

    Each product will be wrapped appropriately and in the case of the candles I have really cool boxes that are 4x4x4 to mail them in.  The soap boxes are I think 3.5 x 3.5 x 2 because I want space to wrap but not bump around. I don't want even a tiny bit of the materials falling off.  When I do send off the soaps, if they haven't cured for at least 21 days, I'll add a little card that states the user should wait X amount of days before using it (for best results).  The candles can literally be poured and sent out the same day, but I may wait one day to be 100% sure they are cured as well. Obviously, the oil can be shipped as soon as I pour the mix into the 10 ounce bottles. (There's a really cool formula that I found to insure lastibility,  and that's not even a word.)

    I'm not doing the Etsy to replace my full time permanent job, but at this moment I don't actually have a full time permanent job. I'm studying the Series 66 and the Series 7 to become a Financial Advisor for a great group out of Texas. It will be about six weeks before I'm actually onboarded, but for now I can consider myself a soap, candle, oil pouring maker and I can consider myself an Etsy store front manger, owner, and operator. I am Jude Stringfellow, I am REULACA. This is just too much fun. I love it.

     I don't think I'll ever try to make it big, or make millions off it. I don't want to outsource, hire people, or become too big for my own good. I just want to have a good steady hobby that brings in a good steady income, and have fun doing it. Believe me, the music is cranked, as the oils heat up, and I am dancing to both Celtic Worship (www.celticworship.co.uk) and Celtic worship. There is a difference. One of those two makes me really smile and the other makes me giggle - - just a little. (Now I'm wondering what Celtic Worship would smell like. At least I know there would be WOOD scents, and I'd have to Stirrat!  You'd have to know to know, but it was funny and I am laughing.) 

    

Photo Credit: Wealth Result

    

Horse Barns: A Comparison

 After writing the last blog about not having horses anymore, I received six (6) comments in my inbox rather quickly, all asking me to describe or detail for them the situation(s) at the various barns Laura and I have been associated with or had dealings with. I don't want to rattle off their names, as that could be a legal mess, but I will give details and if anyone has any specific questions about one or the other, they can DM me on Facebook or IG and ask. I can't and won't take comments here on the blog site. 

We'll start with Indiana barns.

1.    The first barn was in Brownsburg, Indiana, just north of the main thoroughfare for Indianapolis (HWY 36) and it was west of Indianapolis proper.  It had a name, it has since been sold as the owners died, and I have no idea how it is now.  When we went there were 68 horses on the property, and we were led to believe there was 100 acres of land. We just couldn't see it, but it was "back there, over that fence line" and like morons, we never checked it out. The entire time we were there, which was about 4 or 5 months, maybe a bit longer, I don't know, there were upward of 68-90 horses and all crammed on about 22-24 acres which included the barn area that took up 2 acres or so. Yeah, not cool.  The manager let the horses run into their barn stalls at about 3:30 p.m. so he could get to his other barn that he let horses run into their stalls around 4:30. 

 At this barn the manager ran the place, his word was gold, the owners didn't listen to a single one of the boarders. If he didn't like you, your horse may just not be fed well.  It was that sort of barn.  He leased 6 of his own horses to young influential girls who he then trained as barrel races. They didn't do a bad job, no, they were pretty good, but then again they had to be or he would yank the horse from them and shun them from the barn.  It was a MAD HOUSE trying to get arena time, and forget about complaining. It didn't work.  We left and when we did the owners tried to steal my daughter's horse and claim she owed them board. No, she worked for her board. They just wanted her Half Arab bay gelding and they were willing to steal him. You'll find that there are a great many people who do that sort of thing. Oh, and one more thing about that particular barn; they had an Amish farrier that they called names and made fun of behind his back. That never set well with me. 

2.    We left that barn and literally walked Laura's horse to the barn just south of it. The two barns shared a fence line. It was obvious that the land that the first barn owner was trying to convince me that he owned was in fact the second barn we went to. This barn was  HUGE in terms of the barn and the stalls, and the indoor arena, and the great fencing. Things looks up for us, or so we thought.  I didn't have a horse at that time. I had one at the first barn and went horseless until we got to the 3rd barn. It only took another few months before that was to happen because the owner of the 2nd barn was a new widow, having lost his barrel-racing wife to cancer, and he went through the inheritance like water! He didn't use it to better the place, and yep, he sold it. Gone! 

There you go. I'm glad I didn't have a horse there! Laura had that same Half Arab and guess what, the 2nd guy tried to steal him as well. It was just amazing!! She got word of it, and was able to walk him to the 3rd barn about a mile away. She couldn't ride him as she had to do the escape after dark! She didn't owe the man a penny, having worked for her board again, but that didn't stop him for coming to the 3rd barn and demanding that she surrender her horse. Well, yeah, that didn't happen. He's an idiot. During the time we were there we had to deal with the criminal felon from the 1st barn walking over and trying to take Laura's horse twice. At least he was inept at it, and was caught both times by someone at the barn. No charges were brought. He claimed he was just exercising the animal - - go away.

3.    The 3rd barn was about a mile away and into the woods a bit. It was called Natural something. I won't go into names.  The owner was sweet enough, his wife however was a commanding bitch. She ran the joint, but by running it she gave the reins to about 6 girls all under the age of 17, all of which (if you know much about girls) fought constantly over this, that or the other, and they would dead-lock and dig their heels in and the result was you didn't get your horses fed, watered, cared for, or worked. You paid for it, but nothing really happened. Then, you'd come over to ride your horse and find that someone had saddled it up for a paid trail ride EVEN THOUGH you didn't authorize it to be used. You'd come over to ride and find that your horse was sweaty and bathed, and he was tired and didn't want to go out with you. You'd ask about it, they'd say he was just hosed down a minute or so to keep him cool. Yeah, OK, and where were the saddles, the pads, the helmets, all of which should have been in my tack room? They were in someone else's tack box or tack room. They kept trying to say my stuff was really their stuff. I had to keep retrieving my things, or keep them in my trunk, and you just shouldn't have to do that. I would complain and one or the other of the owners promised to look into it. It didn't change. We left.

4.    The 4th barn was a mess and 1/2 too. It was owned by a man who was married and the owners had a 16 year old son.  They lived in an apartment inside the barn, but they hadn't closed the back door that led into the barn, and you could hear them inside their house fighting, talking about you, and then their son came out naked once to get his rope or something - - yeah, there was that.  The kid would also take young girls as young as 13 into the covered round pen to have sex with them. Naturally, we reported this to the police, and guess what, the police told the owners who reported it!! Are you serious? We were asked to leave. I didn't mind, it was a manic place and the owners were too into their own thing to be good barn owners anyway. They had expensive horses that the watched and those horses were cared for but the mutts or mongrels of the world (mine) were never even given grain. I had to do that even though I was paying for them to do it. Again, if they were giving lessons, which they did all the time, you couldn't use the barn. It's just the same old, same old. Not worth the hassle. Gotta go.

5. The 5th was hilarious!  A woman claiming to own the place, had 11 horses on 14 acres. That's not too bad, and it wasn't too overwhelming. She had an 8 stall brick barn without doors, so it got cold in the winter for sure. She charged a good price, and she claimed we could come out whenever we wanted to as long as it wasn't too early or too late. We understood. She claimed to live in the house on the property too.  She claimed the silver jeep was her boyfriend's and he would be in and out of the gate, or on the property, and not to worry about him. She took cash, and that's always a clue that there may be an issue, as she didn't give a receipt. I asked for one. I wasn't given one. 

 We put our horses on the property, we were locked out of the gate. We climbed over the gate and we had the police called on us. We had to prove the animals were ours, and that can be hard to do. Luckily I had the papers to mine, but my daughter's horse was grade. The woman didn't own the place, she was a thief. She'd steal horses and take them to slaughter for money.  The guy in the silver jeep was  her boyfriend, but he kept watch over who was coming and going, and let her haul horses away.  The owners lived in the house at the end and had hired her to feed their horses. She did feed their horses, but she stole YOUR horses and sold them to slaughter. THANK GOD we got our horses out before they were next. NOTHING happened to her. the owners did NOT CARE that she was doing that. WHATEVER!

6.    The only barn I would go back to was Ellin Daum's place at On Eagle's Wings in Plainfield, Indiana. I'll use her name and her barn's name because she was a sweety, she did it right, she charged a bit more, but she took care of the animals.  I didn't appreciate some of the things that happened that were beyond my control, but I won't get into it. Suffice it to say that family is family, and we don't always have much to say about that. I think every place should have a restroom, hers at least had a port-a-potty, and that's about the only bad thing I can say about the barn. I didn't like one of her workers, but she was fired soon enough, and we didn't have to put up with her much. I also didn't like that there was not enough space to actually ride in, and again, that's a reason to leave. If the place doesn't have what you want, you leave. At least Ellin was (and is) a learned soul when it comes to being on top of things, and she was and is a Christian who treats people with respect. She didn't lie to us. That was a first.

That's it for Indiana. Now on to Oklahoma.

1.    In no particular order. We'll start with Luther.  Luther is the name of the closest city.  The owner wasn't the owner, but at least this time she said she wasn't.  She let us know right away that she was the manager. She had 260 acres to care for, and space for as many animals as you really wanted. We tend to have one or two each, no more, and she had a 1/4 acre pen to keep them in at night, and they could be allowed to wander the front yard area of about 30 acres if they were easier to keep and catch. If they were not, they had to be walked to the smaller pastures of 1/2 an acre to 2 acres. It just depended on the day, the weather, etc.  She was good enough. She was sweet enough. She cared for the animals, and she let us know when things were bad. Things were bad a great deal more often than they really should have been in my opinion. She allowed ex-cons to run the show, and they stole the horses. There you go. 

Then there were the times she fed bad hay and you had to pay the vet bills for her mistakes or lose your spot at the barn, and you know that can be a real issue if you have no place to go! She would use MY hay for her horses. She would rescue and retrieve rescued horses and beg for donations online pretending the horses were going to slaughter. She thought we didn't know it was her, but we recognized a few of the things in the photos online. She used a fake name, a fake address, a second phone, the works.  She used our supplements for her horses. She literally allowed Laura's baby horse to die because she didn't give it the meds Laura paid for, but used them for her horses. It went on and on. She took one of our friend's horses and let her literally starve to the point of near death, never having the nerve to call our friend to let her know she was doing so because she felt the friend should have paid more in board. Their agreement was met, but this chick wanted MORE. After suckering us out of the 4th horse and using us for all she could, we left. 

 Laura went back to help her a few times only to help the animals. Laura actually adopted from her again but only to save the animal. Later the lady was found guilty of having dead animals, neglected animals, and abused animals. She fled. The actual owners NEVER KNEW that this woman had so many animals on their property. Shaking my head!

2.    OK, this was not the worst place in the world but it was the worst as far as the managers not having a clue as to what they had or how to maintain it. The house and 70 acres was owned by Mr. and Mrs. Jones on the hill and they rented or leased the space and barn to the managers asking for X amount of money monthly. Anything they could make over and above that was theirs to keep. What a sweet deal. We never had that sort of luck.  The problems started immediately when we realized that we couldn't board inside the barn, but we had to rent a 3/4 acre tract for our two horses. They didn't care if you had 4 on the pasture though. We know it would not be safe or wise to do that, but yeah, there were about a dozen or more other people who stacked horses on top of horses and guess what, in order to relieve the pressure the managers let our pasture be the overflow! 

Oh, and guess what, often times our horses were beaten, bit, kicked, and attacked by the over flow horses.  We had to pay the bills for that. They had an outdoor arena, no indoor. They had 50 acres in the back to ride on but the problem with that is they also had 70+ horses on it at $300 a pop for people who hoard animals and don't want to actually care for them. The owners did not care, turned their heads, and the managers didn't stop the horses from being aggressive when you wanted to ride out on the land. The final straw was when the managers went to a rodeo competition (it was a joke, the woman was obese, couldn't ride, and had a bum knee to boot) and the horses were NOT FED or watered and it was JULY. At least she and frozen ice pops for the boarders. We left.

3.  This one was a real treat until it wasn't.  The owner was OK, but he was old and he was set in his ways. The manager was Hispanic and would cuss us in Spanish not realizing we understood him.  He refused to listen to you, did his thing, and was not bothered by trying to do his job. You could get his boss, the owner, to speak with him, but then your horse ended up in the wrong area, it came up lame, it wasn't fed, you get the drill.  You do what he says or he hurts your horse. We had a hell of a time trying to prove that to the owner. Then we found out the owner sold the place and kicked the manager out before he kicked the boarders out. Another boarder took over the managing position, and the 40 acres dwindled down to 5 acres, the best indoor you could imagine, and three bathrooms!  He only kept 5 boarders at that point, and we were not one of them. We had to leave. When we first got there however, Laura's horse was hurt and it was the owner's horse's fault, and Laura still had to pay the vet bill. He was kind enough to move the aggressor, but yeah, $700 for the vet to come out, x-ray and care for her mare, and she couldn't ride for 2 months, so that's another $350 in board x 2 months for time at the barn without being able to ride.

4.  This one was just out of the park laughable.  A former Navy Seal and the man who actually did invent something cool back in the 80's, owned and operated this place. He was and is the biggest egomaniac on the face of the Earth.  I think I had a horse on the property for a minute, but due to his aggressive behavior, and his penchant for starting up motorcycles, airplane engines, NASCAR type engines, shooting off shotguns, and just being an idiot moron, I decided that paying him to not feed my animal was just not going to happen. You paid him $500 for the 3-acre pasture, and you fed every day. It wasn't that far away so we did that for a minute, but every damn time we went to ride he would gun up another engine and spook the horses intentionally. He would shoot his shotguns and spook the horses intentionally, he'd make you feel as if it was your lack of training, and he was not shy about his tactics. He has been divorced four times I'm told. I can't see why anyone would marry him in the first place. We left. Our friend however, has several of her horses there, but she doesn't actually ride, so that's not that big of an issue for her.

5.    The next manager/owner issue to come up was a place near my mom's house in Arcadia. It took a good minute to get there, but it was safe enough, they had trails, an indoor, they had an outdoor arena, and they had great dogs. Love the dogs.  Her place was, as many were, managed not owned. Again, she could have as many horses as was legal or possible and again, she overstepped the limit to make more money. This seems to be a pattern. It was in fact a problem. We found out that on one or more occasions, because there was a legitimate boarding facility across the way from her, that the place had been turned over to the sheriff for well-being checks more often than not, and we were the last in so the first to be asked to leave. 

    No worries. The lady didn't strike us as being someone who did  her job anyway. She announced she was pregnant about 2 weeks into our contract with her. She wanted to lower the board, and ask us to come out and feed. We couldn't do that. We were asked to leave. Great. You'd think we could just go across the street to the other facility, but no, we had western horses and that place was strictly for English riders, and the board was over the top pricey, something like $800 a month, and only indoor stalls, and you had to pay for 2 lessons a week as well. NOPE.

6. I can say the name of this place only because it is gone, and the owners are gone, and thank God for that. The place was Bridlewood, owned and operated by Elizabeth Lee, a would-have-been cowgirl back in the 70s I think. She was God's gift to rodeo I guess, at least she thought she was. She ran a tight barn but you had to do things her way or go away. She had a contract that was so one-sided you'd think you were in Ft. Knox. You didn't have a damn thing to complain about or you were gone, and you didn't get out of your contract just because she asked you to leave. Nope, she expected two months notice or you had to pay those two months. No one gives two months. 

    We had to sell our horses to get out from under it. No problems for me, but it was an issue for Laura. She had to stick it out until she was finished and even then the horse she owned was abused and mistreated so it was probably better if we had just left and paid the money. Laura was going to a competition, but because the horse she was going to use was going to be going up against one of Elizabeth's friends, the woman put Laura's horse in a pasture way in back where there were stickers and burrs on the plants. The horse was covered in them and we couldn't go to the show. Wow. That was just one of her tricks. She was a mess! 

Over the course of time she was arrested I'm told, and it was for either lying to the law or obstruction of justice. Not sure, it's more or less rumors, but she headed off to Peru. That much we know! She sold the place immediately afterwards, but she sold it to another con artist. The buyer took full advantage of Lee, and stole her equipment, basically raped the land of fencing, and anything else she could take, and she left without payment. Wow. Just wow.  

The place was then sold to another man, I won't say his name, but he was and is the biggest prick next to the Navy Seal. They would be two-peas in a pod for sure, not sure which would come out smelling worse to be honest. Laura had a horse there, not me, and the man invited Laura on a trail ride. Laura accepted, and told the man that her young gelding was in training, he was fresh and she wanted to take it slowly. OK, yeah, but that didn't happen. The man pushed off of Laura's horse when he took off, literally smashing into Laura, causing her gelding to bolt, Laura had to bail, the bastard comes full circle accusing Laura (a trainer, mind you) of not being able to handle her horse. He berated her over and over again, and all the while he never attempted to help her. She was injured from the saddle and the fall, but all this guy could do was brag about his experiences with run away horses. We left. We left, we gave bad reviews, we called anyone and everyone we could to warn them about that cursed property and the owners thereof.

7.    This place.  Oh, this place. We were there a number of times. We would go, get fed up with the owners and leave politely. We would go back, hoping they had changed. They had not changed. They are not going to change. They are right, you are wrong, and you'll never know what they know. You'll never do what they have done. You'll never be as good at anything as they have always been, and you just have no reason to think you can breathe their air. All they want from you is the board money, and to tell you exactly what to do, when to do it, and how to do it. The ONLY reason we went back three times I think, is because they do know what they are doing when it comes to feeding, watering, and cleaning the animals paddocks.  I say paddocks because we had our horses in paddocks. They have two pastures, but they are for their horses basically. They have a mare pasture where they had 2 horses and boarded 3 others. One of the boarder's mares was so aggressive I would never have considered allowing my horse to be in the pasture. They didn't care. It was OBVIOUSLY our inferior horses that were not worthy.  Are you getting what I'm saying?

    The man was a former roping champion and he was in his 70s with health issues that didn't stop him from grumpying around, driving his Gator around to spy on you, and tell you how everything you were attempting to do was wrong. The woman was in her 70s, but younger than him, and she told you when you could breathe, how you could breathe, and the fact that she had been thrown over 6 times in two years had nothing to do with her horse or her ability to ride, it was always someone else's fault, and we'll leave it at that. We left. We decided it was in fact, ENOUGH. Their ONLY saving grace was the fact that I could take a skinny horse there from a rescue and expect them to actually keep it fed, watered, and get it fat and healthy. They were good at that. NOTHING ELSE.

8.  This one was a flash in the pan. It was a managed property owned by a man who didn't even know the manager. He leased it, he turned his head. The manager had a mother who also owned a stable in the city. They both did pony-club type lessons and they both refused to let anyone use their arenas if they were doing lessons. They were always doing lessons. There were young girls running the barns who thought they owned the barns.  You couldn't talk to them. They had their headsets on and refused to give you eye-contact. You couldn't complain, no one listened. I left and sold my horse, Laura stayed and her horse was used for lessons again. This just happened and happened over again. We'd show up at night to ride so we could use the arena, and the girls were having parties with boys and alcohol and running around without much clothing in the barns. Nope.

9.    Finally, and this was the last place we were at, the farm that could have been the best and just wasn't allowed to be.  This place was in the country and city, it was over 80 acres and all fenced off into 3-5 acre tracts with one being 8 acres, supposedly to use for open riding. That lasted until a trainer brought her 7 horses over and took over the only real riding area outdoors that wasn't an arena.  There were two indoor arenas, but you couldn't use them if they were doing damn lessons, and get this, they were always doing a lesson! You just couldn't force the owner to respect your time or relationship to the barn. It was endless. If you didn't call the owner right in front of the trainers and scream about it, you didn't get your 20-30 minutes of riding time. How KIND OF THEM to allow us 30 minutes when we pay our board!

The owner decided to sell his place too.  We were just settled in, we both had horses, we were both riding, we were both happy, and bam....he's selling.  He asked all of us to leave, having only his trainers and their lessons there so he could show the place off to any would be buyers. He was and is asking 3x the amount the place is worth, so yeah, it's not going to sell, and we were out again. I just decided enough was enough, and I was done.  While we were there however, we had to endure the theft of our equipment, people chasing our horses for the hell of it, and by people I mean the owners drunken drugged out son with his younger than legal girlfriend. 

    We often came up to the barn after dark, and when the bad trainer was there, she allowed her daughter to have co-ed parties with alcohol; the girls were 15 and 17. Are you serious? We let the owners know because ultimately he could be in trouble for it, but he knew it would blow over and didn't do anything. When that trainer left and took 15 horses with her, he thought she was taking boarder's horses. NO, she had 15 horses and never paid a penny for their keep. He allowed her 5.  Oh...OK....wise up people! Pay attention to your own personal property and what takes place on it.

    So by now you can either say we have the worst luck, or you can pretty much figure out that there just aren't good horse barns to use. If you're not an owner or a manager (maybe a trainer at the barn) you don't have squat to say.  You have NOTHING to offer, and all they want is your money. Hand it over, shut your mouth, don't bother us with details, and golly-gosh, if we're using your horse, stealing your things, not feeding, watering, or caring for the animals, don't get all puffed up about it...just move on to the next barn. That is the collective attitude of these people. 

    There is so much more I could say. I could tell you that the girls having the parties were drug runners too. We were threatened. I could tell you that we had our tires slashed. We had our hay infused with stickers. We had motor oil put into the water troughs. It was just NOT a good thing - - when it really should have been.  I told Laura we can either keep beating our heads against the walls, or buy our own land. I decided to stop the horse thing altogether. I'm just going to rent my place and be on my own. If Laura wants to keep it going she can, but as of this day we are both horse free - - not a good feeling on one hand, but the best on the other hand because it means we don't have to deal with the owners, the managers, the other boarders, the trainers, or the expense. 

GIANT SIGH!!  

Photo Credit: Me.  (Casper)

Not Horsin' Around.

I've crossed that proverbial line -- I've given up my horses. I wasn't going to do it forever, thinking that I was just in a slump financially, things would look up, I could afford to spoil a 1000+ pound animal again, but no. It's over, it's not going to happen here on this planet. I can wait to get to Heaven to have my new and last horse. Done.  I guess that would make Ava my last horse officially. I think that's right. I've had 26 I think altogether, and some I really don't even remember much about them at all because I'd get one and then lose my job, or the barn would be sold, or there was this issue or that issue, and I just couldn't for whatever reason, keep the animal.  With Norman, the one that got away, it was just a terrible mess, and if I had to do it all over again I would NEVER have done what I did. He didn't deserve to be put through the wringer. God has a way of fixing my boo-boos, so I know it's going to be fine. I've been told that Norman has landed on his feet well now, and he'll be in his forever home for years to come. That makes me happy, but I could have handled it so much better. I'll stop beating myself up over it, but still.

     Let me walk you through just using an average range, to show you how expensive it is to keep a horse,  if you don't have your own land. The average rescue horse or auction horse from Bowie is about $900-1500. That's just the horse. Then there are things like quarantine, vet check, teeth floating, chiropractic check and well being, a farrier to trim, transport to the barn, and that's before you pay board. Board in this area is about $350-500 depending on pasture and/or stall, and yes, that's every month. You don't have to do the maintenance that often, but there are shots, worming, supplements for joints, calming supplements and of course there's the tack. The saddle I've listed on Marketplace recently, cost me $400, I'm selling it for $250. The saddle pad cost me $200, I'm selling it for $100. The headstall was about $100, I'm selling it for $50. So you can see where just starting the process can be a bit overwhelming. You pray that your horse doesn't get sick or have an accident. You pray someone else's horse doesn't beat up your horse and cause a vet bill. You pray your horse doesn't run through a fence during a storm, get into the street, and cause an accident. It's just been a roller coaster, but again, it was a wonderful ride. I love and appreciate every animal I came in contact with, I can't say that about the people.

    I typically tell people that the best thing about horse people are their dogs. I mean that too.  We'll go to the state fairgrounds to see a show, watch a parade, or just hang out with dozens of animals that are either showing or hanging out in the barns and when we do, we come across some really sourpuss owners and trainers, but their dogs are usually pretty docile. You can reach down and pet a mutt pretty much every other stall, but often times the owners aren't even worth speaking to. They either know more than you'll ever know, or they've been bothered just a bit too much by the lookers, and they don't want to even acknowledge you're the reason they can show in the first place. It's almost as if they forgot they are the entertainment, we are their audience. That's the show folks, it can be better with rodeo and competition folks, but not always, again it depends, and again, their dogs shine. Dogs always shine.

    I don't even want to think about how much money I've poured out in the past 15 years on the animals, the vets, the boarding, the feeding, the maintenance, the upkeep, and just the traveling back and forth. I don't want to try to remember who all I sold horses to, gave horses to, rescued horses from, or just helped with something that someone needed done and yep, I was their last resort. I typically went, I usually have a soft heart when it comes to an animal needing assistance.  I've driven over 100 miles one way to help load a horse. I think that's the one that I put into the "Nope, just say no next time" category. I've sold horses for next to nothing, I've rarely ever made a profit, and I know I've given away thousands of dollars of tack over the years. 

    Laura and I have been to about 7 or 8 boarding facilities in Indiana and again in Oklahoma. We're well well versed on the ins and outs of the idiots who own and operate barns.  Our friend Ellin Daum in Plainfield, Indiana is the ONLY one who has survived our backlashing and that's because for the most part she did it right.  There was a moment when I was riding my horse and she (a very trained trainer) tried to instruct me on my riding abilities. I remember riding closer to her and bopping her on top of her head with my closed (gently) fist.  She got the message. I love Ellin.  I can't say that about all the others. One left kids in charge. One left kids running around thinking they were in charge. Too many didn't feed correctly, on time, or enough, and there's just so many others who know more than you, do more than you, have more than you, are more than you, and you will never be enough. It's just that way with horse people. Thank GOD, I am no longer associated with horse people. This is it. No more.

    Knowing that we'll have horses (white horses) in Heaven, I've asked God to allow me to have either Bedtime Hero if no one else claims him, or my Norman. I understand fully that Norman is a 15.3 hand tall bay Mustang, not white, but maybe they only turn white when we go into battle with Jesus, who knows? I want my Norman if I can have him again. If God was to be so kind, I would never, and I do mean NEVER let my boy go again. He would be mine until  - well, eternally. Such a boy, such a good good boy. Still, he's a horse, and I was a horse person, and the best thing about me could be my dog(s) Just saying.

    Today I am selling the last of it. It will be gone. I was going to keep the saddle in my new living room, but no. I need to be done.  I will likely not hang the horse paintings either. I'll just give it all a rest and start new with new art, new thoughts, new new.  Memories are great, and mine are. We'll go with that. God knew what He was doing when He made the horse. That's for damn sure. 

NORMAN   (An American Mustang) Photo Credit: Karen Overy