Progress for the Foal Nursery

Today was a day filled with mixed emotions.  The day started off well, except for my son's stomach ache.  But he stayed home from school to rest up and "feel better".
 
Auntie Jennifer and Auntie Susie stayed with Honey Bandit while Matt and I went to check out an offer for some wood.  We were pretty excited on the way to the mill.  We were on the way to the historical PHILLIPS BROTHERS MILL, located in beautiful Oak Run California.   The mill has been in operation since 1897, and to my knowledge is the only true "steam operated saw mill" left in the country.   There are a few small mills that claim to be "steam operated", but use additional sources of power.  This mill is truly steam operated.  You can check it out at: 
http://www.phillipsbrosmill.com/phillipsbrosmill/default.asp?Gallery=About Us/Our History/ourhistory.htm
 
When you drive in the driveway, you are transported back to a time we can only dream of.  It makes you think of horses and buggies, and a time when life was simple, although people worked harder to survive and I think appreciated the little things possibly a little bit more.
 
We were met by Gregg Hendrix, who was gracious enough to give us a tour.  We thoroughly enjoyed the short history we were given and it was a real treat to check out the machines up close and personal.  While visiting with Gregg, and finding out that our kids go to the same high school and are involved in a lot of the same activities, our trailer was filled to the brim with pine and cedar siding.  A multitude of 1 x 6, up to 1 x 12 pieces of beautiful wood, on it's way to Honey Bandit's nursery.  We cannot thank Gregg and his family enough for their wonderful donation.
 
I had no idea that we have the luxury of having our own "local" mill.  If you need wood, you just call them up, order what you want, and when they have a full load, they fire up the mill.    I have a feeling that we will be contacting them again.   You can also book a tour of 20 people or more (i believe - but call for the exact #) and for only $10 each they can fire up the mill and you can see it in action.  it is a truly amazing place and i cannot wait to see it in action.
 
We also met Gregg's dad, a wonderful and interesting man.  He gave me some important information for Honey Bandit's trip to Washington, having done a similar one himself.
 
He said we need to get one congressman who is going to meet us there, and make sure we are prepared.  The more people who are there with us the better, and that having a solution or recommended agenda to solve the problem is much better than just complaining about it.  So everyone start planning their trip to Washington next year.  A Honey Bandit convoy will be awesome.  I imagine people would drive with us for however long they can, but this is going to be a whole nation's message to congress.  That we are not going to let our tax dollars be used to do this to our own wild horses.
 
We drove home as the rain started to get serious.  The less than up part of the "mixed emotions" was sitting in the carport listening to the rain pound on the metal roof.  Normally a sound I adore, well it just brought up stress and worry.  However, now that it is evening and well on the way to the 35 degrees it is supposed to get to tonight, I am feeling pretty good.  God has provided the answers and the means to save Honey Bandit so far, and He will continue to do so.  Today was another step towards providing him with his "foal nursery".  Right now it is pretty cold, but Matt managed to stop us from flooding out.  Yeah..   He took some railroad ties, with the help of Dalton & Travis and buried them above the carport, which caused the water to run "around" instead of into the carport.  It is  fine for now (as long as there are no "torrential" downpours), and we have a fabulously fashionable tarp on the top of the carport to keep it dry.   So we are just fine until we get the nursery started and done.
 
Honey Bandit is getting more like a "wild horse" every day.  His reactions can be almost normal, and then he will seem to have none at all.  But he is very aware of "pressure".    He can get very nervous, and other times not much bothers him.  But every day he is a tiny bit closer to being a "normal" foal.  You can tell that he was born free and in the wild.  He has those reactions as opposed to being born a "domestic" in captivity.  Is almost weird  to go from a horse that was pretty much catatonic to having him be so reactive.  But that is all just a sign of his brain coming back from the trauma.  His hearing is still completely random, but every day that he has more reactions makes us feel like he will get it all back. He is truly amazing and we are blessed to be able to share him in this lifetime.
 
Thank you for all your continued love and support.  God Bless.  Hugs from Honey Bandit.