The indoor cats and Edda..

Sadie and Mia, playing with their newest handmade toy.

Wild action shot of Edda today.... no ...wait.... well...her mane is moving a little bit. When there is the slightest of breezes.. she looks like she has Albert Einstein hair... Fluffy and all over the place. LOL

Was trying to show her next to Dyfra who is a solid 12.3 hands tall. But she moved a little ways away by the time I got the camera.

Edda measures in at 11.3 hands tall at 6 months old,, not bad for an Icelandic horse.

One of these days I will get some action shots of her.

I know there really hasn't been the usual stories and photos lately. So much going on, that I have to spend time with.

I have a good friend Cindy who knows people and is trying to help DH get in the door with a company she deals with. She has given me more hope, than I have had in a long time.

Even if this job does not pan out, I am grateful she is going the lengths she is.

Its not easy getting a job out there right now, specially in Oregon. Companies here get large tax breaks and are sending the jobs.. overseas. And leaving American workers out to dry.

To those that have stood by us... this isn't for you.

I need to Vent a bit.. due to some relatives..not on my side of the family. Unless you are bored and want to read anyway. ;O)

My Vent or Soap Box if you will.....

The older I get, the more I would just love to stay in one place.

Our family did our time moving while DH was in the Navy... DH served his country, once he got out he stayed around and took contract jobs when his father was dying of Cancer so he could help, then stayed because of his mother. He passed up some good full time jobs so he could stay in the area where his parents lived.

Which help put us in the position we are in.

We can't even find an Under the Table work to keep us going longer... none of the Ranchers and farmers in the area are doing that any more, they can't afford to.

We have good friends that know everyone in the area well... and they have also been asking around for us. Still no luck.
Other Local jobs within a half hour are wood Mills but over half are totally shut down and the others still in business only have a 1/4 of their work force. They are not hiring. Not that they would hire DH.. he doesn't have any background in their business.

Min wage work.... would barely pay us for the gas for him to go to and from Portland.. we would still have to sell the place and no money for food or utilies. Plus.. they won't hire people my DH pay grade.. because he is over qualified.

To get a job in this Clime... you must be a perfect match to what the companies want... you can't be,

Over Qualified...

Under Qualified..

your not in their pay grade...

They don't like hiring people that have had contract jobs... (but they only are offering contract jobs,,which doesn't make much sense to me)

You must match what they want perfectly or they won't hire you

If you are my DH age.. they are passing older workers by.

They are no longer hiring people because they are good workers and work hard.

Contract jobs.. which seems to be the only thing in Oregon right now... His engineering jobs that used to bring in $55.00 to $77.00 an hour because they did not get bennies and it was short term work.... now only brings in Min wage to $17.00 and hour. At that pay.. we would still have to sell the house.

He is on first name bases with all the Temp agents and they haven't even been able to find him a job that isn't a couple month contract, at Min wage. They have even told him to look at other States because Oregon is just about dead.

DH is in "LinkedIn" and he is networking with all his friends... out of work Engineers too.. most of them have Phd's and Masters.. they aren't even getting interviews like DH is.
He is on all the job search sites that are out there....
He knows all the key words to put into the resume's to at least get noticed.

Not kidding when I say he is looking all over the World. Sending out properly cued Resumes left and right.

DH is not lazy.. is not passing over jobs but he is working very hard to find one.

Do we want to sell the place and move... NO ! It is perfect for us and what someone with Meniere's needs badly, peace and quiet.

All we want and need is a Fair Wage job... within 2 hours drive.

Things are not good.. my Father sent some money that will help keep us going a little longer. Thank you Dad!!!

I am spending long hours with my online Art stores but that doesn't bring in enough money to help much. Does pay for my online shops, business licence and some of the special food I have to buy for me. Only thing I can physcially do.

The house is for sale ....before we run out of money. That way.. hopefully,, if we have no choice, we can get the money back out of what we have put into this farm. We have perfect credit and hoping to keep it that way.

But if DH gets a job before a bid is given on the house,,well will pull the house off the market.

We are in need of that Holiday miracle.

We are doing the best we can, with the cards we have been dealt.

For those that judge and think they know all.... I will leave it at this.

My Heartfelt Thank you for those that have stood and still stand by us in our trying times. It means a lot to us. Hugs..

Maggie and I

After doing the evening chores, I decided to pull up a flake of hay and sit down. I haven't been able to do this with Maggie for a long while. I sat there enjoying her friendship, in the last of the evening sun. Maggie and I have been together a very long time and these moments are precious to me. DH saw us and came out and took this video short and photos. Am grateful he did.

Sadie sleep, a pretty rainbow and the low down to what is going on ~

A few days ago we had a lot of rain and of course, pretty bright rainbows to go with it.

Can see the bright storm clouds in the background but there is a shaft of goldenish light on the tree the next hill over.

Sadie sleeping. It is impressive cats can sleep like that.

Not a whole lot of photos lately. Not much going on than,, DH spending 8 hours a day looking for and applying jobs, working on the farm and doing a lot of cooking. He is getting interviews but for every position there are 1,000 to 3,000 people applying. How scary is that?

A lot of his Engineering buddies are out of work too...another scary part.. they have phd's and masters. They haven't even had an interview yet. We are also finding out,, companies are passing older people by for what ever reason. Guess they don't want knowledgeable hard working older folks... rather hire a grad right out of college and still living at their parents, that "might" get some work done. Sigh ~~ And in Oregon... they are laying off teachers. DH was thinking about sub-ing but there is the same issue there as any where else.

There are no fair wage jobs in Oregon for middle aged workforce people. So we have been looking all over the world.

I have managed to keep us going for nearly 12 months now but I don't have any more rabbits to pull out of my hat.

If the Spokane job doesn't hire DH, we will have to put the house and wee farm up for sale next friday. We have a small but nice house and a very modest mortgage but we have no choice.

Draw back, around here there are a lot of places that are for sale, that have been for sale for a long, long while. And the amount of places for sale around here is mind boggling.

And people are dumping animals as nothing is selling. I refuse to do that to mine. Helps that there is plenty of free food for them.

Me... I have been working all kinds of hours with my Art and on my online stores. Making some sales, which is great. Enough to pay for my online stores, web sites, business licence and such. Just glad I am selling what I am and very Thankful for those that like my Art and buy it!!!

Still working at getting better too. My horses are a big part of that. But still have a long way to go. Using Dyfra as my Hippotherapy horse.

So... to end on a good note... here is a cute video my friend Thumper posted awhile back and I will share here.

Edda is growing up

Edda is growing up. Almost 5 months old in these photos, 11.1 hands tall and 450lbs.
Do need to measure her again, as she is growing by leaps and bounds.

She is going to be a very nice riding Icelandic in the future.

Learning to speak Robot

DH and DS have been working on DS's robot, learning to program in "National Instruments" language. Programing is time consuming and quite a challenge.

Autumn in NW Oregon

Had DH come with me to walk in our woodlands after my ride yesterday. This is about the extent of the Autumn color in this area but it is pretty in its own right.

Front porch... has more color than the native trees. You can see my Japanese Maples and Strawberries changing colors.

The River birch trees changing colors.

Few days ago I woke up to what I call a "Pink Air" sunrise. Seems like everything is bathed in pink, the grass, trees, clouds even the air itself.

Keep hoping that a fair wage job will turn up locally, soon. We would hate to have to move from this beautiful place.
It is by far the most peaceful and stunning place we have ever lived.

The Warmth of Icelandic horse fur, to a cat's paws~

Is that a happy and sleepy cat or what?

Since it was not going to rain today I decided I wanted to do some leaf peeping via horse back. So I had DS help me groom Dyfra up and DS's cat, Nari (our outside mouser) decided she rather lay on Dyfra's warm back be itched and then happily groom herself. Took a couple of video shorts so everyone could see.

Dyfra did not mind at all and loved it when Nari was kneading her back.. had Dyfra's nose going. Nari started falling asleep and so did Dyfra. Really proud of them both.

However, I still wanted to ride......

Of course every time I put Nari down.. Nari was up on Dyfra's back again...so made it a little interesting to get Dyfra tacked up.

Finally was able to get Dyfra tacked up and took Ella with us on our short trail ride. We have a little fall color and really enjoyed looking at it while riding and then letting Dyfra eat some grass while sitting on her back. It is hard to put in words just how peaceful that was.