Sunday, June 24, 2012

Utah Wild Mustang in Connecticut

It is a long way from the wild horse ranges of Utah to a small paddock in Connecticut. The journey made by Mustang 4838 via Blaine TN. is the first steps on  the road to becoming an equine partner and friend. The small bay with a star knew only the caress of a Utah wind, but now accepts those gentle gifts from trainer Geoff Goodson. It is only day one! 

 Link to info on Utah herds:
http://www.blm.gov/ut/st/en/prog/wild_horse_and_burro.html


Chutes lead to Geoff's trailer at the Blaine TN. farm where the particpants in the 100 Day Extreme
Mustang Makeover meet and pick up their Mustang.  http://www.extrememustangmakeover.com/
From these first moments to a finished product at Clemson S. Carolina on October 19-21. There Lil Joe will be for sale, and another Wild  Mustang becomes  a treasured companion  and  living legacy of our American West.
Hello Lil' Joe the Wrangler welcome to Connecticut and the first day of the rest of your life. Some good hay will help fill out that youthful frame and a good start from Geoff Goodson Horsemanship will have you  well on your way to a forever home.
  
Follow daily postings on the adventures of Lil Joe at Geoff's Facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/mobileprotection#!/doublegfarrier

Geoff's new Website debut on 6/25/12 at  http://www.geoffgoodsonhorsemanship.com/

Here is a link to the provious blog in the Mustang series:
http://carolynstearnsstoryteller.blogspot.com/2012/06/wild-horses-couldnt-keep-me-away.html



Friday, June 22, 2012

Equine Bug Control - Got Barn Swallows?

Bugs really bug horses, they bug people and pets too. Some bugs we need, some we don't. I don't like the use of chemicals to limit the bugs, so I really appreciate the job Barn Swallows  do in controlling insect population around our barn and yard.

It  all started when a solitary pair showed up a number of years ago. Now we have a full barn with the main aisle resembling the flight deck of a battleship. It is small inconvenience to have these masters of air in our lives each spring, the wonderful job they do in bug control really valuable. This season a full 12 nests of babies have hatched and taken flight.

We have plenty, but Swallows are having a tough time and populations are dwindling. Click here to check out Mass Audubon's  research project - If you are in Massachusetts you can help them with the research.
 http://www.massaudubon.org/Birds_and_Birding/birdstowatch/bigbarnstudy/

 The Big Barn Study hopes  to find answers and that will help keep the bugs from bugging you!
For bird identification and high quality photos and info check out  Cornell Lab of Ornithology site at:
http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/barn_swallow/id

an earlier blog for horse lovers:
http://carolynstearnsstoryteller.blogspot.com/2012/06/wild-horses-couldnt-keep-me-away.html

Monday, June 18, 2012

Star Island - My Favorite Place

How exciting to see a post and link to a story about my favorite place in the world.  Star Island, is part of a cluster of islands known as the Isle of Shoals. It is just off the coast of New Hampshire and Maine, it is a place of such simple beauty and peace. A Facebook post alerted  me to an article see the link here.
http://www.bostonglobe.com/lifestyle/travel/2012/06/16/new-hampshire-isles-shoals-spend-night-oceanic-hotel/at0xDwQTNeDV18GcqldJWK/story.html

Brigadoon like mist over Star Island as viewed from New Hampshire shore
I plan to look for 2 days we can escape to Star Island for a personal retreat. My luggage  will have binoculars and spotting scope, bird books, fishing gear, musical instruments, sketch pad, journal for writing, photography gear, a kite, swim suit and - oh I'll need more days!!! I'm ready to go right now!

Star Island Slide Show  far better than my photo!!
http://starisland.org/media/slideshow/
                              

Here is their Facebook link: https://www.facebook.com/mobileprotection#!/StarIslandCorp

Contact Star Island

http://starisland.org/

Phone: (603) 430-6272
Fax: (603) 430-6270
Island Phone: (603) 601-0832
Staff Email Address List
Star Island Corporation
Morton-Benedict House
30 Middle Street
Portsmouth, NH 03801
Get directions to the office
Content © 1999–2012 Star Island Corporation. Clouds photo © Axel Rouvin.
Other photos © their respective owners.





Thursday, June 14, 2012

Wild Horses Couldn't Keep Me Away; Mustang Stories

       Wild Horses couldn't keep me away from this story! A new series of blog posts on Wild Mustangs and their new lives.  Today a first in the series is an introduction. My friend Geoff Goodson, horse trainer, farrier, cowboy mounted shooter has embarked on a new adventure. I plan to take us all along vicariously through the blog.
Geoff Goodson Horsemanship
                                                                          
                                    Follow Geoff Goodson Horsemanship on Facebook:    
                                        https://www.facebook.com/#!/doublegfarrier  
  
   June 22, 2012 Geoff will pick up a Mustang in Tennessee and begin a 100 Day Mustang Extreme Makeover as seen on RFD TV. Finding a home and career for a Mustang not so long ago part of the wind of the western range is the goal. Expansions of the herds of wild horses limits food and  health. Each year some go into training programs to become equine companions. Follow along as Geoff and his family  embark on a training regimen that will ultimately place him in competition  with other trainers and Mustangs in Clemson, South Carolina in October.
                                                         Geoff Goodson Horsemanship

It all begins with the first touch. Here Geoff begins work with another Mustang. Lil Joe Wrangler. Lil Joe arrived earlier this month a former member of the Pryor Mountain Herd of Mustangs. His journey to a new career is beginning, since they discovered Lil Joe has an internal congenital issue the Goodson family hope surgery can correct and then he will become an adopted member of their equine family. Lil Joe will become a Mustang ambassador in CT.

                   Even the horses in Geoff's clinics are talking about his training techniques!

Geoff's new website just up on 6/25/12 : http://www.geoffgoodsonhorsemanship.com/
                                                                              
Info on Pryor Mountain Horses, Lil Joe's  herd of origin
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pryor_Mountains_Wild_Horse_Range

http://www.pryormustangs.org/

Follow or subscribe the blog if you would like to keep up with the 100 Day Mustang Extreme Makeover story! This is a wild west story come east!

Monday, June 11, 2012

Civil War Mystery Modern Day Detective Work

Who, it is a great mystery, who the little girls are in archived images retrieved from Civil War battlefield dead.  Technology might have the detective power to unravel this mystery. If these images of the little girls and their companion unidentified  images are spread on the web, just maybe, just maybe someone will recognize them from family pictures. Here is the link to the full article and pictures.


http://news.yahoo.com/civil-war-photos-help-sought-solve-old-mystery-092732336.html

I tell stories from the Civil War, but these images, their stories have never been told. Please  share
the link and the story help find the families of the battlefield lost.

Thursday, June 7, 2012

Bee Important

The Bee is an important character in our daily lives as well as in folklore and storytelling.  A serious demise to the honey bee population has entomologists and purveyors of local honey scrambling to save the colonies of honey bees, a critical link in the pollination process and key to 1/3 of the foods we eat.

 The bee hives of George Bailey, Mansfield CT. beekeeper. You can get George's Honey and Maple Syrup at the Storrs Farmer's Market on Saturday afternoons. ( note: electric fence to keep marauding bears from sampling the honey, we have no resident population but sitings of individuals as they wander through the region have been reported)

Beekeepers are our link to the lives and lore of the honey bee and their important work in pollination. Buying local honey at a nearby farmers market keeps our honey bee growers working and setting more hives to help the endangered population.


This link leads to an web page on honey bee health and welfare issues. YOU could sponsor a hive and help the honey bee population survive!
http://thehoneybeeconservancy.org/act-today-2/act-today/

National Geographic kids does a good job of telling the story of the bee die off and why it worries researchers; http://kids.nationalgeographic.com/kids/stories/animalsnature/honey-bee-mystery/

Burt's Bees  Public Service Announcement regarding Colony Collapse Disorder is here:

Heifer Project 

You can contribute to the world hunger crisis by making the donation of a hive of Honey Bees and training for a beekeeper through the good work of Heifer Project this link takes you directly to the Bee page in their online catalog:  https://secure1.heifer.org/gift-catalog/honeybees.html


Bees are found in folk lore and legend and scattered through history in image and reference. Bees often are a sign of wealth  and this is found as a repeated theme in stories. Certainly to be a keeper of bees insures a sweetness in life and a source of income. One of my favorite bees stories I found on a CD by Timmy Abell. I caught his performance at Garner Storytelling Festival in North Carolina and bought myself a CD "Stories to Grow On", a Parents Choice Award Winner.  Here the Japanese folktale of "The Man Who  Bought a Dream", captivated me.  You can here a clip of the story at this link: http://www.timmyabell.com/mandream.htm


Visit his website for more info on Timmy Abell Music and Stories at: http://www.timmyabell.com/index.htm

My Favorite Story with bee lore in it represented the wealth of finding a "Bee Tree". The Disney Classic, "So Dear To My Heart", this film had great music by Burl Ives, a cast of standout characters, the famous horse Dan Patch and a terrific Bee Tree happy ending, what's not to like!



There is a wealth of folk tales you can listen to at the web site Story Bee : http://www.storybee.org/index.html   Enjoy!!  Book mark it and come back often.

Story Lovers is full of resources and of course there is a great page on bees, travel through this link to see what the wise old Dumbledore has to do with bees!
http://www.story-lovers.com/listsbeestories.html


Bees are business from the local beekeeper and  the mission to make and sell  Local Honey to the larger bee business which grew from a small backyard entity to the well known Burt's Bees. Here you can read their story: http://www.burtsbees.com/c/story/history/burt-s-story.html

Thank -You for reading Bee Important, I invite you to leave a comment below or subscribe to the blog to receive future issues. For more info on Carolyn Stearns Storyteller visit me at my website www.carolynstearnsstoryteller.com  or visit on Facebook, Twitter, You-Tube and Pinterest!