Sunday, April 14
Apr. 15th, 2024 12:32 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
gottawonderToday I am grateful for:
Gorgeous weather. There are big flocks of geese settling on the fields now.
Before we went to the barn, we gave the X-Terra another going over, my husband checked the fluids and tire pressure and that kind of thing, we took everything out of the vehicle (not muck left after I gave it a good cleaning last fall) and it has a tank of fuel.
We put the inside walls back inside the big Purple Martin House; we had taken it apart for cleaning, and let it sit in the sun for a few weeks to kill any mites it might have.
We dumped out the goat/pony water to clean the big tub and put in all new water.
We took my car and the X-Terra to the riding barn so that R and her family could look over the X-Terra to see if it would suit her daughter. They seem pretty happy with it so far, and they took it for a drive to R's Dad, who is also going to go over it (he's pretty mechanical).
We've done our very best to be honest about any work it's had, and over the years we were very good about maintaining it. The seats are even still in decent shape. I hope it works for them, and I know I want it to be a good first vehicle for their daughter.
It is something they needed too, as R's husband was having a very difficult time coming to terms with their daughter being old enough to drive, and he was putting off dealing with it by not going to dealerships or actively looking with R. So, having this vehicle kind of come to them , ahem, means they don't need him to do that.
I worked with River outside today. The cut under his eye is all closed up. He was VERY sleepy today, but he did the work. We did some Liberty circles, and such, all done pretty well and he stayed with me nicely. Sometimes working in the outdoor arena can be more distracting, since there are other horses in their pasture beside it, stuff going on in the neighbor's yard, and so on.
I rode for awhile, and worked on bending around pylons and doing circles and such. Overall pretty good.
We came home, and my Sweetie went inside to start supper and I let the goats/ponies out into their pasture for a while, and spent some time with Wonder, just leading her.
I decided to put Wonder in the "dry lot" pen tonight. She foundered years ago, and now I am careful about her access to green grass (and a careful watch on her weight all year round). The grass is starting to green up, so it's time. Sigh. I always feel badly about needing to do this, as it means she isn't free to wander around all day. The dry lot is not a big pen. I do give her time in the pasture with a grazing mask on, so she can have some freedom.
I came in and we ate and watched some "Boardwalk Empire"
Yemen is a sovereign state right at the bottom of the Arabian Peninsula, with coast along the Horn of Africa, thus right across from Africa itself.
It went through most of the same stages as other nations on the Arabian Peninsula in terms of empires and occupations; the Sabaean Kingdom came into existence in at least the 12th century BC, It was NOT part of the Roman Empire though expeditions were made, Islam came to town around 630 ish, Tribal rule for a few more centuries, then the Imams...yada yada yada. Portuguese, then Ottoman Empire, then British Protectorate.
WWI was Yemen fighting the Ottoman Empire with the British that had colonized the very important port of Aden. Yemen remained neutral in WW II.
For a while, the region was divided into two main parts; in the North (Yemen Arab Republic) and South Yemen. Civil war ended at some point with them uniting to become present day Yemen in 1990.
Today Yemen is a place of unrest and poverty. "Since its unification in 1990, Yemen has been one of the poorest countries in the Middle East.[279] As of 2013 Yemen had a GDP (PPP) of US$61.63 billion, with an income per capita of $2,500. Services are the largest economic sector (61.4% of GDP), followed by the industrial sector (30.9%), and agriculture (7.7%). Of these, petroleum production represents around 25% of GDP and 63% of the government's revenue.[4] After the start of the civil war in 2014, its GDP dropped rapidly by over 50%,[280][281] thanks to the blockade led by Saudi Arabia and an effective embargo on oil exports imposed by the Houthis.[282"
So, it is not becoming more modern and a bit more liberal like some of the other Arab countries, no modern skyline, no playground for the rich.
This place kinda just sucks. It has pretty much the worst human rights situation, is poor, and it's just fighting and fighting and more fighting. This is where all the Al-Quaida stuff is happening. There suicide bombings, and just...awful.
Yemen has a severe shortage of water, and is too poor to build the giant desalinization plants that wealthier Arab nations rely upon. The incessant fighting ties up economic resources as well as...well, keeps bombing the shit out of everything so no infrastructure can be built.
"Yemen is a republic with a bicameral legislature. Under the 1991 constitution, an elected president, an elected 301-seat Assembly of Representatives, and an appointed 111-member Shura Council share power. The president is the head of state, and the prime minister is the head of government. In Sana'a, a Supreme Political Council (not recognized internationally) forms the government."
In reality, Yemen is still very tribal in how day to day lives are lived.
Geographically, it's access to the sea makes it pretty important. It has several island groups in the Red Sea, and is very close to Africa.
It has regions of marshy land, in spite of being more or less a desert. It has coastal plains, some highlands, and some regions of sand dunes. It has a fair amount of plants and animals that are found in Africa.
There is agriculture, and it was once VERY important for coffee, and still produces coffee. "A big problem in Yemen is the cultivation of Khat (or qat), a psychoactive plant that releases a stimulant when chewed, and accounts for up to 40 percent of the water drawn from the Sana'a Basin each year, and that figure is rising. Some agricultural practices are drying the Sana'a Basin and displaced vital crops, which has resulted in increasing food prices. Rising food prices, in turn, pushed an additional six percent of the country into poverty in 2008 alone,[284] and led to food riots starting in 2008 in poorer cities.[285] Efforts are being made by the government and Dawoodi Bohra community at northern governorates to replace qat with coffee plantations" (though I feel that replacing Qat with coffee would do nothing to feed people).
There is also some industry, some agricultural exports, not likely much tourism at the moment in spite of the wealth of heritage sites and fun things to do like jump camels or explore the mountains.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yemen#Culture
https://youtu.be/u4afYXL-tps?si=Kbu_xYCbqIjSgnyX
Gorgeous weather. There are big flocks of geese settling on the fields now.
Before we went to the barn, we gave the X-Terra another going over, my husband checked the fluids and tire pressure and that kind of thing, we took everything out of the vehicle (not muck left after I gave it a good cleaning last fall) and it has a tank of fuel.
We put the inside walls back inside the big Purple Martin House; we had taken it apart for cleaning, and let it sit in the sun for a few weeks to kill any mites it might have.
We dumped out the goat/pony water to clean the big tub and put in all new water.
We took my car and the X-Terra to the riding barn so that R and her family could look over the X-Terra to see if it would suit her daughter. They seem pretty happy with it so far, and they took it for a drive to R's Dad, who is also going to go over it (he's pretty mechanical).
We've done our very best to be honest about any work it's had, and over the years we were very good about maintaining it. The seats are even still in decent shape. I hope it works for them, and I know I want it to be a good first vehicle for their daughter.
It is something they needed too, as R's husband was having a very difficult time coming to terms with their daughter being old enough to drive, and he was putting off dealing with it by not going to dealerships or actively looking with R. So, having this vehicle kind of come to them , ahem, means they don't need him to do that.
I worked with River outside today. The cut under his eye is all closed up. He was VERY sleepy today, but he did the work. We did some Liberty circles, and such, all done pretty well and he stayed with me nicely. Sometimes working in the outdoor arena can be more distracting, since there are other horses in their pasture beside it, stuff going on in the neighbor's yard, and so on.
I rode for awhile, and worked on bending around pylons and doing circles and such. Overall pretty good.
We came home, and my Sweetie went inside to start supper and I let the goats/ponies out into their pasture for a while, and spent some time with Wonder, just leading her.
I decided to put Wonder in the "dry lot" pen tonight. She foundered years ago, and now I am careful about her access to green grass (and a careful watch on her weight all year round). The grass is starting to green up, so it's time. Sigh. I always feel badly about needing to do this, as it means she isn't free to wander around all day. The dry lot is not a big pen. I do give her time in the pasture with a grazing mask on, so she can have some freedom.
I came in and we ate and watched some "Boardwalk Empire"
Yemen is a sovereign state right at the bottom of the Arabian Peninsula, with coast along the Horn of Africa, thus right across from Africa itself.
It went through most of the same stages as other nations on the Arabian Peninsula in terms of empires and occupations; the Sabaean Kingdom came into existence in at least the 12th century BC, It was NOT part of the Roman Empire though expeditions were made, Islam came to town around 630 ish, Tribal rule for a few more centuries, then the Imams...yada yada yada. Portuguese, then Ottoman Empire, then British Protectorate.
WWI was Yemen fighting the Ottoman Empire with the British that had colonized the very important port of Aden. Yemen remained neutral in WW II.
For a while, the region was divided into two main parts; in the North (Yemen Arab Republic) and South Yemen. Civil war ended at some point with them uniting to become present day Yemen in 1990.
Today Yemen is a place of unrest and poverty. "Since its unification in 1990, Yemen has been one of the poorest countries in the Middle East.[279] As of 2013 Yemen had a GDP (PPP) of US$61.63 billion, with an income per capita of $2,500. Services are the largest economic sector (61.4% of GDP), followed by the industrial sector (30.9%), and agriculture (7.7%). Of these, petroleum production represents around 25% of GDP and 63% of the government's revenue.[4] After the start of the civil war in 2014, its GDP dropped rapidly by over 50%,[280][281] thanks to the blockade led by Saudi Arabia and an effective embargo on oil exports imposed by the Houthis.[282"
So, it is not becoming more modern and a bit more liberal like some of the other Arab countries, no modern skyline, no playground for the rich.
This place kinda just sucks. It has pretty much the worst human rights situation, is poor, and it's just fighting and fighting and more fighting. This is where all the Al-Quaida stuff is happening. There suicide bombings, and just...awful.
Yemen has a severe shortage of water, and is too poor to build the giant desalinization plants that wealthier Arab nations rely upon. The incessant fighting ties up economic resources as well as...well, keeps bombing the shit out of everything so no infrastructure can be built.
"Yemen is a republic with a bicameral legislature. Under the 1991 constitution, an elected president, an elected 301-seat Assembly of Representatives, and an appointed 111-member Shura Council share power. The president is the head of state, and the prime minister is the head of government. In Sana'a, a Supreme Political Council (not recognized internationally) forms the government."
In reality, Yemen is still very tribal in how day to day lives are lived.
Geographically, it's access to the sea makes it pretty important. It has several island groups in the Red Sea, and is very close to Africa.
It has regions of marshy land, in spite of being more or less a desert. It has coastal plains, some highlands, and some regions of sand dunes. It has a fair amount of plants and animals that are found in Africa.
There is agriculture, and it was once VERY important for coffee, and still produces coffee. "A big problem in Yemen is the cultivation of Khat (or qat), a psychoactive plant that releases a stimulant when chewed, and accounts for up to 40 percent of the water drawn from the Sana'a Basin each year, and that figure is rising. Some agricultural practices are drying the Sana'a Basin and displaced vital crops, which has resulted in increasing food prices. Rising food prices, in turn, pushed an additional six percent of the country into poverty in 2008 alone,[284] and led to food riots starting in 2008 in poorer cities.[285] Efforts are being made by the government and Dawoodi Bohra community at northern governorates to replace qat with coffee plantations" (though I feel that replacing Qat with coffee would do nothing to feed people).
There is also some industry, some agricultural exports, not likely much tourism at the moment in spite of the wealth of heritage sites and fun things to do like jump camels or explore the mountains.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yemen#Culture
https://youtu.be/u4afYXL-tps?si=Kbu_xYCbqIjSgnyX
