MARY

This is Mary, my neighbour, my side kick, my South Carolina mum and my best friend. I wanted to do a blog about Mary through photos and tell you all about her.

So this is Mary, she grew up in Greenville South carolina where she met her husband Tony. Shes probably going to kill me for the nest sentence but its my blog and Im telling the story. Mary and Tony got married when Mary was 14/15 years old! Yep, she always jokes that Tony raised me, Tony came to my prom.  Now some of my facts may be a bit mixed up, but im just going to go with the flow and by the stories Mary has told me over the last 4 years, and Im sure Mary will correct me on it once I have finished.
So they got married young, and got a  house, I dont know if the house came before or after graduation but I do know they got a dog and decided to show Chow Chows. Mary tells that they werent aloud to have a dog in the house so she kept it hidden and would only let it out when no one was around. I think Tony showed dogs at first, Mary would tag along, she would bath and groom the dog and set Tony up for his shows and he would win. Then Mary decided she wanted to show dogs to. She did obediance with them and she says all she had to do was look at this dog in a certain way and the dog wouldnt move. Ive seen that look, I know how that look goes. They both started up a Chow how can I call it, a show group for Chows and used to travel alot to Atlanta. I think they had a pretty good name for all the wins they had with their dogs.

Mary likes to go on road trips, it doesnt matter if its just to town or for a drive about. 1 day she took me for a drive round the local area and she showed me the 1st barn her and Tony built, about the cow she was given and it would jump the fence to follow her and she would have to take it back, about the families who lived round about, I love stuff like that, listening to people talk about the past. I think she got her 1st horse while they were at that place and she learned herself to ride. She showed me the litttle store down the road where she would stop with Bryan so he could get coke. The stories with Mary are never ending but they are funny and interesting.

I dont know if this is the place they sold to move here, down the street but anyway. They live down the street from me, they have about 80 acres of land give or take. They have cleared alot of the land and fenced, and fenced and fenced some more. Most of the fencing is still there 30 odd years later, Ive seen the hills they had to go up to big holes to get those cedar poles in, Ive seen how far it is from the house to The Bottoms as they call it, its a hike, I know, Ive walked it. So its all fenced in now and Mary & Tony have raised alot of animals there over the years. I dont know if the Chows were here but I do know they have raised beef cattle, Brahman cows and they also built a dairy on their property and milked for many a year while they were both working. It came to an end when Tony said Mary had crashed to many cars driving home from Michelin to go milk. They both worked there for alot of years and they run their dairy too.

Oh, I forgot the most important bit about Mary. Mary is a mama to 2 kids. Mary didnt have Bryan untill she was 21. The little boy with the cows is Bryan her eldest, Bryan got married last year to Wendy and we all went down to Alabama for the wedding. Bryan works for a tucking company who hauls stage equipment for bands so hes out on the roads alot touring with different bands.

So...Mary left Michelin and after a while Crystal came along. I think there is 10 years or more between Bryan and Crystal. I can finaly tell you all now since its now common knowledge. Crystal is pregnant and making 1st time grandparents out of Tony & Mary. Congratulations to Crystal and Justin

I dont know if the cows came and left or if they were still there but next came horses. I think Tony bought a horse and said he was going to show it. Mary would go with him, bath and groom the horses and get them all set up then she decided to show herself. I do know they have had alot of horses over the years, the evidence is clear in the photos she has shown me, photos and trophies you can see around their house and barn. They are everywhere and I mean everywhere! I dont blame her for showing them, If I had done all the things that Mary has done in her life time then, darn right I would show them off.
Mary is a go getter, she is ruthless in everything she does and she doesnt back down at all. Im going to say ruthless, but it can also be passionate. If Mary cant do something then she is going to keep at it untill she knows how its done. As I said she trained dogs, then there was the cows, they have raised rabbits, goats, chickens, you name it they have had it. Mary has also raised, trained and shown horses for many a year. Horses are Marys passion. She has had many a broken bone with her horses, arms, wrists, fingers, nose, feet trodden on, bucked off, sore backs, knees, stitches, braces, casts. I know I shouldnt laugh but the stories she tells about how she broke this or that cracks me up. Mary & Tony were quite high up in the Palmetto Paint Club, they might of started it, I cant remember, but I do know they have traveled all over America showing their horses. Mary is a perfectionist..in everything she does, wether its to do with showing horses, bathing the dog, cutting her grass, or mucking out stalls. Ive been at the barn helping Mary on many occasion wether its to clean stalls on a hot day, where in wringing in sweat ready to fall down with heat stoke LOL, she will say WELL!!! Just suck it up. Its funny, you can complain about anything wrong with you and Mary always starts with WELL! as for the suck it up, Im a wimp, I hate hurting, I do most days and I get yancy when Im hurting, or hot. All I get is Suck it up were nearly finished. I told you she was ruthless. Marys ruthlessness isnt always bad. I say ruthless because thats how she goes about her day in everything she does. She will ruthlessly do it untill its done. It doesnt matter that shes tired, sore, broken wrist or doubled over with a broken back, shes going to get the job done and it doesnt matter what is in her way. If a horse throws her, shes going to go catch that jorse and get back on and do it again and again untill that horse keeps her in the saddle or does what she wants it to do.
She tells the story that she wanted to win some thing at the end of the show year, You had to have so many points and have done so many classes and won so many...I dont know the ins and outs of it but  Iknow she had to work hard, show and win. She was booked into so many showing classes than she was still showing at 3am. She would go back to the stalls with her horse, get her stuff ready for the next day and be back out showing at 7am and show all day untill she was done. So at the end of the year mary won this prize. Its a replica statue of your horse. She has to send in photos of every piece of her horse and someone made a copy of it and that was your Prize. Mary doesnt have 1..noooo, Mary has 2. For 2 different horses. I dont know if they were the same year or if Crystal won 1, but hey, she has 2 statue horses that look like her horses. In this photo are the statues. The Ginger horse as I call it is Rusty and the paint is Smoke.

I went to Marys yesterday to take some photos and told her she had to leave. She said tome. WELL!!! Dont you dare take photos of my dust. If I did, you cant see it. I had to move a few things to get these 2 statues put together and yes Mary I wiped the dust off Rusty & Smoke.
Ruthless. This is what Mary worked hard for, I could be giving all the credit to Mary, when some of it could be Crystals hard work, I dont know but if it was you Crystal, I am as much in awe of your hard work and so proud of you both. Mary & Crystal showed alot. They shared the same horse alot, Smoke. Crystal would do Junior classes...and WIN!! then they would change saddles and Mary would do her classes and WIN!!. Let me show you just some of what they won over the years.

The last photo are some of the photos down in the barn where they have won shows, some of Mary, Tony  Crystal. I could of taken photos all day at Marys house, the ruthlessness is everywhere and on every wall and on top of kitchen cabinets. I didnt dare take those phtotos, who dusts the top of their cabinets everyday, but i was damned if I was going to clean the dust of the cow skull and photos in the barn. I told you the ruthlesness was there, its everywhere for everyone to see. If I was that ruthless, I would have neon lights on my house so everyone can see that I was Number 1.
This is the 1 that helped Mary & Crystal get to number 1. He is the love of Marys life. Silverado Smoke. Smoke is up there in age now, I dont know how old, but Im willing to bet hes at least 20 if not a day older. Hes getting to be an old man but he sure acts like a 2 year old.

Thats Smoke, the been there, done it and won. Ruthless, in everything they have done together to win those trophies that adorn Marys walls. Smoke will go anywhere Mary points him towards, over, under, through, you name it, Smoke has done it. He has been through the show circuits through out America with Mary & Crystal in both Western & English, hes seen Crystal through 4H with Barrels and go knows what else, Hes carried many a flag in Rodeos for The Ken Treadway Rodes Company, toy drives, Christmas parades,, you name it he has been there with Mary through thick and thin, shes had her highs and lows with Smoke, He has thrown her off, or just decided he needs to roll in the ring during an English class, or roll in the sand on a trail ride, or that he desperatly need to have a pee while hes showing. Hey, when you gotta go, you gotta go!!. He is so human its unbelievable. He loves Dr Pepper and cookies..a cookie to Smoke is anything you have in your pocket, a bar of chocolate, a candy, a cookie, you name it, hes all for it and will stretch that neck out and pleed with those big eyes untill you give him another and another. I spoil him, Mary says I shouldnt. Its came to the point that Smoke now thinks everyone who stands in front of him needs to give him a cookie. I learned him that. Not that I won a trophy for it, all I get is a talking to for feeding him to much sugar.

 As they say, all good things come to an end. So before long we have to shut this story down.
Mary is Tonys wife, Bryan & Crystals mama, and soon to be Grandma. She is there for her family at big Holidays through out the year and does the dinners and cookouts. You all know who you are, you need to come down and visit more to keep the family together, to see each other at special times of the year, None of you are getting any younger. Mary IS the been there and done it. She really is, I could go on all day but I would be here forever more. Mary has a heart of gold, she will help you with anything you want to do and be ruthless in helping you. She can tell a story and it always starts with WELL!!! She can somethimes be ruthless in what she says and it can cut like a knife, but you have to know how to take her. I have been with Mary the past few years doing alot of things I would never of drempt I would ever do. Mary gave me that chance. I am honoured I really am. We have been through the wringer the past few years just like everyone else with the way the ecconomy has gone. We have clubbed together to get hay, we go to get 2 round bales for the 2 pastures and when we get there we have counted pennies so we can get another bale because it looks nice. We have counted yet more pennies to get a soda on the way to get said bales. We have been trail riding, Christmas parades, fixing fences, catching horses and moving them, same with goats, we go to chicken sales, rodeos,, cleaning stalls, bathing horses, the list is endless and too many to mention. We go on days out and go to Outback and tell our hubbies we ate off the dollar menu at Mcdonalds. We have had good & bad times, we all go through it in our every day lives. I have been there for Mary just like she has been there for me, why...because we are friends, we are bestest buddies, we are partners in crime, shes my side kick, we are each others helper or an ear to listen to. Dale in our local TSC said I was number 1 customer, we were laughing and joking and then Mary said no Im number 1, I spend more money here than you. Fine I said,  you can be number 1..after all age is before beauty. Talking about age. I pull Marys leg that she is old enought to be my mom. We were going to pick up my parents from Charolotte last year and we stopped for McDonalds on the way. I was saying to her, Your old enough to be my mom and she said WELL!!! If im old enough to be your mom, you better remember its Mothers day next week so best you get me a Mothers Day gift. We were going back and forth with this conversation while we were sat at the order box and all we could here through out Mother conversation was HELLO!!! HELLO CAN WE HELP YOU WITH YOUR ORDER!!! We ignored it and carried on. It was funny to us and the woman was getting Peed off we were holding up the drive through.

My Mothers Day present to Mary.

Well im going to shut this down, you are on the way to the Doctors, I have animals to let out and feed.

Mary, you are my bestest friend, my South Carolina Mom and all of the above I said before. I hope we have many happy years of friendship together. You are as Dale say, Number 1. You are Number 1 in everything you do and have done.
This is for you, Mary, I admire you and think the world of you, you have no idea, I Love You with all my heart.