ahhh.... horses

I threw some jeans on, grabbed a jacket, grudgingly stuffed my feet into boots (rather be barefoot), and ran back to throw the bridle onto yankee. My sister and I then headed up the hill behind the barn. I love being up there - especially on horseback. I rode my horse half the time, then hopped on Chester to do some jumping (last picture). My sister's new horse, Alvido, is present in one of the pictures. We let him loose to run around while we rode. It was a good day!

"Being rich of heart makes you wealthy beyond compare." - Rodney Williams

Simple things can give me such profound pleasure. Whether it is holding a clicky, inky pen and a piece of scratch notebook paper or walking through the dewy grass barefoot at 6:30 in the morning; I enjoy finding the hidden gifts each day in an ordinary life.... 


Making someone smile, waltzing with your pretended partner in an open field (hoping no one is watching), cooking in the kitchen with the inspiration of Julia Child (*note* this "inspiration" is not fool proof - you're still liable to burn your souffle), laughing off an embarrassing moment, re-arranging a cluttered space into an organized, accessible and aesthetically pleasing area, reading such an incredibly inspirational and profound Scripture passage that you want to share it with the whole world!, sitting at the piano composing a ballad which you'll soon forget, cleaning the house with vigor (*hint* for those of you who lack motivation, just pretend all your in-laws are coming over in 3 hrs - that should do it!), writing a letter, laying in the damp grass on a clear night and marveling at the LORD's beautiful stars (all of which are named and accounted for by Him) and the list goes on and on......

For me, home is the place where most of this takes place. It is the warm, inviting glow of the kitchen chandelier which is a bit too dim because only two of the light bulbs are currently employed; the rough, unfinished hardwood floors which turn my bare feet two shades too dark; the sunlight shining through the south windows onto my desk; our creaky steps (after skipping the third one to the bottom, take two at a time and you'll reach the top without waking the whole house), etc... 


A small house is actually a blessing. The five occupants of it are forced to get along and enjoy each other's company. After all, it would be foolish to be enemies with someone you run into every four minutes. But that's where the great outdoors come into the picture - I often escape to the barn loft or take a walk down "lover's lane" (My version of Anne's dubbed path). Perhaps it's my Father coming out in me. He'll say that the woods are calling him and then he's off, on what he calls, a "walk-about." I often get the same irresistible urge.

Some may think me a strange, sentimental fool for treasuring such things.... but then again, "If you've never been thrilled to the very edges of your soul by a flower in spring bloom, maybe your soul has never been in bloom." ~Audra Foveo

Farm life - gotta love it

I now strongly dislike goats. My sister owns eight - three of them she uses for milking purposes. She's been gone since yesterday afternoon, so I milked last night, this morning and this evening... and will continue this endless cycle till Sunday evening.

I attempted to lead my horse back to the barn last night while holding onto the goat's horn and making sure the kid and the nanny followed. The horse was pulling ahead and the goat was being stubborn and refusing to move. I had my 7 yr old niece slap him on the rump when he stopped and had her chase the other two goats back. I was wearing a skirt and flip-flops, trying to protect my toes while the horse and goat were both walking on top of me. When it came time to cross the creek, the horse stumbled and splashed mud all over me and turned sideways, blocking my path to cross. Then after much pulling and yelling, the darn goat really jumped the creek... I was hot and sweaty, covered in mud, and had milk splashed on me by the time I got back to the house, then had to leave 20 min later.


This morning, I thought I'd only let about three goats out to graze, because if you let them all out, they form an overwhelming force that's impossible to conquer. But, they don't follow your plans - Brooklyn decided he was going to be out today, so he rammed me down and rushed out the fence dragging me a little ways as I groped to hold onto the hair on his back. The 80 or so degree weather didn't make things any better. : /
Milking tonight, the horseflies were out, so I was having difficulty having the nannies stand still. But, when they did stay in one spot, their legs didn't. They were stomping at flies, which tipped the milk pail, and I squirted myself holding onto the utter while the goat was running away. Stepped into a not so dry area with flip-flops on (I know.. my fault. Bad choice of footwear) and couldn't catch one of the goats to put him away. Twice, he fled into a dark back room in the barn, that I wasn't too excited to go into (especially in flip-flops). I finally coaxed him out with a bucket of mineral feed and drug him into the pen by his curly horns.

I can now sympathize with my sis and understand why she gets frustrated... Though I got angry, I laughed at how funny some of those situations would have looked like from someone else' viewpoint... ;)

Autumn

Yes, autumn is finally upon us - one of the best seasons, though also the shortest. These are some of my pictures from the past few years. I've not started taking fall pictures yet this year, but I'm sure I will be by the end of this month. Enjoy!

our big red barn

my sister riding bareback in the hay field

the woods beside our barn

me longing my horse, yankee

kids

No, not the human kind -- I'm talking about goats here! This past spring, our does gave birth to two kids each. When they were about 6 weeks old, a friend called and asked if we would also consider taking his orphaned kid. His parents got loose, ate Roundup ready seed corn and died. We agreed to take the little fella and nurse him back to health. He is a Boer -- a meat goat. He has such a sweet personality! He was continually getting out of the small make-shift pin we made for him and he would go to the front porch steps and lay down, like a dog guarding his owners. We call him our "yard goat." He's the only one who never gets put up. He's even been in the *cough* house *cough* a few times and has done very well! The first time was when a storm was about to cut loose. We went tearing for the house and he ran right in with us...what could we do?... we didn't have the heart to put him out in the storm so we let him hang out with us until it subsided.

This is he - "Buddy"

some of the others....

This is "Opie." If he see's you sitting down, he will be up on your lab before you can stop him. He loves to snuggle! He also has a brother, "Brooklyn" who looks identical, except for the absence of a few small white markings that enable us to tell them apart. You can actually tell them apart just by watching their behavior - Brooklyn is a troublemaker who is always picking fights with the others.

They are the Alpine breed.

This is "Jimmy." He was about a week old in this picture. He's a BIG momma's boy! As well as calm and gentle, compared to the rest of the bunch. He also has a sister, "Peanut" who is a light, tawny brown colour. She was the only female born. We feel a little sorry for her at times, but she stands her ground well. Both of them are Nubian/Alpine breed.

We milk "Daisy" and "Milkyway" (the mothers) and use the milk (against my will) for cooking, cereal, drinking, making ice-cream, etc... I personally do not like the taste of goats milk! And whenever mom tries to disguise it in the food, I can always tell. However, I cowgirl up and eat the homemade ice-cream, made from that nasty milk, when necessary. I think that is the only way you can ruin ice-cream.... 

We've really enjoyed raising goats! They aren't the smartest mammals, but they are good companions. We plan on getting rid of Jimmy and Brooklyn before winter.... so if you know of anyone who wants a goat... *ahem.* They are wonderful ditch clearers! I was looking for them one day, so I bent down to their level and looked into the woods..... but it was like a house under there -- totally cleared out! All that remained were stalks of what were once weeds and small scrawny trees. Once they have eaten everything on the ground, then they rear and eat up higher. (the mothers are just as tall as me when rearing) 

So, If you want a companion, but don't like dogs and are allergic to cats, why not try a goat!?!

I'm Country!

My sister and I went exploring in our woods this afternoon, but were drawn to this particular spot with it's  wonderful scenic view.  The weather all day was overcast with a cool temp and the clouds were threatening rain. However, when we reached this spot, the north/east sky (pictured here) cleared into a beautiful blue sky. There would have been a hundred more pictures, had not our camera's battery been dying. We barely were able to take this photo. Alas, the other images we saw will stay etched in our minds....

                This was so beautiful! Looks like something straight out of Sense & Sensibility. It actually reminds me of Box Hill from Jane Austen's "emma." I want to host a picnic in the far field here. This is on top of a bluff and it drops off at the end by the big tree.

The pasture on top of the hill was flooded with purple and yellow flowers!

The grove of ash trees

The date shown on this picture is wrong. I took this today, not in 2005. The camera was dying so quickly that if we really wanted to get a picture we had to snap it quick and thus, didn't take the time to set the dates.

The path....

Some of the yellow flowers up top.

I really don't understand how some people could prefer concrete and crowded streets, to this - beautiful, scenic country. Ahhh, oh how I love the country!