October Photos

October 1st, Hubby and I went to the Arbor Day Farm with Micah, Jacob, Amber, Caden and Tyler. The 1st was also Sara's birthday!

 There were lots of hands on activities for Caden, while Tyler got pushed around in his stroller.

October 2nd, the mares and babies were in the lot beside this tree area.  The babies got used to traveling between trees and brush, getting ready to be trail horses.

 Lots of areas to zig zag around and logs to cross.

The babies had a good time playing in their, loping all over the place!

I finished decorating the main bathroom.

I just love my horse towels!

The spare bedroom is ready for the grandkids to sleep over, and their horses are waiting on them!

Meanwhile, the toddler bed is just as cozy!

The leaves are beginning to turn colors by the end of the first week of October,

Tyler is  6 months old! He is really beginning to laugh and coo!

The 2nd weekend in October, I had a Centered Riding Clinic in Kansas. I changed so much about my riding, and have been practicing in a new "used" dressage saddle. I'm working hard on trying to certify from Level 1 to Level 2 Centered Riding Instructor.

We took Caden to the Pumpkin Patch.

Which pumpkin to pick?

We found a pumpkin for Grandma, Caden and Tyler!

 Pop and Caden loved the cut-outs!

Showing off the pumpkins with Pop.

Caden loved the bounce house!

 Then talking with the lonely rabbit!

Caden spent the night, then we took him home. He missed his baby brother!

Pop and Tyler

 Tyler is really starting to slobber! Those teeth must be coming!

The leaves have really changed colors by the end of the month,

We did need to say goodbye to one of Micah's beagles, AJ, this month. I think we gave her a really nice final resting place.  We left her collar on her. She needed to have something of Micah with her.

Micah had a birthday this month too.

I had a CTR at Whispering Pines, Missouri,

It was a lovely area,

Savannah is turning into a great CTR horse, but I'm looking for that Arab,

We weaned the foals,

and the mares are in the lot where I can see them from the living room window. I just love this look.

  Pop relaxes with Tyler any chance that he can get, on the recliner!

Halloween ends the month. The boys are super-kids.

I wished I had pictures of Makenzie too. She was a princess and Sara made her a lovely dress. I'm sure I'll be taking photos of her in her dress when we see her at Thanksgiving!

And that was my October, and why I wasn't blogging much. Winter is coming, so there will probably be too many blogs soon!

Fall Days

A few weeks ago, I felt like fall was coming. Everything was still green though. The weather was still hot and humid most days. T-shirt and tank top weather. No shorts, as the little knats and bugs were still biting.

I remember that day. I was mowing grass and you could smell a dryness of grass in the air, not the usual fresh cut grass smell. As I walked through the yard, you could hear the crunch of dry leaves.

Even though it was green everywhere, grass, trees, corn and soybeans, something was different. Then I realized what it was, as I thought to myself that evening, “when did it start getting dark at 8:30?” Days were getting shorter. That is what I sensed.

I think the last humid, slightly hot weekend was Labor Day weekend, over Sept 3-5. We had 90 here, but it wasn’t too humid. I know the Kansas CTR, that I didn’t go to, had 102 on Saturday! A cool front came through from the north, dropping the temps by 20 degrees the next day. What a relief!

Most of the days have been just plain gorgeous the last 3 weeks. We had rain one day last weekend, but I was at a CTR, and we just got misted on.  But riding with friends was awesome!

Coming home last Sunday, I did have rain most of the afternoon though. But most of the days have been in the 70’s, a few nearing 80 and a few staying in the mid 60’s. I’ll take those lower temps, if it means sun!

Then I got busy with “stuff” and didn’t get around to blogging about that. But today’s Sunday Stills challenge is about the “First Signs of Fall”. And I remembered that 2 weeks ago, I felt those changes. Now we are seeing the changes. Crops are brown and harvest has started.

Trees are just starting to change, leaves turning yellow. 2 hours south of here, where I rode at Indian Caves near Shubert, NE yesterday, the change is even more distinct with less green and more color in the trees.


It’s dark before 8 now. We lose a minute of daylight each day. The mornings are cooler. We’ve not been near frost here, even though other parts of the state have been. I think my coolest morning was 39 or 41. Most mornings have been near 50. Today was only 44. The days are getting shorter and cooler.

Have I said how beautiful our weather has been since then? LOL. Lots of sun without the heat makes for beautiful days to be outside. These are the days that I appreciate working for myself. I can set my own schedule. I can take advantage the sunny afternoons to work my horses. We need these type of days before the days keep getting shorter, and colder.
 

A few days ago was the first day of fall. I love the fall the best. Days are beautiful. Air is crisp. Trees are changing colors. (Our trees in the back yard are just starting to get yellow).  The sun still warms the back, even though it is lower in the sky. Days seem brighter without the heat and humidity of the hot summer sun.

I grew up in the Appalachian mountain range of western PA, and the fall is just gorgeous there. I love the forest, the colors of the leaves in the fall, the white blanket of snow on the pine branches, the Mountain Laurel blooming in late spring, and the coolness and dampness you feel when you are under that canopy of leaves in the summer heat.

I know how the wild animals feel in the fall. Squirrels busy hustling, finding and storing nuts. Deer bedding down in deeper grass during the cooler nights. Animals busy during the day, preparing for winter.

The past 3 weeks, I’ve long at those “lists” we made before summer. What needs done before winter? Yet, finding the time to ride a few horses and to start working 2 young horses. That only gives hubby and I half a day to finish maintenance projects and start and finish new projects over the next 1 ½ - 2 months. That seems like a long time, but each day goes faster and faster. Some days, it seems like only chores get done. We stop and clean this area, we stop and put this away, and before we know it, the day is shot.


Don’t get me wrong. I’m glad I have the extra time this year to take care of these tiny projects, well some are not so tiny, and to get re-organized around here. We do need to stop and catch up, and I feel that is what this summer was for us. Those other areas on our “to do” list would be nice to get done, but it isn’t necessary. But if you don’t take care of the little things when they are little, 10 years later, they turn into big projects.


So I feel like those squirrels. Hustling around, doing this and doing that, preparing for winter. The warm, sunny fall days make me want to do these things. I enjoy being busy in this weather. I enjoy working outside in this weather. And it’s a great feeling to see things get accomplished, no matter how small of a job that it was.

But we've taken the time to play with the grandchildren.

playing and cooing with baby Tyler

Caden helping Pop go fix things

Grandma riding with Makenzie and Sara

Makenzie petting her Pody

and cousins Makenie and Caden help Ema and Pop to feed the pigs!

One new thing that we did this spring/summer was to clean a tree area that was too brushy to ever put horses in. A few times over the last 15 years, we thought of fencing it out to put a steer or 2 in to knock the brush down. Well, weather and time and bugs took care of that for us. We had 2 rows of pines in there, but the pine disease killed them. Early this spring, we cut and burned the dead branches. We picked up and burned some fallen branches and brush. We had ½ the fence line strung with wire, and we finished stringing the wire, making another turn out area. Without the trees in there, more grass grew.

Over the summer, the horses spent some time in there, eating the grass and knocking down the brush. I wanted to turn it into a small area to ride and practice some trail maneuvers, eventually using that area to teach my riding students some of the same maneuvers. Hubby and I just walked the area the other day, and it is ready to ride in.

Seeing the results of our hard labor is paying off. Believe me, all those hours of cutting, picking up and burning brush was long and tedious and a strain on the hamstrings. Lol

The other reason I love fall time is that at the end of the day, it’s nice to sit outside with a cup of coffee or tea and enjoy that time of relaxation. What a perfect way to end a perfect day.

I need to Blog

Where has the time gone? I feel like I've been gone forever.  Without blogging.  And talking.  And thinking.  I need to blog.

My foals aren't newborns, they are almost 4 months old.

I'm just starting the CTRs this year.

I feel like I'm just starting to ride longer, and condition for these CTRs.

I feel like all I have done is maintenance work around here, but then my bathroom is done, and outside looks pretty good.

I feel like I've done a lot of traveling, but I have seen Makenzie a lot, and visited with Sara and Jake. And cousins M and Caden together to play and swim and go to County Fair to see Pop.

I feel like I'm ready for summer to start and it's already fall.

The one thing that I'm glad about is that the humidity is gone! Both the heat and humidity is gone!  And that is a good thing.

I've started Yoga lessons and I hope with all the stretching, I'm able to ride for longer hours without feeling it.  My legs are feeling it tonight.

Life is slowing down because the days are getting shorter. I just talked with hubby about the days getting darker sooner, and by the end of next month, we'll be getting dark by 7!

Well, I need to work on the horses and let you know what I'm up to with them.  We have pigs, and how the horses have reacted to them.  I can't wait until Harvest, and then I can ride the fields, not just the waterways.

I'm ready for fall cleanup, the cooler days, the south sun setting lower in the sky, giving us sunny but cooler afternoons.

I hope to start catching up with all of you. Let me know what you have been doing this summer, and what will fall bring!

A Quiet Fall Day

Today, I did something that I have been wanting to do for awhile. We were having a wonderful 70 degree day, even though a little breezy. I sat and enjoyed the fall day. I took my computer and a book, and went outside and laid on the lounge chair.

There were a few people trail riding today, but I just didn’t feel like hauling. I wanted to enjoy this day in a different way. I know I’m counting the days before winter really hits, and maybe I’ll still get on a horse today, but I doubt it. I’m too relaxed right now.

Except for the distant whine of a chain saw, it was great to sit outside and do perfectly nothing! I’ll have horse chores to do later, and a round bale to put out in one of the lots, and dogs and cats to feed. I’ll have to rinse the legs of 2 of the horses, as a new horse decided to try to kick everyone. He had been across the fence for a week, and he needed to go into the larger lot. He wasn’t letting his lot mates eat their grain. I figured Starlet would put him in his place.

Oh, yeah, she did, but in the process, got her back leg kicked. It actually looks worse than it is. I rinsed it last night, as the new horse left about an 8 inch mark down her leg. No swelling or heat today. She sure does lay back her ears and goes after him though. He is just bully enough to stand his ground. I wonder how long it will take him to know that she is boss.

Then the new horse must have gotten Shaggy later. Shaggy wants to be a friend to everyone. They were sniffing at each other like dogs yesterday and I thought those 2 wouldn’t fight. But today, Shaggy has 2 marks up high on his back leg. No cut, just some scuffs and missing hair, but enough to know that it came from a kick and not a bite.

That’s the chances I have to take to put a dominant acting horse in his place. He needs to back down and give up. I’ll give that job to Starlet, with Chick’s help.

Daylight Savings Time was last night, and we took advantage of the extra hour by sleeping in. It sure felt strange today, as even by 10 this morning, it felt later. It’s almost 4 now, and I can feel the air already getting cooler. I better not wait much longer to start chores. Rinsing legs, filling a water tank, feeding dogs and cats, checking the other boarding horse’s water, giving one lot a round bale, and be in before dark.

That’s one nice thing about shorter days. I can lounge on the couch longer in the evenings. I think I’m starting to hibernate.

Fall Continues

Fall continues. We have had rain for 5 straight days. Cool, damp rain. Cool mornings, close to freezing temps. I planted roses the last few years, and really haven’t bothered with them, except to plant more in the place of the ones that didn’t grow. This year, we have had some roses bloom. These are the last 3 roses of the season. Even though they were nipped by the cool weather, the fragrance is unbelievable.



The trees in the backyard seem to take a little longer to change colors. Instead of the leaves turning brown and dropping off, they stay green when other trees become bare.



This week, the cooler temps have turned some of the green leaves to the autumn colors of yellows and oranges and rusts.



It’s amazing that some of the leaves are still green. I’m sure that if it keeps raining, or if the wind starts blowing, there won’t be many leaves, colored or green, left on the trees.

I’m hoping for some wind! I need the horse lots to dry up. The horse lots are a mess, ankle deep with wet, slimy, greasy muck. Muck is an undetermined amount of water, dirt and manure mixed together. The only way to survive is with knee high muck boots. You hope the grain tubs are near the fence line. Then you pray that the horses haven’t dump over the tubs, or worse, have dragged the smaller, individual tubs into the slimy mess. If either of these happen, then you have to get into that mucky mixture and upright the tubs or retrieve them from somewhere in the lot. When this happens, you usually have a handful of horses, breathing down your neck for their grain. You feed who you can, keeping the mob away so they don’t bump into you and you end of sitting in the despised wetness.

I’m hoping the wind blows and dries everything up. If the horse lots ever dry up before the snow blows, then they need to be bladed and bucketed into the manure spreader to be spread out on the bean fields. If the wind blows and dries the fields, I’ll be able to get back to riding.

I would be saying “come along on the ride with me”, but I’m not sure when I’ll be riding next. But when I do, make sure to come along!

Turkey Creek ride

We had a cool day at Turkey Creek, near Newcastle, NE, but the scenery is gorgeous. These pictures just don't do the area justice. With the extremely cold weather last weekend, many leaves have already fallen from the trees. There is still color, but there seemed to be more color viewing the hills in person, than from these pics. Enjoy!

Turkey Creek riders,


and dogs.


We could see s view of the river from the tree tops.


The hills are rolling mounds of trees and shrubs, leveling out to grassy hilltops.


Some of the hills were gently rolling, others had very steep ups and downs.


We rode between the hills.


I rode Brenda W's Tennessee Walkers. They definately walked out and cruised up and down these hills.


More pics:








Turkey Creek will always be special for me. This is the place that I felt a great grief lift from my heart since Finny's death. I have always enjoyed riding hills and trees, as that is what I grew up with. I believe you always go back to the beginning. You go back to what you know when you were a child. To what you love. I love hills, and trees. I love the changing seasons. I love family. And I love horses. I have always loved horses. There are pictures of me when I was a child of 5 or 6 with our family pony. There are pictures of me through the rest of my childhood with horses. Horses will always be part of my life, my soul, my heart. My heart won't beat if there aren't horses in my life.

My heart is starting to beat again. I need horses in my life. I know there is another special horse out there for me. I know there is a horse out there that needs me. And I know there is a horse out there that I need. I will begin my search. I love the changing seasons.