Oh! What Fun!

 First Post of the Day

My mother had kept a box of my school work for every year I was in school and I went through those boxes as I sorted out the garage. I found evidence of my horsey love going back to my youngest years.

Sneaking in a Zebra on the cover of your Africa report when the elephant was clearly sufficient? Yup!

There were lots and lots of doodles on notebook paper. I have no idea why my mother saved these, but I am glad that she did.

Truth be told, my drawing has not evolved much since elementary school. In fact, I just sent Cambria a letter and drew a jumping horse by my signature that is nearly identical to this one!

Nothing was exempt from horsey drawings, including this old box. It was full of old Christmas decorations.

In third grade we had done a poetry unit, copying poems from other poets as well as writing our own.

I probably selected this poem to copy because unicorns are horsey-ish. A text search brought up the author as Ella Young who write the poem in 1939.

I still enjoy Robert Frost's poetry and back then, 

pastures were just as alluring to me then as they are now! And I love how Robert Frost twice extends an invitation to the reader. "You come, too."

A Lynn original for Halloween with no horses mentioned. Not a masterpiece by any means, but I do like that last line.

Another Lynn original with several connections to my own life back then.

Mary is my cousin and I associate her with past family holidays when we ate cherry pie together (and still do.) Of course, a horse is included, and the horse's name, Kerry, was the name of my grandmother's canary.

Not brilliant poetry by any means, but it does reflect the family!

Of course, going through boxes that contains things like my old drawings and poems takes time and slows down my progress as I work to put the garage back in order.

Yesterday the garage got worse instead of better.

We moved the old couches and tables out there because we were going to need the space inside for today.

Our new blinds are being installed next week and now is the perfect time to wash windows. Our sweet cleaning lady and her 6' 4" fiancé said that they would do that job for us today, and we had to move the old couches out of the way so that they had room to move the ladder around.

We took advantage of the new "dining space" in the garage for dinner last night with Lisa, Curt, Vanessa, and the kids. 

Oh! What fun!

A second post is coming. Stay 'tooned!

Poetry & Ponies

Yesterday a friend posted a poem online, a poem that happened to be one of my favorites and one I'd taught in my classroom every November. (The author credited is incorrect; this lovely poem is actually by Elizabeth Coatsworth.)

Ice in the bucket? Frost by the gate?

Yep, it's November in Indiana! Yesterday when I checked the horses' water, there was a thin layer of ice stretched all the way across the trough. It's time to get the water heater installed for the coming winter.

Despite the chilly weather, Abby loves one of the best things about Fall.

Apples! Local Son Curt had saved a bunch of large cores for her after fixing a treat for his family.

She is always happy to eat apple cores, and these were especially juicy. Licking the gate after a treat, any treat, is something Abby has always done. Gotta get that juice that dripped on it!

Despite the fact that I only rarely offer them treats, Two Socks and Hokey hopefully ambled over. 

Like Abby, Hokey is in his twenties. He's still sound and looking good as we head into the winter months.

I laughed and snapped a quick photo when I saw how the mares were standing together. "Let's take a selfie, girls. Left foreleg out, everybody! Show those pretty pink hooves!" (L to R, that's Sultanna, Two Socks, and Abby.)

Over in the northeast pasture are Tim's newly planted trees . He's also done some reseeding in a few areas, too, and covered those areas with straw.

As the poem says, the earth is "sinking to rest." Winter is coming and soon it will be much harder for me to get out to the barn as the roads become icy and snow covered. 

I'm making the most of my barn time now while I can. Brrrr!