Coming to Indiana - Thursday, July 2

Second Post of the Day

At last! I got to meet Elsie Mae!

Daddy JC had told everyone that I got to hold her first when they arrived

and I was ALL IN for that honor! 

Craig was next and just as anxious as me to meet her. Dads o'six love babies just as much as Moms o'six do, doncha know!

Soon baby Mae Mae was being passed around to other family members, all anxious to meet and hold that sweet little girl.

Great Aunt Lisa and Elsie Mae.

Great Uncle Curt (with Gimmee just out of the camera range.)

Great Aunt Vanessa

Cousin Mila. 

We passed Elsie around the entire family, each person getting to hug and hold her and kiss those sweet baby cheeks.

We then let her have some fun in her new sit-me-up. (Craig and I did not think we'd ever buy baby things for our home again, but that and a pack and play are now in our home.)

Aunt Trinity had also flown in with them. She was a major player the entire visit in helping to care for Elsie Mae. (Thank you, Trin!!)

After dinner it was time to open the gift bag that had been sitting out all day.

Jayci and JC had no idea of what was to come.

Stay 'tooned!

Hawkeye Sarah Here

I've got Hawkeye Sarah here this weekend and have been spending time with her instead of writing.

Left to right: me, Sarah, Vanessa, Mila, Craig, Lisa, Curt, and Ian.

I'll be back tomorrow with the Give Away winners. Stay 'tooned!

So Near, Yet So Far

Sometimes you make your best effort and visiting your pony still doesn't work! The snow and ice had recently melted so the lanes have been clear enough for me to drive back to visit Abby, so eagerly I hopped in the car late Saturday afternoon and drove out to see her.

 But when I got there, she was so near and yet so far!

Tim had reconfigured some of the fencing in order to protect the turf, and so I had a couple of fences to duck under and several smaller fields to walk through to get to her.

Which really should not have been bad except that I had just had some injections into my hip joints - they're painful shots to get and I am sore and a bit wobbly afterwards for a while. I simply was not up to squeezing through fence posts and trudging through the mud and uneven ground to get to her.

I could see her through the door of the old barn, across the paddock, and into the fields, and she was certainly watching me and hoping I would come out to her, but it was just more than I could do that afternoon.

A bit disappointed, I reminded myself that at least I had had a visual peek at her, and could certainly smell that lovely horsey and barn aroma while there. I finally got back into my car and headed home, carrots still in hand.

Summer "Moon"

"When I dream about the moonlight on the Wabash..." goes the famous song about Indiana. Well, I saw some of that moonlight this afternoon, and I wasn't even down by the river!

I was filling up the water trough and turned to take a last look at the herd. What I saw gave me the giggles:

 It seemed the horses had decided to moon me! 

The more I watched them graze like that, the more I smiled. Perhaps they were turning their backs on me in a snit, possibly because I only give treats to Abby.

But in reality, I am not being shunned by the herd. In fact, when I arrived and called, Abby came right up to say hello.

 She hustled up so quickly, she left the others behind!

 She had her ears up and was making soft little nickers as she approached.

We had a lovely visit, and she licked and licked and LICKED my hand when she finished her sugar cubes.

It was only then that she meandered off to join her pasture buddies and participated in the "summer moon."

New meaning for a beloved song.