Happy Halloween

I know it is Halloween but this is almost like my Christmas gift to you. Enjoy.

Snowbird is Flying South

This picture was taken during what is probably my last ride for 2008. To prepare for the winter, the horses are getting their shoes removed on Tuesday. It has been the perfect autumn for riding and I have enjoyed every minute of it.



Friday night I had to drive to Louisville to pick up the Bassman. On the way, the skies over the Bluegrass graced me with this wonderful sunset. I loved the way the buildings appear to be perched in front of a major fire.



At the airport is this lovely piece of artwork which hangs in the atrium. I am amazed at how few people notice it. The pegasus hangs directly over the escalators from the gates to the lobby and it is huge. But it is up by the ceiling and as a whole, we rarely look up.

The Bassman came home to help me move to Hilton Head for the winter. I am heading down to await the arrival of my first (and according to both my children, only) grandchild. While I am gone, my neighbors will move into my house to watch the critters for me. I know I have probably said it before, but I have the best neighbors in the world.

So I will be off to an island in the south for the next 3 months. A tough calling but somebody has to be willing to do it. Which means, once again, same misfit, different paradise.

Preparing for winter

The first frost. For myself and millions of other women our instincts kick in and we collectively realize that it is time to fire up the oven. Baking season has officially begun!

I am torn between 3 first baked items; meatloaf, lasagna, or apple pie. This year pie was the winner.



Not necessarily the prettiest pie in all the land but it sure was tasty. I shared it with my neighbors.

On another note, I had to get my hair done today because I had a photo shoot scheduled in the afternoon. Being in front of the camera like that is exhausting but my new driver's license looks great!

Trick or ...no, just trick

I went to K-Mart today to pick up a few things. While I was there, I noticed their costumes were on sale. Of course I had to get one.

As the cashier was ringing me out, she saw the outfit and yelled at me.

"You're going to dress your little boy up as an inmate?"

It took me a minute to figure out what she was asking (being half deaf and all).

"Oh. No, it is for my dog."



"What kind of dog?" she asked.

"Doberman."

"That's a good costume then."


So here's Cruella, all dressed up, with her warden in attendance. And I must agree with the cashier, that is a good costume.

Another Autumn Ride

I know I have said it before, but I really do love riding this time of year. Today I decided to try a new trail, something neither one of us had been on.



I think this is one of the best views there is. I would love to be able to see the whole country looking just ahead of the forward tilted ears of a horse.


This is a fairly recently carved logging road behind a church nearby. We headed up it quite a ways until the underbrush got too thick. After that, we tried a side shoot which took us right up to the back of our property. Unfortunately, there is no gate there so we had to backtrack. The horse was not too keen on doing that since she knew the barn was just over the hill.

We got back to the barn and I decided I wanted to do some more riding. Daydream had been positive that being back at the barn meant we were finished for the day. She twice refused to go out back. That annoyed me which translated into an extra long trek out back.

About halfway out, she shot sideways. She went left and I went right. Luckily, the pommel of the saddle kept me on (OW!).

It's always an adventure. Still, that is what keeps things exciting. The good news is that I was not the only one tuckered out at the end of the day,

One Size Fits All

Since a picture is worth 1,000 words well, here are 4,000 of them!





The general consensus was that everyone involved hated it. But you gotta' admit, they are too cute for words!

Two Dogs, No Waiting

Yep, here they are. Finding two dogs with such different temperments wasn't easy.



The little dog. Half daschund, half chihuahua, half who knows? Yes, that's right, three halves. Because one of those halves is nothing but flat out meanness. I'm guessing alligator blood runs in her veins. I gave each of the dogs a rawhide chew the other day and came in to find the little dog had the big dog backed into a corner. Mean.


And this one. Her theme song should be "Oops, I did it again." Eating dead things and puking them back up. Getting chased by the baby horse and each time being completely surprised. But the winner was when she got skunked last week. Twice in 2 days. Now she is only allowed outside at night with supervision. At least until the skunks hibernate.

Better Than Painting

What a perfect autumn day it was. To celebrate, my neighbor and I saddled up and headed for the hills to take in the sights and smells.

Few things in this world smell better than leaves in fall. Walking through the wood this time of year, either on horseback or on foot, is the best. Not too many bugs, not so hot, and horses that are just the right amount of frisky. The leaves showing their most stunning colors. A quiet country path to wander down. Who could ask for more?

Painting

The economy is crumbling, winter is coming, and I am going to be locked inside. In that case, I want the house to be as cozy as possible. That means freshening up the colors (or lack thereof) and tossing out things that have been hanging around for way too long.

Such as these liquor bottles. I have had them so long they were all covered with dust. I dumped out the liquid, rinsed the bottles out, and tossed them in the recyclables. I imagine the inmates when they are sorting my recyclables will be convinced that I am a huge partier.

Painting would be more enjoyable if I had been partying. I try so hard to 'stay in the lines' only to have some errant brush stroke put a big blob of color where it definitely doesn't belong. Which you can see in the example below.



Amazing isn't it, how quickly it can all fall apart?

I decided I was done for the evening and it was time for cleanup. The dog could go out and do her thing while I was cleaning out brushes.

She went out and started carrying on. Barking at some creature that dared to come into her yard. When I finished washing the paint gear, I called her back in. Apparently the creature that dared show its face also showed its backside to her. Her first encounter with a skunk.

I tore my cleaning cupboard apart hoping the entire time that I still had some Skunk Off around. It must be my lucky (?) day as I had just enough to get the major stink off her face.

So my plans for tomorrow are to head to the vets, come home and rebathe the dog. And after that? A long horseback ride with no paintbrush in sight.