Wednesday, October 22, 2014
Lavendar
I think it was Erma Bombeck that wrote something about being able to wear purple when you are old...I already wear purple. But I think I want to have more purple in my life. This bunch of lavender would work...
Tuesday, October 21, 2014
Monday, October 20, 2014
Dressage Instructor Extraordinaire
The woman on the right in this picture is 85 years old. She didn't start riding horses until she was almost 40 years old but has become one of the most loved instructors in the area and has been Equestrian Girl's instructor for several years now.
Recently she did a clinic on the biomechanics or riding...one of her favorite topics. The woman is SUCH an inspiration!
Saturday, October 18, 2014
Boston
This trip to Boston almost didn't happen. I was being sent there for work and originally it was just for a 1/2 day meeting that was taking place at the end of a 3 day conference. After an incredible amount of indecision on the part of my management, I was to fly out Sunday night to Boston and attend the conference (which actually started on Sunday afternoon). The good was that I would be able to earn 13 CE credits while I was there. The bad was that I had next to no free time and wasn't able to squeak out an extra day there because of the cost of the flights and hotel.
So it boiled down to having about 2 hours on late Tuesday afternoon to "see Boston". Based on a little map that was included in my conference materials, I hit the road on foot for a quick walking tour since I wasn't too far from Boston Common.
I loved all the traditional brownstone apartments!
This was actually the view from the conference center but somehow my pictures are all disorganized...
Back on my walking tour, this was one of the first of the beautiful old churches I passed.
It was pretty late in the afternoon so the sun was playing games with me.
The Boston Library. I think this is actually the side entrance and faces a small park. They were having a farmer's market in the park and I stopped for a Bubble Tea.
That same church but from a different angle.
This church was across the little park from the library. Reminded me of Europe.
The glass sky scraper right next to it just seemed so odd...
This little pond was in that same small park. Didn't mean to get the butt crack of the woman who was also taking a photo of the water falls!
The side of the old church...
I loved the way the sunlight was filtering through the trees on this section of the church.
Another old church across from what I thought was Boston Common but is actually an adjacent park.
You can't quite see them but in the distance, there were lots of flashing police lights. I later found out two officers had been stabbed by a homeless man known for violence...
There's a beautiful pond/lake in the middle of this park.
As I was approaching this area, a semi-normal looking working man stopped to tell me he thought I was beautiful and then to strike up a conversation. He trotted off telling me my boyfriend was a very lucky man....
So it boiled down to having about 2 hours on late Tuesday afternoon to "see Boston". Based on a little map that was included in my conference materials, I hit the road on foot for a quick walking tour since I wasn't too far from Boston Common.
I loved all the traditional brownstone apartments!
This was actually the view from the conference center but somehow my pictures are all disorganized...
Back on my walking tour, this was one of the first of the beautiful old churches I passed.
It was pretty late in the afternoon so the sun was playing games with me.
The Boston Library. I think this is actually the side entrance and faces a small park. They were having a farmer's market in the park and I stopped for a Bubble Tea.
That same church but from a different angle.
This church was across the little park from the library. Reminded me of Europe.
The glass sky scraper right next to it just seemed so odd...
This little pond was in that same small park. Didn't mean to get the butt crack of the woman who was also taking a photo of the water falls!
The side of the old church...
I loved the way the sunlight was filtering through the trees on this section of the church.
Another old church across from what I thought was Boston Common but is actually an adjacent park.
You can't quite see them but in the distance, there were lots of flashing police lights. I later found out two officers had been stabbed by a homeless man known for violence...
There's a beautiful pond/lake in the middle of this park.
As I was approaching this area, a semi-normal looking working man stopped to tell me he thought I was beautiful and then to strike up a conversation. He trotted off telling me my boyfriend was a very lucky man....
Tuesday, October 14, 2014
Monday, October 13, 2014
Fall Barn Party
A boarding barn party is rarely JUST a party. Barns require lots of upkeep and maintenance and while the owner of our barn is fabulous about making repairs and keeping things shipshape, there's still always "extra" work to be done.
A couple of weeks ago the owners were offered some "free" mirrors which are a super nice thing to have in an indoor arena. They are also very heavy and very fragile. We recruited some dad's and a boyfriend (Equestrian Girl's) to help on that project. The mounting blocks made great ladders as a stable base for them.
In the mean time, all the women folk and kids went to work paint the jump standards and poles. They figured the last time they were painted was about 15 years ago!
At one point the guys needed a horse mounted "model" to check the height of the mirrors and the boyfriend volunteered. The closest horse was Truly the pony!
We had fabulous weather for working outside and no worries about dripping paint - which we did plenty of!
Even the littlest kids got in on the action of helping. You can see how badly faded the pole is that they are sitting on and why they needed to be repainted.
Equestrian Girl and the other teen jumper at the barn were in charge of setting them all back up since they are all about things "going together" and being matchy matchy.
It was an organized chaos with "grandma" overseeing everything!
I forgot to get a final picture of these big white boards but they originally had hand prints of all the people that worked on them 15 years ago and we duplicated that with lots of new hand prints of the next generation of Foxcroft riders!
A couple of weeks ago the owners were offered some "free" mirrors which are a super nice thing to have in an indoor arena. They are also very heavy and very fragile. We recruited some dad's and a boyfriend (Equestrian Girl's) to help on that project. The mounting blocks made great ladders as a stable base for them.
In the mean time, all the women folk and kids went to work paint the jump standards and poles. They figured the last time they were painted was about 15 years ago!
At one point the guys needed a horse mounted "model" to check the height of the mirrors and the boyfriend volunteered. The closest horse was Truly the pony!
We had fabulous weather for working outside and no worries about dripping paint - which we did plenty of!
Even the littlest kids got in on the action of helping. You can see how badly faded the pole is that they are sitting on and why they needed to be repainted.
Equestrian Girl and the other teen jumper at the barn were in charge of setting them all back up since they are all about things "going together" and being matchy matchy.
Since the paint colors weren't purchased but rather lots of leftovers that everyone brought over, we weren't sure how it would all turn out but we were happy to see that some rather odd combinations ended up looking pretty darn good!
It was an organized chaos with "grandma" overseeing everything!
I forgot to get a final picture of these big white boards but they originally had hand prints of all the people that worked on them 15 years ago and we duplicated that with lots of new hand prints of the next generation of Foxcroft riders!
Sunday, October 12, 2014
Friday, October 10, 2014
Work...
I guess they call it work for a reason. And boy oh boy has it been work.
I've had some epic bad weeks lately. Everyone is on edge and I finally hit the wall in being the mother hen of the team. For 10 months I've been holding us all together and trying to smooth out the bumps. Sure, I've dropped some balls and made plenty of mistakes but it seems like everything has just been crashing down lately. I'm tired.
Stuff like this is a weekly reward. I guess it's better than wine in some ways. Next week I go to Boston for 3 days. I'll be sitting in classes all day which will be relaxing in many ways compared to the daily work but I'm sure they'll be hell to pay when I get back...
Thursday, October 9, 2014
Wednesday, October 8, 2014
Baking with Apples
Equestrian Girl and her boyfriend went to the cider mill and picked apples. Lots and lots of apples. And then they needed to do something with them.
First they baked this really yummy apple cake/bread. Moist and delicious.
Next was an apple pie. I'm not sure how that tasted. They ate it all!!
Tuesday, October 7, 2014
Monday, October 6, 2014
Sunday, October 5, 2014
A Most Awesome Morning...
It's not often I have "time" to just sit. But after a hellacious week at work, that is exactly what the doctor ordered. So on Saturday morning, bright and early (because God forbid I sleep in), with it raining a cold windy rain outside, I curled up in a big chair with a cozy blanket and a cup of hot coffee and sat down to read a book written by a dear friend.
And I read, and read with only a couple stops to refill my coffee cup.
And then I was done. And all was good with the world because I had just SAT and read a most wonderful book that is written for older children but was just perfect for this type of relaxing because it was a great story but didn't make me think. Very entertaining and awesome in that warm and cuddly kind of way.
Thank you, Betsy. You completed my morning.
And I read, and read with only a couple stops to refill my coffee cup.
And then I was done. And all was good with the world because I had just SAT and read a most wonderful book that is written for older children but was just perfect for this type of relaxing because it was a great story but didn't make me think. Very entertaining and awesome in that warm and cuddly kind of way.
Thank you, Betsy. You completed my morning.
Saturday, October 4, 2014
Class Dismissed - homeschooling movie
It's been a bit odd with one school going to public school part time and one still at home but it's all working for right now.
I just watched the trailer for this movie and while the circumstances of why they started to homeschool are different from ours, it makes me really happy we didn't get to this point of kids being so stressed out by school they couldn't cope. I could have seen that happening with Equestrian Girl especially and Motocross Boy/Man just giving up. Being at home has given them so much more time to figure out who they are and where they want their lives to go. AND get a good education by studying more of what they want to learn and what is actually important to learn...
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