A dog.... er.... Sheeps day

it is hot

which is usually fine with me

but

I am not at the lake

and

it was one of "those" days.

Millions of things to do

and no energy

and grumpy

and it wasn't just me

Luckily for me

it looks as though we might get a storm.

phew

Ellie is outside as I type this

getting chickens in the coop

and dogs in the barn

Penny is outside

mostly because that's what she does

but

she is supposed to be picking up toys

likely not going to happen.

Back

We have been home for a week or so

More so than a week

It's been nice to have my stuff

my bed...

PENNY'S bed....

It's been nice to see all the animals

With Lucy outa commission

Ellie has had to take over riding duties

much to her initial dismay

but it's been going rather well.

I had been planning on putting the girls

in riding lessons this fall

but

my expectations have gotten in the way

After doing some investigating

I will either have to 

1) pay an arm and a leg (more like two legs) to get them into lessons that are amazing

or

2) sacrifice quality horsemanship skills and still pay a fair amount.

It is important to me that the girls develop proper technical riding skills.

So

I decided to do my own lessons.

I had started before we moved

but

I got intimidated living around people

who have crazy horse skills.

but

I am outa options

because

I am opinionated

and maybe

the whole lesson thing

will change my opinionated attitude

but

so far so good.

My project this week has been putting together a little book.

A beginners "guide" to riding.

It has all the skills for basic horsemanship in it

with some games

etc.

Ellie and Lucy are already dying to play with it

so that's probably a good sign.

Anyways.

I start this week with other people's children....

The ponies are preparing themselves

they know something is askew since

I have been out every night with them

(some of them have begun to hate me)

(maybe it will make them love the kids more)

Old Habits are hard to Break

The first part of summer was vastly different than previous summers

but

as August came in

we got back into some of our old habits.

Lucy was the exception

what was supposed to take 4 weeks 

has turned into

7

so she coloured

and did stickers

and read books,

I hope that she doesn't feel like she

missed out on too much.

 Ellie and Penny in the water

Penny had a slow start 

but now I put her in a life jacket as soon as her eyes open!

Ellie started swimming WITHOUT

her life jacket.

A HUGE accomplishment for 

a daughter

who holds dearly

to any of her safety attachments.

the supervisors.

and my little fish.

Who just might be into synchronised swimming...

Besides stickers she did make it on her quad a few times.

thank goodness for dad's.

and this is where he spent most of his holidays.

cleaning the boat...

from the children to the dogs

he had a full time hobby.

I feel like....

I should say something.

So

I think

that i will say

that

we are doing

GREAT.

Summer finally feels a bit like summer.

Busy and crazy

and I found myself 

wishing

for fall.

For soup

and leaves

quiet time

and knitting.

but I will keep that between us

because

we only get 2 months of warm

so I will only partly 

look forward to those 

things

while 

enjoying the rest of the warmth

of August.

dental Inflation

Lucy has been wiggling her teeth

since

Ellie's first tooth gave it's first wiggle.

she has dreamt of toothless grins

and tooth-fairy visits.

Finally 

two weeks ago she got her first loose tooth.

She wiggled it

and waited

and waited 

and waited

until 

finally 

I said it was ready.

her first toothless smile.

she sat for a while in front of the mirror

admiring her grin.

BUT

then

she got an even better surprise

TWO teeth.

Her other bottom tooth was loose too

but wasn't ready

until it lost its companion

and it practically jumped out of her mouth.

 So now she is super impressed 

with her

grin.

And that smile

cleaned the tooth fairy out.

Apparently

teeth

are 

worth 5 BUCKS

a tooth!

sheesh!

fancy feet

this is Dusty's horse.

He's had it a while.

like since he was

14

and trust me

that was a while ago.

She hurt herself

pretty bad.

her heel is gone.

she has been lame for the last 4 years

and

FINALLY

her

hoof is growing.

and now he can ride her.

and that makes him

happy.

A Day

It is 1030 and it feels like 230

It is a satisfying tired

and 

it would induce a really 

restful

and

peaceful sleep

BUT

Penny has a cough

which means

that my sleep will be

ANYTHING

but 

those things.

BUT

that is besides the point

because

the point is I am satisfactorily tired

from

a lovely day.

We went shopping

ALLLLLLLLLL

day.

I don't like shopping

but

this was my kind of shopping

it was poking around a store

but not staying forever.

plus 

we hit a tack shop

I love horse stores.

then we came home and went riding.

except for Lucy

she watched cartoons.

I even had a moment today

to run up and see

my sister-in-law and her baby.

I love days like today.

When all is Quiet on the Farm

I woke this morning 

to

the phone ringing.

I went out to 

let the horses out on pasture

and I heard

birds chirping

and geese waddling in the weeds

I heard clucking 

and panting dogs

I heard the stamp of hooves

but

I did not hear 

the crows of the 

rooster(s).

I feel guilty.

I gave the order.

The girls all had 

their faces

plastered to the glass

in 

absolute fascination.

I cleaned.

I ran the water.

I banged pots

I did anything

NOT

to hear the dying sounds

of the rooster.

I used to think

I had a thick skin

when it came to the

facts of life.

I have been on the end 

of many ropes while 

our horses have been 

euthanized

I have gone hunting with my dad

and while I have

NO desire to shoot 

anything

it did not bug me when he did

BUT

I am left

feeling a little guilty today

on a quieter than normal farm.

It's all fun and games....

These are {my} chickens.

The kids love them.

they started laying eggs 

and

the novelty of gathering them 

has

yet 

to disappear.

We had 4 roosters.

Slowly they have died.

One death due to donkeys

two suspicious deaths

Have us thinking

the yellow dog may be the culprit.

So we are left with 1 rooster.

We all like the rooster.

He was our favourite.

but

Last week in an unfortunate incident

he woke me up at 4

and then

a few days later attacked me

I threw a couple shoes at him

and he decided to walk away.

THEN

he chased Ellie across the yard.

This morning the rooster finally sealed his fate...

You never mess with Dusty

he has too many guns.

While out doing chores with Penny

the rooster tried to spur her in the face.

He missed.

Unfortunately for him

Dusty will not...

Weekend

It was Dusty's family reunion this last weekend.

It was fun to get out and see everyone.

Lucy's cousins were so great about including her in everything 

so

that made the weekend that much better.

I got to take the family pictures.

I need more practice.

Most everyone got at least one good picture.

I can't wait to show some of them.

These are just a few trial pictures with my kiddos.

 Lucy enjoying the sunshine.

 Penny did a LOT of tire horse riding.
She is concentrating so she doesn't get bucked off.

Ellie- always a perfect model for pictures.

I had to keep chasing her out of all the pictures.

We had Lucy's x-rays on Monday.

The re-break and set looks good.

The Dr. was going to transfer her records to the pediatric ortho surgeon..

he figured she would have a better idea of a time-frame.

Summer is whizzing by.

Soon I am sure I will be back to school shopping.

Hopefully we can hang on to August 

and get a few relaxing summery things accomplished.