Packing up for the country is now a quick and easy
process. We have done it for years and have it down to a
science. We used to leave right after school
was out on Friday afternoon, but now that
we have two busy teenagers, that is usually
not possible and more often than not, we find ourselves
heading out as soon as possible on Saturday. First step -
load the three dogs. This is the absolute highlight
of their life....in the country they can run free through
the woods, swim in the river whenever they feel like it,
roll in horse manure (much to our dismay), and play,
play......play! Several years back, Elizabeth described
it perfectly ~ "This is Dogtopia"
Ellen has to top off all her rabbits ~ all thirteen adults
and fifteen babies! It takes about thirty minutes
to feed and water all of them but if the food and water'
is topped off, they can make it for two days.
Her business "Hoppy Days" is not suffering from
the nation's recession.
We pack up the necessary contents of the
refrigerator ~ milk, veggies, fruit and of course;
the cookbook for Mr. Blendtec! Mr. Blendtec
comes with us to the country.
Ellen is bewitched with "Harry Potter"; it is a
never ending cycle of reading the whole
series over and over! It is not a long ride to the
log cabin, but sandwiched in between
the clean laundry for the country,
coolers of food, and all the necessary supplies, she
had time to read a few chapters.
The "Log Cabin"
Why do we call it this?
Because 100 years ago, the interior was
the exterior; constructed from trees on the property.
At some point the exterior was surrounded by a porch and
then at another point, was glassed in.
When you look at the outside of log cabin, you don't
see logs....but when you walk inside; it all makes sense.
We spend most weekends and ALL holidays here!
Horseback riding was the first thing on the agenda.
My high school buddy, Chris, came to visit along with
several of the Gambel girl friends - aka my adopted daughters!
Sara and Laura
Gary and Chris in front
Katherine and Ellen in back
Katherine and Ellen in back
View from my horse!
This is the most awesome weather of the year ~
dry and 70 degrees....incredible for riding
through beautiful woods!
There is a touch of fall in the air
Sara collected some wildflowers along the way...
She, Elizabeth and her friends started the morning
at 6:00 AM with a six mile run and
her "vase" for the wildflowers are
the compression sleeves she wears to
help her shin splits!
Chris is getting the hang of it
It is Dogtopia!
Letting horses go after our ride
to "free graze"
A trip to the country is not complete without my daily
visit to my egg laying friends.
Remember the post A watched chicken never hatches...
Here they are ~ all grown up and about to lay eggs
Out of our four chickens that hatched....three were hens
and one was a beautiful rooster. They are starting
their own blog.........
"Three Gambel hens and a rooster"
Sounds like they are copying a good thing to me!
Eating the "scraps" from the kitchen.
Another example of my small attempts
to recycle!
Reaping my rewards
And finally: we conclude the longest post ever
with some random shots from this weekend.
I first took this shot
Then zoomed in one one flower ::
And in the view finder discovered ~
a yellow lady bug.
This happened purely by accident -
it must have been destiny as it is the perfect
picture for my blog title.
Gran-E's fish pond
This is the well worn path from the "log cabin"
to the "bunk house". Gran-E and Charlie
are at the end of this path!
"Socks" ~ can you guess how he got his name?
Basil garden ~ ready for pesto.
Pesto making tutorial still coming
soon ~ I promise
Our Lawn mower :: Sunny
The "other" three "Gambel girls" getting ready
to go home....sadly, all good things come to an
end and this weekend was one of those things.
Wow! What fun pictures and what a nice blog! I'm so happy you stopped by and said hello at mine. I look foward to keeping up with all of your fun adventures!
ReplyDeleteWhat a wonderful weekend. Great pictures.
ReplyDeleteWarm wishes, Tonya
I wish I was there. Charlie rode for the first time a few weekends ago- a pony- but NO fear! I can't wait to take him when we come down. I think I'll even saddle up for that.
ReplyDelete