Fiddler on the Roof

Yesterday we had our friend Cathey and her two dogs over for supper. One of her dogs has big problems with other dogs and had to be crated but first we worked with her in the laneway till she could pass another leashed dog without aggression. It took over 1/2 hour to get to that point but we took it slowly and used lots of patience and yes, tons of treats clicker training style.

Harmony, Cathey’s other dog has been to our place before and is friends with all of mine. Once everyone settled down she and Spike curled up on a little mat together and rested while we ate our supper. Harmony is 12 so doesn’t have the energy that Spike has but they did play a bit. Spike loves having “friends” over.

Today we headed over to Carm’s parents place to replace some shingles on a little shed attached to the garage. Carm had helped his dad to shingle over 40 years ago so there was a bit of experience, but mostly we were just going on what we’ve seen on TV. Luckily for us the guys that are patching the stucco were there to lend some experience. We would have managed without them – Carm and I work well together – but it was good to have their input for making the join between the old and the new. I think it turned out rather good!

There is room in the smallest cottage for a happy loving pair.
Friedrich Schiller

Was it An Epic Journey?

I sure hope it wasn’t for this tiny little snapping turtle that we found near the composter. How it got there is a mystery as it is a long way with hills and many obstacles from the pond and creek. Could it have walked all the way there on it’s own, or did it just hatch from eggs that momma turtle laid in the spring (a long journey for her as well)? We couldn’t find any others but the vegetation is so thick it would be hard to see. So, I either did it a favour or a big disfavour by carrying it down to the pond where it should find some soft earth to dig into for a winter hibernation.

We have had big turtles up on the laneway in the past, in fact it’s not unusual to find one in the spring. Probably a female looking for somewhere to lay her eggs. We never felt that the driveway was a good spot so always (carefully) took them far away from the house down to the creek. They are such prehistoric looking creatures.

Pleasures? I seem to forget to include them! So here goes:

• Reading on the swing. Yes, we made time Saturday morning to have some swing time. It was a beautiful morning/early afternoon. Unfortunately we ended up spending a bit too much time on the swing and was late leaving the house for our next pleasure ;
• Spending the afternoon and dinner with friends. Jo Ellen was my boss at work and also a very good friend. Honestly, she is what I most miss from work (and from Chris too). The three of us  had our morning coffee together for many many years. (I’m not forgetting Bernard – he also coffee’d with us but stopped working there a few years ago so he’s not as immediate a miss.) ;

• Playing with new software. Don was showing us their ‘European Vacation’ photos using Picasa and I was hooked. Downloaded it yesterday and am still (probably for days and days) tagging all the faces. It found over 19,000 photos!!!! What the f#&$*? I do know that some of my photos are in multiple folders but I think I’ve excluded those ones ;
• Trying out a new recipe – I love cooking something new – especially when it turns out good. We’ve been watching “Lidia’s Italy”, a cooking show. The other day she made Rice with Butternut squash which looked tasty and I figured I could adapt the recipe to be a bit more diet friendly. I still included a bit of butter (about 1 tablespoon) as well as the grated parmesan cheese but did cut the rest of the fats. Was it ever good! It was so creamy and rich tasting. A real comfort food that will be made often this winter. And as a bonus the recipe made enough leftovers for another good sized meal. We only had the rice last night, but I think I’d serve it with some pork roast for company – oh boy oh boy that would be good…

When Horses Played in the Sand

The other day I was walking around the property and was struck by the differences since we no longer have horses. It has been 3 1/2 years since the last horse left the property and the flora has wasted no time in taking over.
Back in the horse days the entire property looked a lot different. There were picturesque pasture ornaments dotting the fields, and these ornaments happened to eat grass and other vegetation… lots of it. Our place was like a putting green with the grasses cropped so close. They acted like riding mowers too – keeping the lawns nice and short.
Now that they are no longer here to keep nature in check the place has become somewhat overgrown and wild. There is way too much property to keep it cropped by hand so we have learned to live with the jungle.
The sand ring used to be a place to play with ponies. They were an impressive bunch once they started galloping around the ring. I felt like a circus ringmaster orchestrating all this beautiful motion.

Sometimes though it was a good place to just hang out and relax in the soft, warm sand.

And it was a wonderful place to give baby their first lessons. These are some of my most cherished times ever. The moms would follow along patiently keeping a careful eye out for their babies, trusting that I wouldn’t harm them.

Sometimes the sand ring would be home for a mother and her baby until baby was big enough to fit in with the herd.

Now it is overgrown with grasses and wild flowers (okay weeds). The only thing playing in it is the occasional ground hog.

Next on the tour – the aisle to the pastures – see post “When Horses Raced the Aisle”.  Then see “When Horses Played in the Fields” for the rest of the story.