June 23

Saturday at last! But my daughters had plans for me from the get go. Emma had to go to work but requested we bring her lunch which we like to do on Saturdays. As soon as Anna got up, she asked that we go horse back riding at Courthouse County Park in Waseca County. She wants to get horses and riders in shape for our trip to Forrestville State Park the weekend after July 4th. The day was a little dreary, a little drippy, but we were game.

We rode for about an hour and a half through the woods, up and down hills, through water crossings and mud. Not too many people there which was good because my horse was a panic-a-holic. We both may be a little sore tomorrow but we survived (although my horse was sure she would get eaten by something in the woods). This picture is before she found out what she was doing for fun....

Do you know how hard it is to take a picture while riding a nervous horse? This is the only one not totally blurry - but it cut Anna's head off. This was my view of the ride, which was better than looking up from the ground! We took turns leading since that is the scary position for the horse. Piper has a lot more experience but she was a little tense too. Her biggest hurdle was going across a 2 foot wide water crossing....but she conquered her fears and succeeded!.

 I got the brilliant idea to have Anna stand still and face me and I would hold SueBee still and take a clear picture...What a joke!!!! Yes, I got this nice photo, eventually. But SueBee thought Piper was turning around to head back the other way so she needed to turn around. When I wouldn't let her, she got panicky and started backing up...and couldn't stop herself backing up! I know this sounds ridiculous but she kind of loses her mind a little. All's well that ends well. We may try to do it again on Tuesday to get the horses' confidence up.
 While we were gone, Jacky got a lot done in our dining room. He had the carpet out - all by himself! Now we can really get to work. The surprise was the checkerboard linoleum floor underneath...

Jacky and Anna

The girls and I went to see the movie "Brave". It was excellent! All about mother-daughter relationships. I cried, Anna cried, Emma cried...it was wonderful.
Home again and the usual chores. Emma works her sheep and goats, Anna plays with the pony and cart, I fill up bird feeders...Checked the garden and it's doing well. Have been picking cherry tomatoes, the eggplants are flowering, corn and beans growing, potatoes almost flowering, zucchini with baby veggie's...all is going pretty good. I went out after dusk to give Rudy the pony his meds since he is sore on his feet today. The fireflies are out now, just the last few days, and it makes the night magical.

Fireflies in a corn field - not my photo

Long Exposure of fireflies in Japan