Spring at Seldom Scene

The weather seems to have finally broken, and it's supposed to be gorgeous all week. I love being out in the fields with the alpacas this time of year! As pretty as the buttercups are, they're an unfortunate sign of our poor pasture conditions due to the past two summers of drought and some overgrazing. It is pretty, though!

Planting the garden and trying to catch up on the knee-high (in some spots) grass are some of our priorities after what seems like weeks of rain! Paul just tilled the majority of the garden for the 3rd time, as grass just kept re-growing and the only things in right now are peas and onions.

Yesterday we were graced with our first water-lily of the season. I know I gush about our pond, but there is always something new to enjoy. The two lily pictures were taken only 20 minutes apart! The water lilies only bloom for a few days and they open up for just about 4 hours per day, so I try to enjoy them while I can. We have at least 6 resident frogs, and they are pretty entertaining as well. They really do enjoy hanging out on the lily pads- wish I had time to float around in a pool like that. (I can almost picture them with little umbrella-drinks).

High Hopes Steeplechase Fun

The High Hope Steeplechase, held annually at the Kentucky Horse Park, is one of our favorite days to be from the Lexington area, rating right up there with Cross Country day at the Rolex. We always see tons of people we know, and Paul's company sponsors the event and has a nice tent for friends and clients to enjoy. Today's beautiful weather just added to the beauty of this spectacular setting. There are about 5 races, and from what I'm told many of the talented horses racing are thoroughbreds that didn't necessarily show great potential on a traditional track but are still fast and can jump well. There is no starting gate, the horses start on an imaginary line between cones (above).The races are more scenic and exciting than the usual races on a dirt track, and it's fun to be close to the action. In addition to the horse races, many people bring their dogs and there are terrier races as well. I didn't get any good footage of those, but maybe next year. Munchie's not that thrilled with other dogs, but he loved being with us and even appeared to enjoy watching the races!
Occasionally a rider is unseated but there are rarely serious accidents. This horse kept right on running after his rider came off! I had picked him to win and he was before this happened- finishing without the rider doesn't count.

Another horse unseated his rider in the same race and was quickly apprehended by an outrider for his and everyone's safety.

All of the proceeds from the event go to Central Kentucky Riding for the Handicapped. Mirian and I enjoyed meeting some of the miniature horses that helped to represent the program, and we learned that they are used for all kinds of therapy with non-ambulatory participants and even in grief counseling and outreach. What a great program and an awesome day! Having our visiting family members and good friends with us made it even more of a bonus.

Getting hooked

Yesterday morning, as I woke to the prospect of my stepson Jason's joyous wedding day, I asked my husband if he remembered what question he asked me 20 years before. Without missing a beat, he said "I gave you a tackle box and fishing pole for your birthday and when you opened up the compartment with the diamond ring in it I asked if you wanted to get hooked?!" Of course I said yes, and the rest is history!

I have enjoyed reminiscing about those fun days of planning and excitement as we anticipated Jason and Crystal's wedding. There is just nothing better than bringing together your very best friends and all of your family to share in the formalizing of your love and committment. Okay, I'm gonna start getting sappy and weapy if I don't watch it! (Here's a cute picture of my parents, below, married 57? years!)

All that I can say is that the day we decided to get hooked and the day that Jason and Crystal tied the knot were two of the best birthdays, no BEST DAYS, I've ever had! It was a beautiful evening (thank you, Lord, for a reprieve from rain!) and I was extremely proud of Mirian and Robert's poise as members of the wedding party. It was sooo much fun watching Mirian and Jason dancing, and to see cousins from California to North Carolina having a great time together. Even my parents hung in there until after 1 AM with my Dad boogeying with the rest of us- nobody wanted to leave such a great party! Love, love, happy, happy, it was just awesome!!!! (Well worth missing the Preakness over- yeah, Rachel Alexandra!) Best prayers and wishes to Jason and Crystal!!!! We are truly thrilled that you got hooked.

Koi and relaxation

Having two tweens, a family wedding, end of school stuff, rain and more rain, and two businesses within the family can make for some stress, even on a good day. Some of you may have noticed that I've ramped up my facebook participation, as well as having become active on Twitter. Those are simply ways for me to connect in short spurts with other adult humans when I'm feeling isolated on the farm. Here's what I've found to be one of the best de-stressors, right outside my door! I simply adore my fish, they never ever talk back, misbehave, say they hate me, grunt when we're having a conversation, or complain about the food.

I highly recommend some.

Mother's Day Riding Expedition!

This year I decided to celebrate Mother's Day with some time away with friends and horses, though it turned out to be just one friend, Marti, who could make it (Boo-hoo, we really missed MB!). Since it was our first big trip out for the season, we decided to stay close- I insisted that if the weather was nasty I'd be just fine camping at Wal-Mart. I just needed to get away! Despite storms and flash flooding on Friday night, the weather cooperated beautifully the rest of the weekend. It was a bit sad but also pretty amusing watching stuff float down the fast-flooding creek beside the campground- a refrigerator and everything! It didn't help at all in dispelling any Eastern Kentucky stereotypes we held. One thing that isn't perpetuated enough about Eastern Kentucky is it's treasure-trove of natural beauty. This is just one of the hundreds of natural arches that are all throughout the Daniel Boone National Forest and Sheltowee Trace area.There was a plethora of wildflowers blooming and butterflies everywhere (not to mention poison ivy and ticks, but we won't go there...). The sloppiness of the trails wasn't really too much of a bother for our surefooted horses, and the sandstone terrain isn't very slick at all. There were enough treacherous areas to keep things interesting, and we wisely dismounted to lead the horses through some super-tough areas, especially Jump Rock- I'd really like to see how any equine could get up that rock-strewn cliff! Gringo and Sunday made us proud, once again, with their good sense and enviable endurance!
I hope you like this little movie, the first I've made with my handy Flip Mino which fit nicely in my pocket as I rode. Sorry for the shakiness of the videos, it's more because I have a wiggly horse rather than the video itself being poor! Also, this is my first You Tube Video and I need to better figure out a way to control the "thumbnail view", as what you see here isn't a good representation of the movie itself- anybody have any suggestions? At least I've accomplished another step in technology! (And this particular post was about getting away from it all for the weekend- hah!)

Random Recent Photos

As you'll guess from these images, farm stuff has been taking up most of my time lately. We had a new cria on Monday, a lovely brown girl from Aymara. She's shown here with her dam as well as her "wetnurse", Nanny (more about that in a future blog).

Our flowers are coming along so nicely. I adore foxglove, and had some pretty ones along the deck years ago. I got rid of them when Robert was a baby since they're very toxic, but am enjoying some again now that the kids are older and hopefully won't go around eating flowers!

Mirian has her very own alpaca, Willow! We bought her recently in Quechua Benefit's auction raising money for the charity.

Flashpoint (Michelangelo x Zippen Flash) is one of our best show prospects for fall- isn't he adorable?

This is Munchie with his friend, Mollie (an Irish Jack Russell Terrier). We babysat for her for about a week while her owner was riding motorcycles with Paul. She was really, really good except for the one time I found her in the middle of the dining room table eating out of the butter dish!

Now I'm off for a weekend of girl time and horseback riding, reporting back on Monday!

Truly Loco

I am often asked how we keep up with everything around here. Wanna know a big secret?..... SSSHHH, don't tell!.... I DON'T keep up, not in the least little bit! Everyone once in a while I delude myself into thinking that things are under control, but then.... WHAM, I am reminded that it is an illusion.
This time of year is especially busy here on the farm and in life in general. Two weekends of shows have really set us back (that's me and Mystery above at the Kentucky Classic, where he got a 2nd), as have field trips (see Mirian at the Legends baseball game at top) and sports and Paul being away and crias being born and grass growing like crazy. Some have wondered how I find the time to blog- well, obviously I haven't lately!
But TODAY, yes today, I am going to find the time to be inspired, and to create, and to catch up on laundry and organizing, and to sit inside and look out at the rain which is making things even more green than last week if that's possible. I'm also going to plant some flowers (shown at the top) to accent the technicolor green outside my windows. And, I'm going to remind myself how very lucky I am to have such a full and active life!
P.S. Of course I'll be watching the Kentucky Derby, and I'm putting my hopes on Fresian Fire!