Stunning Mornings

The mornings have been absolutely gorgeous here and I wanted to share a few pics. Yes, that is snow. But here in Sequim (or south of Sequim), it generally falls in inches--not feet. We LOVE the snow now!!

This view is from the room that will probably become my sewing studio. It will have a hide-a-bed couch and/or a Murphy bed in it for company, but will no longer be a dedicated sewing room.  More on that when/if it happens. This room looks out over the back of our house.  You can see the sun rising over the Olympics.

A couple showing our pond and the gazebo in back...the pond is starting to ice over.

I couldn't decide which one I liked better so you get them both. (I know, I know...they're practically identical)

The front while we were feeding this morning. This is our totem pole with the flag pole behind it. You can just barely see the color of the sun in the background.

Kate, enjoying her breakfast and wishing the sun would hurry up! A bit later, all the ponies were basking in the sun while they ate. 

Every day when I go outside I admire the Olympics and where we live and feel blessed to be here.

Thanks for looking. Sorry the pics aren't better quality, but I took them with my phone.

Life is Good!!!

My ponies are home!  Since we've moved they've been at one neighbors or another's while we found the time to fence in at least one of our designated pasture areas. They will eventually have four areas here, plus one other at our neighbor's to the south.

I do love having them home!!

Here's a photo of the gang.  Apparently, the stress involved in eating just wore Kate out. She had to have a little break before she could keep filling up that tiny tummy *smirk*

Dory

A Beautiful Morning with Pony Kisses

Yesterday was so cloudy, our satellite didn't even work for awhile. It was literally as thick as pea soup, as the saying goes.  This morning, though, it is beautiful out.

This is the view from our living room of the Olympic Mountains...I never get tired of looking at them.

And, as promised...pony kisses from the girls: Kate on the left and Emma on the right.

Dory

Vacation...aka Kate's Initiation

We left for Washington on Tuesday, the 15th at 8:30 a.m.--a mere 3 hours later than we'd planned.  We drove up through the back roads, going very close to the town where I went to high school. I was hoping someone else would pull in for fuel while we were there that I knew, but no one did.  I did, however, wave to a classmate's parents as we drove past Roberts Reservoir on our way toward Tulelake; not that they had any clue. *shrug*

Between the road construction and stopping to give the horses a rest, we didn't get to WA until just before dark.  As we drove along Highway 14 headed for White Salmon and the turn off to Trout Lake, I noticed some really hairy cows along the highway.  A closer look revealed that they weren't cows at all!  We took the wrong road out of White Salmon and ended up going up a steep grade through town with sharp curves in the dark in a really huge rig; it was a bit nerve wracking.  We finally arrived at the campground around 10 p.m.

We just pulled off the main road, flipped out the high ties, got food and water and blankets for the horses, and fell into bed.  Poor Kate...a 12 hour trailer ride and then left to hang on the side of the trailer with Bailey, whom she immediately kicked. I think she was letting us know her initial opinion of the situation.

The next day we moved camp, got set up, and drove to Portland to get the etched wineglasses commemorating the ride. Thursday the fun started.  We took Kate and Bailey out for one of the 12 mile loops that the Ride & Tiers would be doing on Saturday.  The trail at the Trout Lake Horse Camp is phenomenal: mostly single track with excellent footing, rolling hills and gorgeous views of Mt. Adams.  A little over halfway though the ride, Kate stopped.  Apparently, she just wasn't seeing the point of the whole thing.  After a little attitude adjustment (read: 'finding a stick to use as a crop'), she decided that continuing on was better than being tapped on the butt constantly.

Our camping spot...(told you it was beautiful!)

Friday, Dennis was talked into actually competing in the event.  Our original plan had been to help with the ride while riding our horses all week long.  Instead, Dennis participated--36 miles of running and riding! Below is proof: Their finish picture with the official time clock (which almost every horse spooked at).  They weren't even last, but that might have had something to do with the fact that the last team lost their horse twice (once he managed to untie himself and went to their nearby home!).

Instead of Kate going out every day and getting used to being ridden constantly, she learned what it was like to be left at the trailer while her buddy horse leaves.  She was not happy and let the whole camp know.  During the event, every time Bailey would come in for a vet check, I had to go get Kate to stand by so that his heart rate would be at criteria.  The vets became accustomed to seeing us hanging around.

Sunday we did manage another ride out, only 5 miles this time on a different trail.  Kate was really doing great, until her giant spook on the way back into camp.  Luckily, she calmed down almost immediately and I managed to stay on--always better than the alternative.

Monday morning we headed for home.  We got out of bed to find that Kate had chewed through her lead rope and was standing next to Bailey grazing.  Apparently, she'd run out of hay and needed something to do!  I know horses eat trees and fences...but lead ropes.  I thought only dogs chewed through their leashes!!

It was lovely to be away from home and camping with our horses and friends.  We had such a great time.  Below are some pictures...enjoy.

Mt. Adams (with SNOW in JUNE!)

Just some scenery...

Can you tell which dog loves horses and which dog was bored???

Another shot of Chloe enjoying her favorite pasttime! (Isn't she pretty?  She had a bath for the trip) She was at the finish line with me waiting for her horse.  Then she jumped all around him, biting his tail, on the way to the trailer, much to everyone's amusement.

And a final shot of George, Dennis' partner, and Bailey coming into the vet check.

An Almost-Perfect Weekend

Beatiful weather, riding horses and quilting in the yurt...does it get any better??  Okay, after April 29, it will definitely be better, but for now, this was a terrific weekend.

First:  This is another Victory Quilt that I'm working on.  This is Lyn's quilt and she did a phenomenal job of piecing and applying her borders, which makes my job so easy!  She's going to enter this quilt in a local show here, so I'm really trying to make it special.  Her plan is to hang it in her living room, too, so I've asked for permission to double-up on the batting.  The bottom batting is a cotton (she provided it, so I'm not certain of the brand) and the top is my Quilters Dream Puff.  I wanted this quilt to hang nicely and have great definition.  In addition, I love the colors she chose.  I know it won't show up well in these photos, but I'd buy bolts of her background fabric if I could find it!

This is it, loaded and ready to go. 

The pictures of this block and the one following have already been sent to Lyn; she wanted a preview.  I'm using Carla Barret's "whispers" for my main design ideas.  I'll post a full picture of Carla's ideas as well as what the quilt looks like when its finished.  I tried some new things in this block:  feathers in the middle of the brown/cream blocks and little feathers around the star in the middle. (If you click on the picture, you'll be able to see it better)

This block was one I had to think about for awhile before doing *read, give myself a pep talk!*  Notice that the feathers come out from the middle of the block--that means that the two coming towards me had to be quilted at an angle and upside down...YIKES!   I like how they turned out and was thrilled I didn't spend 10 minutes quilting them and hours frogging!

I'll turn the quilt this weekend and finish the borders and sashings. I also have to decide on the background quilting.  I'd like to do something other than stippling and may fill a few with some pebbling...we'll see.

Second: On Friday and Saturday, we got Kate and Bailey and Andy out for rides.  The mud ball below is Bailey--we only went four miles the first day and I think it took longer to brush the mud off than it did to ride the four miles!  He was a wreck.  So was Kate on both days and Andy on the second day.  What is it about rolling in the mud that makes a horse so happy??

Here are Dennis and Bailey ready to head out.

I'm so proud of Kate; she's still very green (she maybe has a total of 20 miles with me), but she's doing so well.  Chloe scared her half to death when she came running up behind Kate.  Kate scooted out about 6' and then stopped, took a big deep breath and was fine.  If this is as bad as her spooks get, I'll be thrilled.  She's so sensible and solid already, I just think she's going to be perfect!

Riding and quilting...Life doesn't get any better!

Socks & Kate have Adventures & The Yurt has Walls

We ended up having four days off this weekend and decided to make Kate and the yurt our main goals.  First up...Kate.  We rode her three times this weekend and each time were more and more impressed with her.  Her third ride was our usual four-mile loop that is a pretty easy trek.  We do have to go past three neighbors houses on the way home.  The middle house has vehicles and wood and all sorts of scary things...she didn't even care.  In fact, the only "excitement" was when Emma and Bailey whinnied to us from across the meadow.  She was very excited, calling back and starting to trot.  Usually, trotting entails a bit of encouragement with a crop!

Kate was so great on Thursday and Friday, that I rode her on Saturday.  I really thought it would be weeks before I got on her, but she is the most solid, green-broke horse ever!  I can't wait until she's figured out the program; she's going to be phenomenal!

Here she is with her saddle on, ready to go.  Isn't she cute??

Friday morning we said a tentative goodby to Socks.  He is going to live with Jenny in Garden Valley; if things work out, that will be his new permanent home.  Jenny is looking for a horse to give her confidence, Socks needs a home where he'll be ridden and not have to do endurance rides. 

I thought I was fine with him leaving, until we turned the corner and Jenny came out clapping her hands together, excited to see us arriving with him.  I know that he and Jenny will do great together, but its still bittersweet.  Socks is such a great horse with a huge heart...I'll miss him.

The yurt insulation and walls went much faster than we'd anticipated.  This picture shoes how the insulation comes in pieces (wall piece, window piece, repeat). 

The yurt totally totally wrapped with insulation.

A photo from the inside.  The  "walls" are white and with the wood, it looks so clean and nice.  Hard to tell from the photo, but that window looks out on the pasture where the ponies are...a perfect view!

Almost finished.  The exterior is done, we just have a few screws to put in at the bottom. 

Hopefully, next weekend we'll make a quick trip to Reno and pick up supplies for staining the floor and the few items we need for the inside.

Missing Kate

This is my girl, Kate.
We actually bought her two years ago for me to ride while my mare, Elly, was pregnant. Didn't happen--we never actually got her started. We did do groundwork and built up her confidence, but we never got on her.

This last Friday we took her to a friend that starts Arabs. We've ridden with her before and seen what calm and well-behaved horses her training turns out. So now Kate is there and I'm missing her. She and I had a special deal; she'd give me a "hug" (basically allowing me to wrap both arms around her head) and then I'd scratch her belly. We'd do this repeatedly while feeding.

I hate that she's not in our pasture, but I love that I'll be riding her when she gets home.