Horses

My riding year has been a fantastic one. We've had lots of fun out there on the trails. I've counted 31 rides plus 9 lessons. I've hosted a trail ride at my house and volunteered for other's rides too. I've invited a bunch of folks to the local Pub for monthly gatherings and we've enjoyed the fellowship of one another in our equine community. What a great year!

Lois C & Inde

Seneca

Paula G and Kodiak

My "got trails" truck.

The S.M.A.R.T. ride here

Mickey & Sandy's boys

Me & Lois C on Kita

Kent & Nancy with 2 of their 7, Zuza and Cupie

Sue S., Nancy M & Me (thanks Barbara)
Cochise, Keeper & King

What great fun. I also had rides with Sue D., Rose L., Tracey W., Andrea B. (can we call that a ride :) ) lessons with Terry McClare and Jenn too.

November

Caching in Conway was one of the family things we did in November. The month was unseasonably warm and simply beautiful. We spent one afternoon in the north country enjoying the Weather Discovery Center and several area geocaches. (Yes Lyn, I forgot to log those in!)

The kids are so much fun to be with. They have me rolling laughing most of the time. Teenagers are a hoot. They are witty and fun and just loving every minute of their lives.

Of course that is sort of how my husband is too as you can see by his big grin. My how his boys have grown!

I'll end November with the frost that is sticking to our electric fence...a sure sign of the weather to come.

~Rachel

October

October was a busy and good month. The seasons were changing between blinks around here and we played every minute we could!

The kids got to spend part of one foliage filled chilly day flying at the local airport. Two went up in this plane and the oldest boy got a real treat as he went up with one of the best stunt fliers around. Sigrid's plane was the envy of all that day. She trains stunt pilots and was an excellent host for his free flight. He got a very long ride all around NH in this Extra 200 plane.

The month had us fully into the school schedule and spending lots of family time together. Here is our oldest's pumpkin all carved for Halloween. We were lucky to have some pumpkins from the volunteer plants on the manure pile. Great pumpkins!

~Rachel

September part 2

Just a few photos from our neck of the woods. September was a busy month around here. We were picking corn and freezing corn and picking corn and giving corn away and freezing more corn. We ate corn on the cob and then shepherd's pie and corn chowder and more of each of those. Did I mention that we grew potatoes too? More corn chowder and more shepherd's pie...leek and potato soup...potato salad, german potato salad, new potatoes on the grill, mashed potatoes. We were so ready for a new crop! LOL. The neighbors were not complaining! We traded corn & potatoes for cucumbers and made pickles. We traded for tomatoes and made salsa. And now it's apple season....

However in the middle of this gardening we discovered that the manure pile had it's own crop. Pumpkins! The best ones we grew...as the ones we actually planted, protected, weeded and tended did horribly! This crop which volunteered itself from the remains of last year's decorations tossed upon the pile produced some wonderful, large pumpkins...and a garden orb spider or two as well.

I was off horsing around again during much of September. I love this time of year 2nd best to that time between mud season and bug season. This is the post bug season-before rifle hunting of deer season. It is a wonderful time to go riding! This day had me with good friends enjoying the dirt roads and trails on another New Hampshire mountain. Ahhh.

Labor Day had us gathering with my folks and friends and it was chilly! The "chiminea" was a delight to hang around. We brought corn and potatoes with us to share.

Back at home we took a photo of the turkeys again. We have had 2 consistent groups here daily. This one is 5 or 6 birds and wanders through in the afternoon mostly. They enjoy walking right past the horse. We consider it obstacle training for him. I can say he's no longer worried about turkeys! They are often all out there just a few feet from one another. He's still a little nervous of those moving rocks...you know the kind which come up from the pond in the spring to lay eggs...snapping turtles. Those he's a little leary of. I am too.

~Rachel

September

The first day of school around here was exciting this year. Our middle boy is off to a charter school for high school. He commutes the 30 miles with dad in the morning. So we were seeing them off at 6:30am for our first day of school photos. The little guy was very excited to be starting school too. 3rd grade this year in our homeschool.

The school year has been going along very well for us and we're all settled in to our routines now.

The oldest boy got his photos done after work. He does 1 1/2 hours of school from 7-8:30 then off to work from 9-12. He's working at a local farm still and really enjoys that. It won't be long before they close for the winter but he's enjoying every minute until then!

Sometimes photo taking and boys turns out more like this....but that's okay too. Silly boys.

~Rachel

July

Okay, I do still knit. I haven't shared very much of my work lately. Here is one. It's a Faroese Shawl which is made from the leftover yarn from last year's big project.

The Canada Lily plants in our yard did seem to enjoy the weather this year as well as the wild berries on our property. One of the lilies is over 6 feet tall and had 16 flowers on it.

The boys now play enjoyable music and that has been a fun thing for us as a family to listen to.

Here is our little blueberry picker checking out the early berries. By the next week the majority were ripe. Our summer has been different this year with the teens working 5 days a week at a garden center near us. They enjoy the work. Off they go in their little car in the mornings and back they come at lunchtime. We do our family activities in the afternoons mostly. Teens are a fun thing to have around the house! I miss them while they are away...of course I'm glad they are spreading their wings too.

~Rachel

Tall Ships

Sail Boston puts on a great Tall Ships event! We went down to Beantown to enjoy the sights.
We've been to plenty of tall ships activities before...but never quite like this one. There were dozens of ships in. Only a few were docked to be open to the public. Many were at private docks around the harbor. The floatilla of ships viewing from the harbor was worth seeing on it's own. While standing in line to board La Amistad (which had another ship rafted to her) we watched another of our favorites go by in the harbor, the Roseway. I can't say that we've ever watched tall ships go sailing (under motor) by while boarding another ship before. We really enjoyed the Picton Castle the most I think. As we approached there was a piper blaring out a tune on the bagpipes. Her home port is in Nova Scotia. The atmosphere on this ship was just happy. Most of the crew were young people and they were clearly having the time of their lives.
If we had the time we'd have gone back for another day of it. What a wonderful event!
~Rachel

June

June was, well... April! It rained every day but 3 and those were a far cry from "sunny". The pattern has been continuing into July as well-only not as cold.

Here are a few photos of some of what's been going on around here. We replaced our dead GPS with a new used one and we are caching again.

The youngest boy is raising a small flock of chicks.

And, boys will be boys and play with swords. It is a common thing now to hear sudden foot noises in another room followed by laughter and "parry...repost" or something like that. Lessons are off for the summer but they have been a fun thing this winter/spring.

~Rachel

Camp

What a place to spend a long weekend. Thanks again to John's folks for hosting us in this wonderful camp. We did such exciting things as napping, fishing and boating. Ahhh.

I'll let the photos tell the story....

~Rachel

May

Big puddles are lots of fun...when you have your daddy's boots on to keep you dry. I think he's just so cute out there. This boy is certainly an outdoor boy and he's spent many an hour during May outside, on the ATV, in the sandpile, weeding in the garden, playing in puddles, shooting the BB Gun, collecting flowers. There's a world of opportunity out there!


On this rainy day we noticed a single turkey who just seemed to think it would be nice to be a chicken. She stood out there, shaking the rain off and staring into the coop for a long time. We have so much wildlife wandering through. Usually right around where that turkey is. They seem to use the bridge to cross Miller Brook at the foot of our driveway and then hug the treeline up to our bridge to cross the stream. Then off into the next big chunk of woods. We had a doe and her yearling son wander through the day before and our resident grey fox was greeting John from the middle of the horse paddock the next night. Many of our neighbors gave up on keeping chickens as the wildlife was such an issue. When we moved in we had a domestic "wildlife" issue so we went straight for the electrified netting. It has been so worth it. It kept out a large dog, and continues to keep out the fox who lives here, the fisher we've watched passing through, as well as any raccoons or weasels, both of which we've seen nearby. The coyote seem to have moved further away this year than they were last year. We had scat daily in the back field last year as well as many a loud howling session at night. Hawks continue to be a threat to the birds with this setup, but our scrappy little rooster took on the last Peregrin that made a try for the birds. The crows who nest in the pines by the barn seem to chase off most of the hawks as soon as they arrive. The chickens head for the coop at the first crow warning call. They are bi-lingual we think!
We got to setting up the pool when the sun came out. I think these boys are a bit confused...sledding or swimming? It's sort of like the front hall which as of late had everything from snowpants to sandals hanging around. The weather shifts in spring are amazing. I'm finally done putting away the snowpants and boots for the season. Summer is just around the bend now.

Happy spring.

~Rachel

School

Some schooling happens in interesting places. Here is our oldest on the last day of lifeguard training. He's certified now for lifeguarding with CPR for the Professional Rescuer. He hopes to continue working at a local farm as well as get a part-time guarding job for the summer. I'll give him credit for that class for sure!

Here is one just finishing off a book for book club. I think that one was Robert Louis Stevenson's Treasure Island. I think such a book should be read outside in "the wilds". Or on a chicken coop's south roof to gain the extra heat from the sun.

How can I hold back the water? A question many engineers have been asking for eons. Sandpile science is a great way to start!

~Rachel