Big Boy

2009 (8 years old)

We have taken photos on the first day of school (or close to it) to show Ben's growth on the Daddy scale.  We think there are more photos of earlier years but this is what we have that I could locate today.  

2010

2011

2012

2013 (12 years old)

May 25, 2014

I'm predicting that this boy will be taller by the 2014 first day of school photo...do you agree?

Ride Weekend

Ride weekend!  This is the bridge connecting Cornish, NH with Windsor, VT.  According to my husband, if you plug "Cornish NH Fairground" into your smartphone, you wind up in a field on the wrong side of that bridge.  I went by the directions on the ride paperwork and did not go across that bridge, but I did make one call to home in a panic when I was on 12A for far longer than anticipated....

In the end I did arrive at my destination on Friday night and set up camp.  King got to use the fairgrounds' cowsheds for the night.  

We were parked in with lots of people with Living Quarters.  They had heat, kitchens and bathrooms in their rigs.  They were from places like Maryland, New Jersey and Maine.  I had a very enjoyable evening sitting around and chatting with a group of ladies who even insisted on feeding me a hot bowl of chicken stew.  It sure beat my hard boiled egg, apple and granola bar.  The night started to fall and get quite cold.  We had rain on and off.  But I was pretty snug in my new bunk!

John spent the weekend before the ride building this little beauty.  It's tall enough to fit my saddle on the rack under it and some boxes of things.  I bought a pieces of memory foam over at the local Mardens for $24.99 and John cut it to fit the odd shape of the nose of the trailer.  We had a rail from a loft bed up in the attic so he put that on there when I was worried that I'd roll off in my sleeping bag and get hurt.  Perfect fit!  I think I slept better just from having a place for most everything as much as from having the comfort of the new bunk.  I don't know why it stresses me so when things are simply tossed into a space without a proper home for the item...but there it is.  I'm well on my way to getting a spot for each thing and it's a huge help!

Day one was a 15 mile CDR or Conditioning Distance Ride.  The ride plan for the weekend was to do 45 miles over the 2 days as a stepping stone to our first one day 50 in July.  On day one there is a time window to fall in of 2 hours 15 minutes to 2 hours 30 minutes I think.  I had it written on my hand.  So it was a bit distressing when we rode out (first) to find that at the end of the very first dirt road there were no markers to say which way to turn.  I turned back and then encountered the next riders and we all went to the end of the road and now searched for the markers.  I went one way, they went the other.  No confidence markers in either direction.  So we turned back again and went until we saw the last marker and turned back again (this is my 3rd time on this stretch of road) to see where we missed a turn.  A lady came out of her house in her pajamas and asked if we were looking for ribbons as she had taken them down.  Finally!  She didn't realize they were for our event.  She thought they were for the foot race from the weekend prior.  We made our turn and started to work at making up time!  Out on the loop there was a covered bridge to ride through.  I've always wanted to do that!  It was awesome.  I took the photo from a distance as I didn't know how King would like the bridge but after a slight hesitation and look at the boards he walked right in and I think it felt like going into a barn.  He really liked it and so did I.

At the end of day one I found my husband and youngest son back at the trailer.  They had arrived.  John crewed a bit for me for the vet check at the end.  We've never discussed crewing and he had no idea what it was that needed to be done at the end of a ride.  I untacked King and grabbed the dressage whip and headed up to the pulse area.  John was wanting me to eat or drink and I had to shoo him away.  Sorry love, it will be a few more minutes until I can do those things.  I stood there very quietly with King and not telling John anything because it's very important that King just goes to sleep standing there.  His pulse dropped nicely and he did virtually go to sleep.  Ending P & R was 44 and 5.  With that done I could snack a bit and head up to the vets for trot out and hands on.  Once our final check was complete we went back to the trailer to relax.  King got more electrolytes and barley and grass.  We moved the horse trailer forward and moved King to the next stall up in the cow shed.  Then John's niece and daughters who live in Cornish stopped by for a visit.  The girls really enjoyed seeing all the horses.  King was happy to have the attention.  The temperature shift from Friday (50s) to Saturday (80s) was making him quite sleepy.  I even put shorts on for the first time this year!  Then I took the girls on a walk around camp.  I think there were roughly 60 horses there at that time.  Everyone else was riding either Saturday or Sunday.  So the whole camp changed on Saturday with the exception of the people who traveled so far that they arrive Friday to ride Sunday.  King's immediate neighbors did not change very much and that was good for him.

Saturday night was an awesome dinner for all and we had the ride managers there for the next 4 or 5 events of the year and they each had a chance to talk about their rides to the whole group.  The ride Vet gave a talk too about some of the changes going on with AERC and how that would be on this ride.  A good meeting to attend for sure.  Then we headed back to our site and had a bit of a relax.  John & Ben had cots set up in the horse portion of the trailer for the night.  We managed to be parked very near the rowdiest party of riders and joined in the laughing for a while.  We quit before they did so I went to sleep with the pleasant noises of laughing and happy people.  That night was much warmer than the previous and my sleeping bag was almost too warm!  I came close to opening the window but didn't and it's a good thing because the temperature dropped off by 4 or 5 in the morning.  Something woke me up at that time and I assumed it was the first 50 milers getting up and moving.  Their ride out time was scheduled for 7:00 and the 30 milers at 8:00 so I had the desire to go back to sleep for awhile.

 Here we are warming up before the ride begins in the morning.  The next two photos are my view for most of the ride and a photo of us as we were riding past a crew stop where John met me to see how we were doing on trail.  I told him when I thought I'd be there but I was early and I was lucky enough that he was too!  He was just driving up as I rode through.  Doing fine!  Just going a bit faster than I'd planned on....

It was absolutely amazing to have crew at the 1/2 way.  The vet had called for saddles off so everyone had their saddle stands and water buckets and crew bags all set.  John & I picked our spot out too and left everything there that I thought I'd need.  Amazing that I'd still forgotten things.  People food for one!  Advil for another....so our son kept making the run back and forth to the trailer to get things.  So nice!!  He also got tasked with holding the horse a bunch and all manner of little things which in the end are not "little" at all.  I feel a debt of gratitude here.

There was a confusion with the timer too.  I pulled in at the same time as some people in front of me and with 3 riders who came up from behind me.  I made sure to make good eye contact with the Ride Manager who had just swooped in to assist the timer who was having difficulties for some unknown reason.  I don't like standing around in a horse log jam as getting kicked is not on my list of things to do.  I made sure that the Ride Manager had my number and I walked away.  A quick glance up at the heart rate monitor said 64.  60 was the goal and we were almost there.  Over to the pulse station immediately.  I had my usual panic about where is my ride card and then located it in the same pocket I've put it in before...and handed it to the proper people.  60 was achieved and they had no blue time paper to write on so they wrote it on my riders card.  I went back to the timer and got my blue time card (quite out of order to how we "should" do it) but in my case...it worked.  The ladies behind me were another 10 minutes at least before pulsing.  I think I played the game well enough--the out time is based on your pulse time.  The trot out was fine and the rest was a good one and then the photo above of riding out for the last 15 miles.

The first 1/2 of that loop felt an eternity.  We kept encountering other riders coming at us for the first few miles and King wanted to turn and ride back to camp with all of them.  In particular with this one stallion we shared a water tank with for a moment.  That horse he really wanted to go with.  On we went with me having to drive him to go a bit which is so rare for him.  Then as we rounded the middle of that loop and were on our own way back it was all about keeping the speed down.  He thought we should canter all the way back now.  In the end the 2nd loop only took a few minutes longer than the first time we'd done it that day.  It was a ride we enjoyed.  We finished top ten and enjoyed every minute of it!  Attaboy. 

Easter

Easter!  17 of us for dinner!  We finally realized that it is time to buy some folding tables.  Our crowd just keeps growing.  This little one was so good for the entire visit.  I don't think I heard him cry once.  

Sitting the whole group at one long table was a joyous thing for me.  And I think it was for the guests as well.

My older boys put on an egg hunt for their younger cousins to enjoy.

This year they had it on the woods trail.

All the way out the beaver pond and back.

I love it when the camera catches something unexpected.  Do you see what I see?  The 21 year old swinging on the rope swing.  I love it when they are still my little boys.  :)

Spring--conditioning season

So spring for me was a season to condition for our upcoming Competitive Trail and Endurance rides.  I officially was back in the saddle after a long stretch on March 18th.  The countdown to May 10th begins there.  At first we ventured out just by going up and down the driveway and finally up and down the road.  King is full of spring and for horse people we know what that means!  A lot of kicking up of heels and wanting to GO!

So I found him places that we could do just that.  Miles and miles of dirt roads.  I have to pick carefully though as the spring road conditions are an ever changing thing.

There is ice covered in mud like this.  Sometimes just ice, lots town maintenance crews to work around and little rocks they leave behind after doing a good job with the york rake.

Spring rides have pussy willows which to me are a true sign that spring is winning out over winter.

More good signs as the turkey breeding season is bringing out many large Toms who display and fight in the yard.

And a courting pair of cardinals.  Look for her, she's up high to the right in this photo.

Then the trails start to thaw out and I have more options.

Some of them get quite muddy though.  This is the true frost coming out of the ground mud. 

And at long last I have snow free views on my rides.  April 17th.  

Winter

It was a very snowy and icy winter this year.  On some device in our house we have video of the kids sliding around on the ice and I really need to find that to add to the blog.  It shows what we mean by "ice".  Like, it takes poles to walk across the yard ice.  Ice boots so the horse can stand up ice.  It was amazing.  It happened too often.

I had this to greet me more mornings than I remember.  Time to start plowing.  Again.

We did enjoy the view from inside.  A flock of turkeys did hang around all winter long.  They'd come for the feed that fell to the ground under our songbird feeders.

The snow finally piled up so much that I gave up all hope of trailering out for riding.  I only made it to the indoor a couple of times and only to the beach once.

I think he wished he could hibernate.

But all this snow makes for wonderful sleigh rides.  We volunteered over at the NH Farm Museum on their Maple Sugaring event

There is my groom--in the tee shirt.  I'm sure it wasn't tee shirt weather, but after so many negative degree days, windy days and snowy days--it felt like it to this guy!

I love the turkeys just hunkering down during a storm.  At times they were simply white bumps under the snow.  It was a long winter!

Memory Lane

It's all water under the bridge now, but I'm tired of winter and playing with Picasa so here is a good thing to blog about that I just didn't have time to do in the fall!

Here is the water under the bridge.  

It was September.  I'd just started my new job as Office Manager of Dupont's Service Center in Dover NH just a few weeks earlier.  The fall brought huge changes to our family all around.  A previously homeschooled boy going to school full time.  A new grandbaby on the way and due soon, a new job for me, a new job for our middle son who's still on his gap-year adventure and an internship for our oldest, college son.  I think John was the only one who didn't make his own personal changes although all of these affected him, I'm sure.

With all of this going on I still wanted very much to take the vacation I'd booked back in January.  So I drove up to Memory Lane in Andover, ME on Friday after working a little in the morning (to get payroll accomplished.)  I grabbed the horse and too much gear and off we went.  It rained most of the day that I traveled.  It was cold and overcast and very dreary.  But in Maine I got the horse settled into one of their stalls and schlepped my stuff into the studio to find that a few quiet minutes to myself were almost helped by the inclement weather.  I pulled out some knitting and began to unwind.  I had lots of unwinding ahead!

There were 5 of us sharing this weekend together and I was horrible at taking photos.  Not a one of the hot tub.  Not a photo of the horses in their paddocks or stalls.  Not even a photo of 2 of the ladies who were there!  

Shame.  But I did take some photos so here is what I've got.  On Saturday we woke up to rain and spent a bit of time eating breakfast and looking at the weather reports from various sources.  We agreed that the rain would end mid-morning and we'd have time to ride out to a waterfall for lunch.  It was a bit of a muddy ride in spots due to the recent rain but otherwise we were dry for our ride.  The waterfall was spectacular and I was lucky enough to leave my horse in the care of others so I could explore it.  Then we ate lunch while the horses found suitable leaves to munch on.  A friend had come along with her car to meet us at the lunch spot and took photos as we were getting ready to head back.  Thanks for the photo!  

 This farm really intrigued me.  As we approached it was obvious that someone put some time and money into the grass and the fencing.  At first I didn't know what they were raising in there.  Could it be horses?

Nope.  No horses.  I'm thinking they are raising rocks.

This is the daddy rock....

Oh, there they are, it's cattle!!  The farm had some huge barns and a brand new looking windmill to boot.  Quite a farm.

On the way back from the waterfall that day King decided that he was no longer a pleasure horse and we should get a move on.  Fortunately we enjoy riding alone, and fast.  I had some precious unwinding during that part of the ride.  As quick as we went we did stop and eat the apples....

On Sunday we needed to sneak in another ride before leaving.  This time we took different trails and rode out crossing the Ellis River and riding some really lovely and flat trails which were sandy.  Just beautiful.  We decided to turn back after getting a drink in the river out at this crossing.  I couldn't believe the difference a day made.  We rode over this river at this spot the day before on a paved road's bridge as this river was at least 2 feet higher, solid brown and raging from the rains on Thursday and Friday.  By Sunday morning it was as tame as could be, crystal clear and lovely.

Memory Lane certainly was full of good memories.  Hot tub after riding.  A crock pot meal waiting for us and beer for some (wine for me).  The laughing and ride stories and sharing our passion of horses.  Priceless.

December 2013, lots happening

It's been a while since I posted, but life has just rushed by for the family.  We've had many neat things happen, and here are just a few of them:  Cory & Justin got married on 12/7/13 with plenty of family and friends to celibrate the event with them.

Rachel and I had a great time at her new work's (Duponts Service Center) Christmas party that was held at the Woodman's Institute Museum in Dover, NH.  Here is a photo of the wonderful couple:

There was plenty of Christmas cheer and fun times.  The new Kerr family got a chance to visit and we were lucky enough to have our wonderful neighbor, Amy, take the picture for us.

It was definitely a wonderful and very busy December.  We didn't slow down for a minute.  Brian ended up having to replace his old 1996 Saturn Station wagon and now drives a nice Volvo S80 Sedan.
We're now a 4-car and 4-driver family, so keeping the old vehicles on the road is a real challenge.  Well, enough for now.  Thanks for visiting our blog and we hope you enjoyed it. ~ John