School's Out For Summer

     No more students, no more grading!
     No more planning, no more complaining!!!!!
     School's Out for Summer.

     This past week at school was actually an easy week.  I gave exams Monday  and Tuesday, had an institute day Wed., and then went to clean and check out on Thursday.  My heart wasn’t into cleaning up my desk, so I decided to save it till a rainy day this summer.  We did finally get next year’s class schedule.  Mine is the same!   I can’t believe it.  It is too good to be true.  I will be teaching just 3 classes; 4th, 5th, and 6th hours all in the same class room without having to move from room to room.  I am so
                                                                                    thankful.  I will

actually be in a different class room,  the one shown here... which has windows…. so
it will be nicer. 
This is Cathy, the teacher I will be sharing the room with.  She was busy hauling home all her plants.

     During my free time I have been working on my Blog or riding Amiga instead of getting things done around here.  Courtney and I rode around here Tuesday and Wednesday.  Thursday I trailered Amiga with Zorro down the road to Marj’s.  Courtney had a private lesson.  I rode with them for 30 min. and then headed home on Amiga, riding down the gravel road.  She was tentative about leaving Zorro and the familiar surroundings, but did okay.
She did not forge
onward near as fast as she usually does.  She also balked at the bridge, but with a little nudging went across.  Once we crossed 150 and she realized where she was ….and saw our front pasture, she got all revved up again. But I made her walk up the drive to the barn.  Silly horse.
    
     Friday, my first day of summer vacation, the dog woke me barking at 4am barking.  I got up at 4:15 and went out to the barn to let the horses out for some early morning grazing.  They were reluctant to leave the barn because I had not given them their grain yet.  I went back out at 8:30 am to feed. Then I rode Amiga before it got hot.  Britney took some pictures of us.

             Riding out back between the fence and railroad tracks.

     Going South over tracks to Becks fields and then coming back north.

         Riding by pine out front and with peonies by front of house.

     I had planned to take a nap in a lawn chair out in the sun or in the hammock in the shade later Friday, but never got the chance. In addition to my daily chores of cleaning stalls, filling water buckets, and moving horses from pasture to paddock to stalls and back....I continued planting flowers, weeding, hauling water to new transplants, picking up sticks, etc.  I was motivated to get this place looking good before company (family) arrived for the weekend.  I decided to hold off on house cleaning until Saturday morning.  When Joe got home from work, he did a lot of mowing and trimming.  He even mowed a path for and set up the croquet game.

     Sat. morning Britney and Joe helped me clean house....dust, vacuum, clean bathrooms (toilets, sinks and showers), wash sheets, make beds for guests, clean kitchen, etc.     It wasn't long before people started arriving: Sister Carol and her dog Tie.  Chris and Travis Baker (Carol's sons)     Sister Cathy and her husband Ralph,   And Brother Dave and his wife Patti and their 3 kids Nicole, Michael, and J.J.  We had a perpetual lunch of sandwiches, chips, and veggies well into the afternoon.  People hung out in lawn chairs in the shade and caught up on the doings of each other. 

       Carol and Travis chat.                     Patti chatting, Chris in hammock.

  Joe enjoying time off from work.

             Dave + Ralph give Holly
        advice on the storm cellar shed.  








   Ralph and Cathy relaxing. 

      Barn kitty getting passed around.









Travis and J.J. "bonding".

      

Courtney and I worked with our horses.  They were a bit revved up with all the excitement
of guests milling about.


Once they had mellowed we each rode to further calm them and see how they were handling. 

         Amiga  and I.                                       Zorro and Courtney.

 

     After I rode Amiga a bit,                     Carol ridding Amiga.
     Carol did and then Nicole.
     Courtney continued riding Zorro
     who wasn't quite ready or in the
     right frame of mind for new riders.
     Amiga did a pretty good job. 
     I need to work on her gaiting. 
     She isn't consistent, gets too
     bouncy, or goes too fast.

Getting Nicole ready to ride.













Nicole did a great job riding.
We started slow and worked up.
I reviewed for her what to do.
She practiced while I had a lead
line attached to Amiga's bridle.
Then she rode on her own in the
round pen.  Because both were
doing so well, I let them venture
out into the old orchard section
of the field.  I was very proud of
both of them for a job well done.

During the afternoon, the kids ran around the farm exploring everywhere.  The boys had a good time playing in the barn, hay loft, and playground.  They enjoyed the cow, chickens, barn cats and dogs as well.  There were a few games of shooting baskets and the kids played croquet with willing adults.  Joe took some for rides on his "horse" and gave instructions to others on how to ride by themselves.  The little kids and some of the big "kids" enjoyed swinging high.

   Courtney shows Chuck
     to J.J. and Nicole.                                   Chuck slimes Michael.









          Michael looks for Mr. T.                             Michael and the "birds".

    Michael + Flopsey look for worms.               J.J. and Kaysha resting.

Dave and his boys watch.....                                            Nicole's
                   croquet shot.












              Michael.....King of the
                Dead Tree Stump.





Joe taking Michael for a spin.








Nicole and Michael shooting hoop.


And They Were Swangin'
J.J., Michael, Chris and Courtney.

       Joe grilled hamburgers, hot dogs, and brats and we all enjoyed a great dinner with all the cover dishes of good picnic food brought in by all.  Towards the end of our meal Mark Wade came up the road and cut our side pasture of alfalfa and hay. 

Patti, Ralph, Carol and Travis dine.

Mark cutting
our hay field.



     Later in the evening, as the sun neared setting, a cool breeze picked up. The cooler temperatures drew us around the camp fire and into a circle of fellowship, laughter, and sharing life.  The adult beverages and fatigue from the day, lulled all of us into hitting the hay by 10:00pm, after the young, energetic Sidensticks left for the Holiday Inn in LeRoy and the Baker boys headed back home to Indy.

     Sunday was more of the same as Saturday. We had breakfast on the lawn around what was left of last night's camp fire. Our only miss-hap of the weekend occurred when Tie chased Bro up a tree that's lowest branch was 20 feet up.  He couldn't figure out how to back down and ended up coming down head first and jumping into the hammock from way up.  He hit the board (injuring his face/head) and rolled off the hammock stunned.  I was quite concerned at first.  By later in the day he ended up with just swelling to his nose and cheek and otherwise appeared to be okay.

       Breakfast by the fire.                           Bro's head first decent.    
 

     After putting Bro in the tack room to rest,      
we walked to Brian's, our neighbor with some Angus.  He is in the process of building a new house for his wife.



Britney with Tie, you can see new house foundation in background.     Two baby Angus with one of the moms.

Nicole and I couldn't ride in our front pasture since it had been cut, so we rode in the paddock.  The Leiningers left right after lunch, just before Courtney arrived back on the scene. The Sidensticks showed Britney a new
                                                      board game.  The rest of the guests
headed home after the Indianapolis 500 was over.  We all sat and watched it, disappointed by the slow caution, no pass, last lap.  The crash that caused the yellow flag was scary, but exciting.....miraculously and thankfully the driver was not too badly injured.

     After dinner, Courtney and I rode Zorro and Amiga.  Both were not listening very well.  The flies seemed to be bothering them.  Zorro started really misbehaving, so Courtney took him back to the round pen and worked him hard.  When she got back on, he was tired, hot and sweaty, but he did behave much better.  She didn't ride long, wanting to quit on a positive note.

     After all had left, we cleaned up lawn chairs, games, and put everything back in its place.  While doing so, I prayed for their safe trip home and reflected on our visit.  What a great weekend to end the school year.  I dearly love all my family and am so thankful everyone makes an effort to get together.  We had a lot of fun.  Ralph commented about us not needing to go anywhere for vacation cause there is so much to enjoy right here on the farm.  He is right, especially on days when we can give the work a rest. The days of work are what make the days off so much more enjoyable.  But I love the work days too.  I always feel good about what I have accomplished.

BFF...A Tribute To Friends

     With Britney's graduation this past weekend, and her sadness of leaving friends, I got to thinking about my more recent friends as well as my old friends from grade school, high school and college.  Britney has been with her room mate Alissa for four years of college.  Here is an early picture, some of their travels with cross country and one from this weekend.

     Some of my friendships have remained over the years while others have not. It isn't that we are no longer friends...it's that we no longer have time to communicate very much...except the yearly Christmas card maybe.
   "A friend is always loyal, and a brother is born to help in time of need." Proverbs 17:17.  Looking back at my friendships, I see that some were temporary, but monumental in helping me at the time.  I  wish I had spent more time with most of my friends.  But, the more friends we have, the less time we have for each of them.  I have discovered the same holds true for our pets.  It is wonderful to experience how our animals befriend us and each other.  I have three chickens that follow me around quite often.  Betty, Babe and Flopsie are always curious as to what I am up to and hopeful there might be some food available from me.

In this photo of the chickens when they were younger, you can see they would eat clover right from my hand.  They would also let me pet them.

Amiga has grown to trust and respect me more and more as our friendship and experiences together grow. The same holds true for Courtney + Zorro. 

And then it is neat to see how close Amiga and Zorro are....
inseparable almost....which is not always a good thing.

The barn cats are good friends with each other.

And they and Abbey really like our dog Kaysha.

Even the chickens seem to like to be together and with the cow and horses.

And the cow is drawn to the horses.

 

     With animal friendships, one might question it's mental rather than physical needs, but I know they draw strength and comfort from these emotional bonds.  I guess we all need each other for companionship, love and comfort.  Just remember, friendship should be a give not a take experience.  In Romans 12:10, God tells us to "Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves."

     Ann, a good friend and cohort, who started teaching at NCHS the same year as I did, has decided not to continue with part time teaching next year. She has bigger and better plans.  So I am feeling nostalgic about her leaving and will miss her and the good times we have had while teaching at NCHS.  We have shared this cubicle for the past two years. 

     Tuesday's trip to the vet in Gibson City  pleasantly surprised me at how well it went. The horses handled the 50 min drive quite well, and they did great during the exam and getting all their shots.
                                                                                      The drive home
was uneventful as well.  Later Tue. evening I heard a cat scream out back on the  west side of the house.  I went out on the deck to listen and look and called for the barn cats. Nothing... then I heard claws on the tree and the familiar decent of a cat from way up in the Chinese Elm by our deck.  I looked in the direction of the noise and saw a large tan cat. (Think this is the animal I had come across one night a few weeks ago that I thought might be a fox.) It came down and ran off as I yelled at it.  I continued calling for the barn kitties.... still nothing.  I started to go get the dog who was now standing just inside the kitchen door when I heard more claws on the tree way up.  Calling for the kitties, I soon saw Sis descending from quite high up in the tree, and a bit later Bro came out from under the deck. Maybe it's good these two friends split up and ran in two different directions.

     Wednesday afternoon we took the horses to Marj's so Cortney could try out her new saddle.  She had to borrow a girth and stir-ups.  The good news
is that the saddle
seems to fit okay.  Both horses were lethargic...but especially Zorro.  The Strangles vaccine they were given in their nose had really wiped them out.  Zorro also had a bump on his back thigh from one of the shots. We walked them around in the arena so Courtney could get a good feel of the saddle. Eventually Zorro started limping. The hip where he got a shot yesterday was hurting him. The poor boy just wasn't up to his usual self so we didn't ride very long.  It is so nice of our new friend Marj to help us out with all of this saddle stuff.

     Thursday we loaded up our horses once again and went back to Marj's.  We had our ridding lesson right after Joe had a private lesson.  This time 
                                                     we were going to have our lesson bare
back.  Zorro was still limping so Courtney rode Vinnie instead and she and Marj gave Zorro some Bute and put some gel on his bump.  What fun it was to ride bareback.  It took a lot more leg, because we were practicing moving, steering, and stopping them with just our legs and hips....while using as little reign as possible.  We did some balancing exercises as well.  We learned lots and had much fun. Once home we tended to Zorro.  Needing to keep him in to rest his leg, I decided to keep Amiga stalled for the night as well. These two equine friends are so much more relaxed when they can be near each other.

     Friday morning in an attempt to keep Zorro from over-doing it on his leg, I put him in the round pen for some good grass eating.  But a little storm blew in after a bit so I had to move him back in to a stall.  I put him in Amiga's and then left his open for her to come and go off the paddock since more rain was in the forecast.  I only had to give 1 final exam at school, so it was an easy day.  And I left all my grading there since it was going to
be a busy
weekend. Once back home I started to plant flowers in the pots Joe had snagged at the recycle center.  But another storm cut me short.  It eventually blew over and I got more planting and some weeding accomplished before dark.

     Saturday morning we headed to Greenville for Britney's graduation weekend.  We went garage sale-ing together before our big lunch and then went out to the field station to enjoy a walk in the country after lunch. Joe and Britney went for a run while I hung out in the beautiful garden at Charstreuse' Bed & Breakfast we were staying at. It was a block from campus, so was very handy.

Britney had her cutting of the ivy ceremony

     Then we went to dinner with her roommate and her parents.  That night we had another nice walk through town as Britney reminisced about the places we went by and the people who have impacted her life in Greenville.

     Sunday morning I was back out in the garden being serenaded by many various birds. Britney came over to join us for a great breakfast at the B&B.  We went to her church and met her friends there.  Then it was back to her house to load up some last minute stuff. We had a light picnic lunch at the B&B and then headed to the staging field for the graduation ceremony.  I went in to the hot gym fairly early and sat with Alissa's parents, whom we have become friends with through the girl's connection as room mates for 4 years. The ceremony was relatively quick but with the 90 degree heat, 3,000 people and no air conditioning....it was warm. After that we went to Patriots Park for a picnic dinner with all the senior cross country graduates.

     After too much good eating, Joe and I headed home.  Britney stayed for a slumber party with the girls, for one last celebration of their friendship.  They just don't want this to come to an end.  It is time for them to say good bye to Greenville, and head out into the world..  They will "Make New Friends" but they will always "Keep The Old" I am sure.