Courtney dropped by mid morning to help me give Amiga her de-wormer.
We used two trailers to help lighten the load on both. Below, Joe heads off to Karen's with half the panels, going down Brian's road.
I stayed home to greet any who came to buy stuff from our garage/farm sale, and decided to walk around to get some fall photos of the farm.
It sure looks different without the round pen panels up.
The sandy circle (with some weeds we didn't bother spraying this fall) seems so out of place.
As Kaysha and I headed down the drive, I took a look back at the house and the flag waving in the sunlight.
It looks so quiet and peaceful and pretty...
which it is, but many don't know what goes on behind the scene. It is a lot of work!
The leaves
are falling, the temperatures dropping... with the morning chill in the air and thin layer of ice on the water tub, I am reminded of what's to come.
I don't think I will miss it too much, except maybe one or two pretty snowfalls.
As Kaysha and I neared the back pasture, Amiga came up to greet us.
Kabob watched with curiosity.
This willow doesn't adequately show just how strong the wind was.

It is a double decker bus with the top floor the dinning area. The food was quite good and it was a neat place to eat. The bus was full by the time we had finished.
It was colder Sunday but less windy, so was actually more pleasant outside. It was a great day for riding.
Joe dropped Amiga and I off at Lisa's. Once we got all my tack loaded, it was time to put Amiga on. She took a minute and needed to be coaxed, but loaded fairly easily.
Next we loaded Leo and Scout and then Lisa, Dayne and I were off to Sand Ridge. Actually we went to Merit's ranch which adjoins to the park.
This week of wrapping "things" up has also been a week of "lasts." This ride with Lisa would be our last, most probably. Although we talked of meeting in Southern IL (Shawnee National Forest) to ride sometime.
It was cool out, but we were well bundled. The sun was warm and the scenery pretty and the conversation lively. I am so going to miss riding with Lisa.
My attempt at a self portrait.
I couldn't get Amiga and I both smiling at the same time.
Merit's daughter Haley "rescues" horses, trains and then sells them. So she has all sorts of "toys" she uses in the training process. Dayne gave a shot at getting Scout to do the teeter totter. They both did very well at it.
Haley joined us on our afternoon trail ride. She rode the big black four year old Thoroughbred she had recently gotten.
The pace of our 90 minute ride was a little faster, but again Amiga did great. She transitioned well between a walk, gait, and canter. She has a lot of heart and is so calm and relaxed. I was surprised at how lathered up she was when we got back to camp.
Photo on the right... Haley taking this long legged Thoroughbred over some jumps for a first time.
We gave the horses water, loaded up tack, and then loaded them. Having all "wrapped up", we headed for home.
I had invited C&M and D&V for dinner so had to get right to work as soon as I got home. Dan helped Joe get his new TV set up and Courtney helped me with the spaghetti noodles. My favorite noodle utensil was packed and I didn't like the wooden substitute. We enjoyed our "last supper" with the six of us, here on the farm.
Monday morning I went to Water
Joe called to say house shoppers were coming in a few hours, so I stopped what I was doing and started picking up, stowing away unfilled boxes, and cleaning. I had to clean everything off the dinner table / makeshift desk, including the cat.
I got back to work and played here at the computer after the shoppers left. We had switched freezers with Courtney, giving them the larger one, so I was working on thawing and cleaning the one they had brought us.
Above, Amiga got her mane frosted by the snow and seemed happy to come into the barn. Right, Kabob chose to stay near the barn rather than go into the corn crib. Below, my window view had changed drastically in the last four hours.
I drove into Bloomington to pick Dan up at
I don't know where the time went or what I did all day, but the sun set before I felt like I accomplished much. I did finish some cleaning jobs and fixed a very tasty pork roast. We also had afternoon house shoppers, so I had to clear the decks again. They ended up being 45 minutes late, so I did some extra cleaning while waiting for them to come.
After Water Lilies on Wednesday, I
Another "Last Supper"
These two photos were taken by Lisa who organized and did all the shots for our calendar. She came up with a theme for each month. That's Anita with me in one of the St. Patrick's March photos.
Here is the group at our local True Value for the October photo.
I had way too much to eat and was thinking about a nap, but had to stay awake, waiting for the water softener man. We had tannin resin put in the tanks and will now add citric acid in layers between the salt. This should really help with the orange color left on all white surfaces, including my hair.
I had to give him some hay to distract him. He and Amiga have become good friends.
I spent a good amount of time carefully wrapping (with bubble wrap, blankets, and baling twine) the big TV and glass shelves from the TV stand. Then Joe and I packed them into the SUV. His new TV is quite a bit smaller so he will need to adjust to the difference. It should work great in his "man cave" in TN though.
Joe came home from work early and he and Brother had some bonding time in front of the TV. Brother will be staying on the farm for now. I will decide what to do with him when we close on and move out of here. I think it would just be too much to deal with if he came to TN before Christmas. Besides, the new neighbor lady down there was concerned about the cat bothering her birds. She has a feeding station with half a dozen different feeders. I am sure Brother would be delighted by it... but I don't want to get off on the wrong foot with our new neighbors, and I don't like him stalking the song birds I feed either.
* (disclaimer from first paragraph) I plan to make a collage of photos of life on the farm capturing our more memorable experiences and pets. As I collect these special memories I will also put them into a final Farm Blog post. I don't imagine I will have time to do this until after Christmas though. So, one more farm post is coming. :-) Now, for A New Leaf in Tennessee.