We had a very productive day Saturday. I finished boxing kitchen stuff,
carefully wrapping up all the breakables as usual. Then Joe and
I did a lot of "winterizing" outside... taking down screens, putting up straw
bales on south side of kitchen, covering the air conditioner, etc. 
Courtney dropped by mid morning to help me give Amiga her de-wormer.
Then Karen (the owner of the stable where Courtney boards Zorro)
and her parents came out to get the round pen and other horse stuff she
bought. 
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.
And then she followed us all the way back to the paddock fence. 
Kabob watched with curiosity.
This willow doesn't adequately show just how strong the wind was.
Joe and I went TV and grocery shopping and then decided to try "Two Blokes and a Bus" for dinner. They park in different locations. Joe went online and looked up where they were located. It was right on the way home so we stopped in to check out the food. 
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.
There were four of us on our morning ride and we went for almost three hours. Amiga did fantastic.
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.
We took a lunch break back "at camp" and gave the horses a rest. Amiga held up well, but I knew she was tired. She is overweight and under exercised. But she was a real trooper and kept up without hesitation. 
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
Lilies. When I sat back at my computer, I noticed they were plowing in an unusual way over at Beck's.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.
If you look closely at the photo (rt.), you will notice that at Beck's, when they got half way to their warehouse, they started back towards us, plowing between the plowed rows, so it was all plowed by the time they were done.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.
Joe and I made a beef delivery (He had picked up packages of Stew at the meat locker) and then we went to Growth Group. We had our "last supper" together, going to the Imperial Buffet, my favorite restaurant. It had started snowing while there. 
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.
As the temperatures dropped, I have needed to wrap up more before going
outside. All my winter coats are in TN so I have been layering with
fall jackets. Even inside I have added layers to keep me warm while
sitting
here at the computer.
It must have stopped snowing right after I went to bed because there
wasn't that much more on the ground when I got up Tuesday morning. I had to take a bucket of hot water out to pour on top of the 30 gallon tub that had a solid layer of ice on it. We sold all our tank heaters so will need to get by until Kabob sells.I drove into Bloomington to pick Dan up at
the car shop. When I got home, the dog had gotten into my house plants which I keep in the dog room / back porch. She knock one over and ate a bunch of two other plants. But she also threw up (a lot) three times. She hadn't eaten all her dinner the night before or any of her breakfast, so I knew she wasn't feeling well. She must have gotten into something when running around out in the farmyard with Joe the afternoon before. 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
continued to do a bunch more sorting, cleaning, organizing, and packing. I trimmed and prepared house plants for the move. And I gathered all the artificial plants, washed them and redid them to fill in the spots where the live plants had been. I had to make a few trips to the barnyard water tub with a bucket of hot water, because it was still too cold out. I vegged out on the couch with Joe the rest of the evening watching Survivor and a movie. 
After Water Lilies Thursday, I walked on the indoor track to let my hair dry, and then went to Jacks for a going-away party the Lilies had for me. They treated me to brunch, several gifts and cards and this yummy chocolate cake. With each hug good-bye, it got harder and harder to hold back the tears. I am really going to miss these ladies. 
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.
During chores I discovered this broken glass at the south end of the corn crib. I wondered if a 3rd floor resident pigeon broke it. Each piece was discarded into the empty cat food bag. While working, Kabob came over to see what was so interesting. 
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.
After arising on Friday I worked here on this blog but then continued to wrap things up as this was the last packing day. There were several
more items to be packed in addition to getting everything stowed for
travel in the SUV, my car and the tack room of the trailer. 
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.
Brother watched me pack the trailer tack room from his perch on the spare tire. I have the packing about done, except last minute food, overnight bag,
and pet supplies (not to mention, all the plants and animals). We are only going half way Saturday to give me and
the horse a break. I hope it doesn't freeze overnight because I am
planning to leave all the plants in the trailer. We have a stall
reserved for Amiga at a campground in Shawnee National Forest in
southern Illinois.
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