Piggie!

Our little piggie is such a happy fella! He is busily doing what piggies do best - rooting! He has a nice, big pen which is full of grass that he is digging up and munching the roots. Daisy thinks he is really cool and visits with him frequently. He's a bit nervous around the boys...I can't imagine why....

Today I went with the 4th grade class on a field trip to the Maine State Museum in Augusta to see 'Bug Mainea'. Not really up my alley, but what do you do? The kids loved seeing all those horrible creepy crawlies, and I just tried to stay far enough away for my own comfort. ;-) All the other museum exhibits were very interesting! After an hour or so, we went across the parking lot to the State House, where we were able to tour the Flag Room (They have the 8th Maine flag!) the House of Representatives and the Senate. The boys decided that they are going to be politicians because the chairs are super comfy! They couldn't believe the damage that the gavel of the President of the Senate had done to the top of the desk/podium - enough so that a small piece of wood had been screwed into the top to provide a new surface for pounding!! There must be some really heated arguments in that room....

Daisy's check-up...

I took Daisy to see the vet today.  She needed her annual vaccinations.  The first thing they did was ask her to step on the scales - she tipped them at a whopping 90 pounds!!  What a BIG girl!!  Unfortunately, the vet felt that was too heavy and she needs to lose weight.  But, she felt that the only thing we needed to change was her diet - no more puppy food.  Apparently, just because Iams says that you're supposed to feed it until your dog is 2 years old, doesn't make it so.  They just want to sell more puppy food!  Finally, we can feed her less expensive food.  And she likes her new food just fine...  ;-)

Farmington Fair

Yesterday we got very wet at the penning at the Farmington Fair. Oh well - it was still a fun chance to ride and laugh with friends! My parents came to watch with some friends of theirs, and they got to see a good show...

I had one ride in the Pro-Nov division and Tillie was awful - rearing, spinning, fighting me, she even fell down onto her knees, and yet somehow we were still able to help out our team mates, sweep the cows into the pen and pen three in 53 seconds!! It was amazing and my team mates couldn't understand why I left the arena in tears. I was so scared!! Those that were focused on the cows during our run didn't see her almost fall in the mud, but those that did couldn't believe that we were okay. My dad hollered "Where the heck is Kitch when you need him?!" He was upset to see Tillie acting like that, understandably so. One of my friends offered the use of her extra horse and I actually decided to take her up on it. I thought it over and figured I was less nervous about riding a strange horse, than I was about riding Tillie back into that slippery, muddy arena, fighting with her some more and actually getting hurt.

After all this time, I guess I'm done being stubborn....Tillie is not a penning horse. At least not right now. She's doing so well with everything else - trails, arena work, (Soooo improved since I've really been working with her! People actually complimented me on how well she was going during the warm-up yesterday!) not much spooks her, she's much more relaxed around the cows than she was when I first started with her and she's so sweet and gentle with the boys. There's no reason to keep forcing her to do something that she obviously hates. Well, other than the fact that it's what I want to do...

I had a great time riding Opal, my friend's flea-bitten gray horse. Dad wasn't around to see my nightmare ride on Tillie, or to participate in my decision to ride Opal. I was sitting on her chatting with her owner when he returned from a walk about the fair with the boys. I told her to watch his face when he realized that I was on a different horse. I knew what was going to happen - he was going to see me up on a flea-bitten gray and just think it was Kitch. And that's exactly what happened, so he did a big double-take and we had a good laugh at his expense! Sorry, Honey...

She had brought Opal to this event for another girl to ride because her horse came up lame. So, she rode Opal in the first 3 events and then Opal was available for me during the Novice class. She was a pooped pony though. She was a penning horse up until 2 years ago when she became a little girl's horse, so she wasn't used to that much running! What a good girl though!! It was so nice to ride a well-trained horse. She had a bit of attitude, (I couldn't blame her!) sort of like "Make me!" But, once you cued her, she would do exactly what you wanted. Wonderful collection - I would bump the reins and she would tuck her head right into her chest. It was awesome!!

She ran her little heart and legs out for me...'course the other girl won money with her earlier in the day...but I had a blast penning on a horse that didn't hesitate or fight me...well, not too much anyway...she was awfully tired. ;-) Several people complimented me on competing so well on a strange horse and that I must have been having fun 'cause I was grinning from ear to ear!

'Course the poor horse was probably very confused - as if switching riders wasn't enough, but we have the same name! (Although very different builds, as you will see in the photos!) It's been a long time since I knew someone with 'my' name, and it's been hilarious. 2 quick stories:

My youngest son was in the porta-potty at Leeds and while I was waiting for him, I chatted with this other woman. When he came out, he asked who I was talking to. I said 'my' name and he got this really confused look on his face! He thought I meant that I had been talking to myself, but with different voices!! My sanity was very much in question, as far as he was concerned...

Again, the 2 of us were standing at the rail chatting, this time at the Windsor Fair. Another girl comes walking by and says 'my' name. We both turned together and said "What?" (It couldn't have been more perfect if we'd practiced it!) She lost it!! She threw her hands up in the air and then placed them on her head like it hurt her. Totally blew her mind!! She couldn't even remember which one of us she had wanted, or why, for a few seconds. We were rolling on the ground laughing!!

Birthday

Saturday was our youngest's 8th birthday! He wanted everyone to come up and fish with him at his favorite pond, Moose Pond. It was a blast! We had 4 kayaks and 3 canoes out on the water. My brother caught a fish and Dad caught 5 fish! A bass, a perch and 3 pickerel. Even though he didn't catch anything, the little guy had a whole lotta fun!!

Afterwards we went back to our house for lunch, cake & presents. He was extremely happy with all of his gifts! He blew out the candles on his cake, but then he was having so much fun with his cousins, that they never even came and got their cake & ice cream! ;-)

Pig Scramble!

This morning, our youngest announced that he was going to catch a pig at the Oxford Fair Pig Scramble. After all, tomorrow he will be 8 and too old.

As soon as school was over, I picked them up and we headed for the fair. The weather was a bit wet, but we didn't let it dampen our spirits! We were so excited about whether or not he would be able to actually catch a pig!! They're quick, and squirmy!! And also, there were a lot of other kids signed up - too many - only 12 would have their name drawn. We were really nervous that they wouldn't even call his name!

Finally, the time arrived and they called his name. Phew! That's one step closer, now he just had to actually catch a pig...12 kids...only 10 pigs...

They set the baby pigs free, gave each child a burlap bag and told them to go catch some pigs! What a crazy, hilarious sight!! Piggies running every which way, kids diving on them and missing. Our son got a bit frustrated after falling multiple times and missing pigs, but he got back into it. The look on his face when he grabbed for one and actually snagged its leg (Just like I told him to!) was priceless! He was just as shocked as the piggie, but he held on for dear life until someone came to help him put it into the bag. He was sooooo proud!!

(I wish this picture was better, but with the lighting in the arena being so poor, I couldn't zoom in. This kid in blue isn't our son, he's against the back wall holding the pig by its leg.)

As soon as he could, he called both of his grandmothers and told them all about it. He even put the phone up to the bag so that my mother could hear it grunting. Too cute!

Then, because we wanted to spend the rest of the evening enjoying the fair, we put the piggie back into the pen with his siblings, only this time he was decorated with Ike's favorite number, '7'. We watched some of the Demolition Derby and then our favorite, the bullriding!

Busy as beavers...

I was just sitting here, organizing photos, when I realized that I never showed you this 7+ inch brook trout that our oldest caught a week or so ago...oops! He was pretty darn proud, since he hasn't caught nearly as many fish as his little brother this summer. There were also some really gross shots (That I didn't realize that they had taken with my camera!) of the fish-cleaning process. I could have done without seeing those!

Sunday morning they spent a couple of hours building a super-tall (that's a 5-foot tape measure.) Bionicle.

We have some new neighbors! A beaver couple has take up residence in our little pond - and they are expanding their new home!! The boys and I think it is soooo cool, but Dad doesn't. He is very concerned, rightly so, about the fate of our driveway, which is downstream from the pond. I just hope that we can manage to find a balance where we can get in and out with our vehicles and the beavers can have a happy home. They've done such a lot of work, in a short amount of time - it's really neat to watch. We've seen them a couple of times now - they're huge!! Of course, never when I have my camera out, after all, it's a 'wildlife repeller'...

While waiting for the bus this morning, our oldest taught his little brother how to make an Origami cup. They love making paper projects like that.

Look what I learned to do today:

Make my own leather poppers! I love to make my own lead ropes and reins, but buying the poppers made them cost-prohibitive. I always thought they looked so simple that surely I could make them myself, but I never got around to figuring them out. A little 'Googling' took me to this book, I got down some old reins that needed a new job and ta daa - poppers! Not only that, they're black, which I could never find for sale anywhere. So, I made myself a pink lunge-line, a black mecate and a purple lead rope for Lily!!

Well, the little guy just came into my office with a bloody mouth, holding out another tooth! That's 2 this week. On Friday, after his doctor's appt, we went to Wal-mart to fill his prescription. I came out of the ladies' room to see him standing there with blood all over, holding out a tooth!! Not the best place to lose it, since everyone was staring at us as I got him cleaned up, but he was pretty proud. Now, he's missing both top front teeth and is running around chanting "I'm bery, bery, bery, bery, bery happy that I got that tooth out!!"

Really?!

So, I got another phone call from the school nurse this afternoon - my youngest had a 'tummy ache'.  I couldn't believe it - surely she didn't think I needed to come and get him again?!  I asked to speak to him.  "Are you sure you're sick?"  "Oh yes, it's awful!"  "There are only a couple of hours of school left, can't you make it?"  "I don't think so."  "How 'bout I come pick you up at the end of the day, so you don't have to ride the bus?" "Okay!  I'll be fine!!"  The nurse came back on the line - "It's a miracle!"  "No, he just hates to ride the bus.  I'll see you at 3." 

A weekend at home...

It was so nice to just putter around home. We didn't get any major projects finished, but we accomplished several small tasks. I got the house decluttered and dusted, and did a really thorough vacuuming. I love my new vacuum cleaner! Dad spent quite a lot of time out in the pasture with the chain saw. He cut down several dead trees, delimbed some of the trees that we actually want to keep in the pasture and thinned out the clumps of trees. Lots of firewood!!

Sunday afternoon Dad's parents came to visit, bringing a couple of our nephews with them. The boys were all very happy to see each other and settled right into playing together. Later on we went to Billings Dam Park in South Paris for a treasure hunt.

TGIF

What a crazy week!  The boys have been sick with colds and feeling miserable.  I've ended up going and getting them from school several times.  The youngest has been suffering from headaches and fever, as well.  I took him to the doctor this morning - yup, it's another ear infection!  It was kinda humorous.  The doctor listened attentively as our not quite 8-year-old told him all the symptoms and the fact that he was certain that he had an ear infection.  When he finished, the doctor turned to me and asked if I would like a second opinion.  ;-)  He then proceeded with his examination.  

After a trip to Wal-mart to fill his antibiotic prescription, we went home and found a message from someone selling a kid's saddle.  We picked up big brother from school and headed to Farmington.  The saddle is brand-new and will be much safer than my beloved old one, which is falling apart at the seams.  That one can finally be retired!  Even though we were all exhausted, as soon as we finished supper, our youngest insisted on having a ride on Kitch.  He pronounced the new saddle great - even said he would like to ride in it all day.  Considering how stiff the leather is, I think he would actually regret that statement, if put to the test.  ;-)

Windsor Fair

What a crazy time I had at the Windsor Fair team penning on Friday!  Being secretary for the club can be a busy, busy job!!  I only signed up for 5 rides - 1 in Pro-Nov and 4 in Novice.  I took quite a few pictures, visited with lots of friends, and enjoyed the fair.  The Pro-Nov ride went well - Tillie was very calm and well-behaved, but we didn't have a very good run because the cows were tough.

Tillie was perfectly calm about being tied up in a stall with all the other horses, some of them drafts, who don't intimidate her a bit.  ;-)  Until later in the day when she thought I was asking her to back out (I wasn't!) and met resistance when she ran out of rope.  She started pulling back, rearing up over and over again, and when she flung her head sideways, she got me right on the nose.  I still can't believe she didn't break it!  Fortunately, I was fine, except for a cut on the bridge of my nose, and she immediately settled right back down again.

Shortly after lunch, I noticed that Tillie's hay bag was empty, so I walked out to the truck and brought back an armful.  As soon as I walked around the corner she started nickering to me.  I walked into her stall, unhooked the haybag, bent over, stuffed the hay into the bag, rehung it and stood up.  This is what I saw....

"I'll have what she's having!"

When the Novice class started, I was really looking forward to some good runs - Tillie was not!  She was AWFUL!!  Out of control - spinning, bucking etc.  Her usual nonsense - wish I knew what set her off.  She was also spooking at everything, even though she hadn't been bothered before.  

However, during our 3rd run, even when she was fussing, I was able to position ourselves to be helpful and get our job done in the hole, and we did well enough to qualify for the callbacks!  I still firmly believe that it was my teammates that did so well during that run, not me.  I was psyched to be riding in the callbacks, but really feeling the pressure.  I so wanted to do well for my teammates and have a good run.  I was so scared by Tillie's behavior thus far, and really concerned about our last run.  But, we pulled it together!!  We had such a great run that I was in shock!!  Tillie did fantastic!!  And, when they were announcing the awards, I couldn't believe it when we came in second place!!!!  YEE HAAAA!!!!  One of the girls asked the president, as she was handing us our awards, "Can we do a Victory Lap for second place?"  The president said she wasn't sure, but then they asked me if I had won anything yet this year and I said "No".  They all laughed and yelled "Definitely time for a Victory Lap!"  The 3 of us galloped off around the arena, me hanging on to my hat 'cause I wasn't expecting that and had the stampede string undone...it was wicked fun!!