View Out the Back Door Today

I am back!

I have been so worried about getting this blog caught up that I can't even get started because I don' t have time to get it right! Mom, sound like anyone you know? So I am going to dive in here and catch you up to speed and then go on from here. We had a fantastic summer. We have learned to make hay, train horses, keep bees, swim a lot, and probably more than any other summer before this. We have had a blast. One hive got struck by a bear but the other was preserved. We will have honey next year. We have strung electric fences! We are in full swing with school, football, soccer, 4-H, and horseback lessons. Summer wants to start barrel racing and we are working toward that goal. Hunter's soccer team is undefeated. Garrett is a Coudersport Falcon playing for the 7th grade team and loving it. We are coming up on our 1 year anniversary of moving to the farm and it has been an exciting, challenging, humbling, and amazing year. Life is an amazing roller coaster and I have the best people to go through it with right here. How blessed am I?

Maple Fest Parade

The Coudy Marching Band was in the Maple Fest Parade and our flag girl was right in the front row. We went with friends to watch her and then Don and Brenda and the kids came over for a cook out and bonfire. We had a great time well! Summer was thrilled, shenever dropped her flag during the parade! I knew she wouldn't.

Rhode Island Reds

These are the last 6 new chickens of the year ( the 50 pheasants coming next month don't count). These are Garrett's Rhode Island Reds to complete his egg business for the year. These one's won't be laying til August or September.

Garrett Relaxes with the Bassett Duo

Garrett's Turtle Presentation

Garrett gave a presentation on Turtle Care to a packed house for his 4-H presentation. He did a wonderful job and took Janetta in as an example of a well cared for turtle. All 18 kids did fantastic jobs and it was great to see the variety of subjects they covered.

Riding!

We had a riding afternoon on Wyatt yesterday. Everyone rode and he was so nice and a great ride. He is very patient with us beginners and quite beautiful, he is getting darker as he sheds out. Larry is the only one brave enough to ride him out of the pen!

Morning at the Farm

Things were starting to bloom and it was a nice morning so I took my camera out with me. Here are a few pictures from my morning rounds. Pap, have you ever seen a sadder forcythia? It is getting chopped off to restart. The dwarf weeping crap apple trees are getting ready to bloom. They should be gorgeous. Everyone was up and ready to eat today too.

Wyatt

This is Larry's new horse, Wyatt. He is a percheron cross and he is beautiful. This picture doesn't do him justice but I wanted to send it back to his previous owner to show how well he was doing. He is black with a white star on his forehead. He is rideable and ready to go!

Bees

Our bees finally arrived and We were so excited. They come in the open crate and the post office called right away to come and get them! Larry and I suited up and installed our first package of bees. It was so exciting. It went very well if I must say so myself. It ended poorly on Sunday when our bees left because of the heat, 90 degrees in Coudersport in April is unheard of. They had no comb and no reason to fight the heat so they left. We have located two more hives to get in May and try again. We have also talked to a lot of beekeepers who lost multiple hives over the winter so we are not so crushed over loosing just the one. I love the bees and an ready to try again.

More Horseback Riding

Right where I always hoped to be! I am so glad the kids love it as much as I do.

Bees

Our hives arrived in a giant box and a million pieces. Larry, Garrett and I spent a week assembling them. We are so excited. I had wanted to try it but I didn't know we would be so fascinated by beekeeping.

Horse Riding Lessons

We are all in riding lessons right now. We have found the most marvelous teacher and look forward to Wednesday afternoons every week. For now we are working with her horses, but this coming week, if the weather holds she is coming here to work with us and our two horses. These horses are Bear, the mini and a plaque to the barn ( we want one!), Joker the paint and Teddy, our slow and steady favorite.

Noah's Van

We were gone early the next morning on an errand of utmost importance, to get Hunter his long awaited goats in Bedford and Summer a lamb she desperately wanted. Of course I was driving the mini van so we brought the box our bee hives came in and a dog crate. Pap loaded us up with lunch, newspaper, water, and some straw, and we were off. Here are the pictures of the livestock loaded minivan. The goats are now named Abigail and Perry and live in the large dog run at the farm. It is perfect. Hunter is out there playing with them all the time. The lamb has been named Oreo and was to live with the goats, but since Perry the baby is only 6 weeks old, Mama was too protective. Oreo lives with Summer's angora rabbit in the barn. She has become very possessive of the rabbit. She cries if the bunny is removed from the pen they share. Summer fits the role of Little Bo Peep very well and may take Oreo to the fair.

Circus

We went down for the Jaffa Shrine Circus with Mom Mom and Pop Pop. It was a great year. Kim and Dave and the kids and Kim's friend were there also. They had all our favorite acts, the tigers and elephants, and as usual new ones that were really good. I like the 65 ft bendy poles. Very nerve wracking to even watch. afterwards we went to Kings and had our usual too much good food. Thanks, Pop-Pop and Mom-Mom for the great night.

Easter

We had our annual Easter trip to Kathy's to meet the family. It was great. There was golfing and shopping and eating going on all the time. We made our trip to the Boardwalk for Thrasher fries and Fischer's popcorn. It was cold as usual. We also hit The Country House and the Zoo, two of Salisbury's hot spots. Garrett, a man of many talents, is shown here with his excellent golf swing. The boys got some golf lessons from Pappy John and had a lot of fun. Our food challenge for this family gathering was deserts adn despite some awesome competition, Summer won with a Mexcian Fried Ice Cream. There were some questions raised about making her brother's favorite when Hunter was a judge.

Kersey Shoot

Once again, this year, the boys competed in the Air Rifle Competition at Kersy. It's an early morning for all and Larry got up and took them down. THey had a great boys' day. Everyone improved over last year and hope next year to move on to the Elmira shoot. Boy, does everyone look tired in the last picture!

Our Maple Syrup!

Larry boiled the first of our own maple syrup this weekend. He worked all day Saturday and by late afternoon we had two quarts of our own dark, yummy maple syrup. It is wonderful and we are still getting sap from the trees. We had waffles Sunday to celebrate and even Hunter, cheap syrup aficionado, absolutely loved it.

One Of These Things is Not Like the Others!

Here She Is! My Abigail!

She is muddy and shedding but a beautiful roan underneath. I can't begin to tell you how happy I am to have her here. She is a Clydesdale cross about 15.3 hands and 6 years old. We are calling her Abbie for short. Just had to share her. It all went very well yesterday bringing her home. The spoiling has just begun....
STORY CONTINUED: I guess I never did explain her story here. Abigail was saved from a pen of horses being sent for slaughter for dog food in Canada. She had a colt with her and they had both been abused and starved. The colt was so ill it died shortly after rescue. Abigail was treated and fed until she was stable enough to be given to a new home, ours. She needs to gain a hundred pounds before we even think about riding her. She is doing very well and I am so sad to think her life almost ended before it began. I want to thank Another Chance for Horses for saved her and Jamie who fostered her for giving me the chance to get to know this wonderful horse and for giving this horse a chance.

Summer's Pic

Here is Summer, all ready for a day at Aunt Jill's shopping with Aunt Jill and her friend, Michaela. They went down and hung out at the mall and new plaza, pigged out at Pap's and spa'd out in the jacuzzi and sauna. They had a great weekend and came home exhausted and refreshed at the same time. Thanks Aunt Jill for hosting the getaway.