Virtual ride

OK, I'm going to admit to a little horse-braggin' here. As you come along on the ride, note that I'm loping my horse on a loose rein, in a circle, messing with the camera, dogs running around us, in a big open field- no arena walls- on a horse that hasn't been ridden for a while, and when I sit down and say whoa, he just melts to a stop without me using the reins. (Insert happy sigh!) I LOVE riding broke horses! I have ridden so many colts and half-broke horses in my day that getting to ride Beamer is a treat each and every time I get on him. I. love. this. horse.

Blue Velvet

Just a quick post before I dash off to work; I realised I havent posted any photos of Velvet lately, so here she is in all her fuzzy blue beauty! I was out riding Beamer and rode up to the mare pen, mostly because I wanted to check out his behavior close up to other horses as I plan on starting team sorting this month. He was good, just a little muttering. Velvet came and checked daddy out.

Morning with the Foose and Bubby

When I go out in the early morning to feed the horses, I have a feline supervisor- or two! Foose loves to climb up on the roof of Beamer's shelter, and then up the tree that grows beside it. This morning Bubby decided that he wasn't going to be outdone and he joined Foose on the roof.

Well, it wasn't long before they were both cavorting around in the tree. Beamer is used to them being up there now and ignores them. After chores we went over to see the chickens that live across the yard. Foose doesn't quite know what to make of them; there are over 250 of them.

When they all start moving en masse, he's outa there, fast as his fuzzy li'l legs will take him!

Counting down the days til Nov. 17 when some of those plump chickens will be in my freezer!

Sunday Stills- Hallowe'en

Hallowe'en means Hallowed Evening, or, Holy Evening. It is the night before All Saints Day, and celebrates the lives of saints; those blessed souls who have made it to Heaven. I don't buy into the scary, occult based celebration that this holy evening has become . Since it is about the dead, and evening, first I'll share a moonshot- the full moon, on Hallowe'en, from my back door.

The other day, I took a walk through the Pioneer cemetery, and found some interesting graves, some of which tell their own story.

A husband who died at the age of 42, probably in the 1st World War; his wife who lived to be 98, and their child who died at 8 months. No graves of other children, so this is a sad story.

Loved so much they counted even the days of her life: 80 years, 5 months, 2 days.

Twin brothers; one died at 9 years old, one died at 81 years old. Reunited in the grave.

A husband and wife, at rest beneath a blanket of moss

And this one; the most poignant of all- two souls whose names, once carved in stone, have been erased by time, with nothing left but a blank stone to commemorate their passing, but whose mortal remains caress the roots of a lofty tree , so that even in death we are reminded that there is life. God bless all the souls of those we have lost, and whose memories we hold dear.

Wordless Wednesday