here we are. it is about to become april, but here is march.
a whole slew of new and interesting changes has come about at work.... we are searching for a new full time horsey person, we just got in not one, but two new horses on trial, we are going to pick up, and keep till may a horse from ireland who is to be missy's next advanced horse: an upper level prospect, and she wants him kept in owrk. now this means two things. a. we will have a horse in full work while all the others are on vacation, and two... jen does not do young, nor crazy... and this horse is both, and coming straight from Ireland, which ensures the crazy bit.
Also. its time for bed, and my brain is mush, and i probably shouldnt have written anything because of before mentioned brain mushiness.. oivey.
3.31.2011
3.21.2011
spring
3.10.2011
feet in the sun
Another day in Paradise. (i believe this is how all the writings on the wall begin up on Watson Pond. ) Wonder Vu IS paradise, and so is this. Even though I escaped the worst of the storms this winter, working outside has left me a little weary and dried up... just the energy to move inside all the layers makes it that much more delightful to simply pull on my swim suit and shorts in the morning, and go for a stroll outside in the healing sun.
We came for my mom, and she is more active than i have seen her in months. Swinging on the swing under the almond tree, swimming in the ocean, ding yoga in the sun. walks on the beach.
Its good for all of us though. my dad has finally relaxed. (it only took four days that seemed like years each)
My sister, well, she is getting a much needed break from being the sole child at home.
and helen, is basking. soaking in the sun.
as for me.... i cant wait to get back to ride, but the sun, it just feels so good. i forgot what it was like to work up a sweat, and then not feel the chill seeping into the bones not five minutes later on the walk back to the barn from the arena.
but i will be excited to start up rooney's training again, the big red boy who never fails to trot over to the gate when he sees me headed his way.
but for the moment, i am happy to look out over the edge of the porch, and see my dad stretched out in a lounge chair (something i have never seen in my life) watching my mom scour the beach for treasures, her grasshopper like limbs folding up when she brings her nose closer to the sand for an inspection of that colorful shell or interestingly new plant specimen.
We came for my mom, and she is more active than i have seen her in months. Swinging on the swing under the almond tree, swimming in the ocean, ding yoga in the sun. walks on the beach.
Its good for all of us though. my dad has finally relaxed. (it only took four days that seemed like years each)
My sister, well, she is getting a much needed break from being the sole child at home.
and helen, is basking. soaking in the sun.
as for me.... i cant wait to get back to ride, but the sun, it just feels so good. i forgot what it was like to work up a sweat, and then not feel the chill seeping into the bones not five minutes later on the walk back to the barn from the arena.
but i will be excited to start up rooney's training again, the big red boy who never fails to trot over to the gate when he sees me headed his way.
but for the moment, i am happy to look out over the edge of the porch, and see my dad stretched out in a lounge chair (something i have never seen in my life) watching my mom scour the beach for treasures, her grasshopper like limbs folding up when she brings her nose closer to the sand for an inspection of that colorful shell or interestingly new plant specimen.
3.07.2011
vacation times
jamaica. 3.7.2011
in front of me there is a very well groomed almond tree, not in season, trimmed just enough so that one sitting on the porch with their feet up (as I am) can see the horizon line. to my left and right extend the porch, made from poured polished cement, painted and adorned with tile floor and covered with a wood latice ceiling... sheilding us from the ambient rain that falls "on the left side of the road while the right side is dry". the lapping of the ocean on the beach is incessent, as is the ambient noice of the main throughway.... read busy two lane road.... with kids hollering, dogs yipping and high pitched car horns sounding from the wrong side of the road.
we have been sitting on the porch, as the sun has been setting to the left just beyond the huge beach-growing gnarly trees, the clouds growing like time lapse photography into moutains with snow capped peaks, hovering what looks like inches above the ocean.
a dozen yards out into the water, small heron like birds with wingtips grazing the water search for dinner. the long legged blueish grey one that has been spending early morning and late evening with us, having found its meal in the low tide exposed rocky coral reaf, has gone home for the night.
so far this has been a little piece of pardise. the vivid colors i never thought could be real, the private beach, the comfort food cooked by a native jamaican....
yum.
in front of me there is a very well groomed almond tree, not in season, trimmed just enough so that one sitting on the porch with their feet up (as I am) can see the horizon line. to my left and right extend the porch, made from poured polished cement, painted and adorned with tile floor and covered with a wood latice ceiling... sheilding us from the ambient rain that falls "on the left side of the road while the right side is dry". the lapping of the ocean on the beach is incessent, as is the ambient noice of the main throughway.... read busy two lane road.... with kids hollering, dogs yipping and high pitched car horns sounding from the wrong side of the road.
we have been sitting on the porch, as the sun has been setting to the left just beyond the huge beach-growing gnarly trees, the clouds growing like time lapse photography into moutains with snow capped peaks, hovering what looks like inches above the ocean.
a dozen yards out into the water, small heron like birds with wingtips grazing the water search for dinner. the long legged blueish grey one that has been spending early morning and late evening with us, having found its meal in the low tide exposed rocky coral reaf, has gone home for the night.
so far this has been a little piece of pardise. the vivid colors i never thought could be real, the private beach, the comfort food cooked by a native jamaican....
yum.
2.14.2011
aiken hunting etc
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| riding out of the meet with Whiskey Road hounds, thursday |
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| bad Ranger |
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| good Ranger |
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| just as we left the meet, reached the first big field, and one of the whips went to jump out of the field over a mid-sized coup, and took a departure from his horse, ending up on the opposite side of the jump than his horse. here we are regrouping |
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| still regrouping, christa, jen, calvin, and a whiskey road member |
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| bog |
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| we spent a lot of time walking and chatting. calvin demonstrating his backwards riding skills. |
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| Ranger showin some love |
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| "dear calvin, please give me some of your almonds, i promise ill be good for christa if you do! love, ranger |
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| the boat swallowing bog. curious how it got there. |
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| Add caption |
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| the most treacherous footing i've ever ridden on. in a forest actively being logged, to the sweet sounds of trees being bulldozed |
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| still walking |
Well. needless to say, i had plenty of time to take photos this first day of hunting. though it certainly seemed like a crazy fast and exciting hunt compared to the one we participated in on friday.
Maybe i am being a little too harsh. It was beautiful, and i have never been through so many different ecosystems as we hunted through on thursday. (except for a trek from san jose over the mountains to the rainforest when i visited costa rica last winter, but that was different i suppose)
We started out in the tundra, huge open fields, brown and sparse. Then we rode through the desert, huge sand dunes, low brush, pine trees of the gnarly variety and sun warming us. Then we went on to ride through a few highly wooded areas one of which being a very maine-like forest that was in the process of being logged. That was a crazy experience.... all the logs were covering the ground, and by covering i mean there was no way for the horses to step on the ground, only tree trunks, and they were slippery and unstable. I was commenting to one of the other folks out hunting that it was the craziest footing i have ever ridden on, and he said, "Oh. When they are on a run, they will gallop through here." like it was no big deal.
Then we picked up a trot up a hill and around the turn, i thought it was curtains for springer and i. Oi. Down on a knee with one front leg basically sticking out between his hind legs. thankfully he has some sense of self preservation and got us out of the sticky situation. Hopefully I will never have to do that again. That was scary.
Anyway. Hunting is always an experience. That. Is for sure.
kitten rehab
I arrived home last night around 8 or soon there after.
Today and tomorrow we recuperate, and the jen and i return to work on wednesday, hopefully much refreshed after our long drive yesterday. I woke up this morning with a charlie horse in my calf from driving, and a stiff body to match. I tossed around the idea of a yoga class, but i felt that since there was a good one tomorrow mid day, i would save the hard work for tomorrow and do some serious strtching and relaxation, settling in, and kitty-lovin today. and so i have....
i must say, its must easier to stretch when there are no kittens climbing on you, though zilla did the most spectaular thing today. while in bound angle pose, he lept up into the space between my arm pit and hip, sticking his head into my neck, and stayed put. it was genius kitty-yoga work on his part.
anyway. its nice to be home, but not having had ANY free time for the last three weeks has left me with out any idea of how to occupy myself for the next day and a half. though i am grateful i got to sleep in past 6 and got to lie in bed without waiting for an alarm to go off, kittens curled in the crook of my knees.
i think, as the weather is nice, i shall try and go for a stroll, get a tea at the coffee shop, and hope my internal upset-ness goes away before the next meal time .
doing five hundred loads of laundry and reclaiming the disaster that is my dresser.
-stay posted for photos. promise.
Today and tomorrow we recuperate, and the jen and i return to work on wednesday, hopefully much refreshed after our long drive yesterday. I woke up this morning with a charlie horse in my calf from driving, and a stiff body to match. I tossed around the idea of a yoga class, but i felt that since there was a good one tomorrow mid day, i would save the hard work for tomorrow and do some serious strtching and relaxation, settling in, and kitty-lovin today. and so i have....
i must say, its must easier to stretch when there are no kittens climbing on you, though zilla did the most spectaular thing today. while in bound angle pose, he lept up into the space between my arm pit and hip, sticking his head into my neck, and stayed put. it was genius kitty-yoga work on his part.anyway. its nice to be home, but not having had ANY free time for the last three weeks has left me with out any idea of how to occupy myself for the next day and a half. though i am grateful i got to sleep in past 6 and got to lie in bed without waiting for an alarm to go off, kittens curled in the crook of my knees.
i think, as the weather is nice, i shall try and go for a stroll, get a tea at the coffee shop, and hope my internal upset-ness goes away before the next meal time .
doing five hundred loads of laundry and reclaiming the disaster that is my dresser.
-stay posted for photos. promise.
2.12.2011
a little video snack time
To tide ya'll over until i can stay awake long enough to load some more photos, here is a video i took while hunting today. We went out with the Aiken hounds in the Hitchcock woods, which is one of the largest in-city parks in the U.S. or so we've been told.
The hounds were beautiful though there was one in particular who had wonky legs, or atleast when he ran, it was a miracle they all ended up touching the ground before his snout for his crazy leg-flinging lope seemed a bit less energy efficient than any other creature's movements, ever. I mean, he had a seriously crazy way of running.
anyway, it was a super fast and super fun drag today, jumping loads of jumps, including cathedral row, which is a series of brush jumps that were originally built to train/ school steeplechase horses over.
It was really fun.
wait, did i mention it was fun?
cause it definitely was.
note: all these photos are from today, saturday, our last day of hunting.... the other ones will go up hopefully sooner rather than later. but i need my z's right now.
The hounds were beautiful though there was one in particular who had wonky legs, or atleast when he ran, it was a miracle they all ended up touching the ground before his snout for his crazy leg-flinging lope seemed a bit less energy efficient than any other creature's movements, ever. I mean, he had a seriously crazy way of running.
anyway, it was a super fast and super fun drag today, jumping loads of jumps, including cathedral row, which is a series of brush jumps that were originally built to train/ school steeplechase horses over.
It was really fun.
wait, did i mention it was fun?
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| first "kill" |
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| second "kill" |
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| a slightly out of focus christa and springer |
note: all these photos are from today, saturday, our last day of hunting.... the other ones will go up hopefully sooner rather than later. but i need my z's right now.
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