Back in the saddle again

Well, for once this isn't about Morgan and horses. It's about something I'm so happy to write about.... progress! It's been six VERY L O N G weeks around here! Mike took the kids out in the swamp for about an hour on Easter. Dylan did an amazing job on his quad - the kid just "gets it". He didn't get stuck once! Morgan was happy to ride behind her Daddy. While Mike still can't put weight on his foot - he's outside and determined to do things. Oh - and for all you observant types - that's a garbage bag protecting his $500 special order walking boot!

The reason why the hose is out..... swamp mud!

Happy Things

I need happy things in my life right now.

Happy things like> happy thing 1 and thing 2 eating chicken nuggets for Easter lunch (they aren't always so happy - so sharing nuggets turns into a Kodak moment).

And other happy things like > Dad's really amazing mirror which he made for me for Christmas. They have a similar mirror found in an artisan gallery in mid-Western Maine made out of cherry. It matches their to-die-for dining room set (also in rough-edge cherry). I like mine better, my Dad did a fabulous job with rough-edge birch. Birch is one of my favorite trees - I should post about the time they dug off a logging road in a thunderstorm for some birch trees for my yard ;o) I'm so lucky to have a talented artisan in the family!

Casey

Casey was my dog that I picked from the shelter. We had Tonka, who was pretty outgoing with a middle of the road toward strong personality. My sister wisely said do not get a pack leader, you'll have trouble! I went to the shelter on a day she wasn't there, and took the nervous nellie of the pack. She cowered in the corner during puppy school, much to my dismay. She was somewhat aloof - she liked to do her own thing. She got along famously with Tonka. And when he died and we got Diesel puppy, it took her a little bit to adjust. She kind of grew on him (or he grew on her) as he grew up. They were some team all right - very different than Tonka, but still a team. She'd hit the back yard barking up a storm because she couldn't see well, and he'd be right at her side. It was hard to find a picture of Casey - she always preferred to hang back away from the action. She had some really bad traits, but some decent ones too. She was always the first to chase the neighbor's dog out of the yard or scare away the bear. I'm really glad I took the time to pet her and tell her she was good - sometimes she'd really test your patience. It's never an easy thing to loose a pet. 13 years was a long time. Love you Casey. Hope you are having fun playing with Tonka.

TGIF

Sometimes I hate the rush of going to the barn on Friday night. After a full day or errands or cleaning, it's off to school to pick up the kids, grab a slice of pizza and head to the barn. But you know what? Some time's it's therapeutic. For both of us. Today was a rare sunny and warm (57 degrees!) days. The girls got to ride outside. We haven't been out since October. No one else was around at the barn, just the 3 girls in their lesson and their instructor. Tonight, it was heaven. To me - and Morgan too. Pictured below on Flash. The 24 year old uber-trained fuzzy wuzzy below.

Can you say too much rain?

The Walkill Valley river runs just down the hill from us - we can walk down the street to the cul de sac, pop into the woods and within yards will be at the river. This picture was taken today in the next town down - perhaps 2 miles from our house. I'm VERY happy to live on the side of a hill and not in the flats!

Mary Mary, Quite Contrary - How Does Your Garden Grow?

No silver bells or cockle shells here - we plant more traditional things like tomatoes and peppers and lettuce. It's too cold to plant here - we don't set things out until early May. My friend Cat has been digging in her garden already. I'm very jealous of warm sunny afternoons at the moment, as our snow just melted! According to my calendar, we have approx. 6 weeks to go until we can be frost free and start planting in earnest. For now, I'll have to hope that the monsoon of a storm expected for tonight passes quickly and I can get into the garden without snow gloves and turn things over. Peas and spinach can be planted as soon as the soil can be worked - about 4 to 6 weeks before the last frost. So can kale and kohlrabi, but I really don't care for them. I have a few seeds started inside - tomatoes and peppers and hopefully some lavender. Now.... if I could only find some spare time.

Sucktastic

Borrowed from my girlfriend Laura, who decided that sometimes, a bunch of sucky things just snowball into one big sucktastic day. I love her sense of humor, as well as her made up words. I have borrowed that term to generalize the whole situation with Mike. Yeah, he's lucky he didn't loose his leg. Yeah, it could have been worse. But darn it, he isn't himself. We can't put our house up for sale at the end of the month because Mr. fix it is down and out. Hell, we'll be lucky to be able to put our house up for sale in the summer the way things are going now. And pulling extra duty around the house - just kind of..... sucks. But I digress.

The nice part about this weekend is that I am able to take Monday off since my busy season is officially over, and I wasn't as pressed to get EVERYTHING done in two days. We took Mike out to lunch at Chili's today. We got there early and got a corner table and dragged an extra chair out for his leg. Then we hit Sam's club. Dylan was thrilled to stand in between Mike's legs and "drive" the electric wheel chair. After having a back seat driver with me all weekend (it's a wonder I ever made it anywhere on my own - sheesh) I sent Mike and Dyl through the store while Morgan and I picked up our stuff. When we got home Dylan and I unburied one of the chaise lounge chairs from the pool, brushed off the snow, shoveled the cement patio (it will be pavers SOON), dug out the cushion and let Mike chill outside for a bit. He promptly conked out for 45 minutes, because driving a motorized wheel chair through Sam's club is hard work ;o) Okay - so he has a crushed foot, he's allowed to get tired from his outing and fall asleep when we get home. Hey - the kids now help lug in the groceries! Oh. And tomorrow night is the fire department's Monday night meeting. I'm VERY tempted to drive Mr. peg leg over to the fire house and drop him off for a while. I think he needs to talk to men for a change ;o) And one more "driving miss daisy" comment from the back seat (or snarky comment about my down shifting or turning too fast in the crew cab duallie is going to warrant a smack in that foot hanging out on the console near my elbow).

How is it March 1 already?

Well, I have to say one thing about my busy season. January and February go by in a blur. Even when your husband gets hit by a truck! Seriously - Mike had his 10 days post-op doctor visit. They removed the stitches on the top of his foot - and the 12 or so staples running up the back of his heel. No hard cast for him because of the stitches - we had to take a script to a medical supply store to get a special "boot" that adjusts to specific angles. That should come in on Monday and keep his foot pointed down so as not to stretch out the achillles heel. The doctor said no weight on it for about a month -then he'll start physical therapy to stretch out that tendon and basically learn how to walk again. Wow. I suspect March will also go by in a blur, because about the only thing Mike can do is fold laundry. The kids have been great about helping out around the house - it's been a big adjustment for ALL of us.

Some other things that have been going on. Morgan had her 4-H public speaking presentation last night. She almost got psyched out when she saw a room full of boys, but quickly realized they were just as nervous as she was! She didn't get an actual score because she isn't in 4th grade yet - but the judges afterward said she would have done really well! We had no idea what to expect and it was a great learning experience. Here is her poster board that she made. (and her participation ribbon). and here is what Dylan and Dad managed to put together ... an erector set quad! I guess if you can't ride the real thing, you might as well build a toy one! And today we sent the kids out to play. Turn i-Carly off and get outside, I don't care what you do!!! They built alien snowballs. lol. And also got the quad out and brought some wood down for Mom. ;o)