Walking the plank

It's raining now, so I thought a few photos should get thrown up real quick.  We had a lovely weekend that started with putting new brakes and rotors on Sarah's Element.  At some point, Jonas got to go for a swim at the B-dale swimming hole, and we had a nice campfire on Saturday evening.  Sarah and I have been working on some little projects as well, but since none of them are done yet, you'll have to wait on the pictures for those.

I think Jonas turned 13 this year!  Crazy.  Except for the fact that he doesn't run with me anymore, and needs to take shorter walks, it's really hard to tell that he's an old man.  Sarah has been reminding me lately how lucky we are.  She sees a lot of animals younger than ours who are in worse shape.  We ran a bunch of errands Thursday getting ready for the brake job and the weekend.  Jonas was a trooper, so at the end, we walked from Brookton's Market down to the swimming hole and played stick for awhile.  He and I had the place to ourselves.  It was really nice.

There is a long story about how I wound up doing Sarah's brakes, but in the end, it saved us a bunch of money and I got yet another lesson in car maintenance.  If you're ever looking, Advance Auto always has 30% off coupons available (find them on retailmenot.com).  Buy the parts online to use the coupons, then go to the store to pick them up.

I don't feel like writing too much.  There's a story here, but let's leave it at, these springs are really hard to put back together.  Thanks to Erik and Nathan for moral and informational support.

Indy's been doing pretty well.  You can see she's sitting with that leg kicked out a little here, but overall, she seems much happier and in significantly less pain.  It doesn't hurt that we're in the middle of squirrel season; her favorite.

On Saturday Nathan came down from 'Cuse and Erik and Margaret and The Bandit joined us and Jenn, Bob, and Zhora for a cookout.  At some point, the kids started playing with the grown up Lincoln logs we have strewn all over the yard.  I got the idea that it would be fun to make a little jungle gym, so out came the chainsaw.  After a few minutes, we had a respectable little play thing.  El Bandito was happy to have a plank to walk and told a few pirate jokes.

Zhora and The Bandit ran back and forth and jumped off of the logs for the remainder of the night.  It provided a nice diversion for the adults as well.  I tried to give lessons on the "tuck and roll", but no one really understood the importance of a good exit strategy.  Once they've broken a few bones or voted for a few presidents they'll appreciate it more.

Note my expression.  This was an authentic moment.  The Bandit developed an impressive gap crossing strategy on his own.  Man, learning is fun!

Don't blame him... Would you trust that guy?

Keeps the voices out.  Added benefit; keeps strangers away.  Also, the hat went surprisingly well with the beard.

Foil Bull!

On Sunday Nathan helped me go back and grease the caliper slides.  Then Sarah and I crafted for a bit, then we went riding.  Rambo is doing great, old and blind or otherwise.

It was a lovely day except for the bugs.  We had a nice little breeze that helped to keep them down.  When we came home, we worked on our projects a little more, watched a movie, and called it the weekend.  Not bad.

Now we're looking ahead and see our trip to Ohio on the horizon.  Zhora will be coming with us and two of the dogs, I think, so it should be an interesting trip.  We'll be in Ohizzy for 3 1/2 days and have Art in the Park, Drumms, and family time on the agenda, so it'll be the usual busy fun.  Well, the rain has stopped, so I guess I should bet back out there.  Sit vis vobiscum!

A dry winter

Postapalooza!  I don't have much to say or show, but here's an update anyway.  We had a good weekend with the horses followed by a rough weekend with the horses.  Still, Rambo and Bodie are doing alright.  Rambo got sick. We're not sure what he caught yet, but he's responding well to the antibiotics.  Bodie continues just being a misanthrope.  Two weeks ago, we rode on a cold and blustery day.  See Sarah's outfit for proof.  Rambo was awesome!  He went out at a voluntary, sustained trot.  It's hard for us to remember that he's 31 years old and blind.  I rode Bodie like Sancho Panza to Sarah's Don Quixote.  We had a lot of fun.  Notice how little snow there is.  We've had quite cold weather, but are trapped under a high pressure bubble and are getting very little snow.

I like to give Zhora a hard time because she makes great faces when she gets frustrated with me.

Speaking of frustration; goodbye Mac Book Pro... hello Dell.

Nothing like a Cayuga Sizzler from the roadside hotdog stand after a hard day's work in the woods.  Remember when I used to be vegetarian?!  Crazy.  Still, there's a lot of vegetable matter on top of that hog gut.

While perusing the beers at the Finger Lakes Beverage Center I came across a new offering from Rogue.  Or more accurately, a new offering from John Maier's beard; wild yeast collected from his beard and and used to ferment beer.  The consensus so far (those polled include Dad and Sarah) is that this is gross.  I haven't drunk it yet, so I'll withhold my opinion.

It was windy this past Sunday, and I was shaky, so forgive the blurry image.  Still, I love this shot.  Rambo is sick, the weather is aggressive, and the footing ain't great, so we just took the boys for a walk to get them out of the paddock and doing a little work on the lead lines.  Look at the way Rambo's forelock is blowing over Sarah.  And cuddled up together?  So cute.  Their coats even kind of match!

We went over to Bob and Jenn's for dinner on Sunday, and Bob pulled a couple Pliny the Elders out of his fridge.  If it's not the holy grail of IPA's, it certainly would have been good enough for the last supper.  I'll say, I don't know if I would have written about it if I hadn't known about all the hype.  It's a solid IPA, but these days there are so many good beers, it's hard to say one or the other is best.

 

We are certainly not getting the epic snowfall of NYC and Boston, but we got a couple inches today, so after taking care of the dogs and getting the stove lit, I went out for a night run.  Better skiing than the last couple weeks, that's for sure.  Also, I managed to get my wax right, so that always makes for a more enjoyable trip.

I guess that's about all.  Indy continues to heal well.  Sarah has had her pulling sleds full of wood from one pile to another.  Jonas and Eva are both good, too.  We have been pretty lazy in the evenings and have enjoyed each others company on the couch, feet up towards the stove, telling stories and watching ski movies.  Hope all is well in your corners of the world.  Cheers!

No time to write...

Here are some pictures.

A morning hike with my long time hiking buddy

A long overdue fall trail ride.

Pirates looking for their ship

Getting ready for the third annual Franktoberfest.

Free Eva at Glen Highland Farm!

My first idiocy related forging injury.

The new style.

A learning target from a new unit about race in the United States.  Inspired by Reconstruction and Facing History.

Yesterday's second walk.

Flying like a bluebird at the Migration Celebration.

Horizons.

Sundays are family days

 

We went out to the stables to see Coal.

 

 Zhora was a little shy at first.

Sarah rode first while Zhora waited impatiently for her turn

 

We filled the time playing a little pirate and doing some jumping and flying.  We also threw rocks and jumped int mud puddles and raced up and down hills.

 

Then it was FINALLY Zhora's turn to ride.  All by herself!  Wow.  It was so cute to watch Sarah and Jenn walk around and chat while Cole followed obediently behind.

Then we went over to Bob and Jenn's for some wandering around in the woods, chopping down nasty hawthorn trees, and dinner.

All in all, another good day.