Sun Salutation

It has been so rainy around here that when the sun finally came around a few days ago, one of my co-workers said she got up and did a sun salutation. Welcome back, Funshine! Before Lilly and I left for the trail today, I wanted a picture that included Lilly with BonnieBelle. So first Bill took this.

Bill always likes to take things to the next level. He thought an even better picture would be if I were next to the cow with no fence between us. So here I am laughing nervously as BonnieBell pays no attention to the fact that her horns could kill me in one SWISH.

We decided to go along the River Trail. On a day like today, seeing the river glittering away in the sunshine is a real treat. I wish there was an easy way to get to the water, because on a really hot day, it would be nice to stop for a dip. In this photo we are not quite to the river. The trail down to the river is actually quite steep. Before we descended it today, Lilly made it pretty clear she did not want to go down.

She kept giving these little kick/bucks. I probably do not have to tell you that even a tiny temper tantrumy buck on a steep trail can start to make one feel as though the odds of becoming unseated have increased. I had to tell my brumby to knock it off. But after pushing her and getting some forward movement, I got off of her. Because honestly her senses are sharper than mine and maybe she knew something I did not. (Remember the coyote from last week?) So I went down the steepest part of the trail on foot, with Lilly slip sliding in the mud next to me.

What? That dang tree is still blocking the trail! I guess once it is June, you can't expect the snow mobile club to keep the trail in rideable fashion! Since I had my saw, I thought if I took off some of the little branches growing out of the side, Lilly would be able to step over the trunk.

 But at that VERY MOMENT, Bill appeared on his four wheeler!!!! See ya, flimsy saw!

Is it surprising Bill had a chainsaw with him? RRrrrrrrRRRRRrrrrrrr!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a2lbp-Wf0pM&feature=youtu.be

In less than a minute, the chainsaw had made mincemeat of the log!

I am not even sure how Bill knew we'd be there. I thought I had said we were taking the Parallel Trail. Here is Getty about to cross through the newly opened path after Bill the Mindreader had sped off to harvest more hay. (Make hay while the sun shines, as they say)

The Fern Queen is always happy to seize an opportunity when pictures are being taken of the dog. I should also tell you that the entire trail ride I was getting texts from Kestrel who was at a farm and spotted a rabbit missing a foot. The rabbit was stressed out and in pain and needed to be rescued. What could I say? I told her to bring it home. A footless rabbit! Where do children find such things??

Eventually the River Trail meets the Parallel Trail. Then you can decide to follow the Parallel Trail, or swerve in the other direction and after a short jog, catch up with the Ridge Trail. Right at that point there is a house seemingly out in the middle of the woods. (It is actually at the very end of a long dirt road) It is so darling that last weekend  I vowed to snap a photo of it. Today I started to get the picture! Mid-photo I noticed that someone was out on the deck!! OPERATION PHOTO OF CUTE COTTAGE ABORTED! This is the photo that resulted. Maybe next time.

Look, the mountain laurel is blooming!!!

Here we are starting up the CliffWalk.

So our journey continued. Up the Cliffwalk, through Quartz Corner Trail and back to the Short Trail. All perfectly lovely. We found a coyote bone on the way home. Look that that fang! Nuzzling Muzzles noted in a comment after my last post about the coyote that we must not have that many coyotes around here. The truth is, we have a lot of them. I hear them at night howling and yipping. Bill sees them when he is haying. Some of the farmers around here do not like them because they worry the coyotes will get their calves and lambs. I think seeing a coyote is rather magical! I took this bone home for our Cabinet of Natural Curiosities.

Back at the barn, I got Lilly ready to go back into the sunny pasture. She wanted to sniff at the sunscreen I was applying to her delicate and sunburnable nose! Is't this photo so cute with her big ole curious nostril? Oh, Brumby, could you be any cuter???

Up next, the Desitin! This is for the back of Lilly's feet. Because it has been so wet, I don't want her to get those scabby weird things that she seems to get when it is very wet out. We call them Scratches. But other people call them Mud Fever.

All four feet got some Desitin. (Well, that is to say, the generic version of Desitin, which smells exactly like the real thing)

On the way home from Bill's I almost died of fright when a very large (very large) and furry spider ran across the windshield of the car. I thought he was outside. WRONG. Inside. When I discovered this fact, I screamed so loud the thing froze in terror. I drove in a state of complete fear keeping one horrified eye on the spider. I tore in the driveway screaming to Brandon to come and help. Naturally he thought I was dying. When he saw it was just a spider, he carefully removed it, while I collapsed on the patio. I never want to kill a spider for goodness sake. But I am terrified of them.

Here is what Brandon was doing before I made my dramatic return home:

Can you tell what he is doing?

He took a giant rock from the woods and he is carving a sink into it! Pretty cool, huh? I will show you the finished product when it is done!

Finally, I want to end by expressing my enthusiasm for having won a blogging award! My next post will be all about that!!Thanks to Kalin and Calm, Forward and Straight for awarding me!!!!!

Also, a special shout of thanks to Cindy D who recommended the Mary Elwyn Patchett books! I will read them!!