And suddenly, winter arrived.

Can you believe Mother Nature's craziness? She is nuts, that one. Saturday night we had snow! OK, not much, but the wind became quite dastardly. Plus, it was cccccccold. Luckily, Saturday wasn't as windy as I thought it was going to be so Lilly and I headed out on the trail.

There's Lilly insisting on giving that tree a little love. She likes to nuzzle it. She rubs her face on it, and then for good measure, she bites it.

In this part of the woods, Lilly never wants to move forward. I always fool myself into thinking she sees a bear or something scary, but really I know it's because we are moving away from the Big Pasture and therefore away from the quick route home. If my brumby knows anything, it's the fastest and easiest way back to naptime.

 I was wearing a million layers of clothes. Although Saturday was a heat wave compared to Sunday. On Sunday it was so bitter and windy that I didn't even ride. Gusty wind is too much. I did go over and groom Lilly and gave her some carrots. She did not seem to be cold at all. Bill said: Of course she's not cold. She's being a horse!




On Saturday night as the weather became wretched, Bill was up all night with Bucky the donkey who was colicking!  He was so seriously colicking that Bill thought he was going to die! It is with great relief and joy that I can tell you Bucky got better! Bill kept him on his feet, walking up and down the road in the pitch black dead of night. He gave him maalox and something else that I forget the name of. He called the vet who gave him advice and called three times in the night to check in. By morning, Bucky began to nibble an apple. So even though Sunday was bad in terms of weather, it was very joyous in other ways.

Now here is a scary thing on the trail: barbed wire! I almost called it invisible barbed wire because you cannot see it as you amble along. If you want to bushwhack, or if your horse gets spooked and wants to bolt, this "invisible" barbed wire can be disastrous.

I would not trade this horse for anything. If someone came by the farm and said: I will give your $50,000 for that mare, I would not even consider it.

Is that crazy? I don't think so.

Here is a little clip of us cantering on the way home: just click here.

Sometimes when I am out on the trail, I see the most beautiful stones and rocks. I have seen this piece of quartz before and Saturday I decided to take a picture of it. Figures just as my camera was losing battery power, this leaf blew in the way and wrecked the picture.

Well, the photograph never looks as dazzling as the real thing. But it is a pretty rock!



Parting Shot:
(what greets you when you have a notoriously mischievous pet rabbit)

Hope you are all staying warm and have cozy plans for Thanksgiving. There is so much to be thankful for.