Riding Update, December

 Not much riding has been happening.  Between it being the holiday season, and still deer hunting season of one sort or another, and me being a little punky-under-the-weather off and on, I think my butt has been in the saddle twice?? since the last update.

Both rides mainly concentrated on keeping Camaro's attention, as the big door at the end of the indoor arena is closed and he really, really prefers it to be open.  He'd much rather see things going by outside.  That closed door is a scary thing.  So, we've worked on keeping him mindful of what I'm asking him to do, and me remembering to ask him a million questions so that he doesn't have time to think about how scary that end of the arena is when the door isn't open.

Rides go sort of like this:

Camaro:  trotting along, all nice and steady and 'oh, hey! The door is closed!! I can't keep on contact, nope, my head must go up like a camel's'

Me: 'Hey, Camaro, how about three steps of right bend followed by three steps of left bend?'

Camaro: right bend, left bend, we're through the scary end.  Comes around the next wall and sees the door shut 'My inside shoulder must brace against your leg, because I think I might need to booger; the door is closed'

Me: "how 'bout some leg yield for a few steps?  No?  How about I poke you with my spur?  Thanks for getting off my inside leg"

Camaro: beautiful lateral steps in response to spur touch.  Good contact, for a few strides, and then "hey!  Door!  Lost my brain!"

Me: "Shoulder!!" "10m circle right here."  "Focus on me, halt, walk four strides, halt, trot four strides. . . " "No sucking back as we approach the door, be BOLD Camaro!"

Meanwhile, we've done a few longeing sessions, and he's been a rock star at those.  Working on keeping him straight, shoulder staying nice and where it belongs, upward and downward transitions, and having a nice upward canter rather than a flat sprawling one. Even when he's passing the door.

Hoping January will find us back to a several time a week riding schedule.

Sewing/Stitching Update, December

 In the last month, I've done quite a bit on the counted cross stitch banner that is intended as a Christmas gift. All the cross stitching is done now and I am working on the backstitch outlines.  Most of this has been accomplished during Faline's naps.  I don't foresee any difficulty in getting it completed on time.

Sewing, however, has been hit and miss.  I did make a quilt block for an internet forum quilt I'm participating in.

I have also worked on the disappearing hourglass quilt that I'm making for a Christmas gift.  All of the blue & neutral squares have been sewn into hourglasses and are ready for the next step in cutting.

The green & neutral hourglasses are partially sewn--the tops and bottoms are put together and ironed, I just need to get them sewn into blocks.

From here on out, I'm going to need to be diligent in setting my sewing time in stone on the calendar and not putting it off for other (people's) things if this disappearing hourglass quilt is going to be ready for gifting in two and a half weeks.

Knitting Update, December

 I finished the stockings!  I finished the stockings before Thanksgiving!  They now reside in their new home and were received with many praises.  Whew!  Looking back, I think those stockings have been my big project for 2021.  Each one wasn't really time consuming, but as an identical trio, and keeping detailed notes so that they'd absolutely be identical. . . that was herculean!

Quite by accident (as in, I wasn't looking for them at the time) I found the most perfectly colored pony beads to sew on the Christmas trees as ornaments. Not by accident, I also found gold star buttons to use at the tops of the trees.

After finishing the stockings, I didn't work on my Dad's Rubia socks until last night.  And of course I forgot to take a picture, but sock #2 is 2/3 complete, maybe even closer to 3/4 complete.  Another good few hours of knitting and it will be done.

Instead of working on that, I decided to see how quickly I could knit a new sweater for Faline.  Could I get it done in time for gifting for her birthday?  If not, it could always be a Christmas present.

Well, it got done.  Just in time to block and be dry for her party day.  I used the Viola and Sebastian pattern that I made her infant sweater out of last Christmas, only this time I did the Viola (lace) version and in a size 12-18 months.

I can confidently say that Faline loves it.  As soon as she opened the box I'd wrapped it in, she took it out, put it on (with a little help) and wore it the rest of the day.

Readingwise, I read several books in the past month:

• A Gathering of Secrets by Linda Castillo.  Another Kate Burkholder book, another thoroughly enjoyable and suspenseful read.  
• The Mason House by T. Marie Bertineau.  I loved this book, despite it's mixed reviews.  Probably I loved it because I have lived in (and am very familiar with) the area of the Upper Peninsula it's set in (although most of the story is set in the 70's and 80's and I lived there in the early 90's) and have experienced the culture, the people, the climate, the income level that it is centered around.  For people far removed from that sort of setting, it probably doesn't come across as relatable or even realistic.
• Copper Country by Kristin Neva.  Second in her Copper Island series, this is another UP book. While many of the characters are also in the first book, this one is easily a stand alone book that doesn't have to be read in order. A light read, I tucked this one in my hunting bag and read it over a week while sitting in a tree stand waiting for deer to wander by.
• Troubles in Paradise by Elin Hilderbrand.  This is the third of a trilogy and nicely wraps up the story.

Currently I have Missing by Shelly Shepard Gray in my hunting bag, and in the house I'm reading Bringing Maggie Home by Kim Vogel Sawyer.

Grateful, November third Sunday

 (Oops it's Monday all ready.  Forgot to schedule this for publishing yesterday--Sunday)

My gratefulness post today is about how much better my knee has gotten in the past month.  Or however long it's actually been (somewhere close to a month) since DH's last trip that took him out of town for a week or so.  At that point, I was still having troubles doing my own chores and no way could have taken on any of his (like stoking the wood boiler).  This time, I'm probably at 75% capacity in my own heavy lifting, can actually do stairs like a normal person, walk a good 1/2 mile with no soreness or gait issues, AND I stoked the wood boiler! 

I confess, toting and swinging large chunks of wood into the opening of the firebox did cause a bit of pain the first few days, but by the end of the 10-day trip that DH was away for, my knee was no longer complaining about this task.

Physical therapy is coming along. Still doing strengthening and balance exercises, but they are way different and have increased in difficulty level compared to what they were a month ago.  And I'm down to once a week for PT instead of twice.We're getting there!  Hopefully in another month or so I'll be full steam ahead.

Riding Thoughts for November

I've been in the saddle at least once a week since my last horse/riding update.  Mounting is getting easier; more fluid, less twinge in my left knee.  Encouraging.

Both Camaro and I need want to do more than walk, so I've devised a plan for rising trot in 'sets'.  Kind of like when I am doing physical therapy exercises for my knee and the therapist has me repeat an exercise 10 times, then rest, then do 10 more.  I began with posting 10 strides of trot, then sitting 10 strides. Which also is great to work Camaro on sitting trot and relaxing at it because he finds me sitting to be worrying--probably because in his previous life as a hunter pleasure horse sitting trot was only done right before canter and canter is was a stressful thing.

I interspersed my 10 rising/10 sitting strides with 10 rising followed by 10 walking and also got a little work on upward/downward transitions.  As my knee allowed, I pushed the 10 rising strides into rising on long side of arena, sitting on short side, rising on long side for circuit or two in each direction.

My most recent ride I felt good, Camaro felt good, and for the heck of it, I asked for a canter depart on his easier (left) side.  Lovely, calm depart hooray!  Nice balanced canter, keeping it to half a lap of the arena, and then I asked for the downward transition into trot.  It was a nice downward transition but somehow jolted my knee and made it irritated for the rest of the day.  Hmm.  

I'm still thinking on the biodynamics of what happened in that downward transition.  It really wasn't a bad transition, not too abrupt, not rough or dumping on the forehand.  Perhaps it was just that the energetic trot we went into (love how canter improves the impulsion of the trot!) was more concussion than my knee currently has shock absorption for.  For a great part of the summer I had absolutely zero shock absorption in my knee, and if I bumped my foot on anything, that would cause excruciating pain to shoot up my leg.  As my knee heals and strengthens, the shock absorption is slowly rebuilding.  Very slowly.  It's only recently started to come back and is at maybe 25%

I guess you could say that in my current state of limited physical riding, I'm spending more time mentally riding.  A few weeks ago it occurred to me that I haven't needed to do a half-halt in a while.  Not because Camaro was so wonderfully balanced and obedient that I didn't have cause to half-halt him.  No.  The real issue was that in my weakened and painful state before I stopped riding in late summer, and in my being super careful with my knee state now that I've resumed riding, I've allowed him to just kind of coast along.  Get doggy.  We're lacking the proper amount of forward energy.  You can't half-halt if there's nothing there in need of the 'halt' portion.

This revelation led to another: if Camaro was quicker off my leg, as in more sensitive and obedient to it under lighter pressure, my leg also wouldn't tire as quickly.  Oh-ho!  And so for a few rides now I've been carrying my whip and backing up my nicely applied leg with a quick (and not stinging) touch of the whip.  He's a quick learner; typically one light tap of the whip is all that's needed and he remembers for the rest of that ride. His peppiness has been refound.  And, as a result of that more forward and closer attention to the touch of my leg on his side, leg yields are improving--we have more correct lateral steps in a row.

We might not be doing anything fancy in our rides,they are still short and mostly walk.  We probably won't be back up to full work load (at least equal time in trot as in walk, and working on canter briefly in both directions) for a few more months, but we're making progress.  Because working on basics is always a good way to improve the tougher stuff.  Forward in contact with a relaxed swinging stride is the name of the game.

Grateful, November second Sunday

 This growing season was kind of rough, with what seemed like a week of heat and humidity without rain followed by a slightly less hot week with a deluge of rain, followed by heat/no rain, followed by literally 3-4 inches of rain in a 24-36 hour period. Repeat, repeat, repeat.  There were many times I uttered the words "welcome to the tropics of Michigan" because of the ongoing humidity and heat.

Having my knee out of whack added another level of difficulty to keeping the garden weeded.  Not only was it sometimes too hot, sometimes too humid (hello potential heat stroke), sometimes too darn wet to even step in the garden (sink in mud to my ankles); bending and pulling weeds really made my knee hurt and swell up.  

So did bending and picking veggies when they ripened.

It was overwhelming quite often (depression high, blog posts low), trying to work mornings, babysit two afternoons a week starting mid-August and still find time to pick, can or freeze the veggies (and sometimes fruits too), plus make meals every day and sort-of keep up with housework.  And rest my knee, of course.  Starting in late July the doctor told me to stay off my feet as much as possible (I laughed and said that wasn't very possible given the time of year).  

Even with all those challenges, it was still a productive year in terms of growing and preserving food. The  cellar is quite full.  

Here we are in mid-November and the bulk of the food producing work is done.   And for that, I'm grateful.  A bountiful season.  A full cellar. We will have lots to eat this winter.

Firearm deer season starts tomorrow.  I'm also grateful for that.  It's time to harvest some red meat.

Sewing/Stitching Update, November

 Since last month, I made very little progress on the quilt that is intended to be a Christmas present for my parents.  I'm using the Disappearing Hourglass pattern with a size modification to make a couch sized throw. I'm also using just three colors. I did get the blue and green fabrics cut into 10" squares (the neutral fabric is a pack of precuts).  And then it sat untouched for a couple weeks.

This week, I've slowly started pairing the squares and doing the first step: sewing them right sides together with a 1/4" seam on all four sides.  I will sew all 25 blocks together like this before I do to step two, which is cutting and then pressing them open in preparation for step 3--more sewing.

Right now, there are four sewn squares, and 21 to go!

Meanwhile, I started another counted cross stitch kit as my nap-time project while watching Faline.

This one makes a small banner, and came with a little metal hanger.  It cost me nothing, as it was in with a whole bunch of crafting stuff that someone gave my mother-in-law, and she then passed along to me thinking there was mostly embroidery floss and plastic canvas stuff (I'd said yes to both) in the boxes.  This kit, unlike a few others in the same box, was complete and unopened.  It is also a perfect size to stitch up quickly and give as a Christmas gift to DS1 and K2, who purchased their first house this Fall!

It does say their last name, but in my anonymity policy for the blog, 

I edited that out of the photo

It is about 2/3 stitched at present, and I foresee no issues getting it completed and on it's little hanger in the coming month.

What are you sewing and/or stitching currently?

Grateful, November first Sunday

 Gratitude is actually something I've been trying to focus on for several months.  Seeing several blogs where the author is trying to post each day in the month of November about something they are grateful for got me to thinking more about what I am grateful for.  I know, realistically, there is no way I'm going to manage a post a day for the rest of this month.  But, perhaps, I can do a post each Sunday.  

Here is this week's attempt at that.  Maybe, if I can get through November, I'll try continuing it in December.  Because gratitude isn't something that's restricted to only the month in which we Americans celebrate Thanksgiving.  

This summer, DH finally helped me to get our porch swing from the basement--where it had been stored since our kids gave it to us for Christmas in 2019--up to the garage where I could stain and seal it.  

I had always wanted a swing on our wrap around porch, in fact, that was the main reason I wanted a wrap-around porch in the first place back when we were designing this house in 2001 before we started building it.  Took quite a bit longer than I'd thought to actually acquire that swing, but here it was, in July 2021 sitting  on sawhorses in the garage awaiting my perfectionistic DIY touch.

swing half stained

tilted backwards so I could stain the underside too

Once it had cured and was weather-proof, DH hung it on the south end of the front porch one day while I was away from home.  It was such a great thing to walk around the corner and discover.  The perfect little shady nook that catches a good breeze more days than not.  Exactly what I had always envisioned for spending a relaxing hour or two with a good book.

Relaxation is not a skill that I come by naturally.  It's one that I have to consciously pursue, otherwise I'm constantly chasing after this task and that that need to be done, or helping other people until I'm so tightly wound I can't think straight. Having my swing finally is helping me learn to take a little me time now and then. Even better if I can convince DH to sit with me on the swing, although it's not really his kind of thing.

I'm grateful for this swing, my outdoor relaxation spot.  I'm grateful for DH, who carried it up from the basement so I could finish it, who also put the supports in the porch rafters so it could be hung, and then hung it for me.  I'm grateful for my four kids, who orchestrated the purchasing of this swing (and bought it as unfinished bare wood so I could stain it the exact way I wanted it to look) because they figured that after this many years DH wasn't going to prioritize this particular want of mine.

Knitting Update, November

Faline's stocking is off the needles!  That's my big knitting accomplishment to share.  I've made the three i-cord hangers for the stockings, and all that's left is the sewing (folded cuff edge, attach i-cord, put on beads and star buttons).  These will actually be done by Thanksgiving with no serious stressing and sweating involved.  Hooray!

I have also taken notes and made copies of the (cross stitch turned knitting) charts that I subbed in the areas where the original pattern were blank or didn't provide the exact chart.  Yarn colors are written down, so in the future, if there is an addition to DD1's family, I can make another matching stocking for that person.

3 stockings, unblocked, with 3 i-cord hangers unattached

Sock #1 of the Rubia socks for my Dad has been done for quite a few weeks.  The second sock is more than half-way through the leg portion. It should be done by the end of this month and ready for Christmas gifting.

There will be another knitting project cast on soon, once the stockings are embellished and they are in their new home.  I have a few ideas in mind for my next project; I just have to give an honest look at what time I'll have between now and Christmas and decide if I'm starting another Christmas present, or doing something that will take into 2022 to finish.

My current read is Jambusters   by Julie Summers. I've only begun chapter one, so I have no idea if I'll like the book enough to read all the way through or not.

Other books I've read recently are :

• The Beginning by Beverly Lewis.  Honestly, while I've been a Beverly Lewis fan for over 20 years, I really didn't like this newest book as well as I've liked her others. I can't quite put my finger on one particular thing I had issue with, but I finished the book and felt just kind of ho-hum about the experience.
• Sons of Blackbird Mountain by Joanne Bischof.  Loved this book.  Can't wait to read the sequel, and more from this author.
• The Cure For What Ales You by Ellie Alexander.  After waiting all year for this book to come out; like the above mentioned Beverly Lewis book, I just didn't like it as well as I had the author's previous books in the series.  Not a bad book, but was a little lacking, I thought.  It deals mostly with the mystery of where did Sloan come from, and not a whole lot of actual brewing-related story. 

Barely Back in the Saddle

 After nearly two months of no riding, my physical therapist (for my knee) cleared me to get back in the saddle, albeit on a very limited basis.  Like "only do 25% of what you would normally do while riding" kind of limited.

After much thought, I decided that was rather a tall order, to keep things at 25% or less, especially as just the motion of mounting was rather a stressor on my knee.  The way I saw it, mounting was about 50% of the workout, but I was determined to try to obey.  So, my current plan is mount, do elementary walk work, get off after 15-20 minutes and build slowly from there.

Which is what I finally got to do this week.  I found that a) mounting does still create a brief twinge in my knee during the moment of springing up and swinging my right leg over the saddle, and b) 15 minutes of walking my horse on the very minimum of contact (ie not allowing his head to be in the air or at his knees) tired my knee/leg out very quickly.  After 15 minutes I was more than ready to get down for fear of reinjuring my knee.

Honestly, I was rather paranoid about maybe all ready having pushed too much--with my idea of mounting being a huge percentage of the work-- and after also having to clean stalls that morning, my knee was more sore than it's been in weeks.  Not nearly as sore, and not swollen, as it had been most of the summer, but there was definitely discomfort there that I hadn't felt in a while.

Still, the physical therapist, upon me reporting on my experience of riding again, encouraged me to get on again, but wait 3-4 days between rides.  So that is the plan for now--riding only a quarter of an hour, at walk (definitely no posting trot for a while) every 3-4 days and increase only as my knee dictates (like, no more pain on mounting, and not tiring so quickly).

Meanwhile, Camaro still gets longed a couple of times a week.  And the weather has turned cold (and wet) enough that he now sports his waterproof turnout sheet.

I also, in a super dressage diva kind of way of worrying about rebuilding muscles unevenly, sprang for a brand new pair of stirrup leathers.  My old ones were OLD (2+ decades old!), and uneven.  So I decided that in the interest of starting riding again with proper balance as much as possible, new leathers were a must.  

Ironically, my totally identical to each other brand new leathers, while looking like the right iron hung a titch longer, feel like my right leg is shorter than my left.  After consulting others for their eyeballing of my irons both with my feet in and out of them, we decided to trust the holes on the new irons.  It's very likely I'd been riding uneven most of this year and now having my legs identical feels weird.

Sewing/Stitching Update, October

Zero sewing has been done in the past month, despite my intention to start working on a quilt that is planned to be a Christmas gift.  Nothing like putting pressure on myself to whip off a large throw sized quilt in just two months!

I do have the pattern chosen, and the fabrics pulled from stash.  I'm using 10" neutral precuts as the background, and going with just two other colors (that I need to cut into 10" squares), so hopefully once I actually get my rotary cutter slicing into fabric everything will go quickly.

I wish the colors were truer in the above photo, the white-looking fabric is actually ecru/natural tones and the greenish is much prettier than pictured.

I'm going to use the Disappearing Hourglass pattern by Missouri Star Quilt Co., altering it a little to make the quilt slightly smaller.  My plan is 5 rows of 5 blocks each, and then the borders widths as written.

While I wasn't sewing at all, I did do a whole lot of counted cross stitch while Faline napped on my babysitting days. She's taking an hour to hour-and-a-half afternoon nap these days, so that really gave me lots of crafting time.  

I finished the Nordic Santa I was making as a gift for my Mom.

Then, since that went so quickly, I decided to see if I could start and finish another perforated paper beaded cross stitch design before DD2's birthday in early October.  Yes, I could, and I did!  And she loves it.  It reminds her of the study abroad she did in Peru back in 2017, which was what I was hoping, as it is an Andean Santa.

I have to confess that I might be slightly addicted to these little cross stitch kits.  I found many more on Amazon and Ebay, and have about 4 more waiting to be made.  There's another 4 on my wish list and watch list. . .   

At first, I was intimidated by the thought of doing the beading, but the directions are very clear and once I started stitching on the first bead, all fear went away. It really was easy (although it definitely requires me to wear my reading glasses while handling the beads!)

Knitting Update, October

 Whole lotta knitting happening lately.  Mostly because I've still been under restricted activities so that my knee can rest.  Ha.  I'm getting rather tired of going about 40-50% of my normal daily anything and not having my knee be all rested and better by now.  But, that's a subject for a different post.  This post is about knitting!

DD1's Christmas stocking (#2 of 3 for her family) is done!  Well, the knitting anyway.  It still needs embellishing with button and beads, but that won't take nearly as long as the knitting did.

Faline's Christmas stocking (#3 of 3) is about 1/4 completed. I'm through her name and ready to start the part with the wreaths and Christmas trees (one tree front, one tree back).  Should definitely be completed by the end of this month.

When I don't have the elbow room for a big basket with multiple colors of yarn feeding out of it into a Christmas stocking, I've worked on the Rubia socks for my Dad. I'm doing them in sort-of Detroit Lions colors; light gray and a royal blue and decided to do the leg and foot in gray with blue in the colorwork, heel, and toe.

In August I had gotten the colorwork on the leg done, but it seemed too tight for a man's leg, so I unknit it back to the cuff, went up to a size 2 needle, and began the colorwork again. Ahh, much better.  It looks huge and loose in the picture, but in person (in sock-son?) it is not gigantic and baggy.  I decided, for the sake of time, I wasn't going to learn the heel included in the pattern, and subbed in a regular ribbed heel flap (in blue).  Currently I'm about six rows into the gusset.  This morning I have to drive DH to and from a medical procedure, and should be able to complete the gusset and at least an inch or two of foot while waiting for him.  That's my plan, anyway.

Reading has been way less than in the previous update.  I gave up on Murder at the Cherry Festival, just couldn't get into it; the writing was a bit jumpy--like just not smooth or well edited--for me and it was interfering with my being able to concentrate on the story line.  So I gave myself permission to set it down and read something else.

Turned out I read three something elses instead:

Lost Hills by Lee Goldberg sucked me in and I read it quickly.  I'll definitely be looking for more in this series.

Things You Save in a Fire by Katherine Center was another just plain enjoyable book by this author.  I like that her books don't have flashy characters or ritzy settings. Rather, they are like ordinary people in real-life situations you might come across.

Piece by Piece by Laura Bradford, I found a little predictable, but not too bad.  I'm rather a harsh critic, but I might look for more by her.  Or not.  Depends on my reading mood, I guess.

Right now, I'm between books. I have several on request at the library, one of which came in today.

Chickens Love Tomatoes

Something I never knew until I had both a laying flock and a fairly successful garden, is that chickens love tomatoes.  In a totally bad way, if you have an unfenced garden (me!) and free range chickens (me!).  Along about the time that the tomatoes start to get orange on their way to red ripe, the chickens, without fail, rediscover the garden and proceed to help themselves to my beautiful almost-ripe tomatoes.  

Repeatedly chasing them out of the garden doesn't deter them; they just come back when I'm not looking.  

The only sure-fire way to keep them out of my garden (since fencing it would be a large expense and make it really difficult to work the garden with the tractor) is to keep the chickens shut in their coop all day long.  Or, for most of the day, until there's not enough daylight left for them to venture over to the garden.

But that's not really how I want to manage my chickens: shut in for 8 weeks or more.  This year, chasing them has been difficult, what with my knee being jacked up.  So sometimes they are shut in until a few hours before dark, and sometimes--usually a weekend--DH has to be on tomato guard duty, watching for the chickens to stealthily meander across the front yard and toward the far side of the garden.  Between you and me, I think he secretly likes chasing them out of the garden with his 4-wheeler.

Ironically, in a twist of fate, this year the chickens sort of planted their own tomato patch.  The terraced bed behind the garage and accessible from the patio, the bed I usually plant garlic in each fall, sprouted rather a few tomato plants this summer. At first, it was 2 or 3, and I didn't pay them much attention. I didn't think they would actually produce any tomatoes, being volunteer plants in a climate where tomatoes have to be started indoors months before the ground thaws outside if they're going to have any chance of bearing mature fruit.

And then my knee happened, so the terrace went to crap with weeds because I couldn't keep up and DH hadn't yet decided that he was going to have to pitch in.  And next thing we knew, we had a tomato jungle that crowded out the garlic crop. Not just big bushy tomato plants, but this whole trailing wall of tomato vines.

Where the heck did they come from?  It's not like someone spit tomato seeds off the deck and they landed in the terraced bed to sprout the next year, like has occasionally happened with watermelons.  The only thing I could think of was that tomato seeds must have been in the chicken litter that I'd dressed the bed with last fall in order to add lots of nitrogen to the soil.  You know, litter that had chicken manure in it, chicken manure produced by those tomato stealing chickens last summer.

So we started referring to that rogue patch of tomatoes as the "chicken tomatoes".  And left them there, hoping this tomato patch much closer to the coop might deter them from eating the ones I'd planted in the garden.

It didn't.  Now they had two choices of where to eat tomatoes.  And, interestingly enough, the chicken tomatoes have been prolific and ripe almost at the same time as my plants (started from seed in early March) in the garden.

Most of the plants are producing cherry tomatoes.  Very extremely delicious cherry tomatoes.

There's one plant that had made a few large heart-shaped reddish orange tomatoes, and another that has dark pink brandywine type fruits.  Which is interesting, because I haven't planted any brandywines in a number of years, and the coop gets shoveled out way way more often than that!

I'm not sure if I will allow the chickens to plant tomatoes in the future. They've been a really tasty bonus this year, but not exactly the best-behaved plants.  

Horse Update, September

 Unfortunately, I don't have much to talk about when it comes to progress in my riding goals.  I did ride Camaro a lot in July, and we cantered just about every single ride.  That there is progress.

On the other hand, I hardly rode at all in August it was so blasted hot and humid the majority of the month and I just didn't have the strength (or the stomach, high humidity coupled with heat seems to just liquefy my guts and/or make me nauseous, sorry to be graphic) to do barn chores and ride, plus do garden work and canning at home most days.  So, the riding, as the only activity on my plate that wasn't about saving money for the household, had to be lowest priority.  I did longe him at least twice most weeks that I didn't get in the saddle, and I have to say his trot to canter transitions on the longe line are pretty much instantaneous and balanced now.

So far in September, I've been in the saddle once.  We cantered that ride too, in fact, Camaro very calmly and willingly offered it (when I was actually wanting him to collect his trot more), so I asked him a few more times for canter during that ride.

Overall, though, I'm not very happy with the last two months.  So many lost riding opportunities I could/should/normally would have just pushed through.  

And then there's my knee.  My left knee has been acting up the majority of the summer.  Don't know what caused it to start, still don't know exactly what aggravates it, and finally I've been prescribed physical therapy by my primary care doctor (2x weekly for 4 weeks) to try to rebuild the muscles in and around it because for many weeks I couldn't even bend it at the walk, so of course certain muscles went unused or were torqued by an abnormal gait.  It mostly bends now, but not 100%, and I can't jog or run or hop or pivot on it. Stairs range from slightly slower than normal to "this hurts like hell and I hope I don't fall on my face" depending on the day.  So, sometimes just getting into the saddle even from the mounting block is painful and risky.

The show I wanted to go to this month has come and gone, without me.  There's no way I could have taken care of Camaro at the show, or ridden tests well (damn knee).  Honestly, I'm rather bummed out over that.

Well, that's my downer of a horse-related update for this month.  Not even a single picture to share.

Sewing Update, September

 I actually finished one sewing project in late July/early August (honestly I don't remember the exact date, but it was before Aug 2nd), and then started a stitching project in mid-August.

The finished one is the red-white-&-blue wall hanging (banner? decoration?) that I wanted to make to hang on the door that goes between our garage and mudroom.  That is the door we and our family and friends use the majority of the time, so it is the one I'd rather seasonally decorate than the front door. The only people who typically get close enough to my house the see the front door, but don't actually go in the house (via the garage-to-mudroom door) is the Amazon, UPS, or Fedex delivery drivers.  I doubt they're much thinking about whether or not my front door is decorated.

So, anyway, I now have a nice Memorial Day through ?? Day (haven't decided yet, probably Fall equinox) decoration for my garage/mudroom door.

On August 10th, DD1 and the other teachers in her school district had to report back to their classrooms to do some PD and get ready for the start of school on August 16th. This school year, I will be babysitting Faline on Tuesdays and Thursdays (at her home, more often than not), and I wanted to have a small, portable stitching project to take with me to work on during Faline's afternoon nap.

It took me until the second week of school to settle on what that project would be.  I chose the Mill Hill Nordic Santa kit that I'd purchased in late Spring with the intent to make it and gift it to my Mom for Christmas this year.  It is going very quickly and I will probably be done with the cross stitching by the end of next week.  My plan is to do the actual beading at home (in case I drop the tiny beads; they'll be much easier to see on my hardwood floor than in DD1's carpet.)

I have a few more different Mill Hill Santa kits, so my plan is to start stitching a new one on 'Faline days' while finishing the beadwork at home in my spare time.  Now that we've only got maybe a month left before killing frost takes out the garden for the year, my spare time should increase exponentially pretty soon.

Knitting Update, September

 Another month gone by just like that.  I think the best description for my August is "overheated, overworked, overwhelmed".  

So, here's to September with (hopefully) cooler weather and no more nights with a low temperature of 80 degrees with humidity running between 70-95%.  Also, the promise of the garden coming to an end (and less canning) sometime in the next four to five weeks.

I knit a little bit in the latter part of August. All on the stocking (#2 of 3) for DD1's family.

This stocking MUST GET DONE in September so that I have all of October and most of November to knit the third one and then stitch on the embellishments (like star buttons on the tops of the Christmas trees and colored beads for ornaments) on all three.

I did manage to do a fair bit of reading, mainly because I've been having continuing problems with my left knee and my dr ordered me to elevate and ice it at least twice a day for several weeks.  So, what can you do while laying on your back with your leg in the air for up to an hour each day?  (Well, what can you do in front of others, anyway, for those of you whose minds wandered in that direction!)  READ, of course!

These are the books I read while icing my knee:

Amish Midwives by Amy Clipston, Shelley Shepard Gray & Kelly Long.  My rating on this is "meh".  I wasn't too impressed with the quality of the writing by any of the three authors of this compilation of short stories.

Bone Canyon by Lee Goldberg.  First book I've read by him, and I now have a new addition to my Favorite Authors list.  If you like mysteries, you should read this one!  Well, being as this is the second in a series, you (and I) should read the first one, then read this one.  

Tin Camp Road by Ellen Airgood.  I've been looking forward to reading this second adult novel by this author, and it didn't disappoint me at all.  It's gritty, and heart wrenching, and so very true of life in many communities in Michigan's Upper Peninsula.

A Simple Murder by Linda Castillo is a compilation of short mysteries involving Kate Burkholder.  Not set in any particular chronological order, they don't give away anything going on in the series, so don't worry about reading this new one before you read all the Kate Burkholder books.  If you've read the first one, you're good to go with this newest publication.

Four Legs Move My Soul by Isabell Werth and Evi Simeoni. I've been slowly reading this one for a while as my horse-related book from my own personal library, and finally just sat down and read solely on it until it was finished.  It was an interesting book, as I've been an off and on follower of Isabell Werth since we were both young dressage riders in our 20's back in the early 1990's. (Well, she was a famous dressage rider and I was a young mom with ambition to get into the show ring again someday and hopefully make it to her level of riding before I'm done.)  Lots of memories brought back to me reading through her tales of her career and the people she's trained with as well as competed with as well as the horses that have been her partners.

Xenophon: the Art of Horsemanship translated by M.H. Morgan.  Another horse book of mine.  Not exactly what I expected, but it was interesting from a historical perspective and to see how many tenets of horsemanship have been around since at least the fourth century B.C.

Currently I am reading Murder at the Cherry Festival by Richard Baldwin. The writing is a bit simplistic for my tastes, but it's not a bad book.

Knitting Update, August

( Oops, forgot to post this yesterday. )

August knitting update:  I have actually been knitting, a little bit, lately! Yay, me! 

In progress is the second of the three Christmas stockings I'm making for DD1's family.  I'd say I'm halfway to the heel on this 2nd stocking currently.  I'm really liking the fair isle aspect, although it's not knitting I can do away from home.  Just too much to keep track of with floats, and changes of color, and not messing up where I am on the chart. . . 

So I had to start another project to be my portable one.  This will be a pair of cotton socks for my Dad, who is allergic to wool.  It's been several years since I made a pair for him so I figured it was probably about time for another.  I'm doing the Rubia pattern in a gray and blue.  Sort of Detroit Lions colors, DD1 said to me when I showed her what I was working on.

 

I've actually read a couple of books lately too! 

Till Death Do Us Tart by Ellie Alexander, another of her Bakeshop mysteries.  I'm slowly working my way through this series, just 2-3 a year, so I don't read them up faster than she's writing them.

The Wife's Tale by Aida Edemariam; I truthfully only picked this book because I wanted to fulfill a box on the library summer reading program checklist (read a book about someone from another culture) and it was available to checkout the day I was looking for something to fit that requirement. But I'm really glad I did because it was an interesting look at a woman from Ethiopia not just culturally , but historically and in terms of religion too. (I guess I wasn't expecting her to be Christian? Although her Christianity differed a lot from my Lutheran religion.)

Her Amish Wedding Quilt by Winnie Griggs was a book in a Grab and Go Bag from the library (another box on the summer reading program checklist--read a book from a Grab and Go Bag).  I wasn't sure I'd like it, as I've tried numerous authors of Amish fiction in the last 20 years or so and have only truly liked maybe a handful of those authors, but this one I actually read all the way through and might try another book of hers.

Currently I just started another book that was in the Grab and Go Bag; Letters From Home by Kristina McMorris.  I'm not even through the first chapter yet, so I really can't give an opinion on this one.

(In case you're wondering what a Grab and Go Bag is, last year when our library was closed for in person browsing, they came up with the Grab and Go Bag program.  You request a bag, give the age range you are looking for--young child, early reader, juvenile, young adult, adult--and 5 topics or genres that interest you. The library staff then peruses the shelves in your local branch and chooses 5 books for you. Even though we can finally walk in the library in person and look on the shelves as of June this year, in late July I decided to ask for a Grab and Go Bag again. My request was for adult level reading, with interests in history, mysteries, Amish fiction, quilting, and homesteading or farming.  I was given a book set during WWII, an Amish romance, an Amish fiction, two mysteries, and because one of the long time librarians who knows me must have filled my bag, there was also a (sixth) book of quilting patterns thrown in!)

K3 and Toad's Big Adventure

 Subtitled: We took the oldest grandkids to Colorado.

Not ones for much spur of the moment stuff, DH and I began planning a 'big' vacation with K3 and Toad several years ago, back when they were our only grandkids.  The idea honestly came about when Toad was in preschool, and I babysat him several afternoons a week.  DH had recently left for a work trip (out to Colorado), and Toad asked where Papa was.  I explained that he was out in the mountains, driving cars for work.  Toad asked how he'd gotten there, and I said that he'd flown on a plane.

That afternoon, Toad used some small pieces of scrap paper, and some stickers, to make plane tickets for himself, Papa, and I.  He told me he wanted to fly on a plane too, and those were the tickets we'd need.

Of course, when DH checked in later that night (when traveling for work, he tries to call me at the end of each work day, if it's before 11 p.m. here when his day has finally wrapped up) I told him about Toad and the 'plane tickets'.  And an idea for a vacation was born.  A plane ride.  And mountains!  Big, rocky mountains unlike any K3 or Toad have ever seen.

In 2019, DH asked the kids if they would like to fly on a plane out to the mountains for vacation the next year.  We'd hike, and ride horses, and with the words "plane" and "horses", they were hooked.  So DH and I began planning dates and location for a 2020 trip with K3 and Toad to Colorado.

But then, as you all know, 2020 was the year of Covid and lock downs and nobody going anywhere that summer.  Our big trip would have to be postponed.  

Honestly, this year they were probably a much better age for this type of trip than they would have been last year.  They weren't always patient waiting (in the airport, on the plane at the arrival gates, driving in the car), but at 9 and just turned 7, they didn't whine or fuss about it.

We had to drive to Detroit, where we had a non-stop flight to Denver.  On that flight, we only had one window seat, so K3 got it first, then half-way through (when she needed to use the bathroom) DH had her and Toad switch seats so that Toad also got a turn.  They were both very good on the plane, and were excited about the entertainment screens in the backs of the seats in front of them.

In Denver, we spent the night, swam in the hotel pool--which became a nightly tradition--then got up the next morning and drove to Breckenridge (last Fall, DH and I took a trip to Breckenridge that was a scouting mission for this trip with the grandkids).  That drive was a little rough, as the kids had spent most of the previous day sitting, plus K3 had altitude sickness with nausea and a headache.  When we got to Breckenridge, we checked into our lodge, did a little walking around the downtown, and then after dinner DH and the kids went swimming in the pool.

The main focus of the trip was hiking.  Hiking, hiking, hiking.  The first day we did a short and pretty interesting hike to a waterfall (as a way to get the kids exciting about hiking). They grumbled at first, but fairly quickly got interested in seeing what was around the next bend, over the next rise, through this clump of trees. . . 

And then big rocks!  They loved climbing up the big rocks to get to the waterfall.  DH took them, one by one, out to the edge to look down at part of the waterfall.

On the drive back from the waterfall trailhead, a yearling cow moose ran across the road in front of us.  K3 was delighted to be the first one to spot it.

Near the end of another hike, which took us through downtown Breckenridge on foot, Toad spotted a Lamborghini.  This kid has been calling every sports car he spots a Lamborghini for two years, but this time he actually found a real one. A red one at that. So I took his picture with it.  I wish I could draw his grin as huge as it actually was.

We hiked at least part of everyday.

Sometimes the hiking mojo ran low.

Other times they were happy wanderers along the mountain trail.

They discovered that peaks are chilly and windy at the top, and there was always higher mountains in the distance.

Sometimes, at the tops, there were meadows with streams to investigate.

Another trail didn't have a lot of elevation to climb, but had an interesting surprise.

There were two mornings we didn't hike.  On one, we took a guided trail ride instead.  K3 and Toad were very excited about that, and a little apprehensive too.  As Toad confided in me on the way to the stables "Grandma, I've never been on a horse.  They'll give me a nice one, right?"  I assured him that I would let them know it was his first time riding, and they would give him the nicest horse.

When the ride was over, Toad had another great big smile.  "I rode a horse!  She was a good horse!  I love riding horses!"  He exclaimed.  K3 had a little bit less reliable horse, as she told the wrangler that she'd had a few riding lessons.  But she did a good job staying on even when it wanted to take a slight detour through some small trees that I thought she might get rubbed off on.

Another morning we drove to Georgetown and rode the steam train that goes from Georgetown to Silver Plume and back, including over a tall trestle.

On the final night of our vacation, we tried to drive up to a good spot to hopefully see the Alpenglow.  Unfortunately that day had been very hazy from wildfire smoke, and there was no Alpenglow to be found.  We did, however, see a young mule deer buck, a great blue heron, fish jumping in a small lake/pond, a red fox, and a moose cow with her calf.

Did You Know?

 Did you know that you can smell corn in bloom?

I'm guessing probably not.  As, well, corn is a vegetable, we don't think of it as having flowers, and you have to be near a big field of it at just the right time to pick up any aroma at all.

Several years ago, in late July, I noticed a really lovely flowery smell one evening as I was driving home from the horse farm I was boarding at at the time.  I can't really describe it, exactly, but if I say kind of like the sort of smell that lilacs have, or hyacinth, hopefully you'll get an idea.

It took me a few days, and a few more exposures in the evening as the sun was going down and the night air is coming in, to figure it out.  The corn was fully tasseled, and the delightful smell was coming from the cornfield!

Now I look forward to that smell every summer; I eagerly await the night that the corn first smells like the best floral perfume you've ever experienced.  This week, that night happened.  And for the last several days, when I go out in the evening to shut chickens in their coop for the night,  I take big breaths and savor the smell of the corn in bloom.

We Went to a Show (and Didn't Die!!)

Camaro and I went to a show last month.  Our first as a team, my first in 30 years, and his first in several years.  Also, his first as a dressage horse and my second dressage test ever.

We were supposed to ride one test (Intro A) on Saturday, and one test (Intro B) on Sunday.  Except about two hours before our ride time on Saturday, the heavens opened and it poured.  And poured.  And poured.  The dressage arena flooded.  I watched horses and riders that were much more seasoned than Camaro and I slip in the saturated footing while riding their tests.  And I decided that I really didn't want to die that day.  No way were Camaro and I going splashing and sliding around to perform our very first test. He was all ready pretty wired, and I had a wonky left knee giving me pain.

At first, I thought I would scratch Intro A.  But then a friend suggested that I see if I could reschedule my ride from Saturday afternoon to sometime on Sunday.  That would mean seeing if there were still slots available for Sunday, and if so, riding two tests in one day.

So many people scratched on Saturday afternoon and just hauled their horses home that I was able to reschedule my Intro A ride to Sunday morning.  There was a slot available an hour after my Intro B ride time.  Which is how we rode the harder Intro B as our debut test (which Camaro was waaayyy better than I could have hoped) and Intro A as our second test (in which Camaro was about as distracted as I'd feared he would be).

Oh, and Sunday was a beautiful day weather-wise, as you can see by our picture below.  And the dressage arena had mostly dried up, with only a few wet spots to splash through.

 

As I said, Intro B went well.  Intro A, however, was a challenge.  The judge was kind, and gave me a pointer after the final salute in Intro A.  She pointed out to me that I had fallen into one of my old nemeses in riding: burying my hands (see in above picture).  Ugh!  As soon as I repaired my position, Camaro rounded nicely through his back and onto the bit.  And with that correct connection, his brain was less distractable by the things around us.

Camaro sporting his home permanent forelock once I took out his braids.

We had to wait until the end of the show on Sunday to see our test sheets and find out how we'd scored. Once the final rider had finished the final test, and scores compared in the show office, the test sheets were available for pick up.  And I was honestly amazed at what marks Camaro and I had received.  To read the tests, with the scores for each movement and the judge's comments was really great.  Really affirming that I do, actually, know what I'm doing and my horse is capable of his new career.  

We scored mostly 7's and 7.5's.  Honestly, I'd been hoping we'd at least get a 5 on everything.  I dreaded anything less than a 5, and was quite happy to see our lowest score was a 6, on our rough Intro A ride.  We totaled a 70.94% on Intro A, coming in 3rd in that class, and a 72.19% on our nicer Intro B ride earning 4th in that one.  Oh my goodness, I hadn't counted on taking home ribbons!! 

                                                                                        

                 

What have we been up to since our show?  Well, earning scores in the 70's on our dressage debut tells me that we can't keep showing the easy walk-trot Intro A and B tests.  That we really should be upping our game and cantering.  There is another show in September that I would like to go to, and my goal is to show Intro C, which has cantering in it. Maybe even going out at Training Level too.

I've bitten the bullet, and since the beginning of July, Camaro and I have been cantering.  Some days he's really balanced and relaxed in his departs, and some days he kinda falls apart and stresses to the right.  But he always nails the correct lead, and his balanced canter is beautiful, smooth, and I'm really looking forward to developing it further.

The picture I sent my barn owner/friend the first day we cantered.

I'd told her to hold me accountable and ask me at the end of July how many times I've cantered him.

She offered to print out a calendar page for July and tape it above my saddle rack for me to put stars on for each day we canter.