A Morning of Energy...

The morning sun is bright and electrifying, the cool breeze from the mountain tops roll down to the valleys. The farms are in full steam, putting rich nitrogen waste from the dairy farm on the pastures so the cover crops will be perfect all winter. The morning is so full of energy I grab the camera because I know with the feeling in the air my horses will be full of life and run and frolic as soon as I let them out.

When I arrive at the barn the horses are dull, dirty, and almost still asleep. As soon as I open the second gate allowing them access to the pasture, it all kicks into another gear. Sweetpea no doubt wakes up Joe and Steve with her snorting and prancing the length of the pasture. Navarre is so heavy his feet tear into the pasture throwing mud in his wake with a sound of a heard of horses instead of just a baby at play. He loves to run and play but Sweetpea is too stodgy to play with him, she sees herself as either his protector from other horses or the only one allowed to beat up on him when ever she feels like it. He is after all only a toy to her, he amuses her, and she pushes and tells him what to do.

The reality is Navarre could put her down with one kick, but he is too sweet and kind to hurt her, he loves her but only cares about food! As long as he has food, he could care less what she wants! She on the other hand is the boss of everything, and he is only allowed to look at her if she feels like it. Such opposite personalities, such opposite rides, but this is after all why I have the two opposite ends of the spectrum; to allow me a choice of what kind of ride or mind I want to deal with. I can not wait till I can ride Navarre at any time, for any length of time I wish. I have only been at this dream for almost 4 years now. Jerry has had several motorcycles in the time I have chosen Navarre’s parents, awaited his arrival and now just allowing him to be old enough to ride. I can not wait, but at last the wait is almost over.

To continue my ride to and from the barn …as you can see just across the pasture, is a small but incredible log cabin. I do not have access to the history of the cabin any longer, as the owner is now elder and in an assisted living facility. But from the little time I was able to spend with him over the years I did collect that he purchased two small cabins and fused them to create the one he has standing. He and his family use this as a guest house, but they rent it out when the family is not residing within. It is a lovely place, BUT the interest in this property is NOT the cabin for me… it is the connection to my living in a fish bowl that I can not resist mentioning as I have not repeated this story to anyone other than Jerry.

Mr. Gordon James, worked for an oil company back in the early 1900’s and ran the district around Nashville TN of all places. When invited to his house years ago for cheese, wine and hors d‘Oeuvres. I never imagined I would hear stories of his account in Joelton TN. Yes Mr. James Gordon was the connection for Aunt Mary’s store .. JB’s as we called it in my day to get their gas. Can you imagine? Uncle Roland, Aunt Mary had direct connections with this man that lived across the street from where my horses are until just recently.

I questioned him, Oh yes I know the Lain’s he said… I know exactly the place across from the little white church… I don’t remember the name of the church but a little white building. It was on the way to … my next county… that farm town… Springfield. Yes Springfield was it. If you can only imagine my heart skipped a bit. I could not believe this man states away again knew my family in an indirect way. Of course being so far away, having lost 3 of 4 of my grandparents by this time it only warmed my heart to know that fish bowl effect was still there after all these years.

Several more trips to Mr. James’ house gave me much information, he directed me to my favorite cheese company in the area and for this I am grateful, as I too, much like Navarre, can be driven by food.

A cute little place that one could easily miss driving down the road. 

Today started out well enough. I got through my chores; but on my way home from the barn for the first time in a week, I stopped to take some more pictures. While I have yet to post even 1/100th of what I have taken, I find it is the act of taking the pictures that inspires me to write.

So to continue my drive to the barn in description… up Hollywood Drive up this incredible little road there is an old corn crib that catches my attention each day, but no one has been at the house in order for me to stop and ask permission to take pictures. My parents taught me to never trespass, regardless it was not allowed, some things in my life have not changed.

This little corn crib is different every day, the rolling fog, the lazy sun, the trees around it. While my family didn’t have an existing corn crib by design we did have a building we housed all our yearly corn for the cattle. This little building brings back all those memories of walking into our corn crib and looking around to see all the wondrous tools no longer used, old, rusty, and lonely in my mind.

This corn crib I pass each day makes my mind wonder of old cattle, the day I got Spirit, the OLD Tobacco barn and its lovely smell. One of my favorite smells, the smell of dark fire tobacco in the fall. Days of playing in the old barn on Aunt Mary’s place, no longer there, but still vivid in my mind. How the road divided into pastures and a round about road so used the old truck had a hard time leaning hard to one side and eventually retired in my days. I wonder what ever came about that old road? The property long sold off, new houses, people who have no idea of its rich history. The property that housed the only mill in the area, the old family houses long gone and barely remembered at all. How sad the houses were compared to what now stands on that land.

It is amazing what driving by an old corn crib can do for your mind, memories, senses, and mood. One lone piece that puts my mind at ease and takes me back to riding in the truck with my Pawpaw when ever he allowed me to tag along.  Both I and what ever dog he had at the time would wait at full attention, not being able to ask to go; as Friend (the first dog I remember him having) couldn't ask and I wasn't allowed.  There were plenty of times he didn't take either of us, plenty of times only the dog was allowed, but when I went, we always took the dog with us.  To me it only ment we were going to have more fun, I had someone (the dog) to run around with when we stopped.

The way to the barn is full of things people on vacation would find wonder in.  It is not unusual for me to dodge someone whom has decided to stop in the road to take a picture of cows on the side of the road.

This little photo is a local Serve Your Self Stand.  It is full of food or closed, they keep everything on ice as stated on the banner.  The pole to the left is the money drop.  You take what you want and are trusted to leave the correct amount of money.  You can see where the food is grown, and we all drive by or some of us even ride our horses by this place on a regular basis. 

This little stand is run by Annie Louise and her family.  It is amazing what all she has; She supplies many of the good eating establishments in Asheville, and as strange as it sounds... compared to Nashville TN there are several woundful places to eat around here.    I have never tasted veggies as sweet as what comes out of my garden, but the next best thing is a local stand that dares not to travel its food any more than 50 feet from the garden to this wonderful bed on ice until someone like myself drives by to take it home and prepare a meal the same day.

I have a habit of seeing what is available first thing in the morning... thinking it over and picking up what I need on my way back from the barn in the middle of the day.

One of those days.. You just gotta LAUGH

On my way to the barn the first thing I pass it the little healthy market ( Trout Lily) not two doors down from my house. She (Susan.. The owner) always has a good container of hot coffee, choices of tea, breakfast breads and sandwiches for lunches. This is the place I stop on my way out with the horses in the trailer on our way to the Biltmore. Even with all the cold weather we have already experienced this year Susan has a beautiful container of herbs, purple flowers rolling over the decking where people sit outside at the tables she has provided.

Trout Lily has many local conventional food items, but also carried a good assortment of Organic, Gluten Free, Dairy Free items for those of us who need or want to experience something a little different. I personally am addicted to her dried fruits, nuts and some gluten free chips, pastas and flours.

I got to the barn with no real issues, after getting the trailer un hitched and getting on my way. I so desperately needed to clean the stalls and dry lot and it hasn’t rained for 3 days so I was desperate enough to TRY to get the truck to the stalls. I got started in the gate with no issue; as soon as I turned the wheel to get the tail end up the hill and into the stall the truck slid down the hill and into the fence. CCCRRAAACCCKKKKKK goes the old wooden fencing. The entire left side of the truck rest on the old fence that leaned down the hill as if not staked in cement and we… fence, truck and myself could roll down the mountain at any moment. I had to get out of the truck to see what damage I had caused. Climbing up hill to the passenger side throwing the door open with my left arm as I held on for dear life with the right. Ok I got myself into this, now how am I going to get out? I knew my only hope was weight in the backend so I cleaned one of the stalls and loaded the tail end of my little truck ¼ of the way full with Manure. I was just about to stop when I my gut said I needed just one more bucket full into the bed when… I was loosing stamina The bottom of the bucket hit the tailgate, I lot my balance and as if in a slow motion black and white movie with expressions and pale paces. I stumbled back the length of the tailgate, hit the fence and both of my feet came out from under me at the same time while this HUGE FULL muck bucket comes on top of me. My “tuckus” hit the ground and the nutrient rich contence covered my chest, went over my shoulders as the juices from my tail were splashing up my arms and over my legs. All I could do is laugh while the moisture seeped through my jeans, my long johns and my under garments. Brushing off was really mute by the time, I got up laughing so hard my stomach hurt, but I needed more manure, I needed to get myself out of this mess. I did get the truck moved somewhat, nose pointed up hill, no longer in danger of rolling sideways down the mountain, more weight was needed.

The task at hand got easier as I took old advise from a wise man at Paradox Farm, why do you fill those buckets so full? He would ask… because I am young enough to do it, and it keeps me in shape. Well today was the day I am no longer young enough and no longer in good enough shape to lift a 50lb bucket of wet contents over my head into a truck bed or even into an open tailgate … times have changed and my life style much make necessary accommodations based on my abilities. While the extra time added up and will effect the rest of my day, it surely saved my back and my physical ability to get this situation I created under control.


We all have those days, but today was literally a s#*!% day !

The Way the Light Guides Us.

This morning started as normal, chilly air, thick, heavy to breath but fresh all the same. The fog was thick and the sun appeared as if being seen through rice paper. The drive to the barn was that of Alice falling through the tunnel to wonderland. Driving into darker areas although well into morning hours, seeing the white wall of fog before me. Few cars on the road, and even less as I turned onto Hollywood up to the barn. The sheep were still as status, the Burrow that protects them stood with ears back and quitely tucked into a cold, protective position. The trash lined the road for pickup so I had I drove even slower through the fog which made everything appear in grays and only the most close things were in slight color. Much like an old black and white photo someone had watercolored only a few leaves on the trees next to my car. With it being a pick up day I was afraid of hitting a dog, a cat, or even a bear so I crept in 2nd gear and made it into the white wall of fog. The fog was so think the wipers were necessary to continue on, but as I approached near the top of the road, to the west side of the mountain it suddenly cleared and appeared as a white ocean below me. I let the horses out after loving on Sweetpea and closed their gate. By the time I got back home the sun was bright, fog was only a thought, and the farmers were humming with their tractors all around me.

It is funny how life has it forces, how we can continue on even with the darkness, rain, fog, or snow. What are the forces that keep you going in your life? or What are the forces that have guided you along the way.

One of my guiding lights in my Nannie... Mable Nadine Knight Lain. One who lost her mother as a young girl, took on as much responsibility as she could with her younger brothers, and tried to be a help to her father who was supporting them all alone. She came from a strong line of women... her mother had an egg business and her own car in a day that was unheard of. Her grandmother was the town midwife although she didn't deliver any of Nannies children. The Nadine came from Nadine Newland... one of her mothers best friends.

Nannie was the real thing, Living with rations like everyone else, working tirelessly while the men were off to war. She was a rivet girl at AVCO a company long gone from the Nashville area, but it once made airplanes/ parts.

Nannie has wonderful stories of she and Miss Juanita going to the movies, riding the bus into Nashville, stories that make her face light up.. The giggles you get when she talks about she and Miss Juanita riding in the rumble seat. These stories and the look on her face always made me think… this was her only time of freedom. While surviving the pain of loosing a mother young, the loss of a younger brother was difficult as well. She was so smart not to marry before her love returned from war, she would have been tied down with a baby and never had this freedom. It made me think…. How much freedom do I want in my life? How much of myself am I willing to cut out of my chest and pack in a box and never be able to see, or feel those things again.
Nannie waited for Cecil to return and after an AWOL he did… They got married! She wore a beautiful brown suite with green around the trim. Life changed. Children are a joy … And Nannie had three, My Mother, Judy Freeman Lain, My Uncle Steve, and My Aunt Gale (yes it is spelled correctly for her)

Nannie and Pawpaw were almost perfect for each other, he was harsh and she was the most softly spoken person anyone can comment on. She never said a harsh word to me only gave me other positive things to focus on. The most harsh thing she ever said to me was… Your not going to meet him looking like that are you? Yes mam I am… and she just shook her head. (you have to know I was covered in horse muck, in a pair of cut off’s and a tee shirt) She did want me to find a man at some point in my life!

All of these thoughts started because I was making beans and corn bread the other day…

How do I see my Nannie? I see her as she was on the celebration of their 50th wedding anniversary. I will never see her any different. Last night I dozed and thought with a fast paced mind, as the smell of cooking beans still lingered in my little house; and made me think of soft worn kitchen towels, that smelled of the sun and wind instead of food. I don’t remember Nannie ever having new kitchen towels. Then my mind raced back to her stove, not very different from mine today, the kitchen cabinets, the Formica covered counter tops.

I would feel the movement of my little bird I was nursing through the night and the racing of my mind would calm. I would ease back into thoughts of Nannie. It’s the smell again, but in my mind it was my often requested skillet fried potatoes, something mother never made for some reason, a hint of onion I thought and then corrected myself, can’t be “the twins will not like that” but that cast iron skillet; it must be the secret to the perfect potatoes with or with out the onions… IF ever something happens Nannie, that skillet is all I want, I’ll make sure you get it she would say, and today it makes the most delicious, perfectly brown, non sticking pan fried potatoes. A true treasure from the past!

The other day it made the perfect family cornbread. A small token Jerry and I will nibble on for the next few days.

It is funny how we all see things differently. I saw Pawpaw as the one that ran around doing everything, but Nannie was the one that was the center hub. Why? Well because no matter what, it was her table I always sat. She was the one always home. It was her table that no one could leave with out eating. Pawpaw was the same but most of his time in the house was shared between his chair at the table and his chair in the living room/TV room. Nannie sat at the table and read the paper from front to back every day.

Nannie was the center hub for the force that kept me sane in the crazy world of teenagers. Well I was well beyond teenage years BUT I was a late bloomer in every aspect of life. Because I was so far behind (due to living in my fish bowl) during times other girls were starting to appreciate parents I was still butting heads with mine. Maybe because in reality Mother and I are so alike we can’t see past our own visions, but Nannie would always give me something else to focus on. Aunt Gale was always my back up! The three of us… really four of us; but Pawpaw would eventually get tired, move to his chair, bark something into the conversation if he felt like it, or would leave to do something with the animals, farm or visit someone.

My coffee addition started at Nannie and Pawpaw’s, although there was always grapefruit juice, milk, coke or sweet tea in the fridge, coffee was the drink of choice, Folgers was their brand. Quite frankly it’s the reason I don’t purchase it today. But I would eat grounds today if I could have one more breakfast club morning with the four of us.

My thoughts danced all night, The first big car I remember them getting… They picked me up at school, we got groceries at Bates Food town. It was new to them, but had stickers all over the dash! It had always been the truck I remembered before that.

The movement of my bird, realizing it’s cold out side the cover I have thrown over me, makes me think of outside, my clothes line, Nannies clothes line, the smell of her towels, the smell of alcohol, her shoes, the way she cut the toes from her old pairs. How I have only in the past few years gotten into wearing pretty shoes, how Nannie was so fascinated by a pair I had on last I went to see her. Are those comfortable? She would ask, no mam. Do they feel good? Not at all, Nannie. She would continue to look at them and I finally asked her… Would you like to try them on? We both just laughed, with a full belly laugh, free to feel, free to react, with out a care in the world.

I have always been able to Laugh and Cry with Nannie I have always had a special place in my heart for her. I LOVE YOU Nannie, I will always love you, and I miss you terribly!

You have always been a guiding light for me. That strong light I knew I could return to for support, guidance or just to talk…

Well Today I start a new venture

I am a person who loves her family dearly, sometimes too much for today’s society. I say this because I have a deep need to know what is going on. If the family gets together, I want to know who cooked? What did they prepare? What was the conversation; down to what everyone was wearing. I rarely get to see my family these days as I am a little farther away from the group than most. I believe this all comes from the fact by the time I was 5 my parents moved walking distance from my maternal grandparents. My mothers brother quickly moved in on one side and my mothers sister followed on the other. I was literally surrounded by family. Family that was allowed to mentor me, discipline me, or encourage me all my days on the family property. I often joke of how if I sneezed at school and my parents knew I had a cold before I got home. Which was almost truth to the letter, as most of my teachers taught my mother, Aunt, Uncle, and every cousin back 5 or 6 removed…

Life for me was a fish bowl, I was the only one of my generation for years and even after “the twins” came along for some reason I was a little more looked after than they as the family thought they had each other and I was somehow in the world alone. I have commented to the family how “the twins” didn’t change my world. My world fell apart when Aunt Sheri and Uncle Steve had Danny; there was no dress up next door. Not six months later Aunt Gale had Zach and my world was no longer mine. I was the spoiled one! The center of all for generations back, but this also kept me in that controlled environment. No matter what I did, a family member was there OR someone knew who my family was. They never realized even when I traveled to Martin TN as a teenager, how I couldn’t get away from the strong influence my family had on me. The first lady I met at Martin… OH I know your grandfather… Cecil Lain. I was mortified in front of peers I had only known for months…but home all the same.

We as a family did the old fashion things, we got together with immediate family at least one Sunday of the month but especially on Holidays of ANY sort. We got together with family back generations at least once a year; back to my great, great, great Aunts that to this day tickle my mind and inspire me because of their strength and devotion to learning, life existence, and beautiful expressions of being happy. My paternal grandparents were also a constant in my life, although the lived in another state my parents made every effort for us to travel once a month to see them if not every other weekend when afforded financially.

What started this little change in pace? Well as with everyone else money is a little tight, and my focus on developing the estate is on hold; I will do little by little; but my focus is making sure our business survives as do my thoughts to my family, friends, and influential people of my life. I don’t have a home made green Formica table to share coffee, biscuits/toast, jelly, with the café pouring sugar container, or my napkins tucked in the corner near the wall, the small plastic cup with just enough milk for the days talk over coffee. I am hundreds of miles away from the next generation, I am hundreds of miles away from the life I had. While I don’t want it back, I refuse to not learn from it and pass on the wisdom shared with me over that slick, speckled, Formica covered door made into the best table I ever sat at!

My day today started out as normal, except the night sweats didn’t go away. I moved down stairs to the sofa, heard Teallie scream so I napped as much as I could with her on my chest so she would not pick till she was bleeding. As funny as it sounds I dreamed of Nannie all night, it was the lingering smell of the beans and cornbread I made yesterday. As you can see above I cooked my beans more like my Pawpaw liked them, with lots of soup (for my cornbread, of course) So really I was up most of the night, but was determined to change this blog into something others would want to read instead of just a note or two. It is amazing what smells can do to you, I shall post about my Nannie tomorrow, as my dreams, thoughts, and breathing went to Potatoes, Clothes Lines, Talks, and Shoes. You will have to stay tuned!

So on my way to the barn grabbed the camera to take snap shots of my daily drive to the barn. There is so much in the short 4 miles to the barn I decided to document it and write on each as time passes.

My trip to the barn took well over an hour because of all the little things people could miss. My drive to the barn each morning starts from the back door. Rarely is there NOT fog rolling off the distant mountain, it rolls much like the wall of fog that blankets San Francisco each night, but here the spectacle is morning and often flanked by the sun rise. Something I will have to learn to photo, as I am not as good as Jerry with a camera, but I’m no grandmother Goins either. She would cut your head off no matter how simple the camera.

Eating CROW, and still taking it day by day.

My day started out normal. The air heavy, wind blowing into the bed from the open window, the roughness of the air as it passes over my shoulder. I want only to cover it more deeply with the bedspread and go back to sleep, the sun is no where to be seen behind the clouds but I can tell by the traffic I had slept late because it was so dark. I’m lucky getting up by 8am is not a crime or one of the things that turns my world upside down. I was sleeping so well … after I survived my night sweats… with my earplugs, eye cover and lavender smell on my sheets.

I got up got the birds out for their breakfast, which is always a mess! But a well deserved treat and a fun time for me to see what each prefers over the other. Even just watching which hand they use, how one is picky about the texture while another could care less. At any rate 9am crept up on me quickly today. I put them all back to their room with natural light on and heat going.

On to the barn.

It wasn’t raining just yet, so I parked at the end of the drive walked up the hill for a little cardio work out to the barn. I was sweating by the time I reached the top, opened the gate allowing the horses to go down the hill at their own pace, and allowing me time to grab a few flakes of hay. I walk down with the hay make sure each flake is placed far enough away from the next so the two horses can eat with out the bother of the other. SweetPea is in on the down side of heat but is not nice when it comes to food, thanks to a previous experience AND Navarre is so food driven he would eat it all if he could.

My walk back up the pasture, closing the first gate, up the hill to the barn, closing the second gate and making sure the third gate is fastened as I crawl through the fence for my walk back down the drive to my little car.

On to the office

AFTER I figure out what I am going to eat for the next few days.
Beans, so cheap, so easy, and I use them in everything till there are no more.
I start to pour them over my hand, and as I feel the beans all I can think about is my maternal grandmother… Nanny … with the water running in her huge country sink washing the beans in a strainer after she had picked out the stones, the bad beans, and the questionable. The aluminum pot they always went into … dented, stained, warped, with a black handle and a black pull on the lid that always laid on the top of the pot as if it once fit.

Today I pick, wash, soak, and put it all in the crock pot with one container of chicken stock I made months ago, and one container of vegetable stock I made weeks ago. I get out my family receipt book and make sure I have everything for the cornbread… the fat from bacon I had to purchase just so I could make cornbread this week. It sits on the counter right now … as the beans will not be done till dinner. I can’t wait for MY house to smell as if I’m walking to my Nanny’s house about to sit at the green Formica table with she and Pawpaw. How life has its wonderful smells… How life has it’s pace… pinto’s and cornbread… cheap, filling, and reminiscent of times I wish I could create… have just created…

While no one is here other than Jerry to share this with,(who doesn't have the same memories) surely you can remember a simple food, a simple time, a great memory to share… tell me!

As I am pondering, taking pictures??? For this post… my phone rings. Olivia Henry it says. Betsy and I have a nice little talk.

On to the Office I kept telling my self.

On to eating crow so I can have a pleasant day.

My life at work consist of being the most stupid animal on the planet. “Sit there and look pretty” someone said to me the other day… The words I wanted to say back are not worth the post but I apparently with out realizing it took out my frustrations on men the rest of the day. So I wrote one who was nice enough, strong enough to call me out on it.

The truth is I don’t want to be a hateful person. I don’t want to be a woman who has to worry about being better and stronger than I really am. But I get so much “crap” and take so much from men whom most probably don’t know the difference between a standard or a Phillips and assume I’m a pet rock of Jerry’s.

Sometimes I wish I didn’t have so much of a roll in a motorcycle business. Sometimes I wish I rode motorcycles and could tell them where to put it. Sometimes I wish I could just tell them how stupid they sound… my car, my boat, my third house……

At least I do have a brain and can put most in their place with simple math, but work is a struggle when you are a woman in a man’s world. While women still only get paid 77 cents on every dollar a man makes… I have to say I know more about K1200’s in general than even a lot of the dealer mechanics that call me for help. But sometimes I wish I didn’t … sometimes I wish I could be the “type” of woman they think I am; being taken care of and pampered all the time.

Instead… I probably do more physical labor than most of these guys. I am what I am; and I’m not stupid, I’m not a pampered woman and I’m not what other women have called me… “a token wife” although sometimes for a weekend vacation , I wish I was, three days of this type of vacation and I'd be ready to get dirty again.

A Beautiful Fall.

This is our back yard Sunday,the clouds were amazing!









Fall weather has been all over the place. Sunday although I went riding my first morning panic was the ice on the shield of my little car. How am I going to get the horse out long enough on the grass so I don't have to feed them heavy grain before I go riding if I can't find my ice scraper? I turned on the car defroster and went back in for another cup of lavender tea. I got an old credit card they send you in your trash mail ... that I hadn't put through the shreader yet ... and used it to scrape the shield. My panic quickly passed, but my mind still ran wild with, what will I wear? it is suppose to be 60 degrees and I'll get too hot or too cold? But it all worked out SO PERFECTLY. attached are a few pictures, Jerry took them while I was out riding my horse Sunday as it was easier for him to stop shoot while on his motorcycle. I was afraid to take a camera, riding bareback for such a long up mountain trip, so I got left out on the photo contributions...
It is so nice we have such seperate hobbies, it allows up something to talk about when we get home.



This is just a "snap" of the beautiful views I have driving up the mountain to the barn. This slow drive is rich with the community activity, rarely do you drive up this road and not see someone out with their child, walking their dogs, or even pushing their cats in a stoller/carrier. People here are just active, and incouraged to be as much ... it is so quiet, beautiful. Who wouldn't want to be out on a road like this?

While today is Tuesday, my schedule appears full. I hope to get back on later today and write more, I miss being able to post and let people know what is going on over here.

Weekend Report

Saturday.. I took the horses out for a little ride. I Ponied Navarre, while I was riding SweetPea ... we only went around the block, round trip is just barely over 4 miles, but a good little ride for Navarre. Everything is mostly up hill.

Navarre was wet when we got back around 3pm and when I went back at 6:30 he was still soaked. So I have to watch how late I take him out from here on.

Sunday I loaded SweetPea up by 11am got to Susans as we rode from the back of Barewallow to the other side of Little Pisqua, it took us about 5 hours round trip. It was wonderful, beautiful, peaceful and just plain perfect.

I'm soar today ... not my legs but my ribs, back and stomach. If you want to work your core try riding over two mountains bareback for hours at a time. ha ha ha...

Jerry and I just went walking on the Blue Ridge Parkway. The leaves are almost gone due to all the wind and rain but it is still beautiful over here.

OH YEA... While I have asked, begged and pleaded for people to come see us over here. DON'T...
I 40 had a rock slide and will closed for MONTHS... so right now there are only back roads to get from North Carolina to Tennessee. I need to travel home, now I am deciding do I want to go through Chattanooga or Johnson City ???? either way is HOURS out of the way.

A Week and no post???? Sorry!

Well, with all the rain, cleaning around the barn, getting more hay, making sure I have plenty of pellets before they stop making them, Stocking up on feed, it was on sale? never seen that happen! I have been spending more time at the barn but not enjoying the horses.

I have been trying to go riding with a lady that owns the little healthy store two doors down. No matter what I did the weather, horse throwing a shoe, or work got in my way of being able to keep a riding date.

OUT of the blue we have three customers call and say they were coming by the next day. Well I was not about to cancel again.

As I was putting the last of my equipement in the trailer the man from Australia drives up. I couldn't just walk out with out saying hello. So I shook hands, appologised for the horse/leather smell, went up stairs to get Jerry. We all made our introductions and I excused myself as soon as I could.

I was late for my riding date. Susan lives up the road but it's nothing but curves 1/2 the way there and then gravel one lane drive the rest of the way. For those of you who know my area I was towing my two horses toward Lake Lure through the curvies over to Gerton.
I got to the second turn and got stopped by a huge dump truck. I had just crossed a creek and had to back up out of his way back onto the previous one lane gravel road.... I was just glad we didn't meet a mile closer to her house where there are no turn arounds and I didn't see many driveways deep enough to accomidate my long bed truck and my long trailer. I got there very VERY late.

I have to say Susan was so sweet! not upset ! we went on a short ride but places I had only been once or twice. It was so clear we could see all the way to lake lure area... it was beautiful! The trees are not making their normal show but it was serene all the same.

I enjoyed our ride so much. I am going back Sunday with out the second horse so She and I can ride as fast as we want. Navarre is still very slow... actually he will NEVER be a fast horse, he is built for stamina not speed.

so yes it is raining today, and expected to rain all day tomorrow, but expected to clear Sunday and I am going to trailer SweetPea back over there and have as much fun as time will allow. Thank you Susan for allowing me to ride with you! I had fun and am looking forward to more.

We got our camera back from repair... no changes, the pictures are still not crisp.
We got our computer back from repair and I hope to start using it first thing in the mornings BEFORE I have the animals to tend to.

Mornings are when my mind is more creative instead of being dulled by all the things I need to get done in a certain time period.

Talk to you later.