Or - What do Molly Bryn and her Uncle Al have in common?









It was such a beautiful evening.  Warm, sunny, slight breeze, no recent poop soup applications on surrounding fields.





Ziggy met the pigs for the first time and was Thrilled that such creatures exist and reside in his barn.  (Does he know instinctively how yummy they will be this fall?)

I said "Let's go for a walk!"

Molly said "Let me ride Spinner in the meadow.  We can put him on a lead rope.  He will be fine even though we don't have any tack for him yet."






And he was.

So happy to be spending time with The Girl and the Woman and The Man in the meadow.  The Boy stayed further away and he was O.K. with that.

All the horses were happy and calm.  We walked to the back of the meadow where they usually don't go and they discovered that the grass and clover back there were very good.

There was a lot of happy snorting and snuffling as they ate - "Check out this great grass!"   "Yes this is very good."  " Let's come back tomorrow!"





And then we turned around.

Stupid, stupid me.

Ziggy was being a pain on his leash and the horses were being so good that Bry and I traded.  He took the dog.  I took the horse.

Why it is good to have former Boy Scouts/ a WFR & a Fireman in the neighborhood

 Right about that time, the horses got very excited     
"Let's go back to the barn!"  
"There might be carrots!"
"Let's RUN!"
"YAY!!!"



I have to say that it was a pretty good dismount at 15 or 20 mph.  And she didn't land on her head or smash into any rocks or get trampled or anything.  Just broke her ankle.  Really well.   It needs a pin.

Tune in Later for a story about why Molly will never be a Drug Addict.

One of the first questions the ER nurse asked was "Have you ever had surgery?"

...

Molly also took lots of photos of Max and Truman.  They were having a great day - until Maxx discovered the truth about leeches!   Enjoy!


Catching Crawdads.  This is a BIG one! 















A good splashing place:  


















Two handsome boys










How I love this grin!















. . . .  . .

Molly took some great photos on Saturday while I was away teaching a jewelry class in Potsdam.  














There's a dramatic shot of the old barn against a stormy bright sky:
















Some fun shots of the Cow Slips that she and Bryan transplanted a few weeks ago.










More dramatic foliage:   

















Blossoming trees













Interesting textures:



















And here's a silly shot of the lovely photographer herself against that same dramatic sky.  (taken from down in the stream bed.  We need to get a goat to keep that area well mowed so we can enjoy it during the summer.)














.....

Grampa got out the tractor last Monday and we set out to pick apples for Family Home evening.











Molly Bryn was in a great mood.














Maxx was starting to get sick and was developing some snot and  'tude, too.  (But, boy!  That hat is a hit.  It is on every waking minute at home.)










Chrissy and Truman were downright excited but were being very mellow & cool about the whole thing. 















It was a beautiful evening in the meadow.












I took several shots of flora & foliage as references for a project I'm working on in the studio.















Molly Bryn took lots of beautiful sunset shots.









The moon was up as we rode home on the wagon.

Gramma made applesauce the next day and shared it around.  Molly and Maxx both missed the rest of the week at school because this first-of-the-year virus really knocked them out.  I understand now why they were so miserable - I'm coming down with it and it feels like someone injected cold liquid lead into my veins.


Hopefully, I will fight it off faster than the kids did.  It's the first time I have been sick since the swine flu and earache from Hell late last fall so I'm not bitter.  It has been wonderful to be well for so long.









. . . .

Molly took some beautiful photos this weekend.











We all love the Dinner Bell.  However, seeing this photo, I can sense trouble a-brewing.  One of these days, Maxx will start yanking on that chain and all 50 feet of it will come slithering down out of the sky onto his head. 

He will cry and then someone will have to climb up onto the roof to wire it back on.










We have running hot and cold water.
















We have a potty to flush.

Yes.  This is a teeneency little room.  That's O.K. 

It will be very handy when Sissy is using the washroom upstairs and Maxx begins pounding on the door insisting that he has AN EMERGENCY! and needs to come in right now.  Very few things rouse contention as quickly as that scenario. 


There are also two working lights in the kitchen, one on the front porch and an outside motion sensor light above the side entry door.  Thanks, Mom!


This is a poor photo because it was getting dark and we were in a hurry to get home for baths and bed.  We're making progress!!