Laundry Room Renovations Part One

Last week we finally started renovations on the laundry room!  We started by taking down the very ugly cupboards that were in the way of our upright freezer (and did not provide much in the way of storage).

 

I patched and painted this section of the room so that we could start moving things around to make room for the door that we will put in when Jane and Richard visit in a couple of weeks.  The color is the same as the top of the walls in the kitchen.

 

 

We also removed the wire shelving that was over the washer and dryer.  Some of this had already fallen down and the rest was too high for me to reach.  I ordered some 16" deep white cupboards that we will put up after I patch and paint these walls.

Horse/Pony Rides

On Saturday, the day after I returned from TN, Matthew and I loaded up Rabi, Spice, and Peanut and headed out to Hunter Cattle Farm for their Farm Heritage Days.  Hunter Cattle hired Jean, my riding buddy, and us to give pony rides for the kids during their event.

 

We were originally going to drive the minies but Jean borrowed a little saddle that fit Spice perfectly so we just gave regular pony rides.

 

Here we are all set up and waiting for the kids.  Peanut came with us but didn't end up doing anything but standing around looking cute.  Jean brought a horse and pony as well.

 

This was Rabi's first time giving more than just one or two rides.  Matthew helped the kids on and off while Jean, her daughter, and/or I walked the horses.  We started at 10am and didn't pack up until 5pm.

 

Spice was a good sport all day too.  We used two horses at a time and rotated every half hour so that they got some rest breaks.  According to the tickets we took for the rides, we gave over 420 rides! 

TN trip and NATRC Ride

I spent the last two weeks in Tennessee for my fall trip to visit my parents and ride horses.  The weather was great (a little cooler than GA!) and we were able to ride almost every day.  Most of our rides involved creeks or rivers and here one of our friends, Louise, is riding with us.

 

There also happened to be another competitive trail ride through the NATRC at a park about a half an hour away from my parents' cabin during my visit.  I had planned for this by riding my horses almost every day for the five weeks prior to our visit.  My mom was able to compete (for the first time) on my older horse, Rabi, and since they were there to babysit, I was able to ride my young horse Mow on his first ever competition of any kind.  Here we are at the vet check the night before.

 

The judges look at how well you present the horse and at what condition the horse is in to provide a baseline for the next day's ride.

 

The horses stayed in stalls overnight at this park.

 

The ride started at 6:00 am the next morning and it was only 47 degrees out!

 

The sun just barely came up before we were off.

 

 

Along the 22 mile ride we stopped twice for P&R (pulse and respiration) checks to help evaluate the horses' condition.  We also completed four different obstacles in front of the judges including mounting, trotting from one judge to another, and side passing to a round bale.  There are no photos of the obstacles because Mom and I were too busy concentrating!  But here we are at one of the P&R checks:

 

This ride is called "Ride the Edge" because the trails go right along some beautiful cliffs.

 

 

A lot of the trails are very rocky and since my horses don't have shoes we put rubber boots on their front feet called easy boots to help protect them.

 

 

Twenty-two miles sure goes by fast when you are having fun!  (Actually it took us just over six hours).  Mom did an excellent job with Rabi and placed fourth in the horsemanship category.  I was also very proud of Mow and how well he behaved - he even ended up placing sixth in the horse category!

 

 

After the competitive trail ride we went back to the cabin to rest for a while before heading out on the trails again the next week.  We even managed to squeeze in one hike between all of the horseback riding.

 

Apparently I should have sprayed with bug spray for the hike though because I ended up with about 100 tick bites that night...

 

 

Tick bites didn't stop us from enjoying one last ride through some creeks to the Big South Fork River.  This time I rode Rabi and Mom rode her horse Doni.

 

The river was probably low enough to cross, but we'll save that adventure for next time!

Rental Update

Two weeks ago we finally finished cleaning and fixing up our latest empty rental.  We ended up renting a buffer, stripping the upstairs floors (about 800 square feet), and resealing the floors all in one day.  It took a room or two to get the routine down, but should go much faster next time.  Unfortunately, last week another renter moved out so now we will be working on that house!

 

Dersty Holiday

Every year our friends Edward and Jamie Derst (hence the party name) have a big Labor Day weekend celebration at Edward's family property in South Carolina.  They have a pavilion on the water and some fields and trails through the woods.  Everyone brings a dish for the potluck and then we enjoy an afternoon of live music and games.  This year we were able to bring the miniature horses to give pony cart rides and they were a huge hit!  In fact, I don't think we will be allowed back to the party next year unless we bring them again!

 

Here's Jamie and I with Peanut and Spice.  Most of these photos are from Jamie, I was too busy with the horses to get my camera out.

 

All of the kids enjoyed visiting with horses just their size!

 

 

A few girls were especially interested and helped me brush the horses and braid their hair.

 

 

After lunch we hooked the horses up and gave cart rides.

 

 

I drove Peanut.

 

 

And Matthew drove Spice.

 

 

When the minies got hot and tired, we sat and relaxed too.

 

 

And Matthew was able to get in a couple of games of volleyball before we headed out.  After this party we drove home, dropped off the minies, took quick showers, and then headed off to another celebration! (no photos of that one though).