Project and Parties

Spring is in full swing here at the Lazy G.  Matthew and I have been working on a couple of landscape projects over the past weeks and our property is really looking great.

 

We spent one weekend finishing up raking the back two acre pasture. As you can see, we usually have lots of feline help.

 

Then we had someone come and spread lime on the pasture to help raise the pH. Here is a short video of the truck that came.  By the time I went inside to write a check he was almost finished! I also bought fertilizer and grass seed that we will be spreading soon.  I can't wait to have some real pasture for the horses!

 

You know it is spring in Georgia when the azaleas start blooming.  Ours did not disappoint this year.

 

We've also been doing some work in the garden.  I filled up all of the raised beds that we built last year with early crops like potatoes, broccoli, red raspberries, lettuce, onions, carrots, and green beans.

 

Now we have to build more beds for the summer crops!  Here are the two that we installed over the last week.  Both are already filled with tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, and cucumbers.  I still have enough plants started indoors to fill another two raised beds so we will be busy for a couple more weeks!

 

Here's an updated garden photo, including the two new beds, right after a week of rainy weather.  We have a total of nine beds right now and hope to eventually have 20.

 

A couple of months ago I entered some photographs into a photography contest through the Georgia Nature Photographers Assn.  One photo (the shell one seen below) ended up second place out of about 150 submissions!  I also had two other photos in the top 25 (the bird photo in the top left below as well as my manatee one).  We spent one evening at the gallery show opening and enjoyed a date night out in Savannah.

 

This past weekend we went to a friend's wedding, also in Savannah.  It was an outdoor wedding and the weather was perfect.  Here are a couple of shots from the event.

 

The happy couple. "Wives for Lives!"

 

Cody with a few of her past science center coworkers.

 

 

And one of Matthew and I all dressed up.  After the wedding we went on to a ballroom dance.  Two parties in one night is a record for us!

Horse Rides

The last month has been a busy one for me and my horse Mow.  We competed in two different rides two weeks apart and enjoyed some camping time together as well.  The first ride was a competitive trail ride at Mingo trails, about two hours away.  I took Mow over on Friday, rode Saturday and Sunday, and returned home Sunday afternoon.  We did about 18 miles each day and were judged at various obstacles throughout the day.  Here we are at one of the pulse and respiration checks (for the horses).  My new riding buddy Judy rode with me on Saturday and took this photo.

 

After we finished riding on Saturday we had another check from the vet and then did an obstacle in hand!  Mow had never done something like this but he tried his best.  This photo was taken by a gal who just took photos of everyone for fun.

 

Sunday was a little soggy but it didn't do much more than a gentle sprinkle on and off throughout the day.  Here we are waiting at the start.

 

All finished for the weekend and back at camp.

 

To my great surprise, Mow and I both placed third out of the six horses/riders in our division!  Now if I ever get around to making something with all of my ribbons I will have a few to add for Mow.

 

Our next ride was the first weekend of April in Jasper, FL, about 3.5 hours away.  This was an endurance ride and I signed up for our first 50 mile competition (in one day).  Matthew came with me for this trip and took some of the following photos.  Here we are checking in with the vets.

 

Coming in after our first loop of 15 miles.

 

Unfortunately, shortly after we started the second loop Mow was slightly off on his right front foot so we were done for the day.  Here are a couple of photos from right before he started limping.

 

And a couple of our campsite.  Although I was very disappointed at this ride, within two hours Mow was feeling much better and there does not seem to be any permanent damage.  Better luck next time!