NC Weekend

Matthew and I drove up to Boone, NC last weekend for our annual ski trip.  Our friends Ben and Renee met us there and we stayed in an airbnb cabin.  On Saturday we visited a cave and then toured a local brewery.  The cave wasn't very big but did have some neat formations including this green flowstone.

 

The brewery was around the corner from our cabin and we ended up staying for dinner.

 

We spent Saturday night playing games in the cabin.  On Sunday morning Renee and I went for a hike to see a waterfall.  We hiked to the top of the falls and then to several overlooks.  If you look closely you can see a couple of people in the middle, top third of this photo.  These we pretty impressive falls!

 

The view downriver.

 

While we were hiking, the guys were skiing.  They had a great time but did call it quits a little early due to the heavy rain. 

Another Endurance Ride

Since Mow did so well on our Endurance Ride in January we decided to try another competition two weeks later.  We spent the first weekend of February in Sylvester, GA at a boy scout camp.  This ride is held twice a year to benefit the boy scouts and has a lovely campground.  Unfortunately, it rained several inches the day before the ride so most of the trails had to be rerouted to dirt roads (they were under several feet of water).  Mow and I didn't mind though, that's what we ride on at home!  Here's another photo of Mow in a pen.  I'm getting pretty good at setting up this corral and Mow is getting quite used to staying in it.

 

On the first day of the ride, Friday, we competed in the 50 mile ride.  I was lucky enough to ride with a riding buddy from last year.  We had a great time and even cut almost an hour off of my time from the first 50.  Mow ate and drank really well and had great scores.  Here we are during one of the vet check rest stops between loops.  I'm also sporting the jacket my green bean endurance team won for last year's riding accomplishments.

 

Mow did so well on this ride that we decided to enter the 25 mile ride on Saturday.  I got to ride with another one of my buddies and we had even more fun.  (But I will admit that 75 miles over two days was plenty of riding for me!)

 

The professional photo from the first day by Unbridled Imagery.

 

And the second day, also by Unbridled Imagery. Mow and I will both be taking some time off now!

Around the Ranch

Lazy G has been living up to its name lately with very little work-like activities.  We've mostly been off having too much fun to get things done around the house although we have managed a couple of minor improvements.  My dad set many wooden fence posts during my parents' visit in December and we recently continued to work on fencing by adding a line of t-posts to separate the big back pasture into two smaller ones.  We covered the sharp metal posts with PVC pipe to make them safer (but still moveable since they are just hammered into the ground).  I will be attaching electric fence tape to them once we finish the perimeter fence.  Having two pastures will allow me to rotate the horses back and forth to give the grass a break.  This photo is from the back of the property looking down the middle of the field.  As always, we have feline supervisors on hand whenever we are working.

 

I've been spending too much time camping in the camper to get very far on those improvements either. I did find an old horse bit at an auction in FL that we mounted as a drawer pull and towel hanger on the cabinet under the sink.

 

Rabbit production has also been pretty lazy around here.  I've been having some trouble breeding the does and decided to buy two new does to replace my aging ones. These black New Zealand does are about 12 weeks old now and will be ready to breed in a few months.

 

We do have a few colorful babies at the moment from a breeding with a neighbor's buck.  I'm also hoping that our other two does will have their litters in the next week or two.  We're almost out of meat!

Florida Trip

I spent a week of January in Florida visiting family and riding horses (and I'm finally getting around to posting about it!).  My parents' new property had no improvements when I visited so we camped by borrowing power and water from the neighbors.  They now have their own power and water, will install a shed and fencing soon, and the septic will be complete before they come home. I never did take a photo of the campers but here is one of Mow in his pen.

 

I spent my birthday with my parents, grandparents, aunts, and uncles near Ruskin, FL.  We went orange picking at a local grove and later enjoyed a family meal followed by opening the remaining Christmas gifts (and my birthday gifts).

 

My Mom, Aunt Cindy, and I at the grove.

 

We also spent some time riding the horses around the park near my parents' property.

 

At the end of the week I moved our rig about 70 miles north to a campground for an endurance ride.  Here we are all set up in our new location.  I'm LOVING our new camper!

 

Mow and I went 25 miles the next day for our ride.  Mom and our friend Louise drove up to crew for me despite the frigid temps and windy weather.  We had a great time and came in 10th place, only 20 minutes behind the winner.  At endurance rides they give away Top Ten prizes and for this ride we got cute hats, also very practical for the weather!