First Snow of the Season

We had a snow shower on Thanksgiving Day.  It didn't last long and it really didn't stick but it was pretty.  Bandit and Zoey certainly enjoyed it.

Macro Monday - Folk Art Pottery

The cold weather is upon us and this is a busy time of year for our family.  I haven't been taking many photos - I guess it's the equivalent of writer's block - so I've starting looking around my house for photos to use for Macro Monday.

Folk Art Pottery in my kitchen

Skywatch Friday - Season 4, Episode 20

Hazy full moon earlier this week, seen between the tree branches

Happy Thanksgiving!

Wordless Wednesday - Taking Flight

Happily Munching

We like to feed round bales this time of year so they horses have access to 24/7 hay in the colder weather.  Since Zip is the tallest, he will reach over and get to the hay in the middle of the bale - we call these "woodpecker holes" (some of them are about 2 feet deep).  Rooster digs holes closer to the outside and Rosie makes holes in the hay that falls inside the ring.  There's still a bit of grass so they will sometimes have some grass and go back to the bale.  I sleep better at night knowing they have plenty of forage to munch on.

No, he's not on the other side of the bale - his head is inside the bale
Rooster was wondering what I was doing
Rosie was eating, as always

By the way, we checked everyone's weight this week.  Rosie has gained a total of 135 pounds since July 5th.

Macro Monday - Face Jugs

T and Craig collect face jugs.  These are 3 piggys that sit in a shaker style display cabinet in my kitchen.  These are some of the cuter ones, a couple of the other ones are a bit creepy.

Sunday Stills - High Tech/Low Tech

This week's Sunday Stills Challenge is High Tech/Low Tech - This will be a true challenge so pay attention to the parameters. The picture must contain one old school item next to a new high tech item, For instance a dial phone next to a cell phone.


I had no idea what I was going to do for this one and it's been an absolutely hectic week with a 4H meeting and a Buxmont Juniors meeting so I didn't really come up with an idea until this morning.

The GPS that I use when I ride and the compass that is part of my saddle

I definitely use the GPS more than the compass.

View other challenge participants here

Skywatch Friday - Season 4, Episode 19

Hot Air Balloon flying over the farm with a vapor trail from a plane

What a Team!

After the trail ride on Saturday, T worked with Zip on the track.  These two are becoming quite the team!

T & Zip 11/13/2010 from CTG Ponies on Vimeo.

Wordless Wednesday - The best view

Hitting the Trails

Saturday I was able to take Rooster out on 2 rides - one in the morning with the barn owner and one of the lesson kids that was mostly in the open fields and one in the afternoon with the barn owner, her daughter and T.  The morning ride last about an hour.  The afternoon ride was over 2 hours.  Poor Rooster was tired!  We walked, did quite a bit of trotting and some canters in the fields.  Rooster was great!!  It was so much fun to be out and about.  We saw quite a few deer including a magnificent buck as well as some hunters - I hope they didn't run into each other.

Me and Rooster on the morning ride, passing the farm on the way to another field

T and Zip coming up the driveway

Macro Monday - Out the Barn Window

Sunday Stills Challenge - Coffee/Tea Cups

This week's Sunday Stills Challenge is Coffee/Tea Cups.  We have two of these cups and they are my favorites not because of the design or the color but the size.  The dogs get me up at 5 AM 7 days a week and I definitely need a big cup of coffee in the morning.

View other challenge participants here

Brenda Photo Challenge - Broken

As soon as I read the subject of this challenge, I knew which pictures I wanted to use.  I took these earlier this year at a farm that is for sale near the barn.  There are several outbuildings on the property that are falling down.

Old Chicken Coop

Small barn

View other Brenda Photo Challenge participants here

Skywatch Friday - Season 4, Episode 18

This little bird was basking in the sun at the park during the 4H Charity Trail Ride

Wordless Wednesday - Twizzle

Slacking....

Slacking on blog posts, that is.  I had a 3-day weekend and I think I need another weekend to rest.  Got up early all 3 days plus the critters don't realize that we gained an hour.  Zoey is still tap dancing on me to get up except the clock says 4 AM.  I didn't get that extra hour of sleep.

Saturday we headed to Kutztown to check out the hay sale.  Turns out they were having their annual yard sale so there were more people there than average and they bid up the hay prices.  We hit the tack store on the way back, came out empty handed (except for a handle for one of my rasps), ran some more errands, and then went grocery shopping.  Got home in time to watch the Breeders Cup.  I'm not a big fan of racing but I do watch the four big races every year.  Man, that was a good race!

Sunday was the Timbertalk Trotters Trail Ride.  All proceeds are donated to Shriners Hospital for Children.  We were at the park by 9:30 AM and it was cold and windy.  T and Craig helped out with various things while I took pics.  Between 2 cameras, we took over 500 pics.  We left the park about 1:30 PM and then T rode Zip in the ring and I hopped up on Rooster bareback for a stroll around the farm.  I downloaded all the pics and managed to get the online gallery up (you can view here - click Continue if the log in screen comes up).  I'm still going through pics to do some creative editing but wanted to have the pics available for the riders as soon as possible.

Monday was off to New Holland for the tack sale and the hay sale.  I stayed to watch most of the horse sale.  There were some really nice, well broke horses that went through for really low prices.  Even the papered horses were low.  Not a good market if you want to sell but if you are looking for a horse, there are lots to choose from.  Then it was back home and off to the Buxmont meeting.  Back to work this morning.   Phew, I'm tired! 

Macro Monday - Fading Blooms

My hydrangea blooms are really starting to fade away

Snapping Pics

3 day weekend and busy, as usual!  Off to the hay auction today and Monday.

Every year for the last 7 years, Timbertalk Trotters 4H Horse Club holds a charity trail ride in Green Lane Park with 100% of the proceeds going to Shriner's Hospital for Children.  T is now part of this club and the club is very active in community service.  I have offered to donate my time on Sunday taking photos of the ride and the ride participants.  Photos will be donated for the club's use and for the scrap book that they create and enter for the fair every year.  I will also be creating an online gallery for riders to order prints from.  I'm hoping to have the pics up for viewing by the beginning of next week.

I will not be riding as I am not sure that I can manage my camera and ride Rooster at the same time.  He's very well trained and neck reins really well but I feel like we are still getting to know each other and I'm not sure how he will be in open field (I've ponied Zip from his back and he did just fine, even though Zip is about 6 inches taller).  My Olympus E520 camera is the smallest DSLR made but it's still bigger than a point and shoot and I don't want to run the risk of damaging the camera (or falling off).  The weather forecast is calling for 50 and sunny so hopefully it won't be too chilly for the riders when they start at 10 AM.  I'm hoping to get some good shots of the park as well.  I'll post pics as soon as I can.

Skywatch Friday - Season 4, Episode 17

Morning sunshine reflected in the creek

Fall Color

The pear tree in our backyard has turned a brilliant red.  It's one of the few trees that has any leaves left.

Wordless Wednesday - Sleepy

And the Winner is.....

BRRR, it was a chilly 29 degrees here this morning so hopefully the bright and cheerful creekside wildflowers notecards will brighten your day.  Now, on the the Playlist Giveaway results:

There were 8 of you that commented (a big thank you for that!) which I added to an Excel spreadsheet, in order of comments.

I used Random.org to generate the random number

And the winner is....Val at Fantastyk Voyage!!  

Val, shoot me an e-mail through my profile with your address and I will mail out the box of notecards to you.

Thanks to all of you who stopped by and commented!!!!!!!

Macro Monday - The Last Rose of Summer

Wow, this weekend flew by!  I didn't have time to get the pics I wanted for Sunday Stills but did get other things accomplished.  I can't believe it's November already.  The horses are all getting fuzzy, growing their winter coats and enjoying the cooler weather.  Roo spent about 10 minutes running laps and bucking in the pasture with Zip yesterday when T tried to catch him.  Even Rosie joined in the fun with a gallop across the field.  We are getting the barn ready for winter - putting the windows back in over the grates, filling in any gaps that will create drafts, making sure nothing leaks and making room for more hay.  The clocks change this coming week which means I will leave for work in the dark and drive home in the dark.  The only upside is that I get to see some glorious sunrises.